Wildfire by ViperInferno

Chapter 2: Let the Madness Begin

Wildfire
By Viper Inferno
Chapter 2: Let the Madness Begin

 Thursday...
 
Titanius arrived at the school early, as usual, wearing a black t-shirt and rather baggy blue cargo pants. The numerous oversized pockets allowed him to hide a vast number of his little gadgets that he was to plant about the school that day, thus completing his bugging of the school. In addition, he carried a small remote control that he would use to set off the devices he had originally planned to set off in order to create some dismay throughout the school. He didn’t even bother to check in with Kenji, but rather grabbed a large tool belt from the janitors’ office and immediately proceeded toward a nearby supply closet. Since he had only installed half of the locking mechanisms on the doors the day before, he had to finish bugging the rest of doors so that he could properly carry out his mission.
 
Upon arrival at the supply closet, he grabbed a few of the new door knobs and locks that had been shipped in at the beginning of the week and immediately began to make his way toward the nearest exterior door. Once there, he set the new locks and knobs down, grabbed some tools, and proceeded to remove the old latch and lock from the door. Having already done this job multiple times the day before, he quickly disassembled the door hardware and set it aside. He then removed the new hardware from their boxes, and then looked around to make sure no one was watching, especially with students having been walking around the halls and on their way to their classes. Assured that he was alone, he reached into one of his left pockets and extracted one of his self-powered electromechanical locking mechanisms.
 
The locking mechanisms themselves were rather small, which made them relatively easy to hide inside the door along with the door hardware. They used a series of gears and electric motors to engage the door locks when triggered by remote control. They were powered by small marble-sized energy balls provided to him by Jadeite from a previous energy-gathering mission. The combination of both the electro-mechanicals and dark energy contained within the devices rendered the door hardware much more powerful than even a thick deadbolt, and were products of pure genius on Titanius’ part. With his devious device in hand, he carefully attached it to the new lock and went to work on installing it onto the door.
 
“Working on the locks, are you, Tidusu-san?” a voice said to him from behind, startling him. Titanius turned around to see Kyoichi with a rather inquisitive look on his face. ‘God, I hope he didn’t see me bugging this door,’ Titanius said to himself.
 
“Yeah, I didn’t get to finish fixing all the locks yesterday,” Titanius casually responded, “So I’m finishing up now while I have plenty of time.”
 
“That’s good, because Sensei wants them all done by the end of homeroom hour,” said Kyoichi as the bell signaling the beginning of class began to ring, “You’ve only got a little over an hour.”
 
“Thank you, I’ll be done before then,” said Titanius.
 
With Kyoichi gone, he finished installing the bugged door hardware and then grabbed his supplies and proceeded on to the next door that he had missed the day before. With all the students in class, rigging the last of the doors in secrecy was a cinch for Titanius. And a half-hour later, with plenty of time to spare after rigging the last door, Titanius looked all around him and paused as a class was walking the hall toward one of the science labs. And as soon as that class had disappeared, Titanius withdrew his universal remote control and turned back to the door. He set the control for the door locks and tested the locking mechanism. At the press of a button, the door immediately locked. He tried the door knob, and it wouldn’t budge. And then he slid one of his endless array of keys into the double-cylinder deadbolt and tried it, and it too failed to even budge, let alone unlock. “Perfect, they work,” Titanius said to himself as he pressed the button again, releasing the door lock.
 
With that portion of his mission setup completed, Titanius grabbed the rest of the old door hardware and made his way down the hall and back toward the janitor’s office. On his way, he passed by the computer lab that he had rigged earlier in the week. And immediately, he noticed that it was completely unoccupied. He checked his watch for a good time to set off his first trap, and to his surprise, that time was quickly approaching.
 
‘Perfect,’ he thought to himself. So he extracted his controller, set it to the computer lab bug, and activated the device. And in an instant, it began to fire bolts of lightning throughout the computer lab, causing every computer to overload, shoot sparks, and crash. The lights in the room went out for a few seconds as the computers were being fried, as well as the lights throughout the rest of the school. After doing its job, the device disintegrated into ashes, erasing the evidence. ‘What a perfect crime,’ Titanius thought to himself, ‘Phase one, complete. Phase Two begins after lunch.’ Satisfied with the results, Titanius quickly hid the controller in his pocket and immediately headed back toward the main hall toward the janitors’ office, trying not to look suspicious.
 
 
Lunch...
 
Ami and Usagi sat together on the roof of the school, eating their lunch and sharing a friendly conversation with one another. It was something that they often enjoyed together at school, especially since Ami and Usagi were in different classes. Even Usagi and Makoto, also in different classes, often enjoyed lunch together, especially since Makoto always had some of the best lunches amongst all the students. But Makoto wasn’t sitting with them that day, so it was just Ami and Usagi sharing their lunch and their thoughts with one another. As usual, Usagi devoured her oversized lunch in a matter of seconds. 
 
“Hungry girl, aren’t you?” Ami commented.
 
“Gotta eat to live. Must eat,” Usagi responded while she gulped down the rest of her lunch.
 
“That’s ‘Eat to live’, Usagi-chan, not live to eat,” Ami responded.
 
Usagi quickly finished off her lunch and turned back to Ami, who was busy finishing her ham & cheese sandwich that her mother had left for her. Sandwiches were always Ami’s favorite, especially because she could eat them in the middle of her studies without deviating. And with her mother usually on call at the hospital, either she or Ami would always make sandwiches for her to bring to school since they were easy to both make and keep in the refrigerator.
 
“Did you hear what happened in the computer lab?” Usagi asked, trying to start a little gossip with Ami.
 
“Yes, all the computers are dead. It’s like a big power surge destroyed all the circuitry,” Ami replied.
 
“But the power never went out,” Usagi argued.
 
“I know. It could’ve been a computer virus,” Ami theorized, “But then how does a virus affect every computer and even burn the circuitry themselves?”
 
“Someone may have done it on purpose,” Usagi suggested.
 
“Sabotage?” said Ami, “That’s the best theory I’ve heard coming out of you. I guess you do have a little brainpower in you.”
 
