1Disclaimer: All characters of the series "Sailor Moon", except for Sailor Storm and all other original characters, are under copyright protection of Naoko Takeuchi
SAILOR STORM: The Awakening
Chapter 4
That Friday morning...
Kyle had shut off the engine of his blue 1994 Camaro in the parking lot of his high school. The memories of the events that Tuesday were still fresh in his mind. They were still bothering him a little, but he pushed them back in his mind before gathering his bag and entered the school grounds. He still was not sure what the purpose of the school resembling a college campus was for. First Coast High was a two story tall building complex designed to where only the classrooms, cafeteria, library, restrooms, gym, and the offices were AC-controlled. All hallways were open to the outside and were connected to a courtyard taking up half of the building's total mass. The entrance connected to the parking lot was part of a small hallway leading to the southeast corner of the courtyard. The presence of the many security guards did nothing to ease the tension of the students since Kyle fought back at his attackers that day. As a matter of fact, the moment Kyle entered the courtyard was when every eye turned to stare at him. Kyle, having gone through this before the last two days, continued onto his classroom. Chris, one of his friends, met up with him on his way to the same class. Normally, Kyle would have greeted him, but the look on Chris's face made him change what he was going to say.
"Chris, what's with that look? You look like you're staring at a ghost," Kyle said.
"With what I heard that's going to happen today, I may actually be staring at a dead man walking," Chris said.
"What are you talking about?"
"You should have just let them beat you, Kyle. And no one would have blamed you for it."
"Are you kidding me? I had enough of those guys thinking that they're crap doesn't stink, and I wanted to put an end to it. I'm tired of going to this school where a bunch of idiots think they run the place!"
Several students within earshot had gasped and ran off to their classes. Those who didn't were giving looks of death at Kyle as he walked through the school.
"Keep your voice down! You're lucky they don't kill you right now," Chris begged.
"Kill me? What the hell are you talking about? What's going on," Kyle asked.
Instead of answering immediately, Chris pulled Kyle into an unused classroom to get him away and out of sight before telling him.
"You already know that those boys you fought are part of the city's mafia, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Well their boss, the one who 'owns' this school, found out about your defiance, and demanded that you not only apologize to those you fought, but also be publicly humiliated in front of the entire school today. He also didn't care if you were the son of Bill Rayden, nor did he care whether you lived or died through this. So you see, you have to get out of here right now!"
"Calm down, man. There's no need to panic."
"What, are you crazy? You could get killed. You can't stay here-"
"CHRIS, SHUT UP! I'm not going to let these guys scare me. Now when is this supposed to take place?"
Chris was about to tell him the time when the intercom went off through the entire school.
"Attention, everyone. This is your 'friendly' owner, Larry, speaking. Now I know you all have been good at doing exactly what you are all supposed to do should any of my colleagues wish to 'talk' to you. However, there is one among you that has decided in his own selfish mind to stand up against three of them this last Tuesday. Now I demand for that person to make his presence known in the school's courtyard RIGHT NOW! Otherwise, everyone student at this school will leave this school with a broken left arm and right leg. Now none of these students deserve such a punishment for doing what they are supposed to do, but you do not show up within the next five minutes, then everything that happens from that moment on will be entirely your fault. It's 7:15 now. I suggest you hurry."
The moment the intercom stopped talking, Chris was blubbering how it should have been noon today.
"Noon, huh? Those boys must be behind schedule or something," Kyle said, while trying to keep his breathing normal despite how fast his heart was beating.
"This isn't the time to be joking around, Kyle," Chris said.
Just then, the door opened to allow Kyle's other friends inside, who were John, Adam, and Patrick. They were all looking at Kyle with fear, scared that this might be the last time they see their friend alive again.
"Kyle, we just came from the courtyard. They're all waiting for you at the clock tower," John said.
"How many did you see," Kyle asked.
"About seventeen of them."
"Did any of them carry guns?"
"No, they brought bats, chains, and stuff like that."
