Here it is... as some of you have requested... the second chapter of
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Gemini. As always, thanks to my prereaders for
proofing this for me, and any and all comments are definitely appreciated.
Enjoy...
Stormwalker <stormwalker@airmail.net> presents...
Morning came, and while I remembered the previous night's events
clearly, they seemed distant, like a dream that hovers at the edge of
your memory. Even so, I found myself paying a lot more attention to
the Sailor Moon paraphenalia. The manga, the anime... anything I
could find that might tell me more, I was snapping up from the tables.
I spent the rest of my con money buying everything in sight and I
planned my schedule around when Sailor Moon was on in the anime
rooms.
I'm sure it must have seemed unusual, because I got more than my
share of funny looks when walking around with a bag of Sailor Moon
stuff. Finally I got sick of it and took it all out to the car. It
was there that I bumped into Sharon again.
"Hi, Jon!" she called out, running across the parking lot to
meet me. When she got a little closer, she lowered her voice and
added, "How are you holding up?"
"Fine," I answered, giving a weak smile, and she hugged me
suddenly, catching me off guard. After a moment of surprise, I hugged
her back, and whispered. "I'm fine, really. It just... well... I'm
trying not to think about it, you know?"
She smiled gently, pulling back a little. "Did you bring it with
you?" she asked.
I nodded, patting my jacket where the wand was resting in an
inside pocket. "Yeah. Don't ask me why... but I don't feel right if I
leave it behind."
"Me, too," she answered. For a moment she was silent, then she
said, "I've got a funny feeling about this, though..."
I shook my head. "Let's not think about that. I've got a funny
feeling, too, but it's just telling me I need to get some food. Come
on... one of my friends has some snacks in his room; let's go."
*********
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Gemini
A work of fanfiction by Douglas A. Reeves
Chapter Two - Encounters
---------------------------------------------------
If you haven't read the first chapter of this story, email me at
<stormwalker@airmail.net> for a copy... it likely won't make sense
otherwise...
As always, comments are appreciated...
*********
Once we'd dropped in and snagged something to eat, we headed back
down to the dealers' room again. There was still more Sailor Moon
merchandise I wanted to look at, and the search was welcome distraction
from more pressing thoughts. Something was still tugging at the back
of my mind, leaving me ill at ease, and I couldn't quite place it.
Sharon seemed a little uneasy as well, but when I asked her about
it she just shrugged and went back to her browsing. Somehow, though, I
had this premonition that Murphy was preparing to strike. I was, of
course, right.
We'd been in the dealer's room for most of an hour when the
screaming started. A loud crash followed--the noises were coming from
the art show area--and then another scream; this one was decidedly
female, and the sound of it chilled me to the bone. Sharon and I
glanced at each other suddenly, and started working our way toward the
exit. More crashes followed, then another scream... finally we found
a place where we could transform.
It was then that the shock effect of the first scream died, and
I found myself looking at the transformation wand that was now in my
hand. If I did this, I was accepting what it made me... choosing it
willingly. Could I do this? Could I be this?
From the sound of that scream, I realized, there might well be
lives on the line. Whether I could was irrelevant. I had to. Lifting
the wand up over my head, I whispered the words...
"Gemini Star Power, Make Up!"
If the change had seemed instantaneous before, this time that
moment seemed to drag out into an eternity. I could *see* myself
change this time, my body turning translucent as it shifted into its
new form. An involuntarily shudder passed through me as the change
finished, and I forced down a wave of nausea. Taking a few deep
breaths to collect myself, I looked up at Sharon.
I shook my head, trying to clear it, then whispered, "Let's go."
Running down the hall as fast as I could, I turned into the art show
room and came to a dead stop.
I won't even try to describe the... thing that I saw there, except
to say that it was straight out of the worst of tentacle anime. It was
making a wreck of the art show, smashing displays and the like, but far
worse was the fact that it was terrorizing a pair of girls in the
corner. Thankfully, it was still toying with them, but it looked like
it was just starting to get serious.
I didn't think; I just acted. Words, spoken in my voice, echoed
through the room as I called upon the power given to me. How I knew
them, and where they came from, I may never know... but the moment I
remember very clearly.
"Gemini Division Blade!" I called out, extending my hands to
unleash a spinning blade of solid air. Guided by my subconscious will,
it slashed through the air, neatly slicing off the most offending of
the beast's appendages before dissipating. The monster recoiled with a
hideous roar, black blood spilling from the severed tentacles. Then,
it turned to stare at me...
... and suddenly, in that single, terrifying instant, I realized I
didn't have the slightest idea how my powers worked. I shot a quick
glance at Sharon, who shrugged back at me, and I felt a chill run down
my spine as the monster started to advance on me. I had to stall it
somehow... had to remember what little I knew about Sailor Moon.
