[Segment 2 of 6]
****************
Miyo overslept on Wednesday morning: something she hadn't done in a long
time. By the time Itsuko roused her, it was too late for breakfast.
She ran out of the Olympus building with a piece of toast in her mouth,
still buttoning up her jacket.
She reached school just seconds before the bell rang. She slipped
through the gates and hurried into the building, panting -- pausing for
a second to wave to a surprised Kin and Dhiti, who had been hanging
around waiting for her.
(Dhiti had still not said anything about their near-argument on Monday
night. Maybe the girl had finally learned tact. But Miyo doubted it.
Sooner or later, she would find a way to embarrass Miyo with the scene.
In a perverse kind of way, Miyo almost looked forward to it.)
She was on time for class, just barely. That should have been the end
of it. But the morning's classes dragged like molasses, and she found
herself thinking about her new life. Her new home. If she could call
it that.
Oversleeping on a school morning was bad enough; but Itsuko had had to
catch her at it. She flushed, remembering. Somehow, being woken by a
friend was far more humiliating than being woken by her mother.
Well, it seemed that she would have to get used to it. Settling into
the suite at the top of the Olympus building had been a whole series of
awkward experiences. It was a little like her past life, when her
parents had died and she had had to survive on her own; but this time
she was trying to adjust to a new life with someone who knew her almost
as well as she knew herself. She'd thought that it would be a simple
thing; but instead the opportunities for awkwardness and embarrassment
were almost unlimited.
Reaching an agreement on sharing a bathroom; making a roster for
laundry, cleaning and other chores; those were the tip of the iceberg.
She also had to share her room, one night a week, with Ochiyo, the
Olympus' part-time receptionist, whom Itsuko allowed to sleep over when
the girl had a late shift. Neither of them knew what to say to each
other (Ochiyo was obviously bursting with curiosity about Miyo, but
didn't seem to dare to ask), so those nights were rather strained.
The worst thing so far, though, had been the time last week, when she'd
had to go to Itsuko, shame-faced, and ask for an allowance.
Now that had been an awkward situation: begging a friend for money. She
hadn't thought about it when she'd asked Itsuko to take her in; but now
she had to face the reality. For the next few years, until she finished
college and maybe for a while afterward, she was going to be dependent
on Itsuko for food, clothing ... everything. Unless she could find a
way to make her family take her back --
She quashed the thought, knowing where it led, and tried to concentrate
on what the teacher was saying. It didn't work for very long. She
found herself thinking about money again. Maybe if she could get a job?
After all, Ochiyo worked part-time at the Olympus. But Miyo wouldn't
want to work at the gym herself; it would be, well, too close to home,
as it were.
Then she realised that she couldn't afford to get a job at all; not if
she wanted to be free to run out to fight vitrimorphs, she couldn't.
She was stuck. She felt like a ... a kept woman. No, that was
ridiculous. She really felt as if she had exchanged one family for
another. For Itsuko. But that was ridiculous too, wasn't it?
She sighed and tried to pay attention as the teacher talked about second
derivatives. It was a very long morning.
--**--
Thank the gods for friends.
Dhiti and Kin intercepted her as she went outside for lunch. Before she
could escape, they had her cornered. She put up a token fight; then,
with an inner sigh that was equal parts resignation and relief, she let
them sweep her away.
"So, where were _you_ this morning?" demanded Kin.
"I overslept," Miyo answered innocently. She knew it was not going to
work, but that was part of the game.
"You? Overslept?" Dhiti shook her head sadly. In a bizarre accent she
went on, "Vhy do you persist in zese foolish games, Fraulein Hayashi?
You know ve haf vays of making you talk. Zo, I ask vun more time: vhere
vere you?"
"Off on some steamy early-morning romantic interlude?" suggested Kin,
rather spoiling the effect.
Miyo looked pained. "Will you cut it out?" she said. "You guys go into
this act every time I --"
"Ahh, I can see it now," Dhiti said, dropping her accent and fluttering
her eyelashes madly. "'Oh, Mark, Mark,' she moans passionately, 'you're
everything I've always dreamed of. Oh, my noble warrior ... make me ...
a _woman_.' And he takes her in his arms and --"
"Okay," said Miyo. "I take it back. You don't do _this_ every time."
"Will you pipe down?" complained Dhiti. "I was just getting warmed up."
Kin snorted. "Steamed up, more like it."
"What?" Dhiti blinked, then suddenly flushed. "And people say I have
a dirty mind," she said, shaking her head sadly.
Miyo had to grin. "I don't know about dirty," she commented. "Slightly
twisted, maybe."
The dark-skinned girl smiled. "You say the sweetest things, Hayashi,"
she cooed. With a sly glance at Miyo, she added, "I notice you don't
deny the fantasies about your noble warrior, though."
"I --" Miyo hastily suppressed her first reaction, which called for
extreme violence, and fixed Dhiti with a frosty glare. "I am not
talking about Mark," she stated. "I am not even _thinking_ about Mark."
"Hmmm." Kin studied her through narrowed eyes. Then she looked over at
Dhiti. "What do you think?" she asked, barely concealing a smirk. "Is
she telling the truth or not?"
