Absence - By Kirika
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Chapter 8 - The Moon
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Sanjuro wandered into the newsroom and to his desk. He dumped himself in his chair and dropped his bag on the floor. These 8.00am starts were a killer, and running around all night after a mysterious woman didn't help. Sanjuro ran his fingers through his short spiky hair. They didn't pay him enough to get up this early.
"Hey, Sanjuro! Still alive, huh? ...Or did you take my advice and stay home?" Ryoji said, throwing Sanjuro's breakfast on the desk.
Sanjuro perked up when he saw Ryoji. "For you're information, my plan worked," He said with a smug smile, leaning back in his seat and putting his hands behind his head.
"Sure Sanjuro," Ryoji said disbelievingly.
"It did alright! You wouldn't believe what I saw... do you realise they're monsters out there? And I mean real, honest-to-goodness monsters. I saw people die, man! And that woman... the masked hero, she can throw fireballs and stuff! She really kicked some ass last night..." Sanjuro looked up at the ceiling, remembering, "She's so cool..." he finished in a whisper.
Ryoji shook his head and let out an exaggerated breath. "It's a shame when such a star reporter cracks," Ryoji said sarcastically, "I suppose she gave you her number as well and asked you to call her?"
"No, but I gave her mine," Ryoji rolled his eyes, "my work number anyway."
"This reaches a whole new level of pathetic for you. Congratulations," said Ryoji, giving a fake smile.
"It's true, I swear! I even took pic-" Sanjuro stopped when he realised he didn't have those pictures.
"Took pictures?" Ryoji finished for Sanjuro, "Then give me a look at them."
"Uh... they haven't been developed yet..."
Ryoji gave Sanjuro a look. "Right... how convenient,"
"Ahh, screw you... you just wait till I write this story... I smell promotion, I smell awards-"
"I smell BS," Ryoji laughed.
Sanjuro scowled at him. "Go away,"
Ryoji continued laughing as he walked over to his own desk. Sanjuro checked his `in' tray on his desk.
Hmm. `High School fair brings in record numbers'. Riveting stuff He balled up the report request and threw it in the trash.
Sanjuro decided that he should get started on his article about the masked woman. He knew he said to her that he wouldn't put it in the Daily, but it was all right to get a head start. Maybe he could get a job at the Gazette or the Telegraph with this story and have it printed there.
I need a name to call her... something like, `the fiery avenger' except more... dynamic...
Sanjuro shoved some of his breakfast in his mouth and began to type.
******
Santhesis began typing on his keyboard again as Ryoji walked past him. He had been working at the Daily for nearly a month now and finally his placement here had paid off. He was supposed to spread disinformation in the event that this newspaper got evidence of youma's existence. Instead, Santhesis had become quite adept at writing human sports coverage. The humans hadn't gotten any evidence before... until now.
And as an added bonus, that reporter knows the human with the powers of fire
Santhesis stopped typing when he saw Ryoji settle down at his desk, and picked up the primitive communication device, the `telephone'. Santhesis dialled the number for the Ragnarok nightclub.
"Ragnarok," said the human voice on the other end of the line.
Santhesis spat a guttural phrase quietly into the receiver. The other end was silent for a moment, and then another human voice spoke.
"Report,"
Santhesis recognised the voice as Makareus' appointed youma leader for this city, Rodoth.
"This is Santhesis reporting from the Yokohama Daily, I have encountered important information..."
******
Rodoth put down the phone and allowed himself a small smile. So, they had a lead on the human. With any luck, the reporter at the Yokohama Daily would eventually lead them to the female. Of course, it wouldn't be necessary if Rodoth's current plan worked.
The berserker wants her alive, no doubt to challenge her to a fight and kill her himself... it will be unfortunate that Khairephon will only have her body to indulge his violent nature... threats are to be erased, not toyed with
Rodoth turned towards the door as one of Thrinakie's youma entered. All Thrinakie's followers had been charged with finding new gates, and judging by the youma's excited appearance, a new one had finally been found. Rodoth would ask Khairephon if more of his youma agents could be sent through. Infiltration was the best way to work.
