THE SPECTER OF SUTŌKĀ
Chapter 8: "Pariah"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
The wind began to swirl in a circular fashion beside the Otome Road. At first no one took notice of it, intent upon their destinations. But as the whirlwind grew, it was something that couldn't be ignored. Some drivers gawked. Others pulled over to watch. The whirlwind reached a crescendo and then dissipated, revealing Queen Serenity and her four Inner Senshi. Among those who stopped to watch, a murmur of excitement grew.
The Senshi looked around in growing confusion, except for Sailor Mercury. Instantly her visor was up and her computer was out, scanning the area.
"Is this the right place?" Jupiter asked.
"It's where Artemis sent us," Venus replied.
"You suppose Uranus has already passed?"
"I'm not getting any sense of any supernatural residue," Mars told them. "If I had to guess, I'd say they haven't made it this far yet."
"Maybe Uranus managed to stop the truck and is kicking the snot out of Inken as we speak," smirked Venus.
"Venus, respond!" the white cat growled over her communicator.
"Talk to me," Venus said into the communicator.
"You're off by about four blocks east of your current location," the cat reported. "While you were transporting, Uranus made a couple of turns off the Otome Road."
"Inken must have been trying to lose her," Venus surmised. As they spoke, Mercury turned her computer and visor in the proper direction.
"Yes, I have the palace limousine now," Mercury reported. "It seemed to have stopped. Perhaps Uranus has managed to . . ."
Suddenly Serenity stiffened and loudly sucked in air. Everyone turned to her and saw the wide-eyed expression on her face. The Queen shot out her hands and everyone felt their energy shifting. One moment they were on the Otome Road. The next they were on a residential side street. After taking a moment to reconfigure their wits and adjust to new surroundings, everyone focused on the black limousine parked in the curb lane. Then they saw the blue boots sticking out from the front end.
"URANUS!" gasped Serenity.
She was by the Outer Senshi's side in a second, closely followed by Mercury. As Mercury knelt next to the woman to tend to her, the other three ran up. Residents were gathering around to look at the famous Senshi in action.
"Look," Venus pointed out. "Uranus is drenched. Almost like she got hit with Deep Submerge." She turned to Mars. "Does this doohickey let Inken use Neptune's Senshi attacks?"
"Apparently," Mars replied.
"Apparently?" Venus persisted. "Don't you know?"
"Not off the top of my head!" Mars shot back. "This talisman is Chinese in origin. Ask me about Japanese mythology and I can answer down to minutiae. I've only got a passing knowledge of Chinese mythology." She stopped and thought a moment. "It would make sense. If a mage captured a rival mage in the Wawa Long, they'd want access to the rival's power."
"Wonderful," sighed Jupiter. "How is she, Mercury?"
"Given that Serenity is funneling healing energy to her surreptitiously," Mercury said, causing the Queen to blush, "I would estimate that she'll survive. I don't scan any broken bones. She may have suffered a mild concussion since she clearly impacted with the car grill. I won't know for certain until she regains consciousness."
"Meanwhile, Inken is gone. He was headed south. Suppose he's still headed south?"
"Probably," Venus replied. "Unless he got spooked by Uranus and changed destinations."
"It probably depends on where he was originally headed and how important that destination is to him," Mars judged. "And before you ask, no, I can't trace the supernatural aura of the Wawa Long. It's too faint."
"Man, I get tired of you always reading me," muttered Venus.
Just then, Uranus began to stir. She tried to regain her feet, but Mercury held her back. Uranus looked at her in confusion.
"I want to check that you're not injured," Mercury told her.
"Doesn't matter," grimaced Uranus. "He's getting away!"
"Do you have any ringing in your ears?" Mercury persisted. "Blurred vision? Headaches?"
"Nah! I know what a concussion feels like, Mercury!" groused Uranus. "Believe me, I've just got a sore back from hitting the grill."
Nodding, Mercury let Uranus get to her feet. Uranus stared down the street in frustration, desperately trying to see Inken's truck.
"Hey, Artemis," Venus said into her communicator. "Looks like we lost Inken again. Any chance of picking him up again on the traffic cameras?"
"Already engaged," the white cat replied.
"Given the top speed Inken might engage in to escape as fast as possible without drawing the attention of the police, I would suggest you concentrate your search on Ebisu and Meguro," Mercury called out. "However, don't neglect Hiroo or Naka Meguro, in case he has altered course."
"Makes sense," they heard Artemis say to someone else, probably Luna.
"So what now?" Jupiter asked. "Do we head back to the palace?"
"I'm going to keep looking," Uranus said. "If you want the limo, I'll get a ride-share or something."