“Thanks Ami-chan,” Usagi praised, quite proud of herself. After sharing a little laughter with Ami, Usagi quickly started a new subject. “Oh, did you hear we got a new janitor this week?” she asked.
 
“Yes, I’ve noticed him a couple of times. I was wondering who he was,” Ami replied.
 
“Yeah, his name’s Tidusu Jacobi-san,” said Usagi.
 
“His name sounds rather foreign,” Ami commented, “It sounds like he’s either Israeli with a Japanese surname, or Japanese with a Hebrew name.”
 
“Whatever,” Usagi commented, ignoring Ami’s theory, “But he seems like such a cool guy.”
 
“How so?” Ami asked, wondering why Usagi was actually showing interest in an adult.
 
“Well, he sort of saved me from detention a few days ago,” Usagi answered.
 
“Well, that still doesn’t encourage you to always be late to school, Usagi-chan,” Ami argued, “He can’t be there all the time to bail you out.”
 
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Usagi sighed in defeat. “But if he were a teacher, I’d rather have him than Haruna-sensei.”
 
“You do have a point there,” Ami replied.
 
After a while, with lunch coming to an end, the girls stood and made their way back inside to join the crowd of students as they returned to their classes.
 
“I’ll see you at Rei-chan’s after school,” said Ami as they made it down to the second floor.
 
“What about Kyodai-san?” Usagi said, stopping Ami. “He can’t know about us.”
 
“Rei-chan said that he was gone for the week with his Physics class,” Ami explained, “So we’ll be fine.”
 
“I understand. I’ll see you after school. Bye, Ami-chan,” said Usagi. And before Ami could respond, Usagi took off like a gazelle toward her class. Meanwhile, Ami only casually took her books and confidently walked to her class, knowing she had plenty of time.
 
‘Poor Usagi-chan, she makes such a habit of running to her classes,’ Ami thought to herself as she quietly walked around some of the students on her way to her class.
 
 
Half-an-hour later...
 
Titanius mopped the floors of the cafeteria after the benevolent teenagers created a rather lovely mess, trying to look proud to be doing so. Although messes in the cafeteria after lunch were common, Titanius always found it to be a hindrance to the real reason that he was working at the junior high. ‘How the hell do these kids always manage to make such a mess in such a short amount of time?’ he thought to himself after he finished cleaning up a juice spill.
 
After cleaning up most of the cafeteria, he looked around both the inside and outside the cafeteria to make sure no one was around. He then checked his watch to make sure that the window to execute Phase Two of his plan hadn’t passed him by during his cleaning of the messy cafeteria. With nobody in sight, and since the school had no security cameras, he pulled out his universal controller and set it to activate a number of the devices he had rigged throughout the school.
 
“Let Thursday Turmoil begin,” he said to himself as he pressed the button, activating the scrambling devices on the main transformers. In an instant, the power throughout the school surged, causing the lights all over to glow really bright. A large number of fluorescent lights throughout the halls, and even inside some of the classrooms blew, some of them into pieces. Even the transformer itself blew, causing the power to finally cease, leaving the entire school in darkness, except for a few of the emergency backup lights. Titanius then pressed another button, causing all of the emergency lights to blow out and their battery packs to overload and smoke. Then, after having completed their jobs, the devices disintegrated, eradicating all evidence of sabotage.
 
With the school completely dark, Titanius quietly slipped his controller back into his pocket, and then acted surprised from the power outage. However, with the school completely dark away from any windows, Titanius found it troublesome to navigate the school. ‘Damn, I should’ve thought about that,’ he thought to himself. As he slid along the walls of the darkened hallway, trying to navigate purely by touch, Kenji finally discovered him with his flashlight in hand. “Are you alright, Tidusu-san?” he asked.
 
“Yeah. That power outage spooked me out a little, but I’m fine,” Titanius replied, lying of course about being spooked.
 
“Tell me about it. Even the emergency lights blew out, I can’t believe it. Are you an electrician, by any chance?” Kenji curiously asked.
 
“Unfortunately, that’s one thing I don’t know how to do,” Titanius quickly answered, lying of course since he was the one who rigged it to blow in the first place.
 
“Well, I’m gonna have to call some electricians and see if they can find out why the power went out,” said Kenji, “Be careful out here.” He then walked by Titanius and continued down the halls as handfuls of students began to roam about, some socializing with one another. ‘Perfect,’ Titanius thought to himself, completely assured that everything was going as just as he had planned, ‘Their energy is rising. And tomorrow, there will be total chaos. And my youmas will have plenty of energy to steal. If that doesn’t lure those damned Sailor Senshi, what will?’ Satisfied with the results, he casually walked through the dark halls to the janitors’ office, bumping into a few students along the way. Once there, Kyoichi met him at the door.
 
“Here Tidusu-san, take this,” he said as he handed Titanius a flashlight, “You’ll need it.”
 
“Thank you, Ishikawa-san,” Titanius replied as he took the flashlight and continued his walk about the halls. There, he observed all the students as they took advantage of the power outage, taking note of each of their apparent energy levels. The power remained out throughout the day. And at the end of school, the principal announced the end of classes over a megaphone all down the halls, sending the students home for the day. Titanius, along with the other janitors and some of the teachers, held their flashlights as they guided the students through the dark halls and out of the building, thus preventing any unnecessary accidents.
 
 
Outside the school...
 
After school, as promised, Usagi and Ami met up at the front gate of the school and began their walk toward the Hikawa Jinja. They stayed relatively silent in their walk since a number of other students were walking in close proximity to them, though not quite following them. So any mention of a Sailor Senshi meeting would’ve had to wait until they had gotten away from the other students.
 
Finally, after walking some distance from the school, the duo was alone after the last of the other students turned on a street corner. “Weird day,” said Usagi, starting the conversation by making reference to the day’s events.
 
“I agree,” said Ami, “I can’t believe that we not only had the computers go out, but we also had a power surge, and then a major power outage to where even the emergency lights were blown out.”
 
