Cosmic Warriors
Disclaimer: All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.
Note: Thanks always for the feedback and to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers.
CHAPTER EIGHT - Years of Conspiracy
The next morning Usagi met up with Naru outside of OSA-P and the two started gabbing about what happened. To her surprise, Naru wasn't anything like she was expecting, but rather her normal chatty self. After defeating Iguara, and having Furfur taken down, all the owners seemed to return to normal immediately after.
"Usagi, did you watch the news this morning?" Naru asked, fixing her hair while Usagi held her books.
"Nope, I was in a rush to get here." Usagi answered with a sigh. She was in such a hurry she forgot to grab her lunch. They'd agreed to get to school early to talk to Ami about rescheduling now that Naru was feeling 100% again.
"Oh, well it was so weird! None of the normal news people were on this morning." Naru said and bobbed her head.
"Maybe they all got fired." Usagi deadpanned, her dreams were filled with the haunting face of the monster from the previous day. Her constant tossing and turning left her exhausted.
"Nah, the new people would have mentioned it if they had, it was like no one even noticed." Naru said and shrugged.
"Hello girls!" Ami called from down the street, holding an armful of books with one hand and waving with the other.
"Oh hi Ami." Naru waved to the girl. "How are you?"
"I'm doing well, but how are you? I heard about what happened yesterday." Ami said meekly.
"Ami, how much did you hear about it? I mean... What are the news people saying?" Usagi asked as she leaned in close.
"Well, there are a couple different stories going around. The news didn't say too much about it, but a lot of people think that it's a movie stunt gone wrong, some say that it was some zoo animal that escaped..." Ami said as she leaned against the store front. "There is going to be a big investigation about the Pet Shop."
"No way! From the zoo?" Naru cried.
"I don't believe it either, but it's hard to say for sure what really did happen. However it must not have been too serious if Sailor V was there." Ami looked side to side to the girls, especially to Usagi waiting to hear her thoughts.
"Sailor V huh?" Usagi said, her eye twitching. "You know I heard there was another heroine there too!"
"Did you see Sailor V's new costume?" asked Naru. "Very stylish."
Usagi's jaw dropped as she gasped at Naru. Was Warrior Moon not already a house-hold name?
"What do you guys think that thing was? I mean could it have been some zoo animal, or something else? Someone got a fews pictures of it and was passing them around." From under her stack of books Ami was clutching a small Polaroid photo, she quickly flipped the picture over before showing the girls.
Naru snatched it away and held it in close to get a good look at it, Usagi was less anxious about seeing the beast again. But sure enough on the photo was the monster that looked like a deer with its enormous limbs. Although the picture was from a distance, Usagi could tell Furfur was ramming the front of a car ready. In her mind she saw its massive body flying across the street and the damage it had done to Artemis.
"Oh it was real all right..." Usagi said, speaking to the photo.
Ami looked forward at a street people and at a flyer stippled to the pole. "Look!" Ami exclaimed, pushing off the wall and grabbing the flyer. "It's an ad for Stack Attack, I heard they have good food."
"My dad seems to like it." Usagi said and looked to Naru who kept staring at the beast. "We went once; I think I gained about ten pounds from it!" she whined on.
Ami bit her lip, her eyes scanning over the paper. "Do you think we have enough time to go before school?" Ami asked to the girls.
"You wanna go there? Don't you usually get to school really early though, to read?" Naru asked handing the picture back.
"If we leave now and eat quickly, we can make it there and to the school before the bell!"
"I don't recommend it Ami, I felt so fat after eating it, and lazy!" Usagi poked her flat stomach that jiggled a little due to it not being firm like she wanted.
"Usagi, you've always been lazy." Naru reminded.
"I have a craving for something sweet!" Ami squealed, Naru and Usagi looked at her with some degree of concern, they'd never seen her act like this.
"If you say so, but just remember that we warned you when you can't fit into your uniform anymore." Naru said with a shrug.
"Excuse me."
From behind them came the voice of Luna, Usagi turned ardently and twitched her eyes taking in Luna's appearance. The girl came trotting up to them, her black curls bouncing around until she stopped moving. Unlike yesterday, she was wearing the same school uniform as the girls, except she managed to fill it out better.
"I heard you say you were going to Stack Attack, can I join you?"
"Sure!"
"Of course!"
"No."
Luna, Naru, and Ami looked to Usagi who stared at Luna with a look that could kill, if she had such a power.
"You don't want me coming, Usagi?" Luna asked.
"It's not that! I just mean... You probably have something more important to do!" Usagi moved in close and gave her a death stare.
"As a matter of fact, I don't. It seems a lot of places around town aren't open yet, but Stack Attack is, and I've wanted to visit for a while." she answered innocently.
"Where's Artemis?" Usagi inquired.
"Resting." Luna reassured her with a tilt of her head. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason!" Usagi shouted and spun around, heading off up the sidewalk in the direction of Stack Attack.
"Who's Artemis?" Naru asked before following after Usagi.
Ami smiled pleasantly and rubbed the sides of her jaws. "Oh, those pancakes were delicious!" Ami covered her mouth while she spoke, the syrup on her blueberry stack sending her taste buds into frenzy.
The four girls sat in a booth near the door, Luna made a fuss about sitting with Usagi and sitting so that they could watch both the door and the register. All of the girls were almost done with their stacks, but Luna ate with more regard for the people around her, taking her time cutting up her food and eating slowly.
"That was better than the first E-Z Stack!" Naru dropped her fork onto her plate while she yawned.
"Mhm!" Usagi agreed and rubbed her stomach.
"Maybe if I come here again I'll try what you girls had." Luna placed her silverware down onto the place which had just two pancakes on it topped with butter and syrup.
"Mine was wonderful too." Ami said as she ate the last blueberry off her fork before putting it on her napkin.
"I'll go get the check!" Naru offered and scooted out from the booth.
Due to the attack the previous day most places were nearly empty, only a few other people occupied tables in the restaurant.
"Excuse me; can I get a check please?" Naru asked over the sound of the bell she was ringing on the counter. "Hello?"
Naru balanced on her tiptoes waiting at the counter, seeing no sign of anyone moving behind the wall that separated the lounge from the kitchen.
