Sailor X #14 The Diversion
By: John Brengman
Edited by: Thomas Schell
Downtown Tokyo 3:30 PM
Uenokoen Park
Wind rustled lightly through the cherry threes that lined the narrow cement pathways. Sunlight sparkled off the gently rippling waters of the lake. Sailboats drifted gracefully across the calm blue surface. In the open area north of the lake, a flock of kites seemed to float effortlessly above the trees. Sunlight wafted warmly through the deep blue of the sky and mingled with the leisure talk and laughter of the park's visitors.
As a pair of people strolled down along the pathway past a row of cherry trees, a figure emerged from behind one of them. The human figure carried what looked to be a huge sound system with it. In its arms, it held a huge guitar, while speakers bulged from all of its appendages.
The guitar itself was weirdly shaped. Several circular protrusions which looked like stubby organ pipes jutted off from the neck of the instrument.
"I'm Decibel," the creature declared. "Get a load of my latest single! It's sure to be a hit." With that, the neck of the guitar was aimed at the startled people.
The monster ran it fingers across the strings of the guitar and crushing waves of sound roiled from the speakers. Laughter mingled with the screaming notes as sound waves hammered the ground, ripped trees from their roots, and sent shockwaves into the nearby lake.
The victims of this attack had been quickly blasted into unconsciousness. Seeing its work was done, the creature ceased its destructive racket.
"Now that the concert is over," it said, pressing a button on the guitar. "You must pay!" Shafts of light spilled out from the cylindrical barrels on the neck of the guitar, hitting the downed people. Their prone forms began to glow with bright red halos.
After a few moments, the glow faded, and the monster slung the guitar over its back. "Thanks for the energy," it said. "Don't forget to buy my new CD!"
With a laugh, the creature disappeared.
Catsy was walking through the park when the blare of sound form the monster's attack nearly dropped her to the grassy carpet of this area of the park. She recovered in time to get to the top of the hill overlooking the lakeside pathway, where she saw the creature draining the energy from its victims.
"Gee," she thought as the monster disappeared, "where have I seen this worn-out story before?" She turned and headed down the hill away from the scene of the attack. Reaching into her purse, she grabbed her cell phone.
"I've got a call to make," she thought as her fingers flew over the numbers.
== * SM * ==
The Luna Foundation
Sandra leaned back in her chair and looked around the briefing room as her mother and the department heads of the Titan colony haggled over the delivery of supplies and their amounts. Since the near-destruction of the Crystal Palace, supplies from Earth had become sparse, and the leader of the colony had traveled to the Luna complex to see what could be done to increase the supplies.
The representatives of Titan, Neo-Queen Serenity, and other members of the Luna Foundation staff were gathered around the brightly-lit table talking softly.
Sandra did her best to at least look interested. She was impressed that Mariah and Melissa were actually involved with the conversation.
A tap on her shoulder startled Sandra, who turned in her seat to look.
"Sorry to interrupt," Randall said quietly. "There is a call from Earth."
"Thanks for the alert, Catsy. We'll get right on it." Sandra then broke the connection to Earth and turned to Randall. "Tell Brandy, Cass, and Bethany that they're needed in Tokyo." Behind her, the computers of the main control room went about their business with blinking lights and soft whirs.
"What about you?" Randall inquired.
"Unfortunately," Sandra said, "my duties as a princess come above those as a member of the Sailors. I'll ready a shuttle for them however."
With a nod, Randall went to fulfill Sandra's orders.
The Foundation shuttle lifted off and started a gradual climb away from the surface of the moon. At the crest of a mountain on the far side of Crystal Lake, the shuttle's departure did not go unnoticed.
"Computer," a female voice whispered. "How many life readings are on the shuttle that is leaving the moon?"
"Three lifeforms," the computer answered.
"Very good," the form said as she looked about the cramped confines of her ship. It had been redesigned for this particular mission…as had she.
"Evaluate the forms on the shuttle."
After a short pause, the ship's computer responded. "There is a high probability that the forms are members of the Sailors. Communications has monitored a signal from the vicinity of our agent to the Luna Foundation. Internal communications were then directed to several rooms within the Foundation's personnel section, and a shuttle was readied."
"This is all a guess however," the woman stated.
"Affirmative," the computer said in agreement.
"At least you're honest," the woman said. "However, if you are right, that means that at most, there are five Sailors still on the base…that is certainly fair odds."
"Considering the probability that our mission will fail, should I abort the mission?" The ship's computer inquired.
