Sailor Moon
Seven Knights
*************
Part 1: "If wishes were hedgehogs"
Written by Strike Fiss
Ninja Crowbotics, 1999
"Every being on earth has an energy. Every plant has a light.
Every river and rock has power.
"A power so strong, that even ice can not extinguish it's flame.
Every family together...every thousand year smile...every kiss and
embrace frozen in time, all added up.
"And now, it is time to awaken that light."
Frozen in a praying crouch, Sailor Moon lay dormant in the ice.
Thick, silvery gray crystal had enveloped her. A layer of dirt and
dust covered the landscape
In her hands was a tiny ball of light. So bright, it was like a
little star. Light, bright enough to melt pure evil...powerful enough
to instill life to an entire world...and awesome enough to humble
anyone gazing upon it.
It grew. Took life. Expanded and extended beyond the frozen
clutches of Sailor Moon's body. Fueled by the hearts and minds of
every living thing on the planet, it raced outward. On the wings of a
dream one thousand years old.
And once again, the ice melted.
The wave of power shot out in a circle around Sailor Moon,
devouring the cold at amazing speeds. The ring of light shot out over
the horizon, hugging it like a loving parent. Traveling at the speed
of thought, the wave of light had warped around the entire earth in a
matter of seconds.
Across the globe, six billion people glanced upwards at the same
moment. A pulse of energy sweeping through everyone's hearts.
Neo Queen Serenity had arrived.
Somewhere on the other side of the earth, far from Sailor Moon,
two cats and a hedgehog looked up into the crystal clear blue sky. The
white-furred feline smiled and turned to his friends.
"Well?"
The black-furred cat sighed deeply, mumbling curses as she
reached under the fur of her side with her mouth and produced a crisp,
brand-new 5000 yen bill.
The hedgehog sighed and with a little flash of blue light, he had
a similar bill in his mouth.
Artemis swiped the money out of their mouths with his paw and
grinned. "Told ya we'd win."
Chapter 1
A pair of silver blue eyes were the first thing she saw. Her
hand came up and gently brushed a strand of hair out of his vision.
"Hi." She whispered.
He smiled back. Chris and Rei parted briefly as he spun around,
looking at the sky. "Ohhh YEAH!" he yelled, then preceded to gyrate
his hips and do a little football-touchdown dance.
Rei raised her eyebrows and sighed. "Happy?"
Chris spun and nodded, locking his gaze onto hers. "I was just
thinking of something."
"Oh?" she laughed. "Don't tell me you want to get a slush after
all that ice. I'm not buying."
"Not even one of those Strawberry-Suck-ies?" Chris begged.
"You're no fun."
She just shook her head and slid her arms around his waist again.
"So?"
"So what?"
She grinned. "What were you thinking about?"
Chris blinked. "Pardon?"
"What were you thinking about while you were in the ice?" she
pressed.
"What were YOU thinking about?" Chris replied.
She shrugged. "I was thinking how wonderful it was going to be
to be sharing a thousand-year-long kiss with the man I love." She
whispered happily against his chest.
"Oh." Chris coughed. "Then you don't want to know what I was
thinking about."
She frowned and held his head on either side with her hands.
"Tell me."
Chris sighed. "You don't want to know."
Her eyes did the growling for her. "Tell me."
"Mickey the fox." Chris said simply.
Rei blinked. "Pardon?"
"There's this little fox on 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights...'" he
continued "and the good guys need to get the word to the townspeople
for the big fight scene at the end, right?"
Rei just nodded. "Yeah???"
"And anyway, they tie the message to the fox, and the guy says
'Are you ready?' and the fox squeaks at him." Chris grinned. "And so
this fox takes off across the field making dolphin noises." He laughed.
"Dolphin noises?"
"Exactly."
There was a long silence between the two. "You spent one
thousand years in my arms thinking about a fox who sounds like
Flipper?"
"One of the funniest things I've seen in my life." Chris laughed.
"Told you...You wouldn't want to hear it."
Rei's eyes narrowed as she smiled. "Bullshit."
"Fine...you were in there somewhere too." He smiled, dipping
slightly to kiss her.
"Good." She grinned
They looked out over the city of Calgary. Dust seemed to have
settled across the land. It almost looked tired. Worn. Chris
motioned slightly with his chin. "There's a whole world out there that
has no idea what just happened."
She shook her head lightly. "The world's still here." She said.
"That's what counts."
Chris ran his hand along her shoulder. "Come on." He smiled. "I
think I can get Nacho started now that the ice isn't crawling up my
ass."
"Down there?" Rei blinked, looking down the slope Chris had just
climbed. "You're kidding...in my skirt?"
He touched her lips with his finger. "We just fly."
Rei was caught off guard as he grabbed her into his arms and held
tight. "What are you doing?" she giggled.
"Flying." He said, then jumped.
His shoes hit the fresh winter snow, never stopping. Down the
hill they slid, as sure as solid ground.
Serena looked down at the tiny crystal in her hands. "Thank
you." She whispered.
A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder. "You did it, Sailor
Moon."
She turned to see Tuxedo Mask grinning back at her. He leaned
forward and they kissed, to the resounding cheer of the rest of the
street. They looked up from each other like they were waking up from a
long dream.
Traffic had halted around them. A crowd of at least three
hundred people in a circle around their saviors. "Oh my god..." Serena
giggled, tears of joy running down her face. "We made it!" she stood,
taking a leap at Darien. "WE DID IT!" she laughed as he caught her and
spun around.
"I hope you don't think I'm acting too fast..." Darien smiled.
"But I think we should get married before anything else happens."
Serena was already nodding, and would have been saying "yes" if
she wasn't busy kissing him. Finally, after she needed to come up for
breath, hands cupping his face, not wanting to let go, she managed
"Promise me?"
He grinned and reached into his pocket. A few seconds later, he
came out with a small velvet box. Serena almost dropped the Silver
Crystal, she was so nervous. He cupped her hand first. "Better not
drop that." He chuckled. "We might need it incase the Negaverse
interrupts our wedding."
She quickly returned the crystal to her chest. It shimmered
briefly, and the shine of a golden locket covered it. "Better hurry."
She smiled.
"Very well..." Darien stood suddenly. With a flourish, his cape
was swept back dramatically, and he knelt down in front of her.
"Sailor Moon," he smiled "Princess Serena, Princess Serenity...or just
plain, lovable Serena...it doesn't matter." He cleared his throat and
opened the case to reveal a rather exquisite engagement ring. "Will
you do me the honor of being my wife?"
"Of COURSE!" Serena giggled, lunging forward to kiss him.
Instead, however, she tripped on her pig-tail and landed in his arms.
"Here." He laughed, taking her hand and sliding the ring on it
before anything else happened. "I love you, meatball-head." He said.
"I love you too, cupcake." She smiled back.
"ALL HAIL!" Lita yelled suddenly from the side-walk. "PRINCE
CUPCAKE AND PRINCESS MEATBALL-HEAD!"
Ami was besides her and laughed. "And may their children have
equally edible names."
The crowd gave out a resounding, laughing cheer.
Lita gave Ami a big hug, lifting the shorter Senshi off her feet
and spinning around once. Ami was more than happy to hug back. "This
looks like the start of a nice, long, peaceful break." Lita said.
"Let's hope so." Ami agreed. "Now, let's go find everyone.
There's going to be a lot of confused people out there."
"Awwww," Sailor Jupiter smiled. "Let them have a few minutes."
Chapter 2
That night, just before we all went to sleep, I looked over what
I had said in my laptop.
Never did delete it. I wanted to keep it as a kind of a trophy.
A badge that said I had survived the apocalypse, so to speak. Maybe I
kept it around to impress people like someone would a trophy. I doubt
that though; too many emotions went into that file than I'd like to
admit.
Or share.
Rei asked me what I had been writing on my computer. I shrugged
it off, saying I was giving another attempt at some REAL poetry.
Promised I'd read it to her later.
On hindsight, I shouldn't have done that. My writing hasn't
gotten much better from grade-school. Oh, I can plop together essays
about things to impress the teachers, but when it comes to pure,
imagination driven works, I lack severally.
Mmm. A thousand years might be able to help. By then they
should have a spell-checker that can keep up to me. Heh.
For now, however, the file is encrypted up the yin-yang and
hidden in it's own special directory tucked in the recesses of my lap-
top's crystallized memory unity.
He put the tiny computer down and entered the shower, turning on
both knobs. The hot, he turned on a full two seconds early, then the
cold, he cranked up to about half-way. When the water in the pipes
finally hit and mixed, spraying out of the shower head, it was a
perfect warm temperature.
Chris stood leaning into the wall of the shower with his hand,
letting the needle-sharp rivets of water wash over his head. His eye
still hurt, but his trusty laptop said it was fine. Probably just a
sliver from his sunglasses. It would work it's way out eventually, or
his body would get used to it and assimilate the glass.
The water felt so good. A blanket of mist was all he could see
under his wet bangs. He looked over to his arm, noticing the scar he
had received from Yuri's throwing star over one thousand and two years
ago.
His first taste of immortality. One thousand years was nothing.
It didn't matter if you were caught in ice, or fighting a war. One
thousand years was a small chunk of existence; in the same way one
minute could be a lifetime.
Slowly, he washed his hair and gave himself a once-over with the
shower to make sure all the crud from climbing that hill had been
washed off. Sleep would take care of the rest.
Thoughts whizzed by his mind, however. He was too excited to
sleep. Too restless. He knew sleep would not come until at least 3 am
or so. Before 5 am if he could prevent falling into a good book.
He still had a pile of Terry Goodkind to go through. He winced.
No sleep for him tonight.
Rei had already washed up and had fallen asleep in one of Chris'
overstuffed chairs. Miharu was nestled up against her side. The
apartment was still. Chris padded past them on the balls of his feet,
careful to avoid the little squeaky floor spots he had subconsciously
mapped out in his head during the year.
His bed looked inviting, so he propped up some pillows and opened
his laptop. After the password and security scan, he noticed a tiny
icon flashing brightly at the bottom of the screen.
Nine thousand e-mails. He winced. "StrikeFiss" in his e-mail
account was probably a bad idea. "Okay, ignore e-mail for now..." he
whispered.
The computer replied by stuffing the messages into a waiting
directory. No sooner had he done that then the "you have mail" icon
began to blink again.
"Bork..." he ordered to his computer. "File any message from an
unknown e-mail account into the waiting folder. From now on." He
sighed. "Delete any identical or ninety percent identical mail."
The icon stopped blinking. Thank god. Keeping his identity a
secret was seeming more and more like a good idea.
"What day is it?" he asked suddenly.
"Calculating..." the computer mentioned briefly. At least it
wasn't fooled by the ice-time. "January third, year three-thousand.
Time is eleven-fifteen and forty-nine seconds, Mountain Standard Time."
"Shit. I suppose I missed the Smashing Pumpkin's repeat
performance at the White-House?"
"Correct. Sorry." The computer replied.
"It's okay." He nodded. "Hey, did you solve the RC5 code yet?"
"Yes."
Chris' major source of income was the hacking of contests.
Rather, the winning of hacking contests. His computer was able to chew
through impossible codes in matters of minutes, instead of decades.
The contests usually fetched in a couple thousand dollars.
"Good. Send it in. I wouldn't mind a few extra grand. Need to
fix Nacho, you know." He smiled. "Plus it's going to confuse the hell
out of all the hackers out there. Those codes take forever to break."
He could still taste the adrenaline rush from the day he hit the
Elder. Bastard; dented Nacho. But all was not lost. Maury knew an
excellent mechanic in the city, and Nacho would be better than new by
the end of the week.
His brain checked that off his list.
His mom and dad had been calling desperately throughout the day,
and were both okay. One of their dogs had lost her tail to the ice
(because it had been wagging so fast) but otherwise, everyone survived.
The ice was much quicker and less destructive this time.
Check.
Next: Rei and Miharu. They were happy and healthy. He would
make sure they spent a day together as a family before any of them
thought about returning to Tokyo. They needed time together. Beavis
would be able to transport the cats back to Tokyo if Sailor Moon was
running into trouble.
Check.
The Sailor Scouts. A meeting would be in order. For now,
though, everyone knew everyone else was alive and well. They would
have more than enough opportunity to discuss the horrors of the last
millennium later.
Check.
Dana. He would at least have to give her a call. Make sure she
survived. Joey too. He also decided that it would be a good idea just
to challenge the final exams a month early and get school out of the
way. His old life needed to be wrapped up until he was certain the
earth had no dire need for his services.
It was early. He could do that now. After leaving an e-mail on
the university's computer, he picked up the phone. He stopped. No.
He had a better idea.
Beavis woke as Chris grabbed his keys and slid into his trench
coat. "Going somewhere?" he yawned.
"Come on." Chris smiled. "You can come with me. Make sure I
don't embarrass myself like last time."
"Dana?" Beavis sighed.
"Coming?" he persisted, opening the door.
The hedgehog nodded and jumped, flying into the air with aide of
his powers, and landed on Chris' shoulder. "Onward, my intrepid
Senshi!"
"Don't ever say 'Intrepid'." Chris demanded. "Those cars are a
cheep knock-off of my Nacho."
Beavis just laughed as they walked down to the car.
Chapter 3
Dana took a deep breath when she saw Chris standing on the other
side of the door. "About time." She smiled, opening it.
"You know how it is." Chris shrugged. "Have to save the world
and all your dinner plans go to shit."
Beavis bowed from his shoulder. "Good evening, Dana. May we
come in?"
She let the two inside, closing the door. "So, what are the
damages?" Chris asked. "I've been out of the loop for a while."
"Damages?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "Does the whole world know by now?"
Dana offered him a seat and walked over to the kitchen to fix up
some tea. "No, it's not that bad. I think a few tribes in the
rainforest have yet to be informed about your identities." She said,
understanding his worry.
"Shit." He nodded. "Did you know I'm getting about three e-mails
a second now? Some brainiac figured out the strike fiss part of my e-
mail." He sighed. "Hell, it was probably Joey. I really need to have
a talk with that kid."
"So how was that final battle thing you were talking about?" she
asked, handing him a mug before sitting down across from him on her own
chair.
Beavis smiled. "Well, Chris, and nearly every other Sailor Scout
got their chests ripped open rather violently."
Her face paled.
"Beavis, that's hardly acceptable light conversation." Chris
turned to Dana again. "It really didn't hurt that much." Chris sighed.
"Sounds a lot worse than it was."
"Uh...that's good." She shook it off and had a sip of tea.
"How did Eric handle the ice?" Chris asked.
"He got through it okay." She smiled happily. "I hear there were
only a dozen or so deaths this time."
"A dozen or so too many."
"It could have been worse." She retorted.
"You're right." He admitted.
They were quiet for a long time after that. "What are you going
to do now?" Dana asked.
"I'm not sure." Chris sighed. "I'm a bit lost." He ran his hand
through his hair. "We can't go back, and I'm not sure what's forward."
"You want my advice?" Dana smiled.
"Please."
She took a sip from her cup and set it down on the coffee table.
"Don't do anything."
"Pardon?" Chris coughed. His eyebrows reaching his hairline.
Dana let out a smile that was half amusement. "Don't do
anything. One thing I've noticed about you and the rest of the Sailor
Scouts is that things come to you." She shook her head. "Weather you
want it or not."
"Good call."
"How's Miharu?" she asked after a few heartbeats.
"Good...but I almost had to pry her off of me to have a shower
this evening. Luckily she was asleep when I got out." Chris said.
"She knew what was happening. She knew that I had died, and Rei had
died too." He closed his eyes. "That can't be good for a kid's mental
health."
Dana nodded. "At least your both back. She'll realize that's
what is really important."
"Mmmm. Hope so."
Beavis, who had been rather quiet for the night, decided to speak
up. "Chris, it's already one. We should get Dana get some sleep."
"Oh...shit..." he nodded, standing. "Sorry about that."
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I've got a pretty
boring day planned anyway." She smiled.
He retrieved Beavis from the seat and walked over to his coat and
shoes. "I'm going to try and spend the week with my family." If I
can, he thought. "But you're welcome to call anytime." He paused. "Do
NOT send me an e-mail."
Dana nodded. "Got it. I have your laptop's number."
"Goodnight, m'dear." Beavis said, bowing slightly.
"You're a sweetheart, Beavis." Dana laughed, letting him lick her
hand. "See you."
Chris and Beavis left finally, walking out into the night. There
was no snow...just perfectly clear sky. The stars hovered above like
the proverbial diamonds they were sometimes called in song.
They were different, though.
Slight differences. Constellations didn't quite look right, or
the milky way seemed brighter or dimmer or something.
"Everything changes, Strike Fiss." Beavis sighed. "That's the
first thing you're going to have to accept."
"I know all that, Beavis." He replied. "I just wish I knew what
it changed in to."
Dana closed her eyes. "Satisfied?"
"Yes." Came the simple reply behind her. "We won't be needing
you any more."
She turned around, but saw no one. "If you kill him, so help
me..."
"Shhhh." A small chuckle filled the darkened house. "It is not
your concern.
"Who are you?" she demanded, anger rising in her voice.
A long pause. "Let's just say we're a very patriotic group of
individuals." There was just enough silence to account for a smile.
"Goodnight, Dana. Sleep well."
There were the sounds of footsteps, then a window opening in one
of the bedrooms. She ran to Eric's room to make sure he was okay.
Sure enough, he was sleeping soundly.
"Oh god...what have I done?
Chapter 4
The roads were slick with ice. Even without the snow. Beavis
reasoned that because of the Elders, most of the moisture in the
atmosphere had hit the ground, and it would take another week before
the world saw a drop of rain or flake of snow again.
"Chances are that the bigger cities like New York look a lot
dirtier now." Beavis mused. "All the smog condensed onto the
buildings."
"But I bet the air is clean." Chris smiled as he navigated the
car around a tanker truck. "Hopefully it's the second chance all the
environmentalists were waiting for."
Beavis nodded. "Chris...did Dana seem a little weird to you back
there?"
"Not really." He replied. "Why? Did your hedgehog-sense pick up
anything?" he smiled.
"Oh. First it's Sean Connery. Now it's Spider Man. Will you
make up your mind?"
"Sorry."
"Better." Beavis cleared his throat. "Anyway, something was up.
I don't know what..." he sighed. "But I could have sworn I heard
someone else."
Chris blinked and blushed slightly. "Y...you don't think that
I...we...interrupted anything, do you?"
Beavis thought about that for a moment. "Well, it was late, and
we did appear unannounced." He nodded. "We'd better apologize in the
morning."
