A blue-haired, sixteen-year-old woman looked outside her window. This young woman was none other than Ami Mizuno, top of her class at Juban High School. Her greatest feature, her intelligence, rivaled that of any genius, and possibly even surpassed many. However, what wasn't well-known was that she was also a Sailor Senshi: Sailor Mercury, soldier of water and wisdom.
However, there is another secret... one that not even she knows. Not yet, at least.
"It's been so peaceful for a while. Kind of nice to worry about studies more than about new enemies." she commented, as she looked down at an equation she was working on.
She tilted her head, puzzled.
"This isn't the Pythagorean Theorem... is it even a valid scientific equation?"
Ami looked it over, trying to figure out what she had written.
"It looks like a variation of the Second Newtonian Law... but why would it be nullified by gravity curving a room?"
The woman's concentration was shattered by a loud commotion outside the condo.
"You thought you could hide her, huh, Saeko? Well... I'm afraid your efforts were for naught!"
"You... you'll have to kill me first, you... traitor!" a woman's voice called out, as a vase crashed against the wall, followed by a loud crash, causing the walls to shake.
"Unit one... terminate her. Unit two, follow me." the man's voice called, muffled by the walls.
Ami slid back, fearful, grabbing her transformation rod, as the door splintered off the hinges.
As the large cloaked thug entered the room, Ami held up her rod.
"Mercury Crystal-"
Something hit her neck, feeling barely like an insect bite, but having an adverse effect upon her.
She collapsed to the ground, unable to finish her chant, the room growing dark with every passing second.
The last thing Ami saw was a bearded man in a white lab coat.
17:50 hours
Tuatha de Danaan bridge
A silver-haired woman, sixteen years of age, sat in the captain's chair of the tactical submarine. To her right stood an older man with a cap and glasses, casting a stern look at the officers running the Danaan's subsystems.
Standing on the opposite side, a Russian man pored through papers, his long silver hair drawn back into a ponytail, giving off an air of efficiency.
"Here's the latest information from our sources in Tokyo. There appears to be another possible Whispered candidate in the area. Juban, to be exact."
The woman accepted the papers, flipping through them.
"Incredible test scores. Perfect in every field. Not exactly ordinary for a high school student." she commented, quickly grabbing the stack before they fell over.
Good... I'm getting better. She thought, before addressing the Russian.
"There's only one minor inconsistency: her birthdate. This document says that she was born September 10th. Three months too early."
"Zat vas done for her own safety, Herr Testarossa," a German man with an eyepatch over his left eye said, his blonde hair receding from a scarred face, as a bright, blue eye shone in his right socket. "Vee vantet too protecten zhis one from Amalgam. Zhus, oon her first birzhday, vee schvitchet her birzh date too Scheptember Tenzh."
The captain nodded.
"I see... and you would know this because..."
The German's yellow mustache bristled.
"Becausche... I vas zee one vho alteret zee certificate."
The woman nodded again, looking at the picture of the Whispered candidate.
"Strange that you would know of the Whispered only a year after their birth. Most organizations didn't even know of them until two years at least."
The German nodded, before opening a wallet, showing a small picture of a group of individuals: Several Russian men, the German, a couple of British individuals, and two Japanese: a man and woman. In the woman's arms, a bundle was held tightly.
"Before joinink Mithril Intelligence, I vas part of anozher organization. I vill not schay vho vas part of zhis group, but zhese Russians knew about zee experiment zhat createt zee Vhispered. During zhis time, I vas vorkink for Amalgam. Vhen I learnet about zhese experiments, I recallet unt associate from unt convention. I vas in Japan admirink zee local art vhen I met vith zhis Japanese couple. Zee good sir vas quite zee artist. However, zee other one vas unt engineer. I had quite zee conversation vith her. Back in zee day, I used to be quite zee tank driver. Scho, findink unt kinderet spirit, especially in Japan, vas quite the experience, unt vee kept in touch. Ah... zhey vere scho... vunderful."
