Part Four : A Great Celebration, Enemies Rise to Show Themselves
"Service!" Shakaku said as she threw the volleyball up in the air and served it. Shakaku and the rest of the volleyball was in the main gym practicing, and they were just about done. A few more points, and the practice would be let out.
"Mine!" a girl on the other side of the net screamed as she moved to pass the ball to the setter on her side. The volleyball went back up high in the air, and the setter set the ball, giving one of the shorter girls on the team, in the middle front, a chance to attack the ball to the other side.
"I go!" a short, blond haired girl said as she received and passed the ball to Shakaku.
"Four!" one of the girls on the front side, the farthest from Shakaku, yelled. Shakaku set the ball to the girl who had just requested, and she had her turn to attack the ball.
"Got it," a girl on the other side's right back said as she received the attack, and she bumped it high into the air for the setter.
"Get ready for rotation defense," the coach said as the set was made for a center attack.
"Mine!" Shakaku shouted, receiving the first contact and moving aside for the backup setter to set up another attack. The backup setter moved below the ball. "Five!" Shakaku yelled as she transitioned for an attack behind the setter. Shakaku brought her left hand back in a fist and swung it at the ball with her hand now open. The hit traveled close to the blockers hands, but it still hit the ground.
The coach blew the whistle, and she awarded Shakaku's team a point. "Service!" Shakaku shouted as she served the ball again. "Rotation one, I'm setter," she said loudly to the team who began to move according to how the other side set up the ball.
"Tip!" a tall, dark skinned girl yelled as a girl on the other side tipped the ball over the net.
"Mine!" the shortest girl on the team yelled, squatting down to get the ball back up before it hit the ground.
"Lori!" Shakaku said, setting the ball straight up and moving out of the way for the center front to attack the ball. As Lori attacked the ball, the center front on the other side jumped up and blocked the ball, bringing it back down.
"I go!" the tall girl said as she dove for the ball, sending it to Shakaku, who set it over the net.
"Good block, Shiela," Lori said to her counter-part after she quickly got up.
"Got it!" A girl on Shiela's side said as she passed the ball to the setter, Gwen.
"Four!" The girl on the left side of the court yelled; Gwen set the ball to her for an attack.
"Mine!" The best passer on the team called as she squatted down and passed the ball to Shakaku.
"Meticka, five!" Shakaku shouted as she set the ball backwards, her back making an arch.
"One, two, up!" Shiela and another girl said together as they jumped up to block Meticka's hit. The ball hit Shiela's hands, and it went back down; the team didn't make it to the ball fast enough to save the ball.
"Side out," the coach announced.
The other side got the ball, and Gwen went to the serving line to serve.
"Service!" she called as she threw the ball up in the air.
"I go, I go!" The second shortest player on the team said as she passed the ball to where Shakaku was in the front row.
"Seven!" A girl in the right back called out. Shakaku jump-set the ball to where the girl was in the back row.
"One, two, up!" Shiela and Kisha, the girl to her right, said together as they jumped up to block the ball.
"She's a great setter," a girl sitting in the bleachers commented to her friend who was sitting one bleacher up from her.
"Yes, but hitting sevens really shouldn't be done," the other, brown haired girl, said in reply.
"That team is so good that they can manage," the first, blond haired girl, added.
"To think how strong this team would be if they only made small changes here and there. Look, that short girl up at the front shouldn't be playing outside hitter, she's too short to make much of an attack," the brown haired girl said.
"I can agree with you on that, Dorei," the blond haired girl said with a nod.
"That tall girl, Shakaku, she would also make a good outside hitter if she wasn't a setter," Dorei, the brown haired girl said.
"Anyway that they're put, they're a strong team. You are going to have a hard time when you guys play them," the blond girl, Hoshi said.
"Yes, we will," Dorei responded with a slow nod.
"She's strong," Hoshi said with a gasp as she saw Jenico hit.
"Who?" Dorei asked.
"That shorter girl in the back. She's hitting from the back row without a problem," Hoshi pointed out.
"I see, she'll be a hard one to block," Dorei said.
"What position do you play?" Hoshi asked her friend.
"Inside hitter," Dorei responded.
"You're going to have a hard time getting a hit. The tall girl seems to be an excellent blocker; her height gives her an advantage," Hoshi pointed out for Dorei. Dorei nodded in understanding; Hoshi was right.
"Good practice, ladies!" the coach said, calling all the girls to the center of the court to discuss the practice. "I'm pleased with all three of our setters. Shakaku, I can tell you've been working on that serve of yours! At this rate we can beat the Academy if we really want to. Ladies, especially you covering tip, you have to watch the hit. If Katie, Mandy, or Lori can't get the block, then you have to be there and back them up. Jenico, I can tell you've been working on your hits; they're going to be hard to block," the coach said with a smile.
