Jian-wa closed his eyes and thought about Mi-chan. His beautiful girlfriend could be domineering at times, but she had always let him make his own decisions. In fact, they had just been talking about that the other day. But when the time came for you to choose, you chose me over everything you had been taught your entire life.
"Iie, that's not true. I chose this on my own! And I'm not choosing to go with you either."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Eryx Planet Power, Make Up!" Neko cried, but she didn't have enough time to attack before Amethyst prepared another one.
"Earthly-"
"Stop!"
They both looked up to see Tenshi standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the light outside. They all tensed, waiting for her to transform. But the Knight "appearance" theme only got about three notes off before it stopped.
"Nani?!" Tenshi cried.
"Iie," Eryx whispered.
Amethyst's face twisted into a cruel smile. "She can't transform," she laughed haughtily.
"Celestial Force!" Eryx sent Amethyst flying into a different lab table. She crashed into a beaker, screaming as glass splinters embedded themselves into her shoulder.
"Damn you!" Amethyst glared at her. Then she glanced at Tenshi, who was currently unprotected. It would be perfect to kill her right there in front of Eryx. "Violent Tremor!"
"No!" Eryx yelled desperately.
But Tenshi was pushed out of the way by someone else. The attack hit the edge of the doorway, causing the building to shake, but with no damage to anyone.
"Dazzling Bolts!"
Amethyst was hit by a series of lightning bolts, as Electra entered the room. Amethyst looked around the room and realized that even if Tenshi couldn't transform, she was still outnumbered. "Fine," she cried, and transported herself beyond the barrier.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan had been in the middle of Kempo, when she had felt the effects of battle on Neko. She had left her coach standing there, waiting for her to "attack" him, and run out of the room in the direction in which she had seen Neko go. Partway to the gym, she saw Tenshi standing in the door and picked up on the signals Eryx was sending out about her situation. Transforming while she ran, she managed to save Tenshi's butt, and attack Amethyst, but now all she could think about was getting to Jian-wa, who apparently was behind some kind of blockade that the bad guys had created.
She hit it with a Dazzling Bolts, but it just glowed green for a second, not giving away. Beyond it she could see Amethyst appearing by Jasper's side. They were going to kill Jian-wa for sure!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jaspy, the situation changed. Finish up here so we can go home," Amethyst whimpered.
Jasper glanced at Jian-wa, not sure what to do about the boy. He hadn't chosen to help them, but he wasn't really a threat to them either. But looking back at Amethyst, Jasper forgot all about him, realizing she was injured. "Ame, you're bleeding!"
"Yeah," she answered, playing it up for all it was worth with her pitiful tone. "So is he coming with us or should we get rid of him?"
He knew Jian-wa was a lost cause. "Forget him. I'm getting you home!" Jasper grabbed her and teleported them both to their apartment so he could restore her to full health.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Electra had been beating at the forcefield to no avail. But as the barrier between her and Jian-wa dissolved, she fell forward. With the reflexes of a martial arts master, Jian-wa turned and caught her. "Electra!"
"Jian-kun!" She hugged him, grateful that he hadn't gotten hurt. In fact, she was surprised that Jasper didn't seem to have attacked him at all.
"Daijoubu ka?" Eryx asked running to him as well.
"Hai." He looked up at her and was pleased to see her eyes shining with, not only concern, but respect. He was never quite positive that she had fully forgiven him for deceiving her and Mi-chan, but now he knew for sure that he had won back her good opinion.
Then he saw Tenshi was in the room too. "Hey, Tenshi-kun?"
He noticed Eryx fix her eyes on Tenshi, questioningly. The blonde noticed it too.
"Ano�," she started and then, flustered and confused, scrambled out the door.
"Tenshi-san!" Electra shouted after her. But Tenshi was gone before she could get to her.
Eryx just stood there in shock. "Why can't she transform?" she whispered to no one in particular.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi ran into the house, slamming the door, and entered the living room. Her parents were both in there.
"Why can't I transform?!" she demanded of them.
"Nani?" they both asked.
"I was just trying to fight the rest of Team Eclipse, and I can't transform! Tell me why not!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
