I don't own Sailor Moon. Or Love Hina.
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Taking a deep breath Naru walked into the police station. Usagi and Ami were right behind her, having first gone senshi and then used the disguise pen to take on adult forms. Ami was walking a tad uncomfortably, having the short straw and ended up as Naru's 'uncle'. The thought alone made the redhead grin a little as she walked up to the receptionist's desk. At least Ami kept her visor as a pair of cool shades while disguised; Usagi's tiara and jewels were nowhere in sight. Of course, the beard stubble and other 'equipment' might make up for that.
"Excuse me," she said to the attendant at the desk. The woman put down her magazine and smiled at her politely.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't heard you approaching. How may I be of service?"
"My name is Osaka Naru, and I was a witness to the Sailor Senshi incident yesterday, and I'd like to give some testimony. A lot of what I heard from the commissioner's speech was just plain wrong, from what I experienced."
"You're not the only one who thinks that," said a male voice from off to the side. A forty-ish man in uniform approached carefully. "There were three officers who have family the senshi saved that turned in their badges out of protest. Unfortunately, the commissioner isn't listening to anyone and refuses to compromise on our orders." The officer grimaced.
"If you want to give testimony, I'm supposed to contact city hall and they'll send over a special agent," the receptionist explained. "They'll be here in half an hour or so once I do. Would you like to wait, or come back later?"
"Actually," said Ami, her deeper voice a bit scratchy, "could you wait and listen to her testimony here before contacting anyone? If what she suspects is true, then it wouldn't be safe for one of the commissioner's men to be around her."
"Wouldn't be safe?" Naru drew in a deep breath and steeled herself to drop the bomb.
"I think that the commissioner might be controlled by the monsters, assuming he hasn't just been replaced by a lookalike." There was a long beat of silence.
"Do you have evidence to back this up?" the receptionist asked carefully.
"In his speech last night he let slip something he wouldn't have known on his own. And it might explain his unwillingness to compromise if he was being threatened or controlled." The two police shared a look.
"I'll get you an interview with the captain," said the man.
A few minutes later they were in an interrogation room like the one Usagi had spoken with Hino-sensei in. Naru sat in a chair with her 'aunt' and 'uncle' behind her. Across the table sat the police captain who had introduced himself as Tawanaka Shisui, and an unnamed officer acting as witness. On the table between them sat a tape-recorder and a laptop with a clip of Commissioner Yamada's speech. The captain hit the Record button.
"Please identify yourself."
"Osaka Naru, age 14, high school freshman at Juuban Public High."
"And you are here for what reason?"
"I have had more contact with the Sailor Senshi than almost anyone else, beginning with Sailor Moon's first appearance at my mother's jewelry store when she rescued me from a monster. I want to give testimony as a witness to what happened at the candy store incident, culminating in a minor firefight that the senshi were blamed for. I also have evidence that makes me suspect that the police commissioner may not have been acting of his own free will when he issued orders for the senshi's arrest."
"You are here of your own free will?"
"Yes."
"You understand that as a minor, your testimony is inadmissible in a formal court of law without a special exception?"
"I'm giving this testimony in the hopes of keeping this out of the courts of law."
"You say you have had contact with the senshi over multiple attacks. Would you please relate the history for the purposes of the record?"
"My first encounter with Sailor Moon was when she rescued me from an attack at my mother's jewelry store. I was in here for questioning after that as well."
"We have this on our records. Continue." The three girls had been very careful to go over exactly which attacks they could confirm Naru as being at without giving away her identity as an associate. The testing began now.
"I attended the Mikan-Mikan competition with my friend Tsukino Usagi. I did not become a victim of the drain because I left early, but several friends could testify that I was there."
"Why did you leave early?"
"I was becoming uncomfortable because many people's actions reminded me of the events prior to the attack on my mother's shop. When my friend's period came early I used her cramps as an excuse to get us both out of there, and I believe I saw Sailor Moon out of the corner of my eye at some point, but cannot be certain."
"Next?"
"I attended the attack on the public wedding where I realized what was going on and helped evacuate other bystanders as well as throwing a vase at an attacker's head."
"Why did you not come forward for testimony then?"
"I assumed that you had more information already, and were merely keeping it under wraps. There are rumors going around that the senshi are the result of secret government programs, and I figured you would recognize and contact me if needed."
"I wish our abilities were as great as the conspiracy theorists feared," chuckled the captain. "Any others?"
"Oh, yes. For starters, I encountered them in the stairwell when my principal was replaced by a youma, and offered to pull the fire alarm for them as a distraction." The captain's eyebrows rose and he leaned forward to get close to the tape-recorder.
"Let the record show that the events at Juuban Public High did not reach the news and were covered up as a gas leak. The principal and his secretary only related the events to the officers who arrived on the scene. Continue."
