Moving right along. Here's chapter's 7 and 8. If you're confused,
visit http://bloodgod.res.cmu.edu/smgray/index.html and all will be
revealed.
My contact info:
khaine@mindless.com
AIM: khaine1310
ICQ: 53426521
Feel free to contact me anyhow.
Oh, someone suggested I put the table of contents to date in here:
----------------
Chapter One
In which Resh pays a call and Rei makes a new friend.
Chapter Two
In which Ami goes undercover, Rei and Minako get ready for a
date, and=20
the arrival of a giant in the sandbox causes much consternation among
the=20
ants.
Chapter Three
In which Rei discovers the downside of a bounty hunter's
lifestyle, Ami visits the supernexus, and we learn the perils of
ignoring a warning.
Chapter Four
In which Rei contemplates love, Jahara cheats, Resh and Shard
have a difference of opinion, and Ami gets very, very irritated.
Chapter Five
In which Resh reveals his opening gambit, Jahara shows them how
it's done, and Mamoru puts in a belated appearance.
Chapter Six
In which Rei and Shard have it out, Hotaru passes along a
warning, and Ami shows off her skillz.
Chapter Seven
In which the bloodhound finds the trail, the Senshi feel severely
overworked, and Resh becomes a media sensation.
Chapter Eight
In which Ami opens her eyes and we learn why lots of tentacles is
rarely a good thing.
-----------------
All the usual caveats apply. As usual, [] is character thought and **
is emphasis.
Chapter Seven
In which the bloodhound finds the trail, the Senshi feel severely
overworked, and Resh becomes a media sensation.
The day had dawned crisp and clear, the wind carrying a chill with
it that, after a shower and a long night's sleep, seemed bracing rather
then cruel. Aside from an ominous mass on the eastern horizon, the sky
was an undifferentiated blue. Rei felt oddly cheerful as she followed
Makoto up the steps to Minako's front door.
"Why didn't you bring her home?"
Makoto shook her head. "Don't you think her parents would ask
questions? We had to smuggle her in here and tell them she was staying
over. Everyone should be gone by now, though."
"And how is she?" For all her usual banter, Rei's voice had a hint
of genuine concern.
"As of last night, pretty well. Assuming she's still alive after a
night of Minako taking care of her..."
Rei stifled a chuckle as Makoto knocked. After a pause, she tried
again; nothing seemed to come of it.
"Could they both be asleep?"
Makoto's face hardened. "Or something's happened..."
"Hey!"
The voice came from above. Both girls automatically craned their
heads to see Luna leaning out of the second floor window.
"It's...open." The cat seemed a bit out of breath. "I'll be right
down."
Rei and Makoto looked at each other and shrugged before entering.
Luna was coming down the main stairs one jump at a time, the last bound
taking her to Rei's shoulder.
"Sorry about that. I had to run up to make sure you two didn't
leave." The cat rubbed contentedly against Rei's head as she
absent-mindedly scratched Luna's back. "Do you know how hard it is to
work a deadbolt with paws?"
"Where's Mamoru and Minako?" Makoto still sounded wary.
"Usagi seemed okay, so Mamoru went home for a bit. Mina's
asleep...I think she was up all night..." Rei pushed open the door to
Minako's bedroom, quietly, to find the occupant asleep at her writing
desk. Artemis, rather uncomfortable-looking but also asleep
nonetheless, was being used as a pillow. She couldn't help smiling.
"Hi!" Out of deference to her host, Usagi kept her voice down.
Rei was relieved to see her upright in bed, stacks of manga piled around
her. She waved as the two girls and the cat made their way to her side.
"Hi, yourself." Rei sat down on the edge of the bed. "How are you
feeling?"
"I'm fine, really." The erstwhile patient looked embarrassed. "It
really wasn't that bad."
"Not that bad!" Luna had also jumped up on the bed. "A hour
afterwards you could barely move. We were worried you had some kind of
internal injury..."
Usagi waved her hands. "No, no. I'm feeling much better. See?"
She moved her arm in a circle to demonstrate. "Just a youma's energy
attack, right? Nothing to worry about."
"That was no youma." Makoto frowned. "At least not like we've
seen before..."
"Don't worry about it. I'm okay, you're all okay. It all worked
out."
[Except for those people in the mall.] Rei twisted her lip in
thought. Usagi's energetic fa=E7ade, though certainly typical, seemed a
bit forced. [I think it bothers her more then she lets on.] Her own
conversation with Shard came back to her. [Hell, it would bother *me*.
Best not to push her on it now, though.]
"Well, I'm glad your feeling better." Rei glanced at their
sleeping friend. "Mina been treating you okay?"
"Pretty well. I'm kind of hungry, though."
"Hungry?"
Usagi twitched one of the bedsheets aside to reveal three untouched
bowls of soup, neatly stashed in a corner where discarded sheets would
cover them. "I did want to get *better*."
Even Makoto almost laughed at that one. "Should I order some
pizza, then?"
The blonde's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"
"I don't want to be a kill-joy here, but we have some serious
business to attend to." Luna had curled up around Usagi as Makoto went
to find a phone. "This guy..."
"Resh."
"He'll be back, I'm sure."
The two girl's nodded.
"If we don't want a repeat of last night, we're going to have to do
something about him."
"Easy enough to say." Rei shook her head. "How are we supposed to
find him?"
"I'm not sure. But we need to do something, before whatever
happened happens again."
"I can ask around, I guess." Both of the other's looked at her,
and Rei blushed. "You go after these Yakuza types for a while, you sort
of get to know people..."
Luna nodded. "Great. Once Artemis wakes up, I'll see if there's
anything we can do to find him."
"Assuming he's still in the city and not in some other world."
"Right. I'll see if I can talk to Ami, too. She might have
something that could help."
"True." Rei paused. "What's going on with her, anyway? I haven't
really talked to her in a couple of weeks."
"Me either." The cat glared at Usagi. "Since she's already in
college and all, I assume she has more work than the rest of us..."
"Hmm?" The blonde was looking down, not at them. Luna padded over
and sat on top of the comic book she'd been hiding under the covers.
"Would you pay attention?"
"Sorry. I just figured..."
"When we find Resh, you're going to have to go after him. Nobody
else seemed to be able to get close, but you managed it."
"Yeah." Usagi's smile flickered for a second. "I figured that,
too."
