PESBMO
(Letter)
Washington D.C., again. Land of the free, home of the brave, world of the
deceased.
The sunlight drips into the world of the dead, the capitol of the fallen city
of Earth, like a thousand knives of light. The storm is clearing up again. The
flood waters were a little higher than before.
But an approaching storm is still there, the threat of the creature. And now,
the creature itself is threatened with something it had not imagined.
Faces of the past.
They have come to haunt the creature.
It had been sure that he had gone, that in the fiery blazes of gunfire, in the
bloodshed, he had left as well, left for the next plan of existence. He was
supposed to be dead.
But his picture stared right out at it. A picture, he was wanted……for the
reason that had started everything.
The creature had been assured by similar eyes that he would die. With all the
rest, he would fall, lines from his body, running streams of dark red. It had
been promised by those eyes, by the conspirator who had grand plans for this
planet the creature now eyes for itself.
Yet he had been spared. He had been alive, at least before the power the
creature wants covered the planet. Perhaps….?
No matter. The creature chuckles. It knows that some tracks need to be covered.
Time was of the essence now. If it is to ever get what it wanted, the time to
act is now.
-----------------------
Seiya looked at Yaten and Taiki, her eyes blazed.
"You….."
"Seiya, we've got to go af-"
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The angered tone of Seiya's voice stopped them both in their tracks.
"Of all people!!" She snarled. "YOU, Talking about HIM being bad?!? Just
because he's an echidna?!?! What in HELL do you think you are?!?"
"It's tr-"
"Nothing. NOTHING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!" Seiya cut Yaten of. "You want to talk
about bad associations, Yaten? You want to play that game of who's bad because
they know who?! HUH?!"
"Seiya-"
"I can do it too. Yeah, Yaten? Granddaughter of Metallia, she who destroyed the
Silver Milennium? Maybe I should cuss you out because of that!!! Maybe YOU
shouldn't be let near the princess, yeah?!?!"
"How…" The words obviously struck a nerve. "You BITCH!!!"
The fist came fast and furious, but Seiya simply took it, throwing Yaten back.
Seiya slapped the grey-haired girl in the face while doing so.
"Hypocrite!!"
"OW!!!!!"
"Girls, I-"
"Stay out of this, sir." Seiya muttered to Fortinbras with clenched teeth. "It
is my turn to speak."
"Seiya?!" Taiki stood up. "How could y-"
"How could you." Seiya's glare then came to her. "You're inbred. Does
that make you a filthy horrid person?!"
"Locke?!? I-"
Rei ran in, only to stop dead in her tracks as the three Starlights stared at
each other, Seiya angrily shouting at her comrades.
"Your mother and father were siblings!!" The words slapped Taiki, and the newly
arrived Rei, in the face. "Should I consider you a freak, should I shun you
because of that?!" Seiya's voice raised. "How does the collective make the
individual what they are?!? Who are YOU two to judge when you yourselves are
that which you shun?!? You're supposed to be protecting innocents, not
insulting them!! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?!?"
Seiya looked down at the floor, breathing a sigh. The anger, the enraged flood,
had started to flutter from her. However, there was still one thing left.
"Seiya…"
"Go."
"Seiya, we-"
"GO!!!!"
The angered tone stopped Taiki and Yaten, and without another word, they left
the room, their livelihood broken.
------------------
Locke slowly floated down the embankment of the street. She sat, at one of the
defunct bus stops, her shoulders shrugging, her head down.
....Kakyuu....
"I don't know why you feel so sympathetic towards that anteater."
Locke could feel himself angered by Yaten and Taiki's cruel words and remarks.
It was not so much, however, that they had offended him that angered him. That
they would say things to hurt Kakyuu was what made him upset as his feet
quietly landed on the concrete.
"Kakyuu…"
Locke jumped up to follow, but Yaten and Taiki jumped in his way.
"No!" Yaten spread her arms out. "Not this time!"
"Why don't you get a clue, anteater?" Taiki glared at him.
"She's not yours."
".....................Kakyuu............."
The girl's head went up slowly, turning towards him. Her face was red and
puffy.
