Chapter 19 – Midnight Rendezvous
Surreal.
The word, the first which came to mind, didn't quite do full justice to the situation, but it was, he supposed, close enough. Why else would he be crouched behind smelly dumpsters in a darker-than-the-black-hole-that-is-Usagi's-stomach alley next to the Starlight Tower at such an hour, wearing full black tie formalwear, holding the hand of a superheroine, and waiting for kami only knew what to happen when kami only knew who showed up?
Yup. Surreal wasn't quite it, but lacking anything better, it would have to do to describe the bizarre twist his life had taken. Life had been so much simpler when the only concerns he had were fears of running short on tokens during the after-school rush and making sure the arcade's UFO catcher machine was kept stocked to bursting with stuffed animals and super-deformed, plush senshi dolls.
His rational brain could still barely comprehend that the bubbly, blonde teenager he'd watched over the years playing (and frequently losing) the Sailor V video game and giggling over her latest mad crush was, in fact, that self same Sailor V, aka, Sailor Venus, aka Princess Venus. If anyone had ever told him if she'd be royalty, the only type he would have guessed her as would have been a beauty queen. Though he'd more likely have pegged her as Miss Congeniality.
Which only went to show how little he'd known, he supposed. After all, he hadn't even realized his coffee-swilling best friend was spending his nights running around in formalwear and battling monsters. No wonder he'd needed a caffeine jag to function each day.
Unobtrusively Motoki tried to adjust the rather uncomfortable eye mask he wore and chanced another peek out of the alley. There, slouched in a deceptively casual pose against a lamppost, spotlit by its amber glow, she waited…Sailor Venus, one arm wrapped around her waist, supporting the other with which she propped up her chin. She was fingering the golden chain which was wrapped double around her slim waist, its absurdly decorative heart-shaped links belying its true nature as a dangerous weapon. Her exquisite face was set in the lines of a seasoned warrior prepared for anything up to and including death itself.
Definitely not Miss Congeniality.
Motoki mentally gave thanks for the fact that he wore gloves. They helped conceal the fact that his palms were sweating and clammy as he stooped there in the stygian dark, listing to the sounds of the city night around him. It was much quieter than he would have imagined, and somewhat eerie. He jerked faintly as a distant clock began to toll the hour, and let out tremulous breath.
"You okay?" Sailor Mercury whispered in his ear. Dumbly he nodded, forgetting for a moment that in the dark she could no more see his response than he could see her. "You know what you're supposed to do?"
"I got it," he whispered back. A more true statement would have been that he hoped desperately they would not have to fall back on Plan B. Because, of course, Plan B was him. He was the emergency contingency just in case everything went to hell. Not that he could forget his job, as Minako had drummed it into his brain with ruthless intensity.
If she gave the signal he was to abandon the scene, taking Mamoru's motor bike which had been stashed in the alley, get Tsukino Usagi and, inexplicably, her cat, and flee with them both to a safe house, the address of which he'd been made to memorize until he could say with utter certainty that he would remember that address until his dying day.
Minako had informed him that if for any reason the senshi would be unable to return for their princess, a woman with dark green hair and garnet eyes would come to his aid. The timbre of her voice as she said the words 'unable to return' had made his skin crawl.
"But how will she know to come?" he'd asked as Minako had busied herself with converting a mild-mannered arcade keeper into a modest facsimile of a masked superhero. Ami had been off removing the identifying license plates from Mamoru's motorcycle.
"She'll just know," Minako had said as she poured a bottle of temporary hair coloring rinse over his head and turned on the faucet. She'd begun to sing a fractured song as she worked at a fevered pace, cutting off all chance of further inquiry. "I'm gonna rub that dye right into your hair. I'm gonna rub that dye right into your hair..."
"Thank you, Furuhata-san" Mercury murmured earnestly, though her voice was almost inaudible. It brought him back to the moment and Motoki mouthed a silent oath as he realized he'd been nervously running his fingers through his hair. Hopefully the inky stuff hadn't come off on his gloves.
"For what?"
"For helping us while we get back Jupiter…and just for being you."
"Mercury-sama…" he began awkwardly.
Before he could say more, they heard the crunching sound of booted feet approaching. Mercury's gloved hand clapped over his lips as unerringly as if she actually could see in the dark. Behind his mask, the blood drained from Motoki's face. This was it!
