UsAgI iS dEaD uSaGi Is DeAd HiP hIp HiP hOoRaY by DARK DAY FOR ANIME Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so these characters really belong to them. I'm just abusing them in a manner most would describe as nothing short of scandalous. I hope nobody sues me for it. Besides, this disclaimer is starting to look silly. :D~~~~~~~~O (Even sillier with little additions like that). Part Seven Gross Domestic Product Usagi opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. She wondered where she was. There wasn't likely to be an answer. Floating, she thought, in nothingness. For some reason, she felt this to be her second such experience in a very short space of time. Then everything turned blue. A deep, aquatic blue. It wasn't water she was floating in.... It felt, smelt and tasted like herself. Or at least was an avatar to her inner self. She looked at what she thought to be up and saw light, without any obvious source. She looked down and saw darkness. Both felt inviting right now. she was torn with indecision. "It is interesting, is it not, that a young woman named after a sea on the moon should never have visited such a place as this." The voice seemed to have no origin, but Usagi was sure she'd heard it before. Where? Where? "I felt no need to come to this place, not that I know where it is." She replied, perhaps a little too arrogantly. The voice answered mockingly. "Yes, you were never one for the more cerebral concepts. Perhaps you'd like the opportunity to make a start?" "Naiad Keth Drutein..." Usagi finally got out. "That is who you are.... The last of the third refrain of the Kingdom's Miko circle." "At least there is nothing wrong with your memory. Its amazing at what a little tweaking shall do to the inner heart." Usagi raised a figurative eyebrow at this suggestion. "Are you saying you are manipulating with my mind?" "Princess..." The voice of Naiad said the title more like an insult than a term of affection. "You really don't know how long I've been playing with your mind, do you?" Before Usagi could answer that, a vision floated into her at great speed, swallowing her up. She found herself standing in a dark place. There were gentle sobs in the background. A cavern, or what looked like a cavern. She turned and looked around. Its high stone walls were covered in trickling water. The air was damp and dank. She turned to the sobbing and saw a figure, chained and bound to the wall. There were strange wards and chains hung limply around the person. Usagi took a few steps forward and noticed that the flesh was badly scarred on the exposed parts of her body. It was a she.... Usagi could at least see breasts. The girl's sobbing melded into a kind of soft, inane giggling. She looked up. Not at Usagi, although it was doubtful whether she would have seen her had she actually been there. Her gaze was blind, the eyes as damaged as the flesh. All Usagi recognised was the hair.... Long black hair. A terrible realisation came to her at that moment. "Rei-chan...." She mumbled. The figure almost seemed to notice the sound and listened intently. Of course, Usagi thought, Rei had spiritual powers other than that as a senshi. Usagi placed her hands on either side of Rei's head, ignoring the frightened and frightening expression on the other girl's face. Usagi looked into her mind. "GET OUT!" It was Rei's voice. "GET OUT YOU BITCH! LEAVE ME TO SUFFER! I WON'T GIVE IN TO THE LIKES OF YOU." Usagi snatched her hands away. Rei was struggling with her chains, snarling and drooling, snapping at the air like a wild dog. For a few moments Usagi felt compelled to try again, when the door at the far end of the cavern opened. Usagi turned as Rei went still. A lone figure walked into the darkness, a smile on his face. Jadeite. He stepped slowly over to Rei and knelt down beside her, touching her disfigured face. "I heard you getting angry. Is there something you wish for, my love?" Rei's face turned to him and rubbed against his hand, almost cooing with pleasure. Usagi turned away. This was where this Rei wanted to be. She shook her head sadly as the vision evaporated around her, returning to the state of eternal blue. "Why did she reject me that way? My only thought was to help her." There was no answer. Usagi went quiet and listened. There was no sound, bar a gentle hush. Usagi closed her eyes and waited for Naiad to speak. "Strange that that should have been the first vision you'd experience. Why Rei? Why have you always been so much closer to her than the others?" Naiad's voice was questioning. Genuinely questioning. Usagi gave a shrug and turned towards the darkness, opening her eyes. It was looking damned inviting now. "That was a vision of destiny, was it not?" "It may have been. Maybe the influence of my being so close to you." Usagi