FOG3
28th July 2004, 03:00 PM
Sacrifice
By Matthew De Mouy
Disclaimer: This fanfic is not authorized by the holders of the licenses for any series used here in. It is not intended to raise revenue or moneys. It is free advertising, which may stir interest in the holders of the licenses works though. So keep the trial lawyers away.
What's happened before: At the end of the year 1992, the reincarnated warriors of the Silver Millennium known as the Sailor Senshi had reached a impasse in their conflict with the reincarnated Dark Kingdom. The Seven Nijizuishou that had formed during the fall of the Moon Kingdom from the Ginzuishou and used to seal the Seven Great Youma had all been found. The Sailor Senshi had lost the only Nijizuishou they had managed to obtain to Zoisite.
The Dark Kingdom seemed to disappear for months, but has come back stronger then before. A new enemy faction has also appeared. Into this situation a mysterious individual going by the name Sho Aikawa has appeared to provide aid.
-kyou is supposed to be an official title similar to Sir or Lord and is attacked to the name of foreign dignitaries. In the place it's used I considered both -sama and -dono. -Kyou seems to work good if not the best and is different enough to stand out and show a certain change has occurred.
Chapter 2: Duty
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
Mercury fired off her attack hitting one of the lizard things with pods on their shoulders that could fire energy blasts, when they opened, encasing it in a block of ice. We called them Poddies after we first encountered one a few weeks ago under the Dark Kingdom's control. It took a shot at Sailor Moon when she was in the process of giving her speech. We'll have to ask Sho was the proper name for them is later.
Speaking of Sho he is going through their opponents well. like a blender set on puree goes through the ice and fruit when you make a smoothie. Spheres of energy barely visible, except for the visible distortion, were bringing them down with large holes in their chests. Some sort of green energy blast that was reminiscent of a blaster from Star Wars kept firing from his forehead nailing zoanoids right and left, all one shot kills. Those that got close were simply sliced in half or otherwise fatally injured. It was a rather sickening thing to behold, a mass slaughter performed with an efficiency that could only have come from long experience. No excess movement, no waste, just quick efficient execution.
I prepared to destroy the Poddy that Mercury had frozen with my supercharged Supreme Thunder, but found something had already caused it to shatter into innumerable pieces. I charged my attack further and discharged it on one of those bat eared ape things we had decided to called Kongs. It spasmed violently before finally going still, smoking as it hit the ground and dissolved.
As I looked around to find another target in this large squad that had attacked us I found they had all been dispatched. Mercury was muttering something about it hadn't even been ten seconds to kill thirty. Sho stood in his blue insect like armor among the rapidly dissolving monsters. For something so powerful and so deadly it wasn't that visually intimidating. Of course, the same could be said of Sho himself.
Sho began to scream. At first I thought he might have been injured, but as I rushed over the armor didn't so much come off as it tore and ripped off. Leaving Sho breathing hard and looking very worn out as it disappeared.
"Sho-san are you alright?"
Sho slowly looked up at me. "No, I'm not alright. I don't believe I've really been all right for a long time. I can barely force myself to revert anymore. If I hadn't studied concentration techniques and how to focus my will for months I wouldn't be able to revert at all by now. It knows it can complete what it's started faster in that form. I could kill zoanoids all day and not tire, but forcing the armor off. I'm sorry. I'm concerning you with something you don't need to worry about."
Sho seemed to regain his normal demeanor and stood up. Effectively cutting off the conversation about himself and once more burying that vulnerable part of himself behind the shields he normally wore.
----------------------------
Makoto saw Sho on the street. "Sho-san! Are you out shopping too?"
Sho turned, but his near perpetual sunglasses prevented her from reading his gaze.
----------------------------
She had just been out shopping for groceries like any other day when it happened. She'd been accosted by a lecher. Her attempts to discourage his advances had failed to work and he'd pulled a knife. Now she was in a back alley with a knife to her throat. She was going to be raped.
Something seemed to whistle through the air and her attacker's body went limp. The shock of realizing that there was a knife protruding from the side of his neck brought the realization her attacker was no longer in a position to kill her as she shoved his body off of her. She saw a young man and a girl standing at the mouth of the alley she had been led down.
----------------------------
They had seen the lady off, but not before Sho had made a point of referring her to a good counselor he knew.
"Uhm, Sho-san why did you kill him?" Makato asked.
"Why do you kill Youma?" Sho responded.
"What?! That's completely different. They're monsters."
"That man had done this before, and would do it again. He wrecks his victims' lives, not just in the physical damage and potential consequences his actions cause, but the psychological trauma as well. People like to think they're safe. They have a trust in the general goodness of people and to a degree society. He betrays all that trust, violating them and for what, some small personal pleasure of his own. The police aren't big on listening to those who become his victims and they don't want to bring dishonor to their family by talking about it. Even if they got him to court and succeeded in getting him charged and convicted he'd be out within five years and doing it again."
"That doesn't give you the right to kill someone!" Makato exclaimed.
"If I didn't there would be just more victims, more wrecked lives. By eliminating him from the picture I put a stop to it. Prevent his future victims from having to suffer. Besides severing his spinal column was the only way I could have stopped him without risking him taking his victim with him, that wouldn't result in a scene. You are not quiet enough that I could have just sneaked up on him and knocked him out. Nevermind the disservice to his victim by causing it to go on that much longer."
"How do you know he'd do it again?" Makato asked.
". I read his mind. That's how I found him there in the first place. 72, 29, 33, 10, 9 and yes I can read your mind." Sho's response was one of resignation realizing he had been backed into a corner.
Makoto stopped and gapped for a few minutes. "Get out of my head. You can do that and you didn't tell us?"
"It was a quick way to verify if you or the others were telling the truth and getting information. I no longer have the time to fool around with possibilities that will not work out. Normally I tend to try to stay out of people's heads. Part I suppose you could call ethics, but part is they're some really sick people out there. Now you know I can read your mind it is no longer a reliable indicator of whether you're telling the truth or not. My telepathy is much more limited then I expect you realize." Sho's response had a dejected air to it. That of someone who doesn't really want to do something, but feels they had to anyway.
"The others will know about this. Until then could you please not kill anyone else?"
Sho brought his arm out as if to point. As Makoto followed where he was pointing she saw a girl being accosted. A barely visible distortion flew and hit the girl's attacker with such force he was picked bodily up off his feet and flung like a rag doll into the wall behind them. The girl looked around sort of dazed, glanced at her attacker, and rushed off.
"Better?" Sho asked.
Makoto turned her gaze back to Sho, sort of weirded out herself by this particular turn of events.
"If it's such a big deal to you I won't kill anymore of the scum, Kino-san. There are bigger things that need to be done. See you later."
Sho began walking off.
"Wait! What? How did you do that?" But Sho was gone.
----------------------------
"You staged that didn't you?"
"I'm responsible for the slaughter of millions, Luna. By my hands they died, and it wasn't until I'd made the distinction of killing so many did I realize the truth of my actions. It's easy to kill when you just see them as inhuman monsters. When you begin to realize what you're actually doing. Luna, I don't want them to have to suffer that guilt. I can't have them stop and be unable to do what is necessary because of that knowledge either. Many of them were just innocent people, victims of fates being controlled against their will. They made it so there was no body to stare at you lifelessly. No corpse that you can give a proper burial.
I've survived when I shouldn't and am more inhuman then the enemy we fight. I want to find a way to resolve this that'll minimize the regret they feel over their actions later. I wish there was some way I could sacrifice myself to make it all better, but I see no such out. You have every right not to trust me, but this monster who was once a man will do everything in his power to assist you."
Luna looked thoughtfully down from the wall for a moment. "I came to tell you Artemis and Venus had arrived and you should go to the shrine to meet them. We should get going."
----------------------------
"Hello, I'm Minako and I was Sailor V."
"Oh wow! This is great! I finally get to meet Sailor V." Usagi was practically bouncing for joy, which was causing certain members of the group to sweatdrop.
After a few minutes of Usagi's continuing fangirl antics Rei decided to take charge. "The frolicking fangirl is Usagi, she's Sailor Moon. I'm Rei and Sailor Mars. The tall brunette over there is Makoto; she's Sailor Jupiter. The girl with the short hair there is Ami, our resident brain and Sailor Mercury. Our resident Terminator over there is Sho Aikawa and well what he is a long story he hasn't told us yet. Watch your thoughts around him, he's a telepath."
"I'm not a frolicking fangirl, Rei-chan."
"Oh? Then what were you just doing meatball head."
"Don't call me that, Rei-chan."
The others made a point of ignoring Usagi and Rei's continuing bickering.
Minako asked, "do they do this all the time?"
"Yes, I'm afraid those two seem to enjoy bickering with each other. It's just their way of showing their friendship. I'm Ami Mizuno. I'm pleased to meet you and hope we can become good friends."
"I believe it is time that we went to the ruins of the Moon Kingdom." Sho suggested.
"What?!" was the collective response.
