Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Anime Patrol ❯ The Hero and the Assassin ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: All Anime Patrol related characters belong to me. Do not take them. The other characters belong to the creators of the anime featured in a particular chapter.

Credits: Some of the dialogs are based on the information found at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/5976/

Chapter 1: The Hero and the Assassin

By Anita C.

Danielle Polansky was slowly walking towards the chief's office. The station was very quiet, as usual this time a day. She was dressed in jeans, green T-shirt and a long black coat. She had a double belt wrapped around her hips with a gun hanging from one of them.

"Hey, Dan! Wait up!" a voice came calling from down the hall. She knew who it was without turning around. A young man soon caught up with her. He wore black pants, blue shirt and a gray coat, similar in style to the one the girl had on. Mike Haley approached her quickly and to Dan's annoyance patted her shoulder.

"What do you want?" Dan asked. She didn't think much of this 21-year-old ranger, her partner. They worked together and they got their job done. That was all that counted to her.

"Hey, we're heading the same way. Why not go together?" he suggested with a big smile on his face. Dan just smirked a quick `suit yourself' and kept walking.

"What do you think it's all about?" Mike insisted on keeping the conversation going. "Do you think we'll get another assignment?"

Dan just shrugged her shoulders and grabbed a piece of gum out of her coat pocket. She unwrapped it with one hand and shoved it in her mouth. Soon they were standing in front of a massive wooden door with a sign "Chief Kevin Barkley" written in golden letters. Mike quickly knocked. A sharp `enter' from inside told them it was okay to walk in. A tall blond man in a dark brown suit was standing by the window. When he heard the door close he turned around. His blue eyes gazed quickly at the two young people standing in front of him.

"Ah, my two best men!" Dan cleared her throat, but the chief continued without taking notice. "We've got an emergency going, but I guess you already know that."

He approached his desk and pulled out some papers from a folder. He handed each of them a copy.

"We got this report this morning. Apparently there is an organization that is trying to alter the anime dimension. We don't know where they got the ability to travel between the dimensions. After the conference in 2053, all the transporters, except for the ones we're using, were destroyed for the sake of keeping the order between the anime. It would seem that somebody else obtained those types of devices."

Dan and Mike looked through their copies of the report.

"Is that all we got?" Mike asked in disbelief after he was done reading.

"That's why we need you two to get on the job." Chief looked up from his desk. "We have currently several anime that could be the potential target for those guys, one in particular."

He pointed to a name on the report. Dan shook her head.

"Great. That's all we need, a bunch of ditsy teenagers with super powers."

"They could attack anywhere." Mike added quickly, hoping to cover up the sarcasm in Dan's voice.

"I know," the Chief sat down in his huge leather chair and leaned back. "That's why we need rangers to do the job. I know I can count on you."

With a short `dismissed' he let them know that the `audience' was over. Dan and Mike left the room.

"Where do we start?" Mike looked at Dan expectantly.

"Same place as always." Dan turned towards the control room.

"Oh, I see. You're going to look for clues. Good thinking."

Mike scratched his neck in embarrassment. Dan was usually the one with initiative, but she had one big problem. She never talked much about what she was going to do. Mike had to figure it out for himself most of the time, which sometimes was quite challenging. He on the other hand always spoke what was on his mind, much to Dan's annoyance.

They've been on the force for about 3 years, but together they've worked only for the past 6 months. They started off as trainees with more experienced rangers, until the boss decided it was time for them to stand on their own. It was never clear to them why they were paired with each other. Nevertheless they proved themselves in their very first assignment, and even though Dan thought she could do the job by herself she got stuck with Mike, a cheerful young computer geek. They soon became one of the best in their profession, quite remarkable for such a young age.

Their partnership started off on the wrong foot, when Mike decided to call Dan by her full first name - Danielle, which she absolutely hates. After that she ignored him most of the time despite his attempts to become friends.

The control room was one big hall with hundreds of monitors. Each anime had several monitors connected to a computer, supervising the whole dimension. Dan sat down in front of one of those monitors and watched a girl in long blond ponytails with funny odangos, running down the street. The girl was dressed in a Japanese school uniform. So far everything seemed allright. Dan pulled out a keyboard and began to do some research.

"Let me do that."

