YEST IZ MOORAVYEY
(Echidna)
BEEEEEEEEEEEP.
An impatient taxi driver honks a horn at a car in front of him that is going too slow. In halted accents, the driver yells things that are incredibly impolite to say on a normal basis. The businessman looks at his watch worriedly, because he knows, just as I know, that he will be late. I sit next to him, knowing that he will never mind me any.
Finally, the car in front of him stops completely. For no reason. In the middle of traffic. The driver loses it and gets out of the car. He punches the side of the car in front of him, and a woman steps out, and the two begin to argue. I watch intently.
"Babushka!!" The taxi driver screams. "Zhebost!!"
"Ya zhebost nyemogushchey!!" The woman screams in reply. "Moy abtomobil yego ezlomanniy!!"
The man in the car suddenly decides that he can no longer stay, and he decides to dash out of the car and run off. I watch complacently as he runs off, knowing that long ago I had my time to catch men like him, though there were two differences between this boy and my prey. One, the men I dealt with were no men, and two, the crimes of this slick amateur are nothing compared to those I hunted.
"VOP!!!" The taxi driver sees this and, forgetting his fight, starts to run after the swindler. "ASTANOVKA!! VOP!!!!!"
Such is a day in Vladovistok. A city in a country which still holds its secrets from the world. A place where one secret in particular is being held. One that I take interest in.
I implore you, the keeper of the secret I seek. This is not right, boy. You know it as well as I do. You forced her to come here. It is your problem if she hates you for it, not mine. You were always one to take drastic action, to jump in head first, even if the pool was empty. Because you thought it was right to think that way.
But it has always gotten you in trouble. This time you might have stepped too far. There are people who want to kill you because of it. When will you understand this? When you're dead? That is the worst time to do it, boy. I know this. It comes to no good when you realize your mistakes after it is too late to change anything. Mark my words. It's worse when you think you've been right the whole time.
---------------------
The world around her began to brighten as her eyes slowly opened. The softness of the pillow was enticing to fall back to, but it was still all for naught to her. She realized, as the sun began to set in her blurred vision, that she was asleep for hours.
"Uuuuuuuuu..."
Usagi's first instinct was to scream. Her head hurt like nothing before. She went to dull the pian with her hand, only to find that someone had bandaged it. As she realized this, she slowly sat up to find herself in a room she had never encountered before - small, somewhat tidy, and only one bed, which she occupied.
Mamo-chan...? Usagi's hand slowly went back to the sheets. Where.....is this a dream?......
"You awake."
Any thought that indicated a dream was shattered when Usagi heard the deep voice of a man she both admired and feared. Admired him for saving his life. Feared him for scaring her.
The latter emotion came tumbling out as she began to scream.
"ENOUGH!!" Anonymous' hand flew to her mouth. "I won't have you ruining my cover!"
She stopped, and he slowly took his hand off. Usagi's heart turned cold when she felt him sit down behind her.
No. No....what is he doing.....
"Hold still."
"I thought you needed help..." Usagi's anger showed in her voice. "But this….!!!"
"Silence." Anonymous cut her off. "I need to change your bandage."
"Where am I?! Where have you taken me?!?!?"
"If I told you, you would scream."
"No I wouldn't." I'll just call my friends on my communicator. Haruka was right; an enemy!!
"You are in Vladivistok."
"Russia!!!"
"We will be taking the Trans-Siberian Railway tomorrow." Anonymous tied the bandage around Usagi's head tightly. "And you, you will help me take the last Emerald."
"What?!?"
"I have brought you here to help me. Consider yourself…..a fall girl."
Usagi froze when the words slipped from Anonymous's lips. She understood completely what he meant.
"You mean….take the fall for you?!"
"That is correct." Anonymous answered as if he kidnapped girls all the time. He took her arm. "You should get yourself ready and sleep. Wouldn't want the KGB to arrest a girl on no sleep. She's likely to be hurt….if you know what I mean…"
The teasing tone that Anonymous took, combined with the head injury, was too much for Usagi.
"NOOOOO!!!!" With all of her strength, she yanked her arm out of Anonymous's grip. She looked
up at his surprised gaze. "I WILL DO NO SUCH THING FOR YOU!!!!"
Without a second thought, Usagi's hands went to her pockets, only to find them empty except for her brooch.
"Huh…!?! My watch…!!!!"
"You wouldn't be looking for this, would you?"
Usagi gasped as the man held up her communicator. With a squeeze of his hand, the communicator fizzed and crackled.