"Yeah." Chris yawned. "Man, I got to stop thinking everyone
lives on my biological clock."
"What clock?" Beavis smiled.
"Well, normally I'm wide awake until about four a.m.." Chris
said, trying to hide another yawn. "Give or take half an hour."
Beavis saw Chris' eyelids droop ever so slightly. "Chris??"
Chris didn't respond. He nodded slightly to himself. "Woah..."
"Chris? Are you okay to drive?" Beavis asked with a lot more
urgency.
"Yeah, Beav...I'm good..." Chris mumbled, his eyes dropping
another notch to half way.
Beavis looked out over the dash board and noticed they were
coming to the turnoff. "Uh...Chris?" they weren't slowing down.
"CHRIS?!?"
Chris' eyes were now completely closed, and he was nodding
softly. "Just a second..."
The lane was ending in a few hundred meters. A steep concrete
lane divider was approaching fast. "STRIKE FISS! BREAK NOW!!!"
Chris just kept nodding. Beavis gasped, and jumped for the
floor. He located the emergency break, hovered for a split
second...then flew at it. A series of ratcheting clicks filled the car
as the breaks engaged and desperately tried to slow Nacho down.
"SHIT!" Chris gasped, finally out of his daze. He tried to turn
the car, but it was sliding straight. Instinct took over, and he
disengaged the emergency break, popped the stick into reverse, and
turned away from the lane divider as he gunned the engine.
Nacho's front spun around just as they were about to hit. The
car 360'ed into the other lane, finally coming to a stop a good ten
seconds later. Beavis rebounded off the side of the door and back into
his own seat.
A full three seconds passed before anyone moved. Chris hurriedly
put Nacho into park, opened up the door, and fell out onto the ice and
pavement. Beavis cringed as he heard his Senshi start to vomit. "My
god..." he sighed to himself. "Doesn't seem like a bad idea,
actually..." he sighed, glad he hadn't eaten anything that night.
Chris lay on the cold icy pavement, catching his breath. Every
inch of his brain was screaming in pain. The next thing he saw was
Beavis, walking up to him on the snow. "Are you okay, Strike Fiss?"
"Fuck no." he whispered hoarsely.
Beavis looked around. Nacho had landed in the middle of the
road. No traffic. They had been lucky. Very lucky. "Nice recovery."
Beavis grinned.
"Scared the shit out of me." Chris coughed. "What the hell just
happened?"
"I don't know." Beavis admitted. "Perhaps Dana's tea didn't
agree with your stomach."
"That's some fucking argument." He paused. "Ugh. I can barely
move."
Beavis frowned, looking Chris over. "Just a second, I'll help
you up." He began to glow. A light force began to help Chris up.
He managed to get to his knees. "Okay, enough...I'm good..."
Chris sighed, trying to catch his breath. "Holy shit..."
"You could just be exhausted from the ice." Beavis said.
"Chances are you're the only sane human being who hasn't gotten a good
night's sleep since it happened."
"I could argue about the sane part." He smiled.
"True enough."
Their conversation was interrupted by an explosion of glass.
Chris' open driver's side door had a hole in the window about the size
of a...
"GUN!" Chris gasped. "Get down!" he dove, taking Beavis in his
hands as he skidded across another lane of highway and up against
another lane divider.
With Nacho out of the way, they saw the source. The first
thought that came into Chris' head was S.W.A.T. team. Whoever it was
dressed in black. All black. Torso buffed out by a kevlar vest;
covered by another layer of thick jacket. A kind of night-vision/gas
mask covered the face and head. In the man's (Or woman's...it was hard
to tell) hand, he had a gun that Chris had never seen before.
It was a handgun, but the barrel seemed to have telescoped out to
rifle length. Something at the back of his mind told him it would have
made a damn nice sniper weapon.
That was the same thing at the back of his mind telling him to
get the hell out of there.
"I hate guns..." Chris whispered to himself, unable to move. His
limbs felt bolted to the ground. It didn't take a degree in biology to
know he was going into some kind of toxic shock.
Beavis managed to poke his head out of Chris' fist and sized up
the situation with one word. "RUN!"
The person approaching him leveled the strange hand gun at Chris'
location and fired another shot. It was so quiet that the only sound
Chris heard was his own yell as the pain rocketed through his side.
It was just enough to let him kick himself back into motion,
though, and he stumbled to his feet. With a kind of running dive, he
hit the lane divider and rolled over the top to safety.
Or so he thought, just before the drop.
The ground was a good four meters below, and he hit hard. Blood
rushed into his mouth along with the taste of whatever kind of poison
was kicking the shit out of him. "Fuc-d" he spat out a mouth full.
Beavis had already burrowed into Chris' trench coat and pulled
out his transformation disk. "Strike Fiss! You have to transform
NOW!"
"I can barely stand, Beavis..." he gasped. "I'm not going to be
able to hold my sword any better."
"Just do what you did with Tumbler!" Beavis demanded, looking
above to the highway. Whoever it was that was after them still hadn't
arrived yet.
"Get killed?" Chris coughed. "Sure. Sounds like a plan."
Their conversation was cut short by two more silent bullets
impacting against the pavement by Chris' head.
With his fingers shaking, he held out the disk and aimed it at
the attacker. Another round left the gun just as he activated the
disk. "F-" CRACK!
The bullet rebounded and hit the assassin square in the chest,
throwing him back a few feet. "Beavis! Get away from me!" Chris
demanded.
Beavis did as told and bounded off. "What are you doing?" he
called back. The poor Senshi could barely lift himself, let alone a
blade right now.
"Strike Fiss!" Chris said weakly, throwing his disk in the air.
He transformed into his fighting attire, but nearly collapsed when the
weight of his sword was in his hands. One chance in a million to save
his ass.
It was all that he needed, though. A circle of blue light
flickered into existence around him as the killer regained his footing
and jumped over the divider...The bullet-proof vest the only thing
damaged on his body.
The light had picked up power now. Chris was surrounded by a
weak, but visible beam of energy. The attacker raised his gun and
fired. Again and again.
A total of twenty quick shots impacted against the light, but
none made it through to touch Chris. Each vaporized into a tiny spark.
The assassin took a step or two back, uncertain of what to do.
Finally, with a muffled swear that Beavis couldn't quite make
out, the man ran off down the side of the highway, disappearing into
the calm night air.
The light around Chris flickered off and he dropped to the snow,
dead still.
Chapter 5
Rei never ran so fast in her life. Even Miharu, who everyone
agreed was one of the quickest fighters around, could barely keep up to
her. "Where IS HE!?!" she demanded, grabbing the nearest doctor by the
coat and shaking him.
The man was terrified, uncertain what to say. Miharu caught up
and explained. "Chris Stover! Strike Fiss, you know!"
"Oh! Geeze, you scared the living daylights..." the doctor
sighed as Rei released her grip. "Room three oh two." He pointed down
the hall. "Take that elevator."
Rei was already down the hall, pressing the 'up' button. Miharu
bowed quickly to the doctor and ran off to join her.
They had gotten the call in the morning. Andrea sounded
horrible. "There was some kind of an accident. They found him
transformed. Beavis is with him, but is too busy explaining to the
doctors what's going on."
She cringed. "I hate hospitals."
Miharu looked up to Rei and remembered a similar situation in
another hospital. "He'll be okay." She said hopefully. "If it was an
accident, Nacho's a safe car."
It seemed a bad idea to mention it had already been in a crash
and lost it's air-bag ability and much of it's structural integrity.
The floor finally hit three and Rei almost ripped the metal doors
off their slides in an effort to get out. Nine police officers met
them at the hall. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. You're going to have to..."
Rei had no time for this, and threw one of them aside with a
flip. "I'm Sailor Mars! Get out of my WAY!" she rumbled, flying past
them unchallenged.
Miharu smiled timidly and followed.
They finally found the room and stopped. Rei took a deep breath
to calm herself, and went inside.
Andrea, Demeter, Maury, and two older people Rei had never seen
before, were sitting by the bed. Chris' eyes opened and he smiled.
"Rei. Nice of you to make it." He whispered.
She almost smothered him with a hug. "What happened? I've been
worried half to death!" she whispered in his ear, desperately trying to
keep her emotions tied up.
Beavis was at his head, on the pillow next to Chris. "We're not
sure yet." He sighed. "There was some kind of poison that nobody here
has seen before. Chris was lucky, though. He vomited most of it out
earlier, and the doctors were able to pump his stomach for the
remains."
Chris' right arm flexed slightly as he looked toward a needle in
his vein. "Plus the I.V. is feeling pretty groovy right now." He
smiled goofily.
"He was shot." Maury said finally. "The bullet slammed right
through him. Almost punctured his spleen."
"Heh. Spleen." Chris giggled.
"He'll be fine, though." Andrea reassured Rei.
"You're Rei?" someone said.
Rei looked up to see who she now recognized as Chris' parents.
"Oh, jeez...I'm sorry..." she stood, holding out her hand.
"Uhm...Sandra...and..."
"Tom." His dad smiled happily, shaking her hand. "I wish we
didn't have to meet under these circumstances, but it's a pleasure."
Rei blushed slightly. Chris just smiled and nodded. "Don't
worry. They know about everything. Scouts, Miharu and all. Told them
a while ago."
Miharu popped her head around from behind Rei. "Miharu, I would
like you to meet Tom and Sandra." Rei said, suddenly smiling. "I guess
they would be your new grandparents."
The girl just smiled, not really knowing what to say.
"Uh...hi...?"
Chris smiled. "Mom, dad...this is Miharu."
Both Chris and Andrea watched their parent's faces light up.
"My...you look so much prettier in person." Their mom said, walking
over to Miharu and kneeling down. She smiled. "I bet you have boys
lined up down the street trying to date you."
Chris coughed. "Oh no. She's not dating until she's thirty
seven."
Rei laughed softly. "At least."
Maury stood silently. "We better let you get some rest, Fissy."
He patted him on the shoulder.
Chris nodded weakly and smiled. "Thanks, bro."
"Don't enjoy that I.V. too much." He winked.
Andrea stood. "We'll be back at your apartment.
Rei waited till most of them were hovering near the door. "Do
you want me to go to?" she whispered.
"No." he sighed. "unless you need to be somewhere..."
"Like where?" she smiled.
Miharu nodded. "I'm staying too." She said in her determined,
stubborn samurai voice.
"Okay." Chris nodded. "I promised I'd spend the week with
you...and I will." He shrugged. "Just not vertically."
Maury walked ahead of everyone. "He was attacked. Deliberately.
You don't just get poisoned, ran off the road and shot on the same day
at random."
"Good work, Holmes." Andrea said dryly.
"Maury hardly looks like Sherlock Holmes." Demeter pointed out,
not quite getting the reference.
"Thank you." Maury just smiled.
Andrea ignored the two and turned to her parents. "We're going
to stay around here. Make sure whoever tried to kill Chris doesn't
come back." Both had looks of extreme worry on their faces. Andrea
caught them before they could say anything. "We've been through this
before, Mom, Dad." She sighed. "It's what we do. Nothing's going to
change that."
"I know." Sandra sighed, giving her daughter a tight hug. "Just
be careful."
"We all will, mom." Andrea said, hugging back.
Tom gave Andrea another hug before turning to Maury. "You keep
out of trouble too, okay?"
Maury nodded. "Only if Trouble gives up first."
Beavis had also stayed in the room. Rei turned to him. "What
happened, Beavis. Details."
Miharu sat on good side, squeezing his hand. "How did you get
off the road?"
Chris shook his head. "I don't remember. I blacked out for a
moment and the next thing I know, we were heading towards a cement
block." He sighed. "Popped it in reverse and managed to spin away from
it. Beavis tried his hand at driving a little as well."
The hedgehog smiled. "I did rather good for a small animal with
no drivers license."
"Yes." Chris agreed. "We're not dead. I say that's pretty
good."
"What about the poison?" Rei continued.
"That's what's the weirdest part." Beavis admitted. "I was with
Chris the whole night. We only stopped at a friend's house for tea,
and were on our way."
"I never even had any Jolt." Chris said.
"A friend did this to you?" Rei growled. "Who. I want his
name."
"Dana may be a thief...but she isn't a biochemist." Chris
grumbled. "Even if she wanted to poison me, it would have to be with
something a little less exotic."
Rei's eyebrows raised slightly. "Dana?"
Miharu swallowed hard. Rei noticed, and turned to the girl.
"Who the hell is Dana??"
"She helped me and Miharu out of a jam." Chris interrupted.
Rei returned her icy glare to him. "What kind of 'jam'?"
"Oh, you know how it is." Chris said lightly. "Boy takes
Daughter on vacation. Daughter gets kidnapped by Old Millionaire. Old
Millionaire forces Boy to steal multi-million-dollar Necklace. Old
Millionaire tells Boy to steal the Hope Diamond. Boy meets Girl on
flight to D.C.. Girl tries to steal Nacho. Boy kicks Girl's ass, but
realizes Girl might be the help he needs. Boy and Girl get fancy
clothes. Boy kicks the shit out of Girl's Ex. Boy and Girl hide in
the Smithsonian's air ducts. Boy drops from roof, blows up Hope
Diamond Display. Boy steals Hope Diamond. Boy and Girl make escape.
Old Millionaire happy Boy stole the Hope Diamond, but needs a Laser
from New York. Boy and Girl swipe the laser and meet the Old
Millionaire in Niagara Falls. Old Millionaire takes Hope Diamond and
turns into Black Fire-Breathing Dragon. The above mentioned Black
Fire-Breathing Dragon tries to kill Boy, Daughter and Girl. Boy and
Daughter fight but Black Fire-Breathing Dragon is a Mean Old Bitch.
Girl drives Nacho with Boy on front. Boy spears Black Fire-Breathing
Dragon with sword after launching off of Nacho. Black Fire-Breathing
Dragon explodes. Black Fire-Breathing Dragon's not dead yet, though,
because Black Fire-Breathing Dragon is a Mean Old Bitch. Spooky. So
Girl shatters Hope Diamond with Daughter's sword, and Black Fire-
Breathing Dragon is dead. World is safe. Boy gets Daughter back, Boy
returns to loving, stunningly beautiful fianc‚, who if she ever found
out about this would simply forgive Boy and Daughter and be happy they
were alive."
Rei's jaw had dropped long ago.
Chris smiled. "That's what I mean when I say 'jam.'"
Miharu wasn't sure weather to be laughing or scared of Rei's
reaction. Beavis cleared his throat. "To make a short story even
shorter, Rei, everyone's okay, and Chris made a new friend who helped
him save your daughter."
"We." Rei growled, looking into Chris' eyes. "Will. Talk.
About. This. Later." She said each word through clenched teeth.
Beavis smiled, then returned to a more serious face. "But
seriously, Rei. From what I know of Dana...she is hardly capable of
poisoning Chris like that, let alone the fact that she owes him a new
start on life."
"Fine." Rei mumbled. "So who did it, then?"
"I did."
They all turned to the door to see Dana standing there. Rei
stood, realizing who it was instantly. "WHAT?"
"I'm so sorry..." she whispered. "I didn't have a choice."
In her hand was a tiny counterpart. She led Eric into the room.
A green Godzilla action figure was clutched tightly in his other arm.
Chris looked over and closed his eyes. "Dana. I know you didn't do
it."
"But I let them." She said, not moving from the door. "I had to,
Chris." A tear rolled down her cheek. "They threatened to kill my son.
I didn't think they would try to kill you. I didn't know what they put
in the tea."
Beavis took a long breath. "Dana, my dear. This is a very
stressful time. It would be helpful if you would tell us who poisoned
Chris."
She glanced briefly to Rei, who looked half a second away from
launching a fireball. "I don't know. I never even saw them." She
said, looking Rei in the eye. "You have to believe I would never want
to hurt him. Any of you."
"And Fiss wins the double Jeopardy! Whee!" he chuckled to
himself, fully aware it was the pain-killers talking.
Rei shook her head, sitting back down. "So I hear..." she said,
glancing over to Eric "that you helped save my daughter." She swallowed
hard and nodded. "Thank you."
Dana smiled weakly. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked
Chris.
He nodded. "Just pick me up a Jolt 6-pack next time you visit."
Eric seemed slightly confused. "Who's Chris?"
Raising his eyebrows, Chris smiled. "Chris is only my name I
give to spies. You remember my name, don't you?"
The little boy grinned. "Arsine Lupin! The guy who makes sure
all the toilets flush good at the factory!"
"Damn straight." Chris nodded. "But remember: That's top
secret. Don't tell anyone."
Miharu laughed to herself. "I'll have to remember that one, Mr.
Lupin."
Chris smiled back. "Don't talk. Your name is Bertha Lupin."
Miharu frowned.
Chapter 6
Serena knocked on the door slowly, not too sure what to expect.
"Mom? Dad??"
"In here, honey!" her mom answered. "Two of your friends are
over."
Serena looked behind her and shrugged. Lita, Ami and Mina all
shrugged back, not too sure who it would be. "Rei and Chris aren't
back, are they?" she shrugged.
The four girls walked over to the living room where her mother
and father were sitting across from another couple, who were slightly
older. Ami almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh my GOD!" she whispered.
The older man stood quietly, hands crossed in front of his waist.
He then bowed deeply and then extended his hand. "Konnichiwa, Sailor
Moon."
"Uh..." Serena bowed and shook his hand. "Who are you??"
Ami elbowed Serena. "Don't you know who that IS!?!" she gasped.
"No!" Serena whined.
"It's the Prime Minister!" Ami whispered, just before bowing to
the man and his wife.
"It's okay, honey." Her mom laughed. "I told them you didn't
follow politics. They don't mind."
"We have a Prime Minister?" Serena gasped. "I thought we had an
Arch Bishop or something."
Both the P.M. and his wife laughed. "It's okay, Sailor Moon. We
can skip the pomp for the time being. I'm here on an important
matter."
"Why does he keep calling you Sailor Moon?" her dad blinked.
"Not now, dad." Serena sighed.
"I'd like to cut to the chase." He continued. "I'm under
direction by some of my top advisors to give you full support in your
future endeavors."
Serena blinked.
Ami translated. "We're officially good guys. They want to
help."
"Oh! Why didn't you say so!" Serena laughed happily. "Cool!"
"Good after noon." A familiar voice said, entering the room.
They turned to see a young man coming in from the kitchen. The
Prime Minister smiled. "Oh, perfect timing. This is my chief advisor,
David Reinquest."
