--------------------------------------------------------------------
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 and Silent Mobius are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Kia
Asamiya, Michitaka Kikuchi, Bandai, Studio Tron, Kadokawa and
Kodansya. All other characters were thought up by me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The pattern of darkness covered the city, occasionally
exploding with brief flashes of light. The eternal battle between
the two extremes, fought out in the night sky over the city of
Tokyo. The home of twenty five million people.
Everyone in the city could feel the sense of anticipation, of
something about to occur.... It is the normal sensation that all
feel shortly before the onset of a thunderstorm. Charged particles
flying through the atmosphere, controlling the emotions of living
beings whose very thoughts were nothing more than the product of
similar electrochemical processes, albeit more subtle and refined
than the extreme display of raw power.
Spirits were energy, that much was known to her.... Guided
and controlled by their environments, they became intertwined,
sometimes guiding that environment to an expression of their will.
She could feel their combined will, and it was not a happy one. The
dead, of many different worlds and dimensions, trying to warn those
who lived within Tokyo of the impending disaster, or disasters, that
were about to befall them, be they active or passive. It was so
hard for her to blot out the emotions they were generating, that she
almost lost the girl she had been following.
Her dark eyes watched as the girl, dressed in the flamboyant
and colorful, yet rainsoaked, kimono stopped at the lonely street
corner, looking tired and haggard.
She raised her glaive to the sky and took in the rain, feeling
the dark wetness across her body, drinking all that fell upon her
tongue. The bitter taste of the city's pollution made her feel
strangely exultant. Proof positive of the world in its dying days.
The time wasn't far away where simply walking in the rain would be
enough to kill... almost anything. But that didn't concern her.
Whether her flesh corrupted was not of her interest. What did
interest her was the girl she had been watching. More than that....
The girl's very NATURE.
Shiranui Kimi. She knew the name, of course.... There was no
way Saturn could escape knowing, living with Pluto as she did....
It hadn't initially occured to her who Shiranui Kimi really was....
The time between death and rebirth did have lasting effects upon the
memory of one such as her, for whom life and death really had no
boundaries.
Time passed.
----o
"She's stopped."
"I can see that." Neptune harrumphed with annoyance at her
partner's obvious statement. Standing atop the apartment block,
they looked down upon their quarry. "Is she tiring?"
"She wouldn't stop. Not whilst trying to reach her lover....
She shall ignore her physical state to make sure Nakano is alive."
Uranus crossed her arms and shook her head. "Should we allow her to
make contact with Nakano?"
"It would mean having to deal with the both of them." Neptune
looked aside at Uranus.
"You aren't worried about dealing with two ordinary humans,
are you?"
"I have a bad feeling about them." Neptune lifted her mirror,
staring into it, deeply. "I keep seeing darkness.... An eternal
darkness and silence. I thought it to mean our potential deaths,
but it seems to be something else...." She paused, then looked up,
to her right.
----o
Time passed.
Saturn smiled as Neptune detected her presence. Her hostile
presence, without truly knowing who it was she was detecting. Sad
that the best of friends and the bitterest of enemies often formed
from the same source.
Time passed.
----o
Part Thirtyfive
The Inheritance of Lucifer
----o
Gen stared into the distance, blankly, ignoring the chaos that
was going on around him. Operatives, in various states of nervous
panic, were shouting against each other, trying to report some new
hell that was befalling the Sacred House compound as it occurred.
Without the calm control of their Chief of Staff, however, much of
that information was being lost to posterity.
Gen swallowed as thoughts raced through his mind. Thoughts of
his late wife. "Lifetime...." He mumbled to himself, as he
clutched the Seal of Office that was pinned to the collar of his
cloak. "Never enough time to enjoy life and be happy." His
melancholy was broken by Joachim's baritone.
"Several sections of the compound are now in enemy control."
Joachim spoke as he attempted to listen to the reports he was
getting. "I have ordered a withdrawal of non-essential staff and
members from the neighboring sections." He paused as he looked up
at Gen, from the console at which he had been sitting. "This
includes the Holding Cell Block for recent arrivals."
"Doctor Bartholemew isn't going to like that." Gen chuckled
to himself. "Where is the good doctor, anyway?"
"I'd like to say that she has scarpered, but she's rather too
obsessed with her work to leave her charges in the lurch." Joachim
shrugged. "So, I take it you have ordered your daughters to be
evacuated, then?" Gen's eyes flashed surprise as Joachim swiveled
around, leaning back in his seat.
"I... have not yet considered what I am going to do with
them." He let out a long breath, realising how lame the answer
sounded. "If the situation gets any worse...."
"It might be a good idea if they were to link up with some of
the girls who are already outside the compound.... Firenze has
reported in. She, Hayakawa and Wright are safe, for the time
being."
"IF the situation gets any worse, my old friend, then I shall,
most certainly, place them somewhere safe. Even if they may not
wish to leave the compound." Gen turned away.
----o
"Pluto?" Usagi gasped as she half-heaved Cthulu from the
swimming pool in which he had been immersed. Before she could stop
herself, she let the unfortunate thing go, and he toppled back into
the water with a loud splash and a surprised gurgle.
