Studio YOGIPIGS presents:
SAILOR MOON AX
Based on Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon by Takuechi Naoko
Written by Studio YOGIPIGS' "Project Muffinhead"
LEAD WRITER: ROBERT BARBA
CO-WRITER: ELIZABETH THOMAS
SAILOR MOON AX LEGENDS WRITER: AMY ANGEL
SAILOR MOON AX LEGENDS WRITER: EMANUELE BONAMICO
Research by Studio YOGIPIGS' "Odango Labs"
LEAD SAILOR MOON ANALYST (US VERSION): MARVIN PEACE
LEAD SAILOR MOON ANALYST (JAPANESE VERSION): SAKURA EDWARDS
TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYST: JOHN SHEAREN
WEAPONS AND MILITARY ANALYST: DAVID CLARE
PROJECT EDITOR: SAMUEL LAMBSON
CHAPTER EIGHT: Marking the Line, Part One
Costa Mesa, July 1998:
The phone rang, its beep soft yet annoying, something that Serena hated. At the moment, she was in her room in her home, trying to take a nap. Initially, she tried to ignore it. Then she screamed aloud for Heather to answer it, until she realized that it was 3:30 in the afternoon, and Heather probably wouldn't be home until four. She then thought about just letting the answering machine be the point of interception, until she realized that she never had it on when she was at home.
"Damn," she said in disgust, deciding to get up. The first thing she saw when she lifted her head off the pillow was her rather chubby pet rabbit, Mr. Bouncer. A tan-furred French Lop, Mr. B was so spoiled, he'd gotten too fat to do much of anything. "And I assume *you're* not going to bother answering it, are you?"
The rabbit simply stared at his owner, having no clue as to what the human said.
Serena's face showed the barest hint of a smile that was somewhere in the emotional chain, and just said, "Never mind." Lifting the handset of her Bugs Bunny phone, she held the plastic carrot to her ear and mouth. "Yeah, 's Serena."
"Serena?" a female voice said, with a trace of an Italian accent and sounding as if the owner on the verge of tears. "Change in plans for tonight. We'll be meeting at the Cherry Hill Temple."
"Suzanna?" she responded. "Hey, you okay? What's wrong?" Serena initially was tempted to tease Suzanna about her Italian-Romany background--especially her favorite quote of "gypsies never cry." When Suzanna was in combat as Sailor Pluto, her gypsy skills and shadow powers made for an extremely dangerous (some said unhinged) combatant. Serena, however decided to take the moral high road--if something was making normally stoic Suzanna cry, something was seriously wrong. ((Again. For the second time today. I knew I shoulda stood in bed.)) "The Temple? Why?" Serena asked, hoping that there was some bizarre-yet-logical reason for all of this.
"Serena," the girl said, her voice a choking sob. "Raye's dead. Channel 11. Now." Suzanna, overcome with sorrow, said no more and hung up.
Serena, numbly holding the phone, instinctively reached over and grabbed the remote control, pointing it and turning on the small TV in her room, already set to channel 11.
"...authorities confirm that arson was involved in the destruction of the main gym at the University of California at Irvine. No firm evidence of suspects has been found, but Irvine Police discount the claim that it was a decoy firebomb set by Pyromancer before his arrest a few hours ago in Costa Mesa. A spokesman for the Irvine PD specified that it appeared to be the work of a standard arsonist, and not a supervillian nor terrorist; which would require the jurisdiction of either the HLO or the FBI.
"A partial list of the 105 people killed has been released, and according to UCI officials, the following people have been so far confirmed as casualties: Aguilar, Miguel; Benson, Jamal; Duong, Tuyet; Figueroa, Edward; Hino, Raye; Ichinomiya, Daryl...."
Serena didn't even notice she'd turned the TV off, didn't notice the buzz off the phone as it sat off its rocker. She simply felt herself going numb, growing colder, and colder. Inside her mind, all she could hear was, It's happening again. ((The deaths are happening again. And my powers can't even protect my loved ones.)) She was so out of it, she didn't even realize that shock was setting in. Serena Davenport, the famous Sailor Moon, a person used to having almost-Armageddon going on around her on a daily basis, was being brought low by a natural body reaction.
((One of my best friends in the world. Dead and gone forever. Dead, and I couldn't protect her. I've failed. I'm no hero, I'm just a joke. Just a Goddamn joke. Sailor Messed-up. Stupid Moon.))
A pair of arms slipped around her. "Serena, it's Molly. C'mon, sis. We lost Raye--I don't want to lose you, too."
Serena looked up and into the blue eyes of her adopted sister, Min Tong "Molly" Baker. The half-Vietnamese daughter of a 'Nam buddy of Justin Davenport, Molly, Raye and Serena grew up together as best of friends. When Pete and Thi Ngoc "Tina" Baker were killed in a car accident, Justin took it upon himself to adopt young Molly. It had been right, the Davenports thought, and in a sense, it made up for the crib death of their only son, Samuel.