“Well, at least it made the day a lot easier,” Usagi commented, trying to look on the bright side of the chaotic day.
 
“Well, Rei-chan called me while I was waiting for you. She went home from her school early, and she’s doing a fire reading right now,” Ami said, changing the subject.
 
“I wonder what we’re gonna talk about this time, other than whatever she finds?” Usagi curiously asked.
 
“There really hasn’t been any action since Saturday,” Ami replied, “Unless Rei-chan finds something, there may not be anything to talk about.”
 
“Except that it was the third time we saw Jadeite since we beat him at the Haneda Airport way back after we met Rei-chan,” Usagi added.
 
“I wonder why he was gone for so long and only recently started showing up again?” Ami wondered.
 
“And Zoisite too,” Usagi added, “We haven’t seen him since we obtained the Silver Crystal and discovered my identity as Princess Serenity.”
 
“And if that isn’t enough, Nephrite seems to have been risen from the dead,” Ami continued, “I thought that Zoisite had killed him earlier this fall. And all this has been happening in the last couple months. Something weird is going on that all our old adversaries are coming back, as if Kunzite wasn’t enough.”
 
“So maybe we do have something to discuss at our meeting after all,” Usagi concluded, “That is, unless Rei-chan finds out what is going on.”
 
 
Hikawa Jinja...
 
After their leisurely walk, and with the reappearance of the rest of the Shitennou on their minds, the duo made it to the Hikawa Jinja. However, upon their arrival, they discovered Kyodai’s old Datsun coupe sitting right next to Gabianni’s Toyota sedan near the temple steps. Usagi jumped up at the sight of his car, with her eyes three times their normal size. “What?! I thought Kyodai-san was gone,” Usagi said sharply, with her anxiety shooting through the roof, “Oh God, what do we do now? If we hold our senshi meeting here, Kyodai-san will find out who we are for sure.”
 
“Relax Usagi-chan,” said Ami, “Rei-chan said that he didn’t need his car.”
 
With that easy explanation, Usagi let out a sigh of relief and calmed herself down. They then casually walked up the temple steps and toward the living area. They then walked through the front door and slipped their shoes off at the door. “Hello, Rei-chan? We’re here,” Usagi announced, then discovered that both Minako and Artemis were already sitting at one side of the table, waiting on both them and Makoto.
 
“At least Usagi’s on time,” Rei maliciously commented, glaring at Usagi.
 
Usagi immediately clinched her right fist and put her left foot forward with authority, “You got a problem, Rei-chan?”
 
“No. It’s just that you’re always late for a senshi meeting,” Rei scornfully responded, “No ‘leader’ would constantly be late for their senshi meetings.”
 
“Hey, I was on time,” Usagi yelled, with her head growing to twice its normal size.
 
“Good, then keep it that way,” Rei ordered.
 
“Usagi-chan. It’s not worth it,” Ami said, placing her hands on the sides of Usagi’s shoulders to both hold her back from Rei and to calm her down. Usagi then let out a discontented sigh, loosened up, and took her place at the table next to Minako. Ami too took her place, sitting down on her knees at side of the table next to the side that Minako and Usagi were sitting and across from Rei.
 
Moments later, Makoto walked through the front door with Luna in her arms and slipped her flats off at the door next to everyone else’s. “Wow, Usagi-chan. You’re actually on time,” Luna commented.
 
“Yeah, aren’t you proud of me?” said Usagi. Luna then jumped down from down from Makoto’s arms, ran to Ami, and hopped up into her lap. “Since everyone is here, and we don’t have to wait on Usagi-chan, shall we begin?” Luna insisted as Makoto took her place at the table across from Usagi and Minako.
 
“Oh yeah, what did you get from your fire reading, Rei-chan?” Usagi asked.
 
Rei looked back toward the girls, wearing a rather concerned look on her face, “Trouble.”
 
“Rei-chan already discussed it with me before you got here,” Artemis began, “Something’s afoot, and the Dark Kingdom is planning something against us.”
 
“Yeah, like Jadeite from Saturday’s battle, and Nephrite coming back from the dead,” Usagi interrupted.
 
“Minako-chan told me about Jadeite making his return, as well as Zoisite. But Nephrite coming back from the dead after you girls witnessed Zoisite killing him is rather perplexing,” Artemis explained, “But that wasn’t what Rei-chan had discovered. Although the reappearance of the other Shitennou in the last couple months may have something to do with it, the enemy is on the move. And they are already here in the Juuban district, even as we speak.”
 
“Really, where?” the girls asked.
 
“Rei-chan got some pretty good specifics on that. You won’t believe it, but they’re at Juuban Junior High. We could be more specific about whom or where at the school, but that’s all that Rei-chan was able to find,” Artemis replied.
 
Makoto, Ami, and Usagi all gasped in response, their eyes widening at the sound of the Dark Kingdom being at their school. After a few moments, Ami was the first to speak up, “Do you have any idea who it might be?”
 
“They have to be someone new to your school,” Rei answered.
 
“That doesn’t narrow it down very well,” Makoto interjected.
 
“Yeah Rei-chan,” Usagi agreed, “Already this week, we got 5 new students in Ami-chan’s classes, Mako-chan’s classes, and mine. We got a new janitor, a new secretary...” Usagi continued.
 
“That’s it,” Ami interrupted mid-sentence, with something coming to her logical mind, “That explains what happened at school today.”
 
“That’s right,” Makoto agreed, “Rei-chan, Minako-chan, some strange things happened at school today. All the computers in the computer lab were fried sometime after homeroom hour. And then there was a massive power outage after lunch. Some of the lights blew out, some of the lights even busted, and even the emergency lights were blown out. I know power outages, and I’ve never seen one quite like that before. It has to be the Dark Kingdom’s doing.”
 
“But why would they attack the school itself,” Minako asked.
 
“Simple, to lure us in,” Rei jumped in, “They figured we would respond quickly if a school was attacked.”
 
“Then that takes the students out of the picture,” said Ami, “Unless they have some plot against the school. I doubt it would be any of the students.”
 
