PREY OF THE QUEEN SPIDER

Chapter 10: "To The Rescue"
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Makoto heard the battle rage around her. She felt the ground vibrate from the assaults of Sailor Uranus and heard the crashing waves of Sailor Neptune. Yet she could not thrill to her rescue because she knew she was a diversion as well as a hostage, a feint to allow the mysterious Kumo-onna time to attack Sailor Moon. Desperately she struggled within the spider silk that covered the length of her body and held her prisoner, trying if not to get free to at least attract the attention of the other senshi and somehow warn them. Usagi was in danger now so nothing else mattered.

"World Shaking!" shouted Sailor Uranus.

A destructive cannon shot of collected geo-force skimmed along the ground. It rammed into a patch of trees, flailing them to splinters. However, the Spider Goblin it was aimed at danced nimbly out of harm's way at the last second.

"They're getting better at dodging!" Uranus said. "Who knew something that big could be so fast?"

"They're adapting to our attack pattern, too!" Neptune called out from across a widening clearing. The senshi were doing a fine job of clearing this patch of forest, but they weren't taking out very many spiders. "Deep Submerge!"

A tidal wave of water rushed through the already soggy forest. However, the spiders merely skittered up handy webs that seemed to be strung across nearly every tree and avoided the onrushing water. Neptune expelled a heavy breath and turned back to Uranus.

"This is a holding action!" Uranus announced suddenly. "They've had opportunities to attack! They're just trying to keep us busy! The Kumo-onna might not even be here!"

"Then we have to collect Makoto and fall back!" Neptune shouted. "Once we get some more light, I'll use the Deep Aqua Mirror to track down the queen!"

"I'm trying!" Uranus exclaimed. "Every time I try to get near Makoto, they cut me off!"

Grinding her teeth in frustration, Uranus jammed her hand into the air. Her talisman materialized again in her hand.

"Space Sword Blaster!" Uranus roared, charging the spiders between her and Makoto.

As she swung the sword like a cutlass, energy arcs flew off from the blade and spun toward the spiders. They avoided the blasts, but Uranus was able to carve a path to Sailor Jupiter's cocoon. The spiders tried to charge her, but more energy arcs spat out from the sword and exploded into the ground, keeping them at bay. Uranus was within feet of Jupiter when she suddenly felt a weight drop down on top of her from the overhead tree. It was heavy and drove her to the ground, the shock of impact nearly dislodging the Space Sword from her hand. It didn't take Sailor Uranus long to realize that a spider had ambushed her from above.

She tried to throw the arachnid from her back, but the thing weighed several hundred pounds. The Space Sword was clutched in her right hand, but useless to her because one of the spider's legs pinned her right arm to the ground. This monster had enough intellect to keep Uranus pinned down and no amount of straining could throw it. Uranus fought to escape it, hearing two other spiders moving in. What she felt next, though, sent her adrenalin surging and her heart pounding.

The spiders were beginning to cocoon her.

"Neptune!" Uranus growled out, her mouth half buried in the grass and dirt.

Sailor Neptune whirled and instantly took in the situation. A moment's panic at seeing her love in the clutches of the spiders was supplanted by deadly resolve.

"This will hurt!" Neptune yelled, warning her life-mate. "Deep . . .!"

Out of nowhere one of the Spider Goblins charged in and tackled Sailor Neptune. It drove her to the ground, the force of the impact knocking the wind from her. Neptune fought through the pain, struggling blindly and without coordination to regain control of the situation. She knew her own life might be in jeopardy. More importantly, Uranus' life was in jeopardy. But there was no oxygen to think with, no strength to move with. She continued to struggle, but it was struggle without insight, without purpose.

And when she finally had enough coherent thought back, Neptune found nearly half of her body had been wrapped in sticky spider silk from the two bloated black bodies atop her, including her mouth. She screamed in impotent fury, which the silk easily muffled.

