USAGI IS DEAD II DEAD IS USAGI
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so
these characters really belong to them, except ones I made up.  This
means I'm only using the Sailormoon characters for purposes benign.
I'm not a ripoff merchant like "Anya Romanov".  ^_^

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"This is it, folks!  Over the top!"

Take a Long Line - The Angels<

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MYSTERIOUS FRIENDS....


	"I feel strangely tired..."  Usagi said as Rina helped her 
through the doorway to the stairwell.  Rina nodded in the blank 
manner she seemed to have perfected.

	"You do, after a while.  It might have something to do with
all the crap you go through in here, but it's like all your energy
is slowly drained out of you...."

	Usagi looked at Rina's face.  The whiteness of her pallour,
combined with the dark rings around the eyes, made her feel a 
certain queaziness.  "You look pretty awful, you know that?"

	"Thanks.  I try to keep up the image."  Rina chuckled.  "I
started to look like this after the first few days.  It seemed to
get better, every time I tried to get back into my room.  Almost
like one has to stay in their rooms to remain healthy in this 
place."

	"Why did your room throw you out?"

	Rina looked at Usagi, tiredly.  "I was confused, okay?  I 
didn't know the room was trying to look after me.  It wanted me to
be warm and comfortable.  For me to sleep in that nice warm bed.  
Forever.... and ever and ever...."

	"Forever?"

	"That's the thing, you see.  The room is like a womb....  It's
almost an allegory to death.  You just want to curl up and let the
darkness of an eternal sleep take you over in there."  Rina turned
away, staring blankly ahead of her.

	"Then....  Surely, getting out of those rooms is a good thing,
is it not?"  Usagi let out a short gasp of strain as Rina helped her
to sit on the first step of the 'down' stairs.  Rina sat beside her.

	"It's like birth, you see....  Once out of the womb, the world
starts taking a physical and emotional toll on you.  You start to 
die in a colder and more horrible way, both inside and out."

----O

Part Eight
The Long and Twisting Road to a Shy City II

----o

AND SO....


	"Bizarre...."  Usagi pondered this for several moments.  "So 
why are there so many people outside their rooms?"

	"Not everyone wants the warmth and protection....  And there 
are those, like us, who had no idea what was going on."

	"So where are we, anyway?  I mean, where IS the Hotel, and how
did we get here?"  Usagi watched as Rina took a breath.

	"If anyone knew that, I'm quite sure this place would be very 
quiet, indeed.  Everyone who doesn't accept the warmth of the rooms
would be out of here in a flash.  I have no idea who I am, apart 
from my name.  I don't even know how I know that.  But...."  She 
paused.  "But I get the feeling that I am dead.  Or, at the very 
least, that I died, sometime in the near-past.  Have you ever heard
of an event called the Cataclysm?"

	Usagi shook her head, although the name did seem to stir 
something within her mind.

	"The Cataclysm.  It was like a mass-extermination of life.  At
least, that is how I seem to remember it.  Apart from that, I really
don't know."


	"So sad, not to have any memories of your past."  Usagi looked
at the stairs.  "I don't even have an abiding memory of that nature
to grasp onto."

	"I was obsessed over it for a while.  It was the only memory 
of the past I had left.  Everything to me was new.  Almost as if I 
was being allowed to see the world through the eyes of a child."

	"And yet, we remember how to talk.  That takes an element of
education.  So that shows something else has slipped through that
barrier of memory."  Usagi rubbed her face with her hands.  "I guess
there really is only one way to find out what is going on.  Get in
with the Hotel's manager and demand some answers."

	"You're serious?  About finding the manager and all?"

	"Of course I am!"  Usagi barked that a little louder than 
she'd intended to.  Rina backed her head away in surprise, making
Usagi feel guilty.  "Gomen....  I didn't mean..."

	"It's alright."  Rina relaxed a little.  "But I don't think it
is a good idea, to go hunting down the Hotel manager."

	"Why not?"

	"There have been others, like you.  Others I've bumped into.
People who have been thrown out of their rooms and demanding to see
the manager...."

	"And?"

	"And so they charge off."  Rina smiled, shaking her head.  
"I've never seen any of them again...."

----O

THE LONELY END OF THE ROAD....


