21: "Love: the battlefield"
The streets of Shibuya thundered as Ninurta galloped across, whooping a war-cry, his brilliance spreading intense radiation throughout a city hitherto bathed in the gloom of evil. So massive and powerful was his charge that anything unfortunate enough to stand in his way was destroyed, flattened, cast aside, or consumed by the unquenchable fires of war. Ninurta laughed with gleeful bloodlust, blasting bolts of heat and light one after the other, an inexhaustible supply of divine arrows, pelting the scourge Anzu relentlessly. Anzu glided carelessly over Shibuya, every flap of its massive wings sending storms raging below, winds with hurricane speed ripping through the city, gales so powerful they blew away anything that survived Ninurta's charge. Yet for all the havoc the duo was causing, Ninurta clearly knew what he was doing. Mercury and Venus—barely able to see what was going on, much less keep up—noticed that the so-called god of war was leading his quarry away from the city, to a more open field.
"Sheesh," Venus sighed, gasping for air as she rested on a rooftop. "Looks like the set of a monster movie…"
"Or a war," Mercury added grimly. "Just think, not so long ago…"
"At least he seems to be avoiding most of the structures," Venus murmured. "He's slowly forcing that huge bird to fly south. Plenty of open space there, sure, but lots of ocean, too. Think he can gallop on water?"
"This is a god we're talking about." Venus snorted.
"Japan and gods…! Wish there was a faster way for us to get there. Can't exactly Sailor Teleport with just the two of us."
"Maybe we have more options than we know." Mercury pointed to the sky; Venus shielded her eyes from the bright glare of an approaching police helicopter. The chaos going on around the surface seemed to have become insignificant once Anzu revealed itself, and Shibuya PD was rolling out all the big toys. Venus immediately understood her friend's line of reasoning and extended her Love Me Chain until it grasped onto a helicopter railing. Her arm drew Mercury in and together they…
"Hold on tight!"
Sailor Mercury blushed, smiling warmly. What other way was there to hold Sailor Venus? She screamed, though (they both did), as the chopper lifted them away. Venus quickly retracted her chain, and together the two women grasped hold of the rail. There was nothing to do now but wait and admire the view. Easy.
Mercury gave out an unexpected yelp as the helicopter bucked, twisting left and right, caught in unexpected turbulence. In the distance, they could still see Ninurta—he'd be impossible to miss, really—and above, ominous and terrifyingly graceful, Anzu. Neither were close enough to affect the helicopter, so what had—?
Sailor Venus cursed wildly as the helicopter bucked again, veering out of control. Mercury screamed something about rotary balance, opening her visor, gesturing above them, to the cockpit. Both Senshi watched in horror as a man was thrown out of the chopper; Venus lassoed his legs, saving him from a plummet. A second one was summarily ejected as well; Mercury's bubbles kept him afloat. Both women paled as they realized there would be nobody flying the chopper now—and as they glanced around at the other birds in the fleet, they noticed all the other pilots were being thrown out as well.
By hideous bird-creatures. And to top it all off, Anzu had apparently seen through Ninurta's shepherding drive, and was swooping back in towards the city, resuming his flight of carnage. Ninurta was in hot pursuit, trampling everything in sight. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as the Senshi had hoped, but when was it ever?
"Okay, we can work with this!" Venus shouted, her entire strength spent on hauling the unfortunate pilot up. "Maybe we can fly these things over him and jump on his back or something!"
"Great idea, except neither of us knows how to fly a helicopter!"
"Whaddya mean, neither of us? You're a super-genius, aren't you?"
"Darn it, Venus, I'm a doctor, not a pilot! Besides, aren't we crashing?!"
In response, the helicopter shuddered from an explosion. The bird-creatures were tearing the machines apart. Venus frowned gravely.
"I can work with that!" She shrieked as gunfire broke out; a second unit of choppers was coming in hot, opening fire on the creatures attacking their predecessors. A few shots, not all of them necessarily stray, found their way to Venus; Mercury had to throw up an ice-barrier to shield her from the attack. Gradually, she hefted herself into the doomed cockpit, getting enough leverage so she could pull up Venus and the pilot. As she gasped for air, she skimmed around to the controls, finding them utterly smashed.
