PREY OF THE QUEEN SPIDER
Chapter 2: "And Usagi Makes One"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
"BLONDIE GOT MARRIED?"
Makoto gaped at Usagi. Her bags slipped from her hands and fell to the train platform. Mamoru looked around the platform self-consciously as other boarding passengers stared at them.
"I know," Usagi nodded. "It took me totally by surprise, too."
"I guess," Makoto scowled. "I can't understand why she wouldn't invite us to the wedding."
"Well," Usagi grimaced, "the way Minako described it, the marriage was kind of a . . .well . . ."
"Spur of the moment thing?" Makoto asked, eyebrow raised. "How drunk did she sound?"
"Mako-chan, she was totally sober. She's honestly in love. I could tell it in her voice. And you know once Mina-chan decides to do something, she doesn't want to wait."
"Yeah, you're right about that. So what's the scoop on this guy?" Makoto asked.
"Tomokazu Taiharu is the Master of Ceremonies at the club she sings at," Usagi related.
"And?"
"That's all I know."
"That's all? How old is he?"
"I don't know."
"How long have they been dating?"
"I don't know."
"What are his prospects for the future?"
"I don't know."
"Well, is she pregnant?"
"I don't know." Then the question sank in. "Mako-chan!"
"Um," Mamoru interjected skittishly. "My train's boarding. I'll see you in two weeks, Usako."
"You call me every night!" Usagi demanded, flinging her arms around his neck.
"As soon as I can get to a phone," Mamoru grinned.
"Ohhhh, I want to go, too!"
"Usako, we've been over this."
"I'll hide in your suitcase."
"Then I wouldn't have any clothes," Mamoru smiled.
"You can wear mine," Usagi offered desperately.
"Usako," Mamoru scowled, then lightened up. "I'll call you as soon as I get in."
He bent down and kissed her. Usagi bent up to him, shoving every inch of her passion and desperation through her lips to his, clinging to him like he was a life line. Finally, reluctantly, he pulled away and headed for his train. Usagi stared after him, hands clutched to her chest and a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Aw, hon', it'll be all right," Makoto whispered, massaging Usagi's shoulders.
"I'm going to miss him so," Usagi whimpered.
"If you want, I can cancel my trip and stay with you," Makoto offered.
"No," Usagi squeaked, shaking her head. "You go ahead. Mamo-chan said I'm a big girl now and I can handle it, and I will." Her lip quivered. "But I won't like it!"
Makoto smiled. "You tell 'em," she said, squeezing her friend's shoulders. An announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Oh, that's my train. I have to go, Usagi."
She picked up her bags. When she stood up again, Usagi had submerged her dismay and looked at Makoto encouragingly.
"Have fun at the temple," Usagi said. Then she got her matchmaker grin again. "If you decide to marry him, I'll help you pick out your gown."
"Rei's right, you do need to be spanked," smirked the tall woman. "As soon as you can, get hold of Minako and find out all you can about this Tomo guy. If they're on a honeymoon,they probably won't come up for air for three or four days, so I'd hold off calling until then. But if she calls you . . ."
"I'll get it out of her," Usagi said, saluting.
Makoto nodded playfully, then headed for her train. Usagi watched her until the train pulled out.
Then she sighed and headed for home - - alone.
The bus pulled away from the stop, leaving Makoto at the foot of the cascading stairway that led up to Kakusui-sensei's temple. It had been a long trip and Makoto was a little mentally run down. And the longest part of the trip was yet to come. Makoto surveyed the mountain of steps with a hint of reluctance.
"Get going," she prodded herself and ascended the first step. "You can't train in the middle of the road."
About two thirds of the way up, a form came up on her suddenly out of the corner of her eye. Makoto turned just in time to see the bald, wiry young monk Kakusui running past her up the steps.
"Kino-San!" he called back, exertion stealing just a hint of his voice. "Glad to see you made it safely!"
"It was a long trip, Sensei," Makoto yelled back, breaking into a run up the remaining steps while still carrying her bags. "But it's always worth it! I love coming here!"
"I'm happy to hear that!" Kakusui called back, still twelve steps ahead of her. "You've always been one of my best students!"
Conserving energy, Makoto didn't respond. Instead she continued to run up the steps, bags in hand.
"He must be making me carry my own bags to get me to push myself harder," Makoto thought. "Thank goodness I wore slacks and low heels today!"
After more effort than she was planning on, Makoto reached the top. Kakusui was waiting for her. His rising chest and his skin and shaved head gleaming with perspiration were the only outward signs that he'd exerted himself. Makoto, on the other hand, was breathing harder than she liked and after only a third of the distance.
"You seem to be a little out of shape," Kakusui observed with his characteristic little boy's innocence.
"I think I've been doing a little too much sampling in the restaurant," Makoto replied shyly.
Suddenly Kakusui's expression changed. He looked at Makoto's overnight bags as if seeing them for the first time.
"Oh my goodness!" he gasped. "Forgive me, Kino-San! I could have carried your bags up!"
Giggles overtook Makoto. Good old absent-minded Kakusui-sensei.
"You never change, do you Master?" Makoto grinned.
