(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
MAFREY@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
New Swords of Destiny
By
Eric Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used here are the property of those people and companies
holding the copyrights to the respective storylines, series, and movies. The only
exceptions are those created by the demented minds of authors of this story. The use of
this material should be seen as the sign of respect that it is. Besides, suing either of us
would be a waste of time since we don't have any money to begin with.
CHAPTER ONE
“Sasami!” A man in the kitchen called out. “Are you ready for school?”
“In a minute.” Sasami called from her bedroom. A few minutes later, Sasami left
her bedroom in her new school uniform and went into the kitchen for breakfast. “I’m
ready Scott.”
Scott turned from the stove and smiled at the sight of Sasami standing by the
kitchen table.
“You look very cute in that uniform.” Scott told her.
“Thank you.” Sasami said blushing a little at the compliment.
“Are you sure you are ready to go to school?” Scott asked in concern.
“Yes Scott, I can’t be afraid of what happened to me all the time.” Sasami replied
smiling. “Besides, if I’m going to be living here, I need to act like a normal girl.”
“Okay, if you are sure about this.” Scott asked and then smiled as he saw Sasami
nod her head. “Then sit down, breakfast is ready.” The both of them sat down and
started eating.
When they finished eating breakfast, they got into Scott’s car and drove to
Sasami’s school. Sasami was going to walk the distance, but took up Scott’s offer to
drive her so she had plenty of time to check into the school before class started. As Scott
stopped in front of the school, Sasami sat in her seat looking out the window at her new
school. She sat there for a while as the students entered the gate, then she felt a hand on
her shoulder and turned towards Scott. She saw that he had a worried look to him.
Sasami smiled at him, since she knew what he wanted to ask her, but he didn’t want to.
Sasami then gathered her book bag and got out of the car. Scott told her that he
would be at the shop if she needed to get a hold of him for any reason. She thanked him
and then made her way through the school’s gate. Scott smiled at Sasami’s retreating
form and was about to leave when his cell phone went off.
“Schwartzstern.” Scott said.
“Hello, Scott old bean.” Replied the person on the other end of the phone.
“What do you want, Ziggy?” Scott asked, knowing the person on the other end,
even through a terrible British accent. “And drop the accent; you’re Irish, not English.”
“I’m hurt … and here I was just calling to warn you of a hunter in your area.”
“I know about the hunter, Ziggy. I have been watching the news.”
“Okay, just be careful. I’ve lost too many friends lately as it is.”
“I will, you do the same.”
“Okay, talk to you later then.”
“Later.” Scott hung up his cell phone and then headed back to his shop to make
sure it opened on schedule.
* * * * *
Sasami entered the school yard and looked around at her new school. She felt a
wave of nervousness as she looked at all the students and the school building itself, but
she swallowed her nervousness away and walked towards the school. Out of the corner
of her eyes, she could make out that some of the other students had noticed her and were
looking at her strangely. She could see they were whispering something, but since they
were just looking at her, she ignored them and continued her way to the office to check
into school.
“Hello, may I help you?” The woman behind the desk smiled at Sasami
reassuringly as the shy girl stepped up to the counter. Her name badge read ‘Ms.
Iyonokoji, Registrar.’
“Um, my name is Sasami Masaki; I’m a transfer student from Okayama.”
“Oh yes, we received your transcripts yesterday. We’ll need to give you a
placement test to make sure you were in the correct course level, but it shouldn’t take
long. Once that is dealt with, we’ll get you a homeroom assignment and let you get
started.”
Sasami returned the woman’s smile and followed her to a quiet room. “I think
I’m going to like it here,” She thought as the registrar set up the computer for her
placement test.
* * * * *
“Looks like we got a new student.” Chibi-Usa said to Hotaru, watching the new
girl walk into the administration offices.
“But will she be like the others?” Hotaru asked, hope of the new student liking
her fading as she sat watching the girl too.
“I don’t know, Hotaru, but none of the other students went right over to her, so
she might not be like them.”
“That doesn’t mean anything, they’ll talk to her before the end of the day, and I’ll
have someone else teasing me and calling me a freak.”
“She seems to be our age; maybe she’s in our class.”
“Yeah, I guess so, speaking of class though, we’d better get to it before we are
late.”
They both started towards the school building. “I wonder what the deal was with
the two triangles on her forehead.” Chibi-Usa thought out loud, and then shrugged and
followed Hotaru into their homeroom. In their classroom, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa took
their seats and waited for class to start. They were soon to busy to wonder about the new
girl as their math teacher came in and started the lesson. After the bell rang for the end of
class, their history teacher entered and told the class to settle down.
“Before we get started with class today, Ms. Iyonokoji has an announcement for
you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Takayama.” The registrar said as she came into the room. “I am
happy to announce that Grade eight, falcon class has the honor of hosting our latest
transfer student.”
As the students in the class murmured about that, the registrar motioned to
someone standing outside, and the girl that Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were talking about
walked in.
“Please introduce yourself.” The teacher said to the new girl, who blushed a little,
then smiled at the class.
“I’m Sasami Masaki. N-nice to meet you all.” Sasami said to the class after she
wrote her name on the chalk board.
“Thank you Miss Masaki, you can take a seat over there.” The teacher pointed to
the empty seat near Hotaru and Chibi-Usa, and Sasami sat down. After she was settled,
the teacher started to teach the lesson of the day.
<>
As the morning went on, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa wanted to talk to Sasami to see if
she would be their friend. But during a break between classes, when they were going to
talk to Sasami, the other classmates suddenly had pulled her off to the side and started
talking with her. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa saw that Sasami was glancing in their direction
several times, so they knew what the others were talking to her about. Both of them felt
sad that they had lost another possible friend.
As the classes continued for the morning, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa continued to feel
sad. Both of them had failed to notice that Sasami had glanced in their direction several
times during the morning after the students had finished talking to her. As the lunch hour
came, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa went to their usual spot to have their lunch. When they
started to eat, they noticed that someone was standing near them. They looked up and
saw Sasami standing there holding her lunch.
“Can I join you two?” Sasami asked.
“Aren’t you afraid to be seen with a freak like me?” Hotaru asked quietly.
