Disclaimer: See previous chapters!
Chapter Three:
In wich Maylu begins her training, and a 'chilly' ally is found.
The clean, almost too clean room was almost dead silent, except for the click of keybord keys and the low hum of computers. The young man bent his head over the keyboard, then glanced up at the screen in front of him, pale blue eyes scanning the lines of data that whizzed past. It was a perfectly ordinary day at BlazeQuest Games, and the young viec-president, Chaud, was entering some crucial data into a computer. Everything was running smoothly, until . . .
"Master Chaud," came Protoman's calm voice from beside him.
"What is it, Protoman?" Chaud asked, his voice calm, but his mind snarled, It had better be good. I don't like being interrupted . . .
"Check the security cameras on Level 2. I heard something about a . . . disturbance . . ." Chaud's eyes looked curious, and he activated the security camera feed. What he saw was . . . to put it politely . . . distrubing. It looked like a creature made out of a root of some kind of tree, but mutated through a hangover by way of an upset stomach. In cruder terms, it was utterly disgusting!
"What the . . ." Chaud began, but trailed off as the monster started moving towards a bank of computers. Chaud snarled, and thought a few words that would have made a sailor blush, then grabbed Protoman's PET and raced out of the room and down a hall. It was only a short time before he arrived on that floor. The room wasn't too hard to find, there were people screaming and running away from it, so Chaud ran to where they were runnnig away from. What he saw in the room when he arrived was even more amazing than the monster (which was fairly hard to do.) A young man, dressed in a red gi, red hakama, red tabi, and wooden zori, with flame-colored hair, stood in the middle of the large room, staring down the root-thingy.
The boy snarled. "I don't know what you're doing here," he growled at the monster, "but I will stop you . . ."
The monster smirked. "Big words from such a tiny man," it taunted. The red-haired teen growled, and raised his right hand over his head, pointing at the sky.
"Aries!" he cried, flames surrounding his indx finger. He began spinning in place, the fire getting bigger. "Blazing Fury!" he shouted, stopping spinning and pointing at the monster, unleashing a burst of flame from his finger. The monster reeled, but remained standing. Then, it lashed out with several vine-like tendrils, and threw the young man against a wall. Chaud hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the room. He didn't know who the young man was, but if he was trying to protect Chaud's company, well . . . he couldn't be all bad . . .
The monster spotted him, standing near the center of the room. Its 'mouth,' which looked like a hole in a tree trunk, formed itself into a sinister 'grin,' and it unleashed a barrage of seeds at Chaud. Chaud managed to dodge them, but they struck the wall above the red-haired warrior, raining bits of stone on him. Chaud spun, and jogged over to see if the young man was all right, and foolishly turned his back on the monster.
It was a mistake that he would never forget, for as he spun, the monster formed another tendril, this one with thorns, and sliced at Chaud's retreating back. Chaud screamed, and collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from four long, deep wounds on his back. The red-haired warrior, recovered from the stunning blow that he had recieved, stood up, amber eyes blazing.
"You foul fiend! For that, you will experience the true Intensity of Fire!" he roared, and as he said that, Chaud, (who was still conscious, although just barely) saw the young man's hair actually burst into flames! The man summoned a seemingly very heavy broadsword apparently from nowhere. Then, he swung it over his head, pointing at the sky, with a cry of "Aries!", then he brought it down in front of his face, the hilt at chest-height, and shouted "Fire!" and placed his hand on the flat of the blade. A series of etched flames on the blade suddenly began to glow like fire, and the young man ran his hand up the blade and cried "Salamander!" A serpent of fire snaked it's way up the blade, and the young man grabbed the hilt with both hands and pointed the tip of the blade at the monster and shouted "Blast!" as the serpant rocketed off the blade and struck the monster. The monster roared, and disintegrated.
"And stay that way," the warrior said viciously, then he ran to Chaud. The cloth on the back of Chaud's shirt and vest was shredded beyond repair, and blood was pouring from the lacerations. Chaud looked at the man through a haze of pain, and his face was so pale, that the young man drew in his breath sharply. He produced a cloth from somewhere, and proceded to clean some of the blood off Chaud' back. As he did so, the skin of his hand brushed Chaud's skin for a second. A piercing silver light encircled the two, and Protoman's symbol appeared, etched in silver on Chaud's back. The red-head gasped, and stepped away, pulling a small disc-like object from inside his gi.
