Empire of the Dark Ami
by amiwakawaiidesu
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(Based on characters and situations from "Sailor Moon", created by Naoko Takeuchi and not owned by myself.
I would like to offer my thanks, by the way, to all those individuals kind enough to offer commentary on the story so far. In answer to a specific question by Crystal Millenium, Sailoruranus attacked Sailormercury because she assumed that Kuroiami had the power to disguise her appearance, and didn't know that Kuroiami had discovered a portal to another world with another Sailormercury; also, the black uniforms of Kuroiami and her Sailor Senshi represent the common evil infecting all of them--in addition to being a way to (hopefully) keep them distinct from the Outer Senshi in the reader's imagination.)
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CHAPTER THREE
Hoshi was dreaming.
Indeed, Hoshi knew he was dreaming because the woman he saw in his dream was not his mother, but an altogether different person. Clad in a gown of cerulean blue, she held him close to her with one arm while she propped up a book with the other arm and read to him.
"...and that's how Sailormoon defeated Queen Metallia and destroyed the Dark Kingdom."
"But what about Sailormercury? Wasn't Sailormercury there?"
"No, Sailormercury was...killed...before that. But she came back to life later because Sailormoon loved her--just like she loved all the Senshi."
"Can love do that?"
"Love can do that," the woman said, holding Hoshi close to her. When Hoshi tried to look at her face, though, her features were vague and indistinct.
Then, suddenly, Hoshi was awake, with Nishimura Reika--his nursemaid and teacher--looking down at him.
"You looked like you were dreaming," the brown-haired woman said. "Pleasant dreams, I hope."
"I was dreaming about my mother," Hoshi said.
"Kuroiami-sama? She'll be pleased to hear that."
"That's the funny thing; I don't think it was Kuroiami."
"But Kuroiami is your mother."
"So she is," Hoshi said, rolling out of bed and accepting his robe and toothbrush from Nishimura. In light of his dream, the irony wasn't lost on Hoshi that Reika was much more of a mother to him--in some ways--than his real mother was.
Such a pity, Hoshi thought, how Kuroiami has tortured Reika...
* * * * *
Ah, Sailorvenus thought; vengeance!
Indeed it was sweet, watching troops of the 1st Infantry Division storm the house of the Outer Senshi from two directions, peppering the structure with tear gas and stun grenades before making their entrance. There was less shooting than Sailorvenus expected, however, for reasons that soon became obvious.
"They've escaped," Sailormars said, running up to Sailorvenus.
"Shimatta!" Sailorvenus stormed, smashing her binoculars into the ground. "How?"
"They escaped through a tunnel," Sailorjupiter said, approaching from another direction. "Our men found the exit 50 meters south of here."
"Damn it!" Sailorvenus said, striding to her map table. "They've got to be headed south, toward the Shuto Expressway."
"Not necessarily," Sailormars offered. "They might have circled around to the north."
"Toward Roppongi," Sailorjupiter said.
"Well," Sailorvenus said, "wherever they are, they couldn't have gone far. Alert all commands to deploy and search."
* * * * *
In the event, the Outer Senshi were headed neither south nor north, but rather east toward Tokyo Bay. Together with Sailormercury--who was still reeling from her recent injuries--they were moving cautiously among the high rise buildings of eastern Minato-Ku, working their way toward a safe house not known to the Black Senshi.
"Wait a minute," Sailoruranus said, holding up a hand to halt the party and scooping up a helmet from the rubble. "You might need this, Mercury."
"What for?"
"Snipers," Sailorneptune said. "They're all over the city."
Still woozy, Sailormercury reeled at the comment.
"But you don't wear helmets."
"Unfortunately," Sailoruranus said, "metal helmets interfere with our powers. I don't want YOU to get hurt, though, if I can help it."
Sailormercury put on the helmet.
"That a girl. Let's move out, people."
Sailormercury resisted the urge to salute; in her helmet, she had the sense she was playing soldier in some kind of weird, surreal dream. The reality of the situation became apparent, however, several minutes later; leaving the cover of the buildings, the Senshi entered an open field, then they heard a shot--
KRACK!
--and Sailorpluto fell in a heap next to Sailormercury.
"PLUTO!" Sailormercury screamed.
"Forget about her!" Sailoruranus yelled, already diving behind a block of concrete with Sailorneptune; "get cover!"
As if to emphasize the point, a second shot hit the concrete block, kicking up a spray of dust. Sailormercury wasn't about to leave Sailorpluto sprawled out in the open, however; instead, she grabbed the limp Senshi by the arms and dragged her to a nearby ditch.
Recognizing that Sailorpluto was probably already dead, Sailormercury knew this was likely a fruitless gesture; nonetheless, when she checked Sailorpluto for a pulse, it was faint but steady. Evidently, Sailorpluto's only injury was a grazing wound across her forehead--the mark of a near miss.
"How is she?" Sailoruranus called to Sailormercury.
"She's alive! Just a flesh wound!"
