THE WILD BOAR
Chapter 7: "Home Invasion"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
In his bed, with his wife next to him, Yoshiki Morobishi slept soundly. He had always been a sound sleeper, even at the height of his time as head of the Chiyoda-Ku Yakuza. Guilt and disgust over how he made his living were foreign things to him. But though he was a sound sleeper, years of violence that came with his lifestyle had also attuned his body to wake up at the slightest sound of a threat. So when one of his "employees" entered the bedroom, Morobishi was already awake and brandishing the pistol he kept under his pillow.
"It's just me, Oyabun!" the man exclaimed. By now Morobishi could hear the sounds of a disturbance outside of the house.
"What's going on?" Morobishi asked.
"We're under attack!" the man blurted out. "I came up here to make sure you were safe!"
"Who is it? The Ootsuka Clan? Or the police?" Morobishi demanded. By now, his wife Shiho was awake.
"No, it's . . ." the man began and then words failed him.
"Spit it out!" snapped Morobishi.
"I," stammered the normally cool, hardened Yakuza. "It's . . .!"
At once, the house was rocked by a gigantic crash. Morobishi sprang out of bed and ran past the sentry. It sounded like someone had driven a truck through one of the first floor walls. If so, this could be very bad. There were a few guns stashed in the house, for Morobishi hadn't completely disarmed his men. But he only kept enough to believably claim self-defense and that wouldn't hold off a well-armed assault by a rival clan trying to take him down and claim his territory.
Like Takeshi Ootsuka.
But when he got to the top of the stairs, Morobishi saw that it wasn't a rival gang in an armored vehicle. It was an eight foot tall stone statue standing in his living room. Behind it, there was a gaping hole in his wall and outside several of his men were battered and lying on the ground. And even more remarkably, the head on the stone idol turned and looked up at him.
Morobishi heard a gasp of surprise and turned to it. It had come from Shiho and she was even now racing back to the bedroom. Through the doorway, he saw her pick up a phone and punch in a number.
"Who are you calling?" Morobishi demanded.
"The Palace!" Shiho shouted back. "Serenity-Hime swore she would protect us! Well now I'm going to see how much her word means!"
"That's an illusion!" Mars exclaimed. Everybody stared at her in amazement.
"A what?" Jupiter gasped. She looked back at the hulking stone idol relentlessly advancing on them. Her eyes told her that Mars was completely wrong, and yet Mars was right about so many things.
"Of course!" Mercury nodded with animation. "THAT'S why it wouldn't register properly on my visor! It's not really there!" That was all Jupiter needed to hear.
"Well, for an illusion, it's racked up a pretty big trail of destruction!" Venus argued. "And my chain wrapped around SOMETHING!"
"You only think it did," Mars replied.
She jammed a sacred sutra to her forehead and invoked the paper's power. Then she let fly, perhaps with just a bit too much vehemence. The sutra shot down the street and struck the Goremu right between the bulbous circles that represented its eyes. The Goremu reared back as if shot, then froze in place. Before everyone's eyes, the Goremu shimmered and then disappeared, all of the damage it had caused disappearing with it. All that was left in the road was a small tree branch.
"Well put ears on me and call me a donkey," Venus mumbled in amazement.
"You were all fooled by a kitsune-yako," Mars said, making no attempt to conceal her irritation. "My great-grandmother warned me that there was one about. I should have made the connection sooner."
"So what was the point?" Jupiter asked. "Drag us all the way out here for what? Just to prove it could fool us?"
"Maybe. Some kitsune-yako have a devilish sense of humor," Mars replied. "But it's just as likely that it was either taking the measure of our abilities . . ."
"Or distracting us from its actual objective," Mercury said suddenly. They turned to her and saw she was looking at Serenity. Serenity was on the Senshi communicator, talking apparently with Luna. From the look of distress on the Queen's face, they could see it wasn't good news.
"What is it?" Venus prodded.
