Sailor Moon Expanded presents
Reviewing the Troops [draft]
by Mark Latus
To the people of Crystal Tokyo these seemed days of miracle and wonder.
Of course that was a common attitude in Crystal Tokyo but this summer, the
966th of Neo Queen Serenity's reign (965 AR, 2981 AD by the Christian
calendar)
[Internal - Following the Great Darkness the world is restored in October
2015, subsequently year 0 After Rebirth with year 1 beginning
October 2016 so the summer of 2016 occurs during the initial
zero year]
it seemed especially true. Humanity was no longer alone confined to
Earth alone. After centuries of silence their brothers and sisters, the
Nemesians, had ended their long isolationism and made their presences known.
Their leaders had visited the Queen, initiated diplomatic relations and were
embarked on a global tour to bring a message of friendship and renewal. There
was talk of cultural exchange and many anticipated a new renaissance in the
arts speculating what innovations the Nemesians had wrought during their long
separation from Mother Earth. Certainly the Nemesians were eager to embrace
Terran culture from high to low, popular to refined causing some to wonder
given the bizarre mix of materials they sent home what sort of picture those
on the four worldlets (or "Sisters") of Nemesis were getting of Terra? But
this was surely a short term problem that would be straightened out with
prolonged contact. Few worried about or wondered at the reluctance of the
Nemesians to disclose more than a minimum about their home. They simply had
to get used to having neighbours in the Solar System. After all Nemesian
civilization had rebuilt itself a lot faster than Terran and predated every
post Silver Millennium society on Earth. After all those millennia alone was
it really surprising they were were set in their ways. They would surely get
used to the change given time. Yes, these were surely the best of times.
So the average citizen of Crystal Tokyo thought but there were a few who
knew just how seen the best of times would become the worst of times. Two of
whom were about to face one another in battle.
Known simply as the Furahata Special Training Arena (or less formally
"The Game Center") the Olympic sized arena stood upon an artifical island in
Crystal Bay amidst water that was as clear as its namesake. A far cry from
the days when it had been known as Tokyo Bay but then many things had changed
dramatically since the old days and that was one of the minor ones.
Originally built as a training ground for those with powers to hone them
without risk to the populace the Game Center had been supplanted by the
Palace's "Holodeck". The Center's secondary purpose had become it's primary
one and the main reason it still stood. To give a site for public displays of
Senshi prowess during holidays and times of celebration. It had also hosted a
few Aino Clan reunions as given the number of paranormals and magic users in
the family if things got too boisterous it was a good idea to have a bit of
space between them and the city.
For today's event there were only three spectators; Lady Hino, better
known as Sailor Mars, here in a semi official capacity to assess the combat
competency of a new recruit to the war to come. Lady Aino, matriarch of the
afformentioned clan, was here to see her husband didn't get himself killed
just after they had just been reunited and conceived a new addition to their
family. If things got too rough she was going to change to Sailor Venus and
mummify his opponent in "Love Me Chains". Having nearly killed Calcite in
their own recent duel Minako felt tenser than she would normally have about
this sparring match. Old friend or not this seemed incredibly reckless but
she hadn't really stood in his way. She knew Cal too well to think he'd back
down from a challenge. Sometimes that was attractive, sometimes very
irritating. Right now with their relationship on the ascent again it was
one of his good points.
The final spectator was Minako's long-time sister-in-law, Titanite. Here
to see her brother and the woman she had grown up calling her big sister
fight. She was looking forward to a good show, Cal's stints into the outside
world as Gray had kept him active but it had been a long time since she had
seen Azurite had really cut loose. Azure wasn't the type to let her skills
atrophy (as her recent attempt to barbeque Sailor Pluto had proven) but she
hadn't really been in combat since she retired from being Sailor Arcturus and
hung up her fuku.
Under normal circumstances a Palace authorized sparring match between
paranormals would be held in the "holodeck" but until Rei was satisfied the
system could not be compromised again it was staying offline. Rei hadn't
spoken of it but all her friends could tell she felt responsible for the
security breach that had allowed the cybertelepathic assassin into the Palace.
The Nemesian magics he (or she) had used to gain access were just alien enough
to beat the sensors. Divination and psychometry had allowed her to plug that
blind spot so it couldn't be used again but whoever was responsible had come
far too close to costing her a friend. Rei glanced at Ti again and saw the
other woman smile back. Ti didn't blame her, quite the contrary. Titanite
had told her that since both she and Topass had come through the holodeck's
lethal anime extravaganza unscathed and as the shared danger had kicked their
relationship into highgear she owed a certain amount of gratitude to the
would-be assassin and intended to shake his hand. After malleting him
senseless and tossing him into a high security cell equipped with heavy duty
psi-blockers.
Rei smiled at the memory, for all her romantic and otakuistic tendencies
Titanite was a lot more pragmatic than most people thought. She allowed
herself to wonder what exactly Ti had meant by "highgear". Rei suspected it
meant that as soon as Ti had got Topass back to her apartment they had fallen
on each other like rabid weasals. Danger could be something of an
aphrodisiac, you were so glad to be alive that you had to celebrate. She
remembered after one particular close call when she had got home to Yuuchiro
...
"Rei, you okay?"
Rei blinked and hoping she didn't look flushed answered Minako with,
"Just wondering how long before the simulation room's back online. There's a
lot fewer prying eyes to watch sparring sessions inside it and we all need to
be sure we're in fighting trim."
Minako shrugged, "All things considered that's debatable." She stopped
herself before saying that the amount of actual fighting the Senshi would get
to do could be minimal. "Uhm ... anyway they've sparred here before since
Azurite doesn't, or didn't, have holodeck access so this contest won't trip
any alarms. So there's nothing to worry about even if Demand's spying on us,
just part of the rich pagentry of life in Crystal Tokyo."
Rei nodded, "Let's hope they think the same way." She turned her gaze
back to the arena as she tried to squelch the memory within her mind's eye.
Probably it hadn't happened like that anyway. Topass had struck her as being
as much of a romantic as Titanite. More likely ... Rei forced the images
away and tried to think of something else. Before she side-tracked herself
what had she been thinking? Oh yes, that Titanite didn't blame her for the
security breach.