The cat didn't appear to notice. "Good."
"Well, things seem to be well in hand here." Rei stretched,
casually. "I have some stuff I need to take care of today if we're
going to be out all night again. I'll be in touch. Okay, Luna?"
"Rei."
"What?"
"*Promise* me you won't go in without backup."
"Don't worry about it."
"Rei..." The cat's voice sounded dangerous. Rei sighed.
"I promise, I promise." [And I mean it this time, too. Resh
scares the hell out of me.] "Can I go now?"
"Go ahead."
Rei got off the bed; as she stood, though, the shifting pressure
toppled one of the piles of comics. The thick books tumbled to the
ground, revealing a number of slimmer volumes stacked between them.
Usagi went crimson and dived forward, grabbing as many of the books
as she could. Rei managed to slip one out of her grasp and read the
title before it was snatched away.
"Usagi..." Rei shook her head, trying to keep from laughing. The
blonde, face now fire-engine red, stared intently at the sheets. "Never
mind."
[I knew Usagi was a manga fiend.] Rei said goodbye to Makoto and
made it out onto the street before she started chuckling aloud. [But
Utena h-doujin? I suppose there's no accounting for taste...]
=20
Hotaru opened her eyes to find the familiar ceiling, with its dents
and spider-web cracks in the paint, staring back at her. The scene was
so usual, so in-place she wondered wildly whether the events of the
previous night had really happened at all.
[That better not have been a dream.] On further reflection, she
realized she wasn't really sure why she was so emphatic about it; if it
had been a dream, she decided, she'd have felt somehow cheated. [I
almost died. One hopes that things like that only happen in real life.]
[Okay. Time to find out.]
She sat up and looked around. The green-haired giant seated
comfortably on the sofa in one corner suggested that her memories did,
in fact, correspond to reality.
Jahara raised his eyes as she moved. "You are awake. Good."
Hotaru probed her recollection, trying to remember what had
happened last. [I remember the pain. And then...] She'd recovered a
bit, enough to talk to Jahara before dropping off to sleep and
presumably being put to bed by Setsuna.
"How do you feel?" His gaze felt curious, dispassionate, but she
could sense some sort of feeling in his voice, however faint.
"Okay. A bit sore, maybe."
"Close your eyes for a minute and tell me what you feel."
Hotaru obligingly shut her eyes, feeling outward in the darkness.
She didn't manage it without a slight cringe, as her body recalled what
had happened the last time; this time, though, all she felt was--
"Numb. In places, at least. And...thick, somehow. A sort of
cottony feeling."
"I thought so." Jahara's mouth twisted into a frown.
"Is it this binding?"
"Yes." The Unforgiven answered as though preoccupied. "It's a
very clever trick. If it had only one focus, we wouldn't be able to
feel it at all. With two there are points of resonance, where the
effect is stronger compared to the background. Those are the spots you
feel..."
She nodded, not even pretending to understand. "It's still there,
then."
"It is. This is most troubling." His attention returned to her.
"Whatever you do, do not move to far from me. If the foci divide, half
the power of the spell would likely reform around both of us. You would
probably find this fatal."
Hotaru swallowed. "Okay. Are we going to do something about it?"
"We?" He glanced at her and smiled. "I suppose we are. Someone
wants me blinded, and I need to know who."
"I thought the spell..."
"It suppresses your perceptions. For me it is no more then a local
magical blinding, but for a human, even a guardian, the effect is less
pleasant."
"Is it...Resh?"
He shook his head, slowly. "No. First of all, I doubt his skill
would be up to something like this. The binding is a particularly
clever magic; to blind the subject, but keep him unaware of it. Second,
the structure of the spell is a perfect circle, and that requires more
then one source. If it is Resh's doing, he has found some allies."
"So what do we do?"
"We have an advantage: the casters did not expect the spell to
target you. If we work together, we may be able to track down one of
the sources and put a stop to this."
"Okay." Hotaru tossed the cover aside; she was still in street
clothes from the night before. "I just need to change..."
"Hotaru."
"What?"
"It may be dangerous. Attempting to track down the source may
have...negative consequences."
She paused a moment, then shrugged. "It needs to be done, right?"
[It's not like I haven't done worse, anyway.] "How close to you do I
need to stay?"
"Anywhere in the house should be close enough. If you feel pain,
return at once."
"Okay. I'll be back."=20
=20
The morning sun had finally achieved enough altitude to peek over
the apartment buildings outside the window and throw a pattern on the
floor. Ami looked at it silently, rubbing eyes numb from hours of
phosphorescent glare.
The clock read a little past ten AM. She leaned back in her chair
to stare at the ceiling.
The two boxes she'd told Eridu to get had turned up only hours
later, delivered by a confused young man who said they'd turned up in
his warehouse, rush delivery orders and all. She'd hooked them up in
the corner, given that the desk was sort of crammed. These were the
kind of machines whose only visible features were a network jack, a
switch, and a power cable; she'd set them to work almost immediately.
[Not that it helped.] She rubbed her eyes again. [My head hurts.]
Ami felt rather then heard Eridu enter. The door had been locked,
not that it mattered. The air took on its greasy, ozone feel.
"Miss Mizuno." He padded into the room like a great cat, nearly
silent. "How are things proceeding?"
"You." She leaned back even further until she could see him,
upside-down. Long, white hair, sunglasses, that slight, nasty grin.
"Who exactly are you trying to hack here?"
"A business associate of mine."
"You have some strange associates." She spun the chair to face
him. "And they can apparently hire some pretty smart people."
"I imagine he can hire anyone he wants." Eridu sat on the sofa at
the back of the room, pushing aside a wad of printouts. "It is
difficult, then?"
"Difficult. I've never seen anything like it. Whoever wrote this
stuff..." She shook her head.
Eridu nodded complacently. "Worry not, Miss Mizuno. Time is
short, but not terribly so. If you can break the code in a matter of
weeks, it should be..."
She looked at him incredulously. "Weeks? You want me to break
this in a few *weeks*?"
"You think it will take--"
The printer next to the main console clicked and buzzed its way
through a few pages. Ami reached back without looking, gathered them
with one handle, and proffered the bundle.
"Here."
Eridu stood up and walked closer, curious. "These are..."
