10/2/01
Ack! It was brought to my attention that, after I had uploaded this chapter for the first time, I forgot to give credit where credit was due! So, to remedy this sever oversight, I shall do what I should have the first time. Jenn, many thanks for helping me with Sailor Moon's new powers. Couldn't have done it without you.
Episode 8! I know, I take too long to write. Anyway, this episode has been Muse-approved and it's ready for posting. I might re-do the other chapters to fit with Sailor Stars, now that I've seen it. It'll change a few things.
Basic disclaimer goes here. I don't own anything here except Prince Neptune, the Knowledge Ruby, the Caretakers, and the L'Tari.
Now, on with the fic! Enjoy!
Episode 8:
The Search for Revenge and Retribution
Sailor Moon watched the craft disappear out of sight. Once it did, a shiver ran through her body. She had never met someone who could be so imposing. As the others picked themselves up and dusted themselves off, she went to Tuxedo Kamen to see if he was all right.
"Usagi, I'm fine."
"No, you're not. You're hurt. And you are too, ChibiUsa." ChibiUsa was hurt, but not as badly as Usagi thought she was. ChibiUsa was mainly concerned about what she had just done. That new power. It was amazing. She could easily match one of the others for raw strength, now, with a little training, of course.
Sailor Venus had different things on her mind. Mainly, she was thinking of the General. He was the man from that Dream, and he certainly commanded a powerful force. She thought that that's what was represented by the giant ants in the Dream. It made sense. Ants are like soldiers, in a way. Just blindly following orders like all mindless creatures.
Her thoughts wandered a little astray when she considered the General, himself. He carried himself well, with an air of confidence and command that Minako quite liked. She shook her head fiercely, dispelling the thought. He was the enemy. She wasn't supposed to be attracted to him! Giving herself another shake, she went to see if the others were all right.
* * * * * * * * * * *
On his way back to the ship, General Parthos reflected on the 'meeting' he just had. A group of girls, and two guys, he admitted grudgingly, claimed that they had killed the very creature he had been sent to find. An enemy that had lain to waste an entire planet. The Caretakers had destroyed his home and killed his family. He only had his brother left.
Through his anger and remorse, he was able to refocus on his current problem. That blast of energy that the sensors had picked up had to have been something used to conceal the Caretaker. It had to be. But, who had done it? He refused to believe that girl had done anything, even though she seemed to have the support of that entire group.
There did seem to be something more to that one girl, the one in orange. She seemed to have some air of leadership or something about her. Perhaps she was the one that concealed the Caretaker. Yes, that was it. It had to be.
"General, we're on approach to the ship. Prepare for docking, please, sir."
He nodded and buckled himself in. He didn't even register the familiar bump and jostle of docking anymore; he had done this so often.
He strode through the decks of the ship, making a direct course for his quarters. As soon as he got there, he went to his desk and contacted Special Ops.
"Lieutenant Sunflare here. Can I help you, sir?" General Parthos regarded the individual for a moment. He seemed like a strong individual. He would do.
"Yes, you most certainly can."
A brief conversation followed. As Sunflare finished speaking with the general, he started making plans for his assignment.
* * * * * * * * * * *
As Makoto tossed an errant lock of brown hair away from her face, she looked around the fairly empty Fruit Parlor Crown. She had finished all of her homework and no one else was around. The only other person in the store, who didn't seem very bored at all, was Andrew. He always seemed to have something to do. She was wondering if he'd have anything to talk about, but then Minako showed up, thankfully. When Minako sat down, after she got her soda, Makoto started talking and showed no signs of slowing, either.
"So, John took me to this real nice restaurant and...Minako?" After about five minutes of non-stop narration, Makoto finally noticed Minako wasn't listening. "Are you OK? You seem a little distracted."
"It's nothing." Minako didn't even look up. She was staring into her drink, as if it held the answers she was looking for. Her blue eyes, usually crisp and fresh, seemed to be looking at something far away. "I'm just wondering if we should be fighting the new enemy."
