Michael lay on his side of bed, staring up at the ceiling. The
words of the opposing player who was shadowing him all night still
echoed loudly thru his mind.
*Faggot,* he thought, staring thru the ceiling with his chocolate
brown eyes. *He called me a faggot. Two years ago, we were best
friends. Tonight, he called me a "god damn cum guzzling cross
dressing fag". Someone on the team probably heard him, too...*
He rolled on his side and looked up at the face of his lover,
then started out the window. A flash of light streaked across the
window. Michael got up and started out the window.
*A falling star...
*I, I wish...I wish I could be normal...*
With that thought, Michael walked back to the bed, closed his eyes
and fell asleep, his head on Richard's heart.
Aphrodite, who was looking at the young man thru a magic pool in
the castle, smiled. "Don't worry, my fair prince. You'll have your
dream soon enough."

TMTK Chapter Four:
Venus Knight Dream

"Mornin', sleepyhead."
Misae moaned as she walked past Richard, who was cooking some
sort of omelette.
"You're too perky in the morning, Richard," she growled,
grabbing a bowl, a glass, and a box of Count Chocula cereal. She
then removed a carton of skim milk out of the refrigerator and sat
down, pouring her cereal in her glass and trying to drink it.
"Late night last night?"
"I guess," she said in a half asleep voice.
"So..." Richard flipped the mass of eggs and vegetables in the
pan he was holding. "I hear the Spirits won last night."
Misae put a spoonful of milk to her lips. "Yeah. Joey had the
game winner and everything. It was a great game. Too bad the Oaks
had a game last night."
"So...did you enjoy the kiss?"
Misae dropped her spoonful of milk in her glass of cereal. "What
kiss?" she asked, suddenly fully awake.
Richard chuckled. "I heard from a good source that you played
tonsil hockey with Joey after the game."
*Tony is SO going to die,* she thought.
"It was about as sexual of a kiss as I'd give Meeka," she
replied. "It meant nothing, I swear."
"So that's why it lasted for a minute?" Richard joked. Misae's
face turned a bright shade of red.
"What lasted for a minute?" Jean asked, walking into the kitchen.
He looked at Misae with his silvery grey-blue eyes and smiled.
"Uh...the overtime at Joey's game." Misae's face was now the
same bright red color as her hair. "Yeah....he scored the game
winner on an amazing goal. He totally had the goalie faked out.
"Uh, speaking of Joey, I'm supposed to go with him to Tony's
lacrosse tournament today. I better go call him and find out if
we're meeting Tony and Hioka-sama for breakfast. Bye!"
With that, Misae ran to the living room to grab the phone.
"So," Jean asked, looking at Misae from the corner of his eye,
"you think he slipped her tongue?"
"The way she's acting, I wouldn't be surprised if she slipped him
tongue."
Jean smiled bitter sweetly and turned towards the living room,
where Misae sat, venting her anger out at Tony. *There's definitely
some...thing between her and Joe. I just have a feeling that there
was some sort of relationship between her and him in some past life.
Yet, I've never seen her look at anyone, not even her brother, the
way she's looked at me. Then again, she chose to go to Joey's game
instead of mine last night. But, she did go with Tony, and they're
just friends.
*Maybe there's nothing to worry about. I'm just jumping ahead of
myself. However, if there is something going on between them, why
would she lie to me?*
"You alright, Jean?" Richard asked.
"Yeah, yeah..I'm fine." Pouring the glass of cereal into the
bowl of milk, he asked, "So, where did Mike go so early this morning?
He usually doesn't rise until after noon."

