Sailor Moon : Refugees
by Mark Latus
A five part fanfic
Based on characters and situations created by Naoka Takeuchi
Part 5 - Showdown
It was wednesday afternoon and the schools were beginning to empty
when the hammer came down. As she often did Ami hurried straight from
dismissal to cram school. It was this sort of thing which made her
friends appreciate not being geniuses. Who wants to spend more time in
school?
Ami was half walking, half running along a strangely deserted stretch
of sidewalk when the figure appeared in front of her. She'd seen it only
briefly before, as a hologram image that towered over Zoisite and Kunzite,
but she recognised it instantly. "Queen Beryl!"
The figure smiled exposing a mouth full of very sharp teeth. "Hello
Sailor Mercury. Would you like to surrender and make this easier for both
of us?"
Ami's mind had already raced ahead. The Beryl lookalike had to be
the same creature that had impersonating the generals. Which Gray and
Sailors Arcturus and Polaris were convinced was really Jadeite. It
already knew who she was and there were no witnesses therefore ... Even
before Beryl had finished her question Ami had shouted "MERCURY POWER
MAKEUP!" The costume formed instantly but more importantly she had access
to her powers. Delay it and bring in heavy backup! "SHABON SPRAY!" The
street filled with a cold peasoup fog. Ami was reaching for her
communicator when the hand closed on her shoulder.
Her reactions were good but not quite good enough. As she started to
aim at the figure behind her and use the "Shabon Spray Freezing" attack
she felt the electricity hit her. Paralysed and hurting she heard Beryl
through the haze of the pain. "Nice try. If you'd moved as soon as you
cast the fog I couldn't have caught you so easily." Beryl snorted
contemptuously, "Amateurs!" then Ami lost consciousness.
The fog began breaking up. Beryl scooped up her unconscious foe and
the dropped communicator. To herself she remarked, "One down!" then
disappeared along with her burden.
Makoto was heading home alone. Usagi had been kept behind again and
Ami had run off to cram school. It always gave Makoto a creepy feeling
how eager Ami was to attend extra classes. There but for the grace of God
go I to quote an expression she'd heard. Her latest romance hadn't worked
out. Actually it hadn't even begun as it turned out he already had a
girlfriend. Maybe she should check a bit closer before making her moves.
Nahhh, best to stay spontaneous.
She had just decided to go by the arcade and flirt with Motoki (just
for practice unless his girlfriend had dumped him in which case ... ) when
the youma appeared in her path. "Afternoon Sailor Jupiter. Like to
surrender or do I have to hurt you?"
It looked familiar, she'd seen those spiky shoulders before
somewhere. Anyway it knew she was Sailor Jupiter and there was no one
around so why hesitate? "JUPITER POWER MAKEUP!" No messing around, not
after the way she'd been blindsided lately. "SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON!"
The pavement in front of her erupted in electrical fire. Makoto was still
half blinded from the flash when something seized her left arm, clamped
onto her back and tossed her into the wall.
She managed to roll with the impact and fire a "Supreme Thunder"
blast behind herself. Suddenly she realized she'd just used her powers
without checking for bystanders. Thankfully the street remained empty.
Totally empty! Where was her opponent? Could she have just vaporized
her?
No. Youma dust hung in the air longer. Besides she couldn't count
on getting that lucky. So where was it? Almost as if it had heard her
thoughts the voice echoed around her. "I can see you, can you see me?"
She couldn't locate the source.
"Show yourself!"
"Sorry, you're far too violent. I think I'll just stay hidden.
You'll never find me alone, you're the dumbest of the senshi."
"Oh yeah!" This thing was claiming Usagi was smarter than her.
She'd make it pay for that. She took a step then stopped and frowned.
She felt weak, she must have hit that wall harder than she'd thought.
Except she didn't feel any pain, just a growing weariness. Standing up
was now a chore. Makoto leaned against the wall and felt the strange
lethagy spread.
She slumped to her knees. What the hell was wrong with her? As she
slipped from kneeling to sprawling on the pavement she heard the voice
again. "I figured electrical attack wouldn't work on you so I tried
something a little different. My throw was intended to distract you from
the draining matrix I planted on your back." As Makoto began pawing at
her back she thought she saw someone appear before her. Her vision was
dimming so it was hard to tell. The voice continued, "It's immaterial,
you can't touch it!" She couldn't feel anything and didn't have the
strength to continue.
Her arms felt like lead, it was difficult to move. Makoto managed to
fumble her communicator out of her uniform. She had to warn the others
before it overwhelmed her.
The kick knocked it out of her hand. The youma smiled down at her
and said, "It's a little soon to spoil the surprise."
With the last of her strength Makoto clamped her other hand around
the ankle in front of her and whispered "supreme thunder." There was a
faint crackle but nothing more. The last thing Jupiter heard before she
blacked out was Beryl saying, "Pathetic!"
Rei had just arrived home at the temple when she felt the presence.
A youma here? Such desecration couldn't be permitted. "MARS POWER MAKE
UP!" The costume had just finished forming when she heard the sarcastic
applause.
"Bravo. Such dramatic flare. Have you considered the stage?"
"Well as a matter of fact ... Hey! Don't try to distract me. I am
the guardian of this sacred place! You trespass upon holy ground, demon!
In the name of spiritual purity Sailor Mars will fry you!"
"Bless you too. Show me what you've got brat!"
"My pleasure, FIRE SOUL BIRD!" Rei's flame construct tore towards
the youma. It made no move to defend itself and in an instant the place
it stood was wreathed in flame. Rei shielded her eyes against the glare.
When the light she could see through her closed eyelids had faded she
looked again. The sight shocked her.
The female youma stood unhurt amid the dying flames. Though the
ground looked whitehot (fading to red) it showed no sign of discomfort.
Even her dress looked unburned. Beryl's grin revealed a lot of sharp
teeth. "Sorry but fire doesn't work anymore. I am beyond the weaknesses
of the flesh. By the way it's my turn." The youma sounded so casual Rei
missed the cue for a crucial moment. She was still diving from her spot
when the shockblast slammed her across the courtyard.
Dazed Rei saw the two youmas stalking towards her. No wait, both
were identical she was seeing double. She couldn't see to aim straight.
Not that it would do much good if the creature was fireproof. What was
she supposed to do ... use the spirit wards dummy! The knock on the head
must have scrambled her wits temporarily. Now if she could just find the
cards before it reached her.
"Hey what the heck are you ARRRGH!" Beryl's pause to zap Yuichiro
gave Rei the delay she needed. She'd paralyse the Youma, call in the
others to zap it and hope the wards held it until they came. Soon as she
called them she'd do what she could to help Yuichiro. She felt a little
guilty at not considering this earlier. Here goes nothing!
Beryl reached down, grabbed Rei by the collar and hauled her upright.
Rei hung limp playing unconscious. The way she felt after the sudden jerk
it wasn't far from the truth. Now! Her hand shot forward and stuck the
card to Beryl's forehead chanting the blessing as she did so.
The youma showed no sign of discomfort. Her free hand reached up and
peeled the card loose. Rei felt her blood turn to ice, youma could not
disregard spirit wards so easily! It violated everything she'd be taught!
Beryl glanced at the card and said, "Sorry but I'm more science fiction
than fantasy orientated these days." The card burst into flames and was
ash in a few moments.
The youma was distracted. This was probably her last chance. Maybe
her powers would be effective at point blank range. "FIRE
AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Beryl nodded at the unconscious enemy hanging in her grasp. "Three
down, Three to go." There was a swirl of lights then both figures were
gone.
At the school Titania Hobbes watched the other students leaving
through the window. She wasn't in detention, Ms. Saito wasn't one of her
teachers. But she'd been very insistent that Ti stay to talk to her. Big
brother still hadn't seen her, Ms. Saito must have been avoiding her
apartment.
"Thank you for waiting."
"My pleasure sensei." It struck Titanite that the teacher wasn't
that many years older than her. OK eight years older but right now she
looked younger and very insecure.
After glancing around to make sure no one else was in earshot Mai
said, "I wanted to talk to you about a few things not directly concerned
with school." She paused then said, "Look I'll walk you to the gates.
It'll give time to talk."
"Yes sensei."
Outside in the yard Minako was loitering. Since there wasn't going
to be any action until tomorrow she intended to follow Titania. Hopefully
she could confirm that the English girl was Sailor Polaris. In which case
there were a few questions she wanted answered. The big one being that if
Jadeite was responsible for the current attacks where did Lord Calcite fit
in.
Speaking of Calcite that's who Mai and Titanite were discussing. Mai
wasn't sure how to say this without sounding crazy. "Your brother is ...
different."
"That could mean a lot of things sensei. Would you like to be a
little more specific?" And as Cal was planning to tell her about his Gray
identity Ti added, "Different runs in our family." Mai froze momentarily
then continued walking.
"Different as in ... in paranormal abilities." There she'd said it.
Mai watched the girl and saw her nod. She was momentarily at a loss for
words but went on, "When we were in the park ..."
"He shielded you from the attacking youma.", Ti cut in. "He told me
about that. He also told me he's been unable to find you since then and
you must be avoiding him."
Mai showed no irritation at the interuption, "Yes I haven't been back
to my apartment except for a few brief stops to pick up changes of
clothes. I've been staying with an old friend."
"May I ask why?"
"Because your brother scared me! When he said he believed in the
supernatural he forgot to mention he was supernatural! When I got out of
the park I realized I was as scared of him as I ws of that thing. That's
why I didn't go home, because I didn't want him to be able to find me.
When I think that we were ..." She broke off remembering she was talking
to a minor, "... were dating and all the time he was ... whatever he is
and I never realized ... I don't know what's going on anymore. But I've
decided I can't stay hidden my whole life. But I don't know what to do
next. Since he's your brother I thought you might have a few answers."
Some humans evidently can't handle the idea of the paranormal
existing, Ti thought. She'd better be careful handling this or she could
screw things up for her brother. Offhand she couldn't think of a good
parallel from her comics so she'd have to use her own judgement. "Cal
would never do anything to hurt you. In fact he wouldn't even be using
his powers if it weren't for the current situation."
"Just what is the current situation?"
"There's a youma roaming Juban draining people's life energy. But it
should be over with soon. Then Cal can go back to being normal."
