[
<The MST theatre. Rarstarr is seated at the front, alone.>
Rarstarr: I can't believe it, I bet everyone else here.
<"One Winged Angle" starts playing and Sephiroth makes his entrance.>
Sephiroth: Where are our two companions?
Rarstarr: <Frowns> I recieved a complaint from the Federal Time Protection
agency.
Apparently the FTP objects to characters MSTing their own possible
future.
Sephiroth: Sounds like a minor annoyance.
Rarstarr: Yeah, but minorities rule the world. So in Amy and Luna's place
I've asked
Akane from Ranma 1/2 and Sylia from Bubble Gum Crisis.
Sephiroth: So where are they?
<The threatre doors bang open.>
Sylia: As I said, there are the other MSTers.
Akane: Should've known better than to ask Ryoga for directions.
<The two ladies walk down.>
Rarstarr: <Standing> Welcome ladies, may I present Sephiroth, the villain
from
the Squaresoft game Final Fantasy VII
Sephiroth: Must you always introduce me as a villain?
Rarstarr: It's what you are.
Sylia: Fascinating.
Akane: Don't try anything mister!
Rarstarr: I think we should take our seats before anything starts.
<The ladies sit, giving Sephiroth distrusting glances. Rarstarr and Sephiroth
join them.>
Rarstarr: Today we're looking at...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAILOR MOON 4200: What has gone before
------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's the year 4200. More than seven hundred years ago, Crystal Tokyo
was destroyed in an as-yet-unexplained disaster. Queen Serenity and her
Senshi died fighting a hopeless battle against the mysterious evil. All
over the world, civilisation fell. Then, one hundred years ago, a great
renaissance began. Today the city of Third Tokyo is the centre of a new
world order ruled by the Serenity Council (the "Serries").
Artemis survived the final battle, and now wanders the world with his
young great-granddaughter Bendis, hoping that the Senshi will somehow be
reborn once more. When Bendis accidentally speaks to a Serenity Council
member, the Council begins a surreptitious hunt for her. Shortly after,
Artemis and Bendis argue and split up. In a nearby school, Bendis finds
that one of the students, McCrea Beth, is the new Sailor Venus: first of
a new generation of Senshi. Bendis decides to train her on her own.
Meanwhile Artemis asks an old friend to help find Bendis again: Hino
Rei, once Sailor Mars, who somehow survived the final battle for Crystal
Tokyo. Now powerless, she tries to avoid recognition, going by the name
Pappadopoulos Itsuko, owner of the Olympus Gymnasium. However, Itsuko's
efforts to help Artemis draw attention and a secret investigation of the
Olympus begins. At the same time, she starts to have visions suggesting
that the evil that destroyed Crystal Tokyo is beginning to move again.
After a recording of the new Venus in action is broadcast nationally,
public opinion is divided: she is alternately welcomed, believed to be a
hoax, and even hated for daring to step in the dead Senshi's shoes. The
Council begin plans to deal with her, and order their chief scientist to
develop a Senshi-detector. And also put other, more sinister plans into
operation ...
Sailor Pluto secretly alters records to obstruct the investigation of
the Olympus. And Artemis finds another schoolgirl, Hayashi Miyo, who is
apparently Kino Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, reborn ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[
Rarstarr: So Pluto survived yet another disaster, I wonder what her excuse
will be this time?
Sylia: Don't you like her?
Rarstarr: She's cold and manipulative, course not.
Sylia: ...
Sephiroth: Perhaps you should reconsider that response.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S A I L O R M O O N 4 2 0 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Angus MacSpon
macspon@ihug.co.nz
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/fanfic/index.html
Comments and criticism welcome!
Based on "Sailor Moon" created by Naoko Takeuchi
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C H A P T E R F O U R
"Thunderbolt!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miyo saw the white cat again at lunch-time. Three times. It was almost
as if the stupid thing were following her around. But why would a _cat_
be following her?
[
Rarstarr: Stupid question, cats don't need a reason to do anything.
Akane: I'm glad Ranma's not here.
