S.I.U. - The Sailor Investigation Unit
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page)
Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi
Sailormoon are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Bandai and Kodansya. All
other characters were thought up by me. Well, its true, isn't it?
^_^
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Pagan ran.
It was pathetically easy to do in his wolven form. Not that
he had the option of which way he was going to run.... Wherever he
could see a clear bit of ground looked good.
A momentary glance behind him proved his worst fears. Sherrie
wasn't there, and yet his lycanthropically enhanced senses could
SMELL her presence. Good thing he WAS a lycanthrope. It certainly
set him apart from some of the more ordinary members of their little
community, and more than once got him out of a tight spot.... Like
being stuck in a warehouse with someone who was next to invisible
and wanted him for dinner.
He'd thought about using his transport powers, but the energy
he'd already expended on getting here had been enough to come close
to draining him. There were limits to the usage of such powers, and
their effects on the human body were similar to fatigue. Continue
to push yourself in either a physical or magical sense, and the body
eventually pegs out on you.
Old Akizuki taught him that. But then, Akizuki was a Kyubi
Kitsune.... A breed destined for a long life. He wished he had
Akizuki's talent for survival, because it looked like he'd be lucky
to get out of this alive.
He raced around a large shed to come face to face with a
wharf.... Hemmed in, dammit! He looked to his left, but was afraid
she may have already covered that escape, since it generally lead
back to the warehouse. To his right, the wharf came to a dead end
where the shed jutted out, leading to the loading cranes.
He cursed and looked back. He still couldn't see her. Even
under normal circumstances, a bean sidhe should be intrinsically
visible. The powers of the bean sidhe were based on sonic spiritual
projection.... Capable of projecting their physical self across
an empty space with the use of soundwaves, and invisible to the
naked eye. But when not using their powers, they should still be
able to be seen....
A shockwave struck him. A pure sonic screech with the
momentum of a light truck. Dazed, he found himself landing within
the waters of the docking canal, which was enough to shake him back
into a human form. He rose to the surface for a second, peering out
of the murky water with a nervous glance.
There was something, standing near the dock.... A vague
outline... A figure of... something. He'd never actually seen a
bean sidhe in its natural form, before. Nobody had. Nobody alive,
anyway. It had been a few hundred years since the last known
sighting.
And then he saw THOSE eyes, and was down into the depths of
the water in a flash, swimming for the other side.
The water was no shelter.
----o
Part Thirteen
Deep Black
----o
Lysithea sighed. "I saw what they did to your friend, turning
her against you like that. Now she is in their hands, and may face
the same fate as your other friend."
"What other friend?" Usagi frowned. He blinked at her.
"You don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"Your friend, Kino Makoto... You visited her apartment this
morning...."
"Mako-chan?!?" Usagi stepped forward. "What has happened to
her? Tell me!" She looked into his face with pleading eyes. He
couldn't help but feel an empathy for her, surprising himself.
"She.... The body of a Sailorsenshi was found in a motel on
the outskirts of Tokyo very late last night. The news has been
sweeping through our... community, but has been kept from the media
and the general public...."
"No..." Usagi's face started to screw up, tears forming in
her eyes. "No, that's not possible! I would have felt something.
I'm linked to them all.... I would have known...."
He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Sailormoon, this isn't
the time for tears. Another one of your friends is now in danger.
Only I know where they have taken her. I know their ways, and the
layout of their headquarters. If we are quick, then we shall be
able to rescue her from a fate worse than death. but I need your
power to get in, and most of all, your trust." He put a hand under
her chin and lifted her face to his gaze. "Are you willing to give
me that trust?"
Usagi snapped away from him, turning around and looking out
from the rotunda, into the rain-misted park. The gloom of their
surroundings did nothing for her state.
Mako-chan.... Thoughts of her friend filled her mind. The
day they first met. The experiences they had shared. And yet....
How could she be dead? She didn't know whether or not she could
trust this strange caucasian....
"Why are you so keen to help me? I mean, really, this is not
just a matter of ideology, is it?"
Lysithea looked at her, blinking. She had not turned to face
him whilst asking this, so he was denied reading her expression.
"There is someone within the House I want to see. Someone who
matters a great deal to me, who has fallen into the trap of their
deceit."
"You will help me rescue my friend from these people, in
return for rescuing your own friend?"
"Not so much rescue. I merely wish to see her. If you help
me achieve this, I will help you."
Usagi pondered this for a few moments. "I was warned, by...
Another of our number, about your group. She said you were our
enemy. And yet you say you are working separately from them because
there are elements within that you don't trust." She paused. "I do
not trust you...."
"I expected nothing else, but..."
"I'm not finished yet." She snapped. "If you do know where
they have taken her, then I shall follow you that far. For all I
know, you could help rescue her and then hand the both of us over to
the Coven."
Lysithea shook his head. "I promise you this much, I shan't
allow you to fall into the hands of either the Coven or the House."
He chuckled mirthlessly. "Do you think I've wanted to be trapped
all these years within a group such as the Coven? And do you think
I enjoy the idea of allowing this to happen to anyone else?"
