Hello!
^_^
As always, any kind of reply you nice people would care to send is
incredibly appreciated. Boy, I'll bet by now you're nearly as tired of
reading these as I am of writing them! Anyway, assuming that nobody has
already skipped this to get to the good part, I would like to repeat myself
in saying that, as always, C&C is vastly appreciated.
Now, let's get on with the fic! ^_^
_______________________________________________________
Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite
Visit http://freeworld.excite.com
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of these guys are mine. The Sailor
Senshi belong to DIC and Kodansha, while the Yoroiden are owned by
Sunrise and Graz Entertainment. Okay? So don't bother suing me. I'm a
student.
RONIN SUMMER : FLASHBACK
A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
Chapter Four : A Game Of Pickup
Sage, Court Scribe of the Moon Kingdom, hadn't slept a wink
all night. His usually comfortable slumber had been disrupted by the
constant, nagging feeling of doom that dogged his heels since his
encounter with a certain masked man earlier that evening. He had come,
he was fairly certain, face to face with his own death, and barely
escaped. Now, he was trapped with the uncertain knowledge that
something very bad was going to happen, and that it was up to him to
stop it.
"But how?" He murmured to himself as he wandered down the
corridors of Serenity's palace. "I'm not a warrior! I'm just a scribe!
Am I supposed to READ them to death? I can't save the Queen!"
"Oh, but you must at least TRY," a sinister voice interjected,
as the sound of cards shuffling echoed through the air. "The cards say
so."
Sage turned and stared at the dapper young man leaning against
a nearby wall, skillfully and effortlessly shuffling through a deck
of cards and dealing himself hands of poker. "What are you doing here?"
"My job," the man replied, "and I suggest you begin doing
yours. Time is most definitely of the essence, you know." He glanced at
the hand he had dealt himself, and frowned. Back went the cards, and
he continued to shuffle as he spoke. "Surely," he said as he dealt
himself another hand, "you recall the fortune I read to you last
night?"
"Yes... you said I was the Knave of Hearts, and had to protect
the Queen of Stars from the Four Kings and the Queen of Swords. You
said I would have help from the Queen of Hearts, and the Five of
Swords, whoever THEY are... and you said I was going to die." Sage
swallowed thickly, and watched as the man walked over to a table that
had appeared from thin air and took a seat, shuffling the hand he held
back into his deck.
"Very good. But have you found the Five of Swords? Have you
even looked?" He gestured for Sage to take a seat on the other side
of the table.
"No!" Sage sat miserably across from the masked man in the
tuxedo. "I mean, I've figured out that the Queen of Stars must be
Queen Serenity, because she's the ruler of so many planets, and that
the Queen of Swords is Beryl, because she's a tyrant. But who the hells
would be the Five of Swords? And the Queen of Hearts... is that another
ruler of some kind?"
"You're partially right," the man admitted as he shuffled the
deck yet again, dealing himself five cards and tossing another five
onto the table between them. "Although you really should look for
your fellow Knaves soon, if you hope to find them... and the Queen of
Stars is not the Queen of the Moon, just as the Queen of Hearts is not
the Queen of HER planet, yet..."
Sage closed his eyes and tried to remember what he had overhead
the Chief Scribe saying to Kunzite last night in the Library. Something
about the book he had lost having troop movements, guard shifts, and...
directions to the Princess' bedroom! "They're PRINCESSES! Moon and
Venus are the Queens of Stars and Hearts! And the Five of Swords are
the Knaves? But there's only four! The Knave of Hearts - me, the Knave
of Swords, the Knave of Stars, and the Knave of Clubs!"
The masked man smirked and slowly turned over four of the
cards in the middle of the table, revealing each of the four Knaves.
"But," he said, holding the final card in his fingers, "you've
forgotten one. The Knave... that is something else entirely." He slowly
turned the final card, so that Sage could see its face.
"The Jester," Sage moaned, "the wild card that can be any suit
it wants to be. Of course!" He smacked himself in the forehead, then
developed a suspicious look. "But what about you, Mr. Ace of Hearts?"
Reaching into the sleeve of his white robe, he drew out the card that
had haunted him all night. "Why do you want me to try to save the Queen
so badly?"
"So that I may beat you, of course. I openly confess my
interest in a fair fight." The man smiled. "And there's no need to be
so formal. You can just call me Ace." Lifting one hand, Ace snapped his
fingers, and the card flew from Sage's hand, landing in Ace's own.