"There should still be something we could salvage among the ruins that may be able to help us in our present situation. We can use all the help we can get."
"How exactly are you intending to get up there?!" Rei exclaimed.
"If we use a Sailor Teleport we should be able to get there." A white cat piped in.
"Okay, Artemis. What do you guys think?" Minako asked.
"I'm in." Makoto replied.
"This seems to be a good course of action, count me in as well," was Ami's reply.
"I'll go," was Rei's reply.
"We'll actually get to see the Moon Kingdom. Lets go." Usagi said enthusiastically.
------------------------------
They arrived in the Lunar landscape. The ruins of a great city mostly leveled stood around them.
"Any idea why we can breathe?" Sho asked.
"No, not really." Mercury responded.
"I'm feeling some form of magic power source below the surface and what feels like some form of illusion spell over the area. Something about this seems familiar. You guys check around. I'm going to see where this hunch leads me."
Sho proceeded to wander off.
The Senshi explored the ruins before coming upon a stone disk that energized and created the image of a little woman in a white dress with some form of wing things wrought in cloth in back.
"I am the former Queen of the Silver Millenium, Serenity. My dear Serenity I can see you."
The Senshi followed the little holograms gaze to Usagi. The Guardians of the Princess gaped in disbelief. So much for the great Princess of the Moon Luna talked about.
"You mean, me?" Usagi asked pointing at herself.
Rei shook off her dumbfoundedness. "She's the princess?!"
"Yes, she's my daughter, Princess Serenity. Don't you remember? Oh, I see you haven't recovered the Ginzuishou yet."
Jupiter spoke up, "We're working to collect the Nijizuishou so we can bring back the Ginzuishou. Sho's helping us."
"Oh yes, Sho. I awoke Luna and Artemis from their cryogenic sleep. Through them, I was able to watch and guide you. I have looked forward to meeting you again. Our kingdom is in ruins now, but do you remember?
This Moon Castle in its glory. The dome was lush and green, and a fresh wind blew. But you my daughter, you longed for the real thing. Often you went down to Earth and there you found love.
We who were born on the Moon had a long lifespan. Our duty was to protect the Ginzuishou and vanish _evil_ from the Earth. To watch over and guide her people on the path of good.
I still remember that year, the sun was so active. It was that activity that delivered our destruction. The Enemy was truly, the Evil One.
It set its sights on the magnificent power of the Ginzuishou. Slipping into the hearts of humans and using their envy of our long lives. Only Endymion's will was never bent and he tried to reason with his people till the end. He was to late though and Beryl tore him away from you as the Moon Kingdom fell. You died trying to be with him.
I finally managed to seal the Evil One away, but all of this Moon Castle had turned to stone and crumbled. The Earth Kingdom was destroyed, and mankind had to begin anew in its development.
Someone has revived the Evil One. Even from here I can't find where it is hiding in the Earth, but I can tell it is lurking deep within.
It's up to you, Serenity! You must bring back the Ginzuishou and use its power to seal the Evil One away."
------------------------------
Sho walked down what seemed to be the city's main boulevard. As he reached it's end he found a monstrous gate, the doors of which had been blown off. His walk around the city before reaching this gate had shown that none of the other gates showed any sign of forced entry and were open. As he passed outside the gate he found a polearm of some sort, covered in some sort of gray residue and dust, lying on the ground. Something compelled him to pick it up.
--------------------------------
The hologram of Queen Serenity disintegrated leaving them once more alone.
Jupiter spoke up, "We should find out where Sho-san went."
They decided to walk down what appeared to be the main boulevard gapping at the destruction that had been wrought. A figure approached them.
"Venus-Kyou, Mercury-Kyou, Jupiter-Kyou, Mars-Kyou, may this humble guardsman ask what you are doing here and who your friend is?"
It was Sho physically, but it wasn't Sho at the same time. He was carrying something that bared a strong resemblance to a Naginata, but the staff part was some sort of clear crystal. Jupiter started to speak up, but Mercury cut her off.
"May I have your name guardsman? We're sort of lost and we'd like it if you explained some things to us."
"This one is not deserving of the honor, of the Imperial Guard I am Feldspar, Guard of the Main Gate to the Moon Kingdom."
"Feldspar, could you please tell us about the Imperial Guard and that weapon you're carrying."
"The Imperial Guard are the protectors of this city and other capitals of the Silver Millennium. We help keep the peace, provide directions, and help to keep the city running smoothly. Unlike the Royal Guard the Court considers us a valuable enough asset to maintaining the peace. We aren't in danger of being disbanded."
"Excuse me, but who are the Royal Guard?" Venus asked.
"Why the protectors of your most honored persons. Surely thou jests at not knowing this."
"Why were they in danger of being disbanded, Feldspar?"
"Well the gab is that the Queen deprived the Soldiers of the Outer Planets of their complement of Royal Guardsmen leaving them alone at their posts, because she feared it might distract them from their duties of protecting the Silver Millennium from outside threats. Well after this happened and those who had assisted the Soldiers of the Outer Planets were reassigned to the Queen, people began to fear she was consolidating to much power to herself. First they downgraded them to Support Staffs and that quieted things down for a while, but people got antsy again and started calling for them to be disbanded entirely. I had been selected to join up with the Royal Guard and went through the training. In a week I'd have went through the selection process. Why was it I didn't again." Sho or rather Feldspar began to look confused as if he was trying to remember something that wouldn't come to him.
"Is a Support Staff that thing you're carrying there?" Mercury asked.
"No, no this is a Blast Stave, honored one. Would you like me to show you a Support Staff to refresh your memory?
"Yes, please if it wouldn't be to much trouble." Mercury responded.
"If your honored persons would just follow me."
Sho or rather Feldspar led them down the main boulevard into the ruins of the Moon Palace. With a sureness of step he continued on opening a secret passageway and descending into what was rather reminiscent of an armory. Rows upon rows of ornately carved staffs of different colors of crystal were lined up in racks from wall to wall of the small room. Feldspar continued until stopping in front of a clear one.
"This one here was mine, honored ones. Let me show you how it works."
As he reached for it something seemed to happen.
"This is your basic shield stance and you can fire energy attacks. Otherwise it just allows the poor lower level people with the talent to give their magic to their guardian Senshi or draw power from them. It entirely works on using the person's own power. It is different from a Blast Stave, which uses lower style magic in the staff part working as a magic capacitor. The color indicates which Senshi their guardian is and is determined during the Choosing Ceremony. The staff is made from the person's power. It's interesting that Feldspar's memory has no recollection of a Sailor Moon. However certain things the part of him that remained here found out from the ghosts who couldn't pass on and things I learned from the ships seem to be fitting together."
Moon spoke up, "What fits? Why wasn't there a Sailor Moon?"
"It boils down to something I wouldn't know except for those ghosts who cannot pass on, because they aren't sure about whether what they did was the right thing or they had the right to do it. During the early years right before the Silver Millenium when aliens from out of the system began to settle on the Moon there were people with the talent for magic. Lower style magic along with the help of other things was extensively used to allow the Jovians, Martians, Venusians, and Mercurians to survive. The Lunarians began to discover something they called Star Seeds in people. They found a way to cause these to mature into Sailor Crystals in some cases to make Sailor Scouts. Soon people with Sailor Crystals began to arise without this maturation process and with time it was lost. Many departed on outbound projects with hosts of colonists to settle other Star Systems. I expect they've forgotten about their origins in the million or so years that have passed by now.
The Royal Family of the Moon however did not possess a strong enough Star Seed to form a Sailor Crystal and become Sailor Scouts. However they felt it was their right to have the most powerful Star Seed, as they had granted to others the ability to use theirs. So they had a group use very powerful magic, now lost, to time to seek out and find the most powerful Star Seed in the galaxy. That Star Seed was the Ginzuishou. As life arises from Star Seeds those who had done this began feeling concerns, because by taking this Star Seed and giving it to the Queen they weren't allowing a life to develop. The Queen basically merged her Star Seed partially with the Ginzuishou using an artifact to control it. When she died it was merged with the Star Seed of her successor so she could use its power. The artifact used has changed, but the method has not. That is why they could carry it around and it could pass from mother to daughter without one having to die and it not being in two places at once.
When the Earth learned of this they too had not had a strong enough Star Seed to develop into a proper Sailor Crystal in the highest ruling family. So they managed to convince the people who obtained the Ginzuishou to do the same for them, and thus came the Golden Crystal. However this time those who had done this felt great shame at what they had done and sealed the Golden Crystal. So that while it would pass on merged with the Star Seeds of the ruler of the Golden Kingdom, but it could not be used. Shortly afterwards they destroyed everything that would allow people to alter the natural ways of the Star Seeds and killed themselves so no one could get the knowledge from them. Such was the dark things that happened at the beginning of the Silver Millennium, which lasted for hundreds of thousands of years.
Those who first developed Sailor Crystals on the other planets became effectively part of the ruling family without any of this other nonsense."
