Purging the World in the Blood of an Angel
Black Beyond
black_beyond@hotmail.com
"Confrontations and Discoveries"
The senshi were satisfied with this. Uranus and Neptune crept away, and Mamoru
wasted no time in confronting Sailormoon, ready to reproach her for the little
display of magic on the street.
She was sitting on the steps of the Hiwaka Shrine, alone for she had insisted
the other girls go on up and tell Luna and Artemis what had happened. She had
her shirt pulled up and was inspecting the side that had been wounded. The
bleeding had slowed and almost stopped, and when she noticed him standing there
she immediately dropped her shirt, hiding it from view.
It was too late. He'd already seen it completely. It was a large gash, starting
at the almost center of her stomach and winding around to her side. It needed
stitches, lots of stitches, and he knew it.
He opened his mouth to tell her just that but she recognized it and cut him
off.
"No! Uh-uh! You keep your business and I'll keep mine, since that's the way you
obviously want it, monsieur. If I want stitches, then I'll go get them. But I
don't want them, and what's more I don't need them, so you may yell at me and
then go on your way. Simply because I'm interested to hear a lecture-- from
you."
He was taken aback by the tone of her voice: not offensive, but rather
intrigued. Her pose was confident and completely relaxed, as though he were
nothing, not a threat or cared about. He suddenly knew how one of Ami's
experiments felt.
"I-- you--" He sputtered, and then got a hold on himself. Was he letting a
fifteen year old intimidate him? "You were reckless. You displayed power in
broad daylight on a crowded street in the middle of Tokyo." He stated, clearly
expecting her to burst into tears under his glare. He was very disappointed
when she merely leaned forward a little, her eyes shining with mischief.
"No, go on." She urged, when he had paused. "I'm listening."
It only served to increase his anger. "You can't be so childish about this,
Usagi! You can't go around revealing yourself to innocent people! You don't
even have control of your power-- what if you'd miscalculated in some way and
blown something up?" He was furious now, and her smile was only making him more
and more angry. "Stop taking this so lightly! You could have really screwed up,
Usagi, and you can't do that! Falling on your face in battle is one thing,
magic is another!"
At this, he was happy to see her face sobered. But his elation turned to
startled confusion as a completely different expression settled on her face,
one of cold fury.
Usagi lost herself for a moment, and a whole other person kicked in.
"I understand you're worried, Chiba Mamoru-san, but to have you insult me as
though you were my mother is unacceptable. I have never fallen on my face
unless I meant to! In case you hadn't noticed," Her gray eyes flashed black and
he shivered, stepping back. "I have never been severely injured, unlike the lot
of you, and I've always managed to come better from my battles, whereas you
have lost. Perhaps you will think of THAT before you come and insult my
abilities again!" She stood and he retreated another step.
He had seen her like this only twice before. Once was a retaliation on Rei for
a particularly harsh remark about her fighting skills and the other was against
Nephrite when he had once said she was too weak to kill him and turned his
back.
And he had died, about five seconds later.
She took a step towards him and as her foot came down she seemed to realize
that she was threatening Mamoru and froze. For a moment it seemed like she was
fighting for control of her own body, and won.
"Oh." She said, quietly, as though an epiphany had befallen her. "Oh, of
course. Of course. I had assumed... Never assume, Usagi... ara, this shall be
interesting..."
"What will?" He asked, uncertain. Perhaps Rei wasn't joking when she suggested
that Usagi was schizophrenic.
She looked up at him and smiled an empty smile. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.
I'm sorry I snapped at you, Mamoru-san. But you mustn't assume that I do
everything because I'm a ditz. I might surprise you someday."
She turned and disappeared up the stairs. Mamoru stared after her.
"You already have, Odango. You already have."
~'~
'I can help you. You can help me.'
*I suppose. You are me. I am you. You should have made yourself known earlier,
though. You surprised me. I might have done something rash.*
'But you didn't. We have to kill her. It's the only way.'
*To the point, aren't you? And here they've been giving all these opinions of
you... you're a better actress than I.*
'I can work with you, or work against you. Which will it be?'
*I guess...*
~'~
Usagi was uncommonly silent at the senshi meeting. She sat on a cushion at the
table, and did not make a single move for Rei's manga or sigh dreamily. She
merely sat there, completely off in her own world. Rei thought that maybe twice
she saw her blonde friend frown, but that was it. No change in expression from
that almost dreamy gaze.
She didn't even notice when the subject shifted to her, the other three senshi
aware of their friend's oblivion.
"She's a bit stranger than usual," Minako commented. "She's always been weird,
yeah, but these past couple of days... I don't know. She's just someone else.
