94Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this fic except the plot.
Chapter 10
Dark Chamber
"I would never have thought Merlin could have been defeated."
Arthur watched the battle replay in a cauldron over and over. Another knight stepped forward.
"My liege, shall we launch another strike?"
"No, we'll pull back for now."
"Sire?"
"We had greatly underestimated these samurai if they were able to defeat Merlin. We'll take this time to formulate a better strategy."
Arthur scowled at the repeating image of Jaden donning white armor and soundly defeating his mentor and the woman he desired possessing a powerful jewel. All the while never noticing his prized sword was glowing.
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Jaden found himself awakening to a white ceiling. He felt so sore and tired he couldn't tell which was worse, the pain or the exhaustion.
"Hey, welcome back."
Jaden turned to the side to find Alexis gazing back at him.
"Thanks"
"How do you feel?"
Jaden shifted a bit in his bed.
"Like I ran 20 miles before I got hit by a bus. Other than that, I'm good."
Alexis chuckled at his antics and wiped a single tear away.
"What's wrong?"
Alexis kept wiping her eyes.
"Nothing, I'm just glad you and everyone is okay."
Jaden lifted himself into a sitting position. Alexis moved forward for him to lay back down. When he looked up and his eyes met hers, the pain had become the last thing on his mind. The two gazed at each other for some time, neither said a word.
"Jay! You're awake!"
Jaden and Alexis turned to the doorway. There stood Syrus and the other Ronins.
"Hey Sy, what's up? How long was I out of it?"
"You've been out for four days."
"Four days, huh? I bet Crowler's not too happy about that."
"Yeah, by the way Jaden, you wouldn't happen to feel like you've seen the light, have you?"
Jaden and Alexis looked at each other in confusion.
"Um no," Jaden said tautly.
"For a while I thought the Society of Light was back." Syrus sighed in relief.
"Why?"
"When I saw that white armor and Alexis in that white outfit, I thought that it was going to be a repeat of last year."
"Sy, It was my armor that protected me from Sartorius' control. You all remember when I couldn't see my cards, right?"
Everyone nodded in response.
"Well, just before my cards looked blank to me, I was in some kind of dark place. In front of me was this bright light coming at me. Before it hit me, my Wildfire armor appeared and blocked it and then… well, you all know the rest."
Chazz shrugged and then the mood got serious.
"So Jaden, what was the deal with that white armor? Was that also one of the nine armors you told us about?"
"Yeah sarge, that armor was unreal. You blasted that wizard to kingdom come!"
Jaden gave his friends a serious gaze.
"I…"
Everyone anxiously inched forward.
"…haven't a clue."
And then they all face-vaulted.
"What you all saw that day was the Armor of Inferno."
Everyone looked to the door of the infirmary. Standing in the door was their ex-Ronin Warrior mentor, Rowan.
"Inferno?" Chazz asked.
"Yep, think of it as your secret weapon."
"Is this another one of those nine armors Jaden told us about?" asked Syrus.
"No it's not. I don't know all that much about the Inferno myself. What I can tell you is the armor can only be worn by someone with a heart of virtue, in this case it's Jaden."
"Awesome!"
"It's not a toy, Jaden. In fact, don't use that armor unless you have to. It is strictly a last resort tactic." Rowan chided Jaden.
"Why? With sarge and that mega-armor, we could beat back anyone those knights throw at us."
"True, however, that armor puts a tremendous strain on the wearer's body. I'm sure you all probably still feel it, the extreme fatigue. The Armor of Inferno can be dangerous to its enemies as well as its wearer. If you're not careful, using it in succession without recovering could kill you. The best thing for you all to do is rest and get your strength back."
Jaden figured the veteran warrior knew what he was talking about and laid back down. Rowan turned his attention to the others.
"Why don't you all go on back to your dorms. Right now Jaden needs to rest and so does the rest of you."
Everyone nodded and walked out the door, save for Alexis.
"Say um, Rowan? You wouldn't happen to know anything about some kind of magical jewel, would you?"
"Depends, what did it look like?"
"About the size and shape of a golf ball. It looked like something close to a diamond."
"No sorry."
"Thanks anyway."
With that, Alexis left for her dorm.
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Alexis laid on her bed as she ran through everything she had been told in her mind.
'So that white armor Jaden has is called 'Inferno.' I still have no idea on what that jewel was. The power I felt from it was incredible but…'
"I wish somebody could tell me what's going on."
