Tall, lean and undoubtedly male, he wore a scowl on a face topped by hair that might have been twisted coils of wire and what appeared to be a skin-tight rubber suit on his well-muscled frame. Unusual, definitely, but nothing particularly shocking.
It was the four arms that made Mars and Jupiter gasp, just a little.
Their torpor quickly passed. They had encountered too many strange monsters in their time as soldiers to be stupefied by a mere surplus of limbs. Adopting defensive stances, the pair faced the arrival and Mars asked the obvious question.
"Who are you?"
The figure looked slowly from Mars to Jupiter and back again before responding in a voice like crackling electricity: "Which of you is Mercury?"
The pair exchanged a glance. Without a doubt, he was one of the villains planning to destroy Tokyo. Mars could feel waves of violence and greed emanating from him, washing over her and chilling her to the bone. She had felt it too many times before: the unmistakable aura of evil. He must have learned Mercury's name through Shynkon's communication with her and now had come to stop her rescue attempt.
They couldn't allow that to happen.
"She isn't here," replied Mars, "but we speak on her behalf."
"And you two are?" crackled the creature.
"Sailor-suited pretty soldier of love and passion, Sailormars."
"Soldier of love and courage, Sailorjupiter."
The creature nodded, loops of wire hair twisting like snakes. "I'm Gauge," he said by way of introduction, "technician of the Sankyzo. You said you were allies of Mercury?"
The Sailor Soldiers' expressions remained unmoved as Gauge's four hands began to contort and change shape, their jaws set and eyes hard, preparing for the battle they knew was to follow. They watched as the hands were replaced by an array of tools a technician might well employ: a hammer; a saw; a drill; a screwdriver. Implements that could also be used to maim and kill when placed in the wrong hands.
Flexing these new appendages, Gauge's face broke into a malevolent grin.
"Then I'll find her after I kill you."
Floor after floor after floor.
Mercury and Venus had searched every floor they had encountered during their ascent through the DenTech building, but each one had been dark and deserted, with no sign of activity since the company's closure. There was only a single floor left to search now: the top floor.
"This must be it," reasoned Mercury as they paused for breath at the top of the wide staircase. "The alien signal is definitely coming from somewhere in this building and the top floor is logically the easiest place to defend."
"Guess we can expect more traps, then," said Venus, giving her a half-smile.
"Most likely."
Taking the lead, Venus pulled open the door. They were immediately rewarded as the bright light within spilled across the dark stairwell. Somebody was home. Cautiously, they stepped through the doorway. Before them was a laboratory occupied by computers arranged in neat rows across the length of the room. In the corners stood taller machines that Mercury identified as more powerful supercomputers, ostensibly used in whatever research DenTech had been carrying out. On one wall stood a set of elevator doors.
"Could it be?"
The pair span around at the sound of the voice, ready for anything. Its owner stood on the other side of the room. With his handsome features and wavy, sun-yellow hair, he could have been one of the teen idols whose posters adorned the walls of Venus' bedroom. A black rubber suit stretched over his trim frame, his posture casual, as if he'd been expecting them to arrive at any moment. He smiled disarmingly at them.
"Could you be Mercury?" His voice was smooth and collected, his tone polite.
"Who wants to know?" asked Venus, taking a step towards him, placing herself between the cute boy and her friend.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "How rude of me. I'm Shynkon."
Despite outnumbering their opponent two to one, Mars and Jupiter were finding Gauge to be more than a handful. Four times more, in fact. With his quartet of limbs undulating like live, severed cables, it was difficult even to get close to him.
The unspoken plan seemed simple enough: one of them was to dominate his attention while the other launched an attack at his unguarded rear. Taking the former role, Mars ducked and dodged as all four arms lashed at her. Jupiter stood behind them, forgotten for the moment, waiting for her opportunity to strike.
Mars almost flinched as the sharp point of the screwdriver arm whipped by her face. Another strike followed, and another, each missing by mere inches as she calmly anticipated his movements and positioned her own body accordingly. Gauge's black eyes were clouding with anger, his movements becoming more frantic as his frustration grew. This was exactly what they had intended. "Stay still!" he hissed, his last remnant of patience eroded.
His knees bent slightly.
Mars was ready as he dived at her, all four arms raised to deliver a fatal blow. She threw herself to one side, landing on her shoulder and rolling back to her high heels in one fluent motion. Gauge's landing was not quite so graceful. He impacted the metal floor with such force that shockwaves rattled the girls' ankles. Two of his weapons, the drill and the screwdriver, sank through the steel and became embedded in the ground. As he struggled to tear them free, Jupiter saw her chance.
A wordless cry of exertion escaped her throat as she placed her hands together and willed her power into their palms. A ball of electricity appeared between them, fizzing and sparking violently. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" she called as she threw back an arm and hurled the ball at the still-engaged Gauge with all of her considerable might, a bowler with a surplus of strength and enthusiasm. The thunderous orb tore through the air and crashed into Gauge before he even knew it was coming.
