Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ SHADOWS ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

DISCLAIMER: I am not associated with the BSB, Jive, or anyone like
that... but I wish I was... Also, Sailor Moon and etc. does not belong
to me. Damn. I'd be rich either way, I guess. Oh, well. Nick has found
out that not only was he kidnapped as an infant, but his entire life
was a lie. A month has passed, and Nick is trying to move on from the
fact that his twin brother is "on the other side". Nick has had his
first run in with someone from "the Initiative", his now ex-girlfriend
Tiffany. Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys have to deal with issues of
their own... the MTV Video Music Awards...

SHADOWS

by Sailor Twilight

Chapter 5

Nick woke up with a splitting headache, among other things. He could
hear the soft murmur of voices around him, but didn't comprehend what
they were saying. Finally, he regained his senses and his vision
cleared. He saw a worried Kevin looking down at him. "He's awake," he
said to someone else.

"Thank God!" Brian's voice responded first.

"Where am I?" asked Nick, his voice groggy. His mouth felt as dry as
cotton.

"Tampa General Hospital," Brian answered him. "You okay?"

"Water," Nick moaned, his left hand reaching toward his injured
shoulder, which was tightly bandaged.

Howie came over, carrying a cup of ice water. Nick sat up, winced in
pain briefly, and took the water graciously from his friend. "Thank
you," he said, after taking a long gulp of the cool, refreshing
liquid.

"What happened, Nick?" AJ asked curiously.

"Tiffany..." Nick stared down at the glass of water in his hands.

"Wait a sec," Howie said. "Your girlfriend did this to you, Nick?
Why?"

"Because," Nick continued to study his water. "I am Negaversian."

"Why would she do this because you're different?" Brian asked.

"I don't know why, B-Rok," Nick sniffled.

Suddenly the door opened, and in poured the Carter family, everyone
from Bob to Aaron. "We came as soon as we heard! Oh Nick, are you
alright?" Jane rushed over to his bedside.

"No, I'm far from okay," Nick groaned, but he was thankful to see
his... Jane.

She reached out and held his left hand. "Who did this to you, Nick?"

"Tiffany did," Nick could no longer hold back his tears. Tears of
pain, tears of betrayal, and tears of thankfulness to see Jane and his
"family" again. "I told her about what I really am, what happened when
I was young. She went totally ballistic and attacked me with a bat.
Then she ran out of the room, and called someone in Venezuela."

"Wait a minute," Bob turned suddenly serious. "Did you say Venezuela?"

"Yeah," Nick hiccuped. "She was so distracted by her phone call, I was
able to escape. I was in my Jeep by the time she realized, so she only
got my headlight. Then I was headed down the highway, and suddenly I
was off the road, headed for a tree, and then..." He paused, unsure if
he believed what had happened from that moment on. "Then I was in AJ's
driveway, and it was quiet."

"Teleportation," Bob murmured. "You teleported, Nick. I have to ask
you, what was Tiffany's last name?"

"Miller," Nick sobbed. "I teleported?"

"Damn. She must be related to Graham." Bob frowned. "That means
they'll be coming back soon. This isn't good." Bob then looked back to
Nick. "What did you say, son?"

"I teleported, right? And I can zap things, too. What other powers do
I have?" Nick wiped away his tears, and an excited glint came into his
eyes.

"Yeah, thanks for the number you did on my leather sofa. That was my
favorite, man!" AJ whined.

"You deserved it, Bone. Face it," Howie said. "We all did. We're sorry
for not believing you, Nick... but you've made up some pretty weird
stories in the past."

"I'm sorry about your couch, too," Nick said. "I was aiming for your
sunglasses."

"Well, you'd better be glad you hit that couch, then," said AJ.
"Otherwise I would have killed you myself."

Nick turned pale at his comment. Howie, the peacemaker as always,
stepped in. "Not now, AJ. Tiffany just tried to maim him, now isn't
the time to make jokes about this."

AJ nodded. "Sorry, Nick. You know I didn't mean anything."

"Sorry, I'm just a little on edge," Nick said. "I don't understand
this. I thought I knew her."