Pluto had appeared from nowhere, landing at the other end of
the pool. "Princess...." Was all she managed to get out before
slipping on the paint that was still stuck to her feet. She went
flying forward and landed in the pool with an even louder splash and
surprised gurgle than Cthulu had achieved. Usagi stood and stared
at the growing cloud of green paint that filled the formerly crystal
clear water.
"P.... Pluto...." She swallowed, then leapt over the top of
Cthulu in a flying dive and plummeted face first into the depths of
the cloud. For a few seconds, she couldn't see anything, then her
face slammed hard into Pluto's midriff, causing the both of them to
take in a mouthful of water. They both made for the surface at the
same time.
They exploded through the surface at the same time and spat
water into each other's faces. "Oi!" Usagi was the first to empty
her mouth and protest. "Stop that!"
"I could say the same thing to you." Setsuna retorted. "I
can't see a thing. My eyes are full of green."
Usagi stared at Setsuna, still stained with streaks of green
paint, and started to giggle. "What in the name of Kami happened to
you? Your hair is a shade greener than I remember it ever being."
"You can thank your friend for that. Attempted a physical
transport without really thinking about the destination." Setsuna
rubbed her eyes, wiping the green from her face. "I happened to
land in a large tank of green paint.... What a large tank of green
paint is doing in the Sacred House compound, I have no idea..."
"....But you certainly found it." Usagi giggled.
"Blorkle blorkle." Cthulu rose to the surface next to them.
Setsuna stared at him with a dubious expression.
"Don't you blorkle me." She prodded him in the hide. "Next
time, think about what you are doing. I bet you can't get out of
this pool without our help."
"Blurgle." Cthulu turned a shade blue with embarrassment.
Usagi rolled her eyes and patted the hapless thing.
"Water cuts his power to shreds.... He can't float out of
here until we dry him." She began to dog paddle to the side of the
pool. "I was in the process of doing just that when you arrived."
"Well, you better be quick about it." Setsuna started pushing
Cthulu after Usagi as the blond climbed out, splashing water left,
right and centre. Usagi pushed her wet hair from her eyes and
looked down at Setsuna, questioningly.
"Why is that?"
"Because, unless you wish to be caught up in a massacre of
grand proportions, we should make ourselves as scarce as possible."
"A massacre?" Usagi looked horrified. "Who? What? Why?
How?" Setsuna rolled her eyes and pointed to Cthulu. Usagi took
the hint and grabbed one of his proffered limbs, using her entire
weight to pull the large lump from the water. Cthulu rolled forward
as her emerged, and landed on top of Usagi, looking rather pleased
with himself. Setsuna followed suit, sighing as Usagi thumped into
him. "Would you get offa me?"
"Hurkle snurkle glorb." Cthulu made as good a shrug as a
large ball of flesh could, and rolled off. Usagi sat up, rubbing
her belly.
"If you're not careful. I might just kick you back in the
pool." Setsuna leant her a hand up, and she staggered to her feet.
"How ever did I get lumbered with a hentai monster? I want my money
back."
Then Usagi keeled over, gagging. It was so sudden that it
caught even Setsuna by surprise. Both she and Cthulu moved
alongside her with some concern, as they watched her complexion turn
pale. "Princess...." Setsuna took Usagi's hand and cradled her
against her body. "What is it? What is wrong?"
"I don't know..." Usagi placed her other hand across her
mouth. "It's like...." She paused, trying to think. "Can't you
feel it? Waves of energy.... Close.... From someone inextricably
linked to me.... HORRIBLE waves of... Almost EVIL energy." Usagi
looked up at Setsuna. "I felt like this before.... Not very
strongly.... But I could FEEL it. Back in the...."
"The Crown Coffee Parlour." Setsuna finished her sentence for
her. "When Venus changed."
"Yes, when Minako...." Usagi looked at Setsuna in horror.
"It can't be happening again? Not again."
"I'm afraid, Princess, as I have told you many a time already,
it is too late for Venus. She is already well along a path that
shall drive her to heights of horror we cannot even conceive."
"NO! It can't be. Not Minako-chan.... I refuse to believe
that, whatever her problem is, it cannot be fixed. All I have to
do... All I have to do is.... use some of my healing energy, or use
the power of the Ginzuishou, in some manner...." Usagi paused,
seeing the sadness in Setsuna's eyes. "What? Why are you looking
at me that way?"
"Oh Princess.... You are so... So PURE. You could never
begin to understand what it is your mother has done...."
----o
Michelle opened her eyes as the door to her cell was thrown
open. She had only just been given some respite from the attentions
of her persecutors, and was attempting to rest, so the sudden
arrival of a couple of the Sacred House's guardoliers caught her off
guard.
"What is...." She managed to get out before she was hauled to
her feet from the floor of the cell by both arms and dragged out
into the corridor beyond. There, many other dazed and bewildered
people, some of whom she recognised, others she didn't, were milling
around with their hands and feet shackled along a single, thick
chain. The guardoliers let go of her as Dr Bartholomew stepped up to
her with a couple of her orderlies.
"This one is a VERY recent arrival, from the Coven, no less.
Make sure she is bound firmly...."