Mai shook her head. "He may not use his powers but he won't be
normal. He'll just be pretending to be normal. Underneath he'll still
have be different won't he?"
"His powers are part of him, he can chose not to use them but they're
as essential to him as the ability to breathe. We were born this way and
nothing's going to change that."
Mai stopped dead. "WE! You mean you have powers too?"
Oops maybe she'd said to much, "Uhmm well, what I meant was ... OH
SHIT!" This last part wasn't added because of Ti's inability to come up
with the right words. She'd added the exclamation because she suddenly
sensed then saw the youma who'd appeared in front of them. "QUEEN
BERYL?!"
"I hate such familiarity from the lower classes. You should address
me as 'Your majesty'. I'll have to punish you for that."
Mai suddenly felt herself shoved aside by Ti at the same time the
girl made an impossible leap backwards. The concrete they'd been standing
on shattered. Mai was looking backwards at Ti, who'd just broken the
olympic longjump record, and saw her change.
Ti slapped the transmuter bracelet as she dived from the spot she'd
landed. Ms. Saito was the only witness and this definitely qualified as
an emergency where she needed to use her powers. If anyone else came on
the scene they'd see Sailor Polaris fighting a youma. The situation
stank, she wasn't in top shape after yesterday even with her rapid healing
abilities. She'd explained the bruises as the results of falling
downstairs and been told she must be as clumsy as Minako. The costume had
formed by the time she hit the ground and rolled. As she did she
activated her telekenetic abilities.
She had to keep moving. Her brother had given her some tactical
advice last night after they got home. After they'd bandaged her and done
what they could to minimize the pain she'd gone to bed to let her healing
factor do the rest. Cal had sat down by the futon and told her, "Ti you
know I don't want you to fight but if you have to you've got to use your
powers as effectively as possible. Your force sphere, what the hell, your
'Polaris Missile' is the best weapon you've got. Actually apart from your
speed, strength and agility it's all you've got. But it takes time to
generate and if you just stand there posing while you do that you're an
easy target. So create it while you're moving. I know it's harder but
you can't give your enemy a stationary target. Whatever you do remember
that."
"I remember big brother here goes nothing!" she thought as the
sphere peaked. "EAT THIS!" Whoops she should have given her attack cry.
Though it seemed more appropriate somehow.
Mai saw the glowing sphere slam into the youma. It shot backwards
into one of the schoolyard walls and the bricks exploded. A thick cloud
of powdered brick obscured the impact point. The green haired Sailor
Warrior who'd been the brunette schoolgirl just a few moments before
flashed the victory sign then tried to peer through the dust. It was
amazing how little time had passed. She heard footsteps and turned to see
another Sailor Warrior approaching.
"Sailor Venus!" I should have expected her, Ti thought. After all
this is her school. She'd started to reach for her emergency signaller
but hesitated. Things had happened too rapidly for her to think of using
it earlier but now Sailor Venus was here did she still need the backup?
Then the dust cleared enough for her to see into the hole Beryl had made
in the wall. There was no sign of anyone. "Where ... ?" The hand
clamped on her shoulder.
"HERE!" The electricity ripped through Titanite, she spasmed and her
hand jerked away from the signaller. The pain became unbearable and Ti
blacked out.
"POLARIS!" Minako muttered a few things that would have damaged her
reputation if she'd been overheard. She couldn't get a clear shot at
Beryl with Sailor Polaris in the way. Then Polaris went limp, Beryl
smiled at her said, "Lord Calcite sends his regards", then disappeared
taking Polaris with her. A swirling egg shaped energy ovoid remained
where Beryl had stood. Well now she knew for sure that Titania was Sailor
Polaris meaning her brother was probably Gray. She also knew that the two
day Youma cycle was a crock. She had to call the others, maybe they could
trace Polaris before it was too late. She had unlimbered the communicator
and was trying to send a general call when Mai got over her shock and came
towards her. The communicator displayed nothing but static. What the
heck? That thing Beryl left, it must be blocking the signal somehow.
Easily fixed, "Crescent Beam."
The beam went straight through the ovoid and clipped the top off the
school flagpole. Ok maybe not so easily fixed. It must have a limited
range, put enough distance between them and the communicator would work
again. But why would Beryl (or Jadeite, or Calcite of whoever it was?)
want to block her temporarily. Then she realized maybe temporary was all
Beryl needed. She just needed a few minutes so Minako couldn't warn any of
the others. After all she attacked Polaris in her civilian identity so
maybe she knew who the other were. Calcite certainly knew her real name.
Hah and they say Ami's the brains of the group, I'll bet she wouldn't have
figured it out this quickly.
"Excuse me Sailor Venus ..." The teacher's voice snapped her out of
the self congratulatory haze. Instead of being so proud of herself she
should be putting some distance between herself and the jammer.
"Uhhgottagobye!" Mai saw Sailor Venus charge away at a ridiculous
speed. What the hell was going on? "Mother was right. Never get involved
with paranormal gaijin. Well she didn't say that but she certainly should
have."
Usagi was heading home in a good mood. Ms. Sakurada had got some
phonecall and said she was letting Usagi out of detention early because
she couldn't stay to supervise. Things were looking up. Now maybe she
could get Mamoru-san to help her with all the homework at his apartment.
She was in such a cheerful frame of mind that she walked straight by the
lady leaning against the lamppost without a second's thought. She was
halfway down the block before she realized she'd just passed Queen Beryl.
No way. It couldn't be! She turned to look and saw Beryl smiling at
her. "Hello Sailor Moon. I have returned for a rematch!"
"Oh ... uh could you wait until tomorrow? See I've got this extra
homework because of detention and .."
"NO IT CAN'T WAIT! Ahem, you are ruining my stylish menace pose.
How you managed to ... no matter. You can fight me as Sailor Moon or die
where you stand."
"No third choice?"
"No."
"In that case, MOON PRISM POWER MAKE UP! I'm the Sailor Warrior
fighting for love and AAAAAKKKK!"
Beryl looked down at the unconscious figure slumped on the street and
shook her head. "Kid, there's a time to make speeches and a time to shut
up and fight. How you managed to beat the real queen is a mystery to me."
She heard the beep, smiled and fished out Usagi's communicator. Sailor
Venus's face appeared on the screen.
"Usagi, thank goodness. None of the others are responding. I think
maybe ..." Beryl flicked the transmitting switch.
"Maybe they had a run in with me?"
"BERYL!"
"I'm sorry but Sailors Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Polaris can't
answer right now. Can I take a message?"
"Beryl I'm going to ..."
"You won't be able to find me. The only thing you can do is go home
and wait. Lord Calcite will get in touch with you soon. Bye!" Beryl
broke the connection and picked up Usagi. One to go. Both vanished.
Not far away Tuxedo Mask froze in shock. He'd sensed Usagi was in
danger and was heading to help her but suddenly he felt nothing. He
always knew where he'd find her but now he couldn't sense her presence
anywhere. Could she be ...? No. If she'd died he knew he'd have sensed
that. Fate had bound them together, their lives were intertwined. She
was alive he was sure of that. But somehow she'd been taken someplace he
couldn't sense her. Or could she have gone somewhere beyond his range.
While he was sure he could find her anyplace on Earth what about beyond?
Could she somehow have returned to Silver Millenium? All he could do was
go to the last place he'd sensed her and look for clues.
Meanwhile Azurite was browsing through a videostore. Ah here it was,
just as Ti had told her. She took it to the counter and asked the clerk
to giftwrap it. She'd tell Ti she needn't bother repaying her. It'd be
worth it to see the expresion on Cal's face. Besides they could use a few
laughs while they could get them. Tomorrow was going to be deadly
serious. Could they realistically take Jadeite out? He'd screwed up
consistantly against the Sailor Warriors but that wasn't quite the same
thing.
As she stepped outside she noticed the street was deserted. Very
odd. The road should be packed with cars and the pavement with commuters.
It was almost as if something was diverting both from this area. Azurite
tensed and began sidling towards an alleyway. Maybe it was just an
accident or some roadworks. Or maybe something bad was coming so Azure
had better disappear and Sailor Arcturus take over. She felt the youma
aura appear, ducked into alley, triggered the costume change and hit her
emergency signal. She recognised the aura she sensed. No way, it
couldn't be! Calm down, she told herself, we've found out Jadeite can
replicate auras. It's not really Queen Beryl.
Beryl's voice rang out, "Sorry Calcite won't be assisting you. I'm
blocking your ingenious signaller."
Sailor Arcturus showed no sign of emotion but inside Azurite felt her
insides knot up. Shit! Ok calm down. He's a day early but that means he
hasn't had much time to heal. Me and Cal really ripped him up last night.
So maybe I can take him alone. Maybe hell, I've got to beat him. If I
warp out of here he'll follow. Assuming I live long enough to complete
the teleport. He can shift instantly while we need time. No choice. She
activated the warpjammer, neither of them was going anywhere.
The fake Beryl didn't seem in a hurry to attack. She said, "Nice
outfit, really shows the figure. Maybe I should try something like that.
Keep him talking, buy time to build as much power as possible.
"Didn't know you were a transvestite Jadeite."
Beryl smiled, "So you figured it out. Well then you should know that
you can't beat me. Not on your own."
"Tell that to Sailor Moon."
"SHUT UP! Ahem, she just kept getting lucky. That's all. Well
enough of this witty repartee. Goodbye!"
Inside the videostore the clerk, attracted by the commotion, looked
outside. She immediately flipped the sign to closed and locked the door.
Then dug out a camera and filmed through the window.
Outside Azurite was somersaulting away from Beryl's last shockblast.
Why Jadeite was still using the Beryl disguise she didn't know. Maybe it
was symbolic, maybe he was just nuts. She spun and aimed at Jadeite. The
air funnel created by her vortex generation powers looked like a hurricane
turned sideways. It also struck like a hurricane. Beryl was flung
backwards and smashed into a retaining wall. Without a forceshield she'd
have been smeared, even with one she was hurt. Azurite saw her foe cough
up a mouthful of blood. Good, internal injuries. The impact overloaded
the shield's kinetic dampening ability. Part of the force got through.
No time to gloat she had to press her advantage fast. She didn't have
Cal's power reserves this had to end quickly. She slammed another
hurricane into the slumped figure. Beryl screamed. Azurite pushed all
feelings of mercy aside. No prison could hold Jadeite, if he survived
he'd be sure to seek vengeance. She had to end this while her luck held.
