Wildfire by ViperInferno

Chapter 1: Titanius’ Strategy

Wildfire
By Viper Inferno
Chapter 1: Titanius' Strategy
 
Dark Kingdom Headquarters...
 
After a two week long session training in the use of his once dormant dark powers, although a week longer than he had earlier planned, Titanius emerged from the vast training hall with a newly found confidence in himself. After suffering an embarrassing failure at the hands of Tuxedo Inferno and the Sailor Senshi, not once but twice, and losing his favorite blaster gun in the process, he had no choice but to revive the dark energy he had suppressed for many years. But as he marched down the halls of the Dark Kingdom, motivation and determination erased the failure from his soul. Having accepted Queen Beryl’s offer for money to fight alongside the Dark Kingdom once again, Titanius had taken it upon himself to destroy Tuxedo Inferno using any means necessary. Using every trick in the book to achieve his goal was his way. And that was his purpose as he approached his chamber.
 
Opening the large, heavy wooden door, he entered a rather ancient-looking room. The stone block walls, stone block columns, and cobblestone floor gave the room a medieval look. Many torches throughout the room lit the tan-colored walls, while many medieval-age weapons, ranging from swords and axes to flails and maces lined every wall and column in the room. Many full-plate suits of armor and iron shields complimented the medieval décor. A heavy wrought iron chandelier, candles unlit, added to the rather morbid environment. And thick, scarlet velvet curtains served not only to add to the décor, but also shielded the room from the outside light, giving the tan stone room the darkness that Titanius ravished.
 
Once inside, Titanius removed his armor, revealing his tight black long-sleeved shirt and tight black pants that he always wore under it. He then placed it on a special wooden stand he had designed specifically for displaying his trademark battle armor. He then sat on his scarlet chair, resembling that of a king’s throne, and pondered his next great mission.
 
“So, how to lure the Sailor Senshi?” Titanius wondered, “I don’t want a direct attack on the people since they always end in failure. That’s why Queen Beryl had banished or killed the other Kings in the first place. However, why the hell did she bring them all back? I thought Nephrite and Zoisite were both dead. What did she do, raise the dead? I don’t see why she had to bring them back if they can’t even get the job done. Why else is she resorting to bounty hunters like me to do their work?”
 
“Oh what the hell am I thinking?” Titanius cursed aloud, shaking his head, “I need to find out how I am to carry out this next mission rather than questioning Queen Beryl’s methods.” Titanius rose from his throne and paced about his room, wondering his strategy. “Think, Titanius, think. You’re smart. You’re resourceful. You’re a strategist, this is your specialty,” he said to himself.
 
As he continued pacing, he caught a few glances around his room. But one glance caught a massive armoire. This armoire was rather plain compared to the rest of his chamber, constructed of the same heavy wood as his door, with the same two strips of studded iron across the middle. The handles for its doors consisted of heavy rings, much like those of a knocker. “Yes,” Titanius said in delight, having remembered why he had that armoire, “If I won’t use a direct attack, why don’t I just blend in.”
 
Having devised a scheme, he marched to armoire and opened the heavy doors, revealing a rather massive wardrobe consisting of various types of Earth civilian clothing, mostly men’s. While training in the use of his powers, Titanius had made a couple visits to a few towns, collecting clothing, alcohol, and supplies he felt was essential for his stay on Earth. With his massive wardrobe revealed before his eyes, he began to browse. “I don’t want to stand out, so scratch the formal clothes. But I don’t want to look like scum either. A policeman’s uniform will attract too much attention. Hell no to the women’s clothes. Why the hell did I steal those?” Titanius turned and shook his head with that last comment, then continued browsing, “I just want to look like a regular civilian worker.” Then, a particular piece of clothing, namely a pair of blue denim overalls, grabs his attention, “Yes, perfect. A lot of men dress like that for work.”
 
After taking his time, he grabbed the overalls and a white T-shirt. He then grabbed a pair of socks and a pair of work boots to complete his outfit. Then, it was off with his black clothes and on with his civilian outfit. But as Titanius began lacing up his work boots, Kunzite opened the heavy wooden door to the chamber and invited himself inside. “Good morning, Titanius-san. I see you have completed your remedial training.”
 
“Yes, finally,” Titanius replied indifferently, lacing up his boots as if Kunzite wasn’t even there, “It gave me time to think things over. That’s why I took 2 weeks instead of 1.” It took little time for the fact that Titanius wasn’t in his usual dark clothing, but rather something more ridiculous for a member of the Dark Kingdom, to sink into Kunzite’s head.
 
“Why are you dressed like that?” Kunzite asked, “Aren’t you going to lure those Sailor Senshi like you said you were going to do after your training?”
 
“Change of plans,” Titanius replied, “I’m going to go in as a civilian and interact with the people.”
 