“I’ll hold my opinion of you until I know all the facts.” Sasami replied. “So can I
join you two?”
“Uh, sure.” Chibi-Usa said. Sasami sat down with them and started eating her
lunch. A couple of minutes later, Sasami started asking the questions that were on her
mind.
“So, what is the reason everyone is saying you are a freak?” Sasami asked
Hotaru. She could see that both Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were reluctant to tell her about it,
but Hotaru started telling her what started it and why the rest of her classmates started
calling her a freak and was picking on her ever since. When Hotaru finished telling her
tale, Sasami couldn’t believe what she was told. “So they are calling you a freak because
of that?”
“Yes.” Hotaru replied softly.
“That’s not right.” Sasami said surprising both Hotaru and Chibi-Usa.
“You don’t think I’m strange because of my healing ability?” Hotaru asked.
“No, that isn’t anything, I know of stranger abilities people have.” Sasami said.
“You do?” Chibi-Usa said surprised.
“Yep.” Sasami said smiling.
“Who are they?” Chibi-Usa asked.
“Not my place to say, we all have our secrets to keep don’t we?” Sasami said.
“Yeah, I guess we do.” Chibi-Usa said seeing a point to Sasami’s statement.
They finished their lunch and headed back inside for class. When they were
heading in, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were happy that they found out that Sasami didn’t hate
them. When they entered the classroom, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa saw the other classmates
grab Sasami and started talking to her in hush whispers. When it looked like they were
done talking to her, they didn’t look to happy with her, but Sasami was smiling when she
sat down. The teacher entered then and class continued as usual.
Before the end of class, the teacher started telling them of the class project.
"Today class, you start on your history projects for your final exam. For this
project you must find an object or building, and then research its history. It must be at
least 70 years old, and if it's an object, must have belonged to at least four separate people
at verifiable times. This means that if it is a family heirloom it will probably be older and
harder to research and no Akiko you may not use your family shrine for your project.
You can work with a partner if you want, but the work must be equally shared." The
teacher told the class.
The entire class thought it was better to form groups, so they started to form small
groups. The class was surprised and upset when Sasami joined with Hotaru and Chibi-
Usa. Some of the classmates asked her why she was joining them and Sasami told them
off by not giving a reason why she joined with them. So when all the groups were
formed, they all started discussing what they were going to do their projects on.
“Now what are we going to do?” Hotaru wailed "None of us knows anything
about old stuff."
"Or at least not any that she would believe anyway." Chibi-Usa giggled at her
own inside joke and then she became serious. "We really need to find something
though."
“I really don’t know much to help out that would help with our project, but I
know someone who might be able to help us.” Sasami said.
“Really, who?” Hotaru asked.
“My guardian is an Antique dealer, he would be able to help us, if not, and then
point us in the right direction.” Sasami said.
“That would help us a great deal.” Chibi-Usa said.
“We can go after school to check it out.” Sasami said.
“Okay.” Hotaru and Chibi-Usa replied.
So at the end of the school day, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa called home to say where
they were going and why they were going there, and then followed Sasami. While
walking to the Antique shop, Sasami was explaining that Scott was her guardian while
she was at school. In a matter of minutes, they had made it to the front of the Antique
shop. The name of the shop read, "The Lost World of Wonders". They entered the shop
and looked around the place. What Hotaru and Chibi-Usa saw was unbelievable. The
shop had old armor, weapons, pottery, coins, and other things that they couldn't
recognize. They started to look at the various items in the shop to think of what they
could do their history project on while Sasami went to go get Scott.
Sasami entered the back room and found Scott pulling a painting out of a shipping
crate. She watched as Scott looked at the painting for a moment and then set it on an
easel that was next to him. When it looked like he was finished doing what he was doing
with the painting, Sasami got his attention. He looked over his shoulder and saw Sasami
standing there.
“Back from school all ready?” Scott asked surprised since he was so busy he had
lost track of time.
“I just got back from school.” Sasami replied with a smile since she realized that
Scott was busy in the shop that he didn’t realize what time it was.
“So, how did it go?”
“It was very fun, but I was wondering if you could help me?”
“What do you need help with?”
“I have some classmates waiting for us that need your help.”
“Well, then I better see what your classmates need.”
So Scott followed Sasami out of the back room and into the main shop room
where he saw two girls looking around a bit confused. One of the girls had straight,
black, shoulder length hair with the most violet colored eyes he’s ever seen. The other
girl had what he figured was dyed pink hair, long, but done up into two, cone-like
bundles on the top of her head. When he looked closer at her, he could have sworn her
eyes were a dark red color. Since both of them were wearing the same uniform as
Sasami, he figured these were the classmates Sasami was talking about.
“So what do we have here?” Scott asked out as the two girls saw them and
approached them.
“These are the classmates I was telling you about.” Sasami told Scott.
“All ready making friends at school, good for you.” Scott said to Sasami as he
then reaches over and starts messing her hair.
“Scotty!” Sasami exclaimed as she batted his hand away and then pouted as she
heard her friends giggling at the scene that was going on.
“So, Sasami says you three need my help.” Scott said when he saw that he better
get on the topic before Sasami started to get angry with him. “What do you need my help
with?”
Hotaru and Chibi-Usa suddenly blushed in nervousness when Scott was looking
at them. Sasami noticed that her friends were tongue-tied in nervousness and went to
their rescue.
“We have a history project that I said to them you could help us with.” Sasami
said.
“Really?” Scott said looking at her a little bit strangely.
“You know what I mean.” Sasami said to him as she smacked him in his arm
smiling.
“So, why don’t you three tell me about this project and I’ll see what I can do to
help you three.” Scott said turning to look at the other two girls. All three of them
started to explain to Scott what they had to do for the project. When they were done
explaining, Scott was thinking on what he could do to help. “Okay, I think I can help
you. Follow me, I’ll show you around to help you three get ideas on what you all want to
do your project on.”
The girls followed Scott around his shop, looking at the items he was pointing
out, listening to the descriptions he was giving. He was telling the girls a brief history of
how each item was created, by whom, how each was made, and how each item was used.