But not really."
Makoto's face darkened. "She's fighting different. Better. Like she does when
she's in danger, only all the time now. I think that if Uranus challenged her
again it would be a clear win instead of a draw."
"I always thought that the draw was just a concession on Usagi's part. I don't
think she would willingly hurt another senshi. Uranus left her no choice than
to fight." Ami stated, sneaking a glance at Usagi.
"What was the deal with that, anyway?" Rei asked. "I know the outer senshi don't
like us, but trying to kill Sailormoon? It's not like Usagi's much of a threat.
Such an odango atama!" She shook her head. "It's a wonder she's not dead yet."
Luna, who had been alternately listening to them talk and glowering at a
sleeping Artemis, decided it was time she spoke up. "Usagi never came home last
night." She said, in a low tone. "I managed to make her think that Usagi was
staying with one of you, but it will be difficult to manage it again. I meant
to scold her for it."
Minako giggled. "I know where Usagi was. She's got a new boyfriend-- oh, wow,
what a hunk. Tall, dark, mysterious, completely romantic, and should, in fact,
be picking her up in about five minutes. Oh, Rei, you're going to be so
jealous. He's the most handsome man I've ever seen..." She sighed. "Tell her,
Makoto."
Makoto nodded furiously. "Hell yes! The man beats out my old boyfriend! He's
wonderful!"
"Flattery gets you everywhere. I'm elated to see I'm worthy enough to be the
topic of your discussion." Kunzite stood in the doorway. He had approached so
quietly that none of them knew how long he had stood there. Apparently not
long because he wasn't acting strangely.
In all truth, he hadn't stood there for all of five seconds. Just to observe
who was in the room, make sure no weapons of destruction were in throwing
distance, and then to find Usagi. She looked a bit out of it, but otherwise
okay. She must have stood up to Beryl pretty well or ran like hell.
Since there was a lack of missing body parts, he assumed on the ran like hell.
But you never knew.
"Usagi-chan, are you and your friends done?"
Usagi started, dazed for a slight second, saw Kunzite, and smiled. "Yeah, I
guess, Zi-chan. At least, I wasn't paying attention anyway, so it won't make
much of a different if I leave."
"Yeah, go on, Odango Atama." Rei made a shooing motion with her hands. "You're not needed here, Miss Daydreamer." But she was smiling and didn't mean it.
Luna was nudging Ami frantically. Ami caught the gist. "Usagi!" She called, as the couple turned to go. Usagi looked back over her shoulder, waiting.
"You might want to go home tonight, Usagi." Ami told her quietly. She thought for a moment Usagi looked ready to faint, but if she had it was gone twice as quickly as it had appeared.
"Y-yeah. Sure thing, Ami. I'll go home tonight." She might have wanted to say more but Kunzite leaned down and whispered something into her ear that made her smile and she let him lead her away.
"Bye, Seitosei!"
"Yeah, See you, Seitosei!" Minako and Makoto called after him, still smiling widely. Rei rolled her eyes, yet she could understand the sentiment. He was so very handsome... if they were an anime he'd be the star bishonen....
"Ah, lookee. Rei likes Seitosei too. It's not just us, Mako-chan. Now we just have to get Ami and Luna on board and we'll have him a regular fan club going." Minako's eyes glittered. She stood up, one fist in the hand. "In the name of love, we must worship gods like Seitosei, Yaten, and Motoki. We are the Love Senshi!"
Makoto grinned and got in the spirit. She grabbed Luna and posed beside Minako. "We will adore them forever and carve their images in play-dough!"
Ami giggled, blushing. "You forgot Greg." She mentioned her cute study partner. Minako gasped, mockingly loud, and Makoto grinned, letting out a war cry.
"You go, Ami-chan!"
Artemis woke up, saw the strange scene, rolled his eyes, and went back to sleep. He'd learned the hard way never to involve himself in the affairs of crazy women. He liked his fur white, thank you. Neon pink never did match his eyes very well...
-------------=------
Kunzite was chuckling softly as they walked down the steps of the Hiwaka temple. Usagi knew was he thought was amusing and had to agree.
"Yeah, it's funny. But it works for me. They'll trust you if they think you're my boyfriend. That's just how they are. And Usagi thinks it's great, too." She added, absentmindedly.
Kunzite looked at her strangely. "Are you okay, Usagi?" He asked, a little concerned.
Usagi cursed silently to herself when she realized the slip she'd made. She plastered a big smile on her face while she yelled at her. "No, I'm fine. It was just a joke." She giggled. "Wow, Zi-chan, do you think I'm going schitzo on you?"