"Anyone back there?" she asked and moved to the side of the counter. She hummed for a moment before moving to peer into the kitchen as far as she could without going behind the register. She gasped at what she saw, a pair of legs laying still on the floor.
Her skin went pale as she rushed back behind the register and around the wall. "Oh my gosh are you okay?" She stopped dead in her tracks at what lay before her.
Just a few inches from her was the body of a worker of the restaurant, his body covered in blood. His stomach had been torn open and hunched over him was something resembling a human.
Long frail fingers and hands were pushed together to form a cup that scooped blood out from the body of the man. Its skin was pale with dark spots on it; the body, naked and gaunt. Long raven hair covered the monsters face from Naru's view, but the slurping sound it made assured her that the creature had a mouth.
"U-U-U-U-Usa..." Naru stammered, hoping the monster wouldn't hear.
Naru lifted a foot, taking a slow step backwards and bumped into the door, her eyes clamped shut as the thud of the handle hitting the wall echoed in the kitchen. The beast dropped its hands and turned slowly, its matted dark hair kept most of its face from view. But as it turned to face Naru, she could see its piercing blue eyes and blood stained lips fixed in a perfect pout.
"M-M-Meg-umi... Is that you?" Naru asked.
The creature tilted her head to Naru and turned to face her completely. Her smile widening as the skin around her mouth ripped and revealed sharp rows of teeth and a mouth larger than any human's should be. She stood slowly, her hair falling over her breasts, blood and bits of flesh falling from her razor like teeth.
Naru fled from the kitchen, breaking away from the monster and hurling herself around the counter. "USAGI!" Her friends rose from their seats to see a hysterical Naru coming for them.
"Naru, what's wrong?" Usagi asked.
"It's – it's Megumi, she's a monster!" Naru blubbered. "She ate someone!"
Ami, Usagi and all the other customers shuddered and looked to Naru. Luna however, was focused on the kitchen and moved to the center of the room.
"What do you mean a monster?" Ami questioned, sliding from the booth.
"She was drinking someone's blood, and she was naked, and her mouth!" Naru cried and her fingers jittered around her own lips before burying her face into Usagi's chest, weeping heavily.
"Everyone head to the exit!" Luna commanded. It didn't take a second warning for everyone in the place to storm out.
Usagi stood in the doorway calling for Luna to come outside. Luna kept her eyes on the kitchen door while she backed up to Usagi, only to pull her inside then shut and lock the door.
"Luna!" Usagi shrieked, tugging on the door as Luna ran along the booths.
One by one, Luna tugged on strings near the windows, causing the blinds to drop down. She then stepped into one of the booths and began pushing the seats in front of the door.
"Luna, please stop blocking the exit!" Usagi cried and struggled to push the booth back.
"Hello." From the kitchen doorway came the stifling voice of Megumi, now looking deranged as a man-eating monster. Her jaw was lower than normal and bits of flesh lingered along rows of sharp fangs, blood coated her chin and bits of it dripped down onto her skin.
"I never imagined the Dark Kingdom would be using Youma like this." Luna said to Usagi who was still trying to push the booth away. "How long have you been here?"
"I've been around for a few years now, hopping from place to place. I hid out in the woods for a bit this summer, but now I'm back." Megumi took slow steps forward until she reached the center of the room. "I had been around this place last spring, until some bratty blonde chased me out." She cast Usagi a deadly glare that caused the girl to whimper and collapse into the booth.
"Please don't kill me!"
"She must be talking about Minako." Luna assured and stepped in between Usagi and the monster. "It looks like we'll be finishing what they started."
"You two? Well I hope you're stronger than they were. Even though they did leave some nasty marks..." Megumi let out a bloody cackle as she turned her back on them, giving Usagi a glimpse of her perfectly rounded butt, more importantly a series of welts on her back that looked like a whip made them.
"Even as a monster she's gorgeous..." Usagi sighed.
"Usagi!"
"Sorry!"
"What are you waiting for?" Luna shouted, turning slightly to glance at her.
"Right…" Usagi looked to her wrist and snatched up the charm.
She shook as her skin felt alive, a prickling sensation starting in her toes that raced through her body. The entire restaurant burst with the light from Usagi which ended as an optical flare. Once it died down she stood in her suit, her lance tip pressed onto the tile floor while her hands rested at the grip.
Megumi's eyes narrowed that the Warrior. "Jadeite warned me something like this could happen." she hissed.
"Glad to know I was right about who is behind this." Luna said and stepped to the side, giving Moon room to attack.
"Right you are!" Megumi screeched and charged Warrior Moon who pushed off from the ground and sidestepped the assault. She stumbled in the direction of the lance crashing into one of the tables and looked back to see Megumi pushing against the booth barricade Luna created.
"Get to it Moon!" Luna called out.
"But what if I hurt Megumi?" Moon whimpered.
Megumi screeched again and lurched to Moon. She jumped into the air and her jaw seemed to unhinge itself as it widened, giving Moon a full view of all the teeth she possessed.
"She's just like that woman from the pet shop yesterday!"
Moon screamed and held her weapon with both hands above her, feeling Megumi's weight hit down on it before she buckled under the pressure. Moon hit the floor, her lance grip breaking free from her hands as it stuck fast into Megumi's torso.
Grabbing hold of the hilt, she whined and pushed her foot into Megumi's side, wanting desperately to free the weapon. She managed to wiggle it free, but the sound of the flesh being torn and the blood gushing out made her instantly queasy.
"Get to your feet Moon!" Luna shouted.
"Luna, why don't you do this? I don't wanna fight her!" Moon stabilized herself on her feet, and stepped back from the body slowly. "I think she's dead anyway..."
"Don't be a fool!" Luna shouted and rushed to her side, forcing her to hold the lance up. "Creatures like that live off blood and it seems like she's been feeding regularly. A stab wound like that won't stop her, so stay on your guard." she whispered to her slowly, wanting her to understand the difference once and for all.
"Wait, creatures like her?" Moon asked weakly.
"She's called a Youma, a demon that works for the Dark Kingdom. Unlike Experiments, they are only monsters pretending to be human, but they're true demonic forms lie hidden under the surface."
