[FFML] [fanfic][Sailormoon] Moonshadow chapter 19 (draft)

[Mythril Moth]

Previous chapters can be read at www.mythrilmoth.net.

C&C welcome.


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Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net

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The shadows of the uppermost struts of Tokyo Tower pulsed and warped, 
absorbing one large blob of darkness and disgorging another.

Beruche arched her feline spine, stretching her claws as she fully emerged 
into the foul brightness of the human world.

Karaberas had warned them that Cooan had been sniffing around near the 
Mobeus Driver. Lord Jadeite had left explicit instructions to contact him if 
the Senshi came within spitting distance of the concealed device.

Inwardly, she hoped the foolish traitor would return on her watch. She was 
aching to taste the black blood of her former broodsister.

She crouched low on an iron girder, fiery red eyes fixed on the concrete 
horizon.

Beside her, the device thrummed, the collected human life energy pulsing and 
strobing within its containment core.

*Let those fools come,* Beruche thought with a sly inward grin. *I'd love to 
see their faces when they discover Lord Jadeite's little surprise...*

=-------------=

Mythril Moth Presents

MOONSHADOW

Adapted from "Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon" by Takeuchi Naoko.

19: Red Shoe Sunday

=-------------=

Rei returned home from the park to find her grandfather speaking to a 
grim-faced, portly man in a brown suit with an outdated fedora. His face was 
square, his nose hooked; he had a small, stiff, stern mustache and sharp 
eyes. He had a notebook in hand, which he was consulting periodically. After 
a moment, the two men bowed to one another, and the large man turned to 
leave. He tipped his hat politely to Rei as he descended the steps, got into 
the car parked at the curb, and left.

Rei approached her grandfather cautiously. "Jijiue?" she prompted.

The elder priest smiled. "It's nothing important, Rei-chan," he insisted.

"That man..."

"A police inspector," her grandfather replied dismissively. "He was just 
delivering some news of no consequence."

"Jijiue...police inspectors rarely deliver news 'of no consequence'," Rei 
rebuked, arms folded.

The priest sighed. "No, I don't suppose they do. Or at least, not 
intentionally...ano yarou is dead. And good riddance."

Rei blinked. "Aritsuka?"

"Un. Like I said, good riddance."

"Sou ka." Rei paused, frowning. "How? Just out of curiosity."

"You know what sort of dogs he ran with," the old man shrugged. "He died 
exactly how I said he would." He smiled encouragingly. "Pay it no more heed, 
Rei-chan."

"Hai, Jijiue."

And, for the time being, she did exactly as told.

She had more pressing concerns. Any thoughts or feelings related to her 
father's death could wait until after she'd carried out her mission.

=-------------=

Cheap takeout food, Mamoru decided, had its good points, even when you were 
more than capable of affording finer fare on a daily basis.

He sat at the kitchen table in his apartment, eating a plain and somewhat 
greasy teriyaki burger and sipping a cola with too little ice. Spread out 
before him on his left was legitimate coursework; spread out on his right, 
leaflets about several gems which could potentially be the Maboroshi no 
Ginzuishou.

He sighed heavily as he swept a disparaging gaze across the latter. *No 
closer. Six months I've been at this, and I'm no damn closer. And now I'm 
not even the only one looking for the damn thing...what the hell have I 
gotten myself mixed up in?*

His eyelids were growing heavy; taking a last bite of his burger and 
draining the remainder of the cola in one gulp, he tossed everything left of 
his takeout dinner into the rubbish, swept the papers spread across the 
table into two piles, and lumbered off to the bedroom.

He knew the dreams were coming. Best to get them over with so he could 
actually *rest*...he had a busy night ahead.

=-------------=

When Makoto returned to her apartment, she noticed an unfamiliar car parked 
in the street. When she arrived at her floor, fumbling her keys out of her 
pocket, she saw Chiba Takeshi standing just outside her apartment door, 
several folded cardboard packing boxes leaning against the wall beside him. 
He nodded to her. "Kino-kun," he greeted.

"Chiba-sama? I wasn't expecting--"

The middle-aged man smiled. "Hanako and I discussed it after you left, and 
agreed that the best time to get you moved in would be this evening, because 
it's Sunday." He nodded to the packing boxes. "I doubt we can transfer all 
of your belongings in one evening, but we can definitely get the essentials 
in one trip."