Usagi was quiet for a moment. "Could you please tell me how I can turn into a Sailor Senshi if I don't have a 'Sailor Crystal'?"
"The answer has been staring you in the face since you first became Sailor Moon in this life. You just didn't see it. Look at your broach. Those four small crystals are representative of your four Guardians. If it was a compass red at the north is Mars, the west green one is Jupiter, the east yellow one is Venus, and the light blue at the bottom is Mercury. Where the pink one is would have been representative of Endymion and drawn power from him, but it isn't as far as my mystical senses tell me. It draws your own star seed's power into the matrix as it's presently set up.
Also notice your transformation phrase 'Moon Prism Power' while everyone else is just the planet name power. You likely know a prism can make white light form a rainbow, however I expect you don't realize a second prism can make that rainbow reform into white light. In this case it's a prism that takes power from your guardians and yourself and allows you to become a Sailor Scout using primarily their power. Even your primary attack with your tiara is Venusian in origin.
The Queen and Royal family seemed to rarely use such devices mainly focusing on using the Ginzuishou. If you keep transforming into Sailor Moon I expect you'll find an interesting thing will happen. You will begin drawing power from more and more Star Seeds and eventually might draw power from all the Sailor Crystals in the Galaxy, maybe they'll call you Sailor Galaxy, Universe, Cosmos, or some such thing. Don't feel guilty about this. This all happened hundreds of generations before you were born and if I hadn't had contact with those ghosts would be lost to history. Your friends care for you and will stand by you.
Come on there's some things we need in the supply rooms before we leave."
----------------------------
Makoto encountered Sho again while out shopping.
"Hi Sho."
"Greetings, Kino-san."
"Today's my birthday. Would you be interested in sharing dinner with me?" Makoto looked hopeful.
"Okay."
----------------------------
I showed him into my apartment.
He spoke. "You have a nice apartment Kino-san. The plants really liven up the place."
Why is it always Kino-san? Is there some reason he feels he can't address people by their first name? Maybe with the hell that's been his life he no longer is willing to get close enough to people to even refer to them by their first name.
I speak. "I'll have supper ready in a moment."
Sho followed me into the kitchen.
"It was just my father and me back when and he'd usually get home late. So I learned to cook for myself. Can I help?"
No mother he almost sounds like me.
"What happened to your dad?"
"I. He died."
That seems to be a big soft spot. For his posture and voice he's feels guilt about it. It's probably best I don't press that issue. If he wants to tell me he will.
"Go ahead. Can you make this up while I work on the main course?"
I look up from working on making the main course a little while later and sneak a peak over at Sho. He didn't do the job overly fast or elaborately, but purposefully and at a steady pace.
"Okay, it's ready."
"Could you watch this for me?"
"Hai." He responds.
I feel a sense of contentment come over me as I work with Sho on making dinner. I wonder if this is what is feels like to be a wife. I blush. I hope Sho wasn't reading my mind. That would be so embarrassing. Sho doesn't seem to know though, focusing on what he was doing with his back towards me.
"Okay, we just put this in the oven and wait till it's done."
We left the kitchen. Sho was extra careful about sitting down.
"Are your joints hurting you, Sho-san?" I ask concerned.
"No, it's just that despite appearances I weigh over 200 kilograms and I have to be careful to avoid damaging things."
I gape, "Over 200?!"
200 kilograms is a lot for a person to weigh. I'm pretty sure it's not heavy enough that you'd have to take the measure's Sho is taking to be careful to not break anything. Maybe it's an extreme reaction to something in his past.
"I have tricks to reduce gravity's effect on me, but yes. I once had a doctor do an X-ray on me two years ago when I began realizing thing were really wrong with my body. He found my organs, no my entire body was no longer human. I had organs of types humans don't possess and more efficient versions of the type they do. I'm sorry, I'm bothering you with things you need not concern yourself with again."
"No it's alright."
"Here, it's your birthday so I should give you a gift."
Sho pulled out what appeared to be a small jeweled key attached to a chain and handed it to me.
"What is it?" I ask out of curiosity. I've never seen anything like this.
"If you ever need a friend or just someone to talk to this is your key to finding them." He says cryptically.
Knowing him that's probably all I'm going to get out of him about it right now. It's nice and a thoughtful gift though.
"Thank you."
The timer dinged indicating the food was ready. I serve us up.
Sho eats his food, but slowly and doesn't eat very much.
"Don't you like it Sho? You've hardly eaten anything." I ask.
He speaks apologetically. "I'm sorry, it's wonderful it's just. I can't eat like a normal person. I know you put so much work into it. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be here, but being with you allows me to recapture for a short while some of what I've lost."
It seems that many of the conversations I get into with him end up involving some part that serves to remind me he isn't really human anymore. I really wonder with the way he acts and talks how much he still has left sometimes. Not allowed to enjoy the comfort of good food, I can't help but feel sorry for him.
"It's okay, really Sho-san.
"You know you're to beautiful and kind of a person to be wasting time on me. I end up hurting or destroying everything I get close to. You're a great person, someone anyone should be honored to have interested in them. I. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Sho always seems to be putting the needs of someone else before himself. Drawing his troubles into himself to try and prevent them from having to be the concerns of someone else. Maybe I can help him. We do seem to have something going here.
----------------------------
"Okay according to Aptom this is the local headquarters for the Dark Kingdom. Zoisite and Kunzite are supposed to hang around here, and it's likely they may have their Nijizuishou on them. So the only problem is getting in."
Sho and the Sailor Senshi in civilian form were standing outside a big office building. It was the beginning of winter break so they had the day off, but early enough in adults were still going to work. At this particular hour the streets were abandoned except for them.
"I know I'll use the disguise pen. Moon power, turn me into a elegant health inspector."
There was a collective sweatdrop. Sho grabbed her ear and began walking as Usagi rather inelegantly was dragged along. "Owie. Owie. Owie. Owie."
"What was that for, you big meanie?" Usagi expressed her discomfort as they stopped.
"Even if you could get in like that the rest of us couldn't. Besides which I already set up arrangements for getting us in." Sho held up six bags he'd been carrying. "These uniforms are our ticket to getting in there. There are department stores within a few blocks. You can change into these there. Meet me in front of the building within an hour. Put your hair up under the caps. It'll make it harder for them to spot you later. Stow your other clothes in the lockers specified in the bags."
Sho passed out five of the bags. He ended up switching Minako's and Usagi's bag.
----------------------------
The group reassembled in front of the building within about half an hour. All were wearing janitor style coveralls with some form of cap. Usagi's for instance was white with a pink rabbit making a victory sign on it.
Rei spoke up, "So you're sending us in there as a cleaning crew?"
"Yes, is this a problem?"
"What are you thinking?"
"Janitorial staff can get anywhere in the building and are usually ignored as someone else's problem. If you don't want to go along with this go ahead and leave. You don't have to come along."
Rei fumed for a little while. "Fine, I'll go along with it."
The group entered the lobby of the building, which just had one woman sitting at a desk as a secretary among the fountain and other decorations.
"Hello Aptom, looking lovely today I see." Sho addressed the secretary.
"Can it, Fukamachi." Aptom growled.
"Is everything in place?" Sho queried.
"Right where you asked, and yes the lady and the lord are in."
"Thank you." Sho responded.
They continued on to a storage room where one of those big carts cleaning staffs tend to use was parked. Sho reach into one of the compartments and pulled out five disks about as wide as a humans hand was long, that they retrieved from the Moon along with a few other things at Sho's insistence.
"Okay these are teleport inhibitors. We need to place one at each of the corners of the base of the building. Once these are in place we won't have to worry about Kunzite or Zoisite leaving before we can get the goods." Sho explained.
----------------------------
"Number one in place." Rei responded.
"Number two is ready to go." Makoto declared.
"Number three is where you asked me to put it." Ami said.
"Did you want it on the support column, Sho-san?" Minako asked.
"Sure that's fine, Aino-san. Activating field now."
There was a barely audible click from the crystal still in Sho's hand.
"Seems as how Aptom has taken control of security and will dispose of the tapes for us we don't need to bother to pretend to work or worry about the cameras to much. Act like you belong and they'll ignore you. Our targets are on level 23."
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, Aino-san?"
"How can she, that is Aptom-san, be at the desk and controlling security?" Asked Minako curious at Sho's odd friend.
"If Aptom can be actually classified by such terms Aptom would be a he. Aptom can take on others forms if he has a DNA sample. He's also been known to mix and match abilities and attributes to make a form have the qualities he needs it to have. This ability among other things allows him to take on a female form if he wants to. As for how he can be in many places at once, don't ask."
The group went quiet and tried to appear casual as an employee walked by. They didn't even receive more then the most cursory glance.
"Off to the service elevator." Sho declared.
----------------------------
The group stood in front of a door marked "Manager". Sho motioned for the group to pull back some.
"If you ladies would go ahead and transform we can take them out. I'll take point."
Sho reached under the cart and drew his Blast Stave from it. He unzipped and chucked off the coveralls revealing a white uniform with silver trim underneath. There was a bracer on his left arm as he held the Blast Stave in his right. The bracer had a silver luster to it and was lined with some sort of clear crystal.