"I was also in the audience at Soratsuki stadium and recognized the feeling of being drained, but I passed out before I could act."
"Any other encounters?"
"I was with three friends at Hikawa Shrine when the buses reappeared. One had been interested in volunteering and I had felt that the senshi were involved and wanted to get a closer look at what might happen."
"Did you see anything of interest?"
"Sailor Uranus appeared to be badly injured, and possibly dead, and was being carried by a man the newspapers have been calling Tuxedo Kamen. It was my first time seeing them both. Unfortunately, the excitement caused by the reappearances caused everyone to rush around, and my friend Tennou Haruka fell down the stairs, suffering serious harm. I was preoccupied with keeping her alive until the ambulance arrived."
"I'm sorry to hear that. The bus events were right before the candy store events, correct?"
"As far as I know. You would know better than me if they showed up some other time."
"You were a witness to this? The events at the store yesterday?"
"I visited a few minutes before the senshi arrived. I left because it also reminded me of my mother's store, and actually saw the senshi approaching as I was leaving. I stuck around in case of trouble and helped pull a few people out of the shop when the mist appeared."
"Well…There are witness records of an unknown girl helping evacuations. That was you?"
"I assume so. There might have been someone else as well."
"And you remained in the area?"
"Yes. I was near the back of the crowd but I was present from when the police asked the senshi to come out until cars started catching on fire, and I saw what appeared to be another monster on the roof of the store, but it vanished not long after the senshi got up there, so I assume they dusted it."
"Dusted?"
"When the senshi kill a monster it crumbles into a cloud of dust almost instantly. I overheard the term used as well, when Moon was at my mother's store and again when I met them at the candy store."
"Thank you. You say you also have suspicions that Commissioner Yamada is being controlled by these monsters?"
"Yes. They—whoever is responsible for the attacks—must have some intelligence to plan their operations, so I don't think it is impossible. It was his speech that raised my suspicions."
"The following is a recording of the press release in question," the captain said, and hit play on the laptop. At the appropriate moment Naru spoke up.
"Stop. That was it." He rewound a few seconds.
"Please, explain."
"He referred to the monsters as youma, and their organization as the Dark Kingdom. I know that terminology from encountering the senshi, but unless your sources are much better than you say, no one else should know that the senshi use that terminology for their enemies." The captain exhaled hard.
"Is that it?"
"Yes. But we know that the youma can imitate people from when Mikan-Mikan was impersonated. If they had the head of the police under their control, who would fight them?" There was a long, slow pause as the captain drank this in. Then he turned to the officer in the corner.
"Lieutenant Aosaki, what is your opinion on this?" The much younger man frowned and fidgeted for a few moments.
"I think it's worth the risk," he said finally. "If she's wrong than no one is seriously hurt, and we just take some flak for being a little too careful. If she's right, then it's our duty to stop what's happening."
"My thoughts exactly." He turned back to Naru. "Even if you're wrong, I can't thank you enough for bringing this to my attention. You may well have saved a lot of innocent people." He sighed a put his head in his hands.
"If only I knew what to do now. It would be a political nightmare to try and arrest the commissioner, and what would I do after that? I don't suppose you would know how to find out if someone is being controlled by this…Dark Kingdom?" He turned to look at Naru and narrowed his eyes. "For that matter, would you know how to get in contact with the senshi, having encountered them so many times?" Naru squirmed under his gaze and her 'aunt' coughed, recognizing her cue.
"I had an idea about that, if you don't mind a bit of normal person help."
"Civilian. You mean civilian help," her 'uncle' said under his breath.
"Right! Civilian help. Want some?"
"At times like this, it certainly couldn't hurt," the captain said warily.
"There's supposed to be a special agent sent over for this stuff, right? Have them send him over, and he might turn out to be a youma, or might be controlled like the commissioner, or might have ideas on how to help you."
"…That seems workable," Captain Kawanaka said, relieved. "This is so far out of my usual depth I'm willing to try anything." He turned to the mirror in the wall. "One of you, go send a message to city hall. And Miss Osaka, do you have a way to contact the senshi?" Naru looked around uncomfortably, before spilling a little when her 'aunt' put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"I can guarantee that the senshi will show up if they have to, and that's all I can really say without a breach of trust," she said firmly. The captain nodded.
"I can live with that, for now." He stood up. "While we wait, may I offer you some refreshments in the break room?" He turned to the mirror again. "And I don't want any of you swarming the poor girl. She's going through quite enough as is."
"There are a number of officers watching," Naru's 'uncle' deduced drily. It was odd that he hadn't taken off his sunglasses, but nothing truly abnormal, Kawanaka supposed.