"You can make all the promises you want. I don't know what
the Coven is like, unlike your good self, but I value my freedom,
and that of my friends, over ideological goals."
"You and your senshi friends represent a form of ideology.
You would not have stood against a group like the Black Moon Family,
otherwise."
"How do you know about them?" Usagi turned on him. Her face
was tear-stained, hey eyes bloodshot. She was just barely holding
back her emotions.
"I...." He felt the power of her command. What kind of power
did this girl contain that made him subject to her will? "I was
part of the Coven's team, to infiltrate the Black Moon Family when
it made its presence felt. That was when I gathered all the
information I could about you. All the information they had, of
course, which was a great deal more than you think."
"The Black Moon Family was nothing more than a ragtag group.
A powerful one, but ragtag all the same. They had no REAL
organisation other than what we fought, cleansed or defeated."
Lysithea chuckled. "Oh, I think you'd be very surprised, just
what kind of bureaucracy they had set up within Tokyo at the time.
They were very nearly close to exposing your identities to us all.
But you dealt with them in time." He shrugged. "Once the family
itself fell, their underlings destroyed everything and scattered to
the four winds. Well, not everything."
Usagi leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Why have you
been keeping this information to yourself? Why have you never
contacted us before?"
"I saw no need to either divulge what I had discovered or make
my presence known to you. As you say, one of your number already
knew of the existence of the Coven. This was Sailorpluto, was it
not?" Usagi said nothing. He continued. "Whatever the case, she
would have known of our existence. From your reactions, I take it
she has only told you about it of recent?"
Usagi shook her head, lowering it and opening her eyes.
"Look, let's get it over and done with, alright? The longer we
wait, the more likely Mina-chan will...." She swallowed, trying to
hold back a sob. Lysithea nodded and held out a hand to her. She
looked at the hand for a few moments, and took it.
"PRINCESS! DON'T!" Usagi turned to her right. Standing in
the rain, a short distance from the rotunda, were Setsuna and
Hotaru. Before she could say anything, however, a light surrounded
both her and Lysithea, and they disappeared from sight.
Setsuna charged up to the rotunda, tripping over the step at
the entrance, and fell to her hands and knees. She gritted her
teeth and pounded the floor.
"Princess no BAKA! Why did you have to go and do THAT?" She
pounded her fists so hard into the cement that Hotaru thought she
was going to hurt herself.
"Setsuna...." Hotaru stood up into the rotunda and stared
down at the Guardian of Time. It was the first occasion she'd ever
seen Setsuna throw a tantrum.
"I go to every effort to protect her, and what does she do?
Make a pact with the devil! Why do I bother, sometimes? I just
can't protect her if she is going to do this sort of thing...."
Hotaru groaned. "Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You
and I both know where that guy has taken her. Why don't we follow
suit?"
Setsuna turned to her, sitting up on her knees. "We don't
have the luxury of performing elaborate rescue operations. The
other senshi HAVE to be rounded up, at the very least so we know
they are safe."
"Well, we sure as hell know that Venus isn't safe. And maybe
Jupiter, as well." Hotaru shook her head. "And now the Princess,
too. We're doing just a GREAT job, I must say."
"Have you got a better plan?" Setsuna now got to her feet and
looked down at Hotaru. Hotaru wasn't intimidated by Setsuna's
taller physical presence.
"Yes. As I said, we know where that guy has taken Usagi. We
should follow them."
"Wrong." Setsuna waved a finger in front of Hotaru's face.
"I shall follow them. You shall find the remaining senshi. I take
it you are up to this task?" Setsuna sneered.
"You supercilious little.... It's a good thing I'm not the
violent type. You'd be on the ground about now." Hotaru held a
fist up to Setsuna's face. Seeing she had overstepped the mark,
Setsuna regained her composure and held her hands up in a calming
gesture.
"We're both allowing ourselves to be overcome by the stress of
this situation. You are right, the Princess must be saved. We
shall go with my plan. It is the only way." Hotaru put the fist
down and nodded.
"I shall check the Hikawa shrine. Rei may have made an
appearance. As for Haruka and Michiru.... Well, one can only hope
they have returned home. I can't begin to think where they have
found themselves."
----o
Ami had grown tired of arguing with the damned woman. All
this Kikotsuka Aoi seemed to want was to keep her from the hands of
the Major Crime department.
"....The girl came to give herself up! We're going to HAVE to
take a statement from her, sooner rather than later, that's basic
procedure!"
"And you know, very well Kaji, what will happen once the
Majors take over. She'll be run through the system, and we'll never
have an opportunity to question her per the identities of the other
Sailorsenshi."
"Damn the identities of the other Sailorsenshi, Aoi-san....
What crime is more important in this situation? Their vigilantism
or the murder of one of their number?"
Ami had sat back down in the seat that Aoi had put her in,
earlier. She was feeling more than a little tired. She hadn't had
any sleep for two nights, now. And after the emotions of wondering
whether she should go to the police or not, and the trauma of
actually walking through their doors and spilling everything....
Only to have this happen.... She just didn't know whether she could
take any more.