Mike was leaning over her shoulder. Dan didn't like to admit that Mike was better with computers than her, but she stepped to the side and watched his fingers dance on the keyboard. Soon he had a whole bunch of interesting information displayed on the monitor. Mike began to going through the stuff muttering under his notice.

"Bingo!" He exclaimed happily.

Dan leaned over and looked at what he was pointing to. A simple information, as an extra ticket sold to a radio show, was enough to go in and investigate. She nodded and turned around ready to leave.

"Hey, aren't you at least going to say `good job' or something along those lines?"

"We don't have time for praises," she replied without looking at him, "so let's just get on the road."

"I guess nothing had changed since this morning." Mike sighed, "but there's always tomorrow."

The transportation room was full of people coming and going. There was always something to do in the anime world: fix mixed up voices, characters out of place and all that kind of stuff. Dan and Mike's mission was more serious this time. From what they read in the report a group of terrorists was trying to interfere with some of the main events, and help the villains win, this way gaining power over a particular dimension or even causing a full destruction of their world. It seemed that their current target was "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon".

Dan approached one of the transporters and entered the chamber. She turned around ready to close the door, but to her surprise Mike wasn't with her. Annoyed she walked back outside. He was standing by the controls flirting with the cute operator.

"Haley!" Dan yelled.

Mike jumped up and the young girl blushed.

"Ok, ok, I'm coming."

He whispered a few words to the girl, which made her blush even more, and entered the transporter. They've been using this type of portals for over 5 years now. There were two sets of doors in each portal, one leading from the control room, the other connected to the anime dimension. The door could only open in the vertical position on each side, and it needed a substantial amount of space, minimum six feet high and three feet wide. The inside of a portal was a small round room. The only controls in there were hidden in the wall for emergency purposes. Once the rangers were inside the door leading from the control room closed. The operator's job was to put in the coordination of the destination, plus of course the correct time and place for each dimension. Each anime had its special code. Also the operator had to monitor the whereabouts of the rangers. This was done using the output signals from the mini computers the rangers were bound to carry.

Once the destination was set, red lights would come on inside the portal and begin to flash in a wave from top to bottom. It usually took about 15 seconds to transport from the control room to the anime. There was no other direct connection between the two worlds. The `arrival' at the destination was usually announced by a steady green light.

"I think Mary likes you."

"Who?" Dan had no clue who he was talking about.

"The operator." Mike looked at Dan's short brown hair and smiled again. "She thinks you're a guy."

Dan just shrugged her shoulders. "It's not my problem."

"You know, you would make a good looking man!" Mike joked.

Dan turned around and hissed in his face.

"Don't push your luck!"

Mike giggled nervously. The door opened saving him from any further threat from his partner. He quickly walked around the girl and stepped outside.

They found themselves in the late 21st century Tokyo, Japan. There were fighters in this dimension known as sailor soldiers. Each one of them was a guardian of a planet in the solar system and therefore were the owners, or rather carriers of a special crystal called star seed. That seed was controlling the planet.

The soldiers were currently facing the strongest enemy yet. Her name was Sailor Galaxia. She traveled through the Galaxy gathering all the star seeds she could find. By doing so she hoped to take over the universe. To achieve that goal she was using four sailor soldiers from other planets, who already lost their seeds. To retain their lives those soldiers became Galaxia's `slaves' and were now under her control. They were called the Anima-mates. At that point in time two of the anima-mates were already dead.

It seemed the rangers landed in the middle of some kind of garden

"Where are we?" Dan asked the moment she stepped out of the portal.

Mike pulled out his mini computer and typed in a few words.

"I believe we are in the East Garden, on the grounds of Imperial Palace in Tokyo"

"What are the main events for today?" Dan asked and shoved a piece of gum in her mouth. Before Mike could answer she began to walk away. Mike shook his head with a sigh and quickly cleared his throat.

"I believe the gate is that way." He said sarcastically, pointing behind him.

Dan made a wry face and turned around. She passed her partner and began to walk in the other direction. Mike quickly typed a few things in his computer.

"Let's see what we got. Today is September 28. Rei Hino is working as a fortuneteller in a department store, Three Lights are on a radio show, Seiya Kou of the Three Lights gets injured while saving Sailor Moon." He double-checked the info. "That's all."