“Then it has to be someone who has the ability to intentionally cause these events,” Rei added.
 
“And I know of only three people who have the ability and the access,” said Ami.
 
“Ayama-san, the student teacher in the computer lab, Miyazaki-sensei, the new General Science teacher, and Tidusu-san, the new janitor,” Makoto listed.
 
“Then you girls will have to keep a close watch on these people and see if any of them are acting suspiciously,” Artemis recommended, “Be sure to keep your henshin pens and communicators on you at all times.”
 
“I’ll watch Ayama-san,” Ami volunteered, “She and I share a similar interest in computers.”
 
“I’ll watch Miyazaki-sensei,” said Makoto, “I have him for science class.”
 
“I’ll watch Tidusu-san,” said Usagi, “I talk to him when I have the time, and greet him in the halls. It could explain why he’s so nice to me.”
 
“Then it’s settled. Usagi-chan, Ami-chan, Mako-chan, be careful. If the Dark Kingdom finds out you’re on to them, it could spell disaster before you’re even ready,” Luna suggested, “Keep us posted, and call us immediately if you find anything.”
 
With that, all the girls stood up and began their walk toward the front door. As she slid into her mary janes, Minako and looked back at Rei with a rather confused look on her face, “What? No Grandpa to hit on us?”
 
“He’s a little under the weather,” Rei responded, “Yuuichiro’s taking care of him right now. So with Grandpa under the weather and Yuuichirou busy taking care of him, Romano and Gabianni are working hard with the chores out in the back. It’s been crazy here with Kyodai at his Physics field trip.”
 
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Minako replied as she turned toward the door, “Bye Rei-chan.”
 
“May fortune be in your favor, Sailor Senshi,” Luna said as she followed Minako and Artemis out the door.
 
 
The next day...
 
Titanius arrived back at the school early as usual, again wearing a pair of cargo pants to hide his universal remote control and his communicator to stay in contact with headquarters. Only a few of the students were walking the halls as they were arriving, with more pouring into the school every few minutes or so. So Titanius made his way to the gymnasium where there were no students and extracted his communicator from one of his pockets. “Kunzite-san, it’s Titanius,” he summoned over his communicator, which he had constructed out of a small two-way radio similar to the ones found in electronics stores, “I’m going to do some last minute inspections of the door locks. I’ll signal you sometime around 2nd hour to release my youmas.”
 
“We’re ready up here whenever you are,” Kunzite replied.
 
“Then may all hell break loose,” Titanius quoted before shutting off his communicator and sliding it back into his cargo pants pocket. He then went around the gymnasium with his universal remote in hand, checking each of the locking mechanisms to make certain they worked. And then, he went back into the main building as more students were filling the halls on their way to their classes. He arrived at another one of the exterior doors and pressed the button on his controller to check the locking mechanism. He then tried the door, finding that the latch and double-cylinder deadbolts didn’t budge. ‘Perfect, all according to plan,’ Titanius thought to himself.
 
“Good Morning, Tidusu-san,” a young girl’s voice greeted from behind him, startling him. He jumped, nearly dropping his controller, then turned around to find Usagi wearing a cheerful smile on her face and waving at him. ‘Damn, I hope she didn’t notice my controller,’ Titanius thought to himself as he inconspicuously hid it in his pocket, ‘Why does she have to bother me while I’m working.’ He then hid his anger and tried his best to smile to the rather friendly young lady, “Good morning, Tsukino-san.”
 
But that greeting came just a second too late as she had already turned around and had begun her journey to her nearby class. With Usagi gone, Titanius continued his journey down the halls of the school, checking each of the exterior doors to make certain that the locking mechanisms were in working order. Finally, as the bell rang to start classes, he finally checked the front doors of the school to make certain that their locking mechanisms worked, which worked like a charm.  ‘Locking mechanisms, check,’ Titanius thought to himself as he placed his controller back into his pocket and continued his rounds about the school.
 
Next, he made another round down the halls, passing Kyoichi along the way as he was mopping the first floor halls. For this round, he was to check the rigging of the fire alarms to make sure he had rigged them properly. With Kyoichi not looking, Titanius took his controller and set it to diagnose the fire alarm bugs to make sure they would receive the signal. He then traversed up and down the halls, making sure to keep his controller hidden from Kyoichi’s inquisitive eyes. He set the controller to emit beeps when the alarm bugs received their signals. After taking 20 minutes walking down all the school’s halls, through the cafeteria, the gymnasium, and the auditorium, all of the fire alarms checked out. ‘Now I have one more thing to check,’ Titanius replied as he made one more round through the school. This time, he found Kyoichi’s bucket and mop sitting unattended on the second floor, but no Kyoichi in sight. He carefully checked over his shoulders, making sure Kyoichi wasn’t watching him, and kept his controller hidden as he sent diagnostic signals to his smoke bombs that he had planted in the air conditioning system and ventilation ducts.
 
By the time he made it to the foyer to check the last of his smoke bombs, the bell rang to signal the end of homeroom hour. As if on impulse, Titanius decided to stand still in the middle of the foyer as students filled the halls as they traversed between their classes. Titanius slid his controller back into his pocket and patiently waited as numerous students walked all around him. Suddenly, he caught Usagi looking straight at him, smiling and waving at him as she walked by. ‘Unusual,’ Titanius thought to himself, ‘Tsukino-san never comes by here after her homeroom class. Haruna-sensei’s class is nowhere near the foyer.’
 
Soon, the students disappeared into their classes, giving Titanius the chance to check his last smoke bomb. He pressed the button to diagnose it, and it gave its rewarding beep, letting Titanius know that it was working perfectly. ‘There, that’s the last one. All is well,’ Titanius thought to himself. He then reached into his pocket to grab his communicator to inform Kunzite of his progress, but immediately froze when he spied Kenji walking into the foyer toward him, wearing a rather suspicious look on his face. “Ah, Tidusu-san, I didn’t even see you come in today. Can I see you in the janitors’ office please?” he said.
 
