Dark Kingdom Renegades/Bubblegum Crisis : Bad Moon Rising
By Mark Latus
Part 6 : "In the name of the Moon ..."
Leon McNichol finished surveying the wreckage of the Imperial Hotel's
groundlevel restaurant. They'd been heading for Webster's Boomer
Development Lab after visiting Deite's when they got diverted. By the
time they got here it was all over. The ADP SWAT unit was packing up and
heading back to HQ. Given their casualty rate they were happy to have
wasted the trip. Now it was up to the detectives to figure out what the
hell had happened.
Pretty minor damage for a Boomer rampage. No casualties, one wrecked
restaurant and a couple of cars plus a few holes in the outer wall. The
real mystery were the identity of those involved. Staring at the
overturned table wasn't accomplishing anything. Nothing he could learn
here. The forensic techs were getting excited about some stains they'd
found on fragments of shattered glass. It seemed one or both boomers had
lost fluid when they went through the main window.
Daley was still running the security system downloads through the
video link. He was back at the point they considered the start. Where
the blur enters. "Get a description from the waitress?"
"For what it's worth. She was japanese, mid 20's, black hair, blue
suit, white blouse, top of the line clothes, big tipper. Really narrows
it down."
Daley nodded, "At least you confirmed it was a woman. That does
eliminate half the human race."
"Unless she was a Boomer too."
"I don't think so. Why blank herself if she didn't have an identity
to hide? The other two certainly didn't."
"Think that girl was human?"
"Hard to say. There's a definite resemblance to the male Boomer."
Daley froze the image as the blur followed the waitress to table 7. "Very
sophisticated jammer. It kept security from registering her image."
"That's not hard."
"Keeping the security AI from noticing the anomaly was. If they'd
had someone in here actually watching the screens it would never have
worked."
Leon shrugged. "For that matter if they hadn't switched from
magnetic tape to digital video we'd have a picture. The price of
progress. Run it forward to the main action." Daley snapped the time
index ahead a few minutes. The first time they'd seen this they had been
very surprised to recognise the Boomer. Since it had only been an hour
since they'd talked to her it would have been hard not too. Catherine
Margrave strode up to the table stopping behind the man. Daley switched
to a different camera to get a better view of the proceedings. Both the
teenage girl and the man obviously recognised her. They were also
extremely surprised to see her. The blur had no expression to read. The
AI had tagged the incident as a possible altercation based on body
language. Then Margrave demonstrated she wasn't human. The slap drove
the man across the room, demolishing several tables and scattering an
arrangement of minature palmtrees. The AI codes now showed it flagging
the incident as an assault and placing a call to N Police. The security
cameras were now tracking both participants. Here was one of the weird
bits. As Margrave charged her victim he raised a hand and the air
rippled. She slowed, her clothing appeared to be caught in a powerful
wind, but kept moving. She impacted the man and both went through the
window.
"Switch to the external cameras."
Daley looked at him. "Any other incredibly obvious orders?"
"You're touchy today. Hey maybe you did see her eyes change. Some
sort of system failure."
"Maybe. Of course we don't know yet if this is her or just a Boomer
lookalike."
"We'll find out. We're detectives, it's our job. That's way they
pay us the big bucks."
"Hah. Which reminds me, word is insurance deductions are going up
again. Seems HQ's decided the casualty rates too high. It's supposed to
discourage malingerers."
"Stupid pack of ... Remind me again why we joined?"
"Not sure. Think we were unemployed and not too bright."
"Sounds about right. On with the show."
On the screen Margrave swung a car and knocked the man flying. The
fact he was still able to get up after denting a parked car made it clear
he wasn't human either. "Back up a little. Freeze. Now forward at 10%
realtime. Yup there we go again." As he struck the car the man ... the
Boomer's hair shifted from blond to light green. "Any theories?"
"The hair is colorless fiberoptic filaments that shift color as the
CPU instructs. Could be a malfunction or could indicate a change to
battlemode."
"He is about to start kicking ass. Same shade as that teenager's
hair."
"I noticed." The fight had shifted dramatically. In fact Margrave
was now sprawled on the street. The other Boomer was advancing with a
sword it had pulled from ... somewhere. The techs would have to break
down this part byte by byte. The picture blanked. At this point someone
had fried all the cameras on the first three floors of the hotel. Some
sort of localized electromagnetic pulse. A few fleeing witnesses claimed
to have spotted the blue Knight Saber. No one had stuck around to see.
Natural selection was weeding out those foolish enough to stay and watch
berserking Boomers.
"Doesn't make any more sense the second time through."
"She came here to pick a fight with another Boomer. Vance is
checking the register to find how his ID was inserted. Why it was placed
here is anyone's guess."
"Could be some sort of internal conflict within GENOM."
"Except that Webster's dead so Deite's got no obstacles."
"None we know about. I wonder if it's connected to her reaction to
the Sailor Arcturus Boomer."
"Maybe when she saw it she knew she was obsolete ... still doesn't
any sense."
"First thing we should do is determine if that was her or just a
lookalike. Still there aren't many Boomer's that can pass for human."
"Sexaroids could and did."
"Except they aren't that tough. Maybe my combat sexaroid theory
actually makes sense."
"Well nothing more we can do here so let's go have a few words with
Deite. Find out if he's looking for a new Executive Assistant."
Jadeite was still anticipating genocide so he was in a very good mood
when the ADPolice officers arrived. It wouldn't last. The first he knew
that Margrave had done something stupid was when his personal secretary
called him. Two detectives wanted to ask him some questions. He'd sighed.
GENOM policy was to give the appearance of cooperation with the
authorities so he'd better talk to them. The sooner the day came he could
throw off the semblance of humanity he'd been forced into the better. He
told them to let them in.
They entered and identified themselves. Ah these endless
formalities.
"So what can I do for you gentlemen? I'm a very busy man and my time
is limited." Something to do with Webster's death? No, that wouldn't be
ADPolice juristiction
McNichol gave a thin smile. "We really hate to interupt GENOM's
newest wonderboy but we were hoping to have a word about your Executive
Assistant."
"Margrave? Whatever for?" Damn, she must have been spotted hunting.
I should have nipped that vigilante business in the bud.
"A boomer who looked a lot like her just got into a fight with a
second boomer over at the Imperial hotel."