"There is no hope to call your friends." The commmunicator dropped to the floor, crumbled like a piece of paper. "Do not even attempt it."
"What do you want?!? How dare you do that to my belongings!!"
"They're no longer yours." The coldness in Anonymous's voice stunned her. "They belong to me now, just as you belong to me. And you will do as I tell you as well."
"Why?!?"
"You would not understand." Anonymous turned away from her. "But, in time, you will learn to obey me. You will learn."
"I can understand. Tell me why you are doing this!"
"Enough." Anonymous turned back to her. "There is nothing for you to know."
Usagi's head went down in anger. There must be some way. There must be some way….
"Well….at least…." Usagi found her voice after a moment. "At least allow me to get something to eat!"
"And allot you the opportunity to call your friends?"
"I don't know their phone numbers." Well, that's only partially true. I know Minako's. "I just want to get something to eat. Please."
Anonymous took off his hat and flicked it onto bed before studying her face. Usagi stared at him, praying that he would allow her the pleasure of a few moments of freedom. It would be impossible for her to call any of her friends long distance in Russia, even with all of her money, and she prayed that he knew this.
Finally, Anonymous looked up at Usagi, and his hand went into his jacket pocket. On Usagi's end, she was surprised to see such perfect bright blue eyes on such a man. The man himself looked much younger than she would have suspected him to be.
"Very well." From his pocket came a bag with several hundred rubles. "I will give you one hour. If you fail to return, I will hunt you down and destroy you. And don't spend it all."
"Yes."
Usagi didn't scoff at his threat for a moment as she went out of the door. If he could defeat Uranus bare-fisted while the intimidating sky soldier welded the Space Sword and outwit the world's greatest security systems, she didn't doubt that he was capable of crimes unimaginable to the human race.
---------------------
Anonymous silently watched from the window as Usagi hailed a yechat na tak-se. She quickly sat in the back and drove off.
She'll be back. I could see that much in her eyes.
With a sigh, he closed the window and sat down on the bed, picking up his pack as he did. He was already regretting his action of kidnapping the girl and dragging her into his problems. But it had to be done. For more reasons than one.
He spotted a black remote on the bed. Upon examining it, he decided that it must belong to the television, and so he clicked the fperyo button.
"Chiem sloochay sorok na 'plot ezoomrood' vo Rasseya." A reporter appeared on a newscast. "Maskva vo nadabnost. Kakoy napraischazhdyeneet?"
Fourty cases in Russia.
Anonymous watched, his heart sinking as he saw the news cast switching to a hospital, where they showed several people being examined by a doctor in a hazard suit. All of the patients had dark discolored spots on their arms, faces, and bodies. All of the spots on the patients, green. Emerald green.
Fourty cases here. Twenty-seven in the United States, Three hundred in China. And three in Japan. Anonymous remembered the statistics well, and paid no attention to the newscaster as he announced the symptoms and signs of the mysterious illness that was suddenly plaguing the world. Almost a million cases of contamination in three weeks. They have no clue what is happening, do they? No clue.
With a sigh, he changed the channel until he found a Japanese channel.
"…..with respect to the family of Ata Nakitsu," the newscaster was saying, "We have waited until they were informed to release the news that the first person contaminated with the mysterious flesh-eating disease has died. It is unclear how he died and if it has to do with the disease that he acquired about two and a half weeks ago, but authorities are sealing off his body from the public until they are sure that it is safe-"
-click-.
The television turned off. Anonymous leaned over and unzipped the pack. He took out a box, and quietly began to open it up.
I must not give up hope. Anonymous felt like screaming, but there was nothing he could do. I cannot give up hope.
The Heart of Hestia popped out as he finished, and he took it out, examining it. When he did, the room was filled with a green glow, and Anonymous immediately stuffed the jewel into its box, resealing it and placing it into the pack.
The Chaos Emerald. Anonymous kept staring at the box long after he put it away. For years, I thought they only existed in the world I lived in. But now I know the truth….and it makes it so much worse for me. It is because someone is gathering them together, someone who is using the Russian Mafia, that these accidents have occurred. Anonymous let out a breath of frustration. No human has ever been exposed to the true power of the Emeralds, and now their bodies cannot control the contamination when they come in contact with one or if they are contaminated though biological means. But….the question remains…..who? and how are they doing it?
Anonymous gave a sigh as he looked at his watch. It was 11 o'clock. He was used to long nights with no sleep, but he had had so many consecutive nights with no sleep that it dogged him. Finally, he stretched onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. His mind was wandering, but at least he would be able to get a few minutes of shuteye before the girl came back.