"Michelle!" The deep voice came from the man being bundled
from the neighboring cell by another pair of guardoliers. Michelle
blinked, recognising Nobuhiro immediately. "Michelle, thank Kami
you're alright...."
"Watanabe-san...." Michelle made to move towards him, but was
held back by her pair of guardoliers.
"...And make sure HE is VERY well bound.... And gagged. If I
hear ANOTHER word out of him, lord help me...." Dr Bartholemew
rolled her eyes as she pointed at Nobuhiro, then moved on as someone
was taken from the next cell in line.
"Intolerable woman!" Nobuhiro spat with contempt, almost
tripping up one of Bartholomew's orderlies as they passed. Both he
and Michelle were then cuffed up along the chain and pushed back
against the opposing wall by the guardoliers. Michelle moved as
close as she was allowed to the large sumo wrestler as their watch
thinned out.
"Thank God for a moderately friendly face in this joint. I
thought you'd have been drugged and layed flat, by now...."
Nobuhiro looked down at her, imperiously.
"Unfortunately, I've done my best to be a model houseguest....
I wasn't given much of a choice." He licked his lips. "However, it
would appear our... 're-education', for want of a better term, has
been put on hold."
"Why? What is happening?"
"I'm lead to believe that a group, acting on the behest of the
Coven, has made a large-scale raid on the House's compound....
We're being... evacuated, I think you can say." Nobuhiro gave her
an ironic smile. "Did they try to play on your claustrophobia in
the little time they were given?"
"Yes, they did. It was not much fun." Michelle screwed up
her nose at the memory.
"Well, I don't think we're in for much of a fun time from
here, either. How does it feel to be herded like cattle?" He
huffed, wishing he could cross his arms, already feeling the bite of
the handcuffs around his thick wrists.
Before Michelle could answer him, there was a scream, and some
gunshots from an automatic rifle. The young woman who had been
chained up in the line before Michelle started to slump to the
floor, half her head missing. Michelle stared at the woman in
horror, feeling her dead weight as she was pulled down with her.
Nobuhiro turned, looking up the corridor, from where the shots were
being fired. "TAIHEN!" He shouted, and grabbed Michelle, throwing
her down and sandwiching her between the dead woman and his own
prone form. There were more shots and screams, this time from the
other end of the corridor. Michelle could hear bodies hitting the
floor, and felt the tug of the chain as helpless prisoners attempted
to flee, all the while staring into the head of the dead woman,
unable to close her eyes in morbid fascination and fear.
Now there was gunfire from what seemed like every direction,
as she heard return volleys from the guardoliers. She held her
breath and screwed her eyes shut, shaking uncontrollably as she
heard footsteps running up and down the corridor, and the last dying
replies of the rifles. Then there was silence, albeit for only a
couple of seconds.
"Jesus Christ." Said the voice of a youngish man. "This lot
were all chained up..."
"Prisoners of these bastards." Said another, older voice.
"If what we've been told is true, they're no different to the rest
of them. Just less co-operative." He paused. "ARE THERE ANY MORE
IN THIS SECTION?"
"No, this area is clear." Another voice, that of a woman,
from the other end of the corridor.
"Right." Said the older, male voice." Make sure you empty
out all the cells, and that all of this lot really ARE dead."
Michelle swallowed, allowing herself to breath, shallowly.
She wanted to run, and started to move in an effort to move
Nobuhiro, but felt his hands restraining her. He was still alive.
"Don't..." He whispered. "Don't move a muscle. Not until I tell
you to, have you got that clear?"
She peered through one eye, looking sideways at him. He was
beaming at her with his invariably overconfident smile. After
letting go of a shiver, she nodded, slowly, then closed her eyes
again, listening for the heavy bootsteps that were moving up and
down the corridor, getting closer and closer to the pair of them.
There were a couple of gunshots, punctuated by screams, as
those who had not been moved from their cells were dealt with.
Michelle felt her stomach turning in knots, silently praying for
some kind of deliverance from this unexpected hell. It came in the
form of an equally unexpected voice.
"Why, hello there, sugar." The voice was high-pitched....
That of a teenage girl, or a young woman her own age, but carried a
surprisingly amorous tone.
"Hey, Captain..." Said the voice of a young man. "Check this
one out."
"What is it?" The commanding voice of the older man,
obviously the Captain the other was referring to, was almost drowned
out by a series of wolf whistles. Surprised, Michelle opened her
eyes and craned her neck back, looking past Nobuhiro at where a
group of soldiers, all young men, were collecting. In the middle of
the group, she could see a flash of blond hair, and the fringe of a
very short, pleated orange skirt. The group parted as the Captain
strode towards them, and Michelle could see an amazingly attractive
young woman, dressed in what could only have been the fuku of a
sailorsenshi with her arms wrapped lovingly around the neck of one
of the young soldier's shoulders.
"Now what did I say? For God's sake.... She's just another
one of these freaks. Take her out like the rest, don't play around
just because she's a nice-looking piece of skirt." The Captain
sighed, shaking his head. He then lifted his rifle, aiming it at
the young woman.
Then she turned to face him. The smile on her face was so
beautiful, it could be said to be angelic. Michelle felt her heart
skip a beat, and didn't know why. It was not as if she was
attracted to women.... But for some reason, she just couldn't help
looking at this blond.
