It was as I suspected, I made the walk home and closed the door behind me, walking straight out into the garage and stepping up to the 'nano-tank' as I'd come to call it, where my battle suit was in the process of being repaired. I placed my hands on the glass and stared at the suit for a few moments. It represented the epitome of everything I'd ever wanted, the climax of all of my dreams and aspirations, and now, the harbinger of my worst nightmare. I sighed and lowered my chin, allowing my forehead to rest against the glass and closing my eyes for a moment.
"I didn't want this..." I said under my breath.
"Didn't you?" Jackson's voice sounded off from behind me and I spun around to find him sitting in the front corner of the garage. "You performed far better than we expected today. The Senshi weren't even needed to bring down Glitch, though he'll be back. Next time, you'll have to destroy him."
"What about Usagi's thoughts?" I asked. "What if we can heal him instead?" Jackson chuckled and shook his head with a sigh.
"You poor naïve little boy. Haven't you noticed how much this world has changed already?" He asked. "As we speak, buildings in Tokyo are being retrofitted with space aged technologies that didn't exist here two months ago. Vehicles with hovercraft tech are in the prototype stages, and holographic televisions are scheduled to hit store shelves in six months. Amazing how these worlds reflect the spirit of their greatest champion, isn't it?"
"No, this isn't what I wanted, Jackson. The girls have busted their asses to get where they are now..." I stopped and stared for a moment, lifting a hand to my mouth with widened eyed.
"Did you just say a swear word?" He asked with a slight smile. "Funny, I thought this anime was PG."
"How do I stop it?" I asked. He laughed.
"As I said, Alex, you are this world's greatest champion, there are only two ways to stop it. Change your very nature, or die." He said. "And how badly do you think poor Rei Hino's heart would be broken if you were found dead?"
"You meant for this to happen, didn't you?" I asked.
"And so he begins to see a piece of the bigger picture." Jackson sighed. "What did you think this was just about some pathetic weapon? Did you think we needed your brain? That nano-vat can build those suits at a rate of three per week, and we have hundreds of thousands of them that are five times more powerful. You were brought here because we believed you were the hero that this world needed." He looked around the garage. "I had my doubts at first, but I'm beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, The Grand Master has the right idea."
"And what happens to The Senshi? Isn't the hero supposed to have a team?"
"So you DO know these rules, The Senshi are fine, for now. But as plot develops, I'm sure that even you are aware of how expendable supporting characters can be."
"Go to hell, Jackson." I said turning back to the suit. "Go to hell and take your lies with you."
"Sure thing, Alex." He chuckled. "Know that Hakai Suru is fast approaching, and his commanding officers with him. Glitch is only the peon of the group. You're going to need help if..."
"I want my team." I replied. "If I'm going to continue fighting, I need my knights." Jackson turned and looked at me with a smug grin on his face.
"We thought you might say that." He nodded and stepped out of the garage, moving into the house and then out through the front door. My move was a risky one. I knew what happened to anime characters that didn't receive any screen time, they eventually faded into obscurity and vanished. Crystal Tokyo was a dream that had to be made a reality, it was the whole meaning behind the series, without the hope of it existing, The Senshi would slip out of the picture and everything that I had come to love about this world would be lost.
I began hacking away at the laptop they'd given me. Calling for the other knights would be a play against time, and if I didn't plan my next move out just right, I could have been doing nothing more than speeding up the process.
The world had changed, everyone drove around in various forms of mechs and the labor force employed battlesuits retrofitted with tools to speed along construction. I stood at the base of a long set of concrete steps that lead up to an arch capped with an arched pagoda. I couldn't read the Japanese characters on the sign, but I knew all too well what they said. The cherry blossom petals blew about in the wind as I started my ascension to the grounds of Hikawa Shrine. My eyes widened in horror as I watched a wrecking crew destroy the shrine and begin building a technologically advanced skyscraper where the shrine once stood. Rei, in her Mika's clothes, sobbed loudly in front of the construction site, begging the workers to stop. I fell to my knees on the sidewalk and just stared, horror-struck.
