The colossal form of Space Godzilla hung over their heads, suspended in his crystal cocoon to heal after the humiliating drubbing the Moth Goddess had given him. The Supreme Commander of the Black Hole People stood beneath on a catwalk, waiting for his second to arrive.
Long ago, he had been tall and striking, with sharp, cruel eyes and a properly fierce mane of hair. He would have signaled his displeasure with Masema's methods by showing up in his office unannounced and dragging him over his desk. He'd made grown soldiers cry with a look and their officers cry with the subsequent beating.
But he had aged and mellowed, his mane becoming a commanding pate, his broad face covered with creases and lines, his eyes softening (though not necessarily warming), and his shoulders bent. So it was that instead of seeking out and pummeling his second, the Commander waited to meet him on neutral ground.
"Supreme Commander," Masema greeted with the bare minimum of respect.
"Lord Captain Commander," he returned with less. "I disapprove of your methods."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"What's this about ordering the arrest of that florist? And then you mobilized your secret agents immediately after. I can only assume the Gray Charities spirited him away and you decided to get the rest of your targets more covertly."
"Is this a problem?" Masema asked sharply.
"It won't be if you can explain why you've resorted to kidnapping."
"It was an urgent matter of security. I did not have time to…"
"Masema! Stop and look around."
"What?"
"Stop. And. Look. Around."
Masema rolled his eyes and cast a disinterested look around the vast chamber; it was a dizzying landscape of jagged blue crystal, thrusting up around them at all manner of crazy angles and fusing into the great bulb that held the curled monster above them. If not for the catwalk and its reassuringly mundane form, they would have been hopelessly lost. "Okay, what was that for?"
"It is a skill that I have developed since becoming Supreme Commander. To lead properly, you must be able to quiet yourself and observe. Masema, you have risen to your current lofty rank by being ruthless and ambitious; there is nothing wrong with this. Now that you are here, though, I am troubled. A leader must know how to stop and think… but when given the time, all that you do is brood. Your eyes and ears close so that your mind can chase itself in circles in the darkness."
"Is that so?"
"Surely you have noticed? The Earthmen are not the inferior beings that we had imagined. I know how you feel about them, and I know that you will never allow your feelings to change. Therefore, I have to worry when you start acting without informing me."
"Is this what you called me for? In case you haven't noticed, we have a giant monster that…"
"What are you planning, Masema? I command you to tell me."
"I refuse."
"I am still the Supreme Commander."
"Yeah… about that," Masema said, casually drawing his sidearm and shooting his superior through the skull. "I've been meaning to do something about that."
The former Supreme Commander slumped to the deck, living just long enough to give him a profoundly unsurprised look. There were a few seconds while Masema simply stood there, shocked and attempting to grasp what it was he'd just done.
Of course the blathering old fool's bodyguard came running. "Lord Captain Commander!" he cried, "Who did this?"
"Why, you did!" Masema answered.
"I—what?" The guard crumpled around a laser wound in his gut.
Masema looked back and forth between them, a crazed smile slowly growing on his face. After a few seconds, a high pitched giggle finally escaped his twisted lips… and then he dropped to his knees and started pounding the catwalk for glee, shaking the crystalline walls with his braying laugh. This would have looked very suspicious to anybody that happened by, but this didn't bother the new Supreme Commander.
Kazuki was trying his hardest to concentrate on the task at hand, but he was having an even harder time of it than usual. He and Osamu had been contracted to draw a few pictures of samurai killing each other to be used as the covers for a series of novels. At the moment, he was hovering over the depiction of a wounded man in broken armor left for dead at the feet of a menacing black statue.
"Blood, blood, blood," he muttered to himself, "It doesn't look right."
He'd quested for a good way to draw blood ever since High School; black blood was well and good for manga, shiny blood was nice for decorative art, most pictures would let you get away with a nameless red gloop… but what did you do when you were taking it seriously? He had never found a method that matched the horrible reality of spattered blood. Kazuki had tried every medium at his disposal except…
Hm, what was that Ayumu said?
With a deep breath, Kazuki put his arm over the page and took his ultra-fine technical pencil in hand. Its needle-like point quivered as he raised it on high. Okay… one… two…
"I'm back," Sanada called, pushing his way through the apartment's door with a grocery bag in each arm. "Can you help me out with this?"
"Sure! For sure!" the artist leapt to his feet. "Thanks for showing up when you did. I'm not sure what I was gonna do for a minute, there."
"Uh…" Sanada blinked. "Sure. No problem."
"And just outta curiosity," Kazuki added as they started back towards the car, "How does a trip to Okinawa sound?"
"Huh? When?"
"I dunno, like right now."
"Wh- now?"
"Yeah! Got relatives to see, food to scarf, a statue to find…"
"The monster one?"