"What?" Jadeite's mind cast out searching for youma presence. There
was no others within the building.
Daley dropped a picture onto his desk. "We got this from the hotel's
security cameras." It was clearly Margrave. "Now this one is a little
hard to explain." Margrave hefting a car, her hands digging into the
hood. Jadeite looked at it as he tried to come up with an explanation.
WHat the hell had that stupid furball done. Hotel Imperial? That was
where ... The next picture was of blond man. Give him green hair and it
was Calcite. Thinking back on it in the moment before he'd looked through
Calcite's glamour spell he'd seen a different haircolor. Obviously the
locals thought they were dealing with Boomers. After all what else in
this world could look human but display paranormal strength? Why had
Margrave gone after Calcite? He was clearly far more powerful. The
result of such a battle was a foregone conclusion. In fact ...
"This a fairly serious allegation officers. Do you have any proof of
this wild story besides these pictures? Which could well have been faked
by a malicious collegue. Any evidence that there actually was a Boomer
present. A Boomer which allegedly resembles my assistant?"
"If you mean have we found the remains yet, no. But we will."
Good luck. Dead youma don't last long in Earth's environment. The
power runs wild without a mind to contain it and consumes the flesh. "So
there is no physical evidence."
"We've got a wrecked restaurant and a lot of eye witnesses."
Jadeite laughed. "All of whom will have seen something different.
You don't even know if that's Margrave in the picture do you." And with
no evidence you won't be able to proceed. "Excuse me a moment."
Margrave's secretary answered the intercom. Ms. Margrave ha given
instructions to hold her calls and departed. "It seems my assistant is
unavailable to talk to you right now." You won't find her anywhere
outside of the Abyss. No body means this can't proceed. They look
determined to continue this. I could just make them drop it but why risk
drawing attention? Easiest thing is to let them deadend themselves and
give up. Might as well throw them a crumb.
"Still it's our policy to cooperate with the police. At least when
it won't compromise security. Take a look around her office if you like."
Where they would find absolutely no evidence she was a Boomer. Or
anything else potentially damaging. All the files dealing with the Hyper
Boomers are encrypted. In any event they're all fakes designed for
GENOM's consumption. I'm the only one who can perform the enhancement.
The technicians think they are part of the process because I've
brainwashed them to believe that. And to ignore how I create the Hyper
Boomers. They just write vague reports that make the fake procedure sound
plausible. Citing security to avoid getting too specific. The best these
two could hope to find were a few cat hairs. The ADP men left. Jadeite
made a mental note to drop by Margrave's apartment and dispose of that
sexaroid along with anything else potentially revealing.
Margrave's secretary couldn't tell them much. Her boss had stormed
out of the building a few hours earlier. That could have got her to the
hotel in time for the festivities. Could have. She might have gone
anywhere. No evidence, no warrant to search her apartment.
"He'd never let us in here if he thought we were going to find
anything."
"I know. But we have to go through the motions." Leon nodded to the
secretary and she unsealed the inner door. Exactly the same place they'd
seen earlier. A typical midlevel executive office. Spacious, bright, big
window, very real looking fake plants, big desk (artificial wood),
collection of executive toys ... which were now scattered around the base
of the desk. That was different, they'd all been neatly lined up last
time. Had she swept them off the desk in frustration over something?
Leon stepped closer and gave a low whistle. "Daley, take a look at this!"
There were four paralled gouges in the supposedly scratchproof
veneer. The last time Daley had seen this pattern it had been carved
through someone's ribcage. "This definitely looks familiar. Think I'll
give Carol a call."
Jadeite returned to his office to find the building had become
bedlam. After Leon and Daley had departed he had wrapped himself in a
glamour and teleported to the nearest secluded point to the Imperial
hotel. After months in this city he had warp-points throughout MegaTokyo.
Quiet sites he'd picked to enable him to arrive near anything and
everything he wanted. He joined the crowd of disaster junkies who'd
arrived after hearing the action was over. Most were complaining about the
lack of casualties and blood. Jadeite smiled. In three years they'd be
enough fatalities to satisfy anyone. Except there would be no humans left
enjoy it. Idly he tried to work out the number of tons of rotting corpses
scattered worldwide. He'd probably have to filter the air while stripping
this city of anything useful. Except that he now had two other powerful
youmas to do the dirty work.
He reached out with his mind. Calcite was not in the vicinity. Not
a total surprise. While he could have changed his glamour and remained
under a new guise Calcite might believe he had just killed a valued
servant of Jadeite's. After all who else could Margrave had represented?
So he was probably hiding. No matter. A thorough search would find him.
After all it wasn't as if he could leave the zone. The only other place
to run was back to the world protected by Sailor Moon. Not an option.
Calcite and Azurite would be far more useful than Margrave. She
couldn't even teleport. More powerful than her, far weaker than him.
They'd know their place.
He warped back into his office to find his secretary trying to
contact him. He ignored her for a few minutes as he called up pictures of
women who had attracted him. Selecting tonight's conquest he made notes
of places to meet and control her. With that done he answered his
secretary. To be told the building was full of N police officers and ADP
techs. They were gathering evidence though no one knew for what. However
rumours were circulating that Ms. Margrave was connected to the werewolf
vigilante case. There were several detectives out there wanting to ask
him questions.
Jadeite felt a sudden rage that he could not kill the already
deceased catwoman. What had the stupid bitch done to arouse their
interest? Now there was no saying how many minds he'd have to control to
minimze the damage. He managed to give himself the appearance of calm
then unlocked the doors and told his secretary to send them in. He spent
the next half hour convincing the detectives he had no knowledge of his
assistant's life outside the office. The mere thought that she might
somehow be involved in murder shocked him.
Meanwhile Daley Wong, Leon McNichol and Helen Ohta (N police) were
forcing the door to Margrave's apartment. They'd obtained the warrant on
suspicion of involvement in serial killing. ADP were along because of
potential Boomer crime connection.
Leon was talking as they waited. "Lot of nervous guys back Deite's
little kingdom. Which do you figure upset them most? The stories that
she might be the vigilante or the one that she might be a Boomer?"
"Probably the one that she might be both. Certainly were lots of
them. Lady must have been busy most nights. Maybe she was a sexaroid?""
Ohta had been watching the police passkey find the right combination.