Titanite had just put it down to circumstances that no one could
anticipate no matter how much firegazing they did. Rei reluctantly agreed,
she couldn't forsee everything and what she did see was probability not
certainty. So the odds of foreseeing the assassination attempt on Ti (or
Topass as the target was unknown, it might perhaps have been just a terrorist
strike at whoever was using the holodeck as only high rankers in the Palace
had clearance to use it) were minimal. Particularly with a much bigger
potential catastrophe hogging the aether. Once again Rei wondered why every
prescience pratitioner in the world wasn't crying doom. She couldn't be
the only one who saw the near future bearing down on them like a runaway
train.
Then again, maybe she was. Exactly what Wiseman was they still didn't
know but as it had taken (would take? Time-travel was hell on tenses, no
wonder Setsunna said so little) a timefolded ginzuishou to beat him he
obviously wasn't short of power. Clouding predictive magics on a planetary
scale might well not be beyond his capabilities. Maybe no one else foresaw
doom approaching. No one except for those who already knew war was coming
and had known for nearly a thousand years. Once again Rei cursed Demand and
the time loop he had engineered. Or would create. Whichever.
If Wiseman had actually done to cloud precognitive magics it hadn't
worked on her. If there was interference she was punching through it without
even noticing. She had, after all, been practising the art for nearly a
millennium. No one could match her skill. Except that in this case blindness
might be bliss. She had seen many disasters looming over the centuries and
none had come to pass. There had been a few close calls but they had all
triumphed. Forewarned was forearmed and advance notice meant the Senshi were
ready and waiting when the danger appeared. Or so it had been until now. But
this ... to see doom looming over the city, the whole planet and unable to
prevent it ... Hindsight is futile, you can't change the past, what's done
is done ... all those cliches that had been true until now. The past wasn't
fixed anymore and unless they let those Nemesian bastards wreck havoc
everything they had built would not merely fall, it would never have happened.
She'd always had a fiery temper but there was no word to describe the fury
her helplessness made her feel ...
"Mallet for your thoughts?"
Rei blinked in confusion and realized Titanite was standing in front of
her hefting a small mallet.
"What's that for?"
"Sailor Polaris's surefire cure for grim and brooding types. When you
see someone sinking into deep introspection you whack 'em on the head with a
mallet. They immediately go, 'OW! What'd you do that for?' and stop
brooding. It never fails."
Rei had to chuckle. "Goofily effective. A very Titanite way of dealing
with problems."
Minako frowned. "Goofy? It makes perfect sense to me."
Rei smiled again. "And you both wonder why people call you the Ditz
Sisters?" Both of them glared at her. Before the inevitable explosion could
occur Rei announced, "Deny it later but right now you might want to watch the
field. Looks like it's showtime!"
[showtime]
[Azurite worried she's lost edge after Haruka dropped her so easily but her
stated reason for match is she's afraid her skills have deteriorated badly
after centuries of peace]
[DK magic mirror]
[Credible showing. Mars, Venus & Ti watching. Rei surprised by level of
violence.]
In the stands the three Senshi were watching the fight in awed silence
until Rei spoke. Without turning her attention from the combat she said,
"Ti, I thought I was familiar with all martial arts but I can't identify the
one Azurite's using. There's familiar elements but it feels like a seamless
whole so she's not switching forms. But the technique is unknown and with my
experience that's remarkable. Is this some sort of youma martial art?"
Ti nodded, "Yes but not in the sense you mean. It didn't originate in
the Dark Kingdom ... well I shouldn't say that, there may be bits that did
but this technique is Azure's creation. You know she's tried a lot of
careers? Well this was one of her pet projects a long, long time ago. She
spent decades studying every fighting art she could, ruthlessly keeping what
worked best and integrating and distilling them into a unified whole to
create the most lethal fighting art on the planet."
"Why?"
"Lots of reasons, intellectual curiosity, artistic inspiration, so she
could take care of herself if she lost her powers ..."
"Very improbable."
"Yeah but so what? Mina, you know Cal tries to be ready for everything
going wrong?"
"True, residual Dark Kingdom paranoia."
"Exactly. Well Azure came through the same school of hard knocks so
creating the ultimate martial art seemed like a reasonable precaution."
Rei frowned, "In that case why didn't Calcite ..."
"Because he had duties and family so he couldn't spend years working on
something like this. Though you'll notice he's blocking her. He spent quite
a bit of time sparring with her when she was working out the bugs."
Minako nodded again, "I remember that. We were on the outs at the time
and for a change Iw as the one who left town. The tabloids got wind of it
along with some pictures of them looking hot, sweaty and ... well you know
combat ecstacy can look like ... Anyway some of those tabloids were sent to
me and they implyed they were doing a lot more than working out together ..."
Rei interrupted with a pointed glance at Titanite, "Margrave's doing?"
Ti shrugged, "Maybe, she's never told me." Ti neglected to mention she
had never directly asked the catwoman. "There are lots of possibilities,
whoever sent them might have been trying to worsen the breakup or they might
have been trying to convince Mina to come home and salvage her marriage before
it was too late."
Mina smiled, "Which was what I figured so I headed back ready to call
Azurite out if it came to a showdown ..." She chuckled, "There were some
pretty embarrasing scenes and misunderstandings before we sorted things out.
Lucky me and Cal had been apart just about the right span so everything
clicked and it was a very passionate reunion."
Rei nodded, "I remember that now though I didn't know the background. I
assumed they were just sparring for old times sake." She looked at Mina and
shook her head, "You know you came within a hairsbreath of getting tossed in
the nearest rehabilitation center for disturbing the peace. You're lucky
Serenity's an incurable romantic."
"I've always thought we're all lucky she's like that."
"True." Smiling Rei turned back to observing the fight which wasn't
lessening. If anything it was becoming more ferocious. She resumed studying
it from a professional viewpoint and nodded with satisfaction. Impressive,
Azurite would be a welcome addition to the ranks of Crystal Tokyo's defenders.
Then she frowned slightly and asked, "Ti, you never actually said what this
martial art of Azurite's is called."
Ti sighed slighly then said, "She gave it a youm'shak name, said it was
a good language for describing violence. It's called ..." There followed
a collection of those guttural and snarling sounds that Rei (and everyone)
would always have sworn Titanite could not possibly emitted yet she pronounced
them effortlessly. She concluded, "... that basically translates as 'Anything
Goes Martial Arts."
