Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. Marui Mercia is a character made up by myself. The content of this writing is strictly for entertainment purposes only and I don not intend to inflict the breaking of any copyright infringements by writing this.
The Zodiac Wars
by Ryan Bodle
Chapter Three- Taurus
Rating: PG
Osaka, Japan...
'Second year of college, I'm Valedictorian, I've already got a top job at the company I want to work for. Everything's set out, so why do I feel incomplete. Love life? It doesn't seem like that, I've never been alone in that kind of way. I feel like I should be doing something else,' once again, Marui Mercia sat at a desk in his dorm, night pouring through the window, a single light illuminated the desk he sat at and nothing else. He fiddled with something in his hand, it was stone like and clean cut around its edges, making the shape diamond shape. The front face glinted in the light.
"Courage," he had seen the symbol in books before, it derived from the Mayans supposedly, yet it seemed older, if such thing was possible. It was one of four his family had owned for generations, it was never explained how it came across their blood line. He put it down and picked up another. He translated the symbol. "Sincerity." He viewed it over, the edges were so perfect. The next one. "Reliability," or something near to, it wasn't a clear translation, it also referred to 'truth.' Marui had studied these well and researched them endlessly, when not contributing to his next step in life, he desired to know all about them. The last one, "Compassion," he said again, they were lined up against each other.
"Where did you guys all come from?" he addressed them leaning back in his chair. "Why is it I'm always spending time figuring you out?" he asked again. Each glimmered under the light. 'Wait a minute,' he thought to himself, 'that can't be right.' He reached for the lamp, and drew the light across them. The shimmered again, yet each a different colour. He watched the first one marked 'Courage.'
"Blue," the colour was barely visible but definitely there. He watched the next, "yellow?" the symbol of 'Sincerity' glowed, 'Reliability,' red, and 'Compassion,' green.
"The hell are these things just trophies," Marui murmured, although experts had said so themselves, yet nothing like them had been seen before. He leaned in and looked at them one last time, "I'll figure you out yet." He turned off the light and rested for the night.
The Fortitude...
Curien stood once again in the constellation room, repeating his summoning ritual he called forth another star droid. "Taurus answer to me," he called. The constellation of Taurus replied by sending forth a 'Minotaur' like creature. It breathed heavily, its horns standing a clear foot from their origin.
"Yes Lord," it growled in the deepest of tones.
"Taurus, go to Earth and do not fail me as the other two have, this time I want you to attempt another city from before, Osaka, and be cautious," Curien left Taurus with his task, the droid fell to one knee and disappeared.
Osaka, Japan...
Marui mindlessly fingered the keyboard in front of him, casually finishing writing a program he knew how to write two years ago. Surely this would get more interesting after college. Working for a private software designer company would always give him something new, but would it all be too easy?
"Are you finished Marui?" the professor asked.
"Just validating sir," Marui replied snapping out of a dream, it seemed to keep him sane from the immense boredom this repetition of class work giving him. The bell rang.
"It seems rather early for the end of class," the professor mentioned looking at his watch. The bell rang again. "That isn't the class bell. Fire Drill everyone," the professor announced using his arms to indicate everyone to stand. They did.
"Professor, I don't think it's a drill," another student said gazing out of the window. His sightings showed pupils scattering from every available exit.
"Oh dear this is real, ok, no need for panic, make an example and file out calmly," the pupils followed instruction, Marui seeming to be last. Why did he make himself the last? They could hear screaming, but cackle of flames. See panic, but no smoke. Something didn't add up.
An earthquake, the foundations seemed to dislodge. Again the impact shuddered, the tremors started off separate, broken apart. Then the gaps of silence became less. Marui ran to the front.
"Professor, I think we should turn back," he informed.
"Why do you say?"
"This doesn't feel like a fire, its something else," Marui replied with urgency. "Couldn't you feel the tremors?" Just then several students came screaming up the stairways at least fifty feet ahead of them. Marui watched and his mouth dropped when one girl was slammed into the plaster wall by a large arm, on the other end was a colossal figure, half man; half bull. "I think we should go the other way." Marui said instructed the others back as the poor victim had her life force sucked away.
