*Theme song: The Touch, by Stan Bush*
Reuisu Lovhaug walked off of the plane in Heathrow Airport
in England. He wore a trenchcoat and a
hat, and wore black gloves. He walked
over to the baggage claim and got his suitcase. He walked out of the airport and into his black car that had been
waiting there ever since he made a call to a rental place, renting it before he
arrived. He brought along his tape
recorder, and started recording.
Reuisu: It's February now, in the year 2001. You know, I always thought that when a
friend or a relative of mine would die, I could grieve so easily, so
unpainfully that I would hardly even notice they were gone.
Reuisu began to have tears come into his eyes and he
swallowed the saliva in his mouth.
Reuisu: But the bloody truth is that there is no such thing
as an easy grieving! Just yesterday,
Sailor Moon, the best of us, was killed, and my mother burned to death in a
terrorist fire. Both died horribly, and
now I'm back here in my birth town of London to attend my Mother's funeral.
Reuisu paused and fought the tears away as the anger in him
boiled up.
Reuisu: And to bring justice back. The terrorists in this city could care less if a Sailor came at
them, but this time, I'm not going as Sailor Centauri to find them.
Reuisu stopped the tape, and put it down. He drove the rental car for about half an
hour until reaching his flat in London.
He parked the car in the nearby parking lot, and walked inside, eyeing
the new attendant in the lobby of the apartment building. He walked up a flight of stairs and came
upon his flat. He opened the door and
walked inside, not even bothering to unpack.
He merely looked at the picture of his mother next to the bed. He started recording on the tape again.
Reuisu: You know, even today, I read comic books. I'm not talking about manga back in Japan,
but American comics. My favorite
selection is from DC comics. I hear
that's where the Oracle I know got the inspiration to become the Oracle she is
now. My favorite group in the DC comics
is known as the Titans. Their history
is far and vast, with many incarnations of their team, spawning back to a group
known as the Teen Titans. I guess it's
just hero worship because of my Titans.
And I hope that I'll be able to stay with my Titans as much as the
Titans in DC have.
Reuisu walked over to the suitcase and unbuckled it.
Reuisu: Another hero in the DC Universe who I was interested
in came by the name of the Phantom Stranger.
Nothing is really known about him other than his powers. No one knows his real name, where he comes
from, or even how he became the Phantom Stranger. But one thing is for certain: I can't go out looking as Sailor
Centauri or Reuisu. Sailor Centauri's
place is with the Titans, and Reuisu is not strong enough. Ever since I was seven years old, I wanted
to be a hero. That ability to be a hero
came in the form of Sailor Centauri.
But while I'm in England, that ability is suspended.
Reuisu opened the suitcase.
Reuisu: From this point forward, I will not allow my
Mother's killers to get away. I will not
let any injustice go without punishment, and to all the enemies of the side of
light, seek not to bar my ways, for I shall win through, so swears the PHANTOM
STRANGER.
Reuisu: Oracle gave me a list of names for the terrorists
who set my Mom's house on fire. I'm
going to get each of them to confess their sins, and then I'll return
home. And here's number one.
Reuisu put the hat over his head, and he glowed for a moment,
is unhuman powers surfacing up within him.
He stood upon a street lamp as he looked into a nearby junkyard, labeled
"76 Totter's Lane." The man
in question was sitting in front of a fire, his hair skinned off. Reuisu could see a tatoo on his shoulder, a
swastika symbol.
Reuisu: And so it begins.
Reuisu lept down off of the lamp post and into the
junkyard. The man immediately lept up
as he saw Reuisu, and he grabbed for a knife he had. It was a switchblade, so the blade shot out when he grabbed it.
Man: Who the-
Reuisu: Are you Arnold Zelrin?
Man: Who the hell wants to know?
Reuisu: The Phantom Stranger.
Arnold: Well, shit-head, I think you'd better get out of
here, or I might decide to introduce you to a little friend of mine!
Reuisu just stood there.
He crossed his arms. The outfit
he was wearing was mostly black. He had
a long cape behind him, but it didn't touch the ground. He wore combat boots and leather gloves and
a black semi-dublet in front of his chest, held up by two golden circles with
chains attached to them. The last piece
of the outfit was his hat, which blocked most of his face.
Arnold: LEAVE OR YOU'RE DEAD!
Reuisu: Death is a concept this body has yet to grasp.
Arnold sent the knife into the air with straigh precision
right at Reuisu's heart. Reuisu,
however, calmly grabbed it just before it reached it's target. He then placed the knife in his hands, and
crushed it with one hand as he made a fist.
