Sailor X #22 Mindcrime
By: John Brengman
Edited by: Thomas Schell
"I remember now… I remember how
it started…"
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"I Remember Now"
The Crystal Palace
Neo-Queen Serenity padded into her room, wrapping herself in a towel as she strolled toward her bed. Gently picking up another towel, Serenity began patting down her silk-like hair. She sighed blissfully as she sank into the drowsy restfulness after her hot bath.
And how she needed it! She and the Sailor soldiers had returned from Cyberworld several days ago, but she still felt worn out from the ordeal.
Grabbing a comb from a nearby nightstand, Neo-Queen Serenity approached the large standing mirror that was perched near the door. Her reflection began to resolve itself as she approached.
Suddenly, Neo Queen Serenity gasped and she stepped back in terror.
Her brush dropped to the carpet.
Serenity stared nearly petrified by the image in the mirror…
The reflection was not hers
Instead, a monster stepped from the mirror into the room. She was tall and slender with light blue skin and darker blue hair. Her suit consisted of a simple blue and green outfit. A large green Dark Moon gem protruded from a spot at the base of her throat, and a wicked-looking yellow horn stood in the center of her forehead.
"You…" Serenity gasped. "You're dead!"
"Not exactly," the monster growled. "You killed my sister, and now you're gonna pay!"
"Your sister?" Serenity stammered as she backed toward the bed to try to put some distance between her and the creature.
"My sister and I were in the service of Avery and Prizma, of the Dark Moon family."
Serenity by this time had the bed between her and the monster, and was trying to edge slowly toward her locket, which sat in its place on her dresser.
"Avery and Prizma were cleansed," Serenity stated as if that statement by itself would banish the monster..
"Yes," the monster growled. "You made short work of the Dark Moon family. You have no idea how powerful hatred and revenge can be! I have waited for years for the right time to strike back at you for destroying my sister, and now that time has arrived!"
"You'll have to find another time for your revenge," Serenity said, the calm returning to her voice as she grabbed her Moon Scepter and shouted, "COSMIC MOON…"
A vicious claw slammed into Neo-Queen Serenity, and she was thrown against the dresser, shattering the mirror that stood atop it with a loud clatter. The Moon Scepter skidded out of reach as Serenity dropped to the floor.
Vaulting herself across the bed, the monster grabbed the queen by the hair and pulled her roughly to her feet. She fixed Serenity with a firm stare. The queen realized what was happening and shut her eyes, but it was too late. The monster appeared inside her mind.
"Welcome to my world!" The monster howled in victory.
"Neo-Queen Serenity screamed from within the prison that was now her mind.
* * *
"I used to trust the media to
tell us the truth, tell us the truth.
But now I see the payoffs
everywhere I look.
Who do you trust when everyone's
a crook?"
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"Revolution
Calling"
Through a fuzzy haze, a new reality came into focus…
"Ah, you're awake," the man in the white lab coat said as his features became visible. Taking out a light pen, he checked the visual responses of the woman laying on the examination table in front of him. "You're lucky we found you when we did. You might have been picked up by the police for vagrancy."
"What…happened?" The woman asked.
"I'm not sure how you got where you were," the doctor said., "but since your rather remarkable tirade against the politicians in the park two days ago, we've been watching you. When our men found you passed out in an alley not far from here, I had them bring you here."
Her eyes began to clear, and the woman focused on the doctor. "What do you want from me?"
"Well," came the reply. "If you are sincere, and not ranting just to get attention, then perhaps we have a common cause, and a common enemy. If not, you will be given a hot meal and a ride to a homeless shelter."
"I'm listening," the woman said.
"Well," the doctor said. "In your speech, you complained about how the politicians never listen to any of the people they supposedly represent, and how the Church often stops short of really helping the people in need. While those are not your exact words, I can assure you they were quite rousing and effective."
Parts of a speech began to float to the surface of the woman's mind. "Yes, I think I remember parts of it now…"
"Yes," the doctor continued. "You talked about how things like 'compassionate conservatism' and representing 'the people, and not the powerful' are just slogans meant to lull the populace like sheep into giving away their vote, and the Church hides in the shadows and emerges every so often to try to gain control of the whole show by joining in the elections themselves."
