[FFML] [fanfic][Sailormoon] Moonshadow, chapter 18 (Random Comments)

[H. Torrance Griffin]

--- On Sun, 3/28/10, Mythril Moth <mythrilmoth at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> From: Mythril Moth <mythrilmoth at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [FFML] [fanfic][Sailormoon] Moonshadow, chapter 18 (draft)
> To: "FFML" <ffml at chez-vrolet.net>
> Date: Sunday, March 28, 2010, 9:38 AM
> 
> Short chapter. C&C welcome. You can read previous
> chapters at 
> www.mythrilmoth.net.
> 
> Usual disclaimers apply.
> 
> 
> ==================
> Mythril Moth
> www.mythrilmoth.net
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Makoto sighed as she hauled two large bags of trash to the
> collection point 
> for her building.
> 
> The private shame of two years of her life now sat ready to
> be picked up for 
> recycling--the damning testament to her time as a plaything
> for men three 
> times her age. The whore, the slut, the delinquent--all
> gone now, reduced to 
> something as simple as two bags of garbage.
> 
> If only.
> 
> As she returned to her apartment, she pondered what to do
> now that her only 
> source of income was gone. Her meager savings had been
> cleaned out by some 
> asshole thief, and if she sold everything she owned it
> would barely cover 
> one more month's rent.

It would take rather longer to find a pimp and properly break him in....

> //I may be able to help with that,// Usagi said. //Meet me
> at this address 
> in an hour...//

Definitly not a mistress....

> The middle-aged woman raised a slim eyebrow. "There is of
> course no need for 
> my future daughter to apologise for asking a favour; I am
> however curious as 
> to what this dilemma is and how you feel we may be of
> service to your 
> friend."

Well, this engagement may as well be of some use.

> Hanako raised a hand to interrupt Usagi. "I think we can
> drop the 
> indirectness right there, please." She turned to look at
> Makoto, her gaze 
> probing, her expression blank. "You are the same age as
> Usagi-chan?"
> 
> "I am fourteen, hai."
> 
> "And for two years you have sold your body to men?"
> 
> "Hai."

"Mind if I have a sample?"

"Hai."

I know, inappropriate.....

> "Hai." Usagi paused briefly. "Kino-san will shortly be
> forced to abandon her 
> current residence, and is possessed of reasonable domestic
> skills. The 
> notion occurred to me--"
> 
> "You want my husband and I to hire her as a live-in maid,"
> Hanako finished.
> 
> "Hai."

Sounds like a plan, but it may be problematic if Senshi business interferes.  OTOH, none of the others are living alone either.

> "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I had in mind ahead of
> time," Usagi said 
> as they rounded the corner a block from the Chiba
> residence. "I wasn't sure 
> how you'd react."
> 
> "Nah, it's cool. I'll admit I was surprised, but..." Makoto
> trailed off. 
> "You really think they'll go for it?"
> 
> The tea-haired girl shrugged. "I'm their son's iinazuke,
> and they already 
> know I don't much like the jerk. They'd probably agree to
> eat hot cat shit 
> if they thought it'd keep me content."

Smart girl.

> 
> Makoto stopped and stared at Usagi. "You are one sneaky,
> underhanded 
> little..."
> 
> "I'm getting that a lot lately," the shorter girl said,
> smiling.

That too.

> He also had to admit he was developing a grudging respect
> for Usagi herself. 
> His initial assessment of the girl as an empty-headed waste
> of space seemed 
> to have missed the mark by a few light years. Only someone
> fairly clever 
> would have dreamed up the scheme Usagi had laid on him.

I wonder how much more he will figure out?

> Shortly after noon, the Senshi all received an e-mail from
> Artemis.
> 
> We have a problem. Jadeite
> 
> is up to something at Tokyo
> 
> Tower. Gather at Ueno Park
> 
> at one tomorrow afternoon.
> 
> Luna will brief you.

And the main plot thickens.

> "Then it's settled," Takeshi stated with a nod of finality.
> "I have to 
> wonder, though," he added, scratching his chin, "what kind
> of sick bastards 
> would...with a twelve-year-old girl..."
> 
> "Paedophilia is a disturbingly widespread social disease in
> this nation, 
> Otousama," Mamoru pointed out.
> 
> "Well...yes, but..."
> 
> Hanako cleared her throat lightly. "Perhaps, when you meet
> Kino-san, you 
> will understand..."