She had one more superhurricane left. NOW!
Beryl flickered out of existence and the air vortex ripped into
unoccupied masonary. Azurite sensed the presence behind her and spun
around fast. She almost made it.
Azurite hit the street hard. She was dazed from both the impact and
the the combination force blast/electric shock attack she'd been hit with.
But how? Beryl had teleported but the jammer ... the jammer! As though
she'd read her mind Beryl said, "That's right the jammer doesn't work. It
never worked!" She slammed another blast into Azurite then remarked
conversationally, "You know if you were human you'd be dead by now."
Another blast. "Pyrite's little invention was a masterpiece but he made
one crucial error. He thought he was dealing with a youma." She blasted
Azurite again then inspected her nails.
"Then ... what ... are ... you?", Azurite managed to gasp.
"Sorry it's a little too soon to tell you. Almost everything is in
place. I just need to visit Pyrite and make a few phonecalls."
"Touch Pyrite ... and I'll ... I'll kill you!"
"I'm sure you would if I gave you the chance. But I'm not about to
do that. Goodnight." A final blast and everything went black for
Azurite. Beryl was about to grab her and depart when she saw the camera.
She waved and said, "Is this the end of Sailor Arcturus? Film at eleven."
Then she scooped her up and fallen foe and disappeared.
Not long afterwards Beryl was looking at the house the renegades
shared. She couldn't teleport in, not with the keyed blocking field in
place. Of course she could replicate one of the renegades' auras and then
warp in. But it felt more satisfying to do it this way. She surged
forward and flung herself at the kitchen window.
Pyrite heard the glass break then felt the aura. He charged up from
the basement holding a rod humming with power. "It can't be!"
A kick knocked the rod from his hand and it spun down the hallway.
He turned to look into Beryl's merciless eyes. "Yes it can!"
At his office Calcite was finishing up his memo advising the bank to
stay away from that bond trader in Singapore. It would probably be
ignored but at least he'd have tried. He touched the intercom and asked
his personal secretary, "Miami are the phones working yet?"
"I am sorry Hobbes-san but they are still trying to trace the
problem. I regret to inform you of a related problem."
"Related?"
"Security has just informed me of a breakin at the parking lot. Many
cellular phones have been stolen including yours."
"So no one can phone us?"
"I am afraid so Hobbes-san. A moment please ... A runner has just
informed me that we are evacuating the building in case this is an attempt
to isolate us prior to an attack."
"An attack? By who?"
"Terrorist, bank robbers, whoever. It seems unlikely but security is
insisting we don't take the risk."
"Allright then I'm leaving. But to avoid the certain chaos in the
parking lot I'll walk home. Anyway you'd better go now." Miami thanked
him and left with an undignified haste.
He picked up his jacket and headed for the elevator. The lobby was
full of nervous people determined to show no outward signs of panic.
Calcite was one of the few relaxed people. With his powers he was the
most likely to survive this hypothetical assault.
After exiting the building he began wandering home. It was a
pleasant day for a walk, especially if your lungs can filter out the
airborne pollutants and exhale them. As he walked he reflected that it
was odd that he was good in his position in the bank. He'd picked the
profession because he'd been fascinated by the whole concept after
learning about the ideas behind money. Mind control had got him into the
position but he'd found he had a flare for it. It was just a matter of
learning to see the hidden patterns. He still didn't understand why
economists couldn't.
Patterns ... tomorrow Jadeite would reemerge. Possibly as himself,
perhaps as someone else again. He'd have to be ready. This was going to
be the toughest fight of his life. The question of if Jadeite actually
his father was irrelevant. It wouldn't slow Jadeite down if he knew he was
facing his son. So I can't let it affect me.
Still one thing he had to give Jadeite was points for style. When
he'd been doing his "Lord Calcite" act he'd been unable to match that
flawless arrogance. Jadeite still had that quality. He remembered that
encounter last Wednesday evening (was it really only a week ago, it felt
so much longer) Jadeite floating over the fallen Sailor Warriors
declaiming in triumph. He remembered the speech, "Did you idiots truly
think you could beat me! I am Jadeite, first of the four. I survived the
Eternal Sleep! If I could do that how could anything stop me!"
Calcite frowned, something felt wrong about that. He found a public
bench and sat down to think. Had he remembered incorrectly? He stretched
his powers of recall casting his mind back a week. Ah yes now he had it,
Jadeite didn't say he'd escaped the Eternal Sleep. He said he'd escaped
the Big Sl...
Calcite felt something cold creep down his spine. Just a
coincidence, Jadeite just happened to use that phrase. It was obvious
what he meant. Patterns ... Another memory surfaced. Nephrite talking to
that girl before he took on the Sailor Warriors. Impossible, it had to be
coincidence.
Then he remembered Zoisite's opening line on Sunday. He'd been right
there, why hadn't he picked up the connection. Kunzite just yesterday,
his speech about Zoisite. Why the hell hadn't he caught it? He'd seen
the damn things more times than he wanted to. But how was it possible?
All the other evidence pointed to Jadeite. All the evidence that had been
left there for them to find. Could it all be some sick game? But if that
was so would the gamemaster keep following his rules? Or would he just
kick the board over arbitrarily?
All bets were off. He found a secluded spot and activated his
communicator. Several minutes later no one had answered. Thoroughly
unnerved he found a payphone and dialed home. The line was busy. But if
someone was home why didn't they answer the communicator signal?
He ducked into the first alley he spotted and teleported home. He
wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.
The place had been wrecked. Shattered furniture was strewn across
the living room. He could see blue stains here and there. Blood! He
stepped into the hall and saw the phone was off the hook and beeping.
Automatically he hung it up. Then he sensed the weak youma aura. Pyrite!
His cousin was a battered mess. His left arm and several fingers on
the right hand were broken. His right leg was broken in two places,
several ribs had been fractured. Where he wasn't bleeding he was bruised.
Pyrite's eyes fluttered open, he saw his cousin leaning over him and
struggled to speak.
"Don't try to talk. You'll only strain the internal damage." He
couldn't sense the intruder. Ok first thing to do is stop the bleeding
while learning the extent of Pyr's internal injuries.
"No ... you have to ... have to listen!" Pyrite paused to draw
breath. Cal gently probed for damage as he did this. "It was Jadeite ...
looking like Beryl for some ... for some reason. He said ... said he's
got Azure and Ti. Wants you ... wants you to come to him. He'll call ...
if you don't go where he says ... kill them both."
"I understand. I swear I'll bring them both back. Now rest."
Elsewhere Mai Saito looked at her phone and wondered if she should
try phoning Calvin again. The line had been busy an awfully long time.
Cal had stopped the worst of the cuts from bleeding when he heard the
phone ring. He snatched it up and managed to repress a threat. This
could be another caller, "Hello?"
"Hello Calcite", Beryl's voice hissed from the receiver.
"Let them go now and I'll let you live!"
"Such confidence. Sorry none of my guests are leaving while I'm
alive. But I'm going to give you a chance."
"Where?"
"You know the abandoned Star Tower reconstruction?"
"I know it."
"Come through the west entrance at six. No earlier, no later."
"I'll be there."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Don't because you won't enjoy it."
"We'll see. See you at six." There was a click and the line went
dead. Calcite didn't slam the phone down. The sonofabitch thinks he's a
master manipulator. Up until now he's certainly been right. So what I
have to do is find a way to throw a monkeywrench into his plans.
In her lair Beryl hung up the phone. Everything was proceeding
nicely, not long now. Still she sensed her guests were starting to
revive. She slipped away.
When Azurite woke up she felt worse than she had in years. She
seemed to have sleeping in a very awkward position. In fact she seemed to
be hanging in place. She opened her eyes slightly and saw she was looking
downward at her legs. They seemed to end just above the ankles. Her eyes
snapped all the way open. Fighting down panic she looked again. She
could feel her feet inside her boots so they weren't gone. In fact she
could just make them out. It looked as though her feet were embedded in a
translucent crystal. She looked up and saw her arms seemed to end just
above the wrist. So her hands were immobalized as well. She heard a
groan to the side and glanced to the right to see Titanite hanging beside
her. Being shorter Ti was more stretched by their confinement. About
three meters away were another two slabs of crystal. Hanging between them
(from left to right) were Sailors Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Moon.
Jupiter had the most slack, Mercury looked the most stretched. Jupiter
seemed to be regaining consciousness, as did Mars. Moon sounded really
out of it, she was muttering "775 bottles of beer on the wall, 775 bottles
of beer, take one down, one down, pass it around, 774 bottles of beer on
the wall ..." And so on. (Sorry I don't know a Japanese equivalent).
Perhaps her scrambled state of mind was assisted by the new jewel fixed to
her tiara. Mercury was awake but staying quiet as she studied their
surroundings.
It appeared to be a cave at first glance. Stalactites hung from the
ceiling, stalagmites grew from the floor. If you looked closer you could
see the regularity of the roof between the stalactites or the concrete
between the stalagmites. There were also power cables partially covered
by the fake outcroppings. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make
this resemble a natural cavern. Perhaps for homesickness, there were no
shortage of caverns in the Dark Kingdom. Most youma had lived in them.
And of course Queen Beryl had held court in the great chamber.
In the meantime the question was how tough was this stuff? Azurite
pulled downwards with superhuman strength. Nothing happened except the
bones in her forearms creaked. Absolutely no give. Whoever built this
was planning to imprison paranormally strong people. She heard a groan as
Titanite woke up followed by a gasp as she realized she was trapped.
"AZURE!"
"Calm down, we've got company over there." She nodded towards the
Sailor Warriors. Jupiter and Mars were awake and trying, without success,
to break loose. "Ti ... Polaris, can you use your TK?"
"I don't know. I should be able to." Titanite concentrated on
forming a forcesphere between her trapped hands. She could use it to
break them free then blast her feet free, hopefully without loosing any
toes.
Nothing happened. She tried again. No success. "I can't! I don't
understand! It's so basic."
"I think I know why." She called over to the trapped Sailors, "Any
of you able to use your powers?"
Mercury shook her head, "No. I think this crystal must somehow block
us. I don't know how. Perhaps it absorbs the power we generate or
scrambles the part of our brains that access our powers. Either way my
powers don't work, neither do Jupiter or Mars's."