As if conjured up by magic they appeared as the last chime of the clock sounded the stroke of midnight. The first person his eyes locked on was Sailor Jupiter in her green and pink fuku. Despite the fact that her unruly curls were for some reason bright, almost electric green and her looking somewhat different than common artist's depictions of her, he knew who she was.
With his newfound knowledge, he could see past the haze of Jovian magic and see Makoto in there as well. She looked strained and tired…make that very tired, but grimly determined. Her step never once faltered. When she caught sight of Venus, a faintly apologetic smile quirked up her lips. Venus, however, never blinked, though her eyes narrowed in warning.
Near to Jupiter's elbow marched a very tall, broadly muscled brunette warrior in spotless white but for his dark boots, the brown and indigo blue cape he wore, and his gleaming silver half armor and…SWORD?! Even though the jewel trimmed weapon might be ceremonial, Motoki had the sickening feeling that the man knew exactly how to use the thing as more than a parade decoration. And if that didn't do it, he wouldn't mind coming for you with his bare hands.
A thin film of sweat beaded on Motoki's brow. He found himself sending up a prayer to his ancestors for protection…and he wasn't even Shinto.
Two fierce looking blond warriors in similar uniforms, one with short, tousled hair and the other with long well-coifed locks, flanked the pair, marching in perfect step with them and forming an impressive phalanx. Each man sported his own sword as well, and Motoki caught a split-second flash from inside the jacket cuff of the lean, long-haired man that made him wonder if he didn't have a dagger or two up his sleeve along with a few other nasty tricks. His sly expression left one wondering. He didn't look quite as overtly dangerous as the short-haired, muscular-looking blond, however. That one looked like a hell raiser of the first order and he had the muscle to pull it off.
Leading the party, though, and walking slightly ahead was an aloof figure of silver and steel and stone that made the blood freeze in Motoki's veins. Though neither the tallest, nor the burliest, unquestionably he was the leader. Even leaving aside the gem studded epaulets on his jacket which denoted his rank, he positively reeked of authority. The blade straight platinum mane of his hair which whispered around his shoulders should have softened his appearance, but it merely had the effect of reinforcing the mental image that this man was as much a lethal weapon as the long sword he carried.
All in all the men managed to give the clear impression that they were the baddest of the bad asses.
'Crap,' mouthed Motoki silently as he felt his mouth go dry. 'We're outnumbered.'
As if sensing his fears, Sailor Mercury gave his hand a quick squeeze of support. With her other hand she was tapping away at her mini-computer at a blinding pace, running scans of the five, especially Jupiter. Fortunately it had a silent running mode or the rapid-fire staccato clicking of a keyboard would have been a dead giveaway of their position.
"I think we'd better get out there and help her," Motoki hinted, peeking out again. The silver-haired man had stepped away from his men and approached Sailor Venus, who had uncurled herself from the lamppost and was eyeing her opponent warily. It was a little like watching two gunslingers coming together for a shootout.
Mercury shot him a startled look, though her fingers never missed a beat. "No," she hissed the order with unusual vehemence. "You are to stay here and safe and wait for the signal if it comes. I'll help Venus."
Turning all attention back to her computer, Mercury began wrestling with the machine which was not processing nearly fast enough for her taste. "I just…need…a minute. Almost…done…" Suddenly she tapped her visor, letting out a soft breathy sound of satisfaction as the data she sent flew on cyber wings to its destination.
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"Sailor Senshi Venus," Kunzite slowly approached, making no move to spook the wary senshi who was eyeing him as if he was unstable fulminate of mercury, ready to go off at any second.
"And you would be?" asked the golden senshi coolly, as if she couldn't guess. It was particularly irksome to her that, as soon as her gaze had locked with those quicksilver eyes of his, the part of her that was pure woman (or was it pure Venusian?) sat up and began practically singing the Hallelujah Chorus and her libido had followed suit. The part of her that was a warrior couldn't approve. All together the internal struggle for dominance made for one testy Sailor Venus.
"Lord Kunzite, Heavenly King of the Middle East and Commander of Endymion of Terra's personal guard." He bowed low in formal greeting, flicking his cape back with a flourish.
"Heavenly king? Well…aren't we special?" Venus sniped heatedly under her breath and snorted. "Pompous nit."