“What makes you want to drop down to their level?” Kunzite asked, wondering what is going through Titanius’ mind, “You’re a former champion of the Dark Kingdom, not some Earth lowlife.”
 
“I’m gonna do a little experimenting and learn how to operate on Earth. This will help me complete my strategic plan. And I may get to wreak some havoc as well and do as I planned, lure the Sailor Senshi.”
 
“I like that idea,” Kunzite praised, “You know, some of us have actually been out there and done what you’re about to do.”
 
“Like Jadeite-san?”
 
“Yes, and Nephrite as well. Both were great at disguising themselves,” Kunzite explained, “Nephrite disguised himself as a millionaire, while Jadeite posed as just about anyone. Even Zoisite-kun disguised himself as a woman, namely Sailor Moon, to trick Prince Endymion out of his Rainbow Crystals.”
 
“Yes, I know all about Jadeite-san’s escapades,” said Titanius, walking back over to his armoire after lacing up his boots, “Care for some wine?”
 
“Yes, thank you,” Kunzite replied. Titanius reached into the back of his armoire and grabbed a bottle of red wine. He then walked over to his throne and table, where he had a set of decorative golden goblets. Various gemstones, from rubies, to sapphires, to topazes studded each of them. Their fine cut and brilliant shine gave the goblets an even more expensive look. If anything in Titanius’ chamber stood out as overly posh, it was the goblets.
 
“His failure was in his rather hasty execution of his strategy,” Titanius continued explaining as he began work on removing the cork from the wine bottle, “He had to have the mass amounts of energy right there and then, which often left a trail of drained, lumbering people. Hence how Sailor Moon discovered his schemes and put an abrupt end to them.”
 
“So how will your strategy be different?” Kunzite asked.
 
At that moment, Titanius had popped the cork from the wine bottle. He then brought it up to his nose and took a gentle sniff of the fine aroma the bottle’s contents had sealed in it. “Yes,” he said in a deep tone of pleasure, “The best Cabernet Sauvignon from France, aged to perfection. It’s been a long time since I had wine like this.”
 
He poured the wine into two goblets as he continued explaining. “The difference between Jadeite-san and me is both the way I devise my strategy and the purpose of this mission.” After having filled both goblets with the fine red liquor, he lodged the cork back into the bottle grabbed both goblets.
 
“How different?” Kunzite asked, taking one of the goblets from Titanius’ outreached hand.
 
“Well, I’ll start out by choosing my target,” Titanius began, gently whirling the red liquid around in his goblet, “I would blend very well into most places where people work. Then, I will study the methods of that target, and its weaknesses. After that is when the havoc begins.” He paused for a moment, taking another sniff of the fine aroma emanating from his goblet before taking a rather generous sip of his wine.
 
“Is that all?” Kunzite wondered after having repeated Titanius’ actions with his own goblet.
 
“I’m not finished. This won’t be a sudden attack, mind you. I will have to plan this attack carefully, and execute it in concealment before the chaos begins. Remember, my purpose is to actually lure the Sailor Senshi. Jadeite was really good at getting their attention without even trying. I’ll just do a better job of it, simply because I’ll be getting their attention on purpose.”
 
“It sounds like you have been giving this mission some thought during your rather extended training session,” Kunzite acknowledged, taking another sip of his wine, “It sounds good on paper. But we’ll have to see if it lives up to your hype.”
 
“Believe me, it will. You’ll see just how capable I really am,” Titanius replied, taking another generous sip of wine, “It’ll be fun wreaking havoc as a civilian. No one will ever suspect me, nor figure out who I am.”
 
“I like your enthusiasm, Titanius-san. And I especially am starting to like the way your foul little mind is working,” Kunzite praised, his chuckles growing into sonorous laughter. Titanius too joined as their laughs of pleasure filled the halls outside Titanius’ chamber.
 
 
Juuban Park...
 
The morning at the park was marvelous. The wispy cirrus clouds were few and scattered, giving the sky its subtle yet captivating highlights. However, few were at the park to witness such a good morning. Such tranquility only made the park that much more beautiful that morning. But suddenly, that tranquility was broken when a flash of light overtook a secluded nook in the park. From that flash, Titanius had arrived at the park from seemingly nowhere.
 
Having regained his bearings from teleporting all the way to Tokyo from the Dark Kingdom headquarters, he glanced about his surroundings and began pondering his next move. It took little time for Titanius to realize that the park was rather sparsely populated. “Now how can I blend with the people in if there aren’t any to blend in with?” he pondered as he walked about the park.
 
“Where the hell is everybody?” he asked no one in particular, “This is a park. There are supposed to be people here.” As he continued to walk and glance about the park, he began to take note of his observations. Of the few people around the park, most were middle-aged or elderly, while the rest were college-age. There were no children playing in the park, save for one toddler, nor was there anyone wearing anything similar to what he was wearing.
 
