Studio YOGIPIGS presents: SAILOR MOON AX" Based on Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon by Takuechi Naoko Written by Studio YOGIPIGS' "Project Muffinhead" LEAD WRITER: ROBERT BARBA CO-WRITER: ELIZABETH THOMAS SAILOR MOON AX LEGENDS WRITER: AMY ANGEL SAILOR MOON AX LEGENDS WRITER: EMANUELE BONAMICO Research by Studio YOGIPIGS' "Odango Labs" LEAD SAILOR MOON ANALYST (US VERSION): MARVIN PEACE LEAD SAILOR MOON ANALYST (JAPANESE VERSION): SAKURA EDWARDS TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYST: JOHN SHEAREN WEAPONS AND MILITARY ANALYST: DAVID CLARE PROJECT EDITOR: SAMUEL LAMBSON CHAPTER FOUR: Monkeywrench *"What do you mean you don't have her room ready, Darien?!?!?!"* Raye thundered. *"You guys knew she was coming, right?!?!?!"* "Raye, calm down!" the guy named Darien responded, though in a softer voice than Raye. However, it was clear from the way he was dealing with her that he'd had dealing with her before. What was not so clear was the fact that the pair knew each other since childhood, and thus, he was used to taking the full brunt of Hurricane Raye. "The computer said she wasn't supposed to come until next month, Raye. It's a computer error. I don't like it any more than you, but as you can see, it says she's technically not here yet." Raye pointed a finger at Ami, then slammed her paperwork down on the desk. *"Does this look like she's arrived here next month? NO, she's here NOW! What are ya gonna do about it?!?"* From where they were standing in relatively safety from Raye's outbursts, Ami stared at Darien, glad that Raye's argument was providing a convenient cover for her gawking at the guy at the desk. A nameplate on the desk gave his name: DARIEN CHEVALIER. Outwardly, she was kinda stunned at the look of the situation. Inwardly, she was trying to get over the fact that Darien looked exactly like Mamoru. ((Yet another one. This has to be more than a coincidence, and yet, I'm not sensing any magic. I don't get it.)) Turning her mind temporarily to the actual scene at hand, Ami asked Cathy, "Is she always like this?" Cathy nodded an embarrassed yes. "That's Raye's nature, and why, I think, her grandfather found her not really suited for a temple life. She's too full of fire and feistiness--it's in her blood. If it's any consolation, I think she likes you. She's really going the distance on this one." "Do you mean by now, she would have given up?" Ami could not picture her old friend Rei back at home doing anything this extreme. A split-second later, she realized that if Rei had the same upbringing as Raye, she probably would be doing this as well. "No," Cathy said, shaking her head as though embarrassed to admit something. "I mean by now, she would have decked someone. She sometimes has a hard time controlling her temper." Cathy shrugged her shoulders elegantly. "Aaa," Ami said in Japanese, as a bead of perspiration settled on her azure eyebrow. She tried to take her mind off the Darien-Mamoru connection, and concentrated on the Raye-Darien one, because it suddenly dawned on her that if Raye didn't succeed, she'd be homeless for the night. Meanwhile, Darien brushed the hair out of his eyes, counted to ten, then wished he was somewhere--*anywhere*--else. "Look, Raye, you and I have known each other a long time--I've even put up with a lot of your temper tantrums--" *"WHAT TEMPER TANTRUMS?!?!?!?!?!?!?"* "--but the fact is, we weren't expecting her until next month. We have no space at all for her, and we won't have anything until next month. Raye, if there was something I could do, I would. But I can't." Raye, to her credit, calmed down, then backed away, snarling, "If it weren't for the fact that we've known each other for a long time, Darien, I swear you'd be face down on the floor bleeding by the gallon." Darien blanched at that, then smoothly commented, "And you've already done that once, Raye." *That* shut Raye up immediately, as her eyes changed from angered to shocked in an instant. Knowing that she could barely keep her temper in check, Raye pivoted on her foot, and walked out saying to her companions, "C'mon. Let's go." Just before leaving Dorm Central, she turned around once more and sadly murmured, "Darien, I'm--" Darien smiled. "You don't have to say it, Raye. I'm not angry. Like I said, we've known each other a long time, right?" Raye smiled, though it was clearly forced. "Yeah. Thanks again, Darien." She stepped out of the door. Headed back to the car, Cathy turned to Raye. "You still love him, don't you?" Raye said nothing, only looking ahead, then after a second, spoke. "If I wasn't such an ass, sometimes.... Oh, don't get me wrong--I love Chad dearly, and want to spend the rest of my life with him, but you never forget your first love." ((She was in love with him? Just like Rei and Mamoru!)) Forcing herself to calm down before she got too excited, Ami said in Japanese, "I realize it's none of my business, Raye-san, but if you ever want to talk about it...." Raye smiled briefly, then said, "Thanks, Ami. Um, I need to be alone for a second or two. I'll meet you at 31 Flavors in oh, twenty minutes, okay?" Cathy put her hand on Raye's shoulder. "You sure you--" "I'll be okay. Really." The last words were punctuated by a sob. "I'll see you in a few," she said, morosely. "Cathy," Ami said, "I know it is none of my business, but is there anything I can do to help her?" "That's really sweet of you, Ami," Cathy replied, as the pair watched Raye walk off, "but the rest of our gang and I have known Raye all our lives--we've all grown up together. None of us have been able to help her in this, though we've tried. She just has to fight this alone." Cathy paused, then continued. "Look, if you're going to be hanging around us, I guess I'd best tell you." "Are you sure it is okay to tell me?" "Under normal circumstances, Raye would probably be telling you herself. She tries to be like an open book, so people can understand her, and know the truth. She doesn't want to hurt anyone." Ami frowned. "I do not understand, Cathy." "Neither have I, and I've known her since first grade. What I do know is this: Raye's had a lot of problems in her life. Her parents disowned her when she was five years old for something that wasn't her fault. Her grandfather has been raising her since, but the downside of that is that her parents don't speak to him anymore, either--if it wasn't