Version 1.0 - 18th Aug 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------- S.I.U. - The Sailor Investigation Unit by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page) Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and Silent Mobius are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Kia Asamiya, Michitaka Kikuchi, Bandai, Studio Tron, Kadokawa and Kodansya. All other characters were thought up by me. Warning - this chapter contains scenes that would be most correctly described as gruesome. Thusly, I rate this chapter as R.... You have been warned. -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Shutup, and shutup now. I won't say it again. I am not some benevolent enemy that has a 'good' side that can be convinced of the right moral position to which you and your kind subscribe." Miyuki bit her lower lip to hide the sneer that tried to cross her face. "I know you sailorsluts better than you think.... I've had experience with you, before." Her trigger finger trembled. "Not only the way you hurt Kimi, by exposing her mother to the law, forcing her to kill herself to maintain the family honour.... And, Kami knows, that is more than enough to punish you.... No, it is the two-faced nature that exists amongst you...." "What... are you talking... about?" Hotaru peered into the barrel of the gun, the entire scene washed with a sense of surrealism. Miyuki's finger continued to tremble, like she wanted to silence her one time mistress.... Hotaru wondered whether she should try to calm the girl by entering her mind, once more, but decided, considering the effect that had on Miyuki the last time, she'd probably end up with a bullet through the brain that much quicker. "I'm talking about those traitorous bitches.... The ones you call Uranus and Neptune...." Miyuki spat the names like they were venom. "Do you realise for how long they have been working against you? Do you realise their culpability in the death of your comrade, Jupiter?" Hotaru was too dumbstruck by these words to give her an answer. Miyuki nodded. "No, I can see you don't know. How does it feel to have been so totally betrayed?" "I... don't believe... you..." Hotaru could feel tears coming to her eyes. Was Miyuki trying to deceive her? No. There would be no point, and someone like Miyuki didn't do anything without a point. But surely, creating some fantasy with which to base her contempt for Saturn was enough of a point, a reason.... But the more Hotaru thought about it, the less likely that seemed. "Yes. You do." Miyuki's tone became flat and lifeless, once more. "There is no alternative. You now face a situation that is beyond your control and understanding. That is why you Sailorsluts are in the appalling state you are now. Do you know where your friends are? Apart from Mars, I think not." Miyuki lifted the gun away from Hotaru's face. "I know... where some of them... are..." Even as she said it, Hotaru didn't sound so sure of herself. Miyuki shook her head and replaced the gun in her jacket, looking tired and pale. "What did you do to me? How did you stop my death? My dying?" Miyuki started to wander around. "How did I get here? This hospital...." She gestured around the room. "I feel... I can feel Kimi.... I can feel her, alone, in the darkness.... Where is she? Where has she gone? What is her destiny?" She leant herself against the far wall, at the edge of Hotaru's vision, and slowly slid down.... "Dione.... is searching... for her... longtime friend. Are... you going... to allow her... to meet the... destiny you foresee?" Hotaru rasped. Miyuki sat on the floor holding her face in her hands, making not a sound. "Understand... Iapetus... Understand why... I saved you..." Hotaru watched as Miyuki vanished, in silence. The rushing winds of eternity, in its infinite silence, blowing through the room in all its terrifying magnitude, settling, replaced by the normal sounds of the hospital. Hotaru sighed, and closed her eyes. ----o Part Thirty Bad Karma, Bad Blood ----o Shimazaki sighed as Kurabuto paced the office, speaking to the Chief of the SIU on his mobile phone. Things were starting to get complicated, and Kurabuto hated complicated things. Sinking deeper into his seat, Shimazaki stared at a particular corner of the office ceiling. "I see. Aha...." Kurabuto said through clenched teeth. "So what did she do next? Uhuh.... What, both thieves? Oh Kami..... She did WHAT with the telephone wire? Oh, for pity's sake..." Kurabuto rubbed his forehead. "Yes... Yes... I know we had her in here for questioning... Look, it was YOUR officer who hid her from us.... I KNOW Kikotsuka-san can be a bit eccentric, sometimes.... Look, it's not OUR fault if one of the Sailorsenshi decide to act as a living natural disaster...." Shimazaki cringed and pushed himself back from his desk. Kurabuto turned to him as he stood from his seat. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to look for Go-kun.... I can't just sit here all night, listening to tales of woe from the uniformed division...." "Now just wait a minute.... No, I wasn't talking to you, Kato-san...." Kurabuto's attention returned to his mobile. "I was speaking to Shimazaki-san.... Yes, the slimy little.... Look, I don't have time to slate my own officers...." Shimazaki shook his head and stepped around his desk, walking out of the office and into the quiet of the corridor beyond. It was then that his own mobile began to beep. Picking it out from within his jacket, he answered. "Hello? Moshi-moshi..." There was no reply, merely a series of soft tones and clicks. He lifted it from his ear and looked at the display. SHIRANUI KIMI - GO Shimazaki stared at the pager display, pressing a couple of buttons to be sure that the message was from Katarin. It certainly came from Katarin's number.... He tried to decipher the short, cryptic message, unable to understand why Katarin would use the pager service, rather than simply phone him and tell him, straight out, what the hell he was trying to say. He'd heard the name, before.... Shiranui.... There was a Shiranui family within the Yakuza.... He stood there for several minutes, leaning against the corridor wall, pondering this. He even checked the time Katarin had left the message.... A couple of hours earlier, around the time he had disappeared.... run off... whatever, shortly after telling him about the murder of Doctor Mizuno.... Surely, this couldn't have something to do with Mizuno and the Sailorjupiter murder case? Shimazaki frustratedly ran a hand through his hair. Shiranui Kimi.... Shiranui Kimi.... The daughter of... Shiranui Midan... The nominal leader of the Shiranui family! Of course! It was the Sailorsenshi who had infiltrated the Shiranui Yakuza, bringing down several underworld operations they had been running.... Naturally, the Sailorsenshi would be a target for them.... Shimazaki had worked on the case with Katarin, including the ritual suicide of Midan's wife.... Midan was behind it all, of course, but he had that manipulative skill to place others in a position to take the fall, regardless of whether they were family or not. It had astounded Shimazaki how Midan was capable of redeeming himself of the guilt, within his own mind, of his actions.... And that would mean that he wouldn't have any qualms about using his own daughter to take his revenge out on the Sailorsenshi. Shiranui Kimi, the thoughroughly insane child, who would be more than happy to organise the systematic killing of the Sailorsenshi. But how did Katarin come to know of this? A cold shiver ran through Shimazaki.... Doctor Mizuno was killed by someone who had access and knowledge of the station. Was it possible that Katarin had been involved with the conspiracy from the start? He thought back, to the moment when they had picked Doctor Mizuno up from the hospital.... Katarin had said something along the lines that they would be expected, or something of a similar nature. He hadn't questioned Katarin on that point then, but Katarin KNEW Doctor Mizuno was going to give herself up. HE KNEW. It was more than possible that he had been the one who had killed her.... Quickly, he pressed a button on his mobile and listened to the dial tone, followed by the soft buzzing of Katarin's mobile ringing. He paced back and forth across the corridor as it rang, and rang, and rang... out. With frustration, he hung it up and placed it in his coat, walking purposefully along the corridor, towards the main lift. There was only one way to get any answers to the questions he had. Confront Katarin himself. If he was still around to confront, that was. ----o Kaji rolled his eyes as Aoi gripped the collar of his coat. "Look, Aoi-san, if you have no idea where they might have gone, how on Earth are we going to look for them?" "I'm telling you, they went to the base of the Coven of Atrocity.... That bitch dragged Pagan away for Kami knows what reason...." Aoi tugged on the coat. "We can't allow her to have her way with him.... I mean...." "I know what you mean." Kaji sighed. "And can you let go of my coat? It's embarrassing having you do that." He pointed to the police investigators, Yuuichirou and Rei's Grandfather, who were standing on the other side of the wardrobe room, doing their best to avoid joining in the conversation by looking in every possible direction. Aoi let go of Kaji's coat with a nervous little giggle. "Oops.... Gomen." "Honestly, Aoi.... You're acting like a child.... What the hell happened to you in the time you were missing?" Kaji stuck his hands in his pockets, annoyed. "Don't ask." Aoi waved at him and turned away. "You really don't want to know." "Where were you, anyway?" "At my place. At least, that was where that red-haired demon took us.... The phantom girl, the sailor and me...." Aoi huffed. "Now those Sacred House bitches have got the Sailor...." She sighed. "Who has got who?" Kaji raised an eyebrow. "These girls from the Sacred House.... They were at my place when we got transferred