"Please leave me."
"Kakyuu-"
"Please" Kakyuu's voice was both angered and desperate. "Leave. I don't
deserve this. Not after that."
"It wasn't you."
"Yes it was." Kakyuu shook her head. "Oh, Locke, I…..it's so frustrating!!"
Kakyuu began to cry again. Quietly, Locke sat down next to her, looking down at
the ground.
What do I say……..what do I….
"Dear Kakyuu."
The princess' head shifted up in surprise at the softness of his voice.
"Kakyuu…I have been robbed; since the fateful day on Mobius when my world was
destroyed….not even my memory has been safe from destruction. My memories, my
fading, dying memories tell me the terrible truth - I committed a crime and my
ultimate price is disillusion and suffering. I'm a broken man; perhaps Yaten
and Taiki are right and I am not worthy in that sense. But its not them I…have
feelings for." Locke looked straight into the princess's eyes, the red eyes he
found himself attracted to more and more with each glance. "Tell me now, that you
never had feelings for me, not even a speck, and I will truly go."
Kakyuu's eyes widened in shock.
"Locke?"
"Cast me out of your life and I will go back to my cursed planet, and try….try
to give myself a fulfillment I will never have. Tell me this one truth. We
are…friends, after all…."
"Friend" was forced; he wanted to be more than that. A minute passed, with
nothing from Kakyuu, only silence.
"I know how it is to be frustrating with this situation. But I cannot leave
you." Locke voice came through once more. "You are all I have here now. If I
cannot fight for you, then there is no use fighting for me. I….I once valued
other women, but…." Kakyuu's eyes widened more as his voice slightly faltered.
"But they were not mine to have. I loved them; yes, I divorced one of them. But
I feel comfortable with you; I know that unlike those other women, you do
return something to me. You not only listen, and talk, and care, and
trust….but…….when you do it, it means so much more and is not so fleeting as
other people. You mean so much more to me now since you nursed me during my
sickness."
Kakyuu began to cry again, her head on Locke's shoulder.
"Locke…..I'm sorry…..this just isn't fair."
"It never is. But I am used to it…."
"No, it's not right." Kakyuu looked up at Locke. "Why must those who are good
like you be thrown down? I…..I know tragedy, how it takes what you love most
away from you. But you, Locke….you have suffered from more than your fair
share.…..I can never reject you, Locke." Kakyuu chuckles through her tears.
"All you have done for me….I…I too, have a loved one who died recently. You
make me feel like myself again."
"So I may stay with you?"
The two looked at each other. Without warning, Locke was suddenly seized, and
Kakyuu found her lips pressed against his. It wasn't a terrible thing to
happen, either. She felt her skin blushing from the unexpected (and, in her
opinion, romantic) whim of the poor man.
"Mm…..Locke."
"…..Yes?"
"We must stop this threat."
"Yes…." The two stopped. "We must."
"I have power." Kakyuu stood up. "Tell me where to go, and we will go.
Together. We'll stop this madness."
The two suddenly basked in a red glow, and in a flash disappeared, the only
sign of their existence in Tokyo now the smell of lilac and olive.
-------------------
The sun began to dance across the sky as the two echidnas face the soldiers on
the shadow-stained battlefield of Albion's outskirt plains.
"Sailor Pluto…" Knuckles was numb with surprise. "You're here."
"And…" Pluto stepped forwards. "It seems we have come at an inopportune time.
Having problems, and you have only just got home."
"Knuckles…" Antithesis pointed uneasily towards the three. "You….you do
realize that….well…."
"No need to worry about these three." Knuckles pointed a thumb to them. "They
are my allies. Their aid to the two worlds is invaluable."
"Two worlds…?"
"For later." Neptune cut Antithesis off. "Let us go to a safe place. Our battle
will have caught the notice of the city. Let us leave as soon as possible."
"Pluto…"
Knuckles watched as the three began to walk again. Something about them tugged
at him.
They….they are hiding something…
"Pluto."
The boots stopped.
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know."
"Then you should know."
"What do you mean?!"