Minako snickered. "Ti, I didn't live with your brother for a thousand
years without picking up a few things. That was a very loose translation to
say the least."
Titanite sighed. "Okay if you want to get literal the exact translation
is ..." Titanite winced a little then announced, "Kick them in the balls
then stamp on their necks!" Rei shot her an unreadable and Ti felt a sudden
urge to defend her honourary big sister. "Azure's ... very practical when it
comes to ... uhm applied violence. She's always said you have to be realistic
about what fighting is for, see it clearly for what it is and save the
romantic stuff for more appropriate activities."
She was wondering if she'd explained it or just made matters worse when
Rei nodded and announced, "Sensible. I like the way she thinks."
[ Ti: Don't worry, they used to do this sort of thing all the time back in the
old days. No one ever got hurt ... apart from the odd broken bone or two
... the occasional dislocated limb ... some torn ligaments ... actually
it's a good thing they've both got a regeneration factor.
Minako: Well if he gets hurt I'll nurse him back to health
Rei: Poor Calcite! (Venus unamused) ]
[Azurite loses but Cal's hurt, taken by momentary surprise at Sailor Arcturus
transformation. "Nice distraction but that sort of trick only works once"
"Once should be enough. I've really gone downhill."
DBZ type dialogue
Azure makes slip about getting soft if she got blindsided so easily (CR6)
but covers it. Still keeping GM secret from CT and Nemesian invasion secret
from GM crew. Does feel a little stressed because of this.]
[Azure and Rei teleport to Palace, Ti takes Cal & Mina home)
Almost as soon as the trio materialized in the apartment Mina dashed into
the bedroom. At her brother's puzzled look Ti straightfacedly said, "Mina
thought her outfit got sprayed with too much grit while you two were tearing
the place. So it's time for a change of clothes. Cal just nodded and Ti
marvelled at how much her acting skills had improved. She'd never have gotten
away with that in the old days though to be fair the pain might be distracting
him.
She carefully helped him onto the nearest couch but gentle as she was she
saw him wince. Pulling a chair up to face him she sat and innocently
commented, "So, do you think Azure can get back into fighting trim?"
Calcite glared for a moment then snorted and smiled. "She did well and
overestimated the degree to which her skills have atrophied. She's kept
herself in fighting trim though there's definitely room for improvement."
"Meaning she can only take out 95% of the paranormals in the world
instead of 99%?"
"Meaning that for all her practise and power her combat edge is
definitely blunted. Several of her attacks were sloppy ..."
"By your standards!"
"By my standards, certainly. Which can spell the difference between life
and death in real battle." Seeing the dismay on his sister's face he added,
"But she'll meet damned few opponents as tough or skilled as me and we both
know that now she's committed to defending the city she'll be working overtime
to regain that edge."
Ti nodded and tried to sound wise. "True, she is after all a workaholic
perfectionist like someone else I know." Calcite hrumphed then winced at the
pain in his ribs. Concerned again Ti asked, "She didn't break anything did
she?"
"No, believe me I know what broken ribs feel like, these are fractured at
best. Though I will admit she put me through the wringer. I'm going to be
taking it easy for the next few days while I heal."
"Aided by your beautiful and loving wife." The siblings turned to see
Minako posed dramatically in the bedroom doorway. "Nurse Minako to the
rescue."
At the sight of the tight white uniform with a hemline actually shorter
than her fuku's Ti saw sweat bead her brother's brow. With exaggerated
unconcern he said, "Actually I'm almost as good as new. Good old healing
factor! Think I'll go jogging, I probably need a bit of exercise." He
started to rise then squawked as a chain of golden light wrapped around his
torso. Giving up the pretense he slumped back onto the couch trying not to
wince. His anxiety increased as Ti rose.
"Well I guess you too want to be alone so I'll be on my way."
"What! No, wait ... uh, we need to discuss this Nemesian business
again!"
"It's waited almost a thousand years, it can wait a little longer.
Besides I've got a date."
Cheerfully Minako bid her farewell, "Bye Ti-chan. Have fun and don't do
anything I wouldn't do." Titanite forebode to comment and headed for the
door despite her brother's pleading look. Behind her Mina leaned over the
pinioned youma and probed his ribs.
"Does it hurt when I do this?"
From the yelp she heard as the door closed behind her Ti figured the
answer was probably yes. Having heard the tales of Minako's ideas of nursing
Ti did feel a little guilty. But she hadn't been lying, she did have a date
with Topass and she wanted to look her best for it. Besides Rei, Ami and
Mako-chan had to have been exaggerating. How bad could she really be? Had
she stuck around her brother could have answered her question. But she
didn't, she was focused on her own love life. Humming cheerfully she vanished
and reappeared in her own apartment so caught up in anticipation that she
didn't notice the twinge of discomfort.
[Internal - While she got over her warp sickness under normal circumstances
it returns with pregnancy]
Calcite was not the only youma suffering at the hands of a spouse.
Azurite cried out at the sharp pain in her shoulder though almost immediately
it began to fade into a delicious warmth. Pyrite's long practiced fingers
continued the massage and Azurite felt contentment seeping into her battered
body. Knotted muscles unwound under the firm but gentle touch and she let
herself relax. Her husband worked in silence except from sighs as he surveyed
the damage for a few more moments before he spoke with a tone of exasperation
tinged with affectionate resignation.
"I haven't seen you battered this badly in a very long time. Frankly I
haven't missed it."
[Pyrite / Azurite massage scene. Reference Pyrite & Ami extending SALLY to
cover key areas of Palace including holodeck]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[Several days later - Cal has recovered from injuries and nursing]
[Meeting with Ti, first chance he's had to discuss Topass situation which he
witnessed CR8. Waited until he was sure it wasn't a flash in the pan
triggered by their mutual near death experience
"I'll trust you know what you're doing. Besides I'm in no position to give
any wise advice on falling in love. You're my sister all right. But I was
hoping one of us had some sense when it came to romance." - Rough dialogue]
[Meeting with Henry Von Tramp regarding training programs/exercises to begin
with Calcite taking over temporarily when Jupiter takes well deserved
vacation after centuries in post (Official story)]. Currently C being
slowly integrated into command structure so no abrupt transition of duties
& commander.
[Von Tramp knows something's up (Cal knows Henry knows) but silently accepts
it's on a need to know basis and right now he doesn't need to know. Takes
training upgrades very seriously though.]
