The Fight for Crystal Tokyo
TheSkryer, the generals in my story are named Shuensha Roiyaru (Tuxedo Star), Kyoushou Zachary (Tuxedo Asteroid), Taiyou Tomoshibi (Tuxedo Sun), and Kuregata Kasai (Tuxedo Kometto). oxoStardustoxo, I'm glad you were tricked by the first chapter lol, that means I obtained exactly what I was looking for. In the first chapter of my first story, "The Awakening for Crystal Tokyo," Usagi gets married, but is attacked by the enemy. In this story, it's Minako's turn and she is attacked by just nerves LOL. Kyamei and xblindinglightx, there is going to be a HUGE problem. "The Fight" begins in this chapter ;). ENJOY!
Chapter 3
Into the Fire
Rei was meditating at the fire again. The feeling that she had gotten had disturbed her so she resolved to be more cautious and respectful. She prostrated herself before even seeking its guidance. After apologizing to the Great Fire, she knelt upright and chanted her normal incantations, welcoming herself into the presence of its counsel. Her mind was at rest and she could hardly feel her heartbeat anymore. She knew that the fire had forgiven her and now her body, mind, and soul were ready to receive whatever the fire had in store. Chanting again, pleading for guidance, she felt the heat of the fire soften her skin, creating sweat upon her brow.
"What disturbs you so?" she asked within her mind waiting for a response. As quickly as she asked the question the fire was ready with a response. A picture filled her thoughts of the Black Moon Family, but that picture was immediately set to flame and turned to ashes before her. Another image appeared of the Senshi maintaining the palace barrier that protected the queen but the next image showed their defeat.
"What does that mean?" she cried in an arrogant and astounded outrage. The fire grew so large, it threw her backwards. "Gomennesai," she whispered slowly finding her way back to her usual altar spot. "Reveal to me in the pace you wish."
With her act of contrition, the fire blazed, ready to disclose more to its humble servant.
---
Nise, Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Star, and Tuxedo Sun arrived at the scene as firemen tried to contain the fire in front of them. The building had a large chunk of it blown off from the left corner, where the bomb must've been detonated. "Judging from that, it must've been right under Rei's desk." Tuxedo Sun stated.
Sailor Venus closely observed the building. Having rescued civilians from burning buildings many times before, she assumed there were no elevators because of the building's size. "You're right." Tuxedo Sun said concreting her suspicion. "There's just one flight of stairs throughout the whole six-story building on the opposite side of the blowout. It's possible everyone that was on that side escaped via the firefighters."
With that bit of information, the team was ready to enter. "Maybe you should take off your coats for this one, it could get hot." Sailor Venus suggested to Tuxedo Star and Tuxedo Sun in their respective colored, one-notch tail coats.
Tuxedo Star shook his head adjusting his grey jacket. "It's apart of uniform."
Tuxedo Sun gulped as he adjusted his as well. "Let's hope that's a fortunate thing, right Tuxedo Star?"
Right before every operation, Tuxedo Star would humor Tuxedo Sun with a joke to lighten the mood of the situation – yet today, Tuxedo Star said nothing. To him, nothing had been forgotten nor forgiven so he replied coldly with, "It's not a time for jokes, Tuxedo Sun."
Tuxedo Sun looked straight ahead at the fire before them trying his best to express his emotions in a gentlemanly manner. "You're right, Tuxedo Star," he agreed. "Neither one of us are kids anymore, therefore jokes should not be humored."
"My thoughts exactly," the other man said rather bluntly.
"Let's not waste anymore time," Sailor Venus heralded, stopping the exchange of words.
"Yes, let's go look for captives. There's no saving the building itself now." Nise finished.
"You stay here." Tuxedo Star quickly said to her. "Sailor Venus, let's go!"
Tuxedo Sun watched as Tuxedo Star and Sailor Venus ran towards the burning building. "Look Nise, stay here, I don't want you getting hurt." Tuxedo Sun told her touching her cheek. He gave her one last look and went inside.
As soon as the three went in, people were freed and ran out of the front of the building. Reaching the third floor, they came across a row of doors mirrored by doors on the other side. Instinctively, they began checking every room on each side. After checking six doors, three on each side, the ceiling caved in creating a fiery wall in front of them.
"We didn't go this far in life to let that kind of thing stop us." Sailor Venus thought to her self. With a battle cry she leaped up upon a wall and jumped over the fire onto the other side.
"Venus!" Tuxedo Star shouted.
