Chapter 9: Tenshi's Ace
Amy slowly sat up, holding her head as the damp cloth slipped from her forehead, landing on her lap. Looking around, she saw that Serena and Darien were sitting against the wall, her head resting against his shoulder. Amy realized that she was still in Serena's room, remembering that she had fainted after hearing about Koaru and Lita. At the moment she realized that Tenshi wasn't in the room and whipped the blankets off of herself, the noise causing Darien to look up from his sleep.
"What's wrong?" he asked as Amy got out of the bed, looking frantic.
"Where did Tenshi go?" she asked, panicking. "Where is he?"
Darien looked away as Serena stirred from her sleep, opening her eyes and yawning.
"What's going on?" she asked as she sat up and stretched. Amy cast her a moments glare before looking back to Darien.
"Where did Tenshi go?" she asked again, and Darien sighed nervously.
"He...he went to test Koaru."
Amy bolted through Serena's bedroom door the instant that Darien finished his sentence, tearing down the hallway and storming down the stairs, heading for the front door. Slipping her shoes on and yanking the door open, she froze as Lita appeared in the doorway, sweat running off her forehead, panting like a winded animal.
"Amy...I need to...we need..." she gasped, trying to catch her breath as she doubled over, resting her hand on her knees. Amy just stared at her friend, unable to find any words to say to her. More footsteps came down the stairs, and Serena rushed past Amy and knelt beside her exhausted friend.
"Lita, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
"Koaru...Tenshi...fighting...at the harbor..." she gasped, trying to breathe properly. "At the harbor!" she yelled before dropping to her hands and knees, panting even harder.
Amy felt a shiver run through her spine as Tenshi's words echoed through her mind.
"Whether he lives isn't up to me; it's up to him."
Tenshi dove and rolled as the wall behind him exploded, showering him with bricks and debris. Rising to his feet and readying the rapier, the Knight stared in shock as Koaru leapt straight at him from the dust, his sword pointed towards his heart. Leaping towards Koaru, Tenshi ran across the back of the Guardian's sword, passing over Koaru and jumping, twisting in mid air and slashing at his back. Koaru countered instantly; spinning and blocking the strike with his left arm. Tenshi gapped in shock as his sword bite into the guardian's flesh; tensing his muscles, Koaru stuck the blade in his arm. Grinning, the Guardian took a swing at Tenshi with his sword. Reacting as fast as he could, Tenshi tucked and spun, planting his feet on the flat of the sword and grabbed the dull edge with his free hand, he went for the short ride around on the blade until Koaru realized where he was.
"Freaking little rabbit," he said, amused. Yanking his arm free from the rapier, Koaru grabbed the handle and swung the sword over his head, aiming to slam Tenshi into the ground.
"Oh shit," Tenshi muttered as he jumped off the sword, twisting in the air and skidding across the ground, charging power into the rapier. "Water Blade!"
Koaru lifted his eyes to watch the blade of water rush towards him. Chuckling, he reached out and caught the attack with his left hand and crushed it, dissipating the blade back into harmless water.
"If that is the best you can do," he growled, smiling at Tenshi, "than I'm going to wrap this up now."
Tenshi watched as Koaru pointed the index and middle fingers of his right hand towards him, a red and golden glow appearing on the fingertips.
"Damn," Tenshi thought, taking a step backwards. "I might actually have to go all out on him!"
"Light of Destruction!" Koaru commanded, and a massive beam of energy blasted from his fingers. The Guardian laughed as everything around Tenshi exploded with the force of a large missile blast. "That's the end!" he yelled in triumph, shouldering his sword. "Now you see why I am the Guardian!"
"Yes, I do." Tenshi voice echoed from the crater that Koaru had just made. The dust inside the crater suddenly blew away, revealing Tenshi, standing in the center of the crater, perfectly fine; a strong blue aura surrounding his body. "And now I shall show you why I am the Knight."
"Drive faster!" Lita shouted from the back seat of Darien's car, her unease building with each passing second. The four from Serena's house had all packed into the red convertible and were speeding down the streets towards the harbor to stop the two warriors from killing each other.
"I can't go any faster than this!" Darien called back as he shifted gears and slowed down to take a left turn. "Any faster and we could get pulled over, and that would be much worse!"
"He is right, Lita." Amy said from the back seat beside the brown haired girl.
"We better not be too late," Lita muttered to herself, and everyone silently agreed.
Tenshi and Koaru slammed into one another, their blades grinding, causing sparks to spit between them. Leaping back from one another, the two unleashed energy attacks; flames from Koaru and water from Tenshi. The attacks canceled each other out when they connected, leaving steam hanging in the air between the two.
"You know what?" Koaru said, panting from the battle. "You really are a lot of fun to fight. I actually have to try."
"You're trying?" Tenshi responded with a grin. "I thought you were still warming up."
Gritting his teeth, Koaru charged forward and slashed again. Tenshi blocked the attack and let himself get thrown through the air, passing across the ground and back over the water.
"Idiot," he chuckled as he skidded across the surface, crossing his arms as he slid backwards, a grin on his face. "You think you can beat me now?"
Koaru laughed as he leapt into the air over the water, his sword screaming through the air towards Tenshi. The Knight ducked, avoiding the attack and watching Koaru pass over, expecting him to crash into the water. He instead watched Koaru create a light purple glow under his feet and leap off of it, soaring back up into the air and twisting in the air, creating a second glow and leaping straight down at Tenshi, Kameharu aimed at his chest.