Mike paced nervously in front of the office of the Oaks' general
manager's office, nervously running his hands thru his wavy, dark
blonde hair. After the game the previous night, he was more than
positive that he was going to be told to remove his belongings from
his locker. *If they even allow me in the locker room again* he
thought.
"Valentino, come in here!"
Mike nervously entered the office. The older, heavier set man
who pretty much controlled the small town's pro minor league team was
sitting behind his desk. However, to his left, was seated a very
attractive young woman, probably a few years older than Mike was.
She had long blonde hair and a very athletic body. *What's the
Britney Spears look alike doing here?*, he thought.
"Yes, sir?" Mike asked.
"Aaah, you were able to make it, Valentino. Amanda, this is Mike
Valentino. He's one of our top players, and from I hear from some of
the girls that work in the office, one of the better looking guys on
the team, too." Mike blushed and lowered his eyes. "And he's rather
modest, too." This caused Mike to blush even MORE.
"Mike, this is Amanda Riley. She's the new PR person for the
Oaks."
Amanda smiled at Mike flirtatiously. "Your GM has told me many
nice things about you," she replied. "And I would have to agree with
those women who work here, too. You are a very handsome man."
"Thank you," Mike said.
"I was wondering if you would like to be part of the new ad
campaign. We're focusing on the lives of the players both on and off
the ice. From what your GM has told me about you, you would be a
perfect fit for what I have planned. Would you be interested?"
Mike smiled. "Sure."
"Great," Amanda said. "Let's talk over lunch." Mike didn't have
time to respond, as she said, "I'll see you at, uh, eleven-thirty?"
"Sure," Mike responded.
"Okay. I'll meet you here, then, and then we'll go to this
little spot that I found that has a GREAT lunch menu."
"Sounds like a date." Mike smiled and left. Amanda smiled to
herself.
*You haven't changed much, My fair prince. You're still a sucker
for a pretty face.*

At about 12:30, Mike and Amanda were sitting in a corner in a
bistro on the main drag of Oakdale, talking about the team and Mike's
life.
Amanda scribbled something on her PDA. "Mr. Bassard has also
told me that you've spent some time in Japan and brought your step
sister with you. That had to be a great experience for her, and
you."
"Well, yeah," Mike said, nervously picking at the noodle dish in
front of him. "I kind of had to bring her with. She IS my ward,
after all."
"Oh..so you're raising her, as well? Must be a difficult job,
especially considering how close the two of you are in age."
Mike blushed. "Well, it is. Luckily, Jean has been more than
willing to help. He's got such a way with her..."
Amanda smiled. *Come on now, my fair prince. One little slip
up, and I have you right where I want you...* she thought.
"Jean....doesn't he play one of the wings on your line?"
Mike nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah." He then realized
what she was hinting at, and shook his head in disagreement. "Don't
get the wrong impression about me and him, now. He's dating Misae.
He asked her out after one of our first games in Tokyo. I don't
remember if Misae was happy, surprised, or wanted to deck him."
Amanda chuckled. "Isn't that sweet? So, Michael, what about
you? Do you have anyone special in your life?"
Mike gulped. "W-whatever do you mean?"
"Come on, Michael. You're an absolutely gorgeous, talented young
man and you're an absolute gentleman. You must have SOME special
woman in your life."
"Uh, actually..." Mike said, trying his hardest to switch the
topic of conversation.
"Is this a difficult subject for you?" Amanda asked. Mike
nodded his head in agreement. "Listen, Michael, if you want, we can
discuss this in my hotel room after lunch, if it's really that
difficult. Alright?"
Michael smiled and looked at Amanda. He nodded his head in
agreement. "I'd like that very much, thank you."
*I've got him,* she thought.

Misae sat nervously watching Tony's lacrosse game. She felt a pain
in her gut, and wrapped her arms around her stomach in response.
Joe, who had been sitting next to her, looked at her as she moaned in
slight pain.
"You alright, Meesie?" he asked. Recently, he had started
to call her "Meesie", a form of Misa, the pet name that Mike and Jean
called her.
Misae nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got one of those
feelings, ya know. Maybe after I take a nap, I'll be fine."
Without another word, she leaned against Joe's shoulder and
fell asleep.

Soon, she saw herself in a small room, looking at a scene. It
appeared to her that she was on one side of a two-way mirror, with
the other people on the other side oblivious to her.
There were three people in the room. One was Michael. His face
was easy to see. The other two people were a little harder to
determine. They both were about the same height and build, though
one was a bit more developed than the other one. They both had long,
blonde hair that hung down to just above their knees. Both women
were wearing orange yellow colored togas. And, both of them had some
sort of sword handle hanging out of their back.
The one that was more developed, who also appeared to be older,
smiled and motioned to Mike to come over to her. He did so, and she
leaned slightly (or, as much as the sword would let her lean) and
whispered in his ear. He stepped back from her, looked over both
women again, and then walked over to the one he had talked to.
Smiling, he embraced her and started to pull the sword from her back.
Before he finished pulling the sword out of her, they both disappeared
in a swirl of olive leaves.
The other woman, after the choice was made, fell to her knees,
sobbing. A yellow-orange light engulfed her. When it disappeared, it
showed her true face and form: the princess and protector of the
planet of love.
The window or divider separating Misae from the scene disappeared,
and she then immediately ran to the side of her friend.
"Venus-chan, are you alright?"
"Solari-chan..." Sailorvenus looked up at Solaris, her face
battered and torn, "You..must...save the other knights...."
"Misae, wake up."