Azurite nodded at Sailor Moon. "What about her? Can't she summon
the Moon Sceptre and blast us all free?"
"Perhaps she could if she could connect with reality. But she
doesn't seem able to focus."
"What else is new?" That was from Sailor Mars.
"That's a little harsh. Actually I think that jewel is intended to
keep her in a stupor."
"Like I said what else is new? I'll snap her out of it. HEY TURTLE
BRAIN! Stop counting and get us out of this! Look at me Usa...Sailor
Moon. WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" Usagi kept counting down so Rei decided to
change tactics "Hey this place is full of cute guys!"
Usagi stopped counting and glanced around. As she did Rei shouted at
her to summon the sceptre. Usagi didn't seem to hear. She stopping
looking around and let herself hang loosely again. Then she turned to
look at Rei and asked, "Was I on 703 or 704?"
"What?"
"Don't remember either. Start again. 1000 bottles of beer on the
wall ..."
Rei kept yelling at Usagi despite Ami telling her to forget it as
she'd clearly been brainwashed. Azurite decided to play her trump card.
She couldn't sense a jammer field so she'd be able to teleport. She
couldn't sense any youma auras so hopefully there captor wasn't around.
Quietly she said to Ti, "I'm going to jump free then try and crack this
thing with a hurricane punch." And then, she added silently, if it works
and the noise doesn't alert our captor I'll break our fellow prisoners
free. But if Jadeite comes storming in here I warp the two of us out of
here and look for Calcite. That would mean jumping blind as she didn't
know where they were now. Not recommended but her options were limited.
First though she'd aim for a metre in front of them. Azurite summoned her
power and initalized the jump.
Blue energy crackled over her body and Azurite screamed long and
loud. Then she slumped back and fell silent.
"AZURE! DON'T BE DEAD! PLEASE BIG SISTER!" Ti felt on the verge of
tears when the hated voice cut into her plea.
"As you just saw if you try to teleport out you'll suffer. You could
almost say ...", Beryl struck Sailor Moon's pose, "... In the name of the
Dark Kingdom, I will punish you."
"MONSTER!"
"A small joke Polaris, the process is automatic. Like the one that
blocks all your powers. But how can you call me a monster Polaris. Are
we not cut from the same cloth?"
"I'm nothing like you Jadeite. It's your actions that make you a
monster not your nature."
Beryl simply smiled than said, "Arcturus will recover. At least from
that shock. But the fate of all of you depends on our two absent guests."
"Which means Sailor Venus and Gray I suppose."
"Very good Mercury, that's exactly who we're waiting for. Tuxedo
Mask is out of the loop. This place is very carefully shielded. Here we
are all psychically invisible. Now why don't you ask Polaris your
question." Ami looked startled. "Don't be so surprised. It's obvious
you want her to tell you something."
Ami decided she might as well ask. "All right. Sailor Polaris, why
were you, Arcturus and Gray so sure Jadeite's the one behind everything
that's happened lately?" At Polaris's surprised look she added, "I was
able to eavesdrop on you three with my vizor."
"Oh. Well you know that shattered crystal we found?" Ami nodded.
"OK it was what was left of an Eternal Sleep crystal." At the questioning
looks from the Sailor Warriors she continued, "Queen Beryl imprisoned
people she wanted to make examples of in those crystals. After you, Mars
and Moon beat him that last time the queen sealed Jadeite into one of
them. Of all those imprisoned that way only Jadeite had the power to
cause all this trouble. Why he's disguising himself we don't know. We
also don't know how he got out of the crystal."
"Bravo a most concise explanation for a complicated series of
events." Beryl applauded briefly then said, "Would you mind explaining to
our friends over there just how you know so much about events that
happened in the Dark Kingdom?" Polaris just glared at Beryl. The youma
queen held up a hand and grinned. The fingers doubled in length so they
looked like the legs of some horrible insect thing. Thin claws looking
like scalpel blades extuded from the finger tips. Titanite involuntarily
cowered back as far as she could.
Beryl strode past her to the unconscious Azurite. The razor tipped
fingers almost carressed her cheek. "Such a pretty face. She'll look so
very ugly without it." The Sailor Warriors gasped (except for Sailor Moon
was past 900 and falling).
"WAIT!"
Beryl pulled her hand back slightly. "The truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth if you please." One finger twitched towards
Azurite's eyes.
"I'll tell them, just don't hurt her!" Beryl made no promises but
moved the blade away slightly. Titanite took a deep breath and said, "The
reason I know so much about the Dark Kingdom is ... is that ... (Beryl
looked impatient) is that I was born there! We both were." Various
explanations of amazement from the Sailor Warriors. Beryl made a motion
to continue. "My real name is Titanite, Sailor Arcturus's is Azurite.
Four of us got out of the Dark Kingdom just before the end."
"Wait a minute!", Rei broke in. "You can't be a youma. I can sense
youmas and I never felt that from either of you."
"You don't actually sense youmas. You sense something with both
paranormal powers and evil destructive intentions. Right?"
"Well yes but youma ..."
"Did you think all youma were evil?"
"Well ... yeah!"
"Why?"
"Because ... because we never met any who weren't."
Ami broke in, "I think that was an error on our part. Judging a
whole people by the actions of a few is an error. Most nations have
terrible things in their past that were caused by the actions of the
leaders."
Titanite sighed. "Unfortunately most of the youma were evil. Those
of us who weren't didn't fit in. And anyone who didn't fit in was a
target." The old bitterness resurfaced. "They called youmas like us
renegades, heretics and a lot of other names. When they found us they
killed us. Eventually."
"But if that was true how could any of you survive?"
"Some learned to pass as typical youma. To make the compromises they
had to in order to survive. It used to be simple before the Kingdom had
access to Earth. You were surrounded by renegade hating youma. You had
the choice of act ruthless or be killed. It wasn't easy but some like
Azurite survived that way. Others, like me never could manage that. If
my brother hadn't been looking out for me my whole life I'd never have
survived."
"That's absolutely right", Beryl interjected. "Now tell them your
brother's name."
This was gonna be tricky. "Calcite. My brother's name is Calcite."
"Calcite!" That was Jupiter, "Calcite as in the guy who used to
fight Min ... Sailor Venus all the time? The guy who's been threatening
her lately? That's your brother?"
"No ... I mean yes. I mean yes and no. Oh hell!"
"Take it easy and think about what you're going to say."
Jupiter looked at Ami, "Why are you siding with her?"
"Because I think she's a good person. Rei, you don't sense evil from
her do you?"
"No. Not at all. And I trust my abilities Jupiter."
"Ok, I'll hear her out."
"Thank you. Ok the guy who's been phoning Sailor Venus wasn't my
brother." She glanced at Beryl. "I'll bet our shapeshifting friend knows
all about it. It must be easier to duplicate a voice rather than a whole
person."
"You're right ahem FOOLISH MORTALS COWER BEFORE LORD CALCITE!" This
last part was delivered in a deep male voice.
Jupiter looked at Beryl. "Ok that explains the phonecalls." She
turned back to Titanite and asked, "But what about what happened in
England?"
"That's a long story."
"Go ahead. Seems we have to hang around anyway."
"Ok well I guess it starts with this youma named Magnesite ..."
An abbreviated version of the prologue followed.
Titanite fell silent. Her throat felt really dry. Rei said, "I
think she's telling the truth."
Makoto shook her head and said, "It was all a scam? Minako's gonna
freak when she hears this."
A bigger worry had occurred to Ami. "The renegade Youmas ... were
there any others of you in the Kingdom?"
"I don't know. We had to stay hidden to survive so there could have
been others. After all everytime you took off your mask you risked death.
It was years before Cal and Pyr knew Azure was a renegade."
Ami looked at Rei and said, "We'd better not tell Sailor Moon this."
Rei nodded then glanced over to see if she was still out of it. She
was down to 500 and oblivious to anything else. Yes they'd have to keep
this from Usagi. Finding out she might have wiped out some innocents
along with the Dark Kingdom could destroy her. She hadn't known, and if
she had known did she have had an option?
Azurite groaned again and opened her eyes. She muttered,
"Wherethehell ... " and tried to move. She winced and looked around her.
"Oh yeah, now I remember."
"Are you all right Azurite?"
"Relatively speaking ... Sailor Polaris ..."
"Jadeite blew our cover. But I've explained things to them. I think
we're in the clear."
"Oh. Well fair enough we know who they are."
"What!"
"Yeah, your name's Rei something right?"
"Maybe."
"Uh, I didn't mention that to them Azure."
Ami shrugged. "I don't suppose it makes much difference. Jadeite
already knows our real names. He targeted all of us in our civilian
identities."
Azurite looked around, "Where is our crossdressing general?"
"He walked out during my explanation about Lord Calcite."
"Does he still look like Beryl?"
"Yes. But I don't think he's crazy. He seems rational. Cruel but
rational."
"Well we're obviously bait. But why use us to draw out Cal and
Sailor Venus. Why not just zap them the way he did us?"
"Patience my dear Azurite. You'll learn the reason why soon enough."
Beryl reemerged carrying an electric cornpopper. At the questioning look
she explained, "It's for the show. Well time to contact the other star
performer." She pulled a speaker from behind one of the stalagmites.
"This will let you hear my end of the conversation. I wouldn't want you
to miss anything. Now if you'll excuse me I have a call to make. Don't
bother shouting the barrier will be soundproof."
Beryl walked over to a phone. A transparent glowing wall appeared
between her and the hostages. She picked up the phone and dialed.
Through the speaker they could here a man's chuckle. Then the onesided
conversation began. "Hello again Sailor V." It was the Lord Calcite
voice Beryl had demonstrated earlier. "Yes that's right, it's me again.
Wondering what my servants did with your friends? ... Oh please after all
the trouble of capturing them do you think I'll just let them go? ... Such
language young lady ... Are you ready to listen or will you keep making
threats? ... Good. You know the abandoned Star Tower reconstruction? ...
Good. Come through the east entrance at six. No earlier, no later. Come
alone. That includes cats. Oh one more thing, this voice is just a fake."
The voice shifted becoming milder, "Normally I talk like this." From
Titanite's gasp Ami guessed that was her brother's real voice. Beryl hung
up and chuckled. A gesture and the wall disappeared.