"So how do you fit in?" The woman asked.
"To borrow from an old children's rhyme, your words will never hurt anyone. However, I can make sure you will have the sticks and stones necessary for you to become something much more than a simple street demonstrator. You can become an avatar of the people, a soldier of truth and justice."
"What about love?" The woman whispered.
"What?"
"N..nothing. You were saying?"
"Do you think you'd be interested in joining our group?"
"I'll do what I can to help the people," the woman said coldly.
"Very well," the doctor said as he produced a syringe that contained a bright red liquid.
"What is that?" The woman asked.
"Your first step in joining us is training, but we can not disclose our location to people, so this will render you unconscious until you arrive.
"By the way," the doctor said as he pressed the needle into the woman's left arm. "What is your name?"
A fire blazed through the woman's mind as the drug raced through her blood. Through a thunderous haze, she heard herself think, "Tsukino Usagi."
"Nicole…..Lassiter."
"Well Nikki," the doctor said with a grin. "Welcome to Operation Mindcrime."
As she drifted off, Nikki realized that the doctor's hand was a little too far up on her thigh for comfort, but she could not force herself to move. Instead, her mind was drowned by the fiery dragon that blazed through her veins.
The orderlies wheeled the woman on the emergency bed out of the doctor's offices and into a nearby van.
As the heavy wooden door closed behind them, black lettering stared out from the gold metallic
background…..
STEPHEN TOMOE, MD
== * SM * ==
Neo-Queen Serenity looked as though she were simply asleep in the medical bed that seemed to be buried under the displays that flashed across the transparent panel that covered one entire wall of Amy's office in the Medical Center.
However, a careful look at the patient, and a glance at the displays would tell a different story. Serenity was in a near-coma-like state, and concern was painted on the faces of those gathered in Amy's office.
"We've run scans of the queen's room," Mina said as she tried to keep the utter helplessness out of her voice. "We found a trace of negative energy and ran it through the computer." Touching a couple buttons on the table produced a picture that popped up over the top of some of the diagnostic readings. A sullen-looking monster slowly rotated within the computer frame.
"We killed it!" Raye broke in. "I was there when we did it!"
"Apparently we didn't," Mina replied with a glance at the pale form that was laying in the next room.
"Quiet you two," Amy said sternly, and the tone of her voice actually caused Mina and Raye to do exactly that. Sandra glowered from a spot near the back of the room, and most of the elders were crowded around the long conference table while the younger Sailors stood behind their mentors.
Once Amy was sure she held everyone's attention, she spoke.
"According to our database, Droid Hypnotica had a sister named Nightmare."
"But," Lita protested. "We dested the driods and the Dark Moon family that controlled them. Shouldn't that have taken care of all of them?"
"Not necessarily," Raye said quietly.
"Raye's right," Amy said. "None of the droids were linked to the Dark Moon family in a way that would have affected them in the way you're thinking."
"So this new monster has possessed the queen, like Hypnotica once did?" Mina asked.
Amy touched a couple buttons, and the picture of the monster faded away. A moving chart lit up, and the Sailors could clearly see that it was a current brain reading from Neo-Queen Serenity.
"Right off the bat, we can see something wrong within the queen's brain", Amy said. She pointed to two lines on the scans. One line was orange and moved in a seemingly-random, but slow fashion.. The other was bright green and seemed to be more purposeful in its movements.
"The human body only produces one brainwave," Amy said. "As you can see here, there are two. The orange one is the queen's brainwave, and from all indications, she's asleep and dreaming."
"The other wave is not a normal function of the human body, and in fact, if you study enough of it, you'll see it's a series of waves that appear to have some similarities. Before the meeting, I had the computer isolate this wave and here's what it is."
Amy pushed a button on the table and from the speakers came the cacophonous blaring of an electrical guitar amid the beat of drums. Then a voice started singing.:
"Hey Nikki you know everything
that there is to do.
Here's a gun. Take it home.
Wait by the phone.
We'll send someone over
to bring you what you need.
You're a one-man death machine.
Make this city bleed."