"Maybe she was human and just liked having fun. Strange how a guy who
does that is a role model while a women who does it is a slut." Both of
them shut up.
The security override clicked in and they entered the apartment.
Ohta, more experienced in homicide investigation, spotted the faint odour
from the bathroom. They found the remains in the bathroom.
"Thought she just killed them in the streets. Now she's bringing
them home!"
Daley studied the exposed spine. "Guess again, that isn't bone."
"Cyborg?"
"Too extensive. I think this is a boomer."
"Another human lookalike? OK Ohta this is now officially ADP
juristiction. Daley get the techs over here."
The body was quickly identified as one of the banned 33-S series. A
rare find, made even more surprising by being a male design. The nature
of the wounds that had destroyed it matched some of those inflicted by the
vigilante. The ADP's forensic unit moved in and began tearing the
apartment apart. A number of long white hairs were found but no evidence
that the occupant had owned a pet. Another link to the Werewolf?
Perhaps.
Jadeite found his office was now full of ADP detectives questioning
everyone. Before long his head was aching after continually have to
control minds to cover Margrave's fake past. On top of which Kate Madigan
had been phoning constantly ordering him get matters under control fast!
His good humour was long gone and his plans for the evening were changing.
The Hyper Boomers would be hunting tonight. Soon as he figured out the
best place to kill a lot of people and cover the effects of draining. He
didn't need the power but a slaughter of innocents should defuse the
tension. He was still thinking along these lines when his secretary
buzzed him.
He repressed the urge to go out there and toss her through the
window. "I said no more calls from the police, Madigan, or anyone else at
GENOM!"
His tone was sufficent to unnerve the secretary. "I ... I'm sorry to
disturb you sir. It's just that there is a Mr. Cite on the phone. He
insists that it is urgent and he is an old acquaintance of yours."
"I don't know any ... what was the name again? The full name."
"Mr. Cal Cite. He claims ..."
"Put hin through."
"Good afternoon Lord Jadeite." The language this was delivered in
confirmed the caller's identity in a way the voice alone couldn't. With
Margrave's passing only three speakers of this language remained. Jadeite
answered in the Dark Kingdom tongue. Any listeners on the line would be
frantically trying to decipher what was not a code.
"This has been a foul afternoon. Most of which resulted from
Margrave's abrupt demise."
"I apologise for destroying your servant but I did not seek her out.
She challenged me." Hesitantly, "Had you told me she had survived I could
have warned you that she bore me an old enmity from the kingdom."
"Must have been severe indeed to make her challenge you given the
gulf between your powers." Perhaps she'd refused Calcite but he'd
overwhelmed her and taken his pleasures anyway. Some females objected to
that. Like that "no means no" nonsense you heard human women spouting.
There had been some female youma who seemed to feel submitting to a more
powerful male was wrong. Though they'd never objected to him. Just as
well as he'd have destroyed any of them who had. No, they'd never
objected to him. Every female in the Kingdom knew ... had known, it was
an honor to serve one of the four Generals. Over the centuries many had
sought him out to father their children. Hoping for powerful offspring
they could mortgauge for power.
On the phone's videolink he saw Calcite shrug. "Females are an
unpredictable lot. They are driven by emotion which makes them
irrational."
Jadeite nodded, "True. They lack our rationality and calmer
perspective."
"Indeed my Lord. I apologise for leaving the site of the incident
but I ... ahhh feared I might make an error in my unfamiliarity with this
city that would betray me to the police." Jadeite hide his chuckle. A
partial truth but the whole truth is you feared I might destroy you after
losing a valuable servant. "However you will find myself and Azurite far
more capable than Margrave in your service."
"I had better."
"Yes Lord." A brief pause. "I ahh ... might perhaps be able to
begin serving you right away. Did you place any of those Boomer creatures
near the dimensional gateway."
"What concern of that is yours?"
"My apologies Lord. It is simply ... have you checked their status
lately?"
"No. Why?"
"Perhaps you should." Jadeite frowned and called up the Boomers
status boards. Then cursed. Eight of the units had managed to transmit
imminent destruction codes. The rest simply didn't respond. They hadn't
had time to give notification before being annihilated.
"What is this?" And why had he failed to check the units regularly?
Or install a watch program to inform him if anything happened. He'd
intended to but he had only deployed the units a few night previously.
There had been other demands on his time.
Calcite continued. "I do not know, my lord. I had ventured to the
gate because of fluctuations I detected ..."
"Fluctuations?"
"Some equipment in my possession sensed that the gateway was perhaps
going to collapse so I went to investigate ..."
"Impossible. I created the gateway. I do not make errors."
"With respect Lord there may be factors in this dimension you were
unaware existed."
"Silence." Jadeite powered up his space/time warping abilities,
expanding his sensitivity to the forces involved. Then mentally reached
across the city. Here was the gate and ... and it was pulsating. It
should have been steady, waiting in standbye for his order to open. Now
it shook and seemed to be nearing collapse. He could open it again easily
enough but until he understood how this had happened the new gate would
face the same risk. What if the collapse rate accelerated? He might lose
all hope of accessing the other world. His vengeance would go unfufilled!
Wait. Calcite had mentioned equipment.
"Why bother to investigate the gate when you could do nothing about
it? You have no dimensional shifting abilites beyond rudimentary
teleportation. If you had I would have sensed them."
"You are correct Lord Jadeite I do not possess such powers. However
my late cousin was capable of handling such matters artificially. I
appropriated his equipment after his untimely death following our own
dimensional jump." Jadeite considered. It would have been easier to open
a gateway from the Kingdom to the other Earth because of the existing
connections. "I made sure I knew how to operate it before our escape."
Jadeite began to wonder if the deaths of the other two had been directly
linked to the warpgate. "So I intended to analyse the problem and correct
it. As a small apology for any trouble my earlier actions might have
caused."
If he could do that then the equipment he mentioned would be very
useful. The trick would be to ensure he didn't know he could do anything
Jadeite couldn't. Something struck him. "You said you intended to do
this for me, saving me some minor effort."
"When I saw the remains of the Boomers I withdrew to assess the
situation."
"Then called me rather than continue without my sanction."
"Uhh ... yes Lord."