But the Queen just closed her eyes, tilted her head back and faded from view, eerily like the Goremu had earlier. Since Mars hadn't labeled her an illusion as well, Venus hastily concluded that Serenity had teleported. She whipped open her communicator.
"Artemis!" Venus barked. "What was that message that Serenity just got?"
"It was a call from the Morobishi home," Artemis relayed. "They say they're under attack by a monster!"
"Distracting us from its actual objective," Mercury frowned.
"Come on!" Jupiter shouted. She was already running for the limousine.
"Chiyoda's all the way across town!" Mars shouted after her as the other Senshi moved to join her. "We'll never make it in time!"
"Maybe! Maybe not!" Jupiter snapped back. "But I'm at least going to try!"
The other three piled into the limo after Jupiter. Confused, the driver looked back at them for some sort of instructions.
"Drive!" shouted Venus. "Chiyoda-Ku! I've give you the address on the way! And DON'T stop for lights!"
"I'm reprogramming the traffic signals to give you an open corridor to Chiyoda-Ku, Venus!" they heard Artemis say over the communicator that Venus hadn't closed.
"Artemis, I love you!" Venus grinned. "If you weren't so hairy, I'd marry you!"
"Yes, well, no thanks," Artemis replied. "I've seen how you treat your husbands."
He received a very loud raspberry in reply. Artemis glanced over at Luna and found the little black cat smirking.
Shiho had no sooner put the phone down then the entire second floor was rocked. She looked anxiously at her husband, seeking some sort of explanation.
"It's attacking the interior support walls!" Morobishi told her. "It's like it's trying to pull the entire mansion down on its head!"
There was a loud crash from below, followed by the sound of wood rending and creaking. Instantly Morobishi moved for his wife.
"Down the back stairs!" he ordered. She ran to him and he led her through the hall. "We have to get out of the house before it collapses!"
"Thank the gods Kakeru is staying with friends!" Shiho gasped.
To emphasize his point, part of the front stairwell and landing buckled. It crashed into the first floor below. The Morobishis reached the back stairwell and hurried down the stairs. The monster's thrashing could be heard through the walls as they descended. The bottom of the stairs led to the garage. Morobishi had built the stairwell into the home in case he needed to make a fast getaway. The move seemed prescient now, though he could have hardly predicted the threat he was escaping from was an animated stone monster. They were about to get into the family's black BMW-6.
And suddenly Queen Serenity was there.
"Oh, I've got to stop doing that!" Serenity wheezed, bent over with her hands on her knees. She took several loud breaths. "The Palace said that you're being attacked by a monster?" Morobishi looked her over, wondering how much he should admit to.
"Yes!" Shiho spoke up instantly, impressed again by the abilities of the woman she once despised. "It's in our home! It's destroying it! I think it wants to kill us!"
And to punctuate that statement, the Goremu smashed through the wall that the garage shared with the house. Shiho gasped in alarm. Morobishi sought to shield her with his body.
"Please stop," Serenity said, her hand outstretched as she approached the creature. "You don't have to resort to violence. Whatever you want, we can work it out peacefully."
The Goremu gave no response. Instead it continued to lumber forward.
"If you're able to destroy this thing, Serenity-Hime," Morobishi urged, trying to control the timber of his voice, "then I suggest you do it now. I don't think it's willing to listen to reason."
"I won't destroy it," Serenity glanced at him. "There's a person inside of this creature, giving it life and purpose. Destroying it would destroy the person inside. And I can't do that. I won't do it."
"LOOK OUT!" shrieked Shiho.
Warned by the woman's cry, Serenity was just barely able to erect a barrier in time to deflect the vicious swing of the Goremu's arm. The massive stone hand glanced off of her barrier and Serenity winced on impact. Without concern for her or itself, the Goremu swung the other arm, striking the barrier with enough force that Serenity staggered back several steps. And onward the stone monster advanced.
"Destroy it!" Shiho cried. "Mercy will get us all killed!"
