THE PROGENY
Chapter 11: "Fire In The Mountains"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfiction
By Bill K.
Three young men in their teens and early twenties sat in a clearing on a lower plateau of the mountain they had called home. The brush was denser here, the temperature warmer, because the elevation was lower. Used to breathing thinner air, the air here seemed heavy and thick with moisture from the perpetually humid western regions of Colombia. Wildlife was thicker here, too. Tropical birds squawked at each other and an occasional monkey darted overhead from limb to limb. The young men were oblivious to the background noise. They had plans to make.
"How are you doing, Miguel?" Luis asked. He had seen the blind right eye and the droop to the right side of Miguel's face. And he noticed the tremor in Miguel's right hand.
"She hurt me," Miguel reported, "but not as badly as she wanted to. I'm too strong for them. We're all too strong for them. And we'll be even stronger if we stick together."
Both Luis and Santo cast concerned glances at Miguel, reflexively wondering how much of a toll the battle and Sailor Saturn's attack had taken on him. Miguel sensed their concern.
"Our best shot at success is to wait until nightfall," Miguel informed them, using his great intellect to plot out a solution to the problem of rescuing their fourth member. He rubbed his injured eye reflexively. "Sailor Moon and her guards will mostly be asleep. We can surprise them and retrieve Carlos."
"How do we know they haven't already taken Carlos back to some government holding pen?" Santo asked. As he did, his eyes darted from side to side, for he didn't ignore the sights and sounds of the rainforest.
"I've been monitoring the movement of their air car," Miguel replied. "It's only flown local patterns. That means they're still looking for the rest of us." With that, he turned suddenly and looked at Luis. "Don't tell me you actually believe that?"
Startled, though he shouldn't have been with all the years of experience he had with Miguel's ways, Luis stared dumbfounded for a moment.
"Stop reading my mind," Luis scowled. "Why couldn't it be possible? I don't know who my parents were. None of us do. It could be possible."
"Luis," sighed Miguel, "she's Junelle Batista, remember? For you to be related to her, you'd have to be the child of either Major Batista or his wife. Do you think Major Batista would have let his wife live if she had played around on him?"
"No," frowned Luis.
"And do you think Major Batista would have experimented on his own child? Did he experiment on Junelle?"
"But," Luis struggled, "she has powers over water. I saw it."
"Luis, WE'RE your family," Miguel responded. "We've always been your family. I don't understand why you suddenly want to throw that away."
"I don't!" barked Luis. "I was just wondering. You don't have to get all clingy."
"I'm sorry if I'm prying," Miguel responded thinly. "I'd like to keep what's left of this family together."
"And avenge Antonio," Santo added. "You never told us which one of them did it."
"I'm - - not sure," Miguel replied guardedly. "Probably the small one in purple with the big weapon."
"Why her?" Luis asked.
"She did this to me. She has some rudimentary psychic power," Miguel scowled. He could tell Luis wasn't entirely convinced. "Can we get back to saving Carlos? I think he's more important right now."
"That's right," assented Santo.
Suddenly, Santo turned and stared into the jungle. The other two tensed and looked where he was looking.
"Do you have something, Santo?" Luis asked anxiously. "Is it them?"
He noticed Miguel suddenly scowl as he relaxed.
"No," Santo said, puzzled. "It's Carlos."
Moments later, Carlos burst out of the jungle. He ran over to his friends. Santo and Luis jumped up and met him, patting him on the back and congratulating him. Miguel remained on the ground, staring up at him.
"How did you get away?" Santo asked.
"They let me go," Carlos shrugged.
"So they could follow you to us!" Miguel fumed. "And you probably led them right here!"
"Maybe," Carlos replied. "I DID think of that. But the one with the pink hair - - she gave me a message to give to you. She said they don't want to hurt us. They just want to talk."
"And you believe that?" spat Miguel. "They killed Antonio with their 'talk'!"
"I believe it when she said it," Carlos stood firm. "There's something about her, Miguel, something that makes me want to trust her. I don't know about the others, but I feel like we can believe her."
Santo suddenly turned back to the jungle.
"Well, we're going to get a chance to test your little theory," Miguel scowled. "They're here."