Azurite looked at their captor. "That's one on the way. How are you
going to get Cal?"
"Oh he's already on the way. He'll also be arriving at six. Though
at a different entrance."
"Then you've just signed your own death warrant. Didn't you here
what Cal did after they murdered his mother. (Damn forgot Ti's right next
to me). When he's running on rage he's unstoppable!"
Beryl smirked. "Heard about it? I'm counting on it!" And then she
began to laugh. When she stopped she said, "It is not enough to merely
kill an enemy, you must destroy him. You must take everything he values
and turn to ashes. You must take his hopes, dreams and loves and grind
them into the dirt before him. And at the very end you must deny him
death, condemn him to live on in the hell you have created for him!"
Ami studied the creature before her then said with feeling, "You are
a very sick creature!"
"True. But I'm a winner and that's all that really counts." Beryl
plugged in the popper. "Not long until six. I can hardly wait."
A few minutes later, while the room filled with the smell of popcorn,
Beryl raised a hand imperiously. A hole opened in the floor and three
very large crystal balls rose into view. Another gesture and the right
and lefthand ones began displaying images. The central one remained
empty. Each of the others showed a corridor ending in a door. Beryl
snapped her fingers and both doors exploded inward. Everyone recognized
the figures who appeared in the entryways.
"Calcite!"
"Minako!"
And that was when it happened.
A few moments earlier Calcite, in his Gray costume, finished studying
the western entryway and glanced at his watch. Almost time. He couldn't
detect any traps and suspected the gamemaster didn't want to knock him off
the board just yet. Not after all the trouble he'd taken. Well time to
get this show on the road. Calcite fired a shock blast and the door
imploded inward. He dived through the entryway and felt energy crackle
along his body. Damnit how had he missed this!?
There was no pain and no injury. All that happened was the
transmuter activated. His clothing shifted into a pattern he hadn't used
in months. He looked down at the black costume that covered him. No
mistake, it was his Lord Calcite outfit. He tried to reactivate the
transmuter but it seemed to be jammed. "The hell with it!", the prisoners
heard him say. It seemed the crystals transmitted sound as well as
picture. They saw him pull off the helmet, mutter, "I always hated having
no peripheral vision" and toss it aside. He continued up the corridor.
Simultaneously Minako blasted her door and entered. The lights
crawled over her and she tried to brush them off. There was no harmful
effect but her costume changed. The skirt shifted to blue as other
changes occurred in her outfit. It was obviously her Sailor V costume.
"OK Calcite, I guess this is more appropriate. Here I come!" She charged
up the corridor.
Azurite paled and she began pulling at the crystal than held them
with renewed fury. "Ti try to break free! Maybe together we can ..."
"Sorry it'll hold you both. I guess you've figured it out then?"
"You sonofaSluzegreep!"
"Azurite what's wrong? Big brother's coming to save us. And Sailor
V's gonna save the Sailor Warriors so everything's under control. What
can stop them?"
"Don't you get it Ti? Don't any of you?" The Sailor Warriors shook
their heads. Of course not they'd never seen the costume before. "That
outfit Cal's wearing is the Lord Calcite costume. Sailor V's charging in
here to take out the youma who's been threatening her and kidnapped her
friends. That blank crystal ball's for when they meet isn't it?"
Beryl nodded. "That's right. We'll have ringside seats for the
fight of the century. Popcorn anyone? No? Funny I find bloodshed
improves my appetite.
Within the balls both figures were blasting spiked crystalline shapes
that surged at them. "Just a warmup before the main event to get the
adrenaline flowing." Beryl swallowed a handful of popcorn then looked at
Titanite. "Your brother has a real problem. He can either kill Sailor V
to get past her and save you. Or he can stand there and let her kill him.
Either way he loses. I really hope he kills her. There is so much more I
have planned for him. Here we go!" The central crystal hummed and showed
a hallway with opposing doors. Both exploded inward.
"Sailor V?"
"CALCITE!"
"Oh shit! Wait we need to ..."
"CRESCENT BEAM!"
Calcite shut up and dodged. He responded with a forcewave that
knocked her flying. She hit the ground rolling, somersaulted to her feet
and fired another energybolt. It caught the edge of Calcite's forcefield
and flared. Titanite heard Azurite swear. "But it'll be ok because he can
stand her energybeams right? I mean his shield can block her so he just
has to wait until she runs out of power then explain things."
"He can't block all the energy at that close a range. And she's got
a more powerful attack now. Maybe there's too much backlash in that
confined an area so she's not using it. But if she does ..." Azurite
left the rest unsaid.
Makoto looked at Rei and asked, "Can't you use your psychic powers to
tell Minako it's a setup?"
"I can only receive, I can't telepathically communicate!"
"Damn. Look maybe he's not a bad guy but if it's him or Minako ..."
"I know. If only we could stop this somehow! Wait a minute!"
Calcite had just materialized a handful of knives and flung them. None of
them hit Sailor V but they punched through her costume and pinned the
clothing to the wall."
"OK", Calcite said, "Now you're going to hold still and listen."
"Wrong!" She dived forward ripping her outfit free from the blades.
"Crescent Beam!" They heard Calcite scream.
The glow faded and they saw Calcite was burned but alive. "Damnit
she's overloading his shield. Some of that got through! The next one
might ..."
That was confirmed when Calcite snarled, "It's me or you!"
"It always was!"
Azurite wanted to look away but kept watching. "He can't risk trying
to subdue her anymore. It's now a fight to the death on both sides!" In
the ball Minako was slammed the length of the room by a forcewave. She
rolled away from her impact point which was suddenly peppered with knives.
The knives crackled with power that would have fried her if they'd hit.
Minako was on her feet and studying Calcite. Both were breathing hard.
Minako's clothes were torn and sweatstained, Calcite's were scorched as
was his skin.
There was a moment of silence then Minako said, "It ends now!"
"So be it!"
They charged towards each other and Minako shouted, "CRESCENT BEAM
SHOWER!" The crystal ball's image became one huge flare of light.
Everyone looked away from it. Beryl swore, dropped her bucket of popcorn
and thumped it.
"Too bright! The stupid thing's overloaded." The glare began to
fade and an image formed. Azurite and Titanite gasped. The crystal
showed an indistinct Calcite. His burned right arm hung limply at his
side as his left hand probed the blackened shoulder. His face was twisted
in pain, physical and emotional. Then the whole sphere cleared and they
saw Minako.
She was looking down in disbelief at the swordhilt that emerged from
her chest and the blood that poured out of the wound. She looked up as
though to say something to Calcite but gagged and collapsed. As she fell
faceforward everyone got to see the reddened point emerged from her back.
Calcite looked down at the slumped figure. Despite his own pain he
managed to say sincerely, "I'm so terribly sorry." He would have stood
there longer but a new doorway opened and he stumbled toward it. "Gotta
... gotta keep going ... save them ... can't stop ..."
All the Sailor Warriors were weeping and there were tears running
down Titanite's face. Azurite kept control by focusing on her anger.
"The bastard's trying to destroy Cal. Forcing him to kill someone he knew
wasn't a real enemy. He set everything up for that. Well you've
underestimated Calcite! He'll keep going until he's brought your filthy
scheme crashing down around you!" She tried to ignore how bad he looked.
Something occurred to her, "Hey people!"
Jupiter snarled at her, "YOU SHUT UP. It was your lousy friend that
killed Minako."
"But she can come back can't she?"
That took Jupiter by surprise. "What?"
"All three of you and Sailor Venus died at D point. I saw it happen.
But somehow you came back from the dead. Can't she do it again?"
"Uhhhhhhh." Makoto had no idea how to answer this, nor did Rei.
It was Ami who said, "Those were special circumstances. Sailor Moon
used the silver crystal to restore us but right now ...."
"... 279 bottles of beer on the wall ..."
"... she's in no condition to use it. Assuming it will work again."
The return from death wasn't something they discussed. Or even thought
about much. Except when they woke late at night and everything was dark
and silent.
"At least there's a chance. If we die there's not even anything left
to bury. That's why we didn't have funeral customs in the Dark Kingdom.
There was nothing left to mourn over."
A door hissed open and Calcite entered. His left hand glowed with
power and was held ready. He'd left the right arm hanging free and was
ignoring the useless limb. He surveyed the room without expression
studying the prisoners and the figure between him and them. A brief
flicker of power and the crystal balls between him and the captives
shattered.
"Cal!"
"Everything's under control Ti. Trust me!"
Beryl chuckled. "That's rich coming from a man with a cooked arm. I
was hoping she'd slow you down a bit before you killed her."
"Is Pyrite ...?"
"He'll be fine Azure." Assuming any of us survive this, he added
silently.
Calcite's gaze flicked to the warriors. "So that's why she was
here."
"That's right. Both here for the same purpose and you fight each
other rather than me. But I'm forgetting myself, why aren't you bowing
before your sovereign?"
"Knock it off Jadeite. I'm not interested in your identity crisis."
"Ah!", Beryl smiled then said, "This form has ceased to amuse me."
The figure before him shifted as its' body smoothly reshaped itself. In
seconds Calcite was looking into the cold eyes of Jadeite. There was a
thin smile on his face as he said, "So you found all the clues and deduced
my identity. As leader of that pathetic band only you were worth showing
my true self too."
"Really?"
"Yes. So you figured it out. You always were a smart little youma."
"I like to think so. Which is how I know you aren't really Jadeite."
For the first time the enemy looked shaken, "What!"
"This image is as fake as Beryl. Jadeite never made it out of the
Dark Kingdom."
"Ridiculous. I am Jadeite."
"No. You always admired his style but you couldn't match it. You
still can't no matter how many tricks you've learned."
"I AM JADEITE!"
"Bullshit." Calcite said this quietly but firmly.
Despite the lousy situation Azurite's curiosity was aroused, "Cal
he's got to be Jadeite. The evidence ..."
"Was faked. Which it why it was left lying around for us to stumble
over. He builds a hidden base this elaborate, runs a perfect set of
impersonations but forgets to hide the one thing that can really ID him?
Not a chance. That was too big an oversight even for Jadeite. I just
wish I'd realized that earlier."
"In that case smart guy!", Jadeite snarled, "Who am I."
