The Mystical Warriors, Part Four

***The Eternal Pheonix Flies***

"CHAD!!!" Raye screamed across the temple grounds. Chad winced at the shrill of her voice

as he swept the front steps of the temple. She was a beauty, but she was loud. "Chad, stop

that annoying singing!"

"But Raye, I have a beautiful voice. You don't appreciate such a talent like mine," Chad

said as she walked over to him.

"Talent?" Raye started to laugh. "That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Now

stop singing!" So Chad did and Raye walked away, seeking the comfort and solitude of her

room.

Raye flopped down on her bed, sighing. Yelling at Chad always took a lot out of her. He

was confusing her. She didn't know whether she liked him or not. Of course, Serena was

saying that the two of them were meant to be, but Raye wasn't sure. She was waiting for a

sign to tell her if she and Chad would a good couple. But that sign hadn't come yet, so

she'd have to wait. She felt herself starting to drift off to sleep with the phone rang.

Getting up, she went to get it. "Hello?" she said.

"Hi Raye! You sound tired. Did I call at a bad time? I could always call back later…"

"No Serena, it's fine. What's up?"

"I just wanted to call to say hi. What's wrong? Was Chad singing again?"

"Yes," she spat out, "I hate it when he sings. He sounds like a bird choking. I can't

stand it."

"Raye, I think he's just trying to get your attention. Not that it matters if you like him

or not, he likes you and is just vying for your attention, that's all." Serena's comforting

words surprised her.

Ever since she gained her armor, Serena had been a lot more considerate of other people and

their pet peeves. To borrow her comic books, she now asked and tried to not bother Raye.

Raye just smiled at Serena's consideration and said, "I guess so. But does he have to be

annoying while doing it?"

"It's a way to make sure that he will stand out in your mind. Trust me, I can tell."

"Thanks Serena, that makes me feel better, but I better go. I have chores that I need to do

or I'll be busted big time. So I'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok, feel better Raye. And remember, don't let Chad bother you too much," she said with

humor in her voice.

"Yeah, whatever Serena. See ya."

"Bye Raye," and Serena hung up the phone. Raye put the phone back on its cradle and sighed.

Better start doing those chores, Raye thought resentfully and walked out of her room.

***

Raye sat down on the steps of the temple, weary from working for two hours straight. The

only good thing was that she didn't have to hear Chad sing. By the way, what happened to

Chad? I haven't heard anything from him in a long time. Suddenly, she heard him scream

bloody murder. Raye could feel her pulse quicken as she started to panic. She didn't know

what she would do if Chad, or any one of her friends, got hurt. Nobody screams like that

unless the Negaverse is attacking them. She stood up and cried out, "MARS POWER!" and

after a flurry of light and fire, Sailor Mars stood there ready to battle.

She ran to the area of the screams and found a youma who looked like he was soldier in a

war, except that the gun that it was pointing at Chad shot out bolts of light, instead of

bullets. She arrived to the scene too late to stop the next flow of events. She watched,

frozen in place, as a bolt of light shot out of the gun and went right through Chad's

stomach, sending blood everywhere. "CHAD!!!" she screamed in anguish as he fell to the

ground. She ran over to him and kneeled by him, grabbing his hand, tears staining her

cheeks. She tried to be comforting as Chad lay there, mortally wounded. She could feel her

heart sink into her stomach. She had a feeling that he wasn't going to live and it chilled

her to the bone. "Chad, it's going to be alright. I kill this monster for you, just please

don't give up. For me, ok?"

Chad turned his head to look at her through half-closed eyes and lifted up his hand to

caress her cheek. Raye only cried harder at the tenderness of the action. "I know . . .

you're Sailor Mars, Raye. And just want you to know that I love you . . . " Chad's eyes

closed and his hand fell onto his chest, which Raye noticed had fallen still. "NOOO!" she

cried out. Raye couldn't believe what had happened. Never did she ever imagine that Chad

would be killed. This is my fault. If I had been a little faster . . . no, if I hadn't been a Sailor Scout, this wouldn't have happened, Raye thought. She gently pushed a

strand of hair away from Chad's face, her face crumpling up at the thought that she would

never talk to him again. And then she remembered the youma behind her.