"Where do all these things come from...?"
"You're so weak." Megumi said, rising to her feet slowly, the wound in her chest closing up.
Moon shut her eyes and, with some help from Luna, charged forward with her lance pointed out to stab. Megumi slammed a hand down on it, knocking it off its path while she avoided Moon's charge. Moon recovered and swung the lance upwards, hoping, more than aiming, for it to connect.
The weight of the sword was taking its toll on her; her swings were more about getting the weapon to go where she wanted rather than guiding it.
Moon continued to slash and jab at Megumi who effortlessly dodged and parried the blocks with boney hands.
"Moon, open your eyes and attack her!" Luna screamed from the sidelines, disappointed by her lack of effort.
"I can't, it's too weird to stab her and see it!" Moon whined flailing the lance, not because she expected to hit anything but because it was her way of showing her frustration.
"Your friends and family will be in danger if you let this creature escape!"
"I know..." Moon cried and gripped the lance together, her palms burning and her fingers becoming stiff.
Megumi opened her mouth wide, her jaw unlatching and showing the dark cavern within before clamping down on the lance blade. Moon opened her eyes and groaned as she tried to free her blade, pulling and pushing which failed as Megumi's bite grew stronger.
Moving the blade to the side was a bust as well, she couldn't understand where the strength of her bite came from. Moon closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, trying to muster the power to pull free. She then tightened her hold on the lance grip and the blade began to glow, illuminating the inside of Megumi's mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth lined as far as her throat from what she could see.
"Moon Blade!" Moon shouted as the lance blade itself extended quickly tearing through the back of Megumi's throat and sticking out in the back of her head. "Slash!"
Moon jerked the blade to the left and the restaurant lit up with light as a disc of energy was fired from the blade. It sliced through Megumi's jaw, all the way to the back of her head, leaving only half of her head still connected. The blast from the swing sliced through the roof of the restaurant creating a thin oval of an opening.
Moon's swing sent her spinning around, the blade hitting the ground and shrinking to its original size before the glow ended. Megumi cried in pain as she crouched down before she leapt to the ceiling, breaking through it and crawling away.
Moon screamed and dashed to the right to avoid some falling ceiling chunks and boards of wood and Luna rushed to her side to help her up.
"Moon, come with me!"
"But my friends are out there!" Moon looked to the door as she panted.
"They can't see you as you are, now hurry!"
Luna led her behind the counter while she dragged her lance behind her that was weighing more than ever now as she stepped into the kitchen. Her first sight was of the dead body to her right, a pool of blood spreading beside him. Further away she spotted the limbs of a few more bodies; the only reason she refused to throw up would be because it would all end up inside her mask.
Holding back bile she followed after Luna who was busting through the backdoor exit. Once they were outside Moon saw the sun's rays above being disrupted by the body of Megumi flying from roof to roof.
"Luna, what do we do?" Moon whined and looked around the small back alley, seeing no way for her to get onto the roof.
Luna rushed out towards the exit, poking her head out to look around the street. She whipped a cell phone from her pocket and mashed down the buttons before holding it to her ear.
"Luna..." Moon whispered as she crept up behind her. Luna waved a hand at her as the person on the other end picked up.
Moon grabbed hold of the mask at its base and pushed it upwards, allowing her to get a breath of fresh air.
"Artemis!" Luna yelled into the phone.
"What's up?"
Moon smiled once she heard the familiar voice reply as she leaned in close.
"Moon and I have encountered a Youma you and Minako were chasing." Luna said, still looking around the street.
"Alright, we'll pick up the trace and intercept her." Artemis answered.
"No, I want Moon to take this one." Luna said and glanced to the Warrior to catch her uneasy gaze.
"You want me to what?! Luna, I can't be late for school…" Moon commented, looking for any excuse not to see this through.
"Send Minako as a decoy for Usagi. The three of us will track the Youma." Luna looked around the street, taking note of the street signs and nearby buildings before giving their location to Artemis.
"We're in the area, we'll be there in a minute."
"Okay." Luna said before ending the call and taking Moon back into the alley.
"Decoy?" she asked.
"Stop asking questions." Luna said as she looked Moon up and down before slapping a hand onto the mask, forcing it down to cover her face.
"Shouldn't we stay to talk to the police or something? I mean..." Moon grumbled and looked to the restaurant door, thinking about the bodies left inside. "People are dead in there."
"The Guard will come to take care of that. There will be some pretending to be citizens who will claim to have been inside the restaurant and others will be officers taking statements from anyone who really was inside and wants to stick around."
"Speaking of that!" Moon huffed. "Naru said the news reporters weren't the same this morning, and there are all kinds of stories going around about what happened last night."
"It's for the best Moon, trust me." Luna answered.
Looking over her shoulder as she heard the sound of a small motor engine. On a red scooter were Minako and Artemis, the latter looking much too big to be riding on the back of the small vehicle.
"Minako Aino, at your service." Minako said pulling the scooter into the alley. "Hey Usagi!" She waved.
"Hey there, so why is she here again?"
"Moon, you'll need to skip the rest of school today while we follow Megumi." Luna answered, her eyes focused on Artemis who seemed to still be in pain.
He was rushed to the Guard's HQ last night and treated immediately, thankfully some of the city's best doctors work for them and they were able to heal him instantly. However Luna could tell he still wasn't feeling 100% yet.
"What?!"
Minako stepped up to the ground after leaning the scooter against the wall and Usagi took notice of her clothes. Short blue shorts and a white dress shirt that looked too big to belong to her. On top of her head were red glasses that matched the heels she was wearing.
"Some double buns, your school uniform and then I'll be ready to go." She winked again, aiming a finger gun at Moon.
Reluctantly, Moon changed back into her school clothes and switched with Minako. She saw her off before changing back into Warrior Moon and heading off with Artemis and Luna.
"I hope she didn't get too far." Artemis said. He sat uncomfortably close to the handles of Minako's scooter after having to fit all three of them onto it.
"Moon injured her pretty bad, I don't think she'd get too far. She'll leave behind a trail of blood no matter where she goes." Luna added with her head resting on his back and arms wrapped around his abdomen. She was careful not to press onto his wound.