"Good. It is important that you realize your place." He glanced at
the time display. "It'll be dark in an hour. Meet me at the gatesight
and you can demonstrate your alleged skill with this equipment of yours."
"Yes sir. Should I bring Azurite? She is eager to pledge her
loyalty."
Rather than be disciplined for failing to do so promptly? I am sure
she is. "Bring her then. And command her to show appropriate respect."
"She would do that anyway. Until later my Lord."
Calcite hung up the phone and the screen blanked. Azurite nodded
toward the nearby Knight Sabers. Speaking in the Dark Kingdom's language
she commented, "It's a good thing they didn't understand that. They don't
know you like I do and might have taken you seriously at the beginning."
"What makes you think I wasn't serious?"
"Chauvanist!" She punched him playfully in the shoulder.
"Ouch." He realized she was looking at him with concern. "I'm
kidding. I'm almost back to normal. Another hour and I'll be fine.
Incidently let's switch back to Japanese. Priss is looking a bit edgy at
not understanding us."
"Suppose we should stay on her good side."
"I was thinking more in terms of keeping her shooting straight when
the time comes. After all we will be standing next to Jadeite."
"That's the part of the plan that worries me."
"Really? I'm worried about everything that came after the part where
I said 'now here's my plan'."
"You really know how to boost a girl's confidence." Azurtie sighed
and switched back to Japanese. "Cal, how do we keep getting ourselves
into these messes? We came over to do a little reconaissance and consider
our options. Now we're stuck taking on Jadeite himself and our only backup
is women whose combat gear has even more ridiculous heels than mine?"
Nene looked over at Priss. "Why do all the hardsuits have high
heels?"
She shrugged. "If the whole world is an anime series then you have
to blame the character designer. Maybe there is something to that, it
would explain how somebody with no talent except being cute got into this
group."
"I resent that. Let's see you cut through GENOM's database for a
clean retrieval while dodging three levels of black ice."
During this Azurite and Calcite had wandered out. She realized they
were keeping a little distance between each other than usual. "Have to
practice my grovelling for when we meet Jadeite."
"Don't overdo it. He's a lot sharper than he used to be."
"He certainly sounded more together. Though he was still dumb enough
not to check his guard Boomers."
"He's still got that arrogance. That makes him overconfident.
Sending those Boomers through before his grand plan was ready was idiotic.
But he was sure that the gate wouldn't be found. Of course far as he
knows all the Senshi except Sailor Moon died at the North Pole. Margrave
didn't get to stick around to witness the resurrections."
"Something else we owe her for."
"Let it go." Pause. "So everything's really all right between ..."
"Yeah. Good thing you didn't come after us though. We talked ...
actually it was more shouting than talking at first. He'd warp somewhere.
I'd follow. We'd yell at each other. He'd warp away again. I'd pursue
... could be a lot of ghost stories in tomorrow's paper."
"What's ironic about this whole thing is Jadeite thinks we're lovers.
Uhhh is that going to be problem?"
"Not to worry I'm a good actress."
"I reserve judgement until I've seen the movie."
"You are dicing with death mister."
"If it's all the same to you I've had enough of women beating on me
for today."
"Pity. I've got the outfit for it." It's probably best to banter
about this. Otherwise we might start getting serious again. And who
knows where that would lead?
"Are you two supposed to be hanging around alone?" Ti had emerged
from the slumbering Margrave's room.
"Don't cause trouble. What were you doing in there?"
"Just checking on her. She mentioned your name big brother."
"I see. Angry?"
"No, sounded more like she was going to cry."
"Wonder what she's dreaming?"
Azurite shrugged. "Probably that you rose high in the Kingdom but
ditched her in the process. She was sure she had you."
Calcite didn't respond to that. "Everything ready?"
Ti nodded. "Pyrite got the skirt and boots changed to the right
color. The translator's set to give me the voice. All I need are the
other props and I'm all set. Sylia said she knew where to get what we
need."
"Good. I'm going to have a word with Pyrite."
"Last I saw him he was in there looking through the discs." Calcite
nodded and departed. Azurite studied Ti. She wasn't nervous anymore,
probably back to thinking of this as an adventure.
"Remember what your brother said. When the shooting starts hit the
ground and shield."
"I remember." Now Ti was looking a little uncomfortable. "Say Azure
... when ... I mean how long ago ..."
"When did I decide I was in love with Calcite?"
"...well yeah. It's none of my business I know but ..."
"You're right about that. Let's just say I was younger than you are
now."
"So this whole things been going on for years? Why didn't you just
tell him a long time ago and sort it out then?"
"That makes a lot of sense with hindsight. The main reason was
fear."
Ti just stared at her. "Come on, you're not scared of anything."
"Actually there's a lot I'm scared of. I've learned to suppress the
fears of combat beforehand. After we've won tonight I'll get scared
thinking about what could have happened. That's when you need someone to
hold you. But that's not what you're talking about. If I'd told Cal I'd
have destroyed what I had with Pyrite. Which wasn't the same thing I felt
for Cal but ... There's love and there's passion. Passion is immediate
but it tends to burn out quickly. Maybe it'll become love, maybe it
won't. With me so far?" Ti nodded. "Ok. So what if my passion for your
brother didn't translate into love? The three of us would have separated
by bitterness and I didn't want that. Especially in the Kingdom where
unity meant survival. Worse, what if I'd told him how I felt but he still
chose Margrave over me? Pyr would have had every reason not to take me
back. I'd have gambled and lost everything for nothing except
loneliness."
Ti was silent for a few moments. "I ... well I always sort of
figured once you grew up you could sort out how you felt and life would
make sense."
"That could happen someday. But I'm not holding my breath."
As Titanite had said Pyrite was sorting through the BGC discs.
"Still working on your theory?"
"That's right. I'm beginning to think it's the only thing that makes
sense for the radical changes Jadeite and Margrave went through."
"Jadeite's certainly changed for the worse but that could be a side
effect of months of sensory deprivation."
"I concede that. But I think this is more likely." He was fingering
the "Red Eyes" disc. "Jadeite was always dangerous but genocide was
beyond him."
"What about the Moon Kingdom?"
"Nowhere near this level of slaughter. Besides from a military
standpoint couldn't you justify it as a preemptive strike?"
"I couldn't. But I imagine he could."