"Well, I'm not sure." There was an impish light in Dhiti's eyes. "You
know, if I were Sailor Mercury, I could just whip out my computer and
check." She mimed waving a device in Miyo's direction and intoned,
"Credibility rating: negligible."
"Yeah, true," said Kin, grinning. "And if I were, um, Sailor Moon, I
could fire one of my Crescent Heart Whatsits at the two of them and make
them fall madly in love and live happily ever after!"
Miyo suppressed several more reactions and said, "Yes, and if I were
Sailor Pluto, maybe I could speed time up so you two would grow up a
little."
Dhiti shot her a wounded look. "Now, that wasn't nice. Was that nice?"
she asked Kin.
"Not nice at all," Kin judged.
"We need to do something about this."
"Definitely."
"Hmm. Bucket of water over her head?"
"Neither of us is tall enough," Kin pointed out. "Drop a slug down her
back?"
"No, she likes slugs. Hmm, let me see --"
Miyo groaned. "Dhiti, am I going to tell you _again_ to lay off the
slug jokes?"
"Do you know, I think you are?"
"Look, will you --"
"I've got it!" Kin shouted. "The perfect revenge!"
"Ooh, tell me more," simpered Dhiti. Miyo clutched her head in pain.
"It's very simple, and at the same time fiendishly appropriate," Kin
gloated. "Observe ..."
She jumped up in the air, waving an arm at somebody on the other side of
the grounds, and shouted, "Hey, Wright-kun! Mark! Over here!"
Some distance off, Mark and Liam were lounging against the wall,
talking. At Kin's shout, Mark turned his head. When he caught sight of
the threesome, he grinned and started toward them.
Miyo flinched. "You traitor!" she hissed. "Okay, that does it, I've
had --"
"Grab her!" shouted Dhiti. She and Kin leaped on Miyo, wrestling her to
the ground. For an instant Miyo struggled, almost breaking free; then,
with a sigh of resignation, she gave in and relaxed. If she just kept
her head, she could get through this. There was a kind of sense of
inevitability about it.
Thank the gods for friends.
"Kin, that was brilliant," Dhiti rambled on, oblivious. "Why didn't I
think of that?"
"Well, I _am_ the smart one of us three," Kin said modestly.
"You are?" asked Dhiti in well-feigned surprise.
"Sure. You just think you are because I broke into the school records
and switched our IQ test results."
"Oh." Dhiti thought about it. "Well, all right, then. But I'll tell
you, if you switched Hayashi's too, so I'm actually the dumbest one of
us, I'm going to be very upset with you."
"My lips are sealed," Kin assured her.
"Hey!" Miyo protested. "Are you saying _I'm_ the dumbest one of us?"
There was a slight pause. Then Dhiti said, "So, Kin, how was your
weekend?"
"Oh, not bad --"
"Hey!" said Miyo again. "I said --"
"-- Though I was trying to get hold of you all Sunday, and your mother
kept saying she didn't know where you were."
"Hmm," Dhiti said. "I was out studying some ... ancient history. Kind
of a private project."
"Oh." Kin frowned for an instant, and said, "And I suppose Miyo was off
on a mad, passionate date with Mark all day?"
Dhiti raised her eyebrows. "What a fascinating idea. Hayashi, were you
out on a -- well, perhaps not," she murmured, seeing Miyo's expression.
"Anyway," she went on to Kin, "if you wanted to know about her and
Mark-chan, couldn't you have just asked Liam ... while you were out on
_your_ mad, passionate date?"
She and Miyo watched with delight as Kin turned bright scarlet. The
girl was spared having to answer, however, as Mark finally ambled up.
"Hel-lo," he said, studying the pile of bodies with interest. "Is this
some kind of weird threesome?"
Dhiti eeped. "No!" she said, trying to scramble off Miyo.
"Yes!" shouted Kin at the same time, grinning wickedly and holding her
back down.
"Just get off me," mumbled Miyo from the bottom of the pile. Her face
was now wedged into Dhiti's chest and it was difficult to breathe.
"Your wish is my command," answered Mark cheerfully. Before she could
say that she hadn't been talking to _him_, she heard a startled squawk
from Kin, and the weight on top of her lessened. Dhiti vanished a
moment later, and she was staring up at a face that she emphatically
did not want to have to deal with.
He raised his eyebrows, and she suddenly realised how she must look,
lying there. Cheeks flaming, she scrambled to her feet, ignoring the
hand he offered to help her up.
They stood staring at each other. He was only a fraction taller than
her, she realised. The moment seemed to stretch, and she felt a sudden
wild hope that, somehow, this might not go wrong.
Then he smiled, and the possibility was gone. She saw his face; her
father's face; the faces of the students that mocked her. A sea of
eyes, watching her wherever she went. The laughter, and the taunts.
Friends who suddenly would not acknowledge her. Mark's innocent smile,
and his oh-so-innocent questions that drew it all down upon her.
Her good humour of seconds before was utterly gone, swept away by a tide
of resentment. The hopeful look on his face only made it worse. With a
sense of inevitability, she knew that this moment had been approaching
for some time.
"Well?" she demanded.
His smile faded. "Well what?" he said. "Hey, they called me,
remember?"
"Oh, and I'm sure you just came over to talk to Dhiti and Kin."
"Miyo-san ..." He took a deep breath, visibly composing his reply. "I
have apologised," he said. "Frequently."