He dropped the crumpled knife onto the ground, and crossed his arms
again.
Arnold: Jesus-
Reuisu: Jesus? That
reminds me of a joke! And just stop me
if you've heard this one. Jesus Christ
walks into a hotel,
Arnold pulls out another knife and throws it at Reuisu, he
used his hand to deflect it away as he starts to walk towards Arnold.
Reuisu: He gives the manager three nails and asks-
Arnold throws another knife at him, but Reuisu deflects it.
Arnold: Don't you ever just die?!
Reuisu: Can you put me up for the night?
Reuisu was suddenly in the air, and his hands glowed with
blue energy. Five energy daggers shot
out of his hands and slammed into the edges of Arnold's shirt, pinning him to
the ground. Reuisu softly lands on top
of him and grabs Arnold's head with his hand.
Reuisu: Now you are going to tell me a little bedtime
story. A woman, owning and living in a
single apartment building. A group of
four terrorists set that place on fire.
Why?
Arnold: How the hell should I-
Reuisu: Mr. Zelrin, you're not listening.
Reuisu punched Arnold right in his nose. Arnold groans in pain.
Reuisu: I REPEAT: A woman in an apartment that YOU set on
fire!
Arnold: Yeah, yeah, I remember that. She wasn't going along with our little
tenant relocation program. Who cares?!
Reuisu punched him in the face again.
Reuisu: At the tone, the time will be to confess your sins.
Reuisu punched him again.
Reuisu: BEEP.
Reuisu: That's one.
He's now in the station downtown.
He's also referred me to my next assailant. He told me just before he lost consciousness. I'm near an apartment building where the
other terrorist is. He apparently is a
fire freak, so I'm guessing this is the guy who torched my old home.
Reuisu looked from the opposite street corner at the window
across the street from him. The next
man had more hair than his previous man, cut into a semi-buzzcut across the
middle of his head. He had a lot of matches
and flamethrowers hanging off the walls.
Pieces of tape with writing on them hung under them. Reuisu could only guess that they were some
type of crude souvenir from the fires he had started. Reuisu pulled out a small rock, and attached a note to it. He then sent the rock hurtling through his
window. The guy grabbed a blow torch,
and he slowly picked up the rock. He
read the note, and it said, "Vengeance has found you." He looked up, only to see Reuisu in the
Phantom Stranger suit smash right through his window.
Man: Who the hell are you?!
Reuisu: I am the Phantom Stranger. AND I AM JUSTICE.
Reuisu lept at the man at punched him right in his left
jaw. The guy went tumbling back right
into his little souvenir wall and several matches and guns fell down. Reuisu went over to him and grabbed him by
the collar. The guy struggled, so
Reuisu slammed him into the wall again.
Reuisu: Tony Jimms, I presume?
Tony: Yeah, now let me go!
I didn't do nothin'!
Reuisu: Your little collection here says differently, also
your friend Arnold.
Tony: Wha- Arnold?
What'd he tell you?
Reuisu: He told me you helped torch a little apartment
building up town. Now, you're gonna
confess your little crimes to the authorities, or I'm gonna have to show you to
a little friend of mine: The floor.
Reuisu slammed Tony down into the floor.
Reuisu: Mr. Floor is a nice person, if you get closer to
him!
Reuisu lifted him up and slammed him down again.
Reuisu: Now, we are going for a little visit to the local
precinct, where you are going to confess, or else-
Tony: Go to hell!
Reuisu: What was that?
You want to talk to Mr. Ceiling now?!
Reuisu lifted him up with ease and through the man into the
ceiling. He fell right back onto the
ground.
Reuisu: Mr. Ceiling doesn't seem to be much of a
conversationalist, now what about Mr. Floor again?!
Reuisu: That makes two.
Oracle found the third one easily.
Hi's name's Kyle Greven. He's
been living in a sub-standard warehouse for a few months. I also found this one easily. I also had the pleasure and opportunity to
tie him to a chair. According to my
good friend who had a nice conversation with Mr. Floor, this one wanted to rape
my mother, but the others thought that burning the place was enough. So he just slapped my mother and stripped
her naked and sent her into the fire.
According to Oracle, this one doesn't have any criminal records or
evidence to link him to it, except for camera records that saw him running from
the house. And of course, there is his
confession...
Kyle: A place up town?
Yeah, yeah, I remember it! That
bitch wouldn't move out when we told her to, said it belonged to her or
something. Who cares?! Why won't you speak to me?!?!
Reuisu got out the gasoline can and dripped some around his
chair.