Sephiroth: Yes, he would not be comfortable.
Sylia: I believe I'm missing something.
Rarstarr: Only a bad joke.
]
Boys, she could understand. There was always one who thought that a
girl as tall as she was had to be a challenge. That was all right,
thought; she knew how to deal with boys who got too attentive when she
didn't want it. But a cat?
For a few minutes she thought it could smell food on her. But she
hadn't been handling any food today; her mother had packed her lunch for
her. (Her mother was the only person Miyo knew who cooked better than
she did herself.)
So ... it had to be a weird coincidence. Right?
Coincidence hell. Something was going on.
[
Rarstarr: It's all part of the plan.
Sylia: Plan?
Rarstarr: The cats' plan to take over the world!
Akane: <To Sephiroth> Is he always like this?
Spehiroth: He thinks it's funny.
]
She had to admit that sounded paranoid. Why was she getting worried
about a cat, of all things? But there was something weird about that
cat. Something about the way it looked at her. And (this was the weird
bit) something about the way she she kept thinking that ... somehow,
somewhere, oh this was impossible ... she'd seen it before. That she
recognised it. And that was insane, right?
The idea that she was going mad was confirmed when she heard a voice
say, "The other girl called you Miyo, right? Look, we need to talk."
She looked down and saw the cat. She squawked, and ran for it.
[
Akane: "Look, we need to talk"? Oh this is one smooth cat.
Rarstarr: As Luna would say, he hasn't changed a bit.
]
--**--
She found Kin and Dhiti a couple of minutes later. Kin looked up as she
approached and said, "Wow, Miyo, what's wrong? You look like you've
seen a ghost."
"Maybe I have," Miyo said wildly, panting. "I just saw --" She stopped
suddenly. She was going to tell her friends that a cat was talking to
her? _Sure_ she was.
"Nothing," she finished firmly. "I didn't see _anything_." The other
two looked at her oddly and she sighed. "Sorry, guys," she said. "I'm
having a very weird day."
"Yeah, like you aren't weird most of the time anyway," snorted Dhiti.
"Hey, at least she doesn't have any black eyes this time," pointed out
Kin.
[
Rarstarr: Ah, the Makoto we all know and love.
Sylia: Quite the fighter hmm?
Rarstarr: She scraps more often than Priss.
Sylia: Oh.
]
"Hmm." Dhiti pretended to study Miyo. "No scrapes or bruises either.
You feeling all right, Hayashi?"
"Ha! You should see the other guy!" said Miyo, playing along. She was
starting to relax at last. It was good to be with normal people. Away
from mysterious ... white cats who definitely _hadn't_ been talking to
her, dammit!
"You and your brothers," said Kin, shaking her head. "I don't know how
you stand it."
"Yeah, well, your brothers are younger than you. Trust me, it makes a
difference."
[
Sylia:Thank you, my younger brother is bad enough.
Rarstarr: I'm aways surprised you let him work at the Silky Doll.
Sylia: Sometimes I wonder.
Akane: Could be worse, it could be Happosai.
All: <Shudder>
]
Dhiti snickered. "Every time I see you and your brothers, I remember
how glad I am to be an only child."
Miyo grinned and said, "Dhiti, we're _all_ glad you're an only child.
Having any more like you would be insufferable."
"Oh yeah?" retorted Dhiti. "Let me tell you --"
"Look out!" someone shouted.
At the same time, somebody collided with Miyo, almost knocking her down.
A boy, she registered vaguely. He sprinted on without looking back,
took a great leap into the air, and just barely missed catching the ball
he'd been chasing. He cursed in some foreign language -- English, she
supposed.
Moments later he came hurrying back, holding the ball and looking
annoyed. He slowed down as he passed the three girls, nodded to Miyo
and said, "Sorry about that." His Japanese was good, but had a definite
accent. She recognised him now: one of the two new boys who'd started a
week or two ago, transfer students from some Enclave or other. He was
tall, with short black hair, and inoffensively handsome.