"She's singing in her sleep?" Cass asked quietly.
"No," Amy said. "Remember that this is an abnormal thing to have in the human brain, and remember the monster that we are talking about."
"So how can projecting a song into Serenity's mind harm her?" Vanessa asked.
"We have all the pieces of the puzzle," Raye said softly. "Let's put them together."
"Ok," Mina replied. "We have an attack by a monster similar to Hypnotica…"
"Queen Serenity in a dream-state," Lita said.
"And a song playing in her mind…" Cass quipped.
Vanessa was the first to interrupt the silence that followed.
"Revenge."
"But revenge means that Nightmare wants to punish Neo-Queen Serenity," Brandy said from her spot behind Mina. "How?"
"I'm not sure," Amy replied. "That would depend on what the point of the music is, and how it interacts with her. However, her life signs have begun to drop and I am seeing other things I don't like." With that, she got up and went over to the display window. She tapped a couple of buttons on it and a message appeared:
THAT PROCEDURE IS INADVISABLE. CONTINUE?
Amy responded by tapping a control button once.
In the next room, a microscope-like device slowly dropped down from the ceiling into a position hovering above the center of the body that was laying on the bed.
Amy touched another few buttons, and a light stabbed out of the scope and touched the body of Neo-Queen Serenity. A flurry of gasps sounded behind her and Amy quieted them with a "Shhh!"
The light seemed to blur a bit at the point where it touched Serenity and then with a small flash of light, a glowing star-like object appeared over Serenity's chest.
"Her pure heart!" Michiru whispered fiercely.
Haruka was more blunt. Standing up from her chair, she growled: "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for something," Amy said. "And besides, the scope is not harmful, and neither is having her pure heart out of her body in this case because the beam maintains the connection between the pure heart and her body."
"What are you looking for?" Raye asked.
Touching a few buttons caused a new picture to appear on the glasslike wall. "This," Amy said pointing to the new picture.
The pure heart of Neo-Queen Serenity seemed to float within the frame of the picture.
"I don't see anything," Rachel said as she studied the picture.
With a couple of taps of a button, the pure heart seemed to explode as the view zoomed inward. Now the Sailors could clearly see weltering blister-like lesions on a portion of the pure heart.
"What the Hell…" Haruka gasped.
"I don't know what exactly is happening," Amy said. "But my gut says that this is the effect of the monster's attack on the queen. If we don't capture Nightmare and force her to stop this, the queen's pure heart will be destroyed, and she will die."
Brandy felt some movement off to her side and when she looked, Sandra was gone. She quietly slipped out of the nearby door and ran after her friend.
== * SM * ==
When Brandy caught up with Sandra, she was leaning against a hallway railing gazing at the moonscape beyond the shielded window. Soon she too was lounging against the railing, and after a few moments of staring at Sandra, she broke the silence.
"I know that look," she said as though she was divulging a state secret. "It's the 'deep thought' look. Care to share?"
"Actually, I don't." Sandra stated simply.
"Let's make that an order then."
Sandra stepped forward, her eyes glaring at Brandy. "Go away before I hurt you," she growled.
Brandy stood her ground. "I would," she said, "but you see, I managed to convince Amy after you stormed out that with all the stress of the past month or so, you might not be fit for duty. You're suspended as of five minutes ago, and the only way you get out of it is to tell me what's bugging you, so out with it."
"I don't like talking about myself," Sandra protested, but Brandy simply stood patiently waiting
After a long pause it all came out in a rush.
"I am sure that if I had been a little bit faster, Cyberjupiter never would have gotten hold of my mother, and she never would have been taken to Cyberworld and cloned and she never would have almost died on the way home. I don't know how it happened, but mother got attacked and kidnapped again from the Palace and I am sure I could have stopped it if I had been there to help."
"There. Are you happy now?" The whisper sounded like a shout.
"You don't have to blame yourself for all of this," Brandy said softly. "You might not have been able to stop any of the things you are blaming yourself for."
"Oh, I know that too!" Sandra shouted. "Either I am not anywhere nearby to help or I am powerless to stop it when it happens. Either way, it's my fault!"
