THE SECRET COLONY OF YAKUSHIMA
Chapter 10: "Enemy On The Loose"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
As Sailor Uranus neared the clearing where the Research Facility sat, she began to slow up. Caution was the by-word when dealing with an adversary carrying a gun and an unrepentant hatred of humans. The Senshi could feel Cheegah on her shoulder tense up. Up until now, the macaque had ridden listlessly, still absorbed by their previous encounter with Bungah's followers. Uranus was already listening to her own instincts. Cheegah's just confirmed what she was sensing. The Space Sword appeared in her hand.
"Bungah only had four followers, didn't he?" Uranus asked softly. She glanced up at the macaque on her shoulder. The primate nodded. "Then if he's in there, he's only got one backup." Uranus looked the hut over carefully. "You see any sign of a sentry or lookout?"
Cheegah shook her head.
"Then I'm going to go in," Uranus said. Cheegah tightened her grip on the kerchief.
Moving low to the ground, Uranus sprinted to the nearest window. She peeked in and then quickly pulled back. The room from that vantage point seemed empty. Cheegah was sniffing the air for some sign of danger. Easing over to the door, Uranus flipped the hasp and pulled the door open, then pulled back as if expecting shots to be fired. When none came, she eased into the door, sword at the ready. Cheegah crouched low on her shoulder.
The first thing that struck her was the stench of death. A net was on the floor, empty, with a dead macaque laying on top of it. Cheegah flung herself from the Senshi's shoulder and cautiously approached, as if she couldn't comprehend what she was seeing just yet. To the left was another net with another dead macaque inside of it and one resting on top. Uranus stared, trying to puzzle together what had happened.
"You can put your weapon away," she heard Dr. Kuroi say off to her right. "He's gone."
Turning, Uranus saw Dr. Kuroi sitting in a chair. On a table next to her, Gegah lay staring up lifelessly at the ceiling. From the blood on the body, on the table and on Dr. Kuroi, Uranus concluded that the macaque had been shot just like the others. She glanced at Cheegah. The surviving macaque was just sitting in the middle of it all, staring into space.
"How long ago?" the Senshi asked urgently. Kuroi, still distant as if in shock, shrugged. "What happened?" Uranus asked. She had to hear it to believe it.
"He just," Kuroi began numbly, "started shooting."
"Who? Bungah?"
"Gegah and the others had trapped him," Kuroi continued blankly. "Gegah was trying to decide what to do with them. He tried to reason with Bungah, but Bungah wouldn't have it." Kuroi stopped for a moment, like she was replaying the scene in her mind to make certain she hadn't imagined it. "Bungah - - he bit the one holding him down. Kicked him away. Then he just started shooting. Even under the net, he just started spraying bullets everywhere."
"Were you hit?" Uranus asked her.
"He shot the ones trying to hold him down," Kuroi continued mechanically. "He shot the other one. He shot his own partner. He was just firing wildly, like he'd just lost it. Gegah got hit." She swallowed. "And then he turned the gun on me."
"Are you hit?" Uranus persisted.
"What? No," Kuroi replied. "His clip - - he'd emptied his clip by the time he'd gotten to me." She swallowed again. "He kept pulling the trigger and it kept clicking, and he'd just get angrier every time it clicked empty. After about ten clicks, he screeched that he needed more ammunition. Then he threw off the net and ran out the door."
Upon hearing that, Cheegah turned and ran out the door. Uranus thought to call after her, but let her go. Instead she walked over and put her hand on Dr. Kuroi's shoulder.
"I tried to save Gegah," Kuroi sighed. "He was hurt so bad. There was nothing I could do." She sniffed and a tear trickled down her cheek. "He looked up at me and he was so scared. He told me he - - he didn't want to die." Her lip trembled. "And then he died."
"I'm sorry," Uranus murmured. "Gegah only wanted to live in peace. A wish like that shouldn't end, but especially that way."
Kuroi glanced at her and noticed the sincerity in the Senshi's face.