******
Rei walked through the Hikodo gangland at late night, making no effort to hide herself. She hoped she made a tempting target for the youma... she tried not to think about what else would be tempted.
Damn youma. Why did they have to choose this hellhole to congregate to?
Rei sighed. She knew why. The youma could hunt here all they wanted and not have to worry about the local authorities investigating. No police officer would patrol this area no matter how much you paid them. Besides, the police probably wouldn't care if someone who lives here disappears.
Who cares if some homeless person or drug addict gets killed after all? Rei thought bitterly, shaking her head.
Rei continued walking until she heard cries for help. She cursed and ran in the direction of the shouts. Rei ran towards what looked like a long wide trench. She realised the cries were coming from the bottom of the trench, which was actually a large half-pipe used for draining rainwater. It had to be at least ten feet wide and a hundred meters in length. There were several barred holes in the side of the half-pipe where it connected to the sewer system.
Rei got on her stomach and crawled over to the edge of the pipe and looked down. There were about three people cowering in the middle of the pipe, shouting for help, with a tall gangly man standing over them.
No... not a man thought Rei.
The man had a pale brown complexion; the colour of decay, and his body was completely devoid of hair. His arms were long, his hands reaching just slightly past his knees. His fingers also seemed overly long. Rei strained her eyes. No, it was his fingernails... each one was like a stiletto.
Bet he has to be careful when he picks his nose
The youma turned his head a little, giving Rei a look at his face. He wouldn't win any beauty prizes. The youma didn't have any lips... his mouth was in a permanent rictus of a sinister, sharp-toothed grin. And his eyes... the youma's eyes were black holes. Rei looked at them and shivered; the eyes were the windows of the soul... and his soul was black.
The youma looked like it was waiting for something, or someone. It ignored the humans and looked around the half-pipe.
Probably waiting for his ugly buddies to help him carry his `prey' surmised Rei, time for baldy to learn that no one kidnaps people in this neighbourhood when I'm around!
Rei stood up and transformed.
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
Rei willed her fuku to change into the last battle outfit.
"I am a fighter of justice!" shouted Sailor Mars, down at the youma, her transformation complete, "And I will punish you!"
The youma looked up at her and tilted his head. Then it imploded, completely disappearing into nothing.
"The hell?" said a puzzled Mars.
Sailor Mars watched as the youma's shadow, which had remained, moved up the other end of the pipe and across the street at the top, blending into the other shadows.
"I must have a reputation now," mused Mars.
She looked down at the people who were still cowering. Mars jumped off the edge of the pipe and slid down the side to the bottom, throwing off the hat she was wearing.
Forgot that it showed up in the last transformation
Once Sailor Mars had reached the bottom of the pipe, she approached the people.
"Hey, you're all okay now," she said, "that man is gone..."
All three still cowered. Mars sighed.
She reached down and placed her hands under a man's armpits, and began to lift him to his feet.
"Here, on you're fe- AHH!"
One of the `people' pulled her blade-arm out of Mars' side, red droplets dotting the pipe floor. Mars let go of the man and staggered backwards, holding her right side. She stumbled and landed on her backside. Sailor Mars watched as the three people dropped their human masquerades and turned into their true forms- youma.
The youma that stabbed her was female and looked quite human... except for her green skin and her arms that ended in long, sharp, sword blades... one of which was red with Mars' blood. The man who she had tried to help looked like he was made of rock, and was huge, his head almost reaching the top of the half-pipe. His ham sized fists looked like they could shatter steel. The last youma was also made for close combat; it was almost as large as the rock youma, and appeared crustacean, covered in armoured plates and had giant pincers, ready to cut her in two.
A trap... losing blood... oh god this hurts! thought Sailor Mars, gritting her teeth.
The rock youma raised both his fists high above his head, and brought them down at Sailor Mars. Mars scrambled wildly backwards, and spread her legs as the fists cracked the ground between them. Mars let go of her side and rolled backwards into a standing position. More of her blood decorated the pipe.
"FIRE SOUL BIRD!"
