RISE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE

Chapter 4 - The Truth

	The morning sun rose over the hills, spreading their light across the land.  Some of that light lit up a small area of ground behind a house, with two figures stretching out their muscles in preparing for the exercises.  Rei, just waking up, looked out of the window of her room and saw the two guys out there stretching.  She quickly got out of bed and ran to the back door.  Just as she arrived, the two stopped stretching and took positions opposite of each other.  The two nodded and ran towards each other.  Tommy started with a round-house kick to Michael, which he blocked and threw a punch, which Tommy easily blocked.  Tommy then tried a series of jabs and kicks that Michael narrowly blocked.  Michael struck back with a series of kicks and punches, which Tommy blocked easily.  Then, the kicks and blocks began to go too fast for the human eye to follow.  Rei stood there in wonder, amazed of the speed and ferocity of the attacks the two were throwing at one another.  She did not see Mina walk behind her, to see what she was looking and looked over Rei’s shoulder.  She too froze at the site.  Lita, still a bit groggy, walked to the back door to see what the fuss was all about and accidentally knocked Mina and Rei outside the door.  The three continued to watch as the two warriors continued their barrage on one another.  Finally, the remaining people walked to the back door where everyone else was standing and looked outside.  There, right in front of them, Tommy and Michael were fighting one another.  Serena could not believe her eyes and was about to stop it when Darien put a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up to him with concern.  He shook his head no and looked back at the two.  The fighting lasted for another two minutes before they jumped back from one another.  Both of the guys were sweating profusely.  Michael could be seen with a few bruises where he was hit.  Tommy, on the other hand, seemed untouched, except for one bruise on his arm.  Both grinned at each other and began to stretch out in an exercise Rei was all too familiar with.  It was a relaxation exercise that slowly brought down the adrenaline levels in the body, to create a calm and collective body and mind.  Once they were finished, they seemed relaxed and stopped sweating.  The two picked up their shirts and started heading for the back door when they saw the little gathering of watchers.  

“Sorry if we woke you,” Tommy said with a smile, “We were just exercising.”  

	Darien was the first one to speak.  

“If you give me a minute, I’ll try and move the ladies out of your way so you can go take a shower.”  

	The girls snapped out of it and got out of the way.  Tommy was the first one to the door.  He gave Ami a quick peck on the check and said good morning.  Michael did the same with Lita.  Michael went to the kitchen for a bottle of cold water in the refrigerator while Tommy went straight for the shower.  Everyone walked into the front room, except Lita, who returned Michael’s peck with a kiss on the lips.  

“Good morning to you too.”  She gave him a quick hug and headed into the front room with the rest of them.  As Michael waited, the group turned on the television and started watching some early morning news.  

“Well, nothing devastating has happened yet,” Rei commented.  

“So far, so good,” Serena said as she settled down next to Darien, who puts his arms around her.  

“So, what does everyone want for breakfast,” Lita asked everyone.  

“Pancakes and eggs sounds good,” Michael replied as he entered the front room.  

“That sounds good,” Darien answered.  Everyone else nodded his or her approval. 

	As Lita got up to go to the kitchen, Michael got up and offered to help. Lita just smiled and motioned him to follow. Five minutes later sounds of food cooking in the kitchen could be heard form the living room. 

“Man that smells good”, both Serena and Mina stated. 

	Just as they were about to say something else Tommy comes out drying his hair with a towel, wearing a pair of Jean shorts and a tank top that shows his finally honed muscles. Ami looked away to hide a blush that suddenly found its way to her cheeks. 

	“Feel better Tommy”, Darien replied helpfully.

	“Oh much better. Thanks for letting me use your shower Darien”.

“You smell better too,” Michael replied from the kitchen.  

“Yeah, but you’re the one that smells right now,” Tommy shot back.  

Michael was about to say something, but decided against it. 

 “I’ll be back in a few minutes.  It’s my turn for the shower,” Michael said to Lita.  

“Hurry up.  Breakfast is almost ready,” she told him as he left.  

	He quickly showered and got dressed in a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt.  Upon entering the front room, his stomach grumbled as the smell of fresh-made pancakes and eggs.  Lita brought him a plate as he entered the kitchen.  