Makoto blinked. "Eeh...hai." She flushed, and bowed. "I feel like I'm 
troubling you unexpectedly..."

"Nonsense," Takeshi chuckled. "Truthfully, my wife has taken an intense 
liking to you after only two meetings. Even though we're hiring you as a 
maid, I personally believe she misses having someone around to mother." He 
shrugged. "So if she takes on, please do not be embarassed. In any event, by 
the time we pack your things and drive back, your room should already be set 
up."

Makoto's eyes widened. "That soon?"

"I have a friend who owns a furniture store and owed me a favour," the Chiba 
patriarch said nonchalantly. "It'll be a fairly basic setup, but it should 
suit your needs."

The tall girl bowed once more, struck speechless. Numbly, she moved to open 
the door, collecting a packing box as she opened the apartment.

=-------------=

"I'm sorry we monopolised your entire Sunday, Masato-kun," Kamekona Sato 
said to the young, exotic man as the two men plus Kamekona's wife exited an 
upscale French restaurant. It was quite late in the evening; the streets 
were emptying out as people wandered home to sleep off the weekend before 
returning to the drudge of work.

Sanjouin Masato shook his head, long oily curls flouncing about behind him. 
"Not at all, shachou," he said smoothly. "I quite enjoy spending time with 
you. I am also pleased to see you are both in much improved spirits."

"Well, not having to worry about that cad from the gala anymore has taken a 
lot of strain off from both of us," Kamekona's wife said airily.

"Oh?" Masato raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps that is not something we should speak about," Kamekona hissed to 
his wife in a warning tone.

She blinked. "You're right, I..." She trailed off, then waved a hand 
dismissively. "It's Masato-kun, we can trust him."

"Mm."

The oily-haired playboy looked rather bemused. "Now I am *quite* curious," 
he said.

Kamekona coughed. "We were recently paid a visit by Sai--" he frowned. "She 
said she doesn't want to be called that, didn't she?"

"Hai. But then, she never did say WHAT we should call her, did she?"

"Sailor Moon?" Masato asked, both eyebrows raised.

"That's what the news media calls her. She seems to REALLY hate that name." 
Kamekona's wife giggled girlishly.

Kamekona himself coughed quietly, then continued, "She had a 
rather...unusual story to tell. That thief is apparently looking for 
something specific. It seems he's targeting rare gemstones that fit a 
certain description, but if they aren't the one he's looking for, he puts 
them back where they belong and doesn't bother with them again."

"He never got his hands on the real Oasis Lament," his wife added, "but we 
showed it to that strange girl, and she said it isn't the one he's after. 
She said if he does try to steal it again, we should just let him take it, 
because he'll know it isn't the right one and give it right back."

"That sounds...dubious," Masato commented.

"I agree, but she seemed absolutely convinced, and she mentioned he'd gone 
after the Platina Selen also, and when one of the other Senshi stopped him 
from taking it, he didn't try again. He knew it wasn't the one he wanted."

"So after her little visit, we were a little unnerved," Mrs. Kamekona picked 
up, "but after we thought about it, we decided to take relief in what she 
said. Something about her...just felt genuine, honest."

"Hmm." Masato's head tilted down, brow knitted in thought. "Well, I 
certainly hope your intuition about her is correct, and that her assertions 
concerning the safety of your treasure are on the mark." He glanced at his 
watch. "I have truly enjoyed my time with you today, but I must take my 
leave now. Tomorrow looks to be rather busy."

"Of course. Goodnight, Masato-kun."

"And to you as well."

=-------------=

Makoto sat in the spacious furo with Chiba Hanako, relaxing and letting the 
hot, lightly sulfured water ebb the tension and stress from her body.

"Fairly basic" had turned out to be a room nearly as big as her apartment, 
with a Western double bed, a large teak wardrobe, a maple desk and chair, 
and her own private water closet, as well as an alcove with a mini-fridge, a 
cupboard, and space for a microwave and hot plate. She had been positively 
overwhelmed, to the delight of her new employers.