"Maybe I don't want your apologies," she retorted. "Why can't you just
go away? Or find someone else to beat up?" she added nastily.
Finally, there was a glint of anger in his eyes. "That's a little
harsh, don't you think?" he said, his voice tight.
"Why should I care? Damn you, I never asked you to defend me!"
"Maybe I _wanted_ to defend you."
"And what gives you the right?" she shouted. "You don't _own_ me! This
has got nothing to do with you!"
"Oh?" He was breathing quickly; his cheeks were pale. "I'd say it has
everything to do with me."
"With _you_?" It was too much. Her temper finally snapped. She lashed
out blindly, catching him on the left shoulder, and heard his grunt of
pain. Her other fist aimed itself directly at his face --
And came to a sudden halt, caught in his right hand.
Again, they stared at each other. They were almost nose to nose now.
"Just ... go away," she whispered. "Leave me alone, can't you?"
"How?" he asked. His voice cracked in mid-word. "How?"
"Give me space," she asked. Her fist slipped from his hand, dropped to
her side. Behind him, she could see Kin and Dhiti watching them,
wide-eyed. "Let me breathe. Please."
She saw the unwilling acceptance in his face. Before he could say
anything more she spun around and started away from the other three,
moving fast, almost running, toward the school building.
She looked back, a second later. Kin and Dhiti were following her.
Thank the gods for friends.
--**--
Finally, at the end of a long, slow afternoon, Miyo trudged toward the
school gates. She had slept late that morning, but somehow she still
felt exhausted. She longed for nothing more than to get home, have a
hot bath, and take a nap for a couple of hours before she had to make
dinner. And absolutely, definitely not think of Mark.
She sighed, and determinedly pushed the thought aside. Life was just
too complicated sometimes. Maybe she should talk to Itsuko about it;
after all, she'd had to deal with Yuuichiro, long ago. But somehow, the
idea of talking to Itsuko about men made her want to cringe.
Thank goodness the day was over at last, and she could walk home and lie
down and maybe forget about things for a while ...
Naturally, Dhiti was waiting for her at the gate. Miyo stifled a groan
and watched as a little winged picture of a bed flew past in her mind's
eye.
"That was quite a scene at lunch-time," Dhiti said cheerfully, falling
in step with her. "Give us some warning next time, though, huh? I
think Kin wants to sell tickets."
"Aargh." Miyo tried not to think about it.
"Are you okay, Hayashi? You've been looking kind of ... ragged all
day." Dhiti herself looked in the peak of health. Naturally. "Look,
don't let Wright-kun get to you. Do something to take your mind off it.
Hey, I saw a poster for a hang-gliding club a couple of days ago. I'm
thinking of joining that, maybe you should give it a try too --"
"I do not," Miyo said with great restraint, "want to join a hang-gliding
club." Eight hundred years ago she had gone hang-gliding in the
Pyrenees, but if she mentioned that she'd never hear the end of it.
"... Right." Dhiti walked in silence for a few moments. Then, in quite
a different tone of voice, she said, "Look, why not just come downtown
with me? I need to get some new running shoes. Maybe we could find
some more of those godawful romances you read all the time ..."
Miyo shook her head; but she had to smile. "Maybe some other time," she
said wryly. "I have to watch my money."
"Oh? I could lend you something --"
"Hah! I don't know which would be worse: owing you or Itsuko."
"Itsuko?" Dhiti looked startled. "I hadn't thought of that. You mean,
you have to --"
"Yeah, well." Miyo gave a resigned shrug. "I don't exactly have a lot
to my name any more. Not even a name, really, if it comes to that.
Itsuko managed to get a few of my clothes before my father threw her out
of the house, but not much else."
Dhiti whistled idly between her teeth. "Not a lot, huh?" She seemed to
be on the point of saying something more, but then caught herself.
"Look, come on downtown anyway. At least I can buy you an ice cream, or
something."
"Oh, sure. You mean I get one ice cream, and then I have to sit and
watch while _you_ have three, right?"
"Something like that." Dhiti smirked. "So, you coming?"
"Oh ... all right."
Thank the gods ...
****************
That evening Beth's patience, and her nerves, finally wore out. Miyo
had promised to investigate the deaths at the warehouse, but since then
Beth had heard nothing. Quite apart from any other consideration, the
tension was killing her.
When she tried Miyo's communicator, though, there was no reply. She
tried several times, just to be sure. At last, seriously worried, she
asked Bendis for advice.
"Are you sure?" the cat asked, staring at the communicator dubiously.
"Miyo's pretty experienced, remember. She wouldn't just take her
communicator off and forget about it."
"I told you," Beth said impatiently, "I tried it three times already.
Anyway," she sniffed, "I don't know what's so great about all that
'experience' of hers. She isn't any better than the rest of us. I bet
if I tried, I could wrap her up in my Chain Thing before she twitched."
"Sure, sure," the cat soothed her. "You're ten times better than her
any day, and nothing gets past you at all. Of course," she added
casually, "she did have to bail you out the other day, so ..."
"That was a fluke! The next time I see Lady Blue I'll hit her so hard
she'll be --"
"_You_ will? Don't you mean Sailor Venus?"
