“That’s how it’s done,” Ami concluded, writing down the answer to the example math problem she had written.
Ryoku looked over the problem and the answer and half-smiled wryly to himself. “It seems so easy the way you explain it,” he said. “I can’t see how I could miss something as simple as that.”
“It happens to everyone sometimes,” she said with a small smile.
He regarded her skeptically. “Really? Even with you?”
“Of course,” she replied. “I’m not infallible, you know.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you were.”
“It’s all right. Now that I’ve helped you with that, can you help me with my English?”
“You need help in English?”
“I just need you to quiz me on various words and let me know if I miss any.”
“Right. Afterwards, you can return the favor.”
“Okay,” she said with another smile. “I’m ready now.”
He nodded. “Then, let’s begin.”
Mamoru was just leaving from the dojo where he took his martial arts classes, when he saw Ryoku walking up to him. “Hey, Mamoru-san. I just thought I’d check out your class for a bit.” His expression turned thoughtful as he looked back at the building Mamoru had just departed from, where a few others were leaving as well. “Short class today?” he asked.
“No, it’s not that,” Mamoru replied. “Takada-sensei has just recently broken his leg and arm in a car accident and is in the hospital. I was just on my way to visit him.”
“Takada-sensei? Your instructor, I take it?” Ryoku said. “Mind if I join you?”
“Fine by me. It’s not that far away.”
A short time later, they were standing in the room of Mamoru’s karate instructor and friend, Takada Yusuke. Takada was lying in a bed with the injured leg propped up in a sling and in a cast. His injured arm was also in a cast, but it was lying on his chest, over the blanket. “How’re you doing, Takada-sensei?” Mamoru asked after he introduced his instructor to his friend.
“Not too bad,” Takada replied. “I’m lucky it was just a broken arm and leg. The other guy had it worse, though. Last I heard he’s still in the intensive-care unit.” He shook his head sadly. “The guy was drunk, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know,” Mamoru said quietly. “I kinda feel sorry for the guy.”
“Yeah, me too,” Takada agreed. “Even though he did this to me, I wouldn’t wish that condition on anyone.”
“How long are they keeping you here?” Ryoku asked, breaking the long silence that followed.
“A few days.”
“That’s too bad,” Mamoru said.
“Tell me about it,” Takada said. “I’ll have to cancel classes for the next few days unless I can get someone to take over for me.”
“Take over for you?”
“Temporarily. And only for practice sessions,” he told him. “I won’t be able to teach anything new until I get out of these casts.”
“How about I take care of it?” Ryoku asked.
“You?”
“Yes. I’m sure I have enough knowledge to handle the task. Just ask Mamoru-san.”
“Is he as good as he says he is?” Takada asked.
“He’s very good,” Mamoru replied with a nod. “In fact, I think he can even teach whatever you were planning to teach us before the accident if you wanted.”
“Is that so?” Takada said as he looked Ryoku over. “Well, why not? It’s only for a few days anyway. All right, I’ll let you take over for me.”
“Thank you, Takada-sensei,” Ryoku said as he bowed politely.
“That’s quite all right, Ryoku-san. Maybe you can get this guy to finally learn something,” Takada said jokingly, gesturing to Mamoru. “It’s sad to see one of my students getting his butt kicked by his own girlfriend.” Both Ryoku and Takada burst out laughing while Mamoru scowled at both of them.
At the woods mansion, Nephrite stood in the center of the dark chamber, waiting. He needed to find another victim since he failed to get the energy of that young photographer. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind.
“The stars know all. I seek your guidance with my newest victim. The ancient star of navigation, Polaris; point the way to my next target.” A bolt of energy flew from the center of the rotating sea of lights, striking Nephrite on the forehead. “The North Star shines brightly,” he continued. A vision filled his head; a vision of a brown-haired boy with his medium-length hair held in a thin ponytail. “The star shines over this boy. Kino Ryoku. The next target has been chosen.”
“So, you’re going to be teaching Mamoru-san’s martial arts class?” Rei asked. She and the others were hanging out at the arcade. Usagi was yelling at the Sailor V video game after losing her fifth game in a row. Ami was watching her over her shoulder, and wincing at the increasing volume of her voice, while she and Ryoku were sitting at one of the nearby tables. The table was just far enough from Usagi’s frustrated screams to be tolerable.