The girls were impressed with how much he knew about each item, but they still had no
real clue what to do their project on. So the three of them started to talk about what they
should do, and after a few minutes, they agreed on a topic.
"We think we found a topic to do our project on." Said Chibi-Usa
"That is good. What would it be, if you don't mind my asking?" Scott asked.
"You seem to know a lot about weapons and armor and stuff like that."
"You could say that." Scott said and noticed Sasami look away to hide her smile
at Scott’s comment.
"So we decided to do our project on that scabbard you showed us."
"That's a pretty good idea. A friend of mine could help you out a lot better than I
could though. His hobby is collecting old swords. In fact that one was part of his
collection that he wanted to sell. I could give him a call and see if he can talk to you
three."
"Thanks, very much." Said the three girls at the same time.
Scott then reached into the display case and pulled out the scabbard and handed it
over to Hotaru. He then asked if they could stay a little bit longer for some snacks and
tea and Hotaru and Chibi-Usa said they could. So the four of them went to the upstairs
apartment and while Scott went to get the snacks and tea, the three girls sat at the dining
room table. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa looked around the place and couldn’t believe how
spectacular the apartment looked.
Sasami explained that the apartment was the entire second floor of the shop,
except over the area of the display cases to give the room more light. She told them that
a family member of hers is an architect and had designed this place for Scott as a gift to
him for helping out her family. Before Hotaru or Chibi-Usa could ask what Scott did, he
entered the room carrying the snacks and tea.
After he passed the snacks out, they all started talking again.
“You know, through all of this, I never got the both of your names.” Scott said
and then smiled as he saw all three of them blush as they realized they forgot to do any
introductions.
“My name is Hotaru, Hotaru Tomoe.” Hotaru said a little bit shyly.
“And I am Usagi Tsukino, but everybody calls me Chibi-Usa.” Chibi-Usa said.
“Why is that?” Scott asked curiously.
“Well, my cousin’s name is the same as mine, but she is the older of the two of
us, so I get called that to tell the difference between us.” Chibi-Usa replied.
“That makes sense.” Scott said as he picked up a double meaning when she said
‘cousin’, but decided to leave it along.
“The big difference is in our names is that our middle names are different, and
since I didn’t like to be called by my middle name, Chibi-Usa stuck and everyone just
calls me that.” Chibi-Usa continued explaining.
“Okay, I see your point; you don’t need to explain anymore.” Scott said as he
could pick up that Chibi-Usa really didn’t want to talk about her name to much, so he
decided to change the topic. “So, how did the two of you befriend Sasami?”
“Scott!” Sasami exclaimed at Scott’s bluntness.
"Hey, your dad would skin me alive if I didn't ask these questions." Scott told
Sasami defensively. Sasami sighed when she realized he was right.
“You’re right, but I don’t have to be happy about it.” Sasami said.
“Your father would skin Scott-san alive?” Hotaru asked concerned.
“Probably not, but he does have the ability to do it. He’s overly protective of
me.” Sasami answered Hotaru.
“Considering the last time you were at a school, how he reacted to when
something happened to you.” Scott said to Sasami.
“What happened?” Chibi-Usa asked and Sasami could see that Hotaru also
wanted to know but didn’t voice her opinion. Sasami glared at Scott for bringing the
incident up and then went to explain to her friends what happened.
“The last school I was at, a boy flipped the back of my skirt up, showing my
panties to everyone on the school grounds that were in eye shot. My father heard about it
and over reacted.” Sasami told them and could see the surprised look in Hotaru and
Chibi-Usa’s eyes.
“W-what did he do?” Hotaru asked.
“Let’s just say he was going to teach the boy to never ‘Embarrass his little girl in
public’. It took several people to persuade him to let us handle the situation.” Scott
helped in the explaining since he could pick up that Sasami was a little made at him for
bringing that incident up.
“Whoa.” Both Hotaru and Chibi-Usa thought as the explanation continued.
They continued to talk about small things and how Sasami first met Hotaru and
Chibi-Usa. They also brought up how Hotaru was having trouble with fellow classmates
teasing her. Scott accepted the fact that Hotaru didn’t want to explain about it and they
continued talking about how Scott became an Antique dealer. When Chibi-Usa brought
up why Scott was taking care of Sasami instead of her family, she saw Scott look at
Sasami and Chibi-Usa had a sudden sad look as she looked down at the table.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Sasami said quietly.
At that point, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa could tell that they should start heading
home. Scott looked at Sasami and saw that she was trying to forget the memories of what
happened, so he helped Hotaru and Chibi-Usa gather their things and escorted them out
the back door. Scott had told them that they could hold the scabbard until their project is
done, because he trusted them, when Hotaru tried to give it back to him. Once they were
outside, Chibi-Usa had to ask him a question that was on her mind.
“Scott-san?” Chibi-Usa called out.
“Yes?” Scott said.
“Is Sasami with you because a family member …” Chibi-Usa started saying but
Scott cut her off.
“No, it’s nothing like that. When she feels ready to tell you she will.” Scott said.
“Okay.” Chibi-Usa said, letting the matter drop.
Before both of the girls left, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out two
coins and placed a coin in each of their hands. The girls looked at each of the coins and
then looked at him. He just told them that they were good luck charms and his way of
thanking them for being friends with Sasami. They smiled, thanked him again, and then
left the shop to head home. After they were gone, Scott went up to the apartment to see
how Sasami was doing and saw that she had cleared the table and was sitting on the
couch looking sad.
“Are you okay Sasami?” Scott asked as he sat down next to her and wrapped his
arm around her and brought her closer to him.
“Yes, but I’m nervous of telling them what had happened to me. I’m afraid they
wouldn’t want to be my friends anymore.” Sasami replied to Scott.
“I’m sure they will still be your friends even after you tell them what happened to
you. But I could see that you have gotten their attention that something is bothering you
and I think they will want to help you.”
“But I’m afraid to tell anyone what really happened to me.”
“I told them you will tell them when you feel ready to talk about it. But if we
have to say something about it before you are ready, we’ll just give them the abridged
version that we gave the school board.”
“Okay.”
“Oh come now, cheer up.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“I got something to cheer you up.”
“What?”
“I just found out about it this morning. Guess who’s coming here in five days?”
