Author's Note: La ti da, I love writing fanfics. Must add that to the list:
Josh Groban(singer—not just your grandmother's music!)
chocolate
clouds
manga
writing fanfiction
sleep(or maybe that's first…)
Deirdre looked at the crowd in her living room and sighed. She'd taken five trips through the time gate to find her wayward Senshi, and now they were chatting over tea and cookies. Of course, only half her job was done. Deirdre looked at the picture projected from a stationary image holder. It was the portrait of the original court, but there weren't enough men around to account for the positions she'd been told they would fill.
A young man with brown bangs over one of his green eyes looked at the invitation in his hand. He and his comrades had been invited to a special ceremony at the Unian Embassy for no apparent reason. After a week of questions, they had yet to find out who had asked to invite them. Whoever it was, they had agreed to find out tonight. He gave himself a second look in the mirror. The tux was the standard black and white, in contrast with recent fashion, which included embroidery on the edges of everything. It was a reminder to Travis of the Unian culture's effects on his native people.
He jumped on his motorcycle and closed the hatch. It was basically half a car, but all of the members of Travis' group had these for their speed and maneuverability. He revved the engine and took off. His arrival to the embassy was met with a red carpet and press. Silently cursing, he allowed the valet to take the keys and got out with his trademark half smile. "Mr. Gill! Mr. Gill! Over here!" Photographers called to him as he made his way past, nodding his head from time to time and silently steaming. Was this all part of some publicity stunt for the Unian Empire?
Inside, he gave his invitation to the security officer at the entrance and made his way into the dining room. Several long tables had been set up perpendicular to the longest that was on the far side of the room on a raised platform. The lack of a podium eased Travis' fears of immediate boredom, and he looked around. It took him only a few moments to find a couple of his friends standing near a palm tree.
They looked up and made room for him in their circle. "Hey guys, find anything yet?" he asked in his typical, bored tone.
Aaron shook his head. "Nothing. We have seats together at the table on the end over there, but other than us it's all military and politicians. The ambassador looked almost as surprised to see us as we were to get those invitations."
John examined whatever vintage was in his glass as he said, "Somebody probably made a mistake, simple as that." Then he threw his head back and drank the rest of the glass's contents. He smiled. "At least the wine is good. This stuff has got to be from that dry summer we had a few years back…" His companions rolled their eyes. John was barely old enough to drink, but he had sharp taste buds for alcoholic beverages. It was probably natural to him; his father owned a region of land in the French province that included some of the world's finest grape vines.
Another one of their pals showed up, his long braid standing out amongst all the baldheads and toupees. Dom grinned and said, "I don't think they meant to invite the whole team." They nodded. The 'team' Dom was referring to was their racing team. The whole lot of them were racecar drivers from the same team, Twilight.
Deirdre eyed the group of young men across the room. She smiled and nodded at whatever the woman in front of her was saying. If the gate had done its job right, then these guys had to be the ones she was looking for. Finding the Senshi and their champions would have been impossible using mundane methods. While Deirdre expected her command over the gate of time to have improved with use, it seemed to be just as difficult as ever. She caught a flash of what might have been a vision, but it faded from her mind like a dream upon waking. Where was this mystic foresight she was supposed to possess?
A bell was rung and the guests filed over to their respective seats. Deirdre placed herself beside one of the late arrivals, Armand, and smiled at him. He eyed her warily and she cursed her openness. As the meal was served, she said, "I didn't expect to receive an invitation to such an important function as this, how did you get in?"
Armand gave her a look out of the corner of his eyes. "I actually received my invitation in the mail, as per usual." He sipped his wine and Deirdre felt her nerves tingle. This guy was going to be difficult. His attitude probably came from being a celebrity. Even the bookworm Deirdre knew about racing. It was a very popular source of entertainment for humans and Unians.
Trying to introduce the subject from another angle, she asked, "Do you plan on participating in races in other parts of the Unian Empire?"