“Uh, yes sir,” he meekly replied, noticing the look on Kenji’s face. So he followed Kyoichi down the hall and toward the janitors’ office. ‘No, no, no. Don’t tell me he’s found me out,’ Titanius thought to himself, ‘He’s not gonna stop me from completing my mission.’ Moments later, they arrived at the unoccupied janitor’s office. Titanius quickly pondered his next move, not even wondering what it was that made Kenji look so suspicious to begin with. Titanius closed the door behind him, and as Kenji turned around, Titanius quickly zapped him in the chest with a dark energy beam, sending him barreling into the pipes on the other side of the office and knocking him unconscious. “You’re first, Kenji. Your energy will be mine,” Titanius said as he walked up to him and thrust his palm into Kenji’s chest and began draining his energy.
 
With one potential spoiler out of the way, Titanius quietly opened the door and peeked outside to make sure that no one was around to hear the commotion he had just made. With no one around, he walked out of the janitors’ office and down the main hall. ‘Looks like I’m going to have to accelerate my plan before Kyoichi discovers Kenji unconscious,’ Titanius thought to himself, ‘At least everything’s working, so no worries yet.’ He quickly extracted his communicator and keyed the microphone, “Kunzite-san, it’s Titanius. Everything’s ready, but we’re going to have to act now. I had to take out the head janitor before he discovered me, and it’s only a matter of time before the other janitor finds him. I’ll let you know when to send my youmas.”
 
“Understood, be careful,” Kunzite replied. Titanius then looked all around him to make sure Kyoichi wasn’t following him. Satisfied that he was alone, he extracted his controller, set it accordingly, and pressed the big red button on it. And in an instant, all the smoke bombs he had set detonated. He then reset his controller and pressed the button again, this time setting all the fire alarms off. “Let there be hell,” Titanius recited as the fire alarms wailed. Immediately, smoke began pouring from the vents as students quickly began to file out of their classrooms.
 
As the panicking students filled the halls, Titanius took quick note of their energy levels with a rather small crystal. “Perfect, their energy is peaking,” he noted, “A catastrophe such as a fire in the school, and my youmas, will certainly lure those damned Sailor Senshi. I just hope the Mars Prince shows up.” As more panicking students filled the halls, Titanius reset his controller and pressed the button, activating all of his locking mechanisms, thus trapping the students inside. Satisfied with the results, he pulled out his communicator and slipped into a nearby supply closet.
 
 
 
Meanwhile, Makoto had noticed Tidusu Jacobi holding a rather odd-looking radio as he had escaped into the supply closet. Smoke had filled the halls, reducing visibility to a mere couple meters, as the students were coughing while they tried to navigate the halls. Then, horror struck her as some students were trying desperately to open one of the doors to exit the school, but were failing miserably as the doors didn’t even budge and inch with 3 or 4 students trying to bash their way out. Suddenly, a lizard-like youma raced right by Makoto and caught those students off guard. It knocked the students into the walls and grabbed two of them in its claws. There, the youma began draining their energy.
 
Makoto quickly slipped away, trying to avoid the students, and returned to the supply closet where she had witnessed Tidusu Jacobi with his radio. She turned the knob and threw the door open. However, she discovered it to be completely empty. She was never very far from the door in the first place and never heard it open again. It was like Jacobi had vanished into thin air. So she went into the closet, slammed the door shut, locked it, and pulled out her communicator. “Everyone, it’s Tidusu-san. He’s the saboteur,” she announced over her communicator, “Usagi-chan, check the janitors’ office. And be careful, he’s already unleashed a youma.”
 
She then unlocked the door and knocked out one of the ceiling tiles, and then immediately through it and into the ceiling. Away from all the smoke, she coughed a few times, trying to clear her lungs out. She then removed her henshin pen, “Jupiter Power, Make-Up!”
 
She quickly transformed into Sailor Jupiter in the confined space of the ceiling between the tiles and the second floor, and then burst through a ceiling tile and into the hallway. Immediately, she rediscovered the group of students trying desperately to get out through the locked door as the lizard-like youma was bearing down on them. Quick to act, she leapt into the door like a lion tackling its prey and slammed her left foot into it with all her might, causing it to shatter the rigged hardware and fly off its hinges by a good hundred meters. With their escape in sight, the students began pouring out through the freed door and away from the youma.
 
With the students safe, Sailor Jupiter turned back to the youma and merely glared at it as it slowly advanced toward her. She crossed her arms in front of her and extended her antenna from her tiara. “My guardian planet, Jupiter, bring forth the storm, the clouds, and thunder... Supreme Thunder!” With that command, she sent powerful bolts of lightning surging through the reptilian youma, sending it flying clear down the hall and into the far side wall.
 
 
 
Meanwhile, Sailor Moon, having previously transformed upon hearing about Tidusu Jacobi being the saboteur, ran into the janitors’ office to find Kenji lying against the pipes at the far wall of the office, unconscious. “Takeshi-san!” she shrieked as she ran over to check on him. “He has a pulse, thank God. This must’ve been the Dark Kingdom’s doing,” she said to herself. She immediately extracted her Moon Stick and charged up the Silver Crystal, “Moon Healing Escalation!” With the power of the Silver Crystal, she restored Kenji’s energy and then proceeded to carry him out.
 
But as she entered the smoke-filled hallway, she discovered another group of students trying hopelessly to escape from a large, cattle-like youma. She immediately placed the still-unconscious Kenji against the wall and removed her tiara. “Everyone, move away from the door,” she yelled, getting the attention of the students that were trying to bash the rigged door open. Once they had cleared the way, Sailor Moon charged her tiara, “Moon Tiara, Action!” She hurled her tiara at the door, striking it dead on the knob and lock and shattering as if it were made of glass. With the door freed, the students burst out of the door to escape from the raging youma.
 
Sailor Mercury arrived and took her place next to Sailor Moon. “Good going, Sailor Moon,” she praised.
 
“Thank you, Mercury,” Sailor Moon replied, “What do you make of this youma?”
 
