Fatal Fury Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Rifts ❯ Chapter 19: The Blond Bombshell ( Chapter 19 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sailor Moon/Rifts Crossover (Revised Edition) By Simon Woodington

Chapter 19: The Blond Bombshell

She snarled, blocking the strike as it came in, the tip of the blade
reaching for her midsection. Her naked fist landed solidly, crushing
her attacker's skull. The first of the four was thrown backwards into
a sewer grate which rattled loudly at the impact.

"Who's next," she hissed, her blue eyes cold as they danced over her
opponents. Another answered her call without so much as a word. She
merely stepped aside as the quarter staff missed her. Taking the end
of the weapon in her hands gave her control over the warrior that held
it. She pulled, and let her foot sink into the stomach of the black
robed and hooded attacker, who doubled over, groaning.

Her short straight blonde hair snapped sharply as she turned, looking
for the last two warriors of the quad. She found the alleyway to be as
empty as she felt of late. Unarmed, the choice had seemed obvious as
to who their victim was to be. It turned out to be as evident as who
would be dead at the end of the encounter. Relaxing somewhat, she
turned back to the winded ninja.

"Go on," she said, sounding tired. He did not seem to require any
convincing, as he ran off hurriedly, thankful for his life.

She sighed heavily and walked towards the darker end of the alleyway,
where the sallow light faded to no more than shards and fragments.
Garbage and mud squished audibly under her feet as she walked. She
ignored the beggars and other would-be loyal Coalition citizens. As
she tugged at her leather jacket, trying for warmth that just was not
there, the darkness of the alleyway gave way to a street as it opened
to the low lifers' end of 'modern' society. She realized dully that
the street was no more clean than the alleyway, just better lit.

"Yo, city rat!"

At first she did not respond to the voice, figuring it to be meant for
someone else, but as it called again, she noted that it was closer.

"Hey, city rat!"

She stopped and turned. The look on her face asked; me?

"Yeah, you," replied a short leather swathed individual. He sported a
pair of shades, covering what she figured were a lot of sleepless
nights. He approached her, seeming very confident. She put her hands
on her hips, and tried not to take notice of the Juicers, Cyber
Snatchers, and other strange beings that grumbled and complained at
her sudden pause as they passed.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to look and sound angry, fearing
it was not working. It occurred to her that she was glaring down at
him. She could not tell if her ploy was effective, due to his
sunglasses, which hid any fear in his eyes.

:Well; she thought, :there's another reason for the shades:

"We might wanna start walkin', unless ya wanna get stepped on," he
suggested.

She did not budge.

"Why, where are you going?"

"Wherever yer goin' babe," he grinned.

"If you value your life, you'll leave, now," she warned.

The grin faded. He removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of green
cybernetic eyes.

"Sorry, but I can't do that sweetie. See how it is. I bin lookin' fer
ya. Y'see, I bin hangin' wit' one o' yer friends o' late."

For the first time in a year, she felt a shard of hope. So, she
grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and held him off the ground.

"What do you know..." she snarled faintly, "...that I haven't heard?"

"Put me down willya?" he said, only sounding slightly unsettled, and
even more annoyed. "Yer not gonna get anythin' outta me doin' this!"

She set him down.

"I figure you're lying to me, I'll kill you. Got it?"

He nodded curtly. "I saw what ya did t' the quad back there. Those
guys 're Japanese cyber snatchers ya know," he remarked. "Don' think
I'm gonna risk m' life for nottin' here. And frick, I know ya work fer
Valance."

She squinted at him, a sour expression on her face.

"You're either pretty brave or pretty stupid. Personally, I'd place a
bet on pretty stupid." She turned on one foot and set off at a brisk
pace.

He stood there, looking stunned, before he realized she had gone.

"Hey city rat, wait up!"

Once he had caught up to her, she tersely supplied; "The name's Anim,
jerkface."

"Uh-huh," he replied, "I know."