And now, she was enjoying the most heavenly bath she had had in years.

"It's more like an onsen than a furo," she commented.

Hanako laughed. "We have one of those gadgets that adds sulfur and minerals 
to the water as it heats," she said. "Usually only the indoor resorts have 
those, but..."

She didn't need to finish the thought; over the past few hours, Makoto had 
become quite accustomed to the bare fact that the Chiba family was 
ridiculously wealthy. She sighed contentedly again, slipping further down 
into the water.

*Damn, but I'm gonna love working here.*

=-------------=

Two hours before midnight, Hino Rei met a small black cat in the shadows 
behind the bus stop nearest Hikawa. They nodded to one another; Rei silently 
transformed into Mars. Luna leapt up and perched lightly on her shoulder; 
suppressing a shudder, the Senshi of Fire beat her powerful raven wings and 
took to the sky, headed in the direction of the brightly glowing tower at 
the heart of the city.

"Exactly how are we to dispel whatever protections have been placed upon the 
hidden device?" Mars asked.

"It's your average glyph barrier," Luna replied. "You're a priestess, you 
know how to construct barriers. It shouldn't be too hard for you to figure 
out how to remove one."

"I am only familiar with Shinto wards and barriers," Mars pointed out.

"True, but it's the same basic principle. Besides, if all else fails, you 
can just pump fire into it until it runs out of power and collapses."

"Likely leaving me with very little stamina should the enemy appear to 
engage us," Mars pointed out, frowning.

Luna shrugged. "Incentive to figure out how to break it without brute 
force."

Three minutes later, they arrived at Tokyo Tower, and ascended to the roof 
level of the upper observation deck. Mars stopped, slow beats of her wings 
keeping the two of them aloft. Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I sense the barrier. 
And the evil within."

"Beruche," Luna hissed, ears flat.

"Your fellow youma?" Mars asked.

Luna nodded grimly. "She will need to be dealt with once the barrier is 
down," she added. "It would be unwise to land on the Tower itself until 
Beruche is removed."

"And there is no guarantee she will not call for backup," Mars added. "But 
first, the barrier." She hovered closer, eyes closed, stretching her 
spiritual senses to their limits. "You were correct," she announced a moment 
later. "I can indeed sense the power that sustains this barrier, and..."

Mars clasped her hands together, index fingers extended, and began to chant. 
As she did so, kanji formed from flames emerged from her fingertips, 
circling her.

"Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen."

Her violet eyes snapped open, and the circle of kanji locked in place.

"AKURYOU TAISAN!!"

The flaming kanji rushed forward, slamming into several points along the 
framework of Tokyo Tower with an incongruous wood-striking-wood sound. The 
sigils flared, revealing several inky black runes; the black runes warped, 
wavered, and burned to ash. The air shimmered, and with a loud, fizzling 
static sound, the barrier fell away--revealing a couple of things which most 
certainly did NOT belong on Tokyo Tower.

=-------------=

A black demon panther sat primly in front of what could only be described as 
a misshapen mess of rough, brown stones, cut into vaguely geometric shapes 
and pieced together like a demented pile of Tetris blocks. Thick ropes of 
black, tar-like slime connected the various stones, arcs of dark power 
crawling along them and into the structure. At the centre of the 
asymmetrical conglomeration was a rough cylinder formed from three hovering 
pieces of brown rock; the cylinder strobed and thrummed with bright, 
shimmering power.

"Welcome, Mars. Welcome, Cooan. Are you prepared to die?"

Wasting no words, Mars formed a longbow of flames, drawing back the 
crackling "string" as a blazing arrow formed. "FLAME SNIPER!" she shouted, 
launching the arrow. The youma dodged; the arrow scorched the tiles of the 
roof.

Luna launched herself from the Senshi's shoulder, erupting into her panther 
form as she landed on the Tower. With a snarl, she dove into a shadow, 
disappearing; a moment later, she emerged behind Beruche, slamming into her 
with the force of a linebacker. The other youma skidded in an ungainly 
sprawl, emitting a startled yowl.

"FLAME SNIPER!"

The second bolt struck Beruche square in the face; she hissed angrily. "You 
little--!!"

"FLAME SNIPER!"

