The first thing Haruka noticed when she opened her eyes was that they were facing directly down into Michiru's breasts which was, by all estimations, not a terrible place to be.
After the usual reactions that went along with being in such close proximity to said breasts, Haruka felt strange. It was as though something heavy was sitting inside her chest, as though someone had misplaced their claw hammer in there. Uncomfortable and cramped, that's how it was. Every time she took a breath, her lungs tightened, and she gripped her gown in agony.
"Haruka?" Michiru mumbled sleepily, her head rolling over to face her lover. "Are you awake?"
"Ngh," was Haruka's eloquent reply.
Michiru took that for a "yes". After all, the "ngh" noise was the sound Haruka usually uttered before she had her morning coffee, car crash or no.
"You're in the Juuban District Hospital," Michiru continued, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "Setsuna tells me you need your license revoked. Do you remember anything?"
"Numph…"
As much as Haruka loved listening to Michiru's lovely and elegant voice, the mere sound was driving icepicks into her brain. Everything hurt. No matter how much she tried to slip back into unconscious or no matter how she shifted, she was a handsbreadth from simply laying back and screaming in agony.
"Mako-chan just left with Setsuna," Michiru was saying, much to the annoyance of the pain demons in Haruka's head, "They're going to tell the others what…what happened.
Whatever the hell did happen, Michiru thought bitterly. She curled up closer to Haruka on the cramped hospital bed (much to the nurse's chagrin, but one glare from Makoto had silenced any and all protests from hospital personel), and held her close.
Haruka had been in far, far worse accidents than this. Hell, some of the stuff she had done on PURPOSE hadn't hurt her more than this simple fender bender! Michiru would never admit it—it would be too unladylike—but she was beginning to feel frightened.
A feeling which became even more compounded by the fact that the hospital suddenly lost all power.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Doorbells were the mother of all invention.
Shimi poked gleefully at the button resting on the front door frame of the mansion and giggled as he listened to the muted "ding-dong!" through the mahogany door.
Ding-dong!
Ding-dong!
Ding-dong!
Dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdongdingdong!
Lots of fun.
"I'm coming!" Setsuna barked, stalking across the expansive living room in long, pissed strides. "Don't break my doorbell!"
When she flung the heavy door open, she was greeted with the sight of ... nothing, save for a bowl of soba noodles.
"What the fuck?" Setsuna finally managed, looking down on it suspiciously. How does a bowl of food ring a doorbell? Or appear on a doorstep? She was hesistant to touch it, but picked up the pristine white bowl anyway.
It looked normal enough, smelled normal enough, wiggled normally enough - at least for the first five seconds. It was with growing horror that Setsuna saw something small and white in the center of the noodles, oozing fuschia slime in it. This is a time for rational thought, she thought. This is a time to think things through, call the Senshi, determine the threat--
"GAH GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!" she screeched, throwing the bowl like a baseball.
The bowl shattered against the sidewalk, spilling noodles and fuschia gook everyplace. However, the noodles continued to writhe and wriggled around the small, white Daimon egg (which is what Setsuna was guessing the small white thing in the noodle bowl was, unless a shelled sunflower seeds were mutating into husks of EVIL). There was a bright flash, and surprise surprise, a daimon resembling something between a shag carpet with legs and a…Setsuna couldn't even think of another way to describe it.
"Soooo-ba!" the daimon greeted her enthusiastically, striking a very odd contortion of a pose.
"What…the…fuck?" Setsuna said again.
"Soba?" asked the daimon, cocking its…head?…to the side.
"Yes…" Setsuna nodded slowly and backed into the house, "If you will wait right there for a moment, I can go get my henshin wand from my bureau upstairs and we can forget this whole incident, okay?"
The daimon seemed to consider this for a moment, "Soba!" it finally said with a vigorous shake of its head.
Setsuna sighed, hesistating to back up further. Hotaru was in the house, and the green-haired woman was loathe to get her daughter involved. It had only been a few days since they had all been trapped in mirros, and since Hotaru herself had been a hairsbreadth away from killing herself, Setsuna thought it best to leave her to her own, safe devices. Not only that, but Haruka was due home soon, and if she was in the same shape she had been in at the hospital...