"You know," he said as he scowled at the five cards he held, "I think
these must be yours." He hurled them across the table, and Sage caught
them. Against his will, he looked at the faces, and groaned.
Aces and Eights. The Dead Man's Hand.
**********
The shuttle drifted quietly towards the Moon, fog and ice
streaming off of it as it entered its final approach and began to
skim through the atmosphere. The silence of space outside the capsule,
however, was nowhere near as glacial as the silence within.
Two figures sat in this small metal cylinder, one male and one
female. Their features were quite similar, with the same long manes of
midnight black hair, piercing blue eyes, and pale, creamy skin. The
female wore a long gown of deepest red, and the male a form fitting
suit of armour and satin cape. His clothes were clearly the worse for
wear, covered in blood, soot, and dents. If looks could kill, his
companion would have been dead a million times over. She trembled
slightly, and tried to ignore his presence, despite the fact his anger
had been palpable since they entered the transport.
"You had to do it," he said at last, the first words either of
them had spoken in an entire week. "You just HAD to let him in, didn't
you? Their blood is on your hands."
"It wasn't like that," she whispered hoarsely, her eyes nearly
red from crying, "not like that at all. He had escaped! He needed
sanctuary from them... they came to take him back!"
"He was working with them all along, and because of you, our
parents are dead." The man argued coldly. "You are a murderer, a
traitor, and a whore."
The girl straightened her back and stiffened her lip. "No
matter what you may think of me," she said in a regal tone, "I am
still the Princess of Mars."
"Congratulations," the man replied sarcastically. "You rule a
court of ONE. Were you not my sister, I would have left you there to
die with the rest of them. Have no delusions, Princess, when Queen
Serenity asks me for my story I have no intention of picking my words
with care."
"I swear to you, Ken... even if what you say is true... I had
no idea..."
"Then I correct myself," he said, "you are an IDIOT, a FOOL, a
murderer, a traitor, and a whore. Now strap yourself in. We are
landing, and I find I have nothing more to say to you."
**********
Venus wandered down the corridor, tugging on her leather
fencing gloves. It was about time for her next session : although most
people assumed these lessons with the Royal Guard were just a girl's
whim, she knew a bit better. The leader of the Sailor Senshi needed to
be QUITE good with a sword, if she expected to do her duty. Her duty
was all she had left, now that Magellan had fallen...
A familiar young man in a white robe was standing in her way,
holding a hand of cards and looking concerned. "Excuse me," she said,
and brushed past him, only to have him suddenly grab her arm. Years of
training kept her from immediately hurling him over her shoulder and
breaking his collarbone. "What is it... Sage, wasn't it?"
"Listen, are you done with that book yet? I need to look at it.
Now, if not sooner..." Sage asked, thanking every kami he had ever
heard of that he had blundered into the same girl that he had given the
all-important biography of King Saigo to!
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't right now... I have to go to training,
and Captain Kento throws a fit if I'm late." Venus shrugged, and
started to leave. To her surprise, the blond haired boy joined her,
his glasses flashing in the morning sun as he looked over at her.
"After practice then? I swear to you, it IS important..."
She relented, mainly because she had no real reson to resist.
"Fine, after practice, I'll take you back to my quarters and you
can get that book back. Real shame... I was just getting to the good
part, where Saigo's daughter gets kidnapped."
Sage blinked. "Saigo didn't HAVE a..." His voice trailed off,
and he adjusted his glasses out of instinct. "Oh, dear. I think I
really DO need to see that book, as soon as possible..."
**********
Captain Kento, of the Royal Guard, stood alone in the center of
the training yard when Venus and Sage entered. He was clad in the
silver armour of Serenity's Guard, with his thick, bucket shaped head
crammed into a gleaming, bucket shaped helmet. The visor was raised,
and a scowling face could barely be made out behind the great black
bush of a beard.
"He doesn't look very happy," Sage whispered nervously.
"Oh, that old bear NEVER looks happy," Venus responded with
a chuckle as she handed her cloak to Sage and entered the open area of
the yard, drawing her sword.
Sage took the oppurtunity to glance again at his five cards,
which had turned back into the five Knaves. Four of the five seemed
blurry somehow, indistinct, but the Knave of Hearts was quite clearly
Sage himself, drawn wearing a suit of silver chain mail and a green
surcoat, speaking to a beautiful young girl and dangling a necklace in
his fingers.
"Today," Kento said gruffly, "I'm going to show you a trick my
Poppa learnt me when I was knee high to a grasshopper! Take out that
puny little hatpin of yours, and try to prick me. Watch what I do..."