"Of course not," the woman replied. "I will tell you when we can abort our mission if it comes to that." The woman then arose and went to the aft compartment of the craft. A sterile-looking bed was situated along one side of the compartment with diagnostic equipment and a computer terminal around it. The door to the shuttle stood across from the bed. The woman approached the door and pressed a button. A small indicator above the button blinked red.
"Computer," the woman said. "Run a retinal scan and identify." A red beam of light emanated from the panel and brushed the surface of her left eye.
"Subject identified," the computer reported. "Agent Lita Makoto…Cyberjupiter."
"Very good," the cyborg replied. "Lock all command codes until I return. Also, download a map of the palace and indicate on it where the communications junction, and vehicle storage areas are."
"Affirmative."
With that, Cyberjupiter stepped out of the shuttlecraft and onto the surface of the moon.
== * SM * ==
Tokyo – Shinjuku District 7:30 PM
Outside the Club Karigari
The bright lights of Shinjuku's main streets flooded the area with color and invited the passers-by to enter the clubs that cluttered the area and partake in the fun.. The other part of this advertising blitz was the music which throbbed into the streets from strategically-placed speakers. The tandem of the loud sound and bright lights worked…the streets were busy with the young, or those who were simply young at heart.
A lone police car wove its way down the street accompanied by the jeers of the more rebellious within the crowds. There was no way the officers inside the car were going to enforce the curfew in this area of town. Their duties simply called for a patrol through the area to show the badge…nothing that might get them lynched.
Decibel appeared on the roof of one of the clubs and watched the patrol car as it continued down the street. Stepping up to the edge of the building, he shouted, "It's time to crank up the sound, I think!" A roar of noise blasted from his speakers. A few people gaped up at the source of the ear piercing dissonance, but the rest scattered. The façade of the buildings across the street crumbled.
"Ah yes," the villain yelled. "Gotta love that melody!"
Energy bolts slammed into the ground at Decibel's feet. "Excuse us," a voice shouted. "There are ordinances against noise!"
The villain turned to look behind him and saw silhouettes of three women against the sky of the setting sun. "And just who the hell are you?" He growled.
The blonde woman in the center of the trio stepped forward. "I am Sailor Venus, Defender of Justice, and in the name of the planet Venus, I will punish you!"
To the left of Sailor Venus came another voice. "I'm Sailor Mars, and you'll regret the day you met me! In the name of Mars, I will punish you!"
To the right of Sailor Venus came a voice that was cold with anger. "I am Sailor Mercury, and I'll let actions speak for me! MERCURY SHARD!" A large spear-like shard of ice appeared in Sailor Mercury's
right hand and she sent the projectile flying toward the villain with a vicious growl. The shard slammed into Decibel's left arm and nearly threw him off the roof of the building. The only thing saving him from his death was the huge speakers mounted into his legs, which kept him anchored to the roof.
"You'll pay for that," the villain shouted. "Be one with the music, gals!" With that, a blast of noise gouted forth from Decibel. The waves of sound rippled across the roof, shredding it like paper. Suddenly the Sailors found themselves falling through a shower of debris.
Sailor Venus winced as a chunk of concrete slammed into her back, then looked up toward what remained of the roof of the building. Seeing that Decibel still stood there, Venus raised her right hand and shouted "VENUS WHIP!" With a quick flick of her wrist, the energy whip shot upward and entangled itself around Decibel's left foot.
The Sailors landed on the floor two stories down from where they started. Sailor Venus quickly looked at the others. "Ready yourselves," she ordered, then yanked hard on the whip. The energy whip constricted around the villain's leg, then dragged him from the roof into the hole he had created mere moments before.
Seeing Decibel teeter, then fall, Sailor Venus shouted, "Now! Take him down!" The other Sailors complied, launching "MARS FIRE IGNITE" and "MERCURY ICE BUBBLES FREEZE" attacks simultaneously at the falling villain. The primal energies of the attacks slammed into Decibel and if he had any control over his descent, he lost it under waves of searing pain. He crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Sailor Venus was about to approach the broken form of the villain when she noticed some ominous sparks shooting from the various electrical components of his high-tech suit. Turning to the others, Venus shouted, "Run! He's gonna blow!" The trio of Sailors had started down a flight of stairs to the bottom floor of the building when the shorted circuits within Decibel's suit went critical and exploded. The blast threw the Sailors down the remaining stairs.
As Sailor Mars picked herself up from the floor, she noticed that the communicator hidden in her neck-band was beeping at her. Just then, the others noticed the same thing, and Sailor Venus pressed the primal sign which rested there.*
Luna's voice spoke: "The following message was sent fifteen seconds ago." Then Decibel's voice replaced Luna's…
"Sailors, if you are hearing this, then you have defeated me. You must believe me when I say I meant no harm to you or your planet. I was a mercenary, a hired gun, hired because my employers are getting short on man-power for these missions.