Sasami looked at Scott in confusion since she didn’t know who he was talking about.
“I’ll give you a clue, Ziggy likes to call her ‘Stripe’ when she hates that name.” Scott
smiled when he saw realization dawn on Sasami.
“Miyu-chan! She’s coming home!” Sasami exclaimed in surprise.
“Yep.” Scott replied and smiled when Sasami went and gave him a hug. After
Sasami was cheered up, he went down to his shop to help his assistant while Sasami went
to do her homework.
* * * * *
After they left the shop, they walked in silence for a few minutes, Chibi-Usa
decided to talk to Hotaru.
"For a moment there, Scott-san looked sort of familiar to me." Chibi-Usa said in
confusion.
"You too? He sort of reminds me of someone I knew during the Silver
Millennium." Hotaru replied in surprise. "Where do you remember him from?"
"I think I remember someone that looks like him from Crystal Tokyo, but it must
be my imagination."
"I guess, but it still is a little weird feeling like I know him some how."
Chibi-Usa said good-bye to Hotaru when they came to the corner she had to take
to go home.
* * * * *
Mellisa Johnson stormed along the aisle between the cars swearing to herself as
she pulled her keys out of the pocket of her jeans. After finally getting to her car, she
opened the door, and slammed it behind her, smiling viciously as the engine roared to
life. As she backed out of the space she saw a man in a brown leather duster coat and
cowboy hat walking toward her and felt the jangling along her nerves that had started
only three days before, when her life had suddenly turned around. Whimpering, she
realized that she wouldn't be able to get away from him this time.
"Hello Mellisa, why have you been running away from me?" He asked, an
amused expression dancing across his face. "I'm not trying to hurt you."
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Mellisa demanded angrily. "I already told
you that I'm not interested in what you have to say."
"I only wish it was that simple Mellisa," The man sighed shaking his head sadly.
"But I can't leave you alone. Don't you understand that? If I leave you alone now, Damian
or one of the others will kill you like a dumb animal. I can't let that happen, I promised
your parents that I'd look after you."
"That was before I died wasn't it?" Mellisa growled venomously. "Now I'm
immortal, like you, but not like my parents. Oh no, they died just like everyone else on
the boat. Why me? Why not them? Why not my little brother?!"
"I can't give you the answers you want Mellisa," The man groaned, feeling the
pain of the loss again. "I only know that you are very vulnerable right now. Come on
Melly, I just want to help you learn what you need to survive."
"Did it ever occur you that I might want to die?!" She cried hoarsely. "Everything
is gone. The boat, our house, even David. WHY?!!!!"
"Damian wanted to get to you," The man said in resignation. "He somehow
figured out that you were going to become immortal. He must have set the accident up."
"How can you be so sure?!" She said her disbelief obvious. "How do you know it
wasn't just bad luck?"
"Daryl Thorne was seen near your parent's boat the day before the explosion
Mellisa. Since Rochefort always keeps that maniac on a short leash, there is no other
possible explanation than that."
"You could have been the target."
"Hardly," The man said with a laugh. "That bomb wouldn't have done any more
than hurt me a lot. While I admit it could have been one of his lame attempts at revenge, I
doubt it. It's much more likely that he was making sure you became immortal. I only just
met your parents last year."
"But..." Mellisa blinked in surprise, and then glared at him. "Then why did they
make you my guardian?!"
"Your mother knew I was Immortal," The man admitted heavily. "She was the
doctor on call when I was brought in after I crashed my ultralight."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Mellisa demanded. "I thought you
barely had a scratch after that."
"Actually, no," The man said sitting on the hood of the car. "That's only what
your mom told her supervisors. I doubt they would have believed it if she told them that I
was being fitted with a toe tag when I came back. They didn't really seem to be the
religious kind."
"That's for sure," Mellisa said with a strained laugh. "I doubt those guys have ever
been inside... What's wrong?"
"Go to Drakkenheim, Mellisa." The man said looking around cautiously.
"What... Why?!"
"Just go!"
In a panic, Mellisa put the car in gear and drove off with the tires squealing. The
man looked around then swore when he heard a squeal of tires the sound of two cars
coming together at high speed. Running toward the elevators, he hoped he was wrong.
When he got to the bottom floor he swore, recognizing Mellisa's car what he saw
beside the car stopped him in his tracks. Mellisa was lying ten feet away, in the planter.
She had obviously crawled from the wreck, but what stopped him was the realization that
he couldn't feel her any more. Stumbling toward her, he stopped with a groan when he
saw her head lying as if she were buried in the concrete floor. There was an ugly burn
scar that he recognized immediately, in the middle of her forehead.
"Thorne!!!!!!!!!!!!" He roared in fury, running as he heard the sound of
approaching sirens.
* * * * *
Luna was watching the news because she had a feeling that the Negaverse was
back. Everyone of the inner Senshi was at the Hikawa Jinja shrine for a sailor meeting,
but they were waiting for Usagi to get out of detention for being late. Most of the girls
came from school, so they were dressed in their school uniforms, but Rei had put on her
robes when she had come home from school. Luna then called the girls over to watch a
news report that was coming on, and when they gathered, they watched what the reported
had to say.
"Today, another victim was found in Shinjuku in the latest of a series of bizarre
murders," The News Commentator announced expressionlessly. "The victim's
decapitated body was found at approximately 6:45 p.m. this evening in a short deserted
alley with her head lying a few feet away. This raises the body count to five on this the
eleventh day after the discovery of the first victim in Achihabara. The police are
withholding the identity of the victim pending notification of next of kin. The identity of
the killer is unknown, and the police have yet to find any connection between the victims
other than the circumstances of their deaths. This station will report any additional
information as it becomes available. We now turn you over to our weather man for this
evening’s weather.”
"I have a feeling that the Negaverse is behind those beheadings." Said Luna.
"How can the Negaverse be responsible for the beheadings?" Minako asked in
confusion. "I don't think I want to know how they would get energy from killing people."
"I don't know how, but I know that they are," Luna said heatedly.
"Luna might be right, I have been getting some bad feelings lately," Rei stated. "I
know the Negaverse is up to something."