He shrugged. "With you, my princess, anything that can happen usually does." He smiled in spite of himself. "I've seen proof of that."
She looked at doubtfully. "And exactly what is that supposed to mean, Kunzite? I'll have you know I remember nearly everythi--"
"Jadeite and Rei." He supplied.
Her face went red and she stopped in mid sentence, blushing so furiously she thought she was going to die. Oh, yeah. She remembered that one really well. That happened in this universe too?! Oh, dear....
"I didn't mean for them to start boinking each other in the closet, okay?" She mumbled, wondering if anyone would freak if she melted into the ground.
Kunzite rolled his eyes. "You lock two hated arch nemesis-rivals in a closet together and you don't expect to open the door an hour later without one of them dead or them doing something that small children shouldn't see? Heesh, Usagi. Even I knew that."
She glared up at him. "I didn't hear anyone else coming up with any good ideas to get them together! And it worked!"
Kunzite didn't reply, but he was still grinning. They walked down the rest of the stairs in companionable silence. Usagi smiled happily when she saw the motorcycle. She loved to ride on it with Kunzite. When she got home it was one of the first things she was getting.
She giggled. Neo-Queen Eternia, zooming through Tokyo on her trusty Harley! Youma, beware!
Kunzite helped her on and then climbed on himself, and handed her a helmet. She was lowering it over her head when she had the prickly sensation that someone was staring at her. She turned and found Mamoru, his jaw slack with shock. She winked, and blew him a kiss before securing the helmet and snuggling up against Kunzite.
"Ready, Usagi-sama?" He asked, his voice muffled slightly from his own helmet.
"You bet, Zi-chan." She grinned at the sight of Mamoru's purple face. "Let's go."
With a roar of the engine and a squealing of the tires, Kunzite hauled ass from the curb, as he loved to do. Usagi laughed in almost suicidal glee as they sped away. Kunzite smiled wryly, knowing what was going through her mind the instant he saw the obviously jealous Mamoru.
"Usagi," He called back to her, as they nearly flew down the street, going at speeds most definitely illegal. "one day you're going to piss off the wrong guy."
She only laughed at him. "Been there, Zi-chan. He's dead now." She sounded so matter of fact about it that he laughed as well and didn't doubt it for a second, instead increased his speed and hit the highway.
"Where to, milady?"
"To the stars."
Black Beyond
black_beyond@hotmail.com
"Confrontations and Discoveries"
The senshi were satisfied with this. Uranus and Neptune crept away, and Mamoru
wasted no time in confronting Sailormoon, ready to reproach her for the little
display of magic on the street.
She was sitting on the steps of the Hiwaka Shrine, alone for she had insisted
the other girls go on up and tell Luna and Artemis what had happened. She had
her shirt pulled up and was inspecting the side that had been wounded. The
bleeding had slowed and almost stopped, and when she noticed him standing there
she immediately dropped her shirt, hiding it from view.
It was too late. He'd already seen it completely. It was a large gash, starting
at the almost center of her stomach and winding around to her side. It needed
stitches, lots of stitches, and he knew it.
He opened his mouth to tell her just that but she recognized it and cut him
off.
"No! Uh-uh! You keep your business and I'll keep mine, since that's the way you
obviously want it, monsieur. If I want stitches, then I'll go get them. But I
don't want them, and what's more I don't need them, so you may yell at me and
then go on your way. Simply because I'm interested to hear a lecture-- from
you."
He was taken aback by the tone of her voice: not offensive, but rather
intrigued. Her pose was confident and completely relaxed, as though he were
nothing, not a threat or cared about. He suddenly knew how one of Ami's
experiments felt.
"I-- you--" He sputtered, and then got a hold on himself. Was he letting a
fifteen year old intimidate him? "You were reckless. You displayed power in
broad daylight on a crowded street in the middle of Tokyo." He stated, clearly
expecting her to burst into tears under his glare. He was very disappointed
when she merely leaned forward a little, her eyes shining with mischief.
"No, go on." She urged, when he had paused. "I'm listening."
It only served to increase his anger. "You can't be so childish about this,
Usagi! You can't go around revealing yourself to innocent people! You don't
even have control of your power-- what if you'd miscalculated in some way and
blown something up?" He was furious now, and her smile was only making him more
and more angry. "Stop taking this so lightly! You could have really screwed up,
Usagi, and you can't do that! Falling on your face in battle is one thing,
magic is another!"
At this, he was happy to see her face sobered. But his elation turned to
startled confusion as a completely different expression settled on her face,
one of cold fury.
Usagi lost herself for a moment, and a whole other person kicked in.