"How's our prospects now?"
"Gimme a minute, I'm working on it!" Mercury sighed, grabbing Venus and the pilot as she leaped out of the chopper. It careened mindlessly into the city streets, suddenly held in place as Ninurta raised an arm. The wrecked machine dropped harmlessly, but the delay had freed Anzu to do as it pleased to the city. The Senshi landed safely thanks to a cushion of bubbles provided by Mercury, but now they were grounded as Shibuya's finest streaked ahead without them.
"Okay, hear me out on this one," Venus began, when the pilot she had been carrying cried out in fear.
"Wha-wha-wha-wha…what the hell are you?!"
"Sailor Venus, who else?" she grinned. The man scowled.
"Not you, you idiot! THAT THING!" Venus shrieked and unceremoniously dropped him as scores of the bird-creatures descended, surrounding them. She and Mercury could do nothing but defend themselves against the horde; great blasts of ice and water shattered and mixed with rays of light, blue and orange radiating out in every direction as a desperate battle was waged. The pilot uselessly cowered between them, cursing and muttering; meanwhile Anzu was drawing closer, his wings shooting out enormous gales. As they flapped, the feathers molted and became smaller minions, adding to his army. Venus and Mercury had been in this situation before, and they knew what the outcome would be.
"Just terrific," she grinned, cavalier as always in the face of eminent defeat. "We get stuck mopping up the goons while the glowing god of sexy war hogs all the glory. Hey, is it just me, or does he remind you of someone?" Mercury grunted as she slammed her fist in a bird-creature's face, following up with a sheet of bubbles. The birds flailed uselessly as the watery canvas engulfed them; some were encased and blown to pieces when the bubbles popped. Without pause, Mercury quickly whirled around, tagging two more with a strong roundhouse kick.
"The thought had occurred to me. Is it strange that…" A moment to consider her knee in a monster's jaw. "Even though he's barbaric, temperamental…" Another, to meditate the value of icing the ground. "Savage, egotistical, and fairly terrifying…" A jerk to the side, so Venus could rope a large number, drag them across the sheet of ice Mercury just made, and hit them all with a single Crescent Beam. "I still kind of want to have sex with him?"
"Not in the least!" Venus replied, sidestepping a blow. She reared back, caught the monster by the leg, tripped it, sent her elbow into its gut. An uppercut to the nearest ugly beak… "I wouldn't mind riding that war-horse! Speaking of which…"
"Don't get into it now, Mina!" Mercury stumbled, assaulted, got pinned, pummeled. She wrested her way out, hit two, got slammed in the back of her head, felt her world go black briefly, shook it off, returned fire. Wincing, gasping, she whirled again, landing bone-shattering blows (So even "Tengu" like these have hollow bones, she thought), getting torn from claws, beaks…
"Why not! I'm jealous cuz' of that!" An inside secret known only between former lovers, and one other person. Venus rushed to Mercury's defense but it was Mercury who saved her former love. She threw up a large ice-shield, shattered it, sending pieces flying everywhere. That gave them enough time to run from the swarm, rest, regroup. Maybe even flirt.
"Why? You had Setsuna, after all."
"Yeah? So? How about Nastya? Mizuno: three, Aino: two!"
"Nastya and I have never slept toge—" Both Senshi were blown flat on their bottoms as Anzu grounded, causing winds to billow so fiercely it was a wonder their flesh wasn't ripped from their bones (though, predictably, their panties flashed shamelessly). The world was stilled for a moment as Anzu peered over the two little worms who had made such a mess of its offspring. Up close, the gargantuan monstrosity was nearly unbearable to look at: it had the wilted, festering body of a bloated buzzard but the head of a fierce lion, crowned with fur and feathers. The beast was so huge that, even as it bent down to catch its prey in its mouth, it blotted out the sun and cast a shadow utterly black for a kilometer and more.
"Stay away from her!" Mercury suddenly screamed. Despite being thrown back, she jumped up and shot Anzu with an ice spear the size of a car. The monster responded with a roar so powerful that the crystal shattered, and Mercury stumbled down again. She and Venus huddled close together, awaiting the inevitable.
"Never?" she whispered. Mercury flinched.
"What?"
"You never slept with Nastya?"