"The Initiative likes to keep things clean," Bob said. "So they stay
in secret, so it's not a surprise to me that you didn't know that
about her, Nick."

"What is this `Initiative', anyway?" Kevin asked.

"The original Initiative was a paramilitary operation dedicated to the
studying of an antimatter portal we found in Antarctica. When we
finally went in, twenty-one years ago, we found a palace. That's where
we found you and your twin brother, and the rift of the Initiative
occurred..." Bob paused. "I was going under the name Grant at the
time, when we first located the portal to the Negaverse..."

*****

FEBRUARY 1980

ANTARTICA

"We've finally found the wormhole," Initiative Officer Grant told the
other members. "It's right over there at ten o' clock." He pointed
with his thickly gloved finger. "We've got them now." He snickered,
his breath clouding in the cold air inside the specially designed ATV.

As they sped towards "Point D"- the portal to the Dark Kingdom or
"Negaverse" as they had dubbed it- Grant's eyes narrowed. He had been
waiting for this day for a long time. He was specifically trained and
assigned for this mission, hand-picked by Professor Walsh herself, the
head of the Initiative program.

The area around their ATV, already a barren tundra, suddenly became
darker and

colder. Ahead of them on the horizon, a swirling black fog hung in the
air. It was Point D.

Grant smiled, thankful to reach their destination. He had been in
Antarctica for over six weeks, and was anxious to return home to his
wife. A sudden pang in his heart made his smile vanish. He realized
that he would return to his crushed wife. She had called him two days
ago sobbing uncontrollably. She had miscarried her first child, at
only three months. He longed to comfort her. As the team of ATV's
neared Point D the sky turned pitch black.

Grant could hear his men prepare their guns in unison, a melody he had
taught them to load their weapons quickly and easily. He already had
his sniper rifle loaded with special tranquilizers, and two additional
rounds of ammunition.

Although he had prepared months ahead for the mission, he didn't know
what to

expect. None of them did, really. He had never faced a Negaversian
before, hell, he had

never even seen one.

Images of twisted, hideous creatures emerged from his head. He had
learned about them for a long time, the Negaversians, or "energy
vampires", heartless creatures who feed off the positive energy of
people and animals.

Grant looked out of the ATV windshield and saw how the high beams were
sucked into the thick fog, barely providing any light in the jet-black
road ahead. Or was it the sky?

Grant motioned for his men to get their oxygen masks ready. They
obediently followed his every plan, without any hesitation. His eyes
scanned the horizon. He could see them edge closer and closer to a
tall, even darker castle that leaned up against the sky. Or could it
be a rock formation that resembled a castle? He wasn't so sure, it was
too dark.

"The scanner is picking up high readings of Nega-energy at twelve o'
clock. Looks like it's in that castle up ahead," Clark, Grant's
right-hand man whispered.

"Excellent." Grant grinned coldly. "So we finally get to meet the
enemy."

'Those fuckers are in for a big surprise. It's all their fault. If
they weren't attacking the Earth, I would have been home to care for
Jane. Then maybe...' He choked back unshed tears for his dead child.

Poor Jane, he thought. She was a good woman, and never deserved this
kind of pain. He wished he was home now to comfort her, and this made
his hatred for the Negaversians continue to fester and grow.

The ATV's arrived in front of a tall, dark gate that was covered in
dead vines. The gate was wide open, almost mockingly inviting them
into the castle. Not a single living thing was in sight as they
entered the barren courtyard.

Grant looked behind the vehicle and saw the two other ATV's following
slowly but steadily behind his ATV. He motioned for them to keep up,
not knowing what to expect. He then turned his attention to the
castle. He could see a light in one of the castle's tall windows.
'A-ha!' Grant thought, then he spoke in a hushed tone, "Someone's up
there. Formation thirty-two, twenty-one, diamond. Over and out."

Clark repeated the message via a walkie-talkie, to the other vehicles.
They pulled over and men piled out of the ATV's. Only the drivers and
coordinators remained at their stations within the vehicles.