Molly's blue eyes and chestnut-red hair--the legacy of her mixed heritage--didn't seem to match her Vietnamese features, but there was something about Molly that made up for that: she was a certified genius, with a higher IQ than Amy's was. As a result, when the Sailors were formed, Molly, the only member of the group to not manifest power, became the brains behind the operation, building the Delphi supercomputer, and many of the other techno-gizmo items that the Sailors and their allies used. When worst came to, she had a powered armor suit that allowed her to operate in the group, but she rarely did that. She felt far more at peace being the info backbone, at home in oily coveralls and a wrench for mechanical stuff or seated amongst the mainframes and hard drives of the Delphi system.
Right now those eyes were red from tears and looked absolutely frightened. "Please snap out of it, Serena."
"Wha? Molly? When'd you get here?" Serena, out of the corner of her eye could see Heather, holding Mr. B like a security blanket, and with the same worried look that was on Molly's face.
"I've been here for 20 minutes, sis. You've been out of it for a while. When Heather got home and saw you like that, she was about to call 911, but fortunately I'd called just before she picked up the phone." Placing a glass of water in Serena's hands, she ordered, "Here, drink this."
Serena downed it in one shot and looked at the alarm clock. ((Oh my God. What happened to me?)) A second ago, she would have sworn the digital numbers read 3:30. Now, the red digits displayed 4:02. "Sis, Raye's--"
"I know, Serena," Molly replied in a helpless monotone. "I know." Molly let go of Serena and backed off, pausing only to ask Heather to grab the bottle of Evian from downstairs. "Serena," she said, "I know what you might be thinking. And I don't know what to say. But I will say that now is not the time to be Sailor Moon--Irvine Police are on-scene. I'll hate myself for saying this, but your friends and family need you more right now as Serena than the world needs you as Sailor Moon." Heather handed the bottle to Molly who refilled the glass and handed it to Serena.
"I'm fine," she said, nonetheless taking the glass. "Has someone called Mom and Dad yet? Or gotten a hold of Sammy?" Admiral Justin Davenport and his wife were currently in Europe; the youngest of the family, Samantha, was in Annapolis at the Naval Academy. Serena's family had a long tradition of Naval service--the origin of the Sailor motif. Raye Hino had been like a niece to them, and were always concerned about her as much as their own children.
"I called. Dad's tied up with the political unrest in Libya. Mom'll be home on the next plane. Sammy's midshipman group is on the GEORGE WASHINGTON--"
"--off the coast of Libya," Serena finished. "Has anyone tried to contact her parents?" It had always been Raye's secret hope that she could reconcile with her parents. Perhaps in death, it would happen.
Heather shook her head in dismay. "Mr. Hino tried to get a hold of them, Serena. The closest he could get was to leave a message with Raye's father's secretary. Chad asked his agent to see what he can do."
"How are they?"
"You don't want to know, Serena. You don't want to know." A tear ran down Heather's cheek. "I was on the phone with Suzanna--who's already over at the Temple--and all I could hear the background was Chad saying over and over again, 'I don't believe it.' Mr. Hino's assistants are watching both of them right now."
Momentarily wiping the tears from her eyes, she told the other two ladies, "I'm going to take a shower, and then we'll go." As she got off the bed and headed towards the bathroom, Serena's mind roiled. She had a duty to her friends and family to be there. Then, Sailor Moon would personally see to this investigation...
...and woe be to the person that killed Raye. Serena would ensure she'd take every step to see that justice would be done. And if not that, revenge.
***
Yokohama:
In an empty, unused office building in the Motomachi district of Yokohama, a woman was floating in a cocoon of light. A high-tech piece of equipment seemed to monitor her, and small surgical lasers fired here and there, not cutting her, but rather removing bits of her clothing that had fused to her skin. Prism was dying of 3rd degree burns, covering over 36% of her body. In the confines of the stasis field, she could live indefinitely until they found a way to heal her. Outside of the cocoon, she would have approximately two minutes to live, if that long.
Cobalt took another look at the readings given off by the display console. Her vast medical knowledge told her the cold hard facts: Marie D'Anjou would be in that cocoon for the rest of her life, until Bertrand decided it was time to bury his wife. There was nothing that could be done. What little equipment that Briar Rose had brought over was for first aid, not full medical capabilities. This machine, used normally to clean up sunburns, was already heavily jury-rigged and strained to its limits. Now, they had no chance to recover any more advanced equipment. If they tried to use the time signal to return back to the future, Eclipse's forces would slaughter them. The only one who would have been able to make it back was Briar Rose, but when she committed her attack in England, she closed the one avenue open to her.
It wasn't fair, Chiaki knew. While Marie and Bertrand D'Anjou had been married for three spiteful years, the Prism and Neon of the future had only married just before they'd joined in on Cobalt's escapade. By her count, that was roughly a day ago. In the corner of her eye, she could see Neon, asleep in his chair, at her side until the very end. They were hoping for a child someday, a day that would never come, now.
