Sailor Moon Expanded : Awakenings
A tale of the Black Moon War
by Mark Latus
[Draft Version]
The world became a blur of fire, pain, despair and destruction ... and
then I woke up.
My eyes opened and I found myself staring at a ceiling painted
institutional white and a set of florescent lights. Hold it! Back up.
Florescent lights? When was the last time I'd seen them used? I was amazed
I even remembered the name. Looking downward I found myself lying on my
back in a bed designed for a single occupant covered by blue sheets. Metal
railing surrounding it and the bare bones decorations made me think hospital
room except it was way too primitive for Crystal Tokyo. All of which raised
the question of where was I and how did I get here?
The last thing I remembered clearly was holding off the Nemesians while
the squad hustled the EXODUS gate back to the Palace. We couldn't afford to
let any of the gates fall into their hands. If even a single one had they
would have held the key to the citizens haven and that would have meant a
massacre. When it came to preventing that I was expendable, Sailor Senshi or
not. The squad tried to get me to take the gate back instead but they would
never have been able to hold off pursuit long enough. The Palace shield was
due to seal and time was of the essence.
I really thought I could do it even if I couldn't teleport. Give the
team their 5 minutes then get out of there and make it home with time to
spare. I didn't anticipate just how fast the Nemesians would pour through the
shield holes. No one could, we anticipated a few breaks but the Dark Crystal
turned the city's shield into a sieve! Thankfully they still couldn't get
the space cruisers through but there was nothing stopping their fighter
planes entering our airspace. Or their droids ... there were so many it was
like a horde of locusts descending. I malleted and missiled them for all I
was worth but it was like ten popped up for every one I zapped! The ground
was thick with droid dust and crystals but they just kept coming. They had me
pinned and some bright boy must have finally wondered why all their droids
were converging on one area. Last thing I recall was the fighters joining the
attack and strafing the ground. Pulse bolts and gravity cannons were tearing
up the droids and pounding my forceshield. My shield was wavering but the
interdiction field meant no fast exit and there were still too many droids
surrounding me to break free. I'd have been terrified if I hadn't been too
busy being angry.
So what happened next? Obviously I didn't die and my surroundings looked
too comfortable for a Nemesian prison cell but where was I? Could I have
been found in the rubble and spirited out from under the Nemesians noses? If
so I was probably in a Japanese resistance base somewhere. Since I didn't
feel injured my healing factor must have finished patching up the damage
while I was out. I really hoped I hadn't been sleeping as long as Chrys, it'd
been a pain to find out the war was ancient history. But that was pretty
unlikely so it was time to get up and get back to work. We had to keep the
Nemesians preoccupied until B Day. First thing to do was find out where I
was and what I could do to make the Nemesians lives harder. I started to get
up and suddenly had to abruptly revise my opinions.
My arms resisted getting up, to be more specific my wrists. I twisted
about a bit, shifting the blankets and found some sort of padded restraints
wrapped around them. They didn't look like prisoner restraint, more the sort
of thing hospitals used on violent patients. At least in old movies, there
were a lot less conspicuous and more humane ways of handling them these days.
In Crystal Tokyo anyway but far as I knew there weren't any bans on medical
technology exports. All of which was a bit disturbing and once again begged
the question of where in Serenity's name I was?
Since I was definitely feeling edgy I didn't bother trying to call out
and see about talking someone into untying me. I went straight into the
"snap them like spaghetti" phase figuring if warranted I'd apologise later.
At least that's what I intended but the wrist wraps didn't budge. I
forgot being casual and did my best to tear them loose. There were some
creaks but nothing broke and I sank back defeated.
What the hell were they made of? They didn't look particularly tough
and I'm no slouch in the strength department. Either I was still weak from
my healing injuries or I was in a lot of trouble. Maybe both. The important
thing was not to panic so soon. Time for my next trick.
While I specialize in mallets I can make knives when I absolutely have
to. I'd just carefully forge a psychoplasm blade with a molecular edge and
cut myself free. That was when my second problem manifested itself. No
psychoplasm appeared. Nary a scrap.
I was starting to get very worried. I tried to create a mallet figuring
an old favourite might be easier than an occasional artifact. Once I had a
hammer I'd reshape it and cut the restraints. I concentrated but once again
nothing happened. How could I fail at something so basic?
I reviewed my situation; I couldn't teleport, couldn't break loose and
couldn't shape. So I wasn't exactly surprised when my attempts to generate a
Polaris Missile accomplishing nothing more than a slight headache. This
obviously wasn't my day. So having calmly tried all reasonable approaches I
abandoned reason and went into a good old fashioned Sailor Moon style panic
attack.
That worked ... to an extent. The ruckus I kicked up got a response as
my door slid open and a woman stepped inside. Before the door closed behind
her I caught a glimpse of a hospital corridor. It was a definite relief to
see there was no clan mark on her forehead. For whatever it was worth she
appeared to be in her early thirties (though who knows better than me that
appearances deceive?) and of Japanese descent. Blond hair and a kindly if
harried expression, dressed in white and certainly giving the impression of
an overworked doctor. Time to get a few answers.
"Doctor ... I can't read your name tag so you'll have to forgive my
keeping this formal but there's a war on and I'm needed. Since I feel fine
I'd appreciate you unstrapping me and discharging me." A reason for the
restraints had just occurred. "If I was thrashing around and breaking things
while I was shell-shocked then I apologise but I've been through a lot lately.
In case you haven't identified me while I'm not human it should be pretty
obvious I'm no Nemesian. Just to make sure we're on the same wavelength I'm
Lady Titanite of Crystal Tokyo, better known as Sailor Polaris and I have to
get out of here. I've got a lot of Nemesians after my blood and the last
thing I want is to turn this place into a target. Now if you wouldn't mind?"
She made no move towards the restraints, instead she responded with a
stream of gibberish. I just stared at her in confusion and she continued
speaking in tongues. The babble was delivered in a soothing tone but it was
still just noise to me. In Serenity's name what language was that? I'd
heard plenty over the centuries but nothing too equate with this. Some
Nemesian dialect? Maybe I'd relaxed too soon.
Soon as I thought that I threw all my strength into shattering the
restraints and getting out of there fast. The gibberish continued with a
more urgent edge but I ignored it and put everything I had into breaking
free. There were creaking and popping noises but if those were from my bones
or the restraints giving I didn't know or care. What I needed was out right
now. If I was overeacting and she was speaking Siberian or whatever I'd
apologise later.