"SOBA!" The daimon wrapped a slimy, soy sauce-covered limb over Setsuna's torso and flung her through the air like a frisbee. Setsuna cried out as she slammed into a tree, the force knocking all of the air out of her lungs and probably breaking some ribs.
"Silence Glaive Surprise!"
The daimon squacked in surprise, and threw itself on the ground, the sizzling purple energy barely whizzing over its ... head? Well, so much for not involving Hotaru.
"I wish you would stop bringing dates home, Setsuna-mama," Sailor Saturn winked and tossed Setsuna's lavender henshin wand towards her, "Can you fight, or are you just going to swoon?"
"I'm not 'swooning'," Setsuna growled through clenched teeth, "I'm FINE. It's not like I need ribs to point my Staff…"
"Soba!" said the indignant daimon as it picked itself off the ground, "Soba, soba, soooobaaaaaa!"
Saturn twirled her Glaive about her head and shoulders like some demented majorette, and caught what was supposedly the daimon's throat with the blade's tip, "Anytime, Setsuna-mama," she prompted airily.
Setsuna rolled her eyes. When Haruka came back home, Hotaru was no longer allowed in her papa's presence. Two smartasses in one household - despite it's size - was just too much to bear.
"Pluto Crysssss-yeaouch!"
Speaking of too much to bear, her ribs obviously weren't going to cooperate and allow her to transform.
Saturn's eyes widened slightly and her grip on her Glaive tightened. The daimon grinned maliciously (or rather, it was probably grinning maliciously under the noodles that compromised its face), seeming to know that one of its opponents was injured-
,br> And that was all the Sobe daimon was really capable of, considering the moment it turned, the Glaive cleaved neatly through its neck and its head went sailing across the lawn. A moment later, a big, noodley pile of…daimoness…collapsed at Saturn's boots.
Saturn raised a distasteful eyebrow at the soy sauce that had splashed on her fuku, "And tell me again why there is a daimon in our front yard…?"
~*~*~*~*~*~ Seeing as how hospitals generally didn't lose power unless something was really, incredibly, and truly wrong, Michiru decided it was time she and Haruka made an early exit.
"Haruka, are you particularly attached to any of this machinery?"
"Nnngh, no, Michiru. Why do you GAAAYEAOUCH!"
Michiru furiously ripped various IVs and monitors from Haruka's arms and chest. "Time for a jailbreak, love."
"Funny, all we need are handcuffs, and it would be just like Friday night."
In the dark, she could not see Michiru blush. Instead, she heard the clatter of metal, and then, "Neptune Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Sailor Neptune, in all of her shiny teal glory, peered down from the fifth story balcony.
"You could have at least let me get my clothes," Haruka whined, shivering in her flimsy hospital gown. "I'm still sick, I'll have you know."
"Shut up, snookie. I can see your boobs."
This shut Haruka up in a hurry.
After a few moments of stunned silence, she said, "Do you just plan on jumping?"
In response, Neptune jumped, landing gracefully on the fourth story balcony, much to the surprise of an elderly man within.
Haruka blinked down at her from her own balcony, "And I'm supposed to just follow suit?"
"I'll catch you! I promise!"
"I've heard that before," Haruka mumbled darkly and began to crawl over the balcony railing.
"Not yet!"
Haruka scrambled back onto the main platform, muttering obscenities.
"I need to make a call," Neptune said pertly as she activated her communicator.
~*~*~*~*~*~
On her walk from the Juuban District Hospital, back to her apartment where the other Senshi were probably still munching cookies, Makoto's communicator beeped.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"How about NOW? Can I jump NOW?"
Neptune sighed in mock exasperation as she clicked shut her communicator, "Yes, yes, you can jump."
Haruka pulled herself back over the railing, knowing full well that Neptune could probably see right up her hospital gown (and was probably enjoying every minute of it). She prepared herself to let go when-
"I wouldn't do that."