The person in the other corner was in only slightly better condition. Obsidian would probably remain in that body cast for a few weeks, not so much due to amount of broken bones--though that was a factor--but so that it wouldn't aggravate her 2nd degree burns. Whatever Sera Jyupitaa hit her with had to have been at the top of that woman's arsenal, and Cobalt was pretty sure that anyone even slightly weaker than Obsidian probably would not have survived.
As she walked out of the makeshift infirmary, she whispered, "Please survive, Prism, Obsidian. But if you do not, remember that your spirits are going to a better place, and that we will carry on in your honor." Unable to face her failure, Chiaki walked out.
Her failure, although the blame could technically also fall on the twins. Their failure, because both Malachite and Kinsei failed to operate in a dignified, military manner that was in their blood; her failure, because she didn't stress enough that confrontation with the locals of this time needed to be avoided. All three to blame because of their abject hatred of their respective parents.
((Mother, this is your legacy,)) she said in a silent bit of rage. ((Are you proud of what you and father have wrought? I hope you and your friend Senshi Binaasu enjoy what time you have left on this world. After we are done stopping the Survivors, the twins and I will hunt both of you down if it takes the rest of our lives.))
As she walked into the briefing room, she saw the majority of her forces had survived. Of the 60 involved in the operation in Hakodate, there were few casualties: Prism and Obsidian, and only one MIA--most likely KIA. At the moment, the group was not resting, but rather being debriefed by Briar Rose, the group's military tactician. A woman who'd had the benefit of years of combat experience, Briar Rose's talents even outpaced the natural traits of the twins. Everything about Briar Rose was symbolic; even her name wasn't truly that, but instead taken from the old 20th century animated film, _Sleeping Beauty_. In that, the Princess Aurora was hidden from her legacy under the pseudonym of Briar Rose. This woman, also a Princess, found sanctuary from hers in much the same way.
"And in conclusion," she said, putting down the laser pointer, "That is the basics of how each of the Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen operate. Cobalt and I would like you to give a wide berth to these ten, unless it is unavoidable, and the only way for you to escape. Remember: we are not here to fight the Senshi, we're here to stop the Survivors." She looked up towards Chiaki, and the look on Briar Rose's face would have shattered the stone heart of the most cruel despot there was--maybe even Eclipse's. "By any means necessary," she whispered. "Dismissed."
"Rose," Chiaki called out, "what did you do to your hair?"
The hair, earlier this morning, was in a hairstyle reminiscent of rabbit's ears. Now, it was undone, hanging down the back from a single ponytail tied just after the nape of the neck, and draped over her right shoulder. A white metallic hairband was now in the hair as well. "The hairstyle that I had was in my family for generations. It spoke of honor amongst the women who fought--my mother had it, and did my grandmother and all those before her. What I did today in England...." She turned her head sorrowfully, staring at the offending follicles. "I'm no longer worthy of it."
"I'm...sorry. Do you have a minute to spare?"
The woman called Briar Rose came over to Chiaki. "Sure, anything for a friend--for those few I have left."
Chiaki ignored Briar Rose, as always. The young woman looked like the type of person that had been happy once, whose young ideals had been shattered and could never be resurrected. "C'mon, let's go for a walk. I need to talk to you in private. In fact, I say we go grab dinner over in Chinatown, ne?"
A rare smile crossed the face of Briar Rose. "I know just the place."
About an hour later, in the Tung Fat restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown:
"Are you sure about this?" Briar Rose inquired.
"Rose, you know how much I want to kill my mother, or the twins theirs. But what we're doing here is too important for that. It goes beyond simple pettiness. This is one of those 'saving the world' situations, and as the old saying goes, business before pleasure."
"But to talk to the Senshi, Chiaki...I don't know if I'm ready for that." She took a sip of her tea. "So much has changed, and I'm not the same person they once knew. And you're not the only one who has it in for a Senshi. I've considered killing the so-called Guardian of Time for her part in all this."
"Sera Puruto, ne? I wasn't aware she had a role."
"She's the Guardian of Time. She could have stopped it if she wanted. She let it go on, let it destroy my life. She's crossed one line too many."
"The bloodshed will continue--might get worse--if you don't at least try, Rose. Riptide nearly killed Senshi Neputyun, and he adored her. It was an accident. I think Senshi Maazu's attack on Prism was accidental as well, and there's no way to confirm it. But we have to call a truce. Have them leave us be. They'll understand."
"They'll never agree to it, Chiaki. In their eyes, you're talking about them pretty much handing us a license to kill innocents. They will never agree."
"They don't know the future, Rose. They only know what you've told me. That's all they know, all they'll see." Chiaki's eyes were begging, filled with pain. "They don't know about the Basalt Nation. Eclipse and her Convocates will destroy everything. The world will be hell if we don't do something--and do accomplish that something, we have to operate unhindered." She turned, looking out the window. "I don't want to kill the Senshi--not all of them, anyway--because most of them are honest people. But if we don't get them to step aside, it will eventually boil down to open confrontation between us and them."