[Cal mentions he'll be increasing army size which'll surprise no one who
knows anything about him and that when Queen Serenity agrees to a partial
increase it'll just be to humour him (He'll ask 20% and settle for 10%
Better than nothing and insufficent to alarm Nemesians). Whole thing will
be written off as meaningless paranoia on his part and dubbed "Calcite's
folly" by media. Adding armoured trooper unit, buying commercial suits
(Irons Corp?) to disguise CT producing its own more advanced model
designed by Ami & Pyrite]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Margrave wandering palace in own form for change spots Artemis. Mistakenly
believes mooncats blew secret of her cat form.]
[Scents Luna coming and decides to have some fun. Becomes Margrave-neko and
makes move on Artemis. Distracted he doesn't pick up Luna until he hears
voice of doom.]
[The fur starts to fly and Margrave departs musing it's a shame a couple can't
trust each other after all these centuries. But as it's unhealthy to get
mixed up in a domestic dispute she'd better not stick around to explain
things.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Fit Andy's unfinished CTS story in here with Ti discovering her pregnancy?
Could work. Reread. Reference it at least]
[Reactions to the news, Topass wants to "do right thing" and marry her
Legitimacy very important on clan based Nemesis. She refuses until she's
sure its not just sense of obligation]
[Ti breaks news about Rudra to cats and Senshi having learned from Topass
who the master of the Bureacracy really is. They talk to Ferrite who
subsequently discusses it with Puck. Speculation on Rudra's eugenics
program]
[Pyrite releases Adamite from stasis to use his genetics expertise on
solving the mystery of Titanite's preganacy. Hints about what happened
between Adam and Margrave]
[Fall, several months later]
The door hummed open as Rei admitted Calcite into her office. They made
the usual small talk and greetings as Rei unobtrusively swept her office for
magical or technical surveillance. Nothing detected but as their knowledge of
Nemesian capabilities was still inadequete that wasn't very reasssuring. Cal
took a seat and Rei activated sound and image baffles around her desk while a
simulated conversation of two old friends (with accompanying holo images)
activated to cover them. The Calcite and Rei talking obviously had plenty of
time on their hands thanks to living in utopia and were just killing time.
[Rewrite above to factor in SALLY generating fake conversation]
All for the benefit of any hypothetical observers. Excessively paranoid for
Crystal Tokyo as a rule but they had entered strange and disturbing times.
Calcite glanced around the room and told the head of Internal Security,
"Someday all this will be mine."
Rei chuckled, "You can have it. After centuries of paperwork I'm
begining to look forward to being part of the defense net." With that she
handed over a very thin dossier, "Here's everything we've got on our
recent arrival."
She'd always felt more at ease with hardcopy than datapads, it seemed
more permanent. Her staff thought it an eccentricity and attributed it to
her twentieth century birth. Rei saw it a little differently. Once it was
on molecule encoded paper it was a lot harder to change what it said. When
it came to security computer memories were still way too vulnerable for her
liking.
Cal thumbed through the pages quickly and commented, "Not much here."
"Twilight was very elusive, much more so than your group. Not to
mention her very nature made her very difficult to spot. How many of these
incidents were simply attributed to her without cause we don't know. Add in
all the records and witness recollections lost in the Darkness and this is
what we've got. Pity you don't remember her from the Dark Kingdom. Might
have given us a handle on her."
"Not necessarily. Anyone outside our group who'd known me in the Kingdom
would have painted a very unpleasant picture. Speaking of which Pyrite's
definitely identified Renegade genetic signatures. However past experience
has shown ..."
"... that being a Renegade doesn't automatically make you one of the good
guys." Rei steepled her hands, "I'll just have to meet her and see what I
sense."
"You haven't talked to her yet?"
Rei shook her head. "I'm waiting until she gets better. You?"
"Not yet, been too busy. I should as it seems she's family. Ti's the
only one to spend much time with her so far. She thinks positively of her
but ..."
"But your sister is one of our optomists and right now things need a
certain cynicism. Speaking of which I have to say I'm still concerned about
this Topass situation."
Calcite sighed. "So am I. To say things keep taking unexpected turns
is a real understatement. What really worries me is what'll happen when the
war starts?"
Rei nodded. "Ti's sure he'll stick with her so we'll just have to hope
she's right." Calcite agreed but looked troubled. He'd never, Rei mused,
got over being the protective big brother. Not that Ti hadn't needed looking
after in her younger, more impulsive days. Hopefully those days were long
gone and Ti's judgement wasn't clouded by being in love. She'd hate to see
her old friend hurt.
Calcite broke the silence. "Even if she poses no threat she's not
necessarily an asset. Remember when my group crossed over all everyone but
Ti wanted was to be left alone. She seems to have followed our old pattern
of "take care of trouble you encounter but avoid the senshi" and that's no
guarantee for joining up. Azurite and Pyrite took off for over a century
after Serenity freed us of our mana linitations to travel the world. Ti and I
had reasons to stick around but far as we know she doesn't have any. Which
means keeping away from the Senshi will seem like good policy. She's got no
reason to feel any loyalty to Crystal Tokyo."
Rei mused, "If, assuming she's not a threat, Serenity withheld adjustment
so she had to stay in CT ..."
Calcite had to chuckle, "You really think Serenity would force her to
help us defend the city?"
Rei sighed, "Not for a second."
"Getting back to the lady in question whatever ties she had in old Tokyo
are long gone. She has no real connection to Crystal Tokyo."
"Family ties?"
He shrugged, "She's only just found out we exist so those won't be very
strong. Anyway all this is moot as she's an unknown factor and in no shape
to do much of anything. Best thing to do is meet her and get to know her."
He lost his analytical tone and his voice got wistful. "Strange days ...
Gaining another sister is about the last thing I expected and I'm more than
a little anxious to meet her. Even if she's not going to become a defender
we could become close. Family's important."
"Half sister and Dark Kingdom reared, remember? So don't get too carried
away. Incidentally all this sentimentality is ruining your tough guy image."
"I'll trust your discretion." They both grinned then Rei got back to
business.
"Getting back to the other matter we discussed." Calcite snapped back
into serious mode as Rei continued, "We're still no luck tracing the Outers."
"No joy on the financial front?"