"Head for the dorms through the walk way, we can use each fire exit from there!" Marui shouted to everyone ahead of him as they fled. Marui turned to see Taurus now charging for them. He turned himself and ran, his head spun every second watching Taurus get larger and larger as it caught up with him. The students banked left, he followed, Taurus followed. It seems Marui was now a target. Marui breathed heavily, not from the running, from fear. Just ahead of him double doors burst open as students piled through over the walk way, Marui looked back.
"Where the hell did it go?" he asked stopping. Screams interrupted his question, he turned back again, students ran the other way, some had fallen to their deaths, fifty feet to concrete below, others hanging for dear life to what remained of the flooring beneath. What was left ran backwards, with the exception of the poor soul who found himself in the mighty hand of the attacker.
"Shit man we're trapped!" he heard, turning back around he found flooring and lockers making a blockade to anybody tracing their steps, they were cornered. Taurus slowly approached. Marui felt his breathing almost take his lungs up through his throat. He wrestled his shirt suddenly, he had those crests with him, which he always wore them. He shakily sorted through them.
"C-C-Courage," he stuttered as he clenched the crest in his hand. He closed his eyes, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die," he whispered. He kept repeating that, his closed eyes still let through a shade of light, that was until it was blocked by shadow, he opened his eyes. Taurus leaned over him, lowering a hand. Marui suddenly burst out with a scream and threw a clenched fist forwards, it struck fur. Taurus flinched as if it had an itch, it looked at Marui, eyes still closed, furiously attacking its torso.
"This human is brave," it muttered, lowering a hand he grabbed Marui by the head and flung him into the group of students watching with total fear, some tended to his flaccid body as his eyes opened. Taurus hadn't finished with Marui still however.
Raising its hand, a beam of some energy hit him, Marui screamed at the immense pain pulsing through his body like the blood in his veins. "Make it stop!" he pleaded. Something told him to calm down, not anybody else but himself.
"Marui stop this! Get up!" it ordered.
"Its in my mind, in my head," he screamed back.
"Get Up!"
"Can see my thoughts-get up-must-can't feel-in my head-get out of my mind-get up," he kept staggering in delirium. "In my mind....up, get up," he whispered. "Get out of-mind-up," that moment his chest lit up a dark blue, he arched back on the floor. Eyes tightened closed. Then he activated his powers from the past, he could see his entire life, from a Millennia ago. "My Queen-no, I'll serve you to the end-General-that's me!" He rose, feeling no pain. His chest glowed, bringing his crest from cover he showed valiantly. "You disturbed my day," he growled. Closing his eyes, the Defiance appeared in his hands, his weapon from the Silver Millennium, a finely crafted staff. Holding in front of him he took up a defensive stance.
"You're nothing!" Taurus roared, sure he had felt the pathetic humans full ability. He advanced to the cowering group. Marui touched his fore head with two fingers and threw the forward. Nothing seemed to happen yet Taurus fell back several feet.
"You were saying?" Marui answered. Taurus got up with ease, Marui hurled his staff at the creature, holding his arms out, he seemed to guide it through the air, as it followed his motions. The staff struck Taurus with great force and Taurus fell back again, this time over the edge, it grabbed on to the edge of walkway, fearing of landing on its back. Marui walked over to the edge and kicked off the fingers, seeming thicker than tree trunks. By size comparisons, Marui looked insignificant to the creature yet he was on the winning side. Levitating he slowly descended to ground, on lookers amazed from above. Marui felt weak, he found it harder to breath, he grabbed the glowing crest. It ceased its lighting. It seemed that thing drained his life energy and he would have to wait until he could use it again.
However, now he had a disadvantage. Taking that in to account, he charged with his staff, sweeping it across the torso of Taurus. In return Taurus swung his arm in a backwards motion, Marui felt it connect with his ribs he was sent aloft from the ground as the arm caused him to fly. He crashed in a statue that decorated the grounds. He couldn't open his eyes, never had he felt such pain. "I cannot do this on my own," he commented through grit teeth.
