Character Sketches #1, Sailor Mercury - Part III, "Mercury"
Chapter 4: A fall from grace...

Oedipus:	Lost!  Ah lost!  At last it's blazing clear.
	Light of my days, go dark.  I want to gaze no more.
	My birth all sprung revealed from those it never should,
	Myself entwined with those I never could.
	And I the killer of those I never would.

The next attack, when it came, was just as much a surprise.

David and Amy had been out to dinner with the rest of the senshi when a quite atypical youma burst through a storefront window.

"Shimatta!" People scattered everyone, except for the senshi. Usagi looked once at the two and made an executive decision.

"Get out. We'll handle things!"

Amy nodded. David just stared.

"That thing...it...it...."

"It has dripping fangs, a meter-wide mouth, claws, green skin, and is destroying a record store. and we're moving away from it. Now!" she bodily dragged David away to hide behind a bench as the other senshi did their work.

"MARS FLAME SNIPER!" A burning arrow arced out from Sailor Mars's outstretched hands to plunge into the youma's side. Sizzling, it burned away at the surrounding flesh, but otherwise seemed to have no effect. A sidelong glance showed Mars that Kamen's hastily thrown arrows hadn't done much better.

From behind the bench, Amy winced. Now, she thought, now it's time for Jupiter to move in. Traditional strategy (or at least, what strategy they had had before Amy left the sailors) in these cases called for Jupiter to pour on the Sparkling Wide Pressure, followed by a Love-Me Chain from Venus. The rules had changed, however.

"JUPITER OAK REVOLUTION!"

"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"

The combined (and simultaneous) attacks blasted the monster from both sides. Amy watched with glee. Why hadn't they thought of this before? With two at once, it was only a matter of time before the youma was sufficiently weakened for Sailor Moon to move in for the kill.

Things didn't work quite that way, however. The youma broke free of the energies with a snarl, and charged Sailor Mars, who was still recovering from her attack.

"Sailor Mars!"

It was too late. The rampaging youma rammed into Mars at full speed, sending her through a surviving store window with a sickening crash. Tuxedo Kamen, Jupiter, and Venus stared in disbelief, and Moon dropped the Cutie Moon Rod in shock. Things weren't supposed to work like this.

The youma backed out of the building, with Mars nowhere to be seen. Turning, it suddenly went for Moon, who was still in shock. Venus fired off another shot, along with Kamen, but it would be in time. Jupiter, seeing this, threw herself into the youmas side, knocking it off course enough for Moon to snap out of it and get out of the way. Unfortunately, Jupiter was now at the mercy of the youma, and was now being pummeled, with Venus unable to retaliate for fear of hitting Jupiter.

Behind the bench, Amy and David simply watched. Things were going from bad to worse in a hurry, and something had to be done.

"I'm calling the police!"

"No, David. There's another way." She sighed.

Understanding awoke in his eyes. "Sailor M time?"

"No." Her voice shook slightly. "Something different. Something I hoped I wouldn't have to do for a long time." She stood up from her crouch. "Something I certainly hoped I wouldn't have to expose *you* to." Amy reached into nowhere and gripped a cool cylinder. Pulling it out, she looked at it. The symbol for Mercury looked brand new, and the whole thing gleamed as if it had been used yesterday, instead of decades ago. She reached within herself and said the words she hadn't said in years.

"MERCURY STAR POWER, MAKE UP!"

It had been a long time. Swirls of blue magic swept around her to resolve themselves into the outfit she hadn't worn in...in nearly thirty years. David could only watch in amazement as his black haired wife turned into the blue haired...

"...beautiful Sailor Mercury! I fight for love and justice, and in place of the planet Mercury, I will punish you!"

From the rubble, Mars emerged, bruised and bleeding but still alive. She looked over at Mercury in awe. "Nice going, Mercury! Glad to have you back!"

"Same here, Mars." She looked down at David. She could see the surprise slowly being replaced with fear and apprehension in his eyes. "I'll explain later, honey, okay? Got work to do." She raced over to get closer to the battle.

Things had improved slightly. Jupiter had somehow managed to get clear, and was being tended to by Kamen. Venus was pouring everything she had into the beast. But it still wasn't enough for Moon to step in, as a couple moment's analysis with her visor showed. He was just too quick. They needed something to slow him down.

An idea occurred to her. Whipping out her computer, she called to Jupiter and Mars. "Try to confine him! I'm gong to try something different!"

They nodded in assent. As they went to work keeping him in one place with multiple axes of attack, she ran a few equations through the computer. After a couple of seconds, it beeped and came up with a solution. She didn't like the margin of error, but they would have to do. Turning to face the youma, she focused all her energy and shouted.

"DOUBLE SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!" The souped up version did what the others hadn't managed: slow the youma down. Mercury nodded to Sailor Moon, who nodded in return. Unleashing the Rod, she cried out:

"MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!" And with that, the battle anticlimatically came to a close.

"Yatta!" shouted the exuberant Sailor Moon. She gave Mercury a huge hug. "We're back together again!"

The other senshi gathered round to give similar congratulatory remarks. But Mercury's attention was focused elsewhere.

David slowly walked to them. They fell silent, and he spoke.

"You're Sailor Mercury." It wasn't a question.

"Hai. I'm...I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before."

"I know. But...," and there was genuine fear in his voice, "one question."

High on the victory, she answered. "Sure. Anything."

"I've been doing some research on Sailor Mercury. Apparently, you lost your mother in the Tokyo disaster, right?"

"I...um...I've got to tell you the truth about that."

"I'm game."

"I killed her."

"WHAT?!?"

"She was under Hastings's control! If I didn't do it, the world was doomed!"

He visibly tried to get control of himself. "We'll have to discuss this later, okay? What was your mother's name?"

"Um...Mizuno Aoshi."

David let out a deep breath. He hadn't known he was holding it. "Thank heavens."

She cocked her head. "Why?"

"Yeah," said Jupiter threateningly. "Why now?"

"Well, if Sailor Mercury is Ami Mizuno, then she's my daughter. But there's no way that can happen, because my wife in Japan was Ayumi Mizuno, not Aoshi, right?"

It was Mercury's turn to become pale. "Your wife...my mother?"

"Yes, but your mother's Aoshi, so there must be some other Ami out there. Amazing, though, both with blue hair...."

Mercury began to back away, tears forming at her eyes. "My *grandmother* was named Aoshi." She slowly went to her knees.

"My mother was born Ayumi Mizuno."

There were gasps from the senshi. David was the last to realize it. "But...that can't be! If Ayumi was your mother and my wife, and you're...but that would mean...oh dear God. Sweet merciful God!" He grabbed a hunk of hair from his head and ripped it out, letting them see the bloody roots. "Can't you see what I've done?"

Sailor Moon tried to calm him down. "It's all right, David. It was all a mistake, anyone could have made it-"

"Made it? Dear heavens, how I've made it! Made it with my daughter, my wife's murderer, my daughter's mother and sister and aunt all at once...don't you see? I can't...I won' go on like this! I WILL NOT!"

"David, stop!" But Tuxedo's cries were too late; he had already fled into the night.