here.... They've probably grabbed the Mizuno girl.... Sailormercury.... And run like heck." "Ano...." One of the investigators stepped forward, a young officer by the name of Ube. "Did you say... Sailormercury?" Aoi turned to him, blinking. "Yeah. Why?" Ube shifted on his feet, nervously. "Well, we got message, on our way here, that there was some chick, fitting Mercury's description, running amok in the Ginza...." "Eh?" Aoi's jaw hit the floor. "In the Ginza District?" "Hai." Ube nodded. "Apparently she was harassing passers by, ANYONE, trying to sell herself. Two uniforms who tried to stop her got their heads kicked in.... They thought she was just some girl playing on the Sailor-fetish stuff to get the clientele.... Then she went berserk, using her powers to smash the frontage on a bar cafe, beat up everyone inside, ate as much food as she could, then started making mad, passionate love to the shop owner before smacking around a couple of thieves who were trying to take off with cash from the till during the distraction...." "Kami shit." Aoi staggered back across the room, sitting down against the wall. "I thought I'd tied her to the bed, good and proper...." "Ano...." Kaji blinked. "What is this about tying her to the bed?" Aoi looked up at him, then blushed a beetroot red. "I didn't tie her up for THOSE kinds of reasons, you idiot." Ube didn't know where to look as steam rose from underneath Kaji's coat. "Uhh... Yeah. Right." Kaji paused, lost for words. "Just why did you tie her up, then?" The soft voice came from outside the room. Everyone turned as Rei, still transformed as Mars, slowly wandered into the room, stepping between investigators who parted like the waters of the Red Sea for her, flanked by Luna and Artemis. Aoi sniffed and waved a hand dismissively at her. "If you've been listening to our conversation, you'll understand why." Aoi turned away, wanting to leave the subject there, but Rei wasn't satisfied. "Pretend I don't understand." Aoi sighed and stood. "She's gone mad, that's why. Pagan did something to her mind...." "Who?" Luna frowned. Most of the investigators backed away from the cat. Artemis, still dazed after fainting, sighed and curled up on the floor, placing his paws over his head. "I know nothing, I know nothing...." He muttered. Aoi rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "The naked guy, of course. The one who fell through that hole thingy with me and the red-headed bitch, into the courtyard outside. The one she stole from me." Aoi punched a fist into her other hand. "I'll get her if it is the last thing I do." "What did he do to her?" Rei ranged forward on Aoi, threateningly. Aoi was not impressed. "He fixed her brain, so to speak. You can say he hammered back together the bits that had fallen off." Aoi prodded Rei in the chest. "And don't come at me all threatening, young woman. You might be a Sailorsenshi, but you're lower than shit in my world." "You BITCH!" Rei lifted her hand back to slap Aoi, hard, across the chops. A slap that never came as Kaji gripped her wrist. "That will be all, young lady." He growled at her as she spun to him. His greater physical presence intimidated her enough into cooling down. She whipped her arm away from him and tromped over to the corner of the room, brooding. Yuuichirou went over to her side, tentatively trying to calm her down. Kaji then turned to Aoi. "You overstepped the mark there, Kiko-san." "I don't want to hear it..." She started, before Kaji slammed her back into the wall, both hands gripping her shoulders. "I SAID, YOU OVERSTEPPED THE MARK THERE, KIKO-SAN!" Aoi cringed, visibly, under Kaji's rage. "Kaji..." She croaked. "You really don't know how much trouble you're in, do you? First, trying to HIDE a potential SUSPECT for the Kino murder from the Majors, then disappearing like that.... Some people have been saying you RAN OFF with the girl.... There will possibly be a disciplinary committee report into this. You'll probably even be demoted, or transferred. Whatever the case, Kiko-san, your career depends very much on your good behaviour from here on, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" "H...." She stuttered. "H... Hai..." Aoi swallowed, feeling tears coming to her eyes as Kaji let her go, stepping away. She knew, in her mind, that something would probably happen because of her handling of the Mizuno affair, but hearing it from Kaji's mouth.... So forcefully..... "Whatever the case, it is obvious that these Sacred House girls do not have Mizuno as their captive." Kaji rubbed his chin for a moment. "If they were in your house, I wonder what stopped them taking her, or if she somehow managed to escape, what stopped them chasing her...." ----o Maria switched on the light to the bathroom and stared into its unfamiliar decor. She searched, desperately, for a bathtub, and was relieved to find a rather large one, sitting behind the far shower screen. The floor and walls of the bathroom were still damp from their previous use