"…and I hear the fishing's real good these days…"
"But… hold on, is that why you want to-?"
"Fish-? 'Course not! Sata Andagi, man! Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had good Sata Andagi?"
Yomi found herself staring at the ceiling, unwilling to move a muscle. What a hell of a day. What a hell of a year. What a hell of a life. Talking to Kagura had made her feel much better, but then the athlete had adapted to this bizarre and awful world while Yomi had only hit all of the physical prerequisites. Peace just refused to come.
Occasionally, on some dark and sleepless night, she'd think back to their last visit to Magical Land, the six of them bound together and plunging bravely ahead. It seemed that they were immortal, mystical, unstoppable; that nothing would ever separate them. But then Chiyo had gone disappeared over the Pacific and the rest of them had spread throughout Japan to find their places. Then the world became a nightmare of giant monsters and Tomo had… had…
"Little jerk," Yomi whispered. "Has to ruin everything…"
How could she stand tall and be the great, strong, mature Yomi everybody was expecting when she just wanted to go back to Magical Land? No, no, no, that attitude wouldn't do at all. She had to be… well, not happy necessarily, but hopeful at least. Nowhere for things to go but up, right?
The doorbell rang.
Yomi knocked on the wooden coffee table before rising and adjusting herself. Whoever this guest was, they would receive no hint of her distress. When she was satisfied that she looked reasonable for the hour (and the ringer started to get impatient), she padded over and opened the door.
Pthut! A ball coated with some kind of adhesive slapped heavily into the inside of her shoulder and clung there, trailing a long conducting wire. "You've got to be kidding!" she moaned, wondering why she ended up saying that every time she answered the door.
"Okay," a suited Gaijin said, holding his weapon up for her to see. "Either you come with me or it's 20,000 volts."
"Aah… Kazuki hasn't changed a bit, the bubblehead," Ayumu sighed happily, stretching out on one of the chairs set throughout the store for people who wanted to read or just take a load off. Her eyes roved over the light shelving, passing dismissively by most of the paperbacks. As with all but the most grievously stupid of occult booksellers, Kaori and Xandra didn't sell much in the way of books that could actually do much damage. All of the "real" occult materials were along the outside wall, not for sale.
"Heh! Look who's talking," Xandra poked her.
"Look who's talking squared!" the Earth girl shot back.
"Hey, I've got it together," Xandra protested. "In fact, I've got it so together, I don't think I've forgotten anything important in the last two months!"
"How would ya know if you forgot something?" Ayumu asked.
"I, uh…" Xandra trailed off, looking troubled. "Shoot, now I can't think of anything I'm supposed to remember."
"Uh-oh…"
"You're evil!" Xandra slapped the back of her sister's head. "Evil, evil woman! You and your Komodo Dragons!"
"You had fun lookin' for 'em!" Ayumu defended, giggling.
Kaori swept past them, instantly commanding their complete attention. This was partially an effect of her kimono, but mostly grew from her own stature and grace. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" she asked, voice low and smooth.
Three men had entered while the sisters were talking, but they didn't look much like customers. They were Gaijin agents in their Men in Black getups, standing in a rough V near the entrance and apparently doing their best to look intimidating. "Er, yes," the leader said, clearly not expecting to be addressed calmly. "We're, uh, looking for two people who stay here. A Ms. Ayumu Kasuga?"
Ayumu opened her mouth but Xandra clapped a hand over it and dragged her behind a row of shelves. "Keep it shut," she hissed, "We're not at home."
"Ayumu Kasuga?" Kaori closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry, I don't think I know anybody by that name."
"You forged a release to get her out of the State Asylum."
"Anybody can forge my name. And why would I do something like that? I lost my certification years ago, and I've never met the woman in any case."
"You went to High School with her."
"Is that so?"
"Well?" The leader removed his sunglasses, banking on his frightening alien eyes to scare her into submission. It had absolutely no effect, though, and they stared at each other implacably for quite some time. In fact, if anything, the alien seemed to become uneasy as their standoff wore on.
"I'm afraid I can't help you," Kaori said slowly, and there was a mighty force behind her words in spite of their mild tone. "I'll have to ask you to leave."
"I have a better idea," the lead Gaijin said, and shot her with his taser.
Kaori glanced down at the ball sticking to her chest and moved to pull it off. "Come, now, you wouldn't dare- AH!" She jerked back from him and grabbed a shelf for balance but to her credit, she remained completely calm. "You should know that assaulting me right now would probably get you court marshaled."
"Well, we just got a new Supreme Commander, and his policies are a little different."
"Oh, beans," Kaori cursed softly, then gasped in pain as the charge threw her to the ground and bore down on her mercilessly. She fought her hardest not to scream, only letting a gravelly sort of whine out, but her twisting and jerking showed what pain she was in.
"Stop it!" Ayumu cried, shoving Xandra away and jumping out. "I'm here! Here I am!"
But then she yipped in pain as another taser ball slapped into her side, cringed in anticipation… and blinked when the conducting line mysteriously snapped. Rather than waste any time on surprise, the agent closed swiftly on Ayumu as she wavered between fleeing and going to Kaori's side.
"Run, you stupid little…!" Kaori gritted before another shock floored her again.
"But, but you…!" Ayumu stammered as the agent grabbed her arm. There was a flicker of pinkish light and tiny cut appeared across his cheek, but he only swatted at the air in vague annoyance. Whispering angrily, the blade continued its work, scoring his forearm back and forth. Ayumu knew instantly what was happening, and that it was an extremely bad idea. If Yukia were to find out about her son… "Stay back!" she implored.
Of course, her abductor thought that she was talking to him, and pressed the weapon's contact pads to her arm. "Shut up!" he gritted, "Not one more word!"
"O-okay," Ayumu replied, then gasped at the brief shock. "Hey! That wasn't- ow!"
"You're not too quick on the uptake, are you?"
"I- ow! Sorry! Ow!"
Xandra started to edge away, when she heard the dreaded pthut! and felt the third agent's taser strike her back. "No!" she cried in a panic. "No! Okay! I'll come, I'll come!" In the weeks to come, she'd lament her pusillanimity, but what else was there to do? For his part, the third was secretly relieved. "Do we need the proprietress?" he asked.
"No," the leader said, "Just these other two."
"And don't follow us," the second growled at Kaori, trying to staunch the cuts on his arm and restrain Ayumu at the same time. The five set out, leaving her on the floor and quite a ways from being able to get up again. After a few seconds, the dragon fluttered down and nipped at her ear.
"Where the hell… were you?" she grumbled dazedly, breath labored. "So much for… all that positive chi… I was storing up. Gotta… get a new… consultant."
"So where are we going?" Ayumu asked. "Ow! Oh, right, I keep forgettin' I'm not supposed to- Owow! Sorry! Ow!"
It was a long trip.
"Chiyo Mihama," Yukia said contemplatively. "I never would have imagined."
She sat lotus-style in the middle of her dark, bare room, practicing her forbidden secret art. The spell circle had been drawn on to her floor but then scrubbed out; once it was in place, the physical presence of the paint had ceased to matter. If anybody were to watch her, they would have seen strange, ethereal shapes flickering in the air about her… shortly before they died.
The one reason Masema hadn't killed her yet was that she'd claimed to have found a scientific way to contact the creatures that served her. Pah! As if science could ever hope to fathom those mighty, insidious beings that twist the world about us! Scientists could carry their search all the way down to the Planck Length, all the way back to the Big Bang, out to the edge of the Universe or into the depths of a singularity and they still would know nothing of the true world!
The boundaries of the world are much stranger, more complex and mobile than the laws of science and common sense could ever encompass. The mightiest of immortal beings could be a simple fishmonger. An uninteresting young man you bump into on the street could be a god. Heck, he could be a goddess. He might not even know it! Or in this case, a pathetic, cringing girl could turn out to have more life and power in her than all of Tokyo.
"You probably haven't had enough rest since last I drew from you," Yukia mused, "But it really doesn't matter, now does it? You're not long for this world anyway, and soon enough I'll need all the strength that I can get. I suppose might as well finish you now."
She clutched the air before her, tensing her whole body, and roiling shadow rose from her shoulders. The room darkened and congealed, suddenly writhing with a hideous, demonic form. She exhaled slowly as nonexistent wings pounded the air about her and an inaudible tri-toned shriek rattled her bones. This was a being did not live, but once it had… and soon it would again.
"Mihama…" Yukia licked her lips. "Mothra couldn't stop us, the Xians couldn't stop us and neither can you. You were born ignorant of who you are and you will die ignorant as well!" She stood slowly as the demon lifted away, unaware of the cliché of her last cry: "Your soul is mine!"
Of all the ridiculous things. Sakaki sighed, the ghost of a smirk wisping about her stately lips. She was stretched out on her easy chair, feet bared, while Chiyo lay over her legs and painted her toenails blue. The young prodigy was in a much more cheerful mood, past the quiet, uncertain stage where she wasn't sure if Sakaki wasn't still mad at her or not.
"This is what my roommate and I would do to make up whenever we had a fight," Chiyo explained. "She called it…" an obscure phrase in English. Girlinatu?
"I'm sorry?" Fights with her roommate… and she said it as if this were a frequent occurrence. That didn't sound much like Chiyo at all.
"Basically, we'd get together and act super girly. Paint fingernails, gossip about boys, pillow fights… all that sort of stuff that we weren't supposed to have time because we were busy Dean's List college students. It was very cathartic."
"But…" Sakaki understood completely, but she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Why do my toenails have to be blue?"
"Nobody will see anyway," Chiyo said, continuing to paint. "So it won't be unprofessional, will it? I mean, won't it be a little fun? Nobody will know but you… like having a tattoo or something."
"Hm…"
"By the way, I really like your feet. They're so big, but… graceful."
"Um… thanks," Sakaki replied, color creeping into her cheeks. She was never really good at taking compliments except by ignoring them. Especially when they concerned her body and especially when they involved size. At least she wasn't bringing up—Sakaki choked off the thought, blushing a little more.
"Nothing like mine," Chiyo added sourly, kicking the air. "They're just so clunky and awkward. Look like they were slapped on after the fact… like on those stick-figures with balls for feet." And in point of fact, Sakaki could sort of see what she meant, though she didn't lie by saying, "I think they're fine."
"Of course you would…" Chiyo laughed softly. "Listen to me. I sound like your typical angsty teen. Huh, thought I left that behind."
"You didn't get a chance," Sakaki pointed out.
"Of course I… oh, you mean I never got the chance to get all worked up and be a drama queen about ultimately irrelevant things? Hm, maybe I should try it sometime."
"…er, yeah." Was she joking? This was really the first time just the two of them had relaxed together (unless you counted last night following that lightning attack), and she was starting to realize that maybe she didn't know the new Chiyo that well after all. Sakaki consoled herself with the knowledge that she was still the same person underneath.
Or was she? (Two Chiyos? Where the heck did that thought come from?)
"There," Chiyo clicked the bottle of nail-polish shut. "Don't you feel pretty?"
Sakaki shrugged helplessly. "Sure."
"C'mon, you should…" Chiyo sat on the arm of the chair and looped her arm behind it. "And not just because of the polish… though I have to say it's a nice touch."
"Uh…" The older girl looked away, a trifle uncomfortable.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Chiyo straightened. It occurred to her that the "Kaori thing" back in High School might make Sakaki oversensitive to certain behavior. (Oddly, it seemed more significant to her than any of the Giant Monster-induced brushes with death she'd endured.) And maybe she should've thought of this before falling asleep on her last night? Hmm… "Was I intruding on your personal space?"
"It's fine."
Sure didn't sound like it. Chiyo stepped down from the chair, uncertain again. "Good. Um, is it okay if I get a can of soda?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. Do you want something while I'm up?"
"No, thanks." Sakaki looked down at her toes and wiggled them a little as Chiyo went into the next room. She wondered momentarily what Jumbo would think… he'd probably say they were cute. It was almost irritating how warm and happy that thought made her feel.
So, soon Jumbo would face the dreaded "best friend's approval" test, though both girls knew that Sakaki would do as she pleased regardless of the verdict… still, it would make him nervous. Was this strictly a bad thing? The poor guy was nervous enough on his own, but all the same… Oh, relationships were so confusing.
Then Sakaki heard a heavy thump on linoleum and instantly, deep in her gut, knew that something was very, very wrong. She jerked to her feet and looked back towards the kitchen door just in time to see something faint and dark lash the air before her. A tail? But it wasn't really there, was it? Somehow knowing what she'd find, Sakaki rushed into the oddly darkened kitchen and knelt at Chiyo's side where she'd fallen.
"Chiyo-chan!" Sakaki called frantically, gently shaking her.
"S'okay…" she mumbled. "Just feel a little weak… happens sometimes."
"But what…?" The older woman was cut off by an unnatural puff of wind. Something rushed past her and Chiyo shuddered with a soft little cry of pain. "What is this?" Another shape lashed by on her other side, and Sakaki could have sworn that she saw tiny glimmering eyes on it. With a feeling a thousand times worse than finding spiders crawling all over her, she realized that she was crouching inside of some kind of creature.
Sakaki wasted no time; she moved to gather Chiyo up into her arms, but the scuff of a shoe on the floor whirled her about just in time for a taser to strike her chest and go off. Nearly unconscious, gasping for breath and biting back tears, she watched two Gaijin enter and look around. They were obviously unable to see the monstrous creature that was… was… eating Chiyo.
"What's wrong with her? Some kind of seizure?" one asked.
"Never mind," the other said, starting forward and withdrawing a syringe. "Let's knock the girl out and… uh…" At this point, he happened to notice Sakaki rising and grabbing something on the edge of his vision. Her eyes were like coals, and two of his teeth were skipping off of the wall before he even thought to do anything. For a few seconds after, he couldn't figure out why the floor had hit him in the face.
Sakaki stepped between the other and Chiyo, holding her implement ready. Unfortunately, the other agent still had his taser. As she fell, Sakaki saw the half-existing wings of whatever-it-was beating above her and felt such a surge of anger as she had never known.
Monster! How dare you hurt Chi-?
THUD.
