Title: Original "Usagi is Dead" Part 7
Author: Dark Day For Anime (Mark A Page)
Email: darkdayforanime@hotmail.com
IRC: Mappy on DALnet's #AJAS
Fic Rating: R

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UsAgI iS dEaD uSaGi Is DeAd HiP hIp HiP hOoRaY
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so
these characters really belong to them. I'm just abusing them in a
manner most would describe as nothing short of scandalous. I hope
nobody sues me for it. Besides, this disclaimer is starting to look
silly. :D~~~~~~~~O (Even sillier with little additions like that).

Part Seven
Gross Domestic Product

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Usagi opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. She
wondered where she was. There wasn't likely to be an answer.

Floating, she thought, in nothingness. For some reason, she
felt this to be her second such experience in a very short space of
time.

Then everything turned blue. A deep, aquatic blue. It wasn't
water she was floating in.... It felt, smelt and tasted like
herself. Or at least was an avatar to her inner self. She looked
at what she thought to be up and saw light, without any obvious
source. She looked down and saw darkness. Both felt inviting right
now. she was torn with indecision.

"It is interesting, is it not, that a young woman named after
a sea on the moon should never have visited such a place as this."
The voice seemed to have no origin, but Usagi was sure she'd heard
it before. Where? Where?
"I felt no need to come to this place, not that I know where
it is." She replied, perhaps a little too arrogantly.
The voice answered mockingly. "Yes, you were never one for
the more cerebral concepts. Perhaps you'd like the opportunity to
make a start?"
"Naiad Keth Drutein..." Usagi finally got out. "That is who
you are.... The last of the third refrain of the Kingdom's Miko
circle."
"At least there is nothing wrong with your memory. Its
amazing at what a little tweaking shall do to the inner heart."

Usagi raised a figurative eyebrow at this suggestion.

"Are you saying you are manipulating with my mind?"

"Princess..." The voice of Naiad said the title more like an
insult than a term of affection. "You really don't know how long
I've been playing with your mind, do you?"

Before Usagi could answer that, a vision floated into her at
great speed, swallowing her up. She found herself standing in a
dark place. There were gentle sobs in the background. A cavern, or
what looked like a cavern. She turned and looked around. Its high
stone walls were covered in trickling water. The air was damp and
dank.

She turned to the sobbing and saw a figure, chained and bound
to the wall. There were strange wards and chains hung limply around
the person. Usagi took a few steps forward and noticed that the
flesh was badly scarred on the exposed parts of her body. It was a
she.... Usagi could at least see breasts. The girl's sobbing
melded into a kind of soft, inane giggling. She looked up. Not at
Usagi, although it was doubtful whether she would have seen her had
she actually been there. Her gaze was blind, the eyes as damaged as
the flesh.

All Usagi recognised was the hair.... Long black hair. A
terrible realisation came to her at that moment. "Rei-chan...."
She mumbled. The figure almost seemed to notice the sound and
listened intently. Of course, Usagi thought, Rei had spiritual
powers other than that as a senshi.

Usagi placed her hands on either side of Rei's head, ignoring
the frightened and frightening expression on the other girl's face.
Usagi looked into her mind.
"GET OUT!" It was Rei's voice. "GET OUT YOU BITCH! LEAVE ME
TO SUFFER! I WON'T GIVE IN TO THE LIKES OF YOU."

Usagi snatched her hands away. Rei was struggling with her
chains, snarling and drooling, snapping at the air like a wild dog.
For a few moments Usagi felt compelled to try again, when the door
at the far end of the cavern opened. Usagi turned as Rei went
still. A lone figure walked into the darkness, a smile on his face.
Jadeite. He stepped slowly over to Rei and knelt down beside her,
touching her disfigured face.

"I heard you getting angry. Is there something you wish for,
my love?" Rei's face turned to him and rubbed against his hand,
almost cooing with pleasure.

Usagi turned away. This was where this Rei wanted to be. She
shook her head sadly as the vision evaporated around her, returning
to the state of eternal blue.
"Why did she reject me that way? My only thought was to help
her."

There was no answer. Usagi went quiet and listened. There
was no sound, bar a gentle hush. Usagi closed her eyes and waited
for Naiad to speak.
"Strange that that should have been the first vision you'd
experience. Why Rei? Why have you always been so much closer to
her than the others?" Naiad's voice was questioning. Genuinely
questioning. Usagi gave a shrug and turned towards the darkness,
opening her eyes. It was looking damned inviting now.

"That was a vision of destiny, was it not?"
"It may have been. Maybe the influence of my being so close
to you." Usagi closed her eyes and felt herself being carried in a
tidal flow.
"It seems a sad destiny."
"For someone who used their powers to keep Setsuna's mind on
the task of killing you that first time?"

Usagi wondered about that for a while, just allowing herself
to float, carried with the pleasure and ecstasy of sheer non-
existence and, sometimes, total bodilessness.

Death didn't feel too bad to her right now. There could be
worse fates.

----o

"Model 1014-P is now leaving the production line. Will Mister
Chiba please attend the presentation in the lobby." The voice
over the tannoy annoyed Mamoru. He didn't want to go, but he had
no choice.

His office looked over the workfloor from on high. It at
least felt good to have some mastery over his situation, but
ultimately it meant nothing. It was still a dark, gloomy office,
ripe with the smell of old concrete and paper. He'd spent much of
his life here, in the office.... There was even a bed sitting at
the back, obscured by filing cabinets. He was lying on that bed
now, contemplating the warp and weft of the ceiling.

The room itself seemed to welcome his frequent patronage,
almost messing itself up to suit his state of mind. It felt good to
stay here. But he couldn't. Not when a new model was about to come
off the line. Slowly, he rose from the bed and got to his feet.
Stepping around the filing cabinets, he grabbed his suit jacket from
the back of the desk chair.