Sailor Mars launched a flame bird at the rock youma. The bird smashed into its chest, the flames licking around it. Mars swallowed down the panic as she saw that her attack had done nothing.
"Yeeyah!" shrieked the blade youma, running along the right vertical side of the pipe and towards Mars, defying physics.
Mars darted backwards as one blade slashed in front of her face. The youma followed the blow smoothly, slashing with the other blade high at Sailor Mars' leg, tearing a large gash on her left thigh.
Mars retaliated by smashing her right blood-covered fist directly in the face of the youma, stunning it, and then executing a leg swipe, ignoring her injuries. The blade youma fell on its side and swiped at Mars' legs, causing Mars to leap further backwards.
Shit! I'm bleeding all over the place... I've got to escape!
The armoured youma lumbered forward, stepping over the blade youma. Sailor Mars knew that if she got caught in one of its pincers, she would die for sure.
Or maybe just lose a limb Mars thought grimly.
It lunged with one pincer, trying to grab her. Mars moved to the right, dodging it, then ducked as the second pincer flew at her midsection. She rolled backwards, looking at the end of the half-pipe behind her as she did so. It ended in a smooth wall.
How am I supposed to get out of here?! The pipe sides look... steep... ohh... Mars swayed a little on her feet, her head feeling light.
Sailor Mars shook her head to clear it. Her eyes refocused, and saw that the rock youma's fist was coming right at her. Mars let herself fall backwards, the fist sailing over her. She rolled as a pincer crushed the cement where she had lay. Mars jumped to her feet, only to be cut across the forehead by a blade.
I'm going to die thought Mars, her head beginning to float again, I'm going to die and no one... even knows... I'm here, or about the youma, or about Kar.. Khain... what was his name...?
Mars was brought back to reality when she realised a big rock was flying towards her. She moved on pure reflex to her left, but it was too late, the rock youma's fist scored a glancing blow to her right shoulder. She screamed in agony and was spun backwards, sliding along the middle of the pipe and coming to rest near the end wall.
Sailor Mars lay on her back looking up at the stars through half-closed eyes. The ground was trembling with a thud-thud sound. Her right arm felt strange... and the right half of her coat was all wet. Her head... the thud sound was coming closer. It was nice to just take in the beauty of the night sky. Mars moved her eyes to the moon.
The moon... it's so gorgeous... the moon... that means something... A tear ran out of her eye.
An image of a smiling blonde girl with long hair styled into twin odangos came into her mind. She was important somehow. She was... special to Sailor Mars.
The moon... Usa... Usagi...
Yes. That was the girl's name. Usagi Tsukino. The thud was even closer now. The image of... Usagi... changed, a crescent moon appearing on her forehead.
The moon... Usagi... Sailor Moon...
Yes... Usagi is Sailor Moon. But... no. She was more than that. Usagi was something even more important than Sailor Moon. The image changed again with Usagi dressed like royalty.
The moon... Usagi... Sailor Moon... the princess...
Yes... Usagi is the princess. But that still wasn't it... there was something important Mars was forgetting... something that she should never forget. The image of Usagi turned back to the first form, her simply dressed in her school uniform.
The moon... Sailor Moon... the princess... Usagi... Usagi... Usagi is the princess...
It was so close... more tears flowed from Sailor Mars' eyes. The thudding, it was almost upon her.
The moon... Usagi is the princess Yes, that was correct. But... Usagi is the princess... yes...no, Usagi is MY princess, she is MY princess, she is my... love... I love her, I love her! Usagi is the love of my life, she is my true love, my only love, the love that I would die eternally for, the reason I fight; I fight for her, the moon; I'll fight for her until my last breath is gone, until my body is dust, until time itself ends; I fight for her because I LOVE HER! SO FIGHT!!