"Yeah, well, you oughta be!" replied Miyo. She wasn't actually angry
with him; but she did have a reputation to uphold, after all. "Why
don't you watch where you're going?"
He looked surprised for a moment. Then he grinned -- and knelt down
before her. "Gomen nasai, Hayashi-sama," he intoned. "Can you ever
forgive me?"
[
Sylia: What a nice boy.
Akane: Hmm, I wish Ranma was like that.
Rarstarr: But then your series would be boring!
Akane: Gr.r
]
"Oh --" She ran out of words, flushing unaccountably. "Oh, get out of
here!"
He ran off, laughing. She heard more laughs coming from behind her.
"Real good line, Miyo," said Dhiti with a final snicker.
"Couldn't be she _likes_ him, could it?" added Kin with a smirk.
Miyo sighed. "You know," she said dreamily, "he reminds me of my ... of
my ..." She blinked suddenly. "Sorry," she said after a moment. "I
forgot what I was going to say."
[
Rarstarr: SEMPAI!
Others: <Pull away> Wha?
Rarstarr: I like Makoto and her Sempai line.
Sephiroth: Especially when it was turned on her in Convergin Series.
Rarstarr: <Snickers> By another girl.
]
"Oh, she's got it bad," Kin carolled. "Look out, Wright-kun, Hayashi's
on the rampage --"
"Will you cut it out?" said Miyo, irritated.
"He _is_ good-looking, though," offered Dhiti. "If you don't want him,
Miyo, I'd be glad to --"
"Look, will you stop that?" Miyo wished she'd kept her big mouth shut.
What had she been thinking of, saying that about him? (Whatever it was
that she'd been about to say.)
"Or there's always the other one," pointed out Kin helpfully. She was
grinning from ear to ear. "You know, the one who --"
"Thank you," Miyo said through gritted teeth. "I know the one you
mean."
It would have been hard to forget, actually. The two boys had caused a
sensation on their first day in class. The suave, polished-looking
Alaskan, Wright Mark (but he kept getting it wrong and saying Mark
Wright), had half the girls in class swooning over him ... while his
friend, Keenan Liam, had the rest of them giggling at his bizarre accent
and the odd way he kept phrasing himself. (Where was he from again?
"Kilkenny" -- where was that?)
[
Rarstarr: Villains or heores?
Sylia: Pardon?
Rarstarr: Exchange students are always either villain or heroes.
Sylia: Oh?
]
"Ooh, you do?" said Dhiti, fluttering her eyelashes madly. "Oh, Kin,
did you hear that? She loves him passionately! How romantic! Soon
they'll be married and settling down with half a dozen pigtailed
children who can't speak a word of Japanese --"
She had to stop there because Miyo's hands were around her throat. She
flailed around for a moment, appealing for help from Kin; but Kin was
laughing too hard to be able to do a thing.
[
Rarstarr: Go Makoto, I mean Miyo.
Sephiroth: That's going to be annoying, knowing everyone by two names.
Raarstarr: Yeah, but I can't wait to see who comes next.
]
"Would you like to rephrase that?" inquired Miyo.
Dhiti nodded frantically. The grip on her throat eased for a moment and
she managed to gasp out, "All right! I'm sorry! I meant ... I meant a
_dozen_ pigtailed children --"
[
All: <laugh>
]
Miyo tried to throttle her again; but by this time she was laughing too
hard herself to be able to do a good job of it. When she caught sight of
Kin's face, she only laughed harder; and before long all three were in
a heap on the ground, roaring and snorting helplessly.
>From that point, seriousness was a lost cause. It had become one of
those classic laughing fits that went on and on; where, whenever it
threatened to die down, one of them would gasp out, "A dozen children,"
or "Pigtails," and all three would start to whoop again. After a few
minutes they started to attract a crowd, and some time later a teacher
arrived to demand what was going on. None of them were too coherent
by that time, though, and eventually he stumped away, shaking his head
and muttering.
[
<Laughter renews>
]
It had to end at last, though. Kin staggered away, clutching her sides
and actually looking sick; and without her, gradually the other two were
able to let it die away. After a few minutes Kin rejoined them, and the
three lay back in the grass, gasping for breath.