"You're mine now!" he shouted as he closed in. Tenshi smiled and snapped his fingers, causing a spout of water shout out of the water and slammed into Koaru.
"Wrong," he said, stepping forward and raising his hands, causing seven more spouts of water to shoot up. "You're mine. Grand Hydra!"
Koaru watched as each of the water spouts shifted into the giant snakes, each one connecting at a base behind Tenshi. The head that had caught him wrapped around his body and reared up over him, hissing as it opened its mouth and lunged.
"Fuck Me!" Koaru shouted as he twisted and pulled the sword up, severing the snake and leaping away. Turning and looking back, he felt anger grip him as the snake he had just cut reformed, glaring up at him. Each head began lunging at him, forcing the Guardian to leap and twist, cutting each head that got too close, jumping and diving through the air to avoid getting caught. Turning his gaze to Tenshi, he felt his heart skip a beat; the Knight's hand was pointing towards him.
"Glacier's Wave!" Tenshi shouted, blasting sub zero wind at Koaru, along with giant shards of ice. Each hydra froze solid, wrapped around Koaru in a manner that created a prison for him. Tenshi smiled as Koaru tried to block the shards as they slammed into him, knocking him out of the air and into the water. Bending down and setting his hand on the water's surface, Tenshi sent his powers into the water, freezing it solid with Koaru ten feet below the surface. "That's game over, Koaru." he said, smiling, staring down at the Guardian through the ice.
Under the ice, Koaru fought for breath, to move, to not panic. Summoning all of his powers into his hands, he forced himself to scream out the command.
"Tritus Pyro Stream!"
"What?" Tenshi asked in shock as the ice exploded, showering him with chunks of ice and splashing him with the frigid water. He heard Koaru surface and gasp for breath and couldn't help but smile at the resourcefulness of the younger warrior. Walking over to him, the Knight pressed the tip of his rapier against the Guardian's neck, causing his to bleed slightly. "Now will you surrender?" he asked, watching Koaru fight to stay above the surface of the water.
"Never..." Koaru gasped before dropping below the surface momentarily.
"Listen closely," Tenshi said slowly, kneeling beside him in the water, "you and I both know that you're at your limit, and I haven't even used my best attacks yet."
"Your point?" Koaru asked, exhausted.
"My point is that if you don't give up, I will kill you." Tenshi said, standing up as Koaru turned to face him, causing the Knight to step back in terror. The Guardian's entire face had turned black from the Shadow Scar. Both eyes were burning red, and a dark aura was slowly starting to radiate from Koaru's body.
"Really?" he asked, smiling wide. "Let's see you try!" he roared, leaping out of the water and back onto solid ground. Tenshi turned to face him, smiling.
"Very well," he said, summoning a large amount of water to start swirling around his body, gathering in front of his hands. Koaru aimed his right hand forward, gripping his arm with his left hand, channeling all of his power into his palm, Kameharu sheathed on his back.
"Cry of Silence!" Koaru shouted, launching a black and red ray of energy at the Knight.
"Diamond Spear Storm!" Tenshi roared, blasting hundreds of giant ice shards towards Koaru, the ground all around the attack freezing solid. The attacks connected, pushing into each other. Koaru gritted his teeth as he felt himself start to over balance, Tenshi`s attack overpowering him slowly.
"Damn it," he growled as he feet slid on the ground, "how is he so powerful?"
"It's over." Tenshi sighed as his attack tore through Koaru's, sending the Guardian into the air and slamming him against a building.
Koaru hacked, coughing out blood as he slumped down against the wall, his body past its limits. He heard Tenshi approach, and he opened his eyes, staring up at the silver tip of his slender rapier, his eyes following the length of the blade up, past its golden hand guard, and into the face of the golden haired man who had put him in the sorry state of the present. Tenshi's blue jacket fluttered lazily in the breeze, rippling around his legs. Spitting out a small amount of blood, Koaru tried to speak, only to find that his voice refused to obey him. In his mind, he heard a voice growling at him, telling him to unleash the power of the Scar, to destroy this opponent completely. Struggling to ignore the voice, Koaru tried reaching for his weapon, but his body refused to move.
"You are a threat to this planet."
Koru turned his eyes back to Tenshi as he spoke, his tone even and strong.
"You are driven by the evil power inside you; you allow it to consume you, making yourself a threat to the Sailor Senshi and to the Moon Princess. You cannot be allowed to exist any longer."
Koaru froze, realizing that this was exactly like his dream. His heart beat slowed as the rapier shifted its form into the bastard sword, held high above the Knight's head.
"Good-bye." said Tenshi, and Koaru watched as the blade swung down at his head., accepting his fate.
"That's Enough!"
Koaru blinked as the blade froze, hovering an inch from his skull as Tenshi turned his eyes towards where the voice came from. Serena, Amy, Darien and Lita stood a few dozen feet away, staring in horror at the scene in front of them. With a small sigh, Tenshi transformed the sword back into a rapier and returned it to its sheath before turning to leave.
"Koaru Tsukino, Senshi Guardian." he said without looking back. "You have failed my test. If you wish to prove yourself worthy of the title 'Guardian', try to figure out why you fight, and for whom."
With that, the Knight walked away, vanishing into the night, leaving Koaru against the wall, defeated, with only his shame.