Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the "Sailor Moon" series. This goes along the lines of the original series, but an alternate dimension. Trust me, eventually, my knight will meet the scouts. Patience is a virtue, so awaiting that moment won't be so bad. I have no earthly idea when and how long the Japanese school years are, so forgive my ignorance in that fact. REVIEW!!
Chapter 9
Jupiter Shock-up
- 1 Month Later -
-Takozona Junior High -
The month of March was a bit chilly, but it was nothing Stephen Tsukikage wasn't used to. He felt better now than he had in a long time. 'Seems like only yesterday I was in the hospital. Being a super hero isn't so grand, I guess, but at least we saved Tokyo. Shame that louse Specter sent another royal pain to bother us. I wonder what she's up to….we haven't seen her since that night.' He thought, feeling a slender arm crunch around his. He made a yelping sound in his throat and the arm pulled back.
Stephen smiled inside. He'd finally found a way to keep Angela off of him. By pretending he was still hurt, she eased up on becoming the human barnacle. It didn't always work, but when it did, it was like a breath of fresh air to him. 'Soul….' He thought, drifting back to that night again,' Glamour….'
She hadn't reappeared since he saved her life, but he knew there was a reason for that. He hadn't been in trouble since the dark princess Raven had shown her sneering face. It wasn't as if he felt pain in his heart because he'd been told by Glamour herself that she only came when he was in danger, not knowing what her true identity was or what she was.
'Might as well keep enjoying the peace and quiet. Not much can surprise me anymore. I've survived giant plants, super powered monsters, and a demon prince with bad taste in clothes. I doubt his bratty sister can do anything any worse than my own.' He thought, twitching his nose a bit at the cold.
"Its been cold a bit too long. Maybe Raven is actually doing things differently, Snowflake." Angela piped, brushing her long orchid ponytail slightly with her fingers. Stephen gave her a quizzical glance. "Please, flake, you're being too paranoid. If they could manipulate the weather, I think we'd be covered in snow up to Tokyo tower by now. That's real stupid." He griped as they neared the school.
It was a new habit for Angie, to get up at the crack of dawn and run to his house so they could walk together to school. Stephen hated it, sure, they were friends and all, but she thought they were lovers. The thought made his skin crawl. He looked forward to reaching school more every day, the closer he was to getting away from Angela. At the end of the day, he was forced to hide in the bathroom or the boy's locker room and escape out a window to avoid seeing her to walk him to the arcade and back home.
'Like having a lost puppy attached to your ankle. Makes me miss Cyrus, stupid cat guardian crap artist. All he does is wander off into the city, without me. I'd do anything to avoid Angie, even patrolling Tokyo beats being hung on all day by this fruitcake.' He thought harshly, smiling as he saw the doors of the school just a few feet away, the snow covered bushes surrounding them shaking in the wind.
"Can we eat by the willow tree today? I hear they cleaned all the snow from last night out. We could talk and stuff, Snowflake." Angela asked sweetly, but Stephen refused to look at her. "No, I'm eating in homeroom with my classmates. There's a new student being introduced today and our teacher wants us to welcome him then."
Angela scoffed at the excuse and tried latching onto him, and succeeded. "New student? I heard he got kicked out of his last school for starting fights. A real problem child. Why welcome such a loser when you can welcome me into your dear heart?" Angela cooed.
"Is there a difference? Honestly, Angie, you're a major p…." he started, but as they reached the first bush, a bright headed shape leapt out and shouted," Konichiwa!!!!"
Stephen jumped back so quickly he lost his footing and fell on his rump, but Angela stayed up and went into a fighting stance. Seconds later, Stephen her a hoarse yelp and a thud on the snow laced ground. He got up and saw Angela was kicking the poor guy in the ribs. "Angela! Quit it, he's down! He's down!" Stephen hissed out, yanking her away from the young man, who'd tucked himself into a fetal position.
"Yeah, I'm down….on the ground. I didn't mean any harm. Ow! I just wanted to say hi. Youch!" The young man whimpered out, his hands slipping off of his bright, fiery red hair, looking very soft and short the back, but spiky in the front and at the back of his head. The bottom lengths of his hair looked like a pair of small horns.
Angela tried to go at him again, but Stephen held her firmly by the waist. He knew what she was doing, struggling so he'd hold her longer, but he wouldn't take the chance she'd try and take another swing at the guy if he released her. The guy peered out from behind his fingers, revealing a brilliant green eye, bright and curious, then he started to get up.
Stephen released Angela as soon as the young man go tot his feet, watching the youth more than her as he scratched the back of his head. The guy closed his eye, the one not covered by his red, spiky bangs for a moment, beaming out a terribly pleasant smile. Then he opened his eye up, a hint of the other one coming and going as the wind came and went. He was wearing a green coat, wearing the normal school uniform that most boys wore to school, but he looked terribly content for someone just attacked by the school maniac. As Stephen studied his face more, he saw there was a Band-Aid on his left cheek, a little worn from being there for what Stephen guessed could have been weeks. He grabbed the back of his head and rubbed it shyly at the two, still smiling as he extended his free hand to them. "Hi, I'm sorry if I startled you, just didn't want you to run away when you saw me. My name's Lamont Inabikari, pleased to meet you." He said, his voice full of energy, yet had a charming quality to it.
Angela scoffed at him, but Stephen extended his hand out to the guy, offering a simple smile. "Stephen Tsukikage, and this feral little….girl is Angela Furosuto. Pleased to meet you, Lamont." He offered, getting a firm handshake from Lamont.
"Same here," he piped, then his eyes went wide when the school bells began to sound off," Oh crap! I'm going to be late for homeroom. Uh, see you both later. Nice meeting you. Bye!"
Faster than the scene had occurred, Lamont had plowed through the front doors of the school and disappeared inside. Angela just looked after him in shock, shaking her head. "What a weird guy, huh Snowflake? Snowflake?" she said, turning her head to where he'd been standing. Stephen wasn't outside with her anymore, and she had to grumble out her frustration as she heard the school doors slam again.
