Author's Notes: Yes, I'm a fan of Shakespeare, with Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream as my favorites. Expect quotes from both of them to pop up.

Why did I choose Mimi for this role and not someone else? I decided that character was going to be female so that ruled out the guys. Sora and Hikari aren't flamboyant enough for the role and they're both too serious for it too, besides I find Hikari to be too submissive in certain situations, though she does have strong moments since she's Taichi's younger sister. Miyako is too hotheaded and reckless.

I think Mimi is a character with a strong personality as well. She stands up for what she believes in and out of all the characters she is one of the two that I think are good leaders with the other being Daisuke. (Sorry Taichi fans, I just don't think he was all that good of a leader.) Look at all the Digimon that traveled with her and followed her into battle in the Dark Masters Saga. They stayed with her, not only because they wanted to save the Digital World, but because she was with them.

Mimi also has a personality that draws people to her, which as you will see is needed for the story. And the way she's going about all of this will be explained later.


"In our world, there can only be triumph and self-abasement. Everything else, we will destroy."-O'Brien, Nineteen Eighty-Four


Chapter Three
Two Faces of Reality

This had to be the strangest thing to happen to Yamato since…ever.

After another terrifying, gravity forsaking ride in the air above Japan, in which his masculine pride recovered somewhat by holding onto Mimi's arm and not being carried over her shoulder, he found himself in some deserted part of the city. And if that was not enough he had been blindfolded and lead by her to some secret place.

Blindfolded and being led by a woman almost a foot shorter than himself. See the problem here?

Gritting his teeth, he asked for the tenth time, "Do I really need to be blindfolded?" He shrugged his shoulders, where her hands had been placed, in agitation she sighed deeply.

"Yes, for the hundredth time, yes! I can't allow you to know where exactly I live. Too dangerous…"

He growled lowly to himself and she slapped him on the back of his head in retaliation. His growl deepened into a low scream and he exclaimed, "What the hell was that for?"

"For being an ungrateful, pain in the ass," was the swift reply filled with poorly disguised frustration.

"…I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

There was no way he could possibly reply to that statement and the two lapsed into a silence that was only awkward to him. He dared not open his mouth again for fear of being stranded by her, and to break the quietness she began to sing under her breath.

Even at the low range she was doing he could tell her voice was beautiful and he could just make out the words, "Anarchy! Revolution, justice, screaming for solutions, forcing changes, risk, and danger, making noise and making pleas!"

Before he could ask what she was exactly singing she announced, "We're here!" And she gently shoved him inside and closing the door behind both of them as it sounded. "Feel free to take off the blindfold."

He untied the blue fabric slowly and let it drop helplessly to the floor where it landed soundlessly. In an awed silence, he took in his surroundings with wide eyes, and his mouth opened and closes uselessly.

The first floor, as it appeared to be, was circular and large enough for fifty apartments the size of his to fit inside and be comfortable. Movie advertisements hung from the nearly invisible ceiling, showing off the titles: RENT, 1984, John Q, Romeo and Juliet, and The Crow. The walls were a light robins' egg blue and the floor was covered in a thick, well taken care of rug of the same color.

Paintings by artists he vaguely remembered as Max Ernst, Monet, Rembrandt, and Van Gough adorned the walls as well as framed quotes. There was, he had to rub his eyes to make sure he hadn't imagined it, an actual stone fireplace with a comfortable armchair, matching the colors of the walls and rug, placed in front of it. In the center of the room was a metallic, circular staircase that wound up into the darkness above it.

"Where are we," he finally asked after a few moments of finding his voice.

"This is Wonderland. My home."

"Okaaay."

She suddenly appeared at his shoulder and he fought the strong urge to recoil from the close proximity. "You can enter any room throughout my home…except for one."

"Yours," he guessed.

She pressed closer to him on impulse, and she craned her head so it was only a few inches away from his neck. Her breath was warm on his flesh, rising goosebumps along his skin, and she whispered, "No, my door's always open. Feel free to come in anytime."

And just before he could say something sensical she pressed her lips against his quickly. He was just about to get into the kiss before she pulled away and ran up the staircase, laughing insanely.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


Sakuma Akito was not known as a man who took things lying down. No, he was someone that would confront the problem, whatever it was, find its weakness, and crush it into oblivion. That was the way he operated and always would. And seeing as he was the leader of an entire country his hands-on approach to life seemed to be working just fine for him.

He was tall and sophistically handsome in the way some older men are. His hair was a thick and healthy black, partly graying at the temples, and tickled the base of his neck. Cold, intelligent blue eyes stared out of a sculpted face with only a few wrinkles at the ends of his eyes hinting at his actual age. His body was the hard lean of an athlete as he had kept up with exercise and diet for years and was clothed in an expensive black suit tailored especially to fit him.