Again she glanced at him, attempting to gauge his intelligence, or
lack thereof. He replaced his shades to his face, apparently not
terribly comfortable without them.

:Coward; she thought. :Just like the rest of us:

"So tell me something about my friend," she started. "And I'll let you
know how close to the truth you are."

He grunted.

"I'm a thief, not a liar," taking pride in the fact. "Well, she's
ain't doin' so hot, wit th' prosthetic 'n all."

She held her breath for a moment as a makeshift garbage service
vehicle passed by unhurriedly.

"Prosthetic? What's she look like?"

"About five somethin', tall n' slim - like you, blond hair wit'
meatballs, an' two spaghetti strings hung down behind 'em," he laughed
coarsely. "She calls 'em dumplin's, but I just call 'em funny. I ain't
never seen th' like!"

"How do I know it's her? And how do I know you aren't going to turn me
over to the Coals?"

"Look legs, I know yer rep. Ya kin kill me wit' a flick o' ya wrist,"
he reached for something in an inside pocket.

"Legs?!" she snarled, whirling upon him, a small, slender vibro dagger
clenched in a tensed hand.

"Besides, sh' told me ta give ya this," he handed her a small star
shaped locket, apparently none too concerned about her flaring anger,
and vibrant vibro weapon.

"Oh friggin' hell," she cursed in emotion torn tones, taking the
golden object in her hand quickly as she disarmed the small weapon in
the other. "She's alive."

Turning away, she wiped at something she had not felt in ages; tears.

"Ya alright there honey?" he asked almost tenderly.

She nodded, not looking at him.

"Y'know, yer awfully pretty for a city rat," he ventured. She turned
to him and smiled faintly. The smile was quickly gone, and was
replaced by a forced expression of false strength.

"C'mon low-life, what are you waiting for," she said, "take me to
her!"

---

Trembling, she fought memories of the violence, the pain... the vivid
sensation of him forcing into her... Tears surfaced again, she could
not seem to fight them this time, even though she had successfully
held them back before. As warm tears flowed, she hoped that Garen
would soon find one of the senshi.

:What about Mamoru?: Bitter tears of loss came forth as she thought of
the love she lost, and missed so strongly. :I'll never see him again;
she thought, head rested on her crossed arms. :He's still back on
Earth. I wonder if he's found another girl. I hope she treats him
well...:

Again, as they had so many times before, the tears came, and in
abundance. If not for Garen, Usagi knew she would have killed herself,
or simply died. Without the others, she saw no point in living. There
was no telling what could have happened after being separated by the
Splugorth. She could all too clearly remember the slaver, the scars,
and the escape. Usagi understood that escaping with her life, forget
losing an arm, was rare, and extremely lucky. Through blurred eyes,
she looked at her left arm, the shining metal of it. Tears welled
again, and she felt herself succumb to them. Remembrance swept the
feelings of loss back anew, and threatened to overwhelm her.

"Senshi, where are you?" she sobbed, haggard.

"I'm right here, Usagi-chan," said a vaguely familiar voice.

Usagi did not look up, she merely ignored the voice.

:It's not possible, not after all this time:

"Usagi-chan?" A hand touched her shoulder. A glance upward through
tears told her more than she needed to know.

"Minako!" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her. "Oh Minako! I was
so scared you'd all died!"

"Heh," Garen chuckled, "ain't this touchin'."

Usagi ignored him until she let go of a friend she had long feared
dead.

"What are you still doing here, Garen?"

"I told ya Bunny, I ain't leavin' ya. I's on yer side," he grinned,
enjoying very much one of the few friendships he had ever experienced.
"Won' hurt if I keep 'n eye on Anim and ya, eh?"

"Fine Garen, fine," she replied, and turned back to Minako, failing to
notice the alternate reference made of her friend.

"Sit down Minako-san," she urged, "you look..." like hell. She did not
complete the sentence.

Taking the seat offered, she agreed; "Life has been rough."