I should have kept watching her instead of the bed. Maybe not, it's not
like I could dodge her. Either way I suddenly felt a pinprick in my arm and
turned to see her pulling an empty syringe away. She said something in a
soothing tone but I wasn't in any mood to calm down. At least that's what I
thought but suddenly both my strength and my grip on the world began fading
fast. As sleep forceably descended on me I wondered if my healing factor
could throw it off or if that was as dead as all my other powers. As dead as
I would be if they were overcompensating with the drugs to beat it. On that
cheery thought I drifted into dreamland.
In what seemed an instant later I was awake again but the clock on the
wall showed hours had passed. Long enough for company to arrive and take
seats by my bedside. With the sleep haze I just looked at them for a few
moments then recognition clicked in. I exclaimed "CAL!" in relief then
stuttered to a halt as confusion set in. My brother was wearing his old
Calvin Hobbes glamour and looking very concerned. I didn't know who the
pregnant young woman beside him was but it definitely wasn't Minako. Then
something clicked in my memory and I recognised her. But that only deepened
my confusion.
It was unquestionably Catherine Margrave, the glamour Margrave used to
hide her youma nature back in the good old days when catwomen would have made
people freak. Why in the world was she wearing it again? More to the point
how could she be pregnant? The only two potential mates were in monogomous
relationships with partners who'd go ballistic if they ever bedded her.
Unless Adam got out of timestasis ... A number of nasty scenarios came to
mind which I managed to shove aside. I had to think. Margrave looked about
seven months pregnant and hadn't been carrying anyone's child the last thing
I remembered. If she'd got to Cal or Pyr she sure wouldn't have been discreet
about it and Adam was still in the deepfreeze. So how long ago had the battle
of Crystal Tokyo been and what had happened in the meantime? My mind was
whirling. So many questions, I had no idea what to ask first. But before I
could compose myself she began to speak.
"Titania, I know we've never been friends ... I suppose that was
inevitable. You didn't accept my relationship with your brother and I always
resented your getting in our way. But I also know you mean the world to Cal
so I want to change things." She paused to search for the right words while
I just lay there trying to make some sense out of any of this. Had I been
somehow thrown into some weird alternate reality where I really had been
Titania Hobbes and mistaken for my counterpart? But why was I in hospital in
her place and what had happened to my powers? None of this made sense. I
didn't interrupt when the presumed Margrave resumed speaking as I didn't know
enough to ask anything useful. Perhaps if I just listened I could work it
out. Which was exactly what happened but not quite the way I expected.
"Titania ... Ti, I know that you're a lot closer to Cal than most sisters
and brothers. After all since you both lost your parents he's been
practically your father and you think I'm trying to steal him from you
somehow. But you can't ask him to spend his life alone for your sake. For
better or worse I'm part of it now." She took Cal's hand then continued,
"Ti, he's never going to abandon you, deep down you've got to know that. I'm
part of this family now and when your niece of nephew is born I'd like it too
be into a family that's not divided. Ti, you have no idea how much you're
hurting Cal by living in this fantasy world. It's a miracle you weren't
killed but maybe some good will come it. Now you have too see that you're
just like everyone else." She kept talking but I tuned her out as I nodded
to myself. The missing puzzle pieces had just been handed to me and brought
everything into focus. I knew who I was, who she was and why I was in
hospital. It was all so blindingly obvious.
My real name was Titania Hobbes, orphaned at an early age my older
brother had become both my guardian and my surrogate father figure. Where he
went I went. Lately he had come to Japan to work which made life difficult
for me as a native English speaker. The doctor hadn't been babbling gibberish
earlier, merely speaking in her own language. In my excited state I had been
unable to translate. All that aside by this time, presumably sometime in my
teens, I had grown to a clinging dependance on Cal and/or was terrified of
losing the only family I had left. So I deeply resented it when Calvin became
involved with Catherine Margrave and did everything in my power to sabotage
the romance. This resulted in extreme animosity between us with my brother
caught in the middle. Despite my best efforts their relationship had deepened
to the extent that she was intent on bearing his ... their child. This had
evidently been too much for my fragile mind on top of the earlier trauma and I
had retreated into a fantasy world based on local manga and anime. In my
fantasy I was powerful and well respected while Margrave was nothing more
than an unsuccessful succubus whose relationship to my brother had long since
ended. While Cal was married it was to a different woman, one who seemed
more appropriate to me and this relationship hadn't commenced until I had
grown up and achieved fame and fortune as a noble in my fantasy city.
Meanwhile back in the real world my Sailor Polaris delusions had grown to the
extent that I had tried some impossible superhuman stunt that had nearly been
fatal. So I had been hospitalized as a potential suicide and had just awoken
from whatever had happened with a bad case of amnesia which would be helpful
in making me see the error of my ways and accept the world around me.
How blindingly obvious, I nodded in involuntary admiration. I had to
admit it was both classic and well executed. I was sure in my place Rei would
have agreed, that is if she'd ever been careless enough to get caught like
this. As I thought of Rei I realized it was past time to stop being impressed
and find out if Rei had been wasting her time teaching me. Cathy Margrave
was hitting her stride with her, "one big happy family" speech but I wasn't
paying attention. If all went well it would be irrelevant in a few moments.
I searched the ceiling until I found a crack in the plaster. I focused
on the chink in the room's armour and widened it. Just like Rei had taught me
I visualised the edges peeling away to reveal darkness. Commotion erupted
around me as the crack expanded to encompass the length of the ceiling. The
false Margrave seized me by the shoulders and trying to shake me to attention.
I ignored it, the crack spread to the walls and grew like a spiderweb of
darkness. She slapped me. I didn't feel it, nothing mattered except the
cracks. Calvin Hobbes joined Margrave i her assault as the cracks filled
every surface in the room. My supposed brother grasped by throat in his hands
as the cracks spread to his skin to reveal nothing but darkness beneath
them. The world began to swim as his hands tightened but the vibration wasn't
just from lack of air. Around the cracks everything pulsed as if it all
wanted to implode or explode. Then some sort of psychic critical mass was
reached and the world shattered to leave only darkness ... and then I woke
up.