Out of the office, down the stairs and past the myriad of
workers who lined the conveyor belts with all the zeal of the
mindless ciphers they actually were, and all bearing the face of
Usagi. He'd created a great many of them himself, and the other
half were created by the factory he fashioned. He'd begun to hate
this world, not that he ever liked it much. The loneliness he felt
at not having anyone on his intellectual level to talk to drove him
near mad.

He'd expected at least one of the models to come back to him.
None ever did. He had no idea where they went or what they did once
they left the care of his factory.

Through the doors at the far end of the workfloor and into the
main corridor through the clerical offices. More ciphers, working
side by side to fulfill the orders. He stared at them as he went
past. How happy they all looked. Well, of course they would all be
happy.... They were all working for their beloved Mamo-chan. Each
and every one of them doing their best to please him. Sometimes
he'd even contrived to take one or two of them back to the office at
the end of their workshift, just to see if their construction really
was up to scratch. They passed, pretty much. But they were
imperfect in one way or another. He knew the original. He knew her
intimately. Moreso than he or she would ever confess to anyone
else. That brought a smile to his face. No matter how hard he
tried, he would never be able to produce an original Usagi. But
then, the workers at the factory were never meant to be original.
That honour was supposed to go to the others, those who were built
in an attempt to recreate her powers....

That had always failed.

He soon changed his mind as he stepped through the doors into
the main lobby. Appreciative Usagis, dressed in business suits and
gowns, stared up in salivating pride at the wonder that stood before
them. So this was a 4-P model, he thought.... The computer design
department had done its best to eradicate many of the flaws he'd
mentioned, but he never thought he'd see so wondrous a sight.

Upon a small, circular raised dais stood Usagi. As close as
he'd ever seen to the real thing, dressed in her ultimate warrior
fuku. He bit his lower lip, almost in tears. A deep, dark vacuum
opened up in his soul....

"Usako...." He croaked, as the 4-P turned to him and smiled.

----o

Usagi found herself floating downwards towards the darkness.
For a moment, she felt an edge of anticipation.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" Naiad asked. Usagi
stared longingly at it.
"That void.... That air of nothingness, free of pain and
regret. Right now it feels tempting."
"That isn't a void, Princess. Down there lies the deepest
aspects of your own soul. Are you willing to witness the darknesses
that exist there, even at the cost of your own sanity?"
"Eh.... Eeeeeeeehhhhhhh?"
Usagi struggled to swim away from it, succeeding in reaching
brighter waters. "I want death. I want to be dead. I can't deal
with the reality, as it exists."
"Too easy. I won't let you die until things are finally
over." Usagi began to sob, quivering. "Tears will not sway my
decision, either."
"Let me go! Let me DIE!"
Naiad sighed, and Usagi felt herself landing on solid ground.
She looked up and saw swaying grass. Slowly she stood, realising
only then that she was wearing Serenity's royal gown. She looked at
her surroundings. Despite the warmth of the air and sun, the wind
had a frigid chill about it, running down from the high snowcapped
mountains around her. In future years this place would become known
as Uzbekistan, or, at least, a portion of it would. Over the
mountains lay a myriad of valleys that would be claimed by various
nations. Now, however, it was empty, devoid of human habitation.
Had it not been for the ruins of a small village at the base of the
valley, she could have imagined this place never having been
frequented. A road ran through the valley, however. It lead to the
village. Despite being a dirt track, it was not nearly as
abandoned.

"The valley of T'fureis." A voice said behind her. She
turned to see Naiad standing before her. The woman looked so much
like Setsuna that Usagi momentarily had to check herself. She was,
of course, a very different beast. Her hair was dark blue rather
than green, as were her eyes. Her skin was pale and she carried a
trident staff. On top of it all she wore the more ceremonial fuku
of a Miko. Extremely ornate, lined with trim made of purest
turquoise. The woman's face carried a serene smile, but Usagi got
the impression that it could change at any moment. Like the deepest
ocean that her power represented.
"T'fureis?" Usagi pondered. "I'm not sure what it is called
today. Perhaps it doesn't have a name."
"Everything has a name. It just depends on how it has been
misnamed, in due course." Naiad stared across the valley. "This is
my place of origin. And that of Setsuna."
"Why did you bring me here? What is there for me here?"
"Contemplation. You have a destiny to fulfill, albeit a
different one from that which you'd expected, and not nearly so
pleasant."
Usagi turned from her and looked down. "Go away. Let me die
as I should." Usagi began to walk away, but found herself slowing,
almost involuntarily. Naiad watched her as she stopped.
"Death may be a pleasure you seek, but it is one you must
earn."
Naiad clanged her staff into the ground. The rings that were
connected to the spires of the trident sang, and she disappeared.
Usagi was left alone in the valley.

Alone to think. More alone than she had ever been in her
entire existence.

----o

Makoto was the first to recover. She lifted herself to her
hands and knees, groaning. She felt a hand on her shoulder and
looked up. Aoi smiled back.
"How are you feeling?" Aoi said softly.
"Like crap, how else should I feel?"
"Hmm... You have a point there."

Aoi helped Makoto to her feet. "I'm sorry, but it looks like
the shrine is wrecked." She said. Makoto looked around. Indeed,
the shrine was lying around them, nothing short of rubble. There
was a fine pink residue lying over everything, even herself, and she
began to brush herself down.
"What the hell happened? Is everyone alright?"
"They are. For now." Aoi gestured to the others. Rei, Naru
and Chibiusa were lying beside each other. Rei was stirring.
Makoto looked up at Aoi.
"How did you recover first? I mean, what the hell happened
just then?" Something occured to her. "Where the hell is Mamoru?"