~ Lunch Time ~
Stephen was deeply pissed with the sushi tray the family maid had prepared for him, since it was very little this time. "Stupid brat sister, I bet she switched lunches with me just to piss me off, the little glutton. I know Aiko always give me a bigger helping of food than this, God, Casey's going in the garbage disposal for sure this time.' His mind screamed, but he started eating it anyway, grumbling all the way.
"STEPHEN! No one said anyone could eat yet. Spit that out!" Mrs. Techiro yelled at him, slamming her frail fist on his desk. He looked up at her for a moment, then down at his tray. "You sure?" he asked, his mouth still full. "Yes, are you deaf? Spit it out right now, you are not eating until I introduce our new student." She seethed.
Her face went green when Stephen complied, a mass of chewed up and wet raw fish sliming out of Stephen's mouth back into his tray, making a gross slick plop when it hit. Stephen simply folded his hands over his chest when she started sputtering. "Ok, its spit out. Now you should stop spitting, ma'am, its bad manners." He offered, but his teacher looked less than eager to change her current skin color or the nauseous look on her face. She walked away with the same expression on her face, a few snickers erupting behind her as she teetered by her desk.
'She asked for it….but I just wasted a perfectly good sushi roll for her. Picky, picky, all for this new kid.' Stephen thought, picking up the chewed pile with his only napkin.
He looked up as he set it on the corner of his desk, his eyes jerking a bit as he saw a familiar blood-red head walking up to the teacher, steadying her. She thanked the youth and faintly told him to face the class.
Stephen knew who it was long before the teacher announced his name. "Class, ugh, oh, this is Lamont Inabikari, he transferred to our fine school from Tohoku Junior High. Lamont, dear, tell the class a little more about yourself. And class, save your questions for later….I mean it. Oh….Jin, would you supervise the class till I get back, I don't feel well. Keep your eye on Stephen especially." She let out, grabbing her mouth hard as she ran out of the classroom.
Stephen watched as Jin, a tall dark hair student stand next to Lamont and put his blue eyes dead on Stephen's head. 'Teacher's bloody pet…. She said spit it out, so I did.' He thought harshly, sneering at Jin.
"It wasn't that gross. Raw garbage is worse, you know, when they are cleaning out garbage trucks and they dribbles all that orange, fluids that makes your throat contract and heave like a geyser? Tossed cookie central." Lamont laughed, looking pleased with the statement.
Jin got a sour look on his face, eyeing Lamont oddly, then he took a few steps away from him. "Heh, good, I like my personal space. Hi everybody, you all know my name, so no more introductions. No one really has to hear all about me, so why don't you all eat before the teacher gets back. I like being a mystery more than her martyr. Kay, great." Lamont uttered with the most charm a voice could ever contain, then went to go back to his seat in the back. Stephen heard him come back and started to talk to the guy next to him. There was some shuffling, then Stephen turned to find Lamont sitting next to him with a smile. "Hi again, Stephen. You sure showed her." He beamed.
"Isn't your seat back there? You'll get in trouble on your first day." Stephen whispered, his fingers lightly touching his food. "Heh, the teacher told me I could sit where I wanted, but I got in the class late and that was only seat left. I told the guy next to you that the teacher said it was my seat. You and Angela are the only people who've actually talked to me today….I thought we could talk more." Lamont stated, taking his lunch bag out of his pack. It was more like half a grocery bag wrapped around a binder. When the young man took out its contents, Stephen nearly drooled. There were so many different little foodstuffs on his larger tray, different colors and smells hitting him and most of the class at once. If Stephen had bothered take his eyes off the mouthwatering food, he would have seen half the class drooling and staring at it too.
"Want some, or are you on some kind of guy diet? I've never seen anyone eat so little." Lamont commented, gesturing at his own food then Stephen's.
Stephen shrugged it off and popped one of his sushi rolls into his mouth, chewing it quickly. "My stupid baby sister stole my lunch before I got up this morning. She does it when she feels she gets screwed on the portions. The little larva eats too much. This was her lunch for today. I guess I have to get up a lot earlier from now on, maybe I can avoid Angie if I do that." Stephen commented wryly, popping another roll into his mouth.
Lamont chuckled at that. "Sounds like me when I was little, 'cept I was always taking my dad's lunches and switching them with mine. Peanut butter is so bland for someone with my palette. Got me started on my love of great food. I'm going to go to a culinary school when I graduate college, but don't go thinking I'm all dainty cause I want to cook….good food is hard to come by. Sharing my love of food with others is my dream, so don't go knocking it."
Stephen finished off his last roll with a slight choke, but managed to get it down before it went for his lungs. "I didn't say anything. I cook too, though I'm not going to make a career out of it. Its good to have ambitions….Hey Jin, quit staring at me. Look somewhere else…." He started, forking a dirty look at Jin. The youth known as Jin complied occasionally to look at the door, eagerly waiting to eat his own lunch when the teacher would return.
"That's cool, I'd be a little angrier if that was why I'm being avoided like the plague." Lamont stated, fingering out a handful of his lunch and slamming it in his mouth, not a crumb falling out as he chewed it down quietly.
"Oh really? And you jumping out of the bushes, isn't it? Not that it's any of my business." Stephen said, his stomach growling as he stared down at his empty tray, silently cursing his brat sister. He was shocked to see a slim hand drop a handful of odd looking foods on his tray.
He looked at Lamont in surprise, who was smiling down at his own tray, saying almost wistfully," I always pack too much. I wouldn't be very appealing to the new ladies of my new school if they thought I was a pig. Being fat is not good for a guy like me, or any guy. Eat up or I'll think you hate my cooking."
Stephen fingered the foods for a moment, then took a tentative bite of one of the purple colored pieces of food, and smiled. "Hot, but not bad. I say you'll go far before you even get to the culinary beat. Thanks, Lamont….but uh, well, you never answered my question."
"I know….its pretty embarrassing, and I'm surprised you don't know about it. I heard a couple girls laughing about it in the halls when I came to school. That's why I was in the bushes….I was a bit flustered that everyone had made their minds up about me over a simple misunderstanding. I can tell you about it after school, if you don't mind…..I seem to have an audience still," he said plainly, pointing at the other students who were still watching him eat, forgetting their own food," Drool over your own food….or you'll be wearing it."