"If I know my men, almost all of them that are available are clustered behind that window," he agreed with a chuckle. "Many of them were greatly upset when the orders about the sailors came in. They are rather popular here, considering how bad things would be if they weren't around."
"They're called the senshi, collectively," Naru volunteered, and blushed when she realized what she had let slip. "Um, don't ask how I know that. Please?" Everyone just laughed, letting the building tension flow away for a little while."
++++++++++++++++++++
"Unacceptable!" snapped the agent the city hall had sent. She wore a tight business suit with thin vertical stripes, and held herself like a tightly coiled spring. In fact, everything about her was tight, from the bun she tied her hair in, to her face and the line of her lips, and even her voice was tight and snappy. "My orders are very specific. Anyone with information on the senshi is to be taken to city hall to give a private interview."
"Absolutely not!" replied Naru's aunt. "My niece will say what she has to with us present, or not at all."
"Captain," said the woman, "these people are obstructing the fulfillment of my orders. Arrest them so that I can take the girl." Captain Kawanaka hummed, already seeing the young redhead's point more and more clearly.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ms. Ito. They came here of their own free will to volunteer information, and have not broken any laws."
"And now that we know that they have information, they are refusing to give it to us, and thus aiding criminals."
"That's not the way the law works, ma'am."
"I am ordering you to arrest them!"
"You don't have the authority to do that," he responded darkly. As it looked like she was going to explode, he added, "Perhaps you should call city hall, and they will sort this out?" The woman bristled, and let out a hiss.
"Fine! You call. Now!" The captain motioned and the receptionist started dialing. Meanwhile, Ms. Ito looked very uncomfortable, eyes glancing around at the police officers in the area. In the captain's experience, she looked very much like a criminal worried about holes in his alibi. Or, he conceded, he also saw a look like that on rookies dumped into a situation they didn't know the protocol for. Either way, though, it wasn't making him trust her any more. "Can't you tell your men to go away?" she hissed. The captain gave a few hand signs to fall back, and half of them moved out of sight. Only just out of sight, though, as almost the entire station was willing to side with the senshi at the moment. The receptionist handed Ms. Ito the phone.
"It's Ito. I'm here, but the girl's aunt and uncle won't let me take her, and the captain won't arrest them." She waited a few moments and handed the phone to the captain.
"Good afternoon. Yes. No. I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, sir. No sir. There is a perfectly viable alternative, sir. The rooms here are completely private, and her aunt and uncle have agreed to stay out during the testimony. You can't order me to do that, sir, I'll resign first. You should know that, sir. Yes sir. I'm glad we agree, sir." He handed the phone back to Ms. Ito. The Commissioner had not objected to being called sir so many times. Something was wrong.
"What? You're going through with this? Then how do I…oh. I understand." She smiled cruelly and hung up. "There is to be no one else in the room during the proceedings, and no witnesses, yes?"
"Okay," said Naru's 'Aunt'. "We'll wait in the lounge." Naru followed the woman into the room while everyone else filed off. Ms. Ito flinched a little at the mirror, but settled down when she realized it was just her reflection.
"Now," she began, turning to Naru with a sick smile, "what do you have to say about the Sailor Senshi?"
+++++++++++++++++++
Captain Kawanaka and eight other officers stood behind the one-way window looking into the interrogation room. He was feeling rather jittery, and thumbed the safety of his rarely used firearm. Only two other officers were similarly armed. It wasn't often he regretted his country's strict gun control laws, but this was one of the few times guns could be useful. Assuming they work on this monster, at any rate. Otherwise I may as well go up against it with a bow and arrow, or blow darts.
"If I doubted your niece before, now I don't," he said, seeing Ms. Ito flinch at her reflection. "She doesn't know about the mirror, and she completely ignored the security camera." He turned to the redhead's aunt and uncle. "Are you certain the senshi will show up in time? These youma might be more than my men can handle."
"If Naru is positive, we are positive," her aunt said firmly.
"Even so…" He turned back to the officers. "Men, I want you ready to engage at the drop of a hat."
"Captain!" called one of the officers, as others shifted to readiness. The captain turned back to the glass to see Naru on the ground holding a cheek after Ms. Ito struck her. The girl's uncle hissed.
"On my mark," he began, but Naru' uncle interrupted.
"Wait. If you move before she drops the disguise we won't get any proof."
"You're okay with your niece getting hurt?" he asked incredulously. The aunt answered before the uncle could.
"No. I don't want anyone getting hurt. Including your men." She turned to her husband. "We're dropping the charade." Before anyone could reply the aunt's form wavered, and Sailor Moon stood in her place.
"How in the—" began the captain, as the uncle turned into Sailor Mercury.
"Magic. Mercury, that is a youma, right?"