At least last time I'd had a soft bed, this time I opened my eyes to find
myself lying in a pile of rubble. The sky was overcast and I could hear the
crackle of fire nearby. At least I couldn't hear weaponfire but if I didn't
get moving it might be the last thing I heard. I heaved myself to my feet
ignoring the pains that told me it was a bad idea. I'd been through the
wringer and I was pretty sure my left arm shouldn't have bent that way.
Anatomy not being my strong point I'd let it hang instead of trying to set
it, last thing I wanted was to need it re-broken and re-set. My healing
factor should restore to normal it if I just gave it time. Of course in
current circumstances time was in short supply and I had to move.
Thankfully the only Nemesian in the area was in no condition to stop me.
Not far out of his teens and bearing the mark of the Third Eye Clan he was
sprawled faceup on the remains of a wall barely breathing and with the whites
of his eyes showing. While I'm hardly hardhearted even if I'd fried his brain
by breaking his psi-lock I couldn't feel much sympathy. Nobody forced him to
crawl inside my head and try to crush my sanity. If you did that feedback
trauma was no worse than he deserved.
The "Everything you know is wrong!" attack is a classic of psi warfare.
Just plant a few suggestions and begin steering the unfolding scenario. It
does nasty things to the victim's sense of reality. During my last stand I'd
created a mindshield along with my physical shields but when I went down so
did it. Exactly what happened was still vague but judging from the blast
craters and a freshly dug hole in the rubble I could hazard a guess. When the
fighters strafed the area they didn't just knock me down, they brought every
building in the area down on top of me. Lucky for me my kinetic shield hadn't
collapsed but it had weakened enough to let plenty of the impact through. I
survived but I was hurt and buried alive. At a guess I was either knocked
out or concussed into semiconscious. I came back to my senses enough to find
myself entombed and panicked, heaving myself out of the rubble. Unfortunately
for me my friend here was nearby as part of the mop up crew. Spotting me and
seeking I was vulnerable he started strip mining my mind. Lucky Nemesians are
so clan orientated, instead of calling in backup he decided to neutralize me
personally before calling in his own people. I don't know if he wanted me for
the credit or plain old interrogation (knowing Third Eye it was probably both)
but he was going turn me into a quivering neurotic locked into an implanted
psychosis so I wouldn't cause any trouble. Good thing he didn't know I had
two things going for me; a strong sense of identity after all these centuries
and Rei's training in breaking psi attacks.
Rei was always the most psychically talented and the most aware that for
all their power the Senshi remained vulnerable to this form of attack. Rei
always credited Endymion with making that clear, back in his Tuxedo Mask days
he got brainwashed every other week. Okay that's a little exaggerated, it
was more like once every six months but the point was it showed an avenue of
attack someone would be bound to expolit. So Rei being Rei she started
working on a solution. Learning to mindshield and teach that to the others
was her first step but that was only a defense and required concentration to
erect and maintain. If a telepath got in before you realized there was a
threat you were caught. So Rei started working on defensive methods, ones
that could be used by those who lacked her psychic gifts. Nobody who knew her
was surprised when she came up with an answer which could be grossly
simplified by calling it psi-judo. Using your opponents own strength against
them by exploiting a flaw in the unreal environment. My own latent psychic
talents made me top of the class and that's what I'd used against the Psi
Triclops.
I heard an aircraft in the distance and decided I'd taken as long as I
dared to gather my strength. It was time to move. Hopefully the adjustments
I'd made to my forceshield would prevent their long range scanners picking me
up. Long as I wasn't seen or detected by roving droids again I might pass
unnoticed. I'd better, it didn't feel like I could withstand much in the way
of firepower. Teleporting was still out but if that was our jamming or theirs
I had no idea. Neither side welcomed intruders appearing in their midst.
I realized I had no idea where to go then noticed I was already moving
towards the city's centre. Instinct and as good a goal as any. It was
barely possible that the sealing wasn't complete and I could get inside the
Palace before it was too late.
That hope became fainter as time wore on, between my injuries and the
rubble choked streets I wasn't making very good time. But I kept going,
it might make more sense to get as far away as possible but I couldn't leave
until I knew Serenity's sanctuary was secure. Just my dumb luck I'd made my
stand in one of the few wards with buildings tall enough to block a clear
view of the Palace. If the people in Neo-Shinjuku hadn't been so stubborn
about evacuating ... That thought died as I crested a pile of rubble and
finally saw the Palace.
I may have wailed aloud, I'm not sure. I don't know how long it was
before I could think coherently. It was as if my mind didn't have room for
anything except the horrific image of the shattered palace. Jagged ruins
where the spires had broken off, huge gouges in the once pristine white
crystal with billowing black smoke pouring from many of the holes, the
courtyard filled with rubble. Total devastation. No sign of any Nemesian
forces nearby. Not surprising, the way it looked there wasn't anyone left to
fight or anything worth occupying.
I remember a flicker of images, the main gates torn from their hinges,
carnage filled corridors where our troops and guardsmen had made their last
stands, support staff cut down where they stood, broken glass everywhere,
fires burning unchecked, Clan logos scrawled everywhere sometimes written
in blood. This couldn't be real.
I came out of my stupor to find myself on the floor below the throneroom.
The shape I was in it was amazing I'd climbed so many stairs without
collapsing. I didn't continue, instead I focused my thoughts and began the
mind disciplines Rei had taught me. This couldn't be real, I wasn't really
seeing this. I don't know how much time passed but the shadows of evening
were creeping in when I finally stopped. Nothing had wavered, this was
reality, I was really staning here!
Continuing on would be one of the hardest things I had done in my entire
life but I couldn't just walk away. I had to know. Steeling myself I
remembered the world we called Earth-Beta. I'd seen a lot of things I hadn't
wanted too and I hadn't broken. I could stand this. Aware I was probably
lying to myself I strode to the stairs.
Another last stand greeted me, the commanders of Crystal Tokyo army were
sprawled before me. Just past them I saw a familiar figure. Margrave didn't
respond to my frantic call, just lay where she had fallen in what remained
of her Arcturus costume ...
I stood there for a few moments digesting the scene then stepped forward
to take her wrist. There was no pulse, the body beneath the fur had long
since grown cold. I stood there a moment longer then gently lowered it and
muttered a quick prayer. Dry eyed I continued towards the throne room.