There was a silence, which she seemed to use to consider what she was
going to say next.

"I'd lost all hope that any of the others were still alive."

Usagi handed her a small cup of tea she had just finished preparing
from a boiling kettle on a small gas stove. Gingerly, Minako took a
sip of it.

"Hey, wouldya leave th' stove on Bunny? I ain't eaten yet."

She nodded abscently at him she turned down the heat under the beaten
looking half empty aluminum pot.

"How did you know to find me here? It's been so long, I'd almost lost
hope," she said. "This is good."

"Thanks," she hesitated. "Rumors, and luck," she admitted. "I know...
but the burbs are huge... I was glad to hear anything about you at
all!"

Silence.

"Um, you don't mind if I ask about what happened after I... a-af...
um..." she started again, her eyes dropping.

Minako was silent for a moment before she started. She pulled back
some stray hair.

"Well, Makoto just kinda lost it. I don't think she was prepared for
something like that to happen."

"You mean... my arm," she added, knowing Minako could not.

She only nodded.

"She started shooting at everyone. I'd never seen her so furious!" She
squinted in recollection. "She just flew into a frenzy. The two Altara
Warriors we hadn't defeated yet fell, and then she started shooting at
the Overlord. She hit him a few times, and he just shouted more
orders. After the last few shots I thought she was done. She started
again, though. She missed him a few times, and when she did hit, she
hit the Staff of Eylor he was holding. The thing exploded. I remember
being thrown some distance by the explosion. Next thing I remember is
waking up here.

"I've really survived here by the skin of my teeth," she said, the
inflection lost on Usagi.

"Um, I know. You work for a mob boss?!" Usagi blurted, aghast as she
set down her tea.

Minako frowned, an expression that did not do much for the softness of
her features.

"I don't have to explain, Usagi. You know how harsh it is here."

It was true. Usagi wore loose brown pants, a heavy grey tunic, and a
tattered hooded cloak. Her aforementioned meatballish hair seemed to
have acquired a stylishly disheveled look, giving her the appearance
of someone who was always on the run. She bore the permanent scars of
claw marks on her right cheek, one of the many scars left from her
capture by the Spulgorth. Minako looked no better. She wore black
leather pants, a light, grey shirt, and a heavy leather waist length
coat. It was clear that Minako had not removed the coat in several
days. It looked as though she lived as much in that jacket as she did
her one room home. Her hair looked somewhat unkempt, but only by a
small degree. Her face had a somewhat aged, hardened look. Instead of
looking like a teenager, she looked like a war worn girl of some
twenty years of age.

"But you... you're an assassin!"

Abruptly she stood, stepping out of the personal space of her
estranged friend.

"So... I'm not going to curl up and die!" she retorted, gazing out of
the secluded enclosure as Garen dropped several bullion cubes into the
energetically bubbling pot. She turned and beheld the scored looking
little camping stove, and frowned harshly.

"I wouldn't even be a..." she stopped. "Alive. You know how many times
I've nearly died here? Being Sailor Venus is the only thing that's
saved me. I wouldn't even..." her voice dropped, "...have my
virginity."

"Oh God..." she whispered, a soul striking darkness beckoning tears to
her eyes. Her head bowed, hands to her mouth.

"We had it easy back home. Even fighting Queen Beryl. The NegaForce
wouldn't stand a chance in a place like this," she observed, not
gazing at her until the sentence had been completed. "What? Usagi?"

"I don't... I'm not," she stammered, gazing somewhat desperately at
her hardened friend. "I..."

Minako's hand fled to her mouth.

"What happened?" Well beyong the words, she knew.

Usagi looked at Garen.

"Would you leave us for a moment?"

"Why? I know what happened. Heck, I saved ya..." he halted, looking
puzzled. Then he clued in. "Ah, sure... I s'ppose so. You jus' turn it
down if't boils up too much, eh?"

She nodded. He left. They were silent for a time.