closed her eyes and felt herself being carried in a tidal flow. "It seems a sad destiny." "For someone who used their powers to keep Setsuna's mind on the task of killing you that first time?" Usagi wondered about that for a while, just allowing herself to float, carried with the pleasure and ecstasy of sheer non- existence and, sometimes, total bodilessness. Death didn't feel too bad to her right now. There could be worse fates. "Model 1014-P is now leaving the production line. Will Mister Chiba please attend the presentation in the lobby." The voice over the tannoy annoyed Mamoru. He didn't want to go, but he had no choice. His office looked over the workfloor from on high. It at least felt good to have some mastery over his situation, but ultimately it meant nothing. It was still a dark, gloomy office, ripe with the smell of old concrete and paper. He'd spent much of his life here, in the office.... There was even a bed sitting at the back, obscured by filing cabinets. He was lying on that bed now, contemplating the warp and weft of the ceiling. The room itself seemed to welcome his frequent patronage, almost messing itself up to suit his state of mind. It felt good to stay here. But he couldn't. Not when a new model was about to come off the line. Slowly, he rose from the bed and got to his feet. Stepping around the filing cabinets, he grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the desk chair. Out of the office, down the stairs and past the myriad of workers who lined the conveyor belts with all the zeal of the mindless ciphers they actually were, and all bearing the face of Usagi. He'd created a great many of them himself, and the other half were created by the factory he fashioned. He'd begun to hate this world, not that he ever liked it much. The loneliness he felt at not having anyone on his intellectual level to talk to drove him near mad. He'd expected at least one of the models to come back to him. None ever did. He had no idea where they went or what they did once they left the care of his factory. Through the doors at the far end of the workfloor and into the main corridor through the clerical offices. More ciphers, working side by side to fulfill the orders. He stared at them as he went past. How happy they all looked. Well, of course they would all be happy.... They were all working for their beloved Mamo-chan. Each and every one of them doing their best to please him. Sometimes he'd even contrived to take one or two of them back to the office at the end of their workshift, just to see if their construction really was up to scratch. They passed, pretty much. But they were imperfect in one way or another. He knew the original. He knew her intimately. Moreso than he or she would ever confess to anyone else. That brought a smile to his face. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to produce an original Usagi. But then, the workers at the factory were never meant to be original. That honour was supposed to go to the others, those who were built in an attempt to recreate her powers.... That had always failed. He soon changed his mind as he stepped through the doors into the main lobby. Appreciative Usagis, dressed in business suits and gowns, stared up in salivating pride at the wonder that stood before them. So this was a 4-P model, he thought.... The computer design department had done its best to eradicate many of the flaws he'd mentioned, but he never thought he'd see so wondrous a sight. Upon a small, circular raised dais stood Usagi. As close as he'd ever seen to the real thing, dressed in her ultimate warrior fuku. He bit his lower lip, almost in tears. A deep, dark vacuum opened up in his soul.... "Usako...." He croaked, as the 4-P turned to him and smiled. Usagi found herself floating downwards towards the darkness. For a moment, she felt an edge of anticipation. "Are you sure that's what you want?" Naiad asked. Usagi stared longingly at it. "That void.... That air of nothingness, free of pain and regret. Right now it feels tempting." "That isn't a void, Princess. Down there lies the deepest aspects of your own soul. Are you willing to witness the darknesses that exist there, even at the cost of your own sanity?" "Eh.... Eeeeeeeehhhhhhh?" Usagi struggled to swim away from it, succeeding in reaching brighter waters. "I want death. I want to be dead. I can't deal with the reality, as it exists." "Too easy. I won't let you die until things are finally over." Usagi began to sob, quivering. "Tears will not sway my decision, either." "Let me go! Let me DIE!" Naiad sighed, and Usagi felt herself landing on solid ground. She looked up and saw swaying grass. Slowly she stood, realising only then that she was wearing Serenity's royal gown. She looked at her surroundings. Despite the warmth of the air