The Kikotsuka woman was fighting with the other SIU officer,
Akunatsuka Kaji, whilst the forensics officer, Honeaki, stood back,
trying to appear removed from it all. Ami marvelled at the
professionalism of the police department.
"What you've already done, Aoi.... It just about breaks every
rule in the book. You're witholding evidence, for a start."
"What evidence? All you have to do is listen to her story.
You'll soon see she is covering for someone. Her mother, most
likely."
Kaji put up his hands. "Very well, very well. I understand
why you did what you did. I know Katarin and Shimazaki are on your
case. But a statement shall have to be taken before we can proceed,
either way."
Aoi sighed and nodded. Ami closed her eyes. It seemed the
woman was, at last, coming to her senses.
And then she felt hands wrap around her head, covering her
mouth. From behind.... Which should have been impossible, since
there had been a wall behind her. Her eyes shot open and she tried
to pull away, only to find herself being pulled back.... She let
out a small, muffled cry.
"Kami's shit!" Honeaki stood forward and pointed between Kaji
and Aoi at Ami. They turned to see Ami being dragged through the
wall by a pair of phantom-like arms.
"What the hell...." Kaji said in a squeak that was almost
comical. Aoi, without even thinking, ran forward just as Ami's
legs started their way through, and grabbed her feet.
She pulled hard, trying to wrestle the girl back through the
wall, half turning to Kaji and Honeaki.
"For Kami's sake, help me!" She shrieked. Kaji ran forward
and grabbed Ami's calves, and the pair slowly dragged the girl back.
They could hear her cries as her head reappeared. Whoever had hold
of her had her by the arms, and was pretty damn strong to be putting
up a fight against the pair of them....
Then sparkles of energy ran along Ami's body, and the girl
cried out in pain, matched by both Kaji and Aoi when the energy
struck them. They fell back, and Ami vanished through the wall
faster than it took the pair of them to hit the floor.
Aoi was up first, her face an angry mask. Honeaki knelt down
to them both.
"Are you alright?" He picked up Kaji, whose eyes were
spinning in delirium.
"Damn straight I'm NOT alright!" Aoi got to her feet and ran
over to the office door, throwing it open. She stared into the
corridor beyond, which was empty. Shaking her head, she looked back
at the wall Ami disappeared through, and saw that it backed onto the
stairwell at the end of the corridor.
Without thinking, Aoi raced out of the office and up to the
stairwell door. Tentatively, she opened the door and peered in.
She could see Ami, unconcious within the arms of some spectral
figure, being carted down through the stairs. Without thinking, Aoi
threw the door open.
"STOP!" She shouted in the most commanding voice she could
muster. The figure reeled and collapsed with Ami on the next flight
down. Aoi ran to the first flight and looked down at the
prospective kidnapper, and was mildly surprised.
A young woman, perhaps not that much older than Ami herself,
with medium length platinum-blond hair, very pale skin, wearing a
very plain white dress, picked herself up from the base of the
flight and glowered at Aoi.
"That was mean, doing that to me."
"I'm mean? What about what you're doing? What you DID?" Aoi
began to make her way down the stairs. "Where are you going with
that girl?"
"For me to know and you to find out!" The young woman gripped
Ami by the front of her shirt and literally hauled her up and into
her arms. The young woman then faded back into a spectral figure
and floated through the outer wall.
Aoi growled and ran back up the stairs, back through the door
and into the office. Honeaki had managed to bring Kaji round and
the pair watched as the determined woman made her way to the office
window.
"Wait, Kiko-san.... What are you going to...?" Honeaki
didn't have time to finish his question as she unlocked the window's
bolts and threw it open, climbing up onto the ledge, Kaji got to
his feet.
"AOI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
"She's not getting away WITH MY SAILORSENSHI!!!!"
And before the pair of them could do anything about it, Aoi
leapt from the window with a cry, several storeys above the ground,
and latched onto the legs of a passing Ami, still unconcious through
all of this. The figure of the young woman, that was carrying her,
turned to Aoi.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Give her back to me! She's MINE!"
"Are you CRAZY? I can't carry the both of you. You'll kill
us all!" The figure began to throw herself around, trying to shake
Aoi from her grip. It was to no avail, as Aoi crawled her way up
Ami's legs and began to swing a fist at the figure's face, also to
no avail.
"You stupid woman! Let go!"
"Give her back, bitch. She's MY sailorsenshi."
Kaji and Honeaki watched with disbelief as Aoi continued to
swing and punch at the near-invisible figure, whilst holding onto
Ami like a limpet as they thrashed about in mid-air. Something,
eventually had to give.
"LET GO!" The figure tried sending arcs of energy through
Ami once more. This only proceeded to make Aoi even angrier. The
woman's eyes lit up.
"GIVE HER BACK TO ME!" She took an almighty swing at the
figure's face, and.... collected! Very solidly, in fact. The
figure flashed into solidity and let out a dazed groan. Then the
three of them headed for the ground.
"AOI!" Kaji reached out of the window helplessly as the three
plummeted. And then another thing happened that he didn't expect...