"Lucky baka," Sailorneptune muttered.
Her staff must have deflected the shot, Sailormercury thought, noting the spot where the Staff of Time was still lying in the open. We'll have to get that sniper, though, before reinforcements get here...
Then, suddenly, an inspiration struck her.
"Uranus!" Sailormercury called out, "do you think you could hit that sniper if you knew where he was?"
"Well, sure--but how could we tell that?"
"I've got an idea," Sailormercury said, taking off her helmet and activating her VR visor. "But I'll need the sniper to take another shot!"
"What does she want us to do?" Sailorneptune asked Sailoruranus; "stick our heads out there?"
"Don't worry," Sailoruranus said; "I think I know what she's up to…"
Sailoruranus then reached quickly for the Staff of Time--which predictably prompted a snap shot from the sniper: a near miss.
On Sailormercury's visor, though, the ballistic track of the bullet was clearly displayed, along with the bearing and distance to the shooter.
"I've got it!" Sailormercury called out. "Azimuth zero-four-zero! Range 400 meters!"
"Yoshi!" Sailoruranus replied, making a fist. "Ready, Neptune?"
Sailorneptune nodded.
The two Senshi then rolled out from their cover in opposite directions--clearly confusing the distant sniper--and came to their feet preparing their attacks.
"WORLD SHAKING--!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE--!"
The twin attacks then sailed into the sky in tandem, and came down hard on a distant apartment building--the sniper's nest. Already battered, the building promptly collapsed.
"Nice shot," Sailormercury said afterward, as Sailoruranus and Sailorneptune raced to look at Sailorpluto.
"Thanks to you," Sailoruranus said; "I forgot you had that visor."
"Kind of glad you didn't kill her, aren't you?" Sailorneptune kidded her.
"Yes, I was wrong about Mercury," Sailoruranus said, examining Sailorpluto's pulse just as Sailormercury had done. "But at least Pluto's okay."
Indeed, Sailorpluto began to come around just a few seconds later.
"What happened?"
"A close call," Sailorneptune said, "but you'll live."
"Well, thank goodness for that," Sailormercury said, finally rising to her feet. "Now I guess we should be going..."
Even as she stood, however, Sailormercury felt her stomach quiver and her knees go weak. Ironically, it wasn't until the battle was over that she realized how scared she was.
Well, I guess I wouldn't make a very good heishi*… Sailormercury thought, even as her eyes rolled back in her head, and she keeled over in a dead faint.
* * * * *
When Ami woke up later, a single lantern and the glow of computer screens suggested a new location--possibly a hospital; perhaps it was even her mother's hospital--or the parallel structure in this universe. As her eyes adapted to the dark, she saw the Outer Senshi standing nearby in military fatigues (with Setsuna sporting a bandage on her head), as well as a small black cat sitting at the foot of her bed...
"Luna?"
"Do you know me?" the cat asked.
"Of course I know you!" Ami said; "but you're probably not so happy to see me..."
"Nonsense; I know you're not Kuroiami."
"Of course she's not Kuroiami," Haruka said, rushing forward to kneel at Ami's bedside; "she saved us all."
"Thank you, Mizuno-san," Setsuna said, bowing to Ami. "For saving my life."
"I thought the bullet just grazed your forehead."
"The first shot grazed her forehead," Michiru said, "but a second shot wouldn't have missed."
"Indeed," Setsuna agreed. "I've been rather short with you, Mizuno-san, and I'd like to apologize. It's obvious that you're not our enemy."
"That's all right, Meiou-san," Ami said. "I've always admired you...in my world, I mean."
Setsuna blushed slightly.
"I was wondering, though," Ami said to Luna, "is this a hospital?"
"Hardly," Luna said; "this is the new support base we set up after Kuroiami destroyed the original base underneath the Game Center Crown. We're actually in a basement of the science building at K.O. University."
"Ah..."
"But I still have SOME tools at my disposal," Luna said, leaping from Ami's bed to one of her computers. "My scanners told me you have a concussion, for example--as Michiru suspected--but it doesn't look serious..."
Luna then clicked on her mouse to pull up a new display--two strands of DNA projected side-by-side.
"What really amazes me, though, is how identical your DNA is to Kuroiami's; it's like you're twin sisters, even though you don't have the taint of her evil."
"Where did you get a sample of Kuroiami's DNA?" Haruka asked.
"Reika smuggled it out of Mugen Palace," Luna replied. "It came from a strand of Kuroiami's hair."
"Reika?" Ami asked. "Motoki's girlfriend?"
The Outer Senshi and Luna exchanged meaningful glances.
"I don't believe those two have been together for a long time," Luna said. "I seem to recall they split up in 1995."
"What year is it now?" Ami asked.
"2000."
Ami noted that tidbit for later reference; in the world she came from, it was still 1997.
"It's hard to imagine they'd ever break up," Ami said; "at least in my world."