Joe had just barely nudged Misae and asked her to wake up. When he
saw her eyes snap open and heard her gasp loudly, he knew that something
was wrong. When she grabbed his backpack and dug thru it for her phone,
it just confirmed his suspicions.
"What are you doing?!" he asked.
"I gotta call Mike." Misae turned on the phone and dialed Mike's
cell phone number.
*Come on, Meeka,* she thought. *Pick up...*

Mike heard the phone ring, but he shut it off. After setting it
back on the night stand, he proceeded in leaning back against the
mound of pillows. Amanda then crawled up across his body and
proceeded to kiss him passionately on the lips. When he moaned and
started to kiss her back, she leaned away from him, her lips inches
from his.
"You liked that, didn't you my Prince?" she asked huskily. Mike
nodded his head in agreement and leaned up to kiss her again. She
laughed and scooted away from him. "On one condition. You join me.
Then, you can have this." She leaned in and kissed him again, this
time with more hunger than before, "And some of this." she said,
taking his hands and placing one on her chest and the other on her
stomach just below her belly button, "any time you want."
Mike didn't need anything else to be said. He leaned up and
kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her. He slid his hands up
and down her back until he found a sword's handle sticking out of his
back. While he massaged her hair with one hand, he wrapped his other
hand around the sword handle and pulled it out of her.

"Dammit!" Misae pushed the off button of her cell phone
fiercely. "He isn't answering!"
By now, Tony had finished changing and had caught up with Misae
and Joe. He looked at Misae skeptically and asked, innocently,
"Who's not answering?"
"Mike's not answering his cell phone." She sighed and slumped
against a nearby wall. "I hope that it's just out of batteries."
"Come on," Joe said. "Let's go get something at BurgerBarn, then
call him after we're done eating. Maybe he's on the way home or
something and he doesn't want to use his cell phone."
"Fine," Misae said. "But the second I'm done eating, I'm calling
home, then!"

Richard had just finished making a sandwich for himself and Mike,
who was supposed to have been home, when the phone rang. He jumped
up and ran to the phone.
"H-hello?" he asked.
"Richard. It's Mike." Mike's voice sounded cold and unfriendly,
which was not his normal tone.
"Oh, hey Mike. What do you want me to make for supper tonight?
Jean said that he was taking Misae out for supper, so it'll be just
us. Do you want me to go and pick up some con..."
"No."
"No?" Richard got a confused look on his face. "But, you know
how long it's been since we've had some time alone, and I'm really
looking forward to having some "us" time in our bedroom..."
"Richard, I've decided that I'm no longer interested in being
seen with a disgrace like you."
Richard's mouth dropped open. "M-mike....what are you talking
about?"
"Hmm, how do I put this so that a dumb fag like you will
understand? How's this: We're thru, you fucking queer."
The phone on the other end of the line hung up. Richard hung up
the phone and slumped against the wall by the phone. He had been
sitting there a few minutes before the phone rang again.

Misae rolled her eyes in anger as the phone rang. "Richard, I
KNOW you're home. You BETTER pick up."
Richard picked up the phone. "Listen here, Michael. If you
verbally accost me one more time, I will reach thru the phone line and
rip your balls off and shove them up your fucking ass."
"Richard?!?" Misae squeaked.
"Misae!" Richard squeaked. "Uh...hi."
"Uh, is everything alright, Richard?"
Richard chuckled. "Yeah, Misae. Everything's just a-okay."
There was a short period of silence before Richard broke into tears.
"Bwaaaaaaah! Mike just broke up with me over the phone!
Bwaaaaaaaah!"
"You're kidding, right?" Misae said. "Mike broke up with you
over the phone?!?"
Richard sniffled and said, "Yes."
"Holy shit. I'll be home as soon as I can, alright Richard?"
Richard said, "Awkay. *sniffle* Tawk to wou then. *honk!*"
As she shut off the phone, she shook her head in disbelief. *He
broke up with Richard over the phone? That's so not something
Michael would do...*
"Everything okay, Misae?" Tony asked.
Misae shook her head in disagreement. "Uh...no. Mike just broke
up with Richard over the phone, and he's really upset about it."
Joe sighed. "Damn. What a way to break up with someone."
Misae shook her head in disagreement. "That's not Mike's style,
though. Something's going on. We're going to my house."