His office in Aetna, the headquarters of the government, was spacious and furnished to the teeth. His desk was oak wood and polished so carefully that it reflected the entire room and his revolving chair was black. A mini-bar was located on the left and in the center of the room was a metallic base in the shape of a circle. The walls were a sea green with a few pictures hanging on them.

With an exasperated look he collapsed into his chair and sighed, "Red Queen."

From the metallic base red computer generated particles floated upwards and molded into the shape of a woman. The hologram woman was beautiful with long flowing hair, a high cheekboned face with long eyelashes and full lips, a slender figure, and wore an elegant looking gown.

"Yes," she answered in an oddly soothing voice for a computer program.

"Contact the Heads of the Departments of Mystery, Law Enforcement, War, and Media and Surveillance. Tell them it's urgent."

The image of the Red Queen disappeared to be replaced by four windows that resembled computer screens and floated in the air next to each other. The next second inside the windows, the backdrop of separate offices appeared with one person behind the desk in each.

"I suppose you all know why I called you here today," spoke Akito, forgoing any words of greeting. "Late last evening a terrorist killed two Spartans and subsequently blew up their base of operations." His eyes narrowed into a glare. "Now please tell me we have at least some idea of just what is going on."

"Permission to speak, sir," replied Takenouchi Sora, the Head of the Department of Mysteries known as Minerva. Sora was notably the only female head of a department in VulcanForge and also the youngest at age twenty-five.

He nodded consent and she continued, "According to my Department's questioning of last night's sole eye witness we have obtained a physical portrait of the terrorist. The terrorist is a masked woman-,"

"A masked woman," snorted twenty-six Kido Jyou, Head of Erinyes, or as it was more commonly known as the Department of Law Enforcement. "What is this? A manga?"

Going on as though she hadn't been interrupted at all, she reported, "Probably in her early to mid-twenties, light almost delicate build, long brown hair, eyes of the same color, and apparently almost inhumanely strong. From this information as well as the fact that our psychologist believes her to be pathologically insane, I would suggest to proceed with the utmost caution."

"My Department can handle it," announced Jyou confidently.

Sora arched an eyebrow. "If you mean your precious Spartans, I'd rethink that if I were you. Seeing as they failed to notice the presence of explosives in their own building."

"Everyone please," interceded Sakuma, cutting off Kido before he could say some rude remark. "If we start fighting amongst ourselves the terrorist will achieve what she wants: chaos."

He titled his head to the right to acknowledge Sohma Kira, Head of Aries the Department of War, and Shindou Ryuichi, Head of Muses the Department of Media and Surveillance.

"Sohma-san, I need you to devise a profile of the tactics of this terrorist, see if you can find some clue to where she'll strike again, as well as monitoring all overseas conflicts. Shindou-san find a way to cover this mess up if you can. Remind the people that they need us."

The two departed without a farewell and he turned back to regard the two youngest officials. "Takenouchi-san I need you to personally investigate this matter and Kido-san you must up the country's level of security. That is all. Japan prevails."

The two repeated his last words and signed off as well, leaving Sakuma all by his lonesome. He swiveled his chair around to stare out the large window overlooking Tokyo and whispered, "I'll show you what terror means."


Footnotes
What Mimi was singing: Mimi was singing a line from the song, "La Vie Boheme B," from the play RENT. This part of the song was used in celebration of a riot partly started by the character Maureen.

Mimi's home: The appearance of Mimi's home serves to purposes in the story. The first is a little of how life used to be like and the second is a promise that it is possible for life to return to what it was.

Wonderland: The reference to the Lewis Carroll book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is to show that her home would be like a wonderland to the submissive, government-abiding populace. It also indicates that Yamato is the "Alice" of the story.

The appearance of Sakuma Akito: I was tired of the old, stereotypical thought that if someone is a villain that they must therefore be ugly. Such as the original view of the Wicked Witch of the West before the book/musical Wicked. It is also a contrast to the god Vulcan, who is very ugly.

Aetna: Mount Aetna in Sicily was supposedly the home of Vulcan's forge.

The Red Queen: The Red Queen was a character in the Lewis Carroll book, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. In the story she challenged Alice to a game of chess with the promise that if Alice won she would be given a throne. After defeating her, Alice wakes up from her "dream".

Minerva: Minerva (Athena) is the goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts.

Erinyes: In mythology the Erinyes were in a group of deities known as Chthonians, who inhabited either earth or the underworld. Also known as Furies, they were female spirits that sought vengeance against mortals who committed specific crimes.

Aries: Aries (Mars) is the god of war.

Muses: The Muses were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory). They each presided over a different art of science.


Author's Notes: That's all for right now. Please read and review. I'll try to update more frequently but that will be somewhat difficult since this story is both my heaviest and the one I have to research the most.