The class readily obeyed as if God had spoken. "They are terribly over reactive, they act like I'm a fire breathing dragon who's ready to sneeze, but I guess it keeps guys from taking the girls I want to go out with, right?" Lamont spouted, looking rather annoyed suddenly. He wiped it off his face quickly as the teacher came back in, Jin tripping over his own feet to run back to his desk. The teacher had a paper towel crammed on her face and she was eyeing a still eating Stephen angrily. "Class, I hope you all had a lovely chat with our new student….Now nobody talk…..or spit anything, not even paper, out of their mouth. I don't care if you're choking. The food stays in your mouth….I'm not feeling well right now."
Lamont got an evil look in his eye as she tried to sit down and made a retching noise, just loud enough for the teacher to hear him. Stephen nearly laughed with a full mouth as the teacher made a face and ran right back out of the room without a word.
"Score, Stephen, total score." Lamont beamed, and both youths gave each other a victory sign.
~
"So that's how you avoid that orchid-haired femme? I never thought anyone could even reach the locker room windows. I guess we're lucky they got rid of all the snow or we'd have been trapped." Lamont laughed, kicking up a tuft of snow as he and Stephen walked down the street.
Yeah, lucky me. I can't stand Angie….she thinks I'm her boyfriend cause I beat her in a fight. I was trying to save my nose from being shoved into my brain at the time, I had no thoughts about winning a date with her. She's a real maniac. She even throws herself at my tutor to try and make me jealous, the poor guy gets this stricken look whenever he hears her voice. Hell, so do I. She's totally weird….but she is sort'a my friend. I just wish she'd see it that way."
Lamont offered an apologetic shrug. "Reminds me of why I got kicked out, not the love thing, but the fight stuff. You've been waiting all day to hear me spill to you what everyone else knows."
"All I know is what Angie told me, that you got kicked out for something." Stephen replied sheepishly.
"Yeah, it never would have happened if that cop hadn't opened his big fat mouth!" Lamont swore, raising up his fists angrily, his face looking strained," I was just trying to be nice to my principal, I was waiting in the locker near his office with a present from my mother. I wanted to surprise him by jumping out and say 'Happy Birthday,' but it backfired. I gave him such a shock he had a heart attack."
"A heart attack? The poor guy….but he must have known you didn't mean it. It was an accident." Stephen gaped, and Lamont nodded.
"He did, he told me it was ok even when they took him into the ambulance, but one of the school security cops said I did it on purpose cause I was a sadistic little brat. I beat the crap out of the guy….I was real stupid to do it in front of so many people, and a cop of all people. The cop said he wouldn't press charges against the school if I left. So I got expelled and here I am. I even lost my girlfriend, my lovely gold girlfriend, over it." He sighed, running a lone hand through his hair.
"Damn, that's terrible. But, I guess hitting a cop doesn't give off many options. Sorry about that….but why'd your girlfriend leave you?" Stephen gawked.
"I still don't know. It was the same day I got in trouble, it was dark out and raining. I took her to our favorite place in the park, a nice little gazebo we shared our first date at….she was looking at me real funny. Then she said we shouldn't see each other anymore," he said, sighing again," I was too surprised to answer and before I knew it, she ran off. She left me there….It still hurts a little, she never told me why. I even called her up a few times before we moved, but her father told me never to call again. I guess….I disappointed her….She was really something, blonde, smart and beautiful, everything I've ever wanted in a woman."
"Really?" Stephen asked, getting a rapid nod, then Lamont got a hopeful look in his eyes, clasping his hands together tightly. "Yeah, blondes are the perfect females. Angels in my eyes, so perfect. My itoshii kin*, ah, I wonder if I'll ever meet someone as perfect as she was." Lamont smiled.
"Isn't that a bit picky? All women are pretty….it just takes getting to know them to know if their beautiful on the inside….kind'a like the woman I want." Stephen replied, looking almost wistful about it.
"Blondes are my kind of women, say what you want, but they are the best," Lamont went on, then eyed Stephen who looked lost in thought," What woman?"
"You wouldn't know her, she has long black hair….she might be a bit older than me, college at best….I've never had the guts to tell her that I kind'a like her, that and she never sticks around long enough for me to say much. Its difficult to explain." Stephen chuckled, a pink blush tingling on his cheekbones.
"I bet….by the way, where are we going anyway?" Lamont asked, shivering a bit as a biting cold breeze swept past them.
"My favorite place to hang out, Haitsuchi's Arcade Heaven. My friends work there…and my tutor is there. You can check it out while I get my lessons. Leave whenever you please if you want to see the rest of the city." Stephen let out, pulling his shirt up tighter around himself.
"An arcade!!?? Mega cool!!!! I love video games! Let's get moving or we'll be popsicles before we even get to see what they have!" Lamont said loudly, sprinting ahead of Stephen suddenly up the street.
"Hey wait, you nit-wit! You don't know how to get there. Wait up!!" Stephen shouted.
~ Haitsuchi's Arcade Heaven ~
"Totally cool! Tohoku never had this much at our arcade. There are games here I've only heard about on the Internet. You're so lucky, S." Lamont said happily, his hands clasped together again and his eyes bright as stars. He looked about ready to explode being so happy. Stephen just shrugged. "I've lived here as long as its been here, even longer. My friend Alan runs it….his brother Gary should be around here somewhere waiting for me….I've been late for my tutoring sessions all because of Angie's obsessions. I'm lucky he needs the money so bad or I'd never have a tutor. They're both good friends."
"They sound it. I'm glad we're friends too. You're the first friend I made here, I hope they accept me as much as you did, Oh, way cool! Look there, S!" Lamont yelped, running to Stephen's left, towards a large grade with a large orange "V" on a golden crescent moon emblem screaming across it. Lamont looked positively ecstatic over it, touching the symbol as if it were pure gold.
"What? Did I miss something?" Stephen asked as he stepped up beside him. Lamont gave him a look as if to say "What planet are you from?" and then went back to looking at the emblem. "The most beautiful super heroine in the world, Lady Venus. I read all about the Lady V arcade game on the Internet, but my arcade refused to carry it for some reason. She is the most drop dead gorgeous woman on the planet. Ah….she reminds me of my old girlfriend." He sighed, trying to look at the rest of the box.