His nail blue eyes narrowed and he looked her in the face. His sudden attention made her muscles tense up. "No, humans aren't allowed to leave Earth, remember?"
Deirdre gulped and looked him in the eye. "I just thought your team was here to glean the necessary favor to be given permission for a tour. If your attendance has nothing to do with racing, then is it political? Are you all openly supporting Unian rule?"
Armand could barely believe his ears. This girl—no woman—was extremely influential and immune to Unian police, or stupid. No one questioned loyalty to the Empire this blatantly or openly while sitting elbow to elbow with the Unian ambassador's guests! Armand tapped the table top with a finger as his eyes burned a hole into his plate. This drew the attention of his comrades, because Armando's mood was worth noting.
"I would prefer to say we're publicly neutral on the matter, but if this is an interview, I'm leaving," he said.
Deirdre swore silently at herself. That had been a rather odd question for dinner. What else could she try? "Sorry, I guess I was a little pushy. If politics isn't your thing, talk to me about something that is."
Armand gave her a strange look. "Ok, why do you want to talk to me?"
Ick. "Because you're sitting right next to me. Is there supposed to be some kind of world-peace reason behind it?"
"No."
Deirdre could feel this getting nowhere. She shouldn't have assumed that as the oldest he was the leader, because he obviously wasn't chatty. If only she had known this would happen. Deirdre stood and set down her napkin. Several people who hadn't taken notice looked up and Armand could tell they thought he had done something. Deirdre picked up her purse and started for the door.
Stupid male, she thought.
As Cyrus turned his attention back to dinner, he caught movement near the young woman Armand had managed to scare away. Turning to see better, he could hardly believe his eyes. There was a grey-skinned creature slinking along the wall towards the room's main entrance. Just as the young woman reached the doorway, the thing leapt out of the shadows and pounced on her. For a moment it looked like no one had noticed, then several ladies at nearby tables started screaming and the doorman shrunk away, horrified.
The table shook and Cyrus watched Travis and Dom leap over their comrades to help the damsel. Cyrus and Armand traded looks and also got to their feet. Plenty of people were doing their best to distance themselves as the woman screamed in pain. Cyrus felt his breath catch as the ghoul's face lifted and he saw the blood on its mouth. The ghoul ignored the swiftly approaching racecar drivers and turned back to its victim just as Travis reached him. He and Dom gripped the thing's supposed shoulders and tried to pry it off.
Then Armand and Cyrus reached them with John, Kenneth and Aaron close behind. Each grabbed a limb and started pulling. Armand and Cyrus worked on unclenching the thing's fingers from the woman's arms. A piece of a chair, a leg from the looks of it, came down and smacked the creature in the head. It opened its mouth to let out a cry of pain just as the guys got it to let go. Travis ended up with the creature latched onto him. He managed to grab its head to keep it from biting him, but he looked like he could use a little help.
Cyrus looked around for someone from security who would have a weapon and saw an empty room. How had everyone gotten out so fast? Then he saw the young woman stir. He shot a glance at Travis and saw that the others were helping him and went over to the first victim. Her purple dress was stained black with blood from a neck wound. This was serious. Just as he was about to get out his phone and call an ambulance, her eyes opened and caught his. Red eyes, full of pain and something else.
She started to sit up and he knelt beside her. "Stay down, I'll call the paramedics—"
"No… NO!" she said, louder the second time. With surprising strength she managed to shove Cyrus out of the way and get to her feet. Blood dripped down her arms and front to leave darker dots on the red carpet. She faced the struggling drivers and shouted, "Move!" They jumped out of the way as if by instinct as she marched up and grabbed the grey creature's neck from behind. It looked at her with it's too big eyes and she gave him a cruel smile, teeth streaked with her own blood. "Die." Her hand pulsed with a bright light and the ghoul turned to as much grey dust. Trowa was breathing heavily and staring straight up at the woman he'd been trying to save not a minute before. He only bore a few scratches.
She turned to the rest of them and cleared her throat. "We should probably leave," she said in a raspy voice. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped.