Episode 4: Fate of Sacrifice
"Oooh...Pretty lights...!" Aoi squeals, pointing at the bolt flying towards her.
Sayaka looks in horror as the lavender bolt comes flying towards her two teammates. While Aoi continues to point at the bolt, Anna turns around and throws her arms out, screaming at the Cheer Girl leader to run.
"No!" she squeaked, "Don't do this!" she tries to run for the two, but can't seem to leave the place in which she stood.
"Run!" Anna yells before bolt engulfs her and Aoi, leaving nothing but the outline of their appearance. Sayaka tries to run faster, but still remains rooted to her spot as she watches the stone material coat around them like ooze.
"Please! Stop!" she screams, reaching her hand out to try and grab for them. But even that isn't helping as the effects of the bolt succeeded in turning Anna and Aoi to stone.
Sayaka screams as she lays in bed, throwing her head around in sadness and fear. Anna sighs in frustration as she turns to Saito and Suzuki who had shown up at her house earlier to ask for their help.
"We don't know what happened," she said, "One day we were cheering for a saleswoman lacking in public attention, and all of a sudden Sayaka collapses. Doctor said she hasn't been getting enough sleep and wants us to lay low for a while."
"Do you think she's been affected by what happened a month ago?" Suzuki asked.
"It's become a possibility. I mean, she was fine after sleeping the whole anti-music event off... But...now she just..." Anna sighs again in frustration as she places her elbow on a nearby wall and throws her hand on her mouth.
"What if it's the Rhombulans infesting our city that's causing her to be so scared?" Aoi asks, sitting on a chair beside Sayaka's bed.
"You may be right," Anna said, "There're so many of those aliens running around its hard not to spot one. The stone completely obscured our vision during the first invasion, and the only thing keeping us up to date with the whole scenario is our hearts. Sayaka may have been watching the Rhombulans patrolling the entire city and had their horrifying images burned into her mind."
"If that's the case," Saito said, "Then she may not be able to help us with this investigation." He looks over to Suzuki, "So what now?"
Suzuki sighs and closes his eyes, "Tanaka-san has already made contact with one of the Agents in the city...and it appears that, on his way back to the dojo, he encountered and brought two more. But Ippongi-sama and the last Agent we sensed appear to be in some kind of danger."
"What kind of danger?"
"It's strange... According to my heart, both of them are trapped underground somewhere in Tokyo Park."
"Underground!?" the three conscious Ouendan yelp.
"How did that happen!?" Anna asks, frantically.
Suzuki opens his eyes and looks over to Saito, "Whatever the reason, we should head over there and help them before we wind up losing them as well." Saito nod as the two head out of Sayaka's room, leaving Anna and Aoi alone to wallow in shock over what had just happened.
- - -
"He-ey! This' cool!" Spin laughs as he buttons up the long tailed, gaku-ran uniforms worn by the Ouendan. He then strikes a fighting pose, "Say, you think this makes me look like 'The One'!?"
"Drop the Matrix impersonations!" Hajime grumbled, walking past Spin, "These uniforms are on loan until your cloths dry off!" Spin sighs in disappointment as he walks over to Morris and Derek, also wearing the same uniform.
"The impersonations would've been avoided if you had a dryer," Morris sighs, looking at their suits hanging on the clothes line in the backyard, "This' startin' to remind me of the Meiji era."
"I apologize for your impatience," Kai said, sitting back in front of the 2ft table and sipping his tea, "But our dryer is currently busted and we couldn't get an electrician with enough galls to make the trip out here." He then noticed the dome-shaped device on Hajime's back, "Care to explain that thing on your back?"
Hajime frowns as he looks at the device, "I don't know. It must've fallen out of that compartment in the gondola and clamped onto me when we crashed."
"Hey! I think I saw Foxx work on somethin' like that a week ago," Spin said, moving towards Hajime for a closer look, "Said it was for emergency use."
"Whatever it is, it's killing my shoulders," Hajime grunts as he tries to pull the device off his back only to feel the weight increase to the point of him dropping to a kneeling position. The straps around his shoulders eventually uncurl and plant themselves onto the table.
Everyone crowds around the device as it makes its way to the center of the table and flops down. A second later, the top pops open, revealing a screen underneath as it flickers another second before presenting a picture of Chieftain messing with the buttons on the remote.
"I'm still not getting anything!" he complained, "Are you sure this is the right button?"
"I'd say so," Morris said, grabbing the BA-1 Agent's attention as he snaps his head up.
"Uh...right..." he said, dropping the remote and clearing his throat, "Sorry about that. It's the first time I was told about the device, so I wasn't sure what I was doing."
"What I want to know is why a generic universal remote," Hajime mutters, a bit befuddled.
"Budget cut!" Foxx's voice calls out.
"I'm sure they can figure that out without your two cents worth," Chieftain grumbles in annoyance.
"Let's get to the point before someone else encourages more befuddling questions," Kai said.
"Right. Seeing as J's changed his position again and most of us are accounted for, I think its best that we try and straighten this situation out before it gets worse."
"If you want to talk to Ryuta, he's not here," Kai said, "Since the invasion can effect both our organizations, he felt it best to try and help out with the investigation, all the while locate your other missing Agent."
Chieftain sighs a bit as he sits back and crosses his arms, "Then we've pretty much become sitting ducks. We were hoping he can figure out a temporary solution to avoiding the Rhombulans getting what they want."
Foxx leans on Chieftain's shoulder, trying to push her way onto the screen, "Hey. What's with the Matrix costumes? Something happen to your clothes?"
"If you wanna call nose-diving into a hot spring a reason for the change in wardrobe," Derek mutters before rubbing the back of his head, "Speaking of which..."
"Just worry about removing the blimp," Kai interrupts, "We'll salvage what's broken."
Chieftain began stroking his beard in contemplation, "I think we may have found something that could put a cloth over everyone's eyes until we find J and your leader..." everyone turns their attention back to Chieftain, expecting him to continue.
- - -
"Wow... I didn't think the bawls of hell would be this hot..." J pants as he straightens out his collar for the third time. Both he and Ryuta's faces were drenched in sweat and the overwhelming temperature was sucking out what little air they could salvage.
"Our clothes aren't being much help either," Ryuta grunts, still trying hard to at least keep him and J from falling into the lava, "At the rate we're going, the heat itself'll be enough to do us in before we even touch the magma."
"Well, can't you try and get us out before that happens?"
"I'm trying. But with me wearing more than just a shirt and pants, the effects of this heat is doing ten times more to me than it is you. And neither of us are in a position to try and shed some of the wool off to keep cool."
"Would begging you to hang on make the situation any better?"
"It might," Ryuta said, his panting getting worse, "But I don't think it'll last long. I just hope the others realize our predicament and show up to try and get us out."
"Why do I have a feeling that's gonna take a while?" J mutters under his breath.
- - -
The girl sighs as she stares at Ryuta's hand still sticking out of the goop, tightly gripping the ground as it slowly began to tremble from pain and exhaustion.
"I'm bored," she said, swinging her legs back and forth, "Is Uncle ever going to win this game? I wonder who else wants to play."
As if expecting an answer, she hears a bird-like noise from above. Looking up, she sees, what appears to be, a fiery-colored peacock, missing all but two tails, fly down towards the goop and grab Ryuta's hand just as it was about to release hold of the ground. The girl beams at the new arrival.
"Alright!" she squealed, "Someone else to play! Will birdie be able to win this game!?"
Ryuta jerks his head up upon feeling something grab his wrist. J looks up as well, both feeling a sense of calmness and warmth flow through their hearts. Though too exhausted to know what's going on, they somehow managed to calm down and allow whoever's helping them to try and pull them out.
The bird flaps its wings as it struggles to pull the two cheerleaders from the ground. Unfortunately, even its mighty strength isn't enough to budge its captors, and the stronger grip of the goop is starting to pull it down as well.
After flapping several more times, the bird screeched loudly, causing its body to glow a bright, fiery color. The girl watches as glow expands in a circular shape, covering everything in a blindly bright light.
"Oooh! What's birdie doing now?" The girl asks, trying to squint her eyes to see what was going on. A minute later, the light begins to fade, returning the park back to its shadowy dark appearance.
The girl blinks as she looks around the immediate area, realizing that the bird had disappeared along with Ryuta, J and the goop they were trapped in. She cocks her head to the side before squealing, clapping her hands and kicking her legs back and forth, "Yay! Birdie won!" she then stops and presses her finger onto her cheek, "But where did it take Uncle and that man?"
- - -
Ryuta and J opened their eyes after a few seconds, finding themselves floating in a blindingly white scenery.
"Dude! Are we dead!?" J yelps, trying to stand up only to slip and tumble in place. A split second after asking, the color starts to fade, revealing they were in the middle of a partly cloudy, midday sky...and falling very fast.
"I'm guessing not!" Ryuta yells in fright as he and J instinctively grabbed and hugged each other, continuing their descent a minute before hitting the ocean below.
The two came up seconds later, coughing and spitting out water.
"Mind letting go?" Ryuta coughed, "I can swim just fine."
"Me? Why don't you...?" J was about to complain before both looked down to find they were still hugging themselves. Startled, they scramble away from each other a couple feet in embarrassment before regaining their senses and looking around, "Where are we now?"
"Out of danger, thankfully," Ryuta spat, taking his right hand out of the water and pounding it on the side of his head to shake water from his left ear. Before he could lower his hand, the bird that rescued them landed on his wrist, grabbing his attention as he and J stared at it in surprise. Upon closer inspection, the bird appears to be no higher than a small child, yet is light enough to not put pressure on Ryuta's wrist.
"Hey!" J shouts, pointing at the bird, "That's the bird who nearly choked us in ashes!"
"Really?" Ryuta said, not seeming the least bit surprised, looking back to the bird as it rubs its head on his cheek while purring, "I figured you had something to do with this."
"W-wait a minute! You mean you actually know this bird!?"
"What? You never seen a phoenix before?" J just about had a heart attack upon hearing what Ryuta said.
"A wha...!?" he stammers in overwhelming surprise. He then groans and rubs his temples, "Okay...the minute we find dry land, I'm looking for someplace to lie down..."
"We could both use some rest after having an unneeded experience of earth's upper mantle," Ryuta said, reaching into his coat pocket, "I don't think the ocean's doing much for us other than wash off the sweat and heat from our bodies."
"The only problem is we're out in the middle of nowhere and it's already a struggles just trying to keep our heads out of the water. How're we going to find land and reach it in the condition we're in?"
"No need to worry about that," Ryuta brought his other hand up, holding a strange-looking key with a yang for a head, "Hou-Yi should be able to get us out of this place." He points the end towards the bird as it grabs it, jumps off his wrist and flies off into the distance.
"Hou-Yi? As in the Chinese guardian of the sun? I thought he was just a legend."
"That's what I thought too when I encountered the Solar Warrior tribe two months ago. Seems there's more to the whole Sun and Moon Guardian stuff than what was written in books."
"Please tell me that Amazon night tribe isn't ruled by a woman named Chang-E..." J groaned, looking ready to faint.
"If it causes you to drown, I won't."
A few seconds later, they see something rising from the ocean's horizon. A large boat with the head of a phoenix for a pointer moves towards them with an elderly man standing behind it. He had a long, white beard and mustache, wore a yellow cloak over a red robe, and carried an orange, 5ft cane beside him, the top shaped like a sideways yang with the phoenix using the tip end as a perch. At least three men in fire-patterned, shaolin outfits sat in the center of the boat while rowing it.
Ryuta and J follow the boat's movement as it soon stops between them, the elder turning to gaze at Ryuta.
"It has been too long, Ryu-dono," he said.
"I'm sorry if I haven't been keeping in touch as of late, Hou-san," Ryuta said, "Been busy with a certain event."
"Yes. We have been looking into the whole invasion ourselves since that day," Hou-Yi then turns his attention to J, "And I see you've met one of the men who share the same goal as you."
J started to get irritated, "Alright, I wanna know what's going on! It's bad enough we were nearly fried like potatoes, then dumped in the middle of a blue desert-"
"Here would not be a good place to explain," Hou-Yi said as he raises his free hand towards the monks rowing the boat. Two nod as they reach over and help the cheerleaders onboard, "We will head home first, then elaborate on the situation while you nurse yourselves back to health."
He then turns around and points behind the boat. The monks nod as they switch positions and begin rowing back the way they came.
- - -
Saito and Suzuki came to a halt in the darkest part of Tokyo Park, looking around frantically.
"I don't get it," Suzuki mutters, "I could've sworn Ippongi-sama and the Agent he found were here a minute ago."
"Well, apparently someone came along, dug them out, and took them somewhere else," Saito said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes to try and relocate their missing leader.
"Are you Uncle's friends?" asked a voice that cut Saito from his concentration. The two cohorts shot their glances towards the girl still sitting on the branch, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Uncle?" Saito mutters in confusion.
"You must be Uncle's friends. Your memories of him are as clear as ice."
"Are you talking about Ippongi-sama!?" Suzuki snaps, turning to face the girl, "Where is he!?"
"I wanted to play a game with Uncle and that man he was hanging out with. He was about to lose when this fire-colored birdie came along and took him away."
"A fire-colored bird?" Saito mutters, looking over to Suzuki, "You don't think...?"
"It's a possibility," Suzuki said, looking at Saito, "Ippongi-sama and that Agent must've been taken to that Solar Warrior Island. We best inform Doumeki-sama, see what we should do at this point." Saito nods as the two ran out of the park, leaving the girl to sigh in annoyance.
"No one ever tells me where Uncle is..." she mumbles. She then presses her finger on her cheek again, "Say...now that I think about it, no one ever said I can bring one of Uncle's friends back. Maybe if I show them Auntie's radar system, they can point out his whereabouts."
She giggles as she leaps off the trees, "Then they can be reunited and help Auntie's friends reclaim this planet." Giggling some more, she skips down the path leading back to the city.
- - -
J guzzles down a small canteen of fresh, mountain water a minute before dropping his head and gasping. He sat on a cushion at one end of a large, Chinese-looking temple with flags bearing the symbol of a phoenix draping the four walls; his jacket, shirt and necktie replaced with a cloth covering the back of his neck as ice-cold water ran down his bare, slim muscles.
"The water's not going anywhere," Ryuta chuckled, sitting on another cushion next to J, his gaku-ran coat and gloves also replaced with a wet cloth, revealing his slight muscular frame and a red, leather belt strapped to his baggy pants, "You don't have to guzzle it down that fast."
"I can't help it," J pants, bringing his hand up and holding his index and thumb a couple inches from each other as Ryuta calmly drinks the water from a similar canteen, "I was this close to being fried to a crisp. And having to swallow a mouth full of salty water didn't help re-hydrate my body." He sighs and props himself on his empty hand, "Man, I hope I don't get sunburn..."
"I apologize for not responding sooner," Hou-Yi said, sitting on his throne at one end of the temple, "As I have said earlier, we were looking into the invasion that occurred yesterday. We believe it has some kind of connection to the predicament that happened just a month ago."
"Predicament?" Ryuta asked with a frown. Hou-Yi sighs and folds his hand, placing his chin on them.
"I was hoping we could avoid this until you had regained your strength..." he mutters, "Ryu-dono... I fear to say that our sister Island...Nocturnal Amazon...was attacked a month ago."
Ryuta blinks in shock as he drops his canteen and leans forward, "W-What!? By who!?"
"We don't know... From what little information bestowed upon us by the survivors, they are a race who despise music and bask in their dominance over the weak and submissive."
"The Rhombulan..." J mutters under his breath. Ryuta grits his teeth before closing his eyes and going into deep concentration a minute before clenching his fists in anger.
"SHIMATTA!!!" he nearly roared, slamming his fists into the ground and nearly putting a dent in it while scaring J out of his seat, "They took them...! Those hiretsukan took Faiya and Tsuki!"
"I'm guessing their relatives of yours?" J asked nervously. Ryuta heaves an angered sigh and sits back, picking up his canteen.
"Faiya's my fraternal twin sister," he muttered angrily, "And Tsuki is..." he nearly chokes as he shuts his eyes, "...was...my niece going on two months..."
"Was..." J raised an eyebrow a moment before the thought suddenly hits him with overbearing shock, "Wait...you're not sayin'..."
"I didn't want to believe it at first..." Ryuta mutters, "That the girl those Rhombulans raised into some twisted, yet innocent, addition to their army...was really my niece..."
"But...if that's your niece...how did she-"
"Don't!" Ryuta nearly shouts, shutting J up, "I don't even wanna think about how they aged her five years in god knows how long..." he looks at his canteen, gripping it to the point of throttling it, "If I did...I'm afraid I'd go insane..."
J cringes as he looks down to his own canteen in worry. Hou-Yi sighs as he sits back in his throne.
"I am truly sorry for what happened a month ago," he mutters, "If we had been more aware of the Rhombulans' real intention, Amazon Island would not have been ransacked and your sister would not have been captured and used to their advantage."
"It's not entirely your fault, Hou-san," Ryuta exhales, taking another swig of his canteen, "We can't be aware of everything at once and the Rhombulans know that. There could've been a number of reasons they tried to take over our planet. They just chose to focus most of their energy on tearing the love of music from our ears, believing we'd stick to it like metal to a magnet, while they use their remaining energy to gather resources that could help further strengthen their hold on us."
"What's so special about that Island that made the Rhombulan so interested?" J asked, "Is there more to it than just being overrun by women favoring the night?"
"We are more than just men and women who understand the many myths of yin and yang," Hou-Yi said, "We believe that the powers bestowed upon us are gifts from the true guardians of night and day. Power that, as you have already witnessed in the past two months, can save this planet from whatever threatens to end it's eternal existence."
"Wait... You mean the ash you sprayed on me and the other Agents and that power we unleashed at the Rhombulans actually came from the sun?"
"The ash is made from a special recipe that uses the heat of the sun to ignite. It does have an annoying, highly contagious side effect that causes those who come into contact with it to suffer a near fatal fever. However, once the effects wear off over the course of the night, the power will have been inserted into a talent you favor most. In other words, your ability to cheer for those who call on you can do more than just lift their dreary spirits. If you allow it, you can encourage them to unleash a power great enough to take out a battalion in one fell swoop."
"This power... What would happen if it were used to settle a dispute between organizations?" J asks worriedly. Hou-Yi sighs and lowers his head in remorse.
"I, too, have seen the competition Ryu-dono has declared yesterday," he says, "And you both have a reason to worry. For if the organizations go to war and use the magic given to them to pummel each other to submission, the power you and those you encourage unleash will strip them of their energy, leaving them too exhausted to continue fighting."
"And that's when the Rhombulans'll seize the opportunity to show up and force their dominance over us," Ryuta mutters, "The Rhombulans know that if they keep us separated from the rest of the group, we'd have little chance of coming up with a plan that won't hinder our duties as cheerers of the world, which makes Japan a ticking time bomb."
"Well, isn't there something that can at least tie the others over until we find a way back to Japan?" J asked.
"There is. And if your superior has reached the same idea that I'm thinking of, he's already putting it into play. The only thing we can do for now is hope that it lasts for the duration of our absence."
J heaves a half-sigh, half-moan as he looks down at his canteen again.