	A gentle but cool night breeze blew through the line of trees
at the far end of the small rural township of Le'Kshier.  Those 
trees symbolised the railway that was the lifeline for the 
community, the only one like it for nearly three hundred square 
miles.

	The main street of Le'Kshier, and the only properly sealed 
road in the township, ran from the council chambers to the railway
station, like an aorta, pumping blood from the town's heart to the
town's mind.  And along that street, at this late hour, ambled a 
couple of strange figures.  Strange for a township like Le'Kshier,
since it had never seen the likes of them before.


	Both were women, and both wore traditional Japanese-styled 
attire of the early Meiji period....  Quite out of step, considering
this wasn't Earth.  Not that that mattered to the pair.

	The taller of the two, a redhead, wore a simple, loose-fitting 
morone-red top with a greyish skirt, brown socks and those Japanese 
style sandals with the small stilts on their base that made a 
clacking sound when the wearer walked anywhere.  Right now, in the
silence of the main street, it echoed almost painfully.

	At her left was a samurai sword within its sheath.  She had a
hand resting upon the handle of the weapon, as if expecting someone 
to attack at any moment.  She had become long used to the vagaries 
of potential enemies.

	Her companion was dressed in an attractive yellow kimono, and
had her dark hair tied up in a ponytail by a flowing red ribbon.  
She wore white socks within the same kind of sandal, and her hands
were slipped within the long arms of the kimono, seemingly more at
ease with her surroundings.

	Usashin raised her head, slightly, as they approached the 
railway station.  In a strange kind of way, it bore a resemblance to
an old rural English style of station, with an ornate Victorian-
style guardhouse and platform, covered with ivy on its rear wall.
There was a flower garden around the entranceway to the platform,
lining the street.  She rather liked the way it looked, never having
had the opportunity to visit England in her previous life.  Her 
companion broke her from her reverie.

	"Usashiiiin..."  Kaorusagi whined in an annoying, high-pitched
shrill, looking up at the taller girl.  "Why do we have to leave 
this town?  It was so nice here...."

	"Because our destiny lies within the capital."  Usashin smiled
at Kaorusagi beatifically, making the dark-haired girl puff up her 
face with annoyance.

	"It's cold and I'm hungry.  There better be something worth 
eating on the train."

	"Honestly, Kaorusagi-dono....  You must temper this appetite 
of yours.  You'll put on weight de gozaru."

	Kaorusagi's expression changed to one of tragedy, large tear
rivulets running from her eyes.  "You don't think I'm getting fat, 
do you?"

	"Oro..."  Usashin blinked, then sweatdropped as Kaorusagi 
studied her figure, hard to do when dressed in a kimono.

	"I've tried so hard...  To hold back my appetite....  Maybe I
burn it all off.  Yeah, that's gotta be it...  I'm too active to get
fat."  She put her hands on her hips and let out a maniacal laugh.
"Yes, I'm looking DAMN good."  And with that, she strode along the
small path that lead from the street, up to the platform entrance.
Usashin followed her with a dubious expression.

----o

FOLLOW ME DOWN THE LINE....


	Michiru saw the approach of the township through her cabin 
window.  She'd not seen the conductor since he had left to attend
whomever it had been that was calling him in the other cabin.  If 
there had actually been someone else calling him from another cabin.  
She hadn't heard anything before he left.  It only increased the 
sense that she was riding on a kind of ghost train....


	She'd left the light off, preferring the strange darkness of
this alien world of Wyccfaer.  The sky had an orange hue.  Not that
it didn't carry the darkness of night, but the glow that the sky
carried during the nocturnal hours had always been a pale shade of
blue, or even a shade of white-gray....  She'd adored that shade, 
staring up at the sky in her younger years.  This, however was 
orange!  And the effect it had on her was rather different.

	This natural glow filled her cabin.  All the dark spaces 
illuminated, giving her a strange sense of peace.  In fact, 
everything about this world spoke volumes of peace and tranquility.
She wondered why, but didn't argue the point with herself.

	It was because she could see very little else that the lights
of the approaching township were so bright and vivid.  So much so 
that it almost hurt her when they became visible over the small 
rise.  She wondered whether the train would be stopping at this 
town, and immediately chided herself.  If it stopped at a middle of
nowhere station like the one she had boarded from, then it would 
most certainly stop here.