Another tremor shook the forest and the ground surrounding it. From the temple atop the hill beside the forest, the priest Kakusui looked down. Though it was after two in the morning, sleep hadn't come to him ever since Tsukino and her friends ventured off to find their friend, the woman he knew as Kino-san. He worried about them, for he had heard the legends of the Spider Goblins that haunted the forest just to the south of the temple. Whether true or not, something was in that forest and Tsukino was far too delicate a flower to face such things, despite the unspoken prowess he noticed in her three companions.

And he worried about Kino-san. This had been her fifth visit to his temple in five years and he'd come to look forward to the visits. Kino-san was such a fascinating mixture of opposites. She was so tender and caring about so many things, qualities he recognized as almost priestly. But she had an imposing physical side as well that was quite impressive. Moreover, she was so burdened by the implications of her physical gifts and the obsessive need she had to hide them. Even when she was training with him, her physical side was tightly leashed for fear it might escape her control. He knew of her fear of her physical nature, of the guilt she carried over what she referred to as "her bully period". Though she didn't talk about it, he sensed the shame in her concerning her physical side, a shame he sensed was connected as much with disapproval from someone close to her as anything she'd done. Yet her generous heart would often overcome such shame and fear if another were in need.

She was a remarkable woman. A woman due much respect. Kakusui always felt a sense of loss when she went home. And now she was missing, perhaps in that forest - - a forest that might house demons.

When sleep wouldn't come, Kakusui attempted meditation. That worked for a while. Then the tremors started. They were followed by sounds, different sounds: some sounded like rushing water while others sounded like the screech of the dead. Occasionally there would be flashes of a silvery light. Despite all of his learned discipline, Kakusui couldn't meditate through that.

Eventually it died down. The priest couldn't tell if it was a good thing or not. The only way he would know was if Kino-san returned with her friends - - or if they never returned. Kakusui burned with frustration at that thought. He knew it was the way of things. He knew that the wise man accepted that which he could not affect. But the thought of Tsukino and the others,
and especially Kino-san, not returning did not sit well with him.

So he went back to meditating, as much to quell the unhealthy feelings within him as anything. Inner peace and harmony were his goals. Meditation was the path to those goals. But as he meditated, he realized how peaceful and harmonious things had been when Kino-san was there.

Then the tremors returned. Kakusui unfolded from his lotus position and walked to the balcony wall overlooking the south forest. Once more the forest shook. Why? Was it the Spider Goblins somehow? Or was it some clue he couldn't understand, a clue saying that Tsukino and her companions were somehow still alive? Trees toppled in one area and Kakusui feared something terrible was happening. He feared for Kino-san and Tsukino and for the rest. His mind thirsted for answers, but his priest's training told him that patience would provide. Patience, though, was a hard thing to have.

The tremors died away again. Kakusui peered out into the darkness, down onto the forest. It still remained an impenetrable sea of black shadows and dark green. The silence spawned more questions in him, and more fears. What was happening? Were they all right?

Just then the ground shook with a massive tremor. Kakusui stumbled backwards and he grabbed onto a bannister for support. That tremor dwarfed the others. It was nearly the size of a small earthquake. Surely they felt that as far as the resort. The priest righted himself and stared down at the sea of green and black. A massive hole in the forest existed southwest of the temple, swathed only in black and dark green. The trees that once stood there were gone, felled by the tremendous blast. Trees surrounding the immediate blast area still shook from the aftereffects of the tremor. If one looked closely, downed trees could be seen laying on the ground. What had happened? What was happening? What did it mean for Kino-san and her friends?

What did it mean for them all?

"Get off me!" Uranus roared.

The side of her head was forced into the grass and dirt by one of the legs of the spider pinning her down. She could feel sticky silk beginning to surround her legs and part of her upper torso. The weight atop her was crushing, suffocating. And she knew Neptune was in danger as well. She'd heard the screech of alarm followed closely by the dull impact of bodies. She knew if they fell there was no hope for either them or Makoto. There was a chance that even Sailor Moon might not be able to stand up to the onslaught, provided she hadn't already fallen.