Calcite took a step forward, Jadeite moved to block any blasts he
might try to throw at the holding crystals. Calcite looked into Jadeite's
eyes and said, "You were wrong earlier, I'm really not that smart.
Otherwise I'd have figured it out a lot sooner. The one thing I'm still
not sure of is if you were giving me clues all along or just watched those
films so much it crept into your speech. It's probably the latter, you
never were much of an original thinker."
"Mind explaining that Cal. We're all hanging on every word."
"I'll get you down soon as I can Azure ..."
"I know that but what the hell are you talking about?"
"Yes", Jadeite glowered, "I want an explanation!"
"The evidence was there all along I just didn't catch it. It was as
Jadeite you made the first slip. You didn't say you'd returned from the
Eternal Sleep. You said you'd returned from The Big Sleep." He glanced
around the room, everyone looked puzzled. Except for Jadeite who looked
thunderstruck.
He kept going, "Next it was that that 'hill of beans' speech you made
to Naru as Nephrite. You lifted that from Rick's farewell speech in
Casablanca." He saw Azurite take a deep breath. She knew!
"Zoisite's opening line was straight out of Treasure of Sierra Madre.
I can't believe I didn't catch that 'fellow American' reference. Lastly
as Kunzite you paraphrased that 'when your partner gets killed' line from
..."
"The Maltese Falcon!"
"You've got it Azure."
"But Cal it can't be ..."
"I'm afraid it can." Seeing the blank looks on the faces of the
Sailor Warriors (and the shock on Jadeite's) he decided to explain. "I
guess none of you are old Hollywood film buffs." Heads shook. "Those
were all the titles of Humphrey Bogart movies. Whom I had to watch over
and over again ad naseaum some time back. Once I realized that I thought
'who did I know in the Dark Kingdom who was both a Bogart fanatic and had
reason to hate me?' There was only choice except he was dead. Which I
should know being the one who killed him."
Jadeite waved an admonishing finger. "Confessing to murder isn't
going to improve the Sailor Warriors opinion of you."
"As the guy in question was trying to murder my sister at the time I
don't feel any guilt. But if he was dead how could he be responsible?
Then it hit me. The Dark Kingom was on the verge of ending so I didn't
stick around to make sure. He was fatally wounded and obviously dying.
But I never actually saw his body disintergrate!"
Calcite's expression turned fierce. He pointed his glowing hand at
Jadeite, energy held ready, and said, "I don't know how you survived or
where you got all this power. But I know it's really you, Magnesite!"
Jadeite looked uncertain then shrugged. Again the face and body
shifted becoming someone none of the renegades had expected to see again.
"It seems I underestimated you Calcite. I was planning to crush you then
reveal my identity after I had broken you. Still perhaps this is better.
You can't hope to beat me, I am far more than any mere youma. I am the
force made flesh! The living avatar of quantum theory. I am power beyond
imagining. And in a strange way I owe it to you!"
"That seems very unlikely!" Still no way to blast the crystals and
free anyone. Keep him talking.
"Oh yes. As you recall at our last meeting I was left lying in a
pool of blood feeling my life slip away. Hate helped me hold on but it
wasn't enough. The wound was mortal. I was minutes from dying. Under
normal circumstances I'd be long gone. But those weren't normal
circumstances were they? Queen Beryl and the Moon Princess were fighting,
incredible forces were being unleashed. Beryl lost and the Princess's
change wave swept across the pole rewriting reality.
Do you now the exact point between life and death? The instant you
are neither one nor the other but somehow between them? I do. That's
where I was when the changewave hit me. I wasn't erased though my body
ceased to exist. My essence was flung away to the path of least
resistance. The gateway you'd built to the zone. I could never match
your psychoplasm generation abilities but I had a little of the power.
That must be why my consciousness continued not as matter but as
psychoplasm!"
"Psychoplasm?" That was from Sailor Mercury. Insatiable
intellectual curiosity even in a situation this grim.
"A form of energy some youma can generate. It can be made to mimic
matter and shaped by a gifted mind into a variety of forms. It's how I
create my weapons. I literally wish them into existence." Calcite
studied Magnesite's body. "Are you saying your body is ..."
"Pure psychoplasm. You wondered at the secret to my shapeshifting.
Well now you know. I can make myself into anything I want. An exact copy
of anyone or anything."
"So that's how you could survive any attack. You can make yourself
immaterial at will. As for teleporting ..."
"I have no need to align mind and body. My mind and body are
literally the same thing!"
"So why wait six months for your vengeance. For that matter why drag
the Sailor Warriors into this?"
"If I could have begun this earlier I would have. But I forgot to
mention my state of mind when I arrived in this town. I had none, I had
been stripped down to a creature that operated purely on instinct. I was
an immaterial parasite driven to latch onto humans. When I did I'd drain
energy and they'd feel a momentary weakness. I existed like that for
weeks. But I began draining more energy and as I did I grew smarter. As
my mind developed my memories began returning. I remembered you Calcite
and I remembered my hatred.
I learned to become material. To assume the form of objects, then
animals, then humans and finally of Youma. I found I could duplicate
everyone I had ever met. I began exploring this city in disguise and I
began to sense unusual auras. Youma auras and Sailor Warrior auras. With
those to track it was easy to find you. Once I knew who you were I began
making plans. I surreptitiously drained as many humans as possible and
grew stronger. With those aliens running around it was easy to
accomplish. My actions got written off as just another attack by them.
None of you suspected I was out here biding my time."
So the drainings weren't just to draw us in, Calcite thought. You
have to feed in order to maintain your powers. Which gives me an idea.
Magnesite moved to Titanite's side, grew a set of claws and said,
"Azurite, I'll bet the Warriors are wondering why Calcite's chatting to me
instead of trying to free you. Care to explain it?" He raised the claws
toward Titanite. Calcite tensed and took aim.
Before he could blast Azurite quickly said, "Cal's trying to buy time
to find a way to crack your forceshield and take you out!"
"Absolutely right. But now he knows even if he breaks my shield he
can't hurt me. Blow holes in this body and I just make them grow closed.
Try to burn me and I make myself intangible. I can be anywhere in an
eyeblink. You can't hurt me Calcite. Not ever again!"
"But you can hurt whoever you please."
"Right again. Now for the main event!" The top of one of the nearby
stalagmites dissolved exposing a large red button. Magnesite gestured at
it. "You are the one I really hate Calcite so I'm going to give your
sister and Azurite a chance. This switch will free them. Just push it
and they can go. Then we'll settle matters between us."
"And the catch is?"
"Pushing this switch will kill the Sailor Warriors. Kill them and
those two have a chance. This is a limited time offer so make your
choice."
For a moment Calcite studied Magnesite. Then he began to laugh.
Magnesite was nonplussed. He'd expected bargaining, threats,
agonized moralizing but laughter? "What the hell is so funny?"
"You. My God you're so transparent!"
"What!"
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe you'd ever let them
go. I'm supposed to agonize over my choice then make a decision. But
there is no choice, you've fixed the game. No, if I push that button one
of two things will happen. Either it'll kill Ti and Azure so you can
cackle over me being responsible for their deaths. Or it'll kill the
Sailor Warriors then you'll kill Ti and AZure to chuckle over my
sacrificing my values for nothing. It's no wonder everyone always said
you wouldn't have lasted without me to clean up your messes."
"Quiet!"
"After all you never had an original thought in your life. You stole
your style from the generals, then from a dead moviestar but you couldn't
even mimic them accurately."
"SHUT UP!"
"Even this 'let's you and him fight' idea was a copy. It's based on
the stunt I used to make Brotor and Rormal destroy each other when they
began encroaching. Manipulate them into fighting one another then pick
off the survivor. You actually got admired throughout the kingdom as a
master manipulator for that but we both know you'd never have thought of
it alone."
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
"'The living Avatar of Quantum theory' indeed. You don't even know
what that means do you? You just heard it somewhere and thought it
sounded cool."
"PUSH THE DAMN SWITCH!"
"I'm not playing your game anymore Magnesite."
"THEN I'LL PUSH IT!" Magnesite strode toward the switch. Calcite
didn't try to intercept. He held his place then spoke as Magnesite neared
him and the button.
"Regardless of your new form's power you still have one major
weakness."
"Hah, nice try!", Magnesite sneered. ""Just what is this
hypothetical weakness you've found?"
"Simple. You love the sound of your own voice so you talk far too
much."
"No more talking!" Magnesite reached for the button ... and froze.
He looked at his arm in amazement. It was resisting all his efforts to
move it. His arm began deforming, shrinking back in on itself.
Magnesite's features began to blur. Calcite said nothing and didn't move,
he merely stared at Magnesite with intense concentration.
"Cal?" Her brother showed no sigh of having heard her. Then she
heard Azurite chuckle and say, "I"ll be damned."
"What's happening Azure?"
"I'd like to know that too."
"So would I."
"Me too."
"... bottles of beer on the wall ..."
Azurite looked elated. "Cal was right, Magnesite talked way too
much. He told Cal his new body's made of psychoplasm. Cal manipulates
psychoplasm. He got Magnesite rattled enough to lower his defenses and
close enough for Cal to override his control. Magnesite's helpless!"
"My brother's a genius. It runs in the family."
Ami cleared her throat. "Well, while I admire his tactical sense the
six of us are still fused to these crystals."
"Good point. Cal how about breaking us loose?"
Calcite began raising an arm to fire a shockblast. Instantly
Calcite's blurred figure began reforming. Calcite froze in concentration.
Azurite muttered, "That's something I didn't think about."
"What?"
Azurite looked worried, "Normally psychoplasm doesn't have its own
mind and resist being shaped. Looks like Cal can only immobilize
Magnesite by using total concentration. If he breaks off long enough to
free us ..."
"... Magnesite gets loose!", Ami finished. So it's a stalemate."
"So we're all stuck here?"
"Afraid so Jupiter."
"Great. Now what?"
Azurite began heaving at the crystal again. "We break loose before
Magnesite gets free!" Everyone began heaving at their trapped appendages
but nothing happened. Suddenly it struck Azurite. The arm Calcite had
raised had been his right one. The burned, useless arm. What the hell?
Rei kept heaving and snarled, "No good, we can't pull free. We need
something to crack it.
"Ask and ye shall receive, CRESCENT BEAM!"
The slab of crystal encasing the Sailors' hands shattered. There
were various cries of pain as fragments rained down on their heads. But
their hands were free thanks to ...