"No," Serenity replied. She flinched back as the Goremu delivered another blow to her barrier. "But you two should get to safety. Go ahead. I'll hold it off."
Morobishi stared at the Queen, his confusion mixed with awe. She would do this for him, knowing that he had ordered her assassination. The thought of running now suddenly gave him a bitter taste in his mouth. But he had to think of Shiho, too. He had to protect her.
Serenity fended off another blow and that spurred Morobishi into action. He glanced around the garage and then ran over to a box on the floor by the far wall. Shiho watched him pull out a stick of dynamite from the box. Her eyes grew large as he ran back and lit the fuse. Grabbing the Queen by the back of her dress, Morobishi yanked back while tossing the dynamite at the feet of the monster.
"Now! Erect your shield!" he commanded, then covered Shiho with his body.
The dynamite exploded at the feet of the Goremu, knocking out the rest of the wall. The stone monster staggered back from the blast. This enabled Serenity to materialize a steel shell around the Goremu, encasing him in the thick, hard metal. As dust settled, Morobishi uncovered his wife and looked, first at the monster and then at Queen Serenity. They found the monarch braced against the BMW, her head in her hand.
"Serenity-Hime?" he asked. Shiho did more. She walked over and actually touched Serenity. Serenity looked up at her and then grinned.
"I've got to start exercising, I guess," the Queen panted.
"Thank you for once again saving my family," Shiho said gratefully.
"I was glad to do it," Serenity smiled. Then a thought struck her. "Morobishi-San, what were you doing with dynamite?"
"It was," Morobishi began slowly, "left over - - from a job - - clearing tree stumps from the back yard."
"Oh," Serenity nodded. Shiho raised an eyebrow. The Queen might have believed that, but she didn't for a second.
"What will you do with that monster?" Moborishi asked.
"I don't know," Serenity replied. "I guess take it back to the palace - - let Ami study it. She likes studying things. And maybe Rei will be interested, too." She shoved off of the BMW. "Now what can I do to rebuild your home?"
"Serenity-Hime, I am not without means," Morobishi began.
"Oh, please! It won't be any trouble!" the Queen exclaimed. "Well, maybe a little if I overdo it. But . . .!"
"I am grateful," Morobishi smiled, "but no. Remember I am still an outsider and prefer to do things my way. What you can do is find out who brought this thing to life and why that person chose to attack me with it."
"And will they try again," Shiho added.
"Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of it. And you should be safe now." Then Serenity's mouth curled up. "But if something does happen, call me. I'll protect you." She grinned at him. "You're not THAT much of an outsider."
Turning, Serenity levitated the steel capsule that contained the Goremu and headed out through the damaged mansion to the outer yard. Out in the yard, one of Morobishi's men had apparently avoided injury and was standing guard. Serenity looked at him and then turned and approached him.
"Queen Serenity," the man said and bowed.
"You're not really one of Morobishi-San's men," Serenity said with an eerie certainty. "You're a fox demon."
The man reacted with surprise, but his mouth quickly curled into a grin.
"And I thought only a priest could penetrate my illusions," the man said.
"Are you responsible for this?"
"Why would I be responsible for such a thing?" the man said with poorly-feigned innocence. "I was just attracted to the chaos and decided to blend in and watch the festivities."
"Festivities?" gasped Serenity. "People were hurt! The Morobishi family could have been killed! How can you consider that entertaining?"
"We all have our different tastes in amusements," the man replied with a smirk. "I don't criticize you for dressing that way, even though I find it quite showy and immodest."
"What's wrong with the way I . . .?" Serenity began, then shook her head. "That has nothing to do with it! Hurting people is bad! And being amused by other people's pain and suffering is just as bad!"
"Remember that the next time you're watching one of your cartoons and someone slips and falls as the punch line of a joke," the man said slyly. His smile dimmed. "This situation is beginning to bore me. I'll be leaving now."