Warrior Moon sat on the very edge of the seat. With each bump in the road, she feared she would fall off at any moment. "The Guard can't afford any better transportation than this?" she groaned.
With the roll of his eyes Artemis sped up and caused the blond to squeal. "We don't have time to stop and get a better ride." he huffed.
"How are we going to find her?" Moon whimpered, gripping onto the seat fearfully.
"I've got the Guard tracking her, when they get a lock on her we'll get a call." Artemis assured.
"I see." Moon mumbled to herself as she watched the painted lines on the road pass by. "Hey Luna, what are Youma exactly?"
The raven haired woman sighed and turned to look at Moon who was staring at her plainly behind her mask. "They're monsters recruited by the Dark Kingdom; they've gathered hoards of them from all of the darkest places of the world and made them work for them."
"Darkest places of the world huh?"
"It's a figure of speech..." Luna sighed, knowing the girl was going to take it literally.
"It's actually not." Artemis added as he turned a corner. "The Guard has made lots of progress in tracking the movements of the Dark Kingdom. We've come to the conclusion a majority of the creatures under their control seem to come from somewhere in Europe. But that's as far as we can track them, there's no telling where exactly they originated from."
"Europe?! So far away? Then why are they here?" Moon gasped, feeling like she may just be unlucky to be dealing with all of this.
"You're not alone in this, the Dark Kingdom have attacked other places before. The Guard has been dealing with them for quite some time in hopes to put a stop to them before things get out of hand." Luna assured as she saw Artemis check a small device with a blinking screen. "Have you found her?"
"Almost, they're trying to pinpoint her location now."
"How many people are in the Guard exactly?" Moon piped in.
"I couldn't give you a round number." Luna shook her head. "Although there are specialists within the Guard, the majority of our members are regular humans who were descendents of those who were once allies with the Moon Kingdom. Back then humans and our kind got along harmoniously, and when the Kingdom fell not everyone chose to forget about it. The story of our lives were still told on Earth and they were passed down from generation to generation."
"When the Guard was formed in the mid 1900's it was mostly a group of believers, using that name to guardthe history of our people, that is until they found the Protectors." Artemis added, speeding up as a red dot appeared on the device.
"Protectors? What do they protect?" Moon asked, fully intrigued now.
"Among the kind of specialists I mentioned, are the Protectors. A group of thirteen warriors from the Silver Millennium who have sworn their lives to protecting life their home. During the attack on our Kingdom the Protectors were present when the Queen sent the Princess and the others here. Since then the Protectors made it their goal to keep Earth under control until the Princess was found. The original Protectors however, was only made up of three people."
For another five minutes or so the trio rode in silence. Moon let the information settle in as she was finally beginning to realize how far back everything went. How it wasn't just about her protecting herself and friends any longer.
People had been protecting her home long before she was born, or reborn, with hopes of keeping evil under control until the savior arrived. She was now among that group whose duty it was to protect and serve, in hopes of bringing an era of peace.
Making his way to the storage freezer, Junior Detective Dewi stepped over the mangled body of a young man. He didn't want to look at his face, but part of him still wanted to.
Terrified, blank eyes stared up at him. He felt a chill race down his spine and looked away. The air was thick with the smell of blood and death, and it was only getting stronger the closer he came to the freezer.
A flash of light caught him off guard and the man shuttered. Glaring around him he saw a thin man snapping pictures of blood splatter on the walls. The kitchen of Stack Attack he and his superior had been called to, was crawling with investigators and police.
Dewi tensed up when a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder, his mind flashing to the corpse that lay a few feet away.
"Relax." Detective Kalla worked his hand on the tense shoulder of his partner. "It's your first crime scene, but we still have a job to do."
"I know that!" Dewi barked before shrugging off the man's hand. "I didn't expect it to look like this though." Dewi gestured to the inside of the storage freezer.
Stacked atop one another inside the small 8 by 10 freezer, were bodies. Enough to reach the ceiling. All of them mutilated, drained of their blood, and long dead. Whatever massacre had gone down inside had left the floors and walls stained with the soft pink of poorly wiped away blood.
"Have you checked all the bodies?" Kalla asked. Dewi gave a hard nod and Kalla regarded it with a nod of his own. "Any conclusions on the type killer?"
"A Youma obviously." Dewi answered plainly.
"What makes you so sure?" Kalla tested, maneuvering around the man and inside the freezer.
"Must we play this game?" Dewi asked, although the two of them worked in the same field, he never understood Kalla's almost playful attitude when it came to these things.
"It's a Youma because... Take it away Dewi." Kalla redirected.
Detective Dewi rubbed his forehead before he sighed. "No human could have done all of this. The bodies out on the floor, they were all freshly killed, their bodies torn open and their blood drained. None of the tools needed to do something like that would be found in a restaurant's kitchen."
"Good job, now you know exactly what not to put in the report to the Superintendent." Kalla said with a smile. "You learn quick."
"I don't care what your editor wants, stop calling him Kamp Killer!" exclaimed Superintendent Natsuna Sakurada of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force. She paused, listening to the voice on the other end, her irritation growing. "Because it only glorifies the crimes!"
"I don't know what you want from me, I'm not interested in your business of dramatizing real life events, my job is to catch the bastard!" she barked into the phone, slapping a hand onto her desk. She shot the man delivering mail an evil glare, simply because he was in her eyesight.
As the man on the other end of the line continued to yap, Natsuna dropped the phone from her ear and rested her head against her wrist. "Bye." she said openly before slamming the phone down onto its base. "UGH!"
"Problems Superintendent?" A man that had been waiting outside, poked his head into the office.
Sakurada dropped back in her seat and let out a heavy sigh. She gave herself a moment to let her anger subside before calling on the man. "Come in, Wagaki."
Wakagi nodded before heading up to the Superintendent's desk. "I take it Yukan Fuji isn't letting up?"
"Apparently when tabloids run out of leads, they start knocking on the polices' door for answers." Sakurada pinched the bridge of her nose. "They think this is some kind of game."
"Here, this might cheer you up." Wagaki slid a clipboard onto her desk, Sakurada opened her eyes wide at it to take in what she was reading.