	Not that it looked like there would be too many people getting
on the train from this town.  So she was rather surprised when she
saw a couple, standing in the relative darkness of the platform as 
the train pulled to a stop.

	She opened the window and peered her head through the gap, 
trying to catch a glimpse of who it was that was getting on board.

	"Whee!  It's been a while since I've ridden on a train."

	"I thought you were against our travelling, Kaorusagi-dono."

	"Aww, come on.  I'm allowed to change my mind when I want to."

	Michiru was surprised to find the pair were speaking Japanese.
Now, not that she should have been all that surprised.  The vast 
majority of alien visitations to the planet Earth that she had 
encountered had all been by individuals who were fluent in nearly 
every known Japanese dialect....  But considering this was a planet
that was, clearly, somewhere on the other side of the universe, it
was an infinity to one chance that she would bump into someone with
such a capability.

	The Japanese was classical, even....  Almost antiquated in its
pronunciation.  She had learnt this style of speech during her 
numerous sessions of private tutorage.

	She couldn't see the individuals in question.  They had 
managed to board the train long before she had managed to get the
cantankerous window open.  Pulling her head in, she heard the 
whistle of the train blow and the sounds of the doors sliding shut.
Before the train could move, she'd thrown open the door to her cabin
and was desperately looking left and right along the thin corridor 
of the sleeper car.

	She didn't know if she was in the first or second car.  She 
hadn't so much as attempted to explore the train upon her recovery
from the fright the conductor had given her.  From the looks of 
things, when she had peered through the window, she was in the 
first.  It also appeared that the pair of Japanese speakers had 
entered the train by another of the cars.

	For some reason, she felt herself driven to make contact with
them.  Leaving the door to her cabin open, she made her way along 
the corridor towards the rear sleeper car.

----o

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS....


	"What have you done with Hotaru?"  Makoto had finally uncurled
herself from the foetal position that must have been way difficult
to achieve, floating in a myriad of whirling and streaming blue and 
white clouds.

	"I haven't done anything with the dark child."  Naiad sniffed.
"To her, these moments we share alone shall not exist.  I have 
removed our beings from the splinter reality, and shall return to a
point only fragments of a second later."

	"All because of some dream.  Some dream your great and 
honoured Queen to be had brewed up?"

	"I want to know WHY she had this dream....  What possible 
importance could these events have for her."

	"I really wouldn't know.  Can we go back, now?  I don't want
to remain here a second longer."

	"In case you meet up with something you had seen here, 
before?"  Naiad raised an eyebrow.  The question seemed to shake 
Makoto, who closed her eyes and shivered.

	"If you know that much, then why keep me here.  Stop screwing
with my head and let me go, bitch!"  Makoto opened her eyes and 
clenched her fists, looking like someone who was neck deep in a 
fighting mood.

	Naiad wasn't much into the vagaries of physical combat, and
decided that any further probing of Makoto's mind, right now, would
agitate the already unstable and violent frame of mind the young 
woman posessed.  With a wave of her hand, the world of clouds 
dissipated into a seething mass of chaos, to be replaced by the 
scene on the airport runway.


	Makoto felt herself land, as if she had appeared in mid-air.
Hotaru, standing next to her slightly stunned form, stepped forward,
around the bodies of the three unfortunate Sailorsenshi, as well as
that of Jadeite, looking for Naiad who, for some reason, seemed to
have disappeared.

	"Where did she go?"  Hotaru scratched her head.  When she 
received no reply from Makoto, she turned.

	Makoto was sitting on her haunches, turned away from her.  She
appeared to be toying with a straw or something she had found on the
ground.

	"Are you okay?"  Hotaru blinked.  Makoto looked over her 
shoulder at her companion.

	"I dunno.  I guess it depends on your definition of okay."

----o

EYE OF THE STORM....

	Naiad felt the crunch of soil underneath her feet as she 
landed upon the darkened plain.  Staring up into the pale orange 
glow of the Wyccfaerian atmosphere, and shivering at the cold, she
wondered if every night was like this, here.

	The door to the worlds of the dead had lead her to the very
heart of the labyrinthine passageways, and she found herself on 
Wyccfaer, which was the last thing she had expected.  Wyccfaer had
been, throughout recorded history, about the last place anyone using
the passageways had found time to visit.

	That was recorded history, however.