Haruka peeked over the railing to see a wiry little man pointing what resembled Eudial's Deathbuster Rifle at her.
Haruka cussed sharply under her breath, pushing herself up against the hospital wall.
"No, I assure you," Shimi said perkily, "my parents conceived me under the most proper of circumstances."
"Who are you?" Neptune demanded sharply. She flicked her wrist, expecting her mirror to come when she called.
Instead, every single one of her nerves felt like it was being set aflame. She wailed, falling to her knees as the pain intensified. Where was her Talisman? Why wasn't it coming to her?
"Neptune!" Haruka eyed the wiry little man with the large, shining gun. "What do you want?"
"The Silence."
"Well, sorry, that's just not an option," Neptune countered grimly, getting to her feet though she was as pale as a ghost. Haruka, seizing her opportunity, lept down from her balcony very akwardly and unscientifically. Neptune caught her, haphazard as the catch may have been, and she took off, jumping the other three stories in one leap. She hissed when she hit the ground eventually, knowing she probably strained something, but broke into a full sprint as Shimi began to fire his Fire Buster III.
"You can put me down now, you know," Haruka said, but Neptune ignored her.
"You're still sick," Neptune barked, cutting through a back alley. "He'd get you in no time."
"Sure, and your limp isn't slowing you down, either."
"Shut up, Haruka," and this time, Neptune meant it.
"Damn…" Neptune groaned, massaging her not only sprained but now singed ankle, "That thing has got some range. Who the HELL is this guy?"
"A rotten singer," Haruka found herself muttering as she attempting to pull herself up. Gods, she had thought she had hurt before…
"What?"
"Nothing," Haruka's already-wobbling knees gave out again as she battled to pull herself into a more dignified position.
Neptune let it go at that. Unlike Haruka, she managed to get to her knees. She held out her hand, calling for her Mirror-surely it would work this time!-and again, she felt that horrible shredding sensation. She collapsed with a cry and a curse.
"My name is Mizuwari Shimi. I'm a fan of the esteemed Tomoe Souichi."
"And how the fuck did you get down here?" Neptune managed to grind out through clenched teeth.
"Well, I was not endowed with fancy sparkling objects such as yours, but I am an above-average runner," Shimi beamed, his glasses shining in the only sliver of sunset that was visible underneath the storm heads. "Besides, you were limping."
Haruka figured she would save "I told you so" for later. If there was one.
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune was pissed, and she made sure the giant ball of water told this Mizuwari Shimi fellow exactly that.
Shimi fired the Fire Buster III into the air, hoping it would do him some good. Neptune's attack dissipated into nothing more than a few whisps of steam.
"Damn you," Haruka growled. This Tomoe-wannabe was not going to make a monkey out of her. Sure, she didn't have her henshin wand, but that wouldn't matter!
"Uranus Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Nothing happened.
"Who was the genius who decided that a transformation will ONLY work with a henshin wand?" she grumbled, trying valiantly to not look like an idiot. Shimi grinned and, elbowing Neptune aside, fired the Fire Buster right at the harmless blonde.
Who was promptly tacked by a giant red and purple blob.
"Um, Haruka-san, my apologies," Sailor Mars stuttered, blushing furiously. Yes, she had indeed saved Haruka from being crispy critters, but her hospital gown had blown open in the heroic rescue and...well, Mars was getting a whole new view of Haruka's anatomy.
"What is it with everyone and my chest today?!" Haruka growled. When Mars looked like she would pass out from embarassment, she added, "But since you just saved me, I suppose I will let your bisexual tendencies slide for now, Rei-chan. For now."
"Reruns are saved for the summer season for a reason! No one wants to see them on TV! But even worse than television reruns are those that take place in real life! Be prepared, because we are about to change the channel!"
"Oh my God…" Neptune muttered beneath her breath, "This is even worse than her typical speech…"
"Agent of love and justice-"
"You're a pretty soldier in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon, yadda, yadda, yadda," Shimi finished for her.