"Wait!" Serenity exclaimed and lunged at the man.
Suddenly a puff of smoke exploded around him, obscuring him from sight. Confidently, Serenity reached in through the cloud, for it didn't obscure the fox demon from her vision. But just as suddenly there was a terrifying shrill cry that pierced the air. It sounded like a dinosaur from one of the old monster movies Minako had dragged her to see. Serenity glanced back and saw a gigantic Pterodactyl swooping at her from above.
She also saw that it was another fox illusion. Turning back to the smoke, she looked for the fox masquerading as a man. But in that second she looked away, the fox had gone. Serenity looked around the yard, but could find no trace of the fox demon.
"Oh," Serenity moaned, biting her lip, "now Rei's going to yell at me."
"Are you insane?" bellowed Rei.
Serenity's eyes sought the floor and her lip protruded.
"Given the power this creature demonstrated," Sailor Mercury said as she typed into her Senshi computer, "Serenity was the only person who could have saved the Morobishi family and captured the Goremu." The entire time, her eyes were glued to her computer screen.
"And if that Goremu had seriously injured her, or worse, because she was BY HERSELF?" Rei snapped back.
"If she had teleported someone with her, the strain would have further weakened her and left her even more vulnerable," Mercury replied calmly, still studying the readings of her computer. "You are familiar with her history, aren't you?"
Rei started to say something, but Makoto stepped in with a hand on her shoulder.
"You're not going to win an argument with her," Makoto smiled, "so you may as well stop now."
"I'm just sorry I let the kitsune-yako escape," moaned Serenity.
"I'm sorry you saved that Morobishi character first," muttered Makoto.
"Mako-Chan!" Serenity gasped.
"He tried to have you killed," Makoto replied stonily. "You may have forgiven him, but I haven't."
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Serenity," Rei told her. "Kitsune are very tricky and can take advantage of any opening you give them." Her mouth turned into a scowl. "Of course if you had someone WITH YOU...!"
"Rei Hino, you are still the meanest person who ever lived!" sputtered the Queen. "Endymion, make her . . .!" Serenity stopped when she noticed that Endymion wasn't in the room. "Does anybody know where Endymion is?"
"He got called to a meeting with the Minister of Justice," Minako said. She was sitting on a stool, staring in wonder at the Goremu, still sealed in a steel cocoon, while Ami analyzed it. "Apparently there's something cooking on the Dietman Takahashi front." She turned and winked at Serenity. "Although you didn't hear it from me."
In his office in the palace, King Endymion listened as the Minister of Justice, the top legal official of the Japanese government, outlined what had been learned so far by his team of investigators.
"We've examined his phone and banking records for the period," the Minister reported. "There's no suspicious activity on the phone records. I anticipate Dietman Takahashi was too smart to use a phone registered to him to communicate."
"That would stand to reason," Endymion nodded.
"There are several large transactions in his bank records for the period in question, but we haven't been able to link any of those transactions yet to anything connected with Yoshiki Morobishi or any of the holdings he had in the 2015-2016 period."
"Keep digging. I'm sure you'll find something," Endymion said.
"That's not the only thing I'm here to report," the Minister continued. "I think Takahashi-San suspects he's being investigated. I don't know if there was a leak in my department or at the bank or even the phone company, but Takahashi-San seems to be aware of our efforts now. And he's going to start crying 'political suppression' as soon as he can to discredit the investigation. That's why I wanted to meet this early in the morning, Your Majesty. I want to make a formal announcement of this to get ahead of any statement Takahashi-San makes, to blunt his criticism. But I wanted to clear it with you, first."
Endymion thought a moment. "Conduct this investigation as you see fit, Minister. I have every confidence in you. Don't worry about how this might reflect on me. Do your job."
"Yes, Your Majesty," the Minister said, standing and bowing. After he left the room, Endymion pondered what was about to come next.
He hoped it wouldn't be too messy.
Continued in Chapter 8