"What?! Of course we should! It's our job to protect Usagi from all things evil-"
"That's what I mean!" interrupted Minako, "Is this General evil?"
"Of course, they're - wait. Did you mean the General, specifically?"
"Um," Minako blushed, "Well, I only picked him because we...uh...know more about him. If he's evil, then we can assume that the people he commands are evil, too."
There was something Makoto couldn't quite put her finger on, but something about Minako's response seemed odd. She noticed Minako looking at her, as if expecting something, and then she realized she hadn't answered yet.
"Oh, well, that makes sense. I think that he is. Why would he be trying to kill us, otherwise?"
"I suppose you're right." Minako looked out the window, lost in thought. What was this feeling? Was there something she was missing? For the first time ever, she thought that maybe her Dreams would tell her something.
"I think I'll sleep on it, Makoto. It's been nice talking to you." Minako got up and left, leaving Makoto with a puzzled look on her face.
"That girl's getting too ditzy, lately," she said to no one in particular. She laughed at the thought, "A little too much like Usagi."
"Talking to yourself? That's not healthy, you know." A good-natured barb from an equally good-natured voice came from behind her. She jumped and turned around in her seat.
"Andrew! Uh, no, of course not!" Trying to get attention off of herself, she held up her teacup. "Can I have a refill, please?"
* * * * * * * * * * *
Gene Sunflare looked at the great city through his sunglasses.
'Piece of crap little town.' he thought. 'They call this a city?' On his planet, the cities were much bigger and much more impressive. The only impressions this city had made on him were the ones he got from no fewer than half a dozen people running into him on their way to another part of this dismal city.
He looked at his palm-computer, again. It looked like one of those palm pilots these humans had, but this one was hundreds of times more powerful, and it looked better too. Twice, someone had tried to steal it from him. Both times, the would-be thieves ended up with broken fingers. Amateurs. He had been trained to deal with things a lot more threatening than some street punks.
He turned his little computer on and searched for the descriptions of the girls, for what seemed to be the millionth time. He had looked at so many people who fit these descriptions that he was starting to wonder if all of these humans looked alike. He also noticed that he looked nothing like your average human. Standing six feet tall, with a mop of brassy, red hair, and hard eyes, he certainly stood out in a crowd. His heavy muscled frame made him seem like he was carved from rock and the scars that decorated his tough skin made it seem like he was someone who would get into a fight without having to do much to start one. Another thing that separated him from the humans. They were all weak, yet he had specific instructions to be careful around the ones he was sent to capture. He sighed. It was just probably something to do with protocol.
All of a sudden, his computer beeped. Just once, but it was enough to let him know that one of his targets was close. Looking around, and trying not to seem like he was searching for something, he quickly spotted a young girl with long blonde hair, complete with a big red bow on top of her head.
He quickly checked his computer again and scratched his head. She didn't look like the girl described in the file, but that bow was unmistakable. He stood and followed, discretely.
He followed for what seemed to be hours. She went all over the city. She stopped at the grocery store to pick up what seemed to be pet food, for some sort of feline, he assumed, and a small bag of candy, for herself. Next, she stopped by a small shrine on top of a hill, obviously to see if someone was there. Whoever it was, she didn't find the person she was looking for, and she left. Finally, her last stop was her house. He watched her through the front windows from a perch in the tree in the yard.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The dark hallway had the feel of the dream world that Minako had grown accustomed to. Examining the exquisite skill in the construction and decoration of the hallway, not to mention that the whole thing was made from a resilient crystal, she concluded that this was the Palace in Crystal Tokyo.
She looked at her dress and admired the beautiful colors and the fine cut and material that spoke of money. She realized that it was quite formal, which was to be expected because a guest was attending a dinner with the Queen, King, and the rest of the Senshi. She had no idea how she knew this, but such was the way of dreams.