Sailor Moon quit posing for a moment and blinked profusely, "Oo…oh…" she stuttered, "Ohhhkayyy then…" she called forth her Tier, which unlike the Mirror and the Sword, actually came to her, "I guess-"
Shimi fired the 'buster again, cutting her off.
Moon squawked indignately, diving out of the way, and an unfortunate alleyway dumpster met its untimely demise.
"Look," Shimi was saying over the crackle of the flames in a surprisingly reasonable voice, "All I want are three Talismans so I can call forth the Holy Grail and destroy the world with the Silence. Is that too much to ask?"
This caused a collective blink. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Moon, Neptune, and Haruka…blinked. They couldn't have asked for better subliminal choreography.
"But the Holy Grail was destroyed by Pharoah 90…" Mercury murmured in confusion.
"Destroyed into many little pieces…" Venus added in the same off-voice.
"Tiny ones…" Mars nodded once.
Now Shimi was blinking, "Are you sure?"
Again, the seven managed coincide with their movements, and they all nodded one very slow, very precise nod, "Mm-hmm…" they all said.
Shimi seemed to consider this for a moment, "Oh. Well ah…" he actually looked embarrassed beneath his rather manacial grin. He lowered the Fire Buster III and poked a few buttons on the rifle, "I guess there's only one way to find out…" he said with a shrug. He aimed and fired.
However, flames did not ensue.
A spike of black energy emerged from the gun barrel and slammed into Haruka's chest.
Jupiter thought she had never heard anyone scream quite the way Haruka was doing right now. But then, she had not been in the Marine Cathedral the first time this had happened...
The worst part was, as that tiny pink crystal began to sparkle to life outside of Haruka's chest, that she was powerless. She could have stopped that guy! She could have done something! If she just hadn't left the hospital...had it really only been a few hours since then?
Haruka collapsed into a writhing, sweating, shaking heap on the asphalt. Her hospital gown had come most of the way off, although with the threat of dying very imminent, she was hardly concerned with modesty.
That orb of light hovering above her was -- no, it couldn't be! But it had to be. It was Haruka's heart crystal, which she had assumed was safe for quite a long time. But it was morphing into her Space Sword, as though it was a brand new phenomena. As though she had gone back in time, as though Nehelenia and the Dead Moon Circus had been erased, and they were back at that cursed Marine Cathedral.
But this time, her precious Michiru had not been the first to die. And maybe this time, she wouldn't have to die at all. Stupid rule about henshin sticks; had it not been for that...
Shimi eagerly rushed for the newly birthed Talisman. Before he could grab it, Jupiter saw her chance. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
"OW OW OW!" Shimi snatched his hand back, too late to save himself from the extreme shock. "You were just supposed to stand there, awe-struck, while I grabbed that!"
Jupiter responded to this by punching him in the stomach.
He doubled over with a geeky sounding "Ooomph!", almost dropping the 'buster.
"What is WRONG with you?" Jupiter found herself screaming, "Do you not understand what 'The Holy Grail is BROKEN' means?!"
"It…can't…be broken," Shimi wheezed, trying to unfold himself so he could fry the green and pink senshi. After all, who needed brawn, when you had the Fire Buster III (which he, like Eudial, was applying for a patent)?
"…Haruka…" Neptune whispered hoarsely, reaching for the Space Sword. This could not be happening again! Why had Haurka's Talisman infused with her heart crystal again?
No, she didn't have time to care…if she didn't figure out how to reverse this, her Haruka was going to die. She spoke from personal experience.
As did Haruka.
Haruka was staring up at her Talisman with glassy eyes. Setsuna would know how to separate the Sword from her heart crystal…unfortunately Setsuna wasn't here. And if this Ritalin-deserving lunatic had wanted her Talisman, he would want Michiru's Talisman. And if the Mirror was acting anything like the Sword…then Michiru would be killed also.
And that was simply unforgivable.