In response, Sailor Mercury tapped her left earring and donned her visor, and then extracted her minicomputer to analyze the bovine youma. And the results startled Sailor Mercury. “This is a pretty powerful youma,” she stated as she read the data on her computer, “Its rage is off the charts and has a powerful will to destroy. A little water should douse its heated rage.” She then replaced her computer and tapped her earring, removing her visor. She then quickly aimed at the bull-like youma as it stomped its front hooves at the pair.
 
“Shabon Spray!” She struck the youma dead on, but unfortunately her bubbles had no effect. It merely laughed off her attack and charged at her. Catching her totally by surprise, mostly from shock at the failure of her attack, the youma dipped its horns and slammed her into a wall.
 
Just as Sailor Mercury had taken the brunt of the youma’s attack, Sailor Mars arrived on the scene at the other side of the hall. She had seen the youma pummel Sailor Mercury with its charging attack and had to quickly divert its attention. So she jumped up and down and screamed at it, “Hey cow-head?” The youma turned toward her in response to see her jumping up and down, inviting it to charge at her. It immediately obliged as it stomped on the floor, scrapped its front hoof against the asphalt time, and immediately launched itself at Sailor Mars. Just as the youma neared her, she immediately clasped her hands together and aimed her fiery fingers at it.
 
“Fire Soul!”
 
She launched a powerful ball of fire at the youma, striking it in its bull-like face and sending it flying near where Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury were standing. After taking that brutal attack, the bull slowly made it to its feet, with smoke still emanating from its body. “That’s it Sailor Mars, overheat its rage,” Sailor Mercury cheered. Sailor Mars quickly dashed toward the youma with burning hands and thrust her palms at its face before it could even react, knocking it out the open door and causing it to overheat and finally explode.
 
“Fight fire with fire,” said Sailor Mars, raising an eyebrow to her friends.
 
Meanwhile, Sailor Jupiter continued to tangle with the oversized lizard. Although her powerful electric attacks were sending the reptilian youma flying about the halls of the school, they were barely even harming it. It just kept recovering rather quickly from her attacks and charged at her every time. Unsatisfied with her deadly lightning failing to phase it, she decided to engage the youma in hand-to-hand combat, using her brute strength to overcome the youma.
 
Later, Sailor Moon, Mars, and Mercury made their way through the east side of the school, assisting with the evacuation of the students. But as Sailor Moon had removed her tiara to blast away the last rigged door, it suddenly blasted open in front of them. The senshi quickly moved the students behind them and prepared themselves for combat, only to find Sailor Venus standing in the doorway as the smoke cleared. “Venus, I’m glad you could finally join us,” said Sailor Moon, “Now help us get these students out of here.”
 
“Hey, I had some trouble getting here. I actually had to leave one school to come over to this one, you know,” Sailor Venus replied, hiding the fact from the students that she was really a Shiba Koen student and not a Juuban one. As the students were evacuating, Sailor Moon peered around a corner to find a rockman-type youma grabbing a hold a few straggling students and draining their energy. “Hey guys, we got another youma on our hands,” she said, drawing the other senshis’ attention to the new youma. Sailor Mercury immediately donned her visor, took out her minicomputer, and analyzed the youma.
 
 “Its physical strength contests even Sailor Jupiter’s, and its rock body is built like tank armor,” Sailor Mercury explained, “The only way to defeat it is by weakening the rock.”
 
“Fire will turn that rock into lava,” Sailor Mars suggested as she clasped her hands together and aimed her pointer fingers at it.
 
“Also, water will soften that rock, but both together will nullify one another,” Sailor Mercury added.
 
“I understand. Mars, burn it. Venus, finish it. Sailor Mercury and I’ll look for Tidusu-san,” Sailor Moon ordered as she and Sailor Mercury left the group in search for Tidusu Jacobi. The smoke bombs in the ventilation and air conditioning had finally expired, so the halls were pretty clear. Suddenly, as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury neared the main hall, a large lizard-like youma flew backward in front of them and slammed into the wall. With the youma dazed, Sailor Moon peeked around the corner to find Sailor Jupiter dashing toward it at high speed. “Nice throw, Jupiter,” Sailor Moon complimented.
 
“Thanks, Sailor Moon. That was the 8th time I’ve thrown this bastard into the walls,” Sailor Jupiter replied, “He just won’t stay down.”
 
Sailor Mercury already had her visor and minicomputer out and was studying the reptilian youma as it recovered from Sailor Jupiter’s attack. “This youma has exceptional stamina,” she explained, “It’s no wonder that it withstood such a beating from even you, Sailor Jupiter. Its scaly body is well insulated from heat and electricity.”
 
“No kidding,” Sailor Jupiter exclaimed, “I’ve already tried zapping this thing plenty of times. So how do we kill it?”
 
“It’s a powerful youma, but it’s no water lizard,” Sailor Mercury replied, “So water and ice should be effective against it.”
 
“Then stand back,” Sailor Moon ordered as she removes her tiara and aimed for the fire sprinklers. “Moon Tiara, Action!” She hurled the tiara along the ceiling, knocking out all the sprinklers throughout the hall, flooding the halls and soaking the youma.
 
“Good thinking, Sailor Moon,” Sailor Mercury acknowledged. Annoyed by the indoor rainstorm from the sprinklers, the youma immediately retreated out the front door. The 3 senshi followed the youma outside, only to find Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus battling with the other youma. And to their surprise, they discovered the entire student body trapped in a whirling purple force field near the softball field. With the battle out in the open and the students being held as hostages, both youmas ran in that direction, where Tidusu Jacobi was standing guard over the students. All 5 Sailor Senshi grouped together to confront the saboteur.
 
“Alright, Tidusu Jacobi,” Sailor Moon growled, “We all know you’re the minion of the Dark Kingdom responsible for sabotaging the school and causing quite an uproar. In the name of the Moon, you’ll be punished.”
 
“Am I Tidusu Jacobi?” Titanius responded before he quickly removed his disguise, revealing his all-too-familiar black and red armor underneath.
 
“Titanius?!” all 5 Sailor Senshi exclaimed.
 