	So, Wyccfaer was where the passages were spawned.  The hub of 
a universal network.  A pan-dimensional network, even.  She decided
that this place might be worth her while to investigate.

	If she knew where to start.  Hard to do when one was standing
in the middle of an open field at the dead of night.

----o

MEANWHILE....


	Over the Valley of Souls flew the dirigible....  Long, sleek
and gray, carrying a small basket of passengers to whatever 
destination awaited it.

	On the day side of Wyccfaer, five figures, clad in long, 
hooded cloaks that hid their regular clothing, wandered along a 
dirt road, hoping to reach some sizeable settlement.  The two 
smallest stared up at the dirigible.

	"Shouldn't we try and wave those people down, or something?"
Umi watched the vehicle slowly disappear with disappointment.

	"Puuu...."  Said the small, white bunny thing named Mokosagi
that sat on her shoulder.

	"It wouldn't matter if we did.  Their destination is set, and
they won't land for anyone.  Not even people in a dire situation 
such as we."  Usako looked down at Umi's depressed face with a kind
smile, trying to reassure the smaller girl.  "Do not worry, we shall
find someone who shall be kind enough to aid us."

	"Either that, or we find another one of those goddamn doors."
Natsagi growled.  "I can't believe I got myself caught up in this.  
I have a job, you know?"  She pushed her hood back and stared up at
her green hair and cat's ears.  "Ohhh...  Look at me!  I need a 
bath."

	Usako, Umi and Mokosagi looked at her, dubiously.

	"You're the one who got us caught up in all this."  Umi 
pointed at the catgirl.

	"Puu."  Agreed Mokosagi.

	"ME?  You're accusing ME of getting us caught up in all of 
this?"  Natsagi huffed.  "I seem to remember those other two were 
the bright sparks....  Sailorjupiter and Sailorsaturn.... who 
started this wonderous venture.  And where are they, eh?  Nowhere to 
be seen.  They're probably lounging away in some resort hotel on the 
other side of this planet."

	"Now now..."  CereCere stepped between them.  "Wouldn't it
be more intelligent to see what awaits us than to carry on with this
accusatory banter?"  She pointed past Umi and Mokosagi towards what
appeared to be a lake within a small valley.

	On the edge of the lake sat a group of buildings.  Their hopes
were momentarily raised by this discovery.

	"Is that a town?"  Umi jumped up and down, trying to get a 
better look at the buildings, giving Mokosagi a bumpy ride.  Usako
was forced to place a calming hand on her shoulder.

	"They look pretty abandoned to me."  Natsagi shrugged.  "There
is only one way to find out, wouldn't you say?"

----o

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN....


	Michiru entered the second sleeper car through the access 
door, not an easy task to do since the stop at Le'Kshier, since the 
railway track seemed to degenerate somewhat at this chosen moment in 
time.

	She still hadn't seen hide nor hair of the conductor.  She 
wondered what the guy could be doing on a train with so few 
passengers.  Strange thoughts entered her mind, mostly to do with 
the kinds of things people did when they became bored.  Her face 
turned a bright shade of red as she pushed the thought from her 
mind.

	Slowly, she made her way along the corridor, listening for the
sound of voices, peering into every cabin.  She saw nobody.  This 
line, with each passing moment, resembled a ghost train....


	The girl ran headlong into her.  No ifs, no buts, just 
straight out WHAM!  Michiru was about to peer into the last cabin, 
on the left hand side, when the dark-haired girl in the yellow 
kimono came charging out, drooling, saying something like 
"FOOOOOOOOOOD".

	For a few seconds, whilst lying on the corridor floor with 
this strange girl lying on top of her, she thought she'd just come
face to face with a long lost Japanese cannibal.  Regaining her 
composure, she managed a short moan as both she and the girl lifted
themselves up, watched by the girl's bemused companion.

	"Gomen na sai, ojousama...  Daijobu desu ka?"  The girl put 
her hands on Michiru's shoulder as she rubbed her sore head.

	"Ojousama...."  Michiru cleared her throat.  "Ano...  Hai, I
think I'm going to be alright.  Why did you run out of you cabin in
that fashion.  You could have hurt someone."

	"She did hurt someone."  The tall, red-headed companion 
crossed her arms, putting on a cynical expression.  The dark-haired
girl turned to her companion and puffed up her face angrily.

