"Are you sure that this is the solution?" the darker skinned
woman asked as the young man packed his bags.
"I'm sure, sis," he said, zipping up his last bag. He turned
and looked at the woman, who was almost his mirror image. "It's
time. She's already lost one of her team, I heard you say. Besides,
I think it'd be best to separate the two children." He glanced over
at the eight year old boy with pale, curly hair, and the ten year
old girl with straight, dark purple hair. "We don't want them to be
woken up again."
"I understand." She looked down at the floor, then back at
him. "I'm gonna miss you, Simeon." She smiled bittersweetly. "It
was nice to see you."
He smiled bittersweetly, also. "One of these times, Setsuna,
we're going to have to meet under better circumstances."
TMTK Chapter Five:
Plutoknight Dream
The sound of moving vans outside of the house woke Misae up
from her troubled sleep. It was the same dream that she had been
having ever since Michael's disapearance: one by one, every person
she cared about disapeared from her life. She wrapped a blanket
around her shoulders and walked to the window, staring out of it.
"You alright, Misae?" Jean asked. Misae moving out of bed had
woken him up.
"Yeah, I guess," she said. "Someone's moving into that old
house across the street."
Jean sighed and bueried his head under his pillow. "Misae,
you're turning into an old lady. Stop spying on the neighborhood."
"Well it was someone new to Oakdale that ended up taking Meeka
away!" Misae snapped back, her eyes flashing with anger and worry.
"I have a good reason to be fucking paranoid!"
Jean sat on, slipped on a pair of slippers and walked over to
Misae. He then wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her
head. "Is that why you haven't been able to sleep lately?"
Misae nodded her head in agreement. Jean sighed and kissed the
top of her head again.
"I promise, Misae, we're going to get Mike back."
"When, Jean? When am I going to get him back? Tell me."
Misae's eyes started to well with tears. "He's the only..."
"I know, Misa." Jean pulled Misae closer to him. "I know he's
the only family you got. That's why Joey and Tony and Richard and I
are going to do whatever we can to get him back. Okay?"
Misae sighed. She then turned to Jean, and stroked his chin
with her fingers. *I promise I'm never going to let ANYONE take you
away from me, Jean. NEVER.*
Jean leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "I'm never, ever,
going to let anyone take you away from me."
Misae smiled. "Let's go sit on the bed, Jean. I'm not into
exhibitionism."
Jean turned a bright shade of red. "Where....did you...learn
that word from???"
"I've been talking to Richard and he keeps on talking about his
sex life with Mike."
Jean turned another, darker shade of red.
Zeus coughed as he walked into a dark corridor, leading to a
damp basement. When he got to an old, wooden door, he knocked on it.
The door squeaked open, exposing a damp, dimly lit labrotory of
sorts.
"Hades! *coughcough* Are you here?" Zeus asked.
"Who let you in here?" a dark, booming voice asked.
"I did, Hades! It's me, Zeus."
An older man, with frazzled white hair and wearing a pair of
goggles, peeked around the corner of one of the doors inside the
labrotory. When his eyes confirmed his suspicions, he smiled widely.
"Zeus, old buddy, old pal! How ya been?" He jumped in front
of Zeus and started shaking his hand. "So...do you need me or what?"
"Yes and no. It appears as if Plutoknight wasn't reborn after
all. Or, if he was, he already had his awakening and recieved his
powers."
"Shucks," Hades said, snapping his fingers. "And I really
wanted to get a hold of him, too."
"However, I would like it if you could create something that
would harvest Plutoknight's powers or neutralize them. If he has his
power source taken away, he can't henshin. While, it would be a lot
nicer to have him on our side, seeing as this can't be done,
preventing him from using his powers would be a nice substitute.
Can you handle that, Hades?"
"But of course, Zeus!" Hades bowed and shook Zeus' hand a bit
over zealously. "I'd be glad to! I'll have it done in a jiffy."
"I'd spend my time on it, Hades. I'm not willing to accept
failure." He made a slitting motion across his throat and pointed at
Hades.
Hades coughed. "U-uh...y-yes sir. Right away, Sir." With
that, Hades disapeared behind one of the doors of the labratory.
Zeus shook his head in disbelief and walked out of the
labratory, shutting the door behind him. *Hades has always been the
strange one,* he thought. *Too bad he's such a genius, other wise
he'da been gone a long time ago...*
"Are you coming, Misae?" Jean asked.
Misae sighed. "Why do we have to bring this over to the new
neighbors? Can't Richard do it?"
Jean shook his head, picking up the casserol dish sitting on
the cupboard. "Richard's still in morning over losing Meeka, Misae.
Besides, if I eat another piece of Richard's cooking, no matter how
good it is, I'm gonna puke. We're just gonna drop this off, and then
we're going to go over to that Thai place near The Imperial Garden to
eat. Just you." He reached over and held Misae's hand in his. "And
me."
"That's gonna be wonderful, Jean." Misae leaned up and gave
him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Come on. The sooner we deliver this, the sooner we can go,
and the sooner...we can come back."
Misae literally flew up the steps, got her purse and jacket,
and outside. "Come on, Jean. We're going to be late!"
Jean shook his head and chuckled, stepping out of the house
with the casserol dish tucked under his arm. *Now, this is the Misae
I know and fell in love with...not that sad, depressed thing that I
had been seeing for the past few weeks.*
The two of them walked over, practically hand in hand. Jean
stepped in front of Misae and rang the doorbell. A pale, sickly
young boy, with limp, curly blonde hair as pale as his skin, answered
the door. He stared thru them with his emotionless, dark purple eyes
and cuddled a raggedy teddy bear with a maroon tie and a purple, gem-
like tie tack.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a monotone voice.
Jean immediately jumped behind Misae. "Y-you talk to him," he
said, quivering in fear.