"The decoded documents. They're still incomprehensible to me, but
I assume you can handle it." She spun the chair to face the console
again, shaking her head, as he picked up the stack. "Weeks." Ami
snorted. "Who exactly does he think he's dealing with..."
Eridu's smile was growing wider by the minute. "Nice. Very nice."
"You're the mysterious all-knowing figure. What did you expect?"
He shrugged. "I'm still impressed. Very good work, Miss Mizuno."
"Thanks." She got up from the chair and stumbled over to the bed.
"Now can you get out of here? I think I'm going to sleep until about
midnight." [Damnit, after this I'm going to be nocturnal again.]
Eridu stood up and bowed, just slightly. "Of course. I'll be
back, Miss Mizuno."
"Don't forget what you owe me."
"The truth, of course." He smiled. "I think we'll move up the
timetable."
Ami thought on that a moment after he left. [The timetable...what
the hell is he doing... Forget it. Sleep first, weird conspiracy guys
later. I'll deal with Eridu tonight.]
=20
"When did they leave?"
Pluto sighed. "This morning, after she woke up."
"And you just *let* him--" Haruka half-stood from the table,
despite Michiru's frantic prodding.
"You didn't see what happened to her last night. Like it or not,
he did help her. Quite possibly saved her life. And he says that will
happen again if he leaves..."
The younger woman snorted. "Right."
Setsuna shifted her attention. "What about you, Michiru?"
"I don't trust Jahara." Neptune considered her words carefully.
"But I'm not entirely sure we can stop him."
"Jahara." Haruka's hands curled into fists as she sat back down. =20
Pluto fixed her with a glare. "You fought him, Haruka."
"Yes--"
"How strong is he? Really?"
Uranus looked suddenly uncomfortable, staring at the tabletop.
"Strong."
Setsuna watched her for a moment, then let the matter drop. "So
what are we going to do about it?"
"I'll follow them." Haruka spoke immediately. "If anything
goes...wrong, at the very least I should be able to get Hotaru out of
there."
"I'll go too."
Pluto nodded. "Good. I'll try to get in touch with Usagi and the
rest as soon as I can." She paused. "And be careful. If things go
bad, get Hotaru and yourselves out of there and contact me."
There was a dangerous light in Haruka's eyes as she replied. "Of
course."
=20
The entry to the basement was locked. Not that this posed any
difficulty; Resh punched the door hard enough to crease the inch-thick
steel.
It was also, as it turned out, guarded. This also did not prove a
problem.
"Hey!" The watchman spilled his coffee as he jumped up from his
station, reaching for the revolver at his side. "You...you can't come
in here!" His other hand fumbled for the radio clipped to his desk.
The vampire was not in the mood. His eyes narrowed, and power
crackled across the gap, flattening the man's feeble mind.
"Yes, I can."
"Yes...you can..." He slumped back into his seat, eyes wide, and
Resh stalked past him, onto the construction site. The building's
owners were fixing water rot in its foundations, a long and laborious
process that involved digging a giant pit where the floor of the
basement had been and filling it with concrete. They had yet to begin
the second procedure, which left a perfect hole. Resh pulled the
fist-sized glass globe from his pocket and cracked it in one hand with
casual strength, tossing the remnants into the void. It was a few
seconds before the faint tinkle indicated they'd hit the bottom.
He looked down for a moment, curious, but the darkness was nearly
complete at the bottom and nothing was visible. Resh shrugged and
headed for the stairs, followed by the security guard in a zombie-like
shuffle.
As the vampire pushed the button for the elevators and headed for
the top, the wall of the pit shifted, just slightly. Deep, deep
underground, a handful of green shoots twisted, got their bearings, and
started growing like hell.
=20
The sun had moved well past it's zenith by the time Makoto trudged
up the front steps of the Hikawa Shrine. The ravens were perched on the
archway, as usual, and they cocked their heads and stared at her
intelligently as she passed. She barely spared them a glance.
Rei watched from the front porch. She'd occasionally wondered,
privately, if ravens as well as cats could talk. In a darker moment,
she'd decided that they were actually smarter then the felines; they
could talk, but never told anyone about it.
Makoto raised one hand, limply, and collapsed on one of the benches
next to her friend.
"Hey."
"Hi."
Rei stared into the distance a moment, lost in thought, then shook
her head and turned. "How was school?"
"Not great." Makoto shrugged. "After something like that, I
always feel a bit...off, somehow. It's hard to concentrate."
"I know what you mean." There was a pause. "Are you feeling
okay?"
=20
"Me? I'm fine. What about you?"
"A bit bruised. I'll be okay."
Another pause. Makoto looked uncomfortable. Rei sighed and broke
the silence.
"So what exactly happened last night?"
"I don't really know. Did you track down that last vampire?"
"Y...Yes." Rei shook her head. "But Resh got away, and we have no
idea where to find him."
"And we didn't really stop him, did we."
That was the central issue, Rei realized. The vampire had come to
a populated shopping mall and left it full of dust and rubble.
"There wasn't much we could have done. I mean--"
"We've always managed it before."
Rei closed her eyes and leaned back. "You're right."
"Do you think Usagi's going to be okay?"
"I...think so. She seemed to be repressing it when we talked to
her."
"For her, that's probably a good sign."
"If she talks to anyone about it, it'll be Mamoru. I'll see if I
can get him to tell me how she's doing."
Makoto nodded. "Great. And while I'm here, can I show you
something?"
"Sure."
She stood up and headed into the shrine. Rei followed her,
curious, until Makoto stopped in the TV room.
"This has been bothering me for a while." She clicked the set on
and punched up the afternoon news; the story seemed to be something
about a downtown sewer repair project ensnared in legal scandal. =20
Rei listened for a moment, then looked back at Makoto. "So?"
"A whole shopping mall full of people gets killed, and they don't
even mention it?"
"You're right." Rei blinked. "That *is* weird."
"I don't mean to seem cold-hearted here, but catching Resh before
he does this again is kind of our job. And this feels like someone is
covering for him."
[Iylitrio. It has to be; Shard said the vampire was working for
him.] She frowned. [Can I *trust* what he says, though?]
"Something wrong?"
She shook her head. "No. Just a...a thought."
"If it'll help, lets hear it."
"I'm not sure--"
The television interrupted as the anchor cut in over the legal
consultant. "I'm sorry, but we've had news of a developing story. We
now go live, downtown. Ken, can you hear me?"
