Saturn felt a burst of power down a side tunnel. A burst of her
power. A burst of Saturn power. Except that was imposible. "What
the..."
Apollo: As Belgarath from the Belgariad would say, nothing is impossible.
DM: You read a lot for a cat, you know that.
For a moment, she saw a figure down the tunnel. A woman
carrying a glaive. Her glaive. Her costume. Her power. She knew
the face that body wore. Mistress Nine. "You're DEAD!" she shouted.
I must be imagining things, she thought. What would Mistress Nine
be doing in the middle of an asteroid full of Byakhee, anyway?
And she's DEAD! I destroyed her.
Apollo: You know , my boss thinks Mistress Nine is cute.
DM:Remember Lavender's the guy who tried to get a date with Ifurita.
You can't trust his choice of girls.
The laughter mocked her. Images flitted before her eyes, her
body a puppet with Mistress Nine pulling the strings, her father
possessed, her friends battered down at her own hands. Once those
images would have shamed and paralyzed her, but she had long
ago faced those demons down. Now it did only one thing. It made her
mad.
She screamed and charged through the Byakhee filling the
hallway. Black ribbons of death trailed from her glaive as she raised
it high. Every Byakhee they touched evaporated, crumbling to dust in
instants.
Apollo: I remember the time the boss took on Saturn. Now that was ugly.
Saturn screamed, "This time, you're going to STAY DEAD!" She
charged forward and swung down her glaive with every ounce of
power she possessed. "DIE!"
Mistress Nine blocked the blow with the key, which stopped
the Glaive as if the blade was a plastic toy. "You cannot stop the
Saturn Power with the Saturn Power. Power of Saturn, heed my call!
Come to me and be free of the one who has chained you! COME TO ME
AND FULFILL YOUR MISSION!"
Apollo:This is going to be bad.
DM: Real bad.
Uranus took Neptune's hand and said, "Who the FUCK are you?"
DM: A real nice way of asking someone his name.
The interrogation of the four captured Black Moon Cultists was
in progress. They had already grilled Raphaelle and Uriel. Michael
was on the spot now. Sailor Venus was conducting the interrogation
while some dark haired guy that Michael didn't recognize from what
little knowlege he had of the Sailors sat nearby in a troubleshooter
uniform. Mars was looming menacingly, tossing little balls of fire
back and forth between her hands and making tiny firebirds that kept
flying around the room. He was pretty sure the others were likely
going through all the stuff they had in their chambers.
DM: This looks like something out of NYPD Blue.
Apollo: So who's the 'good cop' and who's the 'bad cop'
DM: Shut up cat.
"Lock you up until we can have a proper trial. You'll probably
end up on Demos for the duration of your sentence, experiencing the
joys of boredom. Likely for decades, possibly for life." She leaned
forward across the table a little. "Cooperating with us will
get you a lesser sentence. You're already likely facing a fifty year
sentence, assuming we don't find any deaths connected to your
activities, which could easily get you life. And given the level of
our health care, that could be a looooong time."
DM: You're too merciful. I say just shoot him and get done with it.
"What, you're not going to kill me? Even though I'm a spy?"
The man who had been watching silently finally broke his
silence. "You'll die eventually anyway. Of course, we could give you
to Uranus and Neptune for target practice if that's what you REALLY
want."
Michael didn't really want to think about that.
Apollo: That should hurt a lot.
"I don't suppose you'd be interested in playing poker to pass the
time?" the junior Pluto asked.
He simply stared at her with his solid black eyes.
"So you prefer bridge?" She pointed. "There's an actual deck of
cards there, you know. We might as well use it." Movement among
the wreckage caught her eye. The junior Pluto smiled. "How about
Go Fish?" She kept talking, hoping that rescue was on the way
instead of more trouble.
DM: That kid can be quite irritating at times.
<snip>
She smiled at him, and they kissed under the glittering light of
the stars. It felt like forever, but Hikaru broke off the kiss sooner
than usual, which startled Ken, who wondered if he had stepped on
her foot again. She glared past him. "You'd think the Senshi of TIME
would have better timing."
He froze. Sailor Pluto was here?
Apollo: She always shows up when and where you least expect it.
It's enough to make someone paranoid.
Sailor Pluto laughed faintly. "Would you rather I have waited
until your mouth was full of food? Or perhaps I could have waited
about an hour and a half and caught you..."
DM: Naughty, naughty !
Hikaru blushed. "You could have tried about three minutes
earlier."
"I was running another errand at that time. I have need of you."
Ken blinked, turned around, and bowed. "Good evening, Pluto-
sama."
"Good evening, Lord Asagiri. I request that you go to the
embassy and tell the Ambassador and her husband that I'm coming
for them."
Ken blinked. "What?"
