-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puppet Master Chapter Two
Enter the Scouts
"So who's he?" Sailor Uranus asked unconcernedly. Pluto had summoned an orb of some power and it was now showing them an image of a young teen boy with cobalt eyes. Despite her seemingly indifferent attitude, Uranus had to admit that whenever they saw his face, a chill ran down her spine. 'Stop that,' she chided herself angrily, 'he's just a boy.'
The child they were looking at had dark and knowing eyes and wild brown hair reaching down to his shoulders. His body was covered up by a fine mist created by the heavy rainfall and he seemed to be running rather fast through some sort of mountainous forest. Shadows hid most of the boy's face. His speed surpassed anything one might have expected from a boy his age yet he ran with strict discipline and was still unwinded though he had been running for the past few minutes in the rain. He looked like an outlaw from a movie, complete with a long, dark trench coat and fingerless gloves. Beneath the trench coat were flashes of dark pants and a dark tank top that clung to his lean yet muscular body. The orb was to be a bit foggy but Pluto could still see a trickle of blood running from his face.
Pluto shook her head unsure. "I don't know for certain but when I was meditating, his face came to be. I got some really bad vibes from him and he's just a human boy."
Neptune looked at him closely, also noticing the blood. After a moment, she saw a long, jagged scar cut into his face. "Yes, but normal boy don't give off bad vibes or have those kinds of scars. Do you see them?" She ran one of her slender fingers down the left side of his cheek through the magic sphere. The other hand rose to push a strand of her glittering turquoise hair behind an ear.
The other scouts leaned in closer. Saturn placed one of her fingers on his opposite. "He has another one here…" her finger moved to his ear. "…and here."
Uranus looked at her fellow female warriors. "Do you think he's running from the person who did this to him? The vibes you felt could be from what happened to him or what that person might do to him."
Understanding the point, Pluto pointed to behind the kid. 'Stop here,' she commanded the orb. It paused there. Moments later, an angry Chinese boy the same age ran to the spot and paused. His pitch-black hair gelled down and worry lines were already showing on his young face, the expression on him indicating his enormous rage. He looked around, as if he could feel someone watching him. Neptune felt a surge of panic as he looked straight at them and continued looking their direction for several moments. The fear she felt from the teen standing before the sight of their magical orb nearly equal from what she had felt from the other boy. Almost, but not quite. 'He can't see us,' she thought, trying to ease the panic. 'He can't see us so don't worry.'
After a while, the Chinese turned away and cursed, having lost the trail of the boy he was following. He wiped away some rain that had fallen on his face and began looking at the ground in hopes of finding some trail. Finding none, he looked at the sky and yelled "HEERO! I'LL FIND YOU, YOU COWARD! STOP RUNNING AWAY!"
"Heero," Saturn murmured to herself. "That's his name." Pluto noticed her voice and looked at the young Scout, a thought forming in her mind. It was interrupted when Neptune's excited voice broke in.
"Do you see that!" Sailor Neptune asked, pointing at the boy's hand. A gun. Pluto began to rethink about her trance and cursed its fogginess. 'Perhaps Uranus is correct. The vibes I felt may have been coming from something done to him. But I was so sure, and his face was so clear. Even now, I feel danger all around the boy and we do not even see him.' She closed her eyes in confusion.
The Chinese ran around the area for about five more minutes then began heading back the way he came. He cursed the whole way back and glared at whatever moved before leaping aside into a thick thicket.
Uranus looked up at Sailor Pluto. "Can you find that kid again, the one they call Heero?"
Pluto shrugged. "I'll try but I only found him the first time because I just came out of my trance. It's going to be harder without the extra spiritual awareness." Her eyebrows pressed together as she began concentrating. The orb went dim and then bright again, draining Pluto of much of her energy but completing the task. On it, Heero was high in a tree, watching the other boy walk back to a huge, glowing house about a mile off.
"How'd he get up there," Saturn asked.