"As you suggested I tried that. No real success. I found their joint
holdings but that's where it deadends. For the longest time generations of
their financial managers invested in long term, low risk funds. Standard
pattern for an immortal's holdings. Same one you use for most of your outside
investments ... apart from your shadier accounts under those aliases. Those
fall into what I have to call a definite grey area."
Calcite didn't seem concerned about her knowledge (which Rei took to mean
he thought she'd missed a lot (perhaps she had except she'd been thorough!
(as it didn't impact CT security did it really matter anyway?))), he simply
said, "Gray sometimes needs operating funds in a hurry along with unsavoury
contacts. Besides drawing on Lord Calcite's accounts would take time and
could be taken to indicate official CT sanction which could cause diplomatic
problems. Not that he overthrows many tyrants but some people do overreact.
Regardless I gather something has changed?"
As she was in triple parantheses Rei missed the question and had to ask
him to repeat it. "About a century ago the Rakurai family took over their
finances. They've been aggressively increasing the Ten'ou/Kaiou portfolio
with some early stumbles but a lot of success. The current manager is one
Rakurai Sakuya, named for her grandmother who was the first family member to
serve in the post. Like the others she's some sort of financial demon and
[Note. No it's nothing to do with Sakuya's daughter. She's just been
wearing a few different hats to conceal her immortality. So she was her
grandmother.]
very good at hiding disbursements. Meaning we've had zero luck tracing
funds to them. So wherever they are we can forget finding them this way for
a covert approach."
Calcite nodded. "Unfortunate. Those two would be a real asset if we
could pursuade them to come back." A thought stuck him. "How long can they
maintain their immortality without regular exposure to the ginzuishou?"
"Nobody knows. Besides just to complicate things further remember Senshi
transformation slows aging. If we hadn't kept changing back we'd still have
looked 14 years old when we got immortality. So even if they've lost their
immortality they can prolong things by existing permenantly as Neptune and
Uranus.
"Bottom line, they've got no reason to hurry back."
"Yeah. Damn it! I should have kept closer tabs on them when they
announced they were leaving."
"Not much you could do. Serenity said as free citizens they could leave
anytime they wanted. There was no pretext for closer observation."
"I know but I wish she'd let me keep an active eye on them. I told her
we might need them someday but she was insistent. If we'd seen them during
our timetrip then ..." Rei automatically clammed up then remembered Calcite
was now in the know about what would be. "Sorry."
"Old habits die hard."
"True and we both have some very old habits. Anyway after they ditched
the passive surveillance Serenity refused me authorization to pursue them
actively. So I have no more idea where they are than anyone else in CT." She
sighed, "We'll have to come up some different avenues of investigation." With
that they left the matter and Rei turned to the newly established Nemesian
embassy.
"I imagine you've already heard Margrave's got one of their
undersecretaries as a client?"
"Yes. She claims Nemesian energy has an odd tang but isn't unpleasant.
She also claims it's less effective than terran human energy. Meaning she'll
be limiting her Nemesian clientele."
Rei looked exasperated. "I imagine she's reporting to you first and with
more detail than she does to me."
"Do you really want all the details? Anyway she hasn't heard anything of
real substance so far and I doubt she will. Claims secrecy seems to be
inherent to their beauracrats. Still she says she's willing to soldier on."
"I'll bet on that!", Rei's voice was dry. "Anything else?"
Calcite shrugged, "She made her usual play for me. Said it must be
difficult for me with Minako's time approaching but she could relax me."
"How noble of her." Rei shook her head, "After all these centuries she's
got to know you're not going to toss Minako over for a quick roll in the hay.
Why does she still bother?"
"She hates to lose. Which is how she sees things."
"Makes me wonder what she'd do if you said yes."
"Look surprised for a few seconds then jump me. She doesn't kid around
about her desires and her carnal impulses are completely uninhibited ..."
Calcite abruptly changed the topic for which Rei felt grateful. The problem
with immortality was no shortage of times to wonder, "What if ...?" She had
a few mistakes in her past she preferred not to be reminded of and the others
obliged. Rei focused her mind to concerns about the near future and an old
error slipped from her conscious mind and was forgotten again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Chrysolite - shortly after last scene. During period Chrysolite weak,
healing and confined largely to bed (ZGT1)]
The way she muttered in her sleep Calcite was willing to bet she was
talking to someone in her dreams. The bits and pieces he heard left him none
the wiser about who she was dreaming of. From what he could tell from the
outline under the sheets she was still nothing but skin and bones but compared
to how she'd looked when he first saw her there was a vast improvement. Her
aura had strengthened and she'd lost some of the pallor. He heard her yawn and
begin to stir.
Her eyes opened but her gazed flicked past him to the pitcher by the
bedside. Calcite handed her a glass of water which she took with exaggerated
caution being unsure of her coordination. She was studying him as she drank
so introductions seemed in order.
"My name's Calcite. Generally known as Cal among family and friends."
"Chrysolite. I normally go by Chrys." She finished the water then
asked, "Are you related to Titanite? There's a definite resemblance and the
hair and nose are a match. She mentioned a brother last time but I dozed off
before I got the details."
"Ti's my sister, making me your half brother."
"So you're her twin? Except she said her brother was older than her ...
but how else could you look so much alike?"
"Stasis. We were both born in '33 ... Kingdom dating, I forget the AD
equivalent. Anyway mother figured one at a time was plenty so Ti was put in
stasis until late '41."
"Ah. So you've got a few years on me."
"Maybe, maybe not. Trying to figure out ages in Crystal Tokyo is a fools
game. What with stasis, time anomolies, cryonic suspension, hibernation,
immortality and who knows what else it's impossible to figure out. I just say
I'm now about the same age as the senshi and leave it at that. Besides after
the first century what do a few years matter?"
Chrys decided to work that out later. "I've met three people I remember
since I woke up and two of them are youma. I take it we didn't emerge from
hiding and take over the world behind the scenes?"
"No, we're a definite minority. You're the sixth Kingdom survivor ...
or possibly the seventh."
"Sixth or seventh?"
"It's debateable if you can count Magnesite as a survivor."
That name registered and made a connection in Chrys's memory. She
frowned as her mind got working again. "Hold it, Calcite from the Dark
Kingdom? As in Magnesite's number one hatchetman and Sailor V's mortal
enemy?" He nodded. "Then how the hell are you living in a city ruled by the
senshi?!"