Misae leaned down to the young child's eye level and asked,
"Are your parents home?"
"Just a second. Dad, there's someone here to see you." The
kid's voice never moved above or below the tone he greeted them with.
A young man, about Mike's age, with dark tan skin, dark black
hair that had a tinge of green to it, and dark russet eyes came to
the door. He was wearing a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of jeans.
"Carey," the young man said, looking down at the boy, "were you
scaring people again?"
The young boy looked up at the young man. "I'm sorry, Dad," he
said in a normal voice.
The young man chuckled. "Alright, Carey. Go watch Pokèmon."
"Yah!" The young boy ran into the living room and sat down on
the couch.
"I'm sorry for that. Carey's still adjusting to life here in
Oakdale." He held out his hand. "I'm Simeon Meiou. Carey and I just
moved here from..." he stood and looked them over a bit. "From
Minneapolis."
*Meiou...* Misae thought. *Isn't that Setsuna-san's last name?
Maybe I just misheard him..."
"Hello," Jean said. "I'm Jean Duprè, and this is my
girlfriend, Misae Fleury. We live in the house across the street."
Jean held up the casserol dish. "We figured that it'd be nice if you
didn't have to worry about cooking dinner tonight, seeing as you're
still getting settled in, so we brought over a casserol."
Misae smiled at Simeon. "It's a tuna casserol that our friend
Richard, who's living with us, made. He's an excellant cook, and
he's also a nutritionist, so it's a healthy meal, too."
Simeon smiled. "Thank you. Why don't you come in?"
Jean looked at Misae. She smiled and said, "Sure!" She walked
into the house and took off her shoes. Simeon looked at her
strangely.
"Sorry," Misae said. "I'm still used to houses in Japan."
Simeon smiled at her. "No, it's alright. I was just impressed
that you took off your shoes before I asked you to. It's one of the
few ways that I keep a part of my Japanese heritage."
Jean took off his shoes, and Simeon lead them to his living
room, where Carey was watching Pokèmon intently, only he had moved to
the floor instead of sitting on the couch. The two men engaged in
some small talk. Misae sat on one end of the couch, looking around
at the cozy living room. She noticed a silver picture frame on the
table.
"Who's this?" she asked.
"Oh, noone, Misae," Simeon said. "It's just a picture of me
and my cousin."
"Oh."
Next, she noticed a small, red book with gold lettering on the
table, sitting open amongst a sea of scattered toys. She picked up
the book and tried reading the title.
"Odd-y-sea?" Misae asked.
Simeon chuckled. "It's The Oddysee."
"What the heck kind of title is THAT for a kids' book?" she
asked.
Carey turned away from the TV and glared at Misae with his dark
violet eyes. They turned cold, somber, and serious: way too serious
for the eyes of a eight year old kid to be. "It's a classic Greek
coming of age Epic written by one of the best know writers in Greek
culture, Homer. It is much better than anything that could be
written today." His eyes turned back into the type of eyes a normal
eight year old kid would have. "Except Pokèmon. I *like* that
show."
"Ooookay," Misae said, setting the book back down where she
found it. *That little kid's really starting to freak me out.*
By then, Misae's curiosity of what Simeon's cousin looked like
had gotten the best of her. She picked up the silver photo frame and
looked at the picture in it. Her emerald green eyes widened in
shock, suprise, and confusion.
"S-s-s...Setsuna-san?" she asked.
Hades giggled evily as he put the finishing touches on his
invention.
"Eureka!" he shrieked. "It's finished!"
Hermes, who had been sent by Zeus to help the frazzled old
scientist, peeked around the corner of his hiding place. "Finally,"
he said to himself. Hades, who heard him mumble something, looked at
him with anger in his eyes. "Uh....I mean, it's finished, sir?"
Hades' face broke into a smile. "Yes it is, young Hermes." He
held up his 'invention'. "I call it...a Thingamabob!"
Hermes looked at Hades skeptically with his dark brown eyes.
"Uh, Hades, sir? It's called a 'muffin', I believe."
Hades' face fell. "Oh."
"But, sir? How is a muffin supposed to help us capture
Plutoknight?"
Hades pulled Hermes over, put an arm around the younger man,
and held up the muffin. "This 'muffin', as you call it, is made with
a special ingredient which is specifically tuned to the sine curve
produced by the electo-magnetic field produced by his body, which
causes his henshin item to work. This 'muffin', when he digests it,
will create a permanate change in his body's electro-magnetic field,
which will then render his henshin item, as well as his sword's
powers, useless. In addition, because it is specifically tuned to
him, it will not affect anyone else if eaten, which will make it un-
noticeable." Hades took a bite out of one of the other muffins in
the tin. "It also has a delectable hint of honey and pomegranite in
it."
Hermes sighed and rolled his eyes. *Our greatest inventor has
a thing for bakery. We're doomed.*
"This'll be my greatest invention ever!" Hades said, smiling
broadly. "Hades, old boy, you're a genius!"
"Setsuna-san? With a man?" The whole concept boggled Misae's
mind. For as long as she had known the taller, dark green haired
senshi of time, she had never seen any picture that depicted her with
anyone but another one of the Senshi, especially a man. Not only
that, she had never said anything about having any relatives.
*Heck,* Misae thought, *I don't even know if she has any
pictures of Mamoru-sama....why would she have a picture with THIS
guy?*
Carey looked at Misae, scanning her with his dark purple eyes.
"You know Setsuna-mama?" he asked.
*Setsuna-mama?* Misae thought. She then nodded her head in
agreement and said, "Yes I do, Carey. I met her when I lived in
Tokyo."
"So you know Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Hotaru-chan, too?"
Carey's eyes widened.