As if on cue, Sailor Moon emerged from the jungle into the small clearing. Sailor Saturn was on her right, seemingly small and defenseless without her glaive. Sailor Juno and Sailor Pallas were on her left. No one else was in sight. Given Sailor Moon's height in comparison with the others with her, she looked like an adult leading children. Making no belligerent moves, the four walked out into the clearing and stopped about twenty feet from the refugees of the Almonte prison labs.
"We don't want you here!" Miguel yelled, rising to his feet. "Go back to your masters in the government! We're not going to be their tools!" Saturn noticed the blind eye, the facial distortions and the slightly slurred speech of Miguel. A wave of guilt passed over her.
"We're not from the government," Sailor Moon replied, her translator converting her words to Spanish. Her tone was calm and even, but there was an undertone of warning that she wouldn't be bullied. "We just want to talk."
"You expect us to believe that after you set Carlos free just to trail him to us?" Miguel argued.
"I admit we hoped he'd lead us to you," Sailor Moon informed him. "But just to talk. After all, it's hard to talk if you don't know where the person you want to talk to is."
"We don't want to hear more of your lies!"
"Why not let Luis decide if he wants to listen," Sailor Moon replied. "After all, you don't own him."
"Now you're trying to split us up!" Miguel charged. "Drive a wedge between me and the others! 'Divide and conquer' - - isn't that one of the military tactics you read about?"
"Right now, I think I'd much rather discuss psychology," Sailor Moon volleyed back. "For someone with the intellect you claim to possess, you're showing a great deal of unfocused anger and paranoia." She smiled a challenge to him. "I read all about that, too."
"Don't dabble in things you don't understand," fumed Miguel.
"Is it fear?" she pressed on. "Fear of abandonment? You've got a surrogate family here, the only one you've ever known, and you're scared to lose it?"
"Quiet!" snarled Miguel.
"You don't have to be," Sailor Moon said. "We're not here to take Luis away. Juno just wants to meet him - - talk to him - - compare histories and get to know him. He may be the only blood relative of hers left alive."
"I warned you to leave!" Miguel roared.
Suddenly Sailor Moon was struck by an invisible force. Her head spun around and she staggered back a few steps. Saturn was by her side instantly to hold her up, but she waved the girl off. Instead she straightened up and looked back at Miguel.
"You can't kill me," she told him with controlled calm, "which means you can't silence me." She looked at him with smoldering anger. "Not like the others you've silenced." Santo glanced at Miguel curiously.
"Hey! Where are the other two?" Luis suddenly demanded. "The plant girl and the shape-shifter!"
"I left them behind," Sailor Moon told them. "I didn't want to risk Miguel taking over their minds or feeding them some deadly vision. I come in peace, but I'm not stupid."
"No, you're crafty," Miguel hissed. "You probably have them circling us to attack us from the rear. And that air car is probably waiting for the right moment to attack from above. It's just like I said! They can't be trusted!"
"You hear that?" Luis added. "We're on to you! We're on to all of that 'just want to talk' stuff!"
"Luis, it's true!" Juno spoke up. "I just want to get to know my brother!"
"I'M NOT YOUR BROTHER!" Luis roared. "I never had a sister! I never had anyone! And you forget, I know who you are! And I know who your father is!"
"He's your father, too!" Juno cried.
Luis stared, stunned.
"My mother was a rebel! Batista captured her and raped her, then forced her to carry me to term! Then he killed her and kept me as a souvenir! As far as we can tell, your mother was friends with my mother in school," Juno continued. "She was arrested because she knew my mother, Maria Gomez. Batista raped her, too. Only he experimented on you."
"She's lying!" Miguel spat.
"I hate who my father was!" Juno continued. "And I hate what he did to you. But we are related! And maybe - - if you give it a chance - - something good can blossom out of a terrible situation."
"Don't believe her!" Miguel raged. "She's lying! I can read her thoughts!"
"No, you're the one who's fibbing!" Pallas roared indignantly. "Juno is good and kind and she doesn't fib! And you may be able to hear her thoughts, BUT I CAN HEAR YOURS! So I know you're telling fibs!"
Miguel silently fumed. And something invisible seemed to press against Pallas. But the small senshi stood up to the force defiantly.