"But I have to agree with Minako, I don't know how the Negaverse would get
energy by killing people." Said Makoto. "What I'm thinking is that there is a serial killer
on the loose in our town, and I think that it's the job of the Sailor Senshi to stop them."
"Stop who?" Came a voice behind them. They all turned around to see that
Usagi was standing at the doorway breathing heavily.
"It’s about time you got here," Rei said with biting sarcasm in her voice.
"Hey, I can't help it if Miss H gives me detention for trying to study late at night,"
Usagi whined, glaring at Rei.
"Maybe if you didn't watch TV all the time, you could have studied earlier, and
then gone to bed sooner," Rei argued.
"But my favorite shows were on and I didn't want to miss them." Usagi said.
"If you girls can stop your arguing, we have more important things to talk about."
Luna interrupted with a hint of anger in her voice.
"And what would that be?" Usagi asked, ignoring Rei.
"Luna thinks that the Negaverse is behind all those beheadings that have been
happening lately." Ami replied calmly.
"But why would they do that?" Usagi demanded, confused "How could killing
people help them?"
"We don't really know," Artemis conceded. "It doesn't fit any of their operating
patterns."
"What are you talking about?" Rei said in disbelief. "They kill each other at the
drop of a hat. What's to stop them from killing others if it will give them something they
want. They certainly did it back in the Silver Millennium."
"Yes, but there was a reason then," Artemis explained. "This is completely unlike
anything they've ever done before."
"The thing that worries me is that they might be killing people for their life
Energy," Luna finally said gravely. "Even though I don't know how they could, I don't
like to think about what that would mean."
"What do you mean Luna?" Ami asked, intrigued.
"If they have developed a way of harvesting human life force energy at the point
of death, then we might not be able to stop them this time." Luna said baldly. "They'd kill
you easily."
"Wahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! IDon'twannaDieeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!" Usagi wailed in fear.
"Get a grip Usagi," Rei growled. "It's not as if we didn't stop Beryl when she
decided to come back. Even Chaos wasn't able to beat us." Usagi looked to be calming
down when Makoto spoke.
"Personally I think that it's just some sicko, you know? A serial killer who gets
their kick from cutting people's heads off."
"If that's the case then we need to go out there and stop them before they kill
anyone else" Minako said forcefully. "It's our job."
"But what if one of us gets hurt?" Usagi asked fearfully. "Shouldn't we just let the
police find him?"
"What's wrong with you Usagi?" Rei demanded angrily. "WE are the defenders of
love and justice. Or did you forget? We can't just leave this to the police. We have to do
something."
"The only question is what?" Ami said thoughtfully, and then held up her hand
when Rei protested. "I agree with you in principle Rei, but what we need to think about is
how we go about it."
"Well we'll need to bring Michiru and the others into this," Minako said seriously.
"Do you think they'll help?"
"Only if they have to," Makoto grumbled, and then grinned. "Of course, as the
Moon Princess, if Usagi asks them they have to."
"Me???" Usagi gasped. "Why would they listen to me?"
"Because they have to!" Rei bit out sardonically. "You're the Moon Princess, and
they are your Senshi. You're the heir to the Moon Kingdom Usagi, so act like it!" Usagi
blinked and stared at Rei for several seconds, then turned to the others. Their expressions
told her everything she needed to know.
"I'll give them a call," She whispered, and quickly left the room.
* * * * *
When Chibi-Usa got back to the Tsukino residence after her visit with Scott and
Sasami, she headed to Usagi's room, so that Usagi could help her with her homework.
Inside she saw Usagi reading what appeared to be a textbook. Upon a closer look, Chibi-
Usa saw that Usagi was really reading a manga magazine inside her book.
"You should be doing your homework, not reading that magazine." Chibi-Usa
said giggling.
"I was just taking a break from studying for a bit." Usagi replied defensively
"Sure, right."
"I've got to take a break. Luna is so concerned that the Negaverse is responsible
for the beheadings, and the others want to go looking for a serial killer. I needed a
break."
"Sure, whatever." Said Chibi-Usa sarcastically as she went and started her
homework. When she was done with her homework, she saw that Usagi was still reading
the manga magazine. She sighed and asked what went on at the meeting. Usagi told her
about all that they had discussed at the meeting. After Usagi was done filling her in,
Chibi-Usa went to talk to Mrs. Tsukino about her project.
* * * * *
It was the next day at school for Sasami. She was feeling better that day and was
cheerful when she met up with Hotaru Chibi-Usa. They asked her if she was all right and
Sasami told them she was feeling better. Sasami could see they wished to know what
was bothering her yesterday, so she told them that she wasn’t ready to tell them yet, but
when she was, they would be the first to hear it. Sasami told them that her ‘big sister’
was coming home. When Hotaru and Chibi-Usa made a comment on it, Sasami
explained that Miyuki was Scott’s adopted daughter and not really her big sister, but she
thinks of her as one. The bell rang at that time, so the three of them went to their seats
for class to begin.
At lunch time, Hotaru had and errand to do and told Sasami and Chibi-Usa she
would meet them outside for lunch. Sasami and Chibi-Usa told Hotaru that they would
wait for her, but Hotaru told them to go ahead and would meet them at the usual tree
outside. So Sasami and Chibi-Usa where sitting outside waiting for Hotaru to show up
when they heard a commotion. They listened briefly and were surprised when they heard
Hotaru’s voice. Both of them realized that Hotaru was in trouble and went to go help her.
They rushed over to where the commotion was and they saw a group of ninth
grade boys had surrounded Hotaru and were pushing her around the group and calling her
names and other things. They stood there in shock as they watched what was going on
and something snapped inside Sasami. She rushed over and shoved one of the boys to
the ground.
“Leave her alone.” Sasami said angrily. The boy she shoved stood back up and
the others got over the surprise of her showing up.
“Hey, it looks like we have a little hero.” One of the boys said who appeared to
be the leader of the group. “Get her.”
Suddenly the boy that was nearest to her was behind her and wrapped his arms
around her. Sasami realizing what was happening started to struggle out of the boys grip.