"Uh-huh." Misae replied. "I also know Usagi-tachi."
"Usagi-tachi?" Carey asked.
"Oh. So you only know Haruka-tachi?" Carey nodded his head in
agreement. "That's alright...I guess.
"I didn't know Setsuna-san had any relatives..."
That was when Simeon heard the conversation. "Setsuna-san?" he
asked accusingly.
Misae gulped and smiled, hiding the picture behind her back.
"Uh...Setsuna-san what?"
Jean sighed, shook his head, reached behind Misae, and pulled
out the picture frame she was hiding. He then took a quick glance at
it. "You're right, Misae...that IS Setsuna-sama."
Simeon arched his eyebrows. "How do you two know my sister?"
Misae's mouth dropped to the ground. "SISTER?!? YOU SAID SHE
WAS YOUR COUSIN!!!"
Simeon nervously scratched the side of his head and blushed
intensely. "I guess I owe you two an explanation. Over dinner,
perhaps?"
"So that's how we know Setsuna-sama," Jean said.
After helping Simeon find a babysitter for Carey, Jean and
Misae invited him with to a small cafe near the rink where the Mighty
Oaks played to eat a quick dinner.
Simeon smiled. A few things the young man and the young woman
had said coincided with what Setsuna had told him what happened the
first time she met the fiery senshi of the sun and her more calm
tempered advisor.
*I should let them know of my true identity,* he thought. *But
I can't. Not yet, anyway. If I let them know who I am right now,
the story of time will change, and not for the better.* he thought.
"So, how come Setsuna never told me she had a brother," Misae
asked.
"Because when they separated us, I got sent to live with an
American pilot stationed in Osaka," Simeon said. "He kept my last
name, but changed my first name, Hideaki, into my middle name and
gave me a first name of Simeon. I actually seeked her out. After
finding out I had a younger sister, I wanted to know what she looked
like. Luckily for me, she looks exactly like me."
Hades peeked around the corner of the kitchen and saw the three
young people laughing while drinking coffee and eating dinner. He
smiled evily as he disguised himself as their waiter.
*Smile now, Simeon de Meiousei,* Hades thought. *Your days of
laughter are about to end soon.*
Shortly after the end of Simeon's story about how he was re-
united with Setsuna, their waiter came over, with a trio of muffins
on his tray. He then proceeded to set a muffin in front of each of
them.
"What's with THIS?" Misae asked.
"Oh..." Hades quickly tried to think of a good reason for the
dessert. "Um...we're thinking of selling a new type of muffin here,
and the manager chose your table to get a free sample."
"Can we get our check?" Jean asked.
"Oh, sure..." Hades searched for their check and put it on the
table. "There ya go. Happy night!" He quickly ran back to the
kitchen.
Misae picked up the muffin and looked at it. "It's definately
INTREGUING looking," she said. She then brought the muffin to her
nose and inhailed its aroma. "It's....honey and pomegranite?"
Jean looked over the muffins. "You know, I'm getting a funny
feeling about these muffins."
"Yeah," Misae replied. "Who would eat a pomegranite flavored
muffin? Seriously!"
"We should be getting back, anyway," Simeon replied. "I told
that girl that's watching Carey that we'd only be gone for an hour
and a half or so." Misae and Jean nodded their heads in agreement.
They stood up, grabbed the check, and left, leaving the muffins
sitting on the table.
"Damnit," Hades grumbled to himself. "He's smarter than I
thought he was." He then dug in a pouch that was hanging on his
right side and picked up a small vial. "Good thing I always have a
back up plan." He cackled evily.
"Okay, Jean," Misae asked, "what did you think was so funky
about those muffins?"
"Misa, a bunch of the guys and I eat there after our home
games, and the manager has NEVER offered us ANYTHING free. Not only
that, but the waiter acted differently than he had acted most of the
night."
"So what-do-you-think-was-wrong-with-those-muffins?" Misae
asked again.
"Nothing that you puny humans could determine."
An elderly looking, wild haired man stood in front of them.
"At least, unless you used your powers..."
"What powers?" Misae asked, as the man backed them into a dead
end alley.
"Don't make me laugh, Princess," the wild haired man growled.
"You know EXACTLY what powers I'm talking about. Oh, wait, you
don't. You haven't been able to henshin since one of your earrings
was stolen a while ago."
Misae's mouth opened in shock as Jean stood in front of her.
"You leave her alone," he demanded, his face curled into an
uncharacteristic snarl. "NOW."
"Silly boy," the wild haired man cackled. "Don't make me force
you to feel the wrath of Hades."
"I said LEAVE HER ALONE!" Jean repeated, his face growing more
intense and serious. His silver blue eyes started to glow with the
same fire that characteristically was in Misae's emerald green eyes.
Simeon didn't say anything, but he stood alongside of Jean,
protecting Misae from whatever it was that the man who called himself
"Hades" had planned.
"Fine, then. I'm sorry to have to resort to such measures."
He dug into a small leather pouch that was hanging from his waist,
and pulled out a small container that looked like a pill. He then
threw it to the ground, and it started to smoke. When the smoke
disapeared, Hades was gone, but a creature stood in its path. It
loosely had the form of a dog, but it had three heads.
"I am Charon, guardian of the passage to the realm of Death,
and I have been summoned to assist you on the path to your death."
Jean growled. "I don't think so. I call upon the power of the
dragon, my home constellation. DRACO POWER, TRANSFORM!"
Jean transformed into Draco, and then drew the small dagger
that he usually carried only for protection from its holder. "Born
of the stars and proteced by the legendary dragon, I am the protector
of peace and learning, Draco. Anyone who shall try to injure my
loved one shall feel my wrath."
Misae laughed out loud. "What wrath? I've seen flies kick the
crap out of you, Jean..."