"Pluto." Uranus looked at Pluto. "We mustn't wait to tell him. If that
so-called 'Dark Legion' comes again we mu-"
"DARK LEGION?!?!?!?!?!?!"
The horrified echidna voices in unison caused the three soldiers to turn
towards the two.
"You didn't just say Dark Legion…" Knuckles' voice cracked. "Please…..don't
say you did…"
"Echidna." Uranus' eyes narrowed. "You know of them?"
"Know of them-"
"He was only their unwitting pawn for the brief moment in time before the
massacre."
Antithesis' voice seemed bitter, not towards Knuckles as more so towards the
unfortunate circumstances surrounding their lives at the moment. He knew that
the massacre was only a connection to it, only a small piece of the puzzle.
"Massacre?" Neptune looked at Pluto.
"….Later for that." Pluto looked at her rod. "If you are aware, and have
confronted the Dark Legion, as your father calls it, then we could very well be
facing a common enemy."
"The enemy that attacked you….." Knuckles felt betrayed. "Not
possible…..yet….is that group could have survived……and that letter…."
"Letter?"
Antithesis noticed that Pluto was looking at him at that. It was almost as if
she knew that he had something to do with the misbegotten letter which had
caused everyone so much trouble.
"Antithesis?"
"Huh?!" The woman took him by total surprise. "How…..did you know my name?!"
"That is for later discussion." Antithesis looked down at the ground. "You can
help us, prevent what just happened to your master from happening to the people
- death. You are the only one of us that has access to the letter, yes?"
Antithesis fell silent. He knew it was true. Of course, her words meant one
thing.
"Of course…." he slowly replied. "To Albion. Wait here."
----------------------
Seiya kept staring at the door, even after she heard the door to the outside of
the shrine slamming. She wanted to go after them, tell them she was sorry for
what she had said, the secrets, the skeletons she uncovered…
No. The justification came back. What they did wasn't right. No man
deserves that. Not an innocent man. He was innocent…….
"Seiya."
Luna's voice came through to Seiya's thoughts. For a moment, she thought she
was imagining.
"Are you all right?"
"………Luna." It was no dream. "I'm fine."
"Good…"
Usagi gave a deep sigh in her unconscious state. Luna looked up at Seiya, then
towards the ceiling.
"Seiya…"
"Luna."
"I apologize for my insincerity of hiding such information…"
"I understand…." Seiya looked down. "If it was Steppenwolf's Creed."
Luna's eyes widened in surprise. Seiya glanced over at the chair near Usagi's
bed, vacated by Kakyuu, and sat down in it.
"You truly know of it?"
"Kakyuu's mother," Seiya gave a huffed chuckle. "She told me that the Tskintsu
held details of the journey of a scientist who unlocked the key to artificial
immortality. Immortality…gift given to soldiers, but capable of being given to
anyone if learned."
"Yes - two ways to do it, actually." Luna looked down. "The first, though
prolonged exposure to a Sailor Crystal's power. Like with the people of this
world - they have the potential of immortality, for they have been fermenting
in its power for a thousand years."
Seiya's face froze in surprise, only to return to a more thoughtful expression.
"But our enemy probably wasn't here, if they had to steal the Tskintsu
to get this information. So they want Steppenwolf's Creed."
"W-w-w-wait….what?"
Fortinbras had to snap his fingersto get the attention of the cat and the
Starlight. He shook his head chuckling.
"Excuse me…I'm sorry. Freezing me, I can imagine. Aging, maybe. Talking cats
and chickens and alien, fine. But artifical immortality! I'm afraid it's
a little much…:"
"Hmm?" Luna looked at him. "You don't believe us after all that has happened to
you, all you have seen?"
"Well, it sounds…..incredibly ludicrous, if you might excuse my skepticism…"
"Very well. You're entitled to your opinion." With a hmph sound in her throat,
Luna turned back to Seiya, leaving Fortinbras to shake his head disbelievingly.
"Yes. The other way speeded up that process. It took Steppenwolf long nights,
no sleep, for fifteen years - three years for him - to see the process through.