"I understand you're worried, Chiba Mamoru-san, but to have you insult me as
though you were my mother is unacceptable. I have never fallen on my face
unless I meant to! In case you hadn't noticed," Her gray eyes flashed black and
he shivered, stepping back. "I have never been severely injured, unlike the lot
of you, and I've always managed to come better from my battles, whereas you
have lost. Perhaps you will think of THAT before you come and insult my
abilities again!" She stood and he retreated another step.
He had seen her like this only twice before. Once was a retaliation on Rei for
a particularly harsh remark about her fighting skills and the other was against
Nephrite when he had once said she was too weak to kill him and turned his
back.
And he had died, about five seconds later.
She took a step towards him and as her foot came down she seemed to realize
that she was threatening Mamoru and froze. For a moment it seemed like she was
fighting for control of her own body, and won.
"Oh." She said, quietly, as though an epiphany had befallen her. "Oh, of
course. Of course. I had assumed... Never assume, Usagi... ara, this shall be
interesting..."
"What will?" He asked, uncertain. Perhaps Rei wasn't joking when she suggested
that Usagi was schizophrenic.
She looked up at him and smiled an empty smile. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.
I'm sorry I snapped at you, Mamoru-san. But you mustn't assume that I do
everything because I'm a ditz. I might surprise you someday."
She turned and disappeared up the stairs. Mamoru stared after her.
"You already have, Odango. You already have."
~'~
'I can help you. You can help me.'
*I suppose. You are me. I am you. You should have made yourself known earlier,
though. You surprised me. I might have done something rash.*
'But you didn't. We have to kill her. It's the only way.'
*To the point, aren't you? And here they've been giving all these opinions of
you... you're a better actress than I.*
'I can work with you, or work against you. Which will it be?'
*I guess...*
~'~
Usagi was uncommonly silent at the senshi meeting. She sat on a cushion at the
table, and did not make a single move for Rei's manga or sigh dreamily. She
merely sat there, completely off in her own world. Rei thought that maybe twice
she saw her blonde friend frown, but that was it. No change in expression from
that almost dreamy gaze.
She didn't even notice when the subject shifted to her, the other three senshi
aware of their friend's oblivion.
"She's a bit stranger than usual," Minako commented. "She's always been weird,
yeah, but these past couple of days... I don't know. She's just someone else.
But not really."
Makoto's face darkened. "She's fighting different. Better. Like she does when
she's in danger, only all the time now. I think that if Uranus challenged her
again it would be a clear win instead of a draw."
"I always thought that the draw was just a concession on Usagi's part. I don't
think she would willingly hurt another senshi. Uranus left her no choice than
to fight." Ami stated, sneaking a glance at Usagi.
"What was the deal with that, anyway?" Rei asked. "I know the outer senshi don't
like us, but trying to kill Sailormoon? It's not like Usagi's much of a threat.
Such an odango atama!" She shook her head. "It's a wonder she's not dead yet."
Luna, who had been alternately listening to them talk and glowering at a
sleeping Artemis, decided it was time she spoke up. "Usagi never came home last
night." She said, in a low tone. "I managed to make her think that Usagi was
staying with one of you, but it will be difficult to manage it again. I meant
to scold her for it."
Minako giggled. "I know where Usagi was. She's got a new boyfriend-- oh, wow,
what a hunk. Tall, dark, mysterious, completely romantic, and should, in fact,
be picking her up in about five minutes. Oh, Rei, you're going to be so
jealous. He's the most handsome man I've ever seen..." She sighed. "Tell her,
Makoto."
Makoto nodded furiously. "Hell yes! The man beats out my old boyfriend! He's
wonderful!"
"Flattery gets you everywhere. I'm elated to see I'm worthy enough to be the
topic of your discussion." Kunzite stood in the doorway. He had approached so
quietly that none of them knew how long he had stood there. Apparently not
long because he wasn't acting strangely.
In all truth, he hadn't stood there for all of five seconds. Just to observe
who was in the room, make sure no weapons of destruction were in throwing
distance, and then to find Usagi. She looked a bit out of it, but otherwise
okay. She must have stood up to Beryl pretty well or ran like hell.
Since there was a lack of missing body parts, he assumed on the ran like hell.
But you never knew.
"Usagi-chan, are you and your friends done?"
Usagi started, dazed for a slight second, saw Kunzite, and smiled. "Yeah, I
guess, Zi-chan. At least, I wasn't paying attention anyway, so it won't make
much of a different if I leave."
"Yeah, go on, Odango Atama." Rei made a shooing motion with her hands. "You're not needed here, Miss Daydreamer." But she was smiling and didn't mean it.
