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.