"Well, Kuroiami's to blame," Setsuna said; "after that affair she had with Motoki."
"She wasn't too proud to make Reika into Hoshi's nursemaid, though," Michiru offered.
"Just pouring salt on a wound," Haruka said, "since Motoki is Hoshi's father."
Suddenly, Ami felt a tightness in her chest--as if something were squeezing her heart.
"Now, now," Luna corrected Haruka, "we're not absolutely sure of that."
"Well, if you want to be technical," Haruka said, "there's a half-dozen guys who could be Hoshi's father--Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, Malachite...maybe even Mamoru..."
Ami groaned.
"Ami...?" Michiru said, suddenly noting Ami's distress.
"I'm sorry," Ami said, "but I think I'm gonna be sick..."
* * * * *
Watching Ami lean across the side of her bed and retch, the Outer Senshi could only look on helplessly until Luna hustled them out of the room.
"Maybe we should be careful what we say around Mizuno-san," Luna said to the humans; "unlike Kuroiami, Mizuno-san seems to be rather sensitive, and easily hurt."
"It's my fault," Haruka said; "I shouldn't have mentioned Motoki being Hoshi's father."
"It's nobody's fault," Luna said. "I just think it might be better if you let me explain things to Mizuno-san. This world is bound to be confusing to her, and it's only going to make things worse if she's getting information from four different sources."
The Outer Senshi nodded.
"All right, then," Luna said; "you go back to your work, and I'll look after Ami."
* * * * *
When Ami saw Luna reenter her room, she felt embarrassed at her sickness.
"I'm sorry," Ami said; "I don't know why I felt so sick all of a sudden..."
"You don't have to apologize for how you feel," Luna said, hopping up on Ami's bed; "I'd feel sick too, if I felt any connection to Kuroiami."
"Am I really evil inside, like her?"
"Well, I don't know what's in your heart," Luna said, "but I doubt it. Kuroiami was like you once, in the days of the Moon Kingdom--kind and thoughtful. When Princess Serenity died, though--and her princesses died with her-something evil got a hold of Princess Mercury and perverted her soul. She was already evil when I first met her, in fact, but Usagi trusted her..."
Again, Ami felt tightness in her chest.
"You don't look so good," Luna said to Ami. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to rest before I tell you this?"
Ami shook her head.
"No. I have to know about Kuroiami if I'm going to get Usagi back--my Usagi."
"Very well," Luna said, sitting down on her haunches to begin her story. "I guess it must have been eight years ago when I first met Usagi--Sailormoon--and shortly after that we met Kuroiami, who we discovered was Sailormercury. Of course we didn't call her Kuroiami then--she was just 'Ami'--but already I could see that she was dangerous. She was actually living as a runaway when we found her, but she was already proficient with black magic and mind control, and I should have realized someone else had gotten to her before us.
"It was Queen Beryl, of course. Before she ever met us, Kuroiami had met with Beryl and become her protégé. Kuroiami pretended to follow Sailormoon as Sailormercury, for a time--until she effected an ambush that put all the Sailor Senshi in Beryl's hands along with the ginzuishou. Then Kuroiami turned the tables on Beryl--turning her own generals against her--and staged a coup that left her in power.
"In the end, Kuroiami ended up controlling two sets of generals--Beryl's four generals, plus the three black Senshi she turned to her own side. Kuroiami's only real problem was that she couldn't use the ginzuishou directly, but she got around that by putting Usagi in a trance and drawing the ginzuishou's energy from Usagi's sleeping body..."
"But what about Tuxedo Kamen?" Ami interrupted; "didn't he try to stop Kuroiami?"
"He did, but it was fruitless. It's been seven years since anyone saw him alive, so we assume Kuroiami killed him."
Ami gasped.
"But what about the Outer Senshi? They're obviously still fighting her."
"Yes, but with limited ability. Have you noticed how one of the Outer Senshi is missing?"
"Sailorsaturn, yes. I was going to ask about that..."
"She's dead," Luna said. "A police sniper shot Hotaru before her powers could emerge."
"Oh my God..."
"As I come to think about it," Luna said, "I suspect it was actually Metallia who perverted Kuroiami's soul, specifically to groom a more competent assistant than Beryl. And say what you will, Kuroiami was competent; instead of taking over the Earth by force, she used her generals to take control of the world's governments from the inside. Today, the nations of the world have all surrendered their independence to the United Nations--which itself is a puppet agency controlled by Kuroiami. With all that power, it was child's play to have the Tokyo Police pick off Hotaru before she became a threat."
"So how did Tokyo become so...well, wrecked?"
"Well, other enemies did arise to face Kuroiami--Pharaoh 90, for example, and Queen Neherenia--and those battles were fought here in Tokyo. In the end, Pharaoh 90 was annihilated, and Neherenia banished back to the Dead Moon, but the battles did leave a lot of wreckage; as for why Kuroiami didn't have the wreckage cleared away, nobody knows. Some people say the battleground is a monument to her ego, but I think it's more practical; with all the rubble around, it would be hard for an enemy to surround her palace quickly."