"Moon Prism power, make up."
"Jupiter power, make up."
"Venus power, make up."
"Mercury power, make up."
"Mars power, make up."
Sho walked over to the door Zoisite and Kunzite were using as their office. Sho knocked.
"Yes?" came the reply.
"Room service." Sho announced.
Sho kicked in the door sending it off its hinges and flying into Kunzite causing it to splinter on impact rendering him unconscious almost instantly. Zoisite got off a call of "Kunzite" before Sho moved in with his Blast Stave inhumanly fast. Zoisite managed to form a spear of ice and get it into a guard position against Sho's slash with his Blast Stave, but it did him no good and with a discharge of white light and a crack he joined Kunzite in unconsciousness. The crystal part of the weapon darkened simultaneously with the flash before quickly resuming its normal clear state.
It took Jupiter a moment to realize that Sho's initial slash, which could have taken off Zoisite's head, had been parried. In one seamless continuous move though Sho had twisted his weapon so the flat would impact Zoisite's head and apparently used Zoisite's attempt at a defense as a pivot, slamming the flat into the side of his skull.
Sho didn't so much rummage as reach in and grab the crystals from Zoisite's uniform. Revealing to the light and once more to the Sailor Senshi's eyes the blue and yellow Nijizuishou. Sho got up and offered the crystals to the Sailor Senshi.
"So who would you like to hold on to these?" Sho asked.
----------------------------
They walked out of the building once more in the coveralls Sho had provided. At his insistence both the Kunzite and Zoisite had been left as they were instead of finishing them off. Usagi had opted to take the Dark Kingdom Nijizuishou stating it was her right as Princess.
"Well that should." Sho suddenly got an odd look on his face. Covering his mouth like he was going to throw up he ran off.
Makoto spoke up, "Let's follow him. He could be in trouble."
They found him crouched down hiding in a alley. Something seemed to wrong with him. Every few second he'd start going into convulsions, which would just as quickly subside. His back was to the mouth of the alley and them so they couldn't read his face.
Makato walked up to him, "Sho-san are you alright?" She started to move to put her arm on his shoulder. He struck out and she was sent flying through the solid brick wall of the adjourning building, how far she went in was obscured by the dust and debris from things she hit during her flight.
"How dare you do that to Mako-chan. She's your friend isn't she?" Usagi demanded.
She received no answer except Sho's continued convulsions. She walked around to face him and the group followed. They found him in a fetal position, his expression one of abject terror. What was most disturbing and telling though were his eyes for his usual sunglasses had fell off. They say the eyes are windows into the soul, Sho's eyes were making this readily apparent. They kept flipping between a determined desperate human to something that wasn't human, back and forth.
"Ami-chan what's going on? What's happening to him?" Usagi asked.
"My guess would be this is part of the losing of his humanity, Sho-san was talking about."
Rei interjected, "It's not a demon. My senses would tell me if that was the case."
"Isn't there anything we can do?"
"No, Minako-san. I don't think there's much of anything we can do for him right now, but we do need to go help out Makoto-san."
As they began to walk towards the opening Makoto had made passing through the wall Sho's convulsions abruptly ended. For a moment it almost seemed like he was going to pass out, then he slowly got to his feet the spark in his eyes still showing signs of humanity.
"I.I. Oh no she must have."
He didn't so much walk as run despite the fact he was stumbling and showing signs of serious fatigue all the way. They found him cradling an unconscious Makoto in his arms. The left sleeve of his coveralls had been pushed up some in the process, exposing enough of the bracer show clearly it was now as dark as obsidian. Makoto didn't look as bad as they expected, but she still looked pretty bad even though she seemed to be very slowing getting better somehow. Sho was actually crying.
"Why? I was only trying to protect you. Why do I always end up hurting the people I'm trying to help? Why?! Is it my destiny that to end up hurting everyone I come in contact with? Tsukino-san, please tell me you have a way to save her. I. don't have the power to heal her enough to make a difference."
Sho sat there head hung in shame as the tears continued to fall.
"Luna, would.?"
"Yes, but you must hurry."
"Moon Prism Power, Make up."
Sailor Moon pulled out the Moon Crescent Wand.
"Moon Healing Escalation."
Makoto quickly and noticeably got better. She began to come to.
"Sho-san are you okay? Why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry. I ended up hurting you Makoto-san."
"It's alright, Sho-san. We're both fine now."
----------------------------
"So what happened this time."
"Another weird one, although this time it's at least halfway normal. Someone broke in a wall of an abandoned office building."
"That doesn't sound that unusual."
"Yeah? Well how many time does that happen through the side in a alley to small to fit a car in with no evidence of explosives?"
"Well it's not that odd really. You certainly have dealt with weirder."
"And the holes indicating that something was thrown through several walls?"
"Maybe a jack hammer being run by some nut?"
"We have several witnesses in the area indicating they only heard one really big crash. Plus a few eye witnesses only saw a few people leaving the seen and they weren't carrying anything that large."
"Well look on the bright side. At least this time we don't have to come up with an explanation why people think they were attacked by monsters that disappear without a trace."
Author's notes: I went ahead and gave Sailor Mercury her more advanced Sailor Moon R attack because desperation does seem to help them invent new attacks and Shabon Spray Freezing would not have been that effective. For those who say Supreme Thunder has no chance of taking down a zoanoid I refer you to the D-Point Assault and the rather large attack she pulled off then. Something like ' Flower Hurricane' just didn't seem to fit her. She can put out a truly impressive amount of power when she has to. The Sailor Moon R movie would also be a decent reference.
The killing the rapist scene and all is only staged in universe in so much as Sho knew Makoto would be in that area on that day. It was intended as an analogous situation so he could know whether to reveal a certain bit of information, Guyver fans should be familiar with that information and those who aren't will find out in the next chapter. Five years is the maximum sentence normally given in Japan for rape, which is where that figure came from. Movements are presently working to change that, but the fic take place in 1992 so there's no comment about it in fic. My sources indicate there wasn't even a real support group for victims till 1997.
If you don't like my referring to what amounts to the city guard as the Imperial Guard because it implies a empire, you can yell at Tokyo Pop while you're at it for using Imperial in one of their names for the Ginzuishou during the SuperS arc. If you don't like my explanation about the Ginzuishou I'd love to hear your theory on how that works. The closest thing to it is Sailor Galaxia but she has those weird bracelet things. The Star Seeds becoming Sailor Crystals is taken from Star Healers comment about Special Star Seeds become Sailor Crystals. If you don't like my explanation of Moon Prism Power and how that could have lead to her most powerful form of Sailor Cosmos again I'd like to hear your theory. As for why Chibi-usa has the same transformations phrase, Sailor Moon was her hero and it's not outside the realm of possibility for the transformation phrase to be altered. Moon Tiara Action being Venusian in origin is taken from the fact Sailor Venus basically did the same attack in manga.
The One Thousands years ago thing is just Dic being silly from what I've heard so I'm ignoring it. Guyver continuity put the 'Smart Ones' ie Homo Sapiens on planet a few million years ago. No reason you can't have them having done something before now really. After all we went from basic civilization to here in only around 5,000 years. I'm not putting colonies in the Solar System past Jupiter because they make such a point of the Soldiers of the Outer Planets being lone guardians and all alone out there in the night standing against threats from without. There will be some more on this in the next chapter to fully bring both continuities together.
The speech is adapted from manga continuity because the anime version is all flashback and about an entire episode long.
One thing I find odd is I see again and again Serenity's interpretation of Earth's reason to go to war of being "their envy of our long lives" being used by Queen Metaria. We see through the Shitennou's memories why they wanted to go to war when they're talking to Endymion. They say they're tired of submitting and can no longer stand Moon Kingdom rule. They also say the Moon Kingdom spies on their every move. To which Endymion tells them the evil power is using them. Now wait, before this we see that Serenity liked to watch Earth and had some form of viewer thing that did let her spy on the people of Earth so their spying isn't exactly a lie. We also know the Queen introduces herself as Selene "Goddess" (in Greek mythology yes Selene is the Goddess of the Moon of the Moon) and later in SuperS that the Guardians of the Princess also have the title of Goddess by the TokyoPop translation. It does appear there was a good sized grain of truth in the concern Metaria used to sway the Shitennou and try to sway Endymion.
Makoto is being emphasized more like this because in Volume 7 of manga she's defined as the Scout of Protection, while Mars is War, Mercury is Wisdom, and Venus is Love. Sho is more a person trying to protect others so I went ahead and went with her as having in effect a similar emphasis.
I'm not trying to imply Rei and Usagi fight continuously but after three months making no headway I think Rei might get a little bit short. Especially when her attacks aren't working like she wants them to. This is why she's been altered slightly like that.
If you're curious:
Vamore=Poddy; Ramotith=Kong; Gergoile=Orky; Gregore=G-chan; Zerebubuse=Crabby
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will read the next one.
