Author's Note:
The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.
There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has.
If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.
All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.
Army of Immortals
Chapter 4: It's Our Calling
Venus and her Senshi followed their guard into the courtroom to find reporters and the Earthen Knights crowding together. One glance and she knew that they had obviously had a very long night. Their weapons gone and tired eyes, they didn't much look like the proud warriors that Venus knew they were. Come to that, they had also taken the Moon Sword and the Venus Chain she wore around her waist.
"They took my Mars Arrow," her friend growled.
"And the Mercury Lyre and the Jupiter Wreath," she mumbled, having heard it before. "I know."
"We need to get out of here and rescue the Princess," demanded Jupiter lowly.
"I'm working on it," she hissed back. "Mercury, where are our weapons?"
"I don't know yet. I barely have time to use my computer because if they see it, they'll take it away," Mercury whispered.
Venus glanced to the left and saw the Knights sit down wearily. The prosecutor stood up and approached the jury, beginning a speech that held no interest to Venus.
Mars leaned toward her and whispered, "Don't you think having a jury is a bit excessive?"
"Most likely."
"Where's our attorney? Shouldn't we have one?"
The door banged open and a man stumbled in, clutching a briefcase. "Sorry I'm late, Your Honor."
"And who are you?"
"I'm the attorney for the Earthen Knights and the Sailor Senshi."
"They have an attorney?"
The man straightened up indignantly. "Of course they have an attorney! Everyone is entitled to a defense!"
The judge shrugged. "Fine."
"Does it seem like he's predisposed against us?" remarked Mercury.
"Certainly seems that way," responded Jadeite.
"I call my first witness, Sailor Venus," the prosecutor said, startling her.
"Say what?"
"Come to the stand."
She sighed and approached the stand.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
Venus was in indecision. She couldn't tell them the whole truth of what she was. But she had to say something. "Yes."
"Very good. You may sit."
She sat.
"Sailor Venus, may I call you Venus?"
"No."
He frowned. "Sailor Venus, what happened at the amphitheater?"
"We were fighting youma."
"What are 'youma'?"
"They're monsters; I guess would be the easiest way to explain it."
"Where do these youma come from?"
"From another dimension."
"Is there anything controlling these youma?"
"Yes."
"And what is it?"
"That's privileged information. I cannot share that."
"But—"
"Prosecutor, it is not relevant to this case. Move on."
Grumbling, the man did so. "Sailor Venus, who are you?"
Venus glared at him. "That is extremely privileged information that I cannot, under any circumstances, tell you."
"This is relevant to this case, Your Honor. I ask that she answer the question."
The judge looked her over and she locked eyes with him. "Sailor Venus, is the reason you cannot answer this question so pertinent that it would risk Japan?"
"More than that. It would risk the entire Earth."
"Then you may remain silent. Prosecutor, you are treading on thin ice. Keep your questions related to this case otherwise I shall have you removed from the courtroom and another attorney assigned in your stead."
"Yes, Your Honor."
"I guess he isn't as predisposed against us as we thought," murmured Jadeite.
"Sailor Venus, if you were fighting youma at the amphitheater, as you claim, then how is it possible that instead of six monsters there were six dead police officers lying on the ground, scarred by your powers?"
Here was the hard part because she herself didn't understand that either. "They were youma when we were fighting them. We know because we fought more than six, around eight I should say. They all turned into dust like usual, which is why there are normally no bodies after our fights. But after an…incident, which I cannot relate due to its sensitive nature, we found that somehow the youma bodies had changed to become police officers, by a magic so complete that even under the autopsy they would look like human beings."
"Uh huh. Now, I noticed that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are not here in this courtroom today. Where are they?"
She glanced to the judge, but he did not look as if he would help her with this question. She looked at Mercury, who mouthed 'relevant question' at her. Their attorney leaned down to speak with who she thought was Kunzite as he motioned to him.
"Sailor Venus, please answer the question," the prosecutor repeated.
"They aren't here because of the incident I told you I couldn't relate."
He suddenly smiled and she knew she that she had fallen into a trap he had so carefully laid to get around the relevancy issue.
"Well it is quite relevant to know where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are. Therefore, it is relevant to know what that incident is that involved them."
Venus was getting desperate. "Look, I—"
Suddenly their attorney shot up out of his chair as if Jupiter had set a lightning bolt under his seat. "Your Honor?"
"Yes, counselor?"
"Despite the fact that the two missing heroes and where they are, are relevant, my client cannot disclose the incident. To fully explain what happened, why and where, it would require knowledge that would put the Earth at risk, such as Sailor Venus explained earlier. Therefore, she cannot answer where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are at this time."
The judge thought about this, glancing between all parties. "Sustained."
Venus flashed a quick smile at the silver masked one.
"Any further questions for this witness, Prosecutor?"
"No further questions," he growled and stalked to his seat.
"Counselor you may cross examine."
Her attorney, who she was beginning to like very much, approached her. "Sailor Venus, why do you fight?"
"Because it's our calling. It is what we were meant to do in life."
