Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Pretty Soldiers ❯ Act 06 - tuxedo kamen : Tuxedo Mask ( Chapter 6 )

       Something was happening.
       In dreams, things changed.
       Aino Minako always dreamed in the softened shades of black, gray, white. Now they were brilliant technicolour, each detail wrought in three-dimensional perfection.
       People were moving into position to play the millennia-old game, and again, she revisited the past.
       It was painful to know, at the tender age of 13, that your life is nothing more than the second chance of another soul. The set had broken around her; the castle pillars had burned; the floodgates had opened. She had seen the most beautiful girl in the world smiling at her, calling her name with the gaiety and innocence of a child. Four girls who knew her as their leader and fellow soldier, their trusted friend. They shared the special knowledge of children grown too fast, with powers unique to themselves.
       She knew the names of Japan's three islands, Tokyo's wards, who had won the national volleyball game two years in a row.
       And then she knew how the Venus-Jupiter's trade alliance had strengthened both planets' meager resources, because both kingdoms existed solely on floating asteroids.
       When she surrendered to REM sleep, she walked the hallways of her castle in her uniforms and dresses, alone on the main asteroid save for the other royal families. Around them spun the other five colonies, on which their kingdom's inhabitants lived and farmed. Jupiter had a similar setup, air and atmosphere created by the shared magic of the Ginzuishou and powerful wizards.
       Of her parents, the king and queen, she remembered only fondness. From an early age she had been trained as a sailor soldier, too busy to spend any real time with them; and just as she approached her teens she had been whisked away to be part of another kingdom's court.
       And now, she was walking those halls with surer clarity.
       Eyes opened to the dark, blinking away sleep lazily.
       In orange fleece pajamas embroidered with volleyballs and, for some strange reason, frogs, Minako crept to her window. Opening it wide, she curled onto the frame to breathe in the cool night air. "The moon is a sliver tonight…."
       If she concentrated, she could see its corona, pulsating gently like a heartbeat. Though Artemis had warned her against going out tonight, so injured she'd been, she could still feel the battle. It lingered like the touch of a hand against her arm, just the lightest brush.
       She knew what had been conjured, and it frightened her to death.

       Out of a mass of tangled bed sheets dangled a pale hand, fingers lightly curled. A ray of sunshine warmed the skin, and after a moment, the fingers curled into a fist as Usagi stretched, a foot poking out from the opposite end. The following yawn was kittenish, muted, before the odango-less blonde tumbled from the mattress onto the floor.
       A hand swatted at her alarm clock, turning it off a minute before the buzzer would have sounded. It was an usual event, but not as abnormal as it once had been; Usagi was early to rise. Not that it made her any more coherent; she stumbled around her bedroom in the early morning light like a blind woman, tripping over more than a few articles of dirty clothing. Pulling on her uniform and knotting the bow took an excruciating amount of time.
       Teeth brushing and a frantic scrub at the face took less time than dressing, and Usagi walked down the stairs slowly, fingers pinning up her hair with expert twists. By the time she reached the first floor she'd inserted the last pin into the left mound of hair, smoothing it out into its usual round shape. With a lazy yawn she stepped into the kitchen, only to stop dead at the sight greeting her.
       Moriya, swallowing almost an entire slice of toast, nodded in agreement to Shingo's boisterous descriptions of his nearly work-free school day just twenty-four hours previous. The redhead was far more talented than Usagi at placating her loud, annoying younger brother. But it was the mere presence of her friend that send the odango-haired blonde flying across the threshold, culminating with descent of Moriya, still in her chair, backwards onto the floor.
       "Moriya-chan!"
       "Itaaai, baka Usagi!" the redhead laughed, hugging her friend tight. "You're up early!"
       Usagi reluctantly peeled herself away upon seeing her mother's displeased stare. "Hai hai….I was so worried…I didn't think I'd see you again…"
       "Yare yare, tsukimidango," Moriya sighed as she pulled her chair upright, "You're as bad as an American hen."
       The odango-haired blonde nibbled at her lip, crystal blue eyes swimming. Again, the guilt gnawed at her that she couldn't even hint to her best friend what she knew. That every time she fought the enemy, she was terrified of losing and knowing instinctively that everyone's life was on the line. If she and Ami and Rei ever lost a fight, it wouldn't stop; it would be a domino effect, their spirits broken. The enemy would win.
       But, she had to amend, now Makoto was a soldier as well. The tall brunette was a furious ball of energy, and a brutal fighter; even Rei had seemed a little cowed by Makoto's handle of the youma, in human form no less!
       "Moshi moshi, baka nee-chan!" When Shingo added a yank to her ponytail, she immediately snapped back to the real world, shrieking. He stuck his tongue out to her cries, snickering. "You daydream too much! It's no wonder I'm the smarter one in the family!"
       Moriya, her expression mildly ironic, just sighed. "And so passes a normal morning in the Tsukino household." Usagi, still sniffling, stole her brother's gesture and razzed her friend, before grabbing a piece of toast.
       Being relatively early, all three students ate without hurry and silence descended, broken only by Ikuko's questions: "More toast, Moriya-chan?" "Shingo, don't you want some more orange juice?" "Usagi, stop swallowing such large bites!"
       Well, maybe not all questions, but hey.
       Just as Usagi, Shingo, and Moriya got up to go, the former two collecting their lunch from their mother, Kenji walked into the kitchen, folded newspaper under his arm. "Ohayo, Moriya," he cheerfully greeted his daughter's friend, before kissing his wife on the cheek.
       "Ohayo gozaimasu, Tsukino-san," the redhead replied, waving to the assembled family members before following Usagi to the front foyer and their shoes.
       As usual, their father sat down with the paper already opened, the unroll and flick gesture needed to get it that far done before he even made it to the table. Ikukko set a plate of toast and waffles in front of him without needing to be told, the click of the plate coinciding with the slamming of the front door. "Usagi waking early is rare, but it does happen now and again," she observed to her husband as he turned a page.
