Hearts in Time Part 18: Tower attack

by

Lance the Flamesniper

While Malichite was proclaiming his intent to kill Lance Jayd other people were

thinking other things. Lance Was wondering why it was that bad guys ALWAYS

insisted on talking before attacking. Mina and Setsuna were wondering how to find a

decent place to change so to not give away who they were. Wraith on the other hand

was busy watching the odds pile higher and higher against them. Currently the odds

were at sixty to one if you didn't count the leader of this menagerie. To this Wraith

had only one thing to say...

"Aw Hell!"

"Wraith," Lance began quietly. "I want you to get the girls to safety. Do so quickly

while I hold these things off."

Wraith was about to comply when another voice stopped him. "I'm not leaving you

to this. Not now, not ever!" He looked and saw Setsuna standing ther he face set and

determined.

"I'm not leaving either!" Mina agreed.

"Thanks girls," Lance replied with a truely heartfelt smile. "I should have known

better than to try to send you away."

"Lance! What the Hell are you talking about!? These girls will get hurt if they

stay!" Wraith fairly screamed.

"Just trust me," Lance replied as he walked calmly toward the front of the legion

on youmas.

*****

"You do realize we're likely to blow out covers now right?" Mina asked as Setsuna

picked up a length of metal pipe about the right size to use as a bo.

"There's no avoiding it in this case. If you didn't notice the Youmas are between us

and the Elevator. There's no way we could hide who we are," Setsuna replied as she twirled

the pipe experimentally before tossing it away.

Mina looked at the elevator and had to admit, Setsuna had a point.

"Okay, let's do this."

*****

Malachite sneered as his army of fodder youma charged forward. He'd brought forth

overwhelming force and felt comfortable that at sixty to one odds he would have an easy fight

against the two before him. He expected a few casualties of course. But then again, if the

Youmas did their job he may just live through this. Once more he looked out at the Sea of

youma only to be surprised at what he saw.

There stood Lance Jayd calmly slashing droids, Heart Snatchers and mirror warriors,

while his ally used his whip to do the same. Still unless something happened that he didn't

expect, things were going perfectly.

"Pluto Planet Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

'Oh hell no!' Malichite thought.

Wraith for his part was dumbfounded and truned just in time to see Mina transform.

"What the..!?"

"Less talk more fight!" Lance yelled as his cufflinks transformed his clothes into battle

armor.

"I was going to tell you eventually," Sailor Venus said as she joined Wraith on the front

lines. Sailor Pluto went to help Lance.

******

At the base of Tokyo Tower Matt and Lita looked up at the flashes of light and raining

shards of glass and debris. They'd gone there right after a rather interesting lunch; interesting

only in the fact that lunch had given way to heavy petting and spirited round of tonsil hockey.

All in all, this was quite a lightshow to cap off an interesting day. It wasn't until a half blasted

Youma landed near then that it was clear what was going on.

"I've got to get up there!" Lita growled.

"Nothing doing Lita," Matt replied. "It's dangerous up there."

"Matt, I love you very much and I'm going to ask you to keep a secret for me," Lita

said seriously.

"I love you too, Lita. What's this about a secret?" Matt asked.

Lita quickly pulled his beloved up into a nearby stairwell. Since the tower had been

evacuated it was easy to find a secluded spot. "Promise me you won't tell anyone about

this!"

"I promise!"

"Okay," Lita replied as she pulled out her transformation wand. "Jupiter Star Power!"

A few moments later Sailor Jupiter was standing before an open mouthed Matt.

"Come on let's go!"

******

When Sailor Jupiter and Matt arrived the scene before them was total bedlam. Wraith

was using his Celestial Backlash in concert with Sailor Venus's Love and beauty shock. Lance

and Sailor Pluto were back to back, surrounded and outnumbered by the Youmas.

"Oak Evolution!" Sailor Jupiter Yelled taking out as many of the Youmas hampering

Sailor Pluto and Lance as she entered the fray.

"Jupiter Thunder Strike!" Came Matt's response.