*Shut up, Misae,* Draco thought, sending the message to Misae's
brain. *I'm trying to psych him out.*
*Talk about someone who's psycho...* Misae thought in reply.
"We'll talk about this later," Draco growled.
Charon attacked, sending out a beam of grayish colored energy.
It hit Draco square in the chest, and knocked him to the ground. His
head hit the ground, and he was knocked unconscious.
"JEAN!" Misae screamed.
*God damnit,* she thought. *If I had been able to transform,
then Jean wouldn't be in this state. He wouldn't have had to protect
me. Mike would still be here, instead of with Aphrodite. I HAVE to
transform...I just HAVE to.*
Misae raised her right hand into the air. "Solaris Star Power,
Make-Up!"
Nothing happened.
"I said, SOLARIS STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!"
Again, nothing happened.
A tear fell from her eye as she yelled out the transformation
line again, and nothing happened again. She fell to her knees and
started sobbing on Jean's shoulder.
"I, I'm sorry, mon amant," she whispered. "I tried, really I
did..."
"Solaria..." a chorus of voices called out. "Solaria, turn
around..."
Misae stood up and turned. Standing behind her were four
ghost-like figures. All four of them were dressed in sailor fukus.
Their bodysuits were white, as were their gloves. Misae's eyes lit
up in recognition.
"Hyperion, Helios, Phoebus, Apollo, what are you doing here?"
she asked in suprise.
The one called Helios was the first one to speak. She was
wearing a burnt orange skirt, with a matching burnt orange sailor's
collar and brooch. Both the bow at the back of her skirt and the bow
that was at the base of the collar were a dark, brick red. She
brushed her shoulder length, braided hair behind her shoulder and
looked lovingly at Misae with her dark orange eyes. "It is time,
Princess," she replied, holding out her right hand. A small crystal
shard was sitting in her hand.
"Time for WHAT?"
"Time for you to transform," another one replied. She had
wavy, light blue hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail. Her fuku
was dark blue, except for the lake blue bows in the front and in the
back. She opened her right hand, where another shard from a crystal
was.
"Uh, Hyperion, I can't transform. I don't have my earrings."
A third one, with pale blonde hair and dark green uniform with
dark brown bows, spoke. "We're here to help you with that,
Solaria." She opened her right hand, where a third crystal shard
was.
The last one spoke. She had a light gray fuku, that seemed to
match her pale gray hair that was pulled back into a bun, with dark
purple accents that matched her dark purple eyes. "Helios, Hyperion,
Phoebus, and I have been summoned to give to you your Solar Crystal."
"Solar crystal?"
At that time, Apollo opened her left hand, where a fourth
crystal like shard was. The four shards floated in the air, and
combined to form a golden yellow colored, heart shaped crystal.
"Take the crystal," the four girls said in unison. "Save
yourself and your prince." With that, they disapeared.
Misae nervously took a hold of the heart shaped crystal. Then,
she placed to her chest, and yelled out "SOLARIS CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE-
UP!" She turned into not Sailorsolaris, but Super Sailorsolaris.
Where the three puffy sleeves used to be on her old fuku, there was
two oval shaped, transparent pink sleeves that stuck out over her
shoulder, instead of covering it completely. Her brooch changed from
a circle to a heart, and the tails of her back bow grew longer.
There was also one more change. In her left hand was a flail.
The handle was about two feet in length, and it was made of what
appeared to be oak. There were gold colored etchings in the handle
of different symbols. The chain of the flail was about three feet in
length, and the links were made of a gold-like material. At the end
of the chain was a large ball. The ball itself was about six inches
in diameter, and that was not counting the twenty four three inch
spikes that protruded from the ball. Like the chain, it was made of
a golden colored material.
Simeon smiled. *Now, it's time.* He thrust his right hand
into the air and called out, "Plutoknight Power, TRANSFORM!"
Simeon's transformation was rather simple. He shimmered, and
his clothes turn into his fuku.
"On behalf of Pluto, the planet of death, I am the soldier of
time, Plutoknight!" He pulled out his sword and pointed it at the
youma. "It's time to write you into history."
*They get cheesier and cheesier,* Super Sailorsolaris thought.
Charon charged towards the two soldiers. Plutoknight was the
first one to attack.
Putting his sword back into its sheath, Plutoknight looked at
Charon. "Death's Murmur," he whispered. A ball of pinkish purple
energy formed in his hands, which he threw at the three headed dog.
It knocked the dog back, and severly wounded it.
"It's your chance, Solaris-sama," Plutoknight whispered.
Solaris nodded, and tightly grasped the flail in her hands.
Lifting the flail up over her head, she yelled out "Solar Flare!"
Then, she slammed the ball end of the flail into the ground. A
spiked ball of energy came out from the ground, and flew towards
Charon. As the ball of energy hit the youma, it exploded into
thousands of small spikes, tearing Charon into pieces.
Solaris smiled as she examined the flail. "This is SWEET," she
said, then de-transformed. Simeon followed suit.
"Come on," he said, "help me bring Jean to my minivan."
"Is he going to be alright?" Misae asked nervously.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. He just got knocked out."
"But, but SIR!" Hades stuttered, nervously backing up. "I
didn't know that she hadn't transformed into her Super form!"
"I don't CARE!" Zeus yelled, pulling out a large silver sword.
"I told you to eliminate Plutoknight, or else..."
"Give me one more chance, Sir!" Hades stammered. "Pl..."
Hades' plea went unfinished as Zeus struck him with the sword.
"That bitch imprisoned me. She'll pay for her past decisions."
Hermes saw the whole scene from his secret hiding space.
Nervously, he gulped.
*Why would he kill Hades for screwing up once?* he thought.
*It's almost as if he's jealous...why does he REALLY want to destroy
her? She's not a bad person.*
woman asked as the young man packed his bags.