       "Hai….sometimes, I really think she's growing up." A hand reached around the paper to grab the glass of orange juice. Rarely, if ever, did he put the paper down to eat with both hands. Most often, Ikukko pushed a plate or glass into his reach, neither ever commenting on it. Such was the perfect life of a married couple. "Another article on those strange young girls…"
       He folded the paper just so, turning it around so his wife could see it. A picture was the top centerpiece, consisting of a montage of places: a damaged school roof, the fortune-teller's decimated building, a mutilated hospital wing. The caption, worded more for affect than actual truth, proclaimed in bold lettering "Catastrophe! Are These Mysterious Sailor Girls Behind It?"
       "I don't know, dear," Ikuko murmured, picking up Usagi's glass. "It seems all a bit too strange for me. Why did they appear, and so suddenly? Are they dangerous?"
       She nudged her husband's plate closer, and he picked up another piece of toast. "No one knows, but for them to leave such damage behind….! This isn't America. Maybe the police will handle the situation soon, and these strange girls will leave."
       Ikuko stared at the pictures, unaware of another pair of eyes watching her from the doorway. "But they have no pictures of these troublesome girls…how does anyone know who they are?"
        "Cameras have been checked; none of them appear on them clearly, all blurry shapes. One wears all blue, and another wears red, and one wears both of them. But no one can give good details, except that one looks like an angel…."
       Luna, crouched back behind the doorframe, scooted back further.
       "They're just like that girl a year ago…Sailor V? Is that what they called her?" Kenji's head nodded behind the paper, a finger moving down the writing.
       "Hai, people think there's a connection. And now, here, there's a proclamation of confession from someone named 'Tuxedo Kamen.'"
       The black feline's tail stood up straight, frizzing like a bad case of static. Had she heard Kenji properly? Again, she nudged her head out, looking like a kitten waiting to pounce the ball of yarn. Metaphorically, even, in this case.
       With a practiced swoop, Ikuko picked up her husband's now-empty plate, balancing it atop three others, and dipped them into the sink. She turned on the faucet, adding some soap, before she asked, "Tuxedo Kamen? Sounds suspicious as well!"
       "Whoever he is, he says he was the one behind all those recent diamond thefts, in search of something called the Ginzuishou?" With a snap of his wrist, he folded the paper into a small rectangle, insides turned out in total ignorance of the original folds. "Suspicious indeed. Maybe that Sailor V and those other girls are involved, like petty thieves."
       The disdain and loathing in Kenji's voice was nearly tangible. Luna, her heart sinking, padded her way back to the stairs, heading up as silently as possible.
       She prayed to every god that she knew that any further discussion about the soldiers would hopefully never be in Usagi's presence. The odango-haired blonde would be devastated.

      With equal loathing did Zoisite stare at the floor of the throne room.
       The view was not any better than what stood above him.
       Beryl knew how to make even the most egotistical of her generals squirm; all it took was patience. And patience was not the blond's strong suit. So, the queen took pleasure in stroking her conjuring globe, fingernails long enough to curve around the smooth surface with no resistance. Beneath her skin swirled images still distorted and foggy.
       This went on for a good five minutes, before Zoisite was ready to scream. "You called for me, Beryl-sama?" he shamelessly groveled, inwardly cursing the pain shooting up his knee. Jadeite had always been the most talented at this motionless act of subservience; he could have knelt for hours, never making the smallest sound of displeasure.
       Jadeite….
       Ara, he had been the weakest of the four. Nephrite's death at the hands of the awakened Jupiter had shocked the long-haired blond general more, simply because the North American general had been a pain in the ass and almost his equal in power. (Not that he would admit it out loud, of course!) But for the brown-haired, pompous bastard to perish by the hands of a Sailor soldier who had awakened not even a few minutes prior to his arrival was a blow to the power structure. It implicated the two survivors as weak.
       Though, Zoisite had to admit, Beryl had been at least impressed by the girl's power before her transformation. Viewed again and again through her globe, the young brunette's first attack on the youma had coaxed a smile out of the sour-eyed sovereign.
        Now, as the European general, Zoisite was next to attempt the obliteration of the four soldiers, and the identification of the Ginzuishou. It irritated him that he had to leave his post to pursue this, but he had no choice.
       At first, the shitennou didn't exist, in a conscious sense. When Beryl had first awakened on Earth, it had been as a normal human. But just as in the past, a buried, nearly powerless Metallia called to her, teasing her with the promise of power.
       It had taken years to acquire the wealth needed to follow the voice.
       But finally, Beryl breached D Point in the Arctic Circle, a frozen wasteland perfect for hiding, and there, she had found the hidden kingdom beneath the snow. Dying animals lay all around, their meager energy contributing to Metallia's building of the underground tunnels and caverns. Upon Beryl's entrance, her human persona had ceased to be.
       The magic she had known a millennium prior flooded back, changing her soul.
       Metallia dubbed her 'Queen,' showed her how to create the first youma from the few living animals still on the surface. And then, because the youma were stupid, and Beryl desired to order someone around who had a brain to rightly fear her, they awoke the generals.
       Because their magic was so tightly bound to the darkness, fed by the energy of living things, it was limited. Metallia still existed as nothing more than a small cloud of black, held together in a glass cage, of sorts. But with the generals awake, they had the ability to spread out, to gather more energy, to remember the wrongs done to them.
       The shitennou were the most powerful, their souls willingly given to serve their queen, those souls then bound to the stones that they were named for. Beneath them were a few other traitors who had dedicated their lives to Beryl; but there were a small number who had simply been trapped.
       Under Nephrite's command, youma had spread into the North American continent, leeching the energy of frantic, restless Americans. No one even noticed.
       In Europe, Zoisite had been sly, sneaky, on infiltrating the continent with his youma. Transylvania had been a literal Hell, with paranoid villagers trying to stab wooden toothpicks, as many had described them, into the creature's non-existent hearts.
       For Kunzite, the Middle East had been a breeze; after all, death and weakness was a common occurrence in a place where religion had killed more than disease.
       Jadeite's command took over the Far East with a little more effort behind it; after all, the East was a place of mysticism. And after a youma in Tokyo had been suddenly, and shockingly, obliterated, it had been necessary to send aid, in the form of a lesser general named Danburite.
       And it had been Danburite's original report of a blonde girl-child, dressed in the flashy uniform of a sailor that had shattered everyone's illusions.
       He had reported directly to the most powerful of the shitennou, despite the East being Jadeite's territory, but all four of the generals witnessed, via Beryl's globe, Danburite's curse and his defeat.