And it seemed that the Captain was struck by the same
sensation, as he lowered his rifle. The young woman let go of the
soldier she was holding, and stepped up to the Captain. "Now,
sweetie.... Why would you want to hurt little ol' me?" She put her
arms around the Captain and kissed him square on the mouth. The
soldiers standing around them let out whoops of amusement and
whistles as the Captain's resilience seemed to fade away, dropping
his rifle and placing his arms around her.
Just at that moment, Michelle felt her hair being grabbed.
Her head was forced around and made to look into the eyes of the
female soldier she had heard, earlier. "Well, what do we have,
here?" The woman sneered, pointing the business end of a rifle in
Michelle's face. "Guess we did miss one or two, after all."
"NOW!" Michelle heard Nobuhiro shout. The woman looked up in
surprise as the sumo wrestler leapt to his feet, bowling her over.
Michelle was dragged partly upwards, with the chain, as the woman's
gun fell in front of her. Just at that point, there was a cry of
horror, coming from the other direction. Michelle could feel what
had to be waves of energy hitting her in the back as she reached
down for the gun, scooping it up in her manacled hands, fumbling for
the trigger.
There were even more cries of fear and horror filling the air
as the woman regained her composure and dealt Nobuhiro a blow
underneath the chin, trying to toss him aside. The action caused
the chain to jerk Michelle's arms again, and one of her fingers was
squeezed onto the trigger, blowing chunks out of the woman's head.
Nobuhiro managed to get to his feet again, out of the range of the
rifle, as Michelle managed to uncatch her finger.
"Well, that would have to be a rather fortunate...." Nobuhiro
started to say as he looked down at his companion, but was
distracted by what was going on behind them. "The chain...."
"What?" Michelle replied, her ears still ringing from the
gunshots. Nobuhiro pointed down at the chain that still bound them
to the victims of the soldiers' massacre.
"Shoot the chain. Get us free of this place, damn quick!" He
swallowed, if not in fear, then certainly in trepidation. Michelle
turned to see what he was looking at, and almost dropped the rifle
in horror.
The blond was.... She was EATING the soldiers. They were
bound to her by what seemed to be a field of energy, and were slowly
degenerating, flesh falling from their bodies and floating like a
miasma towards her, being ingested by an osmotic process. The
blond's eyes were closed, her mouth open in ecstasy as she held her
hands in the air, allowing the energy to crackle freely around her.
"Succubae Major...." Nobuhiro hissed. "The Prime-class
Succubus. A highly powered bestial.... They lure their victims in
through a combination of physical beauty and magical energy, then
shred them up and feed on them, body and soul." He turned back to
Michelle. "Shoot the damn chain, or we'll be dessert."
Suffice to say, Michelle complied.
----o
Aoi and Kaji stared, through the rain-spattered window of the
older detective's car, at the large, almost gothic frontage of the
Coven's compound. Aoi sighed and sat back in her seat. "They do
like to put on a show, don't they?"
"Hmm?" Kaji looked aside at her. She giggled.
"Mysterious, spooky castles on a dark and stormy night. I
don't think we could have made the setting more fitting for our
entrance." She paused. "Just how are we going to get in, anyway?"
Kaji chuckled and tapped the side of his nose. "I have my
ways." He rubbed his hands together. "Remember those times I told
you, about having run-ins with various secret societies and cults,
during my short tenure with the investigative branch?"
"The Coven of Atrocity was one of them, yes." Aoi nodded.
"Well, I did leave a few connections in each of those groups,
just to keep an eye on things.... You know, make sure I'm around
when the time is right to take action."
Aoi snorted. "Yes, well, you were never given the opportunity
to take advantage of your 'connections', were you?" Kaji looked
daggers at her.
"Oh ye of little faith. Just because I was dumped in a dead-
end posting like the SIU doesn't mean I gave up on them." He opened
his door smiling at her. "As you shall see, if you would be so kind
as to follow me...."
"Do I have a choice?" Aoi screwed her nose up at him.
"Only if you want your boyfriend back." Kaji snickered as
Aoi's face went red.
"He is NOT my boyfriend."
"Oh yes, I forgot.... You're Kikotsuka Aoi, the virgin queen
of the SIU, obsessed with nothing but your career and finding the
Sailorsenshi, something which you haven't been very good at, either
way."
"Now I can see why your wife left you." Aoi huffed. "You
have the sensitivity of a shit-soaked brick."
"That's a good one.... Gotta use it for future reference."
Kaji grinned. Aoi shook her head and opened her door as Kaji fully
stepped from his car, staring depressively at the rain. "This
weather just doesn't seem to be letting up, does it?"
"Whooooo...." Aoi wriggled her fingers at him over the roof
of the car after stepping out. "Full of great foreboding, I'm
sure."
She wasn't all that impressed when he failed to answer.