for the fact that her father's a well known businessman, she wouldn't even know if they were still alive. Tempers run strong in their family. "Raye's problems with Darien stem from the fact that they were each others' first love. The problem was, she tended to always argue with him, though she loved him; he in turn was a saint and was patient and loving, but she couldn't help herself. One day, after a big argument, she decided to make it up to him in a way that was, shall we say, ill-advised. They were a little too young, too ignorant of prevention, and thus a little too careless, and well.... "When the doctor confirmed that she was pregnant, her temper was, of course, taken out on him--she finally lost control of herself and beat him senseless. He spent a few days in the hospital for multiple injuries, and so did she--she miscarried. They wanted to put her in a clinic, but Darien fought it--he said he should go, that he wasn't a good enough boyfriend to help her. Despite the fact that he loved her, the truth was that at age 15, he had no idea what to do. "The day they both got out of the hospital, she broke up with him. Neither wanted to, but she loved him so much, she said, she was terrified she was going to really hurt him, and she couldn't live with herself. I remember that day, because Darien later told me privately that he'd spent all the money he was saving, and bought an engagement ring. He's never told her, but he was going to marry her, and not because she was carrying his child, but because he loved her. "That summer, she went away and spent some time with relatives in Hawaii, but she never told anyone--not even her grandfather; we were afraid she ran away, or got killed or something. When she came back, Darien had begun dating Serena--Raye's best friend. To this day, Raye has never forgiven herself, because she thinks that she would have been Raye Chevalier by now, with her husband and child. "Nowadays, they're both seeing other people, and honestly, I think that the people they're seeing now were the ones that fate intended them to be with, but they still love each other. And they're still friends, but if you put them alone in a room for over five minutes, you never know what will happen. One time, we left them alone for ten minutes, and when we came back, Darien was sitting alone on the other side of the room angry at himself, and Raye was on the couch, balled up and crying. Another time we left them alone for five minutes, and when we came back, they were kissing--boy, were we lucky Chad or Serena weren't there. "I'm telling you this because Raye trusts you--I can see it in her eyes; there's something about you she likes. Just be understanding and tolerant. She tries so hard to not be as violent as she used to be, but she's not perfect, and sometimes she fails. Miserably. If you don't want to associate with her, she'll understand, but I think that she's worth the risks, otherwise I wouldn't have been at her side the whole time. Sometimes, she's like the sister I never had--in fact, we all are; all of us, except for Serena, Alex, Michelle and myself, are only children. "Raye's one of my dearest friends, and yet I wish I could do more." Ami looked at Cathy sincerely. "Thank you for telling me, Cathy. I will try to do what I can for her." Cathy in turn nodded her appreciation, and suggested they go to the Baskin Robbins on campus; after a particularly painful outburst, Raye was usually found to be at the business end of a triple-fudge banana split. As they walked in ponderous silence, Ami was revising her thoughts. The two raven-haired Japanese women she knew might look alike, and have some similarities, but there was nothing that could be intertwined between Raye Hino and Hino Rei. Or any of the others. ((I guess coincidences can occur on a mass scale,)) she thought, with a melancholy twinge. After all, Rei and Mamoru were happy together; it was a shame that their apparent lookalikes couldn't be. *** They found Raye at one of the tables demolishing, as expected, the sweet; the remnants of two other ones sat nearby. "I know, I know, Cathy," she said, smiling a little more this time. "I'm okay now. I called Amy while you were out. Told her the problem, and she says that Ami can stay with her, since her apartment's getting a little lonely, anyway." This of course was a little white lie since Amy was currently "on call", but Amy would surely check her beeper later and find Raye's little explanation. "That's nice, but that's not the issue." Cathy pulled up a seat next to her, as did Ami. "Do you want to talk about it? Oh, by the way--I told Ami. As a med student, she should probably know." Raye turned momentarily to Ami. "I'm sorry I failed in getting you your dorm, Ami. I hope you don't hate me." "No! Not at all. I appreciate the extra effort you took." Ami reached over and took Raye's hand. "You tried to help me. Let me try to help you, ne?" With the two watching, Raye then began her explanation, and once again, it amazed Ami on not only how frank Americans could be, but also the fact that she was confiding in Ami as though she was an old friend. ((Or as if she was talking to Amy. Or as if Rei back home was confiding in me.)) Unaware of Ami's thoughts, she'd begun talking. "I had to scream at him, Cathy. I just had to. I wasn't mad at him or anything, it was just that if I didn't then I was honestly afraid that I was going to throw him on the ground and try to make babies with him. Worse, I knew he wanted the same thing." "Have you two told Serena and Chad that you two still love each other?" Cathy asked. Raye shook her head. "I can't. I love Chad too much, and Serena...I could never hurt her. I love them both. But the problem is, I love Darien, too." She paused, taking in Cathy's words. "We'll never have an affair, if that's what you're asking, Cathy." "I know that, Raye," Cathy commented, "it's just...I hate to see you in this much pain." "Completely unavoidable," she responded in a melancholy tone. "I can't control my heart any more than I can control yours. All I can do is try to put it aside and move on. At least I have Chad's love, for which I'm very grateful for." Ami looked at Raye and smiled, knowing that she'd be okay for the duration. "Raye," she said in English for Cathy's sake, "if you ever need a friend, I am always here for you. Believe that." "I do," Raye said, earnestly. "Thank