"I suppose you're going to hunt him down," Kuroi observed.
"I can't let him run loose. People will get hurt," Uranus replied. "And I'm the best one qualified to do it."
Just then, they both heard the door creak. Uranus whirled to her feet, the Space Sword appearing in her hand. Kuroi flinched.
"Uranus," Sailor Neptune exclaimed softly, her words dripping with relief and elation.
Uranus said nothing, though the Space Sword disappeared. As Sailor Venus entered, Neptune began walking toward her love. It was a steady pace up until the last two steps. Then it quickened and ended with her nearly leaping to Uranus. Uranus opened her arms and caught Neptune against her. Their mouths sought each other and out flooded all of their worry and passion, anxiety and ardor, fear and love. Dr. Kuroi looked on, amazed by how different Uranus seemed. Venus stood by the door and smiled.
"Hey, get a room, you two," Venus quipped as the embrace continued oblivious to time, space and anyone watching. Finally the two lovers parted.
"Neptune, I," Uranus began, the confident warrior gone and replaced by a desperate, uncertain quandary rejected by most society she'd previously known. "I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Don't be," sniffed Neptune, her eyes tearing with the faded fears that she would be once again alone and condemned to rote and cold and regimentation. "I'm just happy that you're alive and in my arms again." Her head came to rest on her true one's shoulder.
"We have to go," Uranus said finally. Neptune's head perked up reluctantly. "The danger's not over yet."
"So you are going after him?" Dr. Kuroi asked. Uranus looked at Neptune, silently asking about whether she was coming. Neptune silently assured Uranus she was.
"Who is him?" Venus demanded. "Just what's been going on out here?"
"Kuroi-Sensei will fill you in," Uranus replied. "After you have the story, contact Yakushima and let them know where Kuroi-Sensei is. But don't tell them what happened here. Don't tell anyone - - except Artemis and Luna, I guess." She thought for a moment, poised at the door with Neptune. "And see if you can get rid of these macaque bodies. They'd cause too many questions." Uranus glanced at Neptune. Neptune nodded and in a moment the pair were out the door and into the night.
Venus looked Dr. Kuroi over and judged she was in no shape to do what had to be done. Gingerly Venus walked over to the body on the table.
"Ewww," Venus scowled as she cradled the lifeless form off the table and held it away from her.
In Darwin, three figures hovered over a fourth in bed. Endymion sat on the edge of the bed. Makoto and Ami stood by the door. In the bed, Serenity slept while Endymion held her hand. His presence seemed to calm the exhausted Queen. Contact did even more.
"Still sleeping like a baby," Makoto sighed softly. "How is she looking, Ames? You understand those monitors better than I do."
"Her blood pressure is still shallow," Ami judged. "But it's up from where it was. Pulse is still a little rapid."
"That might be Endymion's fault," Makoto joked. She received a smile from the King for her effort. "Oh my, look," and Makoto pointed to the sleeping Queen. Ami looked where she was directed and saw Serenity beginning to drool on her pillow. "It's true. I thought Blondie was just kidding about that."
"That's a state secret now," Endymion playfully warned them. "Revealing that will be considered an act of treason."
"You're lucky Blondie hasn't taken a picture of it and posted it to the net," chuckled Makoto.
"She tried," Endymion replied.
After a few minutes, Makoto softly tapped Ami's shoulder. "Think it'll be OK to leave her alone for a few hours? I'd like to call the kids and then get some sleep."
"It should be fine," Ami nodded. "This hospital has a very competent staff of nurses and medical techs."
"And I don't plan on leaving," Endymion added. "I'll let you both know if something happens. Get some rest. And thank you for your efforts on her behalf."
They were about to leave. Ami took one last look at Serenity and saw her eyes snap open suddenly. Her gasp of shock alerted the other two.
"Serenity?" Endymion inquired, hovering over her while he grasped her hand.
"They found her," Serenity said, a wide grateful grin sprouting on her face.
"Who?" Makoto asked.