"Who knows. He seems to have much physical prowess, perhaps as much as Lita," Neptune answered with a smile as her mind wandered back to the time they'd spent with the Inner Scouts. She cleared her thoughts and focused on the present, not wanting any detail to be missed.
Saturn leaned in closer. "I think, I think he's saying something about 'peace.'" The girl leaned in closer. "I can't hear him anymore but I was sure he said something about 'protecting the peace.'" She leaned back and watched him, her eyes filled with wonder as he dropped the fifteen feet to the ground and went the way opposite from the path the other boy had taken. A strange feeling of recognition began turning her stomach in excitement and watched him intently. 'He reminds me of someone, someone I knew,' the young but powerful Sailor Scout thought perplexed.
Heero continued walking but listened intently to every sound. He was sure someone was watching him. He didn't let the knowledge show but kept his guard up. Wufei had nearly caught him, running with an intensity he'd never shown before, not even when they'd fought in their Gundams. A twig broke and Heero froze, immediately calculating where it came from, how he could use the trees around him to his advantage, and who it could be. He started running and nearly escaped.
Wufei ran out into the clearing, aiming the tranquilizer to the spot he had just seen Heero in. A wicked smile flew to his face. 'I have you now, Heero! Thought I was too weak to catch you. Well, I'll show you!' He fired once and got Heero in the arm but missed the next time, Heero already out of sight.
Following Heero's trail, Wufei was stunned to come to a dead end. He glanced all around and up in the trees. Walking forward, he stepped on something. It was the empty syringe that had been filled with a fluid sleeping drug. Wufei began to laugh. "You can't run forever, Heero! I got you and I'm gonna find you very soon! You might as well give up now before the drug starts working!" The young pilot walked around the area confidant that Heero would soon show up, the drug's dosage much higher than what was needed to subdue ordinary citizens.
All four Scouts had seen the past actions and nearly all their doubts were set aside. Pluto looked up as Uranus and Neptune and their eyes told her the same thought that was in her head-that Heero wasn't the one creating the danger but rather the one in danger.
"Let's go," Sailor Uranus stated, already powering up.
"No, wait," Saturn protested. She pointed to something behind a tree. "He's still o.k.. Look."
The others glanced but couldn't see what the dark-hair mistress of destruction was pointing at. Saturn noticed the looks and said insistently "Heero's fine. Just believe me. "
Pluto nodded. "All right, but will you explain how you seem to see him while we three don't?"
Saturn nodded. "Yes, of course. But there's really not much to explain. I really don't know why you cannot see him but he seems perfectly clear to me." Her expression turned serious. "What will we do once the other guy leaves?"
Pluto shrugged. "We'll deal with that when we get to that point in time. For now, we'll allow things to play themselves out. But…" her eyes closed as she thought over an issue in her head,"…I think we need to contact the other Scouts. This may be bigger than the three of us, with Sailor Saturn still training."
"What!" Uranus cried disdainfully. "We don't need the Inners' help. They are but children in this business. How can they help us?" Her eyes glittered with untold anger and she ran a hand through her short blond hair.
Neptune smiled softly. 'Nothing's changed with her. She's still unwilling to let Serena and the Scouts help… oh Serena, how we all miss you.' Turquoise hair shook away as Neptune refocused herself once again. 'Those memories can take on a life of their own if I dwell on them too long.'
Pluto had ignored the rebellious Uranus and already teleported them in a sense. They had all been living along the Time Doors for what could have been years or seconds but Pluto had faded the image of the universe that served as a background to this place to focus her thoughts more clearly. The reflection began to bloom all around them as she took away the barrier severing the link between reflection and counterpart. The three other Scouts held their breath as the empty room they'd been in was filled. Nothing mattered in this place. The cosmos swirled as they reached the Gates and Pluto began to unlock the way to the Tokyo that a loving and light-hearted golden-hair girl lived in, a girl they all knew and missed so much, though one of them was too proud to admit it.
Sailor Saturn watched in wonder, continually amazed every time they came to this place. Shooting stars left behind a trail of silvery dust all around them and the dark emptiness of space always managed to fascinate the young warrior with its ever changing appearance. Planets silently spiraled about the four and the sun shined with a never ending brightness. Everything gleamed with the light and meteors ran through the void like black flower petals. Nothing could touch this place yet everything was in it.