Hollow desperation exhaled. "No."
"Two for two, then." A nod. Venus relaxed. "Why not?"
"She smokes too much. Not even that great of a kisser."
"Do you love her?" A pause. Sailor Mercury held the woman she loved tightly, just like she asked.
"Do you love Setsuna?"
"Ami, don't—" The jaws circled around them, and excruciating agony followed.
But it was not theirs.
Anzu was thrown back by a powerful force it had not expected. A horrible shockwave of wailing, suffering, wrenching screams came hurling out of nowhere, splashing on the monster's proud face and sending it stumbling helplessly back. Both Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus knew that attack from anywhere, and stood back on their feet, scouting the area for their savior.
"Look!" Mercury pointed to a lone figure straddling a nearby blasted skyscraper, silhouetted in the sunlight, long dark green hair fluttering, eyes closed, lips contorted in an enigmatic expression of gloom, hatred, piety, charity, amusement, warmth…
"It's Sailor Pluto!" Lips curled into total guile as she leaped off the precipice, scarcely making a flutter as she descended, twirling majestically like an origami swan caught in the wind. Her feet touched solid earth, she knelt in a grand bow, standing firm, hoisting the Wand of Time before her, a goddess in woman's garb.
"Minako," she announced, glancing aside, "my ears were burning. Care to explain why?"
"Oh, you know," she giggled, scratching her head sheepishly. "Just women's gossip!"
At least Mercury was professional about it. "Sailor Pluto, could you please—?"
"Of course, dear. That's why I'm here, after all. I do seem to be burdened with bailing you out of predicaments, Mina-dear." Sailor Venus blushed and laughed even louder; in the meantime, Anzu groaned and shook its beastly head, recovering from its daze. Pluto met its angered eyes with the cold, steely determination of one who has glanced into the gaping void of infinite time.
"Masochistic glutton! Ready for another beating already?" Pluto wasted no time with intricate moves or battle-cries; the world felt a shudder as the deadly screaming orb shot out and caught Anzu in the chest. A large section was blasted out, scattering feathers, blood, rancid flesh… Unfortunately, countless minions spurted out as well.
Pluto cringed. "Uh, whoops."
"Did we mention he does that?!" Venus bleated. Shots fired from all three Senshi as the next wave was confronted.
"No, but you could have done it sooner!"
"Hey, you can't blame a lady for geeking out!"
"I'm flattered, but can we cut the chatter? It's difficult—" One down. "—to talk—" Two more. "—and fight—" Four. "—at the same—" A vicious blow. Pluto crashed to the ground, was smothered; summarily freed herself, glowing lavender as time itself shivered with terror and delight. "—time! And something's got to be done about that monster!" She looked to Mercury, knowing full well how sharp she could be in a crisis, but the ice Senshi merely shrugged, plowing her way through dozens of filthy creatures.
"Not me! Lady Venus says she has it covered!"
"Since when?!" Mercury suddenly leaned in, and right in front of Sailor Venus's current love interest, kissed her with all her strength.
"Since I said so." She then noticed Pluto staring, an entranced look on her face (as she popped her fist out at an approaching beast), and blushed uncontrollably, even squeaking. "Sorry! I, uh, don't know what, uh…"
"It's fine," she chuckled (pausing once again to ram her Wand through the innards of a bird-creature). And wouldn't you know it, but Sailor Venus had an epiphany.
"Okay, Ami: if you believe in me, then I can't lose! Sailor Pluto, I need for you and that large glowing guy riding the enormous horse to hold off these creatures for us! Sailor Mercury and I are going for a ride!"
"So we're back to that, are we?" she sighed glumly. The wild, cheery, dauntless expression in Venus's eyes instilled a bit more confidence in her, and she added warmly, "Okay, let's do it! I'm with you all the way!"
"Awesome! So, how about a kiss for good luck?"
"Pardon?!" she stammered. Venus laughed.
"Actually, could you and Setsu kiss instead? That would be totally hot!"
The two women glared at her incredulously.
"Oh, come on! It's one of my secret fantasies!"
Again: glaring. Venus exclaimed she had been "just kidding" as she ran ahead, looping her Love Me Chain for "one last rodeo". Mercury and Pluto sighed heavily, exchanging tiresome, knowing looks. The smile that passed between them insured they knew exactly what the other woman was feeling. Sailor Venus was a handful, all right, but they wouldn't have her any other way.
