Chapter 56

She was almost there.

Almost.

There.

So close to finding the answer she could taste it. Focused intently on the data comparisons she'd been working on for the last two weeks, She was closing in for the kill. The residue that Minako had helpfully managed to capture had given her a boost in the right direction.

If only Kayura's attempt to get information had yielded more than just basic information. Ami wanted to go there and get readings herself.

She just needed to overcome this stupid gap in her data that was preventing her from getting the whole picture. It only seemed to match an incomplete chunk of recordings she'd taken at some point. But something must have been corrupted, because there was no time stamp on it and no other identifying factors.

The idea that anything could corrupt data on the Mercury computer bothered her a great deal, but she didn't really have time to look into how that might have happened right now. She'd go through her system with a fine-toothed comb later.

She went still as something occurred to her then.

There would have been one point, fairly recently, where she might have started collecting data only to have had her machine scrambled and her collection interrupted.

Ami began a mad search through her files.

Reluctantly, she cross-checked data she'd pulled right before that point – when Rei would have still been making her way across town at the time. When they'd had no idea what was about to happen. The screen flashed, giving her two graphs, side by side. Cringing, she clicked the puzzle piece into her models, and watched as everything concatenated.

Sometimes, she really hated being right.

Her blood turned to ice. Her hands started to tremble. She felt herself hyperventilating, but couldn't really seem to get control of it.

Chaos.

It hadn't succeeded in merging with the cauldron.

So it had done the next best thing. It had merged with whatever it was that had come after them in the Underworld. Because whatever the monster from the Underworld was, it had been able to eat the cauldron.

An entity that could skip dimensions as easily as rifling through a pantry looking for something to eat probably wouldn't have difficulty devouring the heart of an entire dimension.

And with Chaos there, coaching it?

First, get Sailor Moon and the Silver Crystal out of the way. Divide the Senshi. Conquer the Universe.

And then, once the damage had been done, weakened and isolated, the Inner Guardians would have been no trouble to overcome – even with Neo-Queen Serenity and the Silver Crystal.

And then it would have had all the Senshi crystals. And the Silver Crystal.

It was terrifyingly brilliant.

And of course, Chaos would be familiar with them. Would have known how to break them down, break them apart, to leave them helpless to such a powerful assault.

Together, all of them might have made too formidable a force. Maybe it would have been a dark and difficult battle, but they might have stood a chance – especially with Sailor Pluto's ability to work with time and space.

But clueless and separated, they'd been weak.

It hadn't banked on the Samurai Troopers. Chaos didn't know them. Ami imagined that pulling the Troopers in might have been an attempt to peer into this dimension – assess any obstacles to an attack.

She felt her skin crawl.

The fact that the Troopers weren't facing down resurrected past enemies told Ami that Chaos had been driving the pinpoint assault against the Senshi, but that the other entity was blind – clueless.

She despaired as she wondered exactly how much leverage Chaos could give this other monster, and what kind of power the two of them had when they combined.

Ami grabbed at her shirt, tangling her fingers in the material over her heart.

She needed the other Senshi, right now.

Distantly, she heard the door open, but couldn't pry her eyes away from her screen.

It didn't matter how many times she looked at it.

Chaos was back.

It had found a newer, more powerful ally in its quest for darkness and misery.

And now it was spreading into other dimensions.

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Ryo closed the door behind him, pausing on the other side of it as he took in the expression on Ami's face. He'd come in to get her for dinner, but now alarm bells were going off in his brain, his body tensing for a fight even though everything looked normal.

Except for Ami.

She looked terrified.

He'd never seen that expression on her face, but it was scaring the hell out of him. "…Ami?" he tried tentatively.

Her head snapped up, and relief at the sight of him mingled with the fear on her face, kicking him into gear before he even realized his feet were moving. He approached her where she sat slumped over Nasuti's desk, stooping to lean a forearm on its wooden surface and wrapping his free arm around Ami's shoulders.

He frowned, leaning in and peering at her screen.

He wasn't Touma. He had no idea what he was looking at half the time, and this time was no exception. There were a series of boxes with text and odd symbols in them, and lines and arrows connecting them all down the screen. The visual went on further than he could see, and looked complicated as hell.

"Okay…I don't speak computer, so need you to tell me what the problem is," he said in a low voice.