"Sorry, ugly," I said as it started to advance toward me. "But
I just can't let you do that." I was fighting not to tremble, but a
spark of anger had been lit in my soul, and I was not going to back
down now. I narrowed my eyes, dropping into a fighting stance, and
a feral grin displaced the anxiety on my face. "Unfortunately for
both of us," I said threateningly, "I'm the lovely soldier Sailor
Gemini... and for making me wear this ridiculous costume, I'm going to
kick your ass!"
It paused a moment, evidently as surprised as I by my sudden
change in tone. Where the boldness in my voice came from, I still
don't know. Maybe it was the anger. Maybe it was some force, like
the powers, that I'll never understand. Whatever it was, the beast
seemed to respect it, granting me a few precious seconds before it
decided to charge.
When it finally did attack, I was ready. The knowledge (or was it
memory?) of how to use my powers was coming back now, and I knew what
I had to do. The monster rushed straight at me, surprisingly quick for
a creature of its size, but in this body I was faster. Leaping upward,
I flipped over its "head" and kicked it hard from behind. It pitched
forward, slamming into the wall where it had sought to pin me, and I
slipped back out of its grasp as it turned.
This time it shot a mass of tentacles at me, trying to ensnare me
in the typical H-anime monster fashion. I dodged, scarcely managing
to evade the slimy appendages, and kicked it hard again. This time,
though, it reacted faster, capturing my ankle and pulling me off my
feet. I hit the floor with a thud, and scrambled to escape as it
started to pull me in.
"Soul shield!" I heard Sharon's voice call out, seemingly distant,
and a gold aura momentarily flickered to life around me. Two more of
the monster's tentacles reached for me, only to be stopped short by
the energy which surrounded me, and finally I was able to kick free of
the one which grasped my ankle. I scrambled backward, leaning on a
wrecked table to get back to my feet.
A shudder of revulsion passed through me as the monster laughed
and advanced upon me again. After all, I was a girl now, too... and
I had a good guess what this... this... *thing* had in mind. "Not
today," I whispered, meeting its devilish gaze. I knew now... it had
all come back to me. Raising my arms above my head, I called out,
"TWIN IMAGE!"
Time seemed to stop, as I somehow had known it would. Numbness
first, then a strange tingling, seemed to wash over my body, and I
looked down to see myself divide, splitting into two exact and
identical copies. The lights started to fade, and feeling came back
to me... and I was suddenly aware of both Sharon and the monster
staring at me.
The shock didn't last long for any of us, though, and soon the
creature was upon me again. My "twin" and I dove in opposite
directions as it smashed through the partition behind us, crashing
in a heap on the other side. A chorus of screams quickly followed
from that side, and I shot a quick glance at Sharon.
"The dealers' room," Sharon said, her eyes widening.
"We've got trouble," I answered. "Try to protect the bystanders;
I'll... I mean we'll take it out." She nodded, and the two of me
leapt through the wrecked partition and back into the fray.
Evidently these things have a short memory, because it had
forgotten about us already. The trail of destruction it left behind
stretched halfway across the room, and it had managed to capture yet
another girl in its slimy clutches. "Division Blade!" I cried out,
this time forming a knife in my hands and slashing my way through to
its body. My double, following my subconscious wish, grabbed the
victim as I cut her free, pulling her away while I struggled to
finish the fight.
The monster lashed out with everything it had left, catching
my right wrist and left ankle and lifting me into the air. In so
doing, though, it left its "head" wide open, and I drove the air
blade home. The monster roared once, then flickered... and vanished,
leaving in its place an unconscious otaku in a red baseball cap. I
shivered once, then closed my eyes as my double was absorbed back
into my body. Then, I dropped to a knee, lacking the strength to
stand.
Sharon walked up to me, moving with a weariness that belied
her seemingly small involvement in the fight. "You ok, Gem?" she
asked, and I looked up, startled by the nickname. Of course... she
couldn't call me by my real name in *this* body. I nodded.
She smiled at me, and a flash of unreadable emotion flickered
momentarily in her sapphire eyes. She placed a hand on my shoulder,
and whispered, "Lifestream." A soft light bathed over me, and I
felt a little of my energy return; at the same time, she started to
lean a little on me.
"Are *you* all right?" I asked, concerned.
"I'm fine," she smiled weakly. "My powers... seem to drain from
my own energy. It'll replenish itself in a while, though... it's
just tiring." Glancing down at the young man laid out at our feet,
she added, "What do we do about him?"
I shook my head. "No idea. I don't think that monster was
really him, but..."
Sharon... no, Sailor Cancer, I reminded myself (I had to start
thinking of her that way), sighed. "At any rate, we should get him
out of here. If he does go ballistic again, we can keep him under
control. If not, it'll save him some embarrassment when he wakes
up."
I nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Help me carry him?"
She nodded wearily. "Let's go."
*****
It took some doing, but we managed to get him out of there.
Luckily for him, pretty much everyone had fled the scene. Nobody
but us had seen him change back, so we just convinced anyone on
the scene that the monster was gone, and that the otaku in question
was just an innocent bystander who'd been knocked out during the
scuffle. At any rate, we finally got him up to my friend's room,
where we laid him on the bed and sat down to decide what to do with
him.
Sailor Cancer slumped into one of the chairs wearily, pushing
a few loose strands of her golden hair from her eyes. The blue of
those eyes shimmered with magic in her Senshi form, almost hiding the
weariness behind them. She really was beautiful, something in the
back of my mind told me, even as exhausted as she was. I suppressed
that thought, though... there wasn't time for it. I dropped into the other
chair, gazing at her a moment longer before glancing over at
our unconscious guest. "So..." I asked. "What do we do when he wakes
up?"
She shrugged. "Maybe we should change back... if he was possesed,
he might not remember anything, and waking up to the two of us might
be a disturbing experience."
I shook my head vehemently. "Uh-uh. He MIGHT not remember, but
if he does, he MIGHT just figure out who we are, and I am NOT taking
that chance." I saw the look on her face, and added, "Just because
nobody ever recongized the Senshi doesn't mean we can assume we have
the same protection. This is the real world... and people are not
THAT stupid."
"True," she sighed. "Besides, he might go nuts on us again, and
then we'd have to change in front of him. Better to avoid that."
"Right," I agreed, trying to think of something else to say. A
few moments passed in silence, before a soft groan from the bed drew
my attention. "Sounds like he's coming around."
He groaned again, then mumbled, "What a dream." Stirring
slightly, he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment longer, he lay
there, then slowly sat up. His eyes went wide with shock at the
sight before him. He trembled violently, rubbing his eyes and then
looking at them again, then fearfully asked, "I'm still dreaming,
right?"
I shook my head. "'Fraid not," I answered, and the formerly
possessed otaku shivered again. "You weren't dreaming before
either."
"This isn't real," he insisted, stubbornly clinging to denial.
"This is some sort of joke... maybe I'm hallucinating. Yeah, that's
it." He looked downward, unwilling to meet my gaze. "I've been
watching too much hentai."
I leaned forward to glare at him, and that was when I suddenly
realized just where his eyes had traveled TO. I was a guy, regardless
of how I might look at the moment... and sitting properly in a skirt
was something noone had ever bothered to teach me. My cheeks burned
with embarrassment and anger as I snapped my legs together, cutting off
his view. "You slime," I growled. "I'm just about ready to believe
you did all that on purpose."
His head shot back up, a look of fear in his eyes. "Don't hurt
me!" he pleaded fearfully. "I didn't know... I thought it was a dream,
really!" He pushed himself back across the bed, trying to put some
distance between us. I stood up, still glaring at him, when suddenly
Sharon was beside me, holding her arm out in front of me.
"Don't, Gem," she whispered. "He didn't know. I can tell." I
looked at her questioningly, and she relaxed a little. "I'll explain later.
We can let him go... he won't do it again."
I paused a moment, then sighed, the anger draining away in the
face of Sharon's pleading gaze. "All right. I trust you." Not
bothering to look at our perverted guest, I said, "You can go now, but
if I catch you looking at me that way again, you'll regret it. Clear?"
"C-clear," he stammered, and I heard him stumble his way to the
door. It opened, then slammed loudly, and I looked to be sure he was
gone.
"Damn him," I muttered. turning back to Sharon. She pulled me
into a hug, and while I didn't return it, I felt the last of my anger
drain away. For a few moments, she held me there, then finally she
released me and stepped back to meet my gaze.
"Thank you for trusting me," she said quietly.
I sighed, dropping back into my chair. "If I don't trust you, who
can I trust? Now... you were going to explain?"
She found her own chair, and clasped her hands in her lap. "Yeah.
I don't know how... but I can sense things about people in this form...
like I can see into their souls or something. What I sensed in him...
he's sick, no doubt there... but he wasn't EVIL like that thing we
fought with."
I looked at her doubtfully, but finally shrugged. "Ok, I'll take your
word for it. You think he was possessed, then?"
"I guess so, yeah," she answered. For a few moments, neither of
us spoke, and I leaned back wearily in my chair. The events of the
last hour had left me stunned... I guess I should have known that where
there were Senshi there would be monsters... but I hadn't really had
time to think about it. Now I did... and it was disturbing.
"We're going to have to train," I observed.
She nodded. "And look for others. In the anime, there's a Senshi
for each planet... do we have one for each sign? And if we do, how
will we find them?"
I shook my head, trying not to let it all overwhelm me.