Aoi pointed to a growing lump of pink, slowly draining the
pink residue from the shrine grounds. "There. Thats him."
"Wh.... WHAT?" Makoto stared at the pile.
"It seems he wasn't quite the Mamoru we know and love." Aoi's
tone was mischievous.
"Who the hell WAS he then?"
"We'll find out soon enough." Aoi turned to Rei, who was now
trying to lift herself up. "Looks like I've got more work to do.
Somehow I don't think it will be as easy to explain things to her as
it was to you."

----o

There wasn't a sense of time in the valley. Usagi sat on a
rock beside the road that ran through the ruined village. She had
gravitated to this spot for no real reason other than that it
represented civilisation. She couldn't stand being without even the
most tenuous of links.

What did Naiad mean by 'contemplation'? She was dead. Ami
had killed her. Rather viciously, if her memory served her well.
In this place, however, nothing was certain. She wasn't even sure
if 'here' actually was where she thought it was. The place where
the Drutein sisters were born and raised. Naiad and Hecate. Of
course, Hecate was now known as Setsuna. Strange how the flavour of
names haunt people throughout their existences.

She looked both ways along the road. For a moment, it felt
like waiting for some of the rail and bus services in her area.
She'd probably wait years for someone to come along, then get an
entire city passing through. She didn't feel like waiting. Even if
this was a creation of the T'fureis valley of the Silver Milennium,
surely Naiad wouldn't be so cruel as to leave her here, totally
alone.

In a flash, she was standing elsewhere. The school gym. In
total darkness. For a few moments, she wondered what was going on.
Wind gently rushed through the trees outside. Her eyes began to
adjust to the darkness and she saw moonlight casting through the
window.

There was a dripping sound.... Gentle, yet grim. A soft
cough followed, and Usagi turned to the source of the sound. There,
beside the closed door to the changerooms, sat Ami, as Mercury. She
was leaning against the door, her face bleeding, and her chest even
moreso. Blood dripped from the chestwound and she stared out at the
moonlight.

"U..sa...gi...chan..." She croaked as Usagi realised she was
casting a silhouette.
"Ami-chan? What....?" Usagi ran over to Ami, trying to reach
for the mortally wounded young woman. But her hands passed through
Ami's body. Despite having some substance, she had not nearly
enough.

"U....sa...gi...ch..." Ami slipped down the door.
"Go...men..." She hit the floor with a sickening thud. It was
obvious to Usagi that she was dead. Usagi reached out for the body.
She wanted to touch the girl.... The girl who had, so very
recently, killed her.

And then she was back in the valley, reaching down to nothing
but the ground. She sat and stared into space. Where was all this
supposed to be leading? What the hell was Naiad trying to say? Why
didn't she just explain her reasoning for putting her through all
this and be done with it?

Why? Because it was all too easy. And Naiad NEVER did things
the easy way. One of the reasons why everyone felt greatly relieved
after her suicide in the Silver Millenium. It was obvious that the
only one ever allowed to live the easy way was going to be Naiad
herself.

----o

"Umm, excuse me..?" Hotaru and Minako were surprised when the
door opened. The both of them had sat down after explaining very
carefully to the cats what was going on, the unedited version this
time. Their previous attempt with the edited one produced a state
of total non-comprehension in their feline companions, and even some
slightly paranoid babbling from Luna, who was not entirely known for
her patience in these matters.

After managing to convince the cats that this most certainly
wasn't Tokyo (helped by showing them what was through the two doors
at other end of the office), they sat down and began to ponder their
next action. That was when the door opened and an Usagi popped her
head through.

"Yes?" Hotaru did her best to smile sweetly as Luna and
Artemis cringed from the vision behind her desk.

"I'm here to clean away the bodies." Usagi pointed to the
other door. Hotaru and Minako stared at each other from their
respective desks and shrugged.
"Umm, be our guest." Minako blinked a couple of times. Usagi
nodded and stepped through the door, carrying a mop, bucket and a
large, elongated white and black object that looked like an
overgrown dust vacuum. There were other Usagi's standing near the
doorway, looking impatient. Minako stood and went up to the
doorway, putting her hands up placatingly.

"I'm... errr, sorry. We're having our establishment cleaned
out, so things will take a little longer than expected."
"I've been waiting here for an hour!" One of the Usagi's,
wearing a long blue dress, said. Minako turned as the cleaner Usagi
stepped through the other door into the body storeroom. Hotaru
followed her and peered in as she switched on the lights. To Hotaru
the room looked, for all the world, like an overgrown morgue. It
was bigger than they had expected it to be, as the none of them had
bothered to step in with the lights on. None of them wanted to.
Minako turned back to the Usagis assembled by the other doorway.
"Well, I'm terribly sorry. We've been waiting for the cleaner
to arrive. You know what the public service is like."

The Usagis hmmmed in agreement. Minako was simply glad she
had said something that made sense to them.
"Yeah, remember the drains three weeks ago. Just because the
destroyers blew the crap out of some portions of the city, we're
supposed to accept going without water for days at a time."
"And what about the postal service. Its pathetic, I tell
you."
"Then theres electricity and gas. It took them five days to
connect to my apartment after I moved in."

This made Minako's head spin. These girls... These Usagis,
were talking to each other as if the entire situation was normal....
As if they were definably individual beings.... But each and every
one of them spoke and reacted in exactly the manner she remembered
the original. It made her sick to the stomach.

"Ano...." She blurted out. They all looked at her. "Umm...
How long have you guys been here?"
"Here?" The second Usagi, wearing a red jumpsuit over a
striped red and white long-sleeved shirt, asked.
"Yes, here, in the city."
"Oh, I've been here about seven months now."
"Three months for me." Said the first.
"You're queue jumping somewhat, aren't you?" Said a third.
"Yeah, but I thought, well, get it over with. There's nothing
for us in this world, anyway."