He looked over at Usagi and shook his head. “Just until the instructor recovers from his injuries,” he replied, turning back to Rei. “He’s told me what he was planning to teach the students before the accident. I already know all the things he was planning to teach, so there won’t be any lapses in the class.”
“It must be great to actually teach a class,” she said.
“To tell you the truth, it’s not really that much different from being an aide for Sugiyama-sensei,” he told her. “Sure, this time I’m the one telling the class what to do, but other than that it’s pretty much the same. Just like during music class, I’m doing the same thing along with the students and helping them correct their mistakes.”
“Still, isn’t it fun being the boss; telling the class what to do and everything?”
“Well, when you put it that way….”
“I swear that game is cheating somehow!” Usagi exclaimed in a huff as she sat down at the table next to Ryoku, since Ami was sitting next to Rei.
“I guess the old saying of ‘whether you win or lose’ isn’t going to do much good, is it?” Ryoku asked cynically.
“Usagi-chan, the game isn’t cheating,” Ami said patiently. “You just need more practice.”
“Easy for you to say,” Usagi countered. “You only played the game once and you got the highest score ever. In fact, your high score is still there! No one has come close to beating it yet!”
“Really?” Ryoku asked, looking at Ami. “I never knew you liked video games, Ami-chan.”
“Well, I don’t play them very often,” she replied with an embarrassed blush. “I’m usually too busy.”
“Speaking of busy,” Ryoku said, glancing at his watch, “I’d better get going. Class starts in about fifteen minutes. I’ll see you later.”
“Hold on, Ryo-kun,” Rei interrupted. “I’m coming, too.”
“Mamoru-san doesn’t have class today, Rei-chan.”
“That’s all right. I just wanna see how you teach the class.”
“Fine by me. How about you two? Either of you want to come as well?”
“I’m gonna have another go at the Sailor V game,” Usagi said.
“I thought you said it cheated,” Rei pointed out.
“That one machine did,” Usagi said. “I’m going to try another one.”
The others sweatdropped. “Your money,” Ryoku said with an indifferent shrug. “How about you, Ami-chan?”
“I have to study for tomorrow’s biology test,” Ami replied.
“Of course,” Ryoku said, nodding as he stood up. “By the way, do you mind if I study with you later for Friday’s math test? After all, we’re in the same class.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Ami said. “Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing.”
Ami and Ryoku both noticed that Usagi and Rei were staring at them. “What?” Ryoku asked sharply.
“Nothing,” Usagi and Rei said after sharing a knowing look between them.
“Never mind,” he said, shaking his head in exasperation. “We’d better get going, if I’m going to get there in time.”
“Right,” Rei said as she stood up as well. “See you later, everyone.”
“Bye, Rei-chan. Ryo-kun,” Ami and Usagi said as Rei and Ryoku left.
“Bye, girls,” Ryoku said over his shoulder before leaving the arcade.
Class was a bit more interesting than usual today. Ryoku had originally planned to have one of the students come up to assist in a demonstration, but he decided to let Rei assist instead. At the time, it seemed like a good idea….
“Rei-chan…,” Ryoku whimpered painfully as he lay on the floor in a collapsed bundle. “Next time… watch where you… strike….”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Rei exclaimed as she and another student helped him to his feet. “I didn’t mean to kick you there!” Every male student present winced sympathetically for him. They knew that that had to hurt.
“That’s… all right,” he groaned less painfully. “Maybe… I should’ve been… paying better attention. Still… this was supposed to be… a demonstration, not an actual attack. Did you have to hit so hard?”
“Hey, you’re the expert here,” she countered. “Is it supposed to matter for you?”
“I never claimed to be an expert,” he muttered, straightening as the pain lessened enough to be ignored. “Anyway,” he said as he turned to the class, “dropping my guard and the resulting injury aside, did all of you get the idea of that last move and block?” The class nodded their agreement. “Good. Now, everyone pair off and practice them.”