you, Ami. But I think this is something I have to work out for myself." Raye fished into her pocket and pulled out Amy's car keys. "Cathy, can you take her to Amy's? I...need some time alone." Cathy looked at her with a critical eye, and said, "You're not gonna go through another three of these, are you?" "Well, if you want to know," the ravenhair answered, "I was actually planing to go to the gym. Eating three of these is going to do *wonders* for my figure unless I do a few laps around the track, right? Trust me--I'll be fine. I can just have Chad pick me up on the way to the restaurant tonight." "If you're sure...." Cathy commented. Ami had the look on her face that pretty much said the same thing. "I'll be fine, you two. I'm only going to the gym, right? What more could go wrong?" "See you tonight, then." Cathy took the keys from Raye and with Ami in tow, wandered off. As for Raye, she sat there long enough to finish off sundae number three, then wandered out the door, headed for the gym. It wasn't far from where they were, so a couple of hours on the track and some calisthenics should be fine. Maybe if Mel was there, she'd even talk him into a few sparring sessions with him in the marital arts mat area. He was a bushin expert, and her style admittedly did need some improvement, so he was always glad to help her out. From the top of the ice cream shop, a figure watched her. ((I've been waiting for this moment, my little pretty-pretty-pretty,)) he thought, ((and tonight you'll be quite the dead shiela, Sailor Mars. Your blood will decorate the floor in my lair, and I'll have my revenge on you, Raye Hino. Oh yes, yes I will.)) The figure tapped the air once, and it rippled. A second later, it rippled again, and the figure was gone. *** Alconbury, England: Nestled in this quiet town was the Michelson Boarding School. Well, at least it was, about an hour ago. Now, all that remained of the facility was a burning wreck, as the stench of burnt timber, melted synthetics, and charred bodies filled the air. In the distance, the wail of emergency vehicles could be heard as police and firefighters raced to the scene. It wouldn't make much of a difference, though; everyone inside was dead quite a long time ago, with the fire used only as a smokescreen. About a few blocks away, a person watched the scene, knowing what she'd done. She stared at the column of dark black smoke reaching up to the sky, and a tear slid down her cheek. She had no right to take the lives of those people; it was not what she'd been raised to do. But desperate times called for desperate measures, or so the old excuse went; though she felt heavy-hearted at becoming a...murderer...it was something that needed to be done. There was no other choice--no choice at all. She watched as the county morgue personnel began to wheel the remains of the bodies into the ambulance, all in body bags...and most of those body bags were small enough for children. A child, such as she had once been. A child, as she hoped to have one day. Children. She'd killed children, though it was necessary. The last time she was here, she remembered a story that one of her friends told her. _Macbeth_ was its name, and it was, honestly, something that was not on her list of things she would usually read. But one thing stuck in her mind, and that thing was the role of Lady Macbeth, or more importantly, the spot on her hands. The young woman now felt that very same spot on her hands a million times over. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to the souls of the dead, the ones that would not hear her. "Please forgive me." Knowing that there would be no forgiveness for her even if those souls were to, she turned away from the burning wreckage, and began to walk down the street, her heart feeling heavier than anything in this world. No one around would notice her, even though she was not a local; her magic would see to that. Her magic, she thought with a trace of bitter irony. Her magic, that had killed children today. Her magic that was part of her birthright from her mother, a mother that had taught her to be good and kind--something that she was no longer. ((Mother, please forgive me. I wish you were here. I need you now.)) But no one would answer her silent plea, and thus, she continued to march on, her hair blown in the slight breeze that had just begun. Normally, she enjoyed her hairstyle--a pair of twin tails that looked vaguely reminiscent of a French Lop. Today, they reminded her of the ghosts of those she damned today--specters that would probably follow her for the rest of her life. *** Vladivostok, Russia: In the outskirts of the main residential district of this quaint seaside town sat a cliff that housed a park and the local oceanarium, Oceanland. One of the beautiful things about this rise was the view of the ocean the Russian Pacific Fleet Headquarters, not too far from the civic center. There was easy access to the beach and the Ship Disco, and in the opposite direction lay Gypsy Park. The park in itself was a beautifully manicured recreation center, which was enjoyed by children and adults alike. Today was a different story. Today, Oceanland was a ruined mess, caved in and buried under a huge mound of ice. The mangled, pulverized remains of dolphins, exotic fish, and other marine life were either frozen in the ice, or in pieces all around the park and adjacent street. As the trail of destruction continued down the street, other strange events were noticed. For example, cars had been turned into ores of silver and cobalt, and some had outright been turned into puddles of molten steel. There were more boulders of ice to be found, next to smashed trees or caved in building fronts. Something was definitely odd in this ramshackle town. On the beach, Yvegny Detrimov ran on the beach like a man possessed, or rather, like a man running or his life. The reason became immediately clear as a boulder of ice the size of a sedan slammed into the sand next to him, tossing down onto the ground. Without even bothering to look behind him, he got up, continuing to run and scream for help. Still, the huge boulders of ice came closer to pulverizing him at every shot. He managed to make it past the boating slips, when suddenly the sand below his feet turned into glass. A wall of ice rose up before him, and even without turning around, he knew his life was over. Speaking in