END OF PART 35
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Chapter - "Last Train to Nemesis"
_________
/ @ \ DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page)
/ / ^ ^ \ \ ayanami@internode.on.net
/\
\/ \/
\___________/
/_/ \_\ PU
Version 1.0 - Wednesday, 6th January 1999
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 and Silent Mobius are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Kia
Asamiya, Michitaka Kikuchi, Bandai, Studio Tron, Kadokawa and
Kodansya. All other characters were thought up by me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The pattern of darkness covered the city, occasionally
exploding with brief flashes of light. The eternal battle between
the two extremes, fought out in the night sky over the city of
Tokyo. The home of twenty five million people.
Everyone in the city could feel the sense of anticipation, of
something about to occur.... It is the normal sensation that all
feel shortly before the onset of a thunderstorm. Charged particles
flying through the atmosphere, controlling the emotions of living
beings whose very thoughts were nothing more than the product of
similar electrochemical processes, albeit more subtle and refined
than the extreme display of raw power.
Spirits were energy, that much was known to her.... Guided
and controlled by their environments, they became intertwined,
sometimes guiding that environment to an expression of their will.
She could feel their combined will, and it was not a happy one. The
dead, of many different worlds and dimensions, trying to warn those
who lived within Tokyo of the impending disaster, or disasters, that
were about to befall them, be they active or passive. It was so
hard for her to blot out the emotions they were generating, that she
almost lost the girl she had been following.
Her dark eyes watched as the girl, dressed in the flamboyant
and colorful, yet rainsoaked, kimono stopped at the lonely street
corner, looking tired and haggard.
She raised her glaive to the sky and took in the rain, feeling
the dark wetness across her body, drinking all that fell upon her
tongue. The bitter taste of the city's pollution made her feel
strangely exultant. Proof positive of the world in its dying days.
The time wasn't far away where simply walking in the rain would be
enough to kill... almost anything. But that didn't concern her.
Whether her flesh corrupted was not of her interest. What did
interest her was the girl she had been watching. More than that....
The girl's very NATURE.
Shiranui Kimi. She knew the name, of course.... There was no
way Saturn could escape knowing, living with Pluto as she did....
It hadn't initially occured to her who Shiranui Kimi really was....
The time between death and rebirth did have lasting effects upon the
memory of one such as her, for whom life and death really had no
boundaries.
Time passed.
----o
"She's stopped."
"I can see that." Neptune harrumphed with annoyance at her
partner's obvious statement. Standing atop the apartment block,
they looked down upon their quarry. "Is she tiring?"
"She wouldn't stop. Not whilst trying to reach her lover....
She shall ignore her physical state to make sure Nakano is alive."
Uranus crossed her arms and shook her head. "Should we allow her to
make contact with Nakano?"
"It would mean having to deal with the both of them." Neptune
looked aside at Uranus.
"You aren't worried about dealing with two ordinary humans,
are you?"
"I have a bad feeling about them." Neptune lifted her mirror,
staring into it, deeply. "I keep seeing darkness.... An eternal
darkness and silence. I thought it to mean our potential deaths,
but it seems to be something else...." She paused, then looked up,
to her right.
----o
Time passed.
Saturn smiled as Neptune detected her presence. Her hostile
presence, without truly knowing who it was she was detecting. Sad
that the best of friends and the bitterest of enemies often formed
from the same source.
Time passed.
----o
Part Thirtyfive
The Inheritance of Lucifer
----o
Gen stared into the distance, blankly, ignoring the chaos that
was going on around him. Operatives, in various states of nervous
panic, were shouting against each other, trying to report some new
hell that was befalling the Sacred House compound as it occurred.
Without the calm control of their Chief of Staff, however, much of
that information was being lost to posterity.
Gen swallowed as thoughts raced through his mind. Thoughts of
his late wife. "Lifetime...." He mumbled to himself, as he
clutched the Seal of Office that was pinned to the collar of his
cloak. "Never enough time to enjoy life and be happy." His
melancholy was broken by Joachim's baritone.
"Several sections of the compound are now in enemy control."
Joachim spoke as he attempted to listen to the reports he was
getting. "I have ordered a withdrawal of non-essential staff and
members from the neighboring sections." He paused as he looked up
at Gen, from the console at which he had been sitting. "This
includes the Holding Cell Block for recent arrivals."
"Doctor Bartholemew isn't going to like that." Gen chuckled
to himself. "Where is the good doctor, anyway?"
"I'd like to say that she has scarpered, but she's rather too
obsessed with her work to leave her charges in the lurch." Joachim
shrugged. "So, I take it you have ordered your daughters to be
evacuated, then?" Gen's eyes flashed surprise as Joachim swiveled
around, leaning back in his seat.
"I... have not yet considered what I am going to do with
them." He let out a long breath, realising how lame the answer
sounded. "If the situation gets any worse...."
"It might be a good idea if they were to link up with some of
the girls who are already outside the compound.... Firenze has
reported in. She, Hayakawa and Wright are safe, for the time
being."
"IF the situation gets any worse, my old friend, then I shall,
most certainly, place them somewhere safe. Even if they may not
wish to leave the compound." Gen turned away.
----o
"Pluto?" Usagi gasped as she half-heaved Cthulu from the
swimming pool in which he had been immersed. Before she could stop
herself, she let the unfortunate thing go, and he toppled back into
the water with a loud splash and a surprised gurgle.