"Report on the Stack Attack scene, already?" Sakurada lifted up the board and started skimming over the documents.
"Just the initial findings, Detective Kalla seems to believe it was caused by some wild animal."
"Psh, Kalla." At the mention of the man's name Sakurada dropped the clipboard like it was a dirty pair of underwear. "That' half-baked gumshoe calls himself a detective."
"I never understood what it is you have against the guy." Wagaki mumbled, he assumed it was something personal, which meant it was something he was better off keeping out of.
"He's unreliable!" Sakurada roared. "An animal," she gestured to the clipboard. "if he can't tell its the Hannibal, then he needs to fork over his damn badge!"
Hannibal, the name the police used to address a serial killer that had been terrorizing Japan for the last few years. Named so because of the killer's cannibalistic tendency, similar to the fictional character of the same name that had gathered attention in the 80's.
"Wakagi, he needs to be stopped. I want Hannibal taken down." Sakurada tapped her nails against her desk.
"What makes you so sure it's a man?"
"Him, her, it. Doesn't matter." Sakurada ran her hand and in circles in front of Wakagi's face. "Doesn't matter, I want them found today."
"Today?"
"Today. Head into the field, follow any trail you can leading from the crime scene. Call the boys down at the pancake joint, have them start the search."
Artemis slowed down the scooter before he pulled into a thin alleyway and continued to putter down it.
"Is she around here?" Luna asked quickly.
"Yes. She's hiding somewhere in one of these building." Artemis pulled the bike to a stop in front of an opening off to the left where several dilapidated buildings stood.
The three of them moved away from the bike and stood in front of the buildings. Each of them had windows that were missing glass and simply had flaps of plastic covering them. There were cracks in the sides of them and discarded structures made of wood and metal had been left lying around by construction workers.
"Moon take left. Luna, right. I'll take the building in the center." Artemis commanded and stepped ahead of the ladies.
"Be careful." Luna reminded before stepping off to the right, leaving the Warrior behind.
"I so, do not wanna do this!" Moon whined and crept up to the building. Upon closer inspection she could see the entrance that was nothing more than a gap in the structure. "Anyone home?" she asked hopefully and peered into the building.
Inside was nothing but a single large room, it appeared to some sort of warehouse. There were shelves made of wood on the walls and discarded bags of cement littered around the ground.
"Guess she's not here!" Moon cheered and spun around to leave when the sound of feet pounding on pavement echoed through the warehouse. Warrior Moon turned in time to see Megumi charging for her, rows of teeth bared and ready to chomp down.
Megumi quickly dove for her, but Moon dashed off to the right with a scream and left Megumi to run straight through the entrance.
Moon scrambled to her feet and ran across the room and Megumi poked her head back inside "Come here little girl!" Megumi sneered and chased after Moon who was beginning to make a lap around the building.
"Noooo!" Warrior Moon whined as she continued to run from the beast fast on her heels before looking to her hand and balling it up into a fist.
In her mind the image of her lance appeared and soon her hand exploded with a burst of light before the weapon took shape. Moon skidded to a half before swinging around and slashing back with the blade. Megumi ducked to avoid it as the lance smashed into the wall beside her.
"You won't hit me with that!" She growled and held a hand up, bringing her bony fingers together to form a cone with her hand. As she did her nails began to grow and form into a single point. Moon whimpered before she pulled back and jabbed at her. Megumi parried off each blow with the backs of her hands before she managed to get in a few good jabs of her own.
Artemis walked around weakly as he clutched his side. He had been advised to rest for a while longer before heading into the field again, but typical of him he had refused the doctor's orders.
"Gah..." He sighed as he collapsed into a small chair that was situated inside what looked like an office.
His building had been the smallest. Only two stories, the first of which was a wide open space with a few pieces of construction tools scattered around. The second floor looked recently lived in however, there was a makeshift bed, some furniture, a desk and a board that had pictures and scraps of papers tacked to it.
Artemis spun in the chair and looked around the desk that was covered in documents and notes, all of which seemed like gibberish to him. He sighed and took his chances with the board, scanning over the pictures and papers attached to it, trying to make sense of it all.
His eyes zeroed in on a small clipping of what looked like a map that was cut around Europe. He tore it off the board and looked at it carefully. In red pen there were scribbles all around it and some dark marks circling a few places, but the darkest circle was around a south-eastern portion of Europe.
Artemis moved back to the desk and dropped the clipping down before resting an arm on the stacks of papers. His arm quickly slipped off something that made a budge in the stack and hit the desk with a thud.
"Ow..." He gently rubbed his elbow that was twinging and moved around some of the papers to find what was making it uneven. After tossing aside a stack of folders, Artemis stared down at a deep red gem in the shape of a square.
Slowly he picked it up and looked it over. It was clean and cut well, with seemingly no imperfections. "What are you doing here, pretty little gem?" He asked and tossed it between his hands before it began to glow.
"Whoa, stop it." He pleaded and shot up watching the gem closely as the glow came and went rapidly.
Soon the light that seemed to grow inside it broke free and flooded Artemis' vision with red. Before long, a vortex of red light opened around him, slowing sucking him inside and muffling the sound of his cries for help.
In the far right building Luna was warily making her way through, what appeared to be, an abandoned skeleton of an office building. Some walls had been finished, but most were still under construction. Sheets of waving plastic hung from would be door frames and empty crates of supplies lay toppled over.
"What is that smell?" She whispered to herself, unwilling to let it go unignored any longer. She had caught the odor the moment she entered and as she ventured deeper inside it had only gotten stronger. She continued to wander, mostly following her nose in hopes of finding the source of the stench.
She turned down an unfinished hallway, half of it was missing wall panels. As she walked, she was mindful of tools that were laying around. If Megumi was hiding, the last thing she needed was to trip over a power-saw and lose the element of surprise.
As Luna continued down the hall the items she found on the floor began to change. The tools, work belts, and nails she once found where now being replaced with shoes, hats, and some chunks of broken plastic.
Odd items to leave behind in a building under construction she thought. Crouching down she picked up one of the shoes and looked it over. "Small enough to belong to a girl..."