"Shiela, you did great on your first week on Varsity. Don't count on playing blocker, though, because we have enough of those. I'm going to have Lori play front while you play defense with Jenico. I know you guys won't let me down. Overall, you guys are improving so much, and I can't wait to kick the Academy's butt!"
Somewhere deep inside the dark fortress, screams of joy could be heard from the celebration going on. Wine glasses touched, and many people talked quietly among themselves. Sitting on the large throne at the front of the room was a large seven foot man dressed in black; at his side were a young lady and a young man also dressed in black.
"A wonderful party, Master Kyuuteki," the women said. "A perfect idea to start us out with. Those senshi on earth will never know what hit them!"
"Yes, Kerai, a wonderful party indeed. Once we carry out our plans the earth will have almost no way of defeating us."
"You've forgotten about the Sailor Senshi," the man, Kaboku, said in response.
"Of course," Kyuuteki said, his voice darkening. "There will be more besides the planetary senshi. We all know about the other two that are still fighting against us. We haven't managed to keep any of them on our side. Gemini, Virgas, and Dracas have left; we must get them back. However, you both know how hard it will be to convince those five. It was easy to get those three at first, but now they are on to us," Kyuuteki said with a firm voice.
"Master, if I may say... we all know the way the senshi work. I've been thinking... if we were to attack them when they were alone, they would be a whole lot weaker. That's their strength is their teamwork, without it we can get to them. We would have Phoenix or Aquaria if they weren't so tight nit. Dracas, the small one, was quite easy as you recall. She has the mind and ideas of a child, which made it easy for us. We must use these things to our advantage," Kerai suggested.
"Of course we have to use that to our advantage and against them," Kaboku agreed with a grin on his face.
Stroking his chin, Kyuuteki responded, "Sending yajuus out hasn't done us as good as we figured. It is time then, as you both know, that we take this onto higher extremes. Kerai, as agreed, you will be the first to go out. I do not expect you to take out the entire senshi team by yourself. I do, though, expect you to do some damage if anything. You cannot fail me, I've waited too long to have to wait even longer to get back at those brats."
The other two thought about his words when Kerai spoke. "Well, Kaboku, you have few words tonight. What do you suppose we should do? If I fail, which I won't, you know it is you who must go out," Kerai said, crossing her arms.
"Yes, speak up, boy," Kyuuteki said. Kaboku was far from a boy at seventeen, but he said nothing. Before he could say anything, loud laughter was heard from the back of the room, and the three looked up and towards the direction of the laughter.
"Can't they ever learn to control themselves?" Kaboku said as he put his head down in agitation.
"It's a party, so they're going to be a- uhh- bit wild," Kerai said, watching as two girls dressed in black and a bright green had a circle around them, and they started dancing to the wild music playing.
"How their mother put up with them, I'll never know," Kaboku said with a straight face.
"Yeah, I wonder," Kyuuteki said as he cast Kaboku a sideways glance.
"It's a wonder that their brother didn't turn out the same way," Kerai said as a smile crossed her face.
"Maybe their brother had better sense then them," Kaboku said firmly.
"Give him a break, he's right you know," Kyuuteki said, stepping into the fight to stop it.
"Hey, Kaboku!" the three people looked up to see one of the two girls walking towards them. "Why don’ ya come an' join us? Ya know, like the old times?" Sparrow, the girl, said. Her long black dress with green highlights flowed behind her as she continued to walk.
"We're in the middle of an important discussion," Kaboku said, turning away.
"Aww, come on!" Sparrow pleaded. Her eyes grew large as Kyuuteki rose from his seat, and everything fell silent; no one moved or said anything.
"As Kaboku said, Sparrow, we are not to be interrupted," he said in a firm and icy voice. Sparrow shrank back and slowly walked back to where her twin sister, Raven, also dressed in the same outfit, stood watching.
"You'd better keep in mind that Kaboku has low patience for you," Kerai added.
"Kiki, keep your nose where it belongs!" Raven shouted back across the room.
"That's ENOUGH!" Kyuuteki roared, once again everything fell silent, nothing moved. Everyone in the hall cleared out slowly, grumbling about the twins’ stupid behavior.
"One of these days they're going to push it," Kyuuteki said, sitting back down. "You know, perhaps for this first attack both of you should go, and see what those senshi are made of. They shouldn't give you too much trouble, correct?" Kyuuteki suggested.
"Of course not," Kaboku and Kerai said, bowing and disappearing from view.
"Did you see those two girls sitting up on the bleachers? They kept an eye on you," Kaichuu said as Shakaku arranged her gym bag; the two where in the girls’ locker room.
"I noticed," Shakaku said looking up with a frown on her face.