Dave looked at the Scouts over thin glasses. His usual lab coat
was replaced for a dark blue three-piece suit. Mina's entire face
brightened to the level of a large napalm explosion. He gave her a
quick wink and raised his hand. "Good afternoon, Sailor Scouts."
Mina took his hand into hers and fought hard not to leap into his
arms. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Reinquest..." she said almost over a
whisper.
"I've informed the Prime Minister about your..." he paused
"unique situation. Considering how well you handled the latest threat,
I think that it would be wise if we started helping."
"Well, we couldn't have done much worse." Lita mumbled,
scratching her chest.
"The older man nodded. "I've been keeping tabs on your group,
Sailor Moon. What we're prepared to do is more than offer support." He
sighed. "Things have changed. This is just the calm before the
storm."
"A lot of people never thought you were real, Sailor Moon." Dave
continued. "Because of the enemies you have faced and the battles you
have been forced to fight, the world has been reintroduced to an age of
magic." He shook his head. "If we're not careful, samurai, cowboys,
wizards and witches are going to be making a comeback."
"At the expense of all our modern liberties." The P.M. amended.
"Life on earth may continue perfectly uninterrupted, or we could
descend back three thousand years into the dark ages."
Everyone looked over to Dave. Dave nodded slowly. Serena was no
fool. When the Omega Web said to duck, you ducked, and didn't worry
about the time it took you to realize what has happening because they
already thought about that in advance. Serena suddenly got really
worried. "What do you mean, Dark Ages???"
"Simply put," Dave said "chaos. Our world isn't equipped to
handle the kind of chaos that will happen when people realize magic and
monsters are here to stay.
"We need a symbol to balance that all out." Dave smiled. "Guess
what, Sailor Moon...that's going to be you."
Serena's eyes widened. "What?"
"We're no longer doing what's good for Japan." The Prime Minister
said. "This is something the whole world needs. A righteous symbol of
good to emerge before we start having civil wars and dynamos and
empires all over again."
"Sailor Moon," Dave smiled. "How would you like to be the new
Queen?"
Everyone gasped, looking over to Serena. She took a step back,
almost falling into the arms of Lita. "W-hat??"
Her father leaned back in his chair, trying in vane to catch his
breath. "My daughter??? A Queen?"
Dave smiled, walking up to Sailor Moon. "As I understand it, you
have some experience in the matter."
"Y-yes...I guess so..." Serena nodded. "Well, actually, it was
more like a princess..."
"Then it's settled." The Prime Minister nodded. "Come to the
empyreal palace at noon tomorrow. You'll find my friend Dave around
the main gates. He'll get you set up." He turned to the other Scouts.
"Please. All of you are welcome."
Dave smiled as the P.M. and his wife stood and left with a quick
bow. Mina walked up to him, tears rolling down the side of her cheek.
"I'm glad you're alright."
He bowed slightly and kissed her hand. "It can wait. Till
tomorrow." He sighed. "I must go. There's things to do. The Omega
Web is still pretty much knee deep in shit." He glanced over to Sailor
Moon. "And I still have to double as the Prime Minister's advisor."
"Thanks, Dave..." Serena smiled.
"It's no problem." He nodded. "One thing before I go, though."
He said, standing at the door.
"Yeah?" Lita asked.
"Tumbler." Dave frowned. "The reason he kept us frozen is
because he knew we could stop him. The Elders didn't even know how to
do that." He turned to Ami. "Not even Beavis."
Ami's eyes widened. "You mean...?"
Dave nodded and opened the door. "I want you to tell Chris and
Maury to watch out. He's going to be back. Next time, he's not going
to be worried about popping out Universe. He's just going to be out
for revenge."
The Sailor Scouts' faces were all white.
He smiled. "Don't worry...you all have a bit of time before he
comes back." His smile faded into a frown. "But tell Beavis not to do
our job for us. He's not nearly as smart as you all think he is."
The door shut.
Chapter 7
The dream was a surprise. Chris never dreamed anymore. His life
had become too fast, too complicated, too much for his sleep to try and
make it more so.
He missed dreaming.
The strange thing was that he knew he was dreaming. It was
surreal and clear. Perfect in every detail. The humming of a ceiling
fan seemed to wake him from a dream-sleep. He was still in the
hospital. Alone.
Funny. He could have sworn that there were people with him
before.
He gently tugged the I.V. needle out of his arm and pulled off
the chest monitor. A steady line and beep was immediately emitted from
the machines near his bed.
It seemed strange to dream about where he was at the moment.
Chris rubbed the needle hole on his arm, letting it clot after
only a second. Finally, deciding it was a shame to spend his dream
cooped up in the bed, he swung his legs over the edge and his feet
touched the cold floor.
It was wet.
He looked down and almost leapt back up when he saw he was
standing in blood. No words or sounds came from his mouth as he gawked
at it. Blood covered the entire floor of the room. A deep, crimson
red skin over the hospital white checkers. He checked himself over,
but could find no wounds. He let out a deep breath and stood again,
ignoring the slippery feeling of the blood as it parted around his
toes.
"Maybe it's not blood?" he wondered. "Could be Jell-O mix..."
That seemed more like it. His dreams had always been weird enough to
include food and drinks on a number of occasions.
There was a knock at the door.
He shrugged to himself and walked carefully over to the door. No
sooner had he opened the heavy wooden slab when more blood rushed in
over his ankles. It was warm and gooey.
Despite his efforts to stay calm, Chris stumbled backwards,
landing in the liquid with a slurping splash. If he had the power of
voice, he would have been saying "oh my god!".
Chris looked up at the open door.
Strike Fiss smiled back.
In this dream, it seemed the most natural thing in the world. To
open a door and see yourself. Chris stood slowly. His back and half
of his legs dripped with blood, but it soon drained off him, not even
staining his hospital gown. "Hello?" Chris said finally.
Strike Fiss just kept smiling. It was neither eerie, nor
pleasant. It was just a normal smile. He was wearing a full tuxedo,
with a fresh pair of sunglasses, unharmed by Tumbler's attacks. He
bowed slightly and took a step inside the room. Blood sloshed at his
pants legs.
It was then when Chris noticed the other blood. Thin splatters
of red covered the white parts of Strike Fiss' tuxedo shirt. Darker
red could be seen on the black. It was weird, though. It didn't look
like he had been in a battle.
Strike Fiss raised both his hands. They were empty. Chris
frowned. Strike Fiss moved his fingers in little movements that
reminded Chris somehow of a magician. "Nothing up my sleeve" Strike
Fiss' mouth said without sound.
His right hand moved to his back. Strike Fiss walked up to
Chris, his expression still happy. Chris looked him in the eye as
Strike Fiss produced an object in his hand. "Look." Strike Fiss
mouthed.
Chris didn't want to look. He knew he shouldn't. But he did.
Henry Yamato looked back up at him.
Chris jumped back, landing in the pool of red. His face frozen
in terror.
Strike Fiss held the old man's severed head in his white,
bloodstained glove. Yamato's eyes were rolled back. Face was void of
color. It seemed a black and white version of his old master. His
friend. His grandfather.
Strike Fiss seemed to sigh, and he threw the head down into the
blood with a shrug. The smile returned, however, as his right arm flew
behind his back once more. The figure nodded eagerly, wanting approval
to show Chris his next surprise.
Chris never had the chance to shake his head, when the bodiless
face of Maury appeared. Chris tried to scoot away from the horrible
image, but just slid and fell on his back. Blood ran down his throat
as he gasped for air. He coughed it up wildly, making eerie silent
hacks.
Strike Fiss nodded slightly, then chucked his friend's head
against the bed. Chris shook his head desperately. No more...
More, his alter ego nodded. Both his hands disappeared around to
his back, then brought out a head each.
Chris would have been screaming if he could. Andrea and Dana
both stared blankly up to the ceiling. Their necks ended with a ragged
cut just like the last two. Purple-gray tendons hung loosely from each
of the stumps. As if on cue, a drop of blood fell from Andrea's head
and joined the pool on the floor. It had still been warm.
Strike Fiss knelt down and placed the two heads on the floor.
His smile never left his face as he stood. Blood drenched his right
leg where he had touched the floor.
Fiss then raised his hand. One finger was raised. One more.
Chris shook his head desperately. "Oh god no...please...no...no..."
Excited at presenting his prize, Strike Fiss spun around and
produced the severed head of Rei Hino in his arms. Chris backed up
against the wall, clawing at the floor, trying to escape. "NOOO!" he
yelled. Her head was fresh. Blood still dripped from the ripping,
messy gash. Her once deep, black eyes were now faded into a ghostly
white gray. Her lips were cracked open, showing a shattered jaw. Her
entire expression was contorted into a look of pure pain.
His clawing hands finally felt something. A bokken. Chris
stood, gasping for air. His newly acquired weapon pointed at Strike
Fiss' throat. It didn't matter where it came from. He only knew where
it was going.
Strike Fiss just kept smiling. He tossed Rei's head nonchalantly
against the far wall, letting it sink into the pool of rapidly cooling
blood below.
Chris charged forward, bokken raised. Strike Fiss frowned and
dodged like it was nothing, even though their skills should be equal.
Chris slid slightly, but regained his balance, rebounding off the wall,
wooden sword ready for a strike.
Strike Fiss seemed not to notice or care when Chris' weapon
slammed into the side of his neck, ripping it's way through to the
other side.
Chris stood in the blood, struggling to regain his breath. There
was sound again. It sounded like heaven to hear his own breath again.
His bokken was splattered with red all along the tip. Strike Fiss'
fallen body lay in the red tile. His blood mixing with the other's.
Slowly, making sure there were no surprises, Chris walked over to
the head. He had never imagined what it would look like to see his own
head lying on the floor. Everything in the room was as silent as a
tomb.
The bokken was dropped, and Chris bent down to pick up his
counterpart. "Why did you kill them?" he demanded, looking into the
lifeless eyes.
They blinked.
Strike Fiss' eyes looked back up at Chris'. His lips straight
and even. His eyebrows arched in a strange look that he could only
describe as inquisitive.
In a clear, loud voice, Strike Fiss said: "I didn't kill them."
Chris shivered, looking at the neck. Ragged flesh hung from the
throat. It...looked like all the others. Strike Fiss' sword would
have left a perfectly clean cut...not a bokken's blunt tear.
The smile returned.
"You did."
Rei woke to screaming. It was the most frightening thing she had
ever heard. "Ohmygod! Ohmygod! GET A DOCTOR IN HERE!" she screamed
back, running over to Chris, who was one screw away from rocking his
bed free of the wall.
"GET AWAY!" He demanded, ripping the I.V. out of his arm and
falling out of his bed onto the cold, white floor. "GET AWAY!"
Chris scurried over to the bathroom on his hands and knees,
desperate. Rei was pushed away by the door slamming shut on her nose,
sending her flying back. "CHRIS! Oh god! What's wrong!?!?" she
yelled through the door.
Dana and Miharu were now at her side. "What's going on?!" the
little girl asked, scared out of her wits.
"I don't know!" Rei cried. "He just started screaming!"
Chris was huddled in the corner, his heart racing. Images
flooded his mind. The heads. Blood. Everywhere...
Where the I.V. needle had been, a trickle of the liquid ran out
from his vein. Chris screamed. "BLOOD! FUCK! FUCKKK!" he jumped to
his feet and almost slammed his entire arm into the sink as his other
arm shot over and turned the water on full blast. His hand rubbed
furiously over the small wound, washing the blood away, but too quickly
to let it clot. It kept dripping out of him. "Oh god...please
stop...PLEASSSEEEEE!" he begged, finally covering it with his other
thumb, pressing down so hard that he thought he would break his own
wrist.
Outside, he heard Rei crying, pounding on the door. "CHRIS! Are
you alright!?!"
"I am pretty fucking FAR FROM ALRIGHT!" he yelled. "STAY BACK!"
He closed his eyes, trying to wash out the images from his mind.
Rei shoved Dana and Miharu back. "I'm going in." she said,
pulling out her Transformation Crystal. "MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"
Chris looked up, looking into the mirror. His reflection, red-
eyed and limp hair, looked back. "What's happening to me?" he begged.
His reflection just asked back.
Then it changed.
It changed into Strike Fiss. The smile was gone, though. He was
in just his white dress shirt this time. Sunglasses were taken off. A
strange, unreal light lit him. His eyes looked back at Chris with
desperation. Worry. His mouth opened and said without sound the three
words: "Don't give in."
The reflection changed back into Chris. Chris almost screamed.
Blood poured down from his mouth. Jaw slack in a wicked grin. This
image mouthed it's own three words. "You. Are. Me."
His sword never came out so fast in his life.
It was like an extension of his very soul. Instinctively
shooting out from a flash of light at his side. Just before the blade
hit, though, the reflection was back to normal. The tip slammed into
the glass, melting through it like butter. It continued onward, up to
the hilt. Chris stood, arms out, holding the handle with shaking
hands.
He stumbled back just as Rei melted the lock and burst in.
She saw his sword sticking out of the mirror. It had been
slammed in with such force and precision that the glass hadn't even
cracked more than an inch around the blade. Chris looked up at her.
Shock and horror dominated his features. "Help me..."
Rei sunk to his side and wrapped her arms around him tight.
"Chris...it's okay. I'm here."
Miharu and Dana both looked on, terrified.
Chapter 8
Chris had refused to talk to anyone that afternoon. Doctors were
puzzled, but said he was fine. One even mentioned his outburst could
have been because of the poison.
His reply had been a grave head shake.
Now, Rei was driving them home in Nacho. Andrea and Maury were
in the back with Miharu. Chris stared idly out the window. Beavis on
his shoulder. "It's a beautiful day." The hedgehog mentioned casually.
Nobody said anything.
They got to Chris' apartment. Chris walked up the stairs, into
the door, threw Beavis to the couch, and locked himself in his room.
Rei was extremely worried. "Chris? Please, open up..."
He did, but only long enough to dump two mirrors at her feet.
While she was stunned, the door closed once again and the sound of the
lock clicked.
"I'm not going to kill myself." Chris said through the door.
"I'm not going to do anything stupid. Just leave me alone for a bit."
He sighed.
"Ok...ay..." Rei whispered, not really sure what else to say.
Andrea and Maury sat at the table. "I'll make us some tea."
Hooze sighed, walking over to the cupboards."
Maury looked over to Rei. "It's the poison. Has to be." He
shook his head. "It will pass."
Rei's eyes were wet with tears, though she had cried herself dry
long ago that day. "How do you know?" she demanded softly. "For all I
know, he fell and smacked his head and sees blood everywhere."
"Because." Maury sighed. "Have you ever seen a movie called The
Hunted?"
Rei closed her eyes. "No. But Chris said it was one of his
favorite movies."
"In that movie," he continued "Christopher Lambert gets attacked
by ninja and gets a throwing star in his shoulder."
"So?"
"It was laced with poison, and he was having hallucinations all
through the movie." Maury said. "Chris probably got freaked out by a
dream-hallucination, but he's fine." He explained. "Chris has seen
that movie ninety times. He knows that if he can just wait it out,
he'll be okay."
Rei closed her eyes, brushing away her tears.
"That's why he needs to be alone right now." Maury said, pulling
out a seat at the table for her. "And if you want to help, you have to
wait."
She sat down reluctantly just as Andrea sat a mug of tea in front
of her. "Thanks, Hooze."
"No prob." She smiled.
Chris sat up against the door. A stupid smile was on his face.
"Not a bad theory, Maury." He had to admit, it did seem a lot like
poisoning. But that dream...
That dream had shook him up too much for him to dismiss it as a
hallucination.
Sleep would not come easy that night, Chris knew.
Dave Reinquest's white lab coat flew through the air behind him
as he marched down the halls of the Omega Web. A footstep shot him
over three hundred miles across the earth in a quarter of a heartbeat.
All in all, the Omega Web was still intact. In the three days
since the Great Darkness, however, he already saw the dream of the
Omega Point slipping away for the rest of humanity.
Tumbler may have succeeded in destroying them after all.
He was probably watching the little soap opera unfold with a
great chuckle right now. Oh GOD what Dave wouldn't have done to go
back one thousand years and two weeks. He would have taken Tumbler's
neck in his bare hands, and showed him just what it was like to die.
Very slowly.
Very painfully.
Reinquest tried to deny that killing the monster would have given
him pleasure, but knew it was true.
Dave would have loved to throttle the bastard.
If he REALLY wanted to, Dave could have gone back and done just
that. Killed the fucker where he stood. Surprise the bastard by
throwing the power of twenty suns into his chest and letting the raw
force rip through his almighty invincible shell, eating him from the
inside out.
But too much had happened. Things that Dave would have never
considered planning for had happened. Maury had regained most of his
memories because of Tumbler. Chris had used his sword in a new way
that Dave wasn't sure was allowed to happen. They had all learned so
much about the universe and what was outside of it. Hell, the Sailor
Senshi had gained the allegiance of an Elder as well, who up until
Tumbler, had not taken his job seriously.
It would be more harmful to take that all away from them now than
to kill Tumbler a millennium ago and save them from their own personal
hells.
Even Dave couldn't do this on his own. Saving the universe was
not an easy job, and he was under orders from everything he held sacred
to not fuck up humanity's chances for succeeding on it's own. He was
only a guide. A grin returned to his face. A guide who could still
rock the cosmos if it was an emergency.
He walked into the main control room through a door that looked
like any other point in the wall. The door closed behind him, missing
his coat by mere atoms.
The warm, orange-blue glow of plasma filled the room. "Status
report?" Dave ordered.
William walked over to him. A new kid. Ckay's replacement.
Luckily, this young man was a lot smarter and mentally stable. Dave
had taken it as his personal mission to train William as an apprentice.
The young man looked over to the centre of the room and shook his head.
"It's going to be close, Dave. The charts are fluxing too fast, but
we've gotten this far..."
He nodded. "Well, Mr. William." Dave never did catch the kid's
last name. William didn't seem to care, though. "Considering how
humanity's at the biggest crossroads of history, we'd better get this
bastard running."
Will looked over to the new Point Calculator. The inert, purple
crystal torus stood tilted into the air on a small base made of marble.
It looked a lot different from the last one. This one would have the
resolution at idle that the old had while the most lucky peak operating
times, or so Dave had told him. "I'm not even sure how that thing's
going to work."
"Everything in the universe has gravity." Dave said, walking over
to the crystal ring, running his hand over it's flawless surface.
"Well, almost everything."
"I know..." William nodded. "So?"
"The Point Calculator can read the bends in space-time. It
literally sees the future by glancing at the horizon of the curve
instead of the curve at it's feet like we do. To make that bending, we
need something with gravity." He smiled. "Now, what has a lot of
gravity??"