Beth hesitated. "Well ... it's the same thing, isn't it? More or
less," she said uncertainly. "Anyway, that's beside the point --"
"And keep your voice down, will you? Your mother's in the living room.
Sometimes I think you _want_ people to work out who you are."
"Oh, now you're just being silly. I mean -- look, never mind that!
What are we going to do about Miyo? Maybe there's something wrong!"
"Don't get over-excited," Bendis urged her. "Calm down and try it
again."
Beth did so. There was still no reply.
--**--
Some distance away, in the Olympus building, Hayashi Miyo stepped into
the bath with a sigh of pure pleasure. Itsuko was downstairs, leading
an aerobics class. Ochiyo wasn't due up until later. She was alone
in the apartment for at least an hour. At last, she could relax.
It had been an exhausting day. All that business at school, and then a
whirlwind tour of the local shopping district with Dhiti, had left her
feeling as if she hadn't slept for a week. Now, finally, she had some
time to herself.
The hot water on her skin was delicious. She lay back and closed her
eyes with a happy smile.
In her bedroom, lying on her little chest of drawers, her communicator
began to bleep again. Miyo did not hear a thing.
--**--
"Still nothing," Beth said unnecessarily. "Are you sure this thing
couldn't just be worn out, Bendis-chan?"
Bendis shook her head, and nosed the device gently. "They were made
back at the founding of the Silver Millennium," she mused. "Weland
himself is supposed to have designed them, and he was magewright to
Serenity the First --"
Beth held the communicator up to her ear and shook it. Bendis gave up
and closed her mouth.
"You know," the girl said slowly, "Lady Blue knows all about that
warehouse. Last Saturday, she had an ambush set up for us. If Miyo
went back there on Monday night ..."
"... She might have been walking into a trap?" Bendis finished. She
frowned. "But Beth-chan, that was two days ago. Surely --"
"You're right!" Beth exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Anything could have
happened to her by now! Bendis, we have to do something! We have to
save her!"
"That _wasn't_ what I meant," Bendis muttered. She could have shouted
it, but she was pretty sure that it wouldn't have done any good. Beth
was already stabbing at her communicator again.
This time she got a response. "Iku?" she burst out. "Miyo's in
trouble! You've got to meet us at the warehouse, as soon as possible!"
"... Warehouse?" came an uncertain voice in reply.
"You know, the place where we were on Saturday! Hurry!" Beth broke the
connection without further ado. She paused, her finger on the button to
make another call. "Oh, what was her name? Shizu ... Sazae ..."
"Suzue?" suggested Bendis diffidently. She was beginning to enjoy the
spectacle of Beth trying to take charge.
"Yes!" Beth stabbed at the button. When a surprised voice answered,
she gabbled out, "Hello, Beth-san? It's Suzue. Listen, we -- no, wait,
you're not Beth, I'm Uranus. No, Venus! Wait, I --" She floundered to
a halt. "Well, you know who I am!" she snapped at last.
"Um. Possibly," said Suzue dryly.
"Anyway, Miyo's in trouble! Can you meet us at the warehouse as soon as
possible? The place from Saturday --"
"On my way," Suzue answered. The communicator fell silent. Beth
blinked at it.
"Nicely done," Bendis commented smoothly. "Now Dhiti, I suppose?"
Beth's face tautened with resolution. "No time!" she shouted. "We have
to hurry! VENUS POWER, MAKE-UP!"
Dancing light filled the room. Before Bendis could quite see again, she
felt a pair of hands pick her up; and moments later, she found herself
flying swiftly through cool evening air. In a flash of surprise, she
realised that Venus must have made a standing jump out of her bedroom
window, all without using her hands for balance or to steady herself.
It was quite an impressive move, especially considering that she didn't
remember Venus practising it before.
The last of the afterimages faded from her eyes, and she saw that they
were bouncing across the rooftops. Venus ran at a steady, even pace,
her feet touching down on each roof lightly, unerringly and almost
soundlessly. Her breathing was slow and regular. If it had not been
for the rush of cold air in her fur, whiskers and ears, Bendis could
have sworn that they were not moving at all. She felt ... safe.
After a little, she said experimentally, "Why not Dhiti?"
"Oh." Venus sounded evasive. "Well ... we don't need her, do we? I
mean, three Senshi should be enough to handle it, right?"
Bendis waited.
"Besides," Venus muttered, "she's ... you know. Sort of weird."
Bendis opened her mouth to make a sarcastic reply, and then closed it
again with a mental sigh. What would be the point?
She did not for a moment believe that Miyo was in trouble, but this
excursion would make a good impromptu training exercise for the girls.
Without Artemis around, even. It would be handy to see how the other
two reacted to the emergency callout; and it would give her a chance to
evaluate Sailor Uranus, and try to work on Mars' attitude a bit. All
in all, not a bad way to spend an evening.
And of course, if there actually _was_ any trouble, then Venus was
probably right; three Senshi should be able to handle it. Besides, it
occurred to her that these particular three were the Senshi that Bendis
herself had found. If anything did happen, it would be a triumphant
vindication of her skills. What could possibly go wrong? Either way,
she won.
"Absolutely," she answered firmly.
--**--
Venus and Uranus arrived at the warehouse at about the same time. Venus
motioned for the other Senshi to take cover in a sheltered spot, and
Uranus obeyed, looking a little puzzled.