They suddenly shot off sideways, at a great rate of knots. "AOI!"
Kaji cried out.
"KAJI! HELP ME!" Aoi reached back as the trio disappeared
behind a neighbouring building. Kaji slammed his fist into the
window ledge, turning to Honeaki.
"I'm going after them. You stay here in case they return."
"How? Are you going to leap out of the window, too?"
"BAKA!" Kaji bapped him one over the head and ran from the
office.
----o
"Well, we know she's not here, for one thing." Rumiko peered
into the warehouse, sniffing. "But she was, at one stage. Strange
smell, too."
"Gone...." Keiko began to pace on her feet, looking
impatient. "Bad."
"Yes, this is VERY bad. In fact, a real bummer of a
situation." Rumiko turned to Keiko. She was here not that long
ago. I do wish Carey would hurry up and get that recovery team here
on the double. This could get very messy."
"Angel..." Keiko turned away from Rumiko, shaking her hands
tensely, staring at the sky with a grimace on her face. Rumiko
watched her and shook her head. She wasn't just afraid for Sherrie.
In cases like this, she had serious concerns about whether Keiko had
the ability to take care of herself.
She sighed and turned away from the warehouse door, stepping
up alongside Keiko, taking the girl by the arm. "It's okay, Keiko-
chan. We'll find Sherrie."
"Find." Keiko turned to her, still looking away. Rumiko
smiled.
"Yes, we will find her. One way or another."
"Man." Rumiko blinked, not quite understanding what Keiko
meant by that. Then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck
stand up and she turned, looking up at the portion of the warehouse
roof above them. All she could see was a large figure flying down
towards them before she jumped, taking Keiko with her.
The pair landed some small distance away, sprawled on the
ground. Keiko let out a little gasp of protest as Rumiko quickly
got to her feet, spinning around in a crouched position, staring at
the figure who had landed in the spot they had been standing. She
could feel the shockwave of air that rushed past, emanating from
the vast bulk of the newcomer. Slowly, he looked up at them,
smiling.
"Hello, Sacred House girls." The sumo wrestler smiled.
"Watanabe Nobuhiro!" Rumiko spat his name. "So, I was right.
This was a trap set up by your good friend, Lacey...."
"Should have listened to your intuition, neechan." He
chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "We can't have you hurting or
nabbing our partner, now can we?"
"As it so happens, your partner is the furthest thing from our
minds." She slowly got to her feet, Keiko following suit.
"Not that there is much in the mind of your friend, there.
Damn retarded bitch that she is."
"What did you call her!?!" Rumiko was enraged.
"Woman." Keiko looked up at the roof of the warehouse, where
she could see another figure. For a second, Rumiko glanced at the
figure, giving Nobuhiro his opportunity to charge them.
Rumiko put up her hands, intent on creating a shield, but she
was too slow. Nobuhiro plowed into her, knocking her back at least
twenty feet. She collapsed onto the ground, dazed. Nobuhiro then
swung on Keiko and grabbed the girl by the collar of her coat. He
lifted the girl off the ground and pulled his other fist back,
intending to pound her senseless, when he felt an itch within his
head.
Then Keiko screamed and he let her go, clutching his skull.
"Argh! Get her out! Get her out of my HEAD!" Nobuhiro staggered
back and fell to his knees as Keiko rose from the ground, her body
surrounded by a glow of energy.
"Nobuhiro!" Said the figure from above. The blond-haired
young woman leapt from the roof and landed gracefully on the ground.
Slowly, she stood and snapped her hands in front of her face,
holding her forefingers up to her nose, and began to chant. An
energy field surrounded her as Rumiko got to her feet.
"Michelle Fitchner! Keiko, look out!" Rumiko charged
forward, red sparkles of energy dancing around her hands as Michelle
finished her chant.
"ENERGY FORMATION!" Michelle cried out at the top of her
voice, and pure beams of energy crackled between her and Keiko,
stopped by Rumiko as she slid between them, forming a shield at that
moment. The beams flew off at random, striking the warehouse and
other buildings.
Michelle looked up and let out a cry as portions of the
warehouse toppled towards her. She jumped clear of them just in
time. Rumiko used this opportunity to grab Keiko by the arm.
"Come on! Run for it!"
"Run." Keiko said simply, and dropped her attack on Nobuhiro,
who continued to moan on the ground, holding his head with his
hands. Both Rumiko and Keiko ran across the yard, trying to put as
much space between them and the Coven duo.
Michelle got to her feet and watched them go, shaking her
head. She then ran over to Nobuhiro's side.
"Nobuhiro-san... Are you okay?"
"I'll... I'll be alright."
"You shouldn't have tried Yokuro on like that. You know she
has weirdling powers." Michelle helped Nobuhiro to his feet.
"I should have layed her down first rather than the Tani girl.
I wasn't thinking at the time."
"No matter. We know they're here now, and we know they're
after Pagan."
Nobuhiro punched a fist into his other hand. "Then we can
kill three birds with one stone." He smiled.