his native tongue, he turned to face his killer, saying, "Why are you doing this? I have done you no wrong, and have never even met you before today. I am an old man with nothing to look forward to in life. You need not kill me. Please." Yvegny dropped to his knees, blubbering like a man before his final judgement. "Please, in the name of mercy, I want to live." Standing over him, though he was much taller and could probably physically overpower her, his tormentor looked over him with eyes that radiated pity and sympathy. She had dark blue hair--except for a single shock of silver at the front--tied in a ponytail, which moved like a snake in the sea breeze. Her eyes were the color of the sea, except perhaps less forgiving than it. She appeared to be of Chinese or Japanese descent (pretty normal in this area of mother Russia), and had to be a local, since her Russian was perfect. She wore a bodysuit that was a uniform color of cobalt blue, save for a simple silvery V design in the front. On the mandarin-style collar of her suit was a small silvery symbol that Yvegny thought looked like Cyrillic or Greek, but couldn't quite identify. Apparently just for decor, she wore a loose-fitting belt the same color as the bodysuit, adorned with a silver buckle with the same symbol as the collar insignia. In her left hand she radiated pure frost; in the right, magical energy. She spoke, and her voice was a melancholy, melodious voice, filled with an ages-old sorrow, and regret. "I am sorry, but if I let you live, it will lead to the end of the world. Do not ask me why; I cannot explain, and it will be best that way. Simply believe me when I say that even though I intend to kill you, I do not wish you to think that I am a murderess." "How can you say that?" he cried to her. "I am a man in his late 50s, with no heirs or family. I am nothing! How can I be the one to spell the end of the world?" "Because you are one of the Survivors," she said, sadly, "and the Survivors will be the ones to create the Nation of Basalt, the corrupt, depraved nation to drag Crystal Tokyo down to hell, to destroy the reestablished kingdoms. At best, it is the end of everything. At worst, it is hell incarnate." A tear slid down one of her cheeks. "I have seen it. I have lived there. I have seen hell itself. I come from hell, spawned from that very nation--I am an exile from my own world, fighting to ensure that it never comes to be. "I must do what I do because everything will end if I do not. I must kill the Survivors before they begin, before Convocation commences. I must kill them all, including you." Yvegny looked into her eyes and saw. Saw beyond those orbs, and into the future, her past. Saw everything, and saw Armageddon for what it was and what it was going to be. Billions dead, and things getting worse and worse, with no end in sight. Saw her desperate plan, that of her and her allies, to stop the madness before it began. Somehow, he saw all this and more, something no one should ever have to see. Somehow, he knew that she spoke true, for it was in her mind that he saw himself clearly, saw what he would become. He spoke softly and quietly, as though it brought about a shattering revelation to the man's soul; it was as if one morning you were to wake up and find that you would be known forever as history's worst serial killer. "I didn't know I was capable...I never...." Knowing what he was admitting to, the girl's tears increased. "I am so sorry. If there was another way...if there was something else...if only I could...." "So is what I saw in your eyes true?" She nodded. "You know what you are, now; you know what I am. Somehow, myself and my allies were spared the fate that the Survivors were not, though we come from the same descendants." "I cannot claim to understand, but I accept what is to be," he said, clearly lying yet still holding to his realization, and beginning to accept it. "Will you grant me three things?" The girl meekly nodded, whispering, "Within reason. Other than that, name your requests." "One. Promise me that if you succeed in your mission and return to where you are from, promise me that you will tell everyone that Yvegny Detrimov meant no harm to anyone." The girl bobbed her head in agreement. Sighing, Yvegny continued. "Two. You must make it painless." Something that was the gossamer train of a thought flashed in the girl's sea-blue eyes. "Yes. The less pain I give you, the less damnation I will feel on my soul." Yvegny nodded, beginning to feel oddly at peace with this decision. "Lastly, that I will know your name before I die." She stretched her hand down, then brought him to his feet. He looked at her, an old man, ready to end his life, though it came far sooner than he'd wished for. A gentle sea breeze played with her hair, and the old man feel an odd attraction to the girl, just as every male black widow does to the female of its kind. "I am not, and never will be, ready for this. But for mother Russia--and for the sake of the world--I will live with dying. I am ready for my death, Ms.--" She lovingly took his old, wrinkled face in her youthful hands, cooing, "I am Cobalt, the reincarnation of Morigami Chiaki of Japan, who is the reincarnation of the daughter of the Princess-Senshi of Mercury." And with that, she leaned over and kissed him, a mere touching of the lips. It was more the kiss of a child bidding her father farewell than a lover's symbol or even the portent of death that it actually was. When she pulled back and it was over and Yvegny Detrimov was no more. In his place was a statue of silver ore, lined with veins of cobalt. The statue looked so real, it appeared as though it had been a person once, and the face of the statue had a smile on it as though it had enjoyed its last moment of life. The statue would be all that was left of a harmless old man, regardless of what he would have been in the future. Her job done, Cobalt sank to the floor and wept about another life she had to take, not to mention the massive property damage that she caused and the animals that her attack had slaughtered. When she cut loose with her magic on the place, she thought it to be an abandoned facility, an impression given off by the somewhat decayed and decrepit facade of the building. She cried, knowing that her friends, scattered around the world as they were, were feeling the same thing as she. She cried for