The black haired young man entered the messy loft, taking off his wrap around sunglasses with a relieved sigh. The white haired younger boy looked up as he entered and asked with a smile, "Seiya, where were you?" "Out, Yaten," Seiya answered crisply, frowning at the young man casually sitting in the chair. "Any progress on the new song?" he asked, taking off the black coat he wore. From another part of the building a taller man entered, a dignified air about him as he tucked a book away. Long, reddish brown hair flowed down in a long ponytail just like the other two young men, the slightest smile on his face. "I think it's going well," he said mildly. "Nice to see someone working on it," Seiya smiled wryly, "thanks, Taiki." Taiki shrugged casually as he asked, "So how was your little visit to the school?" "It looks pretty good," Seiya sat down on a couch with a thoughtful look on his face, "and I met someone interesting." "Oh?" Yaten looked up from the guitar he was fiddling with. Seiya chuckled softly, "She seemed entirely unimpressed with me." "I like her already," Yaten quipped. Taiki gave him a look then gazed back to Seiya, "So who is this paragon?" "Ami Mizuno," Seiya said, for a moment finding himself remembering the blue hair and those flashing dark eyes. Taiki sat up in surprise, "Mizuno?" At the other's surprised glances he frowned, "Ami Mizuno is one of the top students at the school, of course I did my research on her." "So what's so special about her to catch your eye?" Yaten asked Seiya, sounding honestly curious about the young woman. Seiya frowned in thought. "There's something sad about her," he admitted, "something that weighs her down." He smiled slightly, "But despite that she still shines like a star." Taiki nodded thoughtfully and commented, "Then I look forward to meeting her." Becoming serious he gestured to the instruments that were neatly piled in one side of the room, "Now I believe we have work to do?" "Right," Yaten sighed. He paused for a moment, looking curiously at the other two, "Do you really think we can find her?" "Yes," Seiya said as he casually picked up a lead guitar, "with every performance, every song we bring her closer and closer." He kept a confident look on his face while hoping that he sounded more sure than he really felt. The sessions went on into the evening, the three idols working hard to refine their latest song. Finally satisfied long after the sun set they retired to bed to rest up for their first day of school, but sleep somehow eluded Seiya. Restlessly he paced, careful not to disturb the others until finally he found himself standing outside in the moonlight. "I need some exercise," Seiya muttered, the microphone headpiece with a star insignia appearing by his head. "Fighter Star Power," he declared, "Makeup!" Rainbow light washed across a slim male body and suddenly feminine curves were revealed. Starlight flashed as the skimpy leather bodysuit formed, the star insignia on her chest glowing slightly in the darkness. Seiya was gone, and in his place stood Sailor Star Fighter. Fighter smiled, her eyes twinkling as she murmured, "That's better." She was gone in a second, a single leap throwing her high into the air. Fighter bounded from roof to roof, careful to hide herself from anyone's view. Sailor Star Fighter would make her debut eventually, but now was not the time. Instead she kept to the shadows, watching as people went about their lives unaware of the dangers around them. 'Home was like this once,' Fighter thought sadly, the sweet scented breeze blowing her black mane back, the simple circlet she wore bearing another star emblem. She savored the quiet, enjoying a moment of relative peace.... ...then a scream came out of the darkness, somewhere nearby. Without thinking about it she was off, Fighter racing across the night towards the source of the cry. The smart thing would be to just ignore it, or to at least go back and get Maker and Healer, but she had never claimed to be that smart. A second cry, cut off in mid scream, and she moved even faster, almost becoming a blur in motion. The battle scene was confusing as Fighter silently landed on a nearby rooftop, her eyes widening as she took in all of the players. A gray haired little girl stood to one side, studying a small brightly shaped diamond, the light it bore flickering. Nearby a woman dressed in sailor fuku bore a shining blade, her eyes glowing sinister as she bore down on the screamer, who was protected by.... "Sailor Mercury," Fighter breathed out. She and the others had heard of Sailor Senshi of this world, but she hadn't expected to actually meet one. Her blue hair was messy as she raised the sword she carried with smooth competence, the scar across her nose bold in the dim light. 