Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Hell ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

6 months later:

Usagi was walking down the street heading to the Crown Arcade to pay a visit to one of three few males left in the world she trusted, Furuhata Motoki, the other two being her father and by default, Shingo, her brother. So much has happened in the past six months since she had stopped speaking to her former senshi and boyfriend. She had had to interrupt Michiru's world tour in order to call the Outer senshi back to Tokyo to take over where the Inners left off. Not that the Outers minded being called back home, mind you. They would gladly do anything for their princess and almost turned all of Tokyo inside out searching for Mamoru, the Inners and Luna in order to bust a cap in all their asses before Usagi assured them that they have been taken care of. In fact, the former Inners actually had the nerve to approach Usagi two weeks after her display of power to beg her for forgiveness.

Flashback

Usagi had been sitting in the park by herself, trying to forget all of the events of the past few weeks when she felt people approaching her. Instantly her defenses went up and her muscles tensed, readying herself for a potential attack. She whirled around and was a fraction of an inch from swiping Ami's nose off her face. 'Damn, just a little bit more and Ami would need a nose job,' thought Usagi. Sorely tempted to continue her fist's trajectory towards Ami's face, Usagi visibly forced herself to reign in and growled, "what do you traitors want." The tone of her voice made it clear this wasn't a question.

"Usa-chan, we know that you're upset about finding out what we did but please know that we now see the error of our ways and we certainly had the best of intentions for doing it," Ami faltered at Usagi's eyebrow raised in scorn.

"Yeah Usagi-chan, please forgive us. We've been through so much together to just let it end like this," pleaded Makoto.

When Usagi still said nothing, Rei thought it was time to change strategy in order to get a reaction out of her. "Yeah Odango. Just get over it already. We already apologized, what more do you want?" The other girls winced at Rei's words, cursing her for her poor choice of words.

Before Rei or anyone else knew what was happening. Usagi whipped out the switchblade she now kept with her at all times, grabbed the unsuspecting priestess in a headlock and raked the knife across her neck. Rei crumpled to the ground, dead before she hit it, her blood gushing out of the wound in her neck that stretched from ear to ear. Immediately, the girls, Mamoru--who was at his apartment sinking deeper into his depression--and Luna, who was now staying with Ami, felt a burning sensation in their throats. Although none had the wound that Rei had, they all instinctively put their hands up to their necks in an attempt to stop the blood they felt was pouring out.

Usagi didn't say a word as the other girls coughed and gagged, trying to rid themselves of the feeling of having their tracheas sliced open when in all actuality, they weren't. True to her word, Rei's eyes fluttered open, cheating death despite the wound (which had now closed up resulting in an ugly looking scar that would force Rei to wear turtlenecks and scarves for the rest of her long life) that medical experts, had they been there, would deem fatal.

Usagi waited until Rei came to her senses before seething, "what more do I want, you ask? Give me back the dignity I had before I was raped in that alley. Give me back the powers that would help me fight to protect your sorry asses and all the rest of the fucking people in this world who couldn't give a damn what the Dark Kingdom is up to, just as long as they're chowing down their Big Macs and washing it down with their Cokes. Give me back my trust in you and most especially in Mamoru. Give me back my child or the hope of having any more children. If you can give me back just one of those things which you have robbed me of, then I will forgive you, but until then, stay out of my sight. By the way, it's Hime-sama now. You no longer have the privilege of addressing me in such an intimate manner."

From then on, they all avoided her like the plague.

End flashback

Three weeks after the rape, the trail had gone cold as to catching Usagi's attacker. Finally fed up, Usagi set out to capture the rapist herself. What she didn't tell anybody was that Lunarians of noble birth became bonded to anyone they had had sexual relations with, which included rape. It was a way of ensuring fidelity between the ruling monarchs, and in the unfortunate case of a member of the royal family being raped, the swift capture of the offender. So in other words, Usagi had known the whereabouts of her rapist the whole time. She had only thought of giving the Tokyo police department the benefit of the doubt and letting them capture Sakai Haru, her rapist. But after countless false leads and Usagi's patience wearing thin, she finally decided to take matters in her own hands and deliver the bastard to the literally clueless police officers herself.

One night when she was sure everyone was asleep, Usagi crept out her window, gracefully avoiding Artemis who now occupied Luna's former spot at the foot of her bed. She made her way to the bad part of town and proceeded to enter a run-down building where society's rejects resided. Following her instincts, she entered Haru's apartment and found him about to inject a needle, undoubtedly full of an illegal substance, into his arm.