and Maria cursed as she left the doorway to search for towels. Upon returning with a pile, she placed the towels in the corner of the room and started laying them out, one by one, from the doorway to the side of the bath. Satisfied that she had created a dry path from the door, she took one of the spare towels and started to dry the fine layer of settled water vapour from the surface of the bathtub. She worked with a feverish speed, swallowing as she heard the gasps from her friend in the loungeroom of Aoi's unit. She closed her eyes and shivered at the thought of what was to come. She had been through this before.... Many a time, but she never quite become used to Arisa's condition. Trapped within the confines of Aoi's apartment, with the knowledge that Arisa wouldn't be able to use her transportation powers and with Gwen completely out of the picture, Maria was forced to make a hurried decision about what to do. She had attempted to calm Arisa.... It had worked, on occasion. However, Arisa was far too gone for that to be successful, this time. Maria could feel the quivering sensation in Arisa's chest as the hinges within her ribcage threatened to spring open. It wouldn't happen yet, of course. Arisa did have some control over her condition. But it was going to have to happen, and Maria hated it. So, as she sat back on her haunches, satisfied that the bathtub was now bone dry, she casually tossed the towel aside and let out a long breath, resigning herself to the fate of being Arisa's keeper. Slowly, she stood and stepped from the bathroom, along the corridor and to the loungeroom doorway, where she watched Arisa, curled up on her side, on the floor, hugging her chest. Her face was bright red. Maria knew Arisa was holding on as well as she could.... But time was now of the essence. Maria stepped over to Arisa's side and knelt down, dragging Arisa's head into her lap. Arisa's eyes, that had been screwed shut with the effort, now stared hopefully up at her. Maria smiled, weakly, and gripped the loose collar of Arisa's trademark red kimono, roughly pulling it open and down over her shoulders. She then lifted Arisa into a sitting position, nervously watching as Arisa's chest started to heave, and untied the ribbon that held the fabric of the kimono to her form. She tossed the ribbon aside and stripped Arisa completely of clothing. Arisa's thin form was now ghostly pale.... Another reason Maria hated her condition.... She always looked as if she were about to die. Placing her arms behind Arisa's back and underneath her legs, she lifted Arisa as she got to her feet. Arisa let out a short, sharp gasp, tears running from her eyes. "Not long now.... The bath is suitable. Soon, you'll be able to release the pressure. Soon...." She didn't know if Arisa heard her calming tones.... She was now beyond the point of registering anything but the pain she was feeling. Maria sighed and carried her across the loungeroom, into the corridor and along to the bathroom. She looked down at the towels and made her way along them, carefully stepping on each one to make sure she wasn't going to slip with such a precious cargo in her arms. When she arrived by the bath, she turned and lowered herself to her knees, trying to lower Arisa with similar care. Even before she managed to place Arisa in the bathtub, she could hear the tearing sound from the side of the girl's chest, a spray of blood striking the wall. After placing her within the tub, she turned Arisa over, then lifted her up and positioned several of the spare towels underneath her belly and forehead, keeping her from smothering herself in the process. And then Arisa's chest tore open. Flesh, forced out like a hatch, squelching and leaking blood of varying consistency.... Light, fresh blood, caused by what would be, for a normal person, an unnatural tearing of the flesh, mixed with a darker, more viscous blood.... Devoid of the same oxygenation, the cells obviously dead or dying, this darker blood dribbled from the chest cavity like gruesome honey. All the while, Arisa heaved, as if breathing had suddenly become difficult, yet the colour in her flesh had started to return, her body suddenly relieved of a pressure that had built up over the space of more than an hour. Maria held her nose, turning away. The sudden exposure of Arisa's insides had released all the nauseating smells that commonly permeate the human body. She could barely contain the sense of horror at what was happening, and crawled on her hands and knees towards the doorway, even if it meant abandoning Arisa during her bleeding. She retched, and listened, and retched some more, holding onto the doorframe for support. And she waited, until Arisa's breathing settled.... She didn't know how long it was, five minutes.... maybe even ten minutes.... She wasn't sure. Nor did she care very much. All she felt was a sense of satisfaction when she heard the oozing sound of Arisa's chest cavity closing and sealing up. It still didn't make the