"Hoo," said Miyo at last. "I needed that. Thanks, Dhiti-chan."
"Natch," said Dhiti. "So what was your problem, anyway? You looked
pretty spooked before. Somebody getting your goat again?"
"Ahh, no ..." Miyo hesitated. She didn't want to admit how upset she'd
been by that damned cat. It seemed so silly, in retrospect. But
somehow, it just seemed to --
She froze.
The cat was there, only a few metres away. Watching her.
[
Rarstarr: ...like we're being watched.
Sylia: Thank you Luke Skywalker.
]
She jumped up with an incoherent shout, waved her fist at it, and
charged. The cat ran off, and she followed it, yelling at the top of
her lungs. Dhiti and Kin watched her go, eyes wide.
"Well," said Kin after a minute or two. "That was odd."
Dhiti raised her eyebrows. "This _is_ Miyo we're talking about,
remember."
Kin nodded slowly. "Right. But still ... that was pretty odd."
They looked at each other, and nodded solemnly. Then they both started
to laugh again.
--**--
The cat managed to get away somehow, to Miyo's fury, and she was grumpy
for the rest of the day. Her classmates recognised the signs, and
stayed well clear -- even Mark, which disappointed her for some reason.
Thus deprived of anything to take out her frustrations on, she arrived
home in a foul mood.
[
Rarstarr: Glab I'm not in her family.
Sylia: Really?
Rarstarr: Its also nice to see Jupiter get a break this time round.
]
Her brothers were home already, which did not help matters. Fujimaro
was watching some kind of sports program on the viddy; he glanced up as
she came in, grinned, and called out, "Watch it! Miyo's on the
warpath."
She made a face at him (which he ignored), and stalked past on the way
to her room. Ichiyo picked that moment to poke his head out and shout,
"What is it this time? Oh!" He cleared his throat and added, at a
lower volume, "Hi, sis. Didn't see you there."
"I just bet," she hissed, thinking about punching him. It would be
satisfying, she decided regretfully, but more trouble than it was worth.
She could probably still take him; but he was starting to put on some
muscle and things might get messy, especially if Fujimaro decided to
join in.
[
Rarstarr: The fun of sibling rivalry. I remember fighting my sister a lot.
All: You?
Rarstarr: Hey, I wasn't always a nice guy.
]
With a sigh that was part frustration and part resignation, she pushed
past him and opened the door to her bedroom -- or rather, the room she
shared with Miliko, her little sister. As she stalked in Ichiyo called
out, "Boyfriend trouble again?" She could almost _hear_ his grin.
She froze on the threshold, weighing the options. She needed to hit
somebody, very badly. But something inside her kept saying: do you
really want to get into a fight because you couldn't catch a cat? And
in the end, shaking her head wearily, she stepped in and closed the door
behind her.
When she looked up, her breath caught. For a few seconds she had
difficulty believing what she was seeing.
Her twelve-year-old sister Miliko was sitting on her bed. The white cat
was lying in her lap, and she was stroking it. The cat was purring.
As Miyo stared at it, it looked up at her.
Unmistakably, it winked.
[
All: <Laugh>
Rarstarr: Gotcha.
]
Her face quite blank, Miyo stepped out of her room, closed the door
quietly ... and then, with a howl of pent-up rage and frustration,
hurled herself on Ichiyo and did her level best to beat the living
daylights out of him. Eventually, Fujimaro had to pull her off him.
--**--
Later, as she lay on her bed alone while the rest of the family ate
dinner, the cat lifted its head, cleared its throat, and said, "Can we
talk now? Or are you going to run away again?"
[
Rarstarr: Wo, strict. I usually got off with a telling off.
Akane: I don't even get that.
Sylia: What a violent pair you are.
]
She scowled at it, then looked away.
With a sigh, the cat said, "Look, I'm sorry you're in trouble. But it's
not exactly my fault, you know. You did it all yourself."
"Oh, shut up," she grumped. "You don't even exist, anyway."