"Anyway, Hades said he found Dracas. I didn't believe him, but he told me to tell you. He said we'd get more information when we got home," Kaichuu said, twirling a piece of her silver hair.
Shakaku grinned, "It's about time. Those senshi are really getting on my nerves. Once all of us are together, we can kick some ass!"
Kaichuu smiled, and the two girls left the locker room; Shakaku swung her gym bag across her shoulder.
"Good practice, Shakaku!" Mandy, one of the twins, said as she greeted the two girls.
"You did great too," Shakaku said.
"So, who's picking you guys up?" Mandy asked the two girls.
There was a pause before Kaichuu answered, "We live a few blocks from here, so we're going to walk. Good ‘ol fresh air and cheese, you know." Shakaku rolled her eyes, but she added nothing to her friend's response.
"Bye, Kaichuu. Bye, Shakaku," Mandy said as she got into her mother's car along with her sister, Katie, and drove away, Kaichuu and Shakaku kept walking toward their apartment.
"It's about time!" a voice called down to them. The two girls looked up at the sky and saw a streak of black fly by and land in a nearby tree. Shakaku and Kaichuu stopped when the reached the tree and looked up to see Hades resting on one of the branches.
"So, what's the news?" Shakaku asked.
"Gemini and Virgas were at your practice, Shakaku. I saw them leave the gym a little before you did," Hades replied.
"Those two girls watching you," Kaichuu realized. "Why I should duct tape them to the wall! There's two more for my list of ‘People who must be duct taped to the wall’!" Kaichuu said with an excited tone.
"One of these days, I'm going to get rid of that list," Shakaku said as they continued to walk, and Hades flew far above them.
"If they know who you are, then they might be at the next battle," Hades said, quickly swooping down and then quickly back up, making sure first that no one was around.
"Good, more for our side," Shakaku said with a smile.
"Shakaku! Kaichuu!" Minako called as she saw the two girls walking, busy talking about something. Shakaku gave Kaichuu a sideways glance, and the two girls rolled their eyes but smiled and waved.
"Why were you at school so late?" Usagi asked, wide eyed, thinking that they had been studying. Makoto, Ami, Rei, Minako, Luna, and Artemis wondered the same thing.
"I had volleyball practice," Shakaku replied flatly.
"Cool! I play volleyball, too. We should play one on one sometime," Minako said with a proud smile. "What position do you play?"
"I'm a setter," Shakaku said; it was her turn to smile proudly, and Minako's smile faded.
"Well, not all setters are the best players on the team," Minako grumbled.
"You must be really good, Minako," Kaichuu said, stopping the soon to happen quarrel. No one said anything for a while until Ami spoke up.
"Did you finish your music assignment?" Ami said, changing the subject, but she immediately silenced herself.
"Shakaku did," Kaichuu said as her head came down.
"Usagi hasn't started any of her homework," Luna whispered to Artemis. Usagi was about to make a remark at Luna when she remembered about Shakaku and Kaichuu, and she stopped herself.
"Well, uhh, we were on our way home... yeah. So uhh... bye ladies," Kaichuu said, not wanting to stay with the girls too long.
"Yeah, we have more homework to do," Shakaku added, backing up her friend.
"Homework? What homework? Oh yeah, homework! We have a lot of homework to do," Kaichuu said with a nod.
"Just like Usagi," Artemis told Luna, who hung her head.
"Bye, girls," Shakaku said as the two girls continued to walk.
"They're all together?" Kaboku asked as he walked over to where Kerai stood looking down from where they stood atop a tall building.
"Yes, perfect. All of the senshi are there in a group, we should attack now," Kerai said. From a pocket in her skirt, Kerai pulled out a small key chain that looked like a bow and arrow, which grew larger to be about a foot in length. She drew it back while raising it towards the sky, and fire began to gather at its point. Still drawing back the arrow, Kerai pointed the weapon towards the ground and released it, sending the arrow straight into the ground, and then it disappeared. After a few seconds, a puddle of thick red liquid began to form, and Kerai and Kaboku both stepped back as a yajuu began to rise from the puddle; its red skin shone in the setting sun.
"Kerai!" the creature squealed as it laid its eyes on its mistress.
"You know what to do," Kerai said in a low voice. "I expect that you should be able to keep the senshi busy for a while, don't fail," Kerai said firmly. The yajuu nodded in understanding and then jumped from the side of the building, landing in a puddle on the ground below and then quickly reforming into its human-like shape.
"Remember, Kyuuteki wants us to do our own fighting as well," Kaboku said a few moments after the yajuu had left.
"I know, but we'll let the yajuu do a bit of work first," Kerai said in response.
"Can't they ever leave us alone," Shakaku said as she and Kaichuu run from an attacking yajuu.
"Another one to add to my list," Kaichuu said, jumping up to avoid one of the blasts the creatures was sending.
