Chapter 4
Cyanide was a tall for Japanese man. He had the typical black hair and
dark eyes. He cut his hair short, roughly two or three inches long and
combed it straight back. As he carefully and meticulously assembled the
pieces of machinery he would need, one could barely notice any of these
features.
Oil and grease covered his face, hair, and hands. He was wearing a worn
jumpsuit and had tools around his belt instead of equipment. His mouth
was turned down in a frown, and he carefully and meticulously noted each
item on a clipboard as he checked it.
"Why do you keep all these machines here if you don't use them?" He had
asked upon discovering Pluto had some fifty three different functional
time travelling devices in storage.
"They might become useful. Besides, I am the Senshi of time. I do keep
track of things like this." She had been more forthcoming then he had
ever previously known her to be. He assumed it was just more work on her
part to ensure he wouldn't change his mind about accepting this mission.
The primary problem for them had been how Cyanide was going to get back
to the time in question. The Time Gates themselves were out, Pluto
needed to command those personally and she couldn't have the focus
necessary that close. It hurt too much.
That left one of these auxiliary machines to do the work and the list
of available possibilities had been rapidly reduced. Most machines
required the traveler to have some knowledge of magic and spell casting
ability. Cyanide had neither. He couldn't so much as light a match. That
left pure technology.
And those options weren't that good either. Not having a fusion reactor
to provide the necessary electrical energy some of these required weeded
out some possibilities. The list of impossibilities and unwanted choices
grew until eventually there was only one method still under
consideration.
"Kind of ironic eh? I'll be using the same method for travel the agent
I'm going back to stop did." Cyanide asked from deep inside the innards
of the metal apparatus.
"Verily," Pluto responded from her own position. "I've managed make
this slightly more efficient to our purposes. Instead of sending you
back naked as would otherwise be required, I'll use my own magic to
transport a few items with you. You'll only have a few kilograms to work
with though. The objects will also have to be very close to your body."
"You know, you're not much for small talk. You could comment about
anything which doesn't relate to my upcoming mission. I wouldn't mind."
Pluto paused. "Very well then. What would you like to discuss." She
returned to adjusting the machine.
"Does that Sailor suit ever give you a wedgie?"
There was a long pause.
"Sorry. Always been curious though."
In the room of The Great Scrying Glass, three people were using The
Great Scrying Glass to view all of history. They weren't quite sober
though and instead of plumbing the depths of knowledge that all history
contained, they were scanning for lingerie pictures of famous
celebrities.
"I'm telling you, Marylyn Monroe was not the lead singer of that band.
That was guy!" The first individual spoke up.
"Look at the name! They're the same I tell you!" Came the rebuttal.
"Wahoo! Check out this!" The third individual was ignoring the other
two completely and had just succeeded in his quest. Further identity
arguments were forestalled as Victoria's Secret made its appearance.
"Heh! None of them are celebs!"
"It doesn't matter!"
Were they to be watching the battle of the agent and the Senshi that
had been the reason for all the celebrations though, they would have
noticed a most unusual phenomenon, history editing itself.
The agent walked around the corner. Its weapons were held ready and
optic scanners engaged in outline match searches. It detected target
four and turned.
Jupiter heard something move behind her and jumped. She didn't make it
in time. The staccato roars of gunfire erupted behind her and she felt a
series of pinpricks across her back. She hit the ground and rolled,
uncontrollably.
Venus entered the room looking for her compatriots. She had been
separated from Jupiter earlier by gunfire. Now, moving through the door,
he saw Jupiter lying prone and that man approaching. He appeared to be
about to ensure that Makoto would never be again.
Venus fired of a Crescent Beam and knocked him from her fallen comrade.
He reeled slightly as he regained his balance and turned to her. She
darted back out of the doorway and crouched with her back to the wall.
Bullets roared around her, and she heard approaching footsteps.
'Come on, follow me.' Venus had noticed that this guy never seemed to
finish the job if someone else could attract his attention.
"Is there any chance Nemesis will send another unit back?"
"It appears unlikely. If you succeed, I'll be able to return to
monitoring the Time Stream and I should be able to prevent it."
"Hmm."
"Now, let's get back to this." Pluto indicated the almost finished time
machine.
"Sure. Whatever."
Venus smiled grimly. Her plan had succeeded and now she was the target
of the machine instead of her injured ally. She tried to run down the
hall. She actually succeeded in hobbling.
'Like I'm any less injured.' She thought. The bullet wounds she had
acquired earlier were beginning to fade but she could still barely walk.
Mars leapt around the corner and sprinted down the hall. She was sure
Jupiter was here somewhere and had heard gunfire. She came to a large
room and looked around.
Lying in one corner, fallen in an apparent attempt to get out a
doorway, Jupiter wasn't moving. Mars rushed over and knelt next to her.
"Come on. Speak to me. Are you alright."
Any answer was forestalled by the sounds of gunfire in the hall. Mars
rose from her fallen comrade and went to investigate. When she found the
guy that had done this...
Venus hit the ground and lay still. Mars watched the scene in the
hallway from the safety of an alcove. Venus's costume flickered twice
and began to fade away. The wounds oh her back disappeared until Aino
Minako lay unmoving on the floor.