"A black hole?"
"Close." Dave nodded. "But a quantum singularity has too much
gravity. The curve it creates is so sharp that the future blends into
the present and past like an oil slick rainbow. We need something with
a bit more finesse." He grinned. "That is why we're making this star."
Both men looked over to the light at the centre of the room.
Plasma sputtered around a white hot core as the Omega Web's machinery
tried to get the atoms to co-operate and create fusion. An invisible
shield protected the outside of the room just a few meters away. They
would have all been cooked to a crisp long ago if it wasn't for the
protection it offered.
Dave walked over to his chair and sat down. "Are we ready for
the final injection?"
One of the technicians, a young woman by the name of Sonia shook
her head. "It's still trying to absorb the last injection."
"Mmm, what the fuck." Dave shrugged. "Go for it."
Sonia's jaw dropped. "B...but sir!"
William looked over to Dave. "Dave?"
"I'm feeling saucy tonight." Dave said, leaning back in his
chair. "Inject another five thousand million into the core. That
should get the sucker jump started."
"Or it will burn the plasma away into anti-photons, Dave."
William interrupted. "And then we'll all be in deep shit."
"We'll be dead." Sonia offered.
Dave smiled and nodded. William breathed a sigh of relief and
annoyance. "Just keeping you on your toes, people." Dave smiled.
William turned to Sonia. "Inject forty seven million parts of
the class nine plasma, then another hundred thousand million of the
class four." He turned to Dave and smiled. "That way, if it does burn
up, all we'll get is a nice tan."
Dave nodded. This kid was good. A little more training and he
would be the best.
"And lower the gravity in the room to half." William added.
"Keep this thing in shape."
This kid was DAMN good, Dave thought.
Sonia worked the controls like she had been doing for the last
day, and two jets of orange plasma shot out from the floor and mixed in
with the ball already formed. "I'm getting a reading." She said,
studying the information her console shot past her. "Looks like we're
getting a reaction!"
Dave jumped to his feet and smiled at Will. "Good work. Get the
Calculator warmed up."
William went over to the crystal and began to press commands into
it with a tiny remote-control device. The marble base caused the
crystal to float off the floor a millimeter, then shoot over next to
the forming star.
Dave watched as the notes of energy began to collide, making blue
sparks. "This one's for you, Vasquez." He whispered to his old friend.
Bright blue snaps of electricity crisscrossed over the roof and
walls. His eyes never flinched as the light from a small star opened
up inside the Omega Web Control Room.
At first, blue. Then, the energy focused into the centre again.
Each sliver of light shot inwards on itself until a red and yellow pin-
cushion shape formed.
It was beautiful. Liquid color. A ball of pure yellow that
slowly rolled like a moon in orbit. Seconds after it's creation, the
tiny sun flickered into a warm glow, and continued to burn unaided by
the Omega Web's machines.
The gentle strobe of yellow and orange light lit the room almost
like a fireplace, only much brighter. A perfect copy of the Solar
System's beginning, trimmed down to the size of a basketball.
The half a dozen people in the room gazed at the star as it
glowed softly. "Kinda makes you feel like a god, doesn't it?" William
whispered.
Dave turned to his friend and smiled. "God did this in a week.
We did it in a day and a half." He paused. "Ours is just the take-home
version, though."
"It is beautiful, though." Will smiled. "It's a pity we can't
make stars more often."
"If you don't get that Point Calculator around it, we're going to
HAVE to make another." Dave said with a hint of urgency in his voice.
Will nodded and commanded the marble base through the force
shield. He moved the crystal until it was literally hugging the star
in it's middle. Like Saturn's ring, only much thicker and made from
glass. "I'm engaging the PCs internal shield now."
Light flickered and a sphere of electricity shot around the great
crystal torus. The star lit the crystal like a holiday decoration.
Purple reflections bathed the room, adding to the sun's natural glow.
"It's stable." William smiled. Relief was evident in his voice.
The computers hummed quietly as technicians ran about the room,
making sure it was safe to transfer power and cut the main shield from
the centre of the room. William looked over to Dave. "They say a
Senshi is born for each star and planet in this galaxy." He smiled.
"You think it's true?"
"I suppose it could be possible." Dave nodded.
"Then what should we name this star?"
Dave turned to him and shrugged. "What's wrong with the standard
binary computer listing?"
William shrugged. "Well, we can't have a super hero coming along
calling themselves 'Sailor Omega Web Star Project One Zero One Zero One
One One Zero', now can we?"
Dave laughed. "A very good point. If you have a name in mind,
be my guest. Remember, the fate of a future super hero's fan club
depends on you!"
The young man's eyes widened. "Really?" he paused. "Mmm, I
don't know. It's not every day that one gets to name a star."
"Oh sure you do." Dave smiled. "You can go over to the Detroit
Space and Science centre and pay fifty bucks to buy a star to name." He
waved his finger. "But this is better. YOU actually helped make this
star. You're not just staking claim to one that's been out there for a
million years." He raised an eyebrow. "You're this star's father."
"Mmm, then I better pick a good one." William laughed. "I don't
want the other stars laughing at my baby's name."
"Luckily he won't have to go through high school." Dave
shuddered. "Kids can be sooooo cruel."
"How's 'Seeker'?" William announced proudly.
"Congratulations, Dad." Dave smiled. "It's a bouncing baby gas
giant. Why Seeker?"
William gazed over to the star hovering in the middle of the
crystal Point Calculator. "Because this is going to help us seek the
future out." He paused. "And Sailor Seeker sounds like a nice name
just in case someone ever needs it."
Dave nodded his approval. "Okay, Seeker it is." He then smiled,
and cleared his throat.
Everyone jumped at the sound. That ALWAYS meant a long list of
orders.
"Total future dump. NOW." Dave said simply. "If Seeker
collapses, I want at least to have a good twenty percent of the year's
future saved for reference. Standard resolution. We don't have time
to take this new Point Calculator out for a joy ride."
The entire room erupted in activity. Three more people
transported in and took up stations on adjacent computers as the Omega
Web computers began grabbing at the information Seeker was providing.
A total dump was rare. It taxed even the Omega Web's vast
resources. Literally thousands of possible futures for the next few
months slammed into the data banks per second. Computer resources that
Intel, NEC and Cray could only dream of were sucked into this task
almost completely.
Dave hoped it would be enough. He stood slowly and snapped his
fingers. His coat transformed into a tuxedo. William blinked.
"What's the occasion?"
Dave smiled. "I have a social occasion to attend to. I'm sure
you can handle things if Seeker starts disagreeing with our computers."
William nodded happily. "I'll keep my sun in line, sir."
Reinquest laughed at the bad pun. "And don't forget. Asbestos
gloves when you're changing his diapers. I'll be back tomorrow. Keep
them futures coming." He turned to Sonia. "Sonia my dear..."
She nodded and sighed. "I know. I'll try and get the lock on
Chaos for you."
"Good." Dave sighed. "That's the last thing we need to worry
about right now." He disappeared in a shower of light.
William turned to Sonia. "Chaos?"
She shook her head. "Kid...all you need to know is that it's
better when it's not on Earth."
William turned to his new star. With any luck, they would know
the future for half a year. It was, however, mostly out of their hands
if that future was bright or not.
Chapter 9
Things have gotten bad. I can no longer look into my laptop's
screen out of fear of my own reflection. I've set it up to record my
whispers and ramblings like before, with anything reflective turned
away from me.
Whatever that thing was that looked through the mirror at
me...god...it killed something inside of me. It killed the feeling I
had before that I was a good person. That I was a nice guy. Hell,
even Tumbler seemed to think I was a decent little person. Now? I
don't know.
That thing was in me. It still is.
It's waiting for me to look in a mirror or something so it can
laugh and tease me how much we are the same.
I'm scared of myself.
I'm terrified of myself.
But I can barely think about that right now. My head hurts. My
stomach is empty. I haven't eaten in a day...and I.V. is hardly
stomach filling, so it could be considered almost three now.
My head hurts. So badly. It's like having a headache while
you're hung over with a large knife sticking into the top of your skull
that just happens to be both ice cold and red hot on different edges of
the blade.
I haven't even touched my sword. I don't want to even look at
another weapon right now. I threw my old bokken out the goddamn window
before I covered up the glass with a blanket. It almost stung just to
touch it. It felt just like the one in my dream.
Fuck. I'm just wasting hard drive space.
Chris slammed his foot down on the little computer, causing it to
shut. He sat on a damp circle on the rug that refused to stay dry. He
woke up in cold sweats now. His clothes were driving him crazy.
Thankfully, though, the dream hadn't repeated. No indications in
his mind that it would ever be repeated, either. Maybe Maury had been
right. That the faces looking back at him in the mirror had been the
poison smashing into his brain cells. The dream was realistic, but
could have been just that. A dream. He had freaky dreams before, and
there was a first time for everything. Why not have one or two
terrifying, god-awful dreams in his life? Should be perfectly natural.
Rei's eyes widened when she saw the door to Chris' room open.
His messy, matted hair was the first thing she saw, followed by a pale,
very weak looking young man. "Oh my..." she whispered to herself,
standing from the couch where she had been keeping a silent lookout.
Chris smiled weakly as she came over and gave him a hug. He
never wanted to let her go. "Sorry, Rei."
"It's okay." She whispered, crying on his shoulder. "Just say
you're okay."
"I'm okay." He nodded, taking a deep breath before stumbling
slightly. "Ugh...but I wouldn't mind some mock chicken loaf right
about now."
Rei helped him over to the kitchen table and sat him down gently.
He was dressed only in his housecoat, so she could see how the last
three or so days had taken it's toll. The wound on his side had
crusted over, the bandages long since sweated off. His entire body
seemed frail. Rei's mind estimated he lost at least ten
pounds...probably fifteen. "I know a lot of supermodels who would love
to look like you right now." She sighed, setting down a sandwich next
to him with his fourth glass of water.
"I'm so fat...nobody likes me!" Chris smiled as he bit into the
sandwich. After a dry cough, he finally managed to eat some of it.
She supervised in silence for most of the meal. "Andrea and
Maury went home. That Dana woman has called at least ten times too."
She closed her eyes. "Miharu has been in her room almost as much as
you have."
A quick flash of the image of Miharu's severed head made him
wince. "I'm...really sorry, Rei...god I can't say that enough." He
closed his eyes. "I'll talk to her later."
There was a long, pregnant pause. "What the hell happened?" she
asked finally.
He shook his head. "It was nothing. A hallucination. Scared
the shit out of me."
"You ran screaming into the bathroom, yelling something about
blood, and then jabbed your katana twenty three inches into a mirror
and the solid brick wall behind it." Rei said softly. "Scared the shit
out of everyone, Chris."
He dry washed his hand over his face. It felt bony and awkward.
"I think it's out of my system, Rei." He sighed. "If it happens again,
though, I swear I'll do my best to keep it under control."
"I know." She sighed.
He ate a second sandwich and started pouring orange juice instead
of water. Color actually started returning to his face. Rei never
thought she would be so relived. His eyes shimmered with their
familiar silver-blue color again.
"Can you stand?" Rei asked suddenly as Chris uncharacteristically
ate the crust of his sandwiches.
He nodded. "Just don't make me run any marathons and I'll be
fine."
"Come on." She smiled, taking his hand and lifting him up off his
chair. He followed her to the bathroom door, but stopped. "What is
it?" she blinked.
Chris closed his eyes. "The mirror. I...I'm not ready."
Rei looked at the fear in his eyes and nodded. "Okay, just a
second..." she left him at the door for a moment, retrieving something
from one of the drawers in the kitchen. A roll of duct-tape. She then
went on ahead into the bathroom, grabbing a large towel from the
hanger. She unrolled a large strip of tape and attached the top of the
towel over the bathroom mirror.
Remembering just how terrified he was, however, Rei took the time
to double up the tape. She went around the whole outside of the
mirror, then even tugged on the towel to make sure it wouldn't come off
while he was inside. "It's okay, come in." she said, leading him in.
Chris smiled and shook his head. "My savior." He kissed her
forehead softly. "Thanks."
She shook her head. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
She mumbled to herself, walking over to the shower and turning on the
water. Chris raised an eyebrow. "Rei, I'm quite able to have a shower
alone."
"You're wounded." She retorted. "Without a mirror, you'll have a
hell of a time trying to clean that hole in your side." She tested the
water with the back of her hand. "Get in."
He sighed and took off his housecoat. Rei did her best to frown.
"All of it." She said.
"This is revenge for that time I proposed to you, isn't it?"
Chris mumbled, stepping out of his official Jolt Cola boxer shorts with
the letters J O L T written down the front crotch area.
Rei had a goofy grin on her lips. "Jolt? Nice touch."
"Oh yeah?" He smirked back. "Suck my Jolt."
She frowned and smacked him on the side as he got in the shower.
"Not after hearing rumors of the male tendency to fart
while...relaxed." She smiled. "Besides, I bite."
Chris winced more from the comment than from the smack to his
bullet wound. "And after all I do for you?" he sighed with mock
disgust.
"You are currently a skinny, dirty man." Rei chuckled. "You
don't 'do' anything for me right now."
He responded by directing some of the shower at her face with the
palm of his hand. Rei gasped, looking down at her sweater which was
now soaked. Chris couldn't help but grin like an idiot. "Really?
Then why are you getting all wet?"
Rei shut him up by slamming the washcloth into his scar with the
force of a soft punch to the gut. "One more bad joke like that and
I'll make sure they never find your skeleton."
Chris winced...this time from the image. Rei's face softened.
"Sorry."
"It's okay..." he lied.
Rei gently washed away the broken scab with the cloth in small
flakes. "It was about death...wasn't it?"
Chris closed his eyes. "Yup."
She washed his side slower now, sitting on the edge of the tub.
Her entire right side was damp from the shower mist. "Was I in there?"
He nodded weakly, mustering all his willpower to prevent the
mental slideshow of severed heads to start again. "Yes." He breathed.
"Miharu?"
He thought for a second. "No...no actually." He paused. "Kinda
weird...I mean, everyone else was there..." he said slowly. "Mo,
Hooze, even Yamato and Dana."
She nodded. "That's good. Maybe your brain couldn't even bare
to dream up something bad about her."
"Bad doesn't describe the first thirty seconds of this dream,
Rei." Chris said, letting the shower water dig into his scalp.
"Tell me." Rei said. "Just the facts. You don't have to re-live
it for my sake."
"I was in the hospital." He sighed. "The floor was covered in
blood." He paused. "Not mine. I think it was everyone else's."
"Go on." Rei nodded.
Chris shuddered as he drew breath. "Strike Fiss was at the door.
In a tux. White gloves. Blood was splattered all over him."
Rei stopped the scrubbing for a moment. "You mean you?"
"No." Chris shook his head. "It was like Strike Fiss was another
person. Then, he showed me something..."
"What did he show you?" Rei asked softly.
"Severed heads." Chris winced. "Henry's...then Maury. Then
Andrea and Dana. Finally..."
"Me."
Chris nodded. "You." He sighed. "But then I fought Strike Fiss,
and I cut off his head."
Rei's eyes were wide.
"But he wasn't dead." Chris shivered. "He told me something."
He looked down at Rei with fear racing around in his eyes. "He told me
that I had killed them all. Me. Not Strike Fiss."
She closed her eyes and nodded. "You've had dreams before,
Chris. You blame yourself for a lot of things. It's not the first
time this has happened."
He nodded frantically. "But this was different, Rei. I always
blame Strike Fiss for killing." He shook his head. "FUCK! I hate this
third person shit...I mean ME! I always blame myself for killing as
Strike Fiss." He shook his head desperately. "But it was ME this time.
ME-me. Not him."
Rei stood with her arms on his shoulders. "Chris...it was just
like the rest. The poison just made it worse. Okay?"
He blinked. "Rei..."
"I mean it." She sighed. "You can't keep doing this to yourself,
Chris. The fact it hit you so hard when your mind and body were
weakened like they were only proves my point. If you don't stop
blaming yourself for what you are forced to do, then it's going to keep
eating away at you until there's nothing left."
He was silent, seeing nothing but logic in her statement, but
only fear in his own mind.
Rei laid her head against his chest and sighed. "It will eat at
your soul until you are either paralyzed to fight, or you become what
you fear most." She looked up into his eyes. "One thousand years ago,
you survived a monster that thrived on self fulfilling prophecies and
endless clich‚s. Please don't turn into one yourself."
Chris hugged her tight, ignoring the pain in his side. "You're
right, my love. You're absolutely right." He whispered. His eyes were
wide, but tears blurred his vision.
They hugged like that for what had to be ten minutes. She
cherished his warmth against her body. He was back, at least for now.
Rei slid out of the embrace and began to take off her sweater. Chris
watched intently. "Rei..."
"I'm already soaked." She smiled lightly. "Besides, it's not
like we haven't seen each other naked before."
He sighed happily as Rei, now naked, stood behind him in the
shower. Her arms snaked around to his wound, applying more soapy water
to it. "Are you sure you're not taking advantage of me?" he smiled.
"Oh come on, Chris..." Rei laughed. "I mean, it's not like
you're a cat or anything."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Never mind." She sighed, pressing her front up against him.
"Though...you know..."
"Oh?"
"I mean, well..." Rei stood on her tipi toes and whispered into
his ear. "We haven't made love in over a thousand years. A girl has
needs you know."
He grinned to himself. "Oh really? I think you should apologize
to my boxer shorts if you want me to do anything to help you with those
needs."
Rei raised an eyebrow but smiled. "I'm very..." her whisper
became deeper "...very...sorry for insulting your Jolts." Her hands
making little soapy circles on Chris' front.
"You have the best apologies I've ever heard." Chris laughed.
Chapter 10
Mina stepped out of the limo with the grace and style of a movie
star stepping out to great the public on opening night. The crowd was
a lot bigger, though.
She almost took a step backwards when she saw everyone. "Oh
my..."
Ami poked her head up from the car next, and immediately broke
out into a sweat. "This isn't real, is it?"
Lita stepped out next and looked over the court. The last time
they were here, she had died, and a nuclear bomb had been set off.
Now, she felt like those events were a lifetime away. "Holy SHIT!"
A red carpet set out their forward path. To either side of it,
however, an impressive force of security and police officers were not
having much luck keeping what had to be half the city out of the way.
"This reminds me so much of that Trut city back on the Negaverse that
it's scary." Mina whispered.
"Actually, it was just the blocks around the royal palace that
were named Trut." Ami supplied helpfully. They all sighed and shook it
off. "But yeah..." she continued. "It's certainly creepy."