Kunzite caught the testy phrase and slowly smiled. Even he had to admit the title was a tad over the top, and the meaningless insult from the stunning senshi didn't ruffle him at all. After all, he got to enjoy the beauty that anger and its accompanying flush only increased.
His sultry smile made Venus' heart beat inappropriately faster, until she felt like the whole world could hear the betraying sound. Dammit all! What was wrong with her? No man had affected her like this since…well, ever.
Vexed, she forced her gaze over to the man who stood solicitously close to Jupiter and experienced a jolt to her nervous system that was completely different than the one that the platinum haired warrior had given her. Her friend's husband (and she was going to get to the bottom of that, or know the reason why!) looked like a dark, even more handsome version of Tiger's Eye, the Dead Moon Circus villain who had enchanted her friend when they were young girls. Which, she reflected, chewing on her lower lip, could explain a helluva lot about how things had spiraled out of control so quickly. At least Makoto was getting consistent, but why, oh why, Venus mourned, did she have to have such lousy taste in men?
The Venusian senshi flicked a quick appraising glance at the other men, but her gaze was, in spite of herself, inexorably dragged back to their leader. Which, she supposed, didn't say much about her own taste in men. Aphrodite's girdle strings, it was annoying!
"I thought you were merely bringing Nephrite and Jupiter." In particularly acerbic tones she asked, "Was it really necessary to bring along the rest of your little band of thuggish Merry Men?"
Kunzite's smile died, cut down before its time, a casualty of the uncalled for insult to his men.
Jupiter smacked her forehead in disgust. 'Subtlety, thy name is Minako-chan.'
"And I thought you were bringing Prince Endymion." Kunzite arched an eyebrow speculatively. "Yet I do not see him."
Venus bared a mouthful of gorgeous pearl teeth at Kunzite. "Free Jupiter first."
"She is not bound," he reminded her, a slight smirk playing about his lips. "And you can see for yourself that she is well, can you not?"
The implications of his words made Venus steam and she felt a decided itch in her magic forefinger. She could probably part that platinum hair at such close range.
"Venus, it's true," Sailor Mercury said, stepping out of the shadows to stand by her leader, much to Zoisite's visible delight. "I scanned Mako-chan. She's more powerful than she used to be for some reason, but she's perfectly healthy."
Sailor Venus paused for a moment, digesting this information. Although she was relieved by this report, she was still distinctly displeased and it showed. "And the child?" she finally barked, making Kunzite sigh.
"Also well and sound asleep at the moment. My housekeeper, after I agreed to pay her triple time, is babysitting her and, if you do not believe me, I'm sure that Senshi Jupiter will be happy to confirm this."
Azure eyes sliced over to Jupiter, who nodded in confirmation. "We lied and said she was my little sister. When he agreed to pay, she didn't even ask any questions. And he's agreed to let me take her back to the orphanage tomorrow." She jerked her thumb in Kunzite's direction.
It was an interesting piece of news, if true, but Venus didn't believe it could be all that easy. And she still had to get Jupiter away from…that man. Even if she wasn't physically cuffed to him, she could feel something more binding, though she wasn't sure what. Venus' thoughts were tripping over themselves in her brain as she tried to sort out everything, and she began to chew on her lower lip.
"And now, Senshi Venus," Kunzite cut into the blonde's erratic musings, smiling again as she jumped like a startled hare. "About our prince."
A bead of crimson welled up on Sailor Venus' lip as she bit down on it hard enough to draw blood. "I told you he was a free agent. I gave him your message. It's not my fault if he didn't want to see you."
Sotto voce she mumbled. "I can't say as I blame him."
Kunzite was staring, riveted, at the blood which stood out even on Venus' scarlet-tinted mouth. He quickly thrust a hand under his cape, making her tense and jerk Mercury behind her protectively. Smothering the urge to smile, he withdrew not a weapon but a small, crisp square of fine linen. "You're bleeding Senshi Venus."
Ignoring the proffered handkerchief, Venus swiped her glove across her lip, leaving behind an ugly rusty smear on the white satin. "No thank you, sir."
"As you wish. My lady."
His mildly spoken words, paired with a gently indulgent smile and a look of compassion sent a small tingle of excitement up Venus' spine and actually drew an unbidden answering smile from her. There was the tiniest thawing of the cold war between the pair.