"Where is her palace?"
"It's one of Pharaoh 90's buildings--the former Mugen Tower."
"Do you mean the tower that housed the Mugen Gakuen?"
"I see you've heard of it."
"It also existed in our world; but it was destroyed, eventually."
"Well, I suppose there are bound to be differences between our worlds. Apparently, Kuroiami viewed Mugen Tower as a sort of trophy, and that's why she had it preserved."
Ami pursed her brows, recalling the details of her own campaign as a Sailor Senshi.
"I noticed you didn't mention the Dark Moon Family," Ami said.
"Who are they?"
"Well, enemies from the future; from the time of Crystal Tokyo..."
"Crystal Tokyo? I'm afraid I haven't heard of that either."
"Then I don't suppose you'd know who Chibi-Usa is either..."
Luna looked at Ami blankly.
Of course, Ami thought; with Mamoru killed and Usagi imprisoned, Chibi-Usa was never born, and Crystal Tokyo was never created.
My God--is it possible that Kuroiami will still be on the throne a thousand years from now...?
"Wait a minute," Ami said; "there was another enemy that came after Queen Neherenia. Sailor Galaxia was nearly strong enough to defeat Sailormoon…"
Luna looked at Ami with shock.
"Queen Galaxia was your ENEMY?"
"Well...yeah..."
"Well, then, our worlds must be very different! Galaxia is our last real hope to defeat Kuroiami."
"I don't understand."
"Queen Galaxia is accepted as the rightful ruler of the Confraternity of Worlds--an association of all the planets of the galaxy with Sailor Senshi. If we could make her aware of Kuroiami's activities, I'm sure she would come here with her power, and destroy Kuroiami once and for all."
Ami made a wry grimace, trying to wrap her brain around the notion of Galaxia being an ally. Of course, in a world where Ami's own alter-ego was utterly wicked, it wasn't that hard to imagine that other things were different as well.
"Don't you have a radio, or some way to contact her?"
"It isn't that simple; a radio message would take eons to reach Galaxia's castle at the Sagittarius Zero Star. But there is an experimental tachyon transmitter on top of Mugen Palace that could reach the planet Kinmoku, and--hopefully--Princess Kakyuu could forward our message to Galaxia."
At the mention of Kakyuu, Ami's eyes widened.
"I'm sure Kakyuu would help us," Ami said.
"Have you met the princess?"
"Briefly," Ami said, "in my world. She was very wise...and very beautiful."
"Unfortunately, I wouldn't know myself," Luna said. "I didn't have access to the Mugen transmitter, so I don't know what Dr. Tomoe and his people might have shared with her. But the fact remains that reaching her is our only hope."
Ami nodded, thoughtfully.
"Well, there must be some way into that palace," Ami said.
"Indeed there is," Luna said, "which brings me to the reason YOU might be valuable to us. Do you play chess?"
"A little. Why do you ask?"
"Because that's the easiest way into the palace. There are regular tournaments held into Mugen Palace, for people at the Grand Master level."
"That's better than I am."
"I have a feeling you're being modest," Luna said, hopping off Ami's bed and grabbing the handle of a small box on a side shelf with her teeth. She then returned to the bed and allowed Ami to open the box--a miniature chess set.
"Think you're up to a game?"
"I never played chess with Luna before," Ami said, with a slight smile. "Sure..."
A half hour later, Ami was duly impressed that Luna had played her to a draw--but not half as impressed as Luna.
"You're good," Luna conceded. "Better than I expected."
"But you're just as good as me, Luna. What do you need me for?"
"I'll show you," Luna said, hopping off the bed again. Then, before Ami's eyes, Luna began to transform...
But it wasn't the human Luna that Luna transformed into.
* * * * *
In front of the science building, meanwhile, Setsuna was standing guard while Haruka and Michiru packed supplies in the building lobby. Despite the wound to her forehead, Setsuna insisted she was well enough to do that work at least, and thus was the first to see Luna emerging from the rubble of the nearby university buildings.
"Luna? What are you doing out here?"
"Where else would I be? I've been out on patrol all day."
"But I thought you were down in the basement with Mizuno-san--"
Luna never heard the end of that sentence; cutting off her own comment, Setsuna spun on her heels and immediately raced back into the building. Watching her run past, Haruka and Michiru both dropped what they were doing and fell in behind her.
"What is it?" Michiru asked. "What's the matter--?"
But that was obvious enough when Setsuna reached the room where they'd left Luna and Ami. Throwing the door open, the Outer Senshi found the room empty.
"Kuroiami..." Michiru said. "Only Kuroiami could do this."
"She was toying with us," Setsuna said. "She was right beneath our noses and we didn't recognize her!"
"Chikusho!" Haruka spat, punching a metal storage locker. "That bitch--!"