"No, Kino-San, it seems I only get older," Kakusui laughed. "And that smile still suits you."
Makoto felt herself blush slightly.
Luna's ears perked up when she heard the sound of a key in the door lock. Looking up from her perch on top of the television, she saw Usagi drag herself in, satchel and tool case in one hand, board under the other. The woman - - Luna told herself she had to start thinking of Usagi as a woman now and not a girl - - looked worn down by a heavy day and morose because her husband and all of her friends were out of town. Sympathetic pain pricked at the feline's heart.
"Difficult day, Usagi?" Luna asked.
"I'm no good," the woman moaned, setting her supplies next to the drawing table she had by the door. "I couldn't draw a straight line in class today."
"It can't be as bad as all that. Show me," Luna offered, leaping down from the TV. She padded over. "Go on, show me."
Sighing loudly, Usagi opened the sketch pad attached to the portable board. Luna looked over the day's work.
"It's regressed a little," Luna judged, "but I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself. Remember, you're still learning. You won't be Rembrandt overnight."
"Right now I'd settle for competent," Usagi pouted.
"What you need is a hearty supper." Luna looked around. "No take-out from La Café Italian?"
"Why? Mako-chan didn't cook it," Usagi shrugged. "I'll make something."
"As you wish," Luna replied, looking slightly distressed. "Um, you still have some of that canned tuna, don't you?"
"Yeah. Why? Do you want me to cook some tuna casserole?"
"Um, I'll eat it raw, thank you."
"It's no trouble," Usagi persisted. Luna scowled.
"Well, I tried to spare you this," Luna replied, "but I've tasted your tuna casserole, and I prefer it raw."
"Then I'll make something else!" Usagi frowned.
"And your grilled beef teriyaki."
"Then . . ."
"And your curry rice."
"I . . ."
"AND your attempt to prepare prepackaged ramen."
"ALL RIGHT!" Usagi bellowed, then disappeared into the kitchen.
"Oh, your mother called earlier," Luna called out after her.
"What did she want?" Usagi called back, curious.
"She was just inquiring as to how you were getting along," Luna related. "She said she'd be by tomorrow with some lemon cookies for you."
"Lemon cookies," Usagi sighed. Luna could almost hear her drool.
"And there was a very curious addendum, too," Luna added. "She said to tell you that you'll be a very beautiful queen and that Chibi-Usa is growing up quite nicely."
"I wonder what she meant by that?" Usagi asked curiously, pausing in the doorway. "Oh, Luna, can you help me with the e-mail thingy later? I want to tell Ami about Minako getting married."
"Usagi," Luna sighed dramatically. "How many times have Mamoru and I both shown you how to operate the e-mail program?"
"WELL I CAN'T GET IT, ALL RIGHT!" huffed Usagi. "Sheesh, I don't criticize you because you've never won a dance contest!"
Luna winced. "I'm certain there was a logical basis for that statement. But I'm just not seeing it."
Just then the phone rang. Luna took one step toward the phone, then jumped back to avoid Usagi as she whizzed by the black cat at top speed. The woman, her trails of hair fluttering in her wake, pounced on the phone, snatched it up and jammed it to her ear.
"HELLO! MAMO-CHAN?" she gasped. Then Luna observed her entire body go limp and sag against the nearby wall as her mouth pulled wide in utter bliss. "Oh it's so good to hear your voice, Mamo-chan. I missed you. Did you miss me?"
The cat scowled. "Well, it looks as if it will be a late supper tonight," she muttered to herself.
"Oh, school was horrible," Usagi cooed into the phone. "I spent the whole day thinking about you"
The sun was setting in the west as Makoto jogged down the berm of the road bordering the wooded area south of the temple. She wore a green nylon jogging suit with silver piping and trim, white cross-trainer shoes and a green headband holding back her brown locks. Her ponytail bounced back and forth behind her as the woman struggled to maintain an even pace.
"Oh," Makoto groaned to herself as she felt her thighs burn and the beginnings of an ache through the middle of her ribs. "I have let myself go! I'm never going to make two kilometers this way! And just a year ago it was no problem!"
The woman glanced at the kilometer marker on the highway to place her distance from the temple. Spurred on by the stitch in her ribs, Makoto circled around and headed back.
"I'm only twenty!" Makoto thought to herself. "It shouldn't hurt this much! But then again, when was the last time you went jogging? Between cleaning at home and working at the restaurant, I just don't seem to have the time anymore. Boy, I miss being a kid! Being on your own is one thing; being on your own AND having to work is something entirely different! I don't know how Usagi does it. She eats like three people and she never seems to gain a pound!"
A lone car drove past. Makoto watched it go by as she ran, then refocused on her destination.
"I am going to be sore tonight," Makoto groaned privately. Then she smirked. "Maybe Kakusui-sensei will give me a rubdown." The woman felt her cheeks burn, as well as something else. "Oh, stop it, girl. Sensei isn't the marrying kind. And I don't think it would work long term between us anyway. He's not 'the one', Shinozaki."
Makoto pushed herself on.