Venus smiled, and lifted her sword. "Whatever you say, sensei."
With little warning, she suddenly lunged forward, and Kento seemed to
vanish in a blur of movement. There was a strange whirring sound, and
she felt something crack her in the back of the legs. Her knees
buckled, and she felt another rough tap on her forehead. She opened her
eyes, and Kento stood over her, chortling as he lifted the twin lengths
of wood he held.
"Tricky, hmmm? Had these tonfa up me sleeves, I did! And there
ain't no iron for those fairy types to smell, so no-one ever sees it
coming!" With a grin, Kento spun the two weapons and tucked them
back into his baggy sleeves. "Fast, quiet, and undetectable. Yup, say
what you want about swords, sometimes there's just no substitute for
a good old-fashioned stick."
Sage blinked. "What did you say?"
Kento glanced over at the boy. "I said, swords are for bandits
and dandies, boy! A real man just grabs a length of wood and starts
swinging! It's something this little lady has to learn to deal with,
if she wants to be a Senshi..."
Sage looked back down at his hand of cards. Sure enough,
another picture came into focus. There was Kento, clad in his armour
and wielding a mighty warhammer, his orange cloak swirling in the
breeze as he bellowed in fury. Kento was the Knave of Clubs!
Furthermore, the other cards had all become just a little bit easier
to make out.
**********
Standing in the shadows, a shadowy figure in a tuxedo watched
as his young adversary began looking in shock from the cards to the man
sparring with Venus, then back again.
"Well, well," he whispered, "you're beginning to catch on.
Congratulations, young Knave." With a sardonic smirk, he looked down
at the thick book he held in his hands. "Of course," he added, "we
can't make this TOO easy for you, can we? I think," he continued,
stroking his chin thoughtfully, "I'll return this to Lord Kunzite
AFTER he has killed that fool of a Chief Scribe."
The man once called Adonis, now known as Danburite, sighed as
he watched his love battling with the clumsy brute who captained
Serenity's guard. Truly, she was glorious in battle! "But not for me,"
he sighed, as he tucked the book safely under one arm. "No, never for
me, darling Venus. Not in this lifetime. Perhaps in the next. I
suppose," he said, with genuine sorrow, "I shall have to kill you and
find out..." Raising a card to his lips, the Queen of Hearts, he kissed
it and then tore it in half, letting the pieces flutter to the ground.
"Next time," he hissed softly, and disappeared.
**********
The doors opened, and Queen Serenity smiled beatifically down
at the two new refugees as they entered into her throne room. Princess
Mars seemed a bit disheveled, and Prince Ken was fuming so strongly
he practically had steam rising from his body.
"Welcome, my dear, dear friends." Serenity rose and slowly
walked the short distance seperating her from the two representatives
of Mars. "I'm sure my daughter will be overjoyed to see her beloved
Mars again, and in truth my own heart does warm to know that you are
safe. Both of you," she added, turning her attention to the almost
blindingly furious Ken.
"Hold your welcomes, Queen, until you have heard my words."
Ken stepped to the side and pointed to his older sister. "I, Ken,
Crown Prince of Mars, hearby accuse the Princess of Mars of treason
and betrayl of the crown! Her actions were the direct cause of all
our misery!"
Serenity blinked in surprise. "I certainly hope you have some
basis of proof for these harsh words, Prince Ken."
"Two weeks ago, a man came to our gates seeking sanctuary."
Ken's eyes narrowed. "Jadeite," he said, hissing the name as if it
were a curse. "He claimed he had been attacked by the Dark Kingdom and
was in need of aid. SHE let him into our castle, and within five days,
we were under attack. Our parents are dead, our people are enslaved,
and still that slut pines for him! If she chooses to stand by Jadeite,
my Queen, then I beseech you : let her swing in his place!"
"Princess! Is this true?"
Mars sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "I...
I wish I knew, my Queen. It may be as my brother says, but... but I
know the heart of my fiance! He could NEVER harm us! I'm so sorry..."
Serenity nodded sadly and placed a comforting hand on the
girl's shoulder. "Often, our hearts may lead us into places our
minds would never let us tread. I know your love for Jadeite may have
blinded you to the possibilty that he has been turned to the side of
our enemy, a fact I find hard to believe." She smiled gently at the
weeping girl. "Come, now... we all make mistakes, dear Mars. The fault
is not your own. We shall take you to your nice, comfortable quarters,
and you shall have a nice, long, cry, if you so wish. You've been
through so much, poor darling..."