"He called you WHAT?" Misae said, dropping her glass of Mountain
Dew on the table.
"Do I really have to repeat it, Misae?" Richard said.
"Yes!"
Richard sighed and tried to grab a tissue out of the empty box of
tissues in front of him. Jean handed him a new box. Richard then
opened it and grabbed about ten tissues from it. "He called me a fag
and a fucking queer."
Misae scrunched her face in confusion. "Are you sure it was
Michael?"
"God, Misae, what's with you and all the damn questions?" Joe asked.
"This isn't like Mike, Joe," she replied. "First off, he's bi,
so why would he call ANYONE any of those names that he called
Richard? Second, he NEVER swears, especially around anyone he cares
about. I've lived with him almost fifteen years, and the WORST word
that I've ever heard him say is "god damn it." Finally, all the
times that I've seen him dating someone, Mike has NEVER broken up
with them over the phone. That's just fucking low and cruel."
"I was on the phone with him, Misae!" Richard yelled, slamming
his hands down on the table. "I know what the hell he said!"
"I'm not DOUBTING what you said, Richard," Misae replied, staring
fiercely into Richard's dark hazel eyes. "I'm just saying that it's
not like him."
Before Richard could reply, Mike walked into the kitchen. Misae
immediately confronted him. Jean went to say something to her, but
by then she was practically in Michael's face.
"Michael Cupidius Valentino, you BETTER have a good explanation
for whatever happened on the phone with Richard earlier," she said.
Mike laughed coldly. "Yes I do, Princess. I have seen the error
of my ways, and I have found a new person to be with. One that has
shown me the light. One that is not possessed with an evil, perverse
demon that resided in Sodom." As he said the last line, he glared at
Richard evilly.
"Hold on there," Misae said, looking at Jean, Joe. "who are you,
and what have you done with my brother?"
"Oh, so you want to know who I am, Princess? I'll show you."
With that, he closed his eyes and nodded his head. He was
immediately clothed in a knights outfit similar to the ones that the
other knights did, but the color scheme was a bit different. The
armor's main color was a dark, dark grey, almost a black color. The
accents of the outfit were a yellow orange color, with the belt
holding the scabbard to his sword being a dark blue.
"Loyal protector of her lady, Aphrodite, her family the
Olympians, and liege to the future King of the sun, Zeus, I am the
crown prince of Venus. However, I am known, by you, as Venusknight."
He pulled his Gladius-style sword out of it's scabbard. "Which
one of you two are going to be the first to die? Is it going to be
you, you cuz guzzling faggot?" He pointed the sword at Richard's
neck, leaving a tiny trail of blood where the tip touched the neck.
"Or is it going to be you, you adulterous whore?" He pointed the
sword at Misae and started to slide the sword down her shirt.
"No you don't!" Jean said, tugging on the back of Misae's shirt
and pulling her away from Venusknight.
"Mercury Knight Power, TRANSFORM!"
"Mars Knight Power, TRANSFORM!"
"Jupiter Knight Power, TRANSFORM!"
Tony, Richard, and Joe turned into Marsknight, Jupiterknight, and
Mercuryknight, respectively, and stood in front of Misae and Jean.
Jupiterknight crossed his arms and stared at Venusknight. "Born
of lightning, with the power of the mighty oaks flowing thru my
veins, I am the son of the planet of faith, Jupiterknight! Prepare
to meet your doom."
Marsknight stood behind Jupiterknight's and turned his left shoulder
towards Venusknight. "Son of the planet of the flame, I am Marsknight!
In the name of my planet, I will eliminate you!"
Mercuryknight did the same thing that Marsknight did, except that
he turned his right shoulder towards Venusknight. "Child of water, son of
learning, I am the protector of the planet of wisdom, Mercuryknight! I
shall purify the evil inside of you!"
Misae rolled her eyes. *And I thought that the speeches that
Sailormoon and the others gave were corny...*
Venusknight laughed. "Do you seriously think that those corny speeches
are going to change my mind?"
A whirl of olive leaves appeared, and a barely clothed, extremely
attractive young woman appeared next to Venusknight. She looked at
the other three knights and laughed. "You mean to tell me that THESE
are the losers that defeated my brother and sister?"
Jupiterknight and Marsknight both grasped the hilts of their
swords defensively. Meanwhile, Mercuryknight crept closer to Misae and Jean,
preparing to defend them.
"I guess so, Love," Venusknight said, placing his free hand in
her hand. "I should introduce you to the ones we're sent to kill.
This is my lady and my love, Aphrodite." Aphrodite curtsied
politely.
Jupiterknight started to shake in envy and jealousy. Misae
closed her eyes and took a calming breath. "Stay calm, Jupiter," she
hissed. "Stay calm."
Venusknight glared at the three knights. "She's behind you, isn't
she? Isn't she?!?"
"You'll have to kill us to get to her," Mercuryknight said, placing
a hand on his scabbard.
Venusknight smiled. "That'll be a pleasure. VENUS CHAIN WHIP!" A
whip made of gold heart shaped links formed in his hand. He then proceeded
to snap his whip on Marsknight's hand, separating it from his sword. He
then proceeded to beat upon Marsknight with the whip.
"Nice job, Honey," Aphrodite said, wrapping her arms around him for
a second. Venusknight smiled in response and gave her a quick little
french kiss.
Without a second thought, Jupiterknight pulled out his sword. "I
pledge on my sword, the Thunder Sword, that you shall pay for what
you have done to my fellow knight. JUPITER....EAGLE..."
"NO!" Misae leaped up and pulled Jupiterknight back. However,
by then, he had completed his attack. However, instead of flying towards
Venusknight, it flew behind him, and struck Mercuryknight in the shoulder.
Mercuryknight immediately crumpled down in pain.
"Mercury!" Misae exclaimed, attempting to crawling over to him. Jean
tried to wrap his arms around her and pull her back.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Jupiterknight asked, turning towards
Misae. "I could have gotten rid of him!"
"You also would have killed Meeka in the process!" Misae mouthed,
staring back at him.
"Discord's as well as damage," Venusknight said, taking his whip
and slapping both Jean and Jupiterknight in the face with it. "I
guess I can let you pathetic losers deal with your wounds. Till next
time!"
Venusknight stepped back next to Aphrodite. The two of them
kissed, and they disappeared in a cloud of olive leaves.
Misae almost immediately went to Mercuryknight's side. "I'm so
sorry, Joe." she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Jean looked over at Misae and snarled.
*If this was a few weeks ago, she would have checked to see if I
was alright, first. Now, she's tending Mercuryknight's wounds
first.* A few tears crept around the corners of his light greyish blue
eyes. *Maybe I am right...maybe she IS cheating on me.*