As soon as he moved to his right, Gary's head popped out of nowhere and sent Lamont jumping a few feet in the air with a yell. Stephen would have laughed if Gary hadn't looked so serious, and if Lamont didn't look so put out. Stephen abolished the idea of laughing when he saw Lamont bring back a fist, ready to strike Gary square in the face.
"Hold it! That's my tutor, Lamont!" Stephen shouted, grabbing Lamont's fist as fast as he could. Lamont still looked eager to rearrange Gary's face, who was still looking on with serene patience. His jacket was slightly open at the top, his jet-black button-up shirt in partial view.
"Come on, how are we going to be good friends if you go and kill my tutor? I'll flunk if Gary's not around. Come on, lighten up, he didn't mean to scare you." Stephen tried again, Lamont's fist beginning to soften a bit. Stephen waited a few more minutes before Lamont nodded and dropped his fist. "Sorry, I just don't like being surprised, is all."
Stephen laughed at that, overjoyed that he could finally let it out, but wishing it could have been about something a little less ridiculous. "You hate to be surprised? That's silly, when you go around surprising people from bushes….I'm…-chuckle-shocked."
His laughter died out when he noticed Lamont was already eyeing the game crate again. "Your taste in friends…I wonder how I ever got into that strange circle, meathead." Gary commented with a light chuckle, patting the crate.
"Life is full of interesting surprises, Gary. I can see Alan's got you earning some extra cash with some extra labor, huh? When did he order this puppy?" the white-haired youth commented, Gary looking at the crate with a tilt of his dark head.
"He didn't, that's the weird thing, but there's no return address. We have nowhere to send it back to and no money was lost on it, so I guess we keep it until whoever sent it comes back for it, if ever. This is a popular game in England….they made it for their super hero, Lady Venus, Lady V for short, like Japan has Lady Mercury, Moon and Mars Knight. I wonder if America has any. Really, you have to wonder." Gary explained, absentmindedly rubbing his chin.
"So….there's a Lady Venus too? Wonder if she's like our heroes….real weird, man. Reality is really slipping…." Stephen began, then was cut off by Lamont's swearing.
"Shit! Dammit! Fuck! Mother….f….f….Oh, forgot you were there. Sorry, I seem to have sliced open my finger on something on the crate. " Lamont said sheepishly, sucking on his bleeding finger. "On what? There were no nails sticking out, I haven't even tried to pry it open yet. I was waiting to ask Stephen for a little help, you know." Gary said snidely.
"I don't know, maybe a piece of wood or glass on the floor, I didn't see it. I just reached my hand around and felt something scrape me. Its no big deal, sorry, I should have sworn so much. See? Its not even bleeding as much as before." He said, shaking out his finger slightly.
"You sure? Believe me, this place has plenty of antiseptics….the meathead here is a walking doctor's dream. He gets all dreamy at the wrong times and wham, he walks right into something or someone that's in a fight." Gary said jokingly, nudging a blushing Stephen with his fist.
"Ugh, stop calling me meathead, Gary. As you recall, there was one occasion I wasn't daydreaming and got hurt anyway." Stephen grumbled.
Gary's smile fell, and he seemed to be clearing his throat as he looked away. "Yeah….there was that, but no more talk about the past. You lived through it and now you have another challenge to brave." Gary finally said, going behind towards the backroom and gesturing for both young men to follow.
"What's that?" Stephen asked. "Help me get the trolley out of the back closet so we can move the game into position. I've been mobbed ever since I got in by bubbling girls and drooling boys for me to open the crate and plug the game in," Gary told him," And not that I care, but where's your barnacle?"
"Another successful ditching….I just hope it lasts. Its too bad that she'll come here when I leave my sessions though. I'm out of ideas to get her off my back." Stephen sighed.
"One can only hope, I guess, for all our sakes." Gary said, a hit of annoyance in his soft voice.
~ 3 Hours Later ~
"Jeez, that sucker was damn heavy. I hope its worth the effort of pushing it around and getting splinters to play it, Gary." Stephen said sourly, rubbing his sweat stained shirt uncomfortably. Gary just shrugged, dusting the large black arcade game off with a piece of cloth. His shirt was sweat stained as well, but he hadn't bothered to take his good red shirt jacket off regardless. Lamont was busy looking at the life-size picture of Lady Venus that was on both sides of the game, ignoring his sweat stained shirt as well.
She was rather pretty. She wore armor similar to what Angie wore as Lady Mercury, but her armor was yellow, as were her boots. The skirt was black like Mercury, but she looked a lot taller than Angie was, a lot prettier too. Her smile was as genuine as pure snow, her small, red, fancy mask covering her eyes. She was wielding a golden whip as well, one that had a trail of star-like sparkles at the end of it.
"She's just like my old girlfriend. So beautiful, too beautiful to be real." Lamont said lightly, rushing at the controls of the game as Gary plugged it in. Stephen chuckled as the arcade filled with groans when Lamont started playing the game. He left his new friend to boob out at the controls and headed back with the trolley to the back room. He didn't bother to wait for Gary when he got there, stuffing the trolley in the closet.
He sifted through the closet and crabbed out one of Alan's work shirts. It had a small stain on the pocket, but he was willing to deal with since the shirt didn't smell like armpits. Stephen shut the closet, and started to shuck off his sweaty shirt as he walked carefully towards the poker table.
"Stephen!" He heard the yelp faintly through his shirt, then pulled it off to see Gary standing in the door. He could see the young man's thin, dark eyebrows raised a bit and he was biting his lip. "What?" Stephen asked, looked from his left to his right, then down at the shirts," I'll give it back. I just don't want to go home in that shirt and make my coat smell like sweat all the way back. Alan lets me borrow stuff sometimes."
Stephen frowned when Gary didn't answer, the young man looked as if he'd seen a ghost or something, or he was trying desperately to think of something to say. He watched as Gary clenched one hand, then opened it again. "Oh….sorry." was all that came out of his mouth.