"A ruthless reputation was a good way to ensure no one suspected you of
being a renegade. Incidentally you're definitely the fifth one of us. The
genetic markers are unmistakeable."
Chrys considered this. "Okay I think I follow that. Act like a bastard
and the regular youma think you're one of them. Fifth? That means that the
renegades are now the majority among the surviving youma."
"That's right. You've met Ti, Azurite was there when you woke up but you
probably don't remember her." She shook her head. "Lastly there's Pyrite
but you won't be seeing him for a while. He had an accident during a magsci
experiment and reduced his ability to absorb background mana. He's fine as
long as he doesn't exert himself but he's an invalid until it's restored. So
he's confined to a research hospital in the palace.
[Note - Official cover story following BWB]
I guess he's related to you somehow as he's a cousin to Ti and myself via our
mother. He's also Azurite's husband."
"Husband? Since when do youma marry?"
"Since we adapted to human culture as most of our own traditions weren't
worth preserving."
"Most? What did you keep?"
"Ti's preserved our cuisine."
"Through substitution?"
"No, the real thing."
"I thought that tasted like real jundroot in the soup she brought. But
how?"
"Very long story. Short version is she's been talking about feeding you
back to health. Soon as you can handle it she's got a Ktar picked out for
steaming." Chrys's mouth began to water but she managed to remember another
question.
"I take it you don't fight Sailor Venus these days?"
"You know V and Venus were the same girl?"
Chrys was puzzled. "It was pretty obvious really."
"Not to our ruling elite. Kunzite finally caught on shortly before he
died. Beryl never did or I wouldn't have lived to escape the Kingdom."
"Ah but you forget Beryl and the Generals were very good at missing the
incredibly obvious. Even, though I hate to say it, our father." She fell
silent and brooded remembering Nephrite. Her mentor who'd turned out to be
her father. She might have stayed like this until she fell asleep but her
curiousity reasserted itself and roused her to say, "You didn't answer my
question."
"I'm no longer Sailor Venus's arch nemesis though we do have the
occasional disagreement." There was something in his tone she couldn't quite
place.
"I guess even if you made peace after your initial encounters you
couldn't ever be at ease with each other."
"You'd be surprised." There was definitely some sort of injoke there.
She'd worry about it later. Right now she'd better learn what she could
while her strenght lasted.
"You implied Magnesite's got some sort of weird dead-alive status?"
"He was converted to sentient psychoplasm by a very complicated chain of
events. If you're really interested Ami ... Sailor Mercury did a paper on
her study of him ..."
"Spare me."
"The upshot is he's not organic so he doesn't really qualify as a youma
anymore. And he was never a renegade."
"But he's living in this city and the senshi haven't destroyed him?"
"Long as he doesn't cause trouble they won't touch him. The first few
decades he was free I thought he'd get to work on some complicated revenge
scheme. But he's more interested in staying corporeal and has decided he's
the reincarnation of Sam Spade so he's more of an occasional nuisance than a
threat."
Chrys made a note to get some more details when she was feeling better.
"By my count that leaves one non renegade youma unaccounted for." They both
felt a teleport nearby. It was Ti and she wasn't alone.
"Speak of the devil!" Cal sighed, "This city loves coincidence." At her
questioning look he added, "You're about to meet number seven."
Ti bustled in with a covered bowl on a tray. "Hi Cal. Finally had the
time to see our new sister. You really should have got here sooner. But
seriously I know you've been busy. Getting to know each other?"
"More filling her in on a few things about the local youma so your
timing's impecable." A white furred figure followed Ti throught the door.
"Chrys this is Margrave. Last, in her opinion, of the true youma."
"Margrave say hello. Ti tell Margrave she visit new youma so Margrave
come see for self." Margrave was heavily into cute mode but Chrys just looked
confused.
"Why are you talking like that?"
"I've seen too many cute catgirl animes over the centuries. Besides it's
handy for making people underestimate me." Margrave had snapped back to
normal without being told. She'd known Ti or Cal would tell her to knock it
off. Besides this woman had run a bookstore with a heavy manga/anime section
so she'd have figured it out. Especially considering ... "You may not
remember this but we've met before."
Chrys studied Margrave with confusion as she ran over her few sensual
encounters in the Dark Kingdom. Inviting sleek furred curves ... no, she'd
definitely have remembered this youma. Unless they'd simply met as children.
"I think you're mistaken."
Margrave smiled, "I looked a little different at the time. But when Ti
told me how she knew you I remembered." Margrave's image changed becoming a
platinum blonde human woman with the same proportions. "Does this help."
"No, I've never seen you before ..." The memory resurfaced,
"Wait a minute!", and her thought turned back to a day almost a thousand
years gone.
**************************************************************************
The bell chimed and Chrys turned to see a pair of customers dash in out
of the rain. She recognised the first, "Afternoon Ti." Her gaze flickered
over the first then back again. She was worth a second look. Right now she
wiping water out of her hair and looking sullen but attractive.
"Come on, how I was I supposed to know it was going to rain? Hi Chrys,
This is Cathy Margrave. She's staying with us. Chrys, are the new Rayearth
LD's in yet? Cool! Bad weather for getting manga but discs don't soak
through. Cat, I'm gonna go check them out. Why don't you stay here and dry
off a bit?" Margrave nodded and Ti disappeared towards the manga/anime
section. Margrave scowled through the window at the rain then began browsing
the nearest bookrack.
Chrys wondered if she should offer a towel though she rather liked the
way the wet dress clung. She was sure she was watching discretely (not
wanting another broken nose had made her cautious) so she was rather surprised
when the other woman announced, "Sorry dear, you're not my type."
Chrys flushed in embarrassment. She hadn't even turned around! At
least she sounded amused rather than annoyed. The other put back the book
she'd been examining and turned, "Afraid I'm firmly orientated to the male of
the species. And yes, before you say it, I've experimented enough to know
what I'm missing. So I can say without hesitation I'm not interested." She
gave no sign of embarrassment nor exhibitionism, if anything she sounded very
matter of fact. With that she strode over th Chrys and held out a hand,
"Catharine Margrave. I often go by Cat."
Chrys was a little taken aback by the other woman. "Uhh ... Chrys
Phobos." They shook hands and Chrys tried to buy time to get her wits back.
"So how do you know Ti?" The other suddenly looked excessively woeful.