"Yes," said Mercury, "and I have a read on it, albeit a very imperfect one. It doesn't seem very competent at draining energy, but its combat prowess will be unpleasant. I can faintly see through the disguise, now, and it appears to be composed of a number of small, wiry tentacles that it can use to pierce or strangle, and will be strong, sturdy, and fast. A fighter, rather than one to harvest energy."
"You—you planned this from the beginning?" stuttered out the captain, genuinely surprised. He'd expected something, admittedly, but nothing at this level of deception.
It was surprisingly intimidating to be in the presence of these two, despite their youth. Their apparent youth, at any rate. He couldn't tell very many details about their appearance aside from height and hair color. And gender, presumably.
He couldn't even see what parts of their faces their masks revealed, no matter how hard he tried. The inability to discern any details was what was so intimidating, Kawanaka realized. He was looking Sailor Moon in the eyes, and he couldn't have guessed her eye-color if he was offered ten-million yen.
"Not completely," demurred Sailor Mercury. Sailor Moon spoke up.
"We asked Miss Osaka to help—crap! It's attacking!" He followed Moon as she burst through the door, Mercury right behind them. Naru had backed away the second it began to transform, having expected it, and slipped behind them as more officers entered the room."
"You're under arrest," Kawanaka yelled, mostly out of habit. His hands were shaking badly at the sight of the demon, but he stilled them with a breath.
"You have deceived honest people and attacked innocents!" declared Sailor Moon. "Surrender and we'll try to be lenient, if you help us reveal Jadeite's plot."
"Firssst," hissed the youma, which resembled a large red woman made of straw, "I ssserve General Zoicite, not Jadeite. Sssecond, you've played into my massster's hand, sssince I can jussst kill everyone here and blame it on you sssenshi."
"You won't even get away with trying!"
"Oh? Isss that ssso? Well, third, I am Tentito, one of General Zoicite's persssonally empowered youma. Four: you," a dozen wires whipped forward without any warning. Mercury got out of the way, but one punched clean through Moon's right shoulder, and there were several cries as officers were hurt as well. "are all going to die."
"Moon Tiara Magic!" called Moon, managing a clumsy throw with her left hand. Kawanaka pulled out his gun, prayed, and opened fire on the monster. His bullets barely phased it, and it swung one of its arms straight into the tiara.
"The hell!?" yelled Sailor Moon as her tiara was batted aside and into the wall. The thing lost a large chunk of its arm, Kawanaka noticed, but the threads had rewoven into a replacement limb in seconds.
"Aqua Bubble Burst! Mercury Spray Shroud!" The blue scout grabbed an injured man and dragged him out of the room, motioning for the others to follow.
"Into the hall!" called Moon. "Moon Tiara Magic!" Kawanaka didn't see whether it worked, as he was retreating into the hall, but guessed the attack failed again since they weren't going to stop fighting. Moon slammed the door to the room. "My tiara didn't work! What do we do?"
"Your tiara did work, just not well enough," Mercury replied, as they heard the youma snarling incoherently in the other room. "Its main body is a soft, black mass slightly larger than my head, abdomen, and torso—about the same shape, too. The threads are outgrowths from that mass, and it weaves them into limbs for it to use. We need to hit the center, not the threads, which it can regrow. Ms. Osaka."
"Huh? I mean, yes?" said the redhead, whom Kawanaka had just realized was still present.
"Please retreat from the area, Ms. Osaka. This youma is even more dangerous than the usual ones we fight, and you have placed yourself in enough danger for our sake." Mercury sounded very serious, and Moon shot her a look to reinforce Mercury's request.
"I—" She trailed off and nodded glumly.
"Remember," said Moon, "we never would have gotten this far without you."
"Okay," she said, and jogged away toward the main lounge. Kawanaka could hear shouting and movement as the station readied itself for whatever might come. In the event that it was a youma, he'd given orders that this thing was not to be engaged up close if it could be avoided. He knew that the rest of his men would stay back to trap it in the hall if it got past them. The building was now locked down, and he was glad the senshi had been here.
He was also as scared as he could remember being. He had faced down rapists, murderers, sociopaths, slave traders on one occasion, and generally the worst elements of humanity. That thing though, was like nothing he had ever come across. It wasn't that it was evil; it was that it was inhuman in a way he had never quite encountered. It felt different, in a vast looming way that reminded him of his childhood nightmares. He swallowed his terror.
"How do we handle this thing?" he asked Moon.
"Don't get close," she advised, shrugging. "I can take it out, and you can't, so you'd just get hurt." Then they heard the crash of broken glass.
"It broke through the mirror!" someone yelled. The girls were already dashing down the hall.
"Moon Tiara Magic!"
"Aqua Bubble Burst!"
The youma screamed in pain or fury, and Sailor Moon screamed too. The sound wasn't especially loud, Kawanaka noted as he raced up to their side, but it had an eerie, echoing quality. The monster appeared to have hunched over in pain, and he pointed his gun at it. Then it moved.