Grant assembled the men who had emerged from the ATV's and they
followed his lead into the castle. He licked his dry lips with
anticipation, staring intently ahead as he entered the castle. He
motioned to Clark, and he opened his mouth to say something.

Suddenly a barrage of sharp, pointy crystals came flying towards the
team. Ten men were knocked over, nine dead instantly. One man
remained, screaming in pain as the spike that was buried in his leg
suddenly caught on fire, and began to scorch his body.

Grant screamed to his men, "Quick! Hide!"

The men scattered, darting behind broken walls and boulders in the
courtyard just as another spray of long, glistening crystals flew out
of the castle. "What the hell was that?" Grant asked Clark.

"I think someone's home," he grinned. "We're finally going to see
one."

Grant cocked his gun. "Let's get it. Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Clark said. "Let's do this before I get my
sanity back and change my mind."

"NOW!"

The men charged from their hiding places, guns aimed and ready.
Another wave of spikes flew at them, knocking their number by half.
Only ten remained now, but Grant wasn't turning back. He was
determined, more than ever now, to find who was responsible for the
death of his men. His eyes narrowed, and he continued forward.

The castle was brighter on the inside than it was on the outside, but
it still felt dark and gloomy. A large chandelier hung on the ceiling,
its crystals glistening darkly. Grant suddenly realized those were not
crystals, but eyes. "Look out!" he cried out to his men behind him,
but it was too late.

The cord that held the chandelier snapped, cut with a single slice. It
came crashing down, crushing the remainder of his men, except Clark
who narrowly escaped the deadly trap.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "What the hell was that?"

"I saw eyes up there," Grant said, and pointed where the chandelier
was once hanging. "Keep an eye out. It's somewhere close by... I can
almost feel it."

Suddenly, he felt a breeze behind him. A single pink petal floated by
his face. `Odd,' he thought. `The door is in front of me...'

He turned around and saw a swirling tornado of the same kind of
petals, and readied his gun. The petals suddenly formed a human-like
shape, definitely a female.

Clark and Grant quickly glanced to each other, then back at the
dancing petals. Suddenly, the petals vanished, and in their place
floated a petite, blond woman. Her emerald eyes glared at them, and
her blond hair pulled back in a pony tail. She wore a gray uniform
with dark green piping, a black belt and long matching boots. `This
little lady is what's been causing all this trouble?' Grant thought,
almost letting out a snicker.

As if in response, a long, gleaming crystal formed in her hand, the
length of a sword. She stared coldly at them, not blinking. Suddenly
she attacked, unleashing a hurricane of those damn pink petals with
the single motion of her hand. Clark was the first to shoot her,
missing her by what seemed only inches. She let loose a bellowing
battle cry, and attacked again.

`She's stronger than she looks, she must be protecting something,'
Grant thought, dodging her latest attack. One petal caught him,
slicing his arm as smooth as a razorblade. He cried out in pain, and
saw her smile.

Angrily, he pointed his weapon. She had just released another attack
on Clark, and didn't seem to notice Grant for the moment. He pulled
the trigger, and the tranquilizer flew towards the woman. It struck
her thigh, and she turned angrily to Grant.

"Gotcha you bitch," Grant grinned.

Instead of falling over, she didn't even seem phased by the dart in
her leg. She pulled it out, examined it, and tossed it over her
shoulder. "No one calls me a bitch and lives," she said, her voice
just as icy as her stare.

"Damn!" Grant yelled, barely escaping her next barrage of petals.
"What do we do now?"

Clark yelled back, "I don't know! Just keep firing! Maybe the solution
didn't enter the bloodstream.

"ZOY!" A spike flew at Grant's shoulder, and tore open a new wound.

"AHHH!!!" Grant double over in pain.

Clark rushed over to him. "Grant!" He glared up at the blond woman,
then shot another tranquilizer at her.

She dodged it, but suddenly another dart caught her off guard,
piercing her heart.

She turned and looked toward Grant, who still had his gun aimed at
her, the end of the barrel still smoking. She pulled it out, but it
was obvious that this time the damage had been done. She stumbled in
the air, and landed quickly on the ground, clutching her chest. She
glared at both of the men, and began to crawl towards them.

