By: Wyvern (Here she is...da da da da da da da Ms. Nospecificnationalityyyyyyyyy!)
Chapter rating: I'm so bad at these....eh....PG I'd say. Nothing bad.
Okey-dokey! Part 2 is up and running! Woo-hoo! I'm on such a roll today, TWO parts completed in 48 hours. Wow. Amazing (For me anyway.)
Anywhoo, I did most of my thanking in Part 1, so instead of re-naming all of those loverlies, I'll just say: I love you guys! Hey, whatever works, right? Right? Yes. I thought so too.* ~.^*
****All standard disclaimers apply, I don't own any of these characters. *sigh* No matter HOW many times I click my heels together, that wish just won't come TRUE!! Nutbunnies. Stupid Fairy. I KNEW I shouldn't have traded my last pack of gum for those shoes. Bah! Everyone here is property of Naoko Tekuchi and whomever she has collaberated with.****
Quick note: "Metallia" in this case, since I haven't specified before this, is the equivalent to the "Great Nega-force" from the DiC version. S'alight? S'alight.
I hope you all enjoy Part 2! Good-ness knows I had fun writing it! Heck, on this streak, Part 3 might even be out by now! You just never, never know. Eh hee hee hee hee...
On with the story!
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Sailor Mars sat beside Tuxedo Kamen, her chin resting on her knees. Slowly, ever since Usagi had been taken, a numb-ness had been taking over. Nothing was registering anymore. Her eyes stared blankly ahead, blinking only when the itch became too noticeable.
Jupiter was treading back and forth, once in awhile punching her palm with a fist. Sailor Venus monitered Kamen's condition, every so often shifting her legs around from underneath his head. Mercury stood working away at her computer, in a system of punching in something on the key-board, then tweaking her visor, then returning to the compact. Although she wasn't sure it would help Mamoru any, an escape still needed to be found.
Stopping in mid-stride, Jupiter spun around and walked over to her busy friend. "Anything?" she asked hurriedly. "No. This place is a maze, one dead-end after another, twisting paths that lead nowhere."
Jupiter wrung her hands. "How long do you think it will take?"
"I don't know, but it might go a little faster if you give me some space," Mercury said. Jupiter winced slightly at the comment, but nodded and backed off. It was rather harsh, but true.
"I sure hope it doesn't take that much longer," Venus said with a grunt, moving around again. "My legs are starting to fall asleep." A small smile crept across her bright features to show she was being light-hearted, and it helped ease some of the tension amongst the group.
~*~*~
"Beryl, where are the other Senshi?"
"Oh great Metallia, they are still most likely in the Tower," she replied. The huge mass of pulsing red and black energy almost seemed to chuckle. "What do you wish me to do?"
"Leave them. It is unlikely that Selenity has brought them the Ginzuishou if they are still there. Watch them though, and see what happens. The Princess is nearly complete, and then we will see how long those twits last without their leader," Metallia rumbled.
"Hai." Beryl stood and left the chamber, making her way over to the casket. The lovely figure lay still within, no expression on the young face. Beryl stood over her with disrespect, angered at seeing this enemy of hers so close. Yet, she was also pleased. For she knew what was to come. "What is your name?" she asked. The girl's features tightened.
"U-Usagi," she finally said. Beryl sighed.
"No. It is not." The girl squeezed her eyes tighter, and to the Queen's surprise a tear traced itself down the side of her head.
"Mamo-chan," the girl choked. Beryl stiffened, her knuckles growing white on the staff.
"He is dead," she spat. "The Sailor Senshi were responsible for his death. You must destroy them, then bring the Ginzuishou to me." She leaned in closer. "Mamoru Chiba, Endymion, Tuxedo Kamen, is dead."
The Princess didn't flinch this time, but her face grew slack. "Dead," she whispered.
Beryl straightened. "What is your name?" This time there was no answer. "Slowly," the Queen sighed. "Ever so slowly."
~*~*~
Mercury sighed and snapped the computer shut. Pressing her earring, the visor across her eyes dissapeared, allowing her to rub her temples. "Gomen minna, I shouldn't be so quick to flash."
Jupiter smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Ami-chan, we're all dealing with this in our own way," she assured, her eyes flickering over to Mars. "Plus, you have no easy task set before you."