The cat snorted. "Considering what the news has been full of, these
last couple of days, I'd have thought you'd be a bit more open-minded
about talking cats. Let me introduce myself. My name is Artemis."
"Oh, of course," Miyo said sarcastically. "And you've come to recruit
me to be a Sailor Senshi, right?"
"Well, not exactly," the cat said. "Actually, I've come to ask you to
be a Sailor Senshi _again_."
[
Rarstarr: Smooth Artemis. How long did it take you to recruit Minako?
Akane: Probably a year or two, the baka.
]
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, _again_? Gee, I must have amnesia. I
suppose I've secretly been creeping creeping out every night to fight
evil in my pyjamas?"
[
<All are smiling, trying to keep from laughing.>
Rarstarr: Oh that's a wonderful image.
Akane: <Miyo voice>I am the beautiful pyjama clad warrior Jupiter.
]
The cat snorted. "No." It fixed her with an unnervingly direct gaze
and said, "Hear me, Hayashi Miyo: you are Kino Makoto reborn. You are
the reincarnation of Sailor Jupiter of Crystal Tokyo, friend and
team-mate of Queen Serenity; and the further reincarnation of Senshi
Jupiter of the Silver Millennium, champion and guardian of the planet
Jupiter, warrior of the Thunder and servant of Serenity the First." He
took a deep breath. "And it is time for you to resume your duties."
She stared at him, a little awed in spite of herself. "You ... you
almost sound serious."
He made a sound that sounded like a hastily-stifled chuckle. "Miyo,
just lie back, and relax. Relax ... and remember."
[Remember.] The word seemed to echo in her ears. She felt disoriented,
dizzy; she found that she could not move. For a moment she thought she
saw the mark on the cat's forehead, the mark shaped like a crescent
moon, glowing. But the cat's eyes -- those bright feline eyes -- were
spreading, growing, growing to fill her entire field of vision. And
then they swallowed her up completely.
[
Rarstarr: Oh no, he's using his feline mind control on you. When you
wake up you'll serve the cat empire.
Sylia: What is it really?
Rarstarr: The Luna Mind Meld. Similar to a vulcan mind meld, except ranged.
]
--**--
When she woke up, she remembered. She remembered everything.
[
Rarstarr: (Miyo voice) So that's where my keys went.
Akane: I'm surprised you didn't make a joke about being abused at a young
age.
Rarstarr: (serious) I never joke about stuff like that.
]
****************
Number Twelve touched an icon on her control pad, and the steel shutters
rolled apart with a faint rumble. The tank beyond them was filled with
a murky liquid, dimly lit. There was something suspended in the liquid.
It was not human, or even humanoid.
[
Rarstarr: Hate to be number thirteen, you could replace Mister Bean.
]
"Impressive," said the chairman of the Serenity Council. "I wasn't
expecting you to be ready for another week yet."
Twelve smiled. "We were able to make some improvements to the formula.
Number Eight dug up some records from the Archives."
"Really?" The chairman was interested. "What sort of records?"
"Transcripts of the excavation of Mugen Gakuen. The Nemesis expedition
report. Analyses of youma ash. There's quite a lot there, if you know
what you're looking for."
[
Rarstarr: Surprising.
Sylia: Why would anyone what to investigate these things?
Rarstarr: Probably a few crack pots who became famous when the Senshi went
public.
Akane: That's one hell of a claim to fame. "I discovered the components of
Youma Ash."
]
The chairman nodded. "Excellent work. Give Eight my compliments." He
hesitated. "Remember, though ... we don't want these things to be _too_
successful. Not yet. Just enough of a threat to draw the Senshi out,
make them expose themselves."
"Don't worry. We'll have them under tight control." She hesitated,
then added, "I'm sorry about the recording."
"It can't be helped," the chairman said, shrugging. "We should probably
have expected it anyway."
The enhanced recording of Sailor Venus' debut appearence had been played
at a Council meeting that morning. They had been of excellent quality
... except for the images of Venus herself. Those remained blurred and
grainy, unrecognisable. The image-enhancement experts at the Tenshin
Institute professed themselves baffled.