Stephen gave him a slight nod and pulled Alan's shirt over his head, sitting down at the table while he tossed his shirt into a corner. "You acted like I was doing something wrong." Stephen sniffed, crossing his lithe arms over his chest. Gary sat down across from him, gasping a little with each breath. "Well, it wasn't just that. It's only been a couple months since….your accident. I was shocked….that you have no scars. Not even a little scratch. You really were as lucky as Angela and Ray said." Gary said quickly.
Stephen shrugged, trying to dog the memory. "Yeah….I should have been more careful….I should never have let that guy get under my skin, but aside from that, I think that girl I like likes me back. I saw her before then, and she smiled at me after I did. She has a pretty smile."
"Oh really….that's nice." Gary said, his voice going low. Stephen gave him a good-natured pat on the shoulder, and Gary started a bit. "Plenty of fish in the sea, G-man, there's someone for everyone. Don't be so glum, save that for tutoring. Now that's depressing."
"Yeah, what do you think I was preparing for, meathead? Time to learn once again what you already know. Get your books," Gary said quietly, getting up to go into the bathroom," But first, I'd like to change into something less….sticky. Be out in five."
"Yeah, take your time….Its not like what you teach me is something I have trouble with." Stephen called out, leaning back in his chair, letting his eyes close a little for a short nap.
~
Lamont could barely hear anything but the Lady V game, blasting apart Dark Universe fiends with Lady Venus' astral whip. He couldn't even feel people tapping him and nudging at his shoulders for him to give someone else a try. He was at level 10 now, there was no way anyone or anything was going to prevent him from going higher.
He smiled as his Lady Venus kicked the dark prince off the screen, taking him to the next level, then a dark blur leapt onto the controls and made him fall backwards in shock. He grimaced for a moment, then grit his teeth when he saw a nasty sounding red-headed girl with a bright yellow bow on her head taking the controls and trying to play. He grit them harder when he heard "Game Over."
'Stupid, she ruined my game. I hope she loses all her quarters.' He thought, then felt a sudden bit of weight land on his chest. He lifted his head up slightly to look at it, finding it was a thin, velvety black cat with crescent moon bald spot on its forehead.
"Meow." It said, licking his chin. Lamont laughed at the sandpapery tongue tickled his skin. He sat up and cradled the cat in his arms. "You ruined my game, you know that? You're lucky you're so cute or I'd have stomped your face in the second you landed. It is just a game after all, right?" he told it, rubbing its soft, small head.
The cat started to purr and rubbed up against Lamont's face and gave him another gentle lick, this time on the cheek. "You're a nice kitty, you know that. Its ok, really, I can play another time. You're going to drown me at this rate."
"You have a way with animals, even such a low rate one." Said a sultry voice. Lamont stopped short in his petting for a moment, turning his head towards the voice to find himself staring at a pair of slender, pale and smooth legs. He gulped a bit, still holding the cat as he tilted his head up her body. He felt his body shiver the entire time as he took in the short, black skirt and frilly blouse. Her hair was very long, but as dark as midnight. She was too pretty to ignore, every about her but her skin was pitch black, even her eyes. He had to mentally shake himself as he stared into her endless eyes, regaining his calm as she smiled down at him with blood-red lips. "Aren't we a handsome young man. Perfection….I like that." She said, charm just dripping off of her sexy voice.
'Dang, she's hot….but….something is really wrong about her. Why do I feel like screaming all of a sudden and running away from her?" he thought, finally able to get back on his feet.
"Cats are ok, its not mine though." He told her, then bit his lip as he felt her hands settling on his hips, touching him in ways no women he was familiar with did in public. 'Is she trying to seduce me? God….she's going a bit too far. I don't like fast women.' His mind screamed, his body jerking back into the girl player as he felt the woman's hands try and creep up his shirt.
"Shy, aren't we? You don't want to play with Maven?" she cooed, and he shook his head rapidly. "No, I don't play like that, lady. Go molest some willing pervert or something. I happen to be a gentleman. Ow!" he told her, yelling as the girl behind him started whacking him over the head with her purse and hands.
"Suit yourself, pretty one. If you change your mind, I'll be around." She cooed, blowing him a kiss. He was too busy trying to dodge the purse to even bother to acknowledge the gesture. He did notice Stephen and Gary appearing a ways off from the entrance, both laughing at his plight as they came over to rescue him. 'Not my day, is it?' he thought.
~ Meanwhile ~
Raven smiled back at the beautiful red-headed male she'd tried to win over. He had great power in his soul, a lot of sorrow and anger and love in his perfect body, but he'd been able to resist her seduction. That made her want him all the more to feed the Dark Goddess. 'She'll be bloated from all the wonderful energy in his body. Mmm, I'll be rewarded for this ten times over. Still, with that kind of power, he'd make an excellent warrior to serve me. Shame he was able to resist. I'll have to find myself a more willing fool to get that pretty boy for me.' She thought, looking around the arcade innocently at all the young, energetic teenagers moving about it.
She looked back a moment towards her red-headed prize, seeing a white-haired young man and a sunglasses wearing young man with black hair were pushing him and the odd looking cat away from the screaming girl. 'So much beauty, so little time.' She mused, licking her lips as she turned away. Her eyes settled upon another young man, he had a few face piercings and a tattoo on his left arm. He was a bit lanky, his hair all shaved off to only leave a few dark stubbles of hair on his head. He wasn't wonderful to look at, but from the way he was hanging all over a cheerleader pair trying to drink malts and getting shoved at, she knew he would be easy prey.
She approached him as the cheerleaders walked away from their table, both slapping him on their way off. He sat back down at his booth, all alone and cracking his knuckles and smiling, as if he had the slightest chance with those girls. He stopped his actions all together when Raven set her slim hand on his chin. "Hey there handsome, want to be with a real woman?"
He looked her up and down, then nodded rapidly, putting his hands on her hips. "Oh, I like 'em frisky, but I get first dibs. I just need you to do one, little thing for me, dream. Tell me you'll devote yourself to me, and I'll give you everything you've ever dreamed of right now." She said, putting all her charm into her voice.