Kaneda, who from his place in the heavens, must be ruing what she'd become. Both the past and future selves of Cobalt/Chiaki cried out in pain, knowing that this killing was not by far the first, and that in order to save humanity from its future, she and her friends must become the worst group of killers in mankind's history. All this death and destruction was to come from a woman who wanted to be a healer. Healing was, after all, in her blood. That and the magic she used to kill this man, the latest of many. ((Mother--Senshi Maakyuri--you cannot know how much I hate you and father for the powers your combined blood has given me. I hate you both. I should have died in the Silver Millennium and stayed dead, not reincarnated here to be able to kill, and not in the Basalt Nation to find out what I really am.)) Standing up again, Cobalt used her magic to cast the silver statue of Yvegny far into the sea--there was no time to give the man a proper burial, and though she'd killed him, leaving him here to be slagged down to component silver (and thus violating his corpse) was too much to bear. She wiped the sand from her bodysuit, then snapped her fingers, allowing an aura of magic to envelop her, and change her bodysuit to normal street clothes, becoming Morigami Chiaki once more. Chiaki then walked along the sandy beach, moving south with no immediate destination--she knew she had to get out of the area as authorities would begin to follow the trail she had left in her attack, and she did not want to be here for questioning. More importantly, her next victim lay to the south, in Mongolia, and she was in no hurry to get there to end the person's life anytime soon. Besides, who knew--maybe with the walk, she would finally come up with a way to stop the Survivors without committing genocide. She doubted it though. *** Huntington Beach: Ami sat down on the bed in the spare room--her new room--in Amy's apartment. She looked around at the room in surprise. For starters, it was bigger than her room back in Japan. Secondly, with some minor adjustments, it looked exactly like the room she had, as well...and she had the funny feeling that if she peeked into Amy's room, that girl's room would be no different. ((It's just amazing how much our lives are alike, as if she really was my half-sister,)) she thought, remembering Amy's earlier words. At this point, Cathy strolled in with a couple of glasses of soda, passing one to Ami. "Knowing Amy like I do, as soon as she sees you, she's gonna apologize about the cramped conditions--" "Oh, no need," Ami said, smiling. "Honestly, this is bigger than my room back in Japan." Cathy looked at her with a "you're-kidding" glance, then continued, "--but she's only had this place for a month or two, and I think she initially wanted to have this room as an office...I think it was Dr. Andersen who talked her out of it." Cathy then walked over to the window and opened up the curtains, letting the light stream through, and allowing Ami a view of the gorgeous scenery. "It's a real nice place on the harbor, and the place comes even with its own marina slip, though Amy doesn't sail. About the only bad thing is that you can see Seal Beach from here." Ami was puzzled at that. "Why is having a beach of seals around bad?" She'd seen a seal performance at Yokohama Sea Paradise once, and thought they were kinda playful and cute. Cathy giggled slightly. "Oh, no--not that. The place was named after seals, but the only ones around there now are of the Navy variety. Seal Beach is a Naval Weapons Station, where they keep the nuclear missiles for subs--or so the rumors say. It actually keeps the crime down, but the place kinda looks real ugly, just being there by itself. But that's not important." She pulled a trio of keys off Raye's key ring and handed them to Ami. "You'll need these now, and Amy can give Raye another set later. The brass one is for the deadbolt, while the steel one is for the front door. The code for the front gate--both the car and the walk in--is 45056. And just in case you're curious, we all have keys to everyone's place, except for Raye and Chad's, for obvious reasons. Never hurts to have spares around, right?" Ami nodded agreement. Cathy spoke again, adding, "Personally, I hope she asks you to stay. You shouldn't have to live in the dorm by their rules, and I think you'd enjoy it here more. Amy's a nice girl and a dear friend, and you two seem to have hit it off pretty well--I daresay you've been a hit with everyone so far." "But I really only know yourself, Raye, and Amy," Ami protested. "There wasn't time to get to know, um--" Ami blushed, as she'd forgotten the names of the other two girls, nearly saying "Minako and Makoto" out of habit and appearance. "Mina and Lita?" Cathy supplied. "Yes," Amy replied, embarrassed at forgetting their names. "I think you'll do fine with them, too. Mina's the airhead of the group, but she's really a dear. Lita tends to be a tomboy sometimes, but that's life, I s'pose. Then there are the others, but you'll get to meet them later." Cathy set her drink down then said, "Let's get you unpacked, young lady. From that point, we'll get ready to go, since tonight is your night to shine, Ami. Southern Cal's never seen the like of you before, and I doubt it ever will again." She winked and giggled. Ami looked and thought that there was something about Cathy that reminded her of someone. Admittedly, Cathy's hair and eye color were the same as Chibi-Usa's, but little Usagi had been ten the last time the azurehair woman had seen her, and it didn't appear that Ami would ever get to see that little girl grow up. Cathy noticed something odd in Ami's gaze, something that Cathy didn't like. ((She looks too much like Amy for my comfort--is that intentional? Could someone have dropped a viper in our midst? I'll have to place her under surveillance--maybe I can redirect one of the Delphi satellites to track her. Maybe it's just nothing, and I'm overworrying. But I'd rather be wrong than be in deep shit.)) "Is there something wrong, Ami?" Ami snapped out of it instantly, cursing herself for her outward appearance. "I was just looking at your hair. It reminds me a lot of the daughter of a friend of mine." ((Even though Chibi-Usa won't exist now,)) Ami mentally added. "That particular shade of pink is uncommon, am I correct?" ((Oh--that's certainly harmless enough. Still, best