The camera cut to a jerky view of a building, one of the huge
glass-sided office towers. The viewpoint seemed to be from a
helicopter, hovering about even with the roof; the voiceover sounded
excited.
"We're looking at the rooftop of the Nakatomi building, where
moments ago we received reports that an unknown party had set off some
kind of explosive device. From where I'm sitting, it doesn't look like
there's any external damage, but we're going to go get a closer look."
The chopper inched closer to the roof, focusing on a door that
presumably led to the stairway down. It was half-open, swinging back
and forth a bit in the wind. The setting sun half-painted the rooftop
in crimson, the shadow of a larger building laying a neat line just past
the stairway.
"I still can't see any evidence of damage to the building, but
eyewitnesses report a huge blast that was seen as far as two miles out
into the harbor. Can we--"
The door slammed open completely, outlining a grainy human figure
in the stairway, shrouded in darkness. It raised a hand, and
well-remembered arcs of dark lightning flashed out. The view cut for a
moment to static before some clever technician at the news show punched
for one of their cover shots, showing the building from below. Makoto
and Rei stared in silence at the spreading fireball where the helicopter
had been.
They looked at each other; it was a moment before Rei spoke.
"Resh."
"Has to be."
"It's a trap." She looked back at the screen. "He wants us to
come. This is just *bait*."
"We can't just ignore him!"
"No." Rei shook her head. "I'll see if I can contact Ami, you go
get Usagi and Minako. Meet me at the tower in fifteen minutes."
"Got it."
=20
"Got him."
Hotaru started; for all his size, Jahara could be quiet when he
wanted to. "Where?"
"Third building from the left."
She took a look, trying not to be too obvious about it. "That
place is a dump."
The Unforgiven shrugged. "One of the sources of the binding spell
is in there. Perhaps they're using the external appearance of the
building as cover."
It had been a long, tiring day. Hotaru's legs burned with fatigue;
Jahara was pretty good at setting a pace she could keep up with,
obviously the result of long practice, but he didn't seem to tire. [Or
get hungry, or thirsty. Though why I expect him to I don't know.] The
circle of the spell was apparently very wide indeed, and it had taken
most of the daylight hours for the pair to work their way into steadily
seedier and seedier areas, closing in on the closest of the magical
sources. At this range, Hotaru could feel it too; a vast, throbbing
numbness in her forehead, edges trembling on the brink of pain. =20
And now Jahara had finally pinpointed the thing. She let out a
sigh of relief.
"So now what?"
He shrugged. "We walk in, find whoever's doing this, and ask some
very pointed questions." He bent a bit lower. "How are you feeling?"
"Not very well."
"I was afraid of that. As you get closer to being coplanar with
the edge effect of the spell, the effect strengthens. It must be
boundary-resonant."
Hotaru shook her head. "In Japanese, please?"
"The closer you get to the source, the worse this is going to be.
Since you have to stay close to me, and I have to go stop them..."
"How..." She paused. "How bad is it going to get?"
"It depends on the strength of the source. I don't know."
"So if I walk to close to them, I could just fall over dead again."
"Yes. There is a limit to the protection I can extend."
"Okay." She put a hand in her pocket and curled her fingers around
the transformation artifact. "Give me a second."
[I didn't want to have to do this.] She sometimes envied the Inner
Senshi, who transformed back and forth with no more effect then a
different outfit and a slew of powers. [Sailor Saturn is...different.]
Not a different person, exactly. [Or so I think. I'm pretty sure I'm
the same person after the transformation. I can remember everything,
but...while I'm Saturn, things are less complicated.]
[On the other hand, I don't have much of a choice. I need Saturn's
strength to do this.]
The swirling colors took only a moment to subside; Jahara watched,
impassively as Hotaru transformed into her black-frilled Senshi
counterpart. For Hotaru it was like removing a set of smoked glasses.
Everything jumped into focus, clearer and more distinct; she could see
the exaggerated caution that surrounded Jahara's movements, feel the
power he exuded with every heartbeat. She could feel the binding, too,
as though it were a physical object wrapped around her head. It didn't
hurt like it had before-- Saturn was more resilient then Hotaru.
The Unforgiven looked her over with hooded eyes. "Interesting."
"Let's go." She gestured to the house with one end of the Silence
Glaive. Action was easy, as Saturn. Effortless. Fatigue fell away.
Jahara straightened up and nodded. She heard him mutter under his
breath as they moved.
"You really are me."
=20
The sun had set by the time the four girls climbed out of the
subway station downtown. The Nakatomi building loomed over its
neighbors, mirrored surfaces reflecting the flashing lights from the
block-wide police cordon around the base.
The little office park that surrounded the corporate monolith was
littered with debris: from helicopters, cars that had parked too close,
and the smoldering wreckage of some sort of armored SWAT team vehicle.
That had been a few minutes ago, and since then the police had been
keeping their distance.
Makoto whistled softly as they surveyed the scene. Rei shot her a
glance, followed by a knowing look at Usagi. The blonde looked
decidedly nervous, even with Minako trying to comfort her.
"What do you think?"
Rei looked back at Makoto and kept her voice low. "It has to be
Resh."
"Of course. But what do we do about it?" Mako frowned. "Where's
Ami?"
"No answer from her place, and nothing on the communicator."
"Are you worried?"
Rei nodded. "A little. But we need to do something about this.
Luna went to go get Setsuna and the Outers in case we need backup, and
Mamoru is on his way."
"We should go in first."
"I was afraid you'd say that." Rei took a deep breath. "Mars
Crystal power, make up!"
The other three followed suit, and the air was briefly full of
sparkling colors. Once they'd finished, Rei address the Senshi. =20
"First problem. How do we get in?"
Minako looked over the barricades. "Shouldn't be so bad. We can
jump over the cars there and just run for the trees."
"Okay. Second problem. Then what?"
"Find Resh." Makoto looked grim. "And stop him."
"Sounds good to me." Rei turned. [Third problem.] "Usagi?"
"Hm--what?"
"Are you sure you're up for this?"
The blonde nodded frantically. "Sure. No problems." She glanced
around, apparently uncomfortably aware of the others staring at her.
"What? We've got to waste this Resh guy, right? If we don't, who else
will?"
There was a pause before Rei finally answered. "Right. Now let's
move in."