-----------------
Usagi fumbled with her change purse as she paid the yechat na tak-se .
"Blagagavynost," the driver said rudely before screeching away.
My heart is still fumbling…. Usagi looked up at the hotel in confusion and shock, the food bag in her hand. This man saved my life, only to subject it to a strange servitude from which I have no escape.
"There is no hope to call your friends," the man had crushed the communicator with his hand. "Do not even attempt it. You are working for me now."
I've been dragged into a land that I am unfamiliar with….all because of the Philosopher Stones. Why?….What is so important to this man that he would wander the earth, stealing jewels and kidnapping me?
Usagi's thoughts wandered as she entered the elevator. Two Japanese tourists entered with her as well.
"Well, personally, it's rather sad." One said. "I mean, I wouldn't want to be his family right now."
"Indeed." The other replied. "Imagine! They can't even bury him."
"Sadly. I'm sure that Ata didn't want to leave."
Usagi's eyes grew wide as she heard the name. ATA?! Ata Nakitsu?? It can't be….dead?!?
"If it was because of that disease that turned him greener than grass," the tourist chuckled. "I guess I should feel bad to all the others who have it. We can hope that at least it will get rid of some unsavory people in this world."
"I hope it does not get rid of me."
Naru. Usagi held her head as the two laughing tourists changed the topic as they got off the elevator. Oh no. Poor Naru. She's been infected. Now she might die too….if I don't get away from this man!! But…..I can't. Even with the money he gave me, it's not enough to get a boat or anything. I feel so hopeless……
As quietly as she could, she opened the door and entered the room, half expecting Anonymous to be there waiting for her. But he wasn't. He didn't seem to be in the room, as the lights were turned out.
That's strange. Usagi scratched her head. If he doesn't want me to try anything, wouldn't he be right here? Or maybe he thought I wouldn't get back so soon.
As she walked into the room, she noticed that, in the closet, there was a small backpack. Upon opening it, she found several outfits of clothing that belonged to her, as well as a heavy jacket.
He packed my stuff. Usagi took out several pieces of underwear and stared at them. So this is where my clothing went. He took them!
"Lara….."
Anonymous's voice froze Usagi, and she dropped the underwear on the floor. She turned towards the bed and saw that someone was stretched out, sleeping over the covers. She took a deep breath.
"Anonymous," she managed to croak. "I'm here."
No reply. She tiptoed over to the bed and said it louder.
"Anonymous……I'm….."
Usagi stopped dead in her tracks. The person on the bed, the origin of the voice, wasn't even a person. It was something else.
Her mouth opened as she saw that stretched out on the bed was not Anonymous, but a small red thing, similar to the red creature she saw in OSA-P. This one, however, didn't wear shades, and it didn't wear the smock that the creature in the shop had. In fact, not only was it not wearing anything, it even had an accessory that the other thing didn't have - a small goatee.
There were plenty of differences between the one she saw there and this one, but the species was definitely the same. Usagi's shock turned into fascination. The creature really looked at peace while it was sleeping, it's small thin red body moving up and down as it breathed. Usagi leaned over it and began to compare the thing to other beautiful animals in her mind - like dogs that had puffy fur - and when she began to wonder how the creature had gotten into the room…that's when it hit her.
Wait a minute. Usagi took several steps back when realization began to dawn on her. There were two I had a key. Anonymous had the only other key. Then that means….
"Huh?!"
Usagi's foot caught onto the strap of Anonymous's bag, and as she took another step back she tripped over it and fell backwards, the pack flying up into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!"
With a scream, Usagi fell flat on her butt, only to notice that a box labeled "FRAGILE" had also flown out of the pack and was on a crash course with the floor. With a scream, she threw herself to catch it, her arm stretched as far as she could get it. She shut her eyes.
"OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, just as her hand was just about to catch the box, she could feel an indescribable pain as something rammed into her hand. She gave another yell, only this one was in agony, as it felt like knives stabbing into her palms that were only driving deeper into her skin. Her eyes flew open to see what had happened.
Gasping hard, as he had only just been awoken by Usagi's screams and had only a split second to catch the box and its contents, the creature held the box in his hand, which was right above Usagi's. In shoving his hand in to grab it, however, his knuckles had ripped into Usagi's skin. Whimpering, Usagi grabbed her hand and dislodged it out of the creature's. Blood oozed from two large lines in her skin, which reached from her fingers to the lumpy muscles at the bottom of her palm, just before the wrist.