"I believe we can help you with that," a feminine voice said.
Alexis sat up and looked around her room. Nobody was here but her.
"Over here."
Alexis turned to see to cats on her windowsill. One was black and the other was white. They both had a golden crescent moon mark on their foreheads, like she did before.
"Hello" the black cat spoke. Wait, 'spoke'?
"AHHHHHH!"
"I know this might come as a bit of shock to you."
"Shock?! I'm officially freaked out!"
"If you would let us, we can explain the whole thing," the white one now spoke.
"It's official, I've lost my mind. I could deal with Duel Monster spirits. Brainwashing cults I can handle. I don't mind that four of my friends and my brother have magic armor and some guy that thinks I'm his dead wife, but I draw the line at talking cats!"
After a few minutes, Alexis finally calmed down
"My name is Luna and this is Artemis," the black cat, Luna said then gestured to her white companion.
"I'm Alexis Rhodes"
"We are here because of the Imperium Silver Crystal you hold."
"The what?"
"The Imperium Silver Crystal, a jewel of great power."
"You mean the weird jewel that came out of my body?"
"Yes. You see, a thousand years ago there was a kingdom on the moon and peace prospered throughout the galaxy. When a terrible force attacked it, the ruler at that time had cast a spell and sealed the enemy away as well as send the princess and her court to be reincarnated in the future on earth at the cost of her life. At some point, we found the princess and her court and fought that same force from centuries ago and some other foes as well. Things were peaceful up until a few years ago when the moon princess was in a terrible accident. When she arrived at the hospital, the doctors said that her consciousness was slipping fast and she could go into a coma. She would be unable to protect herself and the crystal so she needed to place it somewhere safe. So she performed an old practice."
"What kind of practice?"
"You know the concept of a body double, right?"
Alexis nodded.
"The practice called for her to place the crystal in the care of someone pure-hearted even if it was without their knowledge. That person would be the acting princess until the real one had fully recovered. In other words, for the time being you are the moon princess."
"WHAT!?"
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Elsewhere in dark room, a lone cloaked figure sat on an ornate chair. The contours of the body indicated it was a woman. She waved her hand continuously as she gazed at a crystal ball before her.
"Morgan le Fey, my dear sister, it's so good to see you again."
She gazed up at the equally cloaked person who had appeared. The tone of the voice suggested that this person too was a woman.
"Morgause, it has been too long"
The woman identified as Morgause chuckled.
"Sister, how is that we have returned after so long?"
"I do not know but I am searching to find out, right now."
An image of Duel Academy appeared within the crystal ball.
"I can feel it, there is tremendous power emanating from this place."
"Allow me to send a scout to investigate this great power."
With a wave of her hand, Morgause summoned up a grotesque gargoyle-like creature.
"Not exactly subtle," Morgan admonished.
"You know as well as I do that my powers have not fully awakened. Just like yours."
Morgause then turned to the monster and beckoned it to come with her.
"Where are you going?" Morgan asked.
"I want to see the source of this power with my own eyes."
And then they vanished.
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Chazz Bastion Atticus and Hassleberry were carrying some boxes to the teachers' office.
"I'm still amazed by Jaden's new armor. Who'd have thought he could summon something like that," Hassleberry said.
"Technically, we ALL summon it," Bastion corrected his fellow Ra.
"I still don't get why only Jaden gets to wear it," said Chazz.
"Probably because his red armor is called Wildfire and the white one is called Inferno," Atticus suggested.
"That does sound plausible but is the Inferno even a fire-elemental armor?"
Atticus shrugged his shoulders but then regretted it as he felt a sting of pain.
"Still tender?" Chazz asked. Atticus chuckled in response.
The four continued walking until they heard a deep roar from behind them. They whipped around to find a beautiful older woman standing next to a large ugly beast.
"Who are you?" Chazz asked.
"You may address me as Morgause. Now then, perhaps you boys can tell me where I might find the source of a great power that emanated from this island?"
The boys knew she must mean Jaden's white armor.
"Hard to say. If there is a great power here, why are you looking for it?" Bastion asked.
"I intend to claim it."
Atticus pulled out his PDA and pushed a few buttons before armoring up with his fellow warriors. The boys readied their weapons, which seemed to be heavier than usual to them. Morgause looked at them in surprise then noted the weariness in their eyes and how the shakily held their weapons. She came to one conclusion.