Sailor Mars ran up a few minutes later, panting. Venus made a mental
note to teach her roof-hopping as soon as possible, and immediately
forgot about it again. She poked her head out from behind a rusting
iron boiler and beckoned the girl over.
"What's happened?" asked Uranus, joining them. "You said there was some
kind of trouble, but everything seems quiet."
In a hushed voice, Venus quickly told them about the bodies. "And when
I called obaasan about it, I mean Jupiter, she said she wanted to get
Sailor Mercury to check the place out," she finished. "But she never
called back! And now there's no answer on the communicator!"
Uranus' eyes narrowed. "You think there was another trap?" she asked.
"Something left over from the weekend?"
"Right!" Venus hissed excitedly. "They must have walked right into it!
And now Lady Blue's probably just waiting for us, too! I mean, just
_look_ at this place! It's _too_ quiet!"
The three girls looked around the yard: a broad, open area between a
group of abandoned warehouses, littered with junk and the rusting hulks
of abandoned industrial equipment. In the fading light, it _did_ look
sinister.
"So what do we do?" asked Mars nervously.
"We move in," Venus announced. "Try and stick to cover, and keep in
contact at all times. If you find anything, don't try to attack by
yourself. Call for help. If this thing was strong enough to take out
Jupiter and Mercury, we can't take any chances. Ready?"
Uranus gave a brisk nod. Mars only stared at her, looking appalled.
Then the Senshi of Fire visibly caught hold of herself; she steadied,
and a kind of shaky determination appeared in her face. She, too,
nodded.
The three moved in.
Behind them, Bendis kept her silence with some difficulty. Venus had
forgotten, she noticed, to tell the others it had been two days since
she'd spoken to Miyo. And why on Earth did she think that Mercury was
caught in the trap too, when she herself had decided not to call Mercury
just a few minutes before?
Still, her plan of attack was actually a good one. Intrigued, and
beginning to enjoy herself tremendously, Bendis followed them into the
warehouse yard. Nobody stuck to cover like a cat.
Just in case, she kept an eye open for traps.
--**--
Sailor Uranus crept through the yard, keeping low and wishing that her
Senshi uniform didn't have quite so much white in it. Even in this
half-light, she must stick out like a sore thumb.
(Whoever had designed it, she decided -- not for the first time -- must
have been more concerned with appearances than practicality. And he had
_definitely_ been a man.)
The warehouse yard seemed totally silent. The only thing she could hear
was the sound of her own breathing, slow and regular. She paused in
thought. Should there have been birds singing, at this hour? She could
not remember.
She reached the base of a rusting crane and drew herself up slowly to
peer through the ribbing of its lowered arm. As she did so, there was a
sudden faint clatter, directly above her. She recoiled, automatically
raising an arm to launch her attack.
The words died on her lips, stillborn. Sailor Venus was standing on top
of the crane, looking down at her.
"Sorry," Venus said in a low voice. Even with Uranus' enhanced eyesight
she could barely make out the other girl's face, but she didn't think
she looked sorry at all. "Didn't know you were there."
Uranus stared up at her. "What are you _doing_?" she asked.
Venus threw her a sly wink. "Aerial reconnaissance," she said. Then,
before Uranus' stunned eyes, she bent down into an odd half-crouch,
lifting her hindquarters into the air -- for all the world like a giant
cat -- and sprang from the crane, leaping high into the air. Uranus
could just see her catch a protruding iron bar some distance away, twirl
around it once like a gymnast, and then flip herself into the air again.
A moment later, she had vanished into the gloom.
Uranus dropped flat on the ground, wincing and waiting for the crash.
Instead, there was only silence.
[I didn't just see that,] she decided.
"She's pretty good, isn't she?" said a voice at her elbow. Uranus
stifled a yelp. This time it was Bendis.
She stared at the cat for a few seconds, trying to put words to the
moment. At last she asked, "Is that girl crazy?"
"Quite possibly," Bendis answered cheerfully. "I'm very proud of her."
Then, before Uranus could react, she went on, "You're moving too slowly.
I'm going to have to do something about your training."
Uranus considered this for some time. "I thought the idea was to keep
quiet," she hissed back.
"That doesn't mean go slowly," Bendis said didactically. "Venus wasn't
making any noise, was she?"
"No," Uranus protested, "but she was --"
"Look, it's perfectly simple. Just think like a cat. How hard can that
be?" Before she could answer, Bendis turned and vanished into the
darkness. Silently.
Uranus sat for a minute, looking after the cat. She was, she thought,
beginning to get an idea of why Venus acted the way she did.
Still, Bendis was right about one thing: she _was_ moving too slowly.
Uranus got up and, keeping very low, began to make her way forward once
more.
--**--
Sailor Mars crept through the warehouse yard, ghosting her way almost
invisibly from shadow to shadow. Even her uniform, bright white and
red, somehow seemed to blend into the darkness. Bendis, prowling around
the yard in search of her, missed her completely. If there was one
thing that Kodama Iku was very good at, it was avoiding attention.
She was still not certain what she was meant to be doing here, or why
the others thought that _she_ could help; but one thing had been very
clear in Venus' hurried briefing. Miyo and Dhiti were in danger. And
both of them had been ... kind to her.