"I understand that a similar phenomonon was observed in the Twentieth
Century," the chairman went on. "I expect the Opal recordings of last
night's incident will be just as bad. Well, we'll just have to do it
the hard way."
[
Rarstarr: You expected something different?
Sylia: That would be very useful, especially in a time of spy satellites.
Rarrstarr: Not for you. Sooner or later someone would click to the fact
that they can never get a picture of you.
]
He looked at the floating form in the tank, and smiled. "In the end, it
will be _very_ hard," he promised.
****************
She stood outside in the early morning light, watching the sun rise,
watching the stars slowly fade. Watching one star in particular.
So many years ... so many memories. The faces of people she had known,
now lost in the past. Places she had been, things she had done. Enemies
and friends; Queens and Senshi; colleagues and loved ones. All gone
now. All lost, left behind. Desolation threatened to sweep her away;
but she held firm, her expression unchanging, her eyes fixed on that
star.
[
Rarstarr: The problem of immortality.
Akane: She's wrong though.
]
The air was cold, and she shivered; but she did not move, did not permit
herself to waver until Jupiter's last sparkle was lost in the growing
daylight. Then, only then, did she allow herself to turn away, back to
the house that she hardly recognised, that was her home now -- back to
the life that she lived now. Back to the Here, back to the Present.
And to the cat that patiently awaited her.
"I can't find my henshin stick," she said without preamble. "I assume
it was lost when I died last?"
[
Rarstarr: Blase.
Sylia: Very. And she's only died twice.
Rarstarr: According to James Bond that's the limit.
Sehiroth: Apparently he's wrong.
]
"I have it," Artemis admitted. "Are you sure you want to rush into --"
He stopped, seeing her expression. "All right. Wait a moment, and I'll
pull it out of storage ..."
He braced himself, took a deep breath, and then began to spin around
madly, as if chasing his tail. Faster, faster, whirling like a dervish,
until he was only a blur --
And suddenly something appeared in the midst of the blur: a tiny,
glittering object. Artemis spun to a stop, panting. "Hard work," he
gasped. "But it's got to be better than the gymnastics method."
[
R&A:<snicker>
]
Ignoring him, she bent down and picked up the object: a short, yellow
rod, with an ancient symbol at the tip. Nodding shortly, she held it up
to the sky -- pointing it at her home planet, hidden behind the growing
blue of the sky -- and said the words.
And the thunder descended.
[
Rarstarr: Yay Jupiter!
Akane: Let me guess, you're favourite.
Rarstarr: Second, I prefer Mercury.
Sephiroth: Wonder if you'd say that if she were here.
Rarstarr: Not a chance.
]
--**--
Artemis watched nervously as Sailor Jupiter looked down, inspected
herself briefly, and gave one quick satisfied nod. When she looked up
again, he saw that something in her face had changed. Before, she had
looked cold ... remote. But now --
"Artemis," she said.
-- She looked annoyed.
[
Sephiroth: Me thinks you should run Artemis.
Sylia: Whatever gives you that idea?
]
"Are you all right?" he said cautiously. "How well do you remember?"
"Well enough," she said unhelpfully. Then, "Artemis, what the _hell_
did you think you were doing, following me around like that? You were
scaring me!
"Scaring you?" said Artemis, surprised. "Why? I mean, how? Why were
you afraid of --" He stopped. "Wait a moment. You mean ... you were
starting to remember? Even _then_?"
"I don't know!" she replied, irritated. "It was just ... like there
was something really spooky going on, y'know?"
"Hmm," he said. "Sounds like something was beginning to leak through.
Have you been having any odd dreams? Anything that might connect to
your other life?" She nodded. He cocked his head to one side,
thinking. "I wonder if that's significant," he muttered.
[
R&Sy: Hmm, fascinating.
Sephiroth: <laughs>
R&Sy: <look annoyed.>
Rarstarr: I wonder if maybe the Senshi are late this time.