“The one and only,” Titanius responded, taking a theatrical bow, “I’m glad that all 5 of you have shown up to my little party.” He then quickly turned to his two youmas, “Get them! Concentrate on that pyromaniac.”
 
At his command, his youmas charged at the Sailor Team. They quickly dispersed to make it more difficult for the youmas to take them all out in one shot, and to make it easier for them to team up on one youma. But just as the senshi scattered, the two youmas turned their attention right toward Sailor Mars and charged at her. Before she could even react, the lizard youma tackled her to the ground and the rock youma picked her up and threw her toward Titanius. Just as she landed in front of him, Titanius blasted her with a beam of dark energy, sending her flying into the force field, bouncing her off of it and sending her sliding down the softball field.
 
“Why are they all attacking Sailor Mars?” Sailor Venus asked.
 
“I have no clue,” Sailor Mercury replied, surprised with Titanius’ strategy, “He knows he can’t concentrate one of us at a time.”
 
“I don’t care why. Nobody hurts my friend,” said Sailor Jupiter. And immediately, Sailor Jupiter jumped in front of the rock youma to get its attention. Before it could even respond, she leaped at it and smacked it with a flying kick, sending it sliding down the field. She then turned her attention to the lizard youma while Sailor Moon turned her attention toward Titanius.
 
With Titanius busy eyeing Sailor Mars, Sailor Moon removed her tiara and charged it with her energy, “Moon Tiara, Action!” She hurled her tiara at Titanius, striking his shoulder with a rather weak blow that only served to get his attention. He turned to see Sailor Moon catch her tiara as it had returned to her. “Damn you, Sailor Moon. You’ll pay for that weak little cheap shot,” Titanius growled.
 
“How could you do it to those students,” Sailor Moon scolded, “They got to know you very well in only a few days. They trusted you and you betrayed them.” She then charged at Titanius at full speed before he could even react. Immediately, she thrust her palm into Titanius’ chest, knocking him to the ground. He quickly recovered, only to have her kick him in the face and send him flying into the air like an American football. “Sailor Kick!” she yelled as she flew into Titanius, connecting with him and upping his tab on his frequent flyer miles. She quickly had the upper hand on the bounty hunter.
 
“Damn, I can’t be losing to her like this again,” Titanius cursed, realizing that he was once again pathetically falling to the young Sailor Senshi. Before Sailor Moon could get off another shot, he powered up his dark energy and pushed her back as dark energy engulfed his hands. He then slapped her in the face with that energy, sending her into the branches of a nearby tree. He then ran over to that tree and glanced up at the struggling Sailor Moon with his glowing eyes. “I’ll eradicate you,” he said in a deep voice.
 
And just as he was charging up for a devastating attack, numerous roses pierced his armor, prompting pain to surge throughout his body and stopping him dead in his attempt. Sailor Moon looked in the direction from where the roses came to see her prince, Tuxedo Mask, standing on top of the school building with his scarlet cape waving in the wind.
 
“School is an institution where youths come to learn the ways of the world, and shouldn’t be used to instill terror,” he said to Titanius as he drew his cane.
 
“So you’re here too?” Titanius yelled, still struggling in pain from the roses.
 
“I shall defend you, fair princess,” Tuxedo Mask said as he hopped down from the school and rushed toward Titanius.
 
Meanwhile, the rock youma had returned to concentrating his attacks on Sailor Mars, hoping to fulfill Titanius’ mission to lure the Mars Prince. Sailor Mercury desperately attempted to douse its stone body to weaken it as Sailor Venus tried striking it with ‘Crescent Beam’. Unfortunately, the combined attack had little effect on the heavily-armored youma. It only served to distract the youma. He turned toward the two meddlesome senshi and quickly battered them both to the ground. Then, he turned his attention back to Sailor Mars.
 
 “Oh no you don’t,” Sailor Mars yelled as she clasped her hands together and aimed her fingers at the youma, “Fire Soul!” She struck the rock youma in the face with a powerful ball of fire, causing it to flinch and stagger backward a couple steps. But that attack too didn’t phase it as it continued its advance toward her. “Fire Soul!” she yelled, desperately trying to burn through its stony armor, but the youma quickly grabbed a hold of her neck and lifted her high above its head. He then squeezed her neck and began draining her energy.
 
But just before the youma strangled the life out of her, a flaming spirit materialized in its face, laughing profusely. The youma froze in place, loosening his grip on Sailor Mars as fiery ghost flew around him, laughing. The youma threw Sailor Mars into the same tree that Sailor Moon had landed in, knocking her out of the tree and dropping both senshi to the ground. He then tried to swat and bat at the laughing ghost, but his arms merely passed through it like he was swinging through air.
 
 Sailor Venus looked around the school grounds, wondering where the burning spirit had come from. “Look,” Sailor Mercury called, pointing toward the softball field. There walls of fire engulfed much of the softball field, with Tuxedo Inferno standing right in the middle of it.. He marched through the wall of flames and toward the rock youma. As he advanced toward the group, the wall of fire disappeared, leaving the softball field unscathed. He waved his arms about like a true martial artist and charged up his attack.
 
“Inferno Fire, Beam!” he yelled as he thrust his palms at the rock youma. He launched a superheated beam of fire at the back of the rock youma, striking it with deadly accuracy. With most of his energy, he held the beam on the youma. His attempt was rewarded as the beam began to melt the youma’s rocky armor into lave. “Sailor Venus, fire your crescent beam at the fissure in its body,” he ordered.
 
Sailor Venus only shook her head in acknowledgement and turned to the youma, who was showing signs of pain as more lava poured from the fissure that Tuxedo Inferno’s beam of fire was creating. She lowered her eyebrows and summoned the power of Venus, then aimed her pointer finger directly at the fissure. “Crescent Beam!” she yelled, firing a powerful beam of light into the fissure. The beam struck its mark, causing both the fissure and the youma to glow with great magnitude. Tuxedo Inferno halted his beam attack as the youma flashed, then exploded, sending rocks flying about the school grounds.
 
