Walking Towards Light: Ami Redux
Act 2: A Journey of 6000 Miles
Chapter 12: Withdrawing the Bargain - wherein Ami and Minako arrive in Zurich and Ami throws due process out the window
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Ami drummed her fingers on the desk at a rapid fire pace. Waiting for the Credit Suisse bank's internal console server to process her request was incredibly frustrating experience. She missed her mini computer. Her little blue powerhouse ran on superior technology and fairy dust - it would never leave her hanging like this.
Ami checked her watch again. 30 seconds gone. This was cutting it close.
The Mercury Computer could have done this in 3 seconds - probably less. Ami theorized that it processed and accessed data on a multi-dimensional system, thus pretty much bypassing all the usual laws of physics and thermodynamics. In her experience, it had dutifully performed each and every crazy function she had ever asked of it. It never let her down.
Today, she'd set her Computer to perform a brute force attack on the most secure bank server in Europe.
It was an inelegant, yet highly effective, means to an end. Technically impossible really given the time frame...but her blue machine had spit out the correct pass-codes in about 10 seconds. Even Ami was impressed. Not surprised really, but impressed. For the sake of her own ego, she wished she had used a more sophisticated hack. Then again, that was like using a lockpick when she had a perfectly good sledgehammer in hand. Why complicate things?
Returning to conventional technology was always such a letdown. Her little computer was simply magic. Certainly better than this hunk of junk that was the last barrier between her and the earthly bank accounts of the revived Dark Kingdom. Time was an issue here...
"Come on, come on…process already..."
*ding*
Finally! Not a moment too soon. The sound of guards rushing towards the server room grew louder.
So the silent alarm actually had a response time of less than 2 minutes? Very impressive...definitely an in-house security team. Ami idly wondered if they were armed.
Too bad she'd had to set off that alarm in the first place. Unfortunately, the window was the only way in. Of course there was an alarm there.
The original escape plans were useless now. Out the window so to speak. That gave her an idea.
Ami poked her head outside and made some quick calculations.
Well…it worked in theory.
Ami shrugged, and walked back across the room to get a proper running start.
She narrowly avoided slipping on the frozen glass shards littering the floor as she dove headfirst out the broken window.
26 stories below, Minako looked up and yelled out a single word in shock.
"FUCK!"
One hour later:
Venus lurked in the shadows on top of the bell tower. Appreciation of old architecture aside, this was their designated meeting spot in case the escape plan went awry. The moment that Sailor Mercury, no, wait - the fucking detransformed Mizuno Ami, jumped out a 26th storey window, was the moment that Minako figured that the plan went awry.
Balls out, shit in the fucking windmill awry.
Venus scanned the city to the north. There didn't seem to be an increase of police activity in the streets like one would expect if a girl somehow fell out the window of the biggest bank in the city….reassuring, but not really.
Reassuring would be if Ami would show up here right fucking now, then Minako could give her a piece of her fucking mind. Delivering news of Ami's death-by-idiocy to their friends back home wasn't a duty that she wanted to handle.
Ami-chan...Where the hell are you?
"V-chan!"
Sailor Mercury was perched on the edge of the tower above like a grinning gargoyle. Was she laughing?
"Mercury! You idiot! Where the hell have you been?"
Sailor Mercury dropped down and dangled off the edge of the roof, eyes shining with excitement
"Got the files we were after! Bloody hell. Whoever Pandora is, she seems to be in Tokyo, based on her bank activity anyways. Of course she would be ne? Oh and bonus! I wiped out all of Blackstone's bank accounts while I was in. Not bad ne?"
Mercury finally swung into the bell tower proper. Venus wanted to slap that insufferable smirk off her face more than ever
"Don't you ever pull off such a stupid, reckless, and UNNECESSARY risk like that ever again!"
"What? The window jumping thing? Don't worry about it. As long as I was Sailor Mercury before I hit the first roof, I was home free. Had to be sure to clear the security cameras just in case I missed one. After that it was bouncing between the two buildings like I was swimming lengths in a pool, but with more gravity. No harm, no foul"
"We had a plan. Plan was to go in, hack a one easy peasy public access terminal, grab a file, and leave. That does not involve disappearing up an elevator shaft and robbing the most secure bank in Europe.