]
Jupiter snorted. "You never were too hot on that stuff, were you?" she
said, grinning faintly. "Why don't you just ask Luna? She's the
expert on the mental -- what's wrong? What did I say?"
"Luna ... didn't make it," Artemis said carefully. "She died just a
few minutes after you."
"Oh ..." Jupiter bit her lip. "I'm sorry."
They both stood for a moment, lost in the memory of that last, doomed
battle. Then, making a deliberate effort to change the subject,
Artemis said, "It all seems to have come back to you pretty well. How
much _do_ you remember?"
Jupiter shrugged. "Pretty much everything, as far as I can tell," she
said. He could see it, too clearly, in her face -- the feeling of loss:
places, faces ... enemies, friends, loved ones. And the brightest face
of them all --
"Oh, Usagi," she whispered. "Oh, Serenity. She died, didn't she?"
[
R&A: <sniffle>
]
"Yes," Artemis nodded. "She died. Working the same magic her mother
did, to send you all forward again ..."
[
Rarstarr: Does that mean Usagi died then, like her mother did?
Sephiroth: Will Chibi-Usa be the new Moon Princess?
All: <shudder>
Rarstarr: Hopefully she's become like Usagi at least.
]
"Oh, no ..." Jupiter looked up at the sky again. At the star ... the
planet. With her enhanced vision, he knew, she would still be able to
pick it out. In her Senshi form, she would always be able to do that.
Always be able to see home.
"Oh, Usagi," she repeated softly. "I'd offer a prayer for you in the
Halls of Conscience if I could ..."
Artemis looked up at her, confused. "'Halls of Conscience'?" he said.
"What are --" Wait a minute; that sounded familiar, somehow. Something
he'd heard, a long time ago -- "Oh. Oh, right, I remember. Hey, wait
a moment! The Halls of Conscience were on Callisto! What do you know
about them?"
[
Rarstarr: Ah...
Sylia: This is a problem?
Rarstarr: Its a first.
]
She frowned. "Huh? What are you talking about? Don't be silly,
Artemis. I've been there lots of times, of course."
"No, I mean ... Mako -- ahh, Miyo ..." Artemis stopped, frustrated.
Then, very seriously, he asked, "Just how much do you remember about the
Silver Millennium, Miyo?"
"You already asked me that. Pretty much everything, I told you."
"No, I meant -- really? Everything? You remember _everything_?"
"Yes. What's the matter?" Jupiter's eyes widened suddenly. "Wait a
minute. Oh, no. That's right. I didn't before, did I? I didn't
remember it at all, did I?"
She stared down at him. "You idiot cat, what have you done to me now?"
"I don't know," he muttered. "I have absolutely no idea."
[
Sylia: Artemis, you're an idiot.
Rarstarr: The perfect partner for Venus.
Sephiroth: The Airhead and the Idiot.
Akane: Sounds like a Narnia book.
Rarstarr: More like a horror movie.
]
****************
It was a relief to be out of the house. Bendis had spent entirely too
long cooped up inside over the last week or so. It was turning out to
be quite difficult to get out when Beth was away at school; apparently
Helen, Beth's mother, had gotten the idea that Bendis would run away if
she got outside, so she was very careful never to give the cat a chance.
Today, though, Beth had helped smuggle Bendis out; and it felt so good
to be able to wander around, _free_, that several times she actually
caught herself purring. Embarrassing, that.
Er, not that she was just wandering around, of course (she told herself
firmly). She did have a good excuse (reason!) to be out. She wanted to
prowl around Beth's school and eavesdrop on conversations, try to get an
idea of public reactions to the new Senshi.
[
Sylia: Enjoys lying to herself, doesn't she.
Sephiroth: Yes, such as, "I can handle Venus."
Rarstarr: No one can handle Venus!
]
Some of the news reports on the viddy of late had been rather worrying.
