Grandpa sighed as his sweeping slowed to a halt. “Why don’t cute girls come to the shrine anymore?” he lamented.
“Who knows?” Yuuichirou replied as he also paused in his sweeping.
“Here,” Rei said as she walked up to her grandfather and presented him with a magazine.
“What’s this?” he asked, glancing down at the magazine.
“Nanako magazine had an article about a perverted old man at the Hikawa Shrine,” Rei explained.
“What? What?!?” Grandpa exclaimed as he snatched the magazine from Rei and rapidly flipped through it. “It’s true!” he said after finding the article. It was near the center of the magazine, spread across two pages, warning all who read it to ‘watch out for the dirty old man at the Hikawa Shrine.’ There were pictures of him in there, including one picture where he flipped up one girl’s skirt. He wasn’t that bad! And he only flipped up that one girl’s skirt because she was so depressed. He thought it would break her out of her depression. Well, in a way, it did… but she didn’t have to get so upset about it. It was all in good fun, right?
He sighed miserably. Apparently, they didn’t think so.
“Grandpa, reflect on your behavior,” she told him as she brought her hands together and smiled. “I hope you greatly regret your actions.”
“No,” he sighed as he hung his head, “I think I’ll retire and leave the shrine to you.”
“Eh?!?” Rei said, her jaw dropping in disbelief.
Grandpa solemnly turned toward the shrine’s bells and held his hands together as if in prayer. “As of today, I will retire as a Shinto priest and pursue another profession!” With that, he turned to leave. “A shrine without cute girls is like miso soup without miso paste,” he muttered as both Rei and Yuuichirou stared after him.
Luna padded into Usagi’s room and glanced around in honest surprise. Her school bookbag was open and most of the contents were strewn about on Usagi’s table. Textbooks were open, pencils and erasers were out. Not only that, but Usagi was sitting quietly at her table with a pencil in her hand. Could it be that she was actually… studying?
“Good, good,” the black cat said to herself in approval. Curious, she padded quietly over to her table to see what she was working on. She hopped up onto the table… and promptly sweatdropped when she found that Usagi had fallen asleep with her pencil in her hand. “I knew it….”
Quietly, a pair of hands began to frisk Usagi as she slept. The tickling sensation caused Usagi to laugh in her sleep, startling the black cat on her table.
“Hey!” Usagi shouted as she snapped awake. “What are you doing?” She turned around, snatched Chibiusa’s arms by the wrists and stood up, holding Chibiusa over the floor by her wrists.
“Give me the Silver Crystal!” Chibiusa demanded as she tried to kick free.
Usagi quickly sat on her bed and flipped Chibiusa over so that she was laying across her lap. “There’s no way you can beat me!” she crowed, laughing, then swatted the little girl across her bottom.
I wanna become stronger than Usagi! Chibiusa wished as she cried out in pain.
Usagi had her hand raised in preparation for another strike, but paused as she remembered something. “That’s right!” she declared, standing up fast enough to catapult Chibiusa off of her lap. “I promised Rei-chan that I’d help out part-time at the shrine!”
“I wanna be stronger…,” Chibiusa murmured, dazed from her brief flight across the room.
When Usagi arrived at the shrine, she found that the others had already arrived ahead of her. While Rei helped her into her own hakama, she noticed that everyone else had already changed into their own robes. Both Minako and Makoto were busy at the window, taking orders for various charms. Ami was seated to the side and was taking take of the bookkeeping, while Ryoku was busy moving boxes of charms, opening and sorting them, and replacing them whenever Minako or Makoto were running low, which was happening very often.
“These outfits are pretty cool!” Usagi said happily.
“You look weird,” Chibiusa remarked.
“What?” Usagi snapped back.
“But, why is it so busy today?” Makoto inquired as she paused to take a short break.
“When there are so many beautiful shrine maidens, it’s only natural to have more customers,” Usagi said as she sat down beside her.
“It’s great that I can earn money while I practice math,” Ami said as she set down her abacus.
“Here’s some more charms, Rei-chan,” Ryoku said as he came back into the room with his arms loaded with several boxes stacked high enough to cover his face up to his eyes.
“Oh! Put them over here, please,” she said as she pointed to a space next to her.
“Rei-chan, you have to pay us extra,” Minako said as she handed out another charm.
“Yes, yes, all right,” she replied as she helped Ryoku open and sort the various boxes of charms.
“By the way, what’s this new business that your grandpa started?” Makoto asked.