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[AN: * "heishi"—a professional soldier (as opposed to a "senshi", or "warrior")]
by amiwakawaiidesu
-------
(Based on characters and situations from "Sailor Moon", created by Naoko Takeuchi and not owned by myself.
I would like to offer my thanks, by the way, to all those individuals kind enough to offer commentary on the story so far. In answer to a specific question by Crystal Millenium, Sailoruranus attacked Sailormercury because she assumed that Kuroiami had the power to disguise her appearance, and didn't know that Kuroiami had discovered a portal to another world with another Sailormercury; also, the black uniforms of Kuroiami and her Sailor Senshi represent the common evil infecting all of them--in addition to being a way to (hopefully) keep them distinct from the Outer Senshi in the reader's imagination.)
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CHAPTER THREE
Hoshi was dreaming.
Indeed, Hoshi knew he was dreaming because the woman he saw in his dream was not his mother, but an altogether different person. Clad in a gown of cerulean blue, she held him close to her with one arm while she propped up a book with the other arm and read to him.
"...and that's how Sailormoon defeated Queen Metallia and destroyed the Dark Kingdom."
"But what about Sailormercury? Wasn't Sailormercury there?"
"No, Sailormercury was...killed...before that. But she came back to life later because Sailormoon loved her--just like she loved all the Senshi."
"Can love do that?"
"Love can do that," the woman said, holding Hoshi close to her. When Hoshi tried to look at her face, though, her features were vague and indistinct.
Then, suddenly, Hoshi was awake, with Nishimura Reika--his nursemaid and teacher--looking down at him.
"You looked like you were dreaming," the brown-haired woman said. "Pleasant dreams, I hope."
"I was dreaming about my mother," Hoshi said.
"Kuroiami-sama? She'll be pleased to hear that."
"That's the funny thing; I don't think it was Kuroiami."
"But Kuroiami is your mother."
"So she is," Hoshi said, rolling out of bed and accepting his robe and toothbrush from Nishimura. In light of his dream, the irony wasn't lost on Hoshi that Reika was much more of a mother to him--in some ways--than his real mother was.
Such a pity, Hoshi thought, how Kuroiami has tortured Reika...
* * * * *
Ah, Sailorvenus thought; vengeance!
Indeed it was sweet, watching troops of the 1st Infantry Division storm the house of the Outer Senshi from two directions, peppering the structure with tear gas and stun grenades before making their entrance. There was less shooting than Sailorvenus expected, however, for reasons that soon became obvious.
"They've escaped," Sailormars said, running up to Sailorvenus.
"Shimatta!" Sailorvenus stormed, smashing her binoculars into the ground. "How?"
"They escaped through a tunnel," Sailorjupiter said, approaching from another direction. "Our men found the exit 50 meters south of here."
"Damn it!" Sailorvenus said, striding to her map table. "They've got to be headed south, toward the Shuto Expressway."
"Not necessarily," Sailormars offered. "They might have circled around to the north."
"Toward Roppongi," Sailorjupiter said.
"Well," Sailorvenus said, "wherever they are, they couldn't have gone far. Alert all commands to deploy and search."
* * * * *
In the event, the Outer Senshi were headed neither south nor north, but rather east toward Tokyo Bay. Together with Sailormercury--who was still reeling from her recent injuries--they were moving cautiously among the high rise buildings of eastern Minato-Ku, working their way toward a safe house not known to the Black Senshi.
"Wait a minute," Sailoruranus said, holding up a hand to halt the party and scooping up a helmet from the rubble. "You might need this, Mercury."
"What for?"
"Snipers," Sailorneptune said. "They're all over the city."
Still woozy, Sailormercury reeled at the comment.
"But you don't wear helmets."
"Unfortunately," Sailoruranus said, "metal helmets interfere with our powers. I don't want YOU to get hurt, though, if I can help it."
Sailormercury put on the helmet.
"That a girl. Let's move out, people."
Sailormercury resisted the urge to salute; in her helmet, she had the sense she was playing soldier in some kind of weird, surreal dream. The reality of the situation became apparent, however, several minutes later; leaving the cover of the buildings, the Senshi entered an open field, then they heard a shot--
KRACK!
--and Sailorpluto fell in a heap next to Sailormercury.
"PLUTO!" Sailormercury screamed.
"Forget about her!" Sailoruranus yelled, already diving behind a block of concrete with Sailorneptune; "get cover!"
As if to emphasize the point, a second shot hit the concrete block, kicking up a spray of dust. Sailormercury wasn't about to leave Sailorpluto sprawled out in the open, however; instead, she grabbed the limp Senshi by the arms and dragged her to a nearby ditch.
Recognizing that Sailorpluto was probably already dead, Sailormercury knew this was likely a fruitless gesture; nonetheless, when she checked Sailorpluto for a pulse, it was faint but steady. Evidently, Sailorpluto's only injury was a grazing wound across her forehead--the mark of a near miss.
"How is she?" Sailoruranus called to Sailormercury.
"She's alive! Just a flesh wound!"