He stumbled back. Prickles of pain seared across his body, and he idly realized that it had fired its hairs like needles.
"Aqua Bubble Burst!" It appeared to have trouble moving when wet, and he emptied several rounds into the monster.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" To his surprise, the blonde didn't throw the ring of energy, but gashed it down the side of her leg. She gurgled in pain and dropped the weapon onto the now wet and red tile floor.
"Mirror Light Escalation!" There was a blinding pink flash, and when his vision cleared the floor where the monster had been was charred, smoking, and empty. He opened his mouth.
"Is it dead?" He was praying that it was. The thing was insane. How the senshi fought them so often he couldn't begin to guess.
"It's on the ceiling!" screamed Mercury, and Moon slammed into him. Kawanaka screamed like a girl as it landed where he had been standing, still catching his left foot and turning it into a pincushion.
"I have you now," it crooned, wrapping a bundle of threads around Mercury's neck. Another bundle enveloped his foot and two more shot toward Sailor Moon. He felt the arms of his officers pulling at him from behind, but the wires' grip was too tight.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" she called in response. The tentacles weaved around the ring and slammed into Moon, pinning her to the wall as she began to choke, though she kept ripping at the dozens of wiry threads with her bare hands. Other officers tried to help, but weren't accomplishing anything.
A fifth bundle formed from its chest as the tiara got too close and swatted it away. He saw out of the corner of his eye, as he scrambled for his dropped gun, that there was something black beneath the red. Sailor Mercury saw it too, and kicked.
The youma let out a breathless scream, like a man punched in the gut, and he felt his bonds loosen ever so slightly. Mercury dropped to the floor. She didn't cast a spell, she didn't back away, and she didn't hesitate.
She dug her gloved hands into the black mass and ripped.
It screamed and convulsed as she threw pieces left and right with a single-minded fury. All of the strands pulled back and twisted with the intent of ripping the blue soldier apart.
Sailor Moon didn't have her tiara, but she threw herself in front of Mercury's exposed back and screamed.
The wires wavered, but a few dug into Sailor Moon's body. Then, with a sickeningly wet *thwock* Sailor Mercury flexed her arms and tore the monster's body in half. Her gloves were dyed black with ichor, and it was spattered across her face and front.
"Finish it," she ordered flatly.
"Mirror Light Escalation." Moon's voice was equally emotionless. There was another pink flash, and when his vision cleared the there was nothing left of the youma but dust and smoke. "Is everyone alive?" Sailor Moon asked.
"No one was seriously injured," volunteered someone.
"Except the Captain! Look at his foot!" Captain Kawanaka felt arms pulling him away for medical treatment, and stayed conscious just long enough to see the senshi sway where they stood and slump down to sit on the floor. Then the adrenalin wore off, his blood loss caught up with him, and his body handed him the bill. He passed out.
++++++++++++++++
"So what now?" the still transformed Usagi asked Sargent Koyama. She was Kawanaka's second-in-command and had taken over when he went to the hospital for treatment. The captain's life was not in danger, they were assured, though it might take a while before he could walk unaided.
"I was rather hoping you had an answer to that," she replied, and the other officers in the room shifted uncomfortably. "These monsters are your specialty, so to speak, so you would know how to handle them better than we would." Mercury cleared her throat, and every eye was on her. In addition to the disguise magic, the dried black ichor still on her uniform kept anyone from thinking of not taking the senshi seriously. These were not children, no matter their apparent youth.
They were soldiers.
"We do have a plan, loosely, but we felt we should find out whether we would have anyone on our side before we got too far ahead of ourselves."
"You have us," said one of the officers, which was seconded by everyone there.
"We are grateful for your aid. Firstly, we need to inform the public about the commissioner, to rob him of support. We can probably handle the youma, but human guards would be problematic."
"So, contact the news?"
"Yes," said Mercury, fiddling with her computer. "There were several camera's that caught the youma attack, and I am downloading their data, along with my own computer's recordings, and…done." A disk popped out of the side of the computer, and she handed it to Koyama. "If someone could take this to a news station and tell our side of the story, it would go a long way toward helping."
"Aosaki, Sakana, I'm putting you in charge of this? Do you know enough of the story?"
"Yes, Sargent, we'll head off right now."
"Keep your phones on, in case we need to update you."
"I should go too, to tell my story," said Naru, who had been sitting next to the senshi. Koyama nodded her assent and all three stepped out the door.
"Next we need to expose the Dark Kingdom's involvement and find out what, exactly, has happened to the commissioner. The first part will be complicated, as it means exposing a youma around witnesses, but the second is simple. If I can get close enough to see Commissioner Yamada I can scan him and determine whether he has been replaced, controlled, or merely blackmailed."