A special planet seemed to glow with spirit. A heavenly array of pure white clouds shielded the third planet from the blinding light of the sun as it spun through space like an endless waltz with its barren blackness. Glimpses of green and fertile lands along with beautiful blue waters could be seen beneath the white clouds' cover. Majestic tall mountains grazed like tiny rumples on the Earth's surface. But it wasn't these things that drew the powerful females.
It was the tiny, seemingly insignificant and desolate floating isle beside the atrocious planet-it's guardian and protector. The silvery moon floated along alongside Earth, its many wounds plain for any to see. Scientist explained the phenomenon of huge open mutilations as injuries taken during particularly powerful meteor showers. The moon, they'd say to amazed audiences, had no such protection from the falling stars like the Earth's atmosphere. One scientist had even gone to compare the moon to a peaceful nation with no armies to protect it from the onslaught of enemy meteors. Was it chance or fate that he's comparison was so close to the moon's true history? Each Sailor Scout held painful memories of how the once beautiful and flourishing Moon Kingdom was reduced to dust. And how all of them were forbidden to join in the battle to save the kingdom.
Saturn shuddered as she remembered watching from the Earth, encased in a human body for the protection of the Kingdom, her awesome powers frightening the courts and fighters of the Moon Kingdom. She had been screened as a possible guard in the Kingdom's new female unit, a group of selected princesses with special powers from each planet chosen to guard the new princess Serena. The Queen, Serenity, once had such a unit but they had been killed in the line of duty and she'd never come to terms with their death. But she'd allowed Serena the experience to have such a group of loyal friends and now each planet was asked to send one of its princesses.
Saturn remembered how excited she'd been as her father had chosen her and how the Queen had sent an escort to accompany her on the journey, the first time she'd ever been off of her planet. After the initial tests, Serenity had welcomed her as a princess with extraordinary powers but once they discovered just how powerful she was…Saturn felt a twinge of pain as she remembered the look Serenity had given her. She'd left her home planet to become a guard for the Queen's daughter but was rejected and condemned to live her immortal life trapped inside a human body, her powers reduced to nothing.
The courts had called her the Mistress of Destruction, the Dark Sailor Scout and the Destroyer of Planets. She'd never done anything to deserve the pain they gave her but it was worse when they'd damned her planet, believing her family to be in conspiracy with the Negaverse. They held to the notion that the planet Saturn had sent its most powerful daughter in an attempt to kill the young Princess Serena and turned their backs on it as the planet was slowly drained of its power. Saturn's people died, watched by indifferent soldiers of the Kingdom and the planet became a lifeless hulk of rock. When the people of the Kingdom asked why no one came from Saturn anymore, they were told that the Dark Sailor Scout had destroyed her home world to hide all evidence of her activities and she had already been punished. Yet Saturn remained true to the cause that her father had sent her on. She promised to protect her princes at whatever cost. And she kept her word. The age-old warrior trapped in a young girl's body smiled at the thought.
Uranus watched, a stoic expression on her face while a more painful one adorned that of Neptune's. Both had been kept hidden away as a powerful backup in case the Kingdom's original defenses fell. None but the beautiful Queen Serenity knew of their existence and their strict orders prevented them from joining. Both had felt their hearts crumble as the Kingdom fell, watching the battle ground until the last trace of the old kingdom vanished and had silently cursed their inability to prevent its destruction. They were forced to wander thousands of years before their self-assigned task of ridding existence of all evil had drawn them back to the Earth. They had found the Inner Scouts but were not surprised by that fact-Uranus and Neptune had watched the four warriors from afar before the war, envying their happiness. The two weren't surprised by the Scouts' reincarnation. The blonde Sailor Moon had shocked them and the smaller Sailor Mini-Moon was immediately connected to the older version. The two lone Sailor Scouts had happiness never before known even though it came at a cost-both were forced to leave the Inners after the last war but would rather leave then forfeit the time spent with their angelic Queen, Sailor Moon.