"Deja vue all over again." Lita laughed, brushing out the pleats
in her skirt, making sure she looked presentable.
"I wish Rei was here." Mina smiled. "She hates crowds. I would
have loved to see the look on her face."
They walked forward, letting the car door close. "Has anyone
seen Serena?" Ami asked.
"I thought she was already here?" Mina blinked.
Their jaws dropped.
"Oh my god! We forgot Serena!!!!"
Luna trotted up the stairs. "Oh my! Oh my! Serena!" she called
out anxiously. "Hurry up!!! There is a limousine parked out front!!"
No answer. The black cat frowned. "No...she couldn't be..."
Sleeping.
Serena, AKA Sailor Moon, AKA Neo Queen Serenity, AKA Meatball
Head, was tangled in a jungle of covers and pajama fabric. Meatball
Head definitely was the alias of choice right now. Luna, in a tiny
laps of sanity and pomp, took a deep breath and said: "Oh for FUCKS
sake."
She then blushed at her own comment, and jumped up onto Serena's
pillow. "Ahem...Sailor Moon, you have to get up now."
The tiny cat frowned when she didn't even see Serena stir. "What
the?"
Luna pulled back the covers to reveal another pillow, with two
rolled up socks made to look like meat-balls. "Oh my..." she gasped.
"Serena?? SERENA???"
She wasn't at home.
She was trying desperately to keep her feet warm in the fresh
snow. Darien was amazed. She hadn't complained once, despite the
cold. Occasionally, she'd shiver, but her beaming smile never left her
lips. "It's just a little further." She whispered.
"Sure you don't need a hand?" he asked, still not believing how
his crybaby Serena was managing to climb the snowy slope in her heels.
Rei must have rubbed off on her a little, he mused.
"I'm fine." She nodded, determined. The fact that her dress
wasn't soaking wet or full of ice was another testament on how much her
balance had improved.
"I love this woman." Darien chuckled to himself.
"I heard that." Serena smiled back at him as they reached the top
of the hill.
One and one-third words came to Darien's mouth. "W-wow!"
They stood on what seemed to be the top of the world.
Tokyo lay out before them, glistening in the fresh snow. The
dust and grime of the 20th Century now lost to a fresh white coat of
crystal flakes. It looked so much better than the Elder's icy prison.
The hill they had trekked up was nearly twice as high as anything
in the city. It was far enough away for Darien to have the surreal
sense that he was looking at a painting of a landscape far in the
future.
Their future.
"Artemis?" Serena called out.
A very cold, white cat trudged up the hill just behind them. He
walked stomach deep in the snow; giving up trying to follow their
footprints long ago. "I'm coming...just a second. I don't have fancy
human legs like you do." He grumbled.
She smiled over to Darien and looked him over. For a change of
pace, he had actually bought a tuxedo. All white, to contrast his
usual darker fighting outfit. A perfect red rose poked out from his
lapel, right next to his heart. "You look SOOOO hansom." She giggled.
"All the other queens will be jealous!"
Darien laughed. "You may just get to show me off yet. Chances
are there will be a few."
She walked up to him and placed a finger on his lips. "Don't
talk work." She grinned. "This is OUR moment."
He looked down along her finger with a smile. Even in the
extravagant Serenity gown that he had seen a dozen times before, she
was beautiful. It seemed the perfect way to complete the whole circle.
Get married in the same dress he had first seen her in his dreams.
"Okay, but I think the kings of the world will have more to be jealous
about." He gently kissed her fingers. "I'm marrying the most beautiful
woman in the solar system."
"You're just saying that cause it's true." She giggled, a blush
appearing across her nose.
Poor Artemis, shivering and wet, finally caught up to them. His
attitude dissolved, however, and he suddenly had a smile on his face.
"Now, considering you two have to be at the palace in an hour, I think
we should keep this simple and pleasant."
They both nodded, walking side by side to a point just before the
edge of the hill overlooking the city. Artemis walked over to their
fronts and hopped up onto a tree stump. With his tail, he brushed the
snow off and sat down on the makeshift alter.
"We are here to join Serena Tsukino and Darien Chiba together,"
he smiled "in holy matrimony."
They took each other's hands and gave a quick squeeze.
"Before tonight's inauguration of the future King and Queen, this
ceremony will be the physical proof of their love, even before destiny
and duty." Artemis said proudly. "Something that has grown between two
people not only because of their status as Senshi, but mainly because
of their shared experiences and respect for one another."
He turned to Darien. "Darien, you are one of the finest men I
have ever the privilege to have known." Artemis then looked over to
Serena. "And Serena, you have proven that love is the most powerful
force against the darkness that opposes us. It has been an honor to
serve you both as your guardian cat."
They both smiled.
Artemis nodded slowly. "And now, Darien, you may recite your
vows."
Darien turned to Serena, taking her hands in his. "Serena, my
love...there is nothing I can say to properly express my feelings for
you." He closed his eyes, trying to think of his memorized speech. It
was lost, though. He didn't mind. "I want to spend my life with you.
Doing what I always have, and what I will always continue to do." He
said. "I will protect you, and love you forever."
"Oh Darien..." Serena said softly, tears coming to her eyes.
"And hopefully," he chuckled "I can do so without getting a spike
through my chest like I usually do."
"I hope so." She laughed.
Artemis looked over to the future Neo Queen Serenity. "Your
turn, Serena." He said.
"I'm no good with speeches," she sighed "and I might not be able
to promise never to annoy you without due cause, trip over my hair into
someone else' arms, or anything else." She smiled. "I will love you
forever, though. That is one thing I know I'm good at."
Despite his promise to himself, Darien found it difficult to hold
back the tears of joy. "Thank you." He said simply around the lump in
his throat.
"That was beautiful." Artemis said, honking his nose on a dried
up leaf that was near the stump.
They both looked at the cat and smiled. "Well?" Serena urged.
Artemis re-composed himself and grinned his toothy cat grin wide
and happily. "By the powers invested in me as Artemis the Cat,
guardian of the Sailor Senshi, and Chief Advisor to the Moon Kingdom, I
now pronounce you, Darien, and you, Serena..." he raised his paws
"husband and wife."
Serena looked up at Darien with a new light in her eyes.
Something passed over her that she wasn't quite sure what it was, but
she knew that she liked. Oh my god! I'm married! She thought with a
sigh.
"You may now kiss the bride." Artemis added with a wink.
Darien leaned down slightly and their lips met half way as Serena
stood on her toes. They kissed. Finally. They kissed for the first
time as they wanted to for so long. It was sweet and romantic.
Neither too much or too little. The perfect kiss with a promise of
more.
They parted after a while, each letting out a content sigh.
Artemis shook his head and jumped down. "We better get going, I
suppose. You two have a lot more ceremony's to go through today."
"He's right, you know." Darien said.
Serena nodded, starting to walk back down. "I don't care as long
as tonight's free." She said with just a hint of something in her voice
that Darien hadn't heard before...but knew he was going to like.
"Maybe we can tell them to wrap it up before nine." Darien
offered.
"I was thinking maybe eight?"
"Seven?"
Artemis shook his head. "Ah, young love."
Chapter 11
"I don't care that the university is...Fine...yes, I'll hold."
Chris mumbled angrily into the phone. Rei looked on at him with a
raised eyebrow. He shook his head. "What I won't do to have people
call me Doctor Fiss." He smiled, pointing to a large stack of
university text books.
"Well, you certainly can't golf like a doctor." Rei mentioned
with a smile.
He stuck out his tongue at her. "Uh, yes. This is Chris St..."
he paused, frowning. "Yes, Strike Fiss. You know, I can't help but
wonder if any of you even remember my real name?" he frowned. "No.
It's Stover. S-T-O..."
Rei chuckled. As Chris continued to battle with the faculty over
the phone, she got a bowl of Fruit Loops and some orange juice and
headed for Miharu's room. "Honey, I brought you breakfast." She said,
knocking at the door with her knee.
There was no answer, so Rei cracked open the door with a rather
amazing feat of balancing. "Miharu?"
The little girl sat on her bed, with her sword by her side.
"Hey." She sighed.
Rei walked over and sat the food on a little end table by the
bed. "Are you feeling okay? You haven't been out of your room all
day." She leaned over and pressed her hand on Miharu's forehead, but
felt no fever.
"I'm fine." Miharu sighed. "How's dad?"
Rei nodded. "Good as new. We talked a lot last night, and I
think he realizes that it was just the poison. He felt really guilty
for scaring you like that."
"I know." She smiled, but the grin faded. "Mom? Can I ask you
something?"
Rei nodded. "Of course."
"Well...Uncle Maury was telling me about something that happened
before the ice." She said.
"Uncle Maury?" Rei smiled to herself. "Uh, sorry, go on."
"He told me that when Tumbler killed him, he was trapped in his
mind." Miharu continued.
Rei's face drained of all color.
"He told me that he was forced to go back and see his old
girlfriend be killed again." She sighed. "Said it was the scariest
thing he had ever been through in his life."
"Yeah?" Rei said quietly. "Imagine that..."
Miharu turned to her mom. "What did you see when you died?"
The breath in Rei's throat refused to come out.
"I know you were killed." Miharu said quietly. "Maury told me
what happened. What did you see?"
Rei closed her eyes tightly, then stood. Miharu was scared that
she would just walk out, but she didn't. Rei stopped at the door,
pressing her hand up against the frame for support, as if her knees
were threatening to give way.
"I saw the reason I will never let anything bad happen to you."
Rei said quietly.
"But mom..." Miharu stood, walking over to her. "I'm a fighter,
just like you and dad. If something..."
Rei shook her head. "That's not what I mean." Rei said, not
looking at her daughter. "I know you're like us. You're going to help
us protect the planet, even if it puts your life in danger." Rei said,
looking down at her. "That's not what I meant, Miharu. There are
things a lot worse than fighting and dying."
Before Miharu could decipher the comment, Rei was already
crossing the living room and grabbing her coat. Chris looked up from
his phone conversation and saw that Rei was crying. "Uh, listen, I
have to call you back. Yeah, just send the tests, thanks." He hung up.
Miharu was standing on the opposite end of the room, not sure
what to do. Chris walked over and gave her a quick hug. "I'll go see
what's wrong. You just stay here."
She nodded. "Okay..."
Chris had put on his trench coat and shoes when Miharu walked up
to him. "I have to ask you something."
Chris nodded. "Sure."
"What did you see when Tumbler killed you?" she asked.
He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.
"You know something...?" he paused. "I honestly can't remember. It
was just like waking up afterwards, though."
Miharu closed her eyes. "By the sounds of it, you were lucky
then."
"Why?"
"Because whatever mom saw is the reason she left." Miharu said,
tears forming.
Chris knelt down slightly, putting him eye-level with her. "I'll
make sure she's okay." He smiled. "Sorry, it seems like both your
parents are a little screwed in the head lately."
He ruffled Miharu's hair and stood to leave. "I know." She
replied with a smile. "Just be careful."
"I will."
The door closed, leaving Miharu alone again. She cried.
Chris hurried down the steps, coat flying behind him like a cape.
"If I ever get the chance to see Tumbler again..." he growled "I'm
going to make him pay for this too."
Rei was already across the street, and heading into a small park.
He chased after her, dodging out of the way of a car. "REI!"
She never turned back. If Chris had any sense, he would have
feared for his life and left her alone. But not today. Not after all
the shit that had happened. After the nightmare and all he put her
through. He redoubled his pace in the fresh snow and finally caught up
to her. "Dammit Rei! Talk to me!" he said, grabbing her shoulder.
"Don't TOUCH ME!" Rei yelled, spinning on her heel and slamming
her fist into his jaw.
He dropped to the ground, holding his face as she continued. The
pain mixed in with the headache he had been nursing, and made it worse.
"What did Tumbler show you, Rei?" Chris yelled out. The echo
rebounded trough the park.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
He stood, shaking off the daze he felt. "Were we all dead? Was
it just like my dream?" he continued.
Rei had a strange expression on her face as she turned to him.
It was almost as if she was about to laugh. "Dead? Do you think
Tumbler would be so unimaginative?"
He walked up to her, keeping a safe distance in case she was
still in her 'kicking ass' mood. "That's what Miharu asked, wasn't it?
What Tumbler showed you?" his voice became softer. "What was your hell
like, Rei? Was it really that bad?"
Tears came to her eyes. "Do you remember our first date, Chris?"
"I tried mixing an egg roll in with my drink." He replied with a
small smile. "Didn't work out too well, if I remember correctly."
She nodded. "We also talked a lot." Rei said, walking over to a
bench to sit down. "Do you remember that too?"
Chris sighed. "Most of it, I guess. What does that have to do
with anything?" he smiled. "Don't tell me reliving our first date was
hell?"
She shot him a look of pure venom, immediately rendering him
humorless for the rest of the conversation. "You asked about my
parents. I told you my dad was a politician."
He nodded, sitting down next to her. "Yeah. I assumed that's
why you never talked about him. Cause they go to hell and run things
or something when they die."
She nodded. "He wasn't a politician." Her eyes were closed with
anger. "He's currently a resident in Fuchu."
Chris wracked his brain for the name. He had heard it once
before. His eyes widened. "Fuchu Prison? Here? In Tokyo?"
Rei nodded, tears rolling down her face. "He's probably down to
serving another twenty-five years right about now."
"W-what did he do?" Chris asked.
"I swear if you tell Miharu about ANY of this, I will hunt you
down, Chris. Hide all the way back on Saturn, and I swear upon all we
fight for and protect that I will kill you." She growled at him, hand
grabbing his collar. "Just because this is MY hell doesn't mean it
should be hers too."
Chris nodded slowly. "Done. I won't tell her anything."
Rei let go of his coat and sat upright in her seat, taking a
long, jagged breath. "About three months ago..." she paused. "Well,
you know what I mean, three before the Darkness." She shook her head.
"Anyway, I ran out of birth control pills, and I forgot all about it
till a week later."
His eyes widened.
"You remember that one weekend at Kumamoto for that vacation?"
she blushed.
Chris couldn't help but share her blush. "Of course."
"Well, that was the week I forgot all about it." She said,
looking over to him. "But that's not the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"I went to the doctor right afterwards." She sighed. "I was
worried about being pregnant when we were supposed to be fighting the
upcoming stuff at the millennium change." A smile crossed her lips. "I
knew you wouldn't be upset if you found out we were going to have a
baby..." she said. "But I was worried I would have to stay home during
all the fun."
Chris leaned back in his seat, mind swirling. A smile was on his
face, but it slowly melted. "Wait a minute..." he paused. "You're not
pregnant."
Rei nodded slowly.
"Oh..." Chris blinked, mind putting the pieces together.
"When I was in Tumbler, it was a lot like Maury's predicament."
Rei said, standing suddenly, shivering. "I was just watching. I
couldn't do anything."
She turned to him, shaking her head. "He never even showed me in
my hell." She cried. "He knew Miharu would hurt me more."
Chris stood and gently wrapped his arms around her as she cried
into his chest. "My god, Rei...why didn't you tell me?"
"The reason why I can't have children..." Rei's arms held him
tight. "When I was eight years old, my father raped me and my mother."
She sobbed uncontrollably. "Tumbler forced me to watch Miharu go
through the same thing."
Chris' brain screamed with anger. Every inch of his soul was
torn between the double task of killing Tumbler with his bare hands,
and Rei's father with his bare hands. Instead, however, he held Rei
tighter. It was all he could do. "Rei..."
"Please." She cried. "Don't be mad. I'm sorry..."
They sunk to the ground, holding each other. "Shhh. I'm not
mad, Rei." He told her.
They sat like that in the snow for a long time. Rei curled up
against him as she cried. Chris held her tight, never wanting to let
her go.
Chapter 12
A small glowing blue light finally tapped on her window. Miharu
breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Beavis hovering there. "They're
okay." He said through the glass. "Should be at the front door any
second."
Miharu ran to the door and opened it. Chris and Rei were walking
down the hall back to the apartment. Rei had been crying, it looked
like. Chris looked as if he might have shed some tears as well. "Are
you guys okay??" she gasped.
Chris nodded and smiled. "Don't worry. We're both fine." He
said, sliding Rei's coat off of her and hanging it up.
Rei patted her hand on Miharu's head and nodded. "Sorry, honey.
Just more bad shit, I guess."
"It's okay, mom." Miharu said happily, hugging her waist."
The little girl wasn't nearly as little as when they first got
her. She was now only a head shorter than Rei. Fourteenth birthday
was coming up in a month, too. She would be the same age as Sailor
Moon, Mercury and Mars when they first started out fighting the
Negaverse.
"I'm going to lay down for a bit." Rei sighed, walking over to
the bedroom. "You staying up late again?" she asked Chris.
He shook his head. "Not too late." He admitted.
She smiled weakly. "Good. I'll see you."
The door closed softly. Miharu walked over to Chris. "What was
wrong?"
Chris sighed and walked over to the kitchen. A moment later, he
had a fresh bottle of Jolt from the fridge. "Your mom just loves you
very much." He said, sitting down.
Miharu closed her eyes and sighed. "I know...but what happened?"
"I don't know exactly, Miharu." Chris admitted. "It's not easy
to explain to someone what your own personal version of hell is like."
He said, taking a long gulp and wincing as the bubbles fought to get
down his throat. "I can tell you one thing, though."
"What?"
He shook his head. "Tumbler knew that she loves you, and made it
look like you were being hurt." He took another sip. "But she also
knows that you can take care of yourself, and she will never be mad if
you fight with us."
She smiled.
"Just like I'll never be mad." Chris said. "In fact, I think
it's an honor to fight with a young woman so brave that she would have
attacked Tumbler without a second thought."
Miharu leaned over and hugged Chris. "Thank you." She shuddered.
"I'm lucky to have you two."
"One of my heroes once said," Chris cleared his throat and began
talking in a determined, yet high-pitched voice. "Luck's got nuttin ta
do wit it!"
Miharu laughed. "Who said that?"
"Speedy the Pizza Cat, of course." Chris said, looking like he
was offended that she didn't know. "But the idea is still a very valid
one." He smiled. "You make your own luck. If anything, we were lucky
to get such a great kid."
Miharu blushed and grinned happily. "Thanks."
Chris hugged her again and sighed. "Sorry for scaring you like
that. We'll try to act a little bit saner once we get the chance."
"You're already forgiven." Miharu replied happily. "After all,
you told me all I gotta do is believe, and everything will be alright."
"Mm?" Chris frowned, eyebrow raised. "I don't remember telling
you that."