Target five: Terminated.
"Mars Fire Soul Bird!" Mars, barely cognizant with rage, launched her
attack. The agent turned in time to receive the blast in the chest and
went down. The avenging Senshi rushed forward, intent on ending this
now.
"Why don't I just go back a few weeks before the T-101 shows up and be
waiting for it?" Cyanide was laying out his plan of action, given that
it looked like he would be appearing right in the fray.
"Because your presence might change what the assassin does and thus
compound the paradox. The is the best course of action."
"But I'll be weaponless. That doesn't give me good chances."
"You'll have to find you own weapons. You're resourceful." Pluto
clicked the final components into place. The machine whined faintly then
rapidly gained in volume until in was a dull roar. The two people in the
room walked into the hallway as to be able to hear each other over the
noise.
"How will you bring me back afterwards?"
"If you succeed, you'll remedy the paradox. Then I'll use the Time Gate
without difficulty."
Moon and Mercury turned a corner and almost screamed. Minako, Makoto,
Rei, all lay dead. Their uniforms had faded off and they looked
uninjured, almost as if they were sleeping.
"No." Moon began to cry quietly. This wasn't possible. It just wasn't
possible.
Mercury stared in shock, unable to start thinking. Abruptly her mind
started up again though with the arrival of a horrible revelation. If
they were here and they had dies just a few seconds ago, that would mean
their killer must be-
"Look out!" Tuxedo Kamen leapt and hit the agent in the back. It had
gotten behind the last two Senshi but he had interrupted before it could
fire. He cursed himself for getting lost on the way in here. Maybe they
would have made it if he had arrive earlier.
The agent rose and turned. Temporarily the most dangerous foe, it
recentered itself on Tuxedo Kamen.
For his part, the cloaked male part of the Senshi squad discarded the
idea of a rose attack. He needed some thing with more power. Endymion,
yes, that should do nicely.
The agent recalculated the threat of the armored man before it. It was
currently wielding 9mm automatics. It needed more power.
"I am Prince Endymion. For hurting my love and killing Mars, Jupiter,
and Venus, you need to die."
The problem with making a speech in the middle of battle is that it
gives your opponent time to do something. In this case, it gave the
T-101 time to reach behind it and pull a pair of grenades from its belt.
Diamond always liked this part. He had decided that he needed to see it
again, it just filled his heart with glee.
"Ah, a beautiful thing." He smiled as Endymion got detonated. As he had
done many times before, he reached up and marked his chalk board. "Black
Moon Family: Four Senshi: Zip."
He smirked as Mercury and Moon tried their last ditch effort to save
their lives. Ah, young hearts filled with hope. So sure that inspite of
everything, they could yet win and save the day. It really was
beautiful.
"Not as beautiful as that though." Diamond cheered. There, that last
well placed bullet and it was over.
"This calls for a drink. Or twenty." And Diamond summoned room service.
"Ready?" Pluto asked from the controls. The machine was humming and
whirring, ready for its job.
"Ready." Cyanide stepped onto the transportation platform and checked
his equipment. He would have the menial basics of what he would need and
no more. "Pluto, one more thing."
"What?"
"I know you don't give a damn for me. The acting was nice though. Made
me almost believe it. Lord knows I wanted to. Now flip the switch, Meiou
Setsunna."
The room service would be up in a few moments, all would be good.
Diamond looked around The Great Scrying Glass room. Everyone who should
be here was. After all, they were going to watch it one more time and
drink in celebration.
Lightning flashed everywhere as the major power conduits flashed with
the power. Jupiter, almost immune to lightning while powered up, ran to
Venus's side and lifted her. Moon yelled something which could barely be
heard over the din of gunfire and electrical crackling, but Jupiter
heard enough to get the gist. It was time to fall back. Not far but
enough to get out of this death trap.
Electrical waves playing over its skin and around it's weapons, the
agent walked forward. To the right, target four was fleeing with target
five. To the right, target two was already gone down a side corridor and
target three and one were running away directly ahead of it. It fired
the last of a magazine at targets four and five but they were already
gone, fleeing up a stairway.
It followed.
Unnoticed, the lightning behind them gained a purple shade and grew far
more intense, especially around a sphere of deepest, darkest, black.
"To our Lord, Prince Diamond!"
"Here Here!" The room resounded in cheers as everyone raised they
glasses and drank.
The agent walked around the corner. Its weapons were held ready and
optic scanners engaged in outline match searches. It detected target
four and turned.
Jupiter heard something move behind her and jumped.
"This is my favorite part." One figure whispered to another, both were
shrouded in the dark.
"Yeah. I like it too."
Then something went wrong. Instead of being shot half a dozen times in
the back, Jupiter succeeded in her leap. She rolled and turned.
The agent reeled. Impacts were recorded with its left side, spinning it
around. It focused on the new threat.
Standing in the doorway, freshly acquired assault rifle in hand,
Cyanide smiled. It was time to play with the big boys.
==
Authors Notes.
Don't spit into the wind. You won't like it.
Sheesh. This chapter took me less than a day to write and edit. I hope I
didn't miss anything too important.
Miashara