All the Usagis agreed with this. Minako paled. "What... do
you mean, there's nothing for you here?" They all stared at her.
"You should know.... We were brought here to use our powers."
"But we can't. At least, none of us have been able to
manifest them."
"I almost succeeded. I managed to make my tiara glow, just a
little bit. But it fizzled out."
"You're lucky. I couldn't even get the tiara to appear."
"Hmm... Not even being able to get so much as a single base-
level attack to work. We really are hopeless."
"Yeah, its better to kill those who don't meet up with your
standards, don't you agree?"
"Oh most indupitably..."

Minako couldn't take any more. She began to shake. The
Usagis looked at her with concern.
"Are you alright, Mina-chan?"
"Yes, you aren't looking well...."

"I'll be fine." Minako contained herself and smiled at them
as best as she could. "As I said, please wait for a little longer,
then we can.... restart our operations." With that, Minako shut the
door, leaning her back against it, eyes closed. She took a few deep
breaths and turned towards the other doorway, where Hotaru was
watching the cleaner walking around the corpse room. Suddenly,
there was a loud whoosh, and Hotaru let out a yelp. Minako ran up
behind her and pushed her aside. There was another whoosh and
Minako watched disbelievingly as one of the bodies dissapeared,
leaving only a sticky red mass on the tray it had lain upon. The
cleaner pulled the vacuum like object away from the tray and walked
up to another, repeating the process, with the same result. Minako
heard Hotaru choke, and turned to her.
"Are you okay, Hotaru-chan?"
"No. I think I'm going to be sick."
"You better not be. I have no idea where the bathroom is."
"I don't think I'm going to wait until you find a bathroom."

Hotaru clamped a hand over her mouth and turned green. Minako
quivered and wondered how much worse things could get.

----o

Ami walked up the garden path towards the front door of her
house. It was not often she felt joy at the thought of entering
this place, and now was one of those times. She'd murdered Usagi.
With her own hands, even. She felt joy at actually having achieved
this feat on her own, devoid of the usual weaknesses she felt. It
hurt so often to be looked upon as the 'brains' of the senshi. So
often the benefit of that intellect was negated by her own social
inexperience, leaving the weaknesses in her senshi powers open to
a greater scrutiny.
But this time.... She'd beaten the living crap out of Usagi.
She'd used her fists and strength in a way she'd not thought
possible. Not her. That had been the preserve of the likes of
Makoto and Haruka. So then she began to wonder.... Just what was
it she thought she was doing? Why did she feel the need to kill
Usagi? Because Usagi would have killed her. And why did she think
Usagi was going to kill her? Because Usagi would be as mad as hell
for what happened the first time. And why did they conspire to kill
her the first time? Because of the vision Setsuna placed in their
minds, showing Usagi killing them all. So did that mean the vision
had become a self-fulfilling prophecy? And just how did she come
back to life the first time? Was it possible a second time?

To say she was less than pleased with things when she walked
through the front door of her house was something of an
understatement.

"Tadaiima." She called out. Her mother stepped from the
doorway leading to the lounge, a drink in her hand.
"AMI-CHAN!" She shouted. Uh-oh, Ami thought, what have I
done now? "Little lady, just where have you been. you've had
friends and half the school in a tizz over your disappearing."
"Eh?" Ami looked at her in confusion. Suddenly she
remembered that she'd taken off from the shrine without telling
anyone. She hung her head, feeling even less happy about things
than even before.
"I'm sorry, mother. I had to think things over."
"You had everyone worried sick about you. Don't you ever
think about how others feel?"

Ami clenched her fists. "Don't worry, it won't happen again,
I promise you."
"And what in hell is going with your friends? I received a
call from the Tsukinos to tell me their daughter, Usagi, wasn't
dead after all. After all that happened after school last night
with the police... Are you alright?" Her mother noticed that
Ami hadn't moved at all. Usually, at moments like this, Ami would
wander off as if absent minded. She knew better. Ami was exactly
like her, in almost every respect.

"Ma.... Mama... I'm.... I...." Ami's mother stepped forward
to question her daughter further, when Ami flew into her, wrapping
her arms around her back and burying her face in her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Mama. Everythings gone wrong. My life is all
wrong. Its all wrong. Please, make it all go away. Please...."

Needless to say, her mother was more than speechless.

----o

The quartet landed hard in the middle of Beryl's castle. The
ruins of the main hall were cold, the walls broken open allowing in
the frigid wastes of its surrounds.

Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru landed heavily on their tailbones,
causing them to quiver for a few moments as the sensation ran like
an express train into their skulls. Setsuna was the first to stand
as Jadeite wandered around, gesturing wildly.

"A classic arena for a showdown, wouldn't you say?"
"What the hell did you do that for, Jadeite?" Haruka stood,
helping Michiru up with her. "Just whose side are you on, anyway?"
"Whose side do you think I'm on? My side, of course."
"And what side would that be?" Setsuna glared at him.

Jadeite shrugged. "Doesn't matter, does it? Having the door
to my apartment blown open was about as much damage as I was going
to allow to be done to my property."

"Where is the spawning machine?" Michiru looked around as
Haruka transformed herself into Uranus. The aqua-haired woman
seemed more intent on other things than the matter at hand.
"What does it matter. Usagi shall be here in seconds. You
probably won't live long enough to see the machine."
"Look, I really couldn't care less whether Usagi wants to kill
me or not. I want to see the machine." Michiru stared at Jadeite,
who mirrored the expression. He shrugged and pointed to a doorway
on one side of the hall. Michiru sniffed and ran for the door,
transforming herself into Neptune as she did so.

"Michiru.... Wait!" Haruka ran after her. Setsuna and
Jadeite watched them go.
"I take it you aren't interested in the machine, or its
remains?" He smiled contemptuously. Setsuna shrugged and closed
her eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
"Its nothing. Being so close to them now has allowed me the
opportunity to see the past, and the future. I know what it looks
like and what has happened here."
"Hmm." Jadeite pondered this. "But you couldn't beforehand.
Strange that you are so devoid of the powers to which you are so
traditionally associated."
Setsuna ahrugged again. "I know what stepped from the
machine, Jadeite. And I know you are playing a very dangerous game.
Don't think she'll not turn on you, just because you helped her
before."