Tokyo, Japan
The near empty house was the best part of Luna's day, all to herself. She cherished these moments, day time TV, whistled quietly as her half closed eyes hung on the transmission. Her eyes exploded open at the interruption.
"This programme has no been suspended due to an update on monster sightings away from Tokyo," a broadcaster announced, "we go to Osaka with Mei Ling." The broadcast changed to a female reporter, Luna raised to her all fours.
"Monster sightings were always a legendary report that quizzed police all over Tokyo as much as the ghostly rumours of the heroine Sailor Moon, now we have footage from Osaka of actual an monster creature similar to descriptions of eye witnesses in Tokyo." The camera panned right to show Taurus chasing fleeing students from the front entrance of Osaka College. Not even listening to the end, Luna sprang from Serena's window.
Crossroads High school
Studying quietly in the library, Amy yawned. She finished the book finally. When Jamie had referred it to her, she understood why. Some detail of story important to what she intended in reading. Shifting the first to the side and pulling the much larger pile of pages to her, she opened the cover.
"Psst, Amy," her head raised. "Back here," the voice came again. She got up and wandered past bookshelves. There was nobody there, she turned. "Amy!" a shouted whisper. Luna fell from the top shelf and landed silently.
"Luna, what are you doing here?" Amy asked.
"There's trouble, another monster attack," the guardian informed.
"Another one? It's only been a day. Where is it this time?"
"In Osaka, far from here, you have to alert the others."
"I can't just call them up, they might get found out. I'll leave a written message, its almost recess," Amy stood up and checked both ways before opening her communicator.
'Headline news, monster attack in Osaka, meet up at the alley behind central café.' She closed it.
"It may be easier to slip out now," Luna suggested. Amy nodded and silently walked from the library. The walk outside, easy enough. She kept her head low, half crouched, she used the cover of bushes to escape the school grounds.
Mina leaned her head against the window, a second to catch her breath from the set tasks in Math class, sometimes they took forever, sometimes they seemed the simplest things.
'What? That wasn't May sneaking out was it?' she saw a black figure race ahead of whatever she saw. 'Luna?' Putting her hands underneath the desk and opened her communicator, the silent alarm shook her wrist. Looking down briefly she read the message. 'Another attack? Better shift, come on you dumb bell.' Class ended, Mina raced from her seat and out of the door, she opened her communicator. One reply, Serena. Probably the only person who would race out of class from the group.
"What's up Min?"
"Message from Amy, I saw her sneak out with Luna," she closed her communicator and traced Amy's steps. Soon outside she took directions to the central café.
"Amy!" Mina shouted seeing a single figure in the shadows of an alley.
"Mina, you came on your own?"
"Yeah, the others won't be long, may as well get started," Mina reached for her pen.
"VENUS STAR POWER!" A glittering flash and Mina was then Sailor Venus. May followed example.
"MECURY STAR POWER!" Two Sailors now stood.
"Sailor Mercury, Venus," Sailor Mars approached from the other end. The girls jumped at the possibility of uncovered identities. "Relax guys, its me."
"Please don't scare us like that Mars, we thought somebody had seen us transform."
"Sorry Mercury, is that Meatball head late again?"
"No, she's still to find a way out of school, and Lita," Venus informed, here they are. Enhanced senses heard hurried footsteps from where Serena and Lita raced round the corner. Seeing the others ready to go, they wasted no time in transforming.
"We're going to Osaka college right?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"That's right, we'll have to teleport, everyone ready?" Mercury answered and asked. A reply of nods and joining of hands.
"MARS POWER!"
"JUPITER POWER!"
"MERCURY POWER!"
"VENUS POWER!"
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" Each concentrated their energies, feeding each other with their presence as they glowed their independent colours. Then in unison with a multiple, single voice.