Chapter Eight
In which Ami opens her eyes and we learn why lots of tentacles is
rarely a good thing.
=20
*Ding.* The automatic doors of the entryway slid apart with a
whisper and an electronic bell-tone; Rei led her friends at a speed that
barely qualified as a creep past them and into the lobby. It was lined,
like the rest of the building, with mirror-glass walls; the setting
sun's light was tinted gray and threw shadows nearly the length of the
floor.
Aside from being abandoned, it didn't look that odd. Banks of
elevators, flanked by stairways, provided access to the upper levels; a
broad security desk protected these from the general public. The floor
was marble, inlaid with silver metal spotlessly clean. In one corner,
near the ceiling, the red eye of a security camera followed their
progress with robotic attentiveness. =20
"The news report said that nearly everyone had been evacuated."
Rei kept her voice to a whisper--it was that kind of place. "So we
don't have to worry about anybody getting in the way. Last we saw, Resh
was on the roof. So I guess we go up."
The other three nodded. Usagi and Minako looked decidedly
white-faced, and Rei almost felt herself agreeing with them; without
people, the vast space was kind of unsettling. Heels clicked on stone
as they made their way to the stairs. Rei caught Makoto's eye outside
the glass doors.
"This would be a good place for him to jump us."
"Agreed." Makoto spoke up. "Let me go first."
Jupiter edged the door open and slipped through, checking both
directions of the stairwell. Rei breathed a sigh of relief as she waved
the all-clear; she opened the door herself and stepped through. =20
"Come on--"
At that point, the floor exploded.
Marble chips blew outwards in little craters, zinging against the
walls and shattering with the force of shrapnel. Rei felt one of them
nick her cheek; her hand slapped onto it, instinctively, and she took a
step back towards the stairs down as the tentacles started to emerge
from the floor. They came up from four separate points, spreading
outwards in a green, ropy mass that crept across the floor with
disturbing speed. In a moment they had blocked the doorway leading to
the stairs and covered the first-floor landing, forcing Jupiter to back
up the stairs.
[Oh, crap.] Mars raised a hand.
"Flame Sniper!"
The shoots curled and turned black under the onslaught of fire,
but the burned portion was quickly buried under a tide of new growth.
One of the tentacles shot towards her with whip-like speed; Rei barely
ducked in time as the thing crashed into the wall behind her hard enough
to chip concrete.
"Love and Beauty Shock!"
Venus' attack seemed to anger the thing further, sending bits of
green stuff flying in all directions. Another second, and it had reared
up to block the doorway completely. A faint scream from the other side
of the barrier was drowned out by the susurration of the tentacles'
continued growth.
"Rei!"
Mako pointed, desperately, as the tentacle that had attacked her
curved around for another try. Rei ducked underneath it again, then
threw herself aside as she heard the crackle of Jupiter's attack. The
balls of lightning sliced the protrusion clean off and left it twitching
on the floor. Rei took the opportunity to put another blast of fire
into the central mass, with little effect.
[We're just not hurting it...and it's got us split up. This is
*not* good.] "Jupiter! Split up and find another way to the lobby!
We've got to--"
The tentacles formed into a single mass and pounced upwards,
towards Makoto. She scrambled up the stairway to the second floor
landing as the thing crushed wrought iron and ripped the first-floor
stairs away from the walls. Rei could hear another buzzing crackle of
electricity, but the sound faded as Jupiter was forced further up the
stairway.
"Jupiter!" Apparently the creature--whatever it was--was quite
capable of handling three fights at once. Even as Rei tried to get past
its stalks to climb up higher, more tentacles curved around. She ducked
under the first pair but felt the rough grip on her ankle too late.
[This is *not good*...]
The tendril picked her up by the ankle and tossed her towards the
wall. Rei braced for an impact, but it never came; instead, a second
tentacle whipped around like a baseball bat, hitting her in the side and
propelling her all the way down the stairs. Pain flared instantly, and
she barely had time to cringe before hitting the ground, twenty feet
below.
=20
Resh tapped a key on his computer console, smiling in the glow of
the security monitors. All over the building, fluorescent lights
obediently turned themselves off, red emergency systems leaving the
rooms in crimson-tinted darkness. The vampire smiled, running his
tongue across his fangs.
=20
"Rising winds off the bay add tension to this already difficult
situation. According to the chief of police, the terrorists appear to
be armed with some sort of explosive devices, possibly portable rocket
launchers; police are advising all civilians within four blocks of the
building to evacuate. Special teams squad helicopters have been
reported to be in the air, hoping to make it to the roof before the
storm hits--"
The television's sound and picture died with a fading whine as
Eridu punched the off button on the remote. Ami had heard him enter,
for once, padding across the floor like he wanted to make some noise.
She brushed one hand through her hair, nervously, as he emerged from the
other room. Eridu looked as imperturbable as ever behind his dark
glasses and slight upturned smile.
"Anything important going on?"
He shrugged. "Not really. Did you sleep well?"
She nodded. "Except that I'm going to be awake at nights for a
week now."
"That's what you get waking up at nine in the evening." Eridu's
grin broadened, just for a moment. "You look a tad nervous, Miss
Mizuno. Is something wrong?"
"Wrong?" She rolled her eyes. "Nothing's *wrong*. It's just
when crazy white-haired people I know nothing about promise to reveal
the secrets of the universe, it makes me a bit antsy. You know how that
is."
"I have nothing but the highest intentions. Which is to say,
completely self-interested ones; you've provided me a service, and I'm
going to repay--"
"You were the one quoting Faust earlier. I worry a bit about that
sort of bargain."
"So you don't want me to show you anything?"
"Of course I want you to show me. I need to *know*. Starting
with who you are, and how you know so much." She paused. "I'm just a
bit nervous, that's all."
He chuckled. "That is commendable, to be sure. I promise that no
harm will come to you this evening, at least. Can we begin?"
"Begin what?"
"The ritual."
She held up a hand. "Stop."
"Yes?"
"What. Ritual."
Eridu let out an exasperated breath. "What exactly do you expect
me to do, sit down on the psychiatrists couch and tell the story of my
life? That could take a long time, although I suspect you would
consider it rather lively."
"So, instead..."
"I'm going to show you. Miss Mizuno, please be calm." He reached
out a hand for her shoulder, but Ami adroitly spun the chair to keep out
of his reach. "What are you afraid of?"