"Shimatta!" Setsuna and Jadeite turned as Haruka and Michiru
began stepping backwards through the doorway, followed by Usagi.
The younger girl showed absolutely no fear of the older senshi.

"Hmm. Your navigation wasn't perfect there, Usagi." Jadeite
smiled. Her return smile was so sweet, Setsuna could have thrown
up.
"It makes a more threatening entrance if I do it this way,
Jade-chan." She giggled and sniffed. "Brrr, is it cold in here or
what? Guess I'll just have to warm things up a little."

At that second, fire lamps that had been dead for years sprung
into life. Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru stared as the flames danced
into life, bursting with a myriad of different colours. Jadeite
smiled and opened his arms.

"Magnificent, is it not? The power she now wields is indeed a
beauty to behold." Setsuna turned back to Jadeite, shaking her
head. How deluded had he become in the years that had passed since
the defeat of the Dark Kingdom?

"Well...." Usagi licked her lips. "Who's gonna be first for
a workout? I'm most certainly in the mood."

Nobody moved, or said anything. Usagi shrugged.

"Okay, then. I guess I'm going to have to choose. How
about.... YOU." Usagi fired off a beam of energy at Michiru. She
attempted to put up a shield, but was struck too heavily and was
thrown twenty feet backwards, falling on her side. Haruka, seeing
this, took her opportunity to launch an attack.

"Flying WORLD SHAKING!" Haruka charged forward, thrusting out
a beam of energy at Usagi. Much to Haruka's chagrin, the smaller
girl was able to create a shield before the strike met home. Usagi
was knocked backwards half the distance of Michiru, but was still
standing. She snarled at Haruka, whose energy had begun to falter,
and let down her shield to make her own attack.

Haruka took the opportunity to bring up her other fist, giving
Usagi an uppercut across the chin. Usagi was planted into the wall,
sliding out slowly and falling to the floor. Haruka charged with
another energised attack as she got to her hands and knees. This
time, however, Usagi turned her defence move into an attack, making
the shield a battering ram. She looked up, snarling as Haruka was
pounded across the hall, slamming into the opposite wall. Michiru,
getting to her feet, watched Haruka fall to the ground and gritted
her teeth as Usagi launched an attack at Setsuna.

Jadeite stood back as Setsuna closed her eyes, throwing her
staff across the path of the beam. The attack shattered against an
invisible barrier.

"DEEP SUBMERGING MULTIPLE WAVE!" Michiru fired off a beam of
energy at Usagi. The younger girl smiled and put up her shield,
allowing the beam to shatter harmlessly. As she lowered her shield,
she was levelled by a second beam, then a third, a fourth, a fifth.

Usagi felt her clothes tearing, and coughed up blood. The
pounding injuring her internally. This really made her mad.

Usagi lifted two fingers, clenched together, and ran off an
incantation. She then slammed her fist into the floor. A wave
of ripped-out floorstones flew towards Michiru and Setsuna, growing
in size. Both tried to block the attack, but were blown violently
backwards, both ending up in the back wall. Jadeite only escaped
the attack by the skin of his teeth.

Usagi breathed heavily. The attacks the senshi had been
laying into her weren't too damaging, but it was annoying that their
numbers were negating her efforts to fire off the more powerful
spella she had in her retinue.

Setsuna was the first to stand. Michiru had only just managed
to sit up. Haruka, for her part, was on her hands and knees,
clutching at a very sore head.

Setsuna lifted her staff and charged forward. "DEAD SCREECH!"
She shouted as she did so. Usagi placed her hands forward in a
semi defence/attack stance.

There was a momentary flash of light, and a blue-haired girl,
holding up the body of another appeared. Both Setsuna and Usagi
were momentarily distracted, and their attacks went wild.

Setsuna was struck full on in the chest by Usagi's defence,
whilst Usagi was blinded by Setsuna's attack. Setsuna flew back,
screaming out loud. The pain in her chest was incredible, blood
spewing from her mouth in a ghastly arc through the air. Usagi
staggered back, covering her eyes and crying out in pain.

The girl almost dropped the body when she saw what was
happening. "Oh dear, I'm sorry about this. I'll be back when
you've finished things...." She was about to disappear when she
felt herself being grabbed. Haruka's grip hurt her arm.

"Itaaaiii... That hurts you know."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Nobody who should be concerning you. Let me go or I'll
drop and damage the corpse."
"The corpse?" Haruka looked at the body that the girl was
holding, tenuously, underneath one arm. "Usagi?"
"Yeah, nice bit of deduction there, Sherlock."

The both of them turned as they heard Usagi cry out in anger,
just about wetting themselves at the violence inherent in the tone.
Usagi launched herself at Setsuna, landing on top of the woman, who
was sprawled over the ground, coughing. Usagi gripped Setsuna by
the throat and lifted her up, pouring energy into her.

Setsuna screamed and felt darkness descending upon her. Usagi
gritted her teeth, drooling with hatred. "Die, you FREAK! I hate
you I hate you I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU!"

Haruka and the girl stood, unable to move. Michiru, too, felt
helpless. That didn't stop the corpse moving. Haruka and the girl
let out small gasps of surprise as the corpse pulled away from the
girl's grasp, stepping forward.

"DREAM AMBIENCE VIRULENCE!" The corpse shouted in a voice
that most certainly wasn't Usagi. The other Usagi turned, hearing
the attack's verbal opening, realising too late what the attack was.

In a matter of seconds, she was lauched into a random
transportation vortex, disappearing from the hall in an instant.
Setsuna collapsed to the ground as Haruka, Michiru and the girl were
released from the field of energy Usagi had created, all three
falling to the floor, feeling drained.