"WHAT?" Ken was incredulous, his blue eyes wide in disbelief.
"Is THIS Justice in the Moon Kingdom? A few crocodile tears, and all is
forgiven? What of our family? What of all the people she betrayed?"
His jaw set, he wrapped his cape around him. "If THIS is the way that
your Kingdom is run, perhaps it DESERVES to be destroyed!"
"Prince Ken, you speak in anger." Serenity's face became stern.
"I feel you are confused. In time, you may regret the words you have
said to both ourself and to your dear sister..."
"I HAVE NO SISTER! MY SISTER DIED WITH MY PARENTS!" Ken
snarled, turning on one heel and preparing to leave the way he came.
"I know what I saw on Mars! I saw Jadeite slaughter everyone I ever
loved, and you DARE call me confused? It is YOU who are confused! I
faced my death there, and for what? This... this travesty, this
mockery of justice? It out-Herods Herod! And I swear by my blade, I
shall NOT wait here for them to attack me again!" He stormed for the
door, only to find two guards blocking his path with their crossed
halbreds. "Stand them down," he growled, "or two more shall die
needlessly for my sister's transgression."
Serenity sighed. "Let him go," she said sadly. "Let him go to
the fate he wishes. But, if he returns... let him back."
Ken glared over his shoulder at the Queen, who had placed an
arm around Mars in an attempt to console her. "Still, you fools clutch
vipers to your chests. I vow, someday you will be taught the error in
your ways..."
"Prince Ken," Serenity said sorrowfully, as she stroked the
hair of the weeping Princess Mars, "you break your sister's heart."
"Good." That said, he was gone in a swirl of black satin.
**********
Sage leaned against the wall as he watched Kento and the girl
with the book fight. She was pretty good, he decided, as well as just
flat-out pretty. It was wonderful, almost like an intricate dance of
blade and staff, as the two struck and parried their way around the
courtyard. He sighed and took off his glasses, polishing them on the
embroided cuff of his white robe. He was starting to get poetic...
he'd better be careful, or this could turn into another crush.
Something clattered nearby, and he looked up, squinting and
trying to see what had happened. After a few seconds, he realised that
the clattering had come from the OTHER side of the wall, and tensed.
That Ace character had said something about opposition : what if
someone was trying to attack them?
Quickly, and with the sheer agility of years spent clambering
through bookstacks the way a gibbon clambers through tree branches,
Seiji hopped nimbly over the wall and landed in a crouch on the other
side, where his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Some guy in a suit
of red armour was in the middle of a sword duel with... Rowen?
"What the hell?" Sage asked, before having the presence of mind
to call for help. "CAPTAIN KENTO!!!"
Rowen yelped and hopped back as the other man's sword whirred
through the air, its point mere inches from his stomach. With
surprising skill, he met the strike with a sword of his own, and the
two blades rang loudly against each other.
"HEY, NOW!" Kento hollered as he cleared the wall in a single
prodigous leap and landed heavily, raising his tonfa threateningly.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF SAM HELL IS GOIN' ON OVER HERE!?"
The armoured man glanced over at Kento, and Rowen managed to
catch him in the side with a swing. Grunting, the dark haired young man
gestured, and a ball of flame blasted Rowen back into Sage's arms.
With a threatening scowl, the man backed away from Kento, his blade
wavering back and forth between the two.
"So," he hissed, "an ambush, eh? The Captain of the Royal
Guard, and the glorious Endymion's own little brother attack me as I
try to leave, despite my grant of free passage? It's nice to see how
the honorable Serenity keeps her word..."
Kento rose from the crouch he was in, and lowered his weapons.
"Go," he said simply. "If you have free passage then get out of here,
and never let me see you again. Serenity's word is our bond."
"Yeah," Ken snorted as he sheathed his blade, "a JUNK bond.
I'll leave, all right. In fact, nothing would make me happier!"
Scowling, he turned and walked away.
"Who was THAT?" Sage asked in a stunned tone of voice, as he
put his glasses back on.
"Prince Ken of Mars. A mean, angry, and troubled lad if I ever
saw one." Kento shook his head. "That boy's looking for enemies in
every face he sees... I just hope he doesn't find them in the wrong
ones." With another scowl, he turned to Rowen and grabbed the smaller
boy by the hood of his forest green tunic. "And what have I told you,
about a hundred times now, young Rowen? You're NOT to be using swords!