One of the buildings up ahead was covered with 'P' Division tape. Mars
looked at it for some time, swallowed, then steeled herself and made her
way cautiously to the nearest window. After a quick, nervous glance
around, she made to stand and look inside.
At the last moment, her courage failed her. Venus had mentioned bodies.
She sank back in the shadows, shaking. Then, with a little gasp, almost
inaudible in the gloom, she choked the fear back. Miyo and Dhiti needed
her help.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to move once more,
making her way around toward the rear of the building. Maybe ... maybe
there would be something useful she could do there. Something.
Gradually, as she slunk onward, she became aware that there was a sound
coming from somewhere: faint, almost at the border of imagination, a
deep bass humming. She turned her head, trying to locate it. It seemed
familiar somehow.
As she rounded the corner of the building, a sudden wash of
multicoloured light filled her eyes.
--**--
Venus leaped down from the roof, landing soundlessly on the dirty
concrete below. She looked around quickly, saw nothing suspicious,
grinned, and ducked into a patch of shadow to give herself time to
think.
She had covered most of the yard now. In the fading twilight, it had
been quite a challenge, and she had had marvellous fun doing it. She
had given Uranus a very satisfactory fright, and had spied on the girl
several times since, unseen. She had even managed to sneak up on Bendis
once or twice. She hadn't found Mars yet, but she was sure that it was
only a matter of time. It was the best game she'd played in ages; she
would have to remember to do this again.
Something about that thought bothered at her, and after a moment she
remembered what. She wasn't here to play games; she was here to save
Jupiter and Mercury. Pity. Still, that was almost as good, and at
least she could be pretty sure that there were no traps in the yard.
Definitely not up on the roofs, anyway.
That left inside the buildings. Her grin faded, replaced by a more
thoughtful look as she remembered the last time she'd had to break into
a building. All right, then; time to be serious. Now, she was a hero
on an important mission. It was time to play the Responsible Leader.
Backup. She didn't want to face Lady Blue alone again if she could help
it. She touched her communicator, and after a second Uranus answered.
"What is it?" the girl said tersely.
"I don't think there's anything out here in the yard," Venus whispered.
"It'd make more sense for them to be held inside anyway. Can you meet
me at the building where they found the bodies?"
"Right. I haven't found anything either," Uranus said. Then, almost
immediately, she said, "Hold on. The enemy wouldn't still be using that
building, surely? They'd pick a less obvious one."
Venus considered this. Logically, it made sense. Dramatically, it was
obviously impossible. "Er. I don't think so," she answered, thinking
fast. "It's not just the bodies, remember. There were all those
photographs of me, too. That might mean that somebody wanted to draw
attention there."
"Which means the trap was probably in that room," Uranus replied. "Good
point. I'll meet you there."
She broke contact sharply. Venus sat blinking at her suddenly-dead
communicator, then shrugged. It really had been a good point, after
all. She just wished she had thought of it sooner.
She stood up and ran lightly through the yard toward the building with
the 'P' Division markers. Uranus was waiting for her. The other Senshi
indicated the door with a meaningful gesture. Venus looked and saw for
the first time that it was standing slightly open.
The two Senshi exchanged glances. This was an invitation.
"What do you think?" asked Venus in a whisper. "Take them by surprise?
I'll go in first; you cover me."
Uranus hesitated; then, reluctantly, she nodded.
Venus stepped back from the door and took two or three quick breaths.
She could not help grinning with anticipation. Then she tensed herself,
filled her lungs, and charged.
She hit the door with her shoulder, bursting it open, and dove forward
in a roll. (Not a cat-manoeuvre; she had seen this one in an old
movie.) An instant later she was on her feet again, hands raised, ready
to strike at the first enemy to show himself.
Nothing happened.
She looked around, puzzled but still alert. It was very dark inside,
but her eyesight was much better as a Senshi. The room was nearly
empty. There was an old wooden table with a couple of chairs in one
corner. The floor was covered with police markers. That was all.
Uranus joined her, glancing around the room quickly. "Nothing here?"
she asked in a low whisper.
"No," Venus admitted. "I was so sure --"
"Wait, what's this?" Uranus knelt down, examining a small box attached
to one wall. She had to close the door to get to it. "Some kind of
alarm," she announced after a moment. "It's switched off. Just as
well, or we'd be having company --"
Their communicators bleeped.
Venus looked down at her wrist, startled, and tapped at the control to
activate it. "Hello --?" she began.
Mars' face appeared on the tiny screen. She looked terrified.
"Venus-san, Uranus-san!" she blurted out. "Watch out! They're here at
the back of the building! They have an --"
Her voice choked off suddenly. Horrified, Venus saw an arm loop around
her neck. Then the transmission was cut.
There was a thunderous rattle at the door. As they turned, shocked, it
began to swing open.
--**--
"A girl dressed as _what_?" Iwahashi Toru stared incredulously. This
was the last thing he'd expected, and the kami knew he'd been expecting
just about every other kind of problem.
"A Sailor Senshi," Mitsuzuka repeated. "Sailor Mars, I think."
"Oh, wonderful." Iwahashi ran a hand over his face, and resisted an
impulse to scream. This could not be happening. He was a very junior
'M' Division manager, and this was the first time he'd ever been put in
command of anything. It was turning out to be even worse than he'd
expected.