Kunzite's smile froze in place, though, when Motoki, who had, due to vision problems associated with an ill-fitting mask, missed certain subtleties in the exchange between the two leaders, decided that the senshi could use his backup for moral support if nothing else. He slipped from the shadows and took up a protective stance between the two senshi, very close to Mercury.
"Oh look," Nephrite sniggered. "It's the Phantom of the Opera come to serenade us in the moonlight."
"Shut up, Nephrite." Makoto elbowed her spouse lightly in the ribs.
How it was that Kunzite had known at a glance that the masked man was not his prince, Minako would later wonder aloud about, since Motoki, with his hair dyed, was a more than creditable-looking Tuxedo Kamen, and the real Tuxedo Kamen was, of course, merely another incarnation of Endymion, but somehow Kunzite had known almost instantly that they were not the same.
After a quick appraising look at the newcomer, shot a disgusted glance at Venus. "You would bring outsiders into this?"
Sailor Venus winced visibly. Motoki's timing could not have been worse…but then it was her fault for bringing him along in the first place. Though she could have throttled him for showing himself unnecessarily, she supposed it was the chivalrous part of his quintessential nice-guy personality that meant he would try to stand up for them as he'd agreed to do for Usagi.
The wave of disapproval coming off of Kunzite made the back of her neck flush in embarrassment and that reaction made her mad all over again. She wasn't about to be chastised by any man, least of all this one, for doing what she'd felt was necessary. Who did he think he was anyway? Her father? A cop?
"I'll bring whoever I please, wherever I please, whenever I please," she informed him with an air of bravado about her. "If you don't like it, feel free to leave right now, Lord Kunzite. I never promised you a garden of princes."
"You in the mask. Who exactly are you?" Kunzite, who had been vacillating between anger and amusement over his conversation with Venus, was suddenly all business now that a stranger had arrived. With a hand on his weapon, he directed a stare of wintry death at the hapless tuxedo-clad man, giving the impression he could see into the masked man's brain and didn't care for what he saw.
Seeing Kamen's lips turn visibly pale when attention was directed his way, Sailor Jupiter frowned. In the past he'd never reacted in such a fashion, not even against their strongest foes…not even when wounded. Whatever was the matter with him now?
Motoki half turned toward the Shitennou, cleared his throat, and tried to sound large and in charge. He actually managed the start of a speech that was at least fifty percent less cheesy than the average Tuxedo Kamen monologue. "I am Tuxedo Kamen, here to support and defend the senshi against their enemies." He lost his train of thought for a moment, though, when Jupiter, who had finally figured out why 'Tuxedo Kamen' seemed so off gasped suddenly and tried to cover the betraying reaction with a cough. It was a poor attempt at best and Nephrite eyed her suspiciously.
"What is it, angel?"
"If you are no foe of the senshi, then I have no quarrel with you, but…"
Motoki's second attempt at a speech was cut off as Jadeite cut in, growling. "I know who he is. He's the tuxedo-clad wonder boy who broke into my room and gave me shit about betraying Mars and Endymion, then ran away like a coward. And who carried off Jupiter the first night. When you're done, Kunz, I want a few words with him." Knuckles cracked ominously as Jadeite added special enunciation to 'words'.
Jadeite's words had the impact of a bomb on Nephrite; his head snapped back toward Tuxedo Kamen so fast he ought to have developed a case of whiplash. Sapphire eyes snapped with remembered rage at what the tuxedo clad man had done on Valentine's night.
"I've only one thing to say to you," Nephrite warned the tuxedo-clad warrior directly, directing a gimlet-eyed stare at Tuxedo Kamen. He slid a possessive arm around Jupiter's waist in spite of her attempts to wriggle free. "Stay away from my wife or else."
The else was left malevolently undefined.
Soft blue-green eyes widened behind a satin eye-mask. Venus hadn't had time to brief him on everything, so the news was something of a shock. He'd heard Jupiter had been kidnapped…or something like that. Had she been, in fact, forced to wed?
Tuxedo Kamen half turned toward Sailor Jupiter with a question in his eyes, his lips tightening when she blushed miserably and twisted her hands together, unconsciously rubbing the ring hidden beneath her glove. It was as good as a confession. Motoki scowled, thinking of his baby sister in a similar position.
"Surprised or disappointed? What the devil is with you, Tuxie?" Jadeite snapped, forcing the tuxedo-clad man to focus his way. "Got a fetish for short skirts and super powers? Is tonight Venus' and Mercury's night together or were you just planning on working your way through the senshi one by one?"