I wasn't surprised to find the doors shattered. Before them Makoto lay
in a pool of dried blood. Rei's remains were inside the threshold, she looked
as if she had been blasted through the door. I paused on the threshold, from
inside I heard a soft murmur, a voice I knew well. I stepped into the
darkness and waited an instant for my eyes to adapt. Then stepped forward to
confront the survivor.
There were a few more bodies inside, I passed Ami's and stepped over
what had to the little that remained of Luna and Artemis. Before the cracked
and broken dias that had held the thrones Minako sat mumurring entreaties to
my brother. Cal's head lay in her lap, eyes staring sightlessly at the
ceiling. His chest didn't move and his limbs bent at odd angles, Minako
didn't look much better but she was still breathing.
I was almost on top of her when she realized she wasn't alone. She
didn't point at me ready to unleash a crescent beam, just looked up with a
despair filled face as though hoping I was a Nemesian come to finish her off.
At last recognition dawned and she mumbled, "Ti?" then began to cry.
I knelt down and slapped her, hard. The tears stopped but she didn't
get angry, there was nothing there but apathetic misery.
"Serenity! Where's Serenity!"
She just stared for a moment then in a dull voice groaned, "Gone ...
Demand took her. We couldn't hold them. The shield broke and we retreated
here to guard her. It wasn't enough, they cut through our defenses like they
were nothing. Demand just erased Endymion then slaughtered us. Cal shielded
me from the worst of it but ..." She breaks down again. After the tears
have run their course she managed to tell me, "I was left for dead, I was
pretty close. Still am but what does it matter. It's over. There's nothing
left, no one to fight them."
I missed my chance to raise her spirits. Instead I asked, "What about
Topass and Hematite?"
"I overheard Esmeraude and Saffir talking, they managed to capture them.
They're being taken to the spaceport at [name] for shipment back to Nemesis.
Garnet wants a public execution in the capital to show everyone what happens
to traitors. They won't spare Hematite, she's guilty by being born to a
traitor. They'll kill her too!"
Things clicked into place and I mused aloud. "I can't let that happen.
I'll bet I can find working transportation in the hangers. Then I can contact
the resistance groups and we can organise a strike to free them from [name]."
Minako seemed to dredge up some reserve of strength and speaks with some
fire. "Yes, it's not too late. With some help we can save them both.
Salvage something from this nightmare."
I nodded and wistfully answered, "Yeah, we could have done that. Too
bad it's impossible."
"What. But why?"
"Because I'm already dead."
Minako just stares at me so I remind her, "Cal was my twin remember? That
means we share a soul. Now he's gone I'm an empty shell, a mockery of what
I was. So it's time for the Youma Death Rite."
"The what?"
"Self immolation. You remember when Cal explained the custom and how
he'd have to combust himself if I died and if you loved him you wouldn't
stand in his way." I begin forging the energy sphere between my hands as
Minako shrieks, "WHAT?!"
Apologetically I tell her, "I can't turn my back on our most sacred
traditions." The sphere was growing too bright too look at, I really hoped
I was doing the right thing. I continued, "Normally you only nuke yourself
but I know you wouldn't want to live without him so I'll extend the blast
radius.
"WAIT A MINUTE!."
"Don't make this harder than it already is." I'm ready. "Time's up."
Minako screams something as I trigger the sphere and it expands to fill
the room. The world dissolved into white light ...
And then I woke up.
My first thought was that this was getting monotonous. My second
concerned wondering why everything was still dark. The sensation was faint
on top of all my aches and pains but it felt like there was something over
my eyes. I reached up to find something covering my face which I tore away
just before I doubled over to retch, expelling the liquid from my fluid filled
lungs.
I found myself standing in the shattered base of a transparent tube about
a meter in diameter in a pool of clear fluid. The same fluid that was
dripping from my skin, presumably the same fluid I had just coughed up with
ease and no sensation of drowning. The puddle I stood in was draining away
through the cracks in the base, looking around I saw that the fluid must have
filled the tube and been violently expelled when I fired off my megapowered
omnidirectional shockwave. The fun thing about being known for throwing
Polaris missiles is everyone assumes that's the only way I can focus my
kinetic blasts. So this sort of thing always caught them by surprise.
I wondered if they really thought I was going suicidal? If they had then
they obviously didn't know me at all. I'm the never say die type, life's too
precious and enjoyable to squander it. The Youma Death Rite was on a par with
the Vulcan Death Grip, it plain didn't exist. Far as I knew anyway, certainly
none of my relatives ever mentioned it and they weren't ones to give up
either. Cal, Azure and Chrys are more the types who go down fighting while
dragging as many enemies as they can with them. They'd never just curl up and
die. I also couldn't see Pyrite giving up either, he might lack the warrior
mentality but he had never lacked courage. Funnily enough he'd inadvertantly
provided me with the method to throw a monkey wrench into the works. When I
told the story I'd have to come up with a reference from my own media
obsessions but right now I owed Pyrite's Trek mania for inspiring the idea.
Assuming I got out here to tell anyone which was my first concern.
The tube I'd been floating in stood in what looked like a lab of some
sort based on the weird looking equipment that filled it, most of which was
now coated with guck and peppered with splinters. There were two other tubes
to match mine, both unoccupied except for the mystery fluid which the cracked
one nearest me dribbled onto the floor to add to the mess. The other tube
looked undamaged which was more than could be said for other four people
in here with me.
I was surprised to recognise the nearest, it was the young psi-adept
from the ruined Crystal Tokyo simulation I had just escaped. He must have
been standing right next to the tube when I turned it into shrapnel. Even if
he had a healing factor like mine nothing could repair that much damage. I
leaned over to close his eyes and wondered if the eyeful he'd got of me had
been worth it. Then chided myself for worrying about inconsequentials when I
had bigger concerns. I stepped out of the shattered tube and realized my
injuries in the dream matched the ones I truly suffered. Versamilitude I
guess.
The other three occupants were also Nemesians, another Third Eye, a
Black Moon Family and a Dark Star. The second Third Eye was also definitely
dead, from the way she was wired into the console I guessed she had been
running the faux Minako in the simulation. The Black Moonie was probably the
overseer in charge of this operation from his major's uniform. He was hurt
but still breathing, so was the Dark Star wearing medical looking garb. Both
were out for the count and the Moonie looked in pretty rough shape. The Dark
Star medic was breathing fine and I guessed she was probably just concussed.