"Haruka," Serenity said joyously. "Michiru found her. She's alive." Tears began to dribble down the Queen's cheeks.
"You sensed this?" Ami asked. Serenity nodded, her smile ear to ear.
"Told you she was too tough to die," Makoto gently chided.
"Oh, Endymion, it's so wonderful! I was so afraid - - afraid something was going to happen to her. Afraid for her - - and afraid for Michiru. She'd be so crushed without Haruka." Serenity started to rise up out of bed. "Can we call her? I want to talk to her! I want to find out if she's really all right and hear everything that happened!"
"Let's let her get out of the jungle and back to civilization first," Endymion advised his wife. "You can talk to her as soon as she's settled. Meanwhile, you need to lay back down and conserve your strength."
"All right," moaned the Queen. Her eyelids drifted closed. "But I don't know how you expect me to sleep now."
Within two minutes, Serenity was asleep again.
"Macaques as intelligent as humans," Neptune wondered out loud as she and Uranus ran through the jungle. Uranus had just told her everything that had happened during her adventure in the wilds of Yakushima. "Is there nothing humanity won't try to remake in its own image?"
"I doubt this is what that biologist intended," Uranus offered. "Still makes you wonder if some things just shouldn't be messed with." They ran on. Uranus was beginning to tire, even with her senshi stamina, but didn't say anything to Neptune. "Any movement from Bungah? I don't want to lose him and it's pretty easy to get lost in the jungle at night."
"I'll scan with the mirror again," Neptune replied, coming to a stop so she could consult the Deep Aqua Mirror again. Using it just outside of the Research Facility had put them on the fugitive macaque's trail in the first place. "If he's as dangerous as you say, I don't want to lose him either." She glanced at Uranus with a mischievous smirk. "And it'll give you a chance to catch your breath."
"Not me," Uranus said between pants. "You're the one who looks winded."
Neptune briefly went into a trance and gazed into the mirror. Uranus looked around cautiously, ready for an attack from anything at any time. Though the only predators were poisonous snakes, aside from a macaque with a gun, Uranus remained stubbornly ready.
"He hasn't moved," Neptune said, racing forward as she allowed the mirror to disappear. Uranus moved to catch her. "He's still at that mound of rocks he built to hide his bullet magazines. From what I observed, he doesn't want to leave any of them behind, but he doesn't have any workable means of carrying them."
"That's good," Uranus nodded, now even with her and running as three-quarter speed so she could keep up. "I don't want to have to chase one macaque all over this jungle."
"That's also bad," Neptune warned. "With that store of ammunition, he'll be at his strongest and most dangerous."
"Nothing in life's easy," grunted Uranus.
The pair continued on through the jungle. Occasionally they would spot the remnant of a bird or small animal who had seen or heard them coming and fled from their path. So far, the worst deterrent to their mission was the thick foliage of the jungle itself.
"So Neptune," Uranus began, "why didn't you use the Mirror to see if I was OK instead of putting yourself through all of that anxiety?"
"I," Neptune began, thankful that it was dark and Uranus couldn't see her cheeks flushing, "couldn't - - make it respond. I wasn't able to concentrate enough."
"But now you can," Uranus glanced over and smiled.
"Now I can," Neptune answered, smiling warmly herself.
The reunited lovers plunged deeper into the jungle.
"Well that was less than fun," Venus muttered as she entered the metal hut the researchers had been using. She had finished carrying the dead macaques out of the hut, laying their bodies in bushes for lack of a better alternative. Venus wanted to be respectful, but there were more important concerns.
"Sorry I," Dr. Kuroi offered softly, still anxious about the entire ordeal, "didn't help."
"Don't worry," Venus shrugged. "With what you've been through, I wasn't expecting it. I imagine this whole trip has been one gigantic nightmare that you'd rather forget - - except for meeting me, of course."
Kuroi smiled in spite of herself. Venus watched her, though not too intently so as not to make her uncomfortable. The woman was bearing up under the trauma she'd suffered, but there were still signs.