"Arigato Mako-chan. I'm just going to check on Mamoru for a moment, then I'll try again." She bent down and pressed two gloved fingers to his throat. Her features set into a slight grimace. She checked his wrist, then pressed a firm hand onto his chest. Her eyes widened. "He's dead!" Three heads jerked up.
"NANI?!" Venus shrieked. Mercury's eyes were darting around, her hands fluttering over different points on his body, but never settling.
"I-I-I can't find a pulse! He's not breathing! He's d-" she couldn't finish, a slight wheezing developing in her throat as she slid into hysterics. Tears streamed down her cheeks, crying behind her clenched hands.
"Isn't there anything we could do?" Jupiter asked hysterically. "CPR or...or something?" Mercury was still shaking, barely coherent. "AMI!"
The girl looked up with a tear streaked-face. Her eyes were completely panicked.
Mars looked at his face, paler than it had been the last time she'd checked. Another piece of her suddenly broke away, and she didn't know if she'd ever see it again. Jupiter rushed past her, dropping to her knees in front of him and throwing her arms around Mercury. Venus held his head much more gingerly than before, her chest rising erractically as she breathed in sobs.
"It--it's--all my....faaauuhault...." Sailor Mercury sobbed. "I...I wasn't....watching...him..." Sailor Jupiter pressed her eyes shut and rocked her friend back and forth. Mars blinked and looked away. She hiccuped.
"My fault...my fault..."
"Iie, A-Ami-chan, this is none of our faults. None of us did anything to hurt him.." Jupiter whispered. Her mouth felt thick from crying.
"My fauuhault.." she sobbed.
There was a sudden flash of light around them, encasing all of them in it. The four Senshi felt a slight tingle run across their bodies, coursing through them. Four stomachs dropped, then settled as the movement stopped.
Makoto gasped. "What is going on?"
"Where are we?" Minako asked, looking around.
The light faded, and the girls blinked in the new darkness. People buzzed around them, cars pulling in and out. A red light flashed off to the side, catching all of the their attention. It was an ambulance. The attendents rushed out of the front and hurried to the back where the two doors were flung open. They pulled a stretcher weighed down with a person and ran into the...Hospital! They were at a Hospital! Makoto, strangely she had transformed back from her Sailor identity, jumped up and ran into the large double doors, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Help! He's dying! We need help!" she screamed. Minako was almost giggling with excitement, rubbing Ami's back to help her calm down. Rei stared with wide eyes as two nurses and a doctor came barreling out the doors with Makoto leading the way. Following them were two more attendents carrying a stretcher.
The doctor knelt down and checked his pulse. "He hasn't got a heart-beat." Turning to Minako, she asked, "How long has he been like this?"
Minako shook her head. "Not very long, at most a few minutes." The doctor bit her lip and waved at the staff. "Get him to the ER and charge him," she ordered. They began to lift him up onto the stretcher, when one of the nurses saw his wound.
"Doctor, he also has a stab wound to the back."
"I'll check it out once we've got his heart going again. Let's go!" she snapped. Turning, she looked back at the girls. "Come inside, we've got to ask you some questions."
~*~*~ "So, you're saying you were attacked?"
Makoto nodded. "Hai. We...were actually very close by, thank goodness, when someone just appeared out of nowhere and stabbed Mamoru-kun."
"Do you know why?" the nurse asked, looking up from her clip-board.
"Iie, we had no idea who they were. They just hit and ran. We dragged Mamoru here as best we could, and finally were noticed by someone." The nurse rose an eye-brow, Minako felt her chest tighten.
"All right. Were any of you hurt?" Four heads shook liberously from side to side. As the nurse began to walk away the girls swallowed back sighs of relief. Suddenly Rei stood and grabbed for the nurse's arm.
"Um...is he...how is....what..." she stuttered. The woman tugged her arm away and turned to the girl.
"As soon as I know," she replied, "I'll tell you." "A-arigato," Rei mumbled, sinking back down into her seat.
"W-what do we do now?" Ami whispered.
Minako leaned over to her and gave her a tight hug. "Just wait I guess. And pray. Wait and pray."
Makoto crossed her arms and leaned back. "Sounds like a plan," she grunted, closing her eyes.