Perhaps she would come to in time to patch up her comrade or at least get him
into the remaining tube. I had no idea how to activate it and have to admit
I felt little inclination to help him. Even if I had finally realized what
the tubes were I couldn't operate them. Truth was I felt stupid for not
figuring it out right away. They were TOAST! Though the Nemesians probably
called them the spoils of conquest.
The acronym was English, standing for TOtAl Support Tube. The name had
been coined by Dr. Maxwell, Ami's old research collegue at CTU. It was one of
their early advances in MagSci medical technology. Shortly after they
introduced bio-stasis into the medical lexicon they had gone to work on its
drawbacks. Stasis kept the patient from dying before a doctor got to them but
if the injuries were too severe to treat once the patient was brought out of
stasis then all you had done was delay their dying. What was needed was
something that would keep the critically injured alive no matter what and aid
the physician in treating them. Thus TOAST because you had to be pretty near
toasted to need one (I think that was a pun in English and must have been
Maxwell's doing). Anyway they created the basic design which had been
introduced worldwide and it hadn't changed much over the centuries. Even
after Pyrite joined CTU and began redesigning all medical equipment to look
like it belonged on the Enterprise he left the TOAST design alone. As a rule
they weren't used much outside of CT, they were prohibitively expensive to
run and since my injuries didn't feel so bad why had the Nemesians stuck me
in one? Their record on the treatment of prisoners was far from the best.
Just like that everything clicked into place and I saw the whole picture.
It was pretty nasty. A TOAST tube would make a dandy sensory deprivation
tank, no worries about the prisoner inside dying on you. Meanwhile with the
victim isolated from the outside world you wire 'em up with virtual reality
gear and forcefeed them a personalised nightmare to break their will. Mental
disciplines to break psi control don't do a damned thing because they aren't
in a psi generated nightmare. I'd underestimated them very badly. That
hospital scenario was never meant to hold me! They intended me to break free
into their virtual reality prison. The Psi-adept knew it would happen so he
disengaged before the feedback could hurt him. Not that it helped him when I
generated enough power to overload the energy dampers in the tube. Seemed I
still couldn't muster much sympathy for him. But then there was a war on.
I was just lucky they'd screwed up a few details so I had discrepencies
to tip me off. I couldn't picture Minako folding up like that but they'd
already made bigger mistakes. Guess they didn't know youma dust when we die
and as for casting Margrave as Sailor Arcturus ... !?
Actually I could sort of see how they came up with that. If they looked
at historical records they saw Arcturus was associated with Polaris and Gray.
So once they knew Cal was Gray it was reasonable to assume somebody connected
to both me and my brother was Arcturus. Margrave had always made herself a
lot more visible than Azurite so add in her well known glamourcasting powers,
her lifestyle and the "bad girl" elements of the Arcturus costume and she
must have seemed the perfect candidate. Despite the seriousness of my
situation I had to giggle. When I mentioned that assumption in Crystal Tokyo
both Azure and Margrave would be pounding Nemesians with renewed vigour.
Assuming I ever got back, the first step would be getting out of wherever
this place was.
All this had unfolded very quickly but I would be amazed if I hadn't
set off twenty alarms when I broke loose. I had to get out of here!
Teleporting was no good, Nemesian bases and conquered areas were covered by
blocking fields to prevent intruders like me breaking in. They worked just as
well in reverse. I tried anyway but wasn't surprised when I didn't go
anywhere. Nothing teleported in occupied areas except through the Nemesian
transporter platforms. There was some sort of constantly updated coding on
their own teleporting equipment so heading for the nearest transporter pad and
getting out that way was no good. I suddenly realized I didn't even know if I
was even on Earth anymore, this could be a ship in orbit. Long way to jump,
I'd have to hijack a shuttle.
At which point I very belatedly realized something was wrong. Well I
was standing stark naked and dripping wet in the heart of some unknown enemy
base with dozens of guards probably converging on my position. Obviously
something was wrong but it wasn't just that. It was more like something was
missing something so familiar I took it for granted but just what it was I
had no idea. Until I figured it out I'd ignore it. My first priority
leaving this room while arousing minimum suspicion and as To-chan never
mentioned Nemesis being clothing optional I needed something to wear. Problem
was all the clothing around here looked either too small and/or conspicuously
stained and full of holes. I did find one folded white labcoat that had
miraculously escaped unscathed but that wasn't enough. I wasted a moment
wishing I had worked on honing my glamour casting powers. I knew people who
could wrap themselves in illusionary clothing, animating it to crease and
shift like the real thing as they moved. I'd never seen the point, since we
went public centuries ago I'd had no reason to hide behind illusions. Since I
rarely used my glamourcasting abilities on myself why learn to cast with that kind of
detail?
Now I had my answer but this hadn't exactly been the kind of situation
I could anticipate. Anyway practically speaking since I couldn't get too
fancy I'd just have to overlay the glamour on my skin and hope for the best.
Lucky for such a clannish people the Nemesians wore a wide variety of clothing
styles so I might get away with it. I put on the coat and cast my illusion,
as I did the feeling of wrongness intensified. Looking at my reflection in
the leaky tube I saw myself wearing the odd combination of a skintight
jumpsuit and a white lab coat. I added a zip and couldn't shake a funny
feeling of deja vu but ignored it. I had bigger worries than unintentional
media references. Hopefully the clothing would pass casual inspection, now
all I needed was to fix my face. Choosing the symbol I knew best I added a
black crescent mark to my forehead and made a few cosmetic adjustments. For
some reason as I did this my memory dredged up an ancient joke that echoed
through my mind.
A lighthouse keeper in a foggy cove has a foghorn that goes off every
thirty seconds with a deafening blast. He lives with this thing shrieking
twice a minute for twenty years and never says a word. Then one night
about 3 am the foghorn's blaring away same as always but half a minute later
it skips the next blast. The lighthouse keeper snaps awake and jumps out of
bed screaming, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Why I recalled that I had no idea as it seemed utterly irrelevant to ...
well basically everything. If my subconscious was trying to tell me something
it really needed to work on its metaphors. Meanwhile my disguise seemed firm
and while my power reserves were low glamour used so little energy ... oh!
Suddenly I knew what I'd sensed wrong and what I had already subconsciously
realized. There was no mana in here!