Her nostrils flared as the pungent odor hit her again, she dropped the shoe and hurried down the hall, coming to a T in her path.
She glanced from right to left, considering which way to go before looking to the floor, more items were on the ground in the right direction whereas the left was mostly clean.
Taking in a deep breath she headed off to the right and pressed herself against the wall, peeking around the corner to find another empty hallway, albeit smaller than before. Only about ten feet until the end where a single door was.
She clenched her fist and eased down the hall, reaching out slowly to the knob before turning and pushing the door open slightly. She counted off the seconds in her head before stepping in front of the door and kicking the door open wide.
Luna then rushed in and cupped her hands, a dark light forming between them. A Pappenheimer rapier hilt forming from the light before a thin sword blade completed the weapon.
Inside Luna squinted her eyes to see in the dim room and held her breath. She'd found the source of the smell. Luna changed her stance position every few seconds to make sure she had covered the entire room before coming the conclusion that she was alone. Dropping her guard she moved back to the door and shut it, her rapier vanishing as she moved back to the center and looked around.
It was a large room, one she guessed was used for meetings considering the long table placed within. She placed a hand against it and walked around the room. Three windows, all covered by ratty looking sheets and stacked along the walls were crates and boxes, that all looked full of something.
"Well..." she sighed moving towards the far wall where a large white tub was placed. "This shouldn't be here."
Crouching, she looked inside to see it full near the brim with a dark liquid. In the dim room it was too hard to tell the colour, but it didn't smell pleasant at all.
She glanced around her for something, anything that she could use to probe around inside. Ultimately she opted to leave the room and find something instead.
Luna returned a moment later with a stick of wood she'd broken in half. Back in front of the tub she dripped the stick in and swirled around the mixture.
Luna stood and carried the stick carefully over the window. "Let's see..." She ripped away the cloth and held up the stick. She watched the liquid drip off in thick crimson globs, looking more like a goo than liquid.
"Blood." She breathed heavily and dropped the stick. She headed back to the tub before falling down beside it after seeing what was floating at the top now. Her stirring had disturbed the contents inside that unfortunately was more than just blood.
Bobbing at the surface were chunks of what Luna recognized to be flesh, along with clumps of hair and even an eyeball. She thumped her leg against the tub as she crawled away and caused the mixture to rattle, the crimson surface licking at itself like a satisfied cat.
When she reached the table she flipped over and leaned against it, catching her breath and holding back the urge to vomit. Her head rested back against the table edge before she peered up to the ceiling, it wasn't as she expected it to be.
She sat up and then got to her feet, running along the wall and ripping away the rest of the cloths blocking the windows she recognized to be shirts, tattered and dirty.
With the sunlight exposing everything in the room Luna saw the boxes lined against the opposite walls strained through with dark marks. She guessed it to be blood as well.
Luna tilted her head back again, peering at the ceiling that didn't seem natural, it looked unstable and shifting. Hopping onto the table she recalled her rapier and jabbed upwards, her weapon tip disappearing at it passed through a barrier of sorts.
"Dispel." She whispered and watched ripples form around her blade and spread out until the entire ceiling was like the surface of the ocean. She waited as the ripples intensified before bursting and showering her with dark blue sparks of light.
Luna shielded her eyes from it and waited until the room was clear of them before she turned her attention back to the ceiling and gasped at what hung above her.
Black chains ran from one wall to the other and held up various items and pieces of equipment, far different from the kinds she saw on her way to the room. There were bloodied hooks, clamps, a corset that was made to be placed around the body with hooks that dug in to tear it the body open. She also spotted what looked like a stool, but instead of a flat seat it was shaped like a pyramid, above it were four ropes and a buckle.
Her gaze shifted across the ceiling until she reached the far wall where the tub sat, above that were the butchered bodies of human children, dangling by their feet. Their bodies drained of blood and most of their flesh torn away, exposing pale white bones.
She grimaced and looked down to the table under her feet, seeing deep indentations on it as well as slice marks and dried blood in the holes. She dropped down onto the table, her uniform's skirt billowing out around around as she ran her hand over the table. She pursed her lips and glanced around her. It was a torture room.
Warrior Moon had climbed onto one of the shelves fixed into the wall and was pelting Megumi with chunks of cement. The Youma threw out several obscenities at the girl as a chunk beamed her right above the eye, cutting some of the skin.
"You'll pay for that!" Megumi leapt up and slammed a hand down on the the shelf, the impact caused the shelf to crack, the wood to splinter, and break off from the wall. Moon screamed as she collapsed into a pile of cement bags and wood on her back.
As Moon groaned and shoved a beam of wood off her she saw Megumi fly up and over her. She squealed and reached out for her lance, but in the fall she'd lost it. As Megumi came down on her she tucked her feet in, slamming against the woman's chest as she landed on her.
"Gah!" Moon huffed and tried to shove the woman away as she opened her mouth wide, the smell of gore emitting from within.
"C'mon!" Megumi hissed, her mouth coming closer to Moon. "It'll only hurt a little bit!" Her jaw unhinged more and opened wider, wide enough to swallow Moon's upper body.
Moon whimpered before she felt burning tears in her eyes, through her mask all she could see was the darkness inside the monster's mouth as she began to plant herself over the girl. "Somebody help..." she cried and struggled to push her away, her strength not comparing with the woman's as she felt her arms get forced back.
Warrior Moon dropped her head, realizing how much space she put between her head and Megumi's mouth when she did. She strained to pull as far back as she could before throwing her head forward, her mask bashing into Megumi's nose, she felt the woman's weight leave her and sat up to see her stumbling back.
Megumi rubbed her nose before she narrowed her eyes at Moon. Once she dropped her hand her tongue came lashing out from her mouth and towards Moon.
"AHH!" Moon screeched as the tongue wrapped itself around her throat before she could summon her lance. "No!" She screamed as the extended tongue fastened itself around her throat and once it had a hold on her, she was lifted up and brought in close to Megumi.
Moon kicked her legs frantically, trying to jerk around enough to break free.
She watched Megumi's face turn eerie, she guessed she was smiling, but the woman had lost all form of beauty now and she merely looked insane.