Rei and Ryoku exchanged glances. “Oh, that?” he said, putting a hand behind his head in chagrin. “You heard about that?”
Makoto glanced at her brother. “You know about it?”
“Long story,” he replied with a shrug.
“And it’s kinda weird,” Rei added.
After the crowd dispersed, Usagi, Chibiusa and Luna went with Rei and Ryoku to see what kinda of weird new business they were talking about earlier. A wooden sign was hung up over the building that they led them to, displaying the words ‘Protect Este’. Each of the girls – and Luna – poked holes through the sliding door and watched as both Grandpa and Yuuichirou went through some sort of exercise routine that looked like it had some hint of martial arts mixed in as well. Music played from a portable stereo as the two jumped, kicked, squatted, bent and performed various other aerobic exercises in time to the music. Ryoku leaned against one of the building supports and crossed his arms as he waited for the girls to finish watching the display.
“That’s… Protect Este?” Usagi asked as the girls sweatdropped in unison.
“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” Ryoku asked quietly.
“It’s supposed to be a new self-defense aerobic exercise sports fitness club, of all things,” Rei remarked dryly.
“Grandpa asked both me and Yuuichirou to help him with classes and such,” Ryoku added. “I’m okay with the idea of teaching self-defense and all that, but….”
“But, this is completely ridiculous,” Rei finished. “Besides, this isn’t something that should be done at a shrine.”
“What did you say?!?” Grandpa demanded as he flung open the doors, startling everyone.
“Stop this foolishness!” Rei retorted hotly. “I’m ashamed of you, forcing poor Yuuichirou….”
“Uh…,” Yuuichirou began, rubbing the back of his head in chagrin, “I really don’t mind….”
“Are you trying to take away this old man’s purpose in life?” Grandpa growled, clenching a fist angrily.
“Purpose in life? You just want to flirt with girls!”
“Is it wrong?!?”
“It is wrong!”
Grandfather and granddaughter glared angrily at each other for several moments. “Don’t come crying to me when you get in trouble,” Rei huffed as she turned away, crossing her arms angrily, then humphed and stalked away.
“What do you think?” Grandpa asked, smiling at the remaining girls as if nothing happened. “Why don’t you join Protect Este?”
Ryoku turned and headed in the same direction that Rei stalked off in. “I won’t wear an outfit like that,” he said without turning back. “I don’t like wearing tights.”
Usagi turned back from watching Ryoku leave, saw Grandpa smiling at her, and started to laugh nervously. She then stood up and took off running.
“Grandpa, I–“ Chibiusa began.
“Just a moment,” Usagi said as she ran back, picked up Chibiusa, and took off running again, leaving both Grandpa and Yuuichirou to stare after them in perplexed bewilderment.
“What are you doing?!? Let go, Usagi!!!” Chibiusa hollered and she struggled to break free.
“Rubeus-sama, where is Katsy?”
Rubeus glanced back over his shoulder at the second eldest of the Ayakashi sisters, dressed in an orange bustier with matching bracers, a red skirt and an orange ribbon in her hair. “She has already started her assignment,” he told her and her two other sisters, who were standing behind her.
“I discovered a new Crystal Point,” he stated as the image of Crystal Tokyo shifted and was replaced with an image of the ‘new’ Protect Este building. “She said she would replace this building’s Crystal Power with Dark Power. So was so excited.”
“Why is Katsy the only one getting these assignments?” she asked, upset at such blatant favoritism. “It isn’t fair!” The other two sisters nodded.
“So what?” Rubeus replied indifferently.
“Welcome! Take a look!” Grandpa called out toward the passersby. “By joining Protect Este, anyone can become strong and beautiful!” However, no one wanted to take the fliers that he was handing out. Not only that, but there were several of his fliers littering the street only a few feet away from him.
“So far, I have no students,” he sighed sadly. “So, where has Yuuichirou gone? Honestly, that lazy fellow!”
A cat-ball toy hitting his leg caught his attention. He glanced down to see Chibiusa running up to him to pick up her Luna Sphere. “Do you want me to join?” she asked as she smiled up at him.
I was hoping for some older girls… but I guess it’s better than having no one.
Chibiusa gazed up at him with an intent look. “Will I become strong?”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes!” she nodded emphatically. If I want to get the Silver Crystal from Usagi, I have to become stronger! Unsaid was the thought that if she was stronger, she could be the one swatting Usagi’s bottom.