"Are you sure it's the only way?"
"Absolutely." Chiaki took the other woman's hands in hers. "You're the last chance for a peaceful solution to the Senshi problem. They trust you, Rose--or should I say...Usagi."
Usagi looked at Chiaki, her eyes filled with even more pain than Chiaki's. "You'll find," she said, slowly and carefully, "that I am not a solution. I'll talk to them, but mark my words: things will only get worse."
***
Huntington Beach:
Ami was, in a word, overwhelmed when she heard the news. To her left, Cathy was on the couch, shaking her head as though it was her fault that Raye had died, blaming herself for leaving her alone. In her bedroom, Amy was changing into something more suitable to wear to the Temple than the "grungegrrrl" outfit she had on; through the door, her soft sobs could be heard. And the only thing in the house that continued to utter sounds was the television, chronicling the 126 senseless deaths at the university, the newest casualties having died in the hospital.
Ami had seen death a dozen times...once or twice up close and personal. But there was something different about this one. This one was a friend, one who wasn't coming back. It was already unusual for someone to be resurrected (though not impossible), but it was extremely difficult when the person in question was completely vaporized in the explosion. As Ami continued to watch the 32 names so far released to the public, tears welled in her eyes. She'd known Raye Hino only for a few hours, and yet it seemed as if she'd lost Chiba Rei. But, to state the obvious, things were different. When Rei died, she was resurrected. She doubted the same would ever pass for Raye.
Mechanically, Cathy got to her feet. "I...I need to go take a walk. If I don't make it back, take off without me. I'll be there shortly."
Ami gave Cathy a surprised look. Other than Amy, Ami had spent the most time with the young woman. "Cathy, are you well? I wish I knew what to say to explain how much I--"
"Thanks, but you don't have to say it. I know what you mean." Cathy gave Ami a small, wan smile, then wiped the latest river of tears from her eyes. "We'll all miss her. I'm just glad you go to know her, and I wish that you could have known her better."
A second later, Amy emerged from her room. Wearing a short-sleeve blue tang and black jeans, her eyes looked redder than the sun, her face mottled from the tear tracks. Instinctively, she went to hug Cathy, saying, "Somehow, we'll make it. Somehow, we'll survive." Cathy simply nodded her agreement.
Amy looked at Ami and said, "I imagine you must be overwhelmed by all this, Ami--you've only been here with us a day, and yet it seems like forever. I'm such a bad host, Ami. In all this, I forgot to ask you about jet lag, and all the other things. Please forgive my rudeness."
Ami inwardly smiled at that; it was, translations aside, word for word what she probably would have were she in the same position. "No apologies are necessary, Amy-san. This day has been exhausting for all of us, and the worst is yet to come. But for a little while, I did know Raye, and I feel I am obliged to say my farewells. If you would not mind, I would like to accompany you to the Temple."
Amy nodded. "We'll have to take the Jeep," she said, wincing at the fact that she was using her dead friend's car. "Cathy, what about you?"
"I need some time alone, if you don't mind," Cathy replied. "Have some time to go to ground, if you understand what I mean." The two women stared at each other, sharing a hidden meaning that passed for a second. Ami never saw it, as she was turning off the television. She did, however, catch the sound of silence between the two women.
Ami, sensing the need for a private moment between the two, walked toward the door and said, "I will wait outside for you both. I could use a bit of night air to rest my soul." She then walked out of the apartment, and down the stairs towards the parking garage.
"Out with it, Cathy," Amy said once Ami was out of earshot. "There's something wrong, and I don't think it has anything to do with Raye."
"Only partially," Cathy admitted. "God, Amy, I can't believe she's gone. I always thought it would be her attitude that would carry her through." The silence in the room was almost palpable. Cathy then relented and replied, "Look, we'll talk about the other issue, later. Now's not the time."
"Yes, you can explain to me later why you have our surveillance satellite over my apartment. It wouldn't be to spy on Ami, would it?"
"Well, you have to admit, with the exception of her eyes, slight change in demeanor, and some speech patterns, she could pass for a clone of you." Cathy sighed. "Remember when we had to deal with Doppelganger? That woman had the ability to look like any one of us, and mimic our powers. She nearly ruined my reputation by making the world think Sailor Earth turned bad."
"And you're so sure that Ami's like that?" Amy retorted. "C'mon, you've spent more time with her than I have, and I just know she's a sweetheart. Cathy, I know your sense of danger is sharp, but I think you're making mountains out of molehills."
"Am I? I haven't read our copy of the HLO case file yet, but from what I did hear from Serena on the phone, 'A third Sailor Moon' and Japanese pronunciations of same make me jumpy. Then, at about the same time, appears a woman that could easily pass for Sailor Mercury? I just have a funny feeling." Cathy then looked away as she said, "I also have to protect my friends."
