CHAPTER TWENTY: Interference
Darien's heart thudded in his chest as he peered around the corner of the building and watched as the Sailor Soldiers engaged in a heated argument with the man in black. He had heard the news of the mysterious women with unnatural powers battling strange and evil demons on television. He had even seen clips of them in action on YouTube. But somehow the shoddy videos, always taken with the video function of the phone of someone who was fleeing the scene, didn't quite live up to what he was now witnessing with his own eyes. One of them had doused the area in a frigid fog that left Darien shivering on his knees. Another had pulled a bolt of lightning from the sky and channeled it into her own body before expelling it in a blast of heat and energy. And another had created fire. But the small one who didn't seem to be too caught up in the action was the one who had caught his eye. Of course, he recognized her from the paintings that now peppered his walls at home, but here, in the flesh, she looked less like a warrior and more like a child – someone whom he felt compelled to protect for a reason he couldn't now name.
But now that he stood there, he suddenly regretted messing around with StarScape. The unnatural energy burst picked up by the program was centered around the South Street Seaport and since it was a quick walk from his office, he decided to check it out on his way home from work. When he got there he found the Soldiers mired in battle with a man dressed in a black uniform. His skin was as fair as a ghost and his long sandy-blond hair was secured in a tight ponytail. When Darien arrived, the man in black had a small girl in his grips and used a black crystal to paralyze her and extract a dark bluish purple crystal from within her small body. And now the child was gone and in her place was a demon with the face of a devil and the body of an orangutan. The man in black held the indigo crystal in the palm of his hand and glared at the Soldiers.
"Six down and one to go," he taunted. "Soon the Negaverse will have dominion over all seven Rainbow Crystals!"
Suddenly Darien remembered the leitmotif of his dreams. The Rainbow Crystals. The Princess was begging him to retrieve them in order to set her free. The man in black had leapt to the rooftop of the museum and bantered with the Soldiers who were still rushing this way and that on the cobblestone sidewalk to avoid the orange lasers tossed about by the demon that called itself Jiji. The man in black looked on in pleasure gently rolling the crystal back and forth between his fingers as the Soldiers endured the onslaught.
If I can just get up that fire escape, Darien thought. Quickly, he sprang into action and scaled the fire escape that hung onto the residential apartment complex neighboring the museum. It was an easy leap to the museum's rooftop and the man in black was busy watching the carnage unfold below him. He didn't notice Darien sneaking up behind him. Darien crept low and charged toward the man in black. He shoved his shoulders into his knees causing the man to buckle and tumble to the rooftop. He lost control of the crystal, which flew out of his hands and fell over the side of the roof.
"No!" he bellowed, scrambling to his feet and peering over the side of the roof. Darien turned to run, but the man in black, quick as lightning, grabbed Darien by the throat. Darien clutched at the man's hand, which was squeezing his throat tighter and tighter. Darien couldn't believe how incredibly strong this slight man was – it was inhuman.
"Darien!" came a feminine scream from the ground below. Darien tried to turn his head, but the man in black was cutting off his air supply. That sounded like—but before he could finish the thought, a face appeared in the sky and hovered over them like a giant storm cloud. The woman in the sky had glowing red eyes and wild red hair that radiated from her skull as if filled with static electricity. "Zoisite!" she barked. "Return at once!"
"One moment, Majesty," intoned the man in black, gripping his fingers ever tighter around Darien's throat. "Let me just get rid of this meddling human!"
"Zoisite – never question me! Leave him unharmed and return immediately!"
Zoisite reluctantly returned Darien to the rooftop and let go. Darien, red-faced and coughing, collapsed onto the roof and clutched his throat as he gasped for air.
"You're a very fortunate man," said Zoisite, and in a flash, he was gone.
….
"Majesty, here is the sixth Rainbow Crystal," said Zoisite, bowing low.
"Zoisite, I am impressed with your progress so I will forgive your transgression from earlier," said the steely Queen, extending her hand regally for Zoisite to kiss.
"Your Majesty is eternally gracious. But if I may so humbly inquire – why did Your Majesty see fit to let that man live? He cost me the Crystal!"
"Because," said Beryl, unable to conceal the smile that slowly spread across her face, "I recognized his face."
….
When Darien caught his breath, he scrambled back to the fire escape and raced down. Jiji was gone and the little girl was being consoled by a woman whom Darien presumed to be her mother. The Soldiers were nowhere in sight. It was now twilight and the sun was fading fast. Darien scoured the cobblestone plaza in search for the abandoned crystal. He searched storefronts and storm drains, any place he thought close enough to catch the crystal as it flew over the roof. Just as he was about to abandon hope, something shiny caught his eye. There, sitting among the sand and ash of an oversized ashtray, was the indigo crystal. Grinning, Darien picked it up, briefly examined it, and slid it into his inside jacket pocket.