"Commander Hoffman, we've carried out the orders as you requested." The agent said, approaching Hoffman's desk. "Are you sure that it won't upset the balance, Sir?"
"I'm positive. Our heroes have suffered a great deal on our behalf, Agent White." Hoffman replied with a sigh as he lit a cigar and leaned back in his chair. "If providing them with just a tiny bit of comfort and happiness, regardless of how short lived it may be, if that's all we can do to repay them, then it is completely worth whatever sacrifices must be made to pay it."
"The wedding is coming up soon, Sir. Do you have plans to attend?" Agent White asked, glancing down the clipboard in his curled arm, and running down a list with a pen.
"Not physically, but I think we can watch from afar before leaving."
"Leaving, Sir?" He asked. "We're abandoning the mission?" Agent White asked.
"We're not abandoning anything, Agent White, our work here is done. The heroes have been instated, they've been given their paths and the means to achieve their goals. Anything further we could do would constitute direct intervention."
"I see. And what about Shenlong and Jackson?" Agent White asked.
"I feel a great deal of pity for Jackson and Shenlong when they finally get the gumption to attack that world, White. A great deal of pity indeed. Call it foresight, call it deja vu, but I feel as though Shenlong has already lost this battle."
"Alright men, here we are, Planet Earth." A man in a Chinese-style fighting uniform spoke. His face was elderly sporting a wrinkled brow just beneath his head full of long, jet black hair. That hair was braided into a long, thick rope that he wrapped around his neck twice like a necklace, his dark eyes piercing the crowd of monstrosities that stood in rows before him, slobbering, snapping jaws indicating their eagerness to invade and destroy. "The conquering of this world has been thwarted by a single Senshi in the past, and now they have fifteen warriors defending this place. Our objectives will require a lot of energy to complete, so we will begin here..." He pointed to a spot on the globe indicating the United States. "... this is the least defended position on the planet, we can likely invade without encountering much resistance. Once we've established a stronghold there and secured further resources, our invasion effort will be focused to the East."
"I can't wait." Jackson growled, standing beside the man, Jackson's body had seen better days. Scars lined his exposed chest and abdomen. His arms had been replaced with cybernetically enhanced prosthetics, as had his left eye and ear. Electricity arced across his body as the anticipation of the battle with his most hated nemesis filled him to the brim.
"Patience, my loyal lap dog. You will have the first battle against Commander Ares, as I promised. But we must move with stealth and finesse. Trust me... I have a certain person that I'm looking forward to crushing as well." He reached inside of his shirt and began rubbing the crescant shaped burn scar on his right pectoral. "And crush them we shall. ALL HAIL THE DARK AGENCY!"
"HAIL!" Came the thundering and unanimous response from all in attendance.
The air was sweet and ripe with scent of white roses and freshly cut grass. The sun decided to bless the day with it's brilliant light, leaving the sky a brilliant shade of light blue with only the occasional thin wisp of white as the few clouds it permitted to exist slipped by virtually undetectable. The scene took place on a hill top, a white, trellised archway covering the podium where the minister stood, clad in a long white robe, holding the bible in one hand and motioning with the other as he spoke. The two figures stood in front of him, a man dressed in a crimson and gold tuxedo with purple trim throughout, his blond hair styled neatly and parted down the left side of his head. He faced a woman dressed in a silk gown of luxurious design. It matched his tuxedo perfectly, her purple-tinted eyes peering up at him with a love-struck expression glinting brightly inside of them.
In front of the arch way, rows of white, wooden, folding chairs were set up and filled to capacity with various guests, some familiar, some less than familiar. Lining the walkway in front of them were four bridesmaids on the left, and four groomsmen on the right. The people in attendance included not only Rei's father, but my parents as well, who had, after we'd spent a few days talking about some things, insisted on paying for the whole thing and arranging it, though they'd found some inspiration located in a few of my old notebooks. Mamoru stood opposite Usagi as my best man, with Greg, Bruce, and Tyrone lined up behind him. It was hard to imagine that it had been a year since my arrival in Tokyo, and it had been just as difficult to acclimate my parents and my friends as it had been for me to acclimate myself. Sufficient to say that my parents no longer thought I was crazy, I think their contributions to the wedding was viewed more as an apology than anything else. It didn't matter to me, though, the day was better than I could ever have imagined it to be, and it was only going to get better.
"I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. Alexander, you may kiss your bride." I stepped forward, unable to contain the smile on my face as I gently lifted the lace veil from her face before tilting her chin up and pressing my lips to hers in what would be the first kiss of many in our new life together. It felt even better than any other kiss we'd shared up to that point and upon parting, the priest smiled and lifted his hands. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Alexander and Rei Simpleton." The crowd released an enormous round of applause as the driver, on cue, pulled the horse-drawn carriage up to the right of the arch. A hailstorm of rice rained down on the two of us as we bolted for the carriage and rode off to find out exactly what the future had in store for us.
Sound like a good ending? Heh, I'd love nothing more than to end this story with that age old cliché 'happily ever after', but sadly it wasn't that simple. Things in life never are. As we rode off under that brightly shining sun that rode it's golden chariot through the crystal blue sky, a greater darkness loomed just over the horizon, poised to strike it's venomous fangs once again into the world that we all knew and loved. The world that we were all willing to die to defend. Would it come to that? All life ends, that's a given. It no longer mattered to me what enemies laid in wait around life's next corner though, because when my life finally ended, it would end with a smile on my face and peace in my heart.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This marks the end of this particular story. However, the spark of my fandom has been reignited and there will be others on the way. I want to thank everyone for reading and (hopefully ^^;;;) enjoying this fanfiction, and I hope to see you all reading the others that I post in the near future. Arigatou Gozaimasu *bows deeply*