"If it's all right," Serenity ventured shyly, "I'd like to help you look. I want to find Michiru-San almost as much as you do. And if we do run into Inken-San again, maybe I can shield you from Neptune's attacks."
Uranus smiled at the diminutive Queen. "Glad to have you, Dumpling." Her smile turned into a smirk. "But I'M driving. No offense."
"You're the one who taught me," Serenity grumbled. She turned to the others.
"The Wawa Long is mystical in nature," Mars spoke up. "You might need me."
"And I can try hacking into the traffic cameras to assist Artemis in his search," Mercury said, stepping forward.
"I'm supposed to guard you, Serenity," Jupiter said. "Where you go, I go."
"And I NEVER turn down a limo ride," Venus grinned. Happily everyone climbed into the limo and it was quickly on its way.
It was a tense half hour, but Yami Inken finally left the border of Tokyo without further incident and continued south. He altered his course to avoid Yokohama and remain in the countryside. Out here, he was less likely to run into police.
From her perch on the dashboard, Michiru sat and watched the country road unfold. It was a two lane road with wheat fields on either side, the fields now fallow in the winter. She noted that, in addition to avoiding cities like Yokohama, Inken was also avoiding the toll highways. If she had any luck, and so far it had all been bad, the police or the Senshi were keeping tabs on more than just the toll highways. Unsurprisingly, Inken sought the most anonymous trail to wherever he was heading.
Moments later they were in a small village. It was little more than a store, a restaurant, a post office and a fuel station, as well as a few small residences. There wasn't even a station for the train.
"I wasn't even aware places like this still existed," Michiru thought. "It might make a good subject to photograph - - once I'm out of this situation."
That was Michiru. She had long since realized that she had no means of escaping or affecting the box. She couldn't even reach the corners since she was held to the wooden throne in the center. But just because she couldn't control her situation, a fact that irritated her beyond comprehension, it didn't mean she'd given up hope. She trusted Serenity. She trusted the other Senshi. Most of all, she trusted Haruka. Without knowing what they were doing, she knew they were applying all of their abilities to finding her and returning her to her life.
A life she had frankly taken for granted before.
The truck pulled up to the fuel station. Inken got out and disappeared around the back. Glancing out of the rear view mirror, Michiru saw him put the pump nozzle in the truck's tank and begin to fuel up. She glanced at the station. It was little more than a convenience store that sold beverages, a small line of groceries, and some auto accessories. Several people were in the shop. Michiru longed to call out to them, but knew that her voice wouldn't carry past the walls of the box. If only there were some way to signal someone.
"Inken?" she heard someone say.
Looking in the mirror again, Michiru saw a man, clearly a local and about her captor's age, taking with him. From his body language, Michiru could tell that her captor - - the man had called him 'Inken" - - was not happy to see him. She wondered if he was afraid of being identified to anyone pursuing them or if these two had a history. Though Inken's responses were gruff and single-word, the other man persisted in chatting him up. Finally Inken replaced the gas hose and headed for the truck cab. The other man followed.
"So are you moving back?" the man asked as Inken got in. "I guess things didn't work out in Tokyo, then?"
Michiru tried to wave to him, but he didn't notice her. For his part, Inken engaged the truck and pulled out of the station.
"Same old Inken," Michiru heard the man exclaim.
It was an innocent exchange. The man clearly had no idea what Inken had done or where he was headed. But it gave Michiru some insight into the man who had abducted her. Perhaps she could use it somehow. As the truck continued on south, Michiru stared up at Inken, studying him, trying to puzzle out not only what he intended for them, but why.
The limousine had returned to the palace. Once the time calculated by Sailor Mercury that it would have taken to leave the city at normal speed had arrived and neither she nor Artemis had gotten any hits on the traffic cameras, Mars suggested they call off cruising around hoping they'd get lucky. Once back in the palace, the Senshi headed directly for the shrine to put her powers to work.
"Oba-san!" Rei called out as she entered the shrine.
"Yes, Rei-Chan," the elderly-looking woman said, entering from one of the inner rooms.
"I don't know if anyone told you, but one of my friends has been abducted," Rei told her. "And the culprit used a Wawa Long to do it."
"So!" Moriko reacted with surprise. "I was not aware such things still existed. What would you have me do?"
"I need to ask the gods if they can grant me any insight on where this person is or how he can be stopped," Rei said. "I need you to do any research you can think of. Find anything that's known about them."
"I shall consult all of the ancient texts I am aware of," Moriko replied. "But I am limited to that. Your 'internet' still baffles me."
"That's OK. Ami's checking that."