"Lucky baka," Sailorneptune muttered.
Her staff must have deflected the shot, Sailormercury thought, noting the spot where the Staff of Time was still lying in the open. We'll have to get that sniper, though, before reinforcements get here...
Then, suddenly, an inspiration struck her.
"Uranus!" Sailormercury called out, "do you think you could hit that sniper if you knew where he was?"
"Well, sure--but how could we tell that?"
"I've got an idea," Sailormercury said, taking off her helmet and activating her VR visor. "But I'll need the sniper to take another shot!"
"What does she want us to do?" Sailorneptune asked Sailoruranus; "stick our heads out there?"
"Don't worry," Sailoruranus said; "I think I know what she's up to…"
Sailoruranus then reached quickly for the Staff of Time--which predictably prompted a snap shot from the sniper: a near miss.
On Sailormercury's visor, though, the ballistic track of the bullet was clearly displayed, along with the bearing and distance to the shooter.
"I've got it!" Sailormercury called out. "Azimuth zero-four-zero! Range 400 meters!"
"Yoshi!" Sailoruranus replied, making a fist. "Ready, Neptune?"
Sailorneptune nodded.
The two Senshi then rolled out from their cover in opposite directions--clearly confusing the distant sniper--and came to their feet preparing their attacks.
"WORLD SHAKING--!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE--!"
The twin attacks then sailed into the sky in tandem, and came down hard on a distant apartment building--the sniper's nest. Already battered, the building promptly collapsed.
"Nice shot," Sailormercury said afterward, as Sailoruranus and Sailorneptune raced to look at Sailorpluto.
"Thanks to you," Sailoruranus said; "I forgot you had that visor."
"Kind of glad you didn't kill her, aren't you?" Sailorneptune kidded her.
"Yes, I was wrong about Mercury," Sailoruranus said, examining Sailorpluto's pulse just as Sailormercury had done. "But at least Pluto's okay."
Indeed, Sailorpluto began to come around just a few seconds later.
"What happened?"
"A close call," Sailorneptune said, "but you'll live."
"Well, thank goodness for that," Sailormercury said, finally rising to her feet. "Now I guess we should be going..."
Even as she stood, however, Sailormercury felt her stomach quiver and her knees go weak. Ironically, it wasn't until the battle was over that she realized how scared she was.
Well, I guess I wouldn't make a very good heishi*… Sailormercury thought, even as her eyes rolled back in her head, and she keeled over in a dead faint.
* * * * *
When Ami woke up later, a single lantern and the glow of computer screens suggested a new location--possibly a hospital; perhaps it was even her mother's hospital--or the parallel structure in this universe. As her eyes adapted to the dark, she saw the Outer Senshi standing nearby in military fatigues (with Setsuna sporting a bandage on her head), as well as a small black cat sitting at the foot of her bed...
"Luna?"
"Do you know me?" the cat asked.
"Of course I know you!" Ami said; "but you're probably not so happy to see me..."
"Nonsense; I know you're not Kuroiami."
"Of course she's not Kuroiami," Haruka said, rushing forward to kneel at Ami's bedside; "she saved us all."
"Thank you, Mizuno-san," Setsuna said, bowing to Ami. "For saving my life."
"I thought the bullet just grazed your forehead."
"The first shot grazed her forehead," Michiru said, "but a second shot wouldn't have missed."
"Indeed," Setsuna agreed. "I've been rather short with you, Mizuno-san, and I'd like to apologize. It's obvious that you're not our enemy."
"That's all right, Meiou-san," Ami said. "I've always admired you...in my world, I mean."
Setsuna blushed slightly.
"I was wondering, though," Ami said to Luna, "is this a hospital?"
"Hardly," Luna said; "this is the new support base we set up after Kuroiami destroyed the original base underneath the Game Center Crown. We're actually in a basement of the science building at K.O. University."
"Ah..."
"But I still have SOME tools at my disposal," Luna said, leaping from Ami's bed to one of her computers. "My scanners told me you have a concussion, for example--as Michiru suspected--but it doesn't look serious..."
Luna then clicked on her mouse to pull up a new display--two strands of DNA projected side-by-side.
"What really amazes me, though, is how identical your DNA is to Kuroiami's; it's like you're twin sisters, even though you don't have the taint of her evil."
"Where did you get a sample of Kuroiami's DNA?" Haruka asked.
"Reika smuggled it out of Mugen Palace," Luna replied. "It came from a strand of Kuroiami's hair."
"Reika?" Ami asked. "Motoki's girlfriend?"
The Outer Senshi and Luna exchanged meaningful glances.
"I don't believe those two have been together for a long time," Luna said. "I seem to recall they split up in 1995."
"What year is it now?" Ami asked.
"2000."
Ami noted that tidbit for later reference; in the world she came from, it was still 1997.
"It's hard to imagine they'd ever break up," Ami said; "at least in my world."
"Well, Kuroiami's to blame," Setsuna said; "after that affair she had with Motoki."
