THE CONSPIRACY WORE MY FACE
Chapter 10: Panic In The Streets
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
One of the things Artemis did was monitor the police bands, the radio and television broadcasts and the news wires through his computer. Every call or story that contained a key word he'd set was flagged and relayed to him. From there, he would decide if the item warranted the attention of the senshi.
When his computer flagged a series of police calls and a news wire bulletin in rapid succession, he read the transcripts with some trepidation. When he finished, he knew that trepidation was well warranted.
"MINA!" the cat shouted as he whizzed passed Minako's occupied bed, his tail straight in the air. "GET UP!" The white cat was out the door without waiting for an answer.
"It better be noon or you're a dead feline," Minako muttered from under the sheet draped over her head. Moments later her senshi communicator alert went off, snapping Minako out of her drowsy state and into full attention.
Quickly she arrived at the central meeting room where the senshi met in the palace. Mercury and Jupiter were already there, consulting with Luna and Artemis. Mercury had her computer out.
"What's up?" Venus asked. Jupiter turned to her.
"The ice giants are back," Jupiter reported, an undercurrent of anxiety in her voice. "It's all over the police bands."
"How? I thought Serenity stomped those guys!" Venus gasped.
"I don't know how," Mercury responded as she continued on her computer. "There's no indication that a dimensional portal has opened. Unless they somehow came through the Door of Time . . ."
"They didn't," Endymion stated flatly. He and Serenity swept into the room. "When I found out from Luna what the alert was, it was the first thing Serenity and I checked. Sailor Pluto is fine and the door is intact."
"Can't we worry about how they got here later?" Artemis spoke up. "According to the reports I'm monitoring, the business district is in a state of chaos and panic!"
"Yeah, we have to do something!" Jupiter concurred. "If it's just one, we can gang up on it and take it out!"
"I've hooked into the global satellite imaging system," Mercury interjected. "I see the panicked people, but I can't see what they're running from."
"We need to get down there, now!" Mars said adamantly. Everyone looked and found her poised at the door. "But Serenity and Endymion need to stay here. That's essential!"
"Mars, do you know what it is?" Serenity asked hopefully.
"Maybe," Mars answered. "And if I'm right, exposing the two of you to it would be extremely dangerous." The senshi turned and bolted out the door, yelling, "Come on!"
The other senshi ran after her. Serenity and Endymion remained behind, with Luna, looking anxiously at each other. Artemis continued to monitor reports.
The senshi got within a half mile of the epicenter of the reports before snarled traffic halted their progress and forced them to go on foot. Even that was tough going, for they were running against the flow of panicked citizens fleeing the business district.
"And I used to laugh when I saw scenes like this in those Godzilla movies I used to watch!" Venus quipped.
Finally shoving their way through the fleeing crowds, Jupiter at the point of their wedge, the senshi entered an intersection between abandoned cars. Down the street it stood. A giant ice humanoid thirty-five feet high, standing in the middle of the street. Behind it, buildings and cars and people were frozen solid. It was a horrifying reminder of what had happened two years ago for Mars and mere months ago in conscious time for the rest. Mercury clicked on her visor.
"These readings make no sense!" she gasped.
"It's not there?" Venus asked hopefully. "Because my eyes say different!"
"Something is there!" Mercury responded, furiously pecking on her computer. "But the temperature inversion - - the gravity/mass ratios - - electromagnetic radiation is all wrong!"
"'Something is there' is all I need to know," Jupiter grunted, stepping forward. "Supreme Thunder!"
Her lightning launched from her and covered the distance between her and the ice giant in an eye blink. Electricity contacted with frozen water and loudly popped and spat. The ice giant staggered back a step, crushing a car underfoot.
But the monster stayed on his feet. Locating the source of the attack, it brought up a gigantic hand to freeze its attacker.
From concealment, Reikokuna sat with her head between her front legs and concentrated. Her human form was gone, for all of her concentration was needed to maintain the illusion of the ice giant. The fox's two tails twitched and darted behind her in a nervous random pattern.
Behind her, watching the people of the business district react to Reikokuna's massive illusion were Isamu Himura and Kokatsuna. Himura observed the chaos outside in the streets with patient pleasure. Everything so far was going according to plan. Kokatsuna, though, watched the situation anxiously. She knew that Reikokuna was extending herself to the fox's limit to make and maintain this illusion. And she feared that the illusion wouldn't be able to stand up to Queen Serenity. Kokatsuna had met Queen Serenity and no mere Kitsune could hope to oppose her.
"Master," Kokatsuna began, the fox in the form of a remarkably beautiful, mature woman with short black hair, "what if she doesn't come?"
"She will come," Himura replied confidently. "Queen Serenity is legendary for being unable to stand the suffering of others."
"But if she doesn't?"