Miharu shrugged it off. "Well, it's true, isn't it?"
He smiled. "Ah, you're learning already."
Later that night, after Chris and Miharu had talked the evening
away, he poked his head inside his room. Rei was sleeping soundly on
the bed, curled up around a pillow. He sighed gratefully that she was
able to get some rest.
His mind raced with all the little hints and clues she had told
him over the years. Why Grandpa had meant so much to her. Why she
never talked about her parents. All the little things now seemed like
more.
She had said that maybe his mind couldn't have bared to see
Miharu harmed in his dream, and he was spared the image of her death.
It turned out that she may have been wishing for the same thing. Not
to see her new daughter hurt.
He almost felt bad that his parents had been so nice. It must
have been hard for her to not feel resentment over a normal family, but
at the same time, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for Rei
to be a great mom to Miharu.
Rei's eyes cracked open to see Chris watching her sleep with a
half-smile hidden by his hands on his chin. "Hey." She whispered.
"Whatcha doin?"
He smiled. "Watching angels."
She took a long breath and shook her head slightly. "You're
looking too close to the ground."
"Sometimes they come down to visit." Chris said, running his
fingers along her bangs, brushing them away from her eyes. "I've just
been lucky and found one that decided to stick around for a while."
"Thanks for letting me sleep." She said with a yawn. "I needed
that."
He bowed his head. "Anytime." He replied, knowing she wasn't
talking about the nap.
"You know," Rei said quietly "I haven't thought about all that
stuff since before I was a Sailor Scout." She said.
Chris sighed. "Rei..."
"No, it's okay. I want to tell you." She said, hand coming out
from the covers and taking his in a warm grasp. "The worst was when
what little friends I had at the time suddenly noticed my dad was gone.
They thought that I had cast a spell on him or something. Mom went
away too, so that made things worse." She chuckled. "The kids were
terrified to be around me. Thought I was going to cast them into hell
or burn them alive or something. It was pretty lonely.
"But then, one day, this annoying brat named Serena comes by."
Rei smiled. "But she actually thinks I'm 'cool.'" She shrugged.
"Thought the robes were cool, I suppose. But suddenly, I had this
friend who had heard all the voodoo-woman rumors, but never gave them a
second thought."
"She has a very trusting, kind heart." Chris smiled. "I think
some of it rubbed off on you."
"Not as much as you may think." She smiled. "But yeah, I guess
the meatball head really did change my life." Rei said. "I think
that's why I was able to embrace another man in my life besides
Grandpa." She squeezed Chris' hand softly. "She made me believe in
people again. Let me trust you just enough to get over all the stuff
in my past."
"It's quite an honor to be compared to your grandfather." Chris
said frankly. "He was a great man."
"From what I hear," Rei nodded "he was a lot like yours."
Chris rested his head on the bed by hers. "Maybe that's why we
click so well." He grinned. "We were both taught by the best."
Rei leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "Thanks."
"Anytime."
"How come we're so fucked up?" she sighed.
"Balance." Chris replied. "I mean, you can only get an angel
like you..." he tapped her on the nose "...and then there's ME, the
only guy who can distinguish the parts-per-million of caffeine in a
beverage." He shrugged. "That kind of perfection comes at a price, I
suppose."
Beavis curled up next to Miharu's pillow. "I told you they would
be okay." He smiled.
"I know." Miharu sighed. "I just gotta look out for them." She
smiled, petting Beavis' back. "They get into so much trouble without
us."
"Well stated." Beavis laughed.
Miharu smiled to herself, reaching under her pillow. Her fingers
curled around a feather. "Beavis?"
"Mmm?"
She ran her fingers over the soft grain of the feather and
sighed. "Do you think dreams can come true?"
"Miharu, my dear young lady..." Beavis smiled. "Dreams are one
of the few things in this universe that you can count on coming true."
"I know." Miharu smiled to herself, tucking away the feather into
the palm of her hand. "I just like to hear it once in a while."
Rei woke up in the middle of the night once or twice. No
nightmares, just restfulness. Across from her sat Chris, still
unceremoniously crashed at her side, seeming comfortable to sleep in a
position that looked anything but.
She smiled to herself in the dark. He made the nightmares and
demons go away. Her own personal inner-dragon slayer. Maybe that's
why she never told him about her family until now. She never needed
to. Between the Sailor Scouts, Grandpa, and Chris, that chapter of her
life had closed up to be forgotten and ignored.
The only lasting effect was the fact it would be harder to have a
child, but even then, they were lucky enough to have Miharu. She was
the best thing that ever happened to them. She made them a family. It
felt so natural. Even to Miharu. Rei was never so proud in her life
to be called "mom" that first time.
It was strange to see Grandpa in this light. The only other man
she had ever trusted with her heart in this lifetime. She trusted him
because he thought the same way about her that she did about Miharu.
Having a child really does change you, she mused.
As for Chris, he would understand. She hadn't been sure until
that evening, but he did understand. She didn't want any special
treatment because of her past. "Just love me for who I am now." She
thought.
Chris stretched out his arms and legs in his sleep, reminding her
of Beavis. She had to hold back a laugh. Maybe he was dreaming of
being Beavis. She hoped that it was pleasant. Not like the nightmare
before.
Rei knew what it was like to have a vision so real it ripped you
apart every time you thought about it. In a way, it helped her,
though. Tumbler's brief glance at hell had been all too real for her,
but she took it like another bad dream.
Sighing, she settled back down against her pillow. It must be
nice, she thought, to have nightmares. Real nightmares. Not visions
of evil, or witnessing the sick thoughts of monsters. Must be nice not
to have to build up an immunity to horrible images and soul-piercing
sounds.
Rei gently ran her fingers through Chris' somehow-already-messy
hair, causing him to smile in his sleep. "I think we're about ready to
have some nice dreams, don't you?" she whispered with a smile.
With the night again silent, with only the hum of the building to
lull her back to sleep, both she and Chris managed to have one night
together where all the dreams were pleasant.
Chapter 13
Dave smiled when he saw Mina and the others. She was wearing her
uniform, but it looked like the most beautiful evening gown to him.
"Is it my imagination, or do you ladies get even more beautiful every
time I see you?" he said, winking to Mina.
They all smiled. Lita walked up to him and gave him a hug,
lifting him off the ground. "Don't think you can get fresh on your
future princesses, Davie." She laughed.
"Damn, I guess I'll have to resign." Mina smiled.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll overlook a few breaches of protocol, my
dear." Dave smiled.
"Oooh, the 'breach of protocol' sounds kinky." Mina cooed into
his ear. "How's about later on tonight?"
"My schedule just freed up." Dave whispered back as they kissed.
Ami stepped forward. "Uh, Dave, I hate to ask you, but have you
seen Serena or Darien anywhere?"
Dave looked up and shrugged. "I thought Luna was going to bring
them over? I sent the limo."
Artemis came into the room. "Dave, you REALLY must do something
about pet access. The guards simply would NOT let me in until I told
them who I was."
"Where are they?" Ami said.
Artemis walked over to the corner and began drying himself off
with a furnace vent. "The king and queen will be along shortly."
Luna blinked. "What?"
Artemis shot her a proud grin. "You heard me." He turned to
Dave. "Hope you have time to change the dinner reservations."
"You MARRIED them?" Luna gasped.
His little cat shoulders arched up in a shrug. "They didn't want
to set a bad example. You can't have a king and queen without them
being married."
They all blinked. Lita smiled very proudly. "Ah, I love this
time travel stuff. It's so much better when you're living it out like
you're supposed to."
Ami nodded. "Less confusing too."
Luna was in a hissy fit already, though. "And you didn't TELL
me?!?" she gasped. "I'M Serena's guardian cat!" she sputtered "I'M
supposed to marry her!"
Artemis, now nice and dry, just shrugged. "You always get to do
the fun stuff. I just figured it was my turn."
Their conversation was cut off by a loud gong. Everyone jumped.
"What was that?!?" Ami gasped.
"Time." Dave said, looking each of them over. "Straighten out
your skirts, girls."
Artemis looked out the door of the little change room and
frowned. "Where are they?"
Dave closed his eyes for a moment. Two flashes of light flew in
through the door. Serena and Darien both materialized on the floor,
looking around like they had been woken up by a splash of water.
"Sorry about that, people." Dave said. "I don't usually do that, but
we're all in a hurry."
Serena blushed, looking at her suit. "My clothes are...?"
"Yeah, we can do that too." Dave smiled. "Wait till tonight,
love birds." He spun around with a flourish. "Show-time folks! Rock N
roll! And in the words of the great Al Pacino: Hoo Haaw!"
The scouts all lined up and took deep breathes.
"So, basically, what are we doing again?" Mina asked.
"Just follow the Dave." He said. "Remember, this planet has
little to no idea who the hell you girls...and guy...are." He smiled.
"Tonight, you get to say hello to the entire world."
A cell phone rang, and materialized in Dave's hand a moment
later. He whipped it open. "Reinquest. Hai. Hai. Nanni?" he
sighed. "Hai." His phone disappeared. "We go, NOW."
"Is my hair alright?" Serena gasped.
"Yes." Dave nodded. "If you will notice, I also managed to re-do
your hair when I transported you. Now, please..." he pointed over to
the door. "Let's go."
"Eeep." Serena said simply as Dave opened the door.
The Great Hall of the Empyreal Palace opened up before them.
Thousands of people, all dressed in formal dress and suit, all
turned their heads to Sailor Moon and the Scouts. Smiles appeared and
the room erupted in clapping and cheers.
Dave took a deep breath and turned to Serena. "Never doubt that
the Omega Web can do for public relations."
Television cameras swung around to them. Flash bulbs dotted the
crowd a second later. Serena nearly fell backwards. "Oh my..."
Catching her, however, were the strong arms of Tuxedo Mask. He
leaned over her shoulder slightly and looked into her eyes. "Courage,
Sailor Moon."
She nodded weakly and re-composed herself. "Okay, ready Sailor
Scouts?"
Lita smiled. "Always."
"Then lets go."
One by one, with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask in the lead, the
Sailor Senshi walked across the red carpet and into the ballroom. It
was like a dream that Serena had too often to count. Endless daydreams
of becoming a princess, instead of doing her homework, were now coming
true.
"Just breathe..."
Chapter 14
Chris couldn't sleep. The headache was back, despite the
Tylenol, and it was a lot worse.
His sister showed genuine concern as they sat at his kitchen
table. "How have you been eating?"
"Nothing." Chris admitted. "I can only stomach Jolt, it seems.
Mock chicken loaf and even lemon pie filler just don't have the same
appeal to me as it used to."
She shook her head. "You know, that fucking poison could still
be in your system."
"I thought about that too." He nodded. "But I got my laptop to
do a scan of me, and there's no trace of that crap in my system
anymore." He shuddered. "Maybe there's a Mac convention nearby."
Andrea held her glass of tea in her hand. "Sleep?"
He closed his eyes. "Barely. It's almost like my mind is scared
to go back into REM sleep."
"'Cause of the dream?" she sighed.
Chris nodded.
"Demeter was telling me that when Zistles dream, it's in data.
You know, kinda like a computer." Andrea said. "Sometimes, because
they examine each and every bit and byte over and over in their heads,
one dream can last three years."
"He must have done some good dreaming on the way over here."
Chris smiled.
"I'm kinda flattered, actually." Andrea smiled. "He had one
about me that lasted three-hundred and ninety-four years."
"Oooh. Kinky." He smiled.
Demeter, who had been quietly sitting in the corner like usual,
just blushed. "Ooooh yeah."
Andrea laughed. "ANYway..."
"How come you're always so quiet, Demeter?" Chris asked, looking
over to the Zistle.
He smiled back. "Because if I talked all the time, I'd steal all
your good lines."
"Something to be said for a man who can say so much with so
little words." Andrea winked over at him.
"It's a good thing too, since my head can barely take my own
words." Chris cringed. "Anyone got an ice cube or something that I can
jam into my head?"
Demeter was half way to the fridge when Andrea shot him the 'it
was only a figure of speech' look. "Oh..." he apologized.
"It's okay, Demeter." Chris smiled. "Just need some sleep, I
suppose."
"You need the fucking sick bay on the U.S.S. Enterprise to even
start to fix your head, Chris." Andrea offered happily. "But yes, you
definitely need some sleep for now."
"Sounds good to me." He yawned. "The guest room is free. Only
rule is that there's no nookie in my house. I don't care if you make
out a little, just be quiet."
A small hole appeared in the table right next to his hand on the
table.
Andrea never even had time to blink. Something kicked into her
brother, and he was standing with his transformation disk out in front
of his body. "Or, you can duck!" Chris yelled.
She and Demeter both dove under the table when it came. Silent
bullets rained into the room, shattering tile and wood and plaster into
dust. Chris lit up with a strange blue glow as his disk exploded in
light at the same time. Every single bullet that would have made him
his mark was vaporized on contact with the shield.
A body dressed in the exact same black Kevlar and S.W.A.T. team
armor that he had seen earlier flew through what was left of the
window, suspended by a wire.
Andrea had never seen anything like it in her life. His sword
was out now, and during it's materialization, had severed the
assassin's cord, causing him to tumble in. Chris caught the man with
his back and rolled with the blow, letting the body fly off of him.
His arm, with the extended katana, made a flick, and only a small red
slash on the kitchen tile signified that the would-be assassin was dead
before he hit the ground.
He didn't stop there, though. Spinning around, his sword let fly
a wave of intense blue energy that melted through the man that was
behind the first.
There was a pause. Chris looked down at his sister. "You
okay?!"
She nodded. "Uhhh..."
"Transport out of here! My room! Get Rei!" No sooner had Chris
said that, then a bullet impacted through his shirt, making a neat hole
through the loose fabric. "NOW!"
Andrea and Demeter vaporized in a quick swirl of green light as
another hail of bullets rained in. Chris deflected them again. His
mind was calm as the destruction rained around him. Somewhere in his
brain, he thought of the similarity to a hurricane.
The roof above him began to crumble. He sidestepped the
avalanche of debris that crashed down onto the floor. His sword came
out at just the right time to slice in half another man who jumped from
he hole.
Kevlar and metal were no match for the eerie smooth flashes of
sword that slid through the armor. Three more fell from the roof, and
fell to the ground with no more than a slash on Chris' part.
Rei and the others ran out into the kitchen a moment later to see
Chris, knelt down, holding his head.
Around him lay the bodies of ten assassins. What was left of
their blood ran off of his sword, leaving it clean and shining. "My
god..." Rei whispered.
Chris looked up, breathing heavily. "So much for my security
deposit." He sighed, standing suddenly and sheathing his sword at his
side.
"Are you okay?" Rei asked, accepting him in a hug.
"I'm fine." He nodded.
Andrea knelt down to one of the bodies. "Chris? Are you sure
these are the same guys who attacked you earlier?"
"I'm pretty sure." Chris nodded.
"Oh." She said, turning one of them over and ripping a small
piece of cloth from their arm.
"What's that?" Demeter blinked.
Andrea showed him the small patch. "It's a Canadian flag,
Demeter." She turned to Chris. "They were Canadians."
Rei looked up to Chris, already knowing that he had no answer.
"Why does your own government want you dead?"
Chapter 15
Morning found Chris' trashed apartment in even more upheaval.
All the NA Senshi had spent the night. Maury had been kind enough to
turn on his powers to heat the otherwise winter air that was coming in
from the roof and window.
Chris and Maury were sitting at what was left of the kitchen
table, reading the newspaper.
"Rei's goinna be pissed." Maury mused.
Chris nodded, opening the huge main article on the front few
covers. SAILOR MOON: JAPAN'S NEW QUEEN, and other headlines blared in
super-bold fonts all across the paper. "Yup."
"How's the headache?" Mo asked after a pause.
"It was gone for the night." Chris sighed happily. "But I think
it's back. Fuck. Maybe I've just been under too much stress or
something."
"So..." Mo nodded. "Why is Canada trying to kill us?"
"I don't know." Chris sighed. "I mean, right now, we're god damn
heroes." He said. "You know why this place isn't mobbed by people
yet?"
Maury shrugged.
"I found out that the cops in Edmonton and Calgary still have a
big thing for us. Remember back in West Ed? Apparently, we really
inspired a lot of them. They've been keeping people away so we don't
get mobbed."
"Ah. I was wondering about the road blocks down the street."
Maury smiled. "That was sweet of them. We'll have to send them some
donuts."
Chris nodded. "I say we talk to some of the cops. Even if a
government wants us dead for some insanely retarded reason, then at
least we know we can trust the good old men in blue."
"It's a plan." Mo nodded.
"Think that's all of them?" Chris asked. "I'd hate for my
apartment to be shot up again." He smiled.
"Same over at mine." Maury grinned. "I talked to the assholes
that attacked me. They were just after you, actually." He shook his
head. "But they still sent nine of the bastards to make sure I wasn't
able to help you out." He paused. "Sorry I couldn't jet over in time
to help."
"Since when did I get so popular?" Chris sighed.
"I don't know, but it was pretty obvious that their intelligence
was fucked up." Maury stretched out his arms and smiled. "We nuked the
bastards without much of a sweat." He nodded. "But anyway, they did
say that there were two teams. I think we got them all."
"At least with the Watcher Ninjas we had an idea why they wanted
to kill us." Chris mumbled. "But these guys are just attacking us for
no reason. That's why I love swords. At least you know who you're
killing. Not just pulling a trigger at nine thousand yards and
watching a blur in your night-vision scope drop like a sack of nougat."
"Cheers to that." Maury nodded. "Kids today have no sense of
honor when killing. It's a shame. They should teach it in schools."
"Yeah. Then kids will be so fucking terrified, they'd never hurt
another living soul." Chris smiled. "It would be great." He took a
long sip of Jolt and sighed. "Speaking of kids, I just realized I
haven't spent one full day with Miharu since the Great Darkness. Not
even to sword practice."
"It's okay, man. You'll get some time later on." Maury said.
"Besides, I think she said she was going to do something later on today
anyway. Probably hang with some friends."
"I hope so." Chris sighed. "A little bit of normality wouldn't
hurt her."
"Normality?" Maury gasped. "That must be the first time I ever
heard you say normal was good."
Chris smiled. "Even the gods of weirdness have to have a
vacation once in a while, my friend."
Miharu walked down the crowded hallway, dodging people that were
a good foot or two taller than she was. Behind her, a young man
struggled to keep up. "Where are we going?!? I told you! I don't
have keys for the biology lab!" Joey said.
"I'll worry about that." Miharu replied.