"MINAKO?!"
"SAILOR VENUS?!"
"109 bottles of ..."
"Live and in person, CRESCENT BEAM!" The slab holding their feet
shattered and they were free. In amazement they stepped away from it and
looked at their not-so-late friend. "But how?" Ami pulled the jewel off
Usagi's tiara and she shut up and went to sleep.
Meanwhile on the other side of the room: Minako's dramatic entrance
had broken Calcite's concentration so Magnesite was free to move again.
He didn't, he just stared in shock at Sailor V. Calcite grabbed
Magnesite's reforming arm and tossed him across the room. Then he fired
two kinetic force pulses and shattered the crystals holding Azurite and
Titanite. His injuries didn't seem to be slowing him up anymore.
"Big brother, but what ... how ...?"
"Ask me later, right now ..."
"Magnesite's still loose!" Azurite finished.
The Sailor Warriors crowding around Minako heard her and turned to
look at Magnesite. He had gotten to his feet, his body had resumed his
former appearance. He looked at Sailor V in amazement. "It's impossible!
Calcite killed you!"
The burn marks faded from Calcite as he dropped the glamour that had
simulated injuries. "You shouldn't believe everything you see in crystal
balls. They're as unreliable as television!"
Minako nodded and produced a swordhilt with a blade that ended after
a few centimetres in a fake bloodstain. "I did a great deathscene. This
shows I've really got great acting abilities."
Rei turned on her, "You idiot, we thought you were dead!"
"Sorry I didn't know you'd see it. I thought just the badguy would!"
Magnesite's jaw dropped, "You were working together?!"
Calcite nodded. "That's right. It was obvious those calls you were
making were intended to set up a fight between me and Sailor Venus. So
after you phoned me I called her and explained a few things. We ... made
a deal, compared notes and agreed to fake her death. So she could take
you by surprise. Then she just had to wait for your phonecall. So that's
twice you've been wrong about Sailor V's death."
Ami looked at Minako, "But if you were alright all along why did you
wait so long?"
"In case this was some really elaborate trap on Calcite's part. I
waited a a few minutes for him to destroy the monitoring system then
reconoitered the building looking for a trap. I couldn't find one. I
guess you really were on the level." This last was said grudgingly.
"I keep my word."
"Well this has been a real surprise but you've forgotten that you're
still on my turf!" Magnesite had regained his poise. "I still have all
my powers and no reason to hold back. It's going to been all the sweeter
defeating all of you. Which I can do with the Moon Princess out of
commission!" Everyone looked at Usagi who was snoring.
"Somebody wake her up!"
"No time fools. Get ready to DIE!" Magnesite grinned, he'd teleport
behind Jupiter, rip her head off then warp behind Azurite, grow claws and
cut her in half after which he'd make it up as he went along. Here goes!
Nothing happened.
His grin slipped and he tried again.
Still nothing.
He began feeling panic. What the hell?
Then Calcite said, "I may not be able to paralyse you at this range
and without total concentration but you already forged that body. Locking
you into that form I can manage." To everyone he said, "Magnesite can't
phase shift so he can't teleport or turn immaterial. He has to stay
solid. It also seems to be screwing up his forcefield."
Azurite smiled and winds howled around her. Looking a bit confused
Titanite followed her lead and generated a forcesphere. Ami was the first
of Sailors to get it. "If he's forced to remain material he can't avoid
our attacks by assuming a dimensionally displaced format."
"What?"
"It means ... EVERYBODY BLAST HIM!"
That they understood.
"SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON!"
"FIRE SOUL BIRD!"
"POLARIS MISSILE!"
"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!
"I don't wanna go to school today ma."
"CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER!
"HURRICANE PUNCH!"
The next few moments were rather unpleasant for Magnesite. He was
electrocuted, incinerated, smashed, frozen, mumbled at, blasted and
hammered by hurricane force winds. The wall he'd been standing in front
of was gone. There wasn't much of him left either. The Sailor Warriors
were beginning to relax when Azurite said, "Look!"
Magnesite's shattered body was reforming. In moments he stood before
them again. He smiled and said, "Well that was pointless!"
One of Calcite's knives struck him in the chest. It exploded and
fragments of Magnesite flung outwards. Then stopped dead and reversed
their course. Magnesite reformed but it was a little slower this time.
"Nice bluff Magnesite. You're locked to this shape so you have to reform.
But you burn up energy to do that and you don't have infinite reserves.
Everytime you repair yourself you get weaker. Therefore ..."
"EVERYBODY BLAST HIM AGAIN!"
A rather painful scene followed. Around them the crystals,
stalagmites and stalactites began dissolving. "They're all psychoplasm!
He can't spare any power to maintain the forms he created."
"Looks that way Azure, he's definitely rebuilding himself slower.
Wait a minute, what's that?"
That was a very large crystal that had just been exposed. It showed
no signs of dissolution. "Hey that looks like ..."
Magnesite's eyes had lit up at the sight of the crystal. With a wild
howl he surged forward and scattered the Sailor Warriors and Renegades.
He grabbed Calcite and charged for the crystal screaming, "It's time for
the long goodbye traitor."
"I don't think so!" Calcite kicked downwards tripping Magnesite, hit
the ground rolled and grabbed his former boss. "Goodnight Magnesite!" He
flung his former boss into the Eternal Sleep Crystal.
Magnesite's scream cut off abruptly as he passed through the surface
of the crystal. The crystal hardened and Magnesite was trapped in its
center like a fly in amber.
Azurite picked herself up, walked over to the crystal and tapped on
it thoughtfully. "Is this for real?"
"No, it's a psychoplasm duplicate. But an incredible duplicate, it
must have taken weeks, months to get right. This thing will hold this
form for centuries."
Sailor Mercury joined them. "Are you saying he's trapped?"
"For at least the next 300 years."
"So it's over?" That was from Sailor Jupiter.
"Yes. These things were designed to hold everyone regardless of
their powers. Even psychoplasm can't escape."
Titanite studied the trapped Magnesite and shudered at the look on
his face. Frozen forever in terror. You could almost feel sorry for him.
Almost. "But why would he create one of these?"
Calcite tapped it thoughfully and said, "It must have been for me."
"For you?"
"Yeah. After he'd killed you all he probably intended to beat me to
a bloody pulp then stick me in the crystal so I couldn't die."
"So you'd live on in terrible pain?"
"Yes. After which he probably planned to bring Pyrite and Mai here
and kill them in front of me. I wouldn't be able to turn away or even
close my eyes.
Strike the minor sympathy she'd felt. "What do we do with him now?"
"Well the crystal can't be deactivated but neither it or Magnesite
have any real mass and both are psychoplasm. So it can be reshaped."
Calcite put his hands on the crystal and concentrated. It began to
diminish. Everyone stood around and watched. Except for Rei who had
grabbed Usagi by the collar and was trying to shake her awake.
The Eternal Sleep Crystal and the entombed Magnesite shrank. It now
stood about 30 cm tall and looked like a raptor of some sort. Calcite
handed it to Azurite and said, "Pyrite's had a bad beating but I think
he'll recover nicely. Show him his new paperweight and I'll bet he cheers
up."
"Heavy", she commented.
"But what the heck is it?", Minako asked.
Calcite smiled and all three Renegades chorused, "The stuff that
dreams are made of." Then they broke up laughing.
Titanite stopped laughing and said, "That was one of the scariest
days of my whole life. But I knew you'd save me."
Azurite nodded and said, "Likewise. My hero." She handed the falcon
to Ti and wrapped her arms around Calcite. The kiss that followed was
both intense and watched with interest.
From the duration of it youma must have better breath control.
Makoto asked Titanite, "Are those two ...?"
"Just friends." Although she was beginning to wonder.
Finally they broke for air. For once Cal seemed at a loss for words.
Before he could say anything embarrasing Ti whispered in his ear,
"Remember Ms. Saito." Cal blinked and got back to reality. He looked at
Makoto.
There was a yawn and Sailor Moon woke up. She croaked, "My throat
hurts. What happened?"
Jupiter shrugged and gave her the short version. "We beat the bad
guy."
"Oh, good. I could really use some icecream."
"Hey that's our stuff!" Rei had spotted the bookbags and other
things they'd been carrying when Magnesite attacked them individually.
Everyone began sorting through the pile except Calcite and Minako who kept
watching each other.
Azurite found her handbag, Magnesite must have scooped up everything
when he grabbed them, she also found the giftwrapped package. She handed
that to Ti. "Here. Yes it's the you know what."
"Great. Thanks Sailor Arcturus."
"Just call me Azurite. I've had enough of this Sailor Warrior
stuff."
Rei looked at her, "So you're retiring. Pity you were a good
fighter. Even if you dressed like a tramp."
"True. I should have adopted a more conservative style of dress like
you." Rei colored slightly. Their costumes weren't that different.
Mercury looked around. This place was now just a bare
conferencehall. Nothing more. "No reason to stick around I suppose."
Azurite nodded, "None at all. Cal ... ?"
"Azure could you take Ti home? I've got a few loose ends to take
care of." She shrugged, he must know what he was doing. The two
renegades headed for the door. Mercury joined them and addressed Azure.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"
"About the Dark Kingdom or my dressing habits?"
"Uhh ... the Dark Kingdom of course."
"Sure."
The Sailor Warriors began filtering out. Makoto called over, "Minako
let's get out of here!"
"I'll meet you guys outside."
Jupiter shrugged, "Suit yourself."
The others departed and the two studied each other.
Outside the building Titanite broke in on Azure and Ami's
conversation. "Why do you suppose Cal and Venus stayed behind."
Azurite shrugged and said facetiously, "Who knows? Maybe it's time
for the final showdown between Sailor V and Lord Calcite." Then she
stopped dead. Just what kind of deal had Cal cut with Sailor Venus? Shit!
She spun around and said, "Ti stay here ..." She was too late, Titanite
was already sprinting back to the building.
Inside the abandoned construction sight Sailor V faced Calcite and
said, "You didn't try to run!"
"I gave my word we'd settle our score after the others were clear."
"So I guess now's the time."
"Looks like it."
Both readied attacks. Calcite figured his best chance was dived to
the side, knock her down with a shockblast then follow with the blades.