Without another moment, Usagi jumped up and stared at the creature, holding her hand as she did.
"You…!!"
"Me?" Anonymous' voice came from the creature. "You were the one who nearly destroyed this city."
"What do you mean?!" Usagi became angry. "What's in that box that's so dangerous?!?"
"The item you are going to help me retrieve."
"Oh yeah?" Usagi's uninjured hand went to her pocket. "And where exactly are we going?"
"I can't tell you."
"Oh, really? Well, you have no choice!!" Usagi found her brooch, which strangely enough hadn't been taken from her. "Tell me, or you'll regret it!!"
"Go ahead, then." Anonymous the thing stood up on the bed. His knuckles were drenched in her blood. "Use your crystal and kill me, Sailor Moon. But if something happens to this world it will not have been me who was responsible. It would have been you who brought the plagues!"
Usagi froze.
"What?"
"You heard me." Anonymous folded his arms, his head going down as he did. "Kill me, and your world will die."
Usagi's hand tightened on her brooch. She took it out and raised it up. He knows. There's no use hiding anymore…
"Why is it I don't believe you!?! Silver Moon Crystal Power!! Make-Up!!!!!"
Anonymous' expression did not change as Usagi turned into Sailor Moon. He simply looked at her, and even when she took out her tier and pointed it towards him he didn't flinch.
"Tell me what you want with me, or I'll…I willkill you!!" Sailor Moon glared at him. "Uranus was right, you are the enemy!"
"Am I?"
"Kidnapping me, holding me against my will….yes!!! I call that evil!! Despicable!!"
"Then what happened to Naru because of the Mafia…" Anonymous looked up at Sailor Moon. "That is not evil and despicable?"
Sailor Moon's eyes grew wide at this. Her hand trembled as she held the tier.
"I brought you here, yes." Anonymous continued. "To help me. When you wanted food, I gave you several hundred rubles. It was more than enough to call one hundred people in your country. Yet you didn't. I can see it in your eyes." Sailor Moon's eyes began to water as he said this, mainly in frustration because Anonymous knew he was right. "If I were evil, wouldn't you have left me and called on your friends to destroy me? Tell me that you would have if you truly thought I was evil!!"
The tier clanked to the floor, and the owner of the floor simply clenched her fists, even though it was painful to do so with her right hand.
"You're right," she moaned. "I didn't. Because I thought I could trust you to do the right thing. To tell me. But how do I know now what you think is the right thing?!"
Anonymous was stunned to hear this as Sailor Moon began to cry. The words hit him like a ton of bricks, and he took a few paces back on the bed, even though he nearly fell doing so. Regaining his balance, he slowly got off the bed and walked over to Sailor Moon.
"Give me your hand."
"Huh?" Sailor Moon's tear-streaked face looked back up at him. "Why?"
"You're hurt." There was an obvious change of tone from before. "You need something for your hand."
----------------------
It was a turnaround that Usagi hadn't seen until now, as the creature finished bandaging her hand up. She wasn't sure whether it had been what she had said or done in the past hour that had caused the strange change of heart, but whatever it was, it had had a palpable effect on Anonymous.
"There." Anonymous nodded. "It's finished."
Usagi stared at her hand. It was completely bandaged, similar to her head. She figured that at the rate she was going she would be completely bandaged by the time everything was done.
"Wait." Usagi saw him starting off towards the bathroom, a pile of clothing in tow. "What are you doing?"
"Changing."
"Changing back….into a human."
"Yes," Anonymous finally said after a moment.
"Why won't you stay in that form? I don't care anymore." Now that I know….
"It's not you I'm worried about."
The last sentence was in a slightly worried tone as Anonymous disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door. Looking down at her hand, Usagi sighed.
If it's not me you are worried about…. She closed her eyes. No. You are not the enemy. You seemed cold, and hard, but you are only that to save yourself and…and others. Who is the real enemy? What am I fighting against? And….what are you? Oh, Mamo-chan… Usagi's thoughts carried back to when she saw Anonymous laying in the bed. I have seen a creature that could not have been like anything created on Earth. I wish that I could learn the secrets of the box, and what it has to do with the Philosopher Stones. I wish, and hope, that I will learn what is tearing our world and the people in it apart! To unravel the new crisis….my new mission!
Usagi silently put her hands together, closed her eyes, and contemplated. She did not notice the soft light creeping from under the bathroom door, nor did she notice the rain that suddenly blew onto the window as the night dragged on.