Dan stopped and without turning around asked.

"How many times is Sailor Moon without her team?"

"Once when she goes to the fortuneteller… I mean… Rei, and once when she fights the DJ, at least at the beginning of the fight."

Dan thought for a second. Mike knew that expression on her face. She always got that look when she was sure of her ideas.

"So when do you think they are going to strike?"

"Probably after the radio show." Dan looked down at her watch.

"We have lots of time. What shall we do till then?"

By now they were leaving the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

"Follow. The girls should be at the Crown right now."

Mike nodded and followed Dan silently. Soon they were sitting at a table in the parlor, not far from four girls in school uniforms. Dan recognized them right away. The brown-haired girl with a ponytail was Makoto Kino, the strongest one of the four. Then there was the gentle one, with dark short hair. Ami Mizuno was the genius of the group. Another girl with long blond hair tied in the back with a red ribbon was definitely the loudest of them all. She hasn't stopped talking since the rangers entered the parlor. Dan smiled. That was Minako Aino. Next to her was sitting Usagi Tsukino, a girl with ponytails and funny odangos. She was the only girl that wasn't acting like herself. Usually there were five girls in the group, but Rei Hino was working that day as a fortuneteller in a department store. Her grandfather volunteered her without asking her first. None of the other girls knew about it though.

Usagi Tsukino was very quiet. Dan knew exactly why. Last week they all took a flight with the pop group Three Lights. In the air they were attacked by the enemy, so called anima-mates. The villain, Sailor Aluminum Siren, knew the real identity of Sailor Moon and organized ambush on the airplane to get the girl's starseed. What she didn't realize was that the other sailor team members were also on the flight. When the battle began the Three Lights turned out to be sailor senshi as well, the Sailor Starlights. Until then nobody really knew about their secret identities. After that day the girls and the boys from Three Lights were avoiding one another, though the leaders of the two groups, Sailor Moon aka Usagi and Sailor Starfighter aka Seiya, tried to contact each other several times.

"What can I get you?" Dan was brought back to reality. A young waitress was waiting for her order. It was a cute redhead with her hair pulled into a ponytail and tied with a yellow ribbon. When Dan smiled at her she blushed. Dan just smirked and ordered a cup of coffee.

The girls at the other table were chatting away.

"I can't believe they are girls." Minako sounded disappointed. "I'm heartbroken again."

"Don't forget that they are still male in their normal appearance." Makoto tried to defend them. "They are only female as senshi."

"It was a shock. We were good friends, but we didn't know anything about each other." Usagi suddenly added to the conversation.

"We didn't tell them anything about ourselves either." Ami stated.

The cute waitress approached them. Makoto smiled at her. They all knew Unazuki very well.

"You know, there are those two guys sitting over there and watching you carefully." Three girls turned around quickly. "They are so handsome." Unazuki couldn't help but giggle. Usagi didn't even realize what they were talking about. She suddenly got up and without a word walked out. To everybody's surprise those two men at the other table got up as well. The taller one with black hair threw some money on the table and they left in a hurry.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Where do you think she's going now?" Mike asked trying to keep up with his partner.

"Department store." Dan sped up even more trying not to lose Usagi in the crowd.

"Oh, that's right. She's going to visit the fortuneteller." He scratched his neck in embarrassment. "I already forgot."

Dan wasn't paying attention to his blabbering. Soon they reached the store. Usagi walked in behind a heavy curtain. Dan and Mike waited outside watching the entrance from a distance. The girl popped another gum in her mouth. Mike just smiled. He asked her before why she ate so much of it. She answered that it helped her think. Now he just took it as a part of the deal.

"You need to find Seiya." Dan suddenly spoke to him. Mike looked at her surprised trying to figure out the plan.

"I thought he was going to visit this place as well."

"He was already here." Dan sighed. "We need to make sure that they won't kill him." She started to explain. Mike's face suddenly lit up.

"I get it. If he dies, he won't save Sailor Moon. And she might die in the attack." He smiled pleased with himself. Dan's forehead covered with wrinkles. She was really getting annoyed

"Would you just go?"

Mike finally turned around and left. Meanwhile Usagi was done. She seemed a little more cheerful as she was leaving the place. She held a piece of paper in her hand tightly, like it was a treasure. Dan guessed that it was a ticket to the radio show that night.