       Now, after two generals following his fate, Zoisite was the next to give up his division to a lesser general and try defeating four 'little girls.' Truth be told, the blond had an ego, and a temper to match. But even he was leery at this assignment; death was not a thing he wished to experience again.
       But, considering the fact his queen's whim could kill him just as quickly, and far more painfully, he wouldn't complain.
       Finally, after another two minutes of silence, Beryl laughed. And it wasn't a kind laugh, like a normal person might do. Oh, no. This was a cat's claw on tinfoil, utterly grating. "Ara ara, my general, are you showing fear for your assignment?"
       Well, fuck. Zoisite felt the small bead of sweat drip down his nose, and nearly bit through his tongue to keep from brushing it away. "Iie, Beryl-sama. I am honored that my queen would allow me to succeed where others have failed-"
       "Lies." Beryl sounded far too content for the blond's liking. The tip of her staff nudged Zoisite's chin up, forcing green eyes to meet yellow. "But I allow them for now, Zoisite, if only because I'm forced to concede that these soldiers are indeed powerful. Awakening as I did…perhaps, they know where the Ginzuishou is hidden?"
       "Their mysterious companion wishes to know as well," a corner seemed to reply.
       Zoisite didn't dare move his eyes away from his queen's, even to acknowledge Kunzite's presence in the room. As the most powerful of the shitennou, the silver-haired man was an egotistical dick, to put it bluntly. His uniform was lax in appearance, the top button left carelessly undone to show a smooth expanse of chest. Shoes took the place of the flawless boots the other three wore, and a cape had been added for dramatic flair.
       Beryl barely moved her own gaze, and it was a quick flicker, a subtle acknowledgement of her general. He crossed the room in quick, precise strides, sweeping low to kiss his queen's outstretched hand. Shamelessly kissing up, and proving his invaluable nature as she didn't strike him down for his appearance. "Repeat this for me, Kunzite," the queen purred, rusty.
       "As my queen wishes." The silver-haired general conjured up his own viewing globe, holding it aloft for all three of them to see. Within appeared a silhouette of black; Tuxedo Kamen, caught in the act of protecting Sailor Moon. "This ally of theirs, this 'Tuxedo Kamen,' he proclaimed his search for the Ginzuishou in a human newspaper this morning."
       "If we let him do the work, he could find it for us," Zoisite interjected, a bit too hastily, as Beryl froze him with a serpent's glare. "By my queen's wishes, of course."
        But Beryl ignored him and, surprisingly, took the globe from Kunzite's hand. Sharp nails balanced the glass as she stared into it, at the image of the ballroom-ready hero. "His face, those eyes…like the deep Earth oceans….Tuxedo Kamen, you say?" When her generals nodded, her expression, surprisingly, grew more intense, focused.
       "Queen Beryl-sama?"
       Piss-yellow eyes finally lifted, and the queen tossed the globe into a nearby wall with a quick flick of wrist. "Watch him. But he is human, and flawed; do not expect him to lead you to the object our master desires. Scheme to find it yourself, Zoisite, or I will make your death a descent into jigoku itself."
       "H-hai, my queen," Zoisite stammered, bowing his head so low and so fast he nearly beaned himself on the stone floor. He pressed his forehead to the coolness, eyes closing in relief, as he heard Beryl step away slowly, their session obviously at an end. Though the sight that greeted his eyes upon opening was no less pleasant. "Kunzite."
       "Don't fail, Zoisite. Don't show your weakness as Nephrite and Jadeite did; the shitennou have been already disgraced." They stared at one another for a long, tense moment, before Kunzite followed his queen's lead out of the room.
       Left alone, Zoisite commenced to shudder in relief, before picking himself up. Eyes closing, he simply ripped himself across the kingdom, from throne room to his quarters, sly mind already plotting an elaborate trick, at odds with the visions of bloodied, impaled girl-children in scanty uniforms. "Shi ne…"

      "This is terrible," Ami solemnly announced, staring across the paper at her friends. Gathered in the relative quiet of Ichinohashi Park, the four girls had arrived promptly after school, even Usagi, all carrying a copy of the paper and with Luna in tow.
       The day itself had been unusually frantic. Once arriving at school, Moriya and Usagi had been nearly attacked by Naru, who used them as bodyguards against the students who suspected her mother, the owner of a fashionable jewelry shop, had the mystical crystal in her hands. It had taken the combined efforts of Moriya and late-arrival Makoto to convince them otherwise, but the damage had been done. Suspicion was everywhere.
       "I don't get it!" Moriya had finally shouted in exasperation and anger. "What kind of idiot really thinks such a powerful stone would be in a damn jewelry store?"
       Usagi's mood had darkened noticeable throughout the day, severely inhibiting her attention span, which had already been a weak, gasping creature to begin with. Several times she drifted off into an uneasy dream, only to wake up so suddenly she disturbed the class. It was only the fact that half the school was suffering from exhaustion still that her unusual behavior was excused.
       Now, after convincing Moriya she would be fine in Makoto and Ami's company, she had joined them at the park, huddled on a bench with the news twisted and mangled between her hands. "It's so terrible," was all she'd say, leaving the other four to create conversation.
       Easily done, as Luna immediately began to curse out Tuxedo Kamen's stupidity. "The nerve of that man! Enemy or ally he may be, now he's created a witch hunt!" She stamped her paw on the sidewalk, pacing in an irritable, irregular circle around Ami's legs. "As soldiers, you could have searched just fine on your own, but now….!"
        "And who says the enemy can't read?" Rei added, looking just as furious as the black feline nodded. "They might be looking for this stone now too!"
       Makoto, her expression mildly crazed as she watched Luna, leaned over to scoop the cat up to keep her from pacing. "But what exactly does it do, Luna? The Ginzuishou, I mean…"
       The odango-haired blonde finally looked up at this pivotal question.
       In Makoto's arms, Luna looked uncomfortable, cramped. Embarassed, perhaps. "I….I remember only certain things. But I do know that it is incomparable, perhaps, in power; it could destroy a planet if it was wielded so."
       "NANI?" The black feline winced as all four shouted the question in unison.
       "Hai…our princess, and the Ginzuishou, missing. Maybe there's a connection, but I can't recall it….I curse this faulty memory of mine daily, but I…can't….remember!" Her tail began to lash halfway through the harangue; now, it was so bad that Makoto rather unceremoniously set her back down.