and sun, the wind had a frigid chill about it, running down from the high snowcapped mountains around her. In future years this place would become known as Uzbekistan, or, at least, a portion of it would. Over the mountains lay a myriad of valleys that would be claimed by various nations. Now, however, it was empty, devoid of human habitation. Had it not been for the ruins of a small village at the base of the valley, she could have imagined this place never having been frequented. A road ran through the valley, however. It lead to the village. Despite being a dirt track, it was not nearly as abandoned. "The valley of T'fureis." A voice said behind her. She turned to see Naiad standing before her. The woman looked so much like Setsuna that Usagi momentarily had to check herself. She was, of course, a very different beast. Her hair was dark blue rather than green, as were her eyes. Her skin was pale and she carried a trident staff. On top of it all she wore the more ceremonial fuku of a Miko. Extremely ornate, lined with trim made of purest turquoise. The woman's face carried a serene smile, but Usagi got the impression that it could change at any moment. Like the deepest ocean that her power represented. "T'fureis?" Usagi pondered. "I'm not sure what it is called today. Perhaps it doesn't have a name." "Everything has a name. It just depends on how it has been misnamed, in due course." Naiad stared across the valley. "This is my place of origin. And that of Setsuna." "Why did you bring me here? What is there for me here?" "Contemplation. You have a destiny to fulfill, albeit a different one from that which you'd expected, and not nearly so pleasant." Usagi turned from her and looked down. "Go away. Let me die as I should." Usagi began to walk away, but found herself slowing, almost involuntarily. Naiad watched her as she stopped. "Death may be a pleasure you seek, but it is one you must earn." Naiad clanged her staff into the ground. The rings that were connected to the spires of the trident sang, and she disappeared. Usagi was left alone in the valley. Alone to think. More alone than she had ever been in her entire existence. Makoto was the first to recover. She lifted herself to her hands and knees, groaning. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Aoi smiled back. "How are you feeling?" Aoi said softly. "Like crap, how else should I feel?" "Hmm... You have a point there." Aoi helped Makoto to her feet. "I'm sorry, but it looks like the shrine is wrecked." She said. Makoto looked around. Indeed, the shrine was lying around them, nothing short of rubble. There was a fine pink residue lying over everything, even herself, and she began to brush herself down. "What the hell happened? Is everyone alright?" "They are. For now." Aoi gestured to the others. Rei, Naru and Chibiusa were lying beside each other. Rei was stirring. Makoto looked up at Aoi. "How did you recover first? I mean, what the hell happened just then?" Something occured to her. "Where the hell is Mamoru?" Aoi pointed to a growing lump of pink, slowly draining the pink residue from the shrine grounds. "There. Thats him." "Wh.... WHAT?" Makoto stared at the pile. "It seems he wasn't quite the Mamoru we know and love." Aoi's tone was mischievous. "Who the hell WAS he then?" "We'll find out soon enough." Aoi turned to Rei, who was now trying to lift herself up. "Looks like I've got more work to do. Somehow I don't think it will be as easy to explain things to her as it was to you." There wasn't a sense of time in the valley. Usagi sat on a rock beside the road that ran through the ruined village. She had gravitated to this spot for no real reason other than that it represented civilisation. She couldn't stand being without even the most tenuous of links. What did Naiad mean by 'contemplation'? She was dead. Ami had killed her. Rather viciously, if her memory served her well. In this place, however, nothing was certain. She wasn't even sure if 'here' actually was where she thought it was. The place where the Drutein sisters were born and raised. Naiad and Hecate. Of course, Hecate was now known as Setsuna. Strange how the flavour of names haunt people throughout their existences. She looked both ways along the road. For a moment, it felt like waiting for some of the rail and bus services in her area. She'd probably wait years for someone to come along, then get an entire city passing through. She didn't feel like waiting. Even if this was a creation of the T'fureis valley of the Silver Milennium, surely Naiad wouldn't be so cruel as to leave her here, totally alone. In a flash, she was standing elsewhere. The school gym. In total darkness. For a few moments, she wondered what was going on. Wind gently rushed through the trees outside. Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness and she saw moonlight casting through the window. There was a dripping sound.... Gentle, yet grim. A soft cough followed, and Usagi turned to the source of the sound. There, beside the closed door to the changerooms, sat Ami, as Mercury. She was leaning against the door, her face bleeding, and her chest even moreso. Blood dripped from the chestwound and she stared out at the moonlight. "U..sa...gi...chan..." She croaked as Usagi realised she was casting a silhouette. "Ami-chan? What....?" Usagi ran over to Ami, trying to reach for the mortally wounded young woman. But her hands passed through Ami's body. Despite having some substance, she had not nearly enough. "U....sa...gi...ch..." Ami slipped down the door. "Go...men..." She hit the floor with a sickening thud. It was obvious to Usagi that she was dead. Usagi reached out for the body. She wanted to touch the girl.... The girl who had, so very recently, killed her. And then she was back in the valley, reaching down to nothing but the ground. She sat and stared into space. Where was all this supposed to be leading? What the hell was Naiad trying to say? Why didn't she just explain her reasoning for putting her through all this and be done with it? Why? Because it was all too easy. And Naiad NEVER did things the easy way. One of the reasons why everyone felt greatly relieved after her suicide in the Silver Millenium. It was obvious that the only one ever allowed to live the easy way was going to be Naiad herself. "Umm, excuse me..?" Hotaru and Minako were surprised when the door opened. The both of them had sat down after explaining very carefully to the cats what was going on, the unedited version this time. Their previous attempt with the edited one produced a state of total non-comprehension in their feline companions, and even some slightly paranoid babbling from Luna, who was not entirely known for her patience in these matters. After managing to convince the cats that this most certainly wasn't Tokyo (helped by showing them what was through the two doors at other end of the office), they sat down and began to ponder their next action. That was when the door opened and an Usagi popped her head through. "Yes?" Hotaru did her best to smile sweetly as Luna and Artemis cringed from the vision behind her desk. "I'm here to clean away the bodies." Usagi pointed to the other door. Hotaru and Minako stared at each other from their respective desks and shrugged. "Umm, be our guest." Minako blinked a couple of times. Usagi nodded and stepped through the door, carrying a mop, bucket and a large, elongated white and black object that looked like an overgrown dust vacuum. There were other Usagi's standing near the doorway, looking impatient. Minako stood and went up to the doorway, putting her hands up placatingly. "I'm... errr, sorry. We're having our establishment cleaned out, so things will take a little longer than expected." "I've been waiting here for an hour!" One of the Usagi's, wearing a long blue dress, said. Minako turned as the cleaner Usagi stepped through the other door into the body storeroom. Hotaru followed her and peered in as she switched on the lights. To Hotaru the room looked, for all the world, like an overgrown morgue. It was bigger than they had expected it to be, as the none of them had bothered to step in with the lights on. None of them wanted to. Minako turned back to the Usagis assembled by the other doorway. "Well, I'm terribly sorry. We've been waiting for the cleaner to arrive. You know what the public service is like." The Usagis hmmmed in agreement. Minako was simply glad she had said something that made sense to them. "Yeah, remember the drains three weeks ago. Just because the destroyers blew the crap out of some portions of the city, we're supposed to accept going without water for days at a time." "And what about the postal service. Its pathetic, I tell you." "Then theres electricity and gas. It took them five days to connect to my apartment after I moved in." This made Minako's head spin. These girls... These Usagis, were talking to each other as if the entire situation was normal.... As if they were definably individual beings.... But each and every one of them spoke and reacted in exactly the manner she remembered the original. It made her sick to the stomach. "Ano...." She blurted out. They all looked at her. "Umm... How long have you guys been here?" "Here?" The second Usagi, wearing a red jumpsuit over a striped red and white long-sleeved shirt, asked. "Yes, here, in the city." "Oh, I've been here about seven months now." "Three months for me." Said the first. "You're queue jumping somewhat, aren't you?" Said a third. "Yeah, but I thought, well, get it over with. There's nothing for us in this world, anyway." All the