"Then we will try something else," Himura said. He pulled a star ball from his pocket. Kokatsuna's eyes darted to it, the fox fearing for a moment that it was hers. It wasn't. So it had to be Kokininomo's, since Reikokuna served Himura willingly.
Just so - - better Kokininomo fail against Queen Serenity than for her to fail against Queen Serenity.
"Master!" Kokatsuna gasped. "They're here!"
Himura looked out from his place of concealment and saw the four Inner Senshi standing at the intersection down the street.
"The King and Queen are not with them!" Kokatsuna cried.
Jupiter fired a bolt of lightning. It struck the illusionary ice giant, eliciting a hiss of pain from Reikokuna.
"Master?" Kokatsuna pressed him.
"Very well," Himura replied, bringing the star ball to his forehead. "Kokininomo, it is time to fulfill the pact you made with Kokoyo Himura over a hundred years ago - - the master you betrayed and the pact you ran from. Acknowledge me, Kokininomo. Acknowledge the one who possesses your star ball."
Reikokuna winced again as Venus's Love and Beauty Shock attack echoed through the city street.
"Acknowledge your master, Kokininomo," Himura continued.
And in the Crystal Palace, Moriko's eyes snapped open.
"Venus!" Venus shouted, her right hand at her side with the fingers splayed. "Love and Beauty Shock!"
The ball of golden energy shot down the street and impacted with the ice giant. The force of the explosion shook the windows on buildings on either side of the monster, but only staggered the ice creature. Again it raised its hand to freeze them.
"Mercury!" Mercury shouted urgently. "Aqua Rhapsody!"
From nowhere, a wave of water engulfed the ice monster, surrounding it up to the chest. Then it flash froze into a chunk of ice. The monster strained at the ice, trying to free itself or at least its arm. For a time the ice held. But soon fissures began to form along the sides of the brittle ice. Everyone saw them.
"Mars, I think now would be a really good time for a little fire," Venus said, turning to her fellow senshi. She found Mars deep in concentration, a sacred ward pressed to her forehead. "Hey, Mars, want to get into the game!"
"QUIET!" Mars snapped and resumed silently chanting. Venus was about to respond, but Mercury stopped her.
"In her current state, she may need extra time to focus her spiritual energy," Mercury advised. "Please don't distract her."
"Why does she need that? Burning Mandala would probably work better on this thing," Venus argued.
"If this is an illusion constructed by those Kitsune we were warned about, this will no doubt be the proper response," Mercury told her. "Mars is the expert on this."
"And if it's not an illusion?" Jupiter asked anxiously.
Just then, the ice holding the ice giant was torn asunder, huge chunks of ice tumbling away like mountain boulders. It brought its hand up to freeze the senshi, Three of them crouched, ready to react and hoping they could react in time.
Just then, Mars sprang forward from between Mercury and Venus, her face contorted in venomous malice. She flung her ward at the ice monster, the sacred paper cleaving the air like a bullet. It zipped down the street, between two splayed fingers of the ice giant and struck it squarely on the forehead. A shriek pierced the area, sounding like a cross between a wounded animal and a woman in agony.
And the ice giant disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"OK, she called that one," Venus shrugged. Jupiter gave her a cynical look.
Mars continued to glare ahead. Alerted, the others followed her sight line. Walking toward them through the smoky haze left by the ice giant were Endymion and Serenity.
"I wish I knew how it was going," fretted Serenity back in the palace. "I hope everyone is all right." As she paced, the Queen carried Setsuko in her arms.
"The Senshi are seasoned professionals, Your Majesty, and quite formidable," Luna advised her.
"You're right, Luna," Serenity nodded. "But I hate not knowing."
"Maybe I can fix that," Endymion murmured. He was working at a computer station.
"What are you trying?" Artemis asked, looking over from his monitor of the police calls and news reports.
"Piggybacking on Ami's idea," he replied. "I've hooked into the internet global mapping software and I'm trying to pull up a satellite view of the business district that will let me see what's going on." He continued to work the mouse on his computer. "If only the city had a surveillance network, I wouldn't have to do it the hard way."
"Endymion, you know I don't like the idea of spying on people," Serenity said. Setsuko slid out of her arms to the floor and the pair walked over for a look, in spite of the Queen's stated preferences.
"A surveillance system is not spying on people," Endymion said distantly as he worked. "A surveillance system is a means of spotting hazardous and potentially hazardous situations in order to increase response time and better protect the city and the population."
"You can dress it up in all the five thousand yen words you want, Endymion," Serenity fussed, "but it's still spying."
"That looks like them!" Artemis exclaimed. Serenity leaned in closer while Luna stretched her neck to get a view.
At the sound of the door to the room opening, everyone turned and looked. Framed in the doorway was Rei's great-grandmother, Moriko.
The communication from Himura had hit her brain like a fist wrapped in a spiked gauntlet. The thing she had feared was happening. Himura was using her star ball to communicate with her.