“Here you go, handsome.”  

“Thanks, gorgeous,” Michael said before he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.  

	He sat down on the ground, since there was no more furniture to sit on.  Michael looked around at everyone as he ate.  Serena and Darien were on the love seat.  To the right of them were Rei and Mina.  Over to the right sat Tommy and Ami.  Finally, after everyone was served, Lita sat down next to Michael.  For the next few minutes, they ate in silence, enjoying the food.  After Michael finished, Tommy and he gathered the dishes to put into the sink.  

“What a minute,” Darien said.  

“What,” Tommy asked.  

“Since I’m letting you guys stay here, I figure it’s a good idea for certain someones to do the dishes.”  

“He’s not talking to use, is he,” Michael asked Tommy.  

	Before Tommy could answer, everyone was staring at them.  

“I guess that means yes,” Tommy said as he went back into the kitchen.  

	As Tommy started the water, the two could hear giggling and laughter from the main room.  

“They’re having fun and we’re stuck doing the dishes,” Tommy said in frustration.  

“Yeah, but there isn’t much we can do about it,” Michael replied.  

	Tommy just grunted in acknowlegement.  After a few minutes of washing and drying, the dishes were finished.  

“Good, now that you are done, you could. . .”  

	Darien stopped when he saw the look on Tommy and Michael’s faces.  

“I was going to say,” Darien said, trying to hide his smile, “you guys could join us.”  

“Right,” was Michael’s reply.  

	Everyone else quickly looked back at the TV to hide their own smiles.  Tommy sat next to Ami, while Michael sat next to Lita.  

“Anything good on,” Mina asked.  

“Not sure.  Let me check,” Darien said as he grabbed the remote.  

	As he flipped through channels, the group commented on their like or dislike of what was on the channel.  At one point, there was an enthusiastic cheer from the girls because their favorite soap was on, but Darien quickly changed it, which brought some growling from the girls, but some cheers from the guys.  

“Turn that back,” Serena told Darien.  

“I believe this is my apartment, so, what I want to watch is what we watch.”  

	He stopped at a golf game.  

“Boring,” Serena said.  

“Hey, Darien, are you sure you want to watch this,” Tommy asked him quietly.  

“No, but it’s bugging the girls.”  Tommy grinned at the joke.  

“Hey, Darien, change the channel,” Michael asked.  

“Why.”  Michael pointed to the girls who were staring at him, about ready to pounce on him.  

“I see,” Darien said as he quickly changed to the next channel.  

Just as he got to the sports channel, Michael and Rei jumped up and began to look towards the city.  

“What is it,” Ami asked.  

“We have company,” Rei and Michael said in unison.  

	Everyone else quickly jumped up and headed out the door, heading into town to where the evil was centered.  It took them about 20 minutes to get there, trying to get through traffic, and avoiding the screaming mass of people fleeing from the area.  Once passed the people, the group headed into the area, and what they saw stunned the Sailor Scouts and Darien.  A huge creatures, with four gigantic arms ending in three clawed hands ripping into a building that was ten stories tall, barely taller than the creature itself.  

“What in the name of all that is holy is that,” Rei said out loud.  

“It’s a demonsaur.  One of the largest demon creatures ever known,” Tommy said quietly.  

“The demonsaur has the strength of 20 of those demons you fought when we arrived the first time,” Michael said matter-of-factly.  

“This thing can take a beating and dish out a beating,” Tommy commented.  

“So how do we fight it,” Serena asked.  

“It’s slow and it’s in a confined area.  That is our only advantage.”  

“Can’t we just blast the thing,” Lita asked.  

“The force used to destroy that creature, if they are correct, would cause an explosion that would level the city,” Ami pointed out to Lita.  

“We need to beat it down, and fast.”  

“If it were only that easy, Darien.”  

“Let’s get this thing,” a voice said behind them.  

	The group turned and saw Sailor Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.  

“Agreed,” Serena said.  

	The scouts called out their transformation phrases.  The creature stopped pounding on the building and turned in their direction.  

“Why haven’t you too changed yet?”  