"Rei-chan…" Haruka managed to whisper hoarsely, "Get her away…get Michiru away…"
And, considering this was akin to a rerun, and Mars remembered what had happened the last time at the Marine Cathedral, she simply nodded and grabbed Michiru's arm.
"Distract him!" she called to Jupiter as she took off dragging a wildly protesting Neptune.
Jupiter was glad to oblige, as was Venus. Her maniacal grin was catching, and when finally managed to get to his feet, Venus planted a happy kick right up at his temple. He stumbled backward akwardly, leaving the Fire Buster behind, and as he looked like he would get his balance, a cry of "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" sent him reeling into the nearest streetlamp.
"Shouldn't we be helping?" Moon asked, but Mercury shook her head, keeping her Princess protected.
"I trust the others to keep him occupied. If no one's guarding you, he'll probably try something funny," Mercury reasoned. For that exact reason, Mercury kept darting her eyes all over the place, letting no one out of her sight. It was making her slightly dizzy, but it was better than losing her view of this strange Tomoe-clone.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Neptune screamed, wrenching her arm out of Mars' grip. "I refuse to leave Haruka's side!"
"Oh, so you can get killed, too?" Mars screamed back, grabbing the other Senshi's shoulders. "Don't let your emotions get in the way right now, Neptune! Do you honestly think Haruka would like it if you died, too?!"
"She's not dead yet!" Neptune snapped, backhanding Mars across the face. "Don't you dare talk about her like she's dead!"
Mars refused to touch her stinging cheek; instead, she kept her gaze locked on Neptune. "Without Sestuna-san here, how are we going to save her? She's the only one of us who knows how to seperate a Talisman from a heart crystal."
"I'll find a way." Neptune turned around, fully intending on returning to Haruka's side, at least to comfort her. However, Mars was not going to let the day end with two sensless deaths, and before Neptune could even take one step, Mars grabbed her arm. With more strength than she thought she had, Mars spun the teal soldier around and backhanded her across the face.
"Dammit, Neptune, you don't have the sense the gods gave a goldfish!" she bellowed. "That guy is going to kill you, too, and I DON'T WANT THAT!"
Neptune actually stumbled backwards under the Mars' blow.
"I don't care!" she screamed shrilly back at Mars. She could feel tears beginning to sting at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to acknowledge them, "Don't you understand?! I have to be with her! I have to! Just because you don't have anyone--"
Mars slapped her again.
The two stared darkly at each other for a moment.
"I'm going back," Neptune said darkly as the tears began to trickle over.
"Like fucking hell you will," Mars said in the same tone of voice. She clamped onto Neptune's arm and viciously yanked her away from the battle.
Shimi, on the other hand, was quite literally having the bejesus beaten out of him. Okay, so he had committed the faux pas of underestimating the Sailor Senshi…if he could just get back to the Fire Buster III without a "Jupiter Oak Evolution" frying him or a "Venus Love-Me Chain" whipping him about, these girls would be no match for him.
Glittering palely in the dying light was the Space Sword.
Shimi fixated on that. He had to get that Talisman. He had to get past these mini-skirted amazons, get the Sword, and get the HELL away.
Moon saw the battered little man staring greedily at the Space Sword and her eyes narrowed. She would NOT let him have it. She absolutely WOULD NOT. She skittered away from behind Mercury and kneeled down next to Haruka, but kept her Tier at the ready.
"Hello…my kitten…" Haruka whispered hoarsely. She reached up with a shaking hand to caress Moon's cheek, "I'm…so glad…you're here…"
"I think you'd prefer me to be Michiru-san," Moon said with as much wryness she could wring from her trying-not-to-panic state of mind.
Haruka tried to chuckle, but it turned into a cough instead, "Protect her…from him…" "Crescent BEAM!!!"
"OW!!!"
Moon looked up in time to see Shimi holding a singed hand. He had almost been able to reach the Fire Buster, and Venus had (gleefully) zapped him. Moon shook her head in something akin to bemusement. Yes, they were going to close curtains on the Tomoe-clone.
A soft sigh caught her attention and Moon quickly looked back down, "Haruka-san?" Nothing.