It was getting late. The girl followed Usagi all day. Finally they made it to the radio station. Dan couldn't go in without a ticket. She had to wait outside where she met up with Mike.

"How did it go?' He asked the moment he saw her. Dan just shrugged her shoulders. They both knew the worst part was still to come. If Dan's intuition was right the attack was going to begin right after the show, but what exactly was going to happen neither one of them knew. They decided to look around for clues. It wasn't going to be long before Sailor Lead Crow and Sailor Tin Nyanko appeared.

The show was over. People began to come out of the building. Suddenly there was a lot of noise in the back alley and a scream cut through the night air. Dan looked at Mike, he looked back and they both nodded to each other. The real show had just began. They ran over to the place were DJ Jack was attacked, but they hid in the shadows. Right now they couldn't do anything but watch from afar. They weren't allowed to interfere with the events. Dan motioned to her partner. He nodded and silently took of.

The DJ's star seed was glowing brightly. Right in front of him stood a young woman in a skimpy black outfit. She watched the seed turn dark and disappointment painted itself on her face.

"Not again." She whispered.

"That's enough!" a familiar voice sounded from behind. Sailor Lead Crow turned around and looked at Eternal Sailor Moon.

"I was waiting for you." She said with an evil grin on her face. "Sailor DJ! Give her the ultimate experience." She shouted as DJ Jack turned into a monster.

Meanwhile Mike entered the building through the back door. He had to make sure that Seiya was going to make it to the battlefield on time. He walked upstairs. As he reached the top he heard some voices. He peeked through the open door and saw two guys talking.

"Seiya is forgetting his mission." The taller one said sadly.

"It's all that girl's fault." The blond one sounded really angry. "We need to do something about it. You know that, Taiki."

"I know, Yaten." The other one sighed. "The only way is to make sure that he'll stop seeing her."

Mike didn't wait for the end of the conversation. Seiya wasn't there. And right now his mission was to find him. He turned around just in time to see a silhouette running into one of the other rooms. He quickly followed it. As he approached the door he heard a short scream and a loud thump, the kind that only a falling body could make. He grabbed his gun and swung the door open just in time to see somebody leaning over Seiya with a knife.

"Stop right there!" Mike yelled pointing at the attacker. It was a short man dressed in a long coat similar to the kind that Mike had on. The man's face was partially hidden in a shadow of his hat, but the ranger did notice a huge scar on the man's right cheek. The assassin hesitated for a moment. Suddenly he jumped towards the ranger. Mike fired the gun, but the attacker managed to avoid the bullet and knocking the ranger over ran out. Immediately after the shot echoed in the hall Yaten and Taiki came running out of the room and calling their transformations.

"Healer Star Power, Make Up!"

"Maker Star Power, Make Up!"

Mike didn't wait. He got up and approached Seiya's body. The pulse was still strong. The ranger sighed in relief, but there was another problem. Seiya was in no condition to save Sailor Moon. He had to think quickly. The two senshi got to the door giving Mike enough time to get out of the sight. He managed to sneak out as they were tending to their injured friend.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The situation on Dan's end wasn't looking good at all. The sailor team was arguing with Sailor Lead Crow. And Sailor Tin Nyanko was already standing around the corner with her bazooka. Her hair was pulled into two buns, shaped like cat ears and she wore a black outfit equipped with yellow bells. The weapon she held, looked like a cat paw.

"Where, the hell, is Seiya?" She thought impatiently. "He should be running down the alley right about now!" Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder. Instinctively she reached for the gun and pointed it in the opponent's head. It was Mike.

"Are you trying to get your head blown away?" She snorted.

"Seiya is unconscious." The male ranger didn't look very happy. "I managed to stop the guy from killing him, but he won't be coming."

Just then Sailor Tin Nyanko pulled the bazooka to her shoulder and aimed at Sailor Moon's back. Dan jumped up and began to run towards the group.

A shot sounded through the alley. A beam of light was heading towards Sailor Moon. The girls in the sailor outfits turned around, but `the champion of justice' didn't have time to get out of the way. Everybody was in terror. Suddenly a dark silhouette appeared out of nowhere. Dan grabbed Sailor Moon and snatched her out of the way. In the process they lost balance and fell to the ground tumbling. The female ranger held her tight in her arms trying to protect the scared girl from injuries. The two girls rolled few meters away.