"My employer was the cyborgs of the place you call Cyberworld, specifically Cyberjupiter. However, this version of Cyberupiter is a cyborg in only a minimal way…she was designed to be able to infiltrate your palace and pass as one of you if necessary."
"Cyberjupiter's mission was to kidnap Queen Serenity for Cyberworld….." The rest of the villain's message was lost as the Sailors hurried back to their ship.
== * SM * ==
The Throne Room at the Luna Foundation
The meeting with the representatives from Titan had gone well. Neo-Queen Serenity had made arrangements for increased shipments to the colony and assured the colony leaders that the current difficulties at the Crystal Palace would not interfere with the timely delivery of the supplies.
With that business completed, Neo-Queen Serenity and the rest if her entourage went to the throne room while the Titan delegation was being shown back to their ships for the journey home. Serenity eased herself onto the throne and relaxed. While the negotiations had not been hard by any stretch of the imagination, they had been tedious.
Then Randall entered the throne room. "Princess Jupiter wishes an audience, Your Majesty."
"By all means," Neo-Queen Serenity said. "Send her in." Sandra glanced toward the door from her spot off to the right of her mother. It was not often that Randall announced one of the princesses…they normally had access to the throne room without needing such formalities.
The concern deepened when Sailor Jupiter appeared in the door. Some major event had to be happening for the elder Jupiter to come before Neo-Queen Serenity. Jupiter advanced to a spot before the throne and dropped to one knee. She bowed her head and murmured, "My queen."
"Why all this formality?" Sandra wondered silently. Something was wrong…
"Arise, Princess Jupiter," Neo-Queen Serenity replied, "and tell us why it is necessary for you to be on active duty?"
Jupiter was about to rise when Sandra noticed a round, gray-colored shape tucked behind Jupiter's left ear. A small red light blinked on it.
"Damn!" Sandra thought.
"Look out! She shouted as she attempted to put herself between Jupiter and the queen.
She was too late.
Jupiter quickly looked up at Neo-Queen Serenity. A targeting scope within her right eye centered itself on the queen. Rising to her feet, Jupiter raised an arm toward the queen and pressed a button in the palm of her glove with one of her fingers. Two bolts of energy leapt out and slammed into the throne. Neo-Queen Serenity tried to get up from the throne, but she could already feel the energy waves sapping her strength. She collapsed into the throne and the energy continued to shimmer around the throne, draining energy where it could be found.
"MOON PRISM POWER!"
"JUPITER POWER!"
"URANUS POWER!"
As the glow from her transformation faded, Sailor Moon pointed at Cyberjupiter and growled, "Release the queen, or you won't leave this room alive."
"You don't think I just wear this uniform as a disguise, do you?" Cyberjupiter said with a cruel smirk as it pressed another button within the palm of her glove. An energy field appeared around the cyborg villain.
"I have all of the powers of Sailor Jupiter, and more….JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" The cyborg then unleashed a torrent of white-hot energy that sent Sailor Moon into a roll. The primal energy splattered the area near the throne, scorching the metal lace work of the throne and the marble tile of the floor.
"Let me handle this imposter," Sailor Jupiter growled as she stepped forward. Sailor Uranus had activated her Space Sword and it glowered with a bright yellow as she approached the intruder.
Cyberjupiter saw Sailor Uranus approach just as she was about to bring her energy blade crashing down. With one move, Cyberjupiter slashed her right arm toward Sailor Uranus. The energy of the Space Sword met the energy field that surrounded the cyborg and the Space Sword vanished seconds before Cyberjupiter's karate-like strike snapped Uranus' head back.
Sailor Jupiter stepped forward as Uranus fell. "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" An arc of energy flowed from Sailor Jupiter, identical to the energy surge that the cyborg had produced. The searing energy enveloped the villain. For several seconds, the Sailors watched as the energy pulsated. Then it vanished.
"Hah! I told you I was as powerful as you, Sailor Jupiter," the cyborg yelled as it launched a fist toward her. The blow connected heavily, and Sailor Jupiter dropped to one knee behind the villain, who now rounded upon Sailor Moon.
The energy field around Cyberjupiter seemed to shimmer as it turned to face the princess of the Moon.