	Before they could answer, both closed their eyes, concentrating on something.  Then, both were engulfed is spheres of energy, Tommy’s lighting up the surrounding area with white light, so bright that the Sailor Scouts covered their eyes.  Once the light cleared, there stood Prince Vega, in full battle gear.  Michael, on the other hand, had white and black energy circling around him.  Then, two dragon heads leap from the sphere and slammed into it, creating a blinding flash of light.  Again, once the light cleared, there stood Prince Cephius, ready for battle.  

“Forge, come in,” Cephius said into his wrist watch communicator.  

“Forge here.  We’re on our way.  What are we fighting this time?”  

“Really, really big demonsaur.”  

“Damn it.  We’ll be there in a minute.”  

	A sudden roar from the creature echoed throughout the city, shattering glass windows two miles out.  

“Well, we’ve got it’s attention.  Now what,” Prince Darien asked.  

“Move,” Vega yelled out as the creature’s mouth opened and a huge negative energy streaked from it. 

	Everyone quickly leaped, flew, or ran out of the way.  “Attack it from different sides.  It can’t hit all of us,” Sailor Mars yelled out.  The scouts separated and began to attack it from different directions.  Every time an energy blast struck the creature, smoke would rise from the place where it was hit, but seemed to do no damage.  After about 5 minutes of this, the scouts were getting frustrated.  

“We can’t seem to damage it this way.  There’s got to be another way,” Sailor Venus told everyone.  

“Not sure.  We don’t know a whole lot about this thing, except that it’s big and mean and we’ve only fought one of them before,” Vega told them  

“How did you beat it?”  

“We blew it up, from the inside out, but I’m sure that whoever summoned this thing will let us get away with it,” Cephius added.  

“I have an idea,” Darien told them.  

“And that would be?”  

“Next time it opens it’s mouth to blast us, everyone needs to send a blast into it’s mouth.  If that doesn’t kill it, it should give it something to think about.”  

“Good idea.  Once it’s incapacitated, we can finish it off,” Cephius commented.  

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Sailor Moon agreed, “let’s do it.”  

	The scouts took their position, ready for the attack.  The creature, as expected, opened it’s mouth to fire a blast at the scouts.  Everyone launched an energy attack at the creature’s mouth, including Forge, Sampson, and Siren.  The energies struck the dark energy about to be unleashed, causing an explosion that knocked everyone off their feet and blinded everyone temporarily.  Once the blindness cleared, the creature was laying to the ground, smoke rising out of it’s mouth.  “Now, everyone, fire an attack into it’s mouth and eyes.”  

“Why, it’s dead,” Sailor Neptune commented.  

“For now, but these things can regenerate at a rapid pace,” Cephius told her.  

“Oh,” was the only reply.  

	All of the group opened fire into the creature’s eyes and mouth like they were instructed.  The creature’s body began to bloat as the combined energies worked their devastation on the insides.  Once he barrage of energy stopped, the creatures body began to disintegrate into nothing.  

“That wasn’t too bad,” Sailor Uranus said.  

“If we weren’t told how to fight this thing, it would have been a lot harder,” Sailor Jupiter commented.  

“We don’t have time for this.  There may be injured people around,” Vega told everyone.  

“You’re right.  Let’s move out,” Sailor Moon ordered.  

	The scouts and the five allies quickly separated to search for survivors.

***************************************************************************************************

	The four figures around the darkened table sat back, turning their attention from the crystal ball to the figure sitting in the large throne-like chair.  

“They have gotten stronger in the last 1,000 years,” the male on the left side of the table said to no one in particular.  

”They have.  And they don’t forget a battle.  Very few have won against a demonsaur,” the female on the right side commented.  

“Let’s send several of these demonsaurs.  There’s no way that they could stop all of them,” the male on the right side said.  

“That could kill them,” the female on the left side added.  

“No,” the figure on the throne-chair said.  

“Why not, master,” the female on the left side asked.  

“I have a different idea for them.  We know who they are and we know who’s in love with whom.  I believe it’s time to destroy that unity and love they have for one another.  It is time to demoralize them.”  

“What do you have in mind, master,” the male on the right side asked.  

“It is quite simple, my young pupil . . . and it will be quite entertaining,” he said as an evil smile crept over his face.  

“This should be interesting indeed,” the female on the right side said as she looked around the table, watching the other’s faces light up in evil glee.