"SAILOR TELEPORT!" A second where their colours and power were enhanced until they disappeared from sight.
Osaka College
Marui dived to the side as the statue he laid on was reduced to rubble, spinning round until all his weight was thrown into motion he connected his staff with Taurus. He ducked and jumped back, landing on the floor. Rolled to the side, a crater now there. Taurus threw each of its appendages at Marui intent on destroying him. Marui managed to get to his feet and fell back several feet as Taurus pushed on further.
"Dammit!" he cursed and went to one knee as another meteoric blow landed behind him, he rolled between Taurus' legs and came to the back of him.
"Mind Up!" he glowed once again, sending a mental blow directly to Taurus, the droid grabbed its head in agony. Marui powered down again, he didn't have the strength to hold onto his powers. Marui struck again, an over head blow which little damage. Taurus furiously retaliated by raising an arm, he had moved away before, but Marui just froze, Taurus would flatten the man.
"VENUS Love Chain Encircle!" A single golden link woven chain wrapped around Taurus' arm. Sailor Venus on the other side pulled hard and dragged Taurus down.
"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!" The rings of inferno headed at Taurus and almost incinerated it. It was on one knee.
"The Princess guard?" Marui asked himself, "does that mean?" Sailor Moon stepped in his view armed with the Moon Sceptre. He looked at Taurus, who seemed almost unconscious. He saw a hand move, underneath the body it summoned a mass of energy, the Sailors blinded to its intent. Marui jumped to the front line of them.
"Mind Up!" He began to glow again. Using his energies he focused his telekinetic powers as Taurus hurled a huge ball of energy to assassinate Sailor Moon, it clashed in mid air with some invisible force. Marui cringed as he poured power into a shield he had created. There was an explosion and Marui slid back from its impact.
"Who are you?" a confused Moon asked.
"I'm from the Silver Millennium and here to help, that's all you need to know now, destroying this beast is more important."
"You got that right," Sailor Jupiter shouted out, "come on Mercury!" The two stood side by side.
"Shine Aqua-,"
"Jupiter Thunder-,"
"Illusion!"
"Crash!" The aquatic attack carried the thunderbolt and both darted for Taurus who didn't even move upon contact, the electricity shuttering through his spine. Its body twitched with malfunction as it lunged forward clumsily.
"Moon Sceptre Elimination!" Sailor Moon levelled her apocalyptic power at Taurus and it was no more.
"It seems I have explaining to do," Marui commented.
"Yeah you're damn right you do, you can't just go facing up monsters like that you could get killed," Mars replied sternly.
"So could you princess," Marui shot back.
"We're trained for this, its dangerous for regular people do be doing this," she whined back.
"Lady Mars, I am trained, My name is High-General in Command Marui Mercia of the Moon Knight Academy, Patron of Mind. Like you I'm equipped to deal with situations like this," Marui explained. "Was the fact I knew of your Princess stature not enough to convince you I know of your former lives?" Mars fell silent, how did he know of the Silver Millennium?
"General of the Moon Kingdom, how can we know that for sure?"
"It is wise to be cautious Luna," Marui answered the guardian. "I can only offer my memories which have only returned to me today."
"Don't try it Luna, it could be a brain wash job," Venus warned.
"It is hard to trust me, but I do bare this crest, it is from the academy I speak of, bearing the insignia of Courage. My weapon, the Defiance, crafted from the planet of Mars in its fiery mountains. I can only offer my memories, but if you'll not believe me, I cannot change that."
"I'm willing to take the chance, something about you is familiar," Luna answered.
"Not here, with so many bystanders present, I must also persuade others I never took part in this battle, perhaps you have other places to be?"
"Like school, its almost the end of recess," Mercury added. "We'll be in Tokyo, most of us attend Crossroads High school."
"Noted, till next time," Marui flicked his staff into a compact hand held bar and concealed it. He gave a polite bow and walked off.
"I think its best if we left, the reporters missed the fight from filming the front of the building thank goodness," Mercury said implying for them to teleport. Again they focused their energies and disappeared.