"He's acting a lot like this Largo character. Mass slaughter of
humans. According to Ti in the second series he's planning the destruction
of humanity. He personally commands a lot of power."
"The idea being that things that don't belong in this dimension
arrive some force assimilates them so they will belong. You're saying
that when Jadeite arrived this world began molding him to fit in. The
closest thing to anyone or anything like him was Largo. So he mentally at
least he became a second Largo."
"Roughly speaking. If you look at these wave patterns ..."
"Can anyone other than you understand the details of your theory?"
"Well ... probably not."
"I'll take it on faith then. This leaves the question that if
Jadeite was changed what about Margrave? How'd she synch into this
world?"
"I think I've found a pattern she conforms too. There's a recurring
theme in both these discs and this world. Roughly speaking, close friend
dies violently at the hands of someone. Vigilante justice is extracted.
It's happened to two of the Knight Sabers."
"You're saying she was becoming one of them?"
"Not precisely. More following that pattern. Given her violent
nature I'd say she was acting more like Vision than Linna or Priss.
Definitely more extreme than them in seeking vengeance."
"But why that role rather than a villain's part?"
"That I can't answer. Maybe contact with you changed her enough to
switch from black to gray. Maybe it was just random, she had to become
like someone here. Perhaps I'm dead wrong, she hasn't changed a bit and
she had her own reasons for becoming a vigilante."
"If you're right then the longer we stay the more chance we have of
being changed."
"Cal we don't have to go back. We can survive here as easily as in
Tokyo."
"Ti mentioned that. I pointed out she'd have to give up her
ambitions of becoming a Senshi."
"That's a good reason not to go back. No one here has heard of
youma. No more fears of the Senshi turning on us one day."
"But I'd be afraid of waking up some morning and being someone else.
Even if we don't change we'll still be hiding what we are from the world.
The Senshi make me uncomfortable but it's still a better world. In this
world technology is already advancing faster than self control, most
people don't even know they're on the brink, the ecosystem is nearing
collapse and there's the strong possibility of war between humanity and
their AI creations."
Pyrite nodded resignedly. "I have to admit my own faith in salvation
through advanced technology has taken a beating. The chance of this place
winding up anything like the utopia in Trek is fairly remote."
"But there's something more than that. This world has a ... a
darkness ours lacks. I get the feeling that there's always hope over
there. For all the Dark Kingdom's plans they didn't get to cause as much
damage as a single Boomer rampage does over here. When violence breaks
out here it's a lot worse. I don't know why but that seems to be the way
of it."
"I think you're judging this world too harshly." Sylia had entered
with a stealth Calcite wouldn't have thought possible. "But I accept that
this is not your world and you don't belong here. Or, perhaps worse, you
would fit in but lose yourselves in the process." There was no answer to
that. Sylia opened the box she carried and unwrapped the contents.
"How's this?" The earrings and tiara were an excellent match.
Calcite and Azurite waited among the demolished Boomers. Many of
them had been stripped of the parts that weren't too badly damaged. The
stench of organic decay filled the air. Azurite surveyed the wreckage
again and shook her head. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
"Remind me to avoid getting involved in these situations." Almost
zero hour. "Tell me again this isn't the stupidest idea I ever came up
with."
"It isn't. That was getting involved with Margrave. However this
probably ranks number two."
"Hmmph. Enough banter, let's think youma." She nodded and both put
on cold expressions.
The interval between sensing the warp and feeling it was unnervingly
brief. Both renegades immediately bowed low before Jadeite. "Arise." He
studied both of them paying particular attention to Azurite. He nodded.
"You've developed well. Your power is adequete. For a female."
Must have been really galling kowtowing to Queen Beryl all those
centuries. Or maybe that's why you think like this. Azurite didn't voice
the thought. Just respectfully answered, "I am honoured to meet with your
approval Lord Jadeite."
He dismissed her with a nod. "Very well Calcite, demonstrate your
vaunted skill and repair the gateway. Then prevent the problem from
recurring."
That would be simple as the gateway's instability was caused by the
devices Pyrite had planted earlier in the day. The plan was simple.
Bring Jadeite to a place with an excellent firezone. Throw him off guard
then break his shield and kill him. Calcite opened Pyrite's case exposing
his cousin's varied tools. It looked quite a bit like a gemstone
collection. Jadeite studied them while trying to appear aloof. Then it
began.
"Villains should not outlast their homelands."
Jadeite froze as he recognised the voice.
"We should only recycle popcans rather than bad guys."
He turned. It couldn't be. That costume! The ridiculous ponytails!
It was her!
"When the big boss monster loses smaller fry should get the idea it's
time to give it up."
Behind Jadeite Azurite built a vortex wave. Calcite created
psychoplasm gauntlets on both hands and focused energy through them.
Jadeite didn't notice, all his attention was on the girl before him.
"I'm the Sailor Senshi fighting for Love and Justice! The one and
only Sailor Moon! On behalf of mandatory retirement and in the name of
the Moon I will punish yowwwww!" Jadeite overcame his shock sufficently
to throw a hasty shockwave. The Senshi instinctively moved her arms in
front of her but it was the force shield that kept her standing. Force
shield?
Calcite and Azurite struck simultaneously. Kinetic and energy based
attacks. Very difficult to shield against both at the same time. One
should get through his shield. Ideally killing him, hopefully at least
hurting him so he couldn't maintain any sort of shield. Leaving him open
to the second wave. A kill would be perfect but the Renegades weren't
counting on that.
As they struck Pyrite heaved out of concealment from his position by
Sailor Moon. He'd had to stay close to blank her real aura. The Knight
Sabers broke free from their cover in the surrrounding rubble. Railguns
and lasers firing another kinetic and beam energy based attack began
It's very difficult to shield against both varieties simultaneously.
But not impossible.
Calcite had an instant to realize Jadeite's shield was weakened but
intact before the older youma struck. His own shield buckled and the blow
tossed him ten metres. Azurite was stepping back to deliver her second
hurricane from outside the blast zone when he seized her wrists and hauled
her towards him. He forced her hands skyward making the airvortex rip off
into the night. A link in his mind called for assistance. Within the
storage section of the development lab red eyes gleamed.