“I knew I shouldn’t have chosen work-attire when I haven’t even chosen my target,” Titanius told himself, “But why are there so few people? None of them are dressed like me, and none of them are children.” Suddenly, with that last observation, Titanius realized why.
 
“That’s right, it’s Monday,” Titanius said to himself, “Everyone is at their jobs, all the kids are in school, and here I am looking like a construction worker out here ditching work...”
 
He then paused as another thought hit his mind. With that thought, he realized he had chosen the right disguise after all, “...or a janitor.” Having conceived an improvised strategy, Titanius began to make his way out of the park, “Now I have to choose my target and find a janitor job.” With that, Titanius made his way out of the park, catching a few looks from people along the way, wondering why a man dressed for work isn’t at work. Perhaps he should’ve brought two outfits, one for traveling around the streets of Tokyo, and the other for whatever job he was to infiltrate.
 
Luckily for him, just off of the park grounds stood a newsstand. “There’s only one way to find a job around here,” said Titanius, though only to himself as he grabbed a newspaper and tossed the vendor about 50 yen. “After my studies, I’ve found that newspapers contain just about anything that the people of Earth want to know. So what better way to get to know Earth than to read what’s in the news?”
 
With newspaper in hand, Titanius turned around and made his way back to the park since few people were mingling about. There, a lone park bench provided for a perfect place for Titanius to begin his job hunt. Titanius took his seat on the bench and began browsing through the paper.
 
Almost immediately, he clinched his fists, nearly shredding the newspaper at the sight of a headline featuring Sailor Moon and the Sailor Team defeating yet another minion of the Dark Kingdom. “Damn those Sailor Senshi,” he cursed to himself, remembering his last appearance in the news, “Why must they always meddle in our affairs? But at least I wasn’t there to be embarrassed by the media again.” With that reassurance, Titanius regained his composure and continued browsing the paper.
 
Next in the paper was the sports section, where soccer games and baseball news dominated. One particular story that randomly caught Titanius’ attention was a headline featuring the Azabu Institute of Technology winning both of their soccer scrimmages. “Bravo,” Titanius cheered to himself with obvious sarcasm as he immediately turned away from the sports section. And to his luck, Titanius stumbled upon the classifieds. “Yes, this is where job openings are posted,” Titanius said to himself, “Now where can I find janitor jobs?”
 
Once there, Titanius began his search amongst the horde of open janitor positions. Many of the openings ranged from businesses, to stores, to offices. Many of the jobs required years of experience, which Titanius immediately dismissed since he had no experience to prove. With his search narrowed down, Titanius found a few entry-level openings amongst schools and hospitals. With many people as potential targets, and a sure-fire way to lure the Sailor Senshi, Titanius began browsing those schools and hospitals for the perfect janitor job. And suddenly, one particular opening caught his eye... at Juuban Junior High.
 
“Perfect,” he said to himself, grinning mischievously, “What a perfect place to cause a little turmoil. All the kids will be in school, and I am already well acquainted with the grounds from my last battle. Yes! I have found my target.” With his decision made, he folded the paper just as neatly as it had come from the newsstand. He then rose from the bench and made his way out of the park and toward the direction of the junior high.
 
In the city streets, Titanius found no problem navigating his way toward the school. Since he already knew the Juuban District from his previous visits, both during his battles and the few times he visited while training in the use of his previously-dormant powers. How else would Titanius have gotten a hold of his entire wardrobe of Earth clothes and a bottle of one of the best wines from France?
 
But all of a sudden, a girl rounded a corner directly in front of him and collided with him, knocking them both to the ground. Titanius rubbed the back of his head as he regained his bearings, “Hey, watch where you’re going.” He then looked up to catch a glimpse of the girl whom had knocked him over, having barely caught a blur of her before colliding with him. She was a rather lovely young lady, with long blonde hair pulled up in a pair of small buns resembling dumplings, and wearing a blue and white sailor school uniform and black mary janes.
 
“Oh, I’m sorry sir,” said Usagi says as she gathered her books that were scattered about in the collision, “Oh, I’m gonna be late”. Once her books were gathered, she turned back to Titanius and gave him a quick, yet low bow, “Please forgive me, sir.”
 
Titanius only watched, bewildered, as the young girl ran off at high speed toward the junior high. ‘She must be an athlete, like a track sprinter,’ he thought to himself, ‘She has to be the fastest runner I’ve ever seen amongst these Earth people.’ He then continued his walk toward the junior high, obviously in no rush like Usagi was.
 
Once at the school, Titanius checked himself over to make certain he was as well-dressed as he possibly could be for work. He then walked through the school’s front door, only to find the halls surprisingly empty. ‘Hmm, school must’ve started already,’ he concluded in his head, making sure not to look like a freak talking to himself. Titanius stood there, staring down each of the halls, pondering his next move.
 