Motoki, blushing profusely behind his mask, recoiled at Jadeite's harsh words. He stumbled backward, bumping into Sailor Mercury who let out a soft yelp of pain when he accidentally trod on her toe.
"The hell he will." Zoisite started forward with blood in his eye. "There won't be enough left of him to try if he doesn't get away from Sailor Mercury by the time I count to three."
"One." He paused for perhaps half a second before smiling fiendishly and letting out a disturbing chuckle. "Two." A smoky blue crystalline bladed dagger slipped from his sleeve, dropping neatly into his palm. Motoki, too stunned to move, stared at the glittering blade with the fixation of a deer caught in the gleam of onrushing headlights. He was going to die and he didn't even know why.
"Stop it!" yelped Mercury urgently, lunging forward only to be brought up short when Motoki, in a fit of natural gallantry…and possibly stupidity, grabbed her wrist and thrust her behind him.
"Three. Time's up, Tuxie. Now you can play with me instead."
The crack of a whip split the night with a report like a gunshot and a gleaming gold chain wrapped around the knife blade, yanking it from Zoisite's grasp before it snapped back. Released, the knife whistled through the air over everyone's head to embed itself hilt deep in a tree trunk. Thoroughly shaken, Motoki practically dropped to his knees to worship the Venusian avenging angel who'd saved him. Kunzite let out a low growl
"Don't even try it, Laughing Boy," hissed Sailor Venus acidly, recoiling her Love-Me chain about her waist and clutching Motoki to her in such a manner that, had he been a pervert, he would have gotten both a great view up her skirt and a violent nosebleed. As it was, he just shut his eyes and prayed for deliverance. "He's a friend of ours."
"Yeah! Back off!" Mercury chimed in with a withering look at Zoisite, stomping a navy booted foot. The lanky Shitennou dropped back, snarling something under his breath about playboys in masks.
Kunzite glared at the orange-clad senshi, feeling a bit like swatting the pesky, clinging, masked fly away from his be-fukued savior. "That was uncalled for, Senshi Venus…"
"I think not," she retorted before glaring at the other Shitennou. "STAND DOWN!"
"They don't take orders from you, Lady Venus," Kunzite reminded her, his tone glacial. He did, however, raise a hand to signal his men. The signal, though, ultimately would remain ungiven.
"Then," a soft but firm voice sliced through the tension, "perhaps they'd better take them from me. As he's a friend of mine too, Shitennou, stand down. At once."
All heads turned to the source of the softly voiced but powerful command.
"Finally," muttered a cross Sailor Jupiter.
"Master Endymion?" Nephrite whispered hopefully, causing Jupiter to roll her eyes at the looks of growing jubilance that spread over his and Jadeite's faces. Zoisite continued to look purely furious, shooting Motoki periodic looks of purest venom. Kunzite alone remained stone-faced as they were approached by a figure in black and silver. He was eyeballing the dark-haired, midnight-blue eyed man closely. A soft grunt of satisfaction was the only betraying sign that he was pleased with what he saw…at least until he pulled his sword, carefully inclined it point-down in an act of ritual submission to his lord's will, and dropped to one knee, head bowed in fealty.
"Your Royal Highness."
As if they were puppets on strings, the other three warriors quickly followed suit, although Zoisite paused until Nephrite, who had already knelt, reached out with a hiss and thumped him sharply on his booted ankle. With one last quick glare at Motoki, the lean warrior lowered his head.
"I've so got to learn how to get 'em to do that," muttered Jupiter from where she stood, surrounded by bowing males. She smirked as there was a low growl from Nephrite, who had overheard her.
"Are you alright, Sailor Jupiter?" asked Endymion, his voice full of concern for what might have been done to her by his men. He could not recall them, but that did not absolve him of responsibility for their actions, at least not in his mind.
Seeing how serious he was, Jupiter sobered, nodding. "I'm quite fine, Prince Endymion."
"What she is, apparently, is quite married," Sailor Venus cut in, looking outraged. "And I want an explanation. If she was forced…"
"Oh, you'll get one," Endymion assured Venus, crossing both arms over his armored chest. "But first things first. Gentlemen, rise. I believe some introductions are in order."
Kunzite was the first to rise, snapping to rigid attention as soon as he sheathed his sword. "Kunzite, Heavenly King of the Middle East and Commander in Chief of your personal guard, Master Endymion." He followed up the introduction with a militarily precise bow.
