Chapter 6 - Down the manhole
-----------------------------------------------
It was long after dusk, and the warehouses in East Tokyo lay deserted, save for a few nightwatchmen. Mamoru parked the car a few blocks away, so one would see it.
He did not know where to look exactly, since he had not told Rei or the others, that he would be coming here.
He had thought of asking Rei to show him, where it had happened, but had rejected that thought quickly, since he couldn't trust her.
The tarred road had tiny cracks in its surface. He walked past the barricades around a complex of buildings, ending up in a small courtyard. He tried the door to the main building and was surprised to find it unlocked.
It was empty, too. Of course there was no light inside, so he turned on the flashlight. There were cracks in the walls, too, and the color was coming off. Some of the damages were likely to have been caused by the earthquake.
The other building was a surprise to him, part of it was actually broken down, and the edges looked fresh. He had reached the center of the earthquake, because all the other buildings were still standing. But it couldn't be the place were Usagi had been, since the Senshi had said nothing about a whole ceiling coming down.
A sound startled him, there were footsteps in the darkness. Someone was coming. At first he thought, it might be a nightwatchman, but what would he do out there? He would guard one of the buildings still in use.
Mamoru could see a flashlight, so he crouched behind a broken piece of wall. There was a shadow coming closer. It was a single person, wearing a huge backpack, but he or she wasn't close enough to be seen clearly.
The person passed by. Mamoru decided to wait a little, until the stranger was further away, then he followed. The steps stopped very abruptly, and he could hear a sort of scratching sound.
Then silence again. Carefully Mamoru got up. The mysterious person was nowhere to be seen. Vanished! Or maybe not totally. A metal lid had been moved, there was an entrace into the sewerage.
Mamoru didn't hesitate. As silently as possible he climbed down the manhole. He could see the beam of the flashlight again. The person was walking along a corridor now and suddenly stopped again. Mamoru realized it would be better to keep a longer distance. If the person turned around, he could be seen.
The person put down the backpack and took some things out of it. For a short moment the beam of the flashlight brushed his head, revealing a familiar face. Professor Tanaka.
Tanaka scraped something off the wall into a test-tube. He put the test- tube into his backpack, and spoke into a dictating machine: "Two-seventeen. Found another sample of unknown substance. Believe it to be alien. Test will show more."
He switched it off. When he wanted to put it away, the flashlight slipped from his hands. He grabbed it the very last moment, the beam swirled along the wall, directly hitting Mamoru's face. Blinded by the light, he closed his eyes.
"So you do belong to them, after all!", Tanaka yelled. "All this sentimental crab about your dead friend, and I was stupid enough to fall for it."
The flashlight fell to the floor and went dark. Tanaka stumbled away.
"Wait! That's not it!" Mamoru tried to stop him, "You're getting it all mixed up." He tried to chase after Tanaka, but the professor threw something to the floor. A unpleasant hissing sound, and the air was filled with smoke. Mamoru coughed, suddenly his lungs filled with fire. He didn't know, how dangerous this gas was, a maniac like Tanaka might probably possess military weapons, so he turned back and rushed to the entrance.
Breathing the fresh air made him feel better at once. Looked like the gas had been harmless after all. What would he do next?
He wanted to go back down, and take a look at the strange substance on the wall. Was it really alien? And if yes, where had it come from? What did an alien want in the sewerage of Tokyo? Wasn't it more likely to be a killer croc, or a ninja turtle!
Voices ripped him from his thoughts. Familiar voices!
"Sure it was that crazy guy again! He's still looking for his aliens. I don't know why you guys worry about him. I don't think anyone would believe him anyway, even if he did find something."
"Mako-chan is not correct. If he found parts of her, he could maybe prove they're alien."
"You're disgusting, Ami-chan! Are you trying to make us puke?"
"Be quiet, everyone! Minako-chan, why do you have to yell that loud. He's probably still around!"
He couldn't run away anymore, they were already too close now. So the only way not to be noticed was to climb back down again. Mamoru made it just in time, so they didn't notice him. He ran the down the corridor, knowing they were likely to hear him. But they would probably mistake him for Tanaka. He was glad, he had never mentioned to Rei, that he wanted to come here. If he had, she might have been more careful.
They were coming down now, desperately he was looking for a place to hide. There were alcoves in the walls, but that was the first place they would look. He could go on running, of course, but if they split up and chased after him, he didn't have the slightest chance to escape, not to mention to find a way out of this subterranean labyrinth.
He felt a sharp pain, as he bumped his head against something in the darkness. Pipes! A whole series of them crossed the corridor right below the ceiling. The perfect hideout! Quickly he pulled himself up, checking, if he would fit in the space between the pipeline and the ceiling. Yes, he could barely squeeze in.