~*~*~
Kunzite bowed stiffly. "Did you ask to see me, my Queen?"
She nodded and beckoned him forward. "Hai. Have you finished off Zoisite?" The general automatically became slightly hesitatant, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. "Well?" she asked.
"Iie, Queen Beryl."
Her red eyes narrowed. "Good." His eyebrows rose slightly and he straightened.
"Pardon?"
"The Ginzuishou still has yet to be tamed," she said absently, waving a hand over her the crystal ball that a clawed stand held in front of her lap. "I might need him, once he has regained his strength. That is, if he ever regains it."
Kunzite bowed down again, some of his white hair falling over his shoulders. "Hai my Queen."
She crossed one leg over the other. "Kunzite, the Ginzuishou is gone." He showed no sign of surprise. "Queen Selenity, my former and seen to be long dead adversary, appeared earlier yesterday and stole it once it emerged from the Princess' body."
"So, you wish for me to search for it in Zoisite's absence?" he asked casually.
"No," she said, surprising him. "I wish for you to train another, one who will do the searching. This will come soon. I don't know how long for sure, it could possibly be weeks before you meet. Unless, of course, the power of the Nega-force is all the more powerful without the Ginzuishou there to counter it."
Kunzite looked up through his eye-lashes. "My Queen, who will this new person be?"
She smiled. "You will see, soon enough. I believe you know her, actually."
"You mean-"
"You shall see," she interrupted harshly.
With a nod and another bow, Kunzite teleported out of the hall. He arrived in his own chambers, and walked over to where Zoisite lay in a large bed. His face was contorted in pain, a cold sweat sheened over his body. Kunzite pushed some of the damp hair out of his eyes, and removed the cloth on his fore-head.
"Zoisite." The two blue eyes slowly opened, a small smile curling the lips.
"Is it...t-time?" he asked. Kunzite had not kept his task a secret from him. Zoisite had known that was what she'd want, especially with the Ginzuishou gone. So when Kunzite shook his head in reply to his question, Zoisite's tired brain became even cloudier with confusion.
"Iie. Apparently not everything has gone according to plan, and she will need you once you are better."
Zoisite's eyes clouded over slightly. "If I am better," he choked out. "This is a worse punishment then death," he whispered. Kunzite sat down on the bed and pulled him up in a tight embrace. Zoisite's hands clawed into the other man's cape, his head resting on his shoulder. "Her eyes," he sobbed. "Everytime I close my eyes, there they are. Staring at me, cutting away at me."
Stroking the blond pony-tail, Kunzite did his best to sooth his love as he began to cry uncontrollably. Once in awhile he was interrupted with a cough so deep and harsh it made the other man wince at the sound. Finally, after count-less minutes of emotional out-pouring, Zoisite fell asleep in Kunzite's arms.
Whatever was so harming him was nothing Kunzite had ever seen before, and he was not exactly young. After centuries of seeing all kinds of suffering, he knew that this had to be something related to Zoisite's encounter with the power of the Ginzuishou. Which meant that it was probably the answer in curing him.
"Never again," he whispered, still hanging on. "I'll make sure this never happens to you again, and you will not suffer any more." Laying the lean figure on the bed, Kunzite encased him in a protective sphere. "Until I know how to stop whatever it is that is doing this to you, you must sleep." He walked out of the room, his cape swirling behind him. He now carried a new mission, one that would quite possibly not co-incide with what his Queen wished. That, however, no longer mattered to him.
~*~*~
"Ms. Aino? Ms. Aino." Minako stirred and blinked her eyes open, then realized that it was the nurse who was gently pushing her arm.
She took in a deep breath and sat up in her chair. "Hai?"
"Ms. Aino, Mr. Chiba is out of surgery."
Minako's eyes snapped open. "Surgery?" she blurted.
"Hai," the nurse nodded. "He's lost a lot of blood, and there was reconstructive work done where the object penetrated. You are aloud to see him, but not for long."
"Oh, arigato." The nurse nodded and walked away. Minako ran a hand through her long blond hair, weaving it around a few snags through the mass. She looked down at Ami, who was sleeping on her lap, still completely out of it.
"Minako-chan." She looked over to see Rei waking up as well, stretching in the chair.