"Amy was right then," Brandy said. "You have been stressed out this past month."
"You bet," Sandra replied. "I've been stressed out this past month, this past year, and every year since I became Sailor Moon. I'm the leader of the Sailor soldiers, and it is my responsibility to protect Earth and the Moon Kingdom from harm, and I sure as Hell have done a wonderful job of that, haven't I?"
"You need to rest," Brandy said, "and time to think, to clear your head. I'll tell Amy to put you on the inactive list." She turned to go.
"No!" Sandra's hand shot forward almost of its own will and stopped Brandy, who turned back around.
"You can't tell Amy," Sandra murmured. Brandy could see the tears that her friend hid behind walls as thick as steel. "You can't."
"Why?" Brandy asked quietly. "The best thing you can do is take a few days off, and…"
"And do what? Sandra interrupted angrily. "Go in there and sit there while the queen….my mother…." The rest was lost in soft crying. Brandy came to Sandra and tried to drown her friend's tears in a hug. The two girls stood like that for a few moments, then Sandra stiffened as though she was surprised by her friend's closeness. She backed up a couple of steps, and Brandy saw that the tears were gone.
"I have never begged for anything in my life," Sandra said, her voice wavering slightly. "But, I'm doing it now. Please. I have to be out there. I can't do any good for her in here/"
"Alright," Brandy replied. "But you know the rest of us will be watching you. That's what good team-mates do."
At about that time, Luna bounded into the corridor and came to a stop near the two girls. "Come quick," she said. "Amy has a plan to find Nightmare."
"Ok," Brandy said.
"Let's do it," Sandra said as together she and Brandy headed back to the Medical Center.
== * SM * ==
"The system we learn says we're
equal under law.
But the streets are reality. The
weak and poor will fall!
Let's tip the power balance, and
tear down their crown.
Educate the masses, we'll burn
the White House down!:
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"Speak!"
The voice boomed out over the loudspeakers, blasting out to the crowd and echoing into the back hallways and rooms.
"Can you feel the spirit of the Lord flowing out from this stage?" The voice asked. "He is flowing over you, cleansing you, purifying your mind and soul and readying you for His mission."
The figure slipped by the crumpled body slumped against the wall, and seemed to flow around a nearby corner.
"But while His spirit can ready, we must also prepare earthly forces for the fight against the dark forces that we know are coming."
The shadowy figure slipped into the darkness behind the stage as a couple of people walked nearby.
"In order to make sure that His forces are ready to fight whatever evils the Devil might throw at them, they will need to lean upon your generosity for support for a short time. So, I ask that you give what you can to help our crusade against evil. Make your checks out to Heavenly Gate Ministries…"
Three young girls rushed by the figure as it walked toward the curtains that formed the back wall of the stage. The girls carried large platters that would soon circulate through the audience.
"Yes, I can see the gracious spirit of the people now. I can feel His presence upon this gathering, and I know that his work will be done."
A stage worker dropped to the floor. Normally it would be a waste to eliminate people who were not the target, but in this instance, the man was obviously guilty and soiled from participating in this charade.
"And the more support our ministry receives, the more work we can do in His name.
The figure got into position hidden behind the curtains, the nose of the gun barely peeking beyond their flimsy silkiness.
"So I ask you now to raise your hands in celebration of His great work. As you reach deep into your hearts and pocketbooks, I want you to take His Hand…"
A flood of words coursed through the mind of the assassin.
"…in the name of the Moon…"
"…champion of love and justice…"
"…I shall punish you…"
As she rechecked her aim, the woman murmured quietly: "In the name of justice, I shall punish you."
The trigger was pulled. The pistol kicked lightly.
Deep silence flooded the stage.
== * SM * ==
"In the wooden chair beside my
window.
I wear a face born in the falling
rain.
I talk to shadows from a lonely
candle.
Recite the phrases from the
wall…I can't explain…
…this holy pain.
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"The
Mission"
"What do you mean we can't find her?" Amy said sternly at the com unit mounted into her desk as she studied the medical readings of her patient.
"Just what I said," came the reply. "The Sailors have covered about sixty percent of the surface of the planet and haven't found a trace of Nightmare."