In the past, she had resisted his attempts to contact her, and the attempts of his predecessors, through distance and anonymity. But Himura was too close now and he knew she was here.
"I can sense you, Kokininomo," she felt Himura's voice in her head say. "Acknowledge me. Or else I'll just have to deem this star ball useless - - and destroy it."
"I'm here," Moriko thought back. She didn't try to disguise the disgust in her thoughts.
"At last we meet," Himura responded. "You're a difficult Kitsune to track down." She didn't respond. "I have a task for you, Kokininomo. One that will allow you to fulfill some of the contract that you ran out on."
"What task?" Moriko thought, though she knew what it would be.
"I need you to kill Queen Serenity and King Endymion," Himura told her. "A fairly simple task for one with the legendary skills of the Kitsune-yako."
"I am NOT Kitsune-yako!"
"So long as I possess your star ball, you are. And so long as I possess your star ball, you will do as I tell you."
"Don't," Moriko thought to him. "Don't make me do this! I owe a debt of loyalty to the ancestor of . . .!"
"You owe a debt of loyalty to ME!" Himura shot back. Moriko winced at the power of the thought. "Do you want to be a simple fox again? With no magic and no ability to think beyond the level of 'hunt-eat-sleep-reproduce'?"
There was an anxious pause.
"No," Moriko responded finally.
Moriko entered the corridor of the palace from her bed in the guest quarters. Down the hall, a palace security guard with a German Shepherd on a leash spotted her. The dog quickly began barking and violently snapping at her. Moriko fell back against the door to her quarters and pressed against it.
"Wait, you're the one we were warned about," the guard said. "Down, stupid dog!" the guard fumed at the frenzied canine. "Go ahead. Don't worry. I've got the dog."
Moriko nodded, slid along the wall past the snapping German Shepherd as it continued to bark, then hurried along. She got as far as the door to the Senshi conference room, then paused and steadied her nerves. Finally calm, Moriko opened the door. Serenity, Endymion and the cats all turned to her.
"Serenity?" Mars gasped anxiously. "I told you to stay in the palace!"
"But I wanted to help you, Mars!" whined the Queen as she and her husband approached. "I was afraid one of you would get hurt!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Venus quipped.
"Energy radiation is wrong!" Mercury said suddenly. Her visor was down and she was staring directly at the Royal Couple. "THEY'RE ILLUSIONS!"
"Jupiter! Oak Evolution!" Jupiter shouted quickly. Instantly electrical bursts began to explode around the King and Queen. Out of the corner of her eye, Venus noticed a television crew from TV Asahi capturing the scene on video.
"This is going to look good on the evening news," muttered Venus. "Venus Love Me Chain!"
Twin chains shot out and wrapped around the images of Endymion and Serenity. Mars stepped forward, another two sacred wards pressed to her forehead. When it was charged, she flung them at the Royal Couple. The pair exploded into smoke on contact with the sacred sutras, Venus's chains going limp and falling to the ground.
The sound of Mercury crying out in pain from behind them whirled the other senshi around. They found Mercury laying on the pavement, unconscious and a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of her mouth.
"Mercury!" Jupiter cried out. She and Venus looked around for what had attacked their fellow senshi.
"It's the Kitsune!" Mars shouted. "She's invisible!" Immediately Mars placed her right hand, the palm and fingers flat, along the line between the tip of her nose and the center of her forehead. Her eyes closed tightly.
"How the Hell do you fight invisible?" Venus exclaimed.
"Jupiter! Oak Evolution!" Jupiter cried out. Electrical bursts began exploding all around her. Unfortunately, they were exploding all around Venus as well.
"Hey! Watch where you're firing those things!" Venus howled.
She dodged an electrical burst, but another exploded against her upper arm. Grimacing, she grabbed it. As she held her arm, Venus saw nothing strike Jupiter from behind. It took four vicious blows to fell the woman, but Jupiter went down near Mercury.
"Crescent Beam!" Venus shouted, firing at the point where something invisible would have been to strike Jupiter. A howl of pain told her she'd hit. But from behind something struck her across the head. Venus sank to her knees, looking behind her before her senses were enveloped in black and seeing nothing.
"Two of them," Mars mumbled, her eyes still closed. Her hand came down from her face and stopped at her side, her hand splayed. "Mars! Flame Sniper!" She brought the bow up. Sensing Kokatsuna was still wounded from the blast she took from Venus, Mars whirled and took aim at where she hoped she sensed Reikokuna was.
But so intent upon the two Kitsune was Mars, she didn't notice Himura approaching from behind her. He wasn't invisible, except to her. Neither was his club. Himura brought the club down onto Mars' back between her shoulder blades and felled the senshi with a vicious blow. Mars struggled to stay awake, but succumbed.
"And now we only need to wait for Kokininomo," he said as his two Kitsune servants became visible next to him.
Continued in Chapter 11