"Rei-chan, we can go see him now." Her attention also caught, Rei looked over at Makoto to wake her. Her head was hanging back off the edge of the chair, her mouth slightly open. A light snore emitted from her throat, at one point interrupted by a strangled mumble. Reaching over, Rei gave her leg a slight nudge.
"Mako-chan."
"Oh senpai," she sighed, earning a quirky glance from the other girls. Her hands on the chair handles suddenly tightened, her face twisting. "I hate you so much," she growled.
"Eh....Mako-chan," Minako tried. Nothing.
"MAKO-CHAN!" Rei shouted, giving the girl's calf a swift kick.
"ITAI!" she yelled, jerking up and whipping her head around. "Who? Rei?" she asked.
"We can see Mamoru now. Let's go, sleeping beauty." Makoto nodded, rubbing at her leg. Ami soon sat up with a stretch and a sigh, wiping at her eyes.
"What time is it?" she mumbled. Minako looked up at the hospital clock.
"Ugh," she grimaced. "3:23 in the morning."
Makoto grunted and slumped back in her chair. "Oyasumi," she said, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. Rei reached behind her head and got a firm hold on her pony-tail, pulling it around.
The girl's eyes snapped open as she moved out of the chair. "Ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita ita!" Rei let go and pushed her slightly down the hall.
"I said, let's go!"
~*~*~
He looked awful, and so different. His pale form lay on the bed, hooked up to a network of tubing. A monitor beeped off to the side, the gentle wheezing of the respirator combining with the sound. He had tubes through both his mouth and nose, and an I.V. injected into his arm.
Bandage upon bandage over his stomach and shoulder were rolled beneath his hospital smock, so padded that it was easy to see underneath the thin cloth.
The four girls spread themselves out around the bed, staring down at the passive form. Ami moved to the foot and picked up the clip-board from the foot-board, flipping through the pages. Makoto hugged herself with her arms, Minako breathed behind her palm. Rei stood on the other side of the bed, not moving, just gazing down at his face.
"I...I can't believe this happened," Makoto breathed.
Minako removed her hand and took a deep breath. "It feels like our fault." The room fell back to its state of almost-silence as all of the girls shared the same feelings of guilt. "I don't even know him."
"He's a great guy," Rei spoke up.
Makoto chuckled slightly. "A bit of a jerk, but really he's just a big tease. He and Usa-" she cut off short and bit her toungue.
Ami coughed uncomfortably and replaced the clip-board. "Apparently," she reported, "he's in a light coma. He should wake fairly soon, since he hasn't suffered any brain damage but," she sighed, "it's all up to him."
"What about the stab wound?" Minako asked.
"The doctor's have been able to repair a lot of the damage."
"Hai, he's very lucky." The girls turned to see the doctor they'd met before standing in the doorway. Her eyes were tired, but a smile played on her lips. "Whatever hit him didn't do any spinal damage, and except for a slightly punctured right lung, none of his major internal organs were hit. This was just a tissue and muscle repair job. Rather miraculous, actually."
"He'll be able to walk?" Makoto inquired.
"Oh yes. It will be painful at first, but give him enough healing time, and there shouldn't be any problems." The doctor sighed heavily. "Right now, it's just a matter of him waking up. Like the young lady said," indicating Ami, "it's all up to him now. He has to want to open his eyes."
Rei looked down sadly at Mamoru's face. "Then there could be a problem," she murmured.
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Dun dun dun! So, enjoy it? Hate it? Feed-back! Yay! *^-^* You know where to reach me, and I will ALWAYS welcome an e-mail! I don't just talk big, like some authors who need the good image, I simply BREATH from input! Weeeeeeeeee!
Yes, so I know this chapter was again quite short, but I'm trying to section them off into reasonable parts that leave you wanting more. Did it work? Huh huh huh?
Japanese words used (just in case "Animaniacs" wasn't informative enough.)
Ita = Ouch!
Nani = What
Iie = No ('Member "Iya" is "No" to an action)
Hai = Yes
Arigato = Thank you
Minna = everyone (not an extra 'n' in Minako's name.)
Gomen = Sorry
Oyasumi = Good-night/G'night.
Annnnnnnd that's it I believe! Keep an eye out for part three! *small voice* Please.
Suki da yo!
Ja ne,
Wyvern *~.^V*