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The Last Mission
Midnight of Shadows
***@***@***@***(~)*March 2, A.C. 199
"NOOOOOOO! I won't do it again Luna!" The black cat glared at the stubborn blonde towering over her. From her position in the apartment doorway, she could see the girl clearly. Usagi stood with fists planted on hips and stance tense. The newly awakened crescent moon glowed brightly on her forehead, the long dormant power now activated and waiting to be released.
"Usagi," Luna began, "You don't understand! You have to finish your duty. You are Sailor Moon, you were destined to fig-"
"No Luna!" Usagi yelled, her blond hair waving as she shook her head adamantly.
"I won't do it again. I'm through with fighting for a world that doesn't appreciate me. This world is not ready for Sailor Moon. I will not go through it again!" Her blue eyes sparkled with passion, tears already spilling from them and running down her flushed cheeks.
"But Usagi, what about Crystal Tokyo? What about the future of the universe? Why can't you stop thinking about yourself for once and think about others?!" Luna yelled.
Usagi's tears ceased suddenly as her brows drew down in anger. Without a word to Luna, she turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen. Shuffling and rummaging could be heard as she searched for something. A moment later Usagi returned, a gun in her hand. Luna gasped and backed away in fear.
"Usagi," she whispered, eyes wide open in shock as Usagi aimed the gun at her.
"You listen to me Luna, " Usagi started, her voice cold and lacking the warmth of earlier, "All my life, all three thousand years of my fucking life! I've had to protect people, care about them and keep them safe. When have I ever thought about my own survival huh? The Silver Millennium? Was I thinking about myself as Beryl attacked my kingdom and I died protecting my subjects? How about a thousand years after that? How about when I became Sailor Moon and fought for Earth two whole years out of my fucking life! And did I get to rest after that? DID I LUNA?!"
She was screaming now, tears once again pouring from her crystalline blue eyes. Luna's eyes filled with pity. Usagi was losing it.
"Usa-"
*click*
"No shut up and listen!!" Luna backed up in the open doorway.
"I never got to rest Luna! A year of peace and then it was time to cleanse the Earth, so I did. One thousand years of pouring my love and innocence into the Earth to purify every fucking person on it. One thousand years of waiting until my loved ones were awakened by me. And then what Luna?! Did I get to rest then?! Did I! Answer me Dammit!!" Usagi screamed.
"No," Luna whispered, her small form shaking.
"No! I had to create Crystal Tokyo. I had to rule the Earth and galaxy, ensure peace would be achieved. And what good did that do Luna? Where's Crystal Tokyo now huh? Five years...only five years after I died the empire failed. The world couldn't operate without Sailor Moon. This galaxy is hopeless without Sailor Moon to mother and coddle it. Well I've had enough! I'm sick of this shit!"
Usagi's eyes narrowed as her tone dropped.
"For once in my life, I'm going to be normal. Nothing or no one is going to stand in my way. And those who do..." Usagi whispered, stepping closer to the cat as she took aim, "Those who do....will die!"
*BANG*
Luna jumped back as the bullet barely missed its mark. She hissed then and raced to the open window at the end of the hall, bullets trailing her every step of the way. Usagi stopped firing once Luna reached the window and hopped onto it. The cat stopped in the window and turned to glare at Usagi, fur raised and claws unleashed.
"You may think you'll get a normal life!" she hissed, "But once I awaken the others, you'll have no choice but to fight and then we shall see how willing you are to be Sailor Moon!"
Usagi screamed and fired the gun one last time. Luna howled in pain as the bullet grazed her tail and left a trail of blood. Yowling obscenities, she leaped from the window to the ground 20 feet below and raced away. She had to find Artemis, and knowing him, he was with Minako. That meant she had a day's worth of travel and back. Luna cursed. The fates were not with her this century.
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Usagi slid against the door to the carpeted floor beneath, her head sagging against her chest and her knees coming to her chest as she hugged them tight and buried her head in them. The gun hung limp in her right hand, all but forgotten about as she wept for her sorrows.
The morning was silent. The frozen sunlight flooded the sparsely decorated hallway of the fourth floor in Central Height's apartments. The cheery sound of bluebirds ceased to echo as they normally would have. Outside the window, the day suddenly turned dismal as thick clouds covered the sun. Soon, bovine drops of rain descended on the abysmal landscape, the inhabitants within their houses caring nothing for the change in weather. It happened all the time they surmised.
"Why me?" Usagi whispered, her tears ceasing as the world cried for her. Her head came up then as she stared at the window across from her door. The rain seemed to call to her, expressing her grief as it splashed against the window. Usagi sighed and leaned back, her legs stretching slightly as she rested the gun hand in her lap. The metal looked particularly shiny today, tempting her to gaze at it in wonder. How could something so cold and shiny be so beautiful?
Her small fingers ran over the smooth metal slowly, fingering the trigger as her mouth formed a small "o". It was lovely, she marveled. The feel of it in her hand sent shivers down her spine. Her fingers stopped at the very tip of the gun. The hole at the end of the barrel was still warm. The morning's events came back to her then. She remembered the feel of the gun as the bullets coursed through the barrel, the power being held at her fingertips. So much force had rocketed the gun, propelling the bullets forward to their intended target. It was all so mesmerizing.
What did it feel like? What was it like to feel the bullet hit you, eliciting pain throughout your body as it forcefully entered you? Did it linger? Was the pain gone quickly or did it stay to haunt you?
Usagi lifted the gun up and turned it every which way to get new angles on it. The metal glinted against the hall light, a beacon in the dark atmosphere.
Maybe?
Maybe?
Just maybe?
Usagi closed her eyes a moment, the soft pit pat of the rain erasing the world from her conscious thoughts.
Maybe...yes....maybe....nothing mattered anymore.
....nothing
....nothing
.....absolutely nothing.
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