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'
By Matthew De Mouy
Disclaimer: This fanfic is not authorized by the holders of the licenses for any series used here in. It is not intended to raise revenue or moneys. It is free advertising, which may stir interest in the holders of the licenses works though. So keep the trial lawyers away.
What's happened before: At the end of the year 1992, the reincarnated warriors of the Silver Millennium known as the Sailor Senshi had reached a impasse in their conflict with the reincarnated Dark Kingdom. The Seven Nijizuishou that had formed during the fall of the Moon Kingdom from the Ginzuishou and used to seal the Seven Great Youma had all been found. The Sailor Senshi had lost the only Nijizuishou they had managed to obtain to Zoisite.
The Dark Kingdom seemed to disappear for months, but has come back stronger then before. A new enemy faction has also appeared. Into this situation a mysterious individual going by the name Sho Aikawa has appeared to provide aid.
-kyou is supposed to be an official title similar to Sir or Lord and is attacked to the name of foreign dignitaries. In the place it's used I considered both -sama and -dono. -Kyou seems to work good if not the best and is different enough to stand out and show a certain change has occurred.
Chapter 2: Duty
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
Mercury fired off her attack hitting one of the lizard things with pods on their shoulders that could fire energy blasts, when they opened, encasing it in a block of ice. We called them Poddies after we first encountered one a few weeks ago under the Dark Kingdom's control. It took a shot at Sailor Moon when she was in the process of giving her speech. We'll have to ask Sho was the proper name for them is later.
Speaking of Sho he is going through their opponents well. like a blender set on puree goes through the ice and fruit when you make a smoothie. Spheres of energy barely visible, except for the visible distortion, were bringing them down with large holes in their chests. Some sort of green energy blast that was reminiscent of a blaster from Star Wars kept firing from his forehead nailing zoanoids right and left, all one shot kills. Those that got close were simply sliced in half or otherwise fatally injured. It was a rather sickening thing to behold, a mass slaughter performed with an efficiency that could only have come from long experience. No excess movement, no waste, just quick efficient execution.
I prepared to destroy the Poddy that Mercury had frozen with my supercharged Supreme Thunder, but found something had already caused it to shatter into innumerable pieces. I charged my attack further and discharged it on one of those bat eared ape things we had decided to called Kongs. It spasmed violently before finally going still, smoking as it hit the ground and dissolved.
As I looked around to find another target in this large squad that had attacked us I found they had all been dispatched. Mercury was muttering something about it hadn't even been ten seconds to kill thirty. Sho stood in his blue insect like armor among the rapidly dissolving monsters. For something so powerful and so deadly it wasn't that visually intimidating. Of course, the same could be said of Sho himself.
Sho began to scream. At first I thought he might have been injured, but as I rushed over the armor didn't so much come off as it tore and ripped off. Leaving Sho breathing hard and looking very worn out as it disappeared.
"Sho-san are you alright?"
Sho slowly looked up at me. "No, I'm not alright. I don't believe I've really been all right for a long time. I can barely force myself to revert anymore. If I hadn't studied concentration techniques and how to focus my will for months I wouldn't be able to revert at all by now. It knows it can complete what it's started faster in that form. I could kill zoanoids all day and not tire, but forcing the armor off. I'm sorry. I'm concerning you with something you don't need to worry about."
Sho seemed to regain his normal demeanor and stood up. Effectively cutting off the conversation about himself and once more burying that vulnerable part of himself behind the shields he normally wore.
----------------------------
Makoto saw Sho on the street. "Sho-san! Are you out shopping too?"
Sho turned, but his near perpetual sunglasses prevented her from reading his gaze.
----------------------------
She had just been out shopping for groceries like any other day when it happened. She'd been accosted by a lecher. Her attempts to discourage his advances had failed to work and he'd pulled a knife. Now she was in a back alley with a knife to her throat. She was going to be raped.
Something seemed to whistle through the air and her attacker's body went limp. The shock of realizing that there was a knife protruding from the side of his neck brought the realization her attacker was no longer in a position to kill her as she shoved his body off of her. She saw a young man and a girl standing at the mouth of the alley she had been led down.
----------------------------
They had seen the lady off, but not before Sho had made a point of referring her to a good counselor he knew.
"Uhm, Sho-san why did you kill him?" Makato asked.
"Why do you kill Youma?" Sho responded.
"What?! That's completely different. They're monsters."
"That man had done this before, and would do it again. He wrecks his victims' lives, not just in the physical damage and potential consequences his actions cause, but the psychological trauma as well. People like to think they're safe. They have a trust in the general goodness of people and to a degree society. He betrays all that trust, violating them and for what, some small personal pleasure of his own. The police aren't big on listening to those who become his victims and they don't want to bring dishonor to their family by talking about it. Even if they got him to court and succeeded in getting him charged and convicted he'd be out within five years and doing it again."
"That doesn't give you the right to kill someone!" Makato exclaimed.
"If I didn't there would be just more victims, more wrecked lives. By eliminating him from the picture I put a stop to it. Prevent his future victims from having to suffer. Besides severing his spinal column was the only way I could have stopped him without risking him taking his victim with him, that wouldn't result in a scene. You are not quiet enough that I could have just sneaked up on him and knocked him out. Nevermind the disservice to his victim by causing it to go on that much longer."
"How do you know he'd do it again?" Makato asked.
". I read his mind. That's how I found him there in the first place. 72, 29, 33, 10, 9 and yes I can read your mind." Sho's response was one of resignation realizing he had been backed into a corner.
Makoto stopped and gapped for a few minutes. "Get out of my head. You can do that and you didn't tell us?"
"It was a quick way to verify if you or the others were telling the truth and getting information. I no longer have the time to fool around with possibilities that will not work out. Normally I tend to try to stay out of people's heads. Part I suppose you could call ethics, but part is they're some really sick people out there. Now you know I can read your mind it is no longer a reliable indicator of whether you're telling the truth or not. My telepathy is much more limited then I expect you realize." Sho's response had a dejected air to it. That of someone who doesn't really want to do something, but feels they had to anyway.
"The others will know about this. Until then could you please not kill anyone else?"
Sho brought his arm out as if to point. As Makoto followed where he was pointing she saw a girl being accosted. A barely visible distortion flew and hit the girl's attacker with such force he was picked bodily up off his feet and flung like a rag doll into the wall behind them. The girl looked around sort of dazed, glanced at her attacker, and rushed off.
"Better?" Sho asked.
Makoto turned her gaze back to Sho, sort of weirded out herself by this particular turn of events.
"If it's such a big deal to you I won't kill anymore of the scum, Kino-san. There are bigger things that need to be done. See you later."
Sho began walking off.
"Wait! What? How did you do that?" But Sho was gone.
----------------------------
"You staged that didn't you?"
"I'm responsible for the slaughter of millions, Luna. By my hands they died, and it wasn't until I'd made the distinction of killing so many did I realize the truth of my actions. It's easy to kill when you just see them as inhuman monsters. When you begin to realize what you're actually doing. Luna, I don't want them to have to suffer that guilt. I can't have them stop and be unable to do what is necessary because of that knowledge either. Many of them were just innocent people, victims of fates being controlled against their will. They made it so there was no body to stare at you lifelessly. No corpse that you can give a proper burial.
I've survived when I shouldn't and am more inhuman then the enemy we fight. I want to find a way to resolve this that'll minimize the regret they feel over their actions later. I wish there was some way I could sacrifice myself to make it all better, but I see no such out. You have every right not to trust me, but this monster who was once a man will do everything in his power to assist you."
Luna looked thoughtfully down from the wall for a moment. "I came to tell you Artemis and Venus had arrived and you should go to the shrine to meet them. We should get going."
----------------------------
"Hello, I'm Minako and I was Sailor V."
"Oh wow! This is great! I finally get to meet Sailor V." Usagi was practically bouncing for joy, which was causing certain members of the group to sweatdrop.
After a few minutes of Usagi's continuing fangirl antics Rei decided to take charge. "The frolicking fangirl is Usagi, she's Sailor Moon. I'm Rei and Sailor Mars. The tall brunette over there is Makoto; she's Sailor Jupiter. The girl with the short hair there is Ami, our resident brain and Sailor Mercury. Our resident Terminator over there is Sho Aikawa and well what he is a long story he hasn't told us yet. Watch your thoughts around him, he's a telepath."
"I'm not a frolicking fangirl, Rei-chan."
"Oh? Then what were you just doing meatball head."
"Don't call me that, Rei-chan."
The others made a point of ignoring Usagi and Rei's continuing bickering.
Minako asked, "do they do this all the time?"
"Yes, I'm afraid those two seem to enjoy bickering with each other. It's just their way of showing their friendship. I'm Ami Mizuno. I'm pleased to meet you and hope we can become good friends."
"I believe it is time that we went to the ruins of the Moon Kingdom." Sho suggested.
"What?!" was the collective response.
"There should still be something we could salvage among the ruins that may be able to help us in our present situation. We can use all the help we can get."