"MOON STAFF!" Sailor Moon shouted. Then, almost before the staff had materialized, she yelled, "MOON ZERO MAGIC!" A disk of destructive energy formed at the tip of the staff, then floated toward the cyborg. The energy bolt sliced through the weakened energy field surrounding Cyberjupiter and exploded around it. Arcs of incandescent energy washed over the cybernetic villain.
It was not enough, however. Cyberjupiter looked up to survey the room. It quickly spotted Sailor Moon and the still-unconscious Neo-Queen Serenity. "Targets acquired,:" a small computerized voice murmured inside its head as it pressed another button in the palm of its hand.
Ribbons of energy created by the Moon Staff arced away from the villain, slamming instead into Sailor Moon. The energy ribbons also sliced through the energy surrounding Neo-Queen Serenity and cascaded across her body. Sailor Moon dropped to one knee, just barely conscious. "MOON TIARA….."
Cyberjupiter heard Sailor Moon uttering the command phrase for her tiara attack. "JUPITER THUNDERCRASH ZAP!" And a ball of primal energy was sent screaming into Sailor Moon. It slammed into her left shoulder, which had only recently healed.*
As Sailor Moon dropped to the tile floor, Sailor Jupiter charged the cyborg from behind. However, having finished fighting Sailor Moon, the villain was in the midst of turning toward the on-coming Sailor as she rushed forward. The cyborg caught the Sailor in a vise-like grip, with one hand clutching her neck, and the other grasping the front of her Sailor uniform. Then the cyborg started running toward the far wall with Sailor Jupiter gripped in front of her like a human shield. As Cyberjupiter neared the wall, a low growl escaped from its throat. The distance closed and the growl grew to a roar.
With a scream, Cyberjupiter lunged forward into the wall, which shattered under the force of the blow. Dropping the limp form of Sailor Jupiter, the cyborg went back into the throne room and almost reverently approached the scorched throne. Reaching through the energy field, Cyberjupiter grabbed the body of Neo-Queen serenity and heaved it over her shoulder. Turning, the villain then left the room through the hole it had just created. It didn't notice the blood that had started to flow from Sailor Jupiter's mouth…
Sailor Moon swam through a painful haze. Her eyes fluttered.
"What the…"
"You're awake," a voice said. "That's good."
Sailor Moon looked up and saw Sailor Uranus hovering over her. Then, a hand grabbed her right arm and pulled her up from the floor of the throne room.
Still in a daze, Sailor Moon noticed that Cyberjupiter's attack on her had shredded her uniform on her right arm, from the neck past the shoulder. Modesty overcame her and she tried to cover the little of her breast that was showing, but soon gave up. At about that time, reality returned as her eyes drank in the damage dome to the throne room.
Suddenly alert, Sailor Moon glanced at the throne and saw that Neo-Queen Serenity was gone. "Mother…" she half-whispered as she rushed to the throne. Being next to the throne didn't change the situation. Tears welling from her eyes, Sailor Moon ran down the squat stairs in front of the throne, ignoring the pain that throbbed through her shoulder. She quickly reached the heavy double doors on the far side of the throne room and scanned the hallway in either direction outside the room as if perhaps the cyborg kidnapper was still in the area. The emptiness of the hallway seemed to slap her. As Sailor Uranus silently approached, Sailor Moon leaned against the entryway and stared bleakly at the floor.
And then, just before Sailor Uranus reached her side, a white-gloved fist pounded against the wall.
"Damn!"
Another pound of the fist…
"Damn it!"
== * SM * ==
A small craft angled its way out of the lunar gravity well and into space. As soon as it cleared the influences of the Moon, the ship darted away…
But it was not unnoticed.
"Sailor Venus to Luna Foundation. I am on approach to the docking area, but I just saw a ship take one of the weirdest trajectories off the Moon that I have ever seen."
"That is probably the ship we're after," Luna replied. "The pilot just kidnapped the Queen!"
"I'll get em," Sailor Venus said as she turned the shuttle toward the fleeing ship. "Boost our engine output," she ordered Sailor Mars. "Mercury, scan forward. Let's take a look at this joker."
The shuttle made an arc through space and sprinted away from the Moon.
In the cockpit, Sailor Venus tapped a button on her console and a red square appeared on the cockpit dome showing where the Cyberworld ship was. Red numbers appeared alongside the square indicating the distance between the two ships. The number was getting slightly bigger.
"What is our engine output?" Venus asked.
"We're at 100% output," Mars replied.
"I said boost the output," Venus said sternly.
"That's not…" Mars started to protest.
"We're not going to get the Queen back by playing it safe," Venus stated. "Now, boost the engine output."
Slowly but surely, the shuttle began to close in on the ship it was chasing.
"We're within range," Mercury said.