"And can you fix him?"
"It depends. If he is being controlled it should be simple to free him, at which point the problem will effectively take care of itself. If he has been replaced then we can reveal him as a youma in front of witnesses, but will still have to find what really happened to him."
"If he's been replaced what are the chances that he's still alive?" Koyama asked. Usagi and Ami shared a look.
"Difficult to determine. Normally, the Dark Kingdom wouldn't care about collateral damage, or would even find it desirable, draining him of energy until he died. However, there has also been a trend toward more non-lethal operations the past few times, for unknown reasons."
"He might be a hostage," added Usagi, fiddling with her mask.
"That too. The biggest problem would be if he were being blackmailed, in which case we would have to free whoever he is being blackmailed with."
"I think we can rule that out right now," said a corporal. "Commissioner Yamada is married to his job, and I don't think he has any family in the city, for exactly those reasons."
"I hope you are correct. Even so, we need to be certain. Getting close to him may be problematic, however."
"Perhaps we could smuggle you in under the radar, or pretend to take you to him as captives. It would be a bit tricky to pull off, but we could probably put unlocked handcuffs on you and troop you into city hall for interrogation."
"Or we can just disguise ourselves as police and walk up to him, right?" Everyone looked at Usagi, surprised.
"Yes, that should work," said Ami, wondering why that option hadn't occurred to her.
"You can do that?" asked an officer.
"Disguise power! Turn me into a police officer!" she cried in response, holding the disguise pen up in the air. She was shrouded in light for a moment, and when she was visible again, there sat in her place a blonde in her mid-twenties wearing a police corporal's uniform, with her hair done up in a neat bun.
"We can do that," said officer Moon with a grin. She tossed the disguise pen to Ami.
"Alright, then. We have our plan to get close to Commissioner Yamada. If he's hypnotized, we break him free. If he's replaced, we reveal it in front of witnesses. If he's normal, and thus presumably blackmailed, we retreat to plan a new strategy."
"What if someone catches on?" asked Koyama.
"If it's a regular person, we try to get them on our side, or we run," said Usagi. "If it's a youma, we fight it, because that would reveal everything anyway, right?"
"If there are people around?" questioned Ami.
"Then we run," decided Usagi. "If it follows, we fight it where there aren't people. If it stays around, we let it go, or fight it to keep it from hurting people if it attacks."
"It's a bit loose as plans go," decided Koyama, "but there are too many variables to be more effective. We'll accompany you to the commissioner's office. Now?"
"Now's as good a time as any," chirped Usagi with false cheer.
"There will eventually be an outbreak of news about the youma and captain Kawanaka. It would be best if we act before that can occur." Mercury stood up. "Disguise power! Transform me into a police officer!" A flash of light later and officer Mercury stood beside officer Moon.
"Let's go."
+++++++++++++++++
"Sargent Koyama and Corporals Nichitsuki and Aomizu to see Commissioner Yamada," Koyama told the secretary at the desk. Mercury had fumbled with her sunglasses when they entered the room, signaling that the brunette was a youma, but they weren't ready to break cover yet. Four other officers were waiting outside the door to clear the area if things went south.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"It is something of an emergency and I need to give him a report in person, along with the two officers," she motioned to the disguised senshi, "on the scene."
"This senshi business has him very busy," she drawled, but it was clearly a rehearsed line, "and if you don't have an appointment you'll have to wait. Those are my orders."
"It's about the senshi," Koyama stressed.
"Those are my orders," the disguised youma repeated. "Tell it to one of the specialists he put on the case. They're in the basement." They heard shouts from outside the and running feet, and a man stuck his head in the door.
"Tell the commissioner he needs to turn on the news right now. There was an attack on a police station."
"Which is what I need to report on," said Koyama smoothly.
"Sir, there are three officers here about an attack on a police station. What do I do?" she said into an intercom.
"It involved a youma and the senshi," added officer Nichitsuki, who had reached over the desk and held down the button.
"Send them in," came the commissioner's voice. The secretary waved them toward the door. They stepped inside. Officer Aomizu hissed and fiddled with her blue sunglasses. It wasn't the commissioner and it wasn't a youma. Zoicite! Oh no. We forgot to plan for this eventuality. She saw the general's image superimposed under that of the large man with the bushy mustache. He leaned forward attentively, reaching down to open a drawer.
Magic! It's very faint, and I can't see through it, but those two are definitely under some disguise magic, realized Zoicite. He smiled. So in addition to Honshen chasing that Tuxedo man around the rooftops all day, the Sailor Senshi walk right into my lair. Wonderful. Knowing Mercury, she's probably suspicious already, but she doesn't yet know that I know. I have surprise on my side, and I don't need this disguise anymore. All that matters is that I kill the senshi.