END OF PART 13
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DDFA ayanami@internode.on.net
11th Apr 1998
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page)
Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi
Sailormoon are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Bandai and Kodansya. All
other characters were thought up by me. Well, its true, isn't it?
^_^
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Pagan ran.
It was pathetically easy to do in his wolven form. Not that
he had the option of which way he was going to run.... Wherever he
could see a clear bit of ground looked good.
A momentary glance behind him proved his worst fears. Sherrie
wasn't there, and yet his lycanthropically enhanced senses could
SMELL her presence. Good thing he WAS a lycanthrope. It certainly
set him apart from some of the more ordinary members of their little
community, and more than once got him out of a tight spot.... Like
being stuck in a warehouse with someone who was next to invisible
and wanted him for dinner.
He'd thought about using his transport powers, but the energy
he'd already expended on getting here had been enough to come close
to draining him. There were limits to the usage of such powers, and
their effects on the human body were similar to fatigue. Continue
to push yourself in either a physical or magical sense, and the body
eventually pegs out on you.
Old Akizuki taught him that. But then, Akizuki was a Kyubi
Kitsune.... A breed destined for a long life. He wished he had
Akizuki's talent for survival, because it looked like he'd be lucky
to get out of this alive.
He raced around a large shed to come face to face with a
wharf.... Hemmed in, dammit! He looked to his left, but was afraid
she may have already covered that escape, since it generally lead
back to the warehouse. To his right, the wharf came to a dead end
where the shed jutted out, leading to the loading cranes.
He cursed and looked back. He still couldn't see her. Even
under normal circumstances, a bean sidhe should be intrinsically
visible. The powers of the bean sidhe were based on sonic spiritual
projection.... Capable of projecting their physical self across
an empty space with the use of soundwaves, and invisible to the
naked eye. But when not using their powers, they should still be
able to be seen....
A shockwave struck him. A pure sonic screech with the
momentum of a light truck. Dazed, he found himself landing within
the waters of the docking canal, which was enough to shake him back
into a human form. He rose to the surface for a second, peering out
of the murky water with a nervous glance.
There was something, standing near the dock.... A vague
outline... A figure of... something. He'd never actually seen a
bean sidhe in its natural form, before. Nobody had. Nobody alive,
anyway. It had been a few hundred years since the last known
sighting.
And then he saw THOSE eyes, and was down into the depths of
the water in a flash, swimming for the other side.
The water was no shelter.
----o
Part Thirteen
Deep Black
----o
Lysithea sighed. "I saw what they did to your friend, turning
her against you like that. Now she is in their hands, and may face
the same fate as your other friend."
"What other friend?" Usagi frowned. He blinked at her.
"You don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"Your friend, Kino Makoto... You visited her apartment this
morning...."
"Mako-chan?!?" Usagi stepped forward. "What has happened to
her? Tell me!" She looked into his face with pleading eyes. He
couldn't help but feel an empathy for her, surprising himself.
"She.... The body of a Sailorsenshi was found in a motel on
the outskirts of Tokyo very late last night. The news has been
sweeping through our... community, but has been kept from the media
and the general public...."
"No..." Usagi's face started to screw up, tears forming in
her eyes. "No, that's not possible! I would have felt something.
I'm linked to them all.... I would have known...."
He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Sailormoon, this isn't
the time for tears. Another one of your friends is now in danger.
Only I know where they have taken her. I know their ways, and the
layout of their headquarters. If we are quick, then we shall be
able to rescue her from a fate worse than death. but I need your
power to get in, and most of all, your trust." He put a hand under
her chin and lifted her face to his gaze. "Are you willing to give
me that trust?"
Usagi snapped away from him, turning around and looking out
from the rotunda, into the rain-misted park. The gloom of their
surroundings did nothing for her state.
Mako-chan.... Thoughts of her friend filled her mind. The
day they first met. The experiences they had shared. And yet....
How could she be dead? She didn't know whether or not she could
trust this strange caucasian....
"Why are you so keen to help me? I mean, really, this is not
just a matter of ideology, is it?"
Lysithea looked at her, blinking. She had not turned to face
him whilst asking this, so he was denied reading her expression.
"There is someone within the House I want to see. Someone who
matters a great deal to me, who has fallen into the trap of their
deceit."
"You will help me rescue my friend from these people, in
return for rescuing your own friend?"
"Not so much rescue. I merely wish to see her. If you help
me achieve this, I will help you."
Usagi pondered this for a few moments. "I was warned, by...
Another of our number, about your group. She said you were our
enemy. And yet you say you are working separately from them because
there are elements within that you don't trust." She paused. "I do
not trust you...."
"I expected nothing else, but..."
"I'm not finished yet." She snapped. "If you do know where
they have taken her, then I shall follow you that far. For all I
know, you could help rescue her and then hand the both of us over to
the Coven."
Lysithea shook his head. "I promise you this much, I shan't
allow you to fall into the hands of either the Coven or the House."
He chuckled mirthlessly. "Do you think I've wanted to be trapped
all these years within a group such as the Coven? And do you think
I enjoy the idea of allowing this to happen to anyone else?"