"Bull!" Rachel quipped from where she was leaning against the wall. Amy angrily waved her silent.
"Sensors in the shuttles are at maximum?"
"Yes ma'am," came the reply.
"They're not leaving any areas unscanned?"
"Nope."
"Okay," Amy sighed. "I'll deal with it."
"Roger that," the man replied. "Luna Foundation Control out."
Amy leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes in order to concentrate. What was she missing? There was one thing…
"None of the sensors are malfunctioning," Rachel said. "They were checked after we returned from Cyberworld."
"Yes," Amy replied. "Not only are the shuttles' sensors working, but every inch of the shuttles themselves has been checked, and they are in perfect working order."
"Our sensor suite is working properly?"
"Yes," Amy said as she mentally checked that possibility off her list. The connection from the Luna Foundation to the shuttles was also in working order, and the Sailors would all converge on one point as soon as any one of them signaled that they had found their quarry.
"There isn't a storm on the planet strong enough to obstruct sensors?"
"Noo…" Amy replied slowly, realization dawning on her face. "But perhaps…" She quickly arose from her chair and approached the wall display that currently showed the queen's life-signs.
"Computer," she said. "Please show me the Sol system, all current conditions." The wall sprang to life as a diagram of the solar system was flashed onto it and everything from storm activity on Jupiter to current rotational positions of all of the planets was displayed.
"I knew it!" Amy said, her eyes widening.
"What is it?" Rachel asked. The com beeped again, and Rachel toggled the unit's text mode and peered into the screen.
"Solar flares are up twenty-four percent," Amy said. "Just enough to throw our sensors off. I'll relay instructions to the shuttles that will correct for that."
Within a few minutes of that, Sailor Venus radioed that she had discovered where Nightmare was and was heading in.
"Well," Rachel said as she slipped into a flight suit. "From one trouble into another."
"What's wrong now?" Amy asked.
"We just received a message from the Timegate." Rachel said. "It's open. Someone's coming for a visit, and there's no clue on who it is."
"Perfect…" Amy sighed sarcastically.
== * SM * ==
The police sirens wailed nearby as the woman scrambled over a chain-link fence. A search light from a police cruiser stabbed into the darkness above her head just as she dropped to the ground. Her nerves tingling, she laid prone as the yellowish light cut through the night, probing for her. Through the drugs, she could feel every speck of dirt that fought for space, every pebble that bit into her.
Then with a sudden chill, she noticed that the search light was gone. A low moan announced that the police car was leaving, resuming its search for the person responsible for the sixth murder of a politician or minister in the past three weeks.
Brushing the dead leaves off of herself, the woman glanced around to see her surroundings. A small church was shrouded by some low-hanging branches of a pair of trees. The chain-link fence guarded the church and the smaller building next to it. In the middle of the yard, a large stone statue stood pouring water into a pool at its feet.
Suddenly there was a flash.
"Serena
Tsukino, daughter of our beloved queen," a blue-haired woman said. "For what
reason do you come before us?"
"I come to serve," Serena said as she put the wash basin down, removed Amy's shoes, and started to wash her feet."
A thin crown
appeared on a lace pillow at her feet…
Suddenly there was a flash.
Stunned, the woman glanced around again to get her bearings. The fountain that was in front and to the left of her was now behind her and she stood at the back door of the church building. She pulled on the door and it opened, allowing her to slip inside.
She soon emerged into the chapel area of the church and quietly crossed the altar and seemed to float down the stairs. A kaleidoscope of colors drowned the room from the stained-glass windows and the woman seemed drawn to their beauty. She stopped near the center of the room to look at them. So pretty. So pure…innocent…unlike her. She had killed people…with her bare hands….had seen them…eyes glazing.
"I thought I heard you come in," a voice said behind her. She jumped, slightly startled, then turned around. A young man with black hair stood behind her. He was wearing priest's clothing, the white collar peeking out.
"I've told you to quit doing that!" The woman hissed. "You know I carry a gun. I could have shot you!"
"Then I'd die a happy man," the priest said as he put his arms on the woman's shoulders. He bent down and kissed her. She could feel an urgency in his lips.