The corpse turned to the blue-haired girl, her eyes shining a
deep aquamarine. "Thanks for transporting the body here, Pala. It
seems my idiot sister was incapable of looking after herself." The
voice came from the mouth with barely a movement from the jaw. The
girl, Pala, nodded dumbly.

The corpse's head turned at the sound of clapping, off to one
side of the hall. Jadeite smiled, applauding appreciatively.
"Bravo. A ring-in maneuver. I must admit, you senshi really
know all the tricks."
The corpse gave Jadeite the finger and stepped over to the side
of the fallen senshi. "Jeez, now how does she do this. Wish I'd
bothered to ask her how this body works." The corpse knelt down and
touched Setsuna's forhead with a finger. In a fraction of a second,
Setsuna was thrashing around.

"Ow! Owieowieowieowie!" She sat up suddenly and stared at
the corpse darkly. "I would have lived, you know?"
"Yes, but I thought you might have appreciated a blast."
"Only in retrospect, yes."
"See, told you."

Haruka pointed to the pair and turned to Pala as Michiru
joined them. "What the hell is THAT? Usagi? It looks like a
corpse."
"It is a corpse."
"Eh?"
"Its Usagi's original body, in slightly better condition than
before. My boss is using it at the moment, though."
"Your boss?"
"My dumb-ass sister." Setsuna got to her feet, the corpse
following suit. Haruka and Michiru opened their mouths in a silent
'oh', as if that was supposed to make sense.

"Dumb-ass?" Naiad said through the corpse's mouth. "As if."
She snorted with amusement. "I'm constantly having to clean up your
messes for you, and you call me a 'dumb-ass'."
"Yes, well, thanks very much for getting rid of the Gray
Queen." Setsuna sniffed. "Pity its a temporary reprieve."
"Well, I don't have the power to kill her, and neither do you.
In fact, none of us do. None alive, anyways."
"So what happened to Usagi after I brought her back to life?"
"YOU DID WHAT?" Haruka, Michiru and Jadeite stared at her in
utter disbelief.
"After all the effort you went through to kill her?" Jadeite
stammered. Setsuna smiled sweetly.
"Oops, forgot to mention that to you, 'Jade-chan'."
Jadeite laughed. "Magnificent. I love it. This is SO much
fun. I knew it was a good idea to become involved in this." He
smiled as Setsuna chuckled to herself. She quickly did an about
turn when Haruka and Michiru advanced on her.
"Just what the hell did you think you were doing?
Resurrecting Usagi?" Haruka leered. "Don't you remember what was
to happen in the vision?"
"Yes. And then I saw the other Usagi pass me by in the back
of a car. That changed my mind."
"You mean THAT Usagi is the one we all saw in the vision?"
Michiru frowned.
"Indeed it was. Thats why I went behind your backs and
resurrected the original." Setsuna smiled. Haruka and Michiru
spat contempt.
"Well, thats what one should expect from my sister. She was
born a Scorpio, after all." The Naiad-Usagi corpse sniffed with
amusement. "I'll never be able to live that down. Having a Scorpio
for a sister."

"So what do we do now?" Michiru rubbed her shoulders, which
felt sore, and noticed that Haruka was not looking too good herself.
"Well, it might be a good thing for Setsuna to bring this bag
of blood and bone back to life. She did it once."
"Almost cost me my life, too."
"Don't worry. I'll use the powers within the bod to bring you
back."
"Yeah, sure. And what about Usagi? Won't she be asking for
the thing back by then?"
"I'm afraid Usagi is a tad indisposed. For some reason, she's
not too enthusiastic about coming back to life."
"How did she die anyway?" Setsuna blinked. "I mean, this
time... What killed her?"
Pala giggled from the background. "Seems Mercury was a little
curious about things in the hospital after that Kikotsuka chick ran
into her. She went near postal when she saw Usagi was alive."
"Shit! Forgot about the guys at the shrine." Setsuna huffed.
"Oh well, better get this over and done with." Setsuna began to
mouth an incantation.

----o

Usagi climbed the rockface. Not an easy thing to do when
dressed in something as flowing as a ballgown. For a moment she
wondered whether it was possible for her to alter this reality to
suit her needs in some fashion. She most certainly needed to be
wearing something different to achieve this task. In a blink of an
eye, she found herself in a short-sleeved mountaineering shirt,
denim shorts and mountain-climbing boots. Well, she thought, that
was easy. Should have thought about it sooner.

She then attempted to imagine a large bakery selling dumplings
at the top of the rock ledge. It didn't work. Oh well, can't get
everything right.

----o

Four young girls, dressed in rather out-of-place clothing sat
in the horse cart looking tired, depressed and bored. The short,
white-haired girl, dressed in a striped black and white suit, who
happened to be manning the reigns, stared out at the approaching
village ruin in disgust.

"Oh, wonderful, another ruin."
"Shutup. We'll find someone sooner or later." Another girl,
with long brown hair and dressed in a vested suit, muttered. She
sat up to stretch. The rough wooden sides to the cart had not been
much of a backrest, but it was all the had to lean against in their
journey... excluding the backpacks carrying their few belongings.
The brown-haired girl's companion, a light blue-green haired and
fair-skinned girl dressed in a one-piece coat and woollen hat,
lounged against a backpack, groaning audibly.
"Ohhh, I'm so hungry." She said, holding her stomach. To
underline the point, her stomach grumbled audibly. The brown-haired
girl chuckled and put a hand on her arm.
"Don't worry. There's got to be a place somewhere along this
road where we can stop." The blue-green haired girl smiled back and
nodded, prompting a cynical reply from the last of the four, a girl
with her black hair tied back severely and a feline expression.

