A note to all you overly sensitive readers out there: very (big emphasis on the 'very') bad things begin happening in Chapter Six. If you like, you can avoid shock by not reading this chapter, but you may not be able to understand certain references and events later on.

Chapter 6
Anything that can go wrong...

Seattle, Washington
8/22/00
        “Been nice knowing you, Rei.” Tom smiled as he packed his stuff up.

        “Ditto,” Reiko Hino bowed in thanks. “and arigato.” They had spent the last several weeks together, working and surviving side by side. They had gotten lost once and gone as far east as the remains of Salt Lake City. Everyone had been killed there and they were able to take what they needed most. Another time, they had to stop and repair the tracks in the rain. That had taken over week. Finally, they had found their way to Olympia, Washington and from there, Seattle was a cinch. “I wish you luck, O’Malley Tomas-san.”

        “And I you.” the man smiled. Without another look (both were bad at good-byes) he reached over and yanked the brake. The black locomotive started moving again and gained momentum.

        Rei, unable to watch, turned away as Tom sped away. It took her a moment to realize that there were tears in her violet eyes. She tried to blink them back, but couldn’t. So with tears running down her cheeks, she ran off to search for her family.

Los Angeles
        “Ha!” Amy snapped her fingers. “I told you I could do it!” She leapt up and clapped happily, almost bragging but not quite. She reached down and flipped the switch on the side of the large boxy contraption. It coughed, wheezed, and began chugging. “Houston, we have water!”

        “Right on time, too.” Serena said, “The pressure tanks are at a dribble.”

        “We have something we can trade now!”  Amy stopped prancing around like an idiot.  “As a matter of fact, we have one of the only sources of water in the whole city.”  Just then, the power the machine provided them hit Amy like a Mack truck.  “We can get whatever we want. Food, clothes, supplies. Anything for water.”  Her hand slowly covered her mouth, were an eerily perverse smile grew.  “We don’t have to live off fish and candy bars any more. We could get better food.”

        “Where would we store it?” Serena raised her eyebrow.

        “Oh, god. We could get machine parts. We could build...anything.” The laughter the little blue-haired Catholic released wasn’t quite normal. Perhaps it was just that Serena’s brain had not been forced to register happiness in so long, or was Amy going to make a power play with the distiller?

        “I’ll go get a bucket.” Amy ran off with joy in her eyes, leaving Serena to look at the machine. There was a hose running out a hole in a window to the water below, sucking it up and processing it. The water was deionized over a platinum sheet that came from the catalytic converter of a car Amy had found. The water was then boiled over a heating plate and recollected in another chamber. Afterward, it was literally sucked up a six-foot tall distilling tower by both capillary action and pressure before being filtered no less than twelve times. Out came pure de-ionized water to drink, which was stored in a tank. What was truly incredible was the motor. It was a primative one to be sure, but it ran on sea water of all things, using the combustible phosphates it distilled out to run. If Amy hadn’t built a miracle machine, Serena didn’t know what it was.

        “Here we go.” the blue-haired girl returned with what had only months before been a desk trashcan. Imediately, she began filling it. There was a certain joy in her face as the fresh water spewed into the improvized container until it was full. She turned the flow nozzle to close and the hoisted the bucket up. “Let’s go see what we can get with it.”

        “I think we should go this way.” Serena pointed down a crumbled road. Something about it was familiar, but she couldn’t place it. There were no street signs many buildings had crumbled. There was one area not too far from them where the road had caved in completely. Serena half wanted to go that way just to see what was down the hole.

        “Alright.” Amy agreed, and the two girls resumed their call. “Fresh water for trade!”

        “This all feels so familiar.”  The once meatball-headed girl said.  Every few steps she’d reach back and slap her braid away, as it was consantly tapping the back of her calf with annoying regularity.  Soon, she stopped to pull it up so that it wouldn’t do that.  As she was fixing her hair, she couldn’t help but notice a large shard of glass from a door.  It read Cafe Noah, and it took only a moment for Serena to realize where she was. “This is the strip!” she exclaimed, startling Amy.