Pluto knew no happiness when her beautiful glittering eyes saw the moon. Its demise had been known to her many years ahead and instead of revealing herself to the Queen and preparing them, she'd chosen the cowardly way out, preferring the shadows and chaos of time. The price her mistake extracted from her was nearly unbearable and Pluto often found herself searching through time for a way to redress the sin. She would have reversed time to correct her foolish mistake but was forbidden by her father. Instead, Pluto was forced to watch the Queen breathe her last breath and forced herself to witness that moment in time over and over again, eyes drowning in crystal tears.
Believing nothing good would come again, the princess of Pluto threw herself into the depths of time and became recluse, avoiding any company. Uranus and Neptune found her at the Gates of Time and they accepted each other as equal but never as friends, each side fearing for unseen troubles. Pluto lived like that for years or seconds, until her father opened her eyes and showed her the inherited powers of time manipulation she had, giving her the Key to the Gates. The green hair warrior was given permission to travel through time and soon knew, understood and accepted her role as the solitary warrior of Time. She was allowed to intervene during times of extreme troubles and became as old as time itself as she traveled throughout existence, gathering the infinite knowledge of the cosmos. But the moon, no matter what happened or what will happen, became a dark hole in her heart, something that would never be faced again with any degree of happiness or exultation.
Pluto finished finding the exact time they were to take and commanded the door to open. The other three watched the cosmos sway in its eternal movement for awhile longer than turned to watch with Sailor Pluto the slow opening of the Gates of Time. The large ivory doors slowly swung open and none could see into the utterly immense dark beyond the huge gates. Pluto stepped forward first, motioning the others with her delicate hand. They followed warily and as they entered, Pluto willed the door to shut. The two slabs swung shut with an ominous tone and darkness covered everything.
*****
Serena watched a bird chirping outside the window, its baby blue wings spread out as far as they would go as it sang to the world around it. Serena knew it was childish but she couldn't help but envy the bird, free to go where it wanted. To be able to fly free whenever you wanted to…she let out a loud sigh.
"Serena, are you paying attention?" a harsh demanding voice cut into the blonde's thoughts.
'Uh oh,' "Um, yeah of course Miss Huriko," Serena replied nervously, a sweatdrop forming on her forehead as she saw the tall bronze skinned substitute staring annoyed at her.
The substitute teacher sighed. 'When I was given this job, they warned me about these kinds of students.' "Then what were we just speaking about?"
"Ummm…"
"Just as I thought. Stay after class when the bell rings. I'm going to have a talk with you about paying more attention to your classes."
'Man, she's just a sub! Subs can't do that…can they?' "All right, Miss Huriko," Serena replied meekly.
"Good. Now, before Serena interrupted our class-"
'I didn't interrupt anything,' Serena thought rebelliously.
"-we were discussing possible reasons for the social state of certain people. Take convicts and criminal for instance. Why do they act like they do, causing crime?" A single hand rose tentatively. "Yes, Mr…"
"Melvin," the dirty blonde kid said, standing up and adjusting his thick glasses. "I've heard that sometimes, when a person is a child and not held or wanted like they're parents are suppose to hold and love them, they become very difficult to be around." He sat down in his chair, table squeaky slightly from the weight.
"Um, yes, that may be the case-"
"Could you expand on that subject, Miss? I'm afraid that I don't know much about it," Melvin interrupted, tweaking with his glasses.
"Of course Melvin." A slight blush appeared on her tanned face. "Let's see, it's been proven through certain test that babies not held and touched in its infant hood becomes very anti-social, perhaps even violent. The worst criminals and terrorists in record were usually abandoned or abused when they were young. That treatment turned them into ruthless and shameless rebels in society. One such person was the well known Hitler who massacred millions of Jews. Many dictators today were abused as children and took control and power to make up for their mistreatment. Child abuse is still one of the worst crimes today and those that abuse children, when found out, are not safe anywhere from the masses of vengeful abused children. Even if arrested and thrown in jail, the other convicts will turn on them because the hurting of a child, the taking away of that child's innocence and pure heart is the most evil trespass. It is considered corrupt to even the murders and butchers that will live the rest of their lives in jail. Children are the future and people all around the world will do anything to make sure that future is kept safe." Miss Huriko took a deep breath, her tanned face relaxing from the discussion. "Now, are there any questions?"