'I was raped,' she admitted in Japanese, feeling her eyes fog, and a
darkness crawl into her stomach. She set down the tea, the smell of it
making her sick. Minako looked abruptly pale.

'It was the Bluds,' her eyes dropped the floor, where they stayed for
the delicate moment of silence. 'The leader... Garen killed him on top
of me!'

'Is that why he died so... oh Usagi!' Minako said, eyes imploring.

Usagi sighed gently.

'I ran off, up to the gates of Chi-Town, and... the Coals, they...'

Minako's eyes narrowed angrily. Usagi's eyes echoed to a lesser
degree.

'Garen showed up again, and when I ran from them... a couple of Dog
Boys followed me. I don't know how, but after Garen killed one of
them, I transformed, and...' here I am. Her shoulders inclined
upwardly.

Anim blanched. 'But... I thought you'd lost the ginzuishou!'

'It... I guess... it just came back. A good thing it did, too!'

'Hai,' she glumly sighed. Her eyes wandered before settling upon her
vastly missed friend. "You've been keeping your sailor suit hidden...
I take it? No good to attract attention."

Usagi's face hardened.

'Hai, and what about you? Why did you side with Valance?'

Minako replied what looked like a violence hardened half-smile.

'He's safe, that's why. You've heard about him, right? If one of his
men gives a woman so much a funny look they've had it.'

'You're lucky.'

'Hai,' she agreed. 'Don't think I don't realize that. I respect him,
but he respects me too.'

Her smile faded.

'Did you hear about Makoto-chan? Supposed to be called 'Sliver' now.
Quite the rep.'

Usagi merely nodded.

'The CS hate her.'

'I just hope it's really her,' Minako wistfully stated, brushing aside
some hair. Her face set in a serious expression. Usagi read it; Why
aren't you crying?

'I can't. I don't know why.' The expression on her face indicated to
Minako otherwise, however. She leaned forward and took her lost friend
in her arms in a hug. Usagi shed not a single tear. Minako was
actually surprised; the former Usagi did nothing but.

'By the Goddess I've missed you,' Usagi whispered faintly.

'Me too,' Minako agreed, seeming unusually short-winded. The blond
haired senshi let her friend go.

'Do you think we can get back home?' she asked. Usagi startled at the
question.

'I...! I don't know. You know what Ami said... um... she...'

"Yer not kiddin'," the short man began, sounding awed. "Yer really not
from dis place, 're ya?"

"Garen! You speak Japanese...?"

"Uh, no. Got a translatin' imp lately," he replied, nonchalant, as he
closed the thin, worn door behind him. "Works mighty good, I says. Oh
heck... my soup!"

"Sorry!" she blurted. "I was... I just..."

"Uh.. forget it," he started as he turned switched off the gas under
his greatly reduced breakfast.

"What made you think we were?" Minako inquired softly.

"Well, yer way t' pretty t' be hangin' 'round in the down side o' the
'burbs, fer one. Well, ya look human. Not like 'em vanguard brawler
guys. Wit dem it's just plain to see dey're D-bee. An' the Tirrvol?
Y'seen 'em? Geez, nasty!"

"Nasty looking," Minako agreed, "but they tend to be pretty nice."

"What, you know some o' dem?" Garen asked with a suggestive
expression, fetching a bowl from a disregarded cupboard and
transferring the contents of the pot into it.

"Well, a couple..." she admitted. She blushed as she realized his
implication, then frowned. "Hey!"

He laughed. Trying to forget the hentai nature of the thought, she let
her mind wander.

"Usagi-chan, if you followed a rumor to me, does that mean others can?
Or will?"

"The Coals," she gasped, her face paling. Reaching forth with her
mind, she tried to detect the presence of any unwanted visitors. "No,
I don't sense anyone besides us."

"Uh... Usagi-chan, it's not safe here anymore," she advised, shrugging
off the shock of her friend's apparent psionic ability in the light of
her own change. "It's only a matter of time now."

