SAILOR MOON: 1987
SAILOR MOON'S CREATOR: NAOKO TAKEUCHI. STUFF I OWN: WHATEVER I CREATED.
EPISODE 21: DEATH MATCH
DOWNTOWN FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA
JANUARY 29, 1987 6:30 PM
"I have a little proposition for you," Golden Hawk said. "You and me, one on one, mano y mano. If you accept, there's only one rule."
"And that is?" Zoicite asked.
"Whoever dies first," Golden Hawk said, surrounding the Rainbow Crystals in a force field, "loses. I put an enchantment around them, so only you or I can touch them, but only if one of us dies. If you accept, you can't lose."
"How do you figure that out?" Zoicite said.
"Either you die or you take all seven crystals to Metalia," Golden Hawk said. "Either way, you'll escape her wrath."
"I accept your challenge," Zoicite said.
"Three things," Golden Hawk said. "First, it's just you and me, no outside interference. Second, no holds barred, everything's legal. Third, we fight to the death. Either you kill me or I kill you."
"I accept your terms," Zoicite said. "Since you challenged me, and defined the terms of battle, I believe I have the right to determine the time and place. I say we have it right here, right now."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Golden Hawk said.
"Golden Hawk," Sailor Moon said, "Do you know what you're up against? What you're getting yourself into?"
"Yes," Golden Hawk said.
"Let the battle begin," Zoicite said, drawing his sword.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Golden Hawk said, unsheathing his staff, and transforming it into a sword. The sound of steel on steel drew a crowd, both the Sailor Soldiers and the homeless gathered to watch the battle.
To say Golden Hawk and Zoicite weren't holding back would have been an understatement. Both were fighting with a fury nobody witnessing the fight had ever seen. Both were also going for the kill, every blow meant as a killing blow. After several minutes of furious fighting, Golden Hawk transformed his sword into a laser sword, similar to what Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader would use in Star Wars. With one blow, he cut the blade of Zoicite's sword in half. Zoicite reacted by tossing aside what remained of his sword, and conjuring up a laser sword of his own, his blade made of red light, as opposed to Golden Hawk's yellow blade. The switch to lighter weapons allowed the two to fight with greater ferocity.
The battle soon began to follow a pattern: Zoicite would attack and Golden Hawk would parry, and they would exchange so that Golden Hawk would attack and Zoicite would parry. After nearly an hour of furious combat, Golden Hawk made an error that left him open, an opening Zoicite meant to captialize on.
However, there was one thing that Zoicite hadn't counted on: Golden Hawk's "mistake" was deliberate. Golden Hawk had meant it as bait for a trap, to leave an opening that he knew Zoicite wouldn't be able to resist. As Golden Hawk had hoped, Zoicite went in for the kill. He was unaware that Golden Hawk had been carrying a Colt .45 until it was too late.
Zoicite's first warning that Golden Hawk was packing heat was when he heard the gunshot. Zoicite's face began to turn green, from the blood coming from the bullet hole between his eyes. The wall behind Zoicite was splattered with fragments of his brain and skull. As Zoicite fell forward, dead, all seven Rainbow Crystals flew into Golden Hawk's hand. "Zoicite's biggest mistake was assuming I would fight fair," Golden Hawk said. "He didn't know I was packing heat until it was too late."
"None of us knew you carried a gun," Sailor Moon said. "Aside from when you channel energy through your tonfas, and use them as blasters."
"Actually," Golden Hawk said, "I can transform my staff into any weapon I can think of. I deliberately made a mistake that left me open, allowed Zoicite to move in for the kill, and at the last second, I transformed my staff from a laser sword to a Colt, and got him right between the eyes. The best part, I got the Rainbow Crystals."
"Now comes the hard part," Sailor Moon said. "Figuring how to combine them to form the Legendary Silver Millennium Crystal."
"Maybe Artemis or Lu..." Golden Hawk said, just before a blast of energy from an unknown source killed him."
"Golden Hawk!" Sailor Moon yelled. "What happened?"
"I happened," a man in a military uniform similar to the one worn by Zoicite or Jaedite said, as he began to draw the Rainbow Crystals to himself. He had long dark brown hair, and like the others, wore eye makeup and earrings. "My name is Nephrite, and I'll be taking the Rainbow Crystals. I would have killed you sooner, but since one of the terms Zoicite agreed to was no outside interference, I had to wait until the battle ended to kill you."
"You monster!" Sailor Moon said, as she began to cry. As a tear left her eye and ran down her cheek, it drew all seven Rainbow Crystals to it...
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
OUR NEXT EPISODE: THE PRINCESS AND THE CRYSTAL