"Will the pair of you stop that? You're making me feel sick."
Blue-green sat up and hissed at her. "Yeah, well now you know
how it feels to have to be around YOU for too long."
Black snapped on her. "What did you say?"
Blue-green refused to be intimidated. "You HEARD what I said.
Unless, of course, you're deaf."
"I'll have your heart out for that, bitch!"
"Oh YEAH? Come and try me, tramp."
"Now now.... Lets not be hasty.." Brown put a hand on blue-
green's shoulder and held up the other to black. The both of them
stared at one another a few moments more, then went back to lounging
back against their respective backpacks.

All three were shaken as the cart came to a dead stop, and
stared at their shorter companion, who was pointing out towards the
side of one of the nearby mountains.

"Look, there's someone trying to climb the mountainside."
"What?" Brown squinted at the figure, blue-green and black
sniffing with momentary interest.
"Probably a loony on the loose. Who else would be out here,
climbing mountains?" Black shrugged.

Brown opened up her backpack and took out a pair of
binoculars, using them to get a better image of the figure. She let
out a gasp and the others stared at her.

"What is it?" Asked blue-green.
"Its her. Its Sailormoon.... The Tsukino girl."
The other three sat bolt upright and stared at the distant
figure. "You're shittin' me?" Black stuttered.
"No shit. Its her, alright." Brown watched for a few moments
more. "I think she's in trouble. She's losing her footing!"

----o

Usagi was most certainly in trouble. She'd tried to get
around a small overhang, only to find a bigger one nearby. In an
attempt to avoid that one, she'd had a go at scaling the first.

Her foothold went in an instant. Placing her foot in a
weathered gap, she'd tried to push herself upwards, only to find the
stone not nearly as strong as it looked. It collapsed beneath her
foot, and she made a desperate grab for the rock overhang. She
almost succeeded, but the stone there was equally as brittle, and
soon she found herself tumbling down the mountainside.

----o

The quartet watched her fall, cringing as she struck each rock
on the way down.
"We've got to help her. She must be badly hurt." Black
gripped the side of the cart as Usagi hit the bottom and lay there,
unmoving. Blue-green shrugged.
"Why should we? After what she did to us?" All of them were
surprised when brown grabbed a blanket and some cloth from her
backpack and jumped off the cart, charging for the still figure.

They shrugged and jumped off the cart. The short one deciding
to stay with the horse. The other two following their companion
rather lamely.

----o

Usagi looked up in a daze, feeling pain all over as her face
was touched by a hand. "What on Earth were you doing that for, you
stupid girl?" The owner of the hand looked down on her sternly.
For some reason, Usagi felt she knew the girl from somewhere.

"I wanted to get a better view. I wanted to see if there was
anybody or anything about."
"Well, now you know. Can you move? Does it hurt anywhere?"
Usagi moved her feet and hands, then her arms and legs, then her
back and neck.
"Seems like everything is in working order." She slowly
began to sit up, helped by the girl.
"Well, you're damned lucky. You could have been killed, you
know that?" Usagi nodded dumbly, then a look of realisation came
across her face.
"I know you! You were one of Galaxia's lackeys.... What was
it again? Lead Crow! That was it...."
"Lackey?" Crow cleared her throat. "Yes, well, there's no
need to rub it in."
"I thought you were sucked in to a black hole."
"So did I."
"So what are you doing here, now? And why are you helping me?"

Crow shrugged. "One, I don't know what the hell I'm doing
here right now. Two, I don't know why the hell I'm helping you.
You seem rather unappreciative of my efforts."
"Ah, leave her be. We can do without being given grief by
that dumb blond bitch." Usagi turned to see the voice coming from
Aluminium Siren, who was standing next to Tin Nyanko. Neither of
them looked particularly pleased to be there.
"Ah, gomen. I didn't mean to be rude."
"Well, you were. Ya can't change that now."
"Siren, stop that." Crow sighed. She turned back to Usagi.
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid Siren is a touch bitter about... What
happened back then."
"So I should be." Siren sniffed. "I was killed by Galaxia
over it all."
"You were killed?" Usagi looked from Crow to Siren to Nyanko.
"Well, that makes sense."
"In what way?" Crow looked puzzled.
"Well, I'm dead too. This is nothing more than a fantasy
creation." She waved at their surrounds. "It doesn't exist at
all."

To say the expression on the face of the three animates was
nothing short of comically tragic would have been an understatement.

----o

Hotaru leaned out of the window, her face slowly returning to
a healthy shade. It was the most that Minako could think to do at
the time.

"How's the air out there?"
"Sure can't be Tokyo."
"Why?"
"I can breathe it without having to chew first."

Hotaru turned and leaned back, looking at the sky for a
moment. "Looks like rain."
"Hmm... I can smell it in the air." Minako was sitting at
one of the desks, with Artemis and Luna on top of the desk next to
her. Luna had been quiet for a while, but finally seemed ready to
speak up, turning her face up to Minako.

"Mina-chan..." Minako turned from Hotaru to Luna, raising a
quizzical eyebrow.
"What is it, Luna?"
"Have you ever heard the story of the Eteranl City?"
"Can't say that I have. Why, is it important?"
"It might be, although I'm not great on the details."
"Nothing new there." Artemis sniffed. Luna whopped him one
over the head for that.
"Hey, guys... Look at the ceiling." They all turned to
Hotaru, who was now standing upright, pointing up at the ceiling.
They all followed her direction. Minako stood and squinted.
"Looks like its been patched up recently. Like its been
damaged or something."
"Or had someone fall through it."
"As in?"
"As in us." Minako stared at Hotaru for some moments. Under
ordinary circumstances, she would have laughed this off. But these
were not ordinary circumstances.
"I guess so. We fell through the roof of this building and
ended up in this office, alive despite the impact. So what?"
"So who patched it up?"
"The city did." The Usagi-cleaner stepped out of the body
room, carrying her mop, bucket and eradication device, which was
now slopping with a sticky red fluid in its catcher. They all
turned to her. "Well, that should keep things sanitary for a bit
longer. You know you really should apply to the city council for
better waste storage premises. This thing is far too close to
residential areas."
"Uh... Sure." Minako stammered, lost for words.
"I'll put in a word. But you know bureaucracy." She chuckled
and opened the other door. "See you in about two weeks."
"Uh... Wait." Hotaru reached out a hand and the Usagi-
cleaner turned to her.
"Yes? Is there anything else you wanted cleaned?"
"Its about the ceiling."
"Not my job. If you're not happy about it, call the interior
decorators."
"No, thats not what I wanted. I want to know what you meant
about the city being responsible for patching up the ceiling."
"Oh that? Autonomic healing processes, I think. I can't be
sure, of course." The cleaner shrugged. "I must be on my way. Got
work to do elsewhere." The Usagi-cleaner stepped into the waiting
room and disappeared out of sight. The girls and the cats sighed.