[Frankly, I'm not sure myself. At this point, though, I have to
go through with it, if only because I'd forever be wondering what would
have happened.] "Just cautious."
He smiled. "Can we begin?"
=20
The tentacles had pretty much destroyed the lobby, coming up from
under the floor in an explosion of marble chips, clawing their way
through the ceiling tiles in a hundred places and turning the big room
into some kind of hellish parody of a forest. The brilliant crimson of
the sun setting in earnest, together with the increasingly audible
scream of the wind, left Minako wondering if she'd somehow wandered into
some kind of disturbed fairy tale.
Venus stood with her back to one of the green pillars, not a
particularly safe move, she though, but under the circumstances no
better cover had presented itself. The tentacles seemed uninclined to
move after that first violent outburst, although with the skin of her
back hard against one of them she could feel a faint pulsing, like a
heartbeat.
[What *is* this thing? It's huge...it must take up practically
the whole building...] She shook her head. [First I have to find Usagi
and the others, and the get out of here.] Minako had been separated
from Sailor Moon when they'd first fled into the lobby, and had been
unable to find her again in the labyrinthine depths of the thing's
shoots. Mars had fallen down the stairs to the basement, of that she
was reasonably sure, and Jupiter had to be somewhere up above. [It's
got us right where it wants us, doesn't it?] She stopped that line of
thought, frantically. [They'll get out okay. Mamoru and the Outer
Senshi are probably already on their way here. We can handle this
thing, it has to have a weakness somewhere...]
Somewhere off in the crimson darkness, a pair of red gleams
ignited, then another; red eyes staring at her from the shadows.
Minako's skin crawled.
"A bit closer...come here..." Her hands closed into fists, slick
with sweat. The red eyes moved, just a little--
"Love and Beauty SHOCK!"
The ball of sparkling light tore through the green pillars as
though they weren't there, sending bits of tentacle in all directions.
Shadows faded under the shockwave, and the pairs of eyes vanished in the
explosion. Minako ran sideways, direction picked at random, until she
came up against another pillar.
[I have to get out of here. ]
More eyes in the darkness. First one pair, then another, and
another. And from somewhere far off, the faint sound of laughter.
[I have to!]
"Love and Beauty Shock! Shock!" More balls of light flew
outwards, chasing nearly invisible targets and filling the air with dust
and flying debris. The laughter only got louder; Minako fled it almost
as much as whatever foes were real. "Love and beauty...shock..."
She came to rest by yet another pillar, breathing hard, legs like
wobbly stilts. The lobby seemed to go on forever, an endless field of
pillars of green, laced with red light and long shadows.
"Usagi! Mars! Jupiter! Where are you!" She felt a touch of
hysteria in her voice, tried to fight it. [Come on. We've been through
worse then this--]
A pair of red eyes flared, right in front of her. Minako gestured
frantically, panic-tinged reactions a touch too slow; the hands that
grabbed her wrists felt like they were carved from steel, not budging a
millimeter despite her frantic efforts. Minako pulled backwards
frantically.
"Love--Love and--Help! HE--" The last cut off as Resh took a step
forward, letting the red light paint his features and glint off the pair
of fangs that featured so prominently. Dark energy crackled around him
in an almost tangible cloak, and the darkness where his shadow fell took
a moment to fade away.
"--help..." Minako blinked, numbly, as he fixed her with a
glowing red gaze and smiled. Inwardly, she flinched, waiting for the
lighting, or the fangs, or for him to simply reach out and snap her
neck.
Resh ran his tongue along his teeth. "Sleep."
Her consciousness started to fade almost instantly. She felt a
last touch of horror as his hands caught her as she folded up,
effortlessly lifting her weight. Minako heard him speak one more time.
"That's one."
Then she was falling into darkness.
=20
The lights in the building went out, leaving Shard to sit alone in
darkness. He leaned against the cool glass of the exterior, the
still-flaming wreckage of helicopters and patrol cars reflected all
around him. None of the police dared to get close enough to notice his
hiding spot, which was just as well.
"Christ. What I can't believe is that I'm sitting here." He
shook his head. "I *know* this is a bad idea. Never cross a pissed-off
vampire."
He pulled off his sunglasses and turned them over and over in his
hands, dark glass reflecting the flames in miniature every time their
rotation faced it.
"It's her fault anyway." It was more of a muttered litany then a
monologue, not intended for any audience. "I warned her. I offered to
help her. She can hardly blame me if she underestimated the damn
vampire. Fucking Resh..."
The bounty hunter sighed and clicked his glasses back open,
sliding them on and staring up and the night sky. The stars were
rapidly being obliterated by ominous-looking thunderheads. =20
"God-damned Rei..." His expression changed to a scowl. "No! I'm
getting out of here. She's cute and all, but it's not worth going up
against Resh, not to mention what Iylitrio would do to me if he found
out. This whole city is getting too damned dangerous." He stood,
decisively. "That's it. I'm getting out while the getting's good. Big
fat bounties are no good if you're dead."
He closed his eyes, trying not to see her face hovering just under
his eyelids. He could see her, trying to fight Resh, the vampire's
black lightning crawling over her form and buzzing like a swarm of angry
insects. Rei dropped to the floor, back arched and mouth open in a
silent scream, then collapsed limp. Her head lolled to one side, eyes
open and unseeing, twitching as she gasped a last breath.
[Staring at me.]
"It's not my *problem*! I warned you not go up against him. I
warned you! And now I'm leaving." He shook his head. "Standing here,
talking to myself...I must be getting soft..."
The picture changed one more time, as Resh stepped out of the
darkness to stand over the Senshi's dying body. Fangs glittered as he
smiled.
"Very smooth, Mister Bounty Hunter."
Shard had his machine pistols out before he realized it, checking
the clips. One silver, one explosive.
[Forget Rei. Nobody talks to me like that.] It was a lie, but
comforting one.
[And who knows? If I can think of a story to tell Iylitrio about
why I killed his pet vampire, I might even live.]
=20
The floor was covered with waving, questing tendrils that had
broken through from the layer below. They groped the floor like blind
things, digging in wherever there was a crack or they could get a hold.
Cubicle walls were dislodged and workstations heedlessly overturned in
the mad course of the thing's growth.
[There's got to be another exit around here somewhere. An office
like this isn't built with one staircase. Come on.]