"I'm sure, sis," he said, zipping up his last bag. He turned
and looked at the woman, who was almost his mirror image. "It's
time. She's already lost one of her team, I heard you say. Besides,
I think it'd be best to separate the two children." He glanced over
at the eight year old boy with pale, curly hair, and the ten year
old girl with straight, dark purple hair. "We don't want them to be
woken up again."
"I understand." She looked down at the floor, then back at
him. "I'm gonna miss you, Simeon." She smiled bittersweetly. "It
was nice to see you."
He smiled bittersweetly, also. "One of these times, Setsuna,
we're going to have to meet under better circumstances."
TMTK Chapter Five:
Plutoknight Dream
The sound of moving vans outside of the house woke Misae up
from her troubled sleep. It was the same dream that she had been
having ever since Michael's disapearance: one by one, every person
she cared about disapeared from her life. She wrapped a blanket
around her shoulders and walked to the window, staring out of it.
"You alright, Misae?" Jean asked. Misae moving out of bed had
woken him up.
"Yeah, I guess," she said. "Someone's moving into that old
house across the street."
Jean sighed and bueried his head under his pillow. "Misae,
you're turning into an old lady. Stop spying on the neighborhood."
"Well it was someone new to Oakdale that ended up taking Meeka
away!" Misae snapped back, her eyes flashing with anger and worry.
"I have a good reason to be fucking paranoid!"
Jean sat on, slipped on a pair of slippers and walked over to
Misae. He then wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her
head. "Is that why you haven't been able to sleep lately?"
Misae nodded her head in agreement. Jean sighed and kissed the
top of her head again.
"I promise, Misae, we're going to get Mike back."
"When, Jean? When am I going to get him back? Tell me."
Misae's eyes started to well with tears. "He's the only..."
"I know, Misa." Jean pulled Misae closer to him. "I know he's
the only family you got. That's why Joey and Tony and Richard and I
are going to do whatever we can to get him back. Okay?"
Misae sighed. She then turned to Jean, and stroked his chin
with her fingers. *I promise I'm never going to let ANYONE take you
away from me, Jean. NEVER.*
Jean leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "I'm never, ever,
going to let anyone take you away from me."
Misae smiled. "Let's go sit on the bed, Jean. I'm not into
exhibitionism."
Jean turned a bright shade of red. "Where....did you...learn
that word from???"
"I've been talking to Richard and he keeps on talking about his
sex life with Mike."
Jean turned another, darker shade of red.
Zeus coughed as he walked into a dark corridor, leading to a
damp basement. When he got to an old, wooden door, he knocked on it.
The door squeaked open, exposing a damp, dimly lit labrotory of
sorts.
"Hades! *coughcough* Are you here?" Zeus asked.
"Who let you in here?" a dark, booming voice asked.
"I did, Hades! It's me, Zeus."
An older man, with frazzled white hair and wearing a pair of
goggles, peeked around the corner of one of the doors inside the
labrotory. When his eyes confirmed his suspicions, he smiled widely.
"Zeus, old buddy, old pal! How ya been?" He jumped in front
of Zeus and started shaking his hand. "So...do you need me or what?"
"Yes and no. It appears as if Plutoknight wasn't reborn after
all. Or, if he was, he already had his awakening and recieved his
powers."
"Shucks," Hades said, snapping his fingers. "And I really
wanted to get a hold of him, too."
"However, I would like it if you could create something that
would harvest Plutoknight's powers or neutralize them. If he has his
power source taken away, he can't henshin. While, it would be a lot
nicer to have him on our side, seeing as this can't be done,
preventing him from using his powers would be a nice substitute.
Can you handle that, Hades?"
"But of course, Zeus!" Hades bowed and shook Zeus' hand a bit
over zealously. "I'd be glad to! I'll have it done in a jiffy."
"I'd spend my time on it, Hades. I'm not willing to accept
failure." He made a slitting motion across his throat and pointed at
Hades.
Hades coughed. "U-uh...y-yes sir. Right away, Sir." With
that, Hades disapeared behind one of the doors of the labratory.
Zeus shook his head in disbelief and walked out of the
labratory, shutting the door behind him. *Hades has always been the
strange one,* he thought. *Too bad he's such a genius, other wise
he'da been gone a long time ago...*
"Are you coming, Misae?" Jean asked.
Misae sighed. "Why do we have to bring this over to the new
neighbors? Can't Richard do it?"
Jean shook his head, picking up the casserol dish sitting on
the cupboard. "Richard's still in morning over losing Meeka, Misae.
Besides, if I eat another piece of Richard's cooking, no matter how
good it is, I'm gonna puke. We're just gonna drop this off, and then
we're going to go over to that Thai place near The Imperial Garden to
eat. Just you." He reached over and held Misae's hand in his. "And
me."
"That's gonna be wonderful, Jean." Misae leaned up and gave
him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Come on. The sooner we deliver this, the sooner we can go,
and the sooner...we can come back."
Misae literally flew up the steps, got her purse and jacket,
and outside. "Come on, Jean. We're going to be late!"
Jean shook his head and chuckled, stepping out of the house
with the casserol dish tucked under his arm. *Now, this is the Misae
I know and fell in love with...not that sad, depressed thing that I
had been seeing for the past few weeks.*
The two of them walked over, practically hand in hand. Jean
stepped in front of Misae and rang the doorbell. A pale, sickly
young boy, with limp, curly blonde hair as pale as his skin, answered
the door. He stared thru them with his emotionless, dark purple eyes
and cuddled a raggedy teddy bear with a maroon tie and a purple, gem-
like tie tack.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a monotone voice.
Jean immediately jumped behind Misae. "Y-you talk to him," he
said, quivering in fear.