"You can make all the promises you want. I don't know what
the Coven is like, unlike your good self, but I value my freedom,
and that of my friends, over ideological goals."
"You and your senshi friends represent a form of ideology.
You would not have stood against a group like the Black Moon Family,
otherwise."
"How do you know about them?" Usagi turned on him. Her face
was tear-stained, hey eyes bloodshot. She was just barely holding
back her emotions.
"I...." He felt the power of her command. What kind of power
did this girl contain that made him subject to her will? "I was
part of the Coven's team, to infiltrate the Black Moon Family when
it made its presence felt. That was when I gathered all the
information I could about you. All the information they had, of
course, which was a great deal more than you think."
"The Black Moon Family was nothing more than a ragtag group.
A powerful one, but ragtag all the same. They had no REAL
organisation other than what we fought, cleansed or defeated."
Lysithea chuckled. "Oh, I think you'd be very surprised, just
what kind of bureaucracy they had set up within Tokyo at the time.
They were very nearly close to exposing your identities to us all.
But you dealt with them in time." He shrugged. "Once the family
itself fell, their underlings destroyed everything and scattered to
the four winds. Well, not everything."
Usagi leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Why have you
been keeping this information to yourself? Why have you never
contacted us before?"
"I saw no need to either divulge what I had discovered or make
my presence known to you. As you say, one of your number already
knew of the existence of the Coven. This was Sailorpluto, was it
not?" Usagi said nothing. He continued. "Whatever the case, she
would have known of our existence. From your reactions, I take it
she has only told you about it of recent?"
Usagi shook her head, lowering it and opening her eyes.
"Look, let's get it over and done with, alright? The longer we
wait, the more likely Mina-chan will...." She swallowed, trying to
hold back a sob. Lysithea nodded and held out a hand to her. She
looked at the hand for a few moments, and took it.
"PRINCESS! DON'T!" Usagi turned to her right. Standing in
the rain, a short distance from the rotunda, were Setsuna and
Hotaru. Before she could say anything, however, a light surrounded
both her and Lysithea, and they disappeared from sight.
Setsuna charged up to the rotunda, tripping over the step at
the entrance, and fell to her hands and knees. She gritted her
teeth and pounded the floor.
"Princess no BAKA! Why did you have to go and do THAT?" She
pounded her fists so hard into the cement that Hotaru thought she
was going to hurt herself.
"Setsuna...." Hotaru stood up into the rotunda and stared
down at the Guardian of Time. It was the first occasion she'd ever
seen Setsuna throw a tantrum.
"I go to every effort to protect her, and what does she do?
Make a pact with the devil! Why do I bother, sometimes? I just
can't protect her if she is going to do this sort of thing...."
Hotaru groaned. "Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You
and I both know where that guy has taken her. Why don't we follow
suit?"
Setsuna turned to her, sitting up on her knees. "We don't
have the luxury of performing elaborate rescue operations. The
other senshi HAVE to be rounded up, at the very least so we know
they are safe."
"Well, we sure as hell know that Venus isn't safe. And maybe
Jupiter, as well." Hotaru shook her head. "And now the Princess,
too. We're doing just a GREAT job, I must say."
"Have you got a better plan?" Setsuna now got to her feet and
looked down at Hotaru. Hotaru wasn't intimidated by Setsuna's
taller physical presence.
"Yes. As I said, we know where that guy has taken Usagi. We
should follow them."
"Wrong." Setsuna waved a finger in front of Hotaru's face.
"I shall follow them. You shall find the remaining senshi. I take
it you are up to this task?" Setsuna sneered.
"You supercilious little.... It's a good thing I'm not the
violent type. You'd be on the ground about now." Hotaru held a
fist up to Setsuna's face. Seeing she had overstepped the mark,
Setsuna regained her composure and held her hands up in a calming
gesture.
"We're both allowing ourselves to be overcome by the stress of
this situation. You are right, the Princess must be saved. We
shall go with my plan. It is the only way." Hotaru put the fist
down and nodded.
"I shall check the Hikawa shrine. Rei may have made an
appearance. As for Haruka and Michiru.... Well, one can only hope
they have returned home. I can't begin to think where they have
found themselves."
----o
Ami had grown tired of arguing with the damned woman. All
this Kikotsuka Aoi seemed to want was to keep her from the hands of
the Major Crime department.
"....The girl came to give herself up! We're going to HAVE to
take a statement from her, sooner rather than later, that's basic
procedure!"
"And you know, very well Kaji, what will happen once the
Majors take over. She'll be run through the system, and we'll never
have an opportunity to question her per the identities of the other
Sailorsenshi."
"Damn the identities of the other Sailorsenshi, Aoi-san....
What crime is more important in this situation? Their vigilantism
or the murder of one of their number?"
Ami had sat back down in the seat that Aoi had put her in,
earlier. She was feeling more than a little tired. She hadn't had
any sleep for two nights, now. And after the emotions of wondering
whether she should go to the police or not, and the trauma of
actually walking through their doors and spilling everything....
Only to have this happen.... She just didn't know whether she could
take any more.