And dispersed harmlessly.
"What the-" is all Jupiter could say as Gauge finally pulled his tools free and turned to face them, the unhinged grin on his face wider than ever. He patted his narrow chest with the head of his hammer. "What can I say?" he cackled. "I'm a grounded individual."
"Rubber skin," Jupiter realised. "Damn it."
"It's my job to install the G-Shack," he informed her. "You wouldn't believe the electricity flowing through that thing. Makes your little party trick there look like a lightning bug."
"The G-Shack?" asked Mars. Gauge nodded. His expression became a rough approximation of modesty as he told them, "I just do the physical installation, mind. The programming is handled by our little friend up on the top floor."
"You mean-"
"Yeah, him. Shynkon."
"Shynkon-san?"
Could it really be him? Looking at him, with his effortless good looks and charming smile, Mercury wanted to believe so. She stepped forward to stand level with Venus. "Mercury-chan," said the blonde, leaning closer to her and speaking in a loud whisper, "he's gorgeous! Go introduce yourself!"
Mercury took a nervous swallow and walked towards him. Almond-shaped brown eyes locked onto her, looking her up and down with an expression that might have been lascivious on the wrong face. She took it as appreciative and, she conceded, felt the same way herself. His smile widened as she extended her hand to him and stammered, "I-I'm Mercury."
"Mercury," he said softly, taking her hand in his. "You're really Mercury?"
She nodded. "Sailor-suited pretty soldier of love and intelligence, Sailormercury." She smiled sheepishly. "A-actually."
"I'm the soldier of love and beauty, Sailorvenus!" piped up Venus from behind them, giving him a wink and a wave. He regarded her in silence for a moment before returning his full attention to Mercury. "I hoped you'd come. I've been so afraid." He squeezed her gloved hand softly and, to her slight shame, she found herself wishing she could feel his skin against hers. "Akeega told me to finish preparing the G-Shack tonight," he told her, "ahead of schedule. But now that you're here, we can escape!"
"Akeega? The G-Shack?"
He nodded quickly. "I'll explain later. There are more important things to do right now." His eyes left hers and drifted downwards, lingering on her lips. She licked them nervously. "T-there are?" Her pulse quickened as he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. "There are," he said in a moist voice. "Much more important." Her heart threatened to punch a hole in her chest as his face drew nearer to her own.
He was going to kiss her.
Her first kiss.
She had often wondered what it would be like and who she would share it with. It had been the climax of many a comfortable dream and the subject of poems so secret even her friends would never lay eyes upon them. The details had always been a heat haze, unclear for all their warmth, but there was one thing she was sure of: when the time was right, she would know it. She would want it more than anything. It would just feel right.
That time wasn't now.
He frowned slightly as she turned her face away from his. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's too soon." Behind her, she heard a rush of expelled air as Venus allowed herself to breathe again. Mercury shrugged her shoulders, expecting him to release his grip on them.
She gasped with pain and surprise as his strong fingers dug into her shoulder blades.
"Too soon?" he asked, his mouth still only inches from hers. His voice had hardened along with his grip, its former warmth now cold and sharp. She looked back into his eyes and was frightened by what she saw there: a spiteful rage and what she wanted to believe wasn't raw, animalistic lust. "Akeega could find us and kill us at any moment, and you say it's too soon?"
"Please, stop," Mercury asked. Tears stung her eyes and she fought to hold them back. She could cry later, when the mission was over and she was alone in her room. "You're hurting me."
"What the heck are you doing?!" That was Venus' voice, and a moment later the pressure on Mercury's shoulders was lifted as her friends' gloved hands pulled her free of his grasp. Venus took her place, standing almost nose-to-nose with him, soft blue eyes hardened with anger. "You can't treat her like that!"
"Perhaps you'd like to be treated like that instead?" He grinned, exposing both rows of perfect white teeth. "Blue or blonde, it's all the same to me." He didn't react as Venus slapped him across the face, leaving five red streaks across his cheek. "That's the most you'll get from me," she told him vehemently, shaking the ache from her throbbing hand. "I can't believe I missed vocal practice to come rescue you! You're nothing like we thought you'd be."
It was true, Mercury thought sadly. He didn't have a thing in common with the intelligent, sensitive Shynkon she had spoken to earlier that very evening.
Not a thing...
"Shynkon-san?" she asked, aiming her question at him like the crosshair of a rifle. "What does zugzwang mean?"
He thought for a moment, frowning, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me," he replied dismissively. "I only bothered to learn Japanese."
At the opposite end of the building, Jupiter and Mars battled on.
"I've had about enough of this!" seethed Jupiter as she dodged yet another flailing limb. Ordinarily as sweet-natured and peaceful as they came, she had a harsh temper when provoked, and provocation was precisely what Gauge was giving her. As he launched a fresh volley of attacks in her direction, she stepped neatly to one side, deftly dodging three of the four arms. The final arm, its drill appendage whirring threateningly, she caught in one strong hand. Curling her other hand into a fist, she drove it forward and connected squarely with her foe's jaw.