Misae leaned down to the young child's eye level and asked,
"Are your parents home?"
"Just a second. Dad, there's someone here to see you." The
kid's voice never moved above or below the tone he greeted them with.
A young man, about Mike's age, with dark tan skin, dark black
hair that had a tinge of green to it, and dark russet eyes came to
the door. He was wearing a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of jeans.
"Carey," the young man said, looking down at the boy, "were you
scaring people again?"
The young boy looked up at the young man. "I'm sorry, Dad," he
said in a normal voice.
The young man chuckled. "Alright, Carey. Go watch Pokèmon."
"Yah!" The young boy ran into the living room and sat down on
the couch.
"I'm sorry for that. Carey's still adjusting to life here in
Oakdale." He held out his hand. "I'm Simeon Meiou. Carey and I just
moved here from..." he stood and looked them over a bit. "From
Minneapolis."
*Meiou...* Misae thought. *Isn't that Setsuna-san's last name?
Maybe I just misheard him..."
"Hello," Jean said. "I'm Jean Duprè, and this is my
girlfriend, Misae Fleury. We live in the house across the street."
Jean held up the casserol dish. "We figured that it'd be nice if you
didn't have to worry about cooking dinner tonight, seeing as you're
still getting settled in, so we brought over a casserol."
Misae smiled at Simeon. "It's a tuna casserol that our friend
Richard, who's living with us, made. He's an excellant cook, and
he's also a nutritionist, so it's a healthy meal, too."
Simeon smiled. "Thank you. Why don't you come in?"
Jean looked at Misae. She smiled and said, "Sure!" She walked
into the house and took off her shoes. Simeon looked at her
strangely.
"Sorry," Misae said. "I'm still used to houses in Japan."
Simeon smiled at her. "No, it's alright. I was just impressed
that you took off your shoes before I asked you to. It's one of the
few ways that I keep a part of my Japanese heritage."
Jean took off his shoes, and Simeon lead them to his living
room, where Carey was watching Pokèmon intently, only he had moved to
the floor instead of sitting on the couch. The two men engaged in
some small talk. Misae sat on one end of the couch, looking around
at the cozy living room. She noticed a silver picture frame on the
table.
"Who's this?" she asked.
"Oh, noone, Misae," Simeon said. "It's just a picture of me
and my cousin."
"Oh."
Next, she noticed a small, red book with gold lettering on the
table, sitting open amongst a sea of scattered toys. She picked up
the book and tried reading the title.
"Odd-y-sea?" Misae asked.
Simeon chuckled. "It's The Oddysee."
"What the heck kind of title is THAT for a kids' book?" she
asked.
Carey turned away from the TV and glared at Misae with his dark
violet eyes. They turned cold, somber, and serious: way too serious
for the eyes of a eight year old kid to be. "It's a classic Greek
coming of age Epic written by one of the best know writers in Greek
culture, Homer. It is much better than anything that could be
written today." His eyes turned back into the type of eyes a normal
eight year old kid would have. "Except Pokèmon. I *like* that
show."
"Ooookay," Misae said, setting the book back down where she
found it. *That little kid's really starting to freak me out.*
By then, Misae's curiosity of what Simeon's cousin looked like
had gotten the best of her. She picked up the silver photo frame and
looked at the picture in it. Her emerald green eyes widened in
shock, suprise, and confusion.
"S-s-s...Setsuna-san?" she asked.
Hades giggled evily as he put the finishing touches on his
invention.
"Eureka!" he shrieked. "It's finished!"
Hermes, who had been sent by Zeus to help the frazzled old
scientist, peeked around the corner of his hiding place. "Finally,"
he said to himself. Hades, who heard him mumble something, looked at
him with anger in his eyes. "Uh....I mean, it's finished, sir?"
Hades' face broke into a smile. "Yes it is, young Hermes." He
held up his 'invention'. "I call it...a Thingamabob!"
Hermes looked at Hades skeptically with his dark brown eyes.
"Uh, Hades, sir? It's called a 'muffin', I believe."
Hades' face fell. "Oh."
"But, sir? How is a muffin supposed to help us capture
Plutoknight?"
Hades pulled Hermes over, put an arm around the younger man,
and held up the muffin. "This 'muffin', as you call it, is made with
a special ingredient which is specifically tuned to the sine curve
produced by the electo-magnetic field produced by his body, which
causes his henshin item to work. This 'muffin', when he digests it,
will create a permanate change in his body's electro-magnetic field,
which will then render his henshin item, as well as his sword's
powers, useless. In addition, because it is specifically tuned to
him, it will not affect anyone else if eaten, which will make it un-
noticeable." Hades took a bite out of one of the other muffins in
the tin. "It also has a delectable hint of honey and pomegranite in
it."
Hermes sighed and rolled his eyes. *Our greatest inventor has
a thing for bakery. We're doomed.*
"This'll be my greatest invention ever!" Hades said, smiling
broadly. "Hades, old boy, you're a genius!"
"Setsuna-san? With a man?" The whole concept boggled Misae's
mind. For as long as she had known the taller, dark green haired
senshi of time, she had never seen any picture that depicted her with
anyone but another one of the Senshi, especially a man. Not only
that, she had never said anything about having any relatives.
*Heck,* Misae thought, *I don't even know if she has any
pictures of Mamoru-sama....why would she have a picture with THIS
guy?*
Carey looked at Misae, scanning her with his dark purple eyes.
"You know Setsuna-mama?" he asked.
*Setsuna-mama?* Misae thought. She then nodded her head in
agreement and said, "Yes I do, Carey. I met her when I lived in
Tokyo."
"So you know Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Hotaru-chan, too?"
Carey's eyes widened.
"Uh-huh." Misae replied. "I also know Usagi-tachi."