"Well, good luck," Mercury said, quickly catching up to Venus.
"You too!" Pluto called; then, once she was out of hearing range, "Take care of her for me, Ami." Her lips curled rather enigmatically as she focused on the mindless fiends cawing and clucking around her. Her attack had spawned about fifteen or so; Pluto could probably kill eight or nine before she got seriously winded; twelve before things got tricky; fourteen before serious danger occurred. No doubt more would come crawling in as Mercury and Venus whittled away at their foe.
"Well, gentlemen," she bowed graciously, "the good news is, this is going to be quick." Her arms snapped out, fast as a microsecond, impaling one of the beasts with her wand, consigning it to the void. She relinquished her hold, black ooze dripping off the scepter, steadying herself for the next. "The bad news is, it's also going to be very, very painful."
The demonic birds offered nothing but nonsensical shrieking.
The earth trembled and even Pluto squinted as the brilliance of a galloping war-horse and its towering master approached her, plowing through half the ranks. They were trailed by at least thirty of the creatures, no doubt spawned by the warrior's feverish attacks. The luminescent creature and Pluto gazed at each other with awe, their eyes conveying messages of immeasurable time and space and powers and glories and celestial goings-on, the likes of which no mortal could bear. The connection was instantaneous and the massive battle-hardened god bowed with great veneration.
"Apkallu…!"
Sailor Pluto just rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
…
Catching up to Sailor Venus and Anzu was not terribly difficult for Mercury: her former lover worked fast and ran faster, looping her golden chain of love around one of its talons. The behemoth took off with her still grasping the other end, leaving her flailing around like a leaf caught in a storm. Mercury shouted at her, but she was going too fast and was too far away to do anything but shriek in terror. However, Venus had enough sense to lash out a second chain for Mercury to cling to; now the problem was how to get up there. Sailor Venus could only stretch her glowing rope so far, and Mercury couldn't fly, even if she depended on her bubbles for levitation.
She smirked humbly to herself as she began thinking outside the box. With her visor open and locked onto Anzu's trajectory, Mercury quickly estimated the general area of his return and the time it would take for him to approach it. Taking a deep breath, she focused her power on the ground below, summoning up an immense geyser, positioning herself on its spurting surface. Mercury was shot into the air, just high enough to where she could grab Venus's chain as it passed her. Together the two women climbed up to Anzu's talons, breathless and wind-swept.
Verbal communication was impossible with the wind fighting them, so Venus gestured that they climb up to the creature's back, using the feathers as a grip. Mercury was smaller, and was able to hoist herself up with little difficulty, but Venus was nimbler and more athletic, and almost beat her friend to the top. Of course, the wind was at least six times worse up there; it was all they could do to hunker down and cling on. Venus motioned that she would coil her rope around Anzu's large furry head and attempt to steer it away from the city, but would need Mercury to support her. She nodded, but then offered a slight alternative. Gesturing for her partner to wait, Mercury crawled up to Anzu's dorsal, where the wings met the spine, and waited for the monster to slow or change direction. She'd only get one shot at this, so it would have to be perfect.
It wasn't long before the monster changed direction, evidently heading towards Pluto and Ninurta. It was now or never: Mercury stood, and summoned up all of her power for a single titanic blast. The air around her coalesced and froze into great blocks of ice, forming glaciers on the creature's wings. She continued drawing out reserves of her power, increasing the size and strength of the ice, making sure to cover the monster's entire wingspan. Venus saw Mercury's plan and cheered for joy: she was immobilizing its wings with her ice! Of course, spreading her power out like that was incredibly taxing; she might not have enough strength to even stand, much less fight gale-force winds, or help Venus control this beast. She collapsed as the last feather was covered; Anzu issued an ear-shattering roar as it discovered the unexpected setback.
"I gotcha," she heard Venus say. She had caught Mercury in her arms and was holding her tenderly, despite the bitter blowing. Mercury smiled weakly but warmly at the soul she cherished above all others, tempted to kiss her, declare her love, renounce all others. She settled for a tap on Venus's nose.