The German sighed, wiping a tear away from his eye.
"Anyvay, zheir daughter vos born on Christmas Eve. At zee time zee Russian defectors schaid vas vhen zee infants vould schow zee Vhispers. Zee TAROS, zhey called eet. Schome kind oof Omni-Schphere. Vee changet her birzhdate too zhrow Amalgam off."
The captain nodded.
"I see... Mister..."
"Drache. Mien codename ees Drache."
"Mister Drache. What do you require of our division? You know full well that Urzu Seven is currently occupied with protecting another Whispered."
Drache nodded.
"I am vell avare oof Urzu Seven. Right now, I have one oof mien ovn men vatching ofer her. Ein fact, hee schould bee checkink ein right about nov."
As if on cue, a cell phone jingled, as Drache picked up the device, putting it to his ear.
"Guten Tag!"
Drache listened for several minutes, his frown deepening. Suddenly he gasped.
"Du scheitBt mich an!" he shouted, listening to more of the conversation on the phone.
"Auf Wiederhoren!" Drache finished, closing the phone, putting it back in his coat pocket.
"Looks like I have movet too late. Zhat vas mien guardian. Zee Vhispered has been kidnapped when vee vere shifting zee guard."
The captain's eyes widened, as Drache pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a small lighter. Taking a few puffs, the German sighed, letting the smoke circle around his head.
"Don't vorry. Zee man on zee job right nov ees mien best operative. Hee vill find zee Vhispered. Hovefer, I requesten zee cooperation ouf your group vhen vee find ze location ouf zee Vhispered."
Captain Testarossa glanced at her Lieutenant Commander, who nodded silently.
"Yes, Drache... we will work with your group to recover this Whispered. What do you plan on doing if she is indeed one of the Whispered?"
Drache smirked.
"Nov zhat... ees clazzified. Hovefer, her parents azzigned mien azz her guardian ein zee efent zhat zhey are deceased our ozerwise incapacitated."
The captain nodded, smirking.
"I see. So if you find her, you'll take on a similar role like Sergeant Sagara?"
"Ja. Und mien pupil vill take ofer mien position aut Mithril."
"Approved, Mister Drache. We will keep in touch with you on your progress."
"Danke, frauline!"
Usagi was the first at the scene. The distress call from Ami's computer alerted the Senshi to her distress.
However, by the time they arrived, the area was sectioned off by police tape. Several Japanese squad cars blocked the entrance.
The blonde girl cried out, trying to pass the tape, only to be stopped by a heavyset officer.
"Sorry, kid, only police officers beyond this point." he grumbled, blocking the teen's path.
"Please! Is Ami ok?" she pleaded, trying to get by.
"Can't say. We've found a body. We're waiting on the inspector to arrive to inspect the scene."
"A... body?" Usagi gasped. "Oh Ami!"
"Hang on, Officer Lestrade." a man called out, as Usagi turned to the voice.
The owner of the voice was a tall, medium-built man with graying brown hair, faint wrinkles on his face, and a set of thick, horn-rimmed glasses perched on his thick nose. His brown trench coat concealed much of his body, so the blonde wasn't able to gauge how much muscle the man had.
However, his most outstanding feature was the prominent brown mustache that seemed to curl around his cheeks, resembling an overgrown furry catepillar.
"This girl is obviously a friend of the victim. She will be needed in my investigation."
The officer balked, before regaining his composure.
"Very well, Detective Bronnet. I'll let her through."
The inspector nodded, helping Usagi past the police tape. He pulled out a notepad and pencil.
"Now, let's begin with your name."
"Usagi... Tsukino..." the blonde squeaked weakly.
Bronnet nodded, writing down the name.
"Japanese for 'rabbit'... interesting..." he muttered.
"And your name?" the blonde asked, tilting her head.
The man raised an eyebrow.
"Wilie Bronnet. I'm a private detective."