"Oh Darien…" She whispered as the two of them fell into the aisle between the wooden pews.
== * SM * ==
Amy stared intently at the new pictures on the glass-like wall Blood pressure and breathing were beginning to fall off. Other bodily functions were slow. However, Amy's attention was drawn to the crystalline shape hanging suspended in the light of the scope. Black scars marred its surface and the boiling lesions seemed to cover what was not scarred.
"Give me a status report," Amy said, seemingly to herself.
"We're closing on the Biotechnica Research Labs now," Sailor Venus replied over the communication system. "We should make contact in the next five minutes."
"Who is with you?"
"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Neptune."
Amy glanced at the crystal hanging above the body of Neo-Queen Serenity and shuddered. The damage had visibly worsened within the last minute.
"Hurry…" she moaned. "I don't think she has much time left."
Right then, another voice came over the speaker. "Amy, you asked for updates from the Timegate…."
"Yes?"
"It's still open," the voice said. "It's been like this since we first reported activity. Every indication we have says someone is about to come through, but…"
"Get all available Sailors down there," Amy ordered. "Also have reinforcements ready, just in case."
"Yes, ma'am," the voice said.
Amy sat back in her chair worriedly. Things were moving too fast. And just what was happening with the Timegate? Both of these were things she could not control, so she leaned forward again and tried to think of something that would help her patient…perhaps the only thing in this whole mess that she could still control.
== * SM * ==
"Kill her. That's all you have to do."
"Kill Mary?"
"She's a risk. And get the priest as well."
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"Suite
Sister Mary"
"Even in death
You still look sad.
Don't leave me.
Don't leave me...here
I want what you feel, believe me.
Turn the current on."
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"Electric
Requiem"
The rain fell in torrents, drenching the woman. Water streamed through her hair, matting it to her face. Water soaked her clothing, plastering it to her skin as she ran almost aimlessly through the back alleys of the city.
She didn't notice the rain. Her eyes were still haunted by the scene at the church.
…Sister Fleming lies face-down on the floor near the heavy wooden door…the holy water spilled across her body….her rosary wrapped tightly around her throat…her eyes gazing into nothingness…
…the priest lies slumped against the altar…a bloody hole in his head from the bullet…a trickle of blood flowing down his face…his sightless eyes gazing into nothingness…
"Darien…" The thought floated through her mind just as a voice behind her shouted: "Stop!" She ran. A gunshot rang out some distance away and the woman heard the bullet ricochet off a nearby wall.
She ran. Turning a corner just as a bullet nicked the brick structure that seemed to tower above her, she suddenly stopped. The alley dead-ended not far ahead. The pavement in the cul-de-sac was littered with debris and garbage that noisily protested the rain that cascaded down on it. Graffiti covered the brick walls here like a second skin. A somber brown metal door stood atop a small set of wooden stairs. A light fixture jutted out from the wall above the door, but it was twisted sideways and the light bulb was missing.
The woman rushed across the cul-de-sac and up the stairs to the door. Grabbing the knob, she turned…locked.
"Damn!" She cried as she turned. The rain continued to pour from the sky, soaking her face and shirt. Her denim coat was soaked and she leaned against the door and put her head back…
"We know you did it…"
She jolted up looking for the person responsible for the voice. No one. Her head sagged forward.
"Why'd you do it?"
Again, her head jerked upward, and again, the alley was devoid of people except herself.
"Why'd you do it?" The voice seemed to echo from the brick walls. Then she noticed the walls. The graffiti was moving…swimming in a way. The painted letters scrambled themselves from the gangland signs and boasts that they had been and morphed into something else. Slowly, accusations began to form on the walls…"Why'd you do it?" "Murderer!" "We know you did it…" And as each word formed, the accusation seemed to bleed from the wall into her mind.
"We know you did it…"
"Why'd you do it?"
"Nikky," the priest's voice moaned.
"Darien!" She screamed within her mind.
"Why you do it?"
"We know you did it…"
"Why'd you do it?"
"No!" The woman screamed in vain as the voices assaulted her. "Nooooooo!" She fell from the stairs, but her mind didn't notice.