After watching the students for a few minutes to make sure they all got it down right, Ryoku walked over to where Takada left his practice weapons and picked up a staff. He wasn’t supposed to teach them to use a staff – or any weapon, for that matter – but there was nothing wrong with just him using it.
Rei watched as he began a few strikes with the staff. A high strike to the head, followed by a low strike with the other end of the staff. Next, a spinning attack. When he was finished with the basic moves and a few advanced ones, he went into a complex routine. He spun the staff while leaping and kicking, then struck with the staff upon landing. He blocked several imaginary opponents, one after another, at the same time supposedly disarming them with kicks, staff strikes and even a couple of throws. By the time he was finished, she saw that the entire class had stopped to watch him work.
He blinked in surprise as he noticed the students were all staring at him as he stopped to catch his breath. “Why did you stop?” he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. Immediately, all of the students went back to their lesson.
“That was amazing, Ryo-kun,” Rei said. “You’re just as good with a staff as you are with your swords.”
“I prefer my swords, though,” he replied.
“Excuse me,” someone said standing behind him. Ryoku turned around to see a familiar-looking man wearing a business suit. “I saw your routine through the window over there,” he said gesturing behind him at the window. “I’m impressed. Are you the instructor?”
“Only temporarily, until the normal instructor recovers from his accident,” Ryoku answered with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Didn’t I see you before at Sugiyama-sensei’s music class just over a week ago? Sanjoin Masato-san, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Sanjoin answered. “You were the guitar player, weren’t you?”
“Yes, that was me.”
“Do you mind if I take a look at that staff you were using?” Sanjoin asked.
“Sure,” Ryoku replied, tossing the staff to the man. “I don’t mind.”
He caught the staff and examined it closely. “Hmm…,” was all he said as he held it between his two hands and executed a few strikes with it.
He handles it like he knows how to use it, Ryoku mused to himself as he tossed the staff back to him.
“Thank you,” Sanjoin said as he turned to leave. “Perhaps I may consider attending a class or two once the original instructor returns. Anyway, I must be going now.”
Nephrite – still in his guise as Sanjoin – walked over to his car and drove off, laughing softly to himself.
The next day, Ami went over to the Hikawa Shrine to talk to Rei. She was over to one side of the grounds feeding her crows, Phobos and Deimos. She had just come home from school, so she was still in her school uniform.
“Hello, Ami-chan,” she said, looking up from the two crows. “Something wrong?” she asked as she noted her worried expression.
“I’m not sure,” Ami said. “It… may be nothing.”
“Well, what is it?”
“You remember yesterday, that Ryo-kun was supposed to study with me for our math test Friday?” Ami asked.
Rei nodded. “Yeah, I remember reminding him about it when he said he was going to stay after class for a bit. He said he wanted to continue practicing with that staff of his for a little while longer.” She paused as an incredulous thought came to mind. “Don’t tell me he didn’t show up!”
“He didn’t,” Ami told her, “but there’s more. He didn’t come to school today, either.”
“He didn’t? Maybe he’s sick.”
“That’s what I thought, too. But, when I called his apartment, no one answered.”
“That is strange,” Rei said in a thoughtful voice. “Maybe we should go check on him.”
When they arrived at his apartment later, Rei immediately started knocking on his door. “Ryo-kun! Are you in there?” she shouted at the door. “It’s us! We came to see if you’re all right!” She paused to listen for any sign that he heard them and was coming to open the door. She heard nothing.
“He’s not home,” Ami said as her concern began to grow stronger.
“I have an idea,” Rei said. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to check the last place I saw him at,” she replied as they left the apartment building.
Earlier, Mamoru was walking past the dojo, when he noticed that someone was inside when there were usually no classes. Letting curiosity fill him, he went over to see who was there. He frowned suspiciously when he found the door unlocked, but he entered anyway. As soon as he went inside, he saw that it was only Ryoku. He was in the middle of a very intense and extremely complex routine using one of the staffs.
“Ryoku? What are you doing here so early?” Mamoru asked. “Shouldn’t you be in school right now?” He didn’t reply, or even turn in his direction. He just continued his routine single-mindedly. “Ryoku, are you even listening to me?”