"But when you fight, what are you protecting?"
"We are protecting the Earth and the people on it."
"I see. And would you, or any of the defendants here today, harm a human being, as you so clearly state that these youma are not?"
"Never."
"Why not?"
How could she explain it so they would understand? Yes she protected the Earth and the people on it, no she would not harm it, and yes she did want to protect them. But how could she explain that while she would not care to die for it, she would if necessary. How could she tell them that she really wanted to protect them from what happened in the Silver Millennium?
She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to find the words. "If we fought to protect the people of Earth, why would we harm them? But I guess that isn't the answer you're searching for. We protect the people because we are the same as them. The only differences are that we have abilities to fight and protect them against things that they can't protect themselves from. If we didn't have these abilities and we knew about these things, we would want someone to protect us. We do love the Earth and the people on it; we don't want to see them hurt. How can I explain it so you can understand?"
"I think we understand good enough, Sailor Venus. One last question, please. Why did you allow the arrest of you and your companions? You could have easily gotten away."
"Because we did nothing wrong. We did not kill police officers, but youma. If we did not do something wrong, then why should we run?"
"Thank you, Sailor Venus. You may step down."
Venus took her seat back beside her friends and sighed lowly. She wished she were anywhere but here. A glance at the jury told her that they were not sympathetic to her point of view, considering the few frowns on their faces. We need to get out of here, but how? she wondered.
One by one her friends sat on the stand and they said the same thing as her, but with more venom in Mars and Jupiter's voices as the prosecutor touched on sensitive subjects.
"We'll adjourn for today. The trial will continue tomorrow morning," the judge finally announced.
Venus stood up and noticed that Mercury and the Knight with a green mask exchanged significant glances every few minutes as the guard led them away.
"What's going on, Mercury?" she asked as soon as the guard had gone and they were alone in the cell.
"I'm going to contact Knight Zoisite, the one with a green mask. He has something like my minicomputer which I can talk to him with."
Jupiter immediately moved in front of the blue Senshi, blocking her from view from the front. Mars stood at an angle that would prevent her from sight should they look at them from that direction. Venus leaned over her shoulder, watching as she typed.
"What's that in green?"
"That's his reply."
The conversation about computers and such was a bit confusing to Venus, but she managed to make the rest of it into sense.
'Where are you?' Mercury typed.
'Down that hall, third cell on the right,' was the reply.
'Can you pick out where our weapons are?'
'Somewhere near the front of the station. Probably watched by guards. Can you patch into the security cameras and feed it to me?'
'I can try.'
The conversation appeared in its own small window near the top left of the screen. The Ice Senshi brought up a diagram, a few lines lighting up here and there. A few more taps and she had another window up on her screen. It showed police officers milling around a table, casting nervous glances at what was on it. She immediately recognized the Moon Sword, her Venus Chain, the Mercury Lyre, the Jupiter Wreath, and the Mars Arrow, but she guessed the other objects there had to be the Knights. There were twin swords with a dragon engraved on each blade, a huge double-bladed axe with emeralds set deep into the metal in a kind of star design, a bow decorated with rubies shaped in the form of a phoenix, and a spear that looked to be made of ice, with an elaborate tip.
'Perfect,' was the typed reply, 'right near the entrance. We can grab them on our way out.'
"What is he doing?" Venus whispered, seeing a guard move to the table. "If he so much as touches my Chain…"
Hearing that, Jupiter and Mars could no longer hold in their curiosity and crowded around Mercury. "I want him touch my Wreath," Jupiter muttered. "Go ahead and touch it. It's a shocking experience."
Indeed, the guard had picked up Jupiter's Wreath. His yell filtered through the feed and sounded distorted off Mercury's computer. Another man went through a whole speech, obviously, and carefully picked it up with a baton, being extremely careful about not touching it.
'We need to get out of here. We'll be convicted for sure and we have to rescue the Prince and Princess,' Mercury typed as Jupiter and Mars continued to block her from sight and kept a watch out.
'Tomorrow, midnight. You come down near our hallway; then we'll head toward the front and grab our weapons. We'll leave by the front door, but if we can't, we'll have to make our own exit.'
"Can you get us out of the bars, Venus?" Mercury whispered.
Venus studied them. "Yes. With my Crescent Beam, I can saw off the sides and top. Simple and will take less than a minute."
"Good."
'Can you get out?'
'Yes. I can freeze the bars, letting Kunzite, Nephrite, and Jadeite shatter them. Take about a minute, maybe less.'
'Good.'
She slowly closed her computer and set it in her subspace pocket. "At least we have a plan. But Venus, even if we get Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen back, what are we going to do about the police? They're going to be looking for us for a long time, perhaps forever."
"I don't know, Mercury. But the operative thing we need to worry about is getting them back in the first place. My idea is this, concerning priorities: Get the Princess back, defeat Beryl and Metallia, save the world, and then worry about the police. They're pretty low on the list."
"Exactly," Mars muttered, glaring as a police officer stared a little too long at her legs.
"Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's court day will be brutal."
End Chapter 4