Suddenly, Yuuichirou dashed up to Grandpa with a mob of young women behind him. “Master!” he called out eagerly.
“Oh! What’s this?” Grandpa asked, surprised at the number of women suddenly appearing.
“Look!” he said, gesturing toward the group of women. “Here are our members!”
Grandpa’s eyes lit up as he struggled not to drool. “Ah! Well done, Yuuichirou! I knew you were promising!”
That night, Katsy descended through the roof of the Protect Este building and hovered over the roped mat that had been constructed a few days ago. Katsy spread her arms down at her sides and gathered her power into her hands. “Dark power!”
A thick stream of blue energy flowed from her hands and began to inundate the entire mat, ring and all. The entire building glowed from the light emitted from the imbuing of all that power, but the light lasted for only a few seconds.
Katsy smirked as she ceased the flow of power. “Tomorrow will be something to look forward to,” she said smugly and vanished.
The next afternoon, Usagi stopped by to visit as Rei was busy cleaning and polishing the floors by hand. “Good morning, Rei-chan!” she shouted, raising her left arm as Luna was draped across her right shoulder.
“The greeting to be used during the day should be ‘Good afternoon,’” Rei snapped as she dunked her washcloth into the bucket.
“Rei-chan, you’re in a bad mood!” Usagi realized.
“Did something happen, Rei-chan?” Luna asked.
“Yuuichirou brought in a bunch of young girls,” she told them while wringing out the excess water in her washcloth.
“Ah, you’re jealous!” Usagi said as she sat down and smiled. It got worse when Luna started smiling as well.
“It’s not like that!” she denied irritable.
“I know what’s going on,” Usagi said knowingly.
“So, the ladies have arrived?” Grandpa asked as he and Yuuichirou made their way across the shrine grounds toward the Protect Este building.
“Yes, Master!” he confirmed. “They’re waiting for you!”
“Good, good.”
Usagi, Rei and Luna all stared as the two strode past. “Oh, you must really be desperate,” Rei huffed as she dunked her cloth into the bucket again.
Grandpa and Yuuichirou both flinched at that.
“Let’s go look!” Usagi suggested as she grabbed Rei’s hand.
“I’m not interested.”
“Don’t say that!” she insisted as she started to drag Rei toward the Protect Este building.
Inside, all the women were lined up and waiting. The doors slid open, revealing Grandpa and Yuuichirou in their tights. “Hello!” Grandpa greeted everyone.
All the young women cheered and applauded. “Master, good afternoon!”
A broad smile, followed by a lecherous smirk spread across his face. “It’s a feast of pretty girls!” he said to himself as he ran forward, giving a high five to the women on both sides as he went. “This is what I’ve been looking for all these years!”
Grandpa stopped as he came up to a woman with her hair shaped in cat-ears and wearing a diadem over her forehead, who was standing in his way to the mat. “With this many students, you’ll need another assistant coach, won’t you?” she asked, indicating the tall woman standing behind her.
Grandpa merely stared at the woman. “So cute….”
“My friend and I are very strong,” she continued. “Leave it to us!”
“So cute….”
The woman snapped her fingers. “Demonstrate.”
“Tumble,” the tall woman replied and turned toward a woman standing next to one corner of the mat.
“Please, don’t!” the woman cried as she saw the huge woman heading toward her.
“Tumble!” she replied as she smacked the woman through the ropes and followed her onto the mat.
“Please, stop!” she cried again as Tumble strode toward her.
“Don’t worry,” Katsy said to the woman. “She’s just going to coach you in the art of Protect Este.” Grandpa and the other students merely stared at her or at Tumble, who was flinging the poor woman around.
“Scary…,” Usagi said as she and Rei watched from the doorway.
Rei’s expression turned dark as her senses picked up the dark energy that was emanating from the mat. What is this evil aura?
“So, how is it?” Ryoku asked as he stuck his head between the two in order to see.
“AHH!” both girls yelped, startled at his sudden appearance, and accidentally knocking the door closed. “Don’t do that!”
“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly while half-grinning.
“I thought you said that you weren’t going to help teach Protect Este?” Rei asked as she gestured at the gi that he was wearing.
“I felt kinda bad at what I did yesterday, so I felt that I might stay for a class and help out a little,” he explained. “However, I still will not wear tights,” he emphasized, folding his arms.
“Hi!” Chibiusa greeted as she walked up to them and made a brief pose, displaying her own exercise tights.