Before he could react, Usagi had transported both of them to an area of negative space that no one had access to but her. Time flowed more swiftly in this area than in reality, so she was able to torture him off and on for the better part of a hundred negative space years (which was the equivalent ten earth days) before cutting off his penis and forcing him to eat it, a process which took five earth days to accomplish, or fifty negative space years. She then deposited him on the doorstep of the Tokyo Police Department precinct where he gladly confessed to all his crimes, including the rapes of 32 other people, 12 of which were little boys and girls under the age of 10. He was immediately sentenced to death and was now roasting in Hell where he belonged. Usagi was sure of that for she went down there and checked it for herself.

Once her vengeance on her rapist was complete, she returned to the task of tormenting her traitors, the former Inner senshi. Getting revenge on them took more cunning on her part for it was their pride that made them turn on her, so it would have to be their pride that would bring about their downfall.

Usagi studied like the demon she felt herself becoming in order to catch up to, and exceed Ami in school. She even managed to beat Ami and win some academic awards, which she promptly rubbed in Ami's face. Ami had dark circles under her eyes from all her late night study sessions while Usagi looked bright and fresh each day. What was Usagi's secret, you ask? Why, she simply did her homework and studied for her tests in the negative space, giving her more than ample time to learn her lessons.

She enrolled in cooking classes at a prestigious cooking school, using her teleportation powers to get her to France, where the school was located, and back to Tokyo without anybody missing her. When she found out that Makoto had signed up for a citywide cooking contest, Usagi made sure to sign up too. Again using the negative space as a "practice kitchen", Usagi worked feverishly to perfect her recipes. By the time of the contest, Usagi could hold her own in the kitchens of the world's best chefs. The judges pronounced her entry as the best beef stroganoff in the city, with Makoto coming in a distant second. Makoto was stunned beyond belief and to this day has not been able to approach her stove without feeling a sense of trepidation.

Minako's defeat was a little easier to plan. She knew Minako's forte was volleyball and so, she practiced in her negative space. She now came to the negative space so often to plan her revenge on all those who hurt her that she has taken to calling it "The War Room." With Usagi's newfound skills on the volleyball court, she was able to rise in the ranks of her school's team to lead them to victory in the city finals, crushing Minako's team 14-7 and ending her school's 10-year winning streak at the championships. Mina was so disgraced that she quit the team, or rather; quit the team before her teammates forced her.

Of all her accomplishments (yes, she considered her acts of revenge as accomplishments for even though she used magic to help her achieve them, in the end, it was her sweat and determination that helped her achieve her goals) her proudest one was single handedly planning and leading an attack on the remaining Dark Kingdom youma and the generals who led them. She allowed the Outers, Setsuna, Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru access to the War Room, which they used to train for the upcoming attack. When the day of the attack came, the few remaining occupants of the Dark Kingdom didn't suspect a thing. Because Luna's spell was irreversible, Usagi was forced to fight as Serenity. It wasn't easy sneaking around the Dark Kingdom in a blindingly white dress but she managed to do it. The three generals didn't see her coming when her sword sliced their heads off and Rei and Luna certainly weren't expecting those heads to show up in a gigantic gift wrapped box outside her bedroom door. Rei's hair turned pure white from the shock which, coupled with her scar, gave her a grotesque appearance. Since then, Rei has been stocking up on hair dye to cover her permanently white hair. Luna's revenge came in the form of promoting Artemis to her former position, the ultimate humiliation as far as the cat was concerned.

Although Usagi knew her heart was turning to ice, she couldn't bring herself to punish Mamoru any more than she already had, for out of all of them, only he was the one who was able to share in her pain of losing a child. That, and the knowledge that he contributed to his child's death, was punishment enough. She would see him everyday walking down the street looking like the empty shell of a man he was before he met Usagi and she could feel whatever was left of her cold heart reach out to him. Before she could act on her feelings of pity however, the voice of reason would always sneer, 'you stupid girl, don't fall for it again. This is the man who broke your heart over and over and you still feel sorry for him? You brought his dead ass back to life how many times and he still had the nerve to question you on how you handled your duties as Sailor Moon. It's because of this deadbeat that we're like this in the first place. He made us like him.' She knew her mind was right, but she also knew that her heart would always belong to him. So it was that she realized she had fallen under her own curse: she would always be alone for she could never love another like she loved, and still loves, Mamoru.

But now it's time to head back to the present. Usagi had just reached her favourite stool at the counter of the Crown Arcade when she felt someone grab her wrist. Whirling around, she saw that it was a guy who attended Mamoru's school but whose name she could not recall, not that she cared.

"Hey baby. What's say you and me get outta this dump and get it on at my apartment down the street?" he asked, his eyes leering all over her body.

