Stage 5: The Path to Friendship; Taurus’s Stone Heart

"I am impressed, Aquamarine,"said Thanatos, anger and disappointment clear in his voice, "I am impressed with your incompetence. Not only have you failed to kill Crusader Scorpio, but you allowed Crusader Taurus to awaken as well."

The other three Gem Witches began laughing at Aquamarine. Aquamarine however had set a new plan in motion hoping to defeat the two Crusaders. "My apologies, my lord. Taurus's awakening was something I did not foresee. However, I have cast a new Dark Spell to defeat the Crusaders and find the Key."

"Then do it!" yelled Thanatos, "My patience is wearing thin and I will not allow any further failures." With that, Thanatos faded back into the fountain's water.

"My, my, Aquamarine," Jade said, "I wonder how long it will be until Lord Thanatos tires of you entirely."

"Shut up, Jade," Aquamarine replied, "I will defeat those meddlesome Crusaders and then find the Key to release Lord Thanatos."

************

Two drunken college students are walking down the streets as they are babbling about their day.

"I'm so happy that we passed that exam," said one of the students, "I thought my life was over when I was taking it."

"Yeah," said the other, "Hey did that girl give you her number?"

"Kaoru?" he answered, "Yes, she did. But.."

"Don't you like her?"

Unbeknownst to them, a taxi cab approached them. The cab flashes its lights, alerting the pair.

"Hey, did you call a cab?"

"No, I thought you did."

The cab then began to change its shape and the last thing the pair saw was a shadowy, monstrous figure with glowing red eyes.

************

"Good morning, followers," said Yuki Yamazaki, a social media influencer, "I am here with Alex Sasori, the only member of the new Idol group, the Magiboys."

"Hello everyone," Alex said cheerfully, "Good morning, and thank you for having me on your podcast Miss Yamazaki."

"Please, call me Yuki. No need to be so formal."

"My apologies," Alex replied, "Thank you, Yuki."

"It's such an honor to have you here," Yuki continued, "Now, the one question on everyone's mind is where are the other Magiboys?"

Alex replied with the answer Cosmo told him to say, "We are currently in the process of revealing our second Magiboy, but we still have to see how we will work together."

"Oooooh," said Yuki, "So there will be another Magiboy?"

"Yes," Alex said, "We will be revealing him hopefully in the near future."

************

Meanwhile Cosmo, against Daiki's advice, was at Tamoya Shrine trying to convince Joichiro into joining them.

"Listen Cosmo," Joichiro said, clearly frustrated, "I understand I have a duty to be a Zodiac Crusader. However, I don't do well on teams."

"You don't have a choice in the matter," said Cosmo. "You and Daiki have to protect the world from Aquamarine and her monsters."

Joichiro rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject. "Speaking of which, I believe there is another one out there."

"Another one?" Cosmo asked. "How do you know?"

Joichiro nods his head, signaling Cosmo to follow him. Joichiro leads Cosmo into his room and sits beside his desk. On top of his desk rests a crystal ball. Joichiro then pulls out his laptop and opens his browser to some news articles he has been reading.

"Here," Joichiro points out and begins his explanation, "There have been seven missing people reported over the last four days. Same MO as the last one we faced. I tried scrying for it in my crystal, but the only things I get are images of insects."

"So the monster is an insect type?" asked Cosmo.

"I think this creature uses mimicry to lure its victims," answered Joichiro, "The insects I saw were all mimics, like the flower mantis, a walking stick, and a viceroy butterfly."

"So where do we find a monster that can mimic its surroundings?"

Joichiro switches tabs on his browser and reveals a map. "The locations where the missing persons were last seen are pinned here. If it follows a hunting pattern, then it is usually centered here."

"I'll let Daiki know." Cosmo said before Joichiro cut him off.

"Don't bother, you both will only get in my way." 

************

Daiki had met up with Toma at Castle Arcade, hoping that there was something that could help Joichiro feel welcomed. So far Cosmo's attempts have failed due to his approach being a bit forceful. Cosmo kept hounding Joichiro to join as a Magiboy as well as a Zodiac Crusader. Joichiro just didn't seem interested. Daiki knew why. He had known it all too well. Before he met Toma, Daiki had no one to call friend. His elementary and middle school years were very lonely. He was teased and even bullied. That changed when he entered high school, when he met Toma. Daiki knew that Joichiro was being so distant with them because he never had friends before and was not used to it. Unlike Cosmo, Daiki wanted Joichiro to be ready on his terms.

"Why are we shooting hoops?" asked Toma, "Why don't we try that space game over there."

"Because," Daiki answered, "Joichiro likes basketball, so I figured we would practice shooting so we could play with him."

A hint of jealousy flashed across Toma's face. "So, Joichiro is your new best friend now?"

Daiki gave Toma a sly smirk and patted Toma's head, "No one can replace you, you idiot."

Toma remained quiet and started to blush. He immediately turned away to hide it from Daiki. "So, why are we trying to be friends with him?"

"He reminds me of us before we met." answered Daiki.

Toma then thought about the time before he met Daiki and understood why Daiki was eager to befriend Joichiro. "Ok, one more round and we go see our new friend."

The boys started up another round in the game. Meanwhile, in Daiki's bag, his phone was ringing. Cosmo was calling.

************

Cosmo had called Daiki several times and left a couple angry voicemails. He was following Crusader Taurus as he scried for the Mimic's location.

"Taurus," Cosmo cried out, "Slow down and wait for Scorpio."

"I already told you old man," Taurus replied, "I don't need his help. I'm better off on my own."

Taurus had arrived at the place he saw in his crystal ball, however he couldn't find the Mimic anywhere. No matter how hard he focused, his sight could not pinpoint the Mimic's aura. "I can't sense it." he said.