Moon reached for the tongue and tried to pry it free before she saw Megumi's body jerk forward five times. From her mouth came blood that splattered across her face, some of it coming through the slash and hitting her lip.
She didn't have time to respond before the tongue went loose and she dropped to the floor, her knees hitting hard. "Ow!" she whined and rolled over, rubbing the sore caps.
Across from her she saw a pair of feet, black shoes in fact. From there black slacks, the red inside of a cape and as she rolled over onto her stomach she caught full sight of the hero that had saved her life four times now.
"Tuxedo Mask!" she said happily, scrambling to her feet.
"Are you alright, Warrior Moon?" He asked and held a hand out to her as she hobbled to him.
"Better now." she gushed and looked back to Megumi, the woman was squirming on the ground with five red darts sticking out of her back. Moon glanced down between them to see Mask's cane, the end of it had five open compartments on it and she smiled up to him weakly.
"Get behind me, I'll finish this." Moon felt heat rush to her face as the man maneuvered to protect her. A comforting smell coming off his cape as it flapped around him that made Moon feel safe, and warm.
"Heh." Megumi said and staggered to her feet. "Diarmuid should have finished you when he had the chance!" She hunched over, her hands touching the ground and the darts seemed to be forced out of her skin, clattering to the ground before she lunged at them.
Between the two came a burst of red haze that grew until it was the size of a human, it caused Megumi to halt her attack and for Mask grab Moon and leap back.
From the haze came Artemis, stumbling forward before realizing he was coming face to face with Megumi. He doubled back to avoided a swipe of her claws before stopping in front of Mask.
"Oh hi Moon." he said happily.
"Hi?" she asked incredulously. "Hi?"
He smiled to her before looking back to Megumi who was still hunched over, but now swaying from side to side like a fighter.
"The more the merrier!" She hissed and charged them all, in the distance the sound of glass shattering alerted them all to the windows where a woman burst through. She hit the ground rolling and in her hand formed an oversized cleaver.
She continued to slide against the ground as Megumi lunged for Artemis, the woman slid under her body and dragged her blade across her chest.
Artemis smiled before he spun around, his foot slamming into Megumi's oversized jaw and sending the monster flying into a wall. He quickly gripped his side in pain and he was joined by the woman. She had long flowing violet coloured hair and she placed a hand on Artemis's back and whispered something to him.
"What?!" Megumi howled, patting her chest, there was a large gash that went from one side to the other just under her breasts. She rubbed her torso, as if she didn't understand the feeling of pain or what had happened.
"Nice to have you here Desi..." Artemis said as he straightened himself up. "Like always your timing is impeccable." The woman flashed a wide smile before looking to Megumi who was staggering on her feet.
"Oh look! The Silver Guard has come to play!" Megumi teetered around and threw her arms out.
"Watch your step." The woman, Desi, held up her oversized cleaver of a weapon and moved in closer to the progressing Youma.
"Or what? You'll attack me?" Megumi cackled. She took careful steps towards Desi, elegantly placing one foot directly in front of the other.
Moon watched Megumi intently behind Mask who was slowly backing them both up out of range.
"I know what you can do, and the Guard isn't equipped to take care of us!" Megumi barked.
"You're wrong."
"Luna!" Artemis exclaimed. Moon heard Artemis over the woman's voice and looked to the white haired man to see him exhale heavily, like he'd been holding his breath the whole time before she looked up to the ceiling. In the space where a window would be Luna was standing, leaning against the wall.
"Luna!" Moon cheered, happy to see the woman and anyone that would be able to take down Megumi. The raven-haired woman jumped from the sill and landed on the ground flawlessly, her skirt flying up and giving Moon and Mask a glance at her underwear. The Warrior watched Mask turn away from Luna as she stood up.
"Oooohh it's a party!" Megumi continued to cackle.
"I'm surprised you managed to stay under our radars for so long." Artemis sneered at her.
"Heh, after my run-in with you I fled and managed to take refuge in the woods." Megumi hissed at him, showing all of her fangs.
"Luna, I thought you said she needed blood to survive?" Moon asked meekly, trying to keep her arms from shaking. For some reason the woman was more terrifying than ever. Even as she was about to be swallowed, she wasn't this scared.
"Very good,Luna." She demeaned, turning to face the woman, running her tongue over her splintered lips. "Lucky for me I found a small little camp out there, in the woods." She sneered directly to Moon who shuttered, knowing where she was going before she even said it. "I had a wonderful week of snacking of teenage boys… It's amazing what their blood does to a girl's skin." Megumi let out a harsh cackle and brought a hand up to her face to pat her pale cheeks. "Of course I wouldn't mind trying someone a little older…" Megumi extended a hand in Artemis' direction.
Luna huffed before she rushed at her, a blade appearing in her hands. Once she was in range she swung up with her rapier, the swing lopped off Megumi's arm and sent it flying into the air.
Megumi bellowed out a painful cry while she watched the severed limb hit the ground a yard away.
"You should be thankful you're even still alive!" Luna leaned over and slammed a foot into her back, forcing Megumi over onto the ground.
"Luna." Artemis spoke quietly and watched the fuming woman with a blood-lust in her eyes.
"She's disgusting!" she spat. "In the building I was searching, I found her torture room! It's full of the bodies of children!"
Moon shuttered and felt Mask tense up in front of her, Desi and Artemis shook their heads in response before Luna continued her revelation.
"Little boys and girls, hanging dead by their feet..." Luna dropped her voice and charged her, sword outstretched but Megumi easily avoided the lunge. Instinctively she slammed her remaining hand down onto the blade and as the force sent Luna staggering forward her jaw unhinged to open wide, wide enough to swallow Luna down.
As she came in closer to her Artemis appeared beside her with a rapier of his own in hand and jabbed at her. The blade passed through her jaw before she lurched back to avoid another attack.
"Just so you know, I don't kill little girls. Just the boys." She licked her lips with her dangerously long tongue and winked to Mask.
"Moon Blade Slash!" From the behind him came Moon's cry and a blinding stream of light as she slammed her lance onto the ground.