"What's up, Alex?" Tyrone walked up behind me, zapping me out of my daze. I turned to face him and the scene changed to a night time street, we were both dressed in our armor. "Isn't this power awesome? Thanks for getting me involved, buddy." He clapped me on the shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Alex!" Bruce flashed his playboy smile at me with Minako under his arm. "Never could've done this without you." I had a perplexed mask glued to my face as the scene began changing again as Greg walked up to me. Our armors faded away and we stood in front of each other again, this time, as though we were floating amongst the clouds. Greg was now wearing a short-sleeve, white, button-down shirt and a pair of slacks. Couple with his short brown hair and fiery brown eyes, he looked really familiar to me.
"Most of all, Alex, I want to thank you for reuniting me with my love. Maybe you're not such a traitor after all." He smiled and turned around for a moment, then stopped and held up a finger as if in thought. "Hey, do you ever wonder where the Senshi's power comes from?" He asked, then he blushed for a moment and waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, forget it, probably not important anyway, see ya around buddy." He waved over his shoulder and walked away, fading into the clouds as they quickly turned to black, billowing smoke that blew away to reveal the new Tokyo engulfed in flames.
"The more you build..." The deep, demonic voice or the man in black armor announced it's presence as he stepped forward from behind a pile of rubble. "...the more you give me to destroy."
"NO!" I roared sitting up from where I'd fallen asleep at my workstation. A car horn was blowing outside. I quickly got up and ran through the house to the front door and threw it open. It was a taxi-cab. I ran over, rubbing my eyes and leaned in the passenger side window.
"Hey, are you Alex Simpleton?" He asked.
"Yeah, what's up?" I responded, furrowing my brows.
"You're running late, Mr. and Mrs. Chiba sent me to pick you up." He said. My eyes widened, the anniversary party?
"Dammit all, okay, tell you what, pull into the driveway, give me ten minutes and I'll double what they paid you." The cabbie grinned widely.
"You got it buddy!" I ran back into the house just in time to answer the phone.
"Alex? You're still there?" Makoto's voice asked.
"Overslept, I'll explain later, I'll be there in twenty minutes." I said.
"Good, hurry up already." I hung up the phone and took the world's fastest shower before dressing in my business suit, replacing the typical white button down and black neck tie with a red shirt and purple neck tie, it looked pretty good all things considered. I then quickly darted back up the stairs and out the front door.
"What time does the ceremony start?" I asked the cabby.
"In about fifteen minutes." He said. "I can get you there in ten."
"Do it and we'll make it triple." I handed him the cash and buckled my seat belt. The cabby grinned and floored the accelerator and we did, in fact, make it in eight minutes fifty-seven seconds. I quickly hopped out of the cab, taking the man's business card before hopping up the steps and walking in the church with a sigh of relief when I noticed that the ceremony hadn't yet begun.
My relief washed away quickly when Rei began marching, rather angrily, towards me. Let me tell you all something, there are many things in this world, or any world, that frighten me. Chemical spills, Arachnids, Ghosts, and power-absorbing monsters, but nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, will ever scare me more than Rei's anger.
"Where have you been?" She hissed at me, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me to a pew where we sat down with the other girls. I looked around and noticed that none of the girls were acting as bride's maids.
"Small ceremony?" I asked in a whisper. Rei nodded.
"I'm sorry to get so short with you, Alex, I'm just really nervous... about a lot of things..." She said. "I've never..."
"It's starting!" Makoto's whisper cut her off and we turned to see Usagi, dressed in her wedding gown, lined up at the back with her father, and Mamoru stepped up to the altar, where the priest awaited patiently. Interrupted again, but it was no big deal, Rei and I would have plenty of time to talk later. Time seemed to be blurring together for me, I felt as though I were trapped in a tail wind that was pushing me forward faster and faster into something that I had no desire to see, let alone encounter.