She glided down the hallway and opened the large doors to the dining room. A large table, wide enough to seat two people at one end, extended before her. Almost everyone was already seated.
Setsuna stood near the door, apparently, she had just arrived, as well. Minako talked with her as they went to their seats. At one end of the table, sat a massive chair, obviously for the guest of honor. Whoever it was meant for hadn't arrived yet, so it was empty. Next, Setsuna found her seat, across from Hotaru, who seemed to be about sixteen years old, now. Both Setsuna and Hotaru were dressed in dark colors. Minako was a little surprised to find Hotaru wearing a dress that would fit a more mature girl, but then again, Hotaru was older in this dream.
Next to them were Haruka and Michiru. Haruka was wearing a cream-colored suit and Michiru had a sea-green dress on, with earrings and a necklace to match Haruka's suit. Haruka, similarly, had a blue-green rose stuck in her lapel.
Makoto was sitting next to Michiru and across from a vacant chair. Makoto's husband still hadn't shown up and Makoto wasn't too happy about it, either. Minako found her chair next to the vacant one and across from Rei, who was wearing a beautiful red dress, embroidered with serpentine creatures, done in black thread, all the way down her garment.
Minako sat in her chair and looked to her right, down the rest of the table. Directly next to her, she found Jeff, dressed in a dark blue tuxedo, like usual, with spots all along the right side, which was very odd. Minako blinked at that. Jeff usually took pride in his appearance, so why would there be spots on his clothes? Her question was answered when she was who was sitting next to him. A small girl, about two, was being particularly fussy about her food. (The children at the table, being impatient as children often are, were served already.) Another swing of her little hands brought a loud 'splat', and a few new spots on the jacket of Jeff's tux.
Minako heard some light laughter come from the person seated across from Jeff. Ami was watching him try to feed their little girl. She didn't think it was that funny when the little boy seated next to her, about the same age as the girl, tugged at her sleeve and whined about not having a roll to nibble at. Minako picked up the basket of rolls and handed it to Ami.
'They'll make wonderful parents,' she thought.
Further down the table, she saw the King and Queen seated side by side at the far end of the massive table. Small Lady was seated around the corner from her father, and she was happily eating her dinner while her parents, who seemed to be conversing, were just enjoying each other's company, stealing a kiss, here and there.
Minako noticed that Makoto's husband had finally arrived and he was getting the rough side of Makoto's tongue for it, too. While poor John was trying to defend himself against Makoto's verbal onslaught, the massive doors to the dining room opened again to admit the guest of honor.
Horror filled Minako as she was who the new arrival was. There was no mistaking the overwhelming size, the confidence in his stride, or the arrogant smile on his face. General Parthos. Minako rose quickly, almost knocking her chair over. She was ready to defend herself, and the Queen, at any time. She saw the other Senshi rise, as well, but not to defend, as she was ready to do.
The Outers, nearest him, stood to greet him! Setsuna and Michiru gave him a warm hug, like one would give a close friend, and Haruka gave him a firm handshake. General Parthos reached down to ruffle Hotaru's hair, which she was little embarrassed about.
"I'm not a little girl, anymore, General!" she told him.
"General?" he laughed, "We are not in public. Call me Parthos."
She was dumbfounded. Her friends were greeting an enemy like a close friend! She was in for a bigger surprise when he came to greet her. His stride changed, as did his expression and his posture. They all seemed more relaxed, but more excited at the same time, too. It was as if he was trying to impress her.
Swaggering up to her, he took her hand in his. "Such a pleasure to see you again, Senshi Venus." The smile that spread across his face was warm and more than just friendly. Minako could feel only revulsion.
As he bent to kiss the back of her hand, she fled the dream, back to the safety of her own bed, and she hoped that, just this once, the dream had been wrong.
* * * * * * * * * * *
One ring...two rings...thr - Finally! She picked up!