       Ami looked worried, staring down at the paper. "And such a terribly powerful stone we're supposed to find? For what purpose should we allow it to exist?"
       "To protect our princess, and to keep it from the enemies, Ami-chan," Luna snapped, circling her legs once more. "And if the enemies are who I believe…if they are indeed the same evil entity…"
       "So we have to save the princess." Usagi stated it so simply that it quieted her friends down, all of them staring at her. She smiled somewhat demurely. "Well? To defeat the enemies, we need the princess on our side, and the Ginzuishou, don't we?"
       Makoto sipped from a can of plum juice she'd brought along, frowning. "This is all so confusing and strange…my dreams were terrible last night. I felt like I was someone else…"
       "Maybe your memories of your true self are coming through," Luna replied mildly, settling onto her haunches. "Though, everything is still so confusing, jumbled." Her head tilted as she stared at Makoto, then at Rei. "As if someone is deliberately keeping me ignorant, and just nudging me along to find the truth.
       "I remember when I first met you, Kino Makoto. I felt only the smallest twinge of power, but it was so muted, I thought I was mistaken. Then, I thought it had been because Rei was a soldier to be awakened, but now I realize that it was like a puzzle; it could only come together in a certain way. Usagi was meant to awaken first, to give her a small time of adjustment, then Ami, the genius, to give stability. After that, Rei and her spiritual guidance, and then brute strength and fighting ability in Makoto.
       "But even though I felt it the right time to call you leader, Usagi-chan, something is still missing. I'm not sure what it is, but the circle isn't yet complete. Perhaps that is due to the missing princess…."
       "Or maybe it's Sailor V," Makoto cut in suddenly, staring at her paper. "Ne, Luna? Who else could it be? The game at the Crown, her appearance a year ago…maybe she is our fifth ally?"
       "Or maybe," Usagi murmured softly, "she's an enemy in disguise."
       Luna dipped her head in agreement, her tail curling around Ami's ankle. "Hai, Usagi-chan; now you're thinking like a soldier."
       "Suspicion is a poor way of life, Luna," the blue-haired genius said stiffly, studious eyes drifting through the park as a high school student walked their way. "Next, you'll accuse this poor boy of being involved."
        The black feline frowned at Ami's accusatory tone, but said nothing as the student came closer, his head tilted down to the book in his hand. Makoto sipped from her juice can, shrugging at Rei, who stared off into the woods. Usagi, still comfortable in her silent mode, moved only her eyes to stare at the man; then, to promptly do a reversal and scowl. "You!"
       Mamoru paused, tipping his reading glasses down. "Yare yare, odango atama, are you doing this just to scare me?" His humour didn't seem to reach his eyes; deep in their depths he was closed off, serious.
       Only Luna seemed to notice, however, and it had her frowning as Usagi bolted upright and on her feet. "Stop calling me that!"
       "You go to the Moto Azabu school!" Ami proclaimed over Usagi's yell, startling the odango-haired blonde into silence. Mamoru blinked at the blue-haired genius, as if finally realizing there were others gathered around the girl he seemed constantly to torment.
       He pushed the glasses back up, nodding curtly. "Hai. It was a trial to be admitted, but well worth it. But I'm surprised you recognized the uniform." Shifting the book to his other hand, he held his left out. "Chiba Mamoru."
       "Mizuno Ami." She took his hand with a small shake, putting more energy into her bow. As usual, around strangers, she was wary of touch.
       "Mizuno Ami? The girl genius of Japan's junior high system? I'll be disappointed if you don't enroll at my school within the year!" Even though he smiled to blunt the statement, the humour still seemed to stop short before his eyes; they remained as untouchable and cold as before. But the blue-haired genius seemed flattered enough, blushing as she nodded.
       Rei was nodding to herself as well, before she bowed curtly to Mamoru. "As part of the group, I should introduce myself as well. Hino Rei, miko of the Hikawa Jinja." In company not consisting of her father and his associates, or her classmates, she always referred to her personal practice; never her forced schooling.
       "Kino Makoto, hajimemashite," the tall brunette added, shaking Mamoru's hand firmly. So firmly, in fact, that the first sign of life appeared in his eyes as they widened in surprise. He took his hand back with a mild smile.
       "You have a strong grip, Kino-san."
       Usagi looked ready to either commit mass homicide, or a single murder on the spot. The dark-haired student looked more than perceptive to it, and he stepped back with hands held up in a placating gesture. "I see I'm not wanted, odango atama, I'll go."
       "I am not….my name is Tsukino Usagi! Tsu-ki-no U-sa-gi!" She pronounced each pair of syllables separately, grinding her teeth at him. All she received in return was a short, dry laugh, and he was walking on his way again, opening his book. "Moooouuuu! I hate him!"
       Luna rolled her eyes, though her head did tilt to follow the man's path down the sidewalk. "You have more to worry about, Usagi-chan, than some adolescent flirtation with a boy several years your senior."
       The odango-haired blonde gaped.
       Makoto nodded her head thoughtfully, before nudging her dumbstruck friend. "He's a handsome guy, Usagi-chan, but not your type! Ne, Ami-chan?"
       "Oh, perhaps not," the blue-haired genius murmured, though she didn't seem to really be paying attention. Rei, in opposition, snorted loud enough to dislodge mucus.
       "Men are a waste of time and energy, Usagi. Don't even bother. Besides, we have to search for this damn stone-"
       "I do NOT LIKE HIM!" Usagi cried. "I do not even like to be in the same city as him! He's a jerk, he's mean, and I hope he gets hit by a bus!"
       The dark-haired shrine girl snorted again, rolling her eyes away towards the park in general as Makoto snickered. "Kami save me."
       Even though they were on a rather remote path, another person was coming towards them again, this one a jogger. Luna, lapsing back into silence, leapt up into Ami's lap as she settled onto the bench next to Usagi. Makoto affected a lazy sprawl on the grass, balancing her empty can on her stomach, as Rei stood where she was, arms folded, looking as unhappy and haughty as ever.
        As the jogger came close, they could hear the small radio clipped to his belt. "….an amazing discovery, the Ginzuishou! Now, sources say it contains the power to make the user immortal, immensely wealthy, and impervious! On TV, a professor of the foreign school in America claims to be a student of this fabulous stone, and swears by these abilities…"
       Static drowned out the rest, as did distance, as the jogger passed them by.