She hoped her hand wasn't broken, but it sure felt like it was.
Mars watched with astonishment as Jupiter stumbled backwards, nursing her bruised fist with her other hand and swearing under her breath. "He's made of metal," she informed Mars between clenched teeth. "Looks like I found out the hard way."
"Sorry 'bout that," said Gauge. "I must have forgotten to mention it."
"We're all full of surprises," replied Mars, deciding to give him one of her own. Summoning the fiery power of her guardian planet, she traced a circle of flame in the air with the tip of her index finger and concentrated her thoughts on the nine seals of the kuji no in. "Burning Mandala!" she cried, and placing her hands in front of her, sent sizzling rings of fire tearing towards him. He threw himself to the ground to avoid them, but the effort came too late. Several of the scorching rings missed... but two tore through his upper pair of arms, severing them both at the elbow. They dropped uselessly to the floor with a muffled clang. His two stumps spitting sparks like stubborn fireworks, Gauge screeched like a dial-up modem. His two remaining arms – the hammer and the drill – thrashed violently.
"You'll pay to have them reattached!" he roared, and with alarming speed he lunged at her. Mars circled around him, waiting for the chance to use her attack again and render him completely powerless. They had him on the defensive now!
Back-pedalling briskly, her eyes widened with surprise as her foot connected with something, and before she could regain her balance she was crashing to the hard floor, her tailbone absorbing the full force of the impact and sending a jagged jolt of pain shooting up her spine. The first thing she saw when she looked up were Gauge's severed arms sitting motionlessly beside one of her red high heels. In her rush to distance herself from her angry opponent, she had completely forgotten about them.
The second thing she saw was Gauge himself, towering over her, his two surviving limbs poised to strike. "Let's see how you like it," he rasped. "You can tell me how it feels."
"Mars!"
The sound of Jupiter's boots pounding closer.
A moment later, it was drowned out by the hungry whine of the drill.
Anger and relief wrestled for dominance within Sailormercury's mind.
She settled with anger. For now.
"You're not Shynkon-san," she announced to the handsome imposter. "You're one of his captors!" She was proven right as the stranger clapped his hands together slowly, a round of applause laden with sarcasm. "Well done, genius girl," he said in a voice every bit as condescending. "You saw through my disguise. No, I'm not your darling Shynkon-san." He spat out the honorific as if the very taste of it offended him.
"Then who are you?" ventured Venus.
He rolled his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm the leader of the Sankyzo. Name's Akeega."
"Then you're the one behind all this!" said Mercury accusingly. "You're the one planning to destroy Tokyo, and you're the one forcing Shynkon-san to help you!"
"That's correct," replied Akeega proudly. "In fact, you've arrived just in time. If dearest Shynkon-san knows what's good for him, he'll be finishing the preparations for the G-Shack any minute now. You can stand and watch as your precious Tokyo becomes another of my profits."
Profits? Mercury wasn't sure she wanted to know what he meant by that, but she would find out regardless. It would be her second question, right after...
"Shynkon-san... where is he?"
She had expected refusal. She had expected another malicious lie. She hadn't expected Akeega to throw back his head and laugh. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" he giggled. "He's been right here in the room this whole time!"
Mercury knew better than to look away from him. "I don't believe you," she said. "If he were here, we would have seen him. We would have heard him."
"Oh, but you can see him!" laughed Akeega. "He's right there in the corner! True, you can't hear him, but only because I silenced him!"
Silenced him?
"Oh, don't worry, he's not dead!" said Akeega, reading the horror in Mercury's eyes. "Let's just say I 'gagged' him for a while. Didn't want him spoiling my fun, after all. I'll remove the gag now. Go ahead, Shynkon-san. Say hello to your girlfriend!"
The seconds trickled by like hours as Mercury waited for a response.
"Shynkon-san?" she asked, her voice sounding timid to her own ears, and for a long moment she was convinced she had been the victim of another of Akeega's cruel jokes.
Then he replied.
"Mercury-san," he said, and his voice was courteous and kind, just like she had imagined. It sounded distant, as if he were not in the room with them but speaking from somewhere else. "I am so pleased to meet you. I am sorry it must be in such dire circumstances."
"'Dire circumstances'," chuckled Akeega. "This is too much."
"Shynkon-san?" asked Mercury, stepping towards the sound of the voice. Scanning the corners of the room, she could see nothing but the tall supercomputers they had seen on the way in. She stopped with her back to one of them and called out "Where are you? I can't see you."
"I'm right behind you," said Shynkon, startling her. His voice was practically beside her ear. She span around, her mind full of possibilities. What would he look like? Would he be tall? Would he have dark eyes and sandy hair? Would he be smiling?
The blank face of a computer stared back at her.
"Hello," it said. "I'm sorry I startled you."
It was then that Mercury noticed where his voice was coming from.
It was coming from a small speaker on the computer's steel surface.