Makoto stepped carefully over the tentacles that coiled near her
feet, ready to lash out if one of them so much as twitched towards her.
Thus far, though, the creature seemed unaware of her presence. [If that
keeps up a bit longer, I'll be out of here. Meet up with the others.]
She was fairly certain she'd been the only one to get onto the second
floor. Rei looked like she'd fallen into the basement. [Not fallen,
been thrown. I've *never* seen her get hit that hard...]
She shook her head and took another step, looking around carefully
until she finally saw the welcome glow of the exit sign she'd been
waiting for. An emergency stairwell, flush with the side of the
building and leading off one of the little side lobbies. A few square
feet of carpet, a few potted plants and a couch; Makoto stepped out from
between the rows of cubes, suspecting a trap. =20
Resh detached himself from the deeper shadows around the stairs,
and her breath caught. The vampire looked much as she'd last seen him,
dressed in tight-fitting black, slick hair, and a nasty smile. He
exuded the aura of a predator, and his eyes glowed with a spark of
crimson deep inside.
Makoto took another step, then stopped and drew herself up.
"Well? Are you going to try and stop me?"
The vampire shrugged. "Sure. Unless you'd like to go quietly?
To sleep?"
The last word carried strange harmonics, a subtle bass rumble.
Her knees wobbled and almost buckled, eyelids dragged down in sudden
exhaustion. Only an effort of will kept her standing. "No."
"I didn't think so." The vampire stretched his hands, bending
long fingers back. "Oh well. It's just more pain for you. Truth be
told"--he smiled, showing fangs--"I like it better this way."
Makoto dropped into a fighting stance. [Don't think about who he
is, what he can do. Don't panic. He's just another opponent. Just
another enemy. And that means I have to attack.]
Resh lowered his gaze, just a fraction, as though it were some
kind of signal. Makoto took off running.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
The web of lightning flashed out to the left, while Makoto herself
dove right. The vampire adroitly sidestepped the crackling blast, but
the move left him open as Jupiter touched on the wall, changed
direction, and jumped for his head. Her hands connected--it was like
punching steel, and the side of her palm screamed in agony--and she felt
him give, just a little bit, as she passed over his head. Makoto
twisted again, to land ready for another jump.
A normal person, even a youma, might have been stunned. The
vampire ignored the blow and rolled sideways with the punch, grabbing
for her as he did. One hand closed around her ankle and yanked, turning
a graceful landing into an awkward crash. His grip broke as she rolled
away from him towards the corner.
There was a brief pause. Jupiter got to her feet with an effort,
breath coming hard. Her hand throbbed; something in it had gone
'crunch' when she punched him, and now stabbed with every heartbeat.
Resh rose unconcerned, pushing himself up with one hand. He put his
head on one side. =20
"Please don't run away. I don't feel like chasing tonight."
Her grim smile surfaced gradually. "Not likely."
"Excellent."
"Oak Evolution!"
Assuming that Resh wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, this
time she followed the attack straight in, hoping to strike to the side
as he dodged. The vampire ignored the lightning as it crackled past
him, meeting her assault head on and bringing up one arm in a
bone-jarring block. Makoto ducked as he kicked over her head with the
force of a sledgehammer, then jumped backwards as he turned it into a
spin along the vine-covered ground. Another blast of lightning didn't
even phase him; Resh got calmly to his feet as she recovered, now up
against a cubicle wall.
"You aren't bad." The vampire stared at her, his eyes disturbing
direct and unblinking. "It's a pity, really."
"You won't talk like that when the others show up." Makoto
managed a shaky smile. "You're too obvious, vampire. Keep pulling
stunts like this and your days are numbered."
He chuckled. "Little girls. There's only one person on this
world that I worry about, quite frankly, and none of you fit his
description." He waved a hand. "Shall we continue?"
Jupiter nodded, shakily. [If I let him hit me, I'm done for.
There has to be a weakness somewhere. I have to hit him.]
She lunged forward, kicking first high, then low. Resh danced
away, but her attacks got closer with each successive strike. Makoto
pressed on, even as she came to a realization. [He's actually not very
good at this, is he?] The vampire's movements lacked the fluidity of
someone truly well-trained, his attacks relying on raw strength and
speed. [Which, unfortunately, he has in spades.]
His eyes changed for a moment, going suddenly distant. Jupiter
took the opportunity, pivoting on one foot and slamming the other into
the side of his head. Even the vampire took note of that, reeling
backward. She stepped forward, brought her other foot around--
*Tried* to bring her other foot around, and failed, throwing
herself off balance and stumbling to one knee. The vampire smiled as
she tugged frantically; one of the innumerable vines on the floor had
wrapped itself around her ankle.
[That look. He was talking to it...he controls this thing...]
Resh stepped up to her, casually blocking her hand as she punched
for his ribs. His other hand caught her chin open-handed, picking her
up and tossing her backwards as far as the vine's grip would stretch.
Jupiter ended up on her back, struggling to rise on her elbows and the
vampire moved over and knelt at her side.
"Sorry about that. But I'm on a bit of a schedule." He put one
finger on her forehead and pressed her inexorably into laying flat;
Makoto felt his gaze slide across her with almost palpable force. Resh
ran his tongue lovingly across his fangs. She grabbed for his shoulder
with one hand, trying to do *something*, but his other arm gripped her
wrist. "Sleep."
She blinked rapidly, resisting the command inherent in the
creature's tone. Resh's expression became one of irritation. =20
"Fine. Have it your way."
Black lightning crackled from where his finger touched her skin.
Makoto's world went white, and she heard herself scream, distantly.
"That's two."
=20
"I feel like I'm in therapy."
Eridu sat down gingerly in the recliner at the end of the couch,
as though afraid its dilapidated structure might collapse and swallow
him. Ami winced; she'd furnished the apartment on a sort of
catch-as-catch-can basis, and some of the pieces were worse then others.
At the moment, she was stretched full-length on her one good couch, head
craned back to keep an eye on Eridu. He smiled at her, his usual
knowing grin, and leaned back.
"So what exactly are we doing here?"
"Just relax. That's the first part. This will be easier if
you're not so tense."
"Okay." She blew out a long breath and tried to be calm. [How I
can be calm when he won't tell me what he's going to do?] Another
breath. [It's okay. It'll be worth it. He knows the answers I've been
looking for.] "Relaxed. Now what."