Monsters... other Senshi... I really was stuck with this, wasn't I? "I
don't know," I answered quietly. "I really don't know."
******
Regardless of the insanity my life was quickly becoming, there
were certain priorities that remained unchanged. One of those was, of
course, food. Whether or not McDonalds technically qualified, it was
close to the hotel, and I didn't feel like driving very far, so that
was where we went. At any rate, I had a funny feeling from the moment
I walked in the door.
I glanced at Sharon, and when she did not seem to notice anything
unusual, I decided it was probably just paranoia, and said nothing.
Still, I kept my eyes open, and it was after we had gotten our food
that I noticed the two girls sitting in a corner booth. One was a redhead,
and even when she was seated I could tell she was tall. Her
green eyes were dark and serious, and while her manner of dress was a
bit on the provocative side, whatever playfulness might accompany it
was conspicuously absent at the moment.
The girl sitting next to her, though, was the one who really
drew my attention. Her medium-length brown hair fell loosely around
her shoulders, framing soft features that wore an anxious expression.
Her attire was both expensive and provocative, a tight, low-cut red
silk blouse and a black leather jacket. She was twirling something
nervously between her fingers, a small, pink cylindrical object that
looked vaguely familiar. The tugging at the back of my mind
intensified...
My train of thought was abruptly derailed, though, when Sharon's
elbow jabbed me in the ribs. "That's a transformation wand!" she
whispered sharply. "Look!"
"I see, I see," I answered under my breath. "Are you sure that's
what it is, though? I can't tell from here."
She nodded to me. "Only one way to find out. Let's go." Not
waiting for my response, she walked over toward their table. I started
to protest, but it was too late to stop her, so I just followed along
behind. When she reached the table, she turned to the redhead and
said, "There aren't any free tables... do you mind if we sit here?"
I sighed softly, trying not to let my embarassment show as the
girl in the booth looked us over. "I don't think that's a good idea,"
she said. The brunette looked up at me as well, and our gazes locked
for a moment. My eyes moved to her hand, which had closed around the
object, but enough of it stuck out for me to tell clearly... it was,
indeed, a transformation wand.
Sharon evidently saw it as well, because she reached into her own
pocket. "I think it is a good idea," she said softly, and yet her
voice held an air of command I had never heard in it before. She drew
the hand out, holding her own transformation wand out for the others to
see. "I think we need to have a talk. Senshi, to Senshi."
The redhead raised an eyebrow. "All right," she answered quietly.
"I can accept that." Her eyes moved to me, and she added, "Why should
he be here, though?"
I stiffened, irritated by her presumption. She was pushing,
hard... and she didn't have the right. "You didn't hear what happened
this afternoon, did you?"
She turned to me, her eyes narrowing as she studied me for a
moment. "No..." she answered, her tone almost threatening. "I
didn't."
I smirked slightly, hoping my mask of confidence would hold up.
"There was a fight at the con today... in the dealers' room. Some kind
of... creature... went on a rampage. It was brought down by a pair of
girls in sailor suits."
"Meaning?" the redhead asked probingly. "I assume that your
friend here was one of them... where is the other, and where do you
come in?"
I sighed, and reached into the inside pocket of my jacket.
Drawing out the wand, I laid it on the table, pressing it beneath my
fingertips. "Does this answer your question?" I asked coldly.
The brunette's eyes went wide, and while she said nothing the
shock was evident on her face. For a moment, she simply stared at me,
before she finally realized that she was gawking and looked away. The
redhead, on the other hand, sighed deeply, leaning her forehead on her
palm. "No... please tell me you're Tuxedo Kamen."
I shook my head miserably, looking down at the floor for a moment
before I was able to meet her gaze. "If only," I sighed.
She groaned in dismay. "You've got to be kidding... but you're
not. When I went out looking for other Senshi, this is NOT what I
expected to find."
"I'm sure," I answered with a wry smile. "Believe me, I don't
like it any more than you do... but the power chooses us, and not the
other way around." I paused for a moment, letting the words sink in.
"Now... I don't believe we've introduced ourselves. I'm Jonathan...
Sailor Gemini, whether I like it or not. She's Sharon... Sailor
Cancer. You?"
"Damn," she whispered. "All right. This is Cali," she indicated
her companion. "She's Sailor Taurus. I'm Sailor Aries... my name's
Ashley, but everyone calls me Ash." She sighed, and shook her head.
"What a mess. I think... I think we'd better go somewhere more private
to discuss this." Slipping from the booth, she said. "Come on...
let's go."
**********
End Chapter Two
--
Douglas A. "Stormwalker" Reeves <stormwalker@airmail.net>
Computer tech, anime fan, hopeless romantic, and sometime writer
Fanfiction Archive - http://web2.airmail.net/a0011387/fanfic/
"Sometimes the lost cause is the only cause worth fighting for."