Usagis agreed with this. Minako paled. "What... do you mean, there's nothing for you here?" They all stared at her. "You should know.... We were brought here to use our powers." "But we can't. At least, none of us have been able to manifest them." "I almost succeeded. I managed to make my tiara glow, just a little bit. But it fizzled out." "You're lucky. I couldn't even get the tiara to appear." "Hmm... Not even being able to get so much as a single base- level attack to work. We really are hopeless." "Yeah, its better to kill those who don't meet up with your standards, don't you agree?" "Oh most indupitably..." Minako couldn't take any more. She began to shake. The Usagis looked at her with concern. "Are you alright, Mina-chan?" "Yes, you aren't looking well...." "I'll be fine." Minako contained herself and smiled at them as best as she could. "As I said, please wait for a little longer, then we can.... restart our operations." With that, Minako shut the door, leaning her back against it, eyes closed. She took a few deep breaths and turned towards the other doorway, where Hotaru was watching the cleaner walking around the corpse room. Suddenly, there was a loud whoosh, and Hotaru let out a yelp. Minako ran up behind her and pushed her aside. There was another whoosh and Minako watched disbelievingly as one of the bodies dissapeared, leaving only a sticky red mass on the tray it had lain upon. The cleaner pulled the vacuum like object away from the tray and walked up to another, repeating the process, with the same result. Minako heard Hotaru choke, and turned to her. "Are you okay, Hotaru-chan?" "No. I think I'm going to be sick." "You better not be. I have no idea where the bathroom is." "I don't think I'm going to wait until you find a bathroom." Hotaru clamped a hand over her mouth and turned green. Minako quivered and wondered how much worse things could get. Ami walked up the garden path towards the front door of her house. It was not often she felt joy at the thought of entering this place, and now was one of those times. She'd murdered Usagi. With her own hands, even. She felt joy at actually having achieved this feat on her own, devoid of the usual weaknesses she felt. It hurt so often to be looked upon as the 'brains' of the senshi. So often the benefit of that intellect was negated by her own social inexperience, leaving the weaknesses in her senshi powers open to a greater scrutiny. But this time.... She'd beaten the living crap out of Usagi. She'd used her fists and strength in a way she'd not thought possible. Not her. That had been the preserve of the likes of Makoto and Haruka. So then she began to wonder.... Just what was it she thought she was doing? Why did she feel the need to kill Usagi? Because Usagi would have killed her. And why did she think Usagi was going to kill her? Because Usagi would be as mad as hell for what happened the first time. And why did they conspire to kill her the first time? Because of the vision Setsuna placed in their minds, showing Usagi killing them all. So did that mean the vision had become a self-fulfilling prophecy? And just how did she come back to life the first time? Was it possible a second time? To say she was less than pleased with things when she walked through the front door of her house was something of an understatement. "Tadaiima." She called out. Her mother stepped from the doorway leading to the lounge, a drink in her hand. "AMI-CHAN!" She shouted. Uh-oh, Ami thought, what have I done now? "Little lady, just where have you been. you've had friends and half the school in a tizz over your disappearing." "Eh?" Ami looked at her in confusion. Suddenly she remembered that she'd taken off from the shrine without telling anyone. She hung her head, feeling even less happy about things than even before. "I'm sorry, mother. I had to think things over." "You had everyone worried sick about you. Don't you ever think about how others feel?" Ami clenched her fists. "Don't worry, it won't happen again, I promise you." "And what in hell is going with your friends? I received a call from the Tsukinos to tell me their daughter, Usagi, wasn't dead after all. After all that happened after school last night with the police... Are you alright?" Her mother noticed that Ami hadn't moved at all. Usually, at moments like this, Ami would wander off as if absent minded. She knew better. Ami was exactly like her, in almost every respect. "Ma.... Mama... I'm.... I...." Ami's mother stepped forward to question her daughter further, when Ami flew into her, wrapping her arms around her back and burying her face in her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mama. Everythings gone wrong. My life is all wrong. Its all wrong. Please, make it all go away. Please...." Needless to say, her mother was more than speechless. The quartet landed hard in the middle of Beryl's castle. The ruins of the main hall were cold, the walls broken open allowing in the frigid wastes of its surrounds. Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru landed heavily on their tailbones, causing them to quiver for a few moments as the sensation ran like an express train into their skulls. Setsuna was the first to stand as Jadeite wandered around, gesturing wildly. "A classic arena for a showdown, wouldn't you say?" "What the hell did you do that for, Jadeite?" Haruka stood, helping Michiru up with her. "Just whose side are you on, anyway?" "Whose side do you think I'm on? My side, of course." "And what side would that be?" Setsuna glared at him. Jadeite shrugged. "Doesn't matter, does it? Having the door to my apartment blown open was about as much damage as I was going to allow to be done to my property." "Where is the spawning machine?" Michiru looked around as Haruka transformed herself into Uranus. The aqua-haired woman seemed more intent on other things than the matter at hand. "What does it matter. Usagi shall be here in seconds. You probably won't live long enough to see the machine." "Look, I really couldn't care less whether Usagi wants to kill me or not. I want to see the machine." Michiru stared at Jadeite, who mirrored the expression. He shrugged and pointed to a doorway on one side of the hall. Michiru sniffed and ran for the door, transforming herself into Neptune as she did so. "Michiru.... Wait!" Haruka ran after her. Setsuna and Jadeite watched them go. "I take it you aren't interested in the machine, or its remains?" He smiled contemptuously. Setsuna shrugged and closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Its nothing. Being so close to them now has allowed me the opportunity to see the past, and the future. I know what it looks like and what has happened here." "Hmm." Jadeite pondered this. "But you couldn't beforehand. Strange that you are so devoid of the powers to which you are so traditionally associated." Setsuna ahrugged again. "I know what stepped from the machine, Jadeite. And I know you are playing a very dangerous game. Don't think she'll not turn on you, just because you helped her before." "Shimatta!" Setsuna and Jadeite turned as Haruka and Michiru began stepping backwards through the doorway, followed by Usagi. The younger girl showed absolutely no fear of the older senshi. "Hmm. Your navigation wasn't perfect there, Usagi." Jadeite smiled. Her return smile was so sweet, Setsuna could have thrown up. "It makes a more threatening entrance if I do it this way, Jade-chan." She giggled and sniffed. "Brrr, is it cold in here or what? Guess I'll just have to warm things up a little." At that second, fire lamps that had been dead for years sprung into life. Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru stared as the flames danced into life, bursting with a myriad of different colours. Jadeite smiled and opened his arms. "Magnificent, is it not? The power she now wields is indeed a beauty to behold." Setsuna turned back to Jadeite, shaking her head. How deluded had he become in the years that had passed since the defeat of the Dark Kingdom? "Well...." Usagi licked her lips. "Who's gonna be first for a workout? I'm most certainly in the mood." Nobody moved, or said anything. Usagi shrugged. "Okay, then. I guess I'm going to have to choose. How about.... YOU." Usagi fired off a beam of energy at Michiru. She attempted to put up a shield, but was struck too heavily and was thrown twenty feet backwards, falling on her side. Haruka, seeing this, took her opportunity to launch an attack. "Flying WORLD SHAKING!" Haruka charged forward, thrusting out a beam of energy at Usagi. Much to Haruka's chagrin, the smaller girl was able to create a shield before the strike met home. Usagi was knocked backwards half the distance of Michiru, but was still standing. She snarled at Haruka, whose energy had begun to falter, and let down her shield to make her own attack. Haruka took the opportunity to bring up her other fist, giving Usagi an uppercut across the chin. Usagi was planted into the wall, sliding out slowly and falling to the floor. Haruka charged with another energised attack as she got to her hands and knees. This time, however, Usagi turned her defence move into an attack, making the shield a battering ram. She looked up, snarling as Haruka was pounded across the hall, slamming into the opposite wall. Michiru, getting to her feet, watched Haruka fall to the ground and gritted her teeth as Usagi launched an attack at Setsuna. Jadeite stood back as Setsuna closed her eyes, throwing her staff across the path of the beam. The attack shattered against an invisible barrier. "DEEP SUBMERGING MULTIPLE WAVE!" Michiru