The lolicons were not the core of her clientel, I can see that.

> Hanako nodded thoughtfully. "A bright and friendly persona
> hidden behind an 
> intimidating facade..."
> 
> The tall girl winced. "Pardon me, but that makes me sound
> like some 
> character out of a poorly-written drama."

Well no, plenty of well written dramas have that archetype on file.

> Makoto raised an eyebrow. "You mean lumber around looking
> like I'm waiting 
> for an excuse to take someone's head off?"
> 
> "Or something to that effect," Takeshi affirmed. "Certain
> financial and 
> political negotiations would be greatly assisted by passive
> intimidation."

A variant on the Ninja Maid idea (i.e. the blatantly scary muscle poorly disgused as domestic help)?

> At length, the Chiba patriarch nodded. "We'll give it a
> trial week. If we're 
> satisfied by the end of the trial period, we'll discuss a
> permanent hiring."

Here is hoping she does have her former job or current sideline following her....

> "Okaasan, I'm going out."
> 
> "Oh? That's unusual for you, on a Sunday. Where are you
> going?"
> 
> Ami paused. "I'm..." She grimaced. "Meeting a friend."
> 
> "A friend?" Sayoko exclaimed in a comically startled gasp.
> "Ami-chan, you're 
> actually making friends now?"

Serious loner here, but I wonder what Sayoko would think of these friends.

> The biometic lock on the safe was disabled; the safe itself
> had been torn 
> open, wires from the alarm system dangling feebly against
> the wall. A man in 
> a grey uniform with long, light brown hair in a ponytail
> held the Oasis 
> Lament in a gloved palm.
> 
> *Who the hell is THIS?! And why do I feel so uneasy...?*

I beleive the current idiom is "pwned".

> Five teenage girls had the good fortune to find a
> relatively quiet, 
> secluded, shaded corner of the park. As they converged and
> exchanged 
> greetings, they were soon joined by a small black cat, who
> curled up on the 
> grass and looked, to all appearances, to be napping.
> 
> This was, of course, far from the case. "We may have a
> serious problem," 
> Luna said without preamble.
> 
> "So we gathered," Mina said.

Otherdimensional invasions usually are....

> Luna glanced up lazily, brow furrowing. "Right now, the
> Dark Kingdom appears 
> to be preparing to invade Earth. If that's the case, then
> they'll need 
> energy--human energy, and a lot of it. Youma can't survive
> long outside the 
> shadows of the Dark Kingdom without it." She paused, tail
> twitching. "An 
> energy siphon...yes, that seems likely." She glanced up at
> the girls, then 
> pulled herself up on all fours. "Given the nature of Tokyo
> Tower, it's 
> possible they've constructed a device that will drain small
> increments of 
> energy from a large number of humans--little enough that
> nobody would 
> actually notice they were being drained, but with the sheer
> number of humans 
> here in Tokyo..."

At least it is not a new shop.

> 
> "They could build up a massive reserve of energy in a
> matter of days," Usagi 
> finished, frowning.
> 
> "There is another possibility," Ami said suddenly. As
> everyone looked at 
> her, she elaborated, "There may be no 'device'--our enemy
> may be attempting 
> to lure us into a trap."

Something to consider, especially as the Dark Kingdom knows what they are dealing with.

> Luna nodded. "If you can fly that high, and break the
> barrier, I can get in 
> close and examine the device, find out what exactly we're
> up against."
> 
> Usagi frowned. "Just the two of you, with no backup? I'm
> not sure..."

How are the rest of them at climbing?

> "That's interesting," Luna purred softly. "He must be after
> something--"
> 
> "He may believe, as the jewel thief Tuxedo Kamen apparently
> does, that the 
> Oasis Lament is the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou," Ami said.

Not anymore, but they have know way of knowing that.

> "For now, that is the situation," Luna concurred. "We must
> gather 
> information, and you must prepare for the inevitable
> confrontation. If luck 
> is on your side, you will have ample time to develop your
> powers so you can 
> face the Shitennou at full strength."
> 
> "I don't think I'd bet money on them giving us that kind of
> time," Makoto 
> said grimly.
> 
> "No, it's very unlikely," Luna agreed.
> 
> Usagi sighed. "Well...we'll just have to muddle through as
> best we can."

Or subject yourselves to extremely stressful trauma, but let's avoid that plan if possible.

HTG