"She ... she isn't for real, is she?" he quavered.
Mitsuzuka kept his face tactfully blank. "I doubt it," he said. "She
didn't try to put up any kind of fight at all. She was playing with her
wristwatch when we caught her." He shook his head in mild distaste.
"Besides," he added, "there isn't a new Sailor Mars yet anyway." From
his tone, that was conclusive evidence.
Iwahashi dithered, trying to decide what to do. This assignment had
looked so simple and straightforward back at the office. Just take an
Opal out to an abandoned warehouse and remove a burglar alarm. What
could be easier?
There were odd aspects to the job, true. They were supposed to do it in
the middle of the night, for some inane reason. Iwahashi, flushed with
the excitement of his first command, had corrected the mistake and
substituted a more rational hour. He was beginning to wonder if that
had been such a good idea.
Also, the order sheet said that they were to remove any sign that the
alarm had ever been there. It was true that 'M' Division did do some
technical work for the security agencies (some of the wags liked to call
them 'Q' Division, though Iwahashi had never understood why), but ... an
alarm at an abandoned warehouse? This was ridiculous.
Then there was the note stressing that the work must be carried out
secretly, with no possible link back to 'M' Division. (Whatever _that_
was supposed to mean.) And the order was signed "Araki". Iwahashi had
had a bad moment when he'd read that name; but then he'd thought better
of it. What would Number Twelve of the Serenity Council have to do with
an abandoned warehouse? It was bound to be someone else with the same
name.
All the same ...
He sighed once more and rubbed his eyes. The situation felt almost as
if he were involved in some kind of crime, and a real Senshi had just
caught him.
"Did she see the other two men?" he asked plaintively.
"No. They've gone around to get the alarm. It shouldn't take long,
they ought to be back in a few minutes."
"Thank goodness for that, at least." Iwahashi massaged his forehead.
He was beginning to get a headache. "Now, what are we supposed to do
about the girl?"
Mitsuzuka cleared his throat and Iwahashi looked up, surprised. "Just a
thought," Mitsuzuka said, "but if we aren't supposed to let anyone know
what we're doing here, then ... suppose we give her something else to
think about ...?"
--**--
A brilliant light shone into the room, dazzling Venus and Uranus.
Through the glare, they could just make out two men standing in the
doorway. One of them was shining a powerful torch right into their
eyes. The other carried a large, bulky bundle -- doubtless a weapon of
some kind.
The two groups, the Senshi and the attackers, stared at each other for a
long, frozen moment. It would have been hard to say which of them was
the more startled.
Then Venus let out a wild yell and charged.
The lead man had just enough time to let out a yip of surprise before
she bowled him over, sending the torch flying. It hit the far wall with
a tinkle of broken glass and went out. The room was plunged into
darkness once more.
Uranus kept her head. When the light vanished, she ducked quickly to
one side and kept low, waiting for the spots to clear from her eyes.
She heard yells, then a crash. The man Venus had hit was shouting
something about burglars. Venus was shouting about vitrimorphs.
Something was beginning to feel wrong about this whole situation.
--**--
Iwahashi stepped out of the Opal, Mitsuzuka following behind him, and
strode up to the man who was holding the would-be Sailor Mars. He
looked the girl over confidently.
The confidence wasn't hard to come by. She seemed totally cowed by the
attention. A skinny, frightened-looking thing; he was surprised that
she'd ever had the nerve to put the Senshi costume on.
"So!" he said sternly. She winced away from him in a very gratifying
way. "The Senshi want to interfere in our operation, do they? You will
live to regret that decision!"
She stared up at him, wide-eyed and frozen, but did not speak.
He tried again. "Or perhaps not," he hissed. "After all, we cannot let
you live to tell the tale, can we? Perhaps I ought to ... make an
example of you." With some difficulty, he resisted a bizarre impulse to
add, "Harharhar!"
White-faced, plainly terrified, she licked her lips. "But," she
whispered almost inaudibly, "but ... you have an Opal. I thought you
were the police ..."
"The police?" he sneered, getting even further into the act. "Ha! Of
course not! We are merely --"
"'M' Division," she whispered.
"What?" Iwahashi followed her gaze, and saw the division logo on his
jacket. He cleared his throat hurriedly and said, "'M' Division? Ha!
Of course not! We are merely in disguise." He gave her a threatening
leer. "And I see that you have fallen into our trap, little Senshi!"
Her mouth worked soundlessly.
"We are from the Sankaku Clans," he told her in a villainous rasp, "and
you can never hope to defeat us! Why," he added, improvising wildly,
"we have another two of you prisoner already! Harharhar!"
"Then it's true," she whispered. "Jupiter and Mercury ..."
"Of course!" he crowed, wondering what she was talking about. "You!" he
barked to the man holding her. "Put her on board the Opal, with her
team-mates. Or -- no! On second thought ..." He made a dramatic
gesture and said grandly, "Let her stay here, and watch the final defeat
of the last of her fellows!"
She sank to her knees, shaking, with tears welling up in her eyes.
Iwahashi noted this with great satisfaction and took the opportunity to
lean forward and whisper to the man holding her, "When she tries to
escape, let her go."