From behind a kinetic force sphere hammered his shield as Sailor
Moon attacked. An energy bolt ripped past fired from a crystal held by a
man next to her. The Knight Sabers aimed to shoot around Azurite and
locked on target. Azurite tried to pull her hands free and so she could
deliver a pointblank hurricane to his head. Male humans and youmas share
one major vulnerable spot. She brought her knee up with enough force to
fell a tree. From the expression on his face some of the impact had got
through. Calcite rolled to his feet and summoned a shockblast. Jadeite
felt his shield near collapse but he wasn't worried. His children would
answer their father's call.
Pyrite sensed the incoming warp wave and began to shout a warning.
Too late! The four Boomers materialized and immediately began
transforming. Each picked a Knight Saber and attacked. The Sabers now
had their own problems. Leaving the Renegades to deal with Jadeite.
"Those bastards can teleport?" They'd never considered that.
The energy burst from Jadeite's hands overloaded Azurite's shield and
she screamed. Pyrite yelled her name, distracted from getting a target on
Jadeite's head. Calcite ignored the distraction and fired. He barely
missed Azurite but struck Jadeite. The Youma Lord swayed. Calcite
charged in already forging the weapon he'd use. Jadeite released his grip
on one of Azurite's wrists and aimed a hand at Sailor Moon. This force
blast overloaded her shield and knocked her flying. The blond wig was
knocked askew exposing the green hair underneath.
Jadeite was still staring at her as Calcite cut toward his side with
a sword glowing with power. As the sword came down it exploded. The
damage from the energy discharge was nothing compared to the psychic
feedback from its destruction. Azurite opened her eyes in time to see
Calcite fall. Then Jadeite hauled her to her feet.
Meanwhile the Knight Sabers had their own problems. The new arrivals
were just as tough as their brother had been. One had nearly finished
them. Now they each had their own adversary. Priss's railgun fired a
burst into her Boomer's face. The hypervelocity needles ricocheted away
without damage. It slammed into her and Priss was thrown back into one of
the omnipresent rubble heaps. She hadn't hit that hard so why was it so
hard to get up? The hardsuit seemed so very heavy. Around her her
friends were batted around by the Boomers. The Boomers weren't using
their firepower just their strength. Like cats playing with mice. No one
was moving right. Priss tried to force herself upright as the Boomer
approached. No good. She had no strength left. The Boomer grabbed her
by the ankle then flung her at the one Nene lay crumpled beside. It
grabbed the Pink Saber and swung her like a bat. The hardsuits impact
slammed Priss's teeth together cracking several crowns. The laughter of
the Boomers was harsh and metallic.
Pyrite watched helplessly as the Boomers continued draining energy
from the Sabers. Everyone else was down except Azurite who hung in
Jadeite's grasp. He couldn't risk a shot. He wasn't accurate enough to
be sure of missing her.
Jadeite saw Azurite stir as he watched his Boomers play with the
Knight Sabers. Seemed there's been some personality transfer as well.
"Boys will be boys. However daughter you are a disappointment!"
"What?" Keep him talking, build your strength.
"How sharper than a serpents tooth is a thankless child. I honoured
your mother with a child and this is how you repay me." He shook his head
in mock sorrow. "Ah well hardly the first time I've had to kill one of my
offspring." He flung her into a piece of the wall that still stood. It
exploded in a shower of rubble.
Jadeite heard the scream and turned in time to dodge the charged
crystal that slashed downwards. The shockblast hammered Pyrite backwards.
That was the last of them. Now should he finish them or ask a few
questions first? Perhaps best to kill them it was fairly obvious this was
an attempt to take over the operation. Pity. Calcite might have been
useful. Besides being potentially dangerous. Fortunately he'd learned a
defense against psychoplasm decades ago. If you knew how you could make
the creator unmake his creations explosively. Lucky Calcite hadn't
learned the appropriate psi defense yet. That left the Knight Sabers.
Suck them dry or peel them out of the suits first then dismember them.
Decisions, decisions.
Then the hand closed around his ankle. Jadeite looked down to see
Calcite the instant before he channneled all his remaining energy through
his hand. Jadeite howled and writhed as Calcite hung on. Pyrite's attack
had got him close enough to get a grip. This was the last shot he had.
Jadeite's free boot rose and slammed down on his wrist. Again.
Calcite ignored the pain and hung on. The foot came down again and
something crunched. Jadeite wrenched himself free. "You hurt me." He
sounded more amazed than pained. "You actually hurt me!" The kick rolled
Calcite over onto his back. That was his last shot and he'd blown it. He
saw Jadeite raise his hand and power gather. "Not bad. In a few
centuries you might really have been dangerous. Any last words?"
"Yes." He was a bit surprised that he was able to speak. "I really
hope you're not my father."
Jadeite looked a little surprised. "What was your mother's name."
Idle curiousity.
"Metrenar."
Jadeite flicked through his memories. That actually rang a bell.
Meraphis, Metazal, Metrenar ..." Ah yes I remember her. Attractive
female, shiny gold skin, beautiful horns. I would have had her but
Nephrite got to her first. I never could stand to touch his cast offs.
I'd heard he gave her a couple of brats. So you must be his son. Feel
better knowing that?"
"Not really." I was hoping to buy enough time to forge a weapon and
make a last effort. Nothing left. Sorry everyone.
"Enjoy the Abyss. Your comrades will be joining you momentarily."
Titanite tried to focus on the action. Her head ached and her vision
seemed blurred. What had happened? Someone standing over someone else.
Jadeite! Her brother sprawled before him as Jadeite raised a hand and
summoned power. Something missing ... Shield! Jadeite's shield was gone.
Hit him with a force sphere. Not enough time to create one but she had
to. She brought her hands forward and saw the tiara she'd clutched as she
fell. The baseball trick! Focus Ti! Something's delaying Jadeite. No
he's done talking! Going to kill Cal! DO IT! Driven by the telekinetic
surge the replica tiara Sylia had had made tore forward. Jadeite caught
the movement and moved to block it.
Just a little too late.
He stared down at the ends of the tiara jutting from his chest.
Green blood welled around the entry wound. His expression one of
disbelief he managed to look at Titanite. She heaved herself up and
managed to gasp "Moon .... Tiara ... Action!" Then slumped down again.
Jadeite almost smiled. He opened his mouth as though to say something.
Then doubled over vomiting blood. He collapsed on top of Calcite,
twitched briefly then lay still.