"You're afraid!" Pallas continued to shout. "You're scared that Juno's brother is going to go away, so you're telling fibs about her to make her look bad! THAT'S NOT NICE!"
"DON'T BELIEVE HER!" Miguel bellowed.
"You killed your own friend just to keep him from leaving!" Pallas howled.
Santo and Carlos turned and stared at Miguel. And something in Miguel's demeanor seemed to snap. Suddenly fire erupted from the volcanic soil and grasses of the plateau, surrounding the senshi and threatening to burn them all alive. They staggered back from the flames, but they were surrounded. The attention of the refugees snapped from Miguel to the senshi as heat rolled off of the sudden inferno.
"SILENCE WALL!" Saturn shouted, projecting her force field around the four senshi. It was a temporary respite from the blaze, keeping the flames at bay and the heat from broiling them. But the fire was quickly consuming the oxygen around them, and as it grew it began to catch the surrounding trees and bushes on fire as well.
"Miguel!" Santo gasped. "Are you trying to burn the whole mountain down?"
"SHUT UP!" Miguel bellowed. "Don't you look at me like that! I led you out of the prison lab! I led you all up here when none of you could count to ten yet! I took care of you, taught you, guided you, protected you all of these years! And now you all just want to toss me aside?"
"Aqua Initiation, Pour Down Rain!" they heard Sailor Juno shout.
The already humid air of tropical Colombia didn't need that much coaxing. In seconds clouds formed and darkened. Seconds more and the area was suddenly inundated by an epic downpour. Rainwater came down in buckets, quickly beating the inferno into submission and drenching everyone and everything. Saturn kept her shield up, as much to keep dry as to protect them all from another attack from Miguel. Ignoring the storm, Santo stared directly into his adoptive brother's eyes.
"What the Hell?" he demanded of Miguel. "Nobody wants to toss you aside! Where did that come from?"
"You're all thinking it, deep down!" Miguel charged. "You want to go with them! You want to see the world! You want women and pleasure! And all you're going to do is fall right back into the hands of the people who want to EXPLOIT YOU!"
"Almonte's dead," Carlos said. "The lab is gone!"
"And you think Almonte was the only one?" Miguel bellowed. "You don't remember what the lab was like! You were too young! I remember! I remember what they did to me! I remember what they were going to make me do! I wasn't a human being to them! I was just an experiment! A product to be exploited! A gun to be fired at Almonte's enemies! But we're safe up here! Safe from everybody who wants to hurt us!"
"Except you," Sailor Moon commented. Miguel whirled angrily on her.
"Shut up!" he raged.
"None of us have done anything to any of you except defend ourselves," Sailor Moon persisted, the rain finally slacking off. "We came in peace. You attacked us. We tried to talk. You continued to attack us. You misrepresented us to the others the entire time, knowingly, because you COULD read my mind and you COULD tell what my true intentions were. And when one of your group tried to leave - - you killed him. YOU killed him."
Miguel stared, rendered impotent with rage. He could feel the eyes of the others on him, sense in their thoughts that they followed the logic Sailor Moon was outlining.
"Then it is true?" Luis asked incredulously, echoing the thoughts of the other two.
"The violence, the paranoia, the manipulation of situations, the desperation to hold onto power or position," Sailor Moon outlined. "Seems like you learned the lessons of General Almonte very well."
Lunging out with his hands, Miguel took a single step forward. Sailor Moon recoiled, emitting an audible gasp, then began clutching at her throat. Saturn moved in front of her, trying somehow to protect her, but was unable to block the telekinetic attack with her body. She had no glaive to use to try to fend off the attack, and wasn't an adept enough telekinetic to ward off Miguel's efforts. Pallas mentally tried to pry the telekinetic hands off of Sailor Moon's throat.
"YOU BITCH!" Miguel exploded in rage. "You're trying to turn them against me! You're trying to break this all up, to end it all! I know what you're doing! I know!" Sailor Moon choked out something inaudible. "You said I couldn't kill you! WHAT DO YOU SAY NOW?"
"Aqua Initiation!" Juno called out, forming the water on the ground into a projectile the size of a bowling ball. She launched it across the no-man's-land between the two groups, hoping to hurt Miguel enough to make him drop his attack.