During all the explosions Malachite lost sight of Lance Jayd. Lance for his part had not

Lost sight of Malachite. He'd charged his enemy in a low crouching charge then leaped up high

into the air bringing his blade down in a violent downward slash. Malachite's blade met the slash

and the several other slashes that came after as Lance pushed his attack.Malachite was so

focused of countering each strike that e failed to notice when his opponent seemingly

disappeared, at least until he felt his feet kicked out from under him.

"You are quite the gutter fighter Jayd!" Malachite hissed as he glared at the blade pointed

to his throat.

"This ends now you over bleached peice of trash!" Lance growled.

"Then I will leave this place knowing that your lost to time twin sister is in the hands of my

master Necros!" With that Malachite batted the blade away with his broadsword and pressed his

own attack with a series of slashes and thrusts that Lance parried blocked and countered with a

fire that could only come of fury. Here was the man who'd killed him. Here was the man who'd

almost killed him again and worse still had almost killed his beloved. And now he had the nerve to

taunt him with something Setsuna had only recently told him about: his long lost twin. Lance could

only sum things up in three words....

"You're. Going. Down!"

******

The battle was pitched for the others but between the three Senshi and the two past princes

the fodder was rapidly diminishing. Though most of the time they werekeeping their eyes on the

pitched duel between Lance and his seemingly hated enemy.

"Uhm Matt knows my secret idenity," Jupiter mumbled as she was now back to back with

Venus.

"That's okay Wraith knows who I am and Lance knows that his wife is Sailor Pluto and I'm

better knowing his past means he knew who we are too," Mina responded.

"His wife??" Jupiter asked, her eyebrows knitting in surprise.

"Apparently they cantaloped," Venus replied.

"I think you mean Eloped," Jupiter corrected as they polished off the last of their opponents

and turned their gaze to the battle still raging.

Lance backflipped over a stand of obverataion deck chairs. His enemy had resorted to using

a style that emphazed force over form. Still Lance knew he was not going lose to him as losing was

not an option. Quickly he reversed his grip on his Katana then charged swinging his blade into a

deadly frenzy of slashes that cause Malachite to back up. Malachite remembered this style. This

fast, powerful deadly yet elegant sword form.

"What's the matter general? Do you not wish to duel with me?" Lance asked.

"I will kill you!"

"Death Comes for us all but it does not wear your face," Lance replied.

"Good memory," Malachite glared as he charged into fray once more. Their blades met,

then met again and then again once more. Lance knocked the blade aside with his onw then

backhanded Malachite with a backfist. Malachite staggered back stunned. Lance once again

went to the reverse grip. When Malachite charged in next he was greeting with the burning pain

of a starsteel blade slashing across his stomach. As Malachite droped to his knees he glared

weakly at Lance.

"Well played....boy," He hissed weakly. Then he fell forward and breathed his last. As

with all Youma Malachite then faded to nothing.

"You fought well, brave warrior. Rest well now, for the world and its burdens will trouble

you no more," Lance said solmnly as he sheathed this blade.

*********

Several hours had passed since the battle. There were many questions asked of Lance.

Most of them being about why he wasn't surprised that Lita and Mina were Sailor Scouts. Then

again with him having married Sailor Pluto, Lance had most likely discovered it himself. Lance,

however, wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him.

"What's wrong?" Setsuna asked her husband once they'd gotten a moment alone.

"Remember telling me I had a Twin?" Lance asked. When Setsuna nodded Lance

continued. "Malachite told me that Necros has her."

"Necros," Setsuna said. She remembered him from while Lance had been away on

adventures during the Moon Kingdom. He was in her opinion an obsessive, creepy bastard.

"He's a minor time Mage if I remember correctly his tower is outside time just past the area

known as the Tides of Time."

"Then that's where I must go," Lance replied.

********

Chronos smiled into his scrying pool. "The End Game is coming Necros. And you will most

definitely not like the results."

With that Chronos laughed as he hadn't laughed for many centuries. Yes this was most

definitely going to be worth watching.

TBC