Unspoken--but caught by Amy--was Cathy's self-accusation of her failure to protect Raye. Not knowing what to say, Amy simply hugged her friend, and the two cried on each other's shoulders for a few minutes. They'd lost one of their own, and there was no way to get her back--nothing short of a miracle could ever do that, not even Johnny's magic. They sat in the choir of their own tears and sobs for a few minutes, shutting out the world around them, only thinking of their lost friend.
Nearly five minutes had gone by before Amy sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "We don't want to keep Ami waiting. Did you still want to go on your own, or come with us?"
"I'll go with you, but I'll drive your rental. You've still got Raye's car, and you'll need to get home after you drop it off at the Temple. I can just fly home from the Temple. I'm really not in the mood to use my motorcycle." Cathy, as Sailor Earth, was one of only two Sailors who had the ability of flight, Sailor Uranus being the other. "But we should get going now, before the others worry...or Ami thinks we fell asleep."
"Right." Amy went to the counter, grabbing her purse and the keys to the Jeep. At the door, though, she paused for a second. She then turned around, fished in her purse for a second, pulled out her beeper, then turned it off and laid it on the counter. She also took the time to take off her prism ring and placed it next to the beeper.
Cathy was confused. "Amy? What the--?"
Amy answered in a dull monotone. "No matter what, the Sailors have been on call throughout the toughest situations. Now, we've lost one of our own." She looked at Cathy with a determined glare. "Frankly, Amelia Andersen needs to be with her friends more than Sailor Mercury needs to be on call. If the world can't understand that for 24 hours, screw 'em." She then looked at Cathy, expecting the other woman to do the same. "That also goes for Catherine Edison, Serena Davenport, or any of our other friends, if you ask me."
Cathy's response was to pull off her ring. Looking at it, she said a simple keyphrase: "24 hour time disable." The pink diamond, set in the ring, flickered in response, then died down back to its normal hue. "Are you sure about this?"
"All our rings mainly are for is equipment and uniform/clothing storage. It doesn't control our powers. If we needed to actually use our powers at the shrine, we'd be compromised anyway."
"Good point."
The pair stepped out of the apartment, ready to say goodbye to a dear friend.
***
Rancho Palos Verdes:
In the middle of nowhere, a young man stood on the edge of the coast of Portuguese Bend, on that famous section of land that was known for its lemming-like slide into the sea. He stood there, silent, not caring about anything. Part of his life was gone to him today, a part that would never be back, gone forever.
It would be here that he would start his farewell to Raye. She'd loved it here, a private place that only she and he shared. Though they were engaged to others now, it was something that Raye never told Chad, nor Darien informed Serena. It was their place, the site of a hundred kisses, hugs; a place of laughter and tender words spoken.
Inside himself, though, he was filed with self-directed anger. When she'd arrived with that Japanese transfer student who looked like Amy, she was furious, or so it seemed. But Darien had known his one-time girlfriend too well: he knew that she wanted him, right at that moment, and that if they were alone, he would have reciprocated. Those feelings were always there, except that recently, they seemed to have grown stronger. Neither Raye nor he wanted to cheat on their current significant others, and Raye loved Chad as much as Darien loved Serena, but the love they shared was as natural as breathing, and something dangerous enough to keep under wraps whenever it flared.
So once she left, he called it quits for the day, deciding he needed to punch out early and go for a drive before he and she did something rash, something they'd regret. He was driving through San Pedro when the announcement came over the radio of the explosion at the UCI gym...and of Raye's untimely death. At that point, he didn't feel the need to turn around, to head back; he simply stopped at the nearest florist, plunked five dozen roses on his MasterCard, and drove on towards Portuguese Bend.
As he began to send the roses towards the sea, Darien wasn't sure if he would attend. Sure, he felt a responsibility to Raye's grandfather. Chad, despite his big star status, was a friend. All the others would certainly be there. And lastly, he should be there for Serena's sake.
But there were some things that one had to deal with on his own. Like his grief. It'd been eight years, eight years since they last dated, and he still loved her--and she him. Serena understood that, and to her credit, never felt any jealousy or perceived a threat. She would understand why he was here, tossing fiery red roses into the Pacific, instead of being at the side of the destroyed gym, or at the misnamed Cherry Hill Temple.
As he sat there, tossing several roses into the sea, he thought about the times they had together. Not the bad times, of course, but those rosy moments, when she truly opened herself up to him, showing him that for all her attitude and A-type personality, all Raye wanted was a simple, peaceful life. He thought about all those times, so long ago. The first time they met; the times of youthful infatuation which blossomed into an endearing and enduring love; the day he'd decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
She even had an effect on his other persona. Though in his magical armor, sword, and cape, the world called him Terra Knight (he'd no idea where the media came up with that, though rumors had it that it was due to the similarity between his and Cathy's powers), it was Raye who'd lovingly referred to that side of him as Endymion, after the legendary youth in Greek mythology. She'd gotten the idea that the Terra Knight armor made him look as if a God; odd for a set of armor that had been passed down through his family for generations through a heritage of French knights and kings. Still, she stuck to her guns and still lovingly called him that in private, even though she'd long since realized that he was not Endymion so much for her as Adonis.