"Kyle, it's 7:18. We better get out there now," Patrick said.
Kyle turned around to face away from them to take a deep breath and to regain his resolve before turning back.
"Okay then. I'm going out there. For one thing, I can't look like a coward after Tuesday," Kyle said.
"We're right behind you, Kyle," John said with everyone nodding in agreement.
Kyle nodded back at them before exiting the classroom. His watch read 7:19 as he was walking to the courtyard. The students who were gathered around the courtyard nearest to that hallway started to back out of the way to give Kyle and his friends a clear entrance to the clock tower. Kyle gave Patrick his bag without looking at him while he continued towards the clock tower. He could see the one who was possibly Larry step towards the north of the courtyard, away from the tower. Kyle started walking right to him, and could clearly see the smile on his face despite the blinding morning sun to the east. There was no turning back now. As he was walking towards the man, he slowed time down around everything, including his body, enough to where he could have extra time to gather his thoughts. If there was any time that he needed to ask his advisor, Zeus, for help, now would be one of those times. Kyle managed to see Zeus out of the corner of his eye. Zeus had persisted that he accompanied Kyle to wherever he went, including school. Today was no exception. Kyle was definitely starting to feel afraid about this situation, but the moment he saw Zeus clearly had erased those feelings. He saw Zeus giving him a confident smile and nodding his head. It was enough for Kyle to recognize it as a sign of assurance that everything was going to be fine. Kyle then remembered about the crystal he had been wearing since he first became Sailor Storm. Even though he should avoid using his transformation in public like this, he knew that the star crystal and his new powers should be more than enough to handle whatever will happen now. With that thought, he released his hold on time, and walked up to the leader with a confident air around him.
"So, this is the mighty defiant. Well I must say, kid. I'm impressed. Not only for having the guts to stand up to three of my new colleagues, but also be as small as you are to give one of them a fractured eye socket. It's too bad that they aren't here for this, but to tell you the truth, I'm actually glad that they aren't. I'm going to offer you a deal, Mr. Rayden. How would you like to part of my business? You would have loads of advantages, and a spot in our city-wide operations the moment you graduate. Not to mention, the ability of being untouchable by the police and anyone else who stands up against us. Now I'm only offering you this now, and never again after. So what do you say," Larry said to Kyle while making his voice loud enough for the school to hear him.
Kyle could immediately hear several students telling him to accept the deal, while several others begged him not to. He didn't need to hear any of them as he already knew what his decision was going to be.
"I'm going to have to say no. Not to just your deal, but also to apologizing to your boys as well," Kyle answered, causing the entire student body to gasp at his further defiance.
Larry quickly developed a twitch in his eye while his smile was easily starting to falter. Nevertheless, he struggled to keep his composure.
"Well, defiant to the end. I must admit that those three were idiots, but they are still a part of my boss's property. Therefore, you must be punished for damaging his property. It's a shame though. You would have made a powerful man in this business. Goodbye, Mr. Rayden."
Larry simply backed away from Kyle, turned, and walked toward the main entrance of the school at the northeast corner of the courtyard, where his car was waiting for him. While everyone was paying attention to him, one of the hooligans holding a five-foot long, two-inch wide hollow metal pipe rushed towards Kyle, intent on beating him to an inch of his life. Kyle managed to see him coming, and had countered his attack by grabbing the pipe. The moment he grabbed it, Kyle turned around and swung the pipe up while the hooligan was still holding it. This caused the hooligan to let go in surprise, only to go flying into a brick column. He didn't get knocked out, nor did break any bones, but he certainly had all of the air knocked out of him. Kyle quickly turned back to the clock tower, and found himself doing a preparation kata automatically with the pipe as if it were a quarterstaff for a few seconds before settling into a battle-ready position. Needless to say, Larry saw this action and had lost his composure enough to where he looked shocked for a few seconds. As expected by the students, the rest of the hooligans started to charge forward before Larry told them to stay where they were. Out of a sudden respect for Kyle's defiant attitude, he decided to declare that the school was to no longer be involved in their business, at least for the next month. He then also declared that Kyle be given a stay of execution for his punishment, until he has decided to withdraw that declaration whenever he feels the time is appropriate. After making his statements, he ordered that everyone can go home for the day, before leaving himself. Very soon after, the students were celebrating and were racing back to their cars and bus loading zones to go home. Kyle breathed a sigh of relief for defusing the situation with barely any violence. He then dropped the pipe as his friends were running up to him.