"Aureole, I need your help. There's a young man, he's seriously wounded. Can you get here?" he asked into the object.
"Of course, Blaze. What are your coordinates?" the young man's voice on the other end asked. Blaze, the red-haired warrior, gave the coordinates, and in a few seconds, a tall man in his late teens, dressed entirely in white, appeared in a blaze of light. Now, this would have seemed odd to Chaud on any other day, but he had seen so many odd things that day that he didn't even notice. The tall with the white hair, (whom we all know is Aureole, senior Keeper of Light) winced at the blood, but stretched out his hand towards Chaud, and called out "Halo of Life!" For several moments, Chaud's wounds hurt ten times as much as they already did, and (he didn't like to admit it) a few tears rolled down his cheeks from the intense pain, but thankfully it was over soon. When he felt with his hand, he found his skin was whole and not a mark remained to show he had ever been hurt, (well, except the fact that his clothes were still kinda bloody and really torn, but yeah.)
Blaze leaned over towards Aureole, and the two had a short whispered conference. Blaze whispered something, and Aureole nodded, then placed his hands, palms together, in front of his chest, then as he spread them apart, a circular silver pin appeared between his hands. Blaze gave a crisp nod, then took the pin. Feeling as if he were excess baggage, and didn't belong there, Chaud stood up.
"Thank you for your help, but I really have to get back to work. I was in the middle of an important job, he said, feeling that it was a cheap excuse, but began to head for the door.
"Wait," Blaze called, and handed Chaud the pin. It was a perfectly circular silver disc with Protoman's symbol etched on it. Chaud didn't want to take it, but from the look on Blaze's face, he could tell that if he refused, it would mean getting back to work late, and he didn't want that. So, he took the pin, pinned it to his vest, returned to his computer and forgot about it. For about twenty minutes, that is.
A red-haired young man in a red sweatshirt and jeans was just exiting BlazeQuest Games, when a shrill beep alerted him to dangers in the near vicinity. "Never a moment's peace," he growled, and ducked into a darkened corner and pulled a red medallion from inside his sweatshirt. He held it out to the right, and cried "FIRE STYLE TRANSFORM!" There was a swirl of fire, and in the place of the young man was Guardian Blaze, the Keeper of Fire. He raced to where the danger signal was coming from, a room two stories above the last attack.
When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was the monster. It slightly resembled a harpy, and flew about four feet off the ground. Blaze tried his "Aries Blazing Fury!" attack, but the monster shook it off, then relased a cloud of bubbles at Blaze.Crud! That's why it didn't work, it's an aqua-type! he growled inwardly, just managing to avoid the bubbles. He had just landed, ready to attack, when another and much faster cloud of bubbles swarmed at him. He didn't have time to dodge this one, and it struck. Hard. He flew into a wall, and collapsed. Chaud, who had seen all this from the doorway like last time, was getting a bit upset with these monsters, and jumped in between the monster and Blaze. The harpy dove at him with its claws outstretched, and Chaud flung up his arms to protect himself, and braced himself for the feeling of claws tearing his flesh, but it never came. He stared up, and saw a gigantic silver bubble over his body, and that was what had stopped the harpy's frenzied attack. The bubble seemed to be coming from the pin that Blaze had given him earlier. He unpinned it, and held it in his hands. When he turned it over, he noticed writing on the back. Amazingly, although he could not read it, he knew what it said.
"ICE POWER TRANSFORMATION!" The words flowed unbidden from his mouth. The light solidified into a shield of ice, and as in cross-fusion, he found himself isolated, standing spread eagle in the center of the shield. In a very awkward moment, his clothes vanished, and were replaced by new ones; a pale grey tunic with silver edging, silver boots, silver gloves, a silver belt, a silver cirlclet, grey breeches, a silver cape, and pale grey shoulder armor with silver edging. A raised silver disc with Protoman's symbol on it appeared on his chest. At any other time, he would have stared at himself in wonder, but since he didn't have time to ponder, he didn't seem to notice.
He stared the monster in the face, and a determined expression came over his face. The monster threw more bubbles, and Chaud dodged them easily. He stood straight, planning out his next move. He couldn't just stand there, he had to fight back . . . but how? With cross-fusion, it was simple, because you had battle chips, but this . . . Maybe it just came to you, like the words he had said to transform. He thought, and words came to his mind.