And apparently someone else had the same idea. Just as the ball of water struck Miguel, a beam of solar energy did as well. Juno turned to Luis and found the youth staring, his hands up and ready to fire again.
Staggering back from the force of the twin blows, Miguel lost his mental grip on Sailor Moon's throat. The senshi sank to her knees, gasping for air. Saturn knelt down beside her protectively and tried to steady her. The Moon Kaleidoscope appeared in her hand.
"Maiden?" Helios thought to her.
"I'm trying, Helios!" she thought back. "I can't get enough wind to speak!"
Righting himself, Miguel stared at Luis with a look of utter betrayal. Standing with Luis were Carlos and Santo, and the three of them couldn't quite believe what Miguel had done, either.
"Traitors!" he hissed angrily.
"We're the traitors?" gasped Santo. "They've been right about you all along!"
"I did everything for you!" spat Miguel. "All of you!"
"And did you do it for Antonio, too?" Luis bellowed angrily.
"But I can still save us," Miguel said through clenched teeth. "If I destroy them, they won't . . .!"
"Stop it, man!" Carlos snapped, grabbing Miguel to stop him. "Haven't you done enough?"
Miguel whirled on him and stared, his eyes bulging from his head. Carlos recoiled, screaming in agony. He began to dance a two-step of avoidance, ducking and dodging invisible missiles in the air, flinching and screaming as nothing impacted with his body over and over again. His wrenching movements carried him away from his friends. Angrily Luis's hand shot up and he struck Miguel with another solar bolt. The youth staggered back, his concentration broken, while Carlos collapsed to his knees, cowering in a ball, his breath heaving from his chest.
"No more," he groaned fearfully. "No more knives!"
Once more Miguel righted himself, only to have Santo impact him. The youth had leaped at him like a giant cat, the force of his leap throwing Miguel to the ground. Santo landed on top of him and pulled his hand back, ready to deliver a blow that would injure at the least. But Miguel glared up at him and suddenly Santo seized up. He grabbed at his throat and began clawing at it. To the horror of the others, they could see that Santo's chest had stopped expanding and contracting, as if Miguel had made him forget how to breathe.
Juno and Pallas rushed in to help, but Miguel gestured suddenly. Volcanic soil shot up out of the ground, hardening as it moved into solid pillars. The blunt objects rammed both senshi in the mid-sections, and they slumped to the ground. Angrily Luis ran in, hands high in preparation for another shot. But the ground in front of him exploded with concussive force, throwing him onto his back where he didn't move.
"Moon Gorgeous . . .!" Sailor Moon began, the Moon Kaleidoscope pointed at him. But a telekinetic force knocked it from her hands.
As Miguel rose to his feet, Sailor Moon crouched to move from any attack he might make. Saturn crouched beside her, looking for a means to protect Sailor Moon. Miguel shuffled forward, his face twisted with open, naked hatred. He locked eyes first with Sailor Moon and then with Saturn. They could see the malevolence in him.
It was away before she was aware of it. Another mind bolt shot out from Sailor Saturn and struck Miguel. The youth bent over, clutching his head, uttering a guttural groan that sickened the two senshi.
"Saturn!" Sailor Moon hissed, lightly slapping her friend's arm for emphasis. "Now, while he's hurt!"
The two senshi barreled forward trying to take Miguel down. But he rose up and struck the two senshi with an explosive burst of telekinetic energy. Saturn and Sailor Moon were flung back and landed hard on the ground.
Saturn struggled to keep conscious. Then a hand closed around the bodice of her fuku. Saturn was yanked up, her head lolling back limply. Fighting back the black, she looked up into what had to be the face of Miguel. But it was so misshapen that the right side of his face drooped and sagged, frozen into a hideous mask. Miguel stared at her through one good eye. She saw his right hand try to raise up to threaten her, but it shook with palsy and was weak and gnarled. But Saturn herself was too battered and frail to defend herself against even this weakened opponent, and she feared for the condition of Sailor Moon besides. Miguel glared down at her.
"Again you do this to me?" he croaked out, his speech thick and slurred. "You'll pay. You'll pay with your life!"
Concluded in Chapter 12