It felt like being buried alive, though. It was a good thing, he didn't have a problem with narrow spaces.
Lying flat on his belly, he tried to get a glimpse between the pipes. There was not much he could see, but he could hear them coming. For the last time he turned his flashlight on, to check once more how save the hidout was, although he perfectly knew, he couldn't find another one.
And there he saw it glinting, a small metallic thing on the floor. It had been the dictating machine Tanaka had dropped, not the flashlight.
He didn't hesitate. He crept out, crashlanded on his belly, grabbed the machine, and pulled himself up again.That did leave him a few scratches, and black spots, but there was no way he would leave such an important thing to the Senshi.
They walked along the corridor below him, but didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"Think hard, guys, what could he find down there? If there is any evidence of the battle, it's not really a problem. There was evidence of our other battles, too, but it never revealed anything about our identities."
"Rei-chan's right. We've checked everything already, and there's no blood or anything.
"Ami-chan!", Minako wailed, but the others didn't take any notice of her, as Ami continued: "Not even in the cave, if he found out about it. Really, the only thing he can find are parts of rocks or dried lava."
"Well, that stuff was pretty much splattered around, when we blew her up," Makoto threw in.
"Ami-chan do you think, he can link it to her origin in any way?" Rei wanted to know.
"Definitly, yes. He probably knows a lot about her already. But as long as he doesn't find out anything about us, we don't have to worry about it."
"You guys! That's what I've been saying all the time, but no one's listening to me, anyway!"
"All you ever do, Minako-chan is complaining!"
"You're being mean Rei-chan, you....." Minako broke off in the middle off her sentence. For a while no one said anything.
But Rei didn't give them any time get lost in memories."Let's get out of here!", she decided. We leave that professor to his studies and worry about more important things."
They turned around and walked back towards the entrance. "Is Motoki still at Mamoru's place?" asked Makoto.
"I'm sure he is. I've told him, I was afraid, Mamoru might do something stupid, and told him not to leave him alone. That'll keep Mamoru from sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. But Motoki can't protect him, that's for sure!"
"We have to do that!" shouted Makoto. "No one will dare lay a hand on him!"
Their voices lost in the darkness. The very last thing he heard was the scratching of the metal lid, as they pulled it back over the manhole.
-----------------------------------------------
It was long after dusk, and the warehouses in East Tokyo lay deserted, save for a few nightwatchmen. Mamoru parked the car a few blocks away, so one would see it.
He did not know where to look exactly, since he had not told Rei or the others, that he would be coming here.
He had thought of asking Rei to show him, where it had happened, but had rejected that thought quickly, since he couldn't trust her.
The tarred road had tiny cracks in its surface. He walked past the barricades around a complex of buildings, ending up in a small courtyard. He tried the door to the main building and was surprised to find it unlocked.
It was empty, too. Of course there was no light inside, so he turned on the flashlight. There were cracks in the walls, too, and the color was coming off. Some of the damages were likely to have been caused by the earthquake.
The other building was a surprise to him, part of it was actually broken down, and the edges looked fresh. He had reached the center of the earthquake, because all the other buildings were still standing. But it couldn't be the place were Usagi had been, since the Senshi had said nothing about a whole ceiling coming down.
A sound startled him, there were footsteps in the darkness. Someone was coming. At first he thought, it might be a nightwatchman, but what would he do out there? He would guard one of the buildings still in use.
Mamoru could see a flashlight, so he crouched behind a broken piece of wall. There was a shadow coming closer. It was a single person, wearing a huge backpack, but he or she wasn't close enough to be seen clearly.
The person passed by. Mamoru decided to wait a little, until the stranger was further away, then he followed. The steps stopped very abruptly, and he could hear a sort of scratching sound.
Then silence again. Carefully Mamoru got up. The mysterious person was nowhere to be seen. Vanished! Or maybe not totally. A metal lid had been moved, there was an entrace into the sewerage.
Mamoru didn't hesitate. As silently as possible he climbed down the manhole. He could see the beam of the flashlight again. The person was walking along a corridor now and suddenly stopped again. Mamoru realized it would be better to keep a longer distance. If the person turned around, he could be seen.
The person put down the backpack and took some things out of it. For a short moment the beam of the flashlight brushed his head, revealing a familiar face. Professor Tanaka.
Tanaka scraped something off the wall into a test-tube. He put the test- tube into his backpack, and spoke into a dictating machine: "Two-seventeen. Found another sample of unknown substance. Believe it to be alien. Test will show more."