Upon making contact, the blade emitted a large wave of energy that raced across the floor and past Mask, Luna and Artemis, but Megumi leapt to the side to avoid it as well. The wave sliced through the back of the building, chunks of the wall and ceiling crashed to the ground.
With wide eyes Luna turned to the warrior who was panting so hard it was visible across the room. "Warrior Moon…" Luna said gently as Moon lifted her blade in front of her again.
"I've got a little brother... And I may not like him, but I really do love him." She choked on her words as the blade reverted to its original size.
She could feel inevitable tears forming on her lids again, the idea of Shingo falling prey to a monster like this angered her like nothing else ever had. "And I'll do whatever it takes to keep him and all of the other boys in the world safe, especially from monsters like you!" Moon raised her lance above her head again, the muscles in her arms burning as she struggled to keep it aloft. "Moon Blade Slash!"
Megumi's eyes opened wide and she lunged to the side again, but stood in horror as she watched the Warrior remained still. With the lance still held high above her head Warrior Moon let out a soft chuckle before dropping it down.
"I can't use that attack again so soon yet, but it works as a distraction." She pressed the blade down into the ground and leaned on it for a moment before falling forward into Mask's waiting arms.
"What?!" Megumi choked looking around her, the only ones in sight were Mask and the Warrior.
From the left came Luna with her sword held close to her side, ready for a powerful thrust into Megumi's side. The Youma cried out in pain as Luna punctured her and the blade jutted out of her torso. Before she had a chance to react Artemis came from above, lodging his blade down through her spine and pinned her to the floor.
"Bastards!" She coughed, blood splattering around her lips as a pool of it began to spread around her.
Stepping up to the other side was Desi with her cleaver held over Megumi's neck. "One wrong move and it's over."
Artemis wiped his brow and sighed looking for the mess Megumi was becoming as she struggled to pull the swords free.
Moon was breathing heavily still. Because of the mask concealing her identity, her hot breath slapped against the inside of her mask, hitting her face in response. She briefly glanced at Tuxedo Mask before she turned to look at Megumi's body. Her once-beautiful raven hair was matted with blood and sweat and her pouty lips were dull and cracked. Her cheeks had been ripped apart so many times it exposed her jagged rows of teeth.
"She used to be so pretty…" Moon whined and struggled to stand on her own.
"Warrior Moon." Mask cautioned, but Moon held up a hand to him. She smiled behind the mask and stood on her own, walking slowly to the fallen Youma.
Megumi scoffed and rolled her head from side to side on the ground. "Save me the pity speeches!"
Warrior Moon raised the lance above her head and Desi backed up to give her room. She took in a deep breath of air before she brought the lance down onto her body. Once the blade made contact, the room erupted with a pillar of light that shot up from the corpse.
Through the rustling of wind and the blinding light, Moon could see Megumi's face. A face distorted in what she imagined to be pain, and heard her cries as her physical form vanished.
As the light dimmed Desi and Artemis high-fived each other as their weapons vanished and Moon let out a heavy breath of air.
"This doesn't seem to be getting any easier…" she sighed.
"What? Killing?" Desi asked bluntly.
"Wielding this thing, thought you said it would be easier to do as I used it more, Luna." Moon waved the lance around weakly before thinking about it. "Fighting those creatures too I guess."
"You haven't really done too much work with it yet, you need training." Luna commented.
"Why don't you and Venus get together tomorrow for some practice?" Artemis suggested.
"Ahem." From behind them came the voice of Desi, the trio turned to her. "It looks like our masked hero doesn't like sticking around."
Moon turned and quickly frowned noticing Tuxedo Mask was gone. She rushed to the exit and looked around but there was no sign of him, only Minako's scooter. "Gone again..."
"I imagine you want to go home and get cleaned up, huh Moon?" Luna offered, sliding past her and heading outside. She turned to get another look at her. Her mask had a diagonal line of splattered blood on it and the suit had dirt and spots of grey on it from the cement.
"I want to meet the Guard." Moon stated immediately, sliding the mask from her face and wiping her lip were a spot of blood was.
"What?" Luna asked harshly, Artemis and Desi followed her outside and watched Usagi warily.
"The Guard, I want to meet them. Apparently she's one of them." Usagi gestured to Desi who swung her cleaver over her shoulder.
"I'm a Protector, like these two numb-skulls." She glanced to Luna and Artemis whose expressions turned from shocked to pained as their secret was revealed.
Usagi mouthed the word "what" and looked side to side at the two of them. "When were you going to tell me?! You told me you two were advisors!"
"We are, but-"
"Usagi listen-"
"No! Luna we've been through all this and I just found out you can be a human if you want. And you told me you couldn't have helped me fight, but you could have! And you have a weapon of your own!" Usagi stared at her in disbelief. "I bet Minako knows about you guys, huh?" she glared at Artemis.
"How many secrets are you guys going to keep from her?" Desi asked, looking to the other Protectors.
"They weren't secrets," Luna defended. "we just didn't tell her the whole truth..." she knew how bad even that seemed.
"What's a Protector exactly?!" Usagi shouted.
"The Protectors are a Division in the Silver Guard, we work almost as a standalone force, but still follow the Guard's orders to a T." Desi stated. "And even within the Protectors we have different ranks, there's a lot to explain..."
Desi was cut off by the sound of fast approaching sirens. Luna cursed their timing and looked to Moon with some urgency
"Desi, can you take me to the Guard?" Usagi shouted over the sirens and marched past them all to Minako's scooter, starting the engine.
"Usagi, I know you're upset but this is..." Luna progressed towards her, shaking her head and moving her hands horizontally like she was trying to cut her off. "This isn't a good time."
"I don't care! I want to meet them, everyone!" She demanded, revving the engine. "Either we go meet them, or we stay here and we can talk to the cops!"
"You can't just order a meeting with everyone." Artemis added.
"I don't care!"
"If she wants to meet them, then let's go." Desi said coolly. "Sure beats talking to the feds."
End of Chapter Eight
Next, after hearing a bit of the history surrounding the world she's been thrown into, Usagi is desperate for more information and there's only one group of people she can turn to. The Silver Guard, the Protectors, what are they exactly and what information will they share? Find out next time.
Chapter Nine - Silver Guard 1