I remember him, how he always told me that he would use the formula to protect
the guardians when he created his system of defense."
"……..And Locke is a direct descendant of this man?" He found that both ways of
power fermentation created a strange sort of magic aura around the vital organs
- mainly the heart - which, if destroyed, would trigger an internal reaction
which would shut off those vital organs……only to revitalize and strengthen them
to the point where, upon awakening, the person could no longer physically die.
At least, as long as they were not constantly wounded or kept away from contact
with the Silver Crystal for long, long periods of time. Then the magic would eventually
wither away."
Seiya leaned back in her chair, slowly nodding, letting the facts sink in.
"The Tskintsu had some of the details of Steppenwolf's research in it,
"she muttered wearily. "That would allow an enemy to live for prolonged
periods."
"But not forever."
"Someone is after us." Seiya rubbed her neck. "I daresay that that echidna who
attacked Usagi and this 'Dark Legion' - as Locke called them when we were
leaving the battle - are definitely connected to the person responsible for the
stealing of the Tskintsu. The techniques are just too similar to not say
that it must be the same person conducting all of these horrible occasions."
"Indeed."
Luna could hear shouts from the outer corridors of the temple. Minako's
screaming was loudest of all.
"The question now….is who."
------------------------
Antithesis could feel his hands sweating as he silently opened the door of the
darkened offices of Gala-Na. It was dawn, no one was awakened, no one was
present in the building. No one was the to know what had happened to her.
Swiftness and subtlety… Antithesis gave a breath as he looked around the
overturned room, filled with papers and strewn books, the final rampage of his
boss. I have to find the complete letter…
He knew that Gala-Na had only given him a portion of the letter. He remembered
that she had been handling another paper that day he learned, yet he was not
sure where it was. Was it gone?
Please…. Antithesis closed his eyes. Aurora, grant me the help I need
to complete my quest…
Without another word, he quickly began to shift through the papers. They flew
everwhere as she searched, meticulously, yet quickly so that he might not be
known when the office officially opened. He looked at the clock nervously.
A half hour….please…
The search continued, becoming more and more frantic as he searched her
drawers, her desk, her closet, to no avail. Nothing suggesting Knuckles.
Nothing suggesting the massacre. There was nothing…
Fourteen minutes…
The search became even more frantic, and in his rushed state Antithesis
neglected to see in front of him the trash can behind his boss's desk. To that
end, he suddenly found himself flying, his knee banging into the can as he
fell.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
As it had essentially been empty, Antithesis found himself stumbling with the
can. It rolled under him, nestling onto his ankle. With an angry curse, angrily
reprimanding himself for his carelessness, he started to shake the can off of
his foot. Bits of shredded paper began to swirl around in the can.
……………………………..................................................................................WAIT!!!!!
The mental command came swiftly to his foot, ordering it to stop shaking.
Antithesis' eyes widened in shock as he peered into what his foot had found.
……………………………..........It isn't possible……………………………
The letter stared out at him plainly from the paper, the letter color blacker
than night. Shaped like a set of pillars it spoke volumes to him. Antithesis
slowly, surely, began to realize.
The letter…..
Quickly, he took the trash can off and piled what was in it onto the desk,
clearing away whatever else was on it. Though it had been ripped well, the
piece of paper which had once contained the letter was not unsalvageable. In
fact, it took Antithesis almost no time to gather all of the pieces and connect
them like a puzzle.
My god……
When he was finished, Antithesis' thoughts flared up.
These letters. This writing.
Code….It's a code.
DARK LEGION!!!
It was what Pluto could have wanted, what Knuckles should have known about, but
Gala-Na, Antithesis knew, couldn't be bothered with something she couldn't
read. He, however, could be.
His hand flew to the drawer, producing a tape dispenser. There was litle time
left - only ten minutes before the doors were open and he would be caught, then
the truth of Gala-Na would be known, spreading through Albion like wildfire.
Hurry………… Antithesis' hands shook violently as he began to tape the
pieces of code paper together. Hurry……………….hurry………….hurry………….….…….
-------------------------
"TAILS!!!!!"
It was enough. Sonic was exasperated.