"Before you guys say anything, I just don't want to explain what had happened. I just want to go home now," Kyle said when his friends were upon him.
"Sure, Kyle. Not a problem," Adam said.
"But you still kicked butt, man. That was really cool," John said excitingly.
Kyle couldn't help but smile and feel a little embarrassed. After he had grabbed his bag from Patrick, he said goodbye to his friends and headed to the student parking lot. Before he made it to the entrance, he heard another voice call out his name. Turning around, he saw Erica, a girl whom he had a crush on since 5th grade, running towards him.
"Hi, Kyle. Are you okay," Erica asked him when she reached him.
"Yeah, Erica. I'm fine. They didn't hurt me at all," Kyle answered with a slight blush.
"I'm glad. I was worried that they were going to hurt you badly, or worse."
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine, okay. Though, I'll admit I was expecting much worse."
Erica didn't bother replying in any way other than enveloping Kyle in a bear hug. Kyle was completely shocked by this and could barely move.
"Promise me this, Kyle. Promise me that you will keep yourself safe. I can't bear to see you in pain," Erica whimpered next to Kyle's chest.
"Erica...," Kyle said, being the only thing he could say at that moment.
"Please promise me, Kyle."
"Okay, Erica. I promise," Kyle said starting to return the hug.
His reply only caused Erica to squeeze even harder. The hug managed to last for a few minutes before Erica had let up. She thanked Kyle for making his promise to her before saying goodbye to him and leaving. Kyle followed her form as she ran towards the busses, before noticing that Zeus was watching him, possibly through the whole ordeal. However unbeknownst to Kyle, another person was watching him as well. That girl happened to be Kristy, one of the most popular girls in the entire school. While staying in the shadows, she glared at him with a dark smile on her face. When her current boyfriend, one of the school's linebackers, came up to her, she quickly mentioned that she was going home before he could say anything. By that time, Kyle was already leaving the parking lot. Kyle had stopped on a side road to pick up Zeus, before continuing on home.
Later that afternoon...
Kyle was lying on his bed reading a magazine on computer parts while Zeus was operating Kyle's computer. It was really a strange sight to see a cat not only operating a computer, but with more than enough proficiency to be a hard core enthusiast. Kyle tried to ignore the odd sight, but couldn't keep quiet after ten minutes of this.
"What the hell are you doing," Kyle asked out of annoyance.
"Boy, you don't have much patience, do you," Zeus asked back with a grin.
"Funny," Kyle replied sarcastically.
"I've just managed to hack into this Larry's computer at his place of business, and opened his schedule for today. Apparently, he made a new schedule entry for today that is set for twenty minutes from now. He has a meeting with his underlings, as well as conducting a deal for a shipment of drugs to be brought into the city."
"You hacked them? How?"
"I've always been pretty good at information gathering, whether it be through technology like this, or if I'm out in field doing it in person. Besides, it wasn't really that hard."
"So you said they're working on a deal for drugs then. Is that what their line of business happens to be?"
"I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past them, Kyle."
After learning the location of Larry's warehouse and the docks that are to be used, Zeus saved the information before he closed the connection and shut the computer off.
"In any case, I'm declaring this as your first mission. You, Sailor Storm, are to infiltrate the warehouse, break up the meeting and apprehend the leaders of the groups. These will most likely be the same guys as before this morning, but expect it to where none of them will hold back," Zeus said facing Kyle directly.