"How exactly are you intending to get up there?!" Rei exclaimed.
"If we use a Sailor Teleport we should be able to get there." A white cat piped in.
"Okay, Artemis. What do you guys think?" Minako asked.
"I'm in." Makoto replied.
"This seems to be a good course of action, count me in as well," was Ami's reply.
"I'll go," was Rei's reply.
"We'll actually get to see the Moon Kingdom. Lets go." Usagi said enthusiastically.
------------------------------
They arrived in the Lunar landscape. The ruins of a great city mostly leveled stood around them.
"Any idea why we can breathe?" Sho asked.
"No, not really." Mercury responded.
"I'm feeling some form of magic power source below the surface and what feels like some form of illusion spell over the area. Something about this seems familiar. You guys check around. I'm going to see where this hunch leads me."
Sho proceeded to wander off.
The Senshi explored the ruins before coming upon a stone disk that energized and created the image of a little woman in a white dress with some form of wing things wrought in cloth in back.
"I am the former Queen of the Silver Millenium, Serenity. My dear Serenity I can see you."
The Senshi followed the little holograms gaze to Usagi. The Guardians of the Princess gaped in disbelief. So much for the great Princess of the Moon Luna talked about.
"You mean, me?" Usagi asked pointing at herself.
Rei shook off her dumbfoundedness. "She's the princess?!"
"Yes, she's my daughter, Princess Serenity. Don't you remember? Oh, I see you haven't recovered the Ginzuishou yet."
Jupiter spoke up, "We're working to collect the Nijizuishou so we can bring back the Ginzuishou. Sho's helping us."
"Oh yes, Sho. I awoke Luna and Artemis from their cryogenic sleep. Through them, I was able to watch and guide you. I have looked forward to meeting you again. Our kingdom is in ruins now, but do you remember?
This Moon Castle in its glory. The dome was lush and green, and a fresh wind blew. But you my daughter, you longed for the real thing. Often you went down to Earth and there you found love.
We who were born on the Moon had a long lifespan. Our duty was to protect the Ginzuishou and vanish _evil_ from the Earth. To watch over and guide her people on the path of good.
I still remember that year, the sun was so active. It was that activity that delivered our destruction. The Enemy was truly, the Evil One.
It set its sights on the magnificent power of the Ginzuishou. Slipping into the hearts of humans and using their envy of our long lives. Only Endymion's will was never bent and he tried to reason with his people till the end. He was to late though and Beryl tore him away from you as the Moon Kingdom fell. You died trying to be with him.
I finally managed to seal the Evil One away, but all of this Moon Castle had turned to stone and crumbled. The Earth Kingdom was destroyed, and mankind had to begin anew in its development.
Someone has revived the Evil One. Even from here I can't find where it is hiding in the Earth, but I can tell it is lurking deep within.
It's up to you, Serenity! You must bring back the Ginzuishou and use its power to seal the Evil One away."
------------------------------
Sho walked down what seemed to be the city's main boulevard. As he reached it's end he found a monstrous gate, the doors of which had been blown off. His walk around the city before reaching this gate had shown that none of the other gates showed any sign of forced entry and were open. As he passed outside the gate he found a polearm of some sort, covered in some sort of gray residue and dust, lying on the ground. Something compelled him to pick it up.
--------------------------------
The hologram of Queen Serenity disintegrated leaving them once more alone.
Jupiter spoke up, "We should find out where Sho-san went."
They decided to walk down what appeared to be the main boulevard gapping at the destruction that had been wrought. A figure approached them.
"Venus-Kyou, Mercury-Kyou, Jupiter-Kyou, Mars-Kyou, may this humble guardsman ask what you are doing here and who your friend is?"
It was Sho physically, but it wasn't Sho at the same time. He was carrying something that bared a strong resemblance to a Naginata, but the staff part was some sort of clear crystal. Jupiter started to speak up, but Mercury cut her off.
"May I have your name guardsman? We're sort of lost and we'd like it if you explained some things to us."
"This one is not deserving of the honor, of the Imperial Guard I am Feldspar, Guard of the Main Gate to the Moon Kingdom."
"Feldspar, could you please tell us about the Imperial Guard and that weapon you're carrying."
"The Imperial Guard are the protectors of this city and other capitals of the Silver Millennium. We help keep the peace, provide directions, and help to keep the city running smoothly. Unlike the Royal Guard the Court considers us a valuable enough asset to maintaining the peace. We aren't in danger of being disbanded."
"Excuse me, but who are the Royal Guard?" Venus asked.
"Why the protectors of your most honored persons. Surely thou jests at not knowing this."
"Why were they in danger of being disbanded, Feldspar?"
"Well the gab is that the Queen deprived the Soldiers of the Outer Planets of their complement of Royal Guardsmen leaving them alone at their posts, because she feared it might distract them from their duties of protecting the Silver Millennium from outside threats. Well after this happened and those who had assisted the Soldiers of the Outer Planets were reassigned to the Queen, people began to fear she was consolidating to much power to herself. First they downgraded them to Support Staffs and that quieted things down for a while, but people got antsy again and started calling for them to be disbanded entirely. I had been selected to join up with the Royal Guard and went through the training. In a week I'd have went through the selection process. Why was it I didn't again." Sho or rather Feldspar began to look confused as if he was trying to remember something that wouldn't come to him.
"Is a Support Staff that thing you're carrying there?" Mercury asked.
"No, no this is a Blast Stave, honored one. Would you like me to show you a Support Staff to refresh your memory?
"Yes, please if it wouldn't be to much trouble." Mercury responded.
"If your honored persons would just follow me."
Sho or rather Feldspar led them down the main boulevard into the ruins of the Moon Palace. With a sureness of step he continued on opening a secret passageway and descending into what was rather reminiscent of an armory. Rows upon rows of ornately carved staffs of different colors of crystal were lined up in racks from wall to wall of the small room. Feldspar continued until stopping in front of a clear one.
"This one here was mine, honored ones. Let me show you how it works."
As he reached for it something seemed to happen.
"This is your basic shield stance and you can fire energy attacks. Otherwise it just allows the poor lower level people with the talent to give their magic to their guardian Senshi or draw power from them. It entirely works on using the person's own power. It is different from a Blast Stave, which uses lower style magic in the staff part working as a magic capacitor. The color indicates which Senshi their guardian is and is determined during the Choosing Ceremony. The staff is made from the person's power. It's interesting that Feldspar's memory has no recollection of a Sailor Moon. However certain things the part of him that remained here found out from the ghosts who couldn't pass on and things I learned from the ships seem to be fitting together."
Moon spoke up, "What fits? Why wasn't there a Sailor Moon?"
"It boils down to something I wouldn't know except for those ghosts who cannot pass on, because they aren't sure about whether what they did was the right thing or they had the right to do it. During the early years right before the Silver Millenium when aliens from out of the system began to settle on the Moon there were people with the talent for magic. Lower style magic along with the help of other things was extensively used to allow the Jovians, Martians, Venusians, and Mercurians to survive. The Lunarians began to discover something they called Star Seeds in people. They found a way to cause these to mature into Sailor Crystals in some cases to make Sailor Scouts. Soon people with Sailor Crystals began to arise without this maturation process and with time it was lost. Many departed on outbound projects with hosts of colonists to settle other Star Systems. I expect they've forgotten about their origins in the million or so years that have passed by now.
The Royal Family of the Moon however did not possess a strong enough Star Seed to form a Sailor Crystal and become Sailor Scouts. However they felt it was their right to have the most powerful Star Seed, as they had granted to others the ability to use theirs. So they had a group use very powerful magic, now lost, to time to seek out and find the most powerful Star Seed in the galaxy. That Star Seed was the Ginzuishou. As life arises from Star Seeds those who had done this began feeling concerns, because by taking this Star Seed and giving it to the Queen they weren't allowing a life to develop. The Queen basically merged her Star Seed partially with the Ginzuishou using an artifact to control it. When she died it was merged with the Star Seed of her successor so she could use its power. The artifact used has changed, but the method has not. That is why they could carry it around and it could pass from mother to daughter without one having to die and it not being in two places at once.
When the Earth learned of this they too had not had a strong enough Star Seed to develop into a proper Sailor Crystal in the highest ruling family. So they managed to convince the people who obtained the Ginzuishou to do the same for them, and thus came the Golden Crystal. However this time those who had done this felt great shame at what they had done and sealed the Golden Crystal. So that while it would pass on merged with the Star Seeds of the ruler of the Golden Kingdom, but it could not be used. Shortly afterwards they destroyed everything that would allow people to alter the natural ways of the Star Seeds and killed themselves so no one could get the knowledge from them. Such was the dark things that happened at the beginning of the Silver Millennium, which lasted for hundreds of thousands of years.
Those who first developed Sailor Crystals on the other planets became effectively part of the ruling family without any of this other nonsense."
Usagi was quiet for a moment. "Could you please tell me how I can turn into a Sailor Senshi if I don't have a 'Sailor Crystal'?"