"Engines at 115% and rising," Mars said, concern seeping through her voice.
Two bolts of energy streamed from the gun ports along the sides of the shuttle. The energy bolts screamed through space and bracketed the fleeing ship. They scorched just above the flattened wings of the cyborg ship and exploded just in front of it.
"You missed," Sailor Mercury remarked.
"I meant to," Sailor Venus replied as she pressed a button on her control station. "Cyberworld ship, this is Luna Foundation shuttle 47, and I am Sailor Venus. You are under arrest for numerous counts of assault and kidnapping. You will stand down and surrender yourself and your ship, or I will open fire." The other Sailors glanced at Venus as if they couldn't believe she had said what she had said.
Apparently the idea was not unique to the Sailors. A voice came over the shuttle's speakers. "I doubt you'll fire on me, since you probably know who else I have here," Cyberjupiter said. "However, if you don't back off and hold your fire, I'll kill Neo-Queen Serenity right now."
"You wouldn't!" Venus growled. "You're bluffing!"
"Cyborgs don't bluff."
Silence seemed to flood the cockpit with the exception of the beeps and whirs of the control systems and the whine of the engines.
"125%," Mars said. "We can't stay like this much longer."
Sailor Venus looked toward sailor Mercury, who caught the stare. Then Venus glanced at the scanner controls and arched an eyebrow questioningly. Sailor Mercury silently nodded.
"Well Venus," came Cyberjupiter's voice. "Do I leave here undamaged, or do I blow Neo-Queen Serenity's brains all over the deck of my ship?"
Another brief moment passed. Venus' eyes seemed to burn with intent, but finally: "Shuttle 47 to Luna Foundation. I am aborting the mission." Looking at Sailor Mars, she growled: "Bring the engines back down to standard outputs."
The Cyberworld ship streaked away from the shuttle. Seconds later, a white flash announced that the dimensional barrier had been breached.
Sailor Venus looked at Sailor Mercury. "Please tell me you got the heading that ship was on when it entered the dimensional barrier…" Mercury nodded silently.
"Good," Venus muttered as her hands flittered across the controls. "We're heading home."
== * SM * ==
Aboard the Serena
Sandra stalked onto the Bridge of the ship, ignoring the steady throb of the fusion engines that propelled it through space. Crewmembers worked at their stations that provided most of the light in an otherwise dimly-lit room. The blackness of space seemed to beckon through the reinforced windows that dominated the front of the Bridge.
Sandra ignored the view, ignored the soft murmurs of the crew as they attended to their duties, ignored the sounds of the computers as they responded to queries and orders from their human masters. Instead, she silently strode to the auxiliary stations, where Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune worked on the trajectory that they ship would take to follow the Cyberworld ship to where it had escaped. The two Sailors saw Sandra approach and stood.
"Report," Sandra said curtly. Both Sailors seemed to bristle at the tone Sandra took with them, but put their feelings aside for the time being.
"The scans Sailor Venus got of the subspace tunnel were excellent," Sailor Neptune replied. "We have a real good idea of where Cyberworld is located."
"Good," Sandra replied. Turning to the helmsman, she said. "Set a course for the coordinates you will get from the auxiliary station."
The "Aye aye" sounded at her back as Sandra walked toward the door. As she approached, the door opened and Amy stepped onto the Bridge and walked toward Sandra.
"What is it?" Sandra asked, seeing the look on Amy's face.
"While this trip might be necessary," Amy said, "I don't believe you need to be here. There is still time for you to leave the ship and report back to the Foundation."
"I am not going anywhere," Sandra replied icily, "except following where that cyborg went."
Amy paused momentarily before voicing her next thought. She knew that Sandra would not like what she was about to say.
"Don't force me to order you." She said. "My job…"
"Your job, for now," Sandra growled, "is to bandage me up…and you will do that, and nothing else!" With that, Sandra stormed off the Bridge, leaving Amy and the two Sailors watching her back. The crew at the Bridge stations concentrated on doing their jobs…and on nothing else.
The Serena, in a flash of light broke through the dimensional barrier and floated into a new universe. A darker universe.
FINI
Author's Notes:
- In the anime, only Sailor Moon had any sort of symbol on her neckband.
- Sailor Moon had been injured in SX10.
Fanfic ã1999 – John Brengman and Artemis Publishing
Sailor X series inspired by Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon,
ã 1992 by Toei Animation Co Ltd. and based on Kodansha's
manga production of "Sailor Moon", written by Naoko Takeuchi
This fanfic is freely distributed. Release date: July 26, 1999
Release: 3rd Edition – January 30, 2001