She gestured, helplessly, with one hand at it, opening her mouth. No sound came out for a moment, and he frowned. It was like when he'd first found her in her own Universe and she'd been too stunned – too overcome – to speak. The fact that a bunch of little boxes had reduced her to that same state gave him a terrible feeling in his guts.

When she remained silent, he gently pried the machine out of her hands and turned her chair away from it, so that she was facing him completely. When her head turned, to keep the screen in sight, he gently cupped her cheeks and turned her toward him. She wrapped her hands around his own, but didn't try to pry them away, clinging to him instead as if he were her last breath of air in the vacuum of space. Her fingers were icy, and he moved his hands so that he could take both of hers between his, rubbing to warm them.

"Ami, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong. Please talk to me. What is it?" he plead. Her eyes filled.

"Chaos," she gasped.

Ryo stared at her, his mind blanking for a moment. Chaos like…just…something chaotic? The way she'd said it made it sound more like a title. More like Chaos referred to a thing instead of an idea, like…

He straightened, staring down at her.

Ryo didn't remember a whole lot of the story, because it had been full of a lot of things he hadn't liked. He regretted not paying more attention. Hoping he was off, but needing her to confirm, he cleared his throat and pressed forward.

"Like…Chaos Chaos? Like…the thing Usagi jumped into a giant life-ending cauldron to stop Chaos?" he blurted. She bit her lips and nodded.

Ryo staggered a bit, and she rose, grabbing his hands and tugging him in the opposite direction in an effort to balance him. She tugged too hard, and they ended up in a sprawl in her chair. Ryo righted them, but merely deposited her in his lap and then held on for dear life, not giving a damn about weird emotional barriers or proprietary behavior.

"This isn't…you're not talking about a clone," he said flatly. She shook her head.

"Chaos came back for us," she whispered. Ryo pulled her against him, in a defensive panic.

It couldn't have her. He'd fight to the death to stop it.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears before the door flew open.

"Hey you two! Dinner's getting – Gahh!" Makoto slapped a hand over her eyes comically. "Sorry!" she yelped.

Ami lurched, straightening in his grasp. "Mako-chan!" she gasped. At the sound of her voice, Makoto immediately lowered her hand and came forward.

"Ami-chan, what's the matter?!" She raised her eyes to Ryo's and then back to Ami's taking them both in. "What's happened, what is it?" she breathed. Ami gestured helplessly at her machine.

"It's Chaos, Mako-chan. Chaos is back," she breathed.

Ryo waited for Makoto's optimistic we've got this everything's fine speech.

The Senshi of Jupiter went pale instead. Ryo watched the cheer and warmth drain from her before she clasped her hands in front of her. "I thought I recognized it…the way those attacks felt…"she whispered. "I just didn't think…" she trailed off, her gaze going back to Ami. She knelt, her eye level slightly lower than Mercury's, as she put a light, anxious touch against her arm.

"At least we know now, right?" she said plaintively. Ami nodded, her eyes filling again even as she wiped at them with a wrist.

"Yes", she agreed in a steadier voice. Makoto darted a quick look at Ryo and then her face firmed with a resolve he didn't like.

"We know this enemy at least. And maybe that's why they've been coming after us. We're the only ones who know how Chaos operates. Eliminate us and it eliminates the only thing standing between it and whatever it wants. We're not going to let it have what it wants, Ami," she said firmly.

"Yes, you're right. Now that I know what this is, I can dig in and figure out a new strategy," Ami replied, her voice steadier still. Makoto nodded.

"Right." She rose. "I'll get the other Senshi, and we can talk about what to do now," she said, standing and turning to leave.

"Hang on a sec. Let's all have dinner, ok? I know things are rough, but take a minute," Ryo advised her. She turned, frowning at him, and he fixed her with a look, raising his eyebrow. "The end of the world isn't coming here in the next hour. Do you really think anyone is going to eat if you're all in here talking about something this important? Do you know what Touma is like when he hasn't had any food?" he pressed.

Makoto huffed a small laugh then, bringing the back of her hand to her mouth. "In minutes or hours? That boy has levels of crankiness," she replied with a grin. Ryo chuckled.

"See? Food first. He won't eat if the planning is happening somewhere else, and no one wants to plan with a cranky Touma."

Makoto sighed, but nodded. Ami rose, and for a second, he wanted her back in his arms, but he rose with her instead, and followed the two women as they made their way to the kitchen.

This might be the worst dinner ever, he thought glumly.