        Amy looked up at the line of buildings and sure enough the faded letters of Cafe Noah could be seen on the front. A few doors down was the Crown Game Center and Soda Shoppe where Amy had been on that fateful day. The hole in the road was the same hole that swallowed Mina, Lita, and her. “Hmmm, yes. I can’t believe we didn’t recognize our old hang-out.”

        The pair continued down the sidewalk almost dilusionally happy that they were in a familiar place. Soon, it was Serena’s turn to carry the bucket and they stopped to rest.

        “I wonder what happened to Andrew.” Serena couldn’t help but wonder. Briefly, she remembered the silly crush she’d had on him almost three years hence. It was a stupid girlish crush at an age when she was just begining to understand what that place between her legs was for and that it made her suffer on a monthly basis. As most girls did at that age, she went for an older guy. Most twelve-through-fifteen year old girls like boys who are at least as mature, and since girls are usually a year or so ahead in the maturity department, only an older boy would suffice. Well, there was no use trying to reason it out now. That was all in a much happier past.

        “This one’ll do.” Serena heard behind her. Alarmed, she turned in time to see a man grab Amy by the shirt.

        “Serena, help!”  the shocked girl shreiked as the familiar group of men began to cart her off.

        “Stop, you leave her alone!” Serena charged to Amy’s rescue, only to be knocked back into the dust. “Amy! No!” I was all too apparent what they would do to her. Whether they let her live was another matter entirely. Serena had brought her locket for just such an occasion.

        They dragged Amy into an alleyway kicking and squealing. As she struggled the five men began laughing and touching her. She desperately tried to slap their hands away but to no avail,  one came up and stretched the collar of her shirt till it would not stay on her shoulders. He then landed a hard punch to her gut, which sent her to her knees, and then a fierce kick to her face. She was slammed against a wall, nose bloodied. That’s when she looked up.

        “You!” she cried somewhat weakly. His rugged face and firey eyes were familiar and she was able to place them in her memory.

        “Well look who it is.” The gang leader said. “Little miss big-mouth. Told you I’d see you around.”

        “Leave me alone you God-awful bastard!” Amy snapped, knowing that they wouldn’t do it. She couldn’t back up her anger either. They were all too strong and besides her stomach still hurt. And there was no way she could get to her transformation wand in time.

        “Well, well. I just hope your as hot on the inside.” he sneered as he helped her up. There was no kindness in the gesture and apparently he got a twisted sense of pleasure from it. Deliberately his hand rode up her leg, making her cringe. He felt underneath the skirt and in a quick motion, yanked her underwear to her knees.

        “No, please, let me go!” the Catholic pleaded as she felt him coming nearer. She struggled and recieved only a harsh smack in the face. Her cheek stinging, she tried to push him away but he pinned her against a wall. “No!” she screamed, “No, please, don’t. Don’t please.” She began to cry and a moment later found he was inside her. “Oh, God.” she sobbed, not realizing her head was laying against his chest, “Oh, God. No...no.” Through her panic there was a vague realization of a tearing pain and the intelligent part of her told her that she always knew this would hurt.

        Amy was...had been...a virgin. She had always prided herself on her purity, which was something so few young women kept holy this day in age. She viewed that certain area of her body as sacred; never to be treaded upon by even her. Yet this demon, this terrible monster, had taken that away from her. It enraged her that he seemed to be enjoying it. He was putting on a perverted show for his gang, who were all laughing and hooting and cheering him on. Not only did she have to face the disgrace of rape, but for it to occur with others watching for entertainment was an absolute defacing of her dignity.

        She was ripped from the boiling rage as he threw her down and zippered his pants. He pulled a knife from his belt and began testing its sharpness. Just to make sure, he pulled a sharpening stone from his pocket and began to run it over the blade.

        “Hey, boss,” one of the lackeys asked, “do we get to...”

        “Shut up!” the leader cut him off, then eyed Amy with a mischevous glance.