Even so, he continued to throw roses down towards the sea, petals spraying out, much like his tears, both gently spiraling in the air towards their destination, a symbol of sorrow for the woman he loved. However, he kept on throwing roses, the least of his tokens of his love for her. It was either that or rage against an insane world, a thoughtless reality that spawned monsters that in turned spawned heroes like he and his friends to combat them. A cruel, unforgiving place that had demons and bastards of society killing innocents, leaving those like him to mourn their passing.
And still they continued to fall, tears and roses, both reminders of love.
As the sun began to sink towards the horizon, Darien sat on the shore, tears long since empty but not yet absolved of his grief. His mouth felt dry, his eyes red as those roses, and his face mottled from his sorrow. He stood up, ready to leave that spot and join his friends. He had to be there, if anything, for the sake of the others, for the sake of Serena, for Raye's grandfather and for Chad. He had to be there, if anything, to prove to Raye that her family would not be forgotten, that Darien would watch over them just as she did.
He was so lost in his grieving thoughts, so set on his new goal, that he never noticed the number of roses he'd tossed into the Pacific...
...was about five times more than he brought with him.
***
Long Beach:
It was, quite honestly, the hardest thing Ami ever had to do, and a night that was so rough, she spent the majority of the night thinking she'd rather be fighting the entire Dark Kingdom single-handed and armed with only a toothbrush.
She'd felt bad already about Raye, and felt obliged to sit with her and Cathy, who were joined in short order by Mina and Lita. She'd already gotten used to who this group resembled, and was treating them as though she'd known them forever--that is to say, she was treating them the same way she did Minako, and Makoto. About a few minutes late, a devastated Mamoru--make that Darien--and was instantly fussed on by the girls, who were clearly worried about him. That seemed to be another difference about Darien--while Mamoru always worried about how Usagi (and later, Rei) would react toward the other girls, this Serena woman he was currently seeing must have plenty of confidence in her friends and loved one.
And there were many differences between the Cherry Hill Shrine and Rei's Hikawa Kanon. For one, it was nowhere near a hill, but instead, about five blocks away from the beach--Amy explained that the original Cherry Hill Temple was still on Cherry Hill in Compton, and that it had been registered as a California State Historical Site. But since the congregation had gotten larger, an annex had been purchased in the residential district, a few blocks from the Long Beach Museum of Modern Art. While Hino Akira was a short, pudgy, bald yet jolly man who qualified to pass for the Buddha, Woodrow Hino was a tall, thin, stately Hawaiian-born man with a full head of iron-gray hair who'd served in the Army in WW II and looked more like a samurai or the CEO of a powerful Japanese conglomerate than a Shinto priest. Mr. Hino, in turn, had two assistants, a young, aspiring priest from Hawthorne named Jerry; and the Temple secretary, a stately old woman named Grace with a bemused smile that seemed to warm the mood slightly.
But then, inevitably, came the situations that made Ami feel like she'd stepped into the Twilight Zone. Upon arrival, waiting for them out in the Meditation Garden, was a young woman with olive skin, red eyes, and forest-green hair. She wore a dress and blouse that according to Amy, was homemade, and that the younger woman--Cathy informed her that the girl was only 19--was comforted by that. She had what looked to be a woven hairband in her hair, and when she spoke, there was an accent in her voice, which was later revealed to be the product of her original language, Italian. Her name was Concepccionne Montebello, though everyone knew her by her middle name, Suzanna. She was quiet and shy, and a bit na�ve, it seemed. Of course, that was not what Ami had initially seen. What Ami had initially noticed was a girl that was a dead ringer for the oldest living human--Meio Setsuna, Sera Puruto.
And as soon as she'd managed to get adjusted to Suzanna, who after a few minutes with Ami had begun to let down her guard, the next shocker came. Lita arrived, wearing the same clothing she'd worn earlier, on the arm of--*KUNZITE??!?!?* Ami'd tensed up, but to her relief, no one'd noticed. He'd introduced himself as Bobby Martinez, a friend of everyone, and Lita's longtime boyfriend. He'd comforted everyone all around, and when it came to meeting Ami, she got the feeling that although the face that stared at her was that of her long-since-deceased enemy, Bobby Martinez was all heart and honesty, the sort of guy who was nowhere near what Kunzite was. Besides, while Kunzite was overly proud of his long whitish-aqua hair, Bobby kept his hair short, and it leaned closer to pale aqua.
"Hey, Bobby," Minako-((no, that's *Mina*,)) Ami reminded herself--said, as the group sat in the garden, "Where's the rest of your posse?"
"Well, my neither my brother nor Manuel's going to be able to make it tonight," Cathy answered. "They're still on that business trip to Hawaii--lucky bastards." She grinned as she made her remark, though; everyone knew how close Cathy and Zack were. "I called Zack's hotel room though, and left him a note, so I'm sure they'll be on the next plane back."