"Usagi-tachi?" Carey asked.
"Oh. So you only know Haruka-tachi?" Carey nodded his head in
agreement. "That's alright...I guess.
"I didn't know Setsuna-san had any relatives..."
That was when Simeon heard the conversation. "Setsuna-san?" he
asked accusingly.
Misae gulped and smiled, hiding the picture behind her back.
"Uh...Setsuna-san what?"
Jean sighed, shook his head, reached behind Misae, and pulled
out the picture frame she was hiding. He then took a quick glance at
it. "You're right, Misae...that IS Setsuna-sama."
Simeon arched his eyebrows. "How do you two know my sister?"
Misae's mouth dropped to the ground. "SISTER?!? YOU SAID SHE
WAS YOUR COUSIN!!!"
Simeon nervously scratched the side of his head and blushed
intensely. "I guess I owe you two an explanation. Over dinner,
perhaps?"
"So that's how we know Setsuna-sama," Jean said.
After helping Simeon find a babysitter for Carey, Jean and
Misae invited him with to a small cafe near the rink where the Mighty
Oaks played to eat a quick dinner.
Simeon smiled. A few things the young man and the young woman
had said coincided with what Setsuna had told him what happened the
first time she met the fiery senshi of the sun and her more calm
tempered advisor.
*I should let them know of my true identity,* he thought. *But
I can't. Not yet, anyway. If I let them know who I am right now,
the story of time will change, and not for the better.* he thought.
"So, how come Setsuna never told me she had a brother," Misae
asked.
"Because when they separated us, I got sent to live with an
American pilot stationed in Osaka," Simeon said. "He kept my last
name, but changed my first name, Hideaki, into my middle name and
gave me a first name of Simeon. I actually seeked her out. After
finding out I had a younger sister, I wanted to know what she looked
like. Luckily for me, she looks exactly like me."
Hades peeked around the corner of the kitchen and saw the three
young people laughing while drinking coffee and eating dinner. He
smiled evily as he disguised himself as their waiter.
*Smile now, Simeon de Meiousei,* Hades thought. *Your days of
laughter are about to end soon.*
Shortly after the end of Simeon's story about how he was re-
united with Setsuna, their waiter came over, with a trio of muffins
on his tray. He then proceeded to set a muffin in front of each of
them.
"What's with THIS?" Misae asked.
"Oh..." Hades quickly tried to think of a good reason for the
dessert. "Um...we're thinking of selling a new type of muffin here,
and the manager chose your table to get a free sample."
"Can we get our check?" Jean asked.
"Oh, sure..." Hades searched for their check and put it on the
table. "There ya go. Happy night!" He quickly ran back to the
kitchen.
Misae picked up the muffin and looked at it. "It's definately
INTREGUING looking," she said. She then brought the muffin to her
nose and inhailed its aroma. "It's....honey and pomegranite?"
Jean looked over the muffins. "You know, I'm getting a funny
feeling about these muffins."
"Yeah," Misae replied. "Who would eat a pomegranite flavored
muffin? Seriously!"
"We should be getting back, anyway," Simeon replied. "I told
that girl that's watching Carey that we'd only be gone for an hour
and a half or so." Misae and Jean nodded their heads in agreement.
They stood up, grabbed the check, and left, leaving the muffins
sitting on the table.
"Damnit," Hades grumbled to himself. "He's smarter than I
thought he was." He then dug in a pouch that was hanging on his
right side and picked up a small vial. "Good thing I always have a
back up plan." He cackled evily.
"Okay, Jean," Misae asked, "what did you think was so funky
about those muffins?"
"Misa, a bunch of the guys and I eat there after our home
games, and the manager has NEVER offered us ANYTHING free. Not only
that, but the waiter acted differently than he had acted most of the
night."
"So what-do-you-think-was-wrong-with-those-muffins?" Misae
asked again.
"Nothing that you puny humans could determine."
An elderly looking, wild haired man stood in front of them.
"At least, unless you used your powers..."
"What powers?" Misae asked, as the man backed them into a dead
end alley.
"Don't make me laugh, Princess," the wild haired man growled.
"You know EXACTLY what powers I'm talking about. Oh, wait, you
don't. You haven't been able to henshin since one of your earrings
was stolen a while ago."
Misae's mouth opened in shock as Jean stood in front of her.
"You leave her alone," he demanded, his face curled into an
uncharacteristic snarl. "NOW."
"Silly boy," the wild haired man cackled. "Don't make me force
you to feel the wrath of Hades."
"I said LEAVE HER ALONE!" Jean repeated, his face growing more
intense and serious. His silver blue eyes started to glow with the
same fire that characteristically was in Misae's emerald green eyes.
Simeon didn't say anything, but he stood alongside of Jean,
protecting Misae from whatever it was that the man who called himself
"Hades" had planned.
"Fine, then. I'm sorry to have to resort to such measures."
He dug into a small leather pouch that was hanging from his waist,
and pulled out a small container that looked like a pill. He then
threw it to the ground, and it started to smoke. When the smoke
disapeared, Hades was gone, but a creature stood in its path. It
loosely had the form of a dog, but it had three heads.
"I am Charon, guardian of the passage to the realm of Death,
and I have been summoned to assist you on the path to your death."
Jean growled. "I don't think so. I call upon the power of the
dragon, my home constellation. DRACO POWER, TRANSFORM!"
Jean transformed into Draco, and then drew the small dagger
that he usually carried only for protection from its holder. "Born
of the stars and proteced by the legendary dragon, I am the protector
of peace and learning, Draco. Anyone who shall try to injure my
loved one shall feel my wrath."
Misae laughed out loud. "What wrath? I've seen flies kick the
crap out of you, Jean..."