"What do you mean, 'certain tests?' Do people actually abandon babies just to see what will happen to them? Because if they do, it's very wrong." Molly's eyebrows crunched together in semi-anger.
"What? Oh no, of course not. You see, children are abandoned all the time and-"
"Just because they're abandoned doesn't give anyone the right to experiment on them," Molly interrupted.
"No, I wasn't going to say that. You see, when they're abandoned, the children are found and taken to the orphanages. But there are not enough people working in the orphanages to care for every single child other than giving it the essentials-like food and clothing. That forces the child to grow up on its own and they often become solitary because they've never been treated with anything close to love and wouldn't know how to show something they've never experienced for themselves."
"But I know a guy from the Tokyo Orphanage and he doesn't act any different from any of my friends," a student ejected from the back of the room.
Miss Huriko blue eyes sparkled as a smile crossed her face. "Consider you friend lucky. He probably joined forces in a sense with the other orphans to ward off the depression most castaway children suffer. Perhaps your friendship is the thing that keeps him going. Consider yourself lucky if that's the case."
Miss Huriko straightened her long blue dress. "Continuing on…"
"Why'd her lesson bother me so much Luna?" Serena asked thoughtfully as she walked home. The black cat with a crescent moon on its forehead lay on her shoulder, slightly dozing. "I mean, its not like I'd ever have anything to do with children-hey, that's it!" she exclaimed, halting suddenly and disturbing Luna's sleep. The cat opened an eye. "What's it?"
"I know why it bugged me. I mean, what if I didn't hold Rini when she was a kid?"
Luna fell off her shoulder. "WHAT!?!"
Serena shrugged. "It's only a guess. Since Rini's so difficult, it must mean that I didn't take proper care of her in the future." She held out a fist determinedly. "But now that I know what the problem is behind that brat's lousy attitude, I'll fix it. No problem." Blonde pigtails bounced along as Serena began skipping home with a triumphant look on her face.
"I still don't think its fair that I had to stay after for just daydreaming," the future queen whined loudly as she continued down the street.
Luna sighed. "I still think it's because she takes after you." The black cat began following Serena's trail
*****
Heero's breathing was still as quiet as always but something was wrong. There were huge gaps between each breath and his eyes were drooping dangerously low. Wufei had long since given up his hunt and had stalked away angrily back to the protection of the huge mansion. Heero cursed the Chinese pilot and was already thinking of ways to get even with the arrogant teen. Sleep was creeping in slowly now, lowering his defenses no matter how hard he fought the drug. A bitter smile was on Heero's face now. 'They knew…that they couldn't get me…without…any help.'
He had managed to crawl into a glittering cavern before the drug started working its way through his defenses, the eerie green light dancing on the walls and the strange sloshing sound coming from behind the walls his only comfort. Heero closed his eyes a moment only to force them open again, memories floating to the top of his mind, destructive and haunting dreams horrifying enough to get a grown man screaming at the top of his lungs. Behind each dream came the unforgettable voice of him…Dr. J.-the only human able to reach past Heero's defenses and see his weaknesses. And use them for his own advantages. Heero scrowled. Dr. J. was dead and no one else would be able to manipulate him like he was able to. But at the moment, the only thing that he could seem to focus on was the uncontrollable desire for sleep…deep and dreamless sleep…
Heero woke in a daze. His vision was unfocused and all he could see was a blurry shadow standing before him. Muscles failed him in Heero's attempt to stand and he growled angrily, damning his weakness. The soft drip of water still continued and the blurry walls still glimmered and gave of a shimmering dark green light. But Heero's attention was focused on the hazy figure standing ahead of him.