"I'm okay, come on!" Sailor Venus shouted back from the other side. Tuxedo Star and Sun followed her example and landed beside her. "What took you so long?"
"Venus, you need to be careful! You could've fallen through the floor!" Tuxedo Star yelled at her.
"I'd miss you too." Sailor Venus said touching his cheek. The three continued opening doors looking for anybody within them. Coming to the door on their right nearest the wall, a man ran out praying for safety. "Venus Love Me Chain!" Sailor Venus invoked as the chain landed in her hands. "Tuxedo Sun, you think you could create a stake in the floor?"
Nodding rapidly, Tuxedo Sun took out his extendable cane and invoked, "Sun Target Accuracy!" and darts shot into the floor. Attaching one end of a 'Love Me Chain' to the man's waist and the other to a dart in the sturdy part of the floor, Sailor Venus invoked her 'Crescent Beam' and blasted the wall.
"Hang on tight, sir." Sailor Venus asked. Sailor Venus pushed him out of the hole in the wall and ran back to the fire which she had jumped across. Tuxedo Star and Sun were left amazed but followed her away.
The trio continued up unto the fourth floor. "Was it wise to leave him there like that?" Tuxedo Sun asked.
"I've been rescuing people from burning buildings since my days as Sailor V," she said running. "As long as they're under a certain weight, it'll be alright."
"Have there been any mess-ups?" Tuxedo Sun asked again.
"There was one." Sailor Venus smiled as she opened the door to the fourth floor. "Let's just say that London really needed to go on a diet." Sailor Venus was met with the whole hallway completely ignited in flames. Behind them in the stairwell, a fire grew from below. "What if there were people in here?"
"There's nothing we can do now, we have to keep moving!" As they continued up unto the fifth floor, Tuxedo Star's attention was called to a voice coming from above them. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Tuxedo Sun asked.
"There's a voice coming from the sixth floor." Tuxedo Star shouted. "You two take care of the fifth floor; I'll go see what's up on the sixth."
"Be careful." Sailor Venus told him as she and Tuxedo Sun went into the fifth level allowing Tuxedo Star to run up some more.
Tuxedo Star touched the handle to the door on the sixth floor and it was too hot even within his gloves. He pushed his way inside using his shoulder and landed on the floor in front of him. He heard the cries for help again and instinctively knew that it came from Rei's office. Something within Tuxedo Star told him the man and the cause of this disturbance but he found himself too quick to judge.
The door was locked from the outside and proved too hard to push through. "I'm coming in for you, just stay put!" he yelled from outside pushing against the door. "Not like you have much of a choice." He muttered to himself. The fire was at the end of the hallway where the wall had blown out and he wondered how the man got into Rei's office. "You have to let me in!"
"It's flaming in here!" the male voice whined from inside.
"If Sailor Venus could just get up here," Tuxedo Star thought to himself. "Then she can blast the door down... but I don't have a key!" he shouted, banging his fists on the door. The door simply caved in at that moment leaving the man utterly stupefied.
"Where are you?" Tuxedo Star shouted, stepping into the room but shielding himself from the heat of the flame.
"Over here!" the man shouted.
The information did not help Tuxedo Star and the flame blinded him. He could not look for the man just by following his voice so he pulled out his extendable cane. "Sir, shield your eyes!" Tuxedo Star aimed his cane into the fire and invoked, "North Star Reflection!" A bright light emitted from the end of the cane and blanketed the room with a bright white light. With the special mask that came with his uniform, Tuxedo Star could see the outline of the fire and behind that outline was the man sitting against a wall, stretching out his hand for help. Beside the man was the outline of what seemed to be a blown out window. As the bright light disappeared, Tuxedo Sun entered the room.
"There was nobody in level 5 and I double checked the rooms before this one for you." He said staring at the flames. Tuxedo Star just nodded only hearing rather than listening to what was said.
"Where's Sailor Venus?" Tuxedo Star asked as the flames got closer to the both of them.
"I'm right here... with a friend." She said at the door.
Tuxedo Star turned around to see Nise with Sailor Venus.
"I thought we told you to wait outside!" Tuxedo Star yelled at her.
"This is my city as well as yours, Tuxedo Star." Nise calmly replied.
"You will die for this city?" Tuxedo Star asked as the ceiling was coming down behind them.
"Wouldn't you?" she asked as if she was looking straight through into his eyes.
Tuxedo Star gritted his teeth. "It is my job to do so and it is your duty to do as I say!"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Tuxedo Sun shouted at him. "She has a right to want to help!"