"Anything for a night with you, babe. I'll devote anything to you if we can bump hips, honey. You got it, devotion, now give me some of that spice you seem to have so much of." He said back, his alcohol laced breath blasting in her face.
'Oh well, it's a small sacrifice that a little water can cure. Heh, if he only knew what I'm going to give him.' She thought, and took his hand.
"Let's hit the closet now before you lose your nerve, stud. This'll be an experience you'll never forget….trust me." She replied, pulling the young punk along with her to the backroom of the arcade. She tossed the guy in the moment they reached it and slammed the door shut, then looked at him wickedly. He actually looked a little scared, even backed up as she walked in her most seductive manner towards him.
"Playtime's over, human, time to fulfil your promise to me." She told him, her body coming alive with dark energy. The young man barely had time to scream as Raven shot forth her dark energy into him, her evil seed embedding itself in his soul.
~
"Cyrus, you naughty kitty. Are you bothering people again? You never learn." Stephen mock scolded the cat, which let out a tiny meow and licked his cheek. "This is your cat? He's cute….and real friendly. Aren't you, Cyrus? That's a neat name….it means something about the sun, right?" Lamont piped, petting the cat as he tried to rub his own sore head. Cyrus leapt suddenly out of Stephen's arms and at Lamont, who caught the cat easily, but a bit lopsided. He had been rubbing head still, but steadied the cat in his arms and started to pet it.
"Hmm, that's funny, Cyrus never lets anybody hold him but me and my friends. I guess he knows we're friends now. Cats are funny animals, they seem to know thinks we don't." Stephen replied, scratching at his own head. Gary just smiled and walked past them.
"You two better get home. If Stephen's father flips out again about you being late getting home again, I think I might have to get a hearing aid. The man can sure yell for such a skinny shrimp." Gary said, patting at his ear.
Stephen nodded, pulling on his coat closed. "Yeah, he may be a twig, but he's got a hell of a set of lungs. Sorry he keeps bothering you, Gary. If it weren't for Angie hanging around and stalking me, I wouldn't have to take the long way home," he said, then looked towards the entrance," But she knows its too cold now to do that, so I guess I can walk home the normal route today. See you tomorrow, bud."
Lamont offered a wave good-bye and grabbed up his jacket off the crate pieces, dropping Cyrus to the ground gently before putting it on. "Yeah, see you tomorrow. I got to try that game again. It's so cool!"
"Yeah, whatever. Just try not to get attacked by more girls on your way home. We won't be there to bail you out, Lamont. Later." Gary offered, then walked off to Alan behind the café.
~
"Your cat is awful friendly. He been neutered yet?" Lamont commented, getting a hiss own of Cyrus," Sorry, Cyrus, but normally animals don't like me this much. I had a puppy once and it was always biting my hands when I tried to pet it, but it never bit Mom and Dad. It was weird. Had a cat later on.…but that's a different story all together."
"How 'bout that. Cyrus, quit kissing up, he likes you, ok? Jeez, queer cat." Stephen grumbled, the biting cold getting to him as they passed the park. Cyrus yowled at Stephen venomously and tried to slash his claw out at, him, but Lamont held the cat tightly.
"Very emotional kitty cat you own, S. You have any other weird things at your house I should know about?" Lamont chuckled, trying to coax Cyrus back into a calm state.
"Just my larva of a little sister, Casey. Parents are parents, pretty much all of them yell about something they don't like. Your parents probably do the same." Stephen said wryly, stopping short with a high pitched yelp as a branch dropped a load of snow on his white head.
Lamont laughed hard, dropping Cyrus to the ground as he tried to help his friend dust off. Stephen's face was blue by the time Lamont had scooped out a good amount of snow out of his coat and hair. If Stephen's hair wasn't so white, it would have been easier to tell the snow from the hair. He really couldn't tell, and the fact that it started snowing again wasn't helping matters. Lamont sucked back a few laughs when he'd yank Stephen's hair after mistaking it for snow. He finally decided Stephen could handle it on his own and that he was only going to keep hurting the poor guy's head if he went on helping.
Stephen was slapping madly at his head and taking off his coat to shake it out when Lamont felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see a guy his age standing behind him, piercings along his eyebrows, nostrils and ears and a tattoo on one arm. He was wearing a sleeveless leopard vest and tight black pants. His boots were black as well, covered in snow and what looked like dried mud.
"Yes?" Lamont asked.
He wished he hadn't said anything at all as the guy's face started to distort like it was made of wax, bloody, reddish wax. It was like staring at something out of a scary movie, and it was standing right in front of him.
He took a few tentative steps backwards as the former youth began growing and his melting flesh swirled about him in a cyclone of blood and bone. The eyes of the youth twisted up like some sickly taffy, stretching and pulling each other over one another repeatedly. "Uh, Stephen….Stephen….that's not normal!" Lamont managed out, slapping one hand behind him in hopes he would make contact with his friend.
"What's not nor….mal?? Oh shit, not now!" Stephen groaned, and Lamont felt his friend tug him by the arm and pull him back hard," Start running, Lamont, don't look back….Argh!"
Lamont would have listened under any other circumstance if the still changing monstrosity hadn't grabbed Stephen, tossing the white-headed youth into the pavement like a ton of bricks. The cement actually caved in a bit when Stephen's body met with it, blood bubbling out of his mouth as he tried waving at Lamont, trying to yell out something, but the blood was cutting him off.
"Run…." Was all he could make out, but he knew he couldn't. 'He's my friend, I can't abandon him.' He thought, rushing at the creature as it went to stomp Stephen with its dripping foot.
"Die boy, we only want the pretty one for Lady Raven. I am Flux, your destroyer." It bubbled out, not even paying Lamont a bit of attention. Flux mad a noise that was a cross between a gurgle and a belch when he felt his body get hefted into the air, looking down slightly to see the red-headed boy was holding him up, a feral look on his face. "I don't care if you're the queen of England, nobody hurts my friends!" Lamont shouted, tossing the twisted creature across the street into a lamppost. The creature's sheer weight caused it to snap, letting Flux land smack on the exposed wires.