A police car rolled up near a body. An officer soon approached the body with a flashlight. He toggled a button on his radio. "Central, this is Eagle-Charlie 17" he said. "I have a female body on 46th, near Albany. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. She's curled in a fetal position. I'm taking her to a hospital."
"Ten-four, Eagle-Charlie 17…"
== * SM * ==
Five women shimmered into existence outside the imposing structures that made up the Biotechnica Research Labs.
Glancing around, Sailor Mars sighed. "This is going to take forever!"
"No, it won't." Venus said grimly. "I've narrowed the scan. The monster is in the warehouses on the far side of the labs."
"That's a long way to go," Neptune said quietly. "How are we going to get there?"
"I can't teleport us there without knowing where I am going," Jupiter replied. "If I teleported us blindly, there's no telling where we might end up."
Sailor Moon started forward.
"We walk," she said. "Quickly."
== * SM * ==
"Empty room today, and here I sit.
Chalk outline upon the wall.
I remember tracing it…"
"There's no sleep today. I can't pretend.
When all my dreams are crimes, I can't stand facing them.
Now who will come to wash away my sins?
Clean my room?
Fix my meals?
Be my friend?"
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"My
Empty Room"
From amidst the haze of her mind, the woman reached out, trying to find something solid to hold onto. Through blurred vision she sometimes saw the people in their white coats, sometimes with small white caps. Other times she only saw the blurry shapes.
But she could always hear voices. Sometimes they were close…people discussing her condition, making diagnoses, prognoses, and decisions. When she tried to open her mouth to interject, no sound would come out. At other times the voices seemed far away. Those voices kept accusing her.
"We know you did it…."
She tried shutting those voices out but they were never banished. Instead, they seemed to laugh and then they continued to accuse.
"She doesn't seem to be responding to the drugs, doctor," a feminine voice said.
"It's the after-effects of 'Dragon,'" a male voice replied. "Prepare a level three treatment. First, administer a sedative to help her relax."
"Yes doctor," the female voice replied.
A needle bit into her arm, and almost immediately, a darkness rolled over the haze…"
"No…" the woman moaned. "Don't….don't take my…mind…"
== * SM * ==
"And I raise my head and stare
into the eyes of a stranger.
I've always known that the mirror never lies."
Queensryche:
"Operation Mindcrime" 1988
"Eyes
of a Stranger"
"Stop right there!"
The monster turned from within the midst of the stacks of crates to stare at the five Sailors who had cornered her.
One of the young women stepped forward. "You put a spell on someone I love and sucked her into your sick dream world and I won't have it! I'm Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon, I shall punish you!"
"I will punish you in the name of the planet Venus!" Sailor Venus shouted.
The monster glared at Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Neptune as they made similar predictions of punishment on behalf of their patron planets.
"What do you want?" Nightmare asked. "How dare you disturb me. I've done nothing to you!"
"Oh, but you have," Sailor Moon growled. "You attacked my mother, and now you are going to undo what you have done."
"Not likely," the monster replied flatly.
Sailor Moon's cobalt-blue eyes flashed angrily. "To Hell with you," she growled. "You're going down…MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
Sailor Moon threw her tiara at the monster, who leapt out of the way. The tiara slammed into the crates behind where the monster had been, capsizing the stacks.
"Hey Sailor Moon," Jupiter said as she freed herself from the clutter. "Chill out. We'll nail this creep."
"Just attack it," came the angry response.
"Looks like you need some target practice," the monster taunted from the ceiling.
"Yeah, well catch this, " Mars said. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" A scorching fireball shot up toward the monster, who rolled out of the way. The fireball slammed into the ceiling and blasted a hole through the metal before exploding.
"Thanks for the door," Nightmare chortled as she dashed through the opening.
"Damn," Venus muttered. "Let's go after her!"
"Right!" Sailor Moon replied, her determination evident.
With a series of leaps and bounds, the Sailors scaled the crates to the ceiling, then jumped through the hole onto the roof.
As the Sailors jumped out onto the roof, they were met with a hail of energy bolts. Sailor Moon looked up to see a gloating Nightmare.