Kyle: Wait a second, your face. I can just make it out underneath that dumb hat of yours. I know you, you were in those pictures next
to her bed! You're her son or
somethin'. That's my theory.
Reuisu grabbed the guy by the neck.
Reuisu: Let me introduce you to a new theory: SHUT UP AND DO
EXACTLY WHAT I SAY.
Kyle: Who are you, man?
Reuisu: Me? I am the
Phantom Stranger. I AM VENGEANCE
UNLEASHED. You wanted to rape my
mother. Big mistake, bucko. Unlike the others, turning you in to the
police would be a waste of time, and considering your history with my mother...
Reuisu lit a match up.
Kyle: Oh shit! Oh
shit oh shit oh-
Reuisu punched him in the face.
Reuisu: What did I say about shutting up?
Reuisu threw the match into the gasoline. the guy's eyes widened as the gasoline
cought onto the chair, and then onto him.
He screamed in pain and anguish as he felt his skin burning with fire,
and Reuisu just walked off.
Reuisu: And then there was one.
Reuisu sat in the rafters of a large room, where, down below
him the last assailant sat on a chair accompanied by many men with handguns and
sub-machine guns at a large table.
Man: We just got word.
Arnold, Tony, and Kyle have had some...
Unexpected things happen to them.
Assailant: What?
Man: Arnold and Tony are in police custody, and Kyle just
got turned into tomorrow's tea toast.
Assailant: Then you're gonna make sure the same thing
doesn't happen to me.
Reuisu: Gentlemen!
Reuisu lept down from the rafters and in front of all of
them. They all raised their guns up at
him. Reuisu walked over to the table
and stood in front of them.
Reuisu: Averin Darhk, I presume?
Averin: Ah, so you are the one who's destroyed by
compatriots. Good. You saved me the trouble of doing it myself.
Reuisu: All I want is him.
The rest of you can leave without harm.
The others kept the guns up at him.
Averin: These guys are on my payroll. They aren't gonna leave that easily.
Reuisu: You're all going to be having a bad case of death if
you get in my way.
Averin: This guy's boring me. Shoot the lousy mutha!
And with that command, all the guns shot out dozens of
bullets straight into Reuisu's arms and chest.
After three seconds of the barrage, he fell backwards. His hat slid away from him.
Averin: Now that that little fly is out of my way, by the
way, get that sack of bones out of my place.
Two of the gunmen walked over to him and looked down. Before they reached down to grab him, they
both noticed the bullet holes in him.
Shining through, reflecting the light, was a silver metal.
Gunman: Hey, boss, this guy's got some kind of-
Reuisu shot up and grabbed the two's necks with his
hands. He threw the two into the
nearest gunmen. The other gunmen raised
their guns up and pointed at him.
Man: MOVE AND WE SHOOT!
Reuisu put a frown and sad puppy face on his own face, and
raised his arms up. Then, holding back
a smile, he danced to his left, obviously moving. The other gunmen began shooting like mad into him, but it didn't
matter to Reuisu. His helmet armor
began swimming onto his head like liquid, circling his head until finally
forming the Sailor Centauri helmet. The
bullets continued to ricochet off of his armor as he pulled off his leather
gloves, revealing armored hands. He
then pulled off the entire Phantom Stranger outfit and threw it away from
him. He raised his arms up and aimed at
two gunmen. Two missiles shot out of
the ports on his wrists and into them, blowing a hole through one of them and
completely eliminating the other. In
utter fear and terror, the others began to run away. Averin Darhk was the only one who stayed.
Centauri: So, still want to hide behind others?
Averin: Who are you?
Centauri: I am Judgement from God. He's not too happy with you.
Centauri ran at Averin and lept onto him and handcuffed
him.
Reuisu wore a trench coat and continued to look at his
Mother's grave, and placed down a single rose at it. The funeral services were over, but he stayed behind.
Voice: You know, I've been hearing a lot of things about
you, Reuisu.
Reuisu raised his head up.
Behind him stood a figure wearing a black cape, a black hat, and
practically everything he was wearing was black, except for the holders that
kept his cape in place, which were gold.
Reuisu: I needed to be someone else for a time. Sailor Centauri is for Japan.
Man: Sailor Centauri is a promise to the world, not just
Japan. It's a promise to your
Titans. You must return to them.
Reuisu: Why?
Man: Serena is alive.
Reuisu: I saw the stake driven through her. I killed Beryl with my own hands.
Man: Then she's going to be resurrected. Go back, Reuisu. The Titans need you. They
all need you. Your mother would not
want you to be sorry.
The man walked away.
Reuisu: Thank you, Phantom Stranger.
To Be Continued...