"Who are you," he asked abruptly. Head pounding. Heero's fingers moved to his face but as soon as they came in contact with the deep scar, he whipped them away. His bleeding had stopped but his mind was still fazed.
A deep rumble came from the shadow. "Oh, just a stranger," it replied casually in a masculine voice. He began to advance.
Heero hissed and backed away, his back hitting the wall. "Stay away," he warned.
"What are you going to do? Bite me?" The man laughed but it wasn't in mockery. A definite note of pity and sympathy rang in the deep laughter.
Heero's eyes narrowed menacingly, stopping the man from coming closer. Even in his current state, the boy was a powerful force if backed into a corner with no way out.
"Listen, I didn't come here to fight," the man said in a clear voice. He backed away, hands out to the side in what could be considered a peaceful and submissive gesture. Heero's expression never left his scarred face. "I came to help you."
Heero's eyes narrowed to slits. "Help me?" he hissed in a very dangerous tone. The venom locked in Heero's words caused the figure to stumble back, frightened. Heero's hands clenched together, nails biting into his skin. The boy's obscure vision did nothing to dull the murder and rage dwelling in his cobalt eyes.
"Yeah, help you. Look," the man replied hastily as Heero's expression darkened, "from the way you're acting, I'd say that Chinese boy put more then a sleeping drug. Maybe even poison. If you want to get better, you'll have to trust me and let me take you to the hospital."
Heero's mind was racing but his expression and posture didn't change. 'I know Wufei put in a sleeping drug from the way he reacted and the way my body reacted. But a simple sleeping drug does not cause such…' Heero's eyesight dimmed more '…reactions. Could he have put in more than a simple sedative? He did say that it would be easier to just give up. What did he mean by those words? Did Wufei poison me?' Heero continued thinking but a small part of his attention was still focused on the man across the small, green cave the two were hidden in.
The man quickly wiped off the sweat rolling down his forehead. He knew that he couldn't stand the child's deadly gaze much longer but orders were orders. Even if he failed and was killed in this mission, there was always a replacement. Sooner or later, this child, Heero Yuy, would falter and fall to his organization. All that was needed was patience…the thought gave him enough courage to withstand Heero's destructive glower for the time being. If he succeeded to bring Heero over to their side willingly, without any bloodshed, he'd be rewarded beyond anything imaginable. If he failed, he'd be celebrated for all time as a true martyr. Either way was fine.
Heero closed his eyes, mind still raging about what the stranger had said. He sighed in resignation. "What reason do I have to trust you?"
The man's eyes widened in surprise. Was the infamous Heero Yuy truly going to believe his story? A crooked smile broke across his face and he replied casually "Nothing. I know that you won't trust me but think about this situation before you make a decision carefully-what do you have to lose? The other Gundam pilots have already turned against you, shooting at you and sending the Chinese pilot Wufei to poison you with the idea of capturing you. That's why the poison didn't kill you immediately. They wanted to capture you first but used a mixture of poison and a sedative to knock you out, the poison added in case you got away. If you don't trust me, you'll die here. If you do and I happen to be an enemy, you'll be killed. But if I you trust me and let me get you an antidote, you'll live."
"What if there's no poisen? And what reason do you have to want to help a Gundam pilot?" Heero's mind was rushing but slowly falling into a trance-like state that he missed a certain detail-this man seemed to know a whole lot more than any normal citizen should. The fact that he even knew where Heero had hidden when Wufei couldn't find him was a distinct suggestion that he was far more than he seemed. But that information slipped through Heero's darkening mind.
Heero could barely make out the man shrugging his shoulders. "Would a normal sleeping potion affect you like the stuff Wufei gave you? I'm just like I said before, a stranger, but someone who wants to help the more overwhelmed victims of the war. I was going to help the other pilots but they seem to be getting along just fine. So, will you allow me to help you?"
Heero eye lids drifted shut and he was barely aware enough to understand the question. A moment passed but the young teen nodded once before passing out.
*****
Author's note:
I'm rearranging all the chapters in this story 'cause they're unorganized and all that…