fired off a beam of energy at Usagi. The younger girl smiled and put up her shield, allowing the beam to shatter harmlessly. As she lowered her shield, she was levelled by a second beam, then a third, a fourth, a fifth. Usagi felt her clothes tearing, and coughed up blood. The pounding injuring her internally. This really made her mad. Usagi lifted two fingers, clenched together, and ran off an incantation. She then slammed her fist into the floor. A wave of ripped-out floorstones flew towards Michiru and Setsuna, growing in size. Both tried to block the attack, but were blown violently backwards, both ending up in the back wall. Jadeite only escaped the attack by the skin of his teeth. Usagi breathed heavily. The attacks the senshi had been laying into her weren't too damaging, but it was annoying that their numbers were negating her efforts to fire off the more powerful spella she had in her retinue. Setsuna was the first to stand. Michiru had only just managed to sit up. Haruka, for her part, was on her hands and knees, clutching at a very sore head. Setsuna lifted her staff and charged forward. "DEAD SCREECH!" She shouted as she did so. Usagi placed her hands forward in a semi defence/attack stance. There was a momentary flash of light, and a blue-haired girl, holding up the body of another appeared. Both Setsuna and Usagi were momentarily distracted, and their attacks went wild. Setsuna was struck full on in the chest by Usagi's defence, whilst Usagi was blinded by Setsuna's attack. Setsuna flew back, screaming out loud. The pain in her chest was incredible, blood spewing from her mouth in a ghastly arc through the air. Usagi staggered back, covering her eyes and crying out in pain. The girl almost dropped the body when she saw what was happening. "Oh dear, I'm sorry about this. I'll be back when you've finished things...." She was about to disappear when she felt herself being grabbed. Haruka's grip hurt her arm. "Itaaaiii... That hurts you know." "Who the hell are you?" "Nobody who should be concerning you. Let me go or I'll drop and damage the corpse." "The corpse?" Haruka looked at the body that the girl was holding, tenuously, underneath one arm. "Usagi?" "Yeah, nice bit of deduction there, Sherlock." The both of them turned as they heard Usagi cry out in anger, just about wetting themselves at the violence inherent in the tone. Usagi launched herself at Setsuna, landing on top of the woman, who was sprawled over the ground, coughing. Usagi gripped Setsuna by the throat and lifted her up, pouring energy into her. Setsuna screamed and felt darkness descending upon her. Usagi gritted her teeth, drooling with hatred. "Die, you FREAK! I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU!" Haruka and the girl stood, unable to move. Michiru, too, felt helpless. That didn't stop the corpse moving. Haruka and the girl let out small gasps of surprise as the corpse pulled away from the girl's grasp, stepping forward. "DREAM AMBIENCE VIRULENCE!" The corpse shouted in a voice that most certainly wasn't Usagi. The other Usagi turned, hearing the attack's verbal opening, realising too late what the attack was. In a matter of seconds, she was lauched into a random transportation vortex, disappearing from the hall in an instant. Setsuna collapsed to the ground as Haruka, Michiru and the girl were released from the field of energy Usagi had created, all three falling to the floor, feeling drained. The corpse turned to the blue-haired girl, her eyes shining a deep aquamarine. "Thanks for transporting the body here, Pala. It seems my idiot sister was incapable of looking after herself." The voice came from the mouth with barely a movement from the jaw. The girl, Pala, nodded dumbly. The corpse's head turned at the sound of clapping, off to one side of the hall. Jadeite smiled, applauding appreciatively. "Bravo. A ring-in maneuver. I must admit, you senshi really know all the tricks." The corpse gave Jadeite the finger and stepped over to the side of the fallen senshi. "Jeez, now how does she do this. Wish I'd bothered to ask her how this body works." The corpse knelt down and touched Setsuna's forhead with a finger. In a fraction of a second, Setsuna was thrashing around. "Ow! Owieowieowieowie!" She sat up suddenly and stared at the corpse darkly. "I would have lived, you know?" "Yes, but I thought you might have appreciated a blast." "Only in retrospect, yes." "See, told you." Haruka pointed to the pair and turned to Pala as Michiru joined them. "What the hell is THAT? Usagi? It looks like a corpse." "It is a corpse." "Eh?" "Its Usagi's original body, in slightly better condition than before. My boss is using it at the moment, though." "Your boss?" "My dumb-ass sister." Setsuna got to her feet, the corpse following suit. Haruka and Michiru