"Right now, you can help by..." Tuxedo Star stopped midway of his next comment and looked at Sailor Venus whose eyes showed a mixture of disappointment and exasperation. "Just don't get in the way." He finished.
"Tuxedo Star," Sailor Venus began. "This room and building is gonna go up in flames any minute. Where is the person you're here to rescue?"
"He's right there by the window, do you think you can strap him to a 'Love Me Chain' and pull him over?"
"The fire is too big; it wouldn't be able to stand the heat and pressure. The only way is to go through the fire." Sailor Venus replied. The four of them stood there in silence inching towards the fire. The room was pretty big. Jumping towards the man would mean going through at least fourteen feet of fire which stretched across the nineteen feet expansion of the room. "I could throw a 'Crescent Beam',"
"And have one of us follow in afterwards and catch him!" Tuxedo Star finished. "How'd he get in this room anyway?" he asked out loud. Nise's eyes shifted back and forth many times as if the heat of the fire was too much to stand. However, it was the thought of being found out that burned her insides even more. "It was locked."
Sailor Venus shrugged, prepped, and focused her energy into a big 'Crescent Beam' and shot it. Just as Tuxedo Star was going to follow the 'Crescent Beam' through, Nise jumped in front of him, dove for the man, and the both of them were hurled outside the window. The three remaining rescuers were left in awe by the act until the flames crept closer towards them.
"We have to get out of here!" Tuxedo Sun yelled. "This place is going to fall-through any second!" Tuxedo Sun was right. The three went back into the hallway and turned to the stairway. The fire had caught up with them. The only way was to jump out of the gap made by the detonated bomb. Putting his coat to good use, Tuxedo Sun was first out using his coat as a parachute. Tuxedo Star held on to Sailor Venus and followed his example as the building caved in moments after.
---
The fire was put out of the collapsed building and it seemed nobody was killed. It turned out that the building was closed for the day anyway and only a small number of people were in there to begin with, excluding Lady Rei, who had locked herself in her temple. Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Star, and Tuxedo Sun ran to the front of the building where the man Nise had saved was getting medical attention. His spiky blue-hair was untidy and his left arm seemed to have been broken. Telling the nurse he was left-handed, she allowed him to go to the hospital without signing a form.
"Nise, that was amazing!" Tuxedo Sun exclaimed. "I was so scared for you! How'd you survive that fall?"
Nise shrugged uneasily. "I guess when Tuxedo Star used that bright light, firefighters put down a trampoline behind the place."
"You're so lucky," Tuxedo Sun started again. "Seeing you jump like that was... Wasn't that amazing?" he said looking at Tuxedo Star who in turn looked at Sailor Venus.
Sailor Venus, sensing that her husband shared the same uncertainty and discomfort she did, forced herself to smile. "Arigatou, Nise. Tuxedo Sun, don't be a stranger." She turned and walked away from the scene and Tuxedo Star followed.
"Nice use of your jacket." Tuxedo Star said to his friend as he and Venus disappeared into the distance.
---
So has the fire been contained?" King Endymion asked from his control room looking up at the chief magistrate on the video-phone.
"Yes, my liege, it has been contained." The man replied. The chief had a round, plump face and gave into the stereotype of all magistrates. In his bushy, red mustache were crumbs he continuously tried to brush out when King Endymion had called. Yet, King Endymion wasn't the kind of man to mind.
One should take note of King Endymion's persona from his physical stature to his emotional appeal. The man had a certain aura around him that was inviting to everyone. Enemies and friends alike had fallen in love with him one way or another, but it was those closest to him that he loved back. He was a humble heart, a true incarnation of the mysteries and mercies of planet earth. His eyes were soft like the ocean on a clear day and his almost ever-present smile sat on the right side of his face sending the warmth of the sun to the heart of all people. His stature, tall like the redwood tree, protected his humble and golden heart. His friends were blessed to call him friend, his wife blessed to call him husband, Crystal Tokyo to call him King. There was no king before him and none will be after him that could be who he was for the people of Crystal Tokyo.
"You may address me as Endymion, sir, you know that full well." King Endymion told him smiling behind his mask.
"I know my liege. Well I must be off; there are other duties that I must attend to."
"As you must. Goodbye, sir." After talking to the chief magistrate he turned to see Roiyaru standing at the doorway to the control room. "Roiyaru-san, I didn't see you there."
"Sorry, Serenity told me I could find you in here," he answered. "If you want me to leave I could just..."