"Nephrite, Heavenly King of the Americas and High Seer of Terra." The dark-haired stargazer followed his superior's actions, coming first to attention and then bowing crisply.
"Zoisite, Heavenly King of Europe and Chief Tactician of the Armies of Terra." He gracefully tossed back his coppery queue over one shoulder and bowed jauntily. "At your service." The way his gaze drifted toward Mercury left no doubt that he included her in that, and the petite senshi's cheeks responded, pinking up attractively.
Concluding the introductions was, "Jadeite, Heavenly King of the Far East and Weapons Master, Terran Elite Special Forces and Reconnaissance. My honor to serve, my liege." He flashed a wicked smile before he slid into his bow.
"How very prettily you speak…sometimes," came the unexpected, wry, and very female response.
Jadeite's head snapped up with a jerk, though he didn't quite dare break formation. "Rei! What the hell are you doing here?" he barked, scanning the darkness. "And where the hell are you?"
"And then his normal charming self reappears. Way to blow a secret identity."
"SAILOR MARS!" chorused the other senshi in varying degrees of warmth. Mercury was delighted. Jupiter was relieved. Venus was ticked.
Out of the night shadows came the red senshi, looking as tired as Jupiter and quite a bit more pale, her lips pursed so that she wouldn't smile at Jadeite's indignant outburst. "Sorry to be late. You couldn't expect me to stay away from this. It's Senshi business. But you could've made the meeting spot closer to home." She took a deep breath, her gaze flicking over at Jupiter. "I trust Sailor Moon is alright. I can see Jupiter is."
"No thanks to you in either case! So you finally decided to show up? Where have you been?" demanded Venus. "We called and called but you never showed. Sailor Moon could have died waiting for you!"
"Don't you take that tone of voice with her, Senshi Venus," Jadeite warned, his voice low and a bit menacing. "You have absolutely NO idea what she went through. Not a single frickin' clue." He spun toward Mars. "You ought to be in bed yet, Firebird. You're not nearly recovered enough to be out and about."
"I told you, this afternoon that I was fine."
"Uh huh." One of Jadeite's fists bunched at his side as the other one clenched on the pommel of his sword. To the group at large he said in decidedly long-suffering tones, "She got attacked by a damned demon and left half her blood behind on the floor, then had a vision that wiped her out so thoroughly that she all but passed out and was asleep for a good eighteen hours straight before she so much as twitched, but she's fine, she says. And then she walked how many kilometers in the cold and dark of night to get here? Gaia save me from stubborn women!"
Venus looked at Mars in an unspoken plea for confirmation.
Mars wiped a hand over her face, as if hiding the slightly sheepish look she wore, and shrugged. "I'm sorry Venus, but my Ojii-chan swiped my communicator, not that he knew what it was, and wouldn't let me get up or be disturbed, so I didn't realize I even had messages until some people and crows…" –she shot a disgruntled look at Jadeite, wondering how he'd managed to sway Phobos and Deimos to his side– "…stopped hovering at my bedside and went out."
"If we hadn't left, you'd for darned sure still be recovering," snorted the blond Shitennou. "Old man didn't hide the thing well enough evidently."
"You're just lucky it wasn't your idea," retorted Sailor Mars with a speaking flick of her ebony mane. "Jii-chan gets a pass for hiding it only because he didn't know any better."
Unwilling to get the old priest in more trouble with his spitfire granddaughter, Jadeite bit his tongue. 'Let her believe that.'
"He thinks I don't know where he hides his…ahem…special magazines," Mars sniffed, screwing up her face in disgust. "He always hides things in the same spot. But I still had to wait until Jii-chan and Yuuichiro went to sleep before I could sneak out of bed to get it from where he'd stashed it."
Pausing for breath, Sailor Mars happened to notice both the blood on Venus' glove and the tuxedo clad man beside her, who had been doing his best to disappear into the shadows. "Wait a minute. Why are you bloody? Is that from your lip?" She mustered up the energy for a fiery glare round the males of group. "Just what's going on here?" She rubbed her eyes and did a double take. "And if he's here," she asked, pointing at Endymion, "then who…?"
"Some excellent questions, Sailor Mars," Prince Endymion commented, his face grim as he examined the swollen and damaged flesh. "I believe I'd like an explanation to the one about Sailor Venus' lip. Did one of the Shitennou do this to you, Venus?"