"Johnny took Chad and Mr. Hino for a walk, so they could talk," Lita replied, limping slightly, as though she'd hurt her leg. "They both needed to get out of the temple for a while, before their grief ate them alive, and I thought that Johnny's studies in psychology would be of help. With a little luck, Chad won't be recognized in this part of town, and most likely, everybody has yet to find out he and the band cancelled out on the World Tour."
The group sat down en masse, and began to share some of the finer moments about their times with Raye. Within a few minutes the whole group was chatting along once again, only interrupted slightly as Jerry and Grace left for their homes for the evening, back at the other temple site. About a half-hour went by, with Ami finding out a lot about the deceased woman, and noted that her life and that of Chiba Rei seemed to parallel one another's in several spots--yet another coincidence. Too many to count, now.
Ami then decided that as soon as life settled down, she would begin to look towards proving that her friends were the Sailors. She'd been discounting it off and on the whole day, but there was too much symmetry, too many similarities that could not be explained as simple coincidence. But if that stood to reason, why then would there be a Kunzite? And the others that were spoken about--could they also be "copies" of the other three generals? Ami was pretty sure that this Bobby guy was harmless, but that didn't mean the others were. And, there was the other mutable fact: it stood to reason that with all these copies, there would have to be Hotaru, Haruka, and Michiru copies as well. Possibly maybe even an Usagi--perhaps maybe even Usagi herself. Despite the sorrow of Raye's loss, Ami's heart skipped a beat at that.
Then again, she played Devil's Advocate to herself, her mind in analytical mode, Cathy seems to be the wildcard in all this. Maybe there's no Hotaru, Haruka, Michiru, or Usagi analog. Maybe the other guys are just that--other guys. I think I've solved the Sailors problem, but I know I've still got a ways to go with the Usagi issue. Then there's how I can approach the leader of the Sailors--whoever he or she is--as a representative of the Senshi.
Time enough to think of that, later, she decided. There are other issues at hand, here. Deciding to set herself on helping her new friends, she set aside those issues and joined back into the conversation. But as soon as Ami got comfortable with the situation, Murphy decided to institute his law once more.
*"SLUT!"* a female voice rang out, tinged with the twang of the South, its owner currently out of sight.
*"Keep it down!"* another voice snapped in response, also female, said person also out of sight. *"Have you forgotten why we're here? This is a place of worship, Alex!"*
*"Shut up, Michelle! I swear, I'm going to kill you!"*
Rolling her eyes, Mina said, "Great. The Lovebirds are here. And they're at each other's throats. Again."
An annoyed look creeping up on Lita's face, she snarled in a soft voice, "Do those two *ever* stop?"
The voices, English aside, Ami noted, sounded...familiar. A little *too* familiar. Suddenly, she began to regret her earlier analysis. She just didn't feel ready at the moment. ((Why now?)) Preparing herself for the worst, she asked, "More friends of yours, Amy-san?"
Amy said in an questioning tone, "Sometimes, we wonder...but most of the time, yes. Michelle Jefferson and Alexis Dupree. We call them 'The Lovebirds,' although 'the Dirty Pair' would fit them better."
The first reference immediately threw Ami off guard; the second, more familiar one set her stomach into discomfort. "Lovebirds? Are they, um, dating each other?"
Amy looked at Ami with a puzzled look for a few seconds before clarity dawned on her. "Oh, no--they're both *waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay* too heterosexual for their own good. 'Lovebirds' is a sarcastic name. They're best friends, but they constantly fight with each other; insult one another; steal each other's boyfriends; and will sleep with just about any male that moves, Bobby, Darien, and Chad excepted--and we have yet to really confirm that.
"Alex is originally from Atlanta, before her family moved here about 10 years ago. She works as a webmaster and reporter for ESPN. Michelle's also not a local, her family having come here seven years ago from Boston. She's a professional photographer who freelances for _National Geographic_."
On cue, the pair came in, looking as though they were about to kill each other, a far cry from Haruka and Michiru, which--surprise, surprise, Ami noted in mental derision--they resembled. Alex was dressed in a blue blazer with the ESPN logo embroidered on it, tan pants, a white shirt and a tan bow tie; her fist was cocked back and ready to release. "I've had it with you, you little slut!"
Michelle, on the other hand, seemed to have that same feminine inner fire that Michiru possessed. Wearing a business suit and a press badge, she looked more than capable of bring able to fight her friend. "Alex, it's not my fault Barry left you."
*"NOT YOUR FAULT?!?!?!?"* Alex seethed. "I come home to grab my tickets for the Angels game I'm supposed to cover and I find *you* in the sack with *my* boyfriend!"
A wicked gleam spread on Michelle's face. "Well, you were moving too slow."
*"I only met him a few days before!"*
"Oh yeah?" Michelle countered, "and what about the time I was setting up for a romantic date with Tom, and I get home to find *you on the table with him!*"
"Not *my* fault you couldn't keep him satisfied," Alex shot back. "Oh, and you should have seen the look on his face when we took it to the sauna in the backyard."