*Shut up, Misae,* Draco thought, sending the message to Misae's
brain. *I'm trying to psych him out.*
*Talk about someone who's psycho...* Misae thought in reply.
"We'll talk about this later," Draco growled.
Charon attacked, sending out a beam of grayish colored energy.
It hit Draco square in the chest, and knocked him to the ground. His
head hit the ground, and he was knocked unconscious.
"JEAN!" Misae screamed.
*God damnit,* she thought. *If I had been able to transform,
then Jean wouldn't be in this state. He wouldn't have had to protect
me. Mike would still be here, instead of with Aphrodite. I HAVE to
transform...I just HAVE to.*
Misae raised her right hand into the air. "Solaris Star Power,
Make-Up!"
Nothing happened.
"I said, SOLARIS STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!"
Again, nothing happened.
A tear fell from her eye as she yelled out the transformation
line again, and nothing happened again. She fell to her knees and
started sobbing on Jean's shoulder.
"I, I'm sorry, mon amant," she whispered. "I tried, really I
did..."
"Solaria..." a chorus of voices called out. "Solaria, turn
around..."
Misae stood up and turned. Standing behind her were four
ghost-like figures. All four of them were dressed in sailor fukus.
Their bodysuits were white, as were their gloves. Misae's eyes lit
up in recognition.
"Hyperion, Helios, Phoebus, Apollo, what are you doing here?"
she asked in suprise.
The one called Helios was the first one to speak. She was
wearing a burnt orange skirt, with a matching burnt orange sailor's
collar and brooch. Both the bow at the back of her skirt and the bow
that was at the base of the collar were a dark, brick red. She
brushed her shoulder length, braided hair behind her shoulder and
looked lovingly at Misae with her dark orange eyes. "It is time,
Princess," she replied, holding out her right hand. A small crystal
shard was sitting in her hand.
"Time for WHAT?"
"Time for you to transform," another one replied. She had
wavy, light blue hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail. Her fuku
was dark blue, except for the lake blue bows in the front and in the
back. She opened her right hand, where another shard from a crystal
was.
"Uh, Hyperion, I can't transform. I don't have my earrings."
A third one, with pale blonde hair and dark green uniform with
dark brown bows, spoke. "We're here to help you with that,
Solaria." She opened her right hand, where a third crystal shard
was.
The last one spoke. She had a light gray fuku, that seemed to
match her pale gray hair that was pulled back into a bun, with dark
purple accents that matched her dark purple eyes. "Helios, Hyperion,
Phoebus, and I have been summoned to give to you your Solar Crystal."
"Solar crystal?"
At that time, Apollo opened her left hand, where a fourth
crystal like shard was. The four shards floated in the air, and
combined to form a golden yellow colored, heart shaped crystal.
"Take the crystal," the four girls said in unison. "Save
yourself and your prince." With that, they disapeared.
Misae nervously took a hold of the heart shaped crystal. Then,
she placed to her chest, and yelled out "SOLARIS CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE-
UP!" She turned into not Sailorsolaris, but Super Sailorsolaris.
Where the three puffy sleeves used to be on her old fuku, there was
two oval shaped, transparent pink sleeves that stuck out over her
shoulder, instead of covering it completely. Her brooch changed from
a circle to a heart, and the tails of her back bow grew longer.
There was also one more change. In her left hand was a flail.
The handle was about two feet in length, and it was made of what
appeared to be oak. There were gold colored etchings in the handle
of different symbols. The chain of the flail was about three feet in
length, and the links were made of a gold-like material. At the end
of the chain was a large ball. The ball itself was about six inches
in diameter, and that was not counting the twenty four three inch
spikes that protruded from the ball. Like the chain, it was made of
a golden colored material.
Simeon smiled. *Now, it's time.* He thrust his right hand
into the air and called out, "Plutoknight Power, TRANSFORM!"
Simeon's transformation was rather simple. He shimmered, and
his clothes turn into his fuku.
"On behalf of Pluto, the planet of death, I am the soldier of
time, Plutoknight!" He pulled out his sword and pointed it at the
youma. "It's time to write you into history."
*They get cheesier and cheesier,* Super Sailorsolaris thought.
Charon charged towards the two soldiers. Plutoknight was the
first one to attack.
Putting his sword back into its sheath, Plutoknight looked at
Charon. "Death's Murmur," he whispered. A ball of pinkish purple
energy formed in his hands, which he threw at the three headed dog.
It knocked the dog back, and severly wounded it.
"It's your chance, Solaris-sama," Plutoknight whispered.
Solaris nodded, and tightly grasped the flail in her hands.
Lifting the flail up over her head, she yelled out "Solar Flare!"
Then, she slammed the ball end of the flail into the ground. A
spiked ball of energy came out from the ground, and flew towards
Charon. As the ball of energy hit the youma, it exploded into
thousands of small spikes, tearing Charon into pieces.
Solaris smiled as she examined the flail. "This is SWEET," she
said, then de-transformed. Simeon followed suit.
"Come on," he said, "help me bring Jean to my minivan."
"Is he going to be alright?" Misae asked nervously.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. He just got knocked out."
"But, but SIR!" Hades stuttered, nervously backing up. "I
didn't know that she hadn't transformed into her Super form!"
"I don't CARE!" Zeus yelled, pulling out a large silver sword.
"I told you to eliminate Plutoknight, or else..."
"Give me one more chance, Sir!" Hades stammered. "Pl..."
Hades' plea went unfinished as Zeus struck him with the sword.
"That bitch imprisoned me. She'll pay for her past decisions."
Hermes saw the whole scene from his secret hiding space.
Nervously, he gulped.
*Why would he kill Hades for screwing up once?* he thought.
*It's almost as if he's jealous...why does he REALLY want to destroy
her? She's not a bad person.*