“Take care of the students in the force field,” Sailor Venus ordered, “Sailor Mercury and I will take the other youma. Fire has little effect on it.”
 
“I understand,” he replied as he turned toward the force field, where the students watched in awe as the senshi were getting the upper hand in battle.
 
“Wait, Tuxedo Inferno,” a voice summoned to him, stopping him from advancing further. He turned around to see Sailor Mercury running toward him with her minicomputer handy. “Titanius is in control of that force field. You’ll have to help Tuxedo Mask defeat him in order to drop that force field,” she explained, “Don’t worry about us, we’ll take care of the youma.”
 
Titanius only tipped his hat to her in response and turned to Titanius. “Titanius,” Tuxedo Inferno said to no one in particular in his usual deep voice as he drew his flame sword from his obsidian jewel ring. “Titanius,” he yelled as Titanius knocked Tuxedo Mask back. Titanius then turned to Tuxedo Inferno. “I challenge you to a duel,” said Tuxedo Inferno.
 
“Ah, so you have arrived, good,” said Titanius, satisfied in having finally attracted the attention of his target, “Now I will concentrate on you. I accept your challenge” Titanius leaped toward Tuxedo Inferno with great force, shattering the world records in both the long jump and the high jump. He drew his crooked sword and clashed with Tuxedo Inferno.
 
Tuxedo Mask watched on as Tuxedo Inferno quickly got the upper hand on Titanius in a rather short sword fight. But then Titanius cheated and fired a beam of dark energy at Tuxedo Inferno’s face, causing him to wince in pain. And just as he raised his crooked blade to strike the final blow on the man in maroon and claim a quick victory, Tuxedo Mask pulled out a rose and hurled it at Titanius, knocking his sword from his hand. Disarmed, Titanius looked around to see all five Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and Tuxedo Inferno starring at him, ready to destroy him on a mind’s pulse. He then realized that both his remaining youmas had fallen.
 
“You win this battle, Tuxedo Inferno. But next time, no one will be around to save you. My work here is done,” said Titanius. He released the force field and detonated a smoke bomb under his feet, filling the entire battle ground with smoke. The senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and Tuxedo Inferno all coughed and wheezed, trying to regain their bearings. When the smoke cleared, Titanius and his sword were both gone.
 
With the battle over, the 5 senshi then turned to Tuxedo Inferno. “Thank you for your help, Tuxedo Inferno,” said Sailor Venus.
 
“How do you manage to show up just in the nick of time just like Tuxedo Mask does?” Sailor Moon asked.
 
“Yeah,” Sailor Jupiter suspiciously agreed, “And what did Titanius mean by ‘his work here is done’?”
 
“And how come we still don’t know you?” Sailor Mars added.
 
“Stop it, everyone,” Sailor Moon barked, “He helped us to save this school.” She turned to Tuxedo Inferno, “Thank you, Tuxedo Inferno. Don’t mind them. They’re just very protective of me, that’s all.”
 
“Don’t mention it,” Tuxedo Inferno replied as the field behind him engulfed in flames. He then walked backward into the fiery wall and disappeared behind it. The flames intensified for a moment, and then extinguished, along with Tuxedo Inferno.
 
The senshi then looked around to see that Tuxedo Mask had also disappeared. “Everyone, we’re holding an emergency senshi meeting at the temple after school,” said Sailor Mars before she and Sailor Venus turned and ran back toward their schools. Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mercury nodded in response and disappeared in a secluded area to transform back into their civilian forms. They then quietly slipped their way back into the group of students as they had just begun organizing with their teachers. The battle had ended just in time as police cars and fire trucks began gathering at the front of the school.
 
 
Dark Kingdom Headquarters...
 
Titanius returned to the Dark Kingdom Headquarters after his loss to the Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and Tuxedo Inferno at the school. Although his battle was a loss, he at least succeeded in luring Tuxedo Inferno into battle. His battle with the Mars Prince was rather short, but he did observe some interesting things about the battle, however subtle they were. He entered his chamber, removed his armor, and sat at his ancient-looking desk. He then removed a small computer resembling that of Sailor Mercury’s and began to look over all the data he had gathered. But just as he had begun analyzing, there was a loud knock at his door.
 
“Who the hell is that?” he barked.
 
“It’s Kunzite and Zoisite,” Kunzite’s voice barked back through Titanius’ heavy door.
 
“Come in,” he said. And with his invitation, Kunzite and Zoisite entered his chamber.
 
“You failed your mission, didn’t you Titanius?” Kunzite commented, having witnessed the battle from Queen Beryl’s throne room.
 
“Did I now?” Titanius contradicted.
 
“Queen Beryl was pissed off enough to kick me out of her throne room when you lost your battle to those Sailor Senshi,” Kunzite explained.
 
“Yeah, so what?” Titanius replied indifferently.
 
“You didn’t even carry out your plan very well,” Kunzite continued, “The way you sent the youma out was not as planned. You lost your bull youma and summoned to me to send in that rock youma. That wasn’t even your youma, but rather one of Jadeite’s. Even the lizard youma was Jadeite’s.”
 
“I know,” says Titanius, chuckling.
 
“You think this is all a joke,” Kunzite growled, “You won’t think it’s funny when Queen Beryl summons you to her throne room to punish you for failing a mission that you had so strategically drawn up, and had gotten her endorsement on.”
 
“Kunzite-kun, I’m sure he knows what he’s doing,” said Zoisite, trying to standing up for the bounty hunter, “For all we know, everything except for his loss may have all gone according to plan.”
 
“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding. Ding. Very good, Zoisite-san,” Titanius sarcastically praised, “And what do we have for the winner Johnny?”
 
“Very funny Titanius,” Kunzite commented.
 
“Just let me look over this data and I’ll let you and Queen Beryl in on it, understood?” said Titanius. He then waved his hand at the two Shitennou, shooshing them away.
 
“Very well, I’ll let Queen Beryl know. I hope you find something interesting, or Queen Beryl will be most displeased,” said Kunzite before he and Zoisite turned to leave Titanius’ chamber.
 
end of chapter 2
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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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