The boy realizing that Sasami was stronger than she looked got another boy to help him
hold her. After the other boy grabbed a hold of Sasami, Chibi-Usa went to help her
friends. The boys realized that Hotaru’s friends were coming, and one of the boys
grabbed a hold of Chibi-Usa before she could help. When the boy, that was the leader,
saw that Hotaru’s friends were taken care of, he turned back to her and saw that one of
the other boys was holding her.
“Now that your friends are taken care of, Freak, we can get back to you.” Said
the lead boy.
“Leave them alone, they were only trying to help me.” Hotaru replied as she
stopped her struggling.
“They tried to help a freak that is all the reason to stop them.” The boy said.
“Hey, Senya, this one is struggling too much.” Called one of the boys holding
Sasami.
“Then put her on the ground that should give you a better hold of her.” Senya
called back.
The two boys that were holding Sasami dragged her to the ground and got a better
grip on her. The two boys looked down at Sasami as she stopped her struggling and
looked up at them. The two boys smiled as they thought that they finally got the better of
Sasami. The boys had failed to notice that the look Sasami was getting was one of
vulnerability and not of submission to their hold. The boys were to busy looking down at
Sasami, to check out the new girl.
Sasami was looking at the boys as they were looking her over. She started feeling
a little nervous as she saw the boys looking her over, and she started to remember what
had happened to her. She started to panic as she started to relive what had happened to
her in her mind. Everything started to pile up and Sasami let out an ear piercing scream.
Everyone there looked over at Sasami as she screamed and the boys that were
holding her let go and jumped back away from her. When the boys had released her,
Sasami curled up into the fetal position and started crying. The boys realized that the
scream Sasami did would bring some teachers over to investigate, so they ran off before
they could get in trouble. When the boys had released Hotaru and Chibi-Usa, they ran
over to check on Sasami.
As some of the teachers came over to see what was going on, Hotaru and Chibi-
Usa were trying to see what was wrong with Sasami. After telling the teachers what they
knew had happened, the teachers asked them to escort Sasami to the nurse’s office and
stay with her. So Hotaru and Chibi-Usa helped Sasami stand and helped her to the
nurse’s office, and to tell the nurse what had happened. After the nurse got what she
wanted, she asked for one of them to stay and watch Sasami while she called Sasami’s
guardian and Chibi-Usa said that she would watch over Sasami. The nurse smiled and
Hotaru said that she would come by later if Sasami was still there.
* * * * *
Scott arrived to the nurse’s office about an hour later and talked to the nurse to get
what had happened. After the talk with the nurse, he walked to the bed where Sasami
was laying, still in a fetal position, with Chibi-Usa sitting next to her. He smiled at
Chibi-Usa as she noticed him enter the room and he made his way over to Sasami.
“Hello, Scott-san.” Chibi-Usa greeted.
“Hello Chibi-Usa.” Scott replied. “How have you been?”
“Not bad, but we are worried about Sasami.”
“Don’t worry about her, seems when the boys had grabbed her, it reminded her of
what had happened to her and had a panic attack.”
“What had happened to her?”
“Let’s say something bad had happened to her, and if she wants you to know,
she’ll tell you.” Scott said.
Scott then went over to Sasami and gathered her in his arms, and Sasami
unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck. When Chibi-Usa tried to get more out
of Scott, he just smiled at her and told her that Sasami will call her when she is better to
talk and left the nurse’s office. The nurse then handed Chibi-Usa a note for her teacher
and Chibi-Usa headed back to her classroom, wondering what had happened to Sasami
that would cause the reaction that Sasami showed.
* * * * *
Earlier in the day, Minako came down to breakfast sleepily tying the neckerchief
of her school uniform. After Usagi had made her call, Makoto had left, saying something
about trying to figure something out. Minako had left soon after her, agreeing to meet
there again the next afternoon. Ami had even agreed to make sure that Usagi made it to
school on time so she could avoid detention.
After smiling at her father, who was watching the news, she wandered into the
kitchen and sat at the table.
"Good morning Mina-chan, did you sleep well?" Her mother asked, setting a plate
on the table in front of her.
"Okay," Minako replied indifferently. "I'm really sleepy for some reason."
"It could be because you were up until 2 a.m. last night," Her mother said, mock
severely. "You still need sleep dear, but you know that. I just worry at times."
"I know Mom, thanks," Minako said with a grateful smile, finishing her breakfast.
"I'm going to be over at Rei's again tonight until about eight, okay?"
"That's fine dear," Her mother said, returning the smile. "Don't forget to ask your
father for the money for your field trip. You know how he is about last minute requests."
"Don't I just," Minako giggled. "Thanks again." She gave her mother a kiss on the
cheek, and walked into the living room and was starting to ask her father for the money
when the news item caught her attention.
"Another victim in what is coming to be known as the Oni slayings has been
found at an upscale apartment complex in the Ginza district," The Commentator
announced as images of a wrecked pair of cars were shown in the background. "As with
all the others, the victim was beheaded. However the first common thread between two
victims has been found. In the last two killings, both victims were females in their early
twenties, and both bodies have been marked in similar ways. For obvious reasons, the
actual marking on the bodies may not be shown, but the police have issued an artist's
sketch of the mark in the hopes that it will lead to more information on this case." As he
said this, the image of the sketch filled the screen. The design was an oval, crossed by a
staff and a sword. The other markings looked like a star pattern on one side and the
symbol from Sailor Mercury's henshin rod on the other.
"In financial news..."
"You were saying Mina-chan?" Her father asked when Minako didn't continue
immediately.
"Oh...um, we're going on a field trip for our end of year project next week and
Miss Yamagiri says we'll need 15000 yen," Minako explained. "The trip isn't until
Friday, but she says we need to bring the money on Monday."
"These project trips weren't that expensive when I was in high school," Mr. Aino
said with a wince, and then smiled. "Are you sure you're not padding the amount to get
some extra pocket money?"
"Daddy!"
"Okay, don't worry; I'll have it for you Monday morning."
"Thanks Daddy, you’re the best," Giving her father a kiss, she grabbed her school
bag and ran for the door. It wasn't until school was almost over, that she remembered the
design that had been shown on the news. Sketching it in her notebook, Minako decided
to show it to the others. Especially since it had the symbol from Ami's henshin rod on it
and not the official symbol of the planet Mercury on it.