       Hours later, Mamoru would have laughed to hear Ami's accusation. Laughed in irony, maybe, but he definitely would have laughed.
       Clad in the solemn black of his phantom persona, as Tuxedo Kamen, he stood atop the Tokyo Dome, holding a newspaper tightly between his gloved hands. Even with the wind whipping the paper hard enough to rip the edges into jagged peaks, he could see the declaration of his crimes in stark print. Somehow, knowing everyone would now look for the Ginzuishou for him, he still felt horrible.
       It just wasn't as bad a feeling when he was Tuxedo Kamen; then, he felt justified in his actions, as if he were two separate people. Chiba Mamoru, though cold and aloof to most, would never have revealed the existence of such a powerful object to the populace.
       Then again, Chiba Mamoru wouldn't have known of it, if it weren't for the dreams that created Tuxedo Kamen in the first place.
       On that thought, he released the paper, watching it fly away over the parking lot and its cars. It was crammed full, some vehicles even parked in the driveway, their owners stuffed and pressed inside the Dome beneath his feet. The professor, named Izono despite her American birth, was giving a lecture on the miracles of a stone no one but himself, a thief, and a scantily-clad girl had known about only a few days prior.
       So he was a bit skeptical, obviously.
        The event was being televised, but he felt more ease at being here in person. He had seen the woman arrive, long blonde hair tied back in a sloppy ponytail, dress jauntily cut and far too showy, in his opinion. Even from his vantage point, she looked like a charlatan, but as he offered nothing to the population in ways of an explanation of the stone, they were taking whoever seemed to have knowledge.
       Down to a ledge he carefully slid, knowing there was a service entrance for some of the workers that checked on the roof periodically. No one really bothered using it, as the roof was well constructed and hardly needed servicing.
       But someone stood there now, back to him, giving him an unobstructed view of her panties as the wind lifted both skirt and long-blonde hair.
       Mind you, he wasn't a letch, but he wasn't about to say anything and ruin the view either. So he stepped down onto the ledge and waited, until V realized he was there on her own. Then, he cleared his throat. "You claim to not be from my dreams, Sailor V-san, yet here you are, same as I."
       It was hard to look defiant when the wind kept lifting her skirt to flash him every few seconds, but she managed. "How could you be so stupid? What did you expect to learn by telling the city about the stone?"
       "Well, seeing as I couldn't exactly check out a book from the library on the subject, I figured I may as well lure out an expert," he replied drolly. "And from your words, you already betray knowledge."
       Now she simply looked frustrated, both her hands moving to her hips. Thankfully, the emboldened stance helped to hold her skirt down in the process. "You don't know what you're asking me," the long-haired blonde snapped, though there was a thread of fear in her voice. "You don't know what it's like to be me, to have the answer to so many of all of your questions, and to be unable to tell you!"
       "And then, do you know how I feel? I see a princess in my dreams who pleads with me to find the Ginzuishou, and I know in my heart that it has the answers to so much!" She flinched at the mention of his princess, but he kept on, lashing her with his words even as he stepped closer. "You know everything, Sailor V, but does it keep you warm at night, keeping me - us, apparently - in ignorance? Does your superiority guard you? I keep changing at the witching hour into his guise, like a sleepwalker for the ball, and I risk my life to guard Usa-Sailor Moon, without knowing why!"
       Startled twilight froze as he grabbed her upper arms, holding her tight. Her mouth fell open as she tried to say something in reply, only to have it die in her throat. "You have the answer to our secrets, Sailor V, for the love of the kami-"
       "How do you know?"
       "How do I know what?" The sudden vehemence of her words was enough to kill his rant, and he let her go as she began to twist violently. She shoved the palm of her hand into his chest hard enough to stop his breathing, pushing him back several steps.
       And as she stood in the glow of the Dome beside them, he realized she was crying. "You said her name. Kami-sama, you said her name, you know who she is!"
       Now he was the one to stare dumbly, feeling as if he'd been stripped naked. Defenseless. "It's true….I thought maybe I was mistaken, that the proof wasn't enough, but now, you've just proven…"
       "Sailor Moon is Tsukino Usagi, yes," she whispered, her voice hitching.
       The world was turning upside down around him. Behind his closed eyelids he could see the odango-haired blonde laughing alongside his oldest friend in the world, looking like the most perfect angel. He remembered her angry face as she yelled at him, her vacant stare earlier that afternoon as he'd come close. And if he felt within his breast pocket, he could feel the wrinkled, but carefully folded, piece of notebook paper that bore his cartoon likeness, and the scrawl of kanji: Tsukino Usagi, Class 2-1.
        Dimly, he recognized that Sailor V was still crying, and verbally abusing herself. "I've failed everyone. I can't even protect their identities…"
       "Stop being so stupid, Sailor V," he shouted over the gusting wind. "It isn't your fault. I found out on my own, as myself…but I suppose you know who I am too?"
       Wiping away tears while wearing a mask was difficult, but he could see the bitter smile she wore. "I know who you were, but not who you are."
        "Nani?"
       "You said it yourself, Tuxedo Kamen; I know the answers. I know why you feel the need to guard her; I know the names and identities of each sailor soldier awakened in Tokyo at this very minute. But of who you are, the other half of you, I don't have a name. It wasn't information I needed." The bitter smile grew in intensity before she turned away from his shocked expression, opening the door. "So now, perhaps my ignorance will keep you warm at night."
        She slid in, crawling onto the inner catwalk rather gracefully, despite the wind giving him one last flash. It gave him a minute alone to absorb all of this, before he followed her inside, doing a less graceful job of it; capes were not made for crawling.
       The long-haired blonde said nothing as he stood behind her, closing the door; she simply began walking, her heels carried in a hand. He looked down at the catwalk to realize it was a latticework of metal, like a cage beneath them; her heels would have fallen right through. It made him smile, for some reason.
       At the halfway point, a set of stairs led down to another catwalk, which was just high enough over the topmost seats for someone to patrol the crowd, yet be out of arm's reach of anyone with the whim to attempt a climb. She continued to lead him along the lower catwalk, until it went no further; it ended just to the top right of the stage. Dark as it was, no one could see them, and it was here she crouched, shoes in her lap.