Sailor Mars leapt to her feet and rammed her right shoulder against the wall, popping the joint back in place. There was no pain. She turned; catching the blade youma's downwards cut with her left hand and smashed her right palm into the youma's face, shattering her nose. The youma stumbled and fell backwards. Mars ducked as a pincer ripped into the wall behind her. She rolled under its legs and in front of the rock youma. The youma punched at Mars. She twirled her body to the side avoiding the attack. Sailor Mars heard movement behind her, and she leapt as high as she could, performing a perfect leg split in the air. The crustacean youma's pincer flashed under Mars and tore into the rock youma's chest, bursting through its rock skin and into the soft flesh beneath, eviscerating vital organs. Mars landed on the crustacean youma's extended arm and balanced herself.
"FIRE SOUL BIRD!"
A shrieking bird of flame flew point blank into the crustacean youma's unarmoured eyes, burning them to a cinder. The flames continued to burn up its eye stocks, reaching the brain and liquefying it instantly.
Sailor Mars leapt off the falling hulk and to the ground, in time to meet the blade youma's furious charge. Mars kicked out hard, hitting the youma in her stomach and over to the rock youma's decaying corpse.
"BURNING MANDALA!"
The youma fell to her knees, its skin running like wax, the metal of its arms beginning to drip on the ground. The youma burned until only ash and a silver watery pool was left.
Sailor Mars collapsed to her knees, panting, the pain of her injuries returning. She didn't know what had came over her, but she had fought like never before. Mars felt her coat; it was soaked with blood. She had to get medical attention, and soon... it was a miracle she had snapped out of her daze with such blood loss.
Sailor Mars used the huge bodies of the rock and crustacean youma before they melted away to climb out of the pipe. She staggered through the neighbourhood, blood dripping behind her... leaving a trail for the shadows...
******
Sailor Mars leaned against an alley wall. The hospital was right across from her.
So tired... just need to rest my eyes... no! Mars shook her head, trying to stay awake.
Mars detransformed, and began to struggle to the hospital entrance when she spotted something odd, despite her wandering mind.
That man... near the door... he's looking for something... or someone...
There was a man wearing a suit that seemed uncomfortable for him, standing rigid near the door and looking around the street. The way he carried himself... it just wasn't normal... it wasn't... human. Rei returned to the darkness of the alley.
Youma... they staked out this hospital... damn, they got all angles covered this time...
There wasn't another hospital nearby that Rei thought she could make it to, so she took the only option left. Rei moved back down the alley, her body sliding against the wall, her blood a strange form of graffiti.
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Tsubasa sat in his apartment watching late night television. He had been staying up late the past few days, waiting to hear Megumi's return, even though he was usually exhausted in the morning. Tsubasa worried about that girl... more than he should.
Megumi abused him everyday with insults, but for some reason Tsubasa liked her. A lot. The twenty-one year old felt like he had some schoolboy crush. There was just something about her... and she was so pretty... her hair... and her eyes... Tsubasa shook his head, clearing the thoughts. He shouldn't be so shallow, but he couldn't deny that Megumi was a picture of beauty.
Tsubasa heard someone climb up the apartment building staircase.
Probably Megumi
He looked at his clock. 1.13am... what does she do all night?
Tsubasa heard Megumi's apartment door open and then a loud thump. Curious, and wanting to see if Megumi was okay, Tsubasa got up and opened his apartment door.
"Megumi!"
Megumi was sprawled halfway in her apartment, blood smeared on the door. Tsubasa rushed to her side.
"Megumi! Can you hear me?!"
She lay there, unresponsive. Tsubasa quickly felt for her pulse. It was there, but it wasn't strong. Her eyes fluttered open, then closed slightly.
"Megumi? Don't move, I'll call an ambulance!" Tsubasa looked around Megumi's apartment. Shit, she had no phone. As he was about to run to his apartment to call, Megumi mumbled something.
"No... no ambulance... no hospital... danger..."
Tsubasa stared at her. No ambulance? Was she delirious?
"You need an ambulance Megumi, you've lost a lot of blood," he looked at the girl worriedly, taking in her sickly pale face.
"No... ambulance... can take it...healing..."
Tsubasa swore and rushed into the bathroom, pulling out as many medical supplies as he could. He knew first aid, but he was sure this was beyond his skill. When he returned, Megumi was moaning and crying out for someone. Tsubasa ignored her cries and set about trying to save her life.
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