Luna was nudging Ami frantically. Ami caught the gist. "Usagi!" She called, as the couple turned to go. Usagi looked back over her shoulder, waiting.
"You might want to go home tonight, Usagi." Ami told her quietly. She thought for a moment Usagi looked ready to faint, but if she had it was gone twice as quickly as it had appeared.
"Y-yeah. Sure thing, Ami. I'll go home tonight." She might have wanted to say more but Kunzite leaned down and whispered something into her ear that made her smile and she let him lead her away.
"Bye, Seitosei!"
"Yeah, See you, Seitosei!" Minako and Makoto called after him, still smiling widely. Rei rolled her eyes, yet she could understand the sentiment. He was so very handsome... if they were an anime he'd be the star bishonen....
"Ah, lookee. Rei likes Seitosei too. It's not just us, Mako-chan. Now we just have to get Ami and Luna on board and we'll have him a regular fan club going." Minako's eyes glittered. She stood up, one fist in the hand. "In the name of love, we must worship gods like Seitosei, Yaten, and Motoki. We are the Love Senshi!"
Makoto grinned and got in the spirit. She grabbed Luna and posed beside Minako. "We will adore them forever and carve their images in play-dough!"
Ami giggled, blushing. "You forgot Greg." She mentioned her cute study partner. Minako gasped, mockingly loud, and Makoto grinned, letting out a war cry.
"You go, Ami-chan!"
Artemis woke up, saw the strange scene, rolled his eyes, and went back to sleep. He'd learned the hard way never to involve himself in the affairs of crazy women. He liked his fur white, thank you. Neon pink never did match his eyes very well...
-------------=------
Kunzite was chuckling softly as they walked down the steps of the Hiwaka temple. Usagi knew was he thought was amusing and had to agree.
"Yeah, it's funny. But it works for me. They'll trust you if they think you're my boyfriend. That's just how they are. And Usagi thinks it's great, too." She added, absentmindedly.
Kunzite looked at her strangely. "Are you okay, Usagi?" He asked, a little concerned.
Usagi cursed silently to herself when she realized the slip she'd made. She plastered a big smile on her face while she yelled at her. "No, I'm fine. It was just a joke." She giggled. "Wow, Zi-chan, do you think I'm going schitzo on you?"
He shrugged. "With you, my princess, anything that can happen usually does." He smiled in spite of himself. "I've seen proof of that."
She looked at doubtfully. "And exactly what is that supposed to mean, Kunzite? I'll have you know I remember nearly everythi--"
"Jadeite and Rei." He supplied.
Her face went red and she stopped in mid sentence, blushing so furiously she thought she was going to die. Oh, yeah. She remembered that one really well. That happened in this universe too?! Oh, dear....
"I didn't mean for them to start boinking each other in the closet, okay?" She mumbled, wondering if anyone would freak if she melted into the ground.
Kunzite rolled his eyes. "You lock two hated arch nemesis-rivals in a closet together and you don't expect to open the door an hour later without one of them dead or them doing something that small children shouldn't see? Heesh, Usagi. Even I knew that."
She glared up at him. "I didn't hear anyone else coming up with any good ideas to get them together! And it worked!"
Kunzite didn't reply, but he was still grinning. They walked down the rest of the stairs in companionable silence. Usagi smiled happily when she saw the motorcycle. She loved to ride on it with Kunzite. When she got home it was one of the first things she was getting.
She giggled. Neo-Queen Eternia, zooming through Tokyo on her trusty Harley! Youma, beware!
Kunzite helped her on and then climbed on himself, and handed her a helmet. She was lowering it over her head when she had the prickly sensation that someone was staring at her. She turned and found Mamoru, his jaw slack with shock. She winked, and blew him a kiss before securing the helmet and snuggling up against Kunzite.
"Ready, Usagi-sama?" He asked, his voice muffled slightly from his own helmet.
"You bet, Zi-chan." She grinned at the sight of Mamoru's purple face. "Let's go."
With a roar of the engine and a squealing of the tires, Kunzite hauled ass from the curb, as he loved to do. Usagi laughed in almost suicidal glee as they sped away. Kunzite smiled wryly, knowing what was going through her mind the instant he saw the obviously jealous Mamoru.
"Usagi," He called back to her, as they nearly flew down the street, going at speeds most definitely illegal. "one day you're going to piss off the wrong guy."
She only laughed at him. "Been there, Zi-chan. He's dead now." She sounded so matter of fact about it that he laughed as well and didn't doubt it for a second, instead increased his speed and hit the highway.
"Where to, milady?"
"To the stars."