"Let's not wax romantic yet, Mina. It's your turn now."
"Right. You should get some rest."
"Is that irony I detect?" she grunted, knowing she'd do no such thing. Mercury stood upon wobbly legs, smiling weakly, assuring her partner she was fine. Venus initially wanted to protest, but she knew her ex-lover better than that. Mercury was strong, incalculably so; even death might not be able to slow her down. Venus quickly called up her reserves and extended her Love Me Chain until it looped around Anzu's immense neck; then, with all the power the two Senshi had to offer, they guided the monster away from the city, and he slowly, stubbornly, came hurtling towards the surface. Ninurta and Pluto watched as the titan fell to the earth, and scattered so as not to be crushed. Nothing so fortunate could have been said of the creature's thralls.
All of Japan seemed to tremble as the monster was brought down. Great clouds of dust and debris coughed out; countless feathers peeled off, fluttering in the calming breeze. The three Senshi coughed; Ninurta rallied his steed.
"Apkallu, hasten to safety! The honor of slaying this fiend is mine!"
"Tis' better to share than hoard the glory alone," Pluto called. Ninurta smiled boldly, and traded in his glowing bow for a massive flaming spear, the likes of which would astonish even Sailor Mars. Sailor Pluto reared up her wand for one more attack; Venus and Mercury limped away, their deeds finished.
"I consign thee to death!"
"Pluto Deadly Scream!"
The spear and the wailing orb struck Anzu on both sides of his head, impaling and crushing until the forces met at the center, erupting in a massive, gory, fiery explosion. Pluto winced as flesh and blood splattered on her, but Anzu laughed boisterously.
"Ew, gross," Venus winced, flinging blobs of goo off her gloves. "You could've warned us, Setsu."
"And I thought he smelled bad on the outside," Mercury quipped.
…
Minako sighed with heavy relief and joy as she left the bathroom, wrapped solely in a large, fluffy blue towel, clean and sparkly and fully rejuvenated. It was very sweet of Ami to offer her the use of her facilities: Usagi's shower seemed more tailored to style than comfort (plus, Ami had all the conditioners, shampoos, soaps, and perfumes that Usagi's more spartan bathroom seemed to lack). Remembering to keep the door open so all the steam would air out, Minako wandered down the hallway to the kitchen, where Ami was fixing her a fresh pot of tea. The hostess was wearing the same expensive terry cotta robe Minako had bought her that first year she had worked as an international model, perhaps the final gift exchanged while the two had been lovers. Seeing Ami wear it brought pangs of nostalgia to Minako's heart, and she couldn't resist slipping in from behind and hugging her, just like she did all the time, way back when.
"Enjoy your shower?" Ami said warmly. Minako purred, cuddling her friend close.
"I feel like a million pounds."
"Yen, dear; remember which side of the world you're on."
"Hey, I keep up with my international exchange rates! It's just that I've spent many years in the United Kingdom and old habits die hard."
"I know," she laughed. "The tea's ready if you'd like."
"Thanks." Ami excused herself to her bedroom; Minako drank half the cup and took the rest of it with her into Ami's room. There, her hostess was listlessly brushing her blue hair, staring at an end-table full of photos. Pictures of Ami's parents took noticeably less prominence than those of the Senshi, and even those seemed to fade behind ones of Minako, or ones with the two of them together. So, Minako thought, tears burbling in her eyes, she still keeps them, after all this time.
She put the tea away, sitting on the bed. Ami stopped brushing. Minako leaned in, resting her head on Ami's shoulder, sighing, utterly content, unable to conceive of a better happiness. Their eyes met as Ami stroked Minako's silky gold hair.
"Can we wax romantic now?" Aino whispered. Mizuno blushed and abandoned her cherished reason, kissing with the pent-up passions of years spent away from her one true love. The robe came undone; the towel fell off…
"Oh, Mina…"
"I know," she whispered, bare and soft black as she turned off the lights. "I missed you, too."
Author's note:
Sorry, Star Trek and Star Wars fans. I just couldn't resist putting in Ami's lines.
On another note, since this is Japan, I will be using metric whenever possible. Although the conversion is not accurate, just think of one kilometer as roughly half a mile, and a meter as roughly three feet. As for liters and grams, you're on your own.