“Can I help you sir?” a voice sounded from behind, startling Titanius. He looked back to see a blonde-haired woman in a blue coat and skirt. Titanius quickly regained his composure, trying not to look suspicious.
 
“Yes ma’am, I read in the paper about an opening for a janitor at this school,” Titanius, ignoring how perfectly the woman’s blue business dress fit the fine contours of her body, how her flesh-tone pantyhose highlighted her perfectly-sculpted legs, and how her black high heels accented her height and posture. It was a look that would’ve driven the sexual desires of many men. Yet Titanius was oblivious to it, meeting only her eyes as he replied.
 
“Go down that hall over there. The main office is on the right,” the woman replied, pointing in the direction of the office.
 
“Thank you,” said Titanius, making sure to bow to her while doing so. It was one of the Japanese customs and courtesies Titanius learned during his first visit to earth, offending quite a number of people before learning it. He then began his trek toward the hall after the sounds of the woman’s high heels hitting the asphalt tile resonated down the halls away from him. ‘Such great beauty,’ Titanius thought to himself as he took a peek at the woman marching down the hall, ‘Too bad I’ll have to drain your energy too in order to lure those Sailor Senshi.’
 
Once Titanius had entered the main office, the secretary greeted him, “Good morning, sir. How may I help you?”
 
“Good morning, Ma’am,” Titanius greeted back, remembering what little manners he had, “I’m interested in the job opening here for a janitor.”
 
“And don’t you look like you’re ready to work,” the woman commented playfully, “I’ll go find the principal if you just take a seat. What’s your name, sir?”
 
Titanius hesitated for a second. He didn’t want to use his real name since it sounded too out of place. It took him a few seconds to come up with an alias. “My name is Tidusu Jacobi,” Titanius replied.
 
“Wow, that sounds a little exotic, almost Hebrew,” the woman complimented.
 
‘Dammit Titanius, Japanese, not Hebrew’, Titanius scolded to himself in his mind, ‘At least I tried to make it sound Japanese.’
 
“Alright Tidusu-san, just take a seat, relax, and I’ll go find the principal,” the secretary said as she walked out of the office almost briskly, unburdened by her pink high heels.
 
‘How do these women dress so seductively at a school?’ Titanius asked himself as he took his seat, noting her white blouse and short pink skirt, showing off her finely built legs. But then, the subliminal message in the woman’s delivery of her words overshadowed her looks, prompting an evil grin from Titanius, ‘I got this job in the bag.’
 
 
Dark Kingdom Headquarters...
 
Later that day, Titanius arrived back at the headquarters, gleaming with joy as an evil smile highlighted his face. He had a rather successful day mingling with the civilians at the junior high and interviewing for a janitor’s job. Afterward, he mingled with the people walking about the streets of Tokyo as they had gotten off work, wearing the same beaming smile as he was now. He had barely made it 6 feet inside the headquarters before he filled the halls, and seconds later the entire headquarters, with his thunderous and maniacal laughter.
 
Not a moment too soon, Kunzite and Zoisite walked into the front hall to see Titanius on his knees, laughing to the point of absolute insanity. They looked at each other in response, completely dumbfounded. “He’s cracked,” Zoisite observed.
 
“What’s gotten into him?” Kunzite asked.
 
“Beats me,” Zoisite replied. Titanius walked toward the duo on his knees, still laughing profusely, and took a firm grasp onto Kunzite’s cape, putting most of his weight on it.
 
“I got the job,” said Titanius, still with some insanity, “I got the job, I got the goddamn job at the junior high.” He then dropped to the floor and began rolling on the ground, laughing. Zoisite looked back to Kunzite, circling his ear with one finger and pointing at the rolling Titanius with the other.
 
“I agree,” said Kunzite. He then turned his attention to Titanius, who was looking up at him with an oversized grin and eyes the size of softballs. “You’ve been to the dentist’s office, haven’t you?” Kunzite commented, “Yeah that’s it, you went there and huffed on the laughing gas, didn’t you?”
 
Titanius merely nodded his head vigorously in response, “Uh huh,” and continued to roll on the floor, laughing maniacally.
 
“Should we leave you and your insanity alone together?” Zoisite asked sarcastically.
 
After a few more moments of maniacal laughter, Titanius rose back up from the ground and regained his composure. However, his sheer excitement still drew out plenty of chuckles. “I’m posing as a janitor at Juuban Junior High where I battled Sailor Moon just over 2 weeks ago,” he explained.
 
“Perfect disguise,” said Kunzite.
 
“No one will ever suspect me when I start raising hell throughout the school over the course of days, maybe a week. That’ll lure Sailor Moon and her pesky Sailor Senshi,” Titanius continued.
 
“How will you wreak havoc?” Zoisite asked, “You wouldn’t be able to do much if you send in a youma.”
 