“Oh, and I brought her along, too,” he added as an afterthought. “She said she wanted to join.”
“So, practice, practice!” she said, ignoring the blank looks and the sweatdrops on both girls as she headed toward the now closed door.
“Ah! No, don’t!” Usagi said frantically, trying to keep her from the door.
Ryoku blinked. “Is something wrong?” he asked and opened the door to see Tumble flinging the woman around the room again. “How brutal…,” he remarked, wincing slightly
“That looks painful…,” Chibiusa said as she backed away, eyes wide with fright. “Y-you were right, Usagi. I‘ll quit now. Goodbye!” With that, she turned and ran away.
The three exchanged blank stares. “What was that?” Usagi asked.
“Tumble!”
The woman hit the mat again, the recipient of a pile driver maneuver. By now, the woman was growing sick and tired of being thrown around and was getting quite upset.
“You’ll pay for that!” she growled as she stood up.
“Good,” Katsy told her. “Fight.”
The woman launched herself at Tumble, who stood waiting at the other corner of the mat, leaning almost leisurely against the post with her arms resting on the ropes. Once the woman was in range, she lifted one foot and kicked her back across the mat. The woman collided against the ropes and collapsed backward, her legs getting tangled in the ropes saving her from falling to the floor.
Grandpa quickly rushed to the woman’s aid and pulled the ropes apart, letting her fall to the floor with a light thud. “Are you all right?” he asked, concerned. “She’s so violent….”
“What do you think, Master?” Katsy asked. “Do you like the way we coach?”
“Well….”
“Wait!” Yuuichirou shouted as he stepped forward followed by Rei, Usagi and Ryoku. “We are the coaches!” he stated, pointing to himself and Ryoku.
“Um… I’m just here for today, that’s all…,” Ryoku amended with a shrug.
“Yuuichirou…. Ryo-kun….”
“Master, what are you going to do?” Katsy asked as she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to talk softly into his ear.
“So, Master!” Yuuichirou said.
“Grandpa!” Rei added.
“If I please her, it’ll make him mad…,” Grandpa said under his breath, trying to come to a decision. “If I please him, it’ll make her mad…. This coach or that…? This coach or that…?”
“Master!” Yuuichirou shouted
“Master,” Katsy purred seductively.
“Grandpa!” Rei shouted.
Grandpa twiddled his fingers while blushing. After all, Katsy was a very cute young woman. This was a very hard decision.
“There’s no problem here!” Rei admonished. “Don’t forget, Yuuichirou has been very loyal to you, Grandpa! Or, are you going to betray Yuuichirou?”
“That is not your decision!” Katsy retorted. “So, Master, what do you think?” she asked, leaning her cheek on his head.
“Master!”
Grandpa raised his hand and pointed to Katsy. “Here.”
“Master!” Yuuichirou said, hurt, and hung his head.
“Grandpa!” Rei yelled, upset.
“Grandpa! What are you thinking?!?” Ryoku exclaimed.
“Grandpa! That’s mean!” Usagi shouted, also upset.
“No, it’s okay,” Yuuichirou said and walked out of the building.
“Yuuichirou…,” Rei said as she, Usagi and Ryoku watched him leave. She then stormed up to her grandfather and glared at him. “Look what you’ve done to Yuuichirou! I’ve lost all respect for you!”
Grandpa leapt out of Katsy’s hands and glared back at Rei. “You got a problem with that!”
She continued to glare at him for a few more moments before whirling around and stomping out of the building without another word. Both Usagi and Ryoku exchanged glances, looked back toward Grandpa, and quickly followed Rei out of the building.
The next day wasn’t as busy as the first, so as the customers dwindled, Rei had Ryoku put up the ‘on break’ sign while she served tea and rice crackers. Everyone was gathered around the serving tray, except for Ami, who was still working on the accounting sheets, and Ryoku, who was keeping her company. He had offered to help, but Ami had declined, stating that she wanted the practice. Usagi was drooling over the rice crackers and Rei prepared the tea.
“So, you had a fight with your Grandpa?” Makoto said after Rei had told everyone what had happened yesterday. “I understand how you feel, Rei-chan,” she added, folding her arms across her chest. “Grandpa mistreated your beloved Yuuichirou.”
“It’s not that kind of problem,” Rei muttered as she poured hot water into the teapot while Usagi began to nibble on a cracker.