"I would have thought you'd know better than to fall into such an obvious trap," the monster sneered.
"Not…done…yet," Sailor Moon replied through the pain. "MOON STAFF!" A long wooden staff appeared in her hand. From her position sprawled on her back, Sailor Moon flipped the staff around and pointed it toward the villain.
"MOON ZERO MAGIC!" A disk of destructive magic appeared at the tip of the staff and floated outward towards the monster, who dove to the ground just in time to avoid being hit.
"Now!" Sailor Moon shouted.
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCRICLE!"
"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
"JUPITER THINDER CRASH!"
"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"
The Sailors had read Sailor Moon's eyes and knew where she wanted them to attack. The result was that Nightmare dodged Sailor Moon's attack by jumping directly into the others. A guttural scream was heard as the energy poured through her.
The attacks faded away, and the villain slowly stumbled to her feet. Sailor Moon stepped forward. "I don't like repeating myself," she said. "Release my mother. It's your last chance."
"Okay…" Nightmare said as she stood gasping for breath.
Just then, Amy's voice came over the Sailors' wrist communicators.
"We're too late. Neo-Queen Serenity has died."
== * SM
* ==
"I don't know what this means.
I leave it for your interpretation.
It's just me….at the edge…
Revenge….
Yeah revenge…
I'm revenge….
Revenge.
Queensryche:
"Q2K" 1999
"Liquid
Sky"
"We're too late. Neo-Queen Serenity has died."
"Time's up…" Sailor Moon said quietly as she started toward the villain whose eyes started to widen as she saw the approaching senshi.
"Oh Hell," Sailor Venus muttered as she rushed forward to try to stop her friend. The other Sailors realized what was happening also started forward.
Sailor Moon slammed through the monster's frantic attempts to protect herself with her arms. She lunged forward, grabbing the villain's neck and started squeezing and shaking.
"I…can…hel…p…" Nightmare struggled through the vise-like grip to say, but the stranglehold that Sailor Moon had on her tightened even more.
The other Sailors reached Sailor Moon and started trying to pull the two combatants apart. Mars and Jupiter tried shaking Sailor Moon, but succeeded only in shaking the monster more violently.
"Sailor Moon," Venus said sternly as she tried prying her friend's arms apart. "This is not right! It won't bring Neo-Queen Serenity back to us!"
Sailor Moon tightened her hold on the villain's neck as she felt the terrible sadness welling up within her. But the need for vengeance, for final justice won out over remorse.
Then it was over, and Nightmare was laying in a crumpled heap as a light rain began to fall.
"Is she…? Sailor Moon could not bear to complete the question.
Venus checked the body for vital signs. Looking up gravely at Sailor Moon, she nodded.
"Good…" Sailor Moon muttered as the tears welled up in her eyes and the flood of sadness conquered the flame of vengeance.
== * SM * ==
The Sailors and palace guards stood in a ring around the circular pool-like orifice that dominated the room. The liquid etherealness within the Timegate bubbled and boiled, the pale purple light mixed with the red lights of the Luna Foundation's red alert status lights.
Suddenly, a shadowy form appeared under the surface of the roiling substance, and the guards tensed on the triggers of their rifles. The Sailors stood ready to add their attacks to a stream of metal.
"Pluto!" Sailor Uranus shouted over her shoulder. "Any idea of who is coming?"
Sailor Pluto looked up form the nearby control panel. "The only thing I can be sure of is that whoever it is, they're from 30th Century Crystal Tokyo."
"Great," Sailor Mercury. "That only means it could be someone from the royal family, or the Darkmoon family."
Before anyone could answer, a head poked up out of the Timegate. As the guards and Sailors watched, a visitor from the future stepped into the room.
"I don't have time for this," the newcomer said with a scowl toward the nearby guards. "I came here to help my mom."
"I'm afraid you're too late," Sailor Uranus replied.
"Not according to the real Sailor Pluto," Rini said with a glance at Sailor Pluto who merely stared back at her. "She said I would be right on time."
TO BE CONTINUED
Fanfic ã2000 – 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: September 30, 2000
Release: 3rd Edition: February 11, 2001