"Tell me what we're doing again?" he stammered as they reached
the biology lab and Miharu took out her wakizashi that she had been
carrying on her back. Now that she was a little taller, it was much
easier to conceal. A few people's eyes widened, but not one of them
dared to ask why the little girl had it.
With one swing, the door was open, and the lock was cut in half.
"I told you." She said, putting away her weapon. "Scout business. I
can tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."
Joey swallowed hard at the tone of her voice. "Yup. You're
Chris' kid alright." He hurried in the dark room and turned on the
lights. "Say, he's not mad at me for talking to the press, is he?"
Miharu smiled evilly. "Lets just say that you better do this
favor for me. Then you can call it even."
"Okay." He nodded. "If it's for Chris and everything." He walked
over to one of the counter tops that was equipped with some elaborate
looking equipment. "So what do you need a biology lab for?"
She reached into her pockets and produced a small plastic
Tupperware container. "I need you to check the DNA on both these
things." Miharu said, opening the container and taking out a small vile
of blood, and a feather.
Joey examined the samples. "Well, the blood's no problem. Of
course, I can't do a gene sequence, but if you just need a hereditary
chart, I can do that."
"What about the feather?"
Joey picked it up and shrugged. "The university doesn't keep
many bio records on other species."
"Can you try?" Miharu sighed. "It's the most important one. I
need to know what it's from." She paused. "And I need it back."
"Lucky feather?" Joey smiled.
"I think so." Miharu nodded.
He nodded and walked over to the cupboards to get some more
equipment. "You do realize this is hardly an ideal situation. There's
a good chance the charts will be all muddled or wrong or something."
"Just try your best." She smiled.
Joey nodded. "Okay. This will probably take the whole day,
though."
"That's okay." Miharu nodded. "If anyone gives you shit, tell
them you're on authority from Strike Fiss." She said. "Everyone knows
you know my dad, so it should be okay."
"Cool. I get to disturb classes for the day." Joey laughed. He
turned to the clock on the wall and sighed. "Come back around seven or
nine or something. I should be almost done by then."
"Thanks." She smiled sweetly. "I'll see you then." She walked
off, letting the door close behind her.
Joey took a long, deep breath. "She must have her mother's
looks. Wow." He shook his head, turning back to the task at hand.
Seeker was not doing so well. William was noticeably worried
when Dave had returned to the Omega Web that day. "How far are we on
the future dump?" he asked.
Sonia shook her head. "Not too well. Seeker's gravity well has
been fluctuating rather rapidly. We've been slowed to one millionth of
a percent efficiency."
Will looked over to Dave. "My baby's dying, Dave. I've tried
everything to keep him around, but..."
Dave nodded sympathetically. "I know." He said. "You've done a
great job, even now. He'd already be gone if it wasn't for you."
The entire room watched the tiny star in the middle of the Point
Calculator start to flicker and grow weaker. Dave could tell they only
had about a minute of real-time left before they would have to eject
the dying star into null-space. It would be the only way to save the
Omega Web's control room from the resulting red giant. Even at this
miniaturized scale, it would be the size of the Titanic at least.
"Stop the dump." Dave commanded.
Sonia blinked, but hesitated only that long, knowing the reasons
would come later. "Done." She said after entering in a few commands on
the control panel.
"Get a fix on Chaos." Dave said. "All resources."
"Searching." Sonia nodded.
"Seeker's getting red-line!" somebody said suddenly. "Twenty
seconds!"
Dave turned to William and nodded. Will closed his eyes. "Ready
the null-space dump." The man said.
"And get those force fields ready." Dave said suddenly. "Even if
we have to destroy the Point Calculator, I want you to squeeze out
every last second from Seeker."
Nobody questioned the commands. Only acted. But at the back of
everyone's minds, they wondered. Destroying the new Point Calculator
would set them back another year.
Energy bounced off the walls and focused down around the Point
Calculator. A crackling barrier of force now surrounded it. Even as
that happened, however, it was clear that Seeker was collapsing.
Few sights were as frightening as a star dying. It was primal,
raw power, being extinguished by the endless cruelty and merciless
force of the universe. Some would call it beautiful, but Dave saw it
for what it really was. The death of a star.
A scream filled the room. It rocketed through everyone like a
wave, echoing off the walls to do it again. At the same time, Seeker
shot out a burst of light that consolidated into a ring. Only the
force-fields protected the people in the room from the hyper-deadly
wave of gasses.
The star began to shrink, and the screaming sound lessened...but
then suddenly returned, growing louder. As it did, Seeker began to
expand, red hot and burning furiously.
"Do we have it?!?" Dave yelled over the bone-chilling howl.
Sonia turned to Dave and shook her head. "No! Almost! Just a
few seconds!"
"SIR! We need to eject! Fields at ten percent!" another yelled.
Dave could see the star straining to tear itself free from it's
Omega Web prison. The Point Calculator, although intact, was engulfed
in a ball of liquid energy. One cubic millimeter of that gas had more
power in it than all the nuclear weapons on earth a dozen times over.
"Wait until critical!" Dave demanded, hoping he wouldn't have to
find out just how much power was in that glowing red beach-ball in
front of him.
A second passed. Then another. Both Dave and William watched as
Seeker's death-throws gradually ate away at the shield. "Dave."
William pleaded. "It's time. We can't get any more from him."
Dave didn't move. His mind buzzing. He could almost see the
exact moment coming when the field would collapse. "Not yet." He
whispered, more to himself than to William.
Seeker screamed against it's shell, wanting to break free. The
sound was deafening.
Sonia was about to nod, when he sensed it. "EJECT!" Dave yelled.
In a flash of blue light...
Seeker was gone.
The Point Calculator was gone.
Everything was quiet. A moment later, they all let out a long
breath. "Do you realize how close you cut that one, Dave?" Sonia
gasped.
He ignored the comment. "Did you get it?"
She nodded. "Yes. I got three points on Chaos' space-time
orientation. They're being computed into the system right now." She
shook her head. "I hope it was worth nuking the Calculator over."
Dave turned. "Cary on. Send the data to my office. I need a
break." He walked over to a blank spot on the wall and the door
materialized, letting him pass.
William darted out just in time to make it too. "Dave!" he
called after. "What the hell were you doing?!"
"We still had another half second, Will. It was safe." Dave
replied, not even turning around. He kept walking down the hall,
passing continents as he went.
"You don't know that for sure." William growled. "And I thought
you said that gut instinct was not an acceptable excuse in the Omega
Web."
"We needed that data." Dave replied. "I'm sorry I had to make
you watch your star die." He slowed down his pace. "But it was
necessary."
"WHY!?!" William almost screamed.
Dave stopped walking and turned, half surprised. "What?"
"I have known you since before the Great Darkness, Dave." William
said, voice raised to a tone Dave had never heard before. "I've always
admired your calmness, and your intelligence. But what I saw in there
today was a desperate man.
"Why are you so scared, Dave?"
Dave Reinquest didn't even move for a long time. His mouth just
stood, slightly parted, not sure what to say.
"What is this Chaos?" William asked. "I can't find anything in
the database about it. You have to tell me."
Dave nodded. "You're absolutely right." He started off down the
hall. "Follow me."
Chapter 16
"How much do you know about the Seven Keys, Will?" Dave asked.
William smiled. "I've been studying them for a week now. Rather
interesting topic." He sighed. "But I can never get into the high-
level files. I assume there's a good reason."
"It's a Senshi." Dave sighed as they sat down. He reclined back
in his chair, looking up at the roof. It was decorated like a sunset.
It gave the effect of sitting outside on a summer evening. William had
to admit it was nice. He would have to do some redecorating in his own
office later.
"What do you mean?" William asked, sitting down across from his
mentor. "Chaos?" he blinked when Dave nodded. "So it's like the
Elders?"
"No." Dave sighed. "The Elders are Senshi only in title. They
are a completely different thing, however." He rubbed his temples with
his hand. "What I mean when I say Senshi, is like the Sailor Scouts."
"A Sailor Scout? In the middle of deep space?"
Dave nodded. "Basically, yes." He took a deep breath and sighed.
"In nineteen-ninety-six, our buddies the Sailor Scouts, faced an enemy
who called herself Sailor Galaxia." He explained. "A mean old bitch.
The Scouts threw everything they had at her...even going so far to
defecting and trying to win her trust."
"Why were they fighting her?" Will asked. "If she was another
Scout..."
"Sailor Galaxia wasn't alone." Dave said quietly. "She had a
key." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Namely, the Chaos Key."
William's eyes widened.
"I don't like to document it too well." Dave said. "If I did,
some of the others would think that it would be in our best interests
to destroy the Sailor Scouts." He sighed. "You must know at least to
the point of which Sailor Scouts have keys. I admit, I've thought
about it too. If Sailor Moon was obliterated, it would make things a
little less complicated. But we can't do that. Not now." He sighed.
"Not after Strike Fiss came into the picture."
"What do you mean?"
"He has a key too." Dave said. "But that's not the problem."
"What do you MEAN that's not a problem?!?" William gasped. "He's
around Sailor Moon all the time!"
"Two or three keys don't make the end of the world, Will." Dave
said, annoyed. "Plus, there's another catch to him." He shook his
head. "Strike Fiss' key isn't one of ours."
"Not one of ours?" William whispered to himself, slouching back
in his chair, stunned. "So then there's only six keys?"
"I doubt we'd be so lucky." Dave grumbled. "Although a key can
be destroyed, I'm almost certain that our friend Strike Fiss' katana
was what destroyed the old one. The universe is still here. That
means it not only destroyed the old one, but replaced it in the balance
of power.
"Anyway, Sailor Galaxia's key was a particularly nasty one." Dave
said, continuing. "Somehow, Chaos infected Galaxia like a god damn
virus."
"So the key controls her?" William nodded. "I thought that
wasn't possible."
"That's Chaos for you." Dave smiled. "Cheating at the rules of
the universe to have it's way. That reason alone makes it the most
dangerous." He said. "Luckily, Sailor Galaxia was a very powerful
Senshi, and managed to keep her key from taking over completely.
Sailor Moon and the others were able to finally beat her, and Chaos
jumped out to find another host." Dave shook his head. "I always
envisioned owning a key to be a wonderful thing. I never thought of it
like a doppelganger."
William nodded in silent agreement.
"There's one thing about Chaos that is very intriguing." Dave
said, sitting up in his chair and snapping his fingers. A small
computer screen materialized in front of them, spinning like a floating
hologram. "Although by it's very nature, Chaos is unpredictable, hence
this key's name...there is one thing you can always count on it doing."
"What's that?" Will asked, eyeing the data on the screen. It was
the Point Calculation numbers for the Chaos Key. The computer was
slowly putting it together, and a three-dimensional map was forming.
Dave saw how the star-chart was looking, and closed his eyes.
"Chaos wants to bring the keys together. It knows something we don't.
It knows that Armageddon is coming." He pointed to the completed map,
looking at the glowing dotted line that lead to the Solar System from a
point out in space. "And that's why it's coming back to earth."
William's eyes widened. "Oh god..."
Dave nodded. "Destroying Sailor Moon is looking pretty sweet
right about now, isn't it?"
He nodded.
"We can't, though." Dave said, snapping his fingers again,
causing the hologram screen to fade away. "This was going to happen
sooner or later. Just like Tumbler. There's no way to stop it as long
as this universe exists." He closed his eyes. "We have three of this
universe's keys with the Senshi. That's almost half. Two others I'm
pretty sure are also on our side. If Armageddon does happen, we have
good odds."
"How long do we have?" Will asked, eyes wide.
Dave washed his hands over his face. "Chaos will hit earth in
another three days. Anytime after that. It will probably take another
day or two to assemble the Keys."
"I don't believe this." William said to himself.
Dave nodded, standing. He looked up into the sky on his roof.
"Yup. The universe. Never a dull moment."
William watched his mentor walk over to the wall and lean against
it. "Dave, from what I know, Armageddon is a reset button for the
universe. But there's hints of it in the files that it's actually more
than that."
"When the seven keys are assembled," Dave said "Alpha Armageddon
will commence. The power balance that is held within each of the keys
will be forced together in a rather small point in space and time." He
shook his head. "When that happens, the universe will be at a very
weak state. All the rules we abide by will be changed. The entire
fabric of reality will be as pliable as silly-putty.
"Whoever holds a key will be able to change our reality. Not
just our universe, but our entire cosmos." Dave said with a frown.
"Even Tumbler wouldn't be able to conceive the kind of wish you could
make with that power. In one heartbeat, life everywhere in every
universe could be destroyed. Power that a God could only dream of
would be in the hands of whoever holds the dominating key. Absolute
slavery, the malformation of Time, and even thought could be changed to
whatever fantasies are within the mind of the host."
William's face had turned white.
Dave smiled weakly. "Can you imagine an eternity of mind-
destroying chaos and hell? That's what's in store if Chaos gets it's
way." He sighed. "And that is why it is willing to risk another battle
with Sailor Moon. It knows that Alpha Armageddon is coming."
"What about Beta?" Will asked after a long pause.
"Beta is what will happen if we're only half lucky." Dave said.
"Our universe will die. Just like Seeker did in the control room.
It's still better than destroying reality, however."
"How about if we're really lucky?" William asked.
Dave smiled. "Omega Armageddon. Life will continue as it always
has, and the keys will have a grace period of a few hundred years that
they won't react and form another Alpha." He shook his head. "But
considering the only way that's going to happen is if the Omega Web's
key wins the little contest, I wouldn't put my money on that
happening."
William stood. "I'm going to go see if any of those futures we
downloaded have any clues about the next few days."
"Good." Dave nodded. "Might help."
"I have a feeling we're going to need all the help we can get."
Will sighed, disappearing in a flash of light.
Dana was on the other side of the door. Rei's eyebrows lowered
slightly. "Hi, uh, Dana was it?" she said, not really trying to smile,
but succeeding in not looking hostile. "Come on in."
"Sorry for dropping by. I just wanted to check up on you and
Chris." Dana said, taking Rei's invitation and stepping in the door.
"Him and Maury went down to the mechanic. They were going to get
a new front end put on Nacho." Rei said, smiling to herself. "I got
sick of him complaining about the Elder he ran into and sent him down
there before I killed him."
"I'd donate mine, but it's silver." Dana smiled back.
Shoes off, they walked over to the kitchen. Dana's eyes went
wide as Rei fixed up a pot of tea. "What...happened???" she gasped at
the holes in the roof and wall. Not to mention the hundred or so
little bullet holes in various surfaces.
"The guys who tried to poison Chris came back." Rei shrugged. "I
barely heard anything. Him and Maury finished off the entire group
without much of a sweat." She smiled at Dana's expression. "You want
sugar with yours?"
"Uh...please..."
"Cream?"
"No thanks." Dana replied blankly.
Rei finished making tea and they walked over to the warmer, less
destroyed living room. "They were from here." She said. "Canadian."
Dana's eyes were wide. "Oh my..."
"Did they say anything to you?" Rei asked, taking a sip.
"Well, they did say that..." she cleared her throat. "That they
were just very patriotic." She shook her head. "Why would Canada want
Chris dead?"
"I know he doesn't know much French." Rei smiled. "Maybe Canada
didn't want a hero that wasn't bilingual?"
"Doesn't he know Japanese?" Dana asked.
"Well, he does know a word or two." Rei said casually.
"Sometimes I blurt out a word or..." she blushed suddenly. "Or two..."
Dana raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry." Rei took a deep breath.
"For what?" Dana shrugged.
"I know you..." Rei sighed.
Dana shook her head. "It was over a year ago...it's okay." She
smiled. "I still owe him for the new start I got on life, but you
don't have to worry...he's all yours. I'll just wait for Tom Cruise or
someone to come my way."
"I don't know." Rei raised an eyebrow. "I've always thought
Billy Corgan was kinda hot. Never looked at a bald man the same way
again." They both took a long sip of tea.
"Amen to that." Dana laughed. "Though I'm more of a David
Duchovny fan myself. It's too bad he's married."
Rei smiled, then sighed. "We're going over to Edmonton tomorrow.
Going to talk to some of the big-shot politicians. See if we can
figure out where these assassins came from. It would be great if you
and Eric came along."
"We'd love to." Dana smiled. "It would give me a chance to check
out the shopping scene."
Rei's eyes widened. "God...I haven't been on a shopping spree in
forever!" she rubbed her hands together.
Maury and Chris trudged up to the door. "I can't believe that."
Chris mumbled. "Since when were air-bags so damn expensive?"
Maury shook his head. "I think it was the transmission damage
that really set you back." He patted Chris on the back. "Don't worry,
though. Nacho will be good as new before you know it. Bobby's a fast
worker."
"I know..." Chris sighed, taking out his keys. "It's just
that..." he pointed down to where the road was outside. "I had to take
the BUS, Maury. Do you realize how long it's been since I've had to
take the bus anywhere?" he shivered. "I feel naked without my Nacho."
"It's only for tonight and tomorrow!" Maury laughed. "Live with
it!"
"Yeah yeah." He mumbled, opening the door.
The two boys walked in to see Rei grabbing Dana's foot, like she
was retaliating from a kick. "What the...?!"
"Oh, I LOVE these shoes!" Rei giggled. "Do they have them in a
nine and a half?"
Dana nodded excitedly. "Oh yeah. And in a tan color too. We'll
have to check them out when we go."
Rei let Dana's foot down and nodded. "You know, I haven't gotten
myself a new pair of shoes since before we adopted Miharu."
Dana's jaw dropped. "Girl, you've been deprived." She put her
arm around Rei's shoulder. "Come on, we'll go check out your closet.
See how bad the damages are."
They walked past Maury and Chris and into the other room.
Maury laughed. "I thought you said Rei hated her?"
Chris shrugged. "I guess they found a common interest."
"Yeah. Shopping." Maury chuckled. "The universal language of
the female."
"Ain't it beautiful?" Chris laughed.
Chapter 17
Beavis had felt it coming since that morning. Something strange
was in the air. A kind of energy was gathering. He had been
meditating for most of that week after Chris was initially attacked.
He had to regain his strength for the upcoming battle.
The Keys were coming together. Once they did, Armageddon would
start. It would be the most crucial battle the Scouts ever faced. Not
even Tumbler could know the power the Seven Keys held when assembled.
He looked up into the sky. Just a few minutes before sunrise.
The rays of the sun were warming the horizon as he watched over. A few
more sunrises, and it would be time.
The Elders were too weak to prevent it now.
It was a sad testimony to the Elders. For all Beavis knew, he
was the last one alive. His old friends were indeed old, and even
Elders had a limited time in this cosmos. When all was said and done,
the history books would never recognize them for what they stood for.