“But I think the harder the problem, the more it’s worth solving,” Ami added over her shoulder. She turned around and showed them her math textbook, pointing to one problem in particular. “This problem took me three hours to work out.”
The other girls promptly sweatdropped.
“Ami-chan, although the idea and concept fits, it’s not that kind of problem, either,” Ryoku remarked dryly.
“Oh.”
“By the way, Rei-chan, don’t you think that the new coach is a little weird?” Usagi asked.
“Yeah…,” she agreed as she went back to adding water to the tea.
“Will your grandpa be okay?” she asked, taking another cracker.
“I don’t care what happens to him!” she snapped irately, still adding water to the tea.
“Oh? Rei-chan’s cool!” Usagi said jokingly, biting her cracker.
“Um, I think that’s quite enough water, Rei-chan,” Ryoku remarked.
“Eh? Ah! Hot!” Rei yelped as the water overflowed and scalded her right hand, causing her to drop the teapot
“Rei-chan!” Usagi said, concerned.
“I’m sorry,” Rei apologized and started cleaning up the mess.
“What’s wrong?” Minako asked, also concerned. “This isn’t like you at all, Rei-chan.”
Rei remained quiet as she continued to clean up the mess.
“Tumble!”
Once again, the woman went flying and hit the mat with a loud thud. Today, she wasn’t the only one as a dozen bodies laid prone around the mat. As Tumble stood triumphant over her opponents, an iridescent blue flame-like glow filled the mat, filling the limp bodies with its dark energies.
As one, all the women stood up and started attacking each other. A flying tackle. A kick to the breastbone. A pile driver. A sleeper hold. A clothesline attack. Everywhere inside the ring surrounding the mat one woman was fighting another as violently as possible.
Outside the ring, Katsy watched expectantly. If I keep expanding this Dark Power, then the future of Crystal Tokyo will be destroyed.
“What is this?” Grandpa exclaimed, staring at the battle that had abruptly started. “This feels all wrong! Stop! Stop! Stop!” he shouted, running toward the mat, and jumped over the ropes. “Everyone, what are you doing?”
Tumble continued to attack every young woman that was still standing.
“The motto of Protect Este is: ‘Strength, Beauty, and also a little fun for me,’” he added sheepishly.
Suddenly, all the women turned on him. “Shut up!”
“What?!?”
“Die!” one woman shouted as she swung at him.
Grandpa dodged by leaning back into the ropes, then let the recoil of the ropes propel him forward. As he ran past each woman, he unleashed a single strike toward each of their midsections, stopping only after passing the last woman. He then stood up and clapped his hands together, at which every woman he struck collapsed onto the mat.
Katsy laughed from her seat on an exercise bike. “Well done, Master!” She snapped her fingers. “Tumble, why don’t you be his opponent?”
“Tumble!” she acknowledged and started to transform. Her arms and legs grew thicker and harder and turned a greenish-yellow color. A cape appeared around her shoulders, covering the spikes that extended from her shoulder blades. A large belt with a blood-red gem appeared around her waist, the coloring matching her facial markings.
After Tumble changed, Katsy leaped off of her perch and shifted into her normal guise with a confident smirk. “Use your final technique: Tumble Elbow Drop!”
Tumble quickly leapt onto one of the corner posts after knocking Grandpa to the ground, then leapt into the air, dropping her cape as she leapt.
“Ouch…,” Grandpa moaned as he moved to get to his feet. However, he wasn’t moving fast enough.
“Grandpa!” Rei shouted as she ran forward and dived into the ring, shoving Grandpa out of the way. But, her dive didn’t go far enough as Tumble’s elbow struck Rei behind her right knee.
“Rei!” Grandpa shouted in concern for his granddaughter.
“I had to stop her from hurting you,” she told him as she pushed herself to her knees, wincing in pain. “This is why I told you not to do this.”
“What are you saying?” Grandpa retorted. “You don’t need to worry. I can handle these two just fine by myself!” With that, he stood up and approached Tumble. “Come on!”
“Tumble!” she cried and kicked. Grandpa smirked as he easily dodged the attack, but dropped it as he noticed the following kick coming right behind it. He had already leaned back; leaning back farther would put him off balance and on his back.
Moments before the attack connected, Rei threw herself into the path of the attack and took the blow with her back, knocking both of them into a corner.
“Rei! Are you all right?” Grandpa asked.
“Tumble!” Tumble said and stomped on Rei’s back as she was covering her grandfather’s body protectively.