"Frigid!" he shouted, and a globe of icy cold power formed in his cupped hands. He raised it over his head, and cried "Snowstorm!" His arms made an 'X' over his head with the palms facing each other, and the ice globe hovering between. He began to spin, the globe turning into a loose ball of snowflakes. Then, he brought the globe of snow down infront of his chest, arms still crossed, palms outward, and shouted "Spiral!" The snow spun out in an ever-widening spiral, then hit the harpy, which froze, fell to the floor and shattered, sending icy dust everywhere. Chaud sighed, and turned to Blaze.
"Are you all right?" he queried. Blaze nodded, and stood rather shakily.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just fairly tired." Chaud nodded. That was the way he had felt after his first cross-fusion battle.
"Pardon my asking, but who exactly are you?" Chaud asked. The man's amber eyes smiled.
"I am Guardian Blaze, the Keeper of fire." He murmured something, and the bright fire transformed him into the young man in the sweatshirt who had been outside of BlazeQuest. "Or, when I'm not transformed, my name is Eugene Pryor. And you?"
"Chaud Blaze, vice-president of BlazeQuest Games."
You are also Guardian Glacier," Eugene said. Chaud (or Glacier) looked confused. "That's your name when you're transformed. Glacier, the Keeper of Ice, member of the Elemental Warriors who are now our planet's last line of defence against the Shadow Forces." Glacier gave him a look that roughly translated to 'What a cornball! Does he really think that I buy this crap?' Eugene glowered at him, and for a second it seemed as if he would strike the young genius, but then thought better.
"All right, be that way!" the Fire Keeper snapped, angered that the younger teen wouldn't believe him, "but I'll have you know that the 'harpy' that you saw and trashed was one of many who will try to kill you in the weeks ahead. Not that you're worried," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "and it's not like you should be. They only want to either kill you and steal your Element, or, even better, turn you into a 'walking corpse' and steal your Element. So, you only have two choices: A) end up dead or worse, or B) SHUT YOUR MOUTH, CUT OUT THE 'TUDE AND LISTEN TO ME!" Glacier was literally speachless. No one ever talked to him like that, and it was a whole new experience to him.
"Did . . . did you just insult me!" he asked after a few moments. Eugene gave him a really frightening scowl.
"Hai, baka deshi!(yes, stupid apprentice)" he fumed. Glacier got an unconcious image of flickering flames in Eugene's amber eyes, and from his point of view, it looked as if the hot-headed Guardian was about to spontaniously combust.
"Where do you get off calling me that?" Glacier asked coldly, and the air around him got icy.
"Because that's what you are," Eugene said. "I am duty-bound that if I find a Keeper, I must train him or her and since I found you, well, I have no choice." He stared at Glacier, who still had on a very chilly expression, but his eyes were thoughtful.
Oh, Glacier thought, I'm not sure what to make of this self-righteous 'Guardian', but if he's telling the truth . . . and he seems to be . . . then I could be in a bit of trouble without his help. "What would being your 'Apprentice' entail?" he asked after a small pause.
Blaze's expression got calmer, and he replied, "One training lesson a week, and learning to obey orders, in your case." Glacier didn't really want to, but he saw that he didn't have much of a choice.
"Fine," he said after a long pause, "but on one condidtion . . . no one but us knows about this." Eugene nodded, and as Glacier turned to leave, he asked, "So . . . how do I, um, change back into normal clothes?"
"Just say 'de-transform'," Eugene said. Glacier obliged, and after obtaining the address of the location where they would train on Monday, he walked back to his job with kingly dignity. With any luck, the people who worked here wouldn't even notice his appearence. Or if they did, they had the presence of mind not to say anything, or alert his 'old man'. Chaud fingered his pin, which was miraculously on his vest again. Maybe being the 'Ice Keeper' wouldn't be too bad . . .
Maylu stood on the step of Sita Trinh's house, and knocked loudly. She was slightly nervous, since this was her first lesson, and she had no idea of what to expect. However, these fears soon fled when Sita opened the door, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Sita stepped out, pulled a key from her pocket, and locked the door to her house, then turned to Maylu.
"Ready to begin your first day of training?" she asked. Maylu nodded. The older girl beamed. "Great! Let's go!" She began to walk towards a grassy park.
"So, what exactly are we doing?" Maylu asked, walking beside Sita. Sita turned and looked at her young student.
"We're building up your endurance by jogging. It's important to be able to perservere during a long battle. Besides, it's good for your heart," she added with a chuckle.