The Boomer that had raised Linna over its' head paused in the act of
striking her back against its knee. Suddenly it shrank reverting to a
C-55 Boomer. The sudden change in state immobalized it as its CPU tried
to deal with its previous behaviour. Linna felt her strength flow back.
Her combat ribbons flicked downwards and wrapped around the Boomer's
shoulders. She energized them and the arms holding her separated from the
rest of the Boomer's body. She hit the ground rolling and swung the
ribbons around cutting it off at the knees. As it fell she was already
rising into the air. Both armoured heels came down squarely on its face.
The Boomer's head caved in and biomech brain sprayed over her legs.
To her right Priss rained punches on the torso of her Boomer. She'd
already pulled the head off and crushed it between her hands. As she
hammered its chest into the backbone she kept up a steady stream of
curses.
"Uhm I think you've already killed it." Priss ignored Nene. Nene's
Boomer was already down. A larger hole where the right eye had been
marked a pointblank range laserbolt. Sylia straightened up from the
Boomer she'd split from forehead to crotch.
"That's enough Priss. It's over." At least I hope so. The battered
Sabers trooped back to the ambush sight. The adrenaline rush from the
return of their energy was gone. They were beginning to feel the pain
from the beating they'd just taken.
Calcite heaved Jadeite's body off himself. It seemed extraordinarily
light. With a crash Azurite heaved herself out of the rubble. She took
in the body and realized it was over. "Pyrite!"
Calcite pointed and she hobbled over. He was already stirring.
Calcite turned away from them and looked toward his sister. He should
check her but he didn't have any strength. He heard crunching footsteps
and saw the battered Knight Sabers limp into view. He tried to get up
again and failed. Forcing the words out he said, "Titanite ..." Nene
tottered over to check. She was careful as she examined the girl. The
damaged hardsuit had none of its normal precision. "She's breathing
normally. Other than that I don't know enough about your physiology to
guess." Azurite and Pyrite stumbled over too join her. Pyrite announced
it as concussion. Best left to her healing factor.
Nene stayed with Ti but everyone else gathered around the body. It
was becoming less substantial. Fading into glowing motes of light.
Azurite watched it happen with an intensity Calcite didn't recognise.
"My father?" Disbelief echoed through her voice.
"Do you want to say anything?" Calcite felt a little stronger.
They'd both learned their fathers' identities after more than twenty
years. Did it really have anything to do with who they were? He doubted
it.
"I'm glad I never bought you a father's day gift." Nobody laughed.
After a few moments she added, "I owe him my existence. I thank him for
that. Beyond that I can't really say anything as I never knew him. That
was his by choice. I doubt we'd have liked each other. If its true that
ages ago he was a good man corrupted by Beryl then let's hope he's found
peace. Anyone else?"
"More of a eulogy than he deserves."
"How often do any of us get what we deserve?"
The body finished fading leaving nothing except the tiara. Even the
clothing was gone. "Let's get the hell out of here."
The truck was undisturbed. When Mackie saw them approach he slid
into his own waiting powersuit to haul them in. Though he didn't say
anything he mentally groaned at the repairs he'd have to do.
As he drove them back Sylia winced and decided it was time for a
vacation. Two severe pummelings within a week was about her limit. The
city would have to look after itself for a few weeks. Besides now both
sets of hardsuits were writeoffs. Maybe she should just design the next
generation of suits and build them from scratch instead of patching these
together again.
The Renegades were in worse shape physically but from what they'd
said would heal a lot faster than the Sabers. Calcite looked up from his
unconscious sister. "Ms. Stingray now that the immediate threat has
passed I'd like to discuss an information trade with you."
"Information?"
"We have a second set of discs which are supposed to cover the events
of next year. I'm willing to trade it for certain items."
"Those being?"
"A complete set of episodes for the Sailor Moon television show and
something to enable us to view it. I doubt we can manage it with 20th
century technology."
"Theoretically that would give us both foreknowledge of what's going
to happen. A very valuable commodity."
"I'm thinking more in terms of staying out of the line of fire."
"You're not planning on trying to rewrite history?"
"That assumes history is predetermined. I prefer to think I've got
some free will."
"As do I. Though recent events have damaged that belief."
The following day was spent quietly healing. Or in Priss's case
healing while grousing about the unfairness of being able to match the
Renegades accelerated rate. The Renegades had decided to depart that
evening. They would have been absent from their own continuum for three
days (two in Ti's case). Any longer and questions might start being
asked. Calcite and Sylia were talking.
"Pyr's sure the presets will work. The gate will collapse behind us
which ends the danger of interdimensional conmtamination."
"Good. It's hard enough dealing with our own world's problems
without importing someone else's." They heard Mackie and Ti talking.
"She seems to be dealing with it all right."
Calcite shook his head. "She doesn't have anything to deal with. Far
as I can tell she really doesn't remember killing Jadeite." He paused.
"I could probably enter her mind and restore the memory but I don't know
if I should. I don't want her growing up to be a warrior. She'll never be
a normal girl but she'll be a lot happier living a normal life."
"I sometimes question there is any such thing. On another matter
we've finished copying your discs so Titanite can return them to her
friend. This little device is a handheld videodisc player. Each of these
optical discs has a season of the show encoded on it."
"Thank you. Let's see. Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S,
Sailor Moon SS ... that leads to an interesting mental picture and Sailor
Moon Sailor Stars." He looked at them. "Odd to think that the future of
the world could be sitting on these things."
"Perhaps. I guess you'll have to see for yourselves. Do the others
know?"
"Yes. Don't your friends?"
"I'm waiting until Mackie's reviewed them. If it turns out that any
of them die then I'm definitely not saying anything until I've managed to
prevent it."
Nearby Pyrite sat with Azurite. "Soon be home again."
"I'm looking forward to that. What I'm not looking forward is our
new houseguest."
"You couldn't expect Cal to abandon her."
"No. I could hope though."
Calcite's announcement wasn't a real surprise. Margrave would be
going back with them. Once they arrived he'd wake her up and explain the
situation. Then offer her the choice of staying with them under their
rules or making her own way in the world. The latter option would
probably mean she'd wind up doing something youmalike and get herself
vaporised by the Senshi. So Azurite hoped she'd pick that.