“Rei, you’re doing this for me?” Grandpa asked, staring at her.
“Of course…,” she replied between kicks. “You’re my only grandfather.”
“Rei….”
“Grandpa, here,” a voice said behind him as a hand stretched out next to his.
“What?” he said as he glanced behind him and saw Ryoku standing there, still in his shrine robes with an intent look in his eyes. “Ryo-kun?” he said, his hand sliding across the mat to touch Ryoku’s.
At that, Ryoku gave both him and Tumble a malicious half-grin. “Tag. My turn.” With that, he leapt over the ropes and into the ring. “Rei-chan, get Grandpa out of here. I’ll try to hold her off.”
Rei nodded and tried to get Grandpa away, however, the injury to her right leg kept her from being able to stand for very long.
“Tumble! Double Lariat!” Katsy ordered.
“Tumble!” Tumble acknowledged as she crossed her arms and focused power into them. She then raised both toward Ryoku and Rei and fired both at the same time. Ryoku was set to dodge the attack, but when he realized that there was a second attack and one was headed toward Rei, he tried to change direction and take the attack headed for her. However, the attack was too fast and struck him before he could complete his change in direction.
Before the other attack could hit Rei, Grandpa shoved her out of the way and took the attack, just like Ryoku tried to. The attack flung him across the mat and into a corner post, knocking him out cold.
Usagi ran into the room, looking for both Rei and Ryoku, and found both them and Grandpa in the ring with what appeared to be the enemy. “Rei-chan and the others!” She quickly reached underneath her robes and brought out her brooch. “Moon crystal power, make up!”
Katsy laughed again as she leapt into the ring and stepped into Tumble’s cupped hands. “One more time, Tumble.” Tumble obliged by tossing her into the air. “Katsy dark power flip!” she announced as blue flames rushed over her body at the peak of her jump. She arched her body downward, hurtling toward Rei and Ryoku at high speed, preparing to body slam them. Ryoku was weakened by the first attack, but stood in front of Rei and prepared to take as much of the attack on himself as he could.
A scepter flashed millimeters in front of Katsy’s face, startling her enough to break from the attack and look for whoever threw it. She followed the path of the spinning scepter as it curved behind a building support. “Who’s there? You’re interfering!”
A familiar silhouette appeared next to the support’s shadow, leaning against it with her arms folded. “Destroying the fun for an old man who’s just a little lecherous…,” Sailor Moon said as she moved from behind the support to glare at them. “That’s going too far!
“I’m the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon! On behalf of the Moon, I’ll punish you!”
Katsy didn’t bother to look up as she powdered her face. “Did you say something?”
Sailor Moon almost facefaulted.
“Tumble, now!”
Tumble once again fired her Double Lariat, but this time, solely on Sailor Moon. The attack was double strength as both blasts were heading for the same target.
Sailor Moon turned and saw the attack coming, but couldn’t dodge it in time. Just moments before the attack could reach her, a rose flew in the path of the attack, canceling it. The rose stopped spinning and dropped to the floor, where it stuck at a slight slant.
“Tuxedo Kamen-sama!” Sailor Moon said, spotting him standing on one of the corner posts surrounding the mat.
“Training yourself to become strong is good, but you shouldn’t lose elegance,” he stated.
Tumble leaped at him from one corner just as Tuxedo Kamen countered with a flying kick of his own. The two attacks met in the center of the mat, where Tuxedo Kamen’s kick knocked Tumble out of the air. She landed and performed a handspring to get back on her feet, though slightly off balance.
“Now, Sailor Moon!” he shouted.
“Yes!” she said, nooding and brought out her Moon Scepter. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Tumble. The attack stuck her shattering her skin to pieces, leaving only her figure in crystal, which disintegrated into a pile of powder. The jewel with the upside-down black crescent moon turned from a bright blood red into a dull lifeless gray.
Katsy scowled and brought out her compact, opened it up, and glanced at her face in the mirror. “Oh! All this stress has caused a mark on my face! You will pay dearly for this!” she roared as she shut her compact in her tightened fist. She spun around, gathering energy into her attack. “Dark fire!” she yelled, flinging a stream of blue fire at Sailor Moon which she barely dodged by ducking her head. Sailor Moon then turned and dashed out of the hole in the wall caused by the blast. Katsy quickly pursued.