Only petty thugs who tried to freeze a planet to cover up a
mistake made billions of years ago.
And their last surviving historian was a small African Pygmy
Hedgehog.
Beavis closed his eyes. There was still a chance, however, that
he could do something about this. If the Keys DID assemble...
And the Sailor Senshi gained control of Armageddon...
His mind whirled with the possibilities.
He could correct the Elder's mistake.
Beavis' eyes shone. It would be a worthy sacrifice.
Thousands of miles away, Serena looked at the setting sun through
the glass of her new bedroom.
Their new bedroom.
She looked back over to the bed, where Darien lay, half covered
by the luxurious silk blankets that the palace had provided. He was
sound asleep already. Between the ceremonies, and the wedding night,
sleep was looking pretty good right about now.
But she wanted to see the sunset one last time before she finally
let sleep take her.
It felt like her life was beginning again. The same kind of
surge of energy she got when she transformed into Sailor Moon those few
first times.
But it also seemed like another ending was just over the horizon.
She could feel it in her very soul. The Silver Crystal seemed anxious.
Energy ebbed from it even when it was dormant in her locket. Not even
when it had been recharged by Dave to fight the Lords had it been this
active.
It was a different kind of energy. Nervous energy. Like it was
ready for something. Hoping for something. Something that was coming
soon.
A soft moan came from the bed, letting Serena return her
attentions to her new husband. She smiled. Darien had grabbed a
pillow in his sleep, and was nested against it like a child would with
a teddy bear late at night.
She walked over to the bed and knelt down, letting her light
nightgown drape over his arm. "You're so hansom when you're sleeping."
She whispered, gently brushing her hand through his messy pillow-hair.
Darien's mouth curled up into a smile. "Thank you." He mumbled.
She laughed softly.
"You coming to bed?" Darien asked innocently, opening his eye to
watch her. "It's nice and warm." He said. "I promise."
Serena stood briefly to discard her gown. It fluttered to the
thick carpet below like a leaf. Darien's eyebrows signaled his
approval of the sight. Serena just smiled. "Hentai." She scolded
playfully.
His smile widened. "YOU're the one who's naked. Not me."
Serena slid into the covers and nuzzled up against him, soaking
in his warmth. "There. Better?"
"Much." Darien sighed happily, gently tucking his arms around
her.
They both watched the clear winter sunset outside of the window
together.
"Promise me one thing, Darien..." Serena whispered. "That we can
share sunsets like this." She said. "At least once in a while."
Darien smiled to himself and nodded. "Done."
When the sky turned from magenta to the thick, dark blanket of
stars, Serena and Darien were long lost in sleep, dreaming the same
dream together.
Chapter 18
Right away, he could feel it. It wasn't like a normal dream.
Something surreal about the light in the room that he saw. It was like
the dream before.
But now, he was in the apartment.
It was barely even morning outside yet. He looked up over Rei's
sleeping form and noticed that the view hadn't changed from the normal
view outside his window.
It was like a carbon copy of where he was at that moment.
Sleeping in his bed.
He looked back down to Rei, and was shocked to see she was no
longer there. Chris got to his feet, looking himself over. He was
dressed as Strike Fiss. Sword was by his side once again, and his
shirt and vest nicely pressed and tidy.
But the blood was still there.
Slashes of blood. Along his arms and chest. It was dry when he
touched it, though, and indeed looked a lot older than the first dream.
But the silence...
Something was different. The silence was changing. Music. It
was changing into music. It was unlike anything he had ever heard
before. A mechanical gospel of wind. Howling and screaming, the wind
hit him, but it kept it's form. It was still music.
It came from outside his room.
Strike Fiss slowly walked over to the door. It opened even
before he could touch it, and bright, green light enveloped him. It
flooded the near black and white dream with color.
At the end of what appeared to be a long hall, two figures stood.
They were both Chris.
One was a mirror image of himself as Strike Fiss, only without
the suit. Fiss' eyes flashed down to his hand. The gentle curve of a
wooden sword was between his thumb and index finger.
This Chris has the audacity to look up at Fiss and smile.
His other hand rested on the shoulders of a young boy. The boy
looked up at Fiss, smiling happily.
Danger.
Strike Fiss took a step further into the light. His left hand
cocked the hilt of his sword forward just a notch. The boy's eyes
widened. He was scared. Fiss instantly regretted the hostile action.
He thought for a moment as Chris and the young boy watched.
"It's okay." Strike Fiss said calmly. "I'm you're friend." He
knelt down, making sure his sword would not clatter on the floor as he
lowered himself. "What's your name?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." The young boy said
proudly. "You might be bad."
Fiss smiled. Sounded a lot like what he would have said.
"You're right. You must always be careful." He took a deep breath.
"My name is Fiss. What's yours?" He never would brag about it, or
admit it, but he was a very charming person. Kids loved his manner,
and usually could tell he was a friend rather than a bad person.
This little boy smiled happily. "I'm Chris."
Fiss looked up at the older Chris. He glared back. "That's a
nice name." Strike Fiss said, never taking his eyes off of the older
one. "Who's your friend here?"
"I know what you're trying to do." The older Chris interrupted
suddenly.
"His name is Chris too." The little Chris said.
"You can't have him." Chris said, leaning over his younger
counterpart. "You don't belong here." He said with a creepy, low
voice. "He's mine."
Strike Fiss looked into the smaller Chris' eyes, then looked back
up to the older. Something inside his mind said the next words. "I
won't let you have him."
Chris stepped forward, bokken raised. "You've tried. And
failed." He said around a twisted smile. "He is me."
Strike Fiss watched Chris approach, but didn't move from his
crouch. "Who are you?"
The tip of the wooden sword rested under Fiss' chin, pulling his
face up to lock eyes with Chris'. "YOU CAN'T HAVE HIMMMM!" he
screamed, blood pouring from his mouth onto the green lit floor. "HE
IS MINE!"
A split second later, Strike Fiss felt his throat torn apart by
the tip of the weapon.
Rei felt the shake of Chris waking up. "Chris?" she whispered.
"You okay...?"
When she looked over, he had somehow gotten to his feet, and was
standing next to her on the bed. "No...I'm not okay..." he said,
shaking. Her eyes widened and she was instantly awake. "Another
dream?"
His hands came up to his throat, still feeling the sting in the
dream. "It's not the poison." He whispered hoarsely. "Something's
wrong..."
"I'm going to call a doctor..." Rei said, moving over to the end
table.
His hand found hers just before she lifted up the phone. "No..."
he said, shaking. "I'm good...it was just a dream."
"Chris...?"
Everything inside Chris was screaming. "I'm...I'm just going
to..." he jumped down from the bed, hitting the floor and almost fell
to his knees.
Rei was about to jump up to help, but Chris regained his balance.
He spun on his heel. "The roads are blocks of ice, and I have to pick
Nacho up before we even leave for Edmonton today."
"You can't be serious..." Rei raised an eyebrow.
"It was just a nightmare...not like the first one. I promise..."
Chris lied.
He knew Rei could sense it, too. She looked him right in the
eyes, and knew it was the same as the last dream. "It's five a.m.,
Chris..."
"I'll walk." Chris said, smoothing out his clothes. The door
closed behind him.
Chapter 19
This chapter is closing. I can see the pages turn as I walk.
Each footstep brings change. I'm not even sure if the change will be
good or bad. I only know that it must happen. It's already happening.
I'm not sure, but I think it started happening when I was born.
All this isn't real. Who I thought I was. Who I am now. It's all
fucked up and rolled into a big ball.
I know I've died before. But now, I'm not too sure how many
times. What's worse is that even if I ever do figure that out, I'm not
even sure how many times I've been born. Launched into reality by
biological or magical means. I don't know anymore. It's all the same
to me. It's all a blur.
I hate sleep. Every time I sleep, it strips what little
certainty I have away from me of what's going on. Lately, it got
worse. The dreams and the sleep are trying to change me. Making me
weaker.
But at the same time, they show me things.
Things I'm not even sure I should see.
And I'm so confused. Not by what I see, but by my desire to see
more. I need to know who that man in the mirror was. If it was me. If
it was who I was. Maybe even if it's who I'm turning into.
I can't help but wonder why Tumbler never showed me anything.
Maybe I scared the shit out of him too.
I'm so confused. I wish I had Miharu's confidence. She sits
with me now, letting me brush her hair with perfect trust and perfect
love for me.
And although I share that love, I can't help but wonder where the
trust comes from. How she can trust Chris and I when we've brought so
much death into her life.
Another dream. Chris had another dream. It wasn't as bad. I
believe him when he says that, but I know it just added to what was
already in his head.
I feel so helpless right now. He's both weak and strong at the
same time. If I try to help just a little too much, or maybe even not
enough, it could tip whatever balance he has. It's nerve-wracking to
say the least. I keep expecting him to run and hide under his bed,
screaming about blood and corpses every time he opens his mouth to ask
me if I'd like a fresh cup of tea.
But Miharu...she's so calm. She keeps looking up at me with this
curious smile. It's both a question and an answer at the same time.
"Mom? Are you alright?" wrapped with "Everything's going to be
fine...you'll see."
And where the hell did she get that feather?
She thinks I don't see it, but I notice. The way she tucks it
into her pockets whenever I glance at her, or hides it in her hair when
a pocket is not available.
It's the dead of winter. Where did she get a feather? It's
white, so it isn't the ravens or crows that hang around the garbage
outside.
It's like her talisman. A symbol for her. Maybe her source of
confidence in the light of all the chaos that seems to be happening
around us.
Teams of assassins showing up was not a good start. Then the
dreams. God. I haven't had a simple, normal day since the Omega Web
froze.
Miharu sees me crying through the mirror and looks up at me,
asking what the matter is. I smile it off and say I was just thinking
how beautiful she looks.
She chuckles in a way that reminds me too much of Chris and tells
me that even she'll admit she's not ugly enough to cry over.
By the end of the day, we'll be in Edmonton, and hopefully
solving this bullshit with the assassins.
I know what you're thinking. That I'm a gear head or something.
That I'm a stereotypical male that's in love with a car.
God, I love my car.
It's not the same kind of love as with Rei, Miharu, Maury or my
family or anything else. It's like having a baby brother mixed with a
dear pet.
But when I saw Nacho today at the garage, a wave of happiness
finally passed over me, and whatever thoughts of nightmares and Tumbler
were lost to the beautiful way the windshield reflects the late morning
sun.
Maury's friend is a god. I can barely voice my thanks to him as
he tells me the work he's done to my car. The front end was rebuilt
from scratch. Transmission was re-geared and the axle re-aligned.
Airbags replaced and, over a wink and a smile, the engine was re-tuned
and fixed up.
Free of charge for the last one, he says. A "thank you" for
saving the planet.
When my key slides into the ignition, and turns, Nacho purrs to
life. The engine says a silent 'hello' heard only by me and this
mechanic friend of Mo's. We both smile at each other, and with that, I
am out on the street.
The speakers around me fill Nacho with the sweet sounds of
Tonight Tonight. When my foot hits the accelerator, it's like I'm
flying.
I know it can't last. There's too much in the way for that to
happen...but for the few minutes the feeling stays with me for the few
minutes it takes Nacho to rocket through the streets back to the
apartment, I am who I want to be.
For all those out there who think we men have a fascination with
war and machines, you're all wrong.
It's the speed. The freedom. The flying. The way that
sometimes, when you need to find yourself again, you have to drive
around for a while and get lost.
I'm back.
Chapter 20
Rei's eyes brightened when she saw Chris walk into the room with
a smile. "How's Nacho?" she asked with a laugh.
"God that felt good." Chris sighed. "My headache even went away
for the whole trip back." He took off his shoes and coat, then walked
over to where Rei was sitting on the couch. He knelt down and rested
his head on her knee. "See? Told you. Just a dream. I'm okay now."
"You have no idea how glad I am you said that." She sighed
happily, wrapping herself around his head. "I've been so freaked out
by all this."
"Well..." Chris said suddenly, standing. "Call Dana and
everyone. Tell them to meet us here. Then, we'll be off. The sooner
we figure out who's trying to kill us, the sooner we can take a break
from all this death shit and have a vacation."
"Don't say vacation." Rei said. "Chances are that dragons will
be involved somehow." She smiled.
"Okay." He nodded. "How about a long deserved rest?"
"Better." She winked. "Long as it's not tooooo restful."
He smiled. "Good idea. I've always been trouble when I'm not
doing something anyway."
"Bad joke."
"Yup." Chris laughed. "Okay, Dana's number is by the phone, make
sure she picks up Hooze on the way over. Mo too. You, me, Miharu and
Beavis are in the one and only Nacho, however."
"I'll make sure everyone's coming." Rei shook her head with a
smile. "Just get a shower. I'm not sitting next to you if you're
stinking all through the trip."
Chris looked down at his two-day-old clothes and nodded. "Okay.
I'll be out in a few minutes." He ran off down the hall to the
bathroom.
"Told ya he'd be okay." Miharu said over a mouthful of sandwich
from the kitchen.
"Fine...I worry too much." Rei smiled. "I admit it. But it's a
good trait when you're in the business of saving universes."
"You wanted to see me, Dave?" William asked softly, poking his
head in the door.
"I'm not dying, Will. You can come in." Dave replied from the
far corner. "I'm just not in the mood for bright lights, that's all."
He mumbled from the corner of his office.
William walked over and sat down in a seat that Dave obviously
planned for him to sit in. "What's up?"
It was a long time before Dave spoke.
"When I was first named Superintendent of the Web, by the one who
previously held the title, she told me that I was exactly what the Web
needed." Dave said slowly. Each word was planned and calculated a
million times. Mulled over in his mind before making sure it was safe
to share with his friend.
"She said that I was smart enough not to get scared and go saving
the universe by myself." He sighed. "But she also said I knew when to
step in and take control of the situation."
William smiled. "She was a very good judge of character from
what I know of you."
Dave allowed himself a small smile, but it faded. "Armageddon is
coming, Will. When it does, something's going to change. The entire
universe..." he paused "...and reality in general is based on a system
of balances." He shook his head. "But only one key may choose
Armageddon's path. That is why it's such a dangerous time. Even if
one of the Senshi's keys are dominant, it will still be out of
balance."
William nodded sadly. "If the Silver Crystal wins, it's going to
want evil to be destroyed. The balance will fail. It would destroy
our reality."
"If Chaos wins, it would actually have a better chance of keeping
things the same." Dave chuckled. "But either way, we're fucked."
"Why did you call me down here, then?" William asked after a
pause.
Dave looked at his friend. "It's time we did something about
it."
William blinked. "But...you..."
"If we stand by and watch Armageddon, the universe will die,
Will." Dave said. "One way or another." He closed his eyes.
"Something is forcing this confrontation. I don't know HOW I know, but
I can feel that the rules have changed."
Will's eyes were wide.
"I don't know if it's Beavis, when he re-charged the Tumbler of
Destiny." Dave grumbled. "Or maybe Chaos' influence on the universe.
But something's changed." He leaned forward and looked right in Will's
eyes. "Somebody is cheating at the game of the universe."
"What can we do?"
"You and I are going to guard the Omega Key. We're going to be
ready, and we're going to make sure Armageddon happens on our terms."
Dave stood slowly. "We're going to make sure everyone plays fair."
Epilogue
The sliding shower door slid open, letting out a cloud of steam.
He didn't know what it was, but ever since he was in Nacho, the
headache that had been eating away at his mind had left him alone.
Relaxing in the shower for a few extra minutes seemed to help too.
Hopefully, the clear head would last until that night at least. He
hated driving with a bad headache.
Chris stepped out of the shower, drying off with his towel as he
put on his clothes. Pants were clean, and they were always better on
the third day of wearing them.
Shirt was fine. Just a little wrinkly. He'd pick up a nicer
shirt in Edmonton when they got there. Once he was dressed, he was
about to turn to the door to leave, when he saw something out of the
corner of his eye.
His reflection.
Chris jumped back, shocked, but it passed when he saw that it was
just him in the mirror. Not even the dream image he had seen after the
first dream. Plain old Chris smiled back.
"You scared me." He laughed to his reflection. The tape holding
the towel up over the mirror had lost it's grip to the wall in the
shower's steam. "Guess I don't need that anymore." He sighed, putting
away the towel after taking the remnants of the tape off.
He was about to leave, but a thought came to him.
Chris looked into the mirror, standing absolutely still.
It must have been five minutes of this when he finally spoke. "I
stare into the mirror, motionless, until I'm certain there's nothing
that separates me from the world I see on the other side." He whispered
to the reflected image.
His hand came up, coming within an inch of the glass. He paused,
though, maybe out of some fear that another face would appear in the
glass.
Chris sighed. "Come on, Chris. You have to relax." He laughed.
"You're almost believing your own imagination now."
He turned to open the door, but stopped again.
Slowly, he raised his hand again. Just to make sure, he promised
himself. If I do see anything, I won't be freaked, he thought.
Chris' finger hovered less than a millimeter from the glass.
Taking a long breath, he laughed, and pressed his fingers forward.
One by one, his fingers went through the glass.
He looked up at himself, seeing his own shock.
"Oh...my...god..."
Instantly, he jumped backwards, colliding into the shower door.
His hand free of the reflection. "Oh shit...oh shit...oh
shit...ohfuck..." he whispered to himself.
In the mirror, Strike Fiss smiled back. His mouth moved in one,
simple word.
"Soon."
****************
To be continued...
****************
**************************************************
This one is a bit shorter, and a lot more confusing than previous
stories. The next 9 or so will all tie in together, and discard the
old format of "Enemy Per Episode" so common in Sailor Moon, and indeed,
my previous stories, in exchange for a better plot.
Hopefully, however, events are conspiring to making you want to
read the next to see what the hell happens. Hehehe! My spoooky plan
is coming to fruition! I plan to have the next part out in less than a
month, so stay tuned. It's going to be one kick ass ride.
Disclaimer: The Sailor Moon Seven Knights series may or may not be a
"Kick Ass Ride" and no guarantee is made. Some may find it to be
"Godly amazing," while others simply find it "A great story." Please
read at your own risk.
As always, you can contact me, Strike Fiss at:
strikef@bigfoot.com
Also, a permanent archive of the stories and art and whatever else is
at my homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110
To all my friends, I wish to say thanks and I dedicate this to
all of you.
Strike Fiss
_-_-----------Z?----------_-_
Ninja Crowbotics 1999
strikef@bigfoot.com
(
geocities.com/tokyo/9110) (
geocities.com/tokyo)