"Are you ok?" Dan asked the blond girl as soon as they came to a stop. Sailor Moon just nodded. The girl in the black coat quickly got up and ran away. To everybody's surprise another silhouette broke away from the shadow. Everybody took on defensive positions, but before they could react to what was happening the man already jumped over stunned Sailor Moon and followed the other mysterious persona. The moment the rangers were out of sight they slowed down.

"That was good." Mike sounded impressed. Dan didn't say anything. She was still pouting a little from all the jumping and running.

"I guess we can go home now." Mike reached into his pocket and got the computer out. They always signaled the Anime Patrol station when the job was done and they were ready to return. Dan suddenly pulled the computer out of his hand. He looked at her surprised. She motioned him with her head. When he looked to the side he saw the Three Lights. Seiya seemed perfectly unharmed.

"Are you sure you are all right?" Taiki asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Seiya answered pushing his friend's helping arm. Ever since he got the blow into the head his buddies didn't want to leave him alone.

Dan and Mike watched the scene from around a corner.

"You need to lure Taiki and Yaten away." The girl whispered into Mike's ear. He looked at her surprised not understanding what the plan was. Dan didn't have the time to explain. She just hissed a quick `now' and took off into the darkness. Mike shrugged his shoulders and came out of the shadow.

"Hi, how are you all doing?" The sudden appearance of a stranger surprised the three boys tremendously. They took on a defending position. After the attack on Seiya they didn't trust anybody. The ranger began to circle the small group.

"So you are the famous Three Lights." Mike said to attract the boys' attention to him. He noticed a movement in the background, not far from Seiya. He guessed it was Dan. He decided to make his move.

"How is your head doing?" He turned to Seiya. The boys seemed surprised that the man knew about the injury. Suddenly Taiki got an idea.

"It's you!" He yelled. "You tried to kill him!"

"Oh no, I couldn't take the credit for that." Mike joked, but Taiki already jumped forward, trying to punch the ranger in the face. The man stepped aside avoiding the fist and without any warning hit the boy in the stomach. It wasn't a strong punch, but it stunned the tall boy for a second giving Mike enough time to start running away. The boys didn't let the offender wait too long. Taiki and Yaten took off after him, but before Seiya could make one step he was grabbed from behind a pulled into the shadow. He began to struggle, but Dan had the moment of surprise on her side. She quickly knocked him down and pinched him to the ground. She pulled out her gun and pressed it against his temple. Seiya's eyes opened wide in terror. A moment later a single shot was heard in that part of the neighborhood.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mike found Dan sitting on a bus station right outside the Imperial Palace. He sat down next to her waiting for an explanation. When nothing came he turned towards the girl.

"What was that all about?" he demanded. Dan took some gum out and popped it in her mouth. "Why did you shoot him?"

"He had to be injured," She began. "Otherwise Seiya wouldn't invite Usagi to his concert. A lot of the stuff that is supposed to happen while he is injured wouldn't happen."

"Oh, now I understand." Mike smiled. "Taiki and Yaten are going to blame somebody for what happened. And since they are already against Sailor Moon and her team it will be easy for them to just take it out on her."

Dan just nodded while Mike continued. "Seiya and Usagi will be separated as they should be. To change it Seiya will have to invite her to his concert and tell her the history of their planet. But why did you injure his head? You could have killed him."

"He needed an injury to the head. Any other injury wouldn't agree with the rest of the story."

Dan pulled out Mike's little computer out of her coat pocket and handed it to him.

"The bullet only scratched his temple, and the blow knocked him out." She smiled with satisfaction. "Just like it was supposed to be."

"I still think you went a little too far. You might have risk the whole mission."

"The job is done, so just drop it, Haley."

Mike shrugged his shoulders. He didn't agree with her methods but she was right. Everything seemed to be back to normal. There was no reason to argue about what might have happened.

"So, how did you manage to escape?" Dan showed some interest.

"Oh, it was no problem." He showed his white teeth in a grin. "When the boys heard the shot, they immediately turned around."

A door opened in front of them and the two rangers stepped in. Soon there was no sign that anybody from another dimension was ever there.