"Hi, Usagi!" Minako said loudly into the receiver. "How's it going?"
"Ow. Minako, don't talk so loud. The phone isn't exactly across the room."
"Oh, sorry, Usagi."
"It's OK." Usagi sounded a little relieved. She thought that Minako might have continued talking that way if she didn't stop her. "So, what's up?"
"Well, I'm a little freaked out, actually. I was just going around town doing a few errands after I saw Makoto at the Crown..." Minako trailed off.
"Minako? Hello? Are you still there?"
Minako forgot about the phone in her hand. She just happened to look out her window and she was a man in the tree in the front yard. He was staring at her.
Sunflare was a little chagrinned. He thought he was concealed pretty well. Apparently not. One thing did brighten his spirits, though. The boring, observing part of the mission was over. Time for the next, more exciting part.
Leaping from the branch he was resting on, he flew through the air, and Minako's front window. Just before he landed on the carpet, he tucked himself into a ball and rolled towards Minako. She tried to back up, but he was quick. As he came to the end of the roll, he uncurled, stood, and threw his arm around her, pinning her arms to her side, causing her to drop the phone.
"Usagi!!! Help!!!" Minako screamed. She hoped that Usagi could hear her.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Over across town, Usagi did hear Minako's cry for help. Putting the phone on it's hook, she bolted for the door.
"I have to help her." she said as she ran out the door towards Minako's place.
Luna and Diana stared after her. "She didn't think to call the others, did she?" Luna said to her daughter. Walking across the bed to a small device made especially for her, Luna contacted Rei.
"Oh, hi, Luna. Is there something wrong?"
"Yes, there is Rei. Contact the others and use your communicators to track Minako. She is in trouble."
"Right, Luna!" Rei closed the channel and Luna sighed. Luna and Diana felt so helpless, not being able to do anything. They just hoped Minako and Artemis were all right.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Minako felt powerless. The man had an iron grip.
"You're coming with me, girl," he said. His voice sent chills throughout her body. It was so devoid of emotion, so cold. It made her scream in terror. This was truly a nightmare.
Her fingers tried to find their way into her pocket for her henshin stick, but they felt clumsy and thick, and as a result, she dropped it. She thought she was doomed. The big, strong man was pulling her towards the door. Thank god for the white ball of fur that flew by her face at the last minute.
Artemis to the rescue! The feline had latched himself onto the stranger's face, clawing him relentlessly. As the stranger dealt with Artemis, Minako dove for her henshin stick.
"Venus Crystal Power!"
The intruder finally got Artemis off of his face, and saw the tail end of Minako's transformation.
'Well, she fits the description, now,' he thought. 'I still have to get her back to the general.'
He moved to grab her again, but this time, she was ready for it.
"Venus Love Chain Encircle!" Gene found his arms bound to his torso by a bizarre chain that seemed to be made of little interlinked hearts. He flexed once to see if he could break free. The chain came apart like so much frayed twine.
Sailor Venus recoiled, partly due to the lack on tension in the chain, but mostly due to shock. That was supposed to work! How could it not?! Her disbelief gave Sunflare enough time to collect himself and prepare for another attack. He had enough of this little brat. He didn't care if the General wanted her back in one piece; he was going to kill her. He drew a particularly wicked looking blaster from his holster and leveled it at Sailor Venus.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Before he could aim properly and fire, a ball of electric energy flew by and knocked the blaster out of his hand. He gingerly cradled his hand and looked up to where the blast had come from.
Standing on the top of a small hill, so they were silhouetted by the setting sun, Sailor Jupiter was recovering from her attack and the Sailor Senshi were getting ready for one of their own, but not before Sailor Moon delivered her little speech.
Sailor Moon launched into the now-familiar speech, but before she could belt out the first sentence, Sunflare took this as an opportunity and attacked. Prince Neptune and Tuxedo Kamen intercepted him before he could get to the Princess. They worked in tandem, one distracting Sunflare while the other came in from behind. The tactics seem to work well for a while, but after a few minutes, Sunflare caught on and was handling the two of them easily.