"Good thing Lan doesn't have to do this then," Maylu said. He'd protest all the way!" The two girls chuckled, and jogged on. They jogged in silence for a while, and Sita was impressed by how willing to cooperate Maylu was. She remembered her first training lesson, and how she had kept going even when she was dog tired. That's when Sita decided to take a rest. "Ok, let's take a break. We don't want to tire you out too much! We still have to learn your first attack." Maylu sagged onto a bench, and began to catch her breath. She wasn't showing it, but she was getting tired.
Just then, a faint hissing sound came from behind them, and Sita gasped. Maylu turned to look, and saw a monster that looked like some kind of deranged cobra. It was green and slimy and coming right for them! Maylu gasped, leaped off the bench and reached for her brooch, when Sita grabbed her wrist.
"Not in front of all these people," she hissed. "C'mon." She raced off, and Maylu ran as hard as she could to keep up with the longer strides of the older girl. Finally, they were in a secluded, wooded section. "Alright, now we can transform!" Sita said, and pulled out a gold medallion with a lightning pattern on it.
"ELECTRIC STYLE TRANSFORM!" she shouted and with a crash of thunder and a crackle of electricity, Sailor Thunder stood there, small lightning bolts rippling down her hair. "Ok, your turn," she said to Maylu.
Maylu nodded, and pulled out her brooch. "LOVE POWER TRANSFORMATION!" she cried, and as before, with a psychedelic swirl of vivid pink light, she stood as Sailor Amore. Together the two girls raced out of the clearing, and faced the monster that had followed them. Sailor Thunder straightened up with a dignity that would make even the most ruthless villain cringe.
"Begone, vile monster," She called with conviction. "You are not wanted here. By the Power of Thunder, you will be punished!" She posed, and Amore felt that she should add something to this awe-inspiring speech, but what? She didn't know how to be 'heroic'! That was Lan's job! Then, almost as if she were dreaming, she heard her voice call out, "And with the Aegis of Love, evildoers will recieve justice, and you're the worst kind of evil!" She too posed, and somehow, she felt . . . braver. The cobra-creature wobbled a bit, and Amore got the feeling that it was laughing at them. She clenched her hands into fists. It wasn't nice to laugh at her when it was only her first try! She glowered at the monster, and suddenly she knew what to do.
"Amore!" she called. She crossed her arms across her chest, and began to spin. A ball of energy formed above her arms, and as she spun, she grasped the energy with both hands. "Rolling!" She stopped spinning, and held the energy (which had become a pink heart) in her cupped hands. She then grasped it in one hand,like one would a child's ball, and hurled it underhand, almost like bowling, and shouted "Heart Shock!" The heart-shaped energy rolled from her hand and smashed into the enemy. The monster evaporated into a shower of dust. Amore stood, quivering, for a moment, shocked that she had just killed something. It was quite unnerving . . .
"Nicely done, Amore," Thunder said, walking over to her. She looked at the younger scout, and noticed the troubled expression on her pale face. She placed her arm around the shorter girl's shoulder, and looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong?" she asked. Amore shuddered.
"I . . . killed it . . ." she murmured. Thunder sighed.
"There was no choice. You had to protect yourself and others," she explained. "Those creatures are made from evil, for evil, and there is precious little that you can do about that. They are created by an exceedingly evil entity, and are designed to ensnare mankind and cover the world in darkness. We are the lights that must keep the darkness at bay until the shadow is defeated. It is our mission." Amore nodded, not really comprehending. Thunder sighed. "Well, in time, you will understand. Now, I'm sure that you are exhausted. You can change back, our lesson is done for today." Amore de-transformed, and turned to leave. "Come back for another lesson next Saturday!" Thunder called, and de-transformed.
"That was cool, Maylu!" Roll gushed. Maylu nodded.
"Yeah, I guess it was. I'm not too keen on this killing bit, but if it's like Sita said, I don't really have a choice." Roll shrugged. "Well, I'm tired," Maylu said. "Let's go home! Maybe Lan's around!" With a new spring in her step, she skipped home.
So, did you like it? Oh, and if Chaud seemed a bit OOC, well, so would you if you just met two monsters in one day! XD And one of the monsters actually spoke! I just felt like doing that. BTW, the Elementals' elements are based on personality traits- Maylu, loving; Chaud, cold, etc. Ok! Please R&R! Thanx! See ya next chappie!