       Below, they could see the audience, attentive in the meager light. Raptured, some of them. The professor was droning on about the eternal life that the Ginzuishou would bring, but the dark-haired man was too busy scanning the crowd to listen. He knew Sailor V was doing the same; it always helped to assess the potential situation before acting. If the higher levels of government were actually listening to the banality and acted rashly, they could be trouble.
       Sure enough, he spotted the mayor, and more than a few high-ranking police. He could hear Sailor V hiss in shock next to him, whispering "Onee-san!" but in reference to whom, he didn't know. But it did have him looking at her in wary surprise; did she know someone of high office?
       Whatever. Izono was fielding questions from the audience now, and flawlessly egging on the emotions of everyone involved. The gathered energy in the room was thick enough for both of them to feel swallowed, hemmed in. "And, yes, you young lady, in the fifth row! The one with the pretty red hair?"
       The redhead that stood was just lowering her hand as she asked, loud and precise, "Does the Ginzuishou unlock memories?"
       "Shimatta!" Tuxedo Kamen whispered, staring across the rows of faces at his oldest friend. Beside her sat Sakakku, looking uncommonly troubled, and alone amongst a sea of excited, exuberant expressions.
       But what he didn't expect was Sailor V's return whisper of, "What is Moriya doing here? Baka!"
       He was rather sure that he couldn't take any more surprises by this point, but instead of asking the sailor soldier just why she knew his friend, he strained to hear Izono's response. This was the very reason he searched for the Ginzuishou; he would know something, even if it were a half-baked response.
       The professor, however, surprised him as well. (He didn't die of heart failure, thank the kami.) "Of course. The Ginzuishou's awesome power can read a person's soul, and release memories you didn't even know you possessed!" She sounded…smug?
       Moriya's expression was troubled, but she nodded in agreement anyway, sitting back down in her seat. Next to her, Sakakku patted her knee in a motherly fashion, leaning in to whisper in the orphan's ear; Tuxedo Kamen would have given anything to know what she said at that moment.
       Instead, he felt Sailor V's hand on his arm, lightly tugging his sleeve. Before he could turn his head, he felt the brush of her mouth against his ear. "I think we should go."
       "Why's that? Maybe she hasn't answered my questions yet," he replied quietly, tilting his ear away.
       A spotlight suddenly blinded him.
       "Ara ara, it's the very man who started all the commotion, Tuxedo Kamen himself!" Izono crowed into the microphone, laughing shrilly. The entire Dome erupted in a cacophony of noise as he held an arm up to shield his eyes, too momentarily disoriented to escape.
       Beside him, Sailor V was rigid, covering his head with both her arms, bowing down into the smallest ball possible. But it wasn't enough, as Izono spotted her next. "And the pretty little soldier, Sailor V! Here, I was told you had retired!"
        Someone was yelling at the host to have the light turned off; the Metropolitan Police Superintendent-General. But it shone steadily on them despite the order, and finally, the crowd began to quiet down enough for Izono to be heard again. "Tuxedo Kamen-san, do you have anything to add to my lecture? Surely you have knowledge on the Ginzuishou!"
       A hard object clunked into the back of his head, and he looked up to see a black wire trailing down from the top catwalk. It retreated high enough for him to see what hit; a microphone. Now properly situated, it slid back down again, low enough for the petrified Sailor V to speak into it as well. "I…I mean, I…"
       "Imposter." Maybe the long-haired blonde wasn't petrified after all. She lifted her head, looking like the wrath of the gods had been given for her to wield. Furious and pissed off, she reached up to yank the microphone down, completely ignoring her companion. "Imposter! Only my allies and our enemies know the Ginzuishou! Anyone who claims knowledge is a fake, and a charlatan!"
       Izono laughed, and that shrill voice sent chills down the dark-haired man's spine. Crouched as he was, he took a step back, as if he could avoid the sound; Sailor V was rigid. "Yet you would covet it for yourself, little girl? Yare, yare…how do we know you aren't lying as well?"
       "A soldier of justice, lie? Any one in this audience knows I've protected the city, and put my life on the line for it! And who are you, but some foreigner intruding on us?"
       Oh, yes, it was time to go. Tuxedo Kamen didn't even bother telling his companion, simply grabbed her wrist and yanked her up to stand. While the audience began to argue amongst themselves again, growing louder and louder, the TV cameras watching only the two on the catwalk, he swung her up over his shoulder and ran. "What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed, bouncing against his back, her shoes forgotten.
       "Running for my life, what does it look like!" he shouted back as he pulled himself up the stairs. She was a good struggler; he nearly dropped her once or twice as he ran for the door to the outside, the spotlight trying its best to follow. Izono's shrill laugh stayed with him no matter where he went, however.
       He could see the technicians running towards them from the other side, and he put on a burst of speed. Sailor V swung to her feet as he released her, and she had the door open with one good kick, her slim body darting through and out. He went in too high and cracked his forehead against the frame, reeling back into the railing; his hat spiraled out into the crowd, lost below. Despite the pain he shoved himself through, kicking the hands of a technician away from his ankle and slamming the door shut.
       "Crescent Beam!" The sudden arc of energy singed his glove as he yanked his hand back, the door handle melting and welding shut. On the other side, he could hear cursing. "This is a mess."
       "Spoken like a true realist," he retorted blandly, watching her release her Love Chain into the Tokyo sky. Blood was starting to drip into his eyes as she pulled him close, directing his arms around her waist. "You can't possibly handle my weight, Sailor V."
       Several people were kicking the door. Any moment it would give, and they would be caught, but he still caught her suddenly brilliant smile. "Watch me."
        They stepped off, and the world tilted again. But this time, he loved it.

       Izono laughed until she was nearly sick, leaning against the controls of the TV station. Before her were rows and rows of screens, each replaying the events of the last night. "Ara, Queen Beryl-sama, humans are truly a useless lot." Again did she pause it on the shot of Tuxedo Kamen's face, Sailor V huddled beside him.
       With a gesture, the dress was stripped, hair unbound. Zoisite kicked the clothes aside carelessly, twisting a strand of blond hair around his finger. "I can already see the city under darkness," he sighed, his flair for the dramatic kicking into overdrive.