"You say you have news of the criminals?" he asked, sending out a telepathic signal for his youma to come to him.
"Yes, commissioner," said Koyama. "Less than an hour ago—"
Ami's visor gave her just enough forewarning to throw her weight toward Koyama, knocking her out of the way of the blast Zoicite had fired from under the desk. Koyama would come away with only a few splinters.
Unfortunately, Ami took the blast straight to the chest, and was blown through the wall and into the next room.
Right at the feet of the secretary youma.
"Mercury!" screamed Usagi, her jewels activating. She had a split second to decide between targets before the secretary made an attack, and made a choice.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" she yelled, throwing her tiara at the cringing Zoicite. She herself, however, had thrown herself at the youma secretary, who had been revealed as a blue, humanoid thing with praying mantis scythe-arms. Her flying kick caught it on the shoulder instead of the head, which is what she'd been aiming for, but it still went down with her on top of it.
She shoved her face down so that they were almost nose to nose, and screamed.
Ignoring the burning in her lungs, she kept screaming as long as she could, keeping the youma immobile with pain. She saw Ami beginning to stir out of the corner of her eye. Police were flooding into the room, unaffected by the yell. The officers Koyama had brought had taken charge, she guessed, since they were treating the cringing Zoicite—who had dropped his disguise—like the threat and were helping Mercury to her feet. Her tiara had returned, and Usagi gasped for air.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" The youma just barely managed to block with its black-edged claws. For the first time, she found something her tiara didn't cut cleanly through. She heard the crack of gunfire and distant yelling, but was focused entirely on the youma beneath her.
They stayed locked in that position for several minutes as the world moved around them, no one daring to get too close. It was a contest of strength, she realized sickly. It couldn't cut her tiara or vice-versa. Whoever's strength gave out first would get carved up by the other.
And as her tiara was slowly being forced up, she realized sickly that it might be her.
A pair of shoes and black pants walked into her peripheral vision, but neither she nor it could afford to pay any attention. Then a shoe appeared before her eyes, and stomped down on the youma's face.
It flinched.
"Thanks," Usagi said from atop the pile of dust. She looked up into the face of her savior.
"No, thank you," said commissioner Yamada.
+++++++++++++++++
"Aqua Bubble Burst!" Ami yelled, directing her spell not at the two youma, but at the stairs they were climbing.
Attempting to climb, at any rate. Ice made it rather problematic.
"I don't suppose you could hurry up and kill them?" asked the officer next to as he fired another two rounds at the youma. The green, wolfish one shrugged off the ice quickly, while the yellow one with spikes took a little longer.
"Aqua Bubble Burst! I don't have enough power. We need Moon. Aqua Bubble Burst!"
"She's coming," called an officer further down the hall. It had been a stroke of pure luck that they—the normal, non-magical police—had managed to trap two youma in the stairwell. Luck that the youma had dropped the transformation when they got Zoicite's message, luck that they had been in the basement at the time, luck that no one had stayed in arm's reach long enough to get hurt, and luck that they had reacted fast enough to bar the youma's way and get a senshi to help.
It helped that the police were experts in wringing every drop of usefulness possible out of every scrap of luck they had. They had to be, to successfully deal with the Tokyo underworld on a regular basis.
"Evil Begone!" shouted a middle-aged man who ran up next to Ami, and he tossed two ofuda at the youma. Her visor immediately told her that there was genuine power in the talismans, and when they hit the youma that power froze them in place. She saw her chance.
"Aqua…Bubble…" The bubble of water in front of her rippled as she crammed as much power into it as she could—hopefully enough for two deluges instead of one. "BURST!"
She immediately jumped after her spell, and slammed a Usagi-style jump-kick into the head of the green youma mid-freeze. She then landed badly, her leg hurting, and slammed into the wall. Her head cleared quickly, though, and she looked up at the other youma. Her visor told her she didn't have enough time, so she turned and scrambled up the stairs.
Crawled, more like it, as her leg didn't want to support her. The priest had pulled out a length of rope and tossed her one end, and she got out of range just as the ice began to crack.
"Aqua Bubble Burst! I don't suppose you could do that again, only stronger?" she asked the priest.
"I'm afraid we'll need to wait for Tsuruko to finish her enemy," he said, shaking his head. "I am Manju Ken."
"Aqua Bubble Burst! It is a pleasure to meet you, Manju-sensei. I—Aqua Bubble Burst!—I am Sailor Mercury."
"A pleasure," he said with a chuckle.
+++++++++++++++
"Air Cut!" shouted the woman, swinging her sword. A blast of ki-enhanced air shot out from the slash and clipped the insectoid youma buzzing around the room. It spun through the air, attempting to right itself, and shot stingers to keep the swordswoman away. She swerved around them and jumped up, enhancing her legs with ki.