I was in deep and sinking fast, the only bright spot was it wasn't the
death sentence it once would have been. Mana is as vital to the youma
metabolism as oxygen. Without an external mana source to draw upon a youma's
body begins to cannibalize its own life force as a substitiute. Thankfully
long ago Serenity had freed me of dependance on a magic saturated environment
to survive. But whatever she had done affected my body not my powers, they
depended on my internal "batteries" which I recharged from the ambient mana in
the environment. But this place was dead which meant I couldn't replace the
power I used! All I had was the power I carried, once that was exhausted I'd
be helpless!
I shook off the panic and tried to think. It made no sense, Nemesian
society was even more magic based than Crystal Tokyo. Why would they build
a base in a mana dead zone? They needed mana to power the base! Never mind
the base what did the equipment in here run on? I tried to reach out and
sense the energy source of the machines but I felt nothing. No mana. So
either Nemesis was drastically changing its technological base in favour of
fusion power or whatever ... or else there was plenty of mana in here and the
dead zone was centered on me!
That made a lot more sense. I must have been captured during the fall of
CT. Maybe I had been buried like the simulation showed but I'd been found by
the occupation forces before I regained consciousness. Someone decided I was
more valuable alive than dead and that was how I wound up here. But capturing
me was one thing, holding me was another.
They couldn't drain the power from me without killing me and from all the
effort they had put in they obviously wanted me alive. Though if they wanted
to punish me for turning Topass starting with mental torture or to break my
will for whatever secrets I'd spill I didn't know and wasn't too concerned
about as I was getting out of this hellhole. So they couldn't neutralize my
powers outright and long as I had them I'd be a handful. But if they slapped
some sort of blocking screen on me then got me to exhaust whatever I had left
then I'd be cease being a problem. Not to mention being totally helpless.
I'll bet as the simulation proceeded there would have been situations
requiring me to use my power in small bursts the system could tolerate until
there was nothing left. Then things would have taken a definite turn for the
worse.
I fought off the urge to shiver and tapped the touchplate by the door.
It irised open and I was relieved to see no-one lying in wait. I didn't stick
around to say a quick thanks for my luck, I just headed off down the corridor
as fast as I dared. Keeping my worries off my face and acting intent on the
dataplaque I'd grabbed for a prop I continued forward as if I knew where I was
going. For all I knew I could be heading deeper into the base but I could
hardly ask somebody for directions. It struck me as a definite oversight that
there were no handy floor plans with "You are here" arrows. They'd be a real
boon to escaping prisoners.
Contrary to my expectations I didn't run straight into a guardforce. The
only Nemesians I saw were intent on their own errands. The other Black Moons
might nod or grunt in greeting but the other clanists acted like I was
invisible. Which was fine by me as I was less than eager to talk to anyone.
I was hoping my good luck was payback for the bad that had got me into this
mess but I definitely wasn't counting on it. I still had no idea where I was
and the base just seemed to go on and on. The only good thing about all this
was the realization that this much space indicated a ground based facility as
their ships weren't that big. The only possible drawback was the fear that
I'd get outside to see the red dwarf of their homeworlds rather than the sun.
I really hoped they hadn't thought me worth the trouble to ship offplanet.
My fears were probably groundless with most of their leadership and military
facilities on Earth but I wasn't taking anything for granted until I saw blue
sky again. Unfortunately I was about to have more pressing concerns as my
fortunes took a definite turn for the worse.
Ahead of me the corridor became a T junction. I stepped through the
opening turning to the right. Only to see Garnet standing at the end of the
corridor before a closed door bearing an emergency exit sign. I saluted the
Grand Admiral who returned it with a vague wave and a faint smile then did my
best to mime "woman realizing she has accidentally turned the wrong way and
feeling embarrassed at her error being witnessed" and spun 180 degrees. To
find myself facing Wiseman (metaphorically speaking, all I could see inside
his cowl was darkness) who floated in front of the next juncture. There was
a hiss as an armoured door irised closed across the passageway I had emerged
from and I gave up all hope of bluffing my way out of this.
Behind me I heard Garnet ask, "Dear Ruby, I wasn't aware you had escaped
from Crystal Tokyo. You really should have reported in." He sounded amused.
I had a niece by that name, the biographer, but I couldn't think how
Garnet would know her. For one wild moment I wondered if she had been spying
on us for Nemesis until reason reasserted itself. Ruby was also the name of
Topass's cousin, the witch who'd tried to drag him back to Nemesis for trial
and execution. Like an idiot I'd given myself her face when I trying to look
like a Black Moonie. I must be more shaken up that I thought to screw up
like that. Was that what had tipped them off? Didn't matter, what mattered
was escape. Lucky Garnet took Topass's defection personally and had chosen to
deal with me himself or I'd be facing a hundred guards. Not so luckily he'd
brought Wiseman along for backup. If I handled this right I'd only have to
fight one of them. I might still have a chance.
Before I got caught in a crossfire I had to go through one of them. No
contest, I didn't know what weapons or powers Garnet possessed but I knew I
didn't have a chance against Wiseman. Just what he was we didn't know but
everything pointed to some sort of demon. Pyrite speculated he was another
Abyss Lord though thankfully not on Metallia's level. Based on a few cryptic
utterances Pyr further speculated he might be the mysterious entity the Dark
Kingdom's aboriginals had worshipped. Whatever he was I knew that when he
had tried to abduct Small Lady my brother had tried to stop him. Cal had only
a few minor injuries and power to spare. He lost very decisively, very
quickly and wouldn't be alive today if Wiseman wasn't a gloater. Even if I
wasn't hurt there was no way I could take him, it had to be Garnet. As I
thought this I was already racing down the corridor towards him prepping a
Polaris Missile for point blank delivery. I caught the glimmer of a shield
around Garnet as he stepped forward to meet my charge and reabsorbed the
missile's energy. I couldn't afford to waste the power hoping his shield
would break. I'd do it the old fashioned way, use my youma strength to toss
him over my shoulder and hope Wiseman wouldn't fire with him in the way. Then
pray I could jam the door closed behind me and run like hell.