"I had it under control!"
Venus continued like Mercury hadn't interrupted.
"….And on top of that. you're telling me that Sailor Mercury, wielder of the legendary Shabon Spray, couldn't have just fogged up the place and walked out the front door like any sane fucking person. No, it was absolutely fucking necessary to spontaneously rob a bank and JUMP OUT A 20 STOREY BUILDING? Do you even THINK anymore?"
"26… and well…I suppose that's also an option…but you got to admit. The window was way cooler."
"Tell that to Usagi and the others when I have to explain why you aren't coming home. Hey Mako? Yeah…no, Ami's dead now. She thought jumping out a window would be way cooler than being alive or whatever. Shit. Ami, this is not acceptable."
Mercury felt the adrenaline flow out as she let go of her Senshi powers. Venus – no, Minako, was looking at her now with a mixture of anger, concern and…pity?
"Minako. I'm sorry. This isn't a big deal. I wasn't thinking…"
"No you weren't. You really fucking weren't. Do you know what you've done? You wiped out a bunch of bank accounts connected to an organized crime ring of. Who knows how big deep this goes? How is Katarina going to prosecute the bunch she has back in London now? You probably just wiped all the evidence. I don't even know what the fuck you just did, but no way you didn't just start a crazy shitstorm. How did you think this is going to play out? Let me tell you. You hit the money. That means violence. Retaliation. Different gangs are going to blame each other. Best case scenario, local gangs are just going to step up and increase criminal activity to make up for lost profit. Worst case scenario, full out mob wars. People are going to get hurt and most of them will be innocent."
There. That knocked the cockiness off of Ami's face. It was briefly replaced with horror and then there was nothing. A blank expression. Ami was looking at the situation like she would a math problem.
"I can fix this. Let me handle it"
"No, Ami. Stop. You've done enough. I don't know what you are thinking anymore, but I've had enough of you working alone. We do things together, we're a team. Sailor Senshi. United we stand and all. Are you trying to get yourself killed or something?"
"What did you say?"
Ami looked sharply at her teammate. Where did she get that idea from? Minako's question hit too close to home.
Minako stared back at Ami. Ami was defensive, eyes cold and narrow. She was being more than a little threatening. Minako knew then that she was on the right track.
"No, hear me out. This is important. Do you care if you live or die? I noticed it before in London, back at the warehouse. You didn't hesitate at all before running at that youma through the flying boulders. It was completely idiotic. Even back when we were kids... the chess game, those nanobots...Come to think of it, the only times I've ever seen you act like this is when you were the only one in danger. You don't value your own life very much do you?"
"You didn't complain back at D-Point did you? Doesn't that technically make me a more effective Senshi anyways? You're overthinking it Minako."
Deflection. Minako was the master of that trait. She wasn't fooled. The day Mizuno Ami tells anyone they are over thinking anything, is the day that Mizuno Ami is lying through her teeth. Minako stood her ground.
"No. There's a difference between brave and reckless and you know it. A soldier who's careless with their own life is a waste and a liability. I was like that once, running off of nerve and adrenaline. I was convinced I had no future. That's why I asked you if you have a death wish…I understand the feeling. I've done stupid shit like this too, back in the day."
Ami turned away. She leaned heavily on the guardrail of the belfry as she collected her thoughts. Minako wished Ami would turn to face her rather than staring out over the river below.
"Honestly, I wasted the past 6 years of my life with self pity. If it weren't for my selfishness, we would have HAD all of this information about the Blackstone Group 6 years ago, and we could have dealt with it then and there. Who knows how many people they have hurt while I was fucking around in Germany? I've made a real mess of things and I have a lot to make up for. I figure I should go all in... Seems only fair."
That's it. Enough of that. Minako grabbed Ami by the arm and forcibly pulled her back from the edge.
"Doesn't work that way Ami. You can't cash in your life like that to wipe out the past. If you actually want to make amends then you actually need to keep living and work to make things better."