The Kikotsuka woman was fighting with the other SIU officer,
Akunatsuka Kaji, whilst the forensics officer, Honeaki, stood back,
trying to appear removed from it all. Ami marvelled at the
professionalism of the police department.
"What you've already done, Aoi.... It just about breaks every
rule in the book. You're witholding evidence, for a start."
"What evidence? All you have to do is listen to her story.
You'll soon see she is covering for someone. Her mother, most
likely."
Kaji put up his hands. "Very well, very well. I understand
why you did what you did. I know Katarin and Shimazaki are on your
case. But a statement shall have to be taken before we can proceed,
either way."
Aoi sighed and nodded. Ami closed her eyes. It seemed the
woman was, at last, coming to her senses.
And then she felt hands wrap around her head, covering her
mouth. From behind.... Which should have been impossible, since
there had been a wall behind her. Her eyes shot open and she tried
to pull away, only to find herself being pulled back.... She let
out a small, muffled cry.
"Kami's shit!" Honeaki stood forward and pointed between Kaji
and Aoi at Ami. They turned to see Ami being dragged through the
wall by a pair of phantom-like arms.
"What the hell...." Kaji said in a squeak that was almost
comical. Aoi, without even thinking, ran forward just as Ami's
legs started their way through, and grabbed her feet.
She pulled hard, trying to wrestle the girl back through the
wall, half turning to Kaji and Honeaki.
"For Kami's sake, help me!" She shrieked. Kaji ran forward
and grabbed Ami's calves, and the pair slowly dragged the girl back.
They could hear her cries as her head reappeared. Whoever had hold
of her had her by the arms, and was pretty damn strong to be putting
up a fight against the pair of them....
Then sparkles of energy ran along Ami's body, and the girl
cried out in pain, matched by both Kaji and Aoi when the energy
struck them. They fell back, and Ami vanished through the wall
faster than it took the pair of them to hit the floor.
Aoi was up first, her face an angry mask. Honeaki knelt down
to them both.
"Are you alright?" He picked up Kaji, whose eyes were
spinning in delirium.
"Damn straight I'm NOT alright!" Aoi got to her feet and ran
over to the office door, throwing it open. She stared into the
corridor beyond, which was empty. Shaking her head, she looked back
at the wall Ami disappeared through, and saw that it backed onto the
stairwell at the end of the corridor.
Without thinking, Aoi raced out of the office and up to the
stairwell door. Tentatively, she opened the door and peered in.
She could see Ami, unconcious within the arms of some spectral
figure, being carted down through the stairs. Without thinking, Aoi
threw the door open.
"STOP!" She shouted in the most commanding voice she could
muster. The figure reeled and collapsed with Ami on the next flight
down. Aoi ran to the first flight and looked down at the
prospective kidnapper, and was mildly surprised.
A young woman, perhaps not that much older than Ami herself,
with medium length platinum-blond hair, very pale skin, wearing a
very plain white dress, picked herself up from the base of the
flight and glowered at Aoi.
"That was mean, doing that to me."
"I'm mean? What about what you're doing? What you DID?" Aoi
began to make her way down the stairs. "Where are you going with
that girl?"
"For me to know and you to find out!" The young woman gripped
Ami by the front of her shirt and literally hauled her up and into
her arms. The young woman then faded back into a spectral figure
and floated through the outer wall.
Aoi growled and ran back up the stairs, back through the door
and into the office. Honeaki had managed to bring Kaji round and
the pair watched as the determined woman made her way to the office
window.
"Wait, Kiko-san.... What are you going to...?" Honeaki
didn't have time to finish his question as she unlocked the window's
bolts and threw it open, climbing up onto the ledge, Kaji got to
his feet.
"AOI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
"She's not getting away WITH MY SAILORSENSHI!!!!"
And before the pair of them could do anything about it, Aoi
leapt from the window with a cry, several storeys above the ground,
and latched onto the legs of a passing Ami, still unconcious through
all of this. The figure of the young woman, that was carrying her,
turned to Aoi.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Give her back to me! She's MINE!"
"Are you CRAZY? I can't carry the both of you. You'll kill
us all!" The figure began to throw herself around, trying to shake
Aoi from her grip. It was to no avail, as Aoi crawled her way up
Ami's legs and began to swing a fist at the figure's face, also to
no avail.
"You stupid woman! Let go!"
"Give her back, bitch. She's MY sailorsenshi."
Kaji and Honeaki watched with disbelief as Aoi continued to
swing and punch at the near-invisible figure, whilst holding onto
Ami like a limpet as they thrashed about in mid-air. Something,
eventually had to give.
"LET GO!" The figure tried sending arcs of energy through
Ami once more. This only proceeded to make Aoi even angrier. The
woman's eyes lit up.
"GIVE HER BACK TO ME!" She took an almighty swing at the
figure's face, and.... collected! Very solidly, in fact. The
figure flashed into solidity and let out a dazed groan. Then the
three of them headed for the ground.
"AOI!" Kaji reached out of the window helplessly as the three
plummeted. And then another thing happened that he didn't expect...