"This is getting worse all the time. Was she trying to say
that this city is alive?" Artemis scratched his head.
"I think that was exactly what she was trying to say. In as
many words. It all fits in with what I know about the Eternal
City." Luna rubbed her chin with her paw. The other three got no
further in questioning her when a soft voice called from the
doorway.
"Ano.... May I come in? I'm first in the queue." The Usagi
held up a card with a big red number one on it. Minako and Hotaru
stared at each other and shivered.

----o

Aoi was quick on her feet, Makoto had to say. When that lump
of pink that was once mamoru began making some rather threatening
noises, she told everyone to run. And they did, only she was
fastest, so they all followed her.

Aoi hadn't had the time to explain everything to Rei, as Naru
and Chibiusa chose that time to wake up. This was about when the
lump of pink decided to gurgle and moan.

"Where are we going?" Makoto gasped.
"To Ami's house?" Aoi replied.
"Ami's? Why there?" Rei asked, puzzled.
"Because, if my hunch is right, she'll be there now."
"What the hell was that thing back at the shrine, and why did
you have to level the shrine to scrag it the first time?"
"That was a Resonator."
"Should I bother asking what that is?"
"You can, but it'll take a while to explain."
Rei screwed up her nose. "Try me."
"Well, a Resonator is a being without a mind of its own. Or,
at least, they have the average intellectual capacity of a common or
garden neuron, singular."
"Hmm. Seemed to be displaying a surprising level of
intelligence to me."
"Well, Resonators tend to latch on to beings of great
intellectual capacity, rather like leeches. This means they become
a part of the host, and can be controlled to a certain extent."
"And so?"
"Well, they'll do whatever the host bids, as long as it
benefits them. This particular Resonator has obviously been sent
here in the form of Chiba Mamoru, with the intention of fitting in
within your group. Why your group and why this world I have no
idea, but its obvious the Resonator sees in this planet a viable
collection of intellects for its kind to attach to. Until I
disconnected it back there, it had leeched itself onto your minds,
thus making you susceptible to whatever its former host wanted from
you."
"What are you saying? We were being controlled through that
thing?" Makoto's mouth was wide open.
"Hmm.... In a way. I think you were being influenced by it
rather than controlled."

Something occured to Makoto at that point. "We don't know
when that thing replaced Mamoru, do we? Or even what had happened
to Mamoru in the first place...."
"Indeed."
"So, one can say we've been influenced for quite a while
now..."

Rei interjected. "What are you saying? That we were
influenced by that thing in what we did to Usagi?"

"Thats exactly what I'm saying."
"But thats impossible. My mind is not so weak." Rei turned
to Aoi. "And how do you know all this?"

Aoi smiled. "Thats for me to know and you to find out."
Suddenly, Aoi paused, almost being bowled over by Rei and Naru, who
were running behind her.

"Ow! What did you stop for?" Rei held her nose, which she
had hit on the back of Aoi's head."
"Destiny's path is changing again." Aoi held a hand over her
mouth. "Ami is going to... She's going to..." Aoi grabbed Rei by
the arm and began running with renewed vigour, almost leaving the
other three behind.

"What? What is she going to do?" Rei stammered as Aoi raced
forward.
"Die." Aoi said simply.

----o

"Yes, I'm sure thats what she said...." Pause. "No, she
hasn't mentioned anything else. I gave her something to help her
sleep and sent her straight to be." Another pause. "Very well,
you can speak to her, but she might not be in the best frame of
mind to answer them." Yet another pause. "Alright, I'll be
waiting."

Ami lay on her bed, feeling tired. She couldn't believe what
she'd just done. Given close to everything away to her mother.

Ami sat up and stared around her darkened room. She felt so
tired, so devoid of energy. Slowly she stood and walked over to the
window. She opened it and allowed the cool breeze to blow over her.
So nice, she thought. Her eyes, red with tears, stared out into the
garden, at the small swimming pool her mother had installed not so
long ago. Ami stepped over the window ledge, and almost pitched
backwards as her head spun. Somehow, she managed to stay up.

After a few more moments, she slipped onto the ground and began
to wander towards the pool. Over rocks and grass, she walked without
even registering. The pool's soft blue glint enticing her forward.
So beautiful, she thought.

She let her body fall into the water. A momentary splash that
alerted her mother that something was amiss.

She floated on the surface for some time, looking down into
the darkness. How peaceful it seemed there. She felt her body
melting into the water, its calmness accepting and swallowing her
whole.

The last thing she heard was her mother calling out her name.
Then nothing.

END OF PART 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes

This part was the hardest of all to write, and I'm still not
satisfied with it. There were a lot of scenes here that I wrote
with a great deal of ambivalence, and that will probably show with
the almost emotionless tone of the narrative. It should have been a
lot easier to do, especially after part 6. Maybe I made things hard
for myself. Anyway, I'd like it if people were to make comments to
me about whether or not they think this chapter works.

All of those comments, criticisms and outright abuse should be sent
to darkdayforanime@hotmail.com

DDFA