Forcing her tears to stop, she stood up and said, "How dare you kill my friend! You will

die in return!! Power of the Phoenix!" Light surrounded Raye and she appeared in her

version of the sub-armor, exactly like Serena's except of silver, hers was red with a golden

phoenix on her chest. The youma laughed at her and said, "You think you can kill me? Ha,

think again little girl!" He shot a bolt of light at her and she dodged it easily.

Regaining her stance, she cried out, "I call upon the armor of the Phoenix! Armor of the

Phoenix, TO ARMS!" She crossed her hands in front of her chest as fire and lava surrounded

her arms, legs, and chest, creating armor. Wind swirled around her during this, sweeping up

her hair into a bun at the top of her head. As with the other two, the lava and fire

gathered in front of her face to create her helmet, which she picked up to put on her head.

She stood there with fire literally coursing through her veins as the youma looked at her.

Her armor looked like Serena's except it was red and her symbol was a gold phoenix on her

chest-plate and helmet, which looked exactly like Ami's, except Raye's was red and had the

gold phoenix on her forehead.

She didn't hesitate before going into her attack. She put her hands above her head, the

insides of her wrists touching and her palms facing the air with her fingers curled as

flames gathered in her hand. She cried out, "FIREBIRD!" and brought her hands down to her

chest, cupping them together with the flames inside her hands. Then she pushed her hands

away from her body and called out "FLARE!" as a firebird erupted from her hand and rushed to

the enemy, incinerating him quickly. She slumped down with exhaustion next to Chad, laid

her head down on Chad and started to sob heavily.

Serena then chose that moment to arrive at the temple, clad in her sub-armor. She took in

the sight of Raye lying on Chad's chest in her armor and rushed over to them. When she got

to them, she found that Raye was crying and that Chad had a big hole in his stomach, blood

pooling around both of them. Raye looked up at her and said, "Can you bring him back to

life?" Serena started solemnly and sympathetically at Raye and said, "I can try." Serena

knew it wasn't going to work, but she was going to try for Raye.

She drew the crystal out of her body and shouted, "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!" but nothing

happened, despite all the energy Serena put into it. Finally, Serena slumped to the ground,

tired from over exhausting her power with the crystal, the crystal having disappeared back

inside her. Serena looked at Raye with tears in her eyes and said, "I'm sorry. He's lost

too much blood for me to save him. I would die a thousand times to bring him back to you,

but I simply cannot. I'm sorry." Serena edged her way over to Raye and gathered her into a

hug, rocking her back and forth as Raye's body shook with her sobs.

Ami, Lita, and Mina ran up the steps, but stopped suddenly and took in the sight of a

sub-armor-clad Serena hugging a crying, armor-clad Raye, both kneeling in a pool of blood,

Chad's blood. They knew he had died and went over and hugged the two, making a group hug,

as Raye continued to sob.

***

A week later, a funeral service was held for Chad. Everyone thought that the service was

beautifully done and told Raye, who had organized the service with permission from Chad's

family. After the funeral was over, Raye stayed behind to give her final farewell to one of

her closest friends. She stood looking at the casket that held Chad's still form and two

tears rolled down her cheeks. She was pale and she had bags underneath her eyes that came

from not sleeping for the past week. Serena came up to her and touched her shoulder. Raye

jerked her head to look at Serena. "I'm sorry Raye. I know how much you loved him." Raye

shook her head. "I'm not sad because I love him and he's gone."

"Then why are you sad?"

"Because I never got a chance to find out if I loved him." Looking at Serena, her face

crumpled as the tears started up again. Serena pulled Raye into a tight hug. After a few

moments, they pulled away and grabbing Raye's hand, Serena started to walk away, but Raye

stopped her. "Wait a minute," she told Serena. Raye turned around and blew a kiss at

Chad's casket. "Good-bye Chad." Grabbing Serena's hand, the two walked away, leaving Chad

to rest in peace.