"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon's voice rang out, and the yajuu stopped attacking to face the new stranger. As Sailor Moon began her speech, Shakaku and Kaichuu quietly left the arising battle.
"Young girls should be left alone and not attacked. In the name of love and justice, I am the pretty suited sailor warrior, Sailor Moon!" Sailor Moon said, striking her various battle stances.
"Pathetic," the yajuu sneered as it looked from Sailor Moon to the other senshi one by one.
"Supreme Thunder!" Sailor Jupiter shouted as she jumped forward and released her attack.
"Senshi have no power," the yajuu said as it watched the attack drew closer to it. As the attack hit the yajuu, it smiled as the lightning traveled from the bottom of its feet and left its body by way of its arms and fingers.
"Wanna bet?" A cheery voice said from what seemed to be beside the yajuu. Sailor Aquaria stepped from behind a dumpster that was positioned off to the side of the battle scene.
"They're here," Luna said quietly.
"The constellation Aquarius sends its powerful waves onto this world, and with that power, I am Sailor Aquaria, entering the battle scene with the mighty ocean," Sailor Aquaria said, turning to her left and crossing her arms.
"Sent forth with the blazing fires of the constellation Phoenix, I am Sailor Phoenix, and with a raging fire, I enter the battle scene," Sailor Phoenix said, standing back-to-back with Sailor Aquaria and also crossing her arms.
"Some good you'll do," the yajuu said with a slight grin, and it jumped up into the air as high as it could.
"Twisting Flame Encounter!" Sailor Phoenix yelled, making her attack follow the yajuu.
"Venus Lovely Chain!" Sailor Venus yelled at the creature while she released her attack.
"Watch out!" Sailor Mercury yelled as the yajuu extended its arms, and from its back grew black wings that resembled those of a swallow without the feathers.
Sailor Phoenix's attack became absorbed into the yajuu's body while Sailor Venus’ attack missed by mere inches.
"Mercury," Sailor Aquaria said with a tilt of her head. Sailor Mercury nodded in understanding. This yajuu was resistant to fire, and it would need water to destroy it.
"Shabon Spray!" Sailor Mercury yelled. As the attack spread, the yajuu was forced to land from lack of vision.
"Aquaria Tsunami!" Sailor Aquaria yelled as loud as she could. The yajuu let out its own scream, and it crouched down, putting its hands to its burning face.
"Fire..." Sailor Mars began, but Sailor Phoenix stopped her by putting her hand up.
"Fire wouldn't work," Sailor Phoenix explained.
"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" Sailor Moon yelled, bringing her scepter high in the air and beginning her attack. The yajuu, who still crouched on the ground, let out another scream of pain as its figure began to whither away, leaving only a small puddle of colored oil in its place.
"Kawari aren't very nice," Sailor Phoenix said, kneeling next to the puddle of oil.
"Interchangeable powers?" Sailor Jupiter asked with a frown.
"Yeah. It chose wings, but with Sailor Mercury's attack wings were no good. Being fire repellent kept Sailor Mars and I from attacking. I have no idea why your attack didn't work, Jupiter," Sailor Phoenix said.
"It's only a new breed of mine. You senshi never had the brains to figure anything out," a new female voice said from high above the group of senshi and cats. Everyone standing on the ground looked up to see Kerai wearing a purple skirt that went to her knees, a dark green shirt that buttoned in the front, and high black boots.
"Who are you?" Sailor Mars snapped at the woman floating above them.
"I should think at least two of you know who I am," Kerai said in a sly voice as she laid her eyes on Sailor Aquaria and Sailor Phoenix. Sailor Phoenix narrowed her eyes at the lady as if trying to remember something.
There was a pause before Sailor Phoenix's eyes snapped opened. "Kerai!" the tall senshi snapped with anger.
"Good, at least you remember me," Kerai said with a smile.
"What are you doing here?" Sailor Aquaria said with fury in her voice.
"You two should know by now," Kerai answered. "You may have defeated a small yajuu, but I can tell you this, senshi of earth, there are better and stronger ones that I have made. I promise you, you will not win so easily," Kerai said. A green aura took over Kerai until she could no longer be seen, and then it too disappeared without leaving a trace of itself or Kerai.
"That's not good," Sailor Aquaria said to Sailor Phoenix.
"Maybe you two would like to explain who the hell she is," Sailor Jupiter said as she narrowed her eyes at the two girls. The two girls took a deep breath but said nothing and did nothing but turned away from the group of waiting senshi.
"You're not leaving until we get some answers!" Sailor Venus said.
"Really? Watch us," Sailor Phoenix said and the two girls left the other senshi who did nothing in response. This new enemy was going to be a tough one to outsmart, and the senshi needed all the help they could get.
Back to Part Three ~
On to Part Five