'She doesn't know what she's facing,' Fighter thought to herself bleakly, 'that's a Phage that she's up against.' Soulless, deprived of all their humanity, the only thing that one could do for there transformed people was to put them out of their misery. The diamond flickered, then went out as the girl Fighter recognized as Iron Mouse stamped her foot. "Another blank," she complained, stepping back into the telephone booth that had suddenly appeared from nowhere behind her. Iron Mouse waved good-bye cheerfully before saying to Sailor Mercury, "Well, have fun with the Phage!" The door to the booth slammed shut then she was gone, disappearing along with the telephone booth. "Wait," Sailor Mercury cried but was cut off as the Phage attacked. "I am Sailor Samurai," she struck, the sailor fuku she wore resembling ancient armor, "and you are not worthy of my blade!" Sailor Mercury fought well but the swordswoman was inhumanly fast, her silver katana lashing out again and again to cut at Mercury's uniform. 'She needs help,' Fighter thought, moving forward without thinking about it so that she shadows no longer hid her from view. "Breaking through the evil darkness," she boldly declared, feeling all eyes turn to her, "I am a wandering shooting star!" A single leap brought her to ground level as she finished, "Sailor Star Fighter, stage on!" "Another senshi?" Mercury murmured disbelievingly. Fighter brought her star shaped talisman up as she summoned her power then cried, "Star Serious Laser!" The beam lashed out faster than light, sending the samurai crashing to the ground trailing smoke. She walked forward, readying another strike as Fighter said, "Now to finish it." "Wait," Mercury protested, "she's human!" "Please," the girl who had been threatened recovered enough to say, "she's my friend." "Not any more," Fighter answered, driving any of the sympathy she felt from her voice, "she's a Phage, now. The only way to stop her is this." "No," Sailor Mercury said, and the tiara she wore faded to reveal a shining blue symbol, one that suddenly blazed with power. The air shimmered as the young woman appeared, the white wings of an angel sweeping around the ghostly apparition. "Usagi," Mercury breathed out, tears streamed down her face as the blonde smiled, her princess gown flowing around her. The Moon Princess reached out to touch the broach that Mercury wore, light and power blinding in the darkness, then she was gone. "What was that," Fighter blinked away the momentary blindness. A transformed Mercury held a scepter in her hands, one that gleamed silver, decorated with a ruby, emerald, diamond and a crescent moon. The blue cloak that had been added to her costume swirled while she raised it, watching as the Samurai staggered to her feet, power and cold swirling around the weapon. She pointed it and declared, "Mercury Freezing Restoration!" Fighter gazed in shock as a wave of frost washed over the Samurai, instantly covering her head to toe in pure ice. She stood there frozen, utterly still, then the ice shattered and a fully human girl dropped limply to the ground. Black hair fell around her, the old style clothes bringing to mind a wandering ronin of another era. "Motoko," the other girl cried, rushing to her friend's side. "Kitsune?" Motoko managed, looking up at her friend dazedly, "what happened?" Kitsune grinned slightly, her typical impish look tempered by pure relief. "Trust me, you don't want to know," she answered. In a daze Fighter leapt away from the reunion into the near darkness but Mercury was right behind her, swiftly reverting to her normal garb as she went. "Wait, please," Mercury asked, "who are you? What do you want?" Fighter stopped a moment, the light of a street lamp shadowing her face. "A friend," she smiled before adding softly, "I hope." "But..." Mercury started, but Fighter was off again. The speed that she summoned sent Fighter racing into the darkness, putting as much distance between herself and Mercury as possible. After spending half an hour making sure that she hadn't been followed Fighter eventually returned to the loft, her form blurring back into Seiya once again. ”Things just changed for us, tonight," Seiya murmured as he tiredly went inside, blinking in surprise as he saw Taiki standing there, frowning. "Where were you?" he asked, echoing what Yaten said earlier. Seiya grinned tiredly as he flopped into a chair, "Have I got something to tell you...." To be continued.... Note: Yes, that's Motoko and Kitsune from Love Hina. Instead of introducing a random character to be transformed I thought it might be fun to toss in a character from another series... not sure if I'll use that in other chapters. A few 'Stars' details may be off, I have to sit down and watch the series again to refresh my memory.
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