For all the roughness of her actions, Minako's voice was gentle. She could see that Ami was finally letting her tears fall freely.
"Minako...honestly. How do you live like that? I'm barely hanging on here. Sometimes, I just want to take off and disappear all over again. It seems like you guys would be better off that way.
"No we wouldn't. Ask Katarina, I did the same to her once. I ran away and faked my death after getting caught in a warehouse explosion. I didn't die, obviously, but it was close. I felt like it was just a matter of time anyways. If I didn't die that night... well my luck couldn't hold out forever right? That night just seemed as good a time as any to let them start moving on with their lives without me. I regret that now. I caused my friends so much pain for no good reason. I mean, If I had actually died, I'd want them to know that I tried my absolute best to come back home to them alive. We just got you back from the dead after 6 years. Don't want to lose you again now do we?"
Ami nodded reflectively. Minako pulled Ami into a quick hug.
"Come on, I got the stairs door open an hour ago. Let's get out of here."
Ami and Minako walked through the streets of Zurich together. At this time of night, it was a fairly quiet city. It was an easy task to sneak back onto the streets as regular civilian after climbing down from the belltower.
The more difficult issue was Ami. She wasn't crying anymore at least. Minako wasn't sure if that was actually a good thing or not.
"Hey Ami-chan, ready to head back to Tokyo? I think it's time we go home. Pandora is waiting us there."
Ami nodded after a moment of hesitation. She hadn't said a word since they left the belltower. That was 20 minutes ago. The silence was starting to bother Minako. She had to break it. It wasn't good for Ami to be left alone to stew for too long. Minako kept on talking.
"Why did it take you an hour to get here anyways?"
Ami blushed.
"...I got stuck in an alley behind the bank….there was a couple there….doing stuff"
Perfect! That was actually genuinely hilarious. Luck was a bunch of guys and dolls tonight. Or guy and guy, or girl and girl, or any combination thereof. Minako made it a point to never assume these things.
"Ooooo…so Ami... stayed for the whole show?"
Minako gesticulated suggestively. Ami managed to blush even harder.
"Shut up, It wasn't like that... They were blocking the only exit"
"OHMYGOD! Did you watch? Was it hot? Were they cute? Tellmetellme."
Minako's increasingly lewd pattering continued. She was off to the races. Eventually, Ami started to smile, then amazingly, she started to laugh. No one could resist the ridiculousness of Minako's banter for long.
Ami did feel better now. Her friend was trying to distract her form her melancholy. That was worth something. Besides... Minako was all but daring her to match and escalate the conversation. Ami rose to the bait.
"Hey Minako-chan?
"Hmm?"
"Do you ever get angry like that with Rei? It's kind of hot."
That's better. She knew there was a personality underneath the depression somewhere. Minako put on an over-dramatic scandalized look. Then she burst into laughter as well.
"Shut the fuck up. You owe me a drink. Think the hotel bar is still open? Have I got some stories for you..."
A.N.
So Act 2: A Journey of 6000 Miles comes to an end. Ami and Minako are headed back to Tokyo.
Irrelevant side note: Without going into specifics, there is enough background text in this story to set it roughly in the year 2002/2003 ish. That would make the bank building that Ami breaks out of an anachronism. The scene was designed around the real life Sunrise Tower in Zurich built in 2005. It is a 26 storey building that is roughly shaped like the letter I when seen from above (google it if you must).
I imagined that Ami survives the 26 storey fall by pin balling back and forth between the two arms of the building until she gets close enough to the ground to jump. It sounds vaguely survivable if one is a Sailor Senshi. Don't try this at home.
Also, our second and last museum shout out of the story. The belltower Ami and Minako meet up in is very vaguely implied to be the the belfry of the Swiss Landesmuseum. It is a very cool museum and well worth a visit if one finds themselves in Zurich.
A.N.- 2016-05-09
(apx 1 month post-publication date of this chapter)
OMG! Sailor Moon Crystal Act 30! Did that just happen? Ami you badass... I freaking love you!