"Alexis," Michelle rasped acidly, "you are *sooooooooo* lucky that I'm a lady, or you would be dead right now."
"Lady?" Alex scoffed. "You mean Lady...of the Night, right?"
"You should know. You had to cancel your appointment on Sunset and Vine tonight, hmmm?"
"Fuck you, Michelle."
"What do I look like to you, a lesbian? Go fuck yourself."
Both Michelle's aqua eyes and Alex's deep blue eyes locked onto each other. Whenever Ami had seen Haruka and Michiru do that, it was a gesture of pure and lasting love. However, Amy and her friends, experiencing it in a far different light, knew better. "Who's turn is it to babysit?" the azurehair groaned.
Suzanna peeked her head out from her hands, where she'd buried it in embarrassment. He then raised her hand, signifying that she was the guilty one in response to Amy's question. "Let me understand this: I'm 19. Michelle and Alex are both 24. *I'm* a freshman in college. *They've been out of college for two years.* Does anyone see the irony in this?"
A fierce glint burst in Lita's eyes. Standing up, she wobbled slightly on her leg, but said in a rasp, "Those two are making a mockery out of Raye's memory. I'm going to straighten those two out if it's the last thing I do."
Darien was equally disgusted, and rightfully so. "Normally I have a moratorium about being rough with women," he said, beginning to roll up his sleeves, "but I've had more than my fill from those two. It's time to explain reality to them."
Mina grabbed his arm. "Don't debase yourself, Darien." Turning her eyes on the quarrelling pair, Mina's eyes went steely. "Let me handle it."
The looks on the faces of Bobby and Cathy were also dark. Only Suzanna's face read differently, its demeanor filled with sorrow that if there had to be a massive squabble between friends, it could not have happened at a worse time.
Ami sat, transfixed, watching a version of the typical Inner Senshi vs. Outer Senshi disagreement, only run through a filter that was somewhere between Kafka and Dali. As she watched the tension between the two groups of friends rise, the Japanese azurehair silently hoped that if this group had an Usagi analog, that her natural kindness and sweet demeanor would stop this madness before it got out of control.
A second later, her wish was granted.
Just not in the way that she expected.
***
Tokyo:
With the exception of the three up north; Michiru, who was sleeping peacefully in her bed, recuperating; and Ami; the remaining Senshi and Mamoru were discussing the events of the day as Rei had explained to them. Haruka and Mamoru were stunned at the tale of the whole situation, and completely floored by Makoto's spin on the situation. Setsuna, as always, remained quiet and mysterious throughout the whole situation.
"And that's how things went," Rei said, completing her tale. "I don't know of any other way I can explain it other than to say that these people are a new threat, and one that I don't think we ever would have seen coming."
"Could they be a retaliatory force from the Dark Kingdom, or one of the others we've fought over the years?" Haruka asked.
Setsuna yawned, then answered. "No, they're not. In truth, they were never supposed to be a problem. But things have changed, and obviously not for the better." Ever true to her oath to time, she did not elaborate further. A second later, feeling the need to use to grab a snack, she got up and walked out of the room, with the intent to head over to the nearest convenience store, adding that she would be back in about fifteen minutes or so.
Mamoru caught his own implication, however. "Damn Usagi," he grunted as Setsuna left. "I hope she's happy. I wonder if she knows how much of the world she's ruined?"
At this time, the doorbell sounded. "I'll get it," Rei said, wanting to leave the room immediately. As much as she loved her husband, it always bothered her how much he hated Usagi now. Rei missed her best friend after all these years, and if Usagi ever came back, she hoped a rekindled friendship between her and Usagi would not spell marital disaster for her. Arriving at the door, she said, "Yes, can I help you?"
Standing at the door was a young woman in her late teens or early twenties. She had long rose-colored hair that cascaded down her back, ending past her waist. Her eyes shone red as rubies, and with a sparkle of maturity and intellect. Her body, currently clad in a body hugging T-shirt and ice-blue jeans, was the carefully sculpted results of years of athletic devotion. She wore a white hairband, and stood with the ease of someone obviously in command of any situation, but the smile on her face was sweet and genuine. "Hello, Rei. It's been a long time."
Rei was nonplussed. "Excuse me, but have we met?"
The girl's smile grew wistful. "It's been too long, I see. I guess you wouldn't remember me, considering I was about knee-high to you when we last saw each other."
Confusion crossed the brunette's features. "I'm not *that* old, and I don't have many friends that have had children. The only kids I've dealt with in the past few years were Tsukino Shingo, Tomoe Hotaru, and...." She paused, looking at the woman in complete shock. Then looked back into the house. Then back at the woman. Then back into the house. Stuttering, she dared to ask, "Ch-ch-Chibi-Usa? I-i-is that you?"
"'Bout time you remembered, Rei," the woman replied, "though I prefer to be called Usagi now, if you don't mind."