opened their mouths in a silent 'oh', as if that was supposed to make sense. "Dumb-ass?" Naiad said through the corpse's mouth. "As if." She snorted with amusement. "I'm constantly having to clean up your messes for you, and you call me a 'dumb-ass'." "Yes, well, thanks very much for getting rid of the Gray Queen." Setsuna sniffed. "Pity its a temporary reprieve." "Well, I don't have the power to kill her, and neither do you. In fact, none of us do. None alive, anyways." "So what happened to Usagi after I brought her back to life?" "YOU DID WHAT?" Haruka, Michiru and Jadeite stared at her in utter disbelief. "After all the effort you went through to kill her?" Jadeite stammered. Setsuna smiled sweetly. "Oops, forgot to mention that to you, 'Jade-chan'." Jadeite laughed. "Magnificent. I love it. This is SO much fun. I knew it was a good idea to become involved in this." He smiled as Setsuna chuckled to herself. She quickly did an about turn when Haruka and Michiru advanced on her. "Just what the hell did you think you were doing? Resurrecting Usagi?" Haruka leered. "Don't you remember what was to happen in the vision?" "Yes. And then I saw the other Usagi pass me by in the back of a car. That changed my mind." "You mean THAT Usagi is the one we all saw in the vision?" Michiru frowned. "Indeed it was. Thats why I went behind your backs and resurrected the original." Setsuna smiled. Haruka and Michiru spat contempt. "Well, thats what one should expect from my sister. She was born a Scorpio, after all." The Naiad-Usagi corpse sniffed with amusement. "I'll never be able to live that down. Having a Scorpio for a sister." "So what do we do now?" Michiru rubbed her shoulders, which felt sore, and noticed that Haruka was not looking too good herself. "Well, it might be a good thing for Setsuna to bring this bag of blood and bone back to life. She did it once." "Almost cost me my life, too." "Don't worry. I'll use the powers within the bod to bring you back." "Yeah, sure. And what about Usagi? Won't she be asking for the thing back by then?" "I'm afraid Usagi is a tad indisposed. For some reason, she's not too enthusiastic about coming back to life." "How did she die anyway?" Setsuna blinked. "I mean, this time... What killed her?" Pala giggled from the background. "Seems Mercury was a little curious about things in the hospital after that Kikotsuka chick ran into her. She went near postal when she saw Usagi was alive." "Shit! Forgot about the guys at the shrine." Setsuna huffed. "Oh well, better get this over and done with." Setsuna began to mouth an incantation. Usagi climbed the rockface. Not an easy thing to do when dressed in something as flowing as a ballgown. For a moment she wondered whether it was possible for her to alter this reality to suit her needs in some fashion. She most certainly needed to be wearing something different to achieve this task. In a blink of an eye, she found herself in a short-sleeved mountaineering shirt, denim shorts and mountain-climbing boots. Well, she thought, that was easy. Should have thought about it sooner. She then attempted to imagine a large bakery selling dumplings at the top of the rock ledge. It didn't work. Oh well, can't get everything right. Four young girls, dressed in rather out-of-place clothing sat in the horse cart looking tired, depressed and bored. The short, white-haired girl, dressed in a striped black and white suit, who happened to be manning the reigns, stared out at the approaching village ruin in disgust. "Oh, wonderful, another ruin." "Shutup. We'll find someone sooner or later." Another girl, with long brown hair and dressed in a vested suit, muttered. She sat up to stretch. The rough wooden sides to the cart had not been much of a backrest, but it was all the had to lean against in their journey... excluding the backpacks carrying their few belongings. The brown-haired girl's companion, a light blue-green haired and fair-skinned girl dressed in a one-piece coat and woollen hat, lounged against a backpack, groaning audibly. "Ohhh, I'm so hungry." She said, holding her stomach. To underline the point, her stomach grumbled audibly. The brown-haired girl chuckled and put a hand on her arm. "Don't worry. There's got to be a place somewhere along this road where we can stop." The blue-green haired girl smiled back and nodded, prompting a cynical reply from the last of the four, a girl with her black hair tied back severely and a feline expression. "Will the pair of you stop that? You're making me feel sick." Blue-green sat up and hissed at her. "Yeah, well now you know how it feels to have to be around YOU for too long." Black snapped on her. "What did you say?" Blue-green refused to be intimidated. "You HEARD what I said. Unless, of course, you're deaf." "I'll have your heart out