"Now strip."
"*What*?"
"The ritual requires that you be naked." She sat bolt upright on
the couch, and he spread his hands. "Don't look at me. It's just the
way things are."
Ami searched his face for a moment. Eridu's eyes, as always, were
invisible behind dark glasses, but the rest of his expression--
She shook her head. "Come on. It doesn't require that."
He shrugged. "You can't blame me for trying."
"This is not inspiring my confidence, you know."
Eridu chuckled. "Sorry. Just lie back down."
She took up her position again, keeping one eye on him. One she'd
settled again, he stood and stepped to the side of the couch, looking
down.
"Ready?" There was a touch of...something in his voice. She
looked at him a moment longer, then nodded. [If he tries anything, I
can get away from him. I have to know...]
Eridu opened one hand, palm down, over her chest. She felt an odd
sensation, like a tugging, as though the whole room was subtly
collapsing towards him. The air filled with the burned-metal smell
she'd come to associate with his presence. =20
Ami squinted as white light crawled over his palm for a moment.
There was an answering gleam in his eyes, strong enough to show a
pinpoint of brilliance through smoked glass. Then it was gone.
Eridu bent his knees, so he was close to level with her. "How do
you feel?"
"Fine. A little weird." She tried to turn her head to face him
and found she couldn't, lying still as though suddenly fixed in stone.
Sudden panic flared. "I can't move."
"I know."
She could only watch him out of the corner of one eye. "What are
you going to do?"
Eridu's smile suddenly looked a lot less friendly. "I'll have my
way with you while you're helpless, and then devour your immortal soul.
What did you think I was going to do?"
There was a moment's pause.
His grin broadened. "Relax, Miss Mizuno. I'm just going to open
your eyes a little." He put out his hand again, this time over her
face, thumb on one cheek and pinky on the other. The touch of his skin
felt hot, and [wrong], far too smooth. She felt the strange suction
again.
[This is it.]
White light flared. Ami stiffened and jerked as it devoured her
vision.
=20
The light faded away, and Eridu stood from next to the couch. He
took a deep breath, more out of habit then anything else. =20
"Have fun, Miss Mizuno."
One of her arms had dislodged itself and trailed limp down the
side of the couch to the floor. Blue eyes stared blank, unfocused at
the ceiling. The figure on the couch was still, utterly motionless.
Eridu let the other wards he'd been holding lapse with a sigh,
flinching at the sudden cacophony as the phone, computer, and
communicator all went off simultaneously. He waited until they'd worn
themselves out and stopped ringing, then settled back down in the dusty
recliner to wait. His muttering was loud in the suddenly silent room.
=20
"Venus?" Usagi's footsteps echoed on the marble as she wandered
between the massive green pillars. "Mars? Jupiter?" One hand gripped
her wand, tightly enough that white showed in her knuckles. "Where are
you?"
The green stalks were still moving slightly, tendrils questing
outward. She gave these a wide berth, wandering through the transformed
lobby in search of an ally or an exit. Most of her thoughts were
focused on keeping panic at bay.
[They'll find me. And Tuxedo Kamen is coming. We'll get everyone
out of here, and regroup, and we'll be okay.]
She turned around stalk after stalk, trying to find a way in the
darkness, until she managed to get to one of the side walls. Outside
was nothing but black, the storm clouds having obliterated the night
sky. Still, having a real wall to put her back against was comforting.
[I just have to follow this one way or another to get to the front
door, right? If it's blocked I can chop a way through. The others are
probably already outside, getting ready to come get me.]
Usagi picked a direction and started walking. Along the floor,
the green shoots were moving, zeroing in like sharks at the scent of
blood; she noticed them and started to walk faster, stepping over gently
twitching roots. They started to move faster, and she started to run.
[They're chasing me. They're chasing me!]
She was up to a full-on sprint before one of the tentacles in her
path raised itself off the ground enough to become a tripwire. Usagi
caught it full on and went sprawling, fall mercifully cushioned by the
spongy green material that now infested the ground. She gave a little
shriek and stood up as quickly as she could when the tendrils underneath
her started to writhe. =20
[Oh, god--]
The thing moved fast as a striking viper, tentacles slapping
outwards with whip-like speed and pinpoint accuracy. It went for wrists
and ankles first, strong enough that her sideways jerks did little more
than stretch it a little. By the time she was lifted off the ground, it
was more like a web of tiny shoots, wrapping her arms and legs in green
and holding her motionless against one of the massive stalks.
Her shout for help came out as a scream, echoing off the marble.
It faded with no result, and for a moment she hung there motionless.
[Someone will come. I just have to be here, they'll come...]
One of the big windows above her shattered, shards of flying glass
blowing out into the night. The scream of the wind redoubled, and a
elegantly-dressed figure was outlined against the glowing city skyline.
"Tuxedo Kamen!"
He smiled. "Evildoers who would disturb a place of commerce!
Industry is the lifeblood of our great nation, and I will not forgive
those who--"
Just above his shoulder, a pair of glowing red eyes opened in the
darkness. =20
"I've been waiting for you, cape-boy."
=20
Resh licked a stray fleck of blood off the back of his hand,
savoring the flavor.
"That's three." He stalked towards the door to the basement,
bushels of green tentacles obediently clearing a path. "One more
downstairs, and I can deliver them all nice and gift-wrapped as ordered.
Four guardians and a side dish of mask-wearing loony. One more--"
A thunderous explosion at the entrance shook the building, the
vines, and the vampire. Resh staggered a bit before regaining his feet;
marble dust rained down from the ceiling. His expression soured.
"That'll be the damn bounty hunter. I figured he'd get involved
somehow." Resh closed his eyes for a moment, giving orders to his
silent subordinate. [Find the girl downstairs. Wrap her tightly, hold
her, wait for instructions.] As the vines shifted in response, he
turned on his heel and headed towards the front door.
Django Wexler (khaine)
khaine@mindless.com
"It is my understanding, Tess, that you've been referring=20
to me, about town, as a 'Granola James Bond.'"
...
"So what would you rather be called?"
"Toxic Spiderman. Because he's broke and he never gets
laid."
Tess squinted at me, implying that there was a reason=20
for both problems. Bart broke the silence.
"Shit, man, Spiderman's got his health. James Bond
probably has AIDS."
-Neal Stephenson, Zodiac
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