This was it, her one in a million chance. If she said that the men were responsible for the injury, Endymion would…
Kunzite's intense silvery gaze locked with hers, demanding nothing less than blunt honesty.
Venus sighed, fingering her wound. Though she was probably the best storyteller of the group (she'd managed to convince her Home Ec teacher for the better part of a school year that she was allergic to a compound in scouring powder and thus could not possibly participate in cleanup), she was a lousy liar when she knew it would get someone else into trouble unjustly. She just couldn't do it. Rotten justice-loving conscience.
"They had nothing to do with it, aside from provoking my temper a little bit," she said, absolving the Shitennou of blame. "I just got upset, bit my lip and rubbed my glove over it. It's already healing anyway." She stripped off the article of clothing in question and its mate and made them both disappear into the pocket dimension in which she stowed her henshin wand, then dusted off her hands. "See…all better."
"Well what about my other question," Mars insisted, gesturing toward the faux Tuxedo Kamen.
"He came here to support us." Sailor Mercury broke her long silence to answer loyally as she helped the man in question to his feet. "To protect us, as he has always protected the Senshi." She patted Motoki's arm and hissed in his ear. "Maybe you'd better go now."
"If you say so, Mercury." Sailor Mars gave a weary shrug, too tired after her long walk to continue fretting about why there was both a Tuxedo Kamen and an Endymion. Someone would undoubtedly fill her in later.
"Some protector," sneered Zoisite, the green-eyed monster clawing at him. "He's afraid of his own…"
"Zoisite!" A cold thread of warning laced the word.
"But Prince Endymion, he…"
"That's ENOUGH, Zoisite," thundered Kunzite. "Be still!"
The coppery haired Shitennou subsided with poor grace, though he did groan slightly when Mercury shot him a look of prim disapproval and patted Motoki on the arm, clucking her tongue in sympathy.
"I'm am sorry, Prince Endymion," Jadeite broke ranks, scooping up Mars when she wavered unsteadily on her heels. He plunked her down on a broad planter, well away from Tuxedo Kamen, to rest. "My apologies. I'll just be a moment."
For her ears only, he whispered. "Sit down before you fall down, Mars baby. Pride isn't worth the bruised posterior." When she made no argument aside from a sulky look, he nodded in satisfaction and resumed his attentive stance, accepting Kunzite's forbidding glower as no more than his due.
"Sorry Kunzite. Endymion-sama."
"I can see we've much training to do in the area of discipline," was all Endymion answered ominously, making the Shitennou wince, especially Nephrite who hadn't said a word since his introduction.
Kunzite's fulminating stare at the men promised not inconsiderable pain when the disciplinary lessons came. "My apologies, Prince Endymion. I will see to it first thing."
"I think Mercury's quite right, Tuxedo Kamen-sama." Venus gave her old friend a gentle push toward the alley, hoping he'd take opportunity to leave before he got seriously hurt. "I doubt you need to stay. And there's no need to rouse the rabbit, if you get my drift. The planets thank you for your service."
The false Tuxedo Kamen nodded uncertainly, then slipped off into the darkness. The rumble of a motorcycle could be heard, revving up, and then the sound slowly disappeared into the night.
"Hi ho, Silver. Away…and the further the better." Jadeite said with a slight quirk of his lips that was almost a smile. Pleased now that the tuxedo man was well away from his fiery Mars, he felt like whistling in spite of the disciplinary threat hanging over his golden head, but cracked a joke instead.
"Okay," he added, cocking his head to one side and smirking. "I'll bite and say the obligatory Lone Ranger line just because it has to be said. Who was that masked man, anyway?"
Endymion and most of the senshi blinked, then blinked again as the reference sailed right over their heads. Sailor Venus, however, got it, and though her stinging lip protested, couldn't help but smile.
"Aw come on guys," begged Jadeite. "Surely you've heard that one."
"Now is not the time," Nephrite gruffly informed him. "And it was a lousy joke anyhow. Idiot."
"Damn."
"Attention!" Kunzite's voice was brusque, but it had the desired effect. Everyone fell silent.