* * * * *
Daryl Thorne was grinning broadly as he sauntered into the throne room and
bowed insolently. "You wanted me for somethin' Damian?"
Rochefort, sitting on the throne, ignored Thorne's statement for several seconds,
fixing the man with a cold glare. When Thorne started fidgeting Damian nodded
imperceptibly. "Yes Daryl I did," he replied in a low tone. "You failed to follow my
instructions."
"But... you told me to take out the Johnson girl as soon as possible."
"Yes, I did," Damian said grimly, "I also told you to maintain a low profile."
"I did," Daryl said defensively. "No one saw me coming or going, and only the
victims saw me at the scene."
"I'm aware of that," Damian granted irritably, "What you have yet to explain is
why you're leaving a calling card like a common serial killer. Is that what you call
maintaining a low profile?!!" Daryl blanched at the cold fury that filled Damian’s voice
and glanced nervously at the Youma guards that surrounded the hall. "You will no
longer be assigned to the female victims in the Tokyo area as from now, Annie has that
well in hand. Your victims will all be males, and if you leave that fodush mark on any of
them, I will personally feed your intestines to one of my guards. Is that clear enough?!"
"Crystal."
"Excellent, then you may proceed with your next operation. Remember, I don't
want Drakkar to know what's going on until it is much too late.
"Of course, my lord," Daryl said, bowing with much less confidence. He hurried
from the room, not noticing Jarosite as he stood behind one of the many pillars. After a
time Jarosite also left, returning to the Youma Production facilities that Damian had
ordered him to monitor.
* * * * *
"What is this all about Usagi?" Haruka asked irritably." I thought Setsuna said
there wasn't going to be any trouble for a while."
"She was probably right," Usagi replied nervously, looking to Makoto for support.
"This is about something that Setsuna might not have noticed. There's a serial killer
loose in Tokyo."
"And ..." Haruka said pointedly. "What does that have to do with us?"
"We're the defenders of love and justice," Rei said, her voice rising in disbelief.
"If the police can't find out who's doing this, we'll have to stop this killer ourselves."
"Why?" Michiru asked calmly, looking at Rei.
"'Why'?!" Rei demanded. "What do you mean why? Some evil slime ball is out
there killing people by cutting their heads off, and you want to know why he should be
stopped?"
"No Rei, I want to know why we should do it," Michiru replied seriously. "The
police perfectly capable of dealing with a normal maniac." Everyone was quiet for
several seconds until Minako cleared her throat.
"I agree with Michiru," she sighed, holding up her hand to stop Rei from arguing
with her. "The police are capable of dealing with normal criminals, but I don't know if
this one is normal. Two of the victims had this symbol on their bodies." She showed
everyone the sketch she'd drawn. Everyone look at it, and then turned to Ami who had
gasped when she saw it.
"What is it Ami?" Luna asked, jumping to the girls lap.
"I don't know," Ami murmured uncertainly. "It's just its familiar."
"Where did you see it before?" Artemis queried, looking closer at the sketch "It
looks like a betrothal medallion from the Silver Millennium."
"A betrothal medallion?" Luna said looking closer as well. "It can't be he died
before the final assault."
"Who died?" Usagi demanded, seeing Ami stiffen in surprise. "Who are you
talking about Luna?"
"No one you need to worry about," Artemis said quickly, glaring at Luna. "The
design does match an artifact from the Moon Kingdom though, which could point to a
Negaverse connection. Those scums weren't above looting during their final attack."
"But who was it?"
"Who cares Usagi?" Rei barked angrily. "There's a serial killer running around
loose out there and you want to know about someone who's been dead for 2000 years.
Get your priorities straight."
"That's enough Rei," Michiru said flatly, causing everyone to stare at her. "Usagi's
priorities are not in question here. What is, is why this is so important to you."
"I think I can answer that," Luna said softly, gaining everyone's attention
immediately. "The Inner Senshi has always been the Moon Kingdom's police force. It
was that way for several thousand years. I don't doubt that the drive to solve crimes is
genetic by now."
"How does this involve us?" Haruka demanded. "We aren't any kind of police
force."
"That may be, but if this is a Negaverse plot, we can't just leave it alone," Minako
sighed, looking at Haruka and Michiru pleadingly. "If the police run into a Youma, they'll
get hurt, maybe even killed."
"All we really need to do is patrol," Makoto advised, seeing that Haruka was
wavering. "If the Negaverse is involved, we have to stop them. If they're not, then we can
leave it to the police."
"Okay, fine, but I still don't like this idea," Haruka grumbled.
"I understand," Minako replied, smiling when Haruka looked at her with raised
eyebrows. "Artemis can tell you, it took him at least five months to convince me that I
should get involved in crime fighting."
"I told you it was to draw the Negaverse out," Artemis protested.
"Whatever fur ball."
"Alright, everyone is going to patrol for three hours in rotation," Usagi said,
surprising the others. "I'll take first shift, then Ami, and Makoto, with Rei on last watch.
Minako will lead off tomorrow."
"What about last watch?" Haruka demanded suspiciously. "There are only three of
us left."
"Find Setsuna and she can have it," Usagi replied airily. "If not, then stand four
hour watches. Gotta go, Bye." Jumping to her feet and ran out of the room with Luna
close on her heals. She could be heard giggling as she left.
* * * * *
Later that night, a lone man was walking to his car in the parking garage, carrying
several bags from his shopping. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties with short
hair and a bearing that could only be described as military. The clothes he wore were the
kind that don't wrinkle very easily, and appeared slightly out of date, as if he couldn't be
bothered to keep up with the latest trends.
He placed the bags in the trunk, went to the passenger door, then swore realizing
what he was doing and walked back around to the driver's side complaining about people
who drive on the wrong side of the road. He opened the door then stopped when he felt
an all too familiar tingling sensation, looking into the shadows near the exit of the garage.
While he watched, another man stepped into the light from the security lamps.
"Donovan Lader, I presume." the man said sardonically, his accent marking him
as coming from the southern part of the United States. He was short, with shoulder
length black hair tied into a long braid, and green eyes. He wore a gray silk shirt, black
pants, and a brown, duster style leather jacket. In his hands, he carried a cavalry saber
with a gray tassel hanging from the hilt.