"Ti will be a little disappointed to leave here."
"I won't. The sooner the better."
"These people aren't ..."
"They're alright, that's the problem. I have the sick feeling that
if we stay Cal will end up falling for Sylia. Which means we'll get
sucked into her crusade. That's exactly what we want to avoid."
Pyrite looked at her. "What makes you so sure Cal would fall for
her?"
"Because she's a worse choice than Margrave. And it seems to be his
karma to make the worst possible choice."
A little later Calcite entered Margrave's room and looked down at the
sleeping youma. He fingered the cast on his broken wrist as he
contemplated her. There she was, the last surviving nonrenegade youma.
It couldn't possibly work. Betrayal and deception were part of her
nature. Even considering getting involved with her again was idiotic. In
the Dark Kingdom his options had been limited. That was no longer the
case. The smart thing to do would be leave her here and let her find her
own doom. Even as he thought this he knew he'd be bringing her with them.
He shook his head. "I must be out of my mind." She didn't answer,
just kept dreaming and purred.
It was evening when they departed. It would still be afternoon in
their world. There were various goodbyes then the Renegades prepared for
departure. Hair and eyecolors shifted as they activated their glamours.
Calcite held Margrave. He extended his glamour to make her appear to be a
child. It would be a lot easier to been seen carrying a sleeping child
rather than a sleeping catwoman.
"Goodbye Sylia. I hope you maintain the balance you strive for."
"Goodbye Calcite. I hope you find the peace you're looking for."
The watching Knight Sabers were disappointed by the lack of special
effects. One by one the Renegades walked forward and vanished.
As Titanite headed for the gate Priss called, "Ever get your
answers?" She blushed and stepped forward. She just hadn't had the nerve
to ask them in person. She carried the precious disc viewer. If anything
happened to it her brother had promised a variety of dire penalties. She
wasn't going to let anything happen to this. Not only was it the key to
the future it would be one of a kind. An anime unique in their world.
The greatest collectors item of all time. She vanished.
Pyrite was the last to go. As he'd promised twenty seconds later
there was a brief feeling of vertigo and a faint electrical pop. Priss
tossed a brick through the space the gateway had been. It thudded to the
ground without vanishing. Sylia picked up one of the crystals Pyrite had
placed. It was already blackening and starting to crumble. She dropped
it and saw it shatter on the ground. The fragments began crumpling to
dust.
"Nothing more to see. Might as well go."
Priss nodded. "Be nice for things to get back to normal."
Linna chucked. "Priss just this year we've dealt with Gibson who was
being absorbed by his car, Largo and the laser satellite takeover,
Vision's mecha and that mess at ADP headquarters. Not to mention dozens
of Boomers running amuck. That's what passes for normal around here."
Priss's reply was unintelligable but probably obscene.
Back in her apartment Sylia confronted her brother. "Mackie you've
seen the Crash discs and I haven't yet. Why are you so down?"
"Sis, it's terrible!" Sylia tensed up. "I don't even get five
minutes of screen time. I'm hardly in it!" It wasn't often Mackie got to
see his sister laugh. "I should mention that Titanite told me many fans
don't consider Bubblegum Crash as canon."
"Why?"
"People have changed since the first series."
"Mackie life is change. No one stays the same forever."
"Maybe. I guess you'll have to watch it for yourself to see what I
mean. Though right now a Nene who kicks ass and takes names seems a
little unlikely." Sylia just stared at him. "Seriously the first thing
to do is see if there's anything to this business about Largo surviving."
"Why the hell didn't you mention that earlier?" These disc could be
far more important than she'd suspected. Assuming anything in them was
actually going to happen.
Time would tell. It always did.
A few other loose ends remained. Over at ADP HQ Daley and Leon were
still trying to puzzle it out.
"Ok so everyone agrees Margrave arrives with Deite. Let's say she's
a protype. Some sort of combination sexaroid personality and combat
boomer. A demo model to prove what he can build. He sends her hunting
people no one's going to miss to demonstrate her capabilities. Next thing
we know the Werewolf Vigilante is open for business."
"Lab boys still haven't explained the hairs we found. Feline but far
too long too have come off a pet cat. Let's leave that and get back to
the Margrave unit's successful demo.
"GENOM likes it so they give him a lab. Which really pisses off
Webster. He sets his own advanced Boomers loose for a firepower test.
Deite intercepts them with his completed combat unit which is called
Sailor Arcturus for some reason. It destroys them. Our mystery man in
the tux is there as its controller."
"Enter the boys in blue. We go to see Deite and meet Margrave. From
her secretary's testimony we know soon we left she barged in to see
Deite."
"Maybe she knew she was now obsolete. She's got emotions ... or a
damn fine simulation. Anyway she panics."
"So far so good. Now the tricky part. She suddenly goes to the
Hotel Imperial and attacks another Boomer. The cameras fry before we can
confirm Margrave's destruction."
"Maybe he was the man in the tuxedo."
"Maybe. But that still doesn't explain the smashed sexaroid in her
apartment. Or the blur in the restaurant. Or that girl who looked
something like the male Boomer."
Leon sighed. "Think we're ever going to figure this out?"
Daley's reply was interuptted by the phone. "ADP. Detective Wong
... Evening Carol ... Really? ... Go on ... Well well well ... I owe you
dinner ... call it that if you like but I don't promise anything until the
second date ... is it? OK until the third date then."
"So what's up?"
"Seems GENOM's filed felony charges against Mr Deite. He's dropped
out of sight and taken all his work with him. From what Carol overheard
there's no trace of what they've been pouring millions into. No working
models, no data, no Deite. Everyone who worked with him blanks out when
asked to describe the process. Some sort of brainwashing technique. A
very effective one from the sound of it."
"So GENOM's out a small fortune and Deite's out there somewhere with
his own Boomer army?"
"There can't be that many of them. Not much we can do until he
reemerges or we hear something more."
"So it's another one for the open files."
"Along with the Vampire, the Werewolf Vigilante, Largo and all the
other crazy stuff we've never been able to close."
"Cheer up Leon. Law of averages say we have to solve one sometime."
Perhaps. But it wouldn't be this one. Even if they did who would
believe the truth?
end of part 6
Next : The crossover's done but there are a few more loose ends and an
epilogue concerning the DKR's return to their adopted home.