Minako figured she had to keep moving and hammer his forcefield down with
her crescent beams. Each stood ready waiting for the other to make the
first move.
Then there was a blur of motion and Sailor Polaris landed in front of
Calcite holding her arms outstretched.
"Ti get out of the way!"
"No way big brother. She's going to have to shoot through me to
blast you."
"Ti I just went to a lot of trouble to save your life. I'd
appreciate it if you didn't waste it."
"No way I'm not going to let you do anything this crazy. If you win
the other warriors will hunt you down for killing Venus and if you lose
..."
"I gave her my word we'd settle this."
"That's a little excessive Cal." Azurite joined Titanite. Minako
felt very uncertain. "Why are you so intent on going through with this?"
"Has it occurred to either of you that this whole mess was my fault?"
"What?"
"If I'd made sure Magnesite was dead ..."
Titanite shook her head. "Cal if it's anyone's fault it's mine. If
I hadn't gone back to the house you wouldn't have had to kill Magnesite."
"But nobody made Magnesite attack you." Mercury had entered and was
standing in front of Minako.
"Ami get out of the way!"
"Sorry but I think we have to give them a chance."
Rei joined Ami. "Right. I'd sense if these people ... these youma
were evil and I don't. They aren't our enemies."
Makoto sighed and joined them, "Guess I have to agree with that."
Usagi watched this scene with confusion. "What's all this about
anyway?"
Minako snarled, "This guy made a fool of me for months!" Then
blushed.
"Not much of a reason to kill someone."
"Well yeah but ..."
"Besides", Ami added, "You had a good time in England didn't you?"
"Well ... yeah."
"So it wasn't a total disaster."
Minako sighed and said, "OK fine Lord Calcite or whoever. It's over.
No more vendetta."
Calcite was kind of surprised by recent events. He just blinked and
said, "Ok if that's the way you want it."
"Yeah, fine. Talk about an anticlimatic ending."
The tension left the room. Titanite stopped holding her breath and
wiped the sweat off her forehead. Then brightened up and said, "Great. I
was afraid you'd get zapped before I gave you your present."
"Present?"
Titanite handed him a giftwrapped package and said, "Open it!"
Calcite frowned and began pulling off the wrap. "A videocassette?
What the ? ... 'Sailor V the animated movie'? Why did you ...?"
"Read the back."
"What? Oh all right ... 'Join the heroic and beautiful Sailor
Warrior as she travels to England to face the evil of Lord Calprite ...
CALPRITE?! They got my name wrong?"
"Check the picture."
"That geek's supposed to be me?!"
"You got it!"
Minako began laughing, "Wrong name and drawn like that! That's a
pretty good revenge." Everyone laughed except Calcite (though he did
smile slightly) and Usagi who still didn't know what was going on.
"Just who is this guy and why is his hair green? Hey he's cute. Hi
I'm Sailor Moon, champion of justice. Want to take me out and I'll tell
you about my adventures?"
"Sailor Moon?" Another man's voice echoed across the room.
"Tuxedo Mask!"
"Whatever was blocking me from sensing you vanished a little while
ago. I got here as soon as I could. Who's that guy?"
"Before Usagi could stammer out an explanation Titanite struck a
dramatic pose and declaimed, "He's Calcite, she's Azurite and I am
Titanite. Together we are the DKR!" At the questioning looks from the
adults she added, "DKR is the acronym for Dark Kingdom Renegades. It
seemed like a good name for our group."
Calcite sighed. "Ti we don't have a group. Now Magnesite's out of
action we can go back to normality."
"But big brother!"
"Ti I've had enough adventure to last me a lifetime!"
"Azurite ..."
"Sorry kid I side with your brother."
"But ..."
"No." In a different tone he said, "We should get home. Pyrite's in
enough pain without worrying about us on top of it."
Ti sighed. "Ok let's get back there the fast way. Bye guys, it was
fun while it lasted but Sailor Polaris just got retired."
The three joined hands and vanished.
The Sailor warriors looked to Minako. "So now what?"
Thursday afternoon Minako lead her friends to the house Calvin Hobbes
had rented. Ami had hacked into the municipal databases to find it.
Titania Hobbes hadn't been in school today and Ms. Saito had looked down.
When Minako had asked her if she was all right she'd replied that she'd be
fine. Then added that some romances really didn't work out the way you
expected them too.
The house had a new "For Rent" sign on it. Minako tried the door and
found it unlocked. The place was bare though there were two envelopes on
the floor. One was addressed to the Sailor Warriors the other to Sailor
Venus. Ami opened the first and read it aloud.
"Hi guys, Titanite here. Well Pyrite's a mess but he should be fine.
What you're really wondering is where are we? Well the adults talked it
over and the bottom line is they're scared of you. Nothing personal but
you people have killed a lot of youma which makes us all a little edgy.
So we decided to make it a little harder to find us. I imagine you
can if you want but why bother? We'll stay quiet and won't cause any
trouble. So long as we do that why not leave us alone?
Almost forgot. Cal's had a talk with Ms. Saito (ask Sailor Venus)
and things ended fairly amicably.
It was great working with you. If you ever need Sailor Polaris again
put an ad in the paper and I'll come running.
Bye for now, signed Titanite (Ti to my friends)"
Rei looked at Minako, "I suppose it's your call. What do we do?"
Minako put down her letter and shrugged. "Leave them alone as long
as they stay quiet."
"What's your letter?"
"It's from Calcite. Sort of an explanation and apology."
"So what happened with that teacher of yours?"
"He says he told her the whole truth and they broke up. Apparently
she said, 'Cal your being gaijin wasn't a problem for me. But not being
human is a little too much'."
"I suppose I can follow that."
"So everything's cool guys?"
"Looks that way Usagi."
"Great. I'm due to meet Mamoru-san in the park. Bye!"
The others watched her race off. "Looks like everything's back to
normal."
"Maybe things will be quiet from now on!"
Considering the little girl Usagi was about to meet in a little while
that was very unlikely.
Meanwhile in a hotel room across town everyone was standing around
Pyrite's bed. He looked terrible but you could see signs of improvement.
Right now he was asking, "Think they'll leave us alone?"
Calcite shrugged, "I believe so. It'll save us creating new
identities."
"And if they come after us?"
"Then we change our appearances and disappear among the 30 million
people of Tokyo. Anyway don't worry, just rest."
"That's right Pyr. You need a little TLC so I'm going to nurse you
back to health." Azurite had just emerged from the bathroom.
Calcite raised an eyebrow, "Hence the outfit."
"Yep. Thought I should look the part."
Cal was pretty sure the average nurse's outfit wasn't that short or
tight but said nothing. The Titanite asked, "Big brother, does this count
as a happy ending?"
"Well we're alive, the warriors know we exist but aren't out for our
blood, Magnesite's a paperweight and Pyrite's going to be fine. It's a
reasonably happy ending."
"Except for you and Ms. Saito."
He sighed. "Well neither of us considered the other the grand
passion of our lives. It hurts but we'll heal. It's probably for the
best, most everything she knew about me was faked. If she loved anyone it
was Calvin Hobbes not Calcite."
He picked up some signals between Azurite and Pyrite and said, "Come
on Ti, let's go househunting. The sooner we find somewhere the sooner we
can get your anime collection out of storage." Ti thought that was a real
good idea. After a quiet word to the lovebirds not to aggravate any
injuries he headed out the door with his sister.
This might not be the best of all possible worlds, he reflected, but
it would do fine. After all it's not like they had a choice.
Epilogue
Elsewhere/Elsewhen
Except for the rats the rubble pile that had once been a department
store had been undisturbed for years. Everything of value had been looted
shortly after the quake and the site had been judged unprofitable and
never redeveloped. Once this had been a fashionable neighborhood now it
was just another slum. There were no shortage of those in tinsel city.
So the rats were the only ones to here the whining hum and see the
glowing blue hole rip itself in the air. They fled from the commotion and
the unmistakeable odour of cat.
There were no sentient witnesses to see the two objects emerge from
the gateway. The giant crystal struck the ground and bounced. The figure
who'd clung to it was shaken off and hit the ground hard. While her
silhouette resembled a woman's a closer look would have revealed
surprising differences. A chill October breeze ruffled her fur but didn't
awaken her.
The crystal came to rest and the hole in reality disappeared.
Silence returned to the lot for a few minutes. Then there came the sound
like ice cracking underfoot. A spiderweb of cracks appeared on the
surface of the crystal, growing rapidly in size and length.
There was a shattering noise and an arm tore out of the crystal into
the empty air. More breaking sounds followed then the figure who'd been
sealed in the crystal sat up throwing fragments everywhere.
Jadeite ripped free and fell beside the crystal. He rolled into a
fetal position and shivered for several minutes. At length he unwound and
tentatively looked around. It had been horrible, frozen in place, nothing
to feel except the crystal against your skin, not able to scream not even
able to breathe! Yet somehow alive, aware and capable of seeing anything
before you. He'd longed for death to end his torment. Yet now,
impossibly, he was free.
Or was he? Perhaps his mind had finally collapsed into madness as an
alternative to his living hell. Well if he was mad it was a fine madness.
Anything was preferable to enduring another minute in the crystal.
Where was he? He sensed a youma aura nearby and saw the unconscious
catwoman. She looked familiar. Ah yes one of his low echelon agents,
Mangrove or something like that. Had she rescued him and brought him
here? But where was here? It didn't feel like the human world he'd
visited or even the one he remembered from his youth. Yet it clearly
wasn't the Dark Kingdom.
Perhaps he could find out. After all he was one of the four and
commanded considerable power. Jadeite reached out with his mind, his
awareness rippling out over the city. He touched the nonhuman minds of
what appeared to be slaves, slaves that dreamed of bringing the whole city
down in fire and blood. The darkened minds of humans their dreams crushed
down by the monolith that ruled their lives. Here and there a few points
of light but they were the exception.
Towering above it all, spreading its poison to the city and beyond
was the GENOM tower. A dark cancerous blot squatting in the heart of
MegaTokyo. All this Jadeite felt as he read the soul of the city.
He opened his eyes and smiled. "My kind of town!"
The End.
To be continued in "DKR/BGC : Bad Moon Rising."
Watch for it.
Author's afterword
If you think it took a while to read this think how long it took to
write it. Got a comment then email me at Mark.Latus@MSVU.CA