Pluto had appeared from nowhere, landing at the other end of
the pool. "Princess...." Was all she managed to get out before
slipping on the paint that was still stuck to her feet. She went
flying forward and landed in the pool with an even louder splash and
surprised gurgle than Cthulu had achieved. Usagi stood and stared
at the growing cloud of green paint that filled the formerly crystal
clear water.
"P.... Pluto...." She swallowed, then leapt over the top of
Cthulu in a flying dive and plummeted face first into the depths of
the cloud. For a few seconds, she couldn't see anything, then her
face slammed hard into Pluto's midriff, causing the both of them to
take in a mouthful of water. They both made for the surface at the
same time.
They exploded through the surface at the same time and spat
water into each other's faces. "Oi!" Usagi was the first to empty
her mouth and protest. "Stop that!"
"I could say the same thing to you." Setsuna retorted. "I
can't see a thing. My eyes are full of green."
Usagi stared at Setsuna, still stained with streaks of green
paint, and started to giggle. "What in the name of Kami happened to
you? Your hair is a shade greener than I remember it ever being."
"You can thank your friend for that. Attempted a physical
transport without really thinking about the destination." Setsuna
rubbed her eyes, wiping the green from her face. "I happened to
land in a large tank of green paint.... What a large tank of green
paint is doing in the Sacred House compound, I have no idea..."
"....But you certainly found it." Usagi giggled.
"Blorkle blorkle." Cthulu rose to the surface next to them.
Setsuna stared at him with a dubious expression.
"Don't you blorkle me." She prodded him in the hide. "Next
time, think about what you are doing. I bet you can't get out of
this pool without our help."
"Blurgle." Cthulu turned a shade blue with embarrassment.
Usagi rolled her eyes and patted the hapless thing.
"Water cuts his power to shreds.... He can't float out of
here until we dry him." She began to dog paddle to the side of the
pool. "I was in the process of doing just that when you arrived."
"Well, you better be quick about it." Setsuna started pushing
Cthulu after Usagi as the blond climbed out, splashing water left,
right and centre. Usagi pushed her wet hair from her eyes and
looked down at Setsuna, questioningly.
"Why is that?"
"Because, unless you wish to be caught up in a massacre of
grand proportions, we should make ourselves as scarce as possible."
"A massacre?" Usagi looked horrified. "Who? What? Why?
How?" Setsuna rolled her eyes and pointed to Cthulu. Usagi took
the hint and grabbed one of his proffered limbs, using her entire
weight to pull the large lump from the water. Cthulu rolled forward
as her emerged, and landed on top of Usagi, looking rather pleased
with himself. Setsuna followed suit, sighing as Usagi thumped into
him. "Would you get offa me?"
"Hurkle snurkle glorb." Cthulu made as good a shrug as a
large ball of flesh could, and rolled off. Usagi sat up, rubbing
her belly.
"If you're not careful. I might just kick you back in the
pool." Setsuna leant her a hand up, and she staggered to her feet.
"How ever did I get lumbered with a hentai monster? I want my money
back."
Then Usagi keeled over, gagging. It was so sudden that it
caught even Setsuna by surprise. Both she and Cthulu moved
alongside her with some concern, as they watched her complexion turn
pale. "Princess...." Setsuna took Usagi's hand and cradled her
against her body. "What is it? What is wrong?"
"I don't know..." Usagi placed her other hand across her
mouth. "It's like...." She paused, trying to think. "Can't you
feel it? Waves of energy.... Close.... From someone inextricably
linked to me.... HORRIBLE waves of... Almost EVIL energy." Usagi
looked up at Setsuna. "I felt like this before.... Not very
strongly.... But I could FEEL it. Back in the...."
"The Crown Coffee Parlour." Setsuna finished her sentence for
her. "When Venus changed."
"Yes, when Minako...." Usagi looked at Setsuna in horror.
"It can't be happening again? Not again."
"I'm afraid, Princess, as I have told you many a time already,
it is too late for Venus. She is already well along a path that
shall drive her to heights of horror we cannot even conceive."
"NO! It can't be. Not Minako-chan.... I refuse to believe
that, whatever her problem is, it cannot be fixed. All I have to
do... All I have to do is.... use some of my healing energy, or use
the power of the Ginzuishou, in some manner...." Usagi paused,
seeing the sadness in Setsuna's eyes. "What? Why are you looking
at me that way?"
"Oh Princess.... You are so... So PURE. You could never
begin to understand what it is your mother has done...."
----o
Michelle opened her eyes as the door to her cell was thrown
open. She had only just been given some respite from the attentions
of her persecutors, and was attempting to rest, so the sudden
arrival of a couple of the Sacred House's guardoliers caught her off
guard.
"What is...." She managed to get out before she was hauled to
her feet from the floor of the cell by both arms and dragged out
into the corridor beyond. There, many other dazed and bewildered
people, some of whom she recognised, others she didn't, were milling
around with their hands and feet shackled along a single, thick
chain. The guardoliers let go of her as Dr Bartholomew stepped up to
her with a couple of her orderlies.
"This one is a VERY recent arrival, from the Coven, no less.
Make sure she is bound firmly...."