Usagi gave him a look that would stop a serial killer cold, but unfortunately for him, he didn't notice. She yanked her arm forcefully out of his grip and went to take her seat.

At this time, Mamoru and the girls had walked into the arcade and witnessed the whole thing. Just when the pest was about to make another move toward Usagi, Mamoru stepped in, barely able to keep his anger in, and was two steps away from kicking this guy's ass into oblivion, when Usagi said, "your help is not needed nor is it wanted here, Chiba-san, although I could have used it months ago."

Mamoru, and the girls who heard it, winced. The pest, thinking Usagi's words and Mamoru's reaction meant that he scored, grabbed Usagi and forcibly kissed her. Mamoru uttered a curse but before he could do anything, Usagi kneed the overly amorous man in the groin. He fell to the ground where Usagi proceeded to kick the crap out of him. All activity in the arcade stopped and watched a girl whose feet could barely reach the floor when she sat on the stools at the counter bring a grown man crying and begging for mercy on the floor. When she was sure that he was good and properly battered, she hauled him by the collar of his torn shirt and tossed him on the street where he barely missed being run over by a car. She walked back into the arcade and was about to resume her activity before she was so rudely interrupted when she heard the one word that made her snap.

"Usako."

Not bothering to look at him, or listen to Minako's cry of "please Usagi, talk to us," Usagi rushed into the employee lounge and locked the door behind her. Motoki watched the entire scene, puzzled as to what had happened between the tight group of friends since he last saw them eight months ago before he left for his trip to visit his fiancée Reika in Africa.

"Why won't she listen to us?" Mina cried before rushing out of the arcade. The rest followed her but not before Motoki heard Ami mutter, "can you blame her?"

Now even more puzzled, Motoki went to the lounge and knocked on the door. Hearing no response, he fished his keys out of his apron pocket and unlocked the door himself. Opening the door, he saw Usagi huddled in the corner, crying her eyes out. Motoki closed the door behind him and gently asked, "Usagi-chan, what's wrong? What happened between you, the girls and Mamoru?" Feeling the need to share her burden with someone she trusted, Usagi told him everything that had happened in the last few months since he was away. Motoki, who already knew about their secret identities (AN: in the manga, Motoki found out the identities of the senshi when they rescued him from an attack at the arcade) was shocked to hear about Usagi's rape and her many losses. Gathering her in his arms, he gently rocked Usagi back and forth in an effort to console her.

Just when Usagi felt she had composed herself, a shark knock was heard. "Neko-chan, you in there? I heard some idiot tried to put the moves on you. Let me in," Haruka said, concern for her friend coming through despite her gruff tone. At Usagi's consent, Haruka barged in the door, only to see her in Motoki's arms with tearstains on her face. Haruka's eyes narrowed dangerously as she stared a suddenly scared Motoki down. Hastily excusing himself, Motoki rushed out of the room. When he was gone, Usagi giggled and asked Haruka why she had to scare Motoki like that when she knew that he would never hurt her.

Haruka smirked and said, "because I can," causing more giggles to come out of Usagi. Haruka reveled in the sound of Usagi's laughter for it came so infrequently now. "Come on, neko-chan, the others are waiting in the arcade. We have a meeting planned back at the mansion, remember?" With that, the two girls walked out of the lounge and met up with Michiru, Setsuna and Hotaru. They all decided to walk back to the mansion by cutting through the park. As they walked, the Outers had unconsciously formed a ring around Usagi with Hotaru merrily skipping ahead of them, Haruka and Michiru on either side of Usagi and Setsuna bringing up the rear. If someone or something threatened their princess, they would have to go through her bodyguards first.

As they approached the fountain, they came across the Inners and Mamoru trying to console a sobbing Mina. Usagi's heart softened at the scene, but flashes of the scene of their betrayal came to mind, hardening her heart once again. The Inners turned and noticed Usagi flanked by the Outers. Unable to keep quiet, Haruka let the Inners know exactly what she thought of them, causing a fight to break out between herself and Makoto. Soon everyone, with the exception of Usagi, Setsuna and Mamoru, was exchanging bitter words about each other.

Turning to Setsuna, Usagi said, "Setsuna-chan, if you could turn back time to before I was raped, I would be most grateful. In fact, I would even allow my rape and their betrayal to occur if I could just keep my child. I would forgive them all for their transgressions if I could just have my baby back."

Hearing this, Mamoru turned away, tears rolling down his face. Setsuna looked into the hopeful eyes of her princess and shook her head sadly. Usagi nodded, for she already knew what the Time Guardian's response would be. Just when Rei was about to slam her fist into Haruka's face, a flash of light came out of nowhere, blinding everyone. Everyone exclaimed in alarm before vanishing into thin air.