"The answer has been staring you in the face since you first became Sailor Moon in this life. You just didn't see it. Look at your broach. Those four small crystals are representative of your four Guardians. If it was a compass red at the north is Mars, the west green one is Jupiter, the east yellow one is Venus, and the light blue at the bottom is Mercury. Where the pink one is would have been representative of Endymion and drawn power from him, but it isn't as far as my mystical senses tell me. It draws your own star seed's power into the matrix as it's presently set up.
Also notice your transformation phrase 'Moon Prism Power' while everyone else is just the planet name power. You likely know a prism can make white light form a rainbow, however I expect you don't realize a second prism can make that rainbow reform into white light. In this case it's a prism that takes power from your guardians and yourself and allows you to become a Sailor Scout using primarily their power. Even your primary attack with your tiara is Venusian in origin.
The Queen and Royal family seemed to rarely use such devices mainly focusing on using the Ginzuishou. If you keep transforming into Sailor Moon I expect you'll find an interesting thing will happen. You will begin drawing power from more and more Star Seeds and eventually might draw power from all the Sailor Crystals in the Galaxy, maybe they'll call you Sailor Galaxy, Universe, Cosmos, or some such thing. Don't feel guilty about this. This all happened hundreds of generations before you were born and if I hadn't had contact with those ghosts would be lost to history. Your friends care for you and will stand by you.
Come on there's some things we need in the supply rooms before we leave."
----------------------------
Makoto encountered Sho again while out shopping.
"Hi Sho."
"Greetings, Kino-san."
"Today's my birthday. Would you be interested in sharing dinner with me?" Makoto looked hopeful.
"Okay."
----------------------------
I showed him into my apartment.
He spoke. "You have a nice apartment Kino-san. The plants really liven up the place."
Why is it always Kino-san? Is there some reason he feels he can't address people by their first name? Maybe with the hell that's been his life he no longer is willing to get close enough to people to even refer to them by their first name.
I speak. "I'll have supper ready in a moment."
Sho followed me into the kitchen.
"It was just my father and me back when and he'd usually get home late. So I learned to cook for myself. Can I help?"
No mother he almost sounds like me.
"What happened to your dad?"
"I. He died."
That seems to be a big soft spot. For his posture and voice he's feels guilt about it. It's probably best I don't press that issue. If he wants to tell me he will.
"Go ahead. Can you make this up while I work on the main course?"
I look up from working on making the main course a little while later and sneak a peak over at Sho. He didn't do the job overly fast or elaborately, but purposefully and at a steady pace.
"Okay, it's ready."
"Could you watch this for me?"
"Hai." He responds.
I feel a sense of contentment come over me as I work with Sho on making dinner. I wonder if this is what is feels like to be a wife. I blush. I hope Sho wasn't reading my mind. That would be so embarrassing. Sho doesn't seem to know though, focusing on what he was doing with his back towards me.
"Okay, we just put this in the oven and wait till it's done."
We left the kitchen. Sho was extra careful about sitting down.
"Are your joints hurting you, Sho-san?" I ask concerned.
"No, it's just that despite appearances I weigh over 200 kilograms and I have to be careful to avoid damaging things."
I gape, "Over 200?!"
200 kilograms is a lot for a person to weigh. I'm pretty sure it's not heavy enough that you'd have to take the measure's Sho is taking to be careful to not break anything. Maybe it's an extreme reaction to something in his past.
"I have tricks to reduce gravity's effect on me, but yes. I once had a doctor do an X-ray on me two years ago when I began realizing thing were really wrong with my body. He found my organs, no my entire body was no longer human. I had organs of types humans don't possess and more efficient versions of the type they do. I'm sorry, I'm bothering you with things you need not concern yourself with again."
"No it's alright."
"Here, it's your birthday so I should give you a gift."
Sho pulled out what appeared to be a small jeweled key attached to a chain and handed it to me.
"What is it?" I ask out of curiosity. I've never seen anything like this.
"If you ever need a friend or just someone to talk to this is your key to finding them." He says cryptically.
Knowing him that's probably all I'm going to get out of him about it right now. It's nice and a thoughtful gift though.
"Thank you."
The timer dinged indicating the food was ready. I serve us up.
Sho eats his food, but slowly and doesn't eat very much.
"Don't you like it Sho? You've hardly eaten anything." I ask.
He speaks apologetically. "I'm sorry, it's wonderful it's just. I can't eat like a normal person. I know you put so much work into it. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be here, but being with you allows me to recapture for a short while some of what I've lost."
It seems that many of the conversations I get into with him end up involving some part that serves to remind me he isn't really human anymore. I really wonder with the way he acts and talks how much he still has left sometimes. Not allowed to enjoy the comfort of good food, I can't help but feel sorry for him.
"It's okay, really Sho-san.
"You know you're to beautiful and kind of a person to be wasting time on me. I end up hurting or destroying everything I get close to. You're a great person, someone anyone should be honored to have interested in them. I. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Sho always seems to be putting the needs of someone else before himself. Drawing his troubles into himself to try and prevent them from having to be the concerns of someone else. Maybe I can help him. We do seem to have something going here.
----------------------------
"Okay according to Aptom this is the local headquarters for the Dark Kingdom. Zoisite and Kunzite are supposed to hang around here, and it's likely they may have their Nijizuishou on them. So the only problem is getting in."
Sho and the Sailor Senshi in civilian form were standing outside a big office building. It was the beginning of winter break so they had the day off, but early enough in adults were still going to work. At this particular hour the streets were abandoned except for them.
"I know I'll use the disguise pen. Moon power, turn me into a elegant health inspector."
There was a collective sweatdrop. Sho grabbed her ear and began walking as Usagi rather inelegantly was dragged along. "Owie. Owie. Owie. Owie."
"What was that for, you big meanie?" Usagi expressed her discomfort as they stopped.
"Even if you could get in like that the rest of us couldn't. Besides which I already set up arrangements for getting us in." Sho held up six bags he'd been carrying. "These uniforms are our ticket to getting in there. There are department stores within a few blocks. You can change into these there. Meet me in front of the building within an hour. Put your hair up under the caps. It'll make it harder for them to spot you later. Stow your other clothes in the lockers specified in the bags."
Sho passed out five of the bags. He ended up switching Minako's and Usagi's bag.
----------------------------
The group reassembled in front of the building within about half an hour. All were wearing janitor style coveralls with some form of cap. Usagi's for instance was white with a pink rabbit making a victory sign on it.
Rei spoke up, "So you're sending us in there as a cleaning crew?"
"Yes, is this a problem?"
"What are you thinking?"
"Janitorial staff can get anywhere in the building and are usually ignored as someone else's problem. If you don't want to go along with this go ahead and leave. You don't have to come along."
Rei fumed for a little while. "Fine, I'll go along with it."
The group entered the lobby of the building, which just had one woman sitting at a desk as a secretary among the fountain and other decorations.
"Hello Aptom, looking lovely today I see." Sho addressed the secretary.
"Can it, Fukamachi." Aptom growled.
"Is everything in place?" Sho queried.
"Right where you asked, and yes the lady and the lord are in."
"Thank you." Sho responded.
They continued on to a storage room where one of those big carts cleaning staffs tend to use was parked. Sho reach into one of the compartments and pulled out five disks about as wide as a humans hand was long, that they retrieved from the Moon along with a few other things at Sho's insistence.
"Okay these are teleport inhibitors. We need to place one at each of the corners of the base of the building. Once these are in place we won't have to worry about Kunzite or Zoisite leaving before we can get the goods." Sho explained.
----------------------------
"Number one in place." Rei responded.
"Number two is ready to go." Makoto declared.
"Number three is where you asked me to put it." Ami said.
"Did you want it on the support column, Sho-san?" Minako asked.
"Sure that's fine, Aino-san. Activating field now."
There was a barely audible click from the crystal still in Sho's hand.
"Seems as how Aptom has taken control of security and will dispose of the tapes for us we don't need to bother to pretend to work or worry about the cameras to much. Act like you belong and they'll ignore you. Our targets are on level 23."
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, Aino-san?"
"How can she, that is Aptom-san, be at the desk and controlling security?" Asked Minako curious at Sho's odd friend.
"If Aptom can be actually classified by such terms Aptom would be a he. Aptom can take on others forms if he has a DNA sample. He's also been known to mix and match abilities and attributes to make a form have the qualities he needs it to have. This ability among other things allows him to take on a female form if he wants to. As for how he can be in many places at once, don't ask."
The group went quiet and tried to appear casual as an employee walked by. They didn't even receive more then the most cursory glance.
"Off to the service elevator." Sho declared.
----------------------------
The group stood in front of a door marked "Manager". Sho motioned for the group to pull back some.
"If you ladies would go ahead and transform we can take them out. I'll take point."
Sho reached under the cart and drew his Blast Stave from it. He unzipped and chucked off the coveralls revealing a white uniform with silver trim underneath. There was a bracer on his left arm as he held the Blast Stave in his right. The bracer had a silver luster to it and was lined with some sort of clear crystal.