That was the plan but while the theory was sound the execution was sadly
lacking. Garnet's hulking appearance gave the impression of brute force
tempered by fragile self control rather than agility but he was fast enough to
intercept me. Our hands locked as he strained to match my strength while I
tried to overpower him. For a moment I thought it would be easy, when it
comes to pure physical power I'm the strongest senshi in Crystal Tokyo. He
was strong but couldn't be on my level. Except I couldn't budge him and he
was matching my strength which shouldn't be possible. Was he using something
to augment his muscles? Maybe but there should have been some sign, if he
matched me we should be driving each other's feet into the floor as we fought
to maintain our balance. Very belatedly the answer occurred to me, it's easy
to be smart afterwards. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, unless you're Sailor
Pluto it's absolutely useless the rest of us just get to feel like idiots for
not figuring it out beforehand.
Youma are naturally strong, when I was a kid I could match the enhanced
strength and agility of the Sailor Senshi. Over the years as my powers
increased so had my strength which I had just taken for granted. It should
have occurred to me the increase wasn't innate. At base I probably wasn't
much stronger than I had been in the old days, it was just a side effect of my
growing mana absorption powers. As my capability to hold mana increased more
and more flowed through me, augmenting my strength in the same way the
senshi's human capabilities were enhanced by their power. The only difference
was I started off from a higher step. Except now I didn't have enough mana
left to maintain my power-up so I was back to my original level. Bottom line
was Garnet wasn't a match for me at full steam but right now he could be my
equal, or worse. I took a step backwards as he kept up the pressure, this
wasn't good. He was trying to drive me to my knees and he was doing a pretty
good job. I was in trouble.
I tried to will my remaining power into my body but nothing happened.
Why should it? It wasn't like I had any idea how to do it. Strength wasn't
a power I consciously invoked, it was just part of me. Maybe I could have
worked it out with enough time but time was running out. Any moment now
Garnet would decide he'd made his point by humbling me personally and have
Wiseman blast me or just call out the guard to drag me back to the TOAST lab
and wire me in again. Desperately I reached out with my mind grasping for
any shred of mana but I sensed nothing. I was finished!
I had tried every martial arts trick I remembered (half of which probably
only existed in anime) with no success. Time to try something else, modesty
took a back seat to escape. I dropped my glamour ready to take advantage of
any distraction. Unfortunately he didn't twitch, just grunted, "a natural
green" and kept trying to force me down. His smile looked a lot more
predatory than before and I realized this might have been a very bad idea. I
had the sudden nasty feeling that he might want more than my surrender once
he'd pinned me down. Unfortunately outrage wasn't enough to break me free.
I was skating the edge of panic, I'd tried everything I could think of. I
didn't know what to do! My life started passing before my eyes ... which was
going to take awhile. Probably longer than I had left.
Fear concentrates the mind wonderfully and my flashbacks sudddenly
jumpcut to Margrave telling me something. She sounded exasperated with my
obstinance as she said, "Ti, it's not disgusting, it's innate to all youma.
Perfectly natural and potentially useful. Think of it as a potential weapon,
a way to take them alive without concussing them with a mallet. Yes I know
you like whacking the bad guys but it makes it hard to get them to talk
afterwards. Do you really think Cal and Azzie haven't learned to use it just
in case?" I'd agreed that neither of them would have not taught themselves
to exploit every advantage they had and it couldn't hurt to know how to use it
just in case. Margrave had smiled and begun my lessons in how to drain human
life force.
I'd been a fool, a potential powersource right in front of me and me too
blind to see it. In my place Azure wouldn't have hesitated an instant, she'd
have sucked him dry and been out the door seconds after the fight began.
Very bright of me especially when I knew Arcturus had used a few of Jadeite's
ancient mass drain techniques to incapacitate Nemesian garrisons.
That was enough chagrin, time to act. Looking panicked (which wasn't all
acting) I let him force me too my knees. Garnet obviously enjoyed this
posture, towering over a terrified woman kneeling before him. So much so he
didn't feel the flow begin as I opened a long sealed door within my soul.
His harsh laughter faded to puzzlement as he felt the weariness settle on him.
He might have figured it out then and broken away but he must have decided the
struggle had been harder than he thought. I managed to keep the smile off my
face despite the feelings inside. Triumph surged through me, not all of it
my own. Dimly I realized the feelings were his, his emotions flavouring his
life force. He wasn't a man accostomed to losing.
Abruptly he realized he was growing too tired too fast and stared at me.
I lost my struggle not to show my feelings and glared back at him. Suddenly
our situation was reversed. I was the one with the iron grip and he was
trying to pull away. He tried to fight but now I was in control. I didn't
waste time gloating, just drained until he folded then surged to my feet.
I slapped the doorplate then grabbed the back of Garnet's neck before he hit
the floor and used my good arm to hold him before me, blocking Wiseman's line
of fire. Focusing a Polaris Missile through my broken arm would hurt but
with Garnet's energy I had the strength to blow the door. Amazingly I didn't
have to, the door began opening. Slowly but it was irising open. I had half
expecting Garnet to have sealed it, guess he hadn't thought it possible I
could beat him. Muttering a quick thanks for arrogance I glanced back and
saw Wiseman floating towards us, one arm upraised to strike. Not good!
"Shoot and you'll hit Garnet!" The damned door was opening with glacial
speed, I needed a few more moments.
Wiseman stopped advancing and nodded. In his dry, creepy voice he
whispered, "Yes, I would, wouldn't I?"
The door was open enough to get through! My muscles were tensing to toss
Garnet at Wiseman while I dived through the opening when the frieght train hit
me. Consciousness flicked and I found myself slumped against the corridor
wall, the mangled Garnet lying before me. Over his body floated Wiseman who
whispered, "Do you have any more stupid Crystal tokyo tricks you'd like to
try?"
I tried to raise my arm and toss a Polaris missile smack into his stupid
cowl but my body didn't want to work. Vaguely I wondered if I was paralysed
or just stunned by the impact. I tried to remember how to generate a force
shield. Funny it had seemed so simple a few minutes ago.
Wiseman seemed satisfied with my lack of response and turned his
attention to Garnet. After a moment's study he murmurred, "Still alive?" with
a note of surprise. He fell silent a few seconds then his hood shook
slightly as he muttered, "No, not just yet. It's still not quite my time and
Demand would be unhappy at losing his beloved uncle." With that he raised
both arms and some sort of dark energy dribbled out of his sleeves to cover
Garnet. I think I faded in and out of consciousness or maybe it did just take
seconds but abruptly Garnet sat up. The black aura around him faded as he got
to his feet, he winced but he looked hurt rather than dying. Floating beside
him Wiseman whispered, "The dark power has revived you with no side effects.