"We must go to the Queen, Hikaru. Now." She looked Hikaru up
and down. "Luna will likely die." She smiled a tiny smile.
Hikaru sighed and stepped away from Ken. "Go tell Nene-chan
and Ryu-kun what Pluto said." She turned to Pluto. "Next time, I get
to interrupt YOUR date."
"I give you permission. However, if we do not hurry, the
likelihood of either of us every having another romantic evening
with anyone at any time, will become very small." Pluto took
Hikaru's hand and they vanished.
Ken really didn't like the sound of that.
DM: I always didn't like what my Pluto said. That's why I killed her.
"Don't worry, queenie," Dan said. "I, DAN HIBIKI, am
undefeated! We'll kick whoever has Pluto's daughter's butt and bring
her back in no time at all." He struck what he thought was a heroic
pose.
DM: This Dan fellow can be quite irritating.
Apollo: You don't know the half of it.
"She's not my daughter. Just my successor." Pluto said. "And
my friend."
"You have friends?" Dan said, then immediately regretted it.
DM: Oooohh, he insulted Pluto.
Pluto simply smiled at Dan, and said nothing. He was sweating
a river by the time they departed.
Apollo: And he should be.
"I should have thought of this in the first place. If you want to
spread Mass Destruction, Wasyuu is usually the best place to start
your quest. Heck, with Wasyuu, you get mass destruction whether or
not you were looking for it," Linna said. "But how to find her."
Apollo: Follow the trail of human guinea pigs ?
The anvil that fell on her heralded Wasyuu's arrival in the
place on the other side of the mirror-connection. "Despite your
aspersions against my skills, I will gladly help you. I've been
wanting to add a Planet-Smasher to my collection for a long time!"
Apollo: From what I saw of it that would be a bad idea.
Earth, Ruins of Crystal Tokyo, SY 1532 (4524 AD, 5276 Years after
the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 24688, Federal Year 538)
The Time Gate closed and vanished. For a moment, the group of
five would-be rescuers looked around in shock, and then horror set
in. "Everything is...broken," Jenni said finally, breaking the silence
that had settled upon them as they gazed on the ruins of the city
they knew, loved, and lived in.
"I am Ozymandias. Gaze on my works, o traveller, and despair,"
Hikaru whispered.
Apollo: You shouldn't be surprised. Good or bad, all things will pass.
That's one of the things the boss taught me. It's just a matter
of time before everything crumbles down and becomes dust.
Nene glanced at the small device in her hand, a very powerful
portable computer and sensor bank. "Well, Sailor Pluto is that way."
She pointed off towards a distant star. "Only about thirty light
years that way."
"..." Dan said.
DM: I imagine that I would have the same response.
"So what are they saying?" Dan asked.
"They'll help us, but only if we let them eat you," Hikaru said.
Dan's scream was almost enough to wake the dead.
Apollo: That was cruel, Hikaru. I like your sense of humor.
They would get a rude wakeup call. The Black Moon Crisis had
begun.
Apollo: That's going to be one _rude_ wakeup call.
DM: I agree.
Apollo: Well that's the fic !
DM: Where's Lavender ?
[Theater door opens and a battered Lavender enters]
Lavender: Damned woman....
Apollo: Boss, It's time to give out the roses. What happened to Elsa ?
Lavender: Tied up. Tight. So how many roses ?
DM: I say we give Biles -
[ A woman looking like Kasumi with glasses in a leotard jumps down]
Lavender: Elsa !
Elsa: I give my Biles-sama 2 billion rose petals !
[ A flurry of petals cover the entire theater]
Elsa: Now I , Elsa Bibat, The Purple Rose shall claim my Biles-sama !
[ Jumps out of theater via convenient window]
Lavender: After her !
[ Dark Mercury and Lavender follow her through the window]
Apollo: Well, that's it. Two billion rose petals for you Biles. If you see
a woman in leotards and glasses throwing purple rose petals
near your home,then you know the boss and the psycho didn't
stop her and we can offer you the best of luck. Bye !
' Writers are the torchbearers of civilization. We're set in a corner only we
can illuminate.Some of us are searchlights, able to cast a beam into the
far reaches of the human soul.Some of us are candles , barely able to
sustain a glow against the darkness. Nevertheless the words I write
are important, because light is additive. Another's light doesn't diminish
my own. Our lights together make us stronger.'
- (After much paraphrasing and reaaranging) Roger Martin
' There is no such thing as fiction. There is no such thing as imagination.
Everthing's friggin' real.Everything's also one hell of an illusion. What that
mean's ,my dear reader, is that you, me , the chair you're sitting on,
the chair I'm sitting on, are participants in one of the biggest fucking lies
in the history of Time: Reality'
- Elsa Bibat, 'The Reality Manifesto'