	"Usashiiiiin!"

	"Usashin?"  Michiru blinked, looking up at the other girl.  
She recognised the strange Usagi clone, immediately.

	She and Usashin never had much to do with each other in the 
past, but they had momentarily been forced into the position of 
allies....  Michiru, however, had difficulty in remembering when, 
and in what context, these events occured.

	Usashin also seemed to recognise her.  "Sailorneptune-
dono...."  Usashin's dark-haired friend blinked for a moment.

	"Do you know this person?"

	"We did.... encounter each other at some stage in the not too
distant past, Kaorusagi-dono."

	"Kaorusagi?"  Michiru blinked at the girl.  She momentarily 
felt a twinge of recognition, but it passed.  It was obvious that, 
like Usashin, this Kaorusagi girl was yet another Usagi clone.

	"So, Sailorneptune-dono....  You have joined the fight against
the Evil from Beyond?"  Usashin stepped forward and helped both 
Michiru and Kaorusagi to their feet.  Michiru blinked at Usashin's
statement.

	"The Evil from Beyond?  Who is that?"

	Usashin studied Michiru's puzzled expression thoughtfully.  "I
see....  So you have only just arrived here."

	"You can say that, again.  Do you have any idea as to how I 
came to be on this planet.  One moment I was....  Well, I was 
something, somewhere....  Umm...  The next I was waking up at a 
railway station...."

	Usashin nodded.  "Hai.  The emplacement of destiny.  Your 
death made you a toy for the energies that control the system of 
Wyccfaer, and it is now using you as a warrior to defend itself 
against the Evil."

	"I think I'm getting a headache."  Michiru put her hand to her
head once more.  Kaorusagi looked at her with some concern.

	"Are you sure you're alright.  I can get the conductor to 
break open the medicine cabinet."

	"Not that kind of headache."  Michiru did her best to smile at
the girl, rather embarassed at her forthrightness.  She turned her
attentions back on Usashin.  "What was that you said about my death?
I'm not dead.  You can see that as clear as day."

	"Oh dear."  Usashin shook her head.

	"She has a lot to learn."  Kaorusagi crossed her arms and 
hmmmed in a thoughtful manner.

	"What?  What have I got to learn?"  Michiru looked from one to
the next.  Kaorusagi placed a hand on her shoulder.

	"I'll let Usashin tell you everything.  Meanwhile, I'm going 
to try to find the food dispensing machines.  I'm starving."  And 
with that, Kaorusagi brushed past Michiru with a grin on her face.

	Michiru and Usashin watched her go, then Michiru turned back
with a quizzical expression.  Usashin sighed and gestured to her 
cabin.  "Care to join me in some idle banter, hmmm?"

	The door on the opposite side of the corridor from Usashin and
Kaorusagi's cabin swung open, and a strange, effeminate being, 
dressed in a long, flowing light green and gold cloak, with pale 
skin, green feline eyes, elven ears and large, curving gold horns, 
stared at them, crossly.

	"Look, will you please be quiet?  Some of us are trying to get 
some sleep, here...."  The being huffed and shut the door behind 
them as they stepped back inside.


	Michiru pointed at the door with a comical expression of shock
and surprise on her face.  Usashin closed her eyes and shook her 
head.

	"I think you have a lot to learn about alien races, my dear."


END OF PART 8

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I Once Knew a Senshi Named Fred
by DDFA ^_^

I once knew a senshi named Fred
Who, surprisingly, turned out to be dead
"I'm dead."  Said Fred.  "Cos I was shot in the head
by a Youma whilst I was asleep in bed"

I looked at the senshi named Fred
And sadly shook my head
"How terrible!"  I said.  "For you to be dead
in bed with a head full of lead"

A smile came to the face of Fred
"It could have been worse."  She said
"This lead in my head which made me dead
was actually meant for Ned."

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Next Chapter ' "The Long and Twisting Road to a Shy City III" (Duh)

   _________
  /    @    \  		DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page)
 / / ^   ^ \ \ 		ayanami@merlin.net.au
/</    w    \>\		Chief Propoganda Officer, Keeper of
 /           \		the Tapes and Co-Founder of the Saitou-chan
 \___________/		Appreciation Society - Adelaide Japanese
  /_/     \_\  PU		Animation Society

Version 2.0 - 24th Jun 1998