He began fighting defensively, leading the two knights to where he could strike at them easily. Once he found the opening he was looking for, he attacked with ruthless efficiency. The surprise on Mamoru and Jeff's faces was obvious. They didn't think that he would be this strong!
'Fools.' thought Sunflare, 'First rule of combat: Never underestimate your opponent.'
A quick blow to the head spun Prince Neptune around and put him on the ground. A foot to the stomach made Tuxedo Kamen double over. Sunflare brought his knee up and knocked him out cold.
He didn't waste any time in attacking the girls. The two with shocked looks on their faces, the one with blue hair and the one with the odangos, didn't seem to be a big threat. They had emotions to deal with first.
'Emotions just get in the way,' thought Sunflare.
The tall one with the short, dusty blonde hair was in his face all of a sudden. She was so fast, it seemed as if she was riding the wind. Obviously, she had been watching the two guys fighting, and learned from their mistakes. She didn't give him any obvious openings, well, not physically, anyway. When they had appeared on the small hill, he noticed the way that she had stood closer to one Senshi than any of the others. She must be a close friend, or something.
Pivoting on one foot, away from the blonde's fist, he pointed himself at the aqua-haired Senshi and launched himself at her. She obviously wasn't expecting this, and neither was the blonde. He hit her square in the stomach and, when the blonde was still in shock, he kicked her in the jaw, sending both Senshi sprawling.
His next target, being the closest to him, was a small girl with dark hair and big eyes. He hesitated. He couldn't bring himself to hit a child! The hesitation cost him. A crack across the shoulders from Sailor Pluto's Time Staff sent him to the ground. He rolled just in time to avoid a stab from another weapon, the glaive that the child was holding. Maybe he could hit a child...
Aiming his arm at her, he used one of his last weapons, a small, wrist mounted, net launcher, her caught her and took her out of the fight without hurting her, a preferable situation in his book. The other one was a different story.
Sunflare drew a knife from his belt and threw it at Sailor Pluto. She deflected it with her staff easily enough, but that took her attention away from Sunflare, which was all he needed. He swung his foot around, knocking her legs out from under her, and while she was falling, he caught her in the head with his forearm.
He did a quick check. Four Senshi and two Knights down, and five Senshi to go. He chose the tall one in green as his next target, simply because she was the only one that was able to hit him. That, and she was still standing. He was dimly aware of some of the others recovering, so he knew he had little time.
This girl was not as skilled as the others had been, but she had spirit. He admired the force she possessed and the passion she fought with. It wasn't enough to help her, though. His expertise in this area, combined with years of military experience, overpowered her. Another Senshi down.
All of a sudden, he noticed that he was on the ground with an intense pain in his shoulder and down his right arm. Blinking away the pain, he noticed the other little girl, the one all in pink, with a satisfied look on her face. Apparently, he had underestimated her.
"Woohoo!" she was shouting, "I love my ribbons!" Sunflare had no idea what she was talking about, but those ribbons must be what was responsible for his injury. He forced himself upright and faced the remaining Senshi.
He barely had time to dodge before the attacks from two of the Senshi collided where he had just been standing. A conflagration of Fire and Ice made quite an explosion and threw everyone back. Since Sunflare had been going that way, anyway, he had the easiest landing. Everyone else landed hard on the ground. Sunflare saw this as an amzing opportunity.
She walked over to the little one, the one in pink, and pulled out a wicked looking dagger from his belt.
"This is for that whatever-you-did, little girl." he said, as he raised the dagger high.
"NO!" yelled Sailor Moon, "Stop it!" She held the Silver Crystal high.
As the light from the Crystal washed over him, Sunflare noticed that he felt he best he had in years. He wondered why that was so. If this was a weapon, it was an incredibly stupid one. He leapt at Sailor Moon.