“First I’ll cause accidents so I can clean them up and set some traps at the same time. Those traps will cause things in the school to go crazy. I haven’t figured out what I will sabotage and how I’ll make it go crazy. I’ll know when I get there. I’ll do it, though, and it’ll keep on going until the students themselves panic and go insane. Then I engage some locking mechanisms on all the exits, trapping the students and teachers inside. That’s when I start sending in youmas,” Titanius lectured.
 
“Great plan,” Kunzite responded.
 
“It sounds like one of Nephrite’s tricks,” Zoisite added, “He used an object to bring a person’s energy levels to their peak before summoning a youma to drain their energy.”
 
“Oh, but that’s not all. Some time later when things seem to calm down, such as when the Sailor Senshi actually show up, I’ll release another youma outside on the school grounds. It’ll be one of my most powerful,” said Titanius, “I will show myself only if my cover is blown, which is unlikely, or when the Mars Prince shows up.”
 
“It’s a truly ingenious plan,” Zoisite complemented.
 
“Queen Beryl will be pleased to hear of your plan,” Kunzite added as he and Zoisite turned and made their way toward the main throne room.
 
“This plan will work,” Titanius said to himself, “I’ll lure those Sailor Senshi for sure, all 5 of them.” With such excitement over his imminent and diabolical plan, he once again filled the halls of the dark kingdom with his profuse laughter as he made his way toward his chamber.
 
 
Next Day, Juuban Junior High...
 
Titanius arrived at the school rather early, wearing blue work pants and a matching blue work shirt. Having chosen his target, and remembering his familiarity with the school grounds from his previous battle, he had chosen the perfect place at the school as a teleportation point. He had chosen a secluded grove just outside the school’s main building. Doing this, Titanius could easily traverse between the school and the Dark Kingdom in little time. Although most janitors came to work before school started to begin with, Titanius arrived rather early at the request of the principal so that he would get to know the school a little better. Titanius had no problem with this, as he had no knowledge of the inside of the school. In addition, would help him in further devising his strategy to attack the school.
 
“Good Morning, Tidusu-san,” the voice of a middle-aged man greeted him. Titanius turned to the voice to see a rather portly middle-aged man with a receding hairline and black mustache matching his salt-and-pepper hair. He wore the same blue working shirt and pants that Titanius was wearing, and had a rather large collection of keys hanging from the right side of his belt.
 
“Good Morning, sir,” Titanius replied, not forgetting his manners as he bowed politely to his middle-aged co-worker. ‘I can’t believe I’m actually bowing down to such lowlife Earth civilians,’ Titanius thought to himself in disgust as he rose, ‘Remember, Titanius, it’s just an act.’
 
 “Come, Tidusu-san. Follow me. I’ll show you around,” said the middle-aged janitor. He then turned around and waved Titanius to follow him. Titanius followed very willingly, eager to see what kind of facilities this school had to offer. The man showed Titanius each of the classrooms on all the floors, reminding him that he would have to clean these rooms every week on Saturday after the half-day let out. He then showed Titanius the restrooms, both the boys’ and girls’. He informed Titanius that these restrooms had to be cleaned twice a day during classes and again after school, and whenever an occasional accident occurred. He then showed Titanius the gymnasium, the adjacent locker rooms, and the showers, and informed him that they too had to be cleaned after school everyday. Last, and certainly the most important, the man showed Titanius the supply rooms that were scattered in strategic locations of the school, where all the tools and supplies pertaining to his job were located.
 
‘Damn, and I thought that all the housecleaning my mother made me do was for nothing,’ Titanius thought to himself. After the tour of the entire school, they found their way to janitors’ office, where another had just arrived and was grabbing his supplies from his locker. “Good Morning, Ishakawa-san,” the middle-aged man greeted.
 
The other janitor, a younger man who looked slightly older than a college student, turned to greet his co-worker. “Ah, good morning,” he replied, bowing politely, “Is that the new guy?”
 
“Yes, he’s starting with us today,” the middle-aged man replied, “Ishikawa-san, this is Tidusu Jacobi. Tidusu-san, this is Ishikawa Kyoichi, one of the other day janitors here.”
 
“Pleasure to meet you,” said Titanius as he and Kyoichi shook hands.
 
“I’ll leave you two to your duties,” said the middle-aged man as he walked over to his desk toward the back of the office.
 
“I’ll start with the first floor,” said Titanius, “Is that okay with you, Ishikawa-san?”
 
“That sounds good to me,” Kyoichi replied, “I never like working the first floor at the start of the day when everyone is coming in. I like the second floor myself before school, and then I move to the first floor once school starts.”
 
“I’m glad I can be of help,” Titanius commented. He then turned to leave the janitors’ office.
 
“Oh Tidusu-san,” the middle-aged man summoned, stopping Titanius dead in his tracks. Titanius turned around to see the middle-aged man tossing a rather large collection of keys on to him. Titanius caught them easily and clipped them to the right side of his belt. “You’re going to need those,” the man commented.
 