"You must have a place here," Usagi suggested. "We can go there."

Minako nodded as she stood.

"I'm actually living with Valance now, but... he probably won't mind.
But, we can't stay there for very long. It won't be safe there
either."

Usagi looked puzzled. "Why not?"

"No sense in endangering my job, and uhm... well, I picked up a little
bit of magic over the last year."

Usagi looked surprised.

"What? You've got psionics, don't you? Everyone needs an edge.
Anyway," she sighed. "We need to find the others."

"Not 'til I eat," Garen delcared, sniffing the steam rising from the
battered steel bowl. "I got rumblin's in m' tummy dat'd make a fury
beetle roar sound like a purr!"

---

"Usagi-chan, you'll have to make sure no one is looking for us,"
Minako said quietly to her as they walked through the dank smelly
streets of the 'burbs.

"Hey, what if they trace ya t' Val?" Garen asked stepping over a small
pile of garbage in his path.

"No. They won't mess with him on his turf," she said with a certainty
that made him uneasy.

"Wha' ya mean? Da Coals'll friggin' take on Lazlo! What makes ya think
dey won' take on Val?"

"They can't afford to fight a war right now. If they attack him, every
gang this side of Chi-Town will strike back, on principle."

"I dunno. It's damn risky. I don' get why ya bother?" Garen asked,
reaching inside his long leather overcoat to verify the existence of
his Wilks pistol.

"Why? Because I don't want an imp' in my neck and a stamp on my
forehead, smart guy." She glared at him.

"Yeah yeah. Yeez, li' I don' get 't, eh?" he groaned. "Yer frickin'
crazy, ya know dat? I dunno why I bother."

"I thought you wanted to help us," Minako snapped impatiently.

"Yeah, but ya think I wanna get killed in da process?"

"Look, you can just shut your mouth, because you're stuck with us. Oh
damn..."

"Ah-huh, 'n double damn, sweetie," Garen stated, pointing towards the
half dozen members of a Dog Pack.

An armoured Dead Boy with spikes on his helmet pointed in reply
towards them and shouted, "Halt Psychics!"

"Go!" Garen said, "Run! I'll hold 'em off!" He fetched out his slim
black energy weapon and fired. Usagi and Minako had already started
off at a particularly impressive pace.

"I can't just leave him behind like that! Is there something you can
do to help him?" Usagi asked, looking somewhat surprised at her
usually gentle natured friend. "He saved my life!"

Minako gazed at Usagi for a moment, in an attempt to determine her
naivete.

"Well... I..." she sighed. "I suppose not." She muttered something
under her breath. A few moments later, a blue shimmering outline began
to appear about Garen.

"That'll protect him for a bit."

Something nagged at Usagi.

:Has she really changed that much? She was never this cold!:

"What is it?" Minako demanded when she realized Usagi was staring at
her.

"Nothing," she lied, then cast a glance backward. She swore. "Look
back!"

She did so just long enough to see a burst of yellow light where Garen
had been standing. A large black airborne vehicle swooped over the
ashes, blowing them into oblivion.

"A Sky Cycle!" she cried. "Get down!"

They dropped to the ground just as it dove for them, the rapid fire of
its twin rail guns strafing the ground, and missing them. A pile of
rubbish burst into flames ahead of them as the cycle performed a tight
turn and sought its quarry once again.

"We'll have to stand and fight," Minako decided. She quickly cast a
spell.

"What?" Usagi sounded startled. "We should run!"

"Normal weapons can't hurt us," she said, sounding rather confident.
"I'm going to take it out."

Usagi took a step backwards from her friend.

"Are you out of your mind? You can't do that!"

"I can't? Just watch me," she said with an unpleasant grin.

Usagi watched her suddenly battle hungry friend with apprehension. As
the cycle neared them, Anim took a stance befitting a martial arts
position of offense. The gattling guns in the lower retractable
appendage began firing. Minako leapt backwards in a blindingly fast
backflip. As she landed, the Cycle neared her, trying for a collision.
She clasped her hands together and swung them forward and down. The
Cycle shook as one of the smaller engines burst into flames.