The man gave him a quick grin and winked. Iwahashi nodded back, then
turned to Mitsuzuka, snapped his fingers imperiously, and said, "Come,
lackey. Let us see to the elimination of the last of the Senshi."
"Yes, Master," Mitsuzuka said respectfully. Under his breath he added,
"Don't let it go to your head." Iwahashi smirked back at him.
They started away from the girl. "I didn't know we work for the
Sankaku," Mitsuzuka commented as they went.
"Life is full of surprises," Iwahashi told him cheerfully. Everything
was working out perfectly after all. "You know," he added, "maybe I
should have been an actor." Suddenly he felt very, very good about this
mission --
Slowly, he came to a halt. There seemed to be an awful lot of noise
coming from around the other side of the warehouse.
--**--
Sailor Uranus stepped gingerly outside, and took a quick glance around.
The yard was echoing with shouts and muffled oaths as the two men chased
Venus (or possibly it was the other way around), but for now, nobody was
in sight. She decided to leave them to Venus' tender mercy. The girl
was obviously enjoying herself.
She had been starting to think that there was no trap at all, that this
whole rescue expedition was nothing but a product of Venus' fertile
imagination. But then Mars had certainly been captured by somebody; and
the two men had to be part of it somehow. Only, why had they been
shouting about burglars?
A movement caught her eye and she whirled, hands at the ready to attack.
She relaxed when she saw it was Bendis.
"Well?" she asked the cat in a low voice. "Any suggestions? Have you
any idea what's actually going _on_ here?"
"Er. Not exactly," Bendis admitted. "I saw some kind of light around
the back, and I was coming to warn you and Venus when --"
"The back," Uranus murmured to herself. "Mars." That had to be the
priority now. Venus looked like she could take care of herself, though
Uranus was becoming seriously worried about the girl's mental health.
She'd been pretty wild at the meeting last weekend, but this was almost
ridiculous. Worse, it seemed ... inappropriate.
No. Never mind that now. She had to rescue Mars. Possibly Jupiter
and Mercury as well.
She bent down and picked up Bendis. Then, taking a deep breath -- she'd
never done this before -- she took three quick steps forward, and leaped
up onto the roof.
It was easier than she'd expected; she almost overshot and came down on
the other side of the building. "Not bad," Bendis said in her ear, "but
you don't need to hold your arms out in front of you like that. Flying
lessons come later." Uranus gave her an incredulous stare, and the cat
added, "Joke."
[She's only two years old,] Uranus reminded herself. [She's only two
years old.] Actually, that in itself might explain a lot --
She put the thought aside for later, crouched down, and peered down at
the area on the other side of the building. Involuntarily, she flinched
at the sight.
An Opal had set down in the centre of the parking lot. Its landing
lights were on, a bank of white, yellow, orange and blue, and she could
see the rounded trapezoid of its hull clearly. Three men were standing
near the door. One of them was holding Sailor Mars.
"The police," she whispered. "Of course ..."
"Don't be so sure," Bendis whispered back. "Those aren't 'P' Division
uniforms."
A particularly loud whoop of glee came from the yard behind them,
followed by a long, rending crash and a shattering sound. Bendis and
Uranus flinched as one.
Two of the men started to walk away from the third, who still held on to
Mars. It looked as if they were going around to investigate the noise
around the back. Uranus decided that she was not likely to get a better
opportunity, and stood up.
It didn't matter if the men were 'P' Division or not. She had her own
reasons to dislike the police ... or any other Council division.
"What are you doing?" Bendis hissed at her. "You can't go down there!
If they're not police, they're probably 'S' Division!"
Uranus ignored her, took one more quick look to check the angles, and
jumped. She landed directly in front of the two men.
As she straightened up again, she heard a rush of footsteps behind her.
--**--
Iwahashi and Mitsuzuka came to a sudden halt as another girl in a Senshi
costume appeared in front of them. She was carrying a cat, for some
bizarre reason, and she was giving them a very unfriendly look.
They stared at each other for a long, confused moment. Then there was a
sudden rush of footsteps from further away. The other two 'M' Division
men came running around from the far side of the building, looking as if
they were fleeing for their lives. When Iwahashi saw what was chasing
them, he decided that maybe that was exactly what they were doing.
It was yet another girl dressed as a Senshi. She was moving in wild
leaps and bounds, dancing all around them as they turned this way and
that to avoid her. She moved in a disturbingly ... feline way. And as
Iwahashi and Mitsuzuka watched, she lifted her hands in a curious
gesture and shouted, "VENUS CHAIN THING!"
A bright golden chain sprang from her hands, glittering and arcing with
power. It struck the ground scant centimetres behind the rear man's
heels, throwing up a hail of shattered asphalt and dry earth. The man
yelped and ran faster. The Senshi laughed maniacally.
[She's playing with them,] Iwahashi thought in horror. [As if they're
mice and she's a --]
Then he realised. The attack. The crazy girl was a real Senshi.
He turned to Mitsuzuka and saw the same realisation in the other man's
eyes. Moving as one, they turned their heads and looked back at the
prisoner behind them. The prisoner wearing a Sailor Mars costume.
"Oh, dear," said Mitsuzuka.
--**--
[End of segment 2 of 6]