“Thank you, sir,” Titanius replied as he turned back around and left the janitor’s office behind Kyoichi.
 
Moments later, he arrived at the first floor supply room. Once inside, he grabbed a mop, a rolling bucket, and some cleaning solvents, and began his work. He knew he wasn’t going to get to see much before school started, so he decided to begin mopping the floors at the western end of the school. As he mopped the floors, he managed to catch a few peeks through the doors of the various classrooms, taking mental notes of each room, their layout, and their contents. Although it wasn’t much, any bit of information Titanius could gather could prove useful to his plans.
 
It wasn’t long before Titanius made his way to the front entrance of the school, still mopping the floor as he advanced. And just as he reached the foyer, numerous groups of students began to pour into the school. With the students taking up much of Titanius’ work area, he decided to pause and let the students make their way to their homeroom classes. Remembering his cover, Titanius put on the best happy face that he could possibly muster and greeted most of the students coming in. Some waved back at him, some jeered, and some just plain ignored him. After about 15 minutes of dealing with the crowd of students coming in, the crowd thinned out significantly, allowing Titanius to continue with his work. So he placed the mop back into the bucket and wringed it out.
 
Just as the bell was ringing to signal the start of classes, a girl burst through the front door and dashed through the foyer. “I’m late again”, the girl yelled. As she sped through the foyer, she tripped over the mop bucket and spilled its contents all over the floor, causing her to hit the ground hard and drop her books and papers. Titanius heard the girl trip over his mop bucket and turned to see her wailing loud enough to be heard through half of the first floor and tears jetting from her eyes.
 
“Are you okay, young lady?” he asked, trying to cover his evil with concern.
 
The girl stopped wailing, and looked at Titanius, “Yes, I’ll be okay. But I’m late anyway.” She then turned away to begin picking up all of her belongings.
 
Titanius noticed her blonde hair pulled up in the shape of a pair of buns resembling dumplings. ‘Hey, that’s the girl I bumped into yesterday,’ he thought to himself, ‘So she goes to his school huh?’ He helped the girl with picking up her books and then handed them to her.
 
 “Thank you,” she said, bowing to him politely. But as she rose, she caught a good look at man who helped her to pick up her books and papers. ‘His face looks awfully familiar,’ she thought to herself. It didn’t take her long to realize who he was. “Hey, you’re that guy I ran into yesterday morning,” she said, “Hi, my name is Tsukino Usagi. What’s yours?”
 
“My name is Tidusu Jacobi. I just started today,” said Titanius.
 
“Pleased to meet you, Tidusu-san,” Usagi replied, bowing to him again.
 
“So you’re late for class, huh?” said Titanius as a thought came to his mind, something that he never thought he would ever do, even in disguise, “Come with me, Tsukino-san. I’ll take you to class so you won’t get in trouble.”
 
“Lucky!,” Usagi gleefully replied, “Oh thank you, Tidusu-san. You’re a life saver.” He and Usagi proceeded to walk toward her homeroom class. “You’re such a great guy Tidusu-san,” she commented..
 
“Hey, it was my mop bucket that caused you to be late in the first place,” says Titanius, “And I probably made you late yesterday too when we ran into each other. So it’s the least I can do.”
 
Moments later, they made it to her homeroom class and opened the door, where the teacher waited to ambush the tardy Usagi. “Usagi, Usagi, Usagi, late again as usual,” the teacher said with her usual disappointment, “Can’t you ever make it to my class on time? You know the drill.”
 
“I’m sorry, it was my fault that Tsukino-san here was late,” said Titanius, “My stuff got in her way Miss...what’s your name?”
 
“My name is Sakurada Haruna. And yours?” Haruna replied. ‘Wow, he’s a good-looking guy for a janitor,’ she thought to herself as she caught a glimpse of Titanius’ face once she had stopped paying attention to Usagi’s tardiness.
 
“Tidusu Jacobi,” Titanius responded, “I’m the new janitor here.”
 
“Alright Usagi, you’re lucky Tidusu-san was here to help. So I won’t slap you with detention this time,” said Haruna before turning back to Titanius, “Thank you, Tidusu-san.”
 
‘You’re welcome Hothead-sensei,’ Titanius thought to himself as he left the classroom, ‘What a bitch. I like her.’ He walked down the halls and back to the foyer where he had left the spilled contents of his mop bucket. ‘God, what a mess,’ Titanius said to himself, ‘This is going to be a setback.’ He then grabbed his mop and began work on sopping up all the spilled water and cleanser. With no students and very few staff walking about, and the wet floor signs placed about the foyer, Titanius had little trouble working to clean up the mess that Usagi had made.
 