"You're nothing like Sailor Uranus," Kuroi said finally.
"I know. She's taller. I'm more gorgeous. It's a trade-off," Venus shrugged. "And Uranus takes a little longer to get to know." With Kuroi a little more at ease, Venus felt she could start probing. "So is this monkey with the gun that big of a threat? Is he just a loose cannon - - so to speak - - or does he seem to have a plan?"
"He had a plan," Kuroi reflected. "I'm not sure how good it was. Five macaques with guns carving out a homeland in the jungle and threatening any human who gets near them. But even that seemed to disappear. It's like the violence was in the gun and the longer he held it, the more it seemed to possess him. I wish I knew what brush he had with humanity that made him hate us so much."
"Could be the shock of suddenly gaining human level intellect was too much for him to handle emotionally," Venus proposed. "In my line of work, you see your share of loonies and megalomaniacs. Emotional growth is just as important as intellectual growth."
Kuroi stared in surprised.
"Just because I act like a bimbo sometimes doesn't mean I am one," Venus smirked. "A lot of that is for effect. You'd be amazed as how much you see when people think you're too stupid to figure them out."
"I'm beginning to wonder if my initial judgments of all of you Sailor Senshi was wrong," Kuroi murmured. "Every time I think I've got you Senshi figured out, you surprise me. Sailor Uranus - - there's a great example. I thought she was gruff and callous, and didn't care about anyone but herself. But the way she was with Sailor Neptune . . ." Kuroi grew silent. "Have they been together long?"
"Long as I've known them," smiled Venus. "They got together in high school and they're as rock solid as any couple I've seen, even the King and Queen." Venus eased back against a wall. "Thing you have to know about Uranus is that she does have a soft side. She just had to hide it for a long time, to keep people from destroying it. Neptune was the first one to coax it out into the open." She sighed. "Yeah, they're pretty much inseparable. And take it from someone who is an expert at destroying relationships, they're going to be inseparable for a long time. Unless one of them does something colossally stupid - - again speaking from experience."
The sound of an approaching helicopter cut off more of the conversation. Dr. Kuroi sprang from her seat and, accompanied by Venus, ventured outside the hut. Landing in the clearing by the research shelter was a Self-Defense Force UH-60J helicopter. Ducking beneath the overhead rotor blades, Venus and Dr. Kuroi were met by a JSDF air rescue sergeant.
"Kuroi-Sensei?" the sergeant asked. "I've been instructed to give you any assistance you need. Are you in immediate distress or can you wait and be seen by a hospital physician?"
"I can wait. Just," she sighed, "get me back to civilization." As the soldier helped her into the helicopter, Kuroi turned back to Venus. "What about Sailor Uranus and Neptune?"
"We'll handle it. We're the pros," Venus smiled confidently. Then she leaned in. "Uh, and we'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about this just yet, OK?"
Kuroi gave her a suspicious look. Finally she relented and climbed into the helicopter. Venus moved back to the metal hut and watched the copter lift off and head for Yakushima airport. Once it was gone, she engaged her senshi communicator.
"That was Venus," Neptune said as the two Senshi cautiously made their way toward the small clearing and the rock-covered cache of ammunition. "She says Kuroi-Sensei was airlifted back to Yakushima by the JSDF."
"Good," Uranus nodded. "She's been through a lot."
Uranus stopped. Neptune stopped with her. She crouched when Uranus crouched. They didn't move for the longest time. The stack of rocks that hid the ammunition clips was visible nearly thirty yards ahead.
"Looking for the macaque?" Neptune whispered.
"Yeah," Uranus whispered back. "I don't see him. That's when he's the most dangerous." She made several darting glances around them.
"Maybe he's abandoned his stash for now," Neptune suggested.
"Maybe," Uranus replied.
Above them, high in a tree, Bungah looked down on the humans he despised, and on the one human he had come to despise the very most. His pistol pointed down at them, the gun held in both paws as he balanced in the tree. With mounting anticipation, he took aim.
Continued in Chapter 11