"Alas it's a rather sordid tale. A young girl from a small town in
California seduced by the easy money of hostessing crossing the Pacific and
failing into bad company." She gave a theatrical sigh then smiled, "Luckily
I ran into Ti's brother who's both loaded and pulling down a hefty enough
salary to keep me in the manner to which I've become accustomed. Plus Ti
reminds me of my younger sister so I feel very at home." Her grin suddenly
widened, "I may not be your type but I know someone who'd be perfect!"
"Oh?"
Margrave put her purse on the counter and shuffled through its' contents.
"Ah! Here we go." She dropped the picture of an attractive redhead in a
bikini on the counter. "Name's Azure DeWitt, an old friend of Cal's who's
lodging at his place."
Something seemed a little odd to Chrys, "You carry pictures of her around
with you?" For the first time Margrave looked embarrassed.
"Truth is she keeps slipping them in my purse. See she's obsessed with
me and doesn't want to take no for an answer. So I keep finding them planted
in my things. I think she figures it'll help me change my mind. Annoying
but she's an old friend of Cal's so I can't complain too much. However if I
can redirect her attentions ..."
Chrys got the idea, truth was she was kind of lonely and this would be
doing a friend of Ti's a favour. "I suppose it can't do any harm to meet
her."
"Great but let's not mention this to Ti. She doesn't know about Azure's
preferences and it might be a shock to learn all at once."
"My lips are sealed."
***************************************************************************
Chrys glared at Margrave. "Oh yeah. I remember now!"
Ti sighed, "You did something rotten, didn't you?"
Margrave looked innocent. "How can you say that after all these
centuries?"
"Because I've known you all these centuries."
Calcite took an educated guess, "This involves Azurite somehow?"
"How'd you know?"
"Because you were always pulling stuff on her back then. In fact it's
hard to think of a time you weren't scheming against her."
Margrave shrugged, "Just taking a few precautions. In case she ever
broke up with Pyrite it would've made my life easier if she had someone other
than you to chase."
"So it wasn't pure malice?"
"Well I did want to see the expression on her face ..."
Chrys broke in, "I take it Azure DeWitt and Azurite were one and the
same?" They nodded. "It's all coming back to me now. She showed up
thinking I was a casting director and we spent about half an hour talking at
cross purposes. If you were trying to embarrass her it didn't work. She
just seemed kind of resigned to having been tricked and was polite enough
about not being my type either. Matter of fact we spent a pleasant couple of
hours talking. Now that I think of it she told me you were a practical joker
with a nasty streak who kept pulling stuff like this on her. She mentioned a
couple of things she owed you for. She also told me how she was going to
get revenge ..." Chrys smirked at the memory. "So did she succeed and how
long did it take to get the glue and feathers out of your hair? Must have
taken longer than I expected with all over fur."
Margrave scowled. "She shouldn't have used her Sailor Arcturus identity
to humilate an innocent bystander like that! Transforming and 'accidentally'
rupturing glue cans and a truckload of pillows because she thinks she sees a
monster. Hah! A clear misuse of her abilities!"
"Sailor Arcturus?!"
Ti answered, "Azurite's cover for using her powers in public. The same
way I was Sailor Polaris and Cal was Gray."
Cal added, "Rather like your Twilight identity."
Before Chrys could comment Margrave asked, "So were you an Arcturus fan?"
Maybe she could get Azurite to freak yet.
Without thinking Chrys answered, "I was more of a Jupiter fan."
After a brief silence Cal said, "I think we'll let you pass that on
personally."
"I'd ... appreciate it if you keep it to yourselves." Cal and Ti looked
at Margrave who sighed then nodded. Damn! A great piece of gossip and was
going to have to stay secret. Still it might pay to keep an eye on any
meetings between Chrys and Makoto. She realized Chrys was looking from her to
Calcite. "I take it from what you said you two are ...?"
Margrave sounded theatrically sorowful. "Alas that was over with a very
long time ago. Despite my undivided love and loyalty (both Cal and Ti rolled
their eyes) the brute callously threw me over for a senshi and started filling
the city with halfbreeds!"
"WHAT!" Chrys was, to understate her feelings, rather surprised. "YOU
AND A SENSHI?!" Half her mind was trying to handle the thought of a youma and
a senshi getting involved. The other half was silently begging, "Please don't
let it be Jupiter!" And there were children?! She shouted, "WHICH SENSHI?"
Calcite had been planning to lead up to this more gradually not wanting
to overexcite her but now ... He sighed and bit the bullet.
"You remember asking me how I got on with Venus these days?"
"YOUR ARCH ENEMY!?! AND THERE'S CHILDREN!?"
He nodded. Oblivious to Chrys's shock Ti added, "That's right. You
haven't just gained a brother. You also get a senshi sister-in-law plus 41
more nieces and nephews with number 42 due in a month or so." Ti beamed then
noticed Chrys's expression seemed to have frozen. "Chrys? Hello?"
Margrave waved a hand before her glassy eyes and didn't see her blink.
"I think you just fried her brain."
"Oops. This is kind of a lot to take in all at once. Anyway Margrave
you started it." Margrave put on her cute, innocent look again which fooled
neither of them. "Margrave sorry."
Cal sighed. "I was planning to build up to it."
"Sorry. Luckily I think I can snap her out of it." Ti placed the tray
on Chrys's lap and uncovered the bowl. A delicious aroma (to youma, had any
humans been present they might have had other opinions) drifted up. Chrys's
features twitched and she looked down to see the greenish-brown sludge trying
to slither up the sides of the deep bowl but falling back.
"Grappler soup! Haven't had any in ... well since however long since the
Kingdom fell. How?"
"Very long story. We'll tell you when you've got the energy to sit
through it. For now you'd better finish this and get some rest. Hopefully
in a few days you'll be able to handle solid food." Chrys dug in and, apart
from a little trouble wrestling the spoon out of the soup's grasp, finished
it without a problem. She did pause halfway through long enough to say,
"This is great. It was always hard to get good Grappler."
Ti was happy, she liked people appreciating her cooking but there weren't
many who liked her specialities. Now she had a new Shaizarrian gourmet to
feed. "Most chefs overcook the Shaiwort so it melts into ichor or they serve
it still alive. You've got to heat it delicately. Just enough so it dies
but not so much that there's no residual motion. I'm told most never took
the time to do it right."