Once finished, he gathered his cleaning supplies and walked back to the janitors’ office. “Ah, Tidusu-san,” the middle-aged man greeted as Titanius walked into the office, “I saw your work. You’re doing an excellent job so far. You can take a short break if you want.”
 
“Thank you, sir. What’s your name? I never once got your name,” Titanius asked.
 
“My name’s Takeshi Kenji,” he replied, “I’m the head maintenance professional here at Juuban Municipal Junior High.”
 
“You’re serious about me taking a break?” he asked, even though it provided him with an opportunity to grab a few things he needed for his master plan.
 
“Of course,” Kenji replied, “You have it until 9:15, when 1st hour ends. Then you’ll have some more work.”
 
“I’m looking forward to it,” Titanius said as he turned and walked out the door and toward the nearest exit. ‘Really, I am,’ he thought to himself, chuckling as he walked down the hall.

 
8:52 a.m....
 
After grabbing a few of his little gadgets and devices from the Dark Kingdom Headquarters, Titanius arrived back at the school to find some more work to do that would allow him to secretly plant them. These small yet powerful gadgets were designed to cause accidents and other disruptions and were remotely activated, allowing Titanius to cause disruptions in the school without anyone suspecting him. He hid the devices conveniently and perfectly in his large cargo pockets and marched straight toward the janitors’ office. Once inside, he greeted Kyoichi and Kenji.
 
“You’re back early, Tidusu-san. Good,” said Kenji, “I assume you figured the rest of the school out on our tour this morning.”
 
“Of course, Takeshi-san,” Titanius replied, punctuating it with a nod.
 
“Good. The halls in the east wing need to be cleaned after classes change. Anything else?” Kenji ordered.
 
“Yes, would I get a chance to clean most of the school today?” Titanius asks, “You know, get to know the school a little better? I’m already familiar enough with it, but I just want to get to know it better, you know.”
 
“I can probably arrange that. Sure,” said Kenji. ‘God, I love this new guy’s enthusiasm,’ Kenji thought to himself, inwardly grateful to the principal for hiring a man as eager to do a great job as Tidusu Jacobi, ‘His name sounds a little foreign, but he’s the hardest worker I have.’
 
With his task given to him, Titanius grabbed a push duster, a broom and dustpan, a bucket and mop, and some cleaning solvents and took his time wheeling them toward the east wing of the school. It wasn’t long before the bell rang to signal the end of homeroom classes. And right as the bell rang, large numbers of students began filing out of their classes, causing random traffic jams throughout the school. Some of the students took their time between classes to chat amongst themselves, while others ogled at the random hot guy that walked by. Titanius decided to just stand there against the window as most of the students walked around him and to their classes, just as he had done when school started.
 
 “Good Morning, Tidusu-san.” A young girl’s voice called out to him. Titanius looked behind him to find Usagi wearing a sunshine smile and waving to him as she walked by him and toward her class
 
Titanius gladly waved back in response and watched as the lovely young blonde with the dumpling hairstyle disappeared into the crowd of students. ‘Is there actually good in me?’ Titanius wondered, remembering that it was he who had helped the desperate girl with getting to her class and keeping her out of detention. But then he remembered why he was at the school, living and working amongst Earth civilians. ‘Nah!’ he thought to himself with an evil grin.
 
With all the students having made it to their classes, Titanius grabbed his push duster and immediately began to work on the east wing, studying the very details of the halls and anything seemingly insignificant.
 
Sometime later, after finishing with cleaning the floors of the entire east wing, Titanius grabbed his cleaning supplies and made his way toward the north hall of the school, doing his best to at least look dedicated to his duty. After all, he didn’t get this job just to sit around. Once there, he grabbed his push duster and began sweeping up and down the halls, taking notes of all the rooms he walked by. Then, halfway down the hall, he stopped as he noticed a rather empty room, except for a rather large number of computers. Titanius looked up at the sign, which read “Computer Lab”.
 
‘Ah, computers. What a perfect place to start some chaos,’ Titanius thought to himself as he went back to his cleaning supplies. He grabbed them and made a beeline to the computer lab. Since the room required very little cleaning, Titanius haphazardly swept the floors, using it to make his way toward a computer close to the center of the room. Once there, he extracted one of his electromagnetic scrambling devices and hid it underneath the computer. Once the device was in place, he finished his haphazard sweeping and left the computer lab, only to notice a class heading straight in his direction. Casually grabbed his cleaning supplies and continued with his cleaning of the north hall, catching a few peeks at the group of students as they entered the computer lab.
 
“Damn,” he cursed under his breath as he swept, “I wanted to zap those computers today. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I’ll just use the rest of the day to plant bugs in other parts of the school.”
 