You must have an exceptionally black soul." He sounded almost impressed.
Garnet just grunted and glared at me. He snarled, "I lost to a woman!
To the witch who already stained our clan's honour! You will suffer for
this!"
I've been threatened by plenty of megalomaniacal demagogues so I wasn't
really impressed. I had a new plan, when he leaned over I'd stuff a Polaris
Missile down his throat then run like hell while Wiseman was pouring the skull
fragments out of his hood. Great plan, only one small problem. I still
couldn't move.
Sounding curious Wiseman asked, "So what will you do now? Kill her
slowly?"
For a moment Garnet looked like he would agree than he smiled again. It
occured to me I should be afraid but everything felt so distance. Was I going
into shock? Above me Garnet said, "In time but that will be the last step.
I want her to truly suffer and that means tearing her apart body and soul.
Too many torturers just concern themselves with the physical but that's just
the cream on the cake. To truly torture your victim you must tear apart their
mind first. Any fool can inflict pain but turning defiance into despair
takes an artist."
"You intrigue me Garnet." Sounding thoughtful Wiseman added, "What will
you do? Return her to the tank and make her see everything she loves in
ruins?"
Garnet shook his head. "I will return her to the tanks but to the Third
Eye's flawed simulation. No, even if the details were accurate that was far
too crude a scenario. Useful for interogation perhaps if she could be
induced to think her secrets valueless and give them away but I value
suffering over information."
"The Third Eye would disagree."
Garnet gave a contemptuous snort. "Let them. I am Grand Admiral and I
decide her fate. I was going to wait until they extracted whatever petty
secrets she held but no more! She is mine!"
"What do you intend then? To drop her into her worst nightmare and make
her suffer the torments of hell?"
"Crude, wizard. I thought you had more subtlety." I couldn't see any
of Wiseman's features but for some reason I thought he smiled at that.
Maybe my imagination or maybe he was running his own game with the Nemesians
as his pawns. Oblivious to this Garnet continued, "To break a mind properly
one uses a chisel not a sledgehammer. Overload the horror and all you will
produce is catatonia. No, we start by giving her a dream not a nightmare.
Then slowly chip it away piece by piece letting her sink deeper and deeper
into a personal hell of my devising. A hell that she will endure because
she entered it step by step instead of being dropped right in it. That is
how you maximize the trauma."
Wiseman nodded. Sounding almost wistful he said, "I like the way you
think Garnet. It is unfortunate we are not kinfolk."
Garnet obviously didn't care for Wiseman's comment but he suddenly looked
troubled. "None of this will succeed if she knows from the outset it is
illusion. Can you cloud her mind of recent events wizard?
Wiseman laughed, "Of course. Clouding minds is my speciality." Garnet
frowned at that as the demon floated over me and raised those clawlike hands.
I had to remember this, hold onto these memories so I could endure whatever
psychic torture Garnet had planned. It wouldn't be real, I had to remember
that! All illusion! Smoke and mirrors! REMEMBER TI! DON'T FORGET THIS!
The world swirled and I spiraled into the darkness screaming at myself.
And then I woke up.
"Welcome back sleepyhead."
Topass was smiling down at me, I must have been using his lap as a
pillow. Overhead I could see blue sky overhead and it certainly felt like a
warm and pleasant day. None of which dispelled the dread I had awoken with.
I sat up barely missing Topass's chin and scanned the scene. We were sitting
on a blanket set upon a lush, green hillside with a scenic view of the towers
of Crystal Tokyo. A picnic basket sat beside us and a short distance away a
laughing Hem-chan pursued a butterfly. My heart was pounding but I didn't
know why. My mind felt stuffed with cotton wool, something was very wrong
here.
"Ti-chan?" Topass's gentle hands settled on my shoulders, he sounded
confused. Why shouldn't he be, I was confused. "What's wrong? You know
Hem-chan won't do worse than fall down and skin her knee."
"It's not that ... I ..." I couldn't articulate what was wrong.
Topass shifted position to sit beside me and cuddle me. "Another bad
dream?"
Yes, that was it. "Something about Garnet and Wiseman ... I can't
remember ..."
He sighed. "Ti, the war was terrible and you went through a lot but you
shouldn't dwell on it. It's over, you ... we won and we've got peace again.
You promised me you wouldn't mention it today, this is a day just to relax
with your family. Besides you know how it upsets Hem-chan when you brood."
I couldn't deny that and yet there was something wrong ... some holdover
of dark mood from the dream. I tried to banish it and leaned against him
feeling the warmth of his body. He was right the war was over, the Nemesians
had been sent packing and we had rebuilt. Everything was fine again. Yet
despite the smile on my face, despite the comfort I found in his arms at the
back of my mind there was an odd tickle that I didn't understand. I resolved
to ignore it, I wasn't going to let it spoil our day out.
We sat there enjoying each other's company while our daughter ran around
like a maniac. At length our grass stained child flopped on the blanket and
announced, "I'm hungry." Topass chuckled and broke our embrace to open the
picnic basket. He removed the sandwich makings, spreads and a knife to cut
the bread. I frowned a little thinking the knife too long and sharp for the
job. A worry that intensified as Hem-chan seemed fascinated by the shiny
blade. I turned back to my husband to mention this to him and gaped in shock
at the expression of utter malevolence on his face. Then it was gone and the
familiar jovial Topass was looking at me quizzically wondering why I was
staring at me. Hem-chan looked at me reproachfully and I made some remark
about children being careful around knives. She nodded but watched Topass
cut the sandwiches with fascination. I'd have to watch her the rest of the
afternoon.
I couldn't explain what I'd seen. For a moment Topass had looked like
... like Garnet.
Of course, that was it. That's where I'd seen that face. I chided my
subconscious as an idiot. Men with the black crescent mark weren't
indistinguishable. Topass was nothing like Garnet, how could I ever see him
as that monster? I was an idiot.
A holdover from my dream, nothing more.
Just my imagination.
I really had to wake up.
End.
Afterword
[Credits]
[Story concludes in Aftermath]
(
geocities.com/tokyo/temple) (
geocities.com/tokyo)