"Haruka-san?!" Moon flung the Tier to the pavement, and felt Haruka's cold neck for a pulse. There was none to be found.
"Haruka!" Neptune knew. That brief feeling, as though the wind had just kissed her cheek...Haruka was gone. They had been too late. Tears began to pour furiously down her face, and Mars finally let go of her arm.
"Go to Hell," she spat at Mars, and then ran to Haruka's side. Mars looked away guiltily, clenching her shaking hands.
"Michiru-san, I'm so sorry," Moon sobbed, picking up her Tier. "If only we had known how to seperate her Talisman...Michiru-san, can you ever forgive me?"
"Princess, it's not your fault," Neptune whispered hoarsely, teal hair dropping down in front of her eyes. She got down to her knees, held Haruka's pale hands in her own, and sobbed softly into what remained of her flimsy hospital gown.
"Baka. How dare you die on me," she hissed, her entire body shaking in despair.
Somewhere, in what passed for Shimi's soul, he knew he should feel bad about this. But with all of the Senshi distracted by Uranus' demise, he could easily get to that Talisman. He made no sound as he picked up the Fire Buster, and then in a leap of unbecoming speed, grabbed the Space Sword and RAN.
"Mercury Aqua Illusion!" The ice froze two stop signs and another street lamp, but Shimi had already disappeared.
"DAMN IT!" Mercury swore, and every stared at her in amazement. Had Ami-chan just said ... damn it? Really said it?
"Bastard got away," Mars muttered gruffly. "But not again."
Jupiter touched her face; indeed, salty tears had begun to fall down her cheeks. If she had just been faster! If she had thought to call Setsuna! If she had done any number of things differently, Haruka would still be alive.
"Damn it indeed," Jupiter swore. She turned sharply and punched a streetlamp with such force that it bent neatly in half. Jupiter could hear her knuckles crack and break from the blow, but she didn't care. Why should she? Her pain wouldn't bring Haruka back. She looked at the blood seeping through her white glove with a masochistic sort of amusement.
"Makochan! Please, stop!" Moon cried, torn between helping Michiru and keeping her Senshi from abusing themselves out of guilt. "Please, everyone, we have to...we have to think of Haruka and be strong! We can't just stand around here while that evil guy works to bring the Silence back!"
"But he can't bring the Silence back!" Venus said vehemently. She scrubbed furiously at her eyes, because just like everyone else, she was crying as well, "The Grail was destroyed! No Grail, no Silence!"
Moon picked her Tier back up and hugged it close, "I don't think he cares, Minako-chan..."
"He's insane," Jupiter spat and clenched a bloody fist.
"He knows who we are…"
The five Inner Senshi turned. Michiru was still clinging to the remnants of Haruka's hospital gown. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat, and her hair was still hanging down, hiding her face.
"He knows who we are…" she whispered again, "He knows we have Talismans…and he knows what the Talismans were for…"
"So he will be after you next, won't he," Moon said quietly.
Michiru nodded once, "Yes…as well as Setsuna…"
"No." Everyone turned their attention from the pitiful sight of Neptune back to Jupiter. The entire hand of Jupiter's right glove was stained a liquid red and there was a fierce fire in her eyes. Her posture was ramrod straight and erect, and she was most certainly tense.
Not to mention ANGRY.
Angry with Shimi for killing Haruka, yes… But mostly angry with herself for not being able to stop it.
"I won't let him hurt any more of you," she vowed in a steely voice, "I'll…I'll keep guard over you or…something…"
If only to make up for this screw-up, she added silently, Oh, Haruka-san, I'm so sorry…I tried…
"That's a good idea, Mako-chan but-" Moon was cut off as her communicator beeped. Puzzled, she popped it open and was greeted by a tiny image of Sailor Saturn's face.
"Usagi-san!" said the tiny voice, "I can't get a hold of Michiru-mama and there's a daimon in our front yard!"
"What?" Moon's eyes widened as she looked up at her fellow Senshi. "I think…I think we're too late already…"