For Sailor Moon, this was all surreal.
'The Crystal didn't work?' she thought, 'How is this possible?' She saw her friends getting up, all bruised and bleeding. 'Isn't it supposed to destroy him?' She saw Sunflare come straight toward her.
'I wish there was a way...' she thought, closing her eyes. She clutched the brooch at her chest, as if it would give her strength.
In a flash of silvery light, something appeared in front of her. A sword, thin and curved, with a jeweled scabbard. She took a hold of it. Another bright flash, and she found that she was clothed in pure white. Still a Sailor Fuku, but all in white, and much more simple than anything she had ever worn before.
"I am Celestial," she said. Sunflare stepped back in shock. The report didn't say anything about this! Sailor Moon drew the rapier.
"Silver Crescent Flash!" A bright aura of energy flared up around her and she was lifted up off the ground in an almost angelic manner. She brought the sword down and a silver arc of energy flew outward and struck Sunflare in the chest. He was thrown backwards, into a tree. As he fell to the ground, he thought, 'How could this happen? I'm so scared...'
* * * * * * * * * * *
The Senshi were, more or less, on their feet - Hotaru had to be helped out of the net - and they all crowded around Sailor Moon. Prince Neptune wanted to make sure she was all right, Sailor Mercury was more interested in that new attack she performed, Sailor Venus wanted to thank her for saving her life, and the others all wanted other things.
Hanging back, as usual, were Uranus and Neptune.
"Our little meatball head did well, didn't she?" said Uranus.
"Yes, she did," said Neptune, "And stop calling her that! You know she doesn't like it."
Uranus chuckled, "I know. Hey," she looked past Neptune, "What is that?" The other Senshi turned around to see what Haruka was pointing at. Sunflare was still there.
"Hey, isn't he supposed to disappear, or something?" asked ChibiMoon.
"I don't know." said Mercury, "Sailor Moon did use a different attack, so maybe not."
Celestial Sailor Moon pushed through her friends and went over to Sunflare. She had to be sure. She knelt down beside him and looked into his eyes. To her surprise, he looked back. She saw so much pain, too much to bear, but underneath that, she saw something else. He was frightened. Frightened out of his mind. She was surprised that he wasn't screaming in terror.
"I'm..." Sunflare tried to speak. He sounded more confused than anything else, but the confusion was accompanied by the fear, as well. It came out in broken sentences, "I'm...going...to die." With that, the light went out of his eyes, and he passed away.
"Usagi?" the voice came from behind her, "Are you OK?" Usagi turned her head to see Tuxedo Kamen standing over her. He blinked when he saw the look in her eyes.
"I killed him," she said, simply.
"We know, darling. You were supposed to."
"No, you don't understand," she said.
"Well," said Sailor Mars, "Then why don't you tell us?"
"I killed him." Sailor Moon wiped at her eyes, "the other monsters we faced were destroyed, or even cleansed. They were evil," She wiped at her face again. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "He wasn't. He wasn't cleansed, he wasn't supposed to be destroyed, he wasn't even evil! I killed him!" She was crying all-out, now and clutching Tuxedo Kamen.
"Usagi," said Sailor Jupiter, "You had to..."
"No, I didn't, Makoto!" Sailor Moon cut her off, "I didn't! I didn't..." She started crying too hard to talk. The others exchanged glances and decided, through some act of body language, that it was time to go.
Ami stood up from where she was examining the body and closed her computer. She didn't think it would be very productive if she shared her results with anyone. Sunflare was human. She found no trace of negative energy in his body. Usagi spoke the truth. Ami decided that she could tell the others later.
Haruka and Michiru looked at each other.
"She can't fight like this," said Michiru.
"We have our work cut out for us," said Haruka. "C'Mon, lets go home."
AN: I noticed I didn't write as much in this episode. But, I got my point across, which is all that counts. Any questions? E-Mail me at neptune72482@yahoo.com