        “Well,” she asked with acid in her voice and tears in her eyes, “Are you gonna kill me or not?” Maybe it was that she had let a little too much pleading inter her question. At this point she just wanted to die. Having been so disgraced was bad enough, but to not be permitted the release and comfort of death was unfathomable.

        “No.” he said, rather cruely.

        “You leave her alone you creep!” Amy heard from behind and above her. “I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice, servant of the weak, and protector of the innocent. You have done the most awful thing one human could ever do to another and you shall pay for it.”

        “It’s Sailor Moon! Run!” and Amy snickered half in relief for the rescue and half in the irony of it being all too late. She sat up, bringing her knees to her chest. When she went to pull her underwear back up, she realized she had soiled them in the struggle and tossed them away in disgust.

        It was gone, all gone. Her virginity and honor as a woman taken from her in one stupid, selfish, and outrageous act. Just like that. Snap, gone. What could she do? What would she do? There was nothing, nothing at all. It finally hit Amy how desperate the world’s situation was. It was about that time when the sobs came.

        “Amy, are you okay?” Sailor Moon placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

        Amy shook it off and buried her face in her knees, letting out a flow of sobs and curses. “Dammit. God Dammit!” she swore through gritted teeth, “God damn, God damn, God DAMN!” and she landed her fist in the dust. Of course she wasn’t okay! She’d never be okay, never again!

        “Amy talk to me.” the moon princess insisted and reached to embrace her.

        “Don’t touch me!” the girl shreiked, “Leave me alone. Go away, for Christ’s sake!”

        “Amy we need to take you to see a doctor.”

        “I don’t want to see any goddamn doctors! They’ll only touch me and I don’t want them to touch me! Just leave me the hell alone! Geezus!”

        “Come on, then.” Sailor Moon said, “We at least need to get you home.” Amy allowed the moonchild to help her up. For a moment, the shorter girl thought that Sailor Moon looked very wrong without her meatballed hair and pigtails, but the thought passed very quickly. Suddenly and uncontrollably, she was wracked with sobs again and nuzzled her face in her best friend’s chest.

        “Oh, Amy I’m so sorry.” Serena apologized, and stroked Amy’s short blue-black hair. There was really nothing comforting she say. Serena never had been very religious. Nor had she experienced such a crime, so she couldn’t relate. Frustrated at her efforts to console her friend, the blonde sighed heavily. Amy just needed to cry now. Maybe that would help.

        It started raining a few moments later.

Seattle
        The rain was driving when Rei found her uncle’s house. Remarkably it was still intact. There was graffiti on it to be sure, and definitely some cracks in the brick wall, but it was still standing. Nervous, she wrapped on the door.

        It opened a moment later to the angry Asian face of her Uncle Hino Minoru. The anger turned to surprise and then joy as he reached out to embrace her.

        “Reiko-chan, I am so glad to see you safe.”

Los Angeles
        A battle had happened here. Not only could Jekter tell but the device registered residual energy from three Sailor Scouts and Electrichead. The hulk of the water-going Earth ship was thuroughly burned out and partially sunk.

        It momentarily dawned on him that the Scouts must have been aboard this ship when it exploded. He could tell from analyzing the burn patterns and destruction layers on the ship that the origin of the explosion was near the stern. From the readings, the fuel had exploded while the Scouts battled in the engine room. They must have been so close to it that their bodies were disintegrated in the fireball.

        They were gone.

        The Sailor Scout, those wretched brats, were gone at last! He laughed in relieved joy. Finally, he had something to report to Flute. He pulled out his communicator and tapped the proper code. A portal appeared and he allowed it to swallow him. Soon, he was home.

        “Master, I have wonderful news.” he said upon entering without knocking.

        Flute instantly forgave him for the intrusion. “What is it, my boy?”

        “They’re gone!”

        “Who is gone?”

        “The Sailor Scouts! They’re dead.”

        “All of them?”

        “All of them.”

        “Good.” Flute smiled, “Step up on the training of the troops. Also, send scouts to locate a proper structure in the Sailors’ home city to inhabit. Soon that world will be mine.”

Chapter 7: ... Will Go Wrong