Usagi nodded, as they approached the condominium. Wilie frowned, looking at the ground in confusion.
"These footprints... Tsukino, would you mind putting your foot in one?"
Usagi gulped, before setting her own foot inside the crater-like dent in the floor. It practically swallowed her own foot in comparison.
Wilie nodded, scribbling furiously in the notebook.
"Mhhmmm... Just as I thought. No human could ever make these kinds of indentations."
Usagi stared blankly as the detective then moved towards the door, looking closely at the hinges.
"Forced entry... far greater than any individual human could do. Angle indicates that the door was forcibly opened by physically tearing the door off. Not even a Yazuka thug could do that kind of damage."
Wilie stepped around the door's remains. Inside the condo, everything was trashed, as the detective approached the corpse.
Beckoning to the blonde, he carefully turned the body over, revealing the face.
"Can you identify the body?" he asked.
Usagi nodded, stepping forwards.
She gasped, realizing who it was.
"It's not Ami... it's her mother..." she breathed, barely able to speak.
Wilie nodded, scribbling in his book.
"Saeko... Mizuno." he muttered.
Usagi blinked, as Wilie inspected the dead body.
"Now, Tsukino, I want you to notice something: See these bullet holes?" he indicated the collection of piercings on the woman's chest.
Usagi nodded as the detective pulled out a penknife, digging into one of the wounds, and pulling out one of the bullets.
"Hollow point bullets, ensuring minimal penetration. Next to impossible to obtain in Japan, even on the black market. However, if you look at the wounds, you can see that the heart had already stopped before the bullets pierced." he indicated the lack of blood pools around the wound. "Which means one of two things: either Saeko died from cardiac arrest, or this is simply a red herring."
Usagi tilted her head.
"Red... Herring?"
Wilie nodded.
"Correct. I believe that these bullets were meant to make us believe the cause of death to be gunfire."
The detective looked around the room, noticing the crater-like footprints all over the room. He nodded, before opening the woman's shirt, revealing her neck.
"Just as I suspected. Real cause of death is by strangulation, not gunfire. Judging from the bruises, I'd say that her neck snapped. Do you realize what kind of force is needed to pick up a person from their neck, let alone break it?"
Usagi blinked.
"How did you know she was lifted by her neck?"
Wilie indicated the dark bruises close to her jaw.
"The bruising is most prominent close to her jawline. I'll need an autopsy to confirm, but it seems that her neck is also forcibly stretched, possibly due to the stress placed by supporting her body."
The blonde nodded, as they entered Ami's room.
Wilie's frown deepened, as the color ran from his face.
"They've likely kidnapped your friend Ami. I'm afraid this is beyond my jurisdiction." he said, closing the book.
"I will turn in my report to the department. But, I doubt we can make much progress... Too many variables are in effect here. Even my sleuthing skills are picking up a minimal trail."
He sighed, leaning against the wall.
"Really wish I could call for help from some superhero. A vigilante, perhaps. But, who am I kidding? It's not like they waltz right in and take on a mission.
Usagi nodded sadly, as they exited.
"It's unfortunate that you had to get involved in this. We'll be in touch."
The blonde nodded, as a group of other girls showed up on the street.
"Those are your friends, huh? I suggest you go talk with them. I'll... try to find out some information as to where Mizuno is right now. Try to relax." he said, climbing onto a motorcycle and sidecar, and driving off.
Haruka walked up, staring at the receding detective, puzzled.
"That's strange. If I'm not mistaken, that's a Soviet IMZ-Ural motorcycle. Where does a person get that kind of equipment in Japan?"
A/N: This is my first entry in my secondary series, Altered Destinies. It won't necessarily be an AU fic, but you will see characters thought to have died in both universes, revived through unknown means. All this will eventually play a role. Especially in later chapters.
I don't want to spoil it, but there's going to be a larger subplot that won't initially be obvious. I suggest you keep a look out for clues.
Anyways, please leave some reviews. I look forward to getting this off the ground for a little bit.