"Moon Prism power, make up."
"Jupiter power, make up."
"Venus power, make up."
"Mercury power, make up."
"Mars power, make up."
Sho walked over to the door Zoisite and Kunzite were using as their office. Sho knocked.
"Yes?" came the reply.
"Room service." Sho announced.
Sho kicked in the door sending it off its hinges and flying into Kunzite causing it to splinter on impact rendering him unconscious almost instantly. Zoisite got off a call of "Kunzite" before Sho moved in with his Blast Stave inhumanly fast. Zoisite managed to form a spear of ice and get it into a guard position against Sho's slash with his Blast Stave, but it did him no good and with a discharge of white light and a crack he joined Kunzite in unconsciousness. The crystal part of the weapon darkened simultaneously with the flash before quickly resuming its normal clear state.
It took Jupiter a moment to realize that Sho's initial slash, which could have taken off Zoisite's head, had been parried. In one seamless continuous move though Sho had twisted his weapon so the flat would impact Zoisite's head and apparently used Zoisite's attempt at a defense as a pivot, slamming the flat into the side of his skull.
Sho didn't so much rummage as reach in and grab the crystals from Zoisite's uniform. Revealing to the light and once more to the Sailor Senshi's eyes the blue and yellow Nijizuishou. Sho got up and offered the crystals to the Sailor Senshi.
"So who would you like to hold on to these?" Sho asked.
----------------------------
They walked out of the building once more in the coveralls Sho had provided. At his insistence both the Kunzite and Zoisite had been left as they were instead of finishing them off. Usagi had opted to take the Dark Kingdom Nijizuishou stating it was her right as Princess.
"Well that should." Sho suddenly got an odd look on his face. Covering his mouth like he was going to throw up he ran off.
Makoto spoke up, "Let's follow him. He could be in trouble."
They found him crouched down hiding in a alley. Something seemed to wrong with him. Every few second he'd start going into convulsions, which would just as quickly subside. His back was to the mouth of the alley and them so they couldn't read his face.
Makato walked up to him, "Sho-san are you alright?" She started to move to put her arm on his shoulder. He struck out and she was sent flying through the solid brick wall of the adjourning building, how far she went in was obscured by the dust and debris from things she hit during her flight.
"How dare you do that to Mako-chan. She's your friend isn't she?" Usagi demanded.
She received no answer except Sho's continued convulsions. She walked around to face him and the group followed. They found him in a fetal position, his expression one of abject terror. What was most disturbing and telling though were his eyes for his usual sunglasses had fell off. They say the eyes are windows into the soul, Sho's eyes were making this readily apparent. They kept flipping between a determined desperate human to something that wasn't human, back and forth.
"Ami-chan what's going on? What's happening to him?" Usagi asked.
"My guess would be this is part of the losing of his humanity, Sho-san was talking about."
Rei interjected, "It's not a demon. My senses would tell me if that was the case."
"Isn't there anything we can do?"
"No, Minako-san. I don't think there's much of anything we can do for him right now, but we do need to go help out Makoto-san."
As they began to walk towards the opening Makoto had made passing through the wall Sho's convulsions abruptly ended. For a moment it almost seemed like he was going to pass out, then he slowly got to his feet the spark in his eyes still showing signs of humanity.
"I.I. Oh no she must have."
He didn't so much walk as run despite the fact he was stumbling and showing signs of serious fatigue all the way. They found him cradling an unconscious Makoto in his arms. The left sleeve of his coveralls had been pushed up some in the process, exposing enough of the bracer show clearly it was now as dark as obsidian. Makoto didn't look as bad as they expected, but she still looked pretty bad even though she seemed to be very slowing getting better somehow. Sho was actually crying.
"Why? I was only trying to protect you. Why do I always end up hurting the people I'm trying to help? Why?! Is it my destiny that to end up hurting everyone I come in contact with? Tsukino-san, please tell me you have a way to save her. I. don't have the power to heal her enough to make a difference."
Sho sat there head hung in shame as the tears continued to fall.
"Luna, would.?"
"Yes, but you must hurry."
"Moon Prism Power, Make up."
Sailor Moon pulled out the Moon Crescent Wand.
"Moon Healing Escalation."
Makoto quickly and noticeably got better. She began to come to.
"Sho-san are you okay? Why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry. I ended up hurting you Makoto-san."
"It's alright, Sho-san. We're both fine now."
----------------------------
"So what happened this time."
"Another weird one, although this time it's at least halfway normal. Someone broke in a wall of an abandoned office building."
"That doesn't sound that unusual."
"Yeah? Well how many time does that happen through the side in a alley to small to fit a car in with no evidence of explosives?"
"Well it's not that odd really. You certainly have dealt with weirder."
"And the holes indicating that something was thrown through several walls?"
"Maybe a jack hammer being run by some nut?"
"We have several witnesses in the area indicating they only heard one really big crash. Plus a few eye witnesses only saw a few people leaving the seen and they weren't carrying anything that large."
"Well look on the bright side. At least this time we don't have to come up with an explanation why people think they were attacked by monsters that disappear without a trace."
Author's notes: I went ahead and gave Sailor Mercury her more advanced Sailor Moon R attack because desperation does seem to help them invent new attacks and Shabon Spray Freezing would not have been that effective. For those who say Supreme Thunder has no chance of taking down a zoanoid I refer you to the D-Point Assault and the rather large attack she pulled off then. Something like ' Flower Hurricane' just didn't seem to fit her. She can put out a truly impressive amount of power when she has to. The Sailor Moon R movie would also be a decent reference.
The killing the rapist scene and all is only staged in universe in so much as Sho knew Makoto would be in that area on that day. It was intended as an analogous situation so he could know whether to reveal a certain bit of information, Guyver fans should be familiar with that information and those who aren't will find out in the next chapter. Five years is the maximum sentence normally given in Japan for rape, which is where that figure came from. Movements are presently working to change that, but the fic take place in 1992 so there's no comment about it in fic. My sources indicate there wasn't even a real support group for victims till 1997.
If you don't like my referring to what amounts to the city guard as the Imperial Guard because it implies a empire, you can yell at Tokyo Pop while you're at it for using Imperial in one of their names for the Ginzuishou during the SuperS arc. If you don't like my explanation about the Ginzuishou I'd love to hear your theory on how that works. The closest thing to it is Sailor Galaxia but she has those weird bracelet things. The Star Seeds becoming Sailor Crystals is taken from Star Healers comment about Special Star Seeds become Sailor Crystals. If you don't like my explanation of Moon Prism Power and how that could have lead to her most powerful form of Sailor Cosmos again I'd like to hear your theory. As for why Chibi-usa has the same transformations phrase, Sailor Moon was her hero and it's not outside the realm of possibility for the transformation phrase to be altered. Moon Tiara Action being Venusian in origin is taken from the fact Sailor Venus basically did the same attack in manga.
The One Thousands years ago thing is just Dic being silly from what I've heard so I'm ignoring it. Guyver continuity put the 'Smart Ones' ie Homo Sapiens on planet a few million years ago. No reason you can't have them having done something before now really. After all we went from basic civilization to here in only around 5,000 years. I'm not putting colonies in the Solar System past Jupiter because they make such a point of the Soldiers of the Outer Planets being lone guardians and all alone out there in the night standing against threats from without. There will be some more on this in the next chapter to fully bring both continuities together.
The speech is adapted from manga continuity because the anime version is all flashback and about an entire episode long.
One thing I find odd is I see again and again Serenity's interpretation of Earth's reason to go to war of being "their envy of our long lives" being used by Queen Metaria. We see through the Shitennou's memories why they wanted to go to war when they're talking to Endymion. They say they're tired of submitting and can no longer stand Moon Kingdom rule. They also say the Moon Kingdom spies on their every move. To which Endymion tells them the evil power is using them. Now wait, before this we see that Serenity liked to watch Earth and had some form of viewer thing that did let her spy on the people of Earth so their spying isn't exactly a lie. We also know the Queen introduces herself as Selene "Goddess" (in Greek mythology yes Selene is the Goddess of the Moon of the Moon) and later in SuperS that the Guardians of the Princess also have the title of Goddess by the TokyoPop translation. It does appear there was a good sized grain of truth in the concern Metaria used to sway the Shitennou and try to sway Endymion.
Makoto is being emphasized more like this because in Volume 7 of manga she's defined as the Scout of Protection, while Mars is War, Mercury is Wisdom, and Venus is Love. Sho is more a person trying to protect others so I went ahead and went with her as having in effect a similar emphasis.
I'm not trying to imply Rei and Usagi fight continuously but after three months making no headway I think Rei might get a little bit short. Especially when her attacks aren't working like she wants them to. This is why she's been altered slightly like that.
If you're curious:
Vamore=Poddy; Ramotith=Kong; Gergoile=Orky; Gregore=G-chan; Zerebubuse=Crabby
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will read the next one.
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'