"Michelle!" The deep voice came from the man being bundled
from the neighboring cell by another pair of guardoliers. Michelle
blinked, recognising Nobuhiro immediately. "Michelle, thank Kami
you're alright...."
"Watanabe-san...." Michelle made to move towards him, but was
held back by her pair of guardoliers.
"...And make sure HE is VERY well bound.... And gagged. If I
hear ANOTHER word out of him, lord help me...." Dr Bartholemew
rolled her eyes as she pointed at Nobuhiro, then moved on as someone
was taken from the next cell in line.
"Intolerable woman!" Nobuhiro spat with contempt, almost
tripping up one of Bartholomew's orderlies as they passed. Both he
and Michelle were then cuffed up along the chain and pushed back
against the opposing wall by the guardoliers. Michelle moved as
close as she was allowed to the large sumo wrestler as their watch
thinned out.
"Thank God for a moderately friendly face in this joint. I
thought you'd have been drugged and layed flat, by now...."
Nobuhiro looked down at her, imperiously.
"Unfortunately, I've done my best to be a model houseguest....
I wasn't given much of a choice." He licked his lips. "However, it
would appear our... 're-education', for want of a better term, has
been put on hold."
"Why? What is happening?"
"I'm lead to believe that a group, acting on the behest of the
Coven, has made a large-scale raid on the House's compound....
We're being... evacuated, I think you can say." Nobuhiro gave her
an ironic smile. "Did they try to play on your claustrophobia in
the little time they were given?"
"Yes, they did. It was not much fun." Michelle screwed up
her nose at the memory.
"Well, I don't think we're in for much of a fun time from
here, either. How does it feel to be herded like cattle?" He
huffed, wishing he could cross his arms, already feeling the bite of
the handcuffs around his thick wrists.
Before Michelle could answer him, there was a scream, and some
gunshots from an automatic rifle. The young woman who had been
chained up in the line before Michelle started to slump to the
floor, half her head missing. Michelle stared at the woman in
horror, feeling her dead weight as she was pulled down with her.
Nobuhiro turned, looking up the corridor, from where the shots were
being fired. "TAIHEN!" He shouted, and grabbed Michelle, throwing
her down and sandwiching her between the dead woman and his own
prone form. There were more shots and screams, this time from the
other end of the corridor. Michelle could hear bodies hitting the
floor, and felt the tug of the chain as helpless prisoners attempted
to flee, all the while staring into the head of the dead woman,
unable to close her eyes in morbid fascination and fear.
Now there was gunfire from what seemed like every direction,
as she heard return volleys from the guardoliers. She held her
breath and screwed her eyes shut, shaking uncontrollably as she
heard footsteps running up and down the corridor, and the last dying
replies of the rifles. Then there was silence, albeit for only a
couple of seconds.
"Jesus Christ." Said the voice of a youngish man. "This lot
were all chained up..."
"Prisoners of these bastards." Said another, older voice.
"If what we've been told is true, they're no different to the rest
of them. Just less co-operative." He paused. "ARE THERE ANY MORE
IN THIS SECTION?"
"No, this area is clear." Another voice, that of a woman,
from the other end of the corridor.
"Right." Said the older, male voice." Make sure you empty
out all the cells, and that all of this lot really ARE dead."
Michelle swallowed, allowing herself to breath, shallowly.
She wanted to run, and started to move in an effort to move
Nobuhiro, but felt his hands restraining her. He was still alive.
"Don't..." He whispered. "Don't move a muscle. Not until I tell
you to, have you got that clear?"
She peered through one eye, looking sideways at him. He was
beaming at her with his invariably overconfident smile. After
letting go of a shiver, she nodded, slowly, then closed her eyes
again, listening for the heavy bootsteps that were moving up and
down the corridor, getting closer and closer to the pair of them.
There were a couple of gunshots, punctuated by screams, as
those who had not been moved from their cells were dealt with.
Michelle felt her stomach turning in knots, silently praying for
some kind of deliverance from this unexpected hell. It came in the
form of an equally unexpected voice.
"Why, hello there, sugar." The voice was high-pitched....
That of a teenage girl, or a young woman her own age, but carried a
surprisingly amorous tone.
"Hey, Captain..." Said the voice of a young man. "Check this
one out."
"What is it?" The commanding voice of the older man,
obviously the Captain the other was referring to, was almost drowned
out by a series of wolf whistles. Surprised, Michelle opened her
eyes and craned her neck back, looking past Nobuhiro at where a
group of soldiers, all young men, were collecting. In the middle of
the group, she could see a flash of blond hair, and the fringe of a
very short, pleated orange skirt. The group parted as the Captain
strode towards them, and Michelle could see an amazingly attractive
young woman, dressed in what could only have been the fuku of a
sailorsenshi with her arms wrapped lovingly around the neck of one
of the young soldier's shoulders.
"Now what did I say? For God's sake.... She's just another
one of these freaks. Take her out like the rest, don't play around
just because she's a nice-looking piece of skirt." The Captain
sighed, shaking his head. He then lifted his rifle, aiming it at
the young woman.
Then she turned to face him. The smile on her face was so
beautiful, it could be said to be angelic. Michelle felt her heart
skip a beat, and didn't know why. It was not as if she was
attracted to women.... But for some reason, she just couldn't help
looking at this blond.