"And you are?" Donovan asked guardedly.
"Daryl Thorne." Daryl replied with a mocking bow.
"Let’s get this over with." Donovan sighed as he drew his cutlass.
"Yes, lets." Daryl agreed with a sly smile.
As the two men moved closer together, Daryl removed his jacket and stared at the
other man. Both of them were sizing each other up, figuring what tactic to use. Out of
complete boredom of waiting, Daryl started in with a swinging attack. The attack was
easily blocked by Donovan's cutlass. Their attacks, blocks, and dodges were leaving the
surrounding vehicles with puncture marks, slices down the side, broken windows, and
other related damages.
During one attack, Daryl was able to knock Donovan's cutlass from his hand, and
the sword landed under a car. Daryl thinking that the fight was over, started to swing
down to cut off Donovan's head, but missed because Donovan ducked under the attack
and rolled away. When Daryl turned around to see where Donovan had gone, he saw that
Donovan had just retrieved his sword. Daryl growled in frustration.
When Donovan got back up, they both started attacking each other again. As he
carried on, Daryl suddenly realized that the fight was now leading toward his own death.
After destroying several more vehicles, hitting their swords in the garage supports,
causing several gouges in them, and setting off the sprinkler system, Donovan had Daryl
pinned up against a support. Daryl brought his sword up to block Donovan’s attack, but
watched in horror as Donovan swung and knocked Daryl's sword out of his grasp. It
landed a few feet from his hand.
"You were too cocky there, Thorne." Donovan said with a smile as he brought his
sword up to take Daryl's head.
"I don't think so. I was only setting you up for your downfall." Daryl laughed,
smiling as he cupped his hands in front of his chest.
"What are you doing?" Donovan asked suspiciously.
"This," Daryl said as he pointed cupped his hands toward Donovan saw a ball of
energy form in front of the hands. Then the ball of energy flew from Daryl's hands and
hit Donovan squarely in the chest, knocking Donovan into the air. He flew backwards a
few feet and land on his back with his sword a few feet away from him.
Donovan felt like all of his strength had left him. He felt tired and weak and
could barely move at all. He saw Daryl stand up and walk over to pick his sword up and
then start to walk towards him. Donovan started to crawl to his own sword, but Daryl
made his way over to it and kicked his sword out of his reach, and saw Donovan looking
up at him.
"What did you do?" Groaned Donovan.
"Sapped some of your strength and then hit you with an impact beam. Minor stuff
to bring you down." Replied Daryl
"Why?"
"That is for me to know and you to never figure out. For my reasons, I would
have to say, there can be only one." Said Daryl as he brought his sword down and cut off
Donovan's head.
Just when the head rolled away from the body, Daryl stood up to a wait for the
Quickening. Lightning like energy formed around Donovan's body and started arcing
toward Daryl. When the lightning came upon him, he tensed up as the Quickening came
upon him. The energy from the Quickening started to go into the surrounding cars and
started them up. Headlights came on, horns were going off, the cars started to move
forward some, hoods were being blown off the cars, and windows were blowing apart.
When the Quickening ended, Daryl went down on one knee as he recovered his
breath, then he heard footsteps approaching. He quickly stood up, grabbed his sword, and
concentrated on his gate crystal for a moment to form a portal. When the portal formed,
he ran into it, closing the portal after him moments before the other person arrived.
* * * * *
As Thorne's gate collapsed, a man stepped out of the shadows and shook his head
in surprise. Walking over to the place where the gate had been moments before.
"Where the hell did you get powers like that Thorne?" He muttered to the empty
space, and then looked toward the still form in the parking structure. "Poor bastard."
With a sigh, he turned and walked toward the alley next to the building.
Above him on the roof of a nearby building, Sailor Jupiter watched wondering
what this man had to do with the killings. Realizing that she couldn't do anything for the
man in the garage, she decided to follow this other one. Hopping from building to
building, she smiled as he walked casually from the alley down the street into another
alley, distancing himself from the murder scene. "Cool customer," she laughed to herself
as she followed.
He followed several alleys, changing direction often, until he came out in the
middle of a crowded street and disappeared. Sailor Jupiter swore and searched the crowd,
trying to find him. When he finally emerged, he no longer wore the overcoat or the hat,
so she barely recognized him. It was only when he ducked into another alley that she
realized it was him.
"Shit..." she muttered jumping from rooftop to rooftop, hoping he hadn't
disappeared. When she glanced down into the alley though, he was looking straight at
her. She stared at him in shock until he waved at her, then she ducked behind the parapet.
She heard him chuckle, then silence. When she looked again, he was gone. Running to
the other edges of the roof she looked for him, but with no success. With a sigh, she
returned to her patrol which was quiet until she turned over to Sailor Mars.
"Do you think he was involved?" Mars asked after she had told her about the
murder. "Did you see him?"
"I saw him, but I don't think he had anything to do with it," Jupiter replied, her
voice showing her confusion. "From what I saw he got there after the guy was dead.
Besides, he wasn't carrying to cut the guy's head off."
"Oh well, maybe he works for the police."
Jupiter nodded and left her to the patrol. Once she was home, she transformed out
of her uniform and took a quick shower. After making a cup of cocoa, she sat on the
couch, deep in thought.
* * * * *
Daryl stepped out of the portal in a chamber that looked like it was in a medieval
castle. He looked around and smiled at the man on the throne.
"What do you have to report?" Damian growled sternly.
"My mission was a success; I removed Donovan Lader, and gathered energy for
the Negaverse." Daryl replied with a smirk.
"Good."
"What is my next mission?"
"I want you to go back to Tokyo. Juuban district this time. There you will find
an antique dealer. He is your next target."
"Who is he?"
"Scott Schwartzstern, another friend of our enemy. Take great care though, he is
highly skilled."
"I can't fail." Daryl laughed as he turned and walked out of the room. The man on
the throne smiled darkly after Daryl left.
"You will get yours soon enough, Drakkar," Damian laughed. "Don't worry, you
will get yours."
To Be Continued