There was one way out. It was a desperate chance. Her right hand was pinned to her side, clutching the useless Space Sword, while her left hand was pinned beneath her. Normally she used her right hand for this, but that hand was occupied with her talisman. Even so, it could be done if she concentrated hard enough. It would hurt, possibly even maim. But it was the only hope she could see in the fleeting seconds she had left. She had to do it, for Neptune's sake and for Sailor Moon's.

"WORLD SHAKING!" Uranus bellowed defiantly. She yelled at the top of her voice, summoning every erg of geo-force she could draw to her and channeling it into the hand she lay upon.

As she struggled beneath the weight of the spiders, Uranus could feel the geo-energy collecting in her hand trapped beneath her stomach. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and braced herself against what was to come.

The forest shook with the explosion.

At the resort, the desk clerk had only moments to right himself before frantic calls began coming into the desk switchboard. Nearby the police station began fielding calls as well. As they tried to calm the public, one officer was on the phone to the Seismological Institute of Japan to see if it had been an earthquake and if so how many aftershocks were expected and when. The sky was filled with birds disturbed from their evening slumber by the unexpected tremor emanating from "the forest of death and destruction", as it was known to the wildlife of the area.

Amid the rubble and the growing stillness, Sailor Jupiter lay. She was battered by the shockwave she knew had come from Sailor Uranus. Her ears rang from the impact and it was difficult to focus her thoughts. Her body was still wrapped tightly in the sticky spider silk, the same silk that blinded her and kept her from calling out. She had no way to know if Uranus and Neptune were still alive or still free. She had no way to know the fate of the Spider Goblins. She still had no way to escape. All she could do was lay there and wonder, not for the first time since her capture, how much longer she had to live.

Sailor Moon screeched in alarm and fell back, but she was too slow to avoid the charge of the Kumo-onna. The spider woman was on top of her in an instant, her long black hair a comet's tail behind her. Nails long like talons, her fingers locked around the brooch on Sailor Moon's bow. For a moment, the senshi's costume shimmered.

"Dead Scream!" Sailor Pluto shouted with far more animation than she ever previously showed.

Firing from her knees, she let loose a sonic blast knocking the Kumo-onna away. Sailor Moon was spun to the ground, landing in a heap. Seeing that her fuku was intact, meaning the crystal was still in her princess's possession, Pluto forced herself to her feet. Already the Kumo-onna was up, balanced on all eight legs and ready to move forward, back or to the side at the slightest hint of movement from Pluto.

"My Princess, did it hurt you?" Pluto asked, keeping a wary eye on the spider queen at all times.

"No, Pluto," Sailor Moon panted. "I'll be all right."

"This is your end," Pluto pronounced to the Kumo-onna. The Ruby Orb Staff was trained directly on the demon and it was problematic whether it could evade another blast. The demon crouched, unafraid of the weapon and confident in its ability to dodge.

"Pluto, no!" wailed Sailor Moon. "Don't kill her, please!"

"My Princess!" Pluto hissed impatiently, her eyes never leaving the demon.

"Please, Pluto. Please don't do it."

"She is a demon, My Princess. She cannot be saved. She cannot be reformed. Mercy will only invite another attack. She must be destroyed."

"But Pluto," Sailor Moon countered, "if you destroy her - - what will that do to you?"

"My Princess . . ."

"I don't want her blood on your hands, Pluto! I don't want your soul tarnished because of this! I'll find another way! I promise! Please don't do it, Pluto!"

Sailor Pluto felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"My Princess, your concern for me is a greater honor than you can ever know," Pluto said. "But I am a soldier sworn into your service. My highest honor is your protection. My only claim to salvation is your continued existence. If I must soil myself with the blood of those who would destroy the dream that lies within you so that you may fulfill that dream and bring a new era to this world, then I do it willingly. It is not a sacrifice."

A movement from the Kumo-onna caused Pluto to brandish the Ruby Orb Staff even closer to her. The demon froze in its tracks, realizing how close it was to death. Pluto stared down at it coldly.

"Dead . . ." she began.