        Beside him on the control panel was a thick stack of papers, detailing the search for the crystal. The museum had been nearly ransacked by an eager mob. Workers had scaled the palace walls, digging holes in the emperor's gardens. Dozens of jewelry stores had been robbed on a scale unknown to the city. And, after last night's fiasco, he was sure people were causing chaos even at that very minute.
       The flare of a teleport behind him disturbed the careful stack, a few papers fluttered down. Kunzite retrieved them, settling them back into place without a word. "Queen Beryl is impressed with the situation, if still upset that the Ginzuishou has not been found."
       "It doesn't matter, Kunzite-sama," the blond general sighed, gloved fingers caressing the buttons along the wall. "To make up for it, I will have vast amounts of energy, the energy of frantic humans running themselves ragged to find our prize! Not even Nephrite's time in North American produced a bounty like this!" A single button was pushed, as the general laughed his shrill, encompassing laugh. "Businesses are letting people go home now, schools are letting out for the day. Everyone will be expending energy in one way or another, and it's all ours!"
       Indeed, the bell was chiming the time in the junior high's courtyard. But the crowd that filtered out of the school was small, half of the students skipping to continue their search. Most of the classes had been self-study, and the few teachers untouched by the recent news were growing worried that the school year was wasted. An epidemic, and now, a rash of theft and skipping class? How much more could they take?
       Ami walked slowly, searching around for any sight of her friends. Having cram school in her normal routine allowed her to leave a bit earlier, but she had seen neither Makoto, Usagi, Naru, nor Moriya during lunch. True, she'd come out late, having been discussing the latest blow to the curriculum with a favoured teacher, but it worried her.
       Halfway to her second school, she began to feel tired, almost impossibly so. "What's happening to me?" the blue-haired genius moaned, touching her fingers against her forehead. No fever. But now dizziness began to pound at her brain, and she stumbled into a wall, leaning against it for support. "Kami-sama…I feel so tired…so very, very tired…!"
       Then, she could see it. If she lifted her hand, she was sure she could touch the white energy floating before her, descending onto the other people walking along the street. Most of them were struggling to keep upright, though a few had given up and collapsed, leached of their energy to keep on going.
       Her path to the school took her past the Crown, and she knew she was only a block away. She pulled herself up as every last person finally fell, and she pushed herself into a run, muscles screaming. Nearly tripping over people in her path, too tired to jump, she was about to collapse a few feet from the doors when they opened.
       Luna kept them open as the blue-haired genius finally did collapse halfway over the threshold. "Luna, the city…!"
       "Hai, everything's going mad. The enemies are infiltrating at a greater degree than before…it was careless of me to not investigate further!" The cat nudged Ami up and inside, the doors closing with their usual quiet swoosh. "When I heard the silence, I didn't think at the time it was something so severe."
        Ami huddled where she stood, school case held to her chest. "I couldn't find Makoto-san or Usagi-chan, Luna! They could be affected!"
       "Then let's find them," the black feline said briskly, striding towards the Sailor V game. With no TV screens in the Crown, Ami could feel her strength returning, her energy no longer being leeched. But when Luna began to speak, Ami's breath caught in her throat; it was so unusual, so alien, that it took her a minute to register the movement of the console, and the gaping entrance beneath.
       When Luna vanished into it, Ami followed, though slowly. Studious blue eyes saw only pure black, unadjusted to the difference; then, details emerged, and she gasped. "Luna, this technology is incredible!"
       "It's from the Moon," the black feline replied, struggling into her headset. "These things were needed for investigation, and for contact; all is connected to the host computer on the Moon itself."
        Ami's mouth opened and closed as she stared at the vacant main screen. Then, she reached out to settle the headset properly over Luna's head. "Such amazing things, from so long ago…?"
       "Hai, hai. Now, to find out what's going on!" Paws began to tap at the keyboard, a map of Tokyo proper appearing on the screen. Calculations and estimates began to pop up, highlighting the gathered amounts of energy in every ward, and their path. "The Tokyo Tower is the center of it!"
       "It transmits TV signals…they must be using it to spread their evil!" Ami looked as though she was ready to pop, either from excitement or sheer exhaustion.
       Then, on a side table, she spotted what looked like watches, each a colour matching the four soldiers: red, blue, green, pink. Luna, noticing the switch in gazes, answered the unasked question. "They're communicators. I hoped to find a subtler way to give them all to you, but there's no time. Take them with you, Ami-chan, and try to find everyone!"
        Without asking, Ami strapped on the blue watch, sliding the other three in a pocket. "Hai, Luna!"

       The twilight gloom of Mamoru's bedroom, lit only by the glow of the computer behind him, was a normal comfort. But now, the silence outside and within was oppressive, and it paused his pen above the paper.
       Pen still in hand, the dark-haired man moved for his balcony, frowning as the silence continued up until he opened the sliding glass door. No birds chirped. No buses growled past. And when he stepped outside, the touch of his socked foot to the concrete was almost screamingly loud.
       Before his eyes danced clouds of stolen energy, tendrils connecting them all. One of them snaked away, sensing his intrusion, and began to spiral towards him. With a shout, he ran backwards into his bedroom, slamming the door shut so hard the glass rattled. "Masaka…they've attacked the entire city!"
       He set the pen back neatly beside the paper he'd been writing on. Just because he was in a hurry, it didn't excuse slovenly practices. He selected a jacket for the outside temperature, and left his apartment quickly. No one jostled him in the elevator, because everyone was holed up in his or her home.
       Downstairs and outside, everyone lay in piles on the ground. Energy was thick in the air, nearly stifling, but this time, none of it attacked him. Maybe it was his sudden anger that kept it away, but he didn't ask. He simply ran, looking in desperation for any life.
       Blocks away, a single life stumbled across the street.
       "My head hurts so much," Usagi whimpered, clutching her school bag tightly enough to hurt her fingers. It was the only real control she had left in her body, as the rest of her slowly succumbed to the waves surrounding and attacking her defenseless form. "The enemy is…the enemy…"
       Her bag was growing heavier by the minute. Finally, it fell from her hand, popping open on impact to spill the contents across the sidewalk. Papers fluttered away, tangling in her feet; books cracked their spines, pages fluttering.
       And, glowing like a star, the moon stick Luna had given her bounced into the street.