not take chances.)) "I guess; I've never really kept track. Kid must be cute then, if she's got hair like mine." Ami nodded amicably, even though the mention of Chibi-Usa tore a new wound in her heart. "Yes. Usagi is quite the little darling. Come to think of it, she also has red eyes, just like yours." "Kid'll be a looker when she grows up." Not sure of what else to say, Cathy changed the subject in the hopes that she could glean some information on Ami. "So, do you plan to do anything else besides school? Get a job, or do some volunteer work or anything like that?" "Well, I was planning to donate some time to the local hospitals, and maybe gain a hobby or two. I am receiving a stipend from both the scholarship and my mother, so I should not need a job anytime soon." Ami felt there was no need to mention her extra stuff about the Sailors, since she would need a few days' acclimation to the area before she began her investigations. "Looks like you'll have your hands full for a while, then," Cathy replied. "Anything else that you want to see while you're here?" "Mmm...probably Disneyland. I have heard it looks like ours, only larger. And Hollywood, too--I have a friend who is in the acting business in Tokyo." "Well, for Disneyland, I s'pose one of us girls would be glad to take you one day. As for Hollywood, I'm sure Mina can show you around Paramount Studios, since that's where she works. Any place else?" "No, not really. Nothing that I can think of." ((Or that I intend to tell you.)) Cathy, deciding that (for the moment) Ami was harmless enough, eased off her veiled interrogation. She then smiled and said, "Let me help you unpack. Then we can hit the pool for a few hours before heading over to dinner, 'kay?" Seeing Ami nod agreement, the pair immediately set Ami's bags on the bed and began to unpack. *** Raye sat down and patted the sweat off her forehead, the towel already damp from her sweat. Her workout was right on the mark...even though it would look to the casual observer that she still needed vast improvement. Her aim, intentionally a few inches or so off of Mel, was true to where she wanted to hit at all times, and proved that while Raye Hino was mediocre at bushin, Sailor Mars was outright dangerous. Reaching over, she opened her locker, reaching to grab the toiletry bag inside. A quick shower, a little time to get ready, then she could hop a taxi and join the others for dinner. She was especially looking forward to seeing Chad, since he had that world tour to go on, and it would otherwise be about a few months or so before he got back. With the charity tour getting full into swing, he would be getting very little time to communicate with her, much less speak to her, and-- "Hello, my pretty, pretty, pretty." Raye froze as the voice echoed through the women's locker room. Her hand instinctively wandered towards the air, readying to trigger her prism transformation ring, but she pulled away. There might be others in this place, and there was no need to change into her fighting suit anytime soon, or so she hoped. It was times like this that having a secret identity was a disadvantage, and one she truly didn't like. Furthermore, the voice sounded vaguely familiar to her. She, while as Mars, heard that voice before, though she couldn't pin it down. It was just something about that voice, a voice with a foreign accent, that unnerved her. Maybe it was nothing--maybe it was just some drunk Australian exchange student looking for his girlfriend. Perhaps it was just a practical joker--you never knew what was going on sometimes here at UCI. Maybe it was even-- "Hello, my little sheila." The voice came from behind Raye, and she had to calm down before she turned around and attacked. The hair on the back of Raye's neck stood on end. ((Subspace? But he should be in a Federal pen!)) She began to slowly turn around, hoping that she put on her best nervous face, pretending to be just Raye Hino, everyday Japanese-American woman. Sure enough, it was Subspace. A wiry, compact Australian with long curly hair, the beady eyes of a weasel, a Van Dyke beard, and a nose broken so many times, there was no way to tell what it had originally looked like. The man, with his flowing brown hair and eyes as black as night, was almost striking, in a miscreant sort of way. He wore a shimmering tunic and pants, and also had some weird techno-ornaments on his belt buckle, gauntlets and such. The overall effect was that he looked like a cyber-swashbuckler. Strangest of all, though was the power he radiated from his hands. The power didn't seem to radiate so much as ripple, like cascading circles on a still pond of reality. Where the rings of power spread out, the fabric of space shivered and shimmied and buckled under duress, unable to take the strain that it was being made to undergo. This then, was the internationally infamous criminal Subspace, a man capable of bending reality to his will. Born Julian Thompson, he was one of the best burglars of all time, moving from country to country and robbing them blind...until he took a job in LA and ran afoul of the Sailors. In the course of the operation, his true love--his wife Amanda--was killed as a result of combat with Sailor Mars. The investigators exonerated Mars, stating that the so-called Sailor of War had only been defending herself from the woman who was trying to kill her with a missile launcher. Furthermore, Mars had went for a disabling blow, and it was not her fault that a metal pillar, weakened by a missile blast, had fallen on Amanda and killed her. Subspace, however, didn't believe any of that. He knew that the Sailors couldn't catch him since he was way too talented for the likes of them, so they simply loosed their warhounds, Sailors Pluto and Mars, on his weak spot--his wife. Amanda had been able to outwit the Sailor of Darkness, but not the Sailor of War. There was no way that Amanda could have been done in by her own attack. No, the truth had to be--although he never saw it--that Mars had to have murdered her, then dropped the pillar on her to cover her action. Well, they hadn't counted on him breaking out of Joshua Tree Ultramax Prison with Recoil and Pyromancer. They certainly didn't count on him shadowing the Sailors, and last but not least, they didn't count on him finding each and every one of their hidden identities. Personally, he didn't give a damn about the others--he'd just hold their IDs as leverage--but he wanted Raye Hino dead, dead, dead. Now, finding her alone and unpowered, he knew this was his chance. Looking at her, he said, "Are you ready to die, Raye Hino?" The Japanese girl looked at the man before her as a menacing scowl covered his face. Backing away from him as fear plastered her face, she said, "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" Subspace raised his hand, the air flickered, and in his hand appeared a sphere of rippling energy. "The innocent victim act doesn't do you justice, Ms. Hino. Though I do have to say that with your 'preacher's kid' background, it's adequate, eh?" Raye Hino sobbed. "Oh, please don't hurt me...." Screaming at the top of her lungs, she bellowed, *"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!"