Later that night. Misae had gotten up to get something to drink
and walked past Mike and Richard's room. The door was open a crack,
so she peeked in. Richard was sitting on the bed, one of his college
books open on his lap. However, Richard wasn't reading the book.
His focus was on the picture in the frame that he was holding.
"You alright, Richard?" she asked.
Richard waived her into the room and patted a space beside him on
the bed. She did, and looked at the picture Richard was staring at.
Naturally, it was a picture of Richard and Michael.
Richard sighed. "I guess I should be thanking you for pulling me
back earlier today."
Misae sighed. "Why? I ended up injuring Joe's shoulder (thank
god it's only cut) and now Jean thinks I'm sleeping with Joe because
I wanted to apologize to him!"
Richard shook his head. "No, because you were right. If I would
have attacked that guy, Mike would have been dead. I guess I was just
so infuriated with what that...thing...was doing with him, I wasn't
thinking.
"Speaking of being infuriated, I do happen to see Jean's point.
You have been spending an awful lot of time with Joe lately, he's told me."
Misae rolled her eyes. "I also have two major tests within the
next week! Besides, Joe's a nice guy, but he's not boyfriend
material. He's a guy friend. My guy friends are sexless."
A tear trickled from Richard's eyes as he slowly stroked Mike's
picture. "Have you figured out how to get Mike back?"
Misae shook her head. "Nope. I've contacted my friends in Japan
for advice. However, they haven't responded yet."
"Oh," Richard said. He sighed, stared at the picture again, and
then started crying again. Misae sighed and put her arms around Richard.
*This seals it,* she thought. *Next chance I get, I have to try
to henshin with the one earring.* She kissed the top of Richard's
head. *I can't let anyone else I care about get hurt.*