smell in the room any better, though. She reached up the doorframe, feeling for the lightswitch, happy to find it was combined with the exhaust fan. After flicking that on, and waiting for the fan to work its way up to full speed, she heard Arisa starting to sob. Soft, pitiful sobs of frustration. Maria crawled over to the side of the bathtub once more, wincing at the sight that met her eyes. She reached into the tub and placed a hand on Arisa's shoulder, trying to comfort her. Arisa's face turned from where it had been resting, on the towel. Her face was now a near-bloodless pale, but her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks tearstreaked. Her chin and throat were covered in the dark red, viscous mess that was still oozing its way down the plughole. Maria did her best to smile at Arisa, kindly, but it wasn't easy. "Are you ready to be cleaned yet?" She asked her softly. Arisa swallowed, the action seemingly difficult for her newly repositioned muscles. "I..." She croaked. "I think... that would be... for the best... Don't you?" ----o Shimazaki stopped his Alfa 75 in front of Katarin's apartment and stared at the darkened house through the rain-spattered windows. He could see Katarin's car, sitting in the driveway. Obviously he had returned here, so it was more than possible that he was in the house. So why weren't any of the lights in the house on? Shimazaki bit his lower lip, wondering if his partner was trying to hide from him. But then, the car in the drive was a dead giveaway. So why... Almost unhesitatingly, he shut the car down, undid his seatbelt and opened the door, stepping out from the vehicle and slamming it shut behind him, not even bothering to lock it as he briskly made his way up to the front door. It was open. He kind of expected that. Stepping through the open door into the darkened front hallway was an eerie experience, despite it being dark outside, the dark within seemed so much heavier. He half expected to be jumped at any moment, but nobody did. He made his way through the loungeroom, into the kitchen. He knew the layout of Katarin's apartment like the back of his hand. He'd been over many times.... A beam of soft, white streetlight shone through the kitchen windows, illuminating the small table, covered in a mess of magazines and unwashed plates. "Go.... You in here? It's Shim-san." There was no reply, although he could hear a soft pattering sound, like water dripping on a rug or a carpet. He turned from the kitchen and stepped back into the lounge, following the noise. Sure enough, he found a small leak in the roof, and took a long breath. "Go? I know you're here. There isn't any point in hiding from me. I want to talk to you." He stepped from the lounge, back into the front hallway. The next door down was the bedroom, the door half-closed. He put a hand against the door and pressed it open, slowly. He switched on the light, peering around the room. Everything was in its place... The large, double bed, the wardrobe, the mirror and the bookshelves. For a moment, he wondered if Katarin was hiding in the bathroom or the toilet, when he heard the thumping sound coming from the wardrobe. "Oh, for pity's sake...." He shook his head and stepped over to the wardrobe, a large, darkly varnished wooden cupboard, roughly a foot taller than Shimazaki. He couldn't believe that Katarin would choose to hide from him in there. Confirming his suspicions, there was another thumping sound, lower down this time. Shimazaki shook his head and placed a hand on the left doorhandle, giving it a couple of tugs. It was locked. From the outside. Frowning, he looked around the room for the key, which was usually kept in the small keylock. He found it sitting on top of one of the bookshelves, and crossed the room to collect it, thinking how difficult it would be to lock oneself in one's own wardrobe and placing the key on the other side of the room. A realisation ran through him as he scooped up the key, and slowly turned back to the wardrobe. At it's base there was a tiny red stain. A liquid was oozing from the bottom crack of the door. With slow deliberation, he crossed the distance between the bookshelf and the wardrobe, placing the key in the left doorlock. He turned the key, feeling the latch give way with a satisfying click. Summoning up all of his energy, he placed his hand back on the doorhandle. He pulled the door open, stepping back as he did so. Katarin's dead body fell from the cupboard, pitching forward and splattering blood from the wound in his head across the carpet. Shimazaki made time to be sick on the other side of the room. END OF PART 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Chapter - "Dead Under the Bed" _________ / @ \ DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page) / / ^ ^ \ \ ayanami@merlin.net.au /\ Chief Propoganda Officer, Keeper of \/ \/ the Tapes and Co-Founder of the Saitou-chan \___________/ Appreciation Society - Adelaide Japanese /_/ \_\ PU Animation Society