Usagi looked stunned.

"Minako-chan?!"

"Don't call me that! Call me Anim!" she snapped, looking irritated.
"But you see, don't you?" Anim clapped her hands to her thighs to put
out the flames.

"Didn't hurt me," she held up her hands for the purpose of
illustration, showing them to be unmarred. "We're not just human
anymore. I can kill with my bare hands!"

Usagi was still stunned. She did not even blink. It occurred to her to
remember to breathe. She laboriously heaved several deep lungfuls of
air, staring at Anim for some time before she saw the cycle return. It
opened fire before the words of warning left her mouth.

"Minako-chan!" she cried as Anim was thrown back by the force of a
rail gun blast which hit her in the side of the face. Blood flew, and
the blond haired girl screamed with ear shattering intensity. Hands
fled to her face, crimson flowing onto them. Minako stumbled, fell
against a wall, and then into a burning pile of rubbish.

"You bastard!" Usagi bellowed in high tones, leveling her arm mounted
energy weapon at the nearest approaching Grunt and firing. The mini
rail weapon punched a baseball sized hole in his helmet, sending the
body rolling backwards against his companion, who dropped with the
Grunt.

"Oh hell!" blurted the third, escaping the falling pair and rolling
into an adjacent alleyway. "Back off Boys, she's loaded! Jamie, flank
her, and Koey, don't you dare let him ago alone!"

The golden retriever Dog Girl nodded with a hint of a snarl, and
bolted off after the Bull Mastiff Jamie.

"If you hurt any of my guys I'm gonna have your blond head on a
platter!" he cursed loudly, ensuring his voice was clearly audible to
his target.

"You killed my friend!" Usagi shot back tearily, incinerating a chunk
of wall and barely missing her mark.

"We didn't want t' kill her," he replied, checking the power gauge of
his energy rifle. "If she'd just've co-operated, none 'o this need've
taken place."

"'Submit to Fear'," she coined for him ferally. "Well I won't!"

"You've got it wrong..." he insisted, noting the movement of Jamie and
Koey some ten metres behind her. "We just want to help."

Usagi turned to the noise of the Wind Jammer decending upon her, and
cleanly severed the pilot's right arm with a clear shot. There was a
cry, and a rumble as the black sky cycle slammed through the side of a
building, where it burst into flames. Taking advantage of her
distraction, Jamie leapt out, took her in a well practiced Half
Nelson, and held her shrieking and squirming form in place.

"We just want to help," the Psi-Net Officer insisted as he raised his
gun and turned the butt end of it to face her. She tasted blood as it
struck her in the face. She allowed herself to slip into a self
induced death trance in the hopes that the sembalence of
unconsciousness would protect her.

She heard the light squishing sounds of an approaching armour.

"Okay, she's all yours!" snarled the voice of the apparent commander.

"Nice work Yaletown Kid," a strange voice laughed.

"Damn Straight. Looks like yer Little Miss Potato Head put up one
helluva fight. Howsabout the other one?"

There was a silence.

"Dead. No loss there."

Usagi screamed internally.

:No, Minako!!:

"Both of 'em sure could fight. Hell... I figure we're damn lucky to be
alive!"

The ISS grunt must have nodded.

"You got another Jammer here?"

"Yeah, but looks like I was a little late, huh? Friggin' hell. Who was
pilotin' that one?"

"Meg."

"Shit. Why Meg? They gotta pick off the good ones, don't they."

"As if blondie here cared. Don't worry, they'll take it out of her
hide at Lone Star. Why don't you grab her. I'll report in."

"Okay. What about the other one?"

"Naw, forget it. The rest o' them freaks need an example."

Usagi felt herself lifted up by cold, uncaring arms.

:Arigato gozeimashita Minako-chan! I tried. Forgive me: