Two women walked through the snow-crested walkways of a park one night after a long evening of club-hopping. Settled in the middle of the bustling Tokyo downtown, the park nevertheless was a haven of quiet on that January night. One leaned on the other, weakened by an illness that was unnamed yet unrelenting, while the other was the epitome of health.
Both had pasts that they did not speak of to others, yet both still bore the mark of those pasts physically and spiritually. They had only just met on the streets mere minutes ago, and one was escorting the other back to their hotel. However, had they met earlier, it was possible that they could have overcome the almost 20 year difference and become close friends a long time ago.
"So..." The older, more European-looking woman looked at the younger, but taller, Japanese woman. "What do you do for a living?"
"Me?" The taller woman paused in the chilly air. "I'm a violinist."
"I see."
"How about you?"
"Hmm." The older woman closed her eyes. "I'm just a housewife, traveling with my husband on a business trip."
"Any children?"
"...No."
"Oh." The younger woman quickly changed the subject at the older woman's tone, which had saddened at that moment. "Well, you don't look too much like a housewife, if I may say so."
"Heh." The sadness was replaced with a contemplative smirk. "I get that a lot...oh, and by the way, thank you."
"Hmm? For what?"
"You can probably tell that I have a slightly weakened body." The smirk became a smile. "I have a chronic internal illness that sometimes causes me to collapse. It's a rare occurrence for that to happen, but...when I get to my hotel, I think dinner is in order for you."
"Oh..." the younger woman blushed. "You really don't have to do that for me."
"Still, I want to thank you for bringing me back to my hotel." There was a chuckle in the air. "My husband is probably worried sick about me, being out so late in the Japanese clubs with young...single..."
The chuckle died out in the next instant. At first, the younger woman thought that the older woman had simply stopped talking; upon looking at her face as she looked forward, she realized that wasn't the case. She turned to see what was in front of them and barely suppressed a gasp.
"Well, well." A behemoth shadow stood in their way, a curt, fanged smile on his darkened lips, his hair standing up on end like an animal's, and trenchcoat on his body. "What's two lovely ladies like you doing out so late?"
"I don't see why that is any of your business."
"Is that so?" He turned down towards the older woman, who had spoken. "Well, unfortunately, what you're doing is all my business. Because, you see, I am looking for...some friends of mine."
"I'm afraid we haven't seen anyone." The older woman spoke in a low voice, her expression hardening. "We've been alone for the past five minutes."
"Is that so?" The face bent over lower to seemingly analyze their faces, his eyes glistening and his heinous intent becoming apparent. "I don't know. How do I know you're not just covering for my...friends?"
"I can assure you," This time, the younger woman spoke. "We saw no one that you would be looking for. We've been walking by ourslves this entire time, and that's the truth. Now, if you'll excuse us-"
Her passing was interrupted by a hand on her chest. Without any consideration as to her size or strength, the man pushed her hard. His strength was obviously superhuman, due to the fact that the younger girl flew back into the bushes, twenty feet away.
"Now." The behemoth snarled as he began to take his trenchcoat off. "You're not being very nice, are you?"
"Neither are you."
Before the creature could react, he was suddenly on the ground. He didn't know how, he didn't know why. All he knew was that the older woman was standing over him, looking down as he wallowed in a pool of melted concrete.
That was enough to send him into a patent rage.
"YOU BITCH!"
The remnants of his trenchcoat went apart, revealing the extent of his true identity. He was over seven feet tall, that much was disseminated; however, he was also completely covered in yellow and brown fur, like a tiger. His hair was full of sweat, and his eyes were literally shooting beams at the older woman.
No ourobouros anywhere, the older woman thought to herself as she glared. Perhaps it's a chimera?...No, there're no marks...
I've seen this guy before. As she recovered in the bushes, the younger woman looked on at the figure with a slight chill down her spine. One of the mutants that are intentionally attacking humans. His name...it's Tigerman, or Sabre...Sabre...Sabre something...
"Not a bitch." Outside of her own thoughts, the older woman was otherwise nonplussed. "I'm just a housewife."
"You have no clue who you're dealing with, housewife!" The mutant snarled as he stood to his full height, his yellow and brown fur illuminated by the park lights and his claws extended. "You stupid humans!"
"Is that so." Casually, the older woman began to take off her own trenchcoat. "You may have a great deal of strength, but not a great deal of brainpower."
At this insult, the creature charged, his hands crazily crisscrossing from left to right. On instinct, the younger woman stood up, taking out an aqua-green stick from her jacket. She began to raise it up, ready to intervene.
"Neptune Crystal Po-"
CLANG
There was a very brief flash of light in front of the younger girl, which blinded her and caused her to stop chanting her sacred words. It all happened too quickly.
"YAAAAAAH!"
Before Michiru Kaiou knew it, the sabre-toothed monster was again on the ground, the older woman bent over him in her strapless black velvet dress. This time, there was a broken spear in her hands, which she had not had before. It was as if the older woman had magically called out the weapon from the earth beneath her, yet there was no trace of magic that she could sense.
"The greatest rule of combat: know your enemy," the older woman hissed. "And I can read you like a book."
As the woman growled, the monster looked up and saw a strange tattoo on her partially exposed chest. It was a small blood-red symbol - a crooked cane with a line crossing it in the middle. Small wings adorned the top of the cross-like thing. The sight of it alone made the mutant shudder, though he did not know why.
"And if I were you..." to the mutant's surprise, the woman threw the remains of the spear aside. "I wouldn't attack."
The mutant could only laugh inside as the older woman threw away what he considered the only line of defense she had. The younger woman, in turn, gave a gasp, and began to run towards the scene.
"No-"
"RAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
Confident in his strength and advantage, the mutant leaped straight up from the ground. His inch-long claws were unsheathed as he bore down on his new, annoying, human adversary. He intended to rip her apart, limb by limb, and leave her regretting she'd ever messed with him.
He was, after all, superior to the foolish woman.
"Br...BREEEEEEEEEEH!"
The next thing both Michiru and the monster knew, just as the claws came bearing down the older woman had seemingly bent backwards, to brace herself for the inevitable blow. But instead of simply defending herself, she thrust her face and upper body forward, opening her mouth as wide as she could as she did so. In response, what seemed to be gallons upon gallons of blood gushed out of her mouth, spewing all over the mutant's unprotected face.
"AAAAAAAAAUGH!" The mutant screamed as he fell to the ground, inches from his target, staggering backwards as the copious amounts of blood blinded him. "What the hell? How the hell did you do thaUUGH-!"
At that moment, the monster trying to wipe his eyes smashed the back of his head into a steel lamppost. With a grunt, he became limp and fell to the ground, unconscious and defeated.
"Really." Michiru looked on in amazement as the older woman bent down to get her blood-stained jacket. "I warned him."
As the older woman tried to stand back up, however, she began to flop back and forth weakly. Before she once again collapsed, the younger woman had her, and was silently offering her own jacket for the older woman's use. First, though, she put her transformation pen into her pant pocket before the older woman could see it.
"Aah." With a smile, the older woman took up this offer, covering her bare arms and her mysterious tattoo. "Thank you again. You saved me this time."
"...No." Having the older woman lean on her again, Michiru smiled. "You saved me this time."
With that, the older woman leaned on Michiru, and they again set out for the hotel. Leaving the sabre-toothed mutant behind, they hobbled through the snow on the sidewalk, and made their way through the rest of the park. No one else bothered them on the way.
"Here we are." As the hotel finally loomed above them, the older woman looked at Michiru. "Are you sure you don't want dinner?"
"...Actually," Finally, Michiru nodded. "It would be an honor to eat with you."
"Oh." The older woman shook her head. "You flatter me too much, Kaiou-san."
"Maybe I do." At this, Michiru smiled. "But I mean it. After all...it's not often I eat with a housewife."
"I...see."
With that, the two began up the steps of the hotel. After several steps, the older woman had gained enough strength that she could walk on her own. She went through the door first, her dreadlocked hair dancing in the cold.
Just a housewife, Izumi Curtis? Michiru thought with a smirk as she made their way into the hotel. I'll go along with that.
fin
Story copyright 2006 Cookirini. Characters from Full Metal Alchemist copyright 2002 Hiromi Arakawa. Characters fromSailor Moon copyright 1992 Naoko Takeuchi. Characters from X-Men copyright 1971 Stan Lee/Marvel Comics.
Insanity has no copyright. :)