But as he finished sweeping the north hall, he realized just how easily he had planted his scrambling device. ‘I don’t need accidents to set my devices,’ he thought to himself as made his way back down the north hall and toward the janitor’s office. Moments later, the bell rang again to signal a short break after the second hour class. Knowing what kind of crowd would be filling the halls, Titanius took his seat on a chair in the foyer and watched as the students packed the halls on their way to their next class. While there, he took his time to plan his ongoing mission. ‘Hell, with how easy this is turning out to be, I can make this go quicker. I really don’t need to take my time,’ Titanius realized.
 
At the end of the day, Titanius sat in the janitors’ office to unwind. Throughout the day, he had been busy  sweeping and mopping the halls of the school, as well as a few empty rooms. And while doing so, he had planted his various devices in strategic locations throughout the school, in areas where tripping them would cause noticeable accidents. It was his hope that these accidents would cause chaos throughout the school for his youma to feed on the energy generated by their panic. As he sat there, unwinding from his busy day, and mapping out his mission in his head, Kenji walked into the office.
 
 “Ah, Tidusu-san. You did great on your first day,” he commented.
 
“Thank you, Takeshi-san,” Titanius replied. ‘Dammit, you bastard. I wish I could just scream it out to you. I’m a warrior, not a janitor,’ he thought to himself.
 
“You can leave if you want,” said Kenji, “School’s almost out and Ishakawa-san will get everything ready for the night janitor. So take the rest of the day off.”
 
“Thank you, Takeshi-san,” said Titanius as he gratefully took Kenji up on the offer. He rose from his chair and left the janitors’ office, then made a beeline for the nearest exit out of the school where his portal to the Dark Kingdom awaited.
 
 
Dark Kingdom Headquarters...
 
After getting to a good start with setting the school up for his energy-gathering and Sailor Senshi luring mission, Titanius arrived back at the Dark Kingdom’s headquarters and immediately marched to his chamber. His first agenda upon his arrival was to get out of his civilian attire and to change back into his armor. “Dammit, I’m a bounty hunter, not some lowly Earth civilian,” Titanius cursed as he discarded his civilian uniform with a violent throw toward his armoire.
 
Once he donned his favorite black and red armor and red satin cape, he left his chamber and marched toward Kunzite’s chamber. His riding boots echoed throughout the halls of the Dark Kingdom, making his return from his mission well known to all its inhabitants. He quickly arrived at Kunzite’s chamber and immediately banged on his door with much aggression.
 
“What do you want?” Kunzite’s voice yelled from inside.
 
“To discuss my progress,” Titanius sharply responded.
 
“Get in here,” Kunzite half-drunkenly said. With that invitation, Titanius opened the large, heavy wooden door and walked inside. He found Kunzite sitting at his large wooden desk, planning a mission of his own. His well-lit desk resembled that of a large drafter’s desk. Kunzite had various schematics for some of Tokyo’s various buildings. And as he studied them, he mapped out his battle plans on a sheet of parchment.
 
“Planning an attack of your own, are you?” Titanius asks, wondering why Kunzite was planning a mission while his is already in action.
 
“Yes, I’m planning a back-up mission to lure the Sailor Senshi just in case yours back fires,” Kunzite replied.
 
“You know as well as I do my plan will succeed,” Titanius responded, stepping forward and standing his ground.
 
“How’s it going so far?” Kunzite asks.
 
“Well, I’m actually making some excellent progress,” Titanius explained, “I’ve already set a few devices in various inconspicuous, somewhat insignificant, yet strategic locations. Tomorrow, I’ll rig the main power, the fire alarms, and install the locking mechanisms. Thursday, I’ll cause a power outage and disintegrate the device to erase evidence. It’ll take some time to get the power back on. Friday, I’ll set off the fire alarms and as the kids start scrambling, I’ll set off the smoke devices. It’ll be then that I signal you to release my youmas in the school. I’ll only need two of them.”
 
“So you really are making this into an energy gathering mission as well, as an added bonus,” Kunzite commented.
 
“Why not?” Titanius replied, “Queen Beryl-sama will want to pay me more for it when I succeed.”
 
“It’s a great plan, Titanius-san,” Kunzite commented as he wadded up his parchment, “Looks like I won’t need mine. I couldn’t come up with a mission better than that.”
 
Titanius turned and walked toward Kunzite’s door. Once there, he turned back to the silver-haired King, “Thursday, chaos at the junior high will begin.” With that last line, he left Kunzite’s chamber, with his maniacal laughter resonating throughout the halls of the Dark Kingdom.

end of chapter 1
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Disclaimer: As usual, Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine, but belong to Naoko Takeuchi. And God bless that woman for creating such great entertainment for all of us with a lot of free time on our hands to enjoy. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment and Cloverway, and I only thank them for bringing' it to America, nothin' more. But Russell Hino/Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, Titanius, and Deanna Kokorono/Kokorono Meijin are MINE (in a growling voice). So, please don't sue me. I'm just a lonely man who ain't got anythang but his pride. Well, y'all enjoy this fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,
Viper Inferno
(Y2V)

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