"Tails!" Throwing the flap open, the black hedgehog stood to his full height,
his figure suddenly intimidating. "Where are…"
His voice trailed off as he looked around. Tails was not there.
God dammit!! Sonic's agita with the fox was growing by leaps and bounds
every minute. Where the hell is he now?!?!?!
Angrier than he had been in Julie-Su's tent, he began to leave, first walking
fast, then slowing…..until he finally stopped.
Huh……..
The ears began to twitch violently. Tingling came to his spines.
What is….what is this….
Slowly, surely, Sonic's head turned around. Where Tails had almost always sat,
there now was a box.
That box…. Sonic's nose began to wriggle. In there. Something…
Something welled up within him as he approached it. It was strange, for he
didn't know what was in it, but something seemed to urge him to go and open it.
No…. Even as reason told him one thing, his feet said otherwise. I
can't go through his stuff….it's his…..
What if it is something I mustn't know of……………..
*CLICK*
*FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH*
-----------------------------
The instant Sonic opened the box, he was suddenly engulfed by a flash of
spontaneous energy. It filled him, from crown to heel, in a way he had never
been filled before. Yet he knew the sensation well as the white became sky blue
and white patches.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…….……….….
The anger he had for Tails seemed to melt away in that instant. He felt larger
than life; the strange illusion he saw seemed to prove it. The buildings lay
before him, his feet touching the ground…yet he seemed to stand over the tall
buildings, the sky in his midst, facing what he was to challenge in the
distance, calling him….something was calling him…………
-----------------------------
…………….back to reality.
Sonic's head jerked back, the sky, the buildings, his feeling of enormity,
which he never knew but had felt before, melted away in the next instant. He
gave several gasps to re-cooperate from the powerful vision. It felt rich and
wonderful to him, but he did not understand.
Strange….. Sonic gave a gasp as he looked down. It felt like… that
power was…………………
No.
It can't be…..
Sonic's eyes widened at the spectrum of colors. They glowed brilliantly, their
connection very much stronger than any other set he had ever seen. It was they
that had called to him, as if they had talked to him…….
And now he understood what he needed now.
Answers…. The six Chaos Emeralds looked ready, polished, for something
Sonic couldn't see, only feel, in his illusion. I want some answers…….
--------------------
Antithesis' feet pounded the grass, heralding his approach.
"Antithesis!!"
"I found it." Antithesis' voice was confident even when he was out of breath.
"I found it. The rest of the letter."
"You did?!"
"Yes…" Antithesis slowly handed it to Pluto. "This is it. This will prove your
innocence. I swear it."
Slowly, Pluto took the paper, her eyes scanning through the tape to see the
writing. Her eyes began to widen.
"It is in code," Antithesis explained. "Dark Legion code. They use it to
communicate to each other. It was with the letter the day Gala-Na got it, but
when I went to copy….."
Antithesis' voice trailed off when the look on Pluto's face went from surprise
to pure horror.
"Miss?"
"Antithesis." Pluto croaked. "This is what the code looks like?"
"Indubitably."
"………no." Pluto shook her head shakily."
"Pluto?" Uranus glanced over the paper. "What…."
"My god…" Looking at the paper, Neptune's eyes widened. "It can't be
possible…."
"Huh?"
Antithesis looked at the soldiers, confused.
"Knuckles." Pluto looked at him. "Your…..time on Earth…."
"What?!"
"Please read this. Do not say anything until you are done."
Knuckles reluctantly took the paper, scanning it as he did. A look of pure
terror filled his face.
"Russia." The word tumbled out. "No…."
"Knuckles!!"
"The code…" Knuckles squeaked. "It looks like Russian……this was written in
Russian……if this was with……..then that means……"
Pluto and Neptune looked at Uranus, who looked back at them. It was official to
them what was going on.
"Come." Pluto's voice suddenly came back, its tone determined. "To Knothole."
They walked, quickly and quietly.
"Wait-"
Antithesis did not understand, did not know what the words meant, but he knew
that whatever was going on, it only meant one thing.
Indeed, they were all in the gravest danger.