He switched it off. When he wanted to put it away, the flashlight slipped from his hands. He grabbed it the very last moment, the beam swirled along the wall, directly hitting Mamoru's face. Blinded by the light, he closed his eyes.
"So you do belong to them, after all!", Tanaka yelled. "All this sentimental crab about your dead friend, and I was stupid enough to fall for it."
The flashlight fell to the floor and went dark. Tanaka stumbled away.
"Wait! That's not it!" Mamoru tried to stop him, "You're getting it all mixed up." He tried to chase after Tanaka, but the professor threw something to the floor. A unpleasant hissing sound, and the air was filled with smoke. Mamoru coughed, suddenly his lungs filled with fire. He didn't know, how dangerous this gas was, a maniac like Tanaka might probably possess military weapons, so he turned back and rushed to the entrance.
Breathing the fresh air made him feel better at once. Looked like the gas had been harmless after all. What would he do next?
He wanted to go back down, and take a look at the strange substance on the wall. Was it really alien? And if yes, where had it come from? What did an alien want in the sewerage of Tokyo? Wasn't it more likely to be a killer croc, or a ninja turtle!
Voices ripped him from his thoughts. Familiar voices!
"Sure it was that crazy guy again! He's still looking for his aliens. I don't know why you guys worry about him. I don't think anyone would believe him anyway, even if he did find something."
"Mako-chan is not correct. If he found parts of her, he could maybe prove they're alien."
"You're disgusting, Ami-chan! Are you trying to make us puke?"
"Be quiet, everyone! Minako-chan, why do you have to yell that loud. He's probably still around!"
He couldn't run away anymore, they were already too close now. So the only way not to be noticed was to climb back down again. Mamoru made it just in time, so they didn't notice him. He ran the down the corridor, knowing they were likely to hear him. But they would probably mistake him for Tanaka. He was glad, he had never mentioned to Rei, that he wanted to come here. If he had, she might have been more careful.
They were coming down now, desperately he was looking for a place to hide. There were alcoves in the walls, but that was the first place they would look. He could go on running, of course, but if they split up and chased after him, he didn't have the slightest chance to escape, not to mention to find a way out of this subterranean labyrinth.
He felt a sharp pain, as he bumped his head against something in the darkness. Pipes! A whole series of them crossed the corridor right below the ceiling. The perfect hideout! Quickly he pulled himself up, checking, if he would fit in the space between the pipeline and the ceiling. Yes, he could barely squeeze in.
It felt like being buried alive, though. It was a good thing, he didn't have a problem with narrow spaces.
Lying flat on his belly, he tried to get a glimpse between the pipes. There was not much he could see, but he could hear them coming. For the last time he turned his flashlight on, to check once more how save the hidout was, although he perfectly knew, he couldn't find another one.
And there he saw it glinting, a small metallic thing on the floor. It had been the dictating machine Tanaka had dropped, not the flashlight.
He didn't hesitate. He crept out, crashlanded on his belly, grabbed the machine, and pulled himself up again.That did leave him a few scratches, and black spots, but there was no way he would leave such an important thing to the Senshi.
They walked along the corridor below him, but didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"Think hard, guys, what could he find down there? If there is any evidence of the battle, it's not really a problem. There was evidence of our other battles, too, but it never revealed anything about our identities."
"Rei-chan's right. We've checked everything already, and there's no blood or anything.
"Ami-chan!", Minako wailed, but the others didn't take any notice of her, as Ami continued: "Not even in the cave, if he found out about it. Really, the only thing he can find are parts of rocks or dried lava."
"Well, that stuff was pretty much splattered around, when we blew her up," Makoto threw in.
"Ami-chan do you think, he can link it to her origin in any way?" Rei wanted to know.
"Definitly, yes. He probably knows a lot about her already. But as long as he doesn't find out anything about us, we don't have to worry about it."
"You guys! That's what I've been saying all the time, but no one's listening to me, anyway!"
"All you ever do, Minako-chan is complaining!"
"You're being mean Rei-chan, you....." Minako broke off in the middle off her sentence. For a while no one said anything.
But Rei didn't give them any time get lost in memories."Let's get out of here!", she decided. We leave that professor to his studies and worry about more important things."
They turned around and walked back towards the entrance. "Is Motoki still at Mamoru's place?" asked Makoto.
"I'm sure he is. I've told him, I was afraid, Mamoru might do something stupid, and told him not to leave him alone. That'll keep Mamoru from sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. But Motoki can't protect him, that's for sure!"
"We have to do that!" shouted Makoto. "No one will dare lay a hand on him!"
Their voices lost in the darkness. The very last thing he heard was the scratching of the metal lid, as they pulled it back over the manhole.