"I shall begin immediately," Moriko said, then hesitated. "Though perhaps it would be more prudent to offer a prayer for insight to Great Inari first. There is nothing she does not know, praise be her name. And if she is in a giving mood . . ."
"Every little bit helps, Oba-san," smiled Rei.
So as the kitsune in disguise set about her task, Rei began mental preparations to once again ask the gods for favors. Unbidden, the thought occurred to her that one day they might get tired of her asking.
Meanwhile Sailor Uranus continued searching the area of southern Tokyo and south of the city. Driving the Reventon, the Senshi kept her eyes on the road, but her ears perked for any communication that might come from Artemis.
"So what's his destination?" puzzled Uranus. "He's headed south. Is it Yokohama? Yokohama is a pretty big haystack to search. But if it isn't, he's probably avoiding the toll roads and sticking to the country roads." She thought a moment. "What to choose?"
Just then, an inspiration struck the woman. Quickly she engaged her communicator while maintaining the Reventon's course.
"Artemis!" barked Uranus. "Can you pick up a GPS signal with that set-up of yours?"
"Maybe," replied the cat. "Unless it's shielded or something. What GPS did you have in mind?"
"Those rental trucks all have GPS signals so the rental company can track them and retrieve them if necessary," Uranus outlined. "Can you pick up Inken's truck from its GPS signal?"
"I'll need to hack into the rental company's system," Artemis mumbled. "Good thing I have the truck's license plate. Give me a little time."
"Call me if you find it," Uranus told him.
With no other lead open to her, Uranus swung left at the next exit and headed for Yokohama. Given that she'd just left the city hours ago was an irony not lost on her. But once thought of, it was quickly shoved aside. For now, her concentration was on finding that truck.
The truck pulled into the driveway of a farm house. Michiru looked it over. The place was somewhat picturesque, if a little old and shabby. From the looks of it, the house was still lived in. She wondered who Inken had run to. Who did he know out here in the country?
Inken got out, then reached over and plucked the box off of the dash. He slipped it into his pocket and Michiru was hit with a fleeting feeling of claustrophobia. It felt like Inken was walking, probably up to the farm house. That feeling of utter helplessness fell over her again and Michiru tried to throw it off. She absolutely hated feeling this way.
"Yami?" she heard a woman's voice say.
"Hi, Mom," Inken replied flatly. Michiru could tell in his voice that this wasn't a happy reunion, but one out of necessity.
"What are you doing here?" the woman asked suspiciously.
"I," he began, years of intimidation and hard feelings momentarily stealing his voice, "need a place to stay."
"For how long?" she asked, glancing at the rental truck in the driveway.
"Mom," Inken began to protest.
"What about your job? Did you get fired again?"
"No, I didn't get fired again! It was a rotten job! Everyone hated me!" He paused, his breath shuddering as it came out. "I'll find another job. I just need a place to land."
"Didn't we tell you?" the woman replied bitterly. "Didn't we say that you had to change your attitude? That you had to be more accommodating, more flexible? That you can't expect the world to bow to your every whim?"
"Mom. . ."
"Are you married? Were you seeing anyone?"
Michiru felt Inken's hand against the coat pocket.
"Or did you drive any possible woman off, too?" his mother continued.
"Why can't you just let me be me?" Inken demanded.
"What are you, besides a self-indulgent, lazy wastrel who poisons everything he touches because he can't have an ounce of empathy for anyone else?"
"If I'm that way, it's because you two raised me to be that way!" Inken snapped back. "You know, you're wrong about me! I'm not lazy and I'm not a wastrel! I just don't tow the corporate line like every other drone buzzing around Tokyo! But I've accomplished things! I've studied and I've found out things that few people in this world even know about!"
"Like what?"
Michiru listened and the more silence she heard, the more she realized that Inken was reluctant to confide either his discovery or his actions to her. Would she turn him into the police if he did?
"Mom, I just need a place to stay . . ." Inken began.
"No," she replied flatly. "You sabotage your life with your ways and your attitude and then you come running back here, only to turn on us when we try to teach you how to not be a failure. I'm done with it." And Michiru heard the door close.
"MOM!" Inken yelled. There was no answer.
Michiru felt him turn around and walk, probably headed for the truck. Once inside, he fished the box out of his pocket and placed it back on the dash.
"I thought it would be different," Inken muttered. He glanced at Michiru. "I thought if I got you, then my life would change."
Michiru returned his gaze without sympathy.
"Fine," he scowled. "I still have you. I don't need anything else."
Uranus felt the communicator buzz.
"Yeah, Artemis?" she asked.
"Got a location for you," the cat informed her. "Oddly enough, it's the home of Inken's parents."
Continued in Chapter 9