"But if he shows up in my room tonight," Makoto thought, hearing her breath shudder, "I'm not sure I'd have the will to throw him out." She bit her lip. "A one-night stand? I could DEFINITELY see that. Maybe a one week stand." The woman giggled girlishly.
And then a shriek pierced the dusk. Makoto stumbled to a stop, straining to hear something else as she peered into the darkening wooded area. There was a deep glen to the south and west of the temple, undisturbed by Japan's urban development and thick with trees and shrubs. If someone five hundred years ago was suddenly transported to now, he would find the glen unchanged. It was probably a haven for wildlife and for those who admired the wilderness.
And naturally it had predators. Heedless of her own safety, Makoto bounded into the glen, rushing headlong to the defense of someone in trouble as she had for her entire life. The thick woods made for tough navigation and the towering woman had to cut her speed down to avoid low branches and high roots. All the while she listened intently for some new sound from whoever shrieked. It was definitely a woman. Had it just been teens playing? Guests from the hotel down the way from the temple having fun and letting go of their inhibitions?
Or had the predator already done its work. Adrenaline surged through her tired frame and gave Makoto enough endurance to shunt aside the burn in her thighs and the stitch in her ribs. She didn't know where she was running. She didn't know what she'd find. But she could sense she was getting close. It was a sense honed from six years as a senshi.
Pushing between two trees, she stopped - - and stared in amazement. A woman was on the ground, unconscious. She was young, in her twenties, with short black hair and glasses knocked several feet from her. On top of her was - - was a spider the size of a bear. It was a big black bloated figure with eight skittering legs and a bowling ball head possessed with multiple eyes. Its forelegs held the woman down while silk spun from its dark abdomen, wrapping the woman in a web cocoon. It was already up to her torso, her lower trunk tightly encased. For a moment, Makoto's mind reeled. She'd seen fearsome youma for years in her battles beside Sailor Moon, but something about this just drained the sensation from her body and made the gorge rise in her throat.
Then it turned to her and Makoto's instincts snapped into place.
"Jupiter Crystal Power Make Up!"
The transformation took only seconds, but in that time the spider covered half the distance between them. Though cloaked in shadow and camouflaged by its black coloring, Sailor Jupiter could see that its fangs were bared. That made it even easier.
"Jupiter!" she snapped, hand jamming downward. "Oak Evolution!"
Pirouetting, Jupiter launched dozens of electrical bursts that exploded on and around the spider, stopping its charge in its tracks and battering the creature into retreat. Pressing her advantage, Jupiter moved to cut off its retreat.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" she shouted, cupping an electrical burst in her hands, then launching it. The burst struck the spider and it squealed out in an unearthly howl of agony. The giant arachnid stumbled to its side, four legs crumpling underneath it. Jupiter eyed it intently, trying to determine if it was done for or not.
And then a heavy weight crashed into her from behind. As Jupiter twisted under the weight to face it before she hit the ground, she could feel it was a living weight rather than stone or wood. After impacting the ground, Jupiter focused upward. Another spider was on top of her. It was as big as the first, perhaps lying in wait for an intruder while its partner did its dirty work. Jupiter recoiled internally. Disgust shot through her as she felt the coarse hairs of the spider's abdomen against her thighs. The head reared up, fangs bared, ready to strike. In answer, Jupiter's lightning rod shot out from her tiara.
"SUPREME THUNDER!" she howled, rage and fear and desperation mixing together to give her voice as thunderous a sound as one of her bolts. Electricity shot down from the heavens and collected in her through her tiara, then exploded out into the spider on top of her. The arachnid reeled back, screeching in pain. Finally it could contain no more of Jupiter's bolt and the energy ripped the creature into pieces that exploded away from her.
Quickly turning over, Jupiter locked onto the other spider. It was limping away as quickly as it could, the webbed woman abandoned and forgotten. Jupiter wanted to pursue it, but she couldn't. A wave of fatigue brought on by the huge bolt she summoned coupled with the adrenaline crash left her body weak and quaking. Jupiter managed to roll up onto her knees, but just sat there for a few minutes trying to grasp just what she saw - - and coming to grips with just how close she came to being prey.
Finally she managed to ascend to shaky legs and shuffled over to the woman. Jupiter knelt down and examined her. The woman's breathing was shallow. She seemed in shock at first, a feeling Jupiter could readily identify with. Then Jupiter spotted two ugly red welts on the woman's right shoulder. Running her glove lightly over them, the senshi realized they were bite marks.
"The spider," gasped Jupiter, still breathing heavily. "It must have bitten her. She's been poisoned." The senshi tried to focus. "Have to get her out of this cocoon - - get her to a doctor."
Jupiter tried pulling at the cocoon, but the silk was too strong and too sticky to tear. She scowled in frustration.
"There's no other way to do it," Jupiter grimaced. "I hope I don't hurt her." Jupiter laid her hands flat on the webbing. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
The woman's body convulsed from the electricity, but the webbing singed and then burned away enough that Jupiter could pull it off the woman's body. Jupiter took a moment to gather her strength. Then she worked the woman onto her back and started walking toward the hotel complex over a mile away.
And she didn't change back into Makoto Kino until she was on the highway itself and she could see the hotel.
Continued in Chapter 3