Sailor Venus had begun as a sensational new story, and the newsies had
all been falling over themselves to find new superlatives to use about
her. That had continued, to some extent, after her second outing, when
somebody at 'P' Division leaked the tapes from the Opal that had been on
the scene. But even then, the tenor of the stories had been beginning
to change. Now, only a day later, there was a disturbing trend setting
in. They were starting to do "thought" pieces, and a number of the
commentators were asking: do we need Senshi any more?
[
Rarstarr: A heores greatest fear.
Akane: <Nods> It'd be horrible not to be needed.
Sylia: Even the reluctant hero needs a villain to make their life complete.
Sephiroth: And villains need heroes. Its a strange world.
]
How much of that, though, was an attempt to scare up ratings, and howmuch of
it was genuine? More importantly, did the news programs reflect
what ordinary people thought? How many people did _not_ welcome a new
set of Senshi? Beth's experience of two nights before, at the bank
raid, was especially disturbing. Out of four 'P' Division officers, two
had despised her, one had apparently wanted to _worship_ her -- and only
one had acted in what Bendis would have called a "normal" manner. Those
were worrying figures. But how real were they? How did, for example,
the children at Beth's school feel?
She wished she could talk to Artemis about it. And she hated herself
for feeling that way.
[
Sylia: Far too independant. You should always know when a problem is bigger
than you.
Akane: Says the woman who recruited three others to fight a megacorporation.
Sylia:...
]
The bank raid had left Beth badly shaken. She hadn't said much about
it, except to briefly outline what had happened; but it was clear how
upset the girl was. She hadn't gone out last night -- her mother, at
least, was relieved -- and she was hardly speaking to Bendis at all.
And for two nights running, now, she had cried herself to sleep.
[
Akane: Poor Beth.
Rarstarr: She needs to link up with Miyo, the Senshi relied on each
other for support.
Sylia: It's good to have friends and confidants.
]
Bendis was half-afraid to leave her alone. But she had to know.
She left Beth a little way short of the school gates, and climbed over
the boundary wall. There were twenty minutes or so to go before classes
began, and a number of students were milling around. She strolled over
to the nearest group and began her just-an-innocent kitty act, sniffing
fingers, rubbing against legs and purring for all she was worth.
For the next quarter of an hour she went from group to group, being as
friendly as she could, accepting a good deal of hospitality (this system
of information-gathering had many advantages) and keeping her ears open.
Before long she had heard more than enough to worry her even more.
Some students were still positive, even enthusiastic. But others were
far less so. The way the Serenity Council still hadn't taken any public
position didn't help. Quite a few were claiming that the whole thing
had been a hoax. The fact that Venus had dealt with the bank raid so
quickly, and so easily, lent credence to this. There had been no
Senshi stuff ..." He trailed off uncertainly.
iness. I m
nshi stuff ..." He trailed off uncertainly.
iness.
"You turning True Believer?" inquired Kuroi, grinning.
ou turning True Believer?" inquired Kuroi, grinning.
"Knock it off, Ryozo," Hiiro said. "Hey, the Senshi are supposed to
the good guys, aren't they? If Artemis wants to check out the kids at
ib
the loc
Hell, he's not the cat we're after anyway, so why worry?"
, let him.
ll, he's not the cat we're after anyway, so why worry?"
, let him.
"How sure are we about that, though?" said Kuroi suddenly. "I mean,
t
i
hell, what are we looking for? A cat with a mark on its forehead ..."
i
ll, what are we looking for
There was a brief silence as
we were told," said Aoiro at last. "Not a cr
not white."
," said Aoiro at last. "Not a cr
t white."
," said Aoiro at last. "Not a cr
"Quite a coincidence, though," Kuroi pointed out.
t. And a tab
uite a coincidence, though," Kuroi pointed out.
t. And a tab
"But -- oh, come on!" Masao protested. "It's got to be a coincidence!
i
If we were supposed to be looking for
we were supposed to be looking for
[
we were supposed to be looking for
Sepehiroth: And you'd all believe your surperior was
Sylia: So you would
]
lia: So you would
lia: So you would
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" agreed Hiiro. But he looked thoug
"I think we'd maybe better take a closer look. Keep a casual eye open