"Well you definitely did!" Chrys dropped the spoon into the empty bowl
and gave a contented belch. "Sorry." Chrys yawned and handed the tray back.
"I hate to seem inhospitable but I've got almost zero energy these days and
it's an effort to stay awake. You've also given me one hell of a lot to
assimilate. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to get to think this stuff over
and get some sleep."
She sounded sleepy and everyone excused themselves. She'd dozed off
before they'd left the room.
"So what do you think of our new sister?"
"It's too early to make an informed decision but I like her." Privately
he thought that while Chrysolite was unlikely to be a threat he wouldn't be
surprised to see her depart Crystal Tokyo at the first opportunity. For which
he could hardly blame her. After all he'd been a conscientious objector
through most of the senshi's early battles. Growing up in the Dark Kingdom
didn't encourage sticking your neck out for others. Maybe in a century or
two she'd feel differently but right now, forget it. Margrave echoed his
thoughts.
"I don't see her joining the ranks of CT's defenders anytime soon ...",
Margrave grinned, "... unless Makoto can sweettalk her into it. I hear she's
got a great bedside manner."
"MARGRAVE!"
"Just kidding Kitten. As suggesting that could earn me a 'Supreme
Thunder' I'll let Chrys handle her own lovelife."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[Cal & Pyrite. Nemesian & DK magic derives from SiM era so there are
common elements. Pity Ferrite's personna non grata he might have been
able to give us some hints.]
His cousin departed and Pyrite thought that would be the last of the
day's visitors. He was wrong. As always he didn't sense her appearance,
someday he'd have to come up with some way to detect temporal energies, but
he picked up her aura. Respectfully he turned and bowed, "Good afternoon
Senshi Pluto."
"As I've said before this excessive formality is unnecessary. A simple
'Greetings, oh Supreme Mistress of Space and Time' will suffice."
Pyrite chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind. Is this a social call? I've
got a few more questions ..."
"Yes ; no ; and, I can't tell you ; are the answers."
"You know that's very disconcerting."
"Sorry but I'm supposed to be enigmatic and all knowing. Seriously I'm
here for a reason. If you've completed ...?" Pyrite nodded and removed a
small box from under a pile of printouts. "I take you've said nothing about
this commission to the others?"
"I thought it wisest not to." He opened the box, displaying the delicate
looking assemblage of crystalline rods. "The universe may be unfolding as it
should but they might harbour a few resentments if this is for what I believe.
Detonate it at an active nexus point and you'll scramble any active
interdimensional pathways for approximately six months. And if you're going
to use it when and where I suspect then I can confirm that it was effective."
Pluto neither confirmed or denied anything. He hadn't expected her too.
Instead he went over how to activate it.
Sometime later, after a break for tea and a discussion of temporal
theory, Pluto was preparing to take her leave when she noticed the schematic
on one of the monitor screens. It was a three dimensional image of a sphere
with a single antenna rising from the top. The inside seemed hollow apart
from a small jewel-like center. "What's that?"
"What? Oh that, one of my brainstorms. You're responsible for it."
"I am?"
"Definitely. When we first met you implied that Princess Usagi will be
imperiled and we won't be able to do anything about it. She may be going to
develop senshi powers but she's still just a little girl so she needs some
sort of protection. So I came up with the idea of a multitool and a defender
that will look like a harmless toy. You see the core of the device is the
center. The rest of the device is actually psychoplasm, generated and
maintained by the core. The core includes a shape library and is voice
controlled so it can change into most anything she needs. Within certain
limits anyway. The device will also function as a communicator so she can
call for help should she need it. Best of all it looks completely
nonthreatening to anyone unaware of its capabilites. Nothing unusual about
a little girl with a toy, right?"
"Ingenious. What do you call it?" As if, Pluto thought, I don't already
know.
Pyrite tapped a key and the sphere's surface replaced the transparent
view. "I call it ... Tribble-P!"
As he was facing the screen he missed the very rare sight of Pluto
sweatdropping. However he did hear the crash as she hit the floor.
"Are you all right?"
"Just lost my balance ... temporal epilipsy, it's an occupational
hazard", she lied. Change the subject fast, "You were telling me about your
invention. Tribbles I've heard of but Tribble-P?"
"P for psychoplasm. Also I seem to recall from one of Ti's old animes
a shapeshifter who was something-P. Or was it P-something? Anyway it sounds
like a good name."
"I suppose." Pluto studied the yellow furry sphere and wondered what to
do. The problem with being the self appointed mistress of destiny was
knowing just when to interfere. Was she supposed to suggest Luna would make
a better model or would someone else do that? Pity she wasn't as omniscient
as everyone always assumed.
"The main problem is the powersource. Since the core has to be small so
it'll incorporate into any small shapes it assumes while containing both
psychoplasm containment and reshaping functions there's not much space for a
power cell." He frowned at the obstinant image, a great idea but subject to
physical realities. "I've been thinking of asking Serenity to use the
Ginzuishou to charge a minature powercell but that's probably a bit of a
frivalous request for something that's still purely hypothetical."
Pluto shook her head. "Not in the slightest. Serenity would happily
do anything for her daughter." Better be careful. "I'd say put it together
when you're not working on anything urgent then contact Serenity when it's
ready to be charged. If it all works out she can get it as a birthday present
and no-one'll know it's anything more than a toy." And Serenity will suggest
that you use a more familiar appearance for the P ball then mention how much
Small Lady likes Luna.
She felt a certain relief. Yet another link in the chain of destiny
forged. Pity she could never let anyone see that she was just like the rest
of them. Making it up as she went along. The only difference was she didn't
live lineally.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Wrap Up - ref Chrysolite depature, Ti musing shame she's not here to see
new niece / nephew ]
[Birth of Aino Alan Cal&Mina pledging to secure his future. Flashback to
birth of Hematite several months earlier(shorter gestation period for youma).
Topass freaking, Cal acting cool but Ami reveals he was in similar
state with firstborn.
"Why do doctors always tell the fathers to boil water?"
"In case we want coffee afterwards"]
[C&M - Let the Nemesians come. We're ready for them. (I hope)]
[Ti & Topass with Hematite - Hope for the future (fingers crossed)]
[End]
[Afterword - Characters creators, story refs]
(
geocities.com/tokyo/temple) (
geocities.com/tokyo)