"From the looks of it, you boys must've been in a big battle recently and aren't fully back up to snuff yet," Morgause chuckled.
The Ronins ignored her and charged forward. Morgause motioned for her pet to attack. The boys had realized too late that the woman was right. Within seconds, the monster had beaten them to the ground with ease. They felt like little kids being knocked down by the school bully.
"Any ideas?" Hassleberry asked as struggled to get up..
"I sent Jaden a message, hopefully he's in healed up enough to lend a hand," Atticus said.
"I doubt sarge is well enough to even walk let alone fight."
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Mindy and Jazz barged into Alexis' room, uneasiness was clearly seen in their eyes.
"Jazz, Mindy, What's wrong?"
"It's the guys. Some freaky monster showed up while they were still weakened and knocked them down.
"Is it those knights again?"
"It doesn't look like it. But the worst part is that now Jaden's heading out to fight it!"
"What's Jaden thinking!? He's in no condition to be fighting," Mindy
"That's what we told him but he wouldn't listen."
"We've got to stop him before he gets hurt even more."
"But how? Jaden is still exhausted from the last fight and the others are out of it."
Jazz and Mindy then saw a black walk in between them and gazed up at Alexis.
"I believe I can help you in that area."
"WAAAAGH! A TALKING CAT?!" Mindy and Jazz screamed.
"I'll explain later," Alexis told them.
"If you're serious about going then you better take this."
Luna did a back flip and a pink heart-shaped locket materialized. Alexis reached out and picked up the odd item.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It's a special locket that will grant you magical powers to aid you in battle," Artemis answered.
"ANOTHER TALKING CAT?!" Mindy shouted.
"I told you I would explain later."
"To activate it, call out 'Moon Prism Power."
Alexis look at the heart locket and mentally shrugged.
"MOON PRISM POWER!"
Everything around Alexis seemed to instantly freeze. Her uniform had vanished. Reddish ribbons shot out of the locket and wrapped around her body. The ribbons then changed into a white leotard with a blue sailor collar and a pink bow over the chest. More ribbons appeared and wrapped her arms. These turned into white elbow length gloves. Even more ribbons appeared and wrapped around her legs. They had solidified into knee high pink boots. A blue pleated mini skirt had formed around her waist. A golden tiara then formed on her forehead while a pink choker formed. Lastly, gold earrings and feather-like hair clips materialized to complete it. (A/N: just to let you all know beforehand, all the scouts uniforms are going to be based on the live-action TV series.)
Alexis looked at herself in the mirror and became almost instantly embarrassed.
"What is this?" Alexis asked trying to pull the skirt down.
"Right now, you are Sailor Moon, the champion of love and justice," Luna answered.
"Champion of love and justice'? That sounded way too corny. Do I have to wear this get-up? If Atticus saw me in this, I'd never hear the end of it," Alexis said.
"I think it looks cute, where can I get one?" Mindy said.
She never got her answer. Luna urged Alexis to head out. Taking the cat's advice she ran out of the room, leaving her two friends behind.
"Sailor Moon, where have I heard that before?" Jazz said to herself.
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Jaden had limped to the battle. He saw his friends lying on the ground, defeated. He then noted the cause of it all, glaring at him with a smug grin.
"ARE YOU GOING TO FIGHT ME, TOO?"
Jaden answered by drawing his swords. He then took a step forward and stumbled a little before regaining his bearings. The gargoyle saw this and laughed.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS? YOU'RE WORSE SHAPE THEN THOSE FOUR!"
Jaden ignored the beast and attacked.
Morgause watched the battle from atop a hill.
"Challenging my little pet while he's wounded and weak, I don't know if he's very brave or very foolish."
"So that thing belongs to you?" a female voice called out.
Morgause turned towards the voice. There stood Alexis in her new attire, Morgause was hardly intimidated.
"What are you supposed to be?"
"The girl who's going to beat you."
Morgause snorted and threw a bolt of lightning at her. Thinking quickly, Alexis jumped to the side, narrowly missing the attack. The sorceress quirked an eyebrow and fired another only to be met with the same result. Next she fired three in succession, the new sailor scantly avoided each strike. Alexis turned to her feline companion.
"Luna, what can I use to fight back?"
"Hold your hand up to your forehead and call out 'Moon Tiara Boomerang."
Alexis followed as instructed.
"MOON TIARA BOOMERANG!"