The next bolt caught Beruche in the side, knocking her against the brown 
device. As she sprawled, Luna charged again, eyes blazing. Unable to regain 
her footing in time to guard, Beruche was sent sprawling, tumbling 
side-over-side toward the edge of the roof.

Mars swooped in close with a powerful flap of ebon wings. "FLAME...SNIPER!"

Beruche's eyes widened as she struggled to defend herself, but her footing 
was unsure; the scorching arrow nailed her in the throat, sending her flying 
over the edge. She yowled violently as she fell away into the dark night.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of," Luna muttered. She moved closer to 
the device, studying it, tail-tip twitching. "Hmm."

Mars landed noiselessly beside her. "The energy at the heart of this 
device--it is human life-force."

"Yes," Luna agreed, nodding. "It is as I suspected. This is a draining 
machine, designed to siphon human energy over a broad range."

"Then this device must be destroyed immediately," Mars concluded.

The panther shook her head. "We can't be sure what will happen if we try 
breaking it. I need to examine this thing thoroughly before we take further 
action."

Mars nodded, folding her arms. "Very well. Proceed."

=-------------=

A hissing, yowling fireball erupted from a patch of shadow. "Lord Jadeite," 
Beruche rumbled, "the Driver has been--"

Jadeite promptly vanished without so much as an acknowledgement.

=-------------=

Luna inspected the twisted, mismatched mess of jagged brown stone and ropy 
tendrils of dark slime, brow furrowed. "This...is bad," she rumbled.

"What is?" Mars asked, wings ruffling idly.

"This damn thing's rigged with a trap," Luna spat. "If we even TRY to shut 
it down..." She shook her head. "Serenity needs to know about this. 
Immediately."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," a male voice spoke.

Luna's fur bristled. "Lord Jadeite," she hissed, turning, wary fear in her 
crimson eyes.

"Cooan," the blond Shitennou said mildly. "And Mars, we meet again."

Mars' eyes narrowed dangerously, and a bolt of fire snapped into her hand, 
forming the shape of a sword.

"Mars..." Luna warned softly. "Serenity's orders..."

The flying Senshi stiffened, then nodded. "Right." Her flaming sword 
vanished abruptly. "Another time, lord of demons."

Jadeite raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear? Neither 
of you shall leave here alive." Abruptly, a crackling, hissing ball of dark 
energy formed in his hand, and before either could react, it slammed into 
Luna, sending her crashing into the superstructure of the Tower.

"Service to the enemy has weakened you, Cooan!" Jadeite called, preparing 
another blast. As he released it, Mars moved between him and the youma, 
erecting a shield of flames; she was pushed back half a metre by the impact 
of the dark energy, but her shield held.

Jadeite raised an eyebrow. "You defend that which you are bound by duty to 
destroy?"

"Her knowledge of you and your kind makes her a useful ally," Mars retorted, 
reforming her shield into a blazing longbow. "Until she has outlived that 
usefulness, she shall remain. FLAME SNIPER!"

"Too slow!" Jadeite responded, teleporting out of the path of the fiery 
arrow. He launched another dark blast at Mars; she reformed her bow into a 
sword and parried it, sending it careening off into the night.

"Luna! Escape!" Mars called.

"Take care not to die," the panther responded, slinking into the shadows and 
vanishing.

"And now you have decreased your numbers. A tactical error."

"Quite the contrary," Mars replied. "She is incapable of flight, and thus 
would have been a liability." The flying Senshi darted out of the path of 
yet another dark blast, returning fire with a flaming arrow. Once more, 
Jadeite teleported away, reappearing two metres in front of her and charging 
with a smokey crystal epee. Mars ducked awkwardly, reforming her fiery sword 
in time to parry the followup attack. She lunged under Jadeite's guard, 
kicking him in the stomach, then disengaged with a furious beat of her 
wings, flinging herself several metres backward. Two more Flame Snipers 
forced Jadeite to dodge hastily; he recovered in time to teleport away from 
the third shot, appearing behind Mars and nailing her in the back with a 
solid strike. The flying Senshi let out a pained shriek and began to fall.

Jadeite smirked. "And now, to end this..."

=-------------=