Clark fired again, hitting her in the shoulder. She winced in pain,
but still struggled towards them. He fired again, and again. Grant
fired, too. They hit her shoulder, her neck, her ear, and her cheek.

She pulled out those darts, still determined to reach them. Grant
could almost see a worried, terrified look in her eyes right before
she finally fell over, and her body went limp. "She was definitely
protecting something," Grant said. "But what?"

The two Officers walked further down the hall, opposite the direction
of where they left the unconscious blond woman. A sudden familiar
sound caught their attention. Both men froze, and exchanged glances.
"Is that a baby?" Clark asked, already knowing the answer.

They both headed over to a tall, thick wooden door, where the sound
was coming from. Grant pushed the solid door, but it didn't budge. It
took both of them at least ten minutes to open the door. By then, the
crying sound had stopped.

The room was well lit, candles everywhere. The walls were elaborately
carved into, designs of forests and oceans and mountains. A crib was
in the center of the room, larger than any crib Grant or Clark had
ever seen, and it was made of marble.

They walked over to the crib, and both men peered down inside the baby
bed.

Two tiny babies were lying there, one asleep and the other awake,
kicking his tiny pink feet in the air, his small hands reaching
upward. Both babies were identical, the only difference was the
crystals that hung from their necks. The sleeping one had a blue
crystal, the baby who was awake had an emerald colored crystal.

Grant dropped his gun, heard it clatter on the ground. He reached down
and picked up the one who was awake, the baby's blue eyes dancing
wildly at the two strangers. He cradled the baby, and began to wonder
what his and Jane's baby would have looked like. Perhaps like this
child?

"We can't leave them here," said Clark, admiring the sleeping baby.
"It's too dangerous, and besides... didn't the commander tell us to
bring back specimens?"

Grant seemed to barely hear his partner's remark, and turned to him
and asked, "Do you think Jane would like this one? Oh, the mission!"
He took a reality check, and suddenly asked, "What if the father is
still around?"

"Oh shit!" Clark said. "He'd have to be even stronger than she was,
and we're already almost out of ammo!"

"Let's get a few things for these little guys and get out of here."
Grant said, grabbing a small marble box from a nearby dresser. "Do you
think Walsh will let us adopt these little ones? I mean, it can be
sort of a rehabilitation thing. To learn how they would develop in a
normal environment and all."

"I don't know. From what I heard, she's starting to have a vampire
fetish, so maybe she will," Clark said, scooping up the sleeping
infant. "We have to go, now. Or we might not leave here alive."

The two men ran off, ignoring the mother's body, knowing that she
would be unconscious for quite sometime.

"And eventually, Walsh became so wrapped up in three-fourteen, she
forgot all about Project Shadow, and the two of you grew up with your
families. Clark took your twin brother, and I took you, Nick." Bob
paused to let this sink in for his son. "Graham's father was Walsh's
second in command. Apparently, he hasn't forgotten. Tiffany proved
that alright."

"Wait... so you know who my twin brother was?" Nick asked. "Why didn't
you tell me this sooner? Who is he?" Nick became excited.

"You're not going to believe this, but your brother is-"

"STOP!" Aaron suddenly yelled, eyes filled with tears. "IT'S NOT TRUE!
IT CAN'T BE TRUE!"

Bob turned mid-sentence to face his youngest child. Aaron glared at
him. "NO, IT ISN'T TRUE! NICK IS MY BROTHER! IT ISN'T TRUE!" Aaron
turned and ran out of the hospital room.

Bob and Jane, without thinking, chased after their son, who was
already down the hallway.

"Poor Aaron," Nick said softly, then added. "Damn!"

*****

Tell me what you think so far! Email me at sailortwilight@hotmail.com.
Please title all emails "Shadows-Review". All others may be thrown
out. Flames will be extinguished. Please note that this story has been
inspired thanks to my best friend, Tina. She knows what I'm talking
about!!!!! :) Also, thanks to Cobalite for her help with the
Initiative information.

"When you look behind, sometimes there is a shadow there... it is a
shadow of yourself..."