"My first mission? Well, I do hope that my powers will come in handy," Kyle said with a little hesitation.
"Most of your powers are for slaying demons, not for something like this. You must also learn to control your power as well, like I taught you three days ago. Your sword and your glaive will be fatal to these guys, while your guns have a heavy stun setting, enough to knock them out in excruciating pain. Your lightning attack and defenses will also be handy here, provided you use your attack sparingly. Mostly, it should just be melee attacks. No matter the outcome, I have confidence in you, Kyle. You know you have confidence. Since you've seen how easy it was this morning without being transformed, right now is going to be so much easier. Trust me when I say this, Kyle. You are ready for this."
Kyle looked into Zeus's eyes before he grew a smile on his face and started nodding.
"So I take it you're ready then?"
"Yes, Zeus. It's time to really get this show on the road."
"Well then, we're waiting on you. Let's not waste anymore time."
"Right. Lightning Star Power!"
A surge of electrical energy had filled the room for a time period of five seconds. The moment it had died, Sailor Storm was revealed. She was already starting to open the window when Zeus stopped her suddenly after noticing something different.
"Kyle, wait," Zeus said.
"Zeus, please call me Storm while I'm like this. I really don't want to give people the wrong idea," Storm replied back.
"Yeah, I know that, but... your hair."
"Wh..what about it?"
Storm brought her hand up at the same time asking her question when she felt a ponytail coming out of the top center of the back of her head. The ponytail was reaching down to the base of her neck while having medium body to it. Her hair on the front third of her head fell down to the sides of her face in equal lengths.
"Well, that's weird. I wonder why it hasn't happened before," Storm said.
"I don't know, but it does fit you better as Sailor Storm," Zeus said.
"Really?"
"Yes, but now's not really the time for this. We have an appointment to keep."
"With pleasure, Zeus."
As Storm prepared to launch herself out the window, Zeus latched onto her shoulder, his claws digging into the material enough to where Storm will not even feel it. With him being secured, she shot out of the window like a cannon and headed towards the warehouse while being guided by Zeus's directions.
Meanwhile...
Larry was just welcoming his guests to his warehouse and base of operations. The guests consisted of a crooked security guard who was in charge of the particular dock they were using, the dock foreman, the drug dealer, and the captain of the ship hauling the drugs. The drug dealer's bodyguard and Larry's underlings had filled out the rest. As soon as everyone was there and settled, Larry started the meeting, talking about the negotiation between all of them on getting the shipment of drugs into port, bypass Customs, and make its way into the city for distribution. The meeting was going well until a question of security had arose. Somehow, the bodyguard had found out about the high school incident that morning, and was questioning Larry's loyalty. Larry, of course, assured that he knew what he was doing, and mentioned how he had promised the school one month free from his control. However, he did lie about the protection he promised to the Rayden kid, as he had no intention of keeping that promise. To gain final assurance of trust, Larry finally mentions how he had told no one else, not even his superiors, about this meeting taking place. And that was when a certain girl had crashed through the glass on the roof.
"Howdy, boys," Storm greeted sarcastically before firing stun shots in all directions.
Twenty minutes later, several police cars surround the warehouse. The cops entered the warehouse with their weapons drawn only to find everyone suffering from heavy beatings and burns. One of cops recognize Larry as part of the city's crime syndicate and arrest him, also finding an audio cassette tape labeled "Play me" in his right jacket pocket. Soon after, the tape turned out to be an almost flawless recording of the entire meeting. Needless to say, everyone was arrested for drug trafficking. On the roof of a nearby building, Sailor Storm was watching the ordeal with a smile on her face.
"You know something, Zeus? I could get used to this," Storm said.
"Enjoy it, Storm. For this is just the beginning," Zeus replied.
A/N: This marks the halfway point of this story. The next chapter will jump a couple of weeks after the events in this chapter. I am working on fighting off my severe case of writer's block and procrastination right now. Hopefully, it should be much easier now after submitting this long past due chapter. Well, that should do it for now. Later.