* Subspace sneered his reply. "Do you think I'm stupid, Ms. Hino? There's a subspace barrier around this building. There's no one here that can save you. Not that you need any help, Raye Hino...or should I say, Sailor Mars?" Raye wiped a tear from her eye. Sobbing, she asked, "There's no one that can hear me? No one that can come?" Subspace laughed. "No one at all, Ms. Hino." The look on his face indicated that he was not expecting this attitude to come from the most violent of the Sailors. Maybe he was wrong about her. No matter; she was going to die, anyway if for only the reason that should she escape, the Sailors would hunt him down again. Better to end her life now. She looked down, still crying. She then choked out a painful, heart wrenching word: "Good." Raye Hino looked up at him, and although the tears were still there, they now clearly looked false on a face that was now grimacing in anger. "Taiyoken!" The red fireball slammed into Subspace, sending him flying back, crashing against a line of lockers. Without even thinking, Raye leapt into battle, executing a flying kick at her opponent. As Raye attacked her opponent, her mind was a flurry of questions: ((How did he find out my identity? How could I have been so stupid? Everyone could be in danger now, and it's my fault.)) She idly thought about changing into Mars, but dismissed the notion; the time that it would take to change would open her up to an attack--and since he knew who she was and there were no others around, there was no need to be secretive at this point. Her kick connected, and slammed him deeper into the metal of the lockers. Before she could follow up on her attack, he shimmered and slipped into the dimension that was so much his element. Raye stood there, quietly listening for the first opportunity that her foe would counter attack. "C'mon out! Or are you afraid to face me, Subspace?" "Why should I be afraid to face you, Mars? After all, it was you who killed my wife!" The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. "You murdered her in cold blood, you bitch! Now you'll die, painfully and slowly!" "I did no such thing, and you know it!" Raye screamed, bringing her aura to full intensity, and wishing she had *some* time to switch to her battle gear, which would have certainly afforded her more protection than her tank top and gym shorts. Still, that moment's hesitation would leave her vulnerable, and if there was one thing Raye didn't like, it was being vulnerable. "Your wife was trying to kill me using Stinger missiles! She did herself in, for cryin' out loud! If there's anyone to blame, it's her own fault for being as bad a criminal as you!" There was an inhuman cry, and a ripple of space. Subspace appeared just above her, dropping down and wielding a set of low-yield grenades. With little time to spare, Raye leapt to the top of the nearest row of lockers and scrambled two rows down, dropping behind another set as the grenades went off, destroying everything in the vicinity of where she was a few minutes ago. Just about everything in her gym locker had been destroyed, but at least she was alive, well, and still able to fight. As the boom echoed in the room and in her ears, she could hear Subspace's inhuman laughter calling out, "Would you care to play some more, sheila? Or is this where you simply lay down and die? I'm eager to hear your response." She gave him her response. Up close and personal. Flipping over the lockers she'd just cleared less than a minute earlier, she assaulted him with a diving kick, then as she landed, turned and executed a flawless elbow strike. He swung and missed, allowing her to grab his arm and pulling him forward into a nasty uppercut. As he reeled back from the punch, the air rippled behind him once more, and he'd teleported into another part of the locker room. "You chickenshit bastard!" she screamed, her anger rising by the minute, her voice giving proof to an angry crescendo. She punched a locker in her fury, easily denting it. "C'mon out, Subspace!" Not clearly thinking as her familiar blinding anger rose to the forefront, she shouted, "If you're not gonna come out of hiding, then I'm gonna remove your hiding location!" Channeling her power as her battle aura came to the forefront, she pulled back her hands and began to form a sphere of red energy between them, even as she ran to one corner of the room to loose her attack. Once there, she roared, "you had your chance to surrender, Subspace! Now feel some pain! *Shin Akaridama!*" With that pronouncement, she cut loose with a massive beam that tore through the entire locker room. Lockers were slagged by the force of Raye's beam, and the wall that was at the end of the assault was cratered by the sheer force of the blow. The temperature of the room went up about 30 degrees before the air-conditioning shorted out, and when it was over, Raye stood in a room filled with slagged metal, burnt paint, blasted tiles, burst piping, and the ashen remnants of the benches in the gym. However, there was no sign of her foe. "Where the hell are you, damn you?" she seethed, moving forward and wary for an attack to come at any moment. Sweat rolled down her in cascades, a result from the mixture heat and exertion. Normally, she'd be fine, but she was already worn out from her earlier workout, and seriously could have used a hot shower to work out the kinks in her muscles. Now, the only advantage she had was that the water from the fire sprinklers were helping to lower the overall temperature of the room, and that no innocents were