- - -
The female Rhombulan wanders the halls of her ship until she reached an elegant-looking room, complete with a fancy bed, table and window overlooking the endless sea of stars while a small portion of the earth protrudes on the far left corner. Standing in front of the window is a woman exactly Ryuta's age with bluish, black hair nearing her knees and tied back in unbraided pigtails, wearing a black, kimono-like coat, with blue bunnies on the draping sleeves, over a gray evening gown. Her eyes almost matched Ryuta's only the pupils are dark blue instead of brownish red.
"Well," the female Rhombulan said, walking over to the woman, "I must say, it s a pain trying to keep a little girl happy." She throws her arm around the woman's shoulders, "Is there some particular reason you didn't want her to play with her Uncle? I thought you loved your brother very much..."
The woman moans as she turns away from the Rhombulan, tears spilling out of her eyes. The Rhombulan giggles in amusement, "You can continue to act like you're doing everyone a favor by tightening the cloth over Rhumba's eyes, but it's not going to keep them safe for long." She takes her hand off the woman and moves to the center of the room, arms crossed, "Our chance to possess this planet in the name of the Rhombulans is nearing it's ripen state. And this time, those two organizations of music will be powerless to stop us."
Rhumba walks over to the woman and grabs the center of her kimono-like coat, "Especially now that we have what we need to make this!" she yanks the woman's coat open, exposing a blotch of black covering her upper chest with a lavender eye in the center. Rhumba coos as she rubs the blotch, "Aw, isn't it cute? This little gem is going to do more than keep its hosts quiet."
The woman shakes more in fright and sorrow as she pulls the flaps of her coat closed and rushes over to her bed, flopping down and sobbing some more. Rhumba hums a snicker, glancing at her a few seconds before turning her attention to the earth protruding from the lower left corner of the window.
"Such a beautiful planet," she sighs, "Hard to believe it's inhabited by ingrates who fill it with such deplorable stuff like music. But once we tear that away, those primal apes will learn the true meaning of why laws should be made by power over love and respect."
Rhumba walks towards the window, "Those Kahn-Droids and your daughter are already doing a superb job of peeling away what little faith the world has in those Agents." She suddenly covers her mouth, pseudo-shocked as the woman shoots and agonizing glare towards her, "Oops! Silly me, I promised little Tsuki I wouldn't tell you." She then sighs and shakes her head, "No matter. It's not like you're in any position to scold her or anything."
The woman shakes in anger as Rhumba walks over to her, sporting a menacing grin, "It hurts, doesn't it? All that time spent wanting to raise your daughter to be a 'respectful young girl', and someone has to come along and strip it from her."
She moves closer to the woman's face, "You know Faiya, this whole scenario could've been avoided if you hadn't begged us to spare those tomfoolery members of your brother's entourage. We could've used anyone other than your pride and joy; even that know-it-all rookie, of whom you've only known for half a month. But no, instead of giving them up, you sacrificed your own pretty little voice, thinking it would be enough to keep us from running anymore tests."
Rhumba stands up and heads for the door, "Well, I have news for you, Honey-Bun. A naïve brat like you is just the crumb of our experiment. And crumbs aren't enough to satisfy the hunger of curiosity. Therefore it's only fitting that we go after something much larger, with a higher reputation than someone who's spent an entire month on some rundown Island trying to learn the ways of the Lunar Guardian." She stops and glances over to Faiya, "I suggest you start rehearsing the apology speech for why you let everyone down when they needed you the most. It'll be the last saving grace you have for trying to win back the forgiveness of those harmed by your neglect."
She laughs as she walks out of the room, leaving Faiya to stare at her in overwhelming anger and sorrow; tears all but drenching her cheeks and chin.
End Notes:
1. There were different versions of the story surrounding the Chinese myths of yin and yang. The one where Hou-Yi became guardian of the sun and Chang-E became guardians of the moon was something I picked up from an old, Chinese comic book I found some time ago.
2. Fraternal twins are siblings who, despite being born on the same day, have very few similarities that makes them identical.