Ryoku stopped his routine and looked over at him. “What do you want?” he asked in a tone as lifeless as his blank stare.
He looked away uneasily from his stare. “Are you all right?” he asked. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine,” Ryoku replied emotionlessly. “I must resume practicing now.” He restarted the routine that Mamoru had previously interrupted.
Mamoru simply looked at him in confusion. “All right, Ryoku,” he said uncertainly, not entirely convinced. “I’ll see you in class later today, then.” He gave him one last concerned look and left.
“All right, class,” Ryoku said flatly, “I know that we weren’t going to be working with weapons until much later, but I think that now is the time for you to learn them.” All of the students looked at him and whispered among themselves in puzzled tones. He ignored them and walked over to where a bunch of staves were stored and gathered all of them. “Now, all of you take one,” he said, dropping them onto the floor.
“Ryoku,” Mamoru said with a puzzled expression on his face, “what are you doing? Takada-sensei said that he would be the one to teach this to the class.”
“Take a staff,” Ryoku said flatly.
“Didn’t you hear…?”
“Take a staff,” he repeated, staring into Mamoru’s eyes. A quick flash of light emanated from his eyes so quickly that Mamoru thought he had just imagined it.
He shook his head slightly. “Excuse me. I don’t think I’m feeling well,” he said and left the room.
Ryoku ignored him and picked up his own staff from yesterday. “Now, I want one of you to try to disarm me,” he said sternly, his expression suddenly hard and cold. All of the students started talking among themselves again, this time with incredulousness. “If none of you are willing to face me one on one, then face me however many you wish at a time. All of you at once, if you wish,” he said mockingly.
Some students, insulted by his mocking tone, took up his challenge and charged at him. Ryoku took down each challenger with quick and merciless proficiency.
Halfway through taking down all his opponents, Ami and Rei burst through the door. They watched in horror as Ryoku finished the last of his opponents by throwing him across the room by one end of his staff.
“Ryo-kun, what do you think you’re doing?” Rei shouted in horrified shock. He turned slowly towards the two girls with a cold, baleful stare that sent a shiver down both their spines. Neither one of them had any doubt that the Dark Kingdom had gotten to their friend.
“Ryo-kun, this isn’t like you,” Ami said, gesturing toward the students he had thoroughly beaten. Some of them were crawling away from him in fear, toward the other students who were cowering in the corner.
“It isn’t?” he asked coldly. “Really? What makes you so sure?”
“The Ryoku we know doesn’t attack people without mercy and for no reason,” Rei said.
“That’s right,” Ami added. “He is a kind, caring person who would go out of his way to help his friends.”
“So, I’m not the Ryoku you know?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow mockingly and raised his staff above his head. “Too bad. He sounds like such a pathetic soul. I have business to attend to, so if you would, please wait right there.” He turned around with the staff still raised above his head. “All of you have put so much energy into this class. That energy should be put to a better use.” He brought the staff down and struck the floor with it. A purple energy bolt ran across the floor toward the group of students gathered at the corner. The bolt struck the students, draining them of their energy, and returned into the staff. All of the students collapsed instantly.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” he said, lowering his staff and nodding his head. He turned to the two girls and grinned maliciously. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting….”
“As much as I hate it, I’m afraid we have no choice but to fight him,” Rei said. “Ami-chan, you’d better call Usagi on the communicator.” Ami nodded as she pulled out her communicator.
“You’re going to fight me, now?” Ryoku said derisively, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “I must ask you something, though. Do you think you can win?”
“Good will always triumph over evil in the end,” Rei stated, standing in a defensive fighting stance. “We will defeat you and get our friend back!”
“You think so?” Ryoku asked with an indifferent shrug. “But you don’t stand even the slightest chance fighting like that. Why don’t you two transform? It’ll be a more… interesting… fight. I’m willing to wait.” He placed one end of the staff on the floor and leaned leisurely against it as he gestured encouragingly at the two girls. “Please, go right ahead.”
“Usagi-chan’s on her way,” Ami said as she joined Rei and Ryoku.
“Wonderful,” Ryoku said with a dark grin. “Now, do you two want to transform now and fight me, or would you rather wait for Usagi and transform then? Either way is fine with me; it’s your choice. Take your time. I’m in no rush; after all, it will all come out the same in the end.”
Ami and Rei looked at each other in complete bewilderment. Ryoku was exhibiting strange behavior, even for someone being controlled by a youma. Usually, someone taken like that would become hostile and unpredictable. However, Ryoku was calm and dangerously clearheaded. What really worried them was the fact that they were fighting a fellow Sailor Scout. If he could somehow combine the powers he acquired through the youma possession with his powers as Sailor Knight…. The result was something either girl didn’t want to think about.
“Ryo-kun, come to your senses!” Rei called out to him. “You don’t want to do this!”
“You need to fight it!” Ami also called out. “Don’t let that youma control you!”
“Do you really think it’s that simple?” he asked tiredly. “That pathetic fool has been fighting me ever since I took over his body. He hasn’t even come close to beating me.” He strode over to the two girls, laughing softly to himself. He slowly reached out and stroked both Rei and Ami’s cheeks. Rei slapped Ryoku’s hand away, while Ami stared at him, hoping to see any sign that Ryoku was beginning to gain the upper hand in his struggle against his possessor.
Ryoku laughed condescendingly at the girls’ defiance. “Did you know that along with his struggling, I can also feel his anger and suffering? It’s quite a treat. It’ll be even better once Usagi arrives, though. Imagine, the Sailor Scouts beaten by one of their own.”
“You monster!” Usagi shouted, running through the open door. “You let go of our Ryo-kun!”
“How good it is to see you, Usagi!” Ryoku said, grinning wickedly. “Now that we’re all here, care to have a little fun?”
“Let’s do it!” Rei shouted. “Mars power, make up!”
“Mercury power, make up!”
“Moon prism power, make up!”
The three Sailor Scouts faced off against their friend turned enemy. Ryoku grinned as he stood with his staff in a ready position. “Are you ready?”
“The friendship and trust between friends and teammates is a special bond!” Sailor Moon stated. “How dare you try to turn him against those he holds dear! I’m the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon! On behalf of the Moon….”
“On behalf of the planet Mercury…,” Sailor Mercury added.
“And behalf of Mars…,” Sailor Mars added.
“…we shall punish you!” all three finished.
“Punish me?” Ryoku asked sweetly. “You are certainly welcome to try. I’ll try not to kill you too quickly.”
“Everyone, we need to be careful,” Mercury said. “If we try to stop whoever is controlling him, we’ll most likely harm Ryo-kun in the process.”
“So, we can’t use our powers?” Sailor Moon asked.
“You can’t,” Mercury said. “However, I can still use my bubbles to reduce his vision.”
“You’d better do it quickly,” Mars said. “I think he’s about ready to attack!”
Ryoku began to charge the three Scouts. Before Mercury could begin her attack, he leaped into the air while spinning his staff and came down near Mars, swinging his staff at her head. She dived away from his attack, rolled to her feet and executed a jump kick, which struck him in the chest.
“Shabon spray!” Mercury shouted, causing a thick mist to appear. When the mist appeared, both Sailor Moon and Mars rushed at Ryoku while he blindly flung one purple energy bolt after another from his staff. Sailor Moon executed a jump kick to his chest as Mars kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to fall flat on the floor.
“You may have his body, but you definitely don’t have his skill.” Mars said to the prone form lying on the floor in front of her.
Ryoku quickly got to his feet, scowling in the general direction of the three Scouts. “So, you are better than I originally thought,” he said disdainfully. “No matter. I’m not through yet. I have yet to use this body’s full power anyway.” He grinned as he slowly began to reach behind his back.
“He’s going to try to fight us using Sailor Knight’s powers!” Sailor Moon said worriedly.
“If he combines Sailor Knight’s powers with those he already has,” Mercury said apprehensively, “then, we could be in for the toughest battle we’ve ever had to face.”
“Then, we must stop him before he does,” Mars said determinedly. “Forgive me, Ryo-kun. Fire soul!”
Before the fireball could hit Ryoku, he leaped out of the way. “I was tempted to let the fireball… singe your friend,” he said with a mocking smile on his face. “Your pain and misery would have been… sweet.”
“Why you…!” Mars seethed furiously.
“Care to take another shot at me, Mars-chan?” he asked, laughing derisively. “I’ll stand still this time, I promise.”
Mercury pressed her earring, bringing down her visor. “I think I’ve found a way to stop him without harming Ryo-kun,” she said after scanning him. “It’s going to be very difficult, though.”
“Anything is better than how we’re doing now,” Sailor Moon said. “What do we gotta do?”
“Most of his power comes from the staff he uses,” she explained, pressing her earring again and deactivating her visor. “If we destroy it, then he will be severely weakened.”
“What’s the problem with that?”
“If we destroy the staff, there’s a good chance he’ll go for Ryoku’s swords,” she continued.
“In other words,” Mars said, looking warily at Ryoku, “from bad to worse.”
“Do we have any other choice?” Sailor Moon asked.
“I’m growing tired of waiting,” Ryoku said suddenly. “I’ve had my fun. Now, it’s time for me to get down to business.” He ran and leaped at the three Scouts with his staff spinning as he flew through the air. He was about to strike the Scouts when a rose flew through the air to strike him in the face, blossom first, causing him to sail past the Scouts and crash into the wall.
“Tuxedo Kamen-sama!” Sailor Moon exclaimed, turning towards the doorway where he stood, cape flapping in the outside breeze. His hand was still extended forward, after having thrown the rose.
“You have turned a kind person into a cruel beast against his will,” Tuxedo Kamen stated. “I will not allow such a thing.”
“You won’t?” Ryoku asked, getting to his feet. “Then, come at me, if you dare.”
Tuxedo Kamen leaped through the air, bringing out and extending his cane in midair, and struck at Ryoku’s head. He blocked his attack with his own staff. “Impressive,” he said with a mocking smile, “but ultimately… futile.” He suddenly fell backwards, bringing Tuxedo Kamen with him, and threw him against the far wall.
“Oh, no!” Sailor Moon cried. “Tuxedo Kamen-sama!”
“I’ll have to finish you three before that fool interferes again,” Ryoku said menacingly as he turned to the three Sailor Scouts. “Pray for your souls,” he said as he quickly reached behind his back and pulled out the Knight Swords. “Now, you will die…. AHH!!!” he screamed and dropped both swords as if they were burning hot. “What happened?” he demanded and bent down to touch the swords. When he put a finger to one of them, he immediately pulled it back, hissing in pain.
“You cannot use the Knight Swords because the power of Sailor Knight was meant to fight evil,” Sailor Moon said confidently. “You cannot corrupt it with your evil touch.”
“Shut up!” Ryoku screamed and charged the Scouts again. “I’ll kill you without them! I’ll kill you with my bare hands, if I must!” He leaped at the Scouts, preparing to strike the nearest one with his staff at full blast. He was about to strike Sailor Mercury when suddenly the staff stopped in mid-strike.
“What happened?” Sailor Moon asked as she noticed that Ryoku was no longer moving.
“I don’t know,” Mercury said. “One minute, he was about to attack me; the next minute, he stopped. Maybe…,” she said slowly as her expression suddenly brightened. “Maybe touching the Knight Swords has weakened him enough so that Ryo-kun has a chance to fight off the control.”
“We’d better take care of this first, then,” Tuxedo Kamen said as he removed the staff from Ryoku’s motionless grasp. “Sailor Mars?” he said, tossing the staff in the air.
“Fire soul!” she shouted as she shot a fireball at the staff, burning it to ash instantly.
Meanwhile, the struggle between Ryoku and his possessor had finally brought his energy level to its peak. From the woods mansion, Nephrite had been monitoring his energy as it finally peaked. “Amazing,” he said to himself. “This human has such an incredible amount of energy.
“Energy level, peak! Come forth, Krualte!”
As soon as the staff disintegrated into ash, Ryoku collapsed to the floor. The dark energy possessing his body flowed out of him and formed into a creature of pitch-black skin with white eyes that had a ghostly pale glow to them. The creature, Krualte, had no face except for the eyes, and was very muscular. Other than that, he was featureless.
“Well, now,” Krualte said, despite having no mouth, as he stared down at Ryoku’s motionless body. “It looks like that poor fool was finally beaten. Too bad, you struggled for nothing.”
“Fire soul!” Mars shouted, throwing a fireball at Krualte. He quickly dashed to one side, dodging the fireball, and threw a purple energy bolt at Mars, which was quickly intercepted by a flung rose thrown by Tuxedo Kamen.
“Shabon spray!” Mercury shouted, flinging her bubbles at Krualte. He dodged the second attack and shot several bolts of energy at the Scouts, but each shot was intercepted by a rose from Tuxedo Kamen.
Krualte leaped into the air and tried an aerial assault on the Scouts, only to be met midair by Tuxedo Kamen, who had leaped to intercept him. He brought out his cane and struck Krualte in the chest, while expanding his cane to slam him into the wall. “Now, Sailor Moon!”
“Right!” Sailor Moon exclaimed. “Moon tiara action!”
“Shabon spray!”
“Fire soul!”
The three attacks joined into one single attack and slammed into the youma, destroying him.
“Excellent work, Sailor Scouts!” Tuxedo Kamen said as he turned to leave. “Farewell.”
“Ugh…,” Ryoku groaned as he finally came to.
“Welcome back, Ryo-kun,” Rei said.
“Are you all right?” Ami asked.
“Sure, considering what I had to go through,” he muttered as he sat up.
The three girls each exchanged worried looks. “How do you feel?” Usagi asked.
“Terrible,” he said quietly, hanging his head. “I attacked the class for no reason and even injured a few of them. They must be terrified of me now.”
“You… remember all that?” Rei asked, her face showing only slightly more concern than shock.
“It wasn’t your fault, Ryo-kun,” Ami said consolingly.
“I know,” Ryoku replied. “But… they don’t know that. How am I going to explain my actions to them?”
“Are you all right, Kino-san?” one of the students asked.
“Huh?” Ryoku said, looking up in confusion.
“Well, I can’t exactly understand how it happened,” the student said as he glanced back toward the other students in bewilderment, “but for some unknown reason, all of us blacked out for a few seconds all at the same time. After we all snapped out of it, we noticed you lying on the floor with your friends trying to wake you up.”
“Really?” Ryoku asked, surprised, yet relieved. “That sounds strange all right. I’m sure it was nothing though.”
“Oh,” the student said. “Well, if you say so. By the way, we seem to have forgotten what we were doing before we blacked out.”
“Forget it for right now,” he said as he stood up. “I’m not feeling very well. I’m cutting today’s class short. We’ll combine today’s class with tomorrow’s so we won’t fall behind Takada-sensei’s schedule.”
“Okay, Kino-san,” the student said. “Hope you feel better tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Ryoku said as the student told the class about the change in schedule.
“Well, that solves that problem,” he said as each student waved goodbye and relayed their hopes that he would feel better tomorrow. Soon, it was just the four of them.
“Strange,” he said suddenly, breaking the long silence that followed after the last student left. “Any ideas how all that could’ve happened?”
“I have a theory…,” Ami began.
“Let’s hear it,” Usagi said.
“How could this latest attack be so… different from all the others?” Rei asked.
“I think it had to do with the fact that Ryo-kun was the target,” Ami reasoned. “Since he is a Sailor Scout, his power probably allowed him to fight their control.”
“I'd gathered that much,” he said with a nod. “However, how come everybody suddenly forgot everything that I did to them?”
“Maybe the youma controlling you did something to everyone’s memories?” Rei suggested.
“That could explain things, I suppose,” he said with a shrug. “At any rate, I’m sorry for missing our study session yesterday, Ami-chan.”
“That’s all right,” she replied understandingly. “Under the circumstances, I can understand.”
“Thank you. You mind if I study with you today? The test is tomorrow, after all.”
“Certainly, Ryo-kun. I was hoping you’d ask.”
Usagi and Rei shared another knowing look between them, which Ryoku immediately noticed.
“What?” he asked them.
“Nothing,” they said in unison.
Ryoku sighed in exasperation. “Never mind.”
To Chapter 19: Who is that Masked Man?