The tiara removed itself from her forehead and reformed in her hand. Alexis eyed the objet with interest. As the name suggested, the tiara had taken the shape of a boomerang.
"Okay I think I can work with this."
Alexis pulled her arm back to throw as the headgear turned 'weapon' began to glow. She wasted no time and threw the boomerang at her target. Morgause raised her hand to catch the incoming object, only to miss it as it struck her in the shoulder. Morgause skidded back five feet, clutching her shoulder, before coming to a stop. She removed her hand from the stricken area to see a good-sized gash. She returned her gaze to the young girl.
"And here I thought this was going to be boring," Morgause said in a smug tone.
The boomerang returned to its original place on Alexis' forehead. She ran her fingers across it. Her expression was one of awe and confusion. She was surprised she could fight back with such an odd tool, but puzzled that her attack didn't have the same bite as the Ronin boys.
Speaking of which, Jaden continued to try and defeat the sorceress' pet but to no result. The creature in question appeared to be the future victor of this clash. Its large size and strength coupled with Jaden's fatigue guaranteed it. the gargoyle started to become annoyed.
"GIMME A REAL FIGHT!"
The gargoyle raised its clawed hand and struck Jaden hard across the chest. Suddenly, Jaden was silhouetted in a white energy. The armors of the other warriors began to glow and four streams of energy, each their respective color, shot out and slammed into Jaden. Morgause stopped her fight with Alexis when she had seen the strange light show.
"What's this?"
The whole world around him became deathly silent as Jaden stared down his opponent with fire spiraling within his eyes. He crossed his arms in front of him and threw them out, his armor shattering into sakura petals. Jaden watched the multiple white streams of power that rocketed around him while his red and white sub-armor darkened until it was completely black. One stream struck him on the right forearm, forming red and white armor with a golden fin protruding out. Another struck the other arm leaving another piece of identical armor. Jaden held one arm forward and fire exploded from it. When the blaze had subsided, he now had white samurai armor and helmet. He stepped back as two more streams struck one leg, leaving white armor on the knee shin and foot, then two more struck the other, leaving the same type of armor. Jaden then held his hands out to the side as his swords returned in his grip.
"ARMOR OF INFERNO!"
"What is this!? This white armor is… incredible! The light shining from it, it's so… beautiful!"
Morgause watched in fascination as her minion faced down the now white armored warrior.
"You want it so bad? Let's see if you can take it!" the Ronin Slifer shouted then backed off when the gargoyle swiped at him.
Jaden connected the hilts of his swords together; a flash of power surged through them. He then broke them apart and crossed the blades. Another flash of power surged through them again. He jumped into the air, holding his swords high as he radiated with great power.
"RAGE OF INFERNO!"
He slashed down as a huge white surge of power shot forward. Morgause raised her staff and created a magic shield and braced herself. Jaden's attack slammed into Morgause's monster, hard. Morgause gaped in awe as her pet was reduced to nothing.
"Such… power"
The sorceress pushed everything she had to maintain the shield but it wasn't enough. Cracks formed around the magic shield then in matter of seconds the shield shattered like glass and she was thrown back. When the blast died down, Morgause returned to her spot on the hill and glanced at the armor clad youth.
"I've never seen such an exquisite suit of armor. The craftsmanship, the sheer power, I must have it!"
"That will have to wait until later."
"Morgan?"
Her sister had warped in front of her to confirm her.
"It seems we found the source of that great power that resurrected us."
"Yes, that white armor, I must have that armor."
Morgause moved forward only to be stopped by Morgan's hand.
"Not now."
"But-"
"No. Besides, there is another great power near but we are not prepared to handle that kind of strength."
With that they disappeared.
When the two witches vanished, the white burst into flames, returning Jaden to his red armor. Just when his regular armor returned, Jaden was hit by a tsunami of fatigue and collapsed on the spot. Alexis, upon seeing him fall, rushed to his side.
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Damn, that took a while. Personally, I think this one could've been better. Here are the current standings for sailors:
Jasmine: Mercury: 2, Mars: 2, Jupiter: 1, Venus: 0
Mindy: Mercury: 2, Mars: 0, Jupiter: 3, Venus: 0
Blair: Mercury: 1, Mars: 0, Jupiter: 0, Venus: 4
Seika: Mercury: 0, Mars: 3, Jupiter: 1, Venus: 1
Send in your votes on who should be who.