"She wasn't too proud to make Reika into Hoshi's nursemaid, though," Michiru offered.
"Just pouring salt on a wound," Haruka said, "since Motoki is Hoshi's father."
Suddenly, Ami felt a tightness in her chest--as if something were squeezing her heart.
"Now, now," Luna corrected Haruka, "we're not absolutely sure of that."
"Well, if you want to be technical," Haruka said, "there's a half-dozen guys who could be Hoshi's father--Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, Malachite...maybe even Mamoru..."
Ami groaned.
"Ami...?" Michiru said, suddenly noting Ami's distress.
"I'm sorry," Ami said, "but I think I'm gonna be sick..."
* * * * *
Watching Ami lean across the side of her bed and retch, the Outer Senshi could only look on helplessly until Luna hustled them out of the room.
"Maybe we should be careful what we say around Mizuno-san," Luna said to the humans; "unlike Kuroiami, Mizuno-san seems to be rather sensitive, and easily hurt."
"It's my fault," Haruka said; "I shouldn't have mentioned Motoki being Hoshi's father."
"It's nobody's fault," Luna said. "I just think it might be better if you let me explain things to Mizuno-san. This world is bound to be confusing to her, and it's only going to make things worse if she's getting information from four different sources."
The Outer Senshi nodded.
"All right, then," Luna said; "you go back to your work, and I'll look after Ami."
* * * * *
When Ami saw Luna reenter her room, she felt embarrassed at her sickness.
"I'm sorry," Ami said; "I don't know why I felt so sick all of a sudden..."
"You don't have to apologize for how you feel," Luna said, hopping up on Ami's bed; "I'd feel sick too, if I felt any connection to Kuroiami."
"Am I really evil inside, like her?"
"Well, I don't know what's in your heart," Luna said, "but I doubt it. Kuroiami was like you once, in the days of the Moon Kingdom--kind and thoughtful. When Princess Serenity died, though--and her princesses died with her-something evil got a hold of Princess Mercury and perverted her soul. She was already evil when I first met her, in fact, but Usagi trusted her..."
Again, Ami felt tightness in her chest.
"You don't look so good," Luna said to Ami. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to rest before I tell you this?"
Ami shook her head.
"No. I have to know about Kuroiami if I'm going to get Usagi back--my Usagi."
"Very well," Luna said, sitting down on her haunches to begin her story. "I guess it must have been eight years ago when I first met Usagi--Sailormoon--and shortly after that we met Kuroiami, who we discovered was Sailormercury. Of course we didn't call her Kuroiami then--she was just 'Ami'--but already I could see that she was dangerous. She was actually living as a runaway when we found her, but she was already proficient with black magic and mind control, and I should have realized someone else had gotten to her before us.
"It was Queen Beryl, of course. Before she ever met us, Kuroiami had met with Beryl and become her protégé. Kuroiami pretended to follow Sailormoon as Sailormercury, for a time--until she effected an ambush that put all the Sailor Senshi in Beryl's hands along with the ginzuishou. Then Kuroiami turned the tables on Beryl--turning her own generals against her--and staged a coup that left her in power.
"In the end, Kuroiami ended up controlling two sets of generals--Beryl's four generals, plus the three black Senshi she turned to her own side. Kuroiami's only real problem was that she couldn't use the ginzuishou directly, but she got around that by putting Usagi in a trance and drawing the ginzuishou's energy from Usagi's sleeping body..."
"But what about Tuxedo Kamen?" Ami interrupted; "didn't he try to stop Kuroiami?"
"He did, but it was fruitless. It's been seven years since anyone saw him alive, so we assume Kuroiami killed him."
Ami gasped.
"But what about the Outer Senshi? They're obviously still fighting her."
"Yes, but with limited ability. Have you noticed how one of the Outer Senshi is missing?"
"Sailorsaturn, yes. I was going to ask about that..."
"She's dead," Luna said. "A police sniper shot Hotaru before her powers could emerge."
"Oh my God..."
"As I come to think about it," Luna said, "I suspect it was actually Metallia who perverted Kuroiami's soul, specifically to groom a more competent assistant than Beryl. And say what you will, Kuroiami was competent; instead of taking over the Earth by force, she used her generals to take control of the world's governments from the inside. Today, the nations of the world have all surrendered their independence to the United Nations--which itself is a puppet agency controlled by Kuroiami. With all that power, it was child's play to have the Tokyo Police pick off Hotaru before she became a threat."
"So how did Tokyo become so...well, wrecked?"
"Well, other enemies did arise to face Kuroiami--Pharaoh 90, for example, and Queen Neherenia--and those battles were fought here in Tokyo. In the end, Pharaoh 90 was annihilated, and Neherenia banished back to the Dead Moon, but the battles did leave a lot of wreckage; as for why Kuroiami didn't have the wreckage cleared away, nobody knows. Some people say the battleground is a monument to her ego, but I think it's more practical; with all the rubble around, it would be hard for an enemy to surround her palace quickly."