"Roiyaru, I've told you a thousand times before, everyday for a thousand years, you're no bother to me, my friend. Take a seat." Endymion said wholeheartedly as Roiyaru slowly approached a chair at the large conference table. "Now what's troubling you, other than the fact I've been trying hard to get you for a video conference on today's bombing?" the king smiled.
Roiyaru became embarrassed. After such a disturbance he should have been home giving a report of what he saw happen. "I... I was bringing Chibi-Usa home from the eventful day and I thought I'd... wait a minute, I'm supposed to be on vacation." Roiyaru turned even redder as Endymion broke out into laughter. There Roiyaru was in black slacks and a grey shirt (normal wear) and he was thinking about his duties and work again. As he watched Endymion laugh he smiled at himself. Roiyaru was blessed to know Endymion, his constant reminder that life was truly meant to stop and smell the roses. He would have never guessed the boy he was introduced to and died protecting during the Silver Millennium would be the man standing before him now. "Very funny, Endymion." He said sarcastically. "Anyway, Chibi-Usa is in her room."
"Good, now what were you here to talk about?" Endymion asked, slowly stopping his laughter.
"It's about Tomoshibi." Roiyaru said quietly.
"Roiyaru, you've told me a lot, and it has all been said in confidence, but to tell me now even after your marriage you still..."
"No, it's not that at all. It's his new girlfriend."
"Jealous?" Endymion asked.
Roiyaru closed his eyes and searched deep within his heart and looked towards Endymion. "No, it's not jealousy. I just don't trust her. I mean she comes out of nowhere and he spends all his time with her and he has forgotten us, Kasai, Zachary and I. I'm so angry with him, angry with her for taking him away from us."
"Sounds like jealousy to me." Endymion said taking the seat nearest Roiyaru. "Roiyaru, look at what the four of you have accomplished here. You were all first forged together to bring in this new era and here we are. Once that was accomplished I asked the four of you to become generals in my court, and here we are. Three of you have found love, two of you have pursued that love and have married, but every single one of you are still key in each others' lives. What I'm trying to get at, Roiyaru is, friends grow, but the best of friends can grow in totally different directions and still grow together. That is what you all are doing, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Roiyaru loved the way Endymion spoke. His command of language, his tone of voice, and the maturity to speak words beyond his years touched him and that is why he sought Endymion's counsel before others. "But Tomoshibi, he's capable of a lot now that he's with Nise. He forgot my wedding. Today he deliberately went against all my orders just to protect Nise, her feelings, and what she wanted to do. Lives were in danger today and he let whatever feelings he has for her cloud his judgment."
"From what I hear, she was quite the help today, saving a man and all." Endymion smiled. "And isn't Tomoshibi-san general of Point 3? Shouldn't he have given the orders?" Endymion saw Roiyaru thinking it over. "You see Roiyaru, if he didn't respect you he would not have given up his leadership to you. He still holds you in such a high regard, like I do."
"Endymion-sama," Roiyaru said shaking his head. "If anything, it's me who should hold you in a high regard. You're so young yet so wise, open and sympathetic to all those around you. I am no more then a half a decade older than you, and I still learn so much."
"Don't inflate my ego," Endymion chuckled. "And it's a new era, Roiyaru, who still looks at age? I still respect you and hold you in the regard that I would anybody who has taught me anything." Endymion paused. "The kinship that you, Tomoshibi, Kasai, and Zachary have is exemplary. Something I never had yet now I have been invited into. Believe me Roiyaru, in the end, through thick and thin, friendship and loyalty are what will ring true."
After their discussion the video phone began to ring. Endymion and Roiyaru stood up and went to the video phone and watched as a soldier appeared on the screen.
"My king," the soldier began. "There is some strange activity in the outskirts of the city. I am awaiting your command to go and inspect the activity myself."
The kind smiled. "I will be sending two of my generals along with you." Ending the transmission, he looked at Roiyaru who smiled as well. "You and Tomoshibi should go ahead and take this. You could probably even find time on the way back to talk out your differences."
"Arigatou Endymion-sama."
Well I am off to vacation people. I'll be back on Wednesday... I think LOL. Depending on the content of my reviews, I'll update next Thursday or Friday. I update my chapters on a weekly basis because of what YOUR reviews do for me. I use theconstructive criticism that people give me to improve and fix things in upcoming chapters. So thanks everybody for helping me become the best I can be!
Next Chapter: Kin of the Black Crystal
You won't want to miss out on this one!