Prince Endymion schooled his face in a mask of sobriety and intense concentration as he moved from man to man. A trident shaped design of braid the color of old brass trimmed each Shitennou tunic, but as he placed his palm on the center on the centerline of each in turn, just over their hearts, a golden light burst from his palm and beneath it, the braid began to shimmer and gleam until it appeared to be spun of pure, polished gold. The golden display continued to grow, enveloping Endymion's arm and slowly spreading until his whole body radiated with a golden halo. The senshi watched in wonder.
Finally Endymion pulled back and the dazzling light faded away, but a slow, satisfied smile spread across his face. "I think, gentlemen, we need to have a very, very long talk about what you're going to be doing from now on."
"My home, my prince, is at your disposal." Kunzite made the offer in an instant. "It has room enough for us."
"I'll say," grumbled Jupiter. Even though she'd known she had to return, if for no other reason than to get Rin, it was not her favorite place at the moment.
"Very well. We can go at once." He began to walk away, then paused, realizing no one was following him. Glancing back, he noticed his men were all standing rigidly at attention. Rolling his eyes heavenward, the prince sputtered. "Now they get discipline."
He spun back to meet them. "Dismissed."
Nephrite immediately took his wife's arm as the men relaxed. "Come on, Mako-chan."
"Oh no you don't, you…you…you husband, YOU! She's not going anywhere with you, without us!" Venus was putting her sandal-clad foot firmly down. She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled. Nephrite held fast, participating in a glare-off as Sailor Jupiter learned what it was like to be a meaty bone fought over by two wild dogs.
"There's room for the senshi, isn't there Kunzite?" asked Endymion.
"Plenty. And sufficient transportation too."
Nephrite, who had finally succeeded in extricating Jupiter from Venus' clutches, grinned smugly at his triumph until the tall senshi swatted him on the chest. "Behave."
"Then that settles it as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure that the senshi have their own questions that need answering at this point as well. Venus, would you join us as an ambassador, please?"
Venus let out rather crabby sniff, digging at a sidewalk crack with the toe of her shoe. "You better believe it."
Looking alarmed, Zoisite hurried to have an intense whispered conversation with Endymion. He needn't have whispered, though, as others were anything but quiet.
"Touch me and you'll be walking funny for a week, Jed!" Sailor Mars loudly threatened Jadeite, who had tried to pick her up and carry her. "I can walk on my own, thank you very much. Venus!"
The Venusian senshi raced to help, sliding her arm supportively around Mars' waist. Seeing her accept from someone else the help she was too proud to let him give, Jadeite scowled, rubbing his chin. "Stubborn. That woman is just plain mule stubborn."
Nephrite decided to refrain from pointing out that they were obviously a perfectly matched couple.
"It's the black SUV, license number 12-34, one block over and one down," Kunzite offered helpfully when he noticed the two senshi looking a bit confused as to where to go next, "and it's open." He pointed in the proper direction.
Without so much as a thank you, Venus hustled off, taking Mars with her. "Mercury, Jupiter! Don't dawdle!"
The prince appeared to have thought of something, tapping a finger on his chin as he intercepted the water senshi. "Sailor Mercury, would you mind terribly taking my car and looking in on Usako? It would take a load off my mind since I'm not sure I'll make it back tonight. And I'm sure Venus will fill you in on anything important, senshi-wise."
She nodded and squeezed Endymion's hand. "Of course. And if there's any cause for concern, I'll contact you immediately. Good night."
Seeing the pixieish blue-haired senshi accept the car keys and disappear into a fog of her own creation, Zoisite smiled weakly and saluted his prince, who nodded.
"By the way angel, if you really want me kneeling to worship at your feet, just say the word and I'm there." Nephrite spoke as they all began to walk in the direction of the vehicle. His words were spoken just loudly enough that the Shitennou could overhear him reminding Jupiter that he hadn't forgotten her earlier dig at his expense. He waggled his eyebrows with comedic lasciviousness, but the bad-boy look in his eyes as they locked with hers was very intense, very hot, and very, very male. She groaned, wondering how he was going to get back at her for that one.
"The view from down there was positively…inspirational."
"Ecchi!" hissed Jupiter, scandalized, her blushing face nearly purple as she clutched at her ultra short skirt with both hands. When he leaned in and nipped the tip of her nose, she bolted, racing to catch up with Venus and Mars.
Endymion and the Shitennou, save Kunzite, burst out laughing. Even Kunzite couldn't help smiling. And so it was that the first male bonding moment between the Shitennou and their lord came to pass.