"Boulder-cutting blade!" The youma managed to right itself and dodge her attack, spitting several spikes at her back. The swordswoman displayed incredible skill and senses by swinging her sword behind her back and deflecting them with one hand. She hit the ground and immediately assumed a defensive stance. The youma clicked several times.
"You cannot. Defeat. Buzrath. Human." It voice was clicking as it formed words not meant for its voice box.
"You clearly have never fought a samurai, demon," she countered. "Air Cut Dance!" Her sword became a shimmering blur as she launched a storm of cutting ki at her foe. It appeared to strike dead on, exploding against its armor, and it fell to the ground. Tsuruko approached cautiously, and prepared a killing blow. "Demon…Slash!" She swung down like the wrath of the kami.
"Die!" screamed the youma, launching itself back into the air, completely healed. It aimed its two stinger arms at her exposed head and chest. Tsuruko switched to defense mid-strike, ducking under the stinger aimed at her head and severing the one targeting her chest, causing the hum of Buzrath's wings to intensify. She immediately pressed the attack as it flitted back, and carved a deep gash across its thorax before it flew out of reach.
"That wound should be fatal to most beings," Tsuruko commented. Whether to herself or her enemy was uncertain. "Do you begin to see now what the human race *cough* is capable of? I am Aoyama Tsuruko," she coughed again and blinked as her eyes began to tear up. Realization hit, and she pulled out a miniature gas mask and pressed it to her mouth, keeping the other hand on her sword and changing her stance to compensate. "I am Aoyama Tsuruko, a master of the Gods' Cry kendo school, and a retainer to His Imperial Majesty. It will take more than poison to *cough* defeat me."
"This is. Not. Poison," it gloated, the humming of its wings increasing. "The scales of. My wings. Are razor. Sharp. They are cut. Ting your. Body. Apart." Tsuruko's skin was beginning to itch, and a rash was spreading fast enough that she could see her skin redden. She realized with a sick worry that the wound across its thorax had already healed.
"Then I simply will have to—"
"Moon Tiara Magic!" Sailor Moon appeared on the scene, twisting her wrist as she threw the tiara so that it flew perpendicular to the ground instead of parallel.
"So. Slow." Buzrath lifted above the path of the disc's flight, pointing a stinger at the senshi. Then Sailor Moon flicked her wrist up.
"Screeeeee!" it trilled as the tiara changed paths, severing one of its side's wings, leg, and stinger. It tumbled to the ground and Tsuruko jumped at her chance.
"Demon. Slash!" She brought her sword down in what was traditionally her school's killing blow, bisecting it at what could be best described as its waist. It thrashed on the ground, screaming shrilly, but Tsuruko grimly noted that it was still alive. Then she saw the stubs of new limbs, and realized that it was healing. This thing's regeneration is insane. I guess the only way to kill it is the head. She readied her blade, but flinched away when a hand touched her arm. Her skin was getting worse from the youma's scales.
"Let me," Sailor Moon said gently. "My magic is made for this. Moon Tiara Magic." The glowing disk bisected Buzrath's head vertically and it exploded into dust. Tsuruko finally relaxed, slumping to the ground.
"My thanks."
"Are you alright?" Sailor Moon asked.
"I will be."
"Is everything safe in here?" asked Commissioner Yamada, flanked by two armed officers.
"Yeah, but I think she needs a doctor," Sailor Moon called back. Tsuruko tried to stand, and the blonde immediately took up a position as her crutch.
"My thanks. Good afternoon, Commissioner. I am Aoyama Tsuruko, one of the Imperial retainers, here at His Majesty's request to investigate the Sailors."
"Sailor Senshi, and we're called the senshi or a senshi. Not sailors. I've never even been on a boat, except for the paddle-boats at parks and stuff."
"As you say," Tsuruko chuckled. "Given that you are not arresting this young woman, may I assume you have recanted your previous orders?"
"That was an imposter, not me," Yamada said stiffly. "I was tied up in a closet when I wasn't being mind-raped for information. He has unfortunately escaped the building, but we are in pursuit. Disgustingly enough, the monsters' leader appears to be a human."
"I wish I were surprised," Tsuruko said dully.
"Excuse me!" called an officer from the hall. "The blue girl and priest need some help with another of the monsters!"
"I'm on it!" Sailor Moon raced out of the room. The two adults looked on and shared a laugh.
"I'm not sure how or why she does this," said Tsuruko. "But from what I've seen of her—"
"I'm glad it's her," finished Yamada.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Now, who wants me to post the next chapter before next Saturday? I might, since this is a two-parter. On the flip-side, I'm losing the edge I have for writing ahead of schedule. Either way, tell me what you thought. How are the youma?