They suddenly shot off sideways, at a great rate of knots. "AOI!"
Kaji cried out.
"KAJI! HELP ME!" Aoi reached back as the trio disappeared
behind a neighbouring building. Kaji slammed his fist into the
window ledge, turning to Honeaki.
"I'm going after them. You stay here in case they return."
"How? Are you going to leap out of the window, too?"
"BAKA!" Kaji bapped him one over the head and ran from the
office.
----o
"Well, we know she's not here, for one thing." Rumiko peered
into the warehouse, sniffing. "But she was, at one stage. Strange
smell, too."
"Gone...." Keiko began to pace on her feet, looking
impatient. "Bad."
"Yes, this is VERY bad. In fact, a real bummer of a
situation." Rumiko turned to Keiko. She was here not that long
ago. I do wish Carey would hurry up and get that recovery team here
on the double. This could get very messy."
"Angel..." Keiko turned away from Rumiko, shaking her hands
tensely, staring at the sky with a grimace on her face. Rumiko
watched her and shook her head. She wasn't just afraid for Sherrie.
In cases like this, she had serious concerns about whether Keiko had
the ability to take care of herself.
She sighed and turned away from the warehouse door, stepping
up alongside Keiko, taking the girl by the arm. "It's okay, Keiko-
chan. We'll find Sherrie."
"Find." Keiko turned to her, still looking away. Rumiko
smiled.
"Yes, we will find her. One way or another."
"Man." Rumiko blinked, not quite understanding what Keiko
meant by that. Then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck
stand up and she turned, looking up at the portion of the warehouse
roof above them. All she could see was a large figure flying down
towards them before she jumped, taking Keiko with her.
The pair landed some small distance away, sprawled on the
ground. Keiko let out a little gasp of protest as Rumiko quickly
got to her feet, spinning around in a crouched position, staring at
the figure who had landed in the spot they had been standing. She
could feel the shockwave of air that rushed past, emanating from
the vast bulk of the newcomer. Slowly, he looked up at them,
smiling.
"Hello, Sacred House girls." The sumo wrestler smiled.
"Watanabe Nobuhiro!" Rumiko spat his name. "So, I was right.
This was a trap set up by your good friend, Lacey...."
"Should have listened to your intuition, neechan." He
chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "We can't have you hurting or
nabbing our partner, now can we?"
"As it so happens, your partner is the furthest thing from our
minds." She slowly got to her feet, Keiko following suit.
"Not that there is much in the mind of your friend, there.
Damn retarded bitch that she is."
"What did you call her!?!" Rumiko was enraged.
"Woman." Keiko looked up at the roof of the warehouse, where
she could see another figure. For a second, Rumiko glanced at the
figure, giving Nobuhiro his opportunity to charge them.
Rumiko put up her hands, intent on creating a shield, but she
was too slow. Nobuhiro plowed into her, knocking her back at least
twenty feet. She collapsed onto the ground, dazed. Nobuhiro then
swung on Keiko and grabbed the girl by the collar of her coat. He
lifted the girl off the ground and pulled his other fist back,
intending to pound her senseless, when he felt an itch within his
head.
Then Keiko screamed and he let her go, clutching his skull.
"Argh! Get her out! Get her out of my HEAD!" Nobuhiro staggered
back and fell to his knees as Keiko rose from the ground, her body
surrounded by a glow of energy.
"Nobuhiro!" Said the figure from above. The blond-haired
young woman leapt from the roof and landed gracefully on the ground.
Slowly, she stood and snapped her hands in front of her face,
holding her forefingers up to her nose, and began to chant. An
energy field surrounded her as Rumiko got to her feet.
"Michelle Fitchner! Keiko, look out!" Rumiko charged
forward, red sparkles of energy dancing around her hands as Michelle
finished her chant.
"ENERGY FORMATION!" Michelle cried out at the top of her
voice, and pure beams of energy crackled between her and Keiko,
stopped by Rumiko as she slid between them, forming a shield at that
moment. The beams flew off at random, striking the warehouse and
other buildings.
Michelle looked up and let out a cry as portions of the
warehouse toppled towards her. She jumped clear of them just in
time. Rumiko used this opportunity to grab Keiko by the arm.
"Come on! Run for it!"
"Run." Keiko said simply, and dropped her attack on Nobuhiro,
who continued to moan on the ground, holding his head with his
hands. Both Rumiko and Keiko ran across the yard, trying to put as
much space between them and the Coven duo.
Michelle got to her feet and watched them go, shaking her
head. She then ran over to Nobuhiro's side.
"Nobuhiro-san... Are you okay?"
"I'll... I'll be alright."
"You shouldn't have tried Yokuro on like that. You know she
has weirdling powers." Michelle helped Nobuhiro to his feet.
"I should have layed her down first rather than the Tani girl.
I wasn't thinking at the time."
"No matter. We know they're here now, and we know they're
after Pagan."
Nobuhiro punched a fist into his other hand. "Then we can
kill three birds with one stone." He smiled.
END OF PART 13
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DDFA ayanami@internode.on.net
11th Apr 1998