Then a shockwave of massive proportions rippled through the area. Pluto, Sailor Moon and the Kumo-onna were pitched up and thrown to the ground as the trees around them violently shook. No sooner had Pluto hit the ground than she was up, searching for the Kumo-onna, her staff at the ready. But a body tackled her from behind just as she was locating the spider queen. Pluto was thrown to the ground, a tremendous weight on top of her, and her staff kicked away upon impact. She only had time to look up and see the Kumo-onna up and stalking the still dazed Sailor Moon.

"MY PRINCESS!" Pluto yelled. Then she began to feel sticky silk encircle her body. "No! The goblin I only wounded! I had forgotten!"

Sailor Moon felt along the ground for the fallen Moon Tier while she held one hand to her head in a hopeless effort to stop it from spinning. Pluto's cry registered dimly in her mind. It caused her to turn, her instincts screaming at her over the buzz in her brain that she was in danger. As she turned, a heavy force impacted her body and threw Sailor Moon onto the ground on her back. It took a second to focus, but when she finally focused, she was staring up into the merciless eyes of the Kumo-onna.

Desperately Sailor Moon tried to rise up, but the demon's spider legs had her pinned spread-eagle on the ground. Its human half bent down toward her, its long black hair cascading down like a suffocating waterfall while its demonic gold eyes glared at her with deadly triumph. Unwilling to concede defeat, due to what was at stake, and unable to think of anything else to do, Sailor Moon kept tugging at her arms and legs. Out of her line of sight, she could hear Pluto struggling with something. It sounded like Pluto was having as little success as she was having.

"You are defeated, Sailor Moon," hissed the Kumo-onna, her ruby lips forming seductively around every syllable. Her hand reached down for Sailor Moon's brooch.

"No!" wailed Sailor Moon. "Please! Please don't do it! You don't know what's at stake!"

"I know all I need to know!" the spider queen replied hungrily. "I and my off-spring will rule for a hundred lifetimes with this crystal you hold!"

"You don't understand!" Sailor Moon cried frantically. "Please don't do it! Please!"

Her hand locked around the brooch. With a savage jerk, she plucked it from Sailor Moon's breast. Sailor Moon's fuku dissolved like mist, leaving Usagi Tsukino behind.

And Usagi burst into mournful sobs.

In her dormitory room at college, Rei Hino sat up. Staring into the darkness for a few moments, she tried to recall what she was dreaming about.

Unsatisfied, she climbed out of bed and softly padded to the window. The woman glanced outside, as if there was something outside to see that would make her understand.

She'd dreamed she was a famous fashion designer and it was the night of her new line's premiere. Nervously she'd run from table to table checking all the models to see if their ensembles were perfect. But no one would listen to her. In moments the dressing room was in chaos. Everyone ran around frantically, doing things she couldn't understand, and no matter how much she yelled instructions at them, no one would listen. By the time the music cued for the show, all the models were naked. Rei ran on stage to try to explain, but again no one would listen. They all watched the naked models parade down the runway.

And then she heard Usagi. At first she was afraid Usagi was laughing at her, but quickly she realized that Usagi was crying. It was a deep, mournful sound, like something precious had been lost to her, lost irretrievably and forever. Rei looked around the darkness of the backstage wings, but there was no trace of Usagi anywhere. Just her mournful wails.

And then she woke up. Rei stood at the window, rubbing her temple. The first part of the dream was easily enough explained. She'd had similarly themed dreams before. Not every dream she had was a premonition. Some were just normal sub-conscious aspirations or expressions of fears.

But the last part, with Usagi sobbing - - was that a premonition? Or was it a sense of Usagi in distress? She'd get flashes of Usagi in distress over long distances sometimes, just as she'd get flashes of Usagi in utter contentment or utter surprise - - the stronger the emotion, the more likely she was to feel it. Was that what she was feeling now?

Resolution formed within the young priest in training. She padded over to the phone and keyed the number for Usagi's apartment. If Usagi answered and chewed her out for worrying,she'd live with it.

Continued in Chapter 11