       Moments later, she followed it, lying unconscious and half-sprawled off the sidewalk.
       She would have been happy to remain thus, falling into a darkened dreamscape that felt comfortable and calm. Despite the painful arch of her spine against the concrete, her mind was long gone into this other world, away from the aches of her physical being.
        But it abruptly grew stormy. Voices began to scream in earnest, pleading for their lives in a language alien to her, yet…familiar. Flashes of bright light streamed out of the shadows, and she felt her hand being grabbed. "Come on, this way, we have to escape…"
       "…no, I have to see, I have to see it…!"
       "I won't lose you! Everything has been forbidden, but I won't see you die!"
       It was another one of her troubled dreams, where everyone was shadowed and dark to her eyes, unseen but heard. She screamed, "Endymion!" feeling a sudden sharp, stabbing pain in her stomach. Something wet trickled over her fingers, and she screamed until she felt her throat tear.
       But her scream was echoed in the real world as well, stopping Mamoru dead on the corner. "Usagi!" He felt her terror, the same as he did when she was Sailor Moon; and it invoked the same transformation it always did. His eyes, closing at the scream, didn't need to open to know the domino mask rested over them again.
       No one was conscious to see it, thank the kami. With a whispered prayer, he dropped to his knees next to the odango-haired blonde, lightly slapping her cheek. "Wake up….wake up! Tsukino Usagi no Sailor Moon, wake up!"
       He was loath to really hit her hard, but each successive slap grew a little more violent, shaking her head from side to side. She was whimpering, writhing in his arms, her phantom pain more real and captivating than the physical pain he was inflicting.
        Then, she died.
       And she opened her eyes. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama?"
       His gloved fingers cupped her cheek as she frowned, confused. "It's my fault this has happened. I wanted the Ginzuishou desperately, but not at this cost!"
       "What are you saying?" Her strength was still lacking, but she felt warm and comfortable. She leaned into him unconsciously, not even noticing his sudden inhale at her closeness. "Everyone's fallen…their energy has been taken?"
       Next to them, the moon stick still glowed like a beacon, a halo of light surrounding them. The energy kept away, unable to pass, and, seeing it, he picked it up and pressed it into her hand. "Transform into Sailor Moon! You have the power to fix this, where I don't."
       He braced himself for her reaction, and it was pretty clockwork. Moon stick in hand she pulled back violently, staring at his face. "How do you…." Then, she stopped. Staring at the stick in her hand, she nodded decisively. "I don't have time to waste asking questions!"
       "Not really, no," he replied, rather sardonic. He helped her stand up, though now she had the energy to do it on her own. She smiled, touching a hand to her brooch.
       "Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"
       The transformation was brilliant, and it drove the energy nearly a block away. The dark-haired man brought his arm up to block his eyes, the light nearly blinding. And when he lowered his arm, crystal blue eyes stared at him through a white mask similar to Sailor V's, almost shyly. His surprised stare prompted her to take it off. "It comes and goes."
       "Maybe it's unconscious preference?" he joked lightly, and was pleased to see her blush. But her expression sharpened into something close to stark terror, and she held the moon stick tightly to her breast. "Daijoubu?"
        Her head turned downwards towards the concrete, shoulders slumping. "I can't do anything. I'm not like Mercury; she can make fog. Or Mars, with her fire, or Jupiter with her lightning…! How can I do anything without them anymore?"
       "I believe in you, Sailor Moon."
       She trembled, holding the moon stick out in front of her. When Luna had given it to her, she had taken a shine to it instantly, only because it resembled a weapon used in the Sailor V game. On a console, she was proficient at destroying enemies with it.
        But how did a game have the same weapon?
       Dimly, she remembered Makoto mentioning that Sailor V could be their ally. She could feel pleasant warmth again as she thought of the long-haired blonde soldier, smiling from the covers of manga and game posters. "Oh, please, help me save everyone…!"
       Tuxedo Kamen stepped back as the glow abruptly blasted from the moon stick, enlarging the corona surrounding them. But this time, the reverse happened, as the energy was sucked back into people's bodies with blinding speed.
       People began to stir on the ground, crying and moaning.
       To the right, a light flashed, signaling Zoisite's escape, but he didn't notice. His hands were full catching a suddenly unconscious sailor soldier.

       Again, she dreamed. But now she was happy, content. Someone she loved held her close, whispering those random phrases any lover longed to hear. Snuggling close, she gathered up the folds of her skirt and leaned in to kiss….
       But something was poking into her arm, waking her up. Upon opening her eyes she realized she was still Sailor Moon, and that she wasn't in her bedroom.
       It was her brooch pressing into her arm. So she rolled over, staring out of the sliding glass door on this side, watching the sunlight stream through the clouds. She could see a few familiar stores, so she knew she was still in Juuban. But she wasn't in any room she recognized.
       After taking a moment to realize she couldn't fall asleep again, she slipped from the bed to circle the room, trying to find a clue to her whereabouts. On a dresser sat an analog clock, a comb, and a lovely star-shaped pocket watch. It was the latter she picked up and touched to her ear, listening for the tick.
       Silence. She pulled it back and frowned, only to notice the crack running across the glass face. "How sad," she murmured, tracing a finger across it. So she put it back down carefully, in the same place as before.
       Nothing else in the room seemed remotely personal. The closet was the only thing that gave away a gender; men's shirts and jackets took up not even half of it, as if whoever lived in the room didn't care for appearance or creativity.
       Another circle of the room, and she gave up. She'd have to search the rest of the house (apartment?) to find her mystery male, but she couldn't very well do it as Sailor Moon, could she? Thinking about that had her pausing as she touched her brooch, her eyebrows drawing close together in a frown. "Tuxedo Kamen knew who I was….is Luna right? Is he the enemy?"
        Mysteries for another time. Her eyes closed as her transformation reversed, leaving her momentarily vulnerable; and it was in that moment that the door chose to open.
       The colours were still receding from her vision as someone said, "You're awake?"
       A starched white shirt was the first thing she truly registered, tucked neatly into black dress pants with perfect folds down the legs. A tuxedo, missing the jacket. What looked to be a crown and a medal hung at the throat, two small objects she'd seen before, up close.
       But the man she'd expected to wear them was not Chiba Mamoru.