Back inside, Rei and Ryoku held Grandpa’s unconscious form between them in the center of the mat. “How dare you…,” Rei seethed as she stood up, leaving Grandpa in Ryoku’s hands. “How dare you do this to my grandfather!” Her eyes met Ryoku’s. He nodded silently, knowing what she wanted of him. “Grandpa, I will avenge you!” she declared, bringing out her transformation wand. “Mars star power, make up!”
“Dark fire!”
The fiery projectile flew straight for Sailor Moon. Just before the fireball could strike, Mars dove forward and shoved her out of the way. The fireball passed overhead and struck a wooden post, shattering it.
Mars stood up and faced Katsy, glaring fiercely. “It’s my turn now! Fire soul!”
Katsy flung another Dark Fire in response, and the two attacks met in between. The twin streams of the Fire Soul and the Dark Fire fought to overpower the other. Katsy smirked confidently as she watched Sailor Mars struggle to keep up the stalemate, knowing that it would only be a matter of time until the Sailor Scout tired.
Eventually, the Dark Fire started to press forward, pushing Mars’ Fire Soul back. Meter after meter was lost as the dark fireball started gaining ground.
“Look out!” Sailor Moon shouted as Mars’ attack was almost overcome. She moved to go to her friend’s aid, but felt a hand on her shoulder restrain her.
“Wait!” Tuxedo Kamen told her. Sailor Moon gave him a confused look. “Don’t worry. Mars will be okay.”
How dare you! Mars seethed internally, her eyes closed in concentration, as her need for vengeance grew. How dare you! She would not lose! Her grandfather had been injured to save her. He must be avenged!
Mars’ eyes snapped open. “How dare you hurt Grandpa!”
A glowing wisp of flame ignited on her left index finger, which she used to trace a large ring of fire in front of her body. Once the ring was in place, she spread both arms out to her sides, raised at an angle, turning the ring of flame into eight burning globes of fire, each with its own symbol. She then brought her hands together in front of her, palms outward, causing the eight spheres to gather into her outstretched hands. “Burning mandala!” she shouted, releasing a volley of eight razor sharp, burning rings that broke through Katsy’s Dark Fire attack.
Katsy broke off her attack and threw her hands up over her face to protect it as the rings zipped past her. It was only after all of the burning rings had passed that she noticed that they had also set part of her outfit on fire.
“Aah! My favorite clothes are burning!!!” she shrieked as she flailed her hands at her dress, trying to put the fire out, then teleported away.
Sailor Mars breathed a sigh of relief and smiled triumphantly. “I did it!”
Sailor Moon gave Tuxedo Kamen a furtive glance. “Maybe I should join Protect Este and become a strong, pretty girl,” she wondered aloud.
The vision of future destruction flashed through his mind. “Do as you like,” he replied coldly. “It’s nothing to do with me.” With that, he turned and walked away.
“No…,” Sailor Moon said, reaching a hand out tentatively, as if she were trying to call him back.
I’m sorry, Usako.…
She took a few steps, as if to chase after him, but stopped, knowing that it would be no use. She hung her head, struggling not to cry. He said he hated weak girls. She wouldn’t cry. It was hard not to, though.
“He showed up to rescue you,” Mars said as she came up behind her leader and placed her hands on Sailor Moon’s shoulders consolingly. “That’s proof that he still cares about you.”
“Yeah…,” she nodded, half-believing it. It was just so hard to understand. He came to her aid, yet he wants nothing to do with her. Why? Why did this have to be so confusing?
“What? Grandpa stopped doing Protect Este?” Usagi said, surprised as she, Rei and Luna all watched from the doors of the former Protect Este building. Ryoku merely leaned against one of the building supports with his arms folded and watched the girls peek. Peeking wasn’t his thing, after all. And it wasn’t like he didn’t know what was going on in there.
“Yeah, but now he’s got ‘Protect Jazz Dance!’” Rei replied.
“Huh?”
All three watched as Yuuichirou, Grandpa and Chibiusa were all performing a leglifting exercise, alternating between their left and right legs, all in time with the music coming from the portable stereo.
“This one doesn’t hurt to do!”
“This was a great idea after all, Master!”
“I can’t wait for the girls to show up!”
Rei, Usagi and Luna all promptly sweatdropped.
“It’s just as ridiculous as before,” Ryoku muttered from behind the girls. They nodded their agreement. “And besides,” he added almost as an afterthought, “I still refuse to wear tights.”
This time, they facefaulted.
“What? Was it something I said?”
To Chapter 60: Trouble Comes Thundering Down