"My, my," said a familiar voice. It was Aquamarine. "Aren't we being a naughty and nosy boy?"

"Aquamarine," Taurus called out to the Witch, "What are you planning, Witch?"

"That's for me to know, and you not to know." she said cheerfully. "However I can't let you stop my Dark Spell from fulfilling my mission. Good luck finding it." She cackled as she vanished into thin air.

Taurus knew that she was a diversion for Mimic to get away. Taurus decided then to trust his senses, all of them. He noticed a taxi making its way away from him. "That's it," he said, "The Mimic is taking the form of a taxi." Taurus ran after the taxi before it could claim its next victim.

************

Toma and Daiki just left Castle Arcade and decided to head to Tamoya Shrine. As they were making their way to an underpass Daiki checked his phone and heard the angry voice messages that Cosmo had left.

Daiki, meet us at Lakeshore Square, Joichiro has discovered where the Witch's monster is. You both need to destroy it.

Daiki had started listening to the next message when Toma looked back and noticed Daiki had stopped. While Toma had his back turned a taxi started approaching him. Before Toma knew it, the Mimic revealed its true form and grabbed Toma.

"AAAAHH!!" shouted Toma as the Mimic was about to consume him.

"TOMA!!" shouted Daiki, "Scorpio Constellation Power, Armor On." In a bright flash, Daiki became Crusader Scorpio and knocked the Mimic away and carried Toma away. As Scorpio laid Toma down, who was unconscious now, Taurus came with Cosmo close behind. "Cosmo, take care of Toma." Scorpio ordered.

Taurus immediately began fighting the Mimic and tried to keep the monster away from Scorpio. At one point, Taurus pushed Scorpio back, and Scorpio fell down to a sitting position.

"Stop showboating you brat!" Cosmo had said.

Scorpio however saw something the other two did not. Aquamarine, lurking in the shadows. She summoned one of her blue energy balls and threw it to Taurus.

"Taurus," Scorpio shouted, "Look out!" Scorpio dashed towards Taurus, grabbed him, and threw him out of the way, but not in time to avoid the blast. Scorpio had taken the hit for Taurus. Scorpio fell to the floor, badly hurt from the attack.

"You," Taurus said, "You saved me."

"That's what friends do," said Scorpio. "We protect each other."

Aquamarine launched another energy ball towards them. Taurus summons his diamond buckler shield and blocks the attack. Unfortunately, for Taurus, the force of the blast blew him back and off his feet.

"Now," Aquamarine had said, "This is the end of you Crusaders." She summoned another energy ball and was preparing to throw it towards them.

However, she was stopped by a streak of gold light which extinguished the energy ball and all that was left was a golden five-pointed star shuriken.

"There is strength in unity, but unity begins with trust. Crusader Taurus, place your trust in Scorpio, as he has placed his in you." With that said, the Star Ninja had melted into the shadows.

Taurus and Scorpio look at each other and together they nod in agreement.

Taurus picks up his shield and summons his crystal scimitar. He gets into a defensive position with the shield in front of him and the scimitar on top of it. The shield begins gathering light into the shield. "Taurus Glimmering Shield, Shine." A beam of light fires out of the shield towards Mimic and Aquamarine. Aquamarine dodges the attack but Mimic is blinded by the beam. "Scorpio, now!"

Scorpio summons his harpoon bolt and charges it with energy. "Scorpio Harpoon Stinger." Scorpio throws his bolt at Mimic and is skewered by the bolt. Scorpio pulls the bolt back and both Scorpio and Taurus turn their backs to Mimic as he crumbles to dust.

"Spell, Broken!" they say in unison.

A bright flash emerges from the dust of Mimic and afterwards, all the victims Mimic consumed returned.

************

Toma awakened to find Daiki and Joichiro standing over him. "Unh, what happened?"

"Well," Daiki said, "Umm, you see…" Unable to come up with an explanation.

Joichiro stepped in and saved Daiki, "Well you heard the news about the Magiboys' second member being revealed soon and you bumped into a sign."

"I did?" asked Toma.

The trio then decide to head back to Tamoya Shrine with Cosmo following close behind and while Toma tries looking for the article Joichiro mentioned, Daiki talks to Joichiro.

"I'm sorry about Cosmo," Daiki said, "I know he came off a bit aggressive."

"A bit?" replied Joichiro, "He threatened to move in if I didn't join."

"Oh God no," answered Daiki, "Trust me, that's the worst threat in existence. He snores like a chainsaw."

"I heard that!" said Cosmo so only Daiki and Joichiro heard him.

"Listen," Daiki said, "I get it, being on your own for so long that you believe you're better off alone. I used to be like that."

"You were?"

Daiki nods in response. "Then I met Toma, and suddenly I wasn't alone anymore. I hope one day we could be friends."

Joichiro is surprised about Daiki's request. Normally people were afraid of him because of his gifts. Or in Cosmo's case, because he was a Zodiac Crusader. Daiki was the only person who reached out, not wanting a partnership because they were Crusaders, but offering something Joichiro never had. 

"We are friends, Daiki."

The phrase surprised Daiki, but caught Toma's attention too. "And what about me?"

Joichiro laughed at Toma, "Yes, you too Toma."

The Trio arrived at Tamoya Shrine, still talking about what to do for the weekend. Meanwhile a luxury car passes by, alerting Cosmo.

"What is this that I am feeling?" he said as he looked around.

************

In the car, an elderly gentleman is driving. He is wearing a chauffeur's uniform. In the backseat is a young man with neck length silvery blond hair, gazing on his tablet, boredom clear on his face.

"Another year, another school." said the silver haired boy as his car passed a shrine and his gaze stopped on one of the boys hanging around in the courtyard. Suddenly the boy felt as if his fate was calling to him. But why?