Lamont looked on proudly as Flux was shocked out of his mind, blood-curdling screams ripping through the once quiet streets for what seemed like forever. When it all stopped, Lamont ran over to where Stephen was half-sitting, cough a little, but thankfully it wasn't blood. "You ok, man?" he asked.
Stephen was staring a little dazed at him, but gave off a slight nod, then started to get up. "Hey, man, you just got choke slammed by a walking piece of crappy art. Take it easy." He tried, but Stephen got up anyway, shrugging his attempts off. "I'll be fine, I've had worse," He said, then his eyes widened a bit," Besides, it's not over yet. Look!"
Lamont almost cringed at his friend's words, turning about slowly to where he'd thrown Flux. The thing was on its melting feet again, staring at both youths angrily, or as angry as it could look with a melted face. "Ugh, Lady Raven, I will bring you your chosen one. The energy of the boy will belong to the Dark Universe!!" it boomed, taking a sluggish step forward.
"Forget it, slime-ball. The Dark Universe will never gain any of the knights!" Lamont heard the voice distinctly, but it wasn't Stephen's. It was a male voice, but not any one he'd heard. "He's a knight, Cyrus?" that was Stephen's voice. 'Wait! Cyrus? That's Stephen's cat!?' he thought wildly, and quickly scanned the snow laced ground for the feline. He found it staring up at him, then taking a leap up at his chest. He caught the cat easily and watched it. The bald spot on its forehead started to shimmer a bright gold, so bright he shut his eyes for a moment to protect his eyes. When the light died away, he saw a ring was on his finger, one with a green lightening bolt set on it. "Welcome back, Jupiter Knight." Cyrus said. "Freaky." Was all Lamont could say.
"Speaking of freaks….This one doesn't look impressed. Maybe its time to shed a little moonlight on the subject," Stephen said, pulling out a sword pendant out from under his shirt, "Moon Sword, Transform!"
Lamont did a double take as he watched his friend grow silver armor, a mask and helmet over his clothes, then watched him pull out a long sword and point it at the monster Flux.
"Mmm, try 'Jupiter Thunder, transform' for yourself, Lamont. Quickly before you get turned into Jupiter pudding." Cyrus yelped, leaping out of Lamont's arms as Flux started to charge.
"Ahh! Jupiter Thunder, Transform!! Oh God!!!!" he shouted out, a dark green light taking over his entire body as Flux barreled down upon the pair.
Flux kept coming, his slimy fingers reaching out hungrily to grab the youth Raven wanted. When he reach the glowing youth and grabbed for him, there was nothing to grab but air. He stared at the empty spot for a second, puzzled at how a mere human could move so fast.
"Over here, booger face! Too slow!" he heard, it was the target's voice. He whirled to face it, but his body writhed with a belch of disgust when he saw two knights standing a few feet away from him. The one with the sword was in silver armor, the Moon Knight if he recalled Raven's warnings correctly. He also had an odd black cat on his shoulder that was swiping at his helmet too, one with crescent moon on his forehead The knight beside him was one she hadn't mentioned.
His armor is emerald green, the same style as the silver knight's armor, a helmet, and mask to go with it, but his weapon was different. It was an emerald pole-arm tipped with a wicked silver blade at the top. It was crackling with electricity each time the knight in green flexed his armored fingers.
"I'm not going to any weird bitch just cause a pile of bloody snot tells me to. I am Jupiter Knight, the keeper of lightening and thunder. And I'm going to use it to fry your grizzly ass!" Jupiter Knight stated, rapping his pole arm down hard on the pavement.
"Hah! Knight or human, who cares, Raven will reward me handsomely for your capture! And your identities!" Flux laughed, charging at them again.
"He never learns, does he?" Jupiter commented.
"No, they never do….Ow, Cyrus, what? Stop hitting me! What?" Moon Knight glowered as Lamont rushed forward to meet with Flux.
"That monster isn't a monster, he's human! Raven put her dark energy into him and made him turn into something from his mind. You two have got to wear him down enough so her energy is weakened upon his mind, but don't kill him or you'll be killing a human being." Cyrus hissed, hitting Stephen again. Stephen slapped the cat away and glowered at him as Flux and Jupiter began to fight, slime and electrical crackles filling the air.
"Then what? Think happy-happy thoughts to him so he changes back? Woo hoo, the light wins, dark looses over a pep talk?" Moon griped.
"No, stupid! Your sword has the power to heal the darkest of hearts as well as destroy them. It's called 'Celestial Healing Light', all you have to do is raise your sword to the heavens and say the words. The sword will do the rest, trust me. This young man's life is at stake." Cyrus yowled, every hair on his back standing on end.
"Fine, if you say so, but if this doesn't work, it's the meat grinder for you." Moon replied, then rushed off towards Jupiter and Flux.
Jupiter was having the time of his life, but he knew he was getting nowhere with his thrusts and slashes. Flux's slimy exterior was just that. It was like trying to slice through soup. He wasn't making a dent in the viscous body. "This is sick! Don't you ever quit!?" Jupiter yelled, taking another slash at the creatures twisted face.
"Never human! Let me give you a hand, though." Flux cackled, slamming his slimy fist, his arm stretching all the way, into Jupiter's chest to send him flying. Jupiter yelped when his back crashed into a parked car. 'God, can't believe no one is hearing any of this….does everybody wear earplugs on this block….oh man, my ears are ringing. I can't beat this guy, not like this….I need more power.' He thought, getting nimbly to his feet as Moon Knight started to battle the slimy monstrosity.
"Celestial Beam!" Moon shouted, a beam of light ripping away from his sword as he slashed it a few feet away from the creature. Flux staggered back, his slime skin charred on his right side. It looked as though it was bleeding black blood from the burned portion.
"I can do that…I can…." Jupiter heard himself say, his feet starting to move his body slowly towards the other side of the wounded Flux," Yes, I feel it….the power….of Jupiter….the power, in my heart….must let it go….and save my friend. Save them all….I….must….Yes…. Spiral Shocker!!"