And it seemed that the Captain was struck by the same
sensation, as he lowered his rifle. The young woman let go of the
soldier she was holding, and stepped up to the Captain. "Now,
sweetie.... Why would you want to hurt little ol' me?" She put her
arms around the Captain and kissed him square on the mouth. The
soldiers standing around them let out whoops of amusement and
whistles as the Captain's resilience seemed to fade away, dropping
his rifle and placing his arms around her.
Just at that moment, Michelle felt her hair being grabbed.
Her head was forced around and made to look into the eyes of the
female soldier she had heard, earlier. "Well, what do we have,
here?" The woman sneered, pointing the business end of a rifle in
Michelle's face. "Guess we did miss one or two, after all."
"NOW!" Michelle heard Nobuhiro shout. The woman looked up in
surprise as the sumo wrestler leapt to his feet, bowling her over.
Michelle was dragged partly upwards, with the chain, as the woman's
gun fell in front of her. Just at that point, there was a cry of
horror, coming from the other direction. Michelle could feel what
had to be waves of energy hitting her in the back as she reached
down for the gun, scooping it up in her manacled hands, fumbling for
the trigger.
There were even more cries of fear and horror filling the air
as the woman regained her composure and dealt Nobuhiro a blow
underneath the chin, trying to toss him aside. The action caused
the chain to jerk Michelle's arms again, and one of her fingers was
squeezed onto the trigger, blowing chunks out of the woman's head.
Nobuhiro managed to get to his feet again, out of the range of the
rifle, as Michelle managed to uncatch her finger.
"Well, that would have to be a rather fortunate...." Nobuhiro
started to say as he looked down at his companion, but was
distracted by what was going on behind them. "The chain...."
"What?" Michelle replied, her ears still ringing from the
gunshots. Nobuhiro pointed down at the chain that still bound them
to the victims of the soldiers' massacre.
"Shoot the chain. Get us free of this place, damn quick!" He
swallowed, if not in fear, then certainly in trepidation. Michelle
turned to see what he was looking at, and almost dropped the rifle
in horror.
The blond was.... She was EATING the soldiers. They were
bound to her by what seemed to be a field of energy, and were slowly
degenerating, flesh falling from their bodies and floating like a
miasma towards her, being ingested by an osmotic process. The
blond's eyes were closed, her mouth open in ecstasy as she held her
hands in the air, allowing the energy to crackle freely around her.
"Succubae Major...." Nobuhiro hissed. "The Prime-class
Succubus. A highly powered bestial.... They lure their victims in
through a combination of physical beauty and magical energy, then
shred them up and feed on them, body and soul." He turned back to
Michelle. "Shoot the damn chain, or we'll be dessert."
Suffice to say, Michelle complied.
----o
Aoi and Kaji stared, through the rain-spattered window of the
older detective's car, at the large, almost gothic frontage of the
Coven's compound. Aoi sighed and sat back in her seat. "They do
like to put on a show, don't they?"
"Hmm?" Kaji looked aside at her. She giggled.
"Mysterious, spooky castles on a dark and stormy night. I
don't think we could have made the setting more fitting for our
entrance." She paused. "Just how are we going to get in, anyway?"
Kaji chuckled and tapped the side of his nose. "I have my
ways." He rubbed his hands together. "Remember those times I told
you, about having run-ins with various secret societies and cults,
during my short tenure with the investigative branch?"
"The Coven of Atrocity was one of them, yes." Aoi nodded.
"Well, I did leave a few connections in each of those groups,
just to keep an eye on things.... You know, make sure I'm around
when the time is right to take action."
Aoi snorted. "Yes, well, you were never given the opportunity
to take advantage of your 'connections', were you?" Kaji looked
daggers at her.
"Oh ye of little faith. Just because I was dumped in a dead-
end posting like the SIU doesn't mean I gave up on them." He opened
his door smiling at her. "As you shall see, if you would be so kind
as to follow me...."
"Do I have a choice?" Aoi screwed her nose up at him.
"Only if you want your boyfriend back." Kaji snickered as
Aoi's face went red.
"He is NOT my boyfriend."
"Oh yes, I forgot.... You're Kikotsuka Aoi, the virgin queen
of the SIU, obsessed with nothing but your career and finding the
Sailorsenshi, something which you haven't been very good at, either
way."
"Now I can see why your wife left you." Aoi huffed. "You
have the sensitivity of a shit-soaked brick."
"That's a good one.... Gotta use it for future reference."
Kaji grinned. Aoi shook her head and opened her door as Kaji fully
stepped from his car, staring depressively at the rain. "This
weather just doesn't seem to be letting up, does it?"
"Whooooo...." Aoi wriggled her fingers at him over the roof
of the car after stepping out. "Full of great foreboding, I'm
sure."
She wasn't all that impressed when he failed to answer.
END OF PART 35
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Chapter - "Last Train to Nemesis"
_________
/ @ \ DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page)
/ / ^ ^ \ \ ayanami@internode.on.net
/\
\/ \/
\___________/
/_/ \_\ PU
Version 1.0 - Wednesday, 6th January 1999