You know your mother expressly forbids it! So stop stealing all me
best silver blades from the armory!"
"Aw..." Rowen looked ashamed, and his pointed ears actually
drooped. "But it's not fair! Endymion always gets to run in with his
sword and save the day, and where am I? Out in back, where nobody ever
sees me! I might just save a day or two on my own, you know! I'm pretty
damn GOOD with those swords, if you'd give me a chance!"
Sage blinked. "Rowen? You use swords? But... but you've always
told Cye and me that you hate swords!"
"I was LYING so nobody would CATCH me! Duh!" Rowen shrugged.
"Man, you are dumber than advertised, Sage."
"You lied about swords, and you always steal them..." Sage
glanced down at his cards, where he could now clearly see a picture
of Rowen, a shock of blue hair sticking out from under the shadows of
his hood as he twirled a pair of blades. "Rowen... YOU'RE HIM!"
"I'm who?"
"YOU'RE HIM!"
"Who's him?"
Sage groaned and showed Rowen the card. "YOU'RE THE KNAVE OF
SWORDS, YOU POINTY-EARED THIEF! YOU'RE ONE OF THE FIVE OF SWORDS!"
Rowen blinked. "Okay, so Ken went psycho and thought I was
some kind of assassin, and now Sage has gone nuts and thinks I'm some
kind of playing card. Did I miss anything else this morning, or is
that about it? Cye won't come wandering by and mistake me for a talking
fish, will he?"
Kento blinked in surprise. "I don't know what that boy's been
drinking, lad, but I think he's had a mite too much. Rude of him, not
to share a nip with us..."
**********
"They're all deluded," Ken snarled to himself as he exited the
palace and wandered out onto the surface of the Moon. "She slaughters
her own family and they expect her to do any different to them? Fools.
Stupid, deluded fools. They'll find out soon enough, and then it'll
be far too late! They'll wish they'd heeded my words then..."
"Now," a voice interrupted, "I look at you and I think to
myself : there is a man who is a seething tower of hatred. And then I
think : there is a man I would like to get to know better."
Ken spun, drawing his sword. "Who's there? Another of Queen
Serenity's loyal terriers?"
"Heaven forbid!" The man replied, grinning as he straightened
the cuff of his tuxedo jacket. "I am a horse of a much darker color.
My card." With a flick of his fingers, he sent a single playing card
spinning through the air between them.
Ken caught the card easily on the tip of his sword and sneered.
"An Ace of Hearts. What are you, some kind of Bandit Ace?"
"I'm your friend." Ace replied, as he smiled and walked over
to the armoured man, draping an arm around the lad's shoulders. "You
see, I couldn't help but overhear your little... disagreement with
Serenity."
"She is in the wrong!" Ken replied defensively.
"I believe you!" Ace replied with a friendly smile. "And this
is not exactly the first time Serenity has been in the wrong... is it?
I mean, when you think about it, she's ALWAYS put the desires of your
sister before you, hasn't she? Never listened to you, never heeded your
advice... rather shabby way to treat someone as skilled and decorated
as yourself, if you ask me. Of course, you didn't, but that's just one
man's opinion."
"I..." Ken bit his lip. "I don't know what you're talking
about, Bandit."
"You WISH you didn't know what I was talking about! Who leads
the battle against Beryl, you or Endymion? Now ask yourself : who is
the better warrior? If YOU had been in charge, Beryl would be defeated
by now! But Endymion has the ear of the Queen, and his quest for
personal glory came before your own desire to see justice done. Who was
responsible for what happened on Mars? You, or your sister? Now : who
is living in splendor, and who is the outcast?"
Ken sighed, and reached up, pulling the man's arm off of him.
"Your words... ring true. And yet, despite these facts, I shall not
betray my Queen."
"Really?" Ace smirked. "And what about Mercury? You love her,
but who is she engaged to marry? Zoisite, a low-born nobody who would
rather be in bed with one of his fellow generals. Why was his claim
taken so much higher than yours? Wasn't it because your sister didn't
want you associating with her friend? Wasn't it because your queen
decided to reward HIM with Mercury, instead of someone who truly
deserved her? DIDN'T THEY BETRAY YOU FIRST?"
Ken froze in his steps and hung his head. "Say your piece,
Bandit Ace. Speak further. I make no promises, but I shall listen to
your words."
"Excellent." Danburite smiled. "Allow me to introduce you to
a bold new world, Prince Ken of Mars..."
**********
To Be Continued...