~
Stephen saw Jupiter wobbling over towards him and Flux, almost trance-like, just like Ray had when he became Mars Knight. It was almost sing-song the way he was talking, like it was something he was feeling….or remembering. When Jupiter shouted out the attack name, both hands were holding his pole-arm and he rammed the bottom part into the ground. It crackled with thousands of electric tendrils of emerald green, the blade on top spinning them madly on a wide sphere about Jupiter's body.
Moon barely had time to leap out of the way as the crackling cyclone of energy ripped past Jupiter's body and crashed into Flux's, lighting him up like a Christmas tree. The wails the creature made were enough to pop his eardrums, and the smell of burning slime was worse. 'Now that is really gross. God, smells like a dead dog mixed with rotten garbage, Raven's one sick femme.' He thought, still holding his ground as the creature just stood there. Black blood was pouring down its body, then Flux just collapsed face first onto the street with a wet thump.
"Good, you didn't kill him. Nice job, Jupiter. You've found your power…." Cyrus was saying. Moon found the cat was standing right by Jupiter, the emerald knight smiling brightly at his achievement, but he also looked very tired. His chest was heaving a bit, and a few droplets of sweat glistened on his cheeks.
"I guess its my turn now. This better work or ….well, let's hope there is no or else, ok?" Moon Knight sighed, raising sword up into the air as he stepped up to the groaning mass of burnt slime," Heal this darkened soul, Celestial Healing Light!"
The sword glowed a gentle white, swirls of petal-like flurries swirling out from the soft glow. The shimmering white petals all fell quietly upon Flux, light shooting out from every inch of his body as they landed. After a few minutes, all Moon Knight could see of Flux's body was whiteness, the body seeming to vanish in the snow.
When the light was gone, he saw a young man with a shave head in black pants and dirty boots, and a torn and slightly charred leopard vest. He saw a few silver earrings on the ear that was facing him and the slow rise and fall of breaths from his body.
"What do we do with him?" Jupiter asked, coming up beside Moon Knight slowly.
"He'll be fine in a few minutes. He won't remember a thing, thanks to you two. This has been a marvelous day. Raven's lost this round and we have a new knight on our side. Peachy." Cyrus said happily, but all Stephen did was grumble.
"Nearly got him and me killed in the process. Next time warn me, Cyrus," Moon Knight hissed, phasing out of his knight form back into Stephen," So when did you take a chunk out of him? The arcade, right?"
Cyrus lifted his nose up at him, chasing after Stephen as the young man was putting his coat back on. "Chunk? What do you mean by that?" Jupiter said, still in his knight form.
Stephen was about to answer him when he heard a low moan. The former Flux was waking up. "Think yourself back to being Lamont, quick! He can't see you like that and me like this! Do it now!" Stephen said in a quick and hushed tone.
Jupiter nodded rapidly and after a few seconds, the knight was gone and Lamont stood there no worse for wear. "I bit him back at the arcade when he reached around the box, quick and discreet. I know your friend Gary would love to send me to a vet to get a rabies shot if he saw me bite another youngster. Now….mmph!" Cyrus was saying, but Stephen quickly grabbed him up and crammed his hand on the cat's mouth. "Shut up! Talking cat, secret, you know. The guy is….Oh, hi."
The punk was standing just behind Lamont, looking like he'd been drugged heavily as he swayed back and forth lucidly. "Who are you? How'd I get out here?" he asked.
"I don't know who you are? You were following us, then you collapsed. You been drinking, pal?" Lamont said simply, and the punk gave him a dirty look. "Please, why would I follow a couple of losers like you? I'm out'a here, kids. Was unpleasant meeting you." He snorted, walking off in a drunken manner down the street.
"You sure we had to save his life?" Stephen asked, and yelped as Cyrus swiped at him," I'm kidding, I was kidding. Jeez, no sense of humor….but, on the serious side, my father isn't going to be kidding when he screams Gary's ear off, then mine. That dumb monster made me miss curfew….Oh well, what else is new?"
"I bet my parents are having a dozen heart attacks right now. It was a great day Stephen, I'm glad you two helped me become a big time hero! This'll definitely get me a ton of dates."
"Hey, you can't go telling people about this. It's deadly serious. You can't tell anyone about this or they'll be used against you….or Raven could come and kill you. This isn't like the comic books, kid, it's real. Just like Stephen's accident wasn't an accident. Raven put him in the hospital when she dropped a roof on his head. We can be hurt, we can even die if we're not careful." Cyrus shouted, his eyes furrowed down angrily.
"He's right, though, as demanding as he is, he's right. The fate of the world is in our hands, and the other knights. We're the only people that can stop the Dark Universe, whether we like it or not." Stephen said quietly.
"Others? There are others?.… Oh sure….I'd be devastated if my folks got hurt if I blabbed. Ok, I can keep a secret, sure. So when do I meet the other knights? Huh?" Lamont asked excitedly.
"I'll tell you about it at the arcade. I'll have them all come down to meet you. Frankly, if Raven pulls this crap again, I think we'll need all the help we can get. She's not going to make the same mistake twice. It'll only get harder….but we'll show her that no one is taking Earth without a fight." Stephen replied, raising a tight fist above his head.
"Yeah, we'll send her packing! Victory to the knights of Earth." Lamont said happily, shooting his fist up in the air as well.
"Oh brother, not more drama." Cyrus whined.
"Oh, cork it. We won, let us enjoy the taste of victory." Stephen hissed.
"Its tastes kind'a cold right now. Let's celebrate at your house. I can have my parents pick me up from there. Its too cold to walk all the way back to my house." Lamont shivered, his teeth starting to chatter.
Stephen nodded, and then took off down the street in a hard run. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"
"Hey, no fair, I wasn't ready!" Lamont yelled, laughing as he took off after his friend and grabbed up a heap of snow in his hand," Cheater! What kind of leader cheats?"
"A smart one! Hey, don't you dare throw that, Lamont! You'll regret it!" Stephen shouted back, getting a snowball in the face anyway," Oh, I cheat huh? Eat this!"
The boys were bombarding each other the entire way home with snowballs as Cyrus tailed them with distaste in his eyes.
"Utter children. God help us." He mumbled.
*Itoshii kin–lovely gold in Japanese.