"Where is her palace?"
"It's one of Pharaoh 90's buildings--the former Mugen Tower."
"Do you mean the tower that housed the Mugen Gakuen?"
"I see you've heard of it."
"It also existed in our world; but it was destroyed, eventually."
"Well, I suppose there are bound to be differences between our worlds. Apparently, Kuroiami viewed Mugen Tower as a sort of trophy, and that's why she had it preserved."
Ami pursed her brows, recalling the details of her own campaign as a Sailor Senshi.
"I noticed you didn't mention the Dark Moon Family," Ami said.
"Who are they?"
"Well, enemies from the future; from the time of Crystal Tokyo..."
"Crystal Tokyo? I'm afraid I haven't heard of that either."
"Then I don't suppose you'd know who Chibi-Usa is either..."
Luna looked at Ami blankly.
Of course, Ami thought; with Mamoru killed and Usagi imprisoned, Chibi-Usa was never born, and Crystal Tokyo was never created.
My God--is it possible that Kuroiami will still be on the throne a thousand years from now...?
"Wait a minute," Ami said; "there was another enemy that came after Queen Neherenia. Sailor Galaxia was nearly strong enough to defeat Sailormoon…"
Luna looked at Ami with shock.
"Queen Galaxia was your ENEMY?"
"Well...yeah..."
"Well, then, our worlds must be very different! Galaxia is our last real hope to defeat Kuroiami."
"I don't understand."
"Queen Galaxia is accepted as the rightful ruler of the Confraternity of Worlds--an association of all the planets of the galaxy with Sailor Senshi. If we could make her aware of Kuroiami's activities, I'm sure she would come here with her power, and destroy Kuroiami once and for all."
Ami made a wry grimace, trying to wrap her brain around the notion of Galaxia being an ally. Of course, in a world where Ami's own alter-ego was utterly wicked, it wasn't that hard to imagine that other things were different as well.
"Don't you have a radio, or some way to contact her?"
"It isn't that simple; a radio message would take eons to reach Galaxia's castle at the Sagittarius Zero Star. But there is an experimental tachyon transmitter on top of Mugen Palace that could reach the planet Kinmoku, and--hopefully--Princess Kakyuu could forward our message to Galaxia."
At the mention of Kakyuu, Ami's eyes widened.
"I'm sure Kakyuu would help us," Ami said.
"Have you met the princess?"
"Briefly," Ami said, "in my world. She was very wise...and very beautiful."
"Unfortunately, I wouldn't know myself," Luna said. "I didn't have access to the Mugen transmitter, so I don't know what Dr. Tomoe and his people might have shared with her. But the fact remains that reaching her is our only hope."
Ami nodded, thoughtfully.
"Well, there must be some way into that palace," Ami said.
"Indeed there is," Luna said, "which brings me to the reason YOU might be valuable to us. Do you play chess?"
"A little. Why do you ask?"
"Because that's the easiest way into the palace. There are regular tournaments held into Mugen Palace, for people at the Grand Master level."
"That's better than I am."
"I have a feeling you're being modest," Luna said, hopping off Ami's bed and grabbing the handle of a small box on a side shelf with her teeth. She then returned to the bed and allowed Ami to open the box--a miniature chess set.
"Think you're up to a game?"
"I never played chess with Luna before," Ami said, with a slight smile. "Sure..."
A half hour later, Ami was duly impressed that Luna had played her to a draw--but not half as impressed as Luna.
"You're good," Luna conceded. "Better than I expected."
"But you're just as good as me, Luna. What do you need me for?"
"I'll show you," Luna said, hopping off the bed again. Then, before Ami's eyes, Luna began to transform...
But it wasn't the human Luna that Luna transformed into.
* * * * *
In front of the science building, meanwhile, Setsuna was standing guard while Haruka and Michiru packed supplies in the building lobby. Despite the wound to her forehead, Setsuna insisted she was well enough to do that work at least, and thus was the first to see Luna emerging from the rubble of the nearby university buildings.
"Luna? What are you doing out here?"
"Where else would I be? I've been out on patrol all day."
"But I thought you were down in the basement with Mizuno-san--"
Luna never heard the end of that sentence; cutting off her own comment, Setsuna spun on her heels and immediately raced back into the building. Watching her run past, Haruka and Michiru both dropped what they were doing and fell in behind her.
"What is it?" Michiru asked. "What's the matter--?"
But that was obvious enough when Setsuna reached the room where they'd left Luna and Ami. Throwing the door open, the Outer Senshi found the room empty.
"Kuroiami..." Michiru said. "Only Kuroiami could do this."
"She was toying with us," Setsuna said. "She was right beneath our noses and we didn't recognize her!"
"Chikusho!" Haruka spat, punching a metal storage locker. "That bitch--!"
-------
[AN: * "heishi"—a professional soldier (as opposed to a "senshi", or "warrior")]