harmed. Apparently, though, what Subspace had said earlier was true: he'd placed the locker room in a subspace barrier, which meant that anything that managed to get past the barrier was lost to subspace; technically, the room she was in was located in another dimension. She wasn't impressed. "Come on out, you dipshit! It's gonna take more than parlor tricks to stop me!" She stopped, and the room fell silent, save for the dripping of condensation and the sound of her heavy breathing. In a soft but sharp voice, she commented, "Your wife didn't kill me, Subspace. Can you do better?" "If you insist." His voice rung behind her as Raye suddenly felt a sharp blow to the back of her head. Fortunately she had just enough of a warning to duck the majority of the blow that would have otherwise taken her out. Dropping to the ground, she did a quick footsweep that he leapt over. Kippup-ing back to her feet, she dashed forward like a predator on the hunt. Subspace however, took the notion, leapt over her and as he landed, threw a snap kick at her. She expected this and pirouetted while dropping below the attack, then came up hard with an elbow jab, and as he backed off, a rapid-fire punch attack. As her fists continued the onslaught, it seemed as though for a minute that she would win. However, his hand drifted to her shoulder as he called out, "Soulwarp." At once, every cell in Raye's body seemed to explode and implode simultaneously, internally tearing her apart. The pain, rippling up and down her body, woofed and warped through her body as he continued to pour more and more power into the energy attack, hoping that the assault would completely tear her apart. Unable even to scream, she felt every iota of her power overloading inside her, each molecule in her body a nuclear reactor approaching critical mass. If she were to explode now, the total energy release would make Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem like a pair of firecrackers. Subspace knew this, and as he began to feel slight flushback from his attack on Raye, he released the hold and cut off his energy flow. Within Raye, most of her body functions returned to normal, except that her already-strained nervous system couldn't handle any more, so it did the wise thing and shut down, placing Raye into a well-needed state of unconsciousness. As her body began to return to normal levels, Subspace laughed. "Bloody bitch. When I'm through with you, you'll wish you died from that missile blast." Reaching into the immaterial dimension that was his namesake, he pulled out two pairs of handcuffs, which he used on her wrists and ankles. He then picked up the unconscious woman, and hoisting her over his shoulder, he commented, "Oh yes, we must cover our trail, lest your friends attempt to rescue you 'fore you're good and dead." He reached into subspace once more, and procured an unmarked package. He tapped it once on the side, and the package emitted a single soft beep. He waved his hand once, and the room momentarily glowed, bathed in a hazy light. Then the light disappeared, and the room began to groan and crack as the structural integrity of the room, previously held in place only by the subspace barrier, began to come apart at the seams; the room would either fall apart in the next few minutes, or.... Subspace had no intention of sticking around for that second option. He simply tapped the air once, and with a familiar ripple of the sky, he--and his quarry--were gone. A second later, the package detonated, destroying the locker room and the adjacent gym, taking the lives of the hundred or so going about their daily business. *** Michiru woke up, sleeping in late this morning--an unusual event for her. She probably would have slept in later, but for the sudden jolt in her mind. Snapping awake, she noted that Haruka was not there, then remembered that Haruka had to leave early that morning for an appointment. Still attentive to her lover, the blonde had left a single flared rose--not the type Mamoru used--for Michiru. Michiru took it in her hands and gracefully smelled its scent, thinking idly of her-- --Dark angel with black wings rising into the sky on the hunt for its newest victim-- --Michiru dropped the rose in surprise as the image filled her mind again, with a much clearer level of vision: a terribly, horribly clearer vision. The vision burned into her mind like a firebrand that would not, could not be denied; it would remain there until removed by further revelation. Ignoring the rose, Michiru held her hand out, and a second later, the Deep Aqua Mirror was at her disposal. Peering into its depths, she searched for the answer to the flash of dark dreams that vexed her. Within the glass of the mystic object, the following was seen. An image of Mamoru/Endymion. An image of Beryl. A visual of DNA helixes being snapped and recombined, of being fused into something new. An image of a young woman who looked vaguely like Ami, only with a sorrowful look on her face, and with long hair a darker shade of blue than Ami's. An image of Setsuna. An image of someone she didn't know. An image of a woman that bore a resemblance to Haruka, except for the curly lime-colored hair and the black wings--this was the person she saw in her dream. An image of an American black woman, with hair a light shade of pink and red eyes. An image of herself. An image of a man they knew to be a Moon Kingdom reincarnation. An image of a woman that could have been mistaken for Beryl, except for the smile in her eyes and the rainbow-like power she was radiating. An image of Hikaru. An image of a building made of a black material; the building shape was vague and undefined, but its presence projected darkness and hatred. An image of Crystal Tokyo, its gloss and gleam dulled by something that couldn't easily be described. The images went on and on, with no rhyme or reason. Michiru was gaining a headache just trying to understand any of it. ((I don't understand it, but something must be interfering with the mirror.)) She shook her head at this thought; such events were simply unheard of. ((Still,)) she conceded, ((it has to mean something. Maybe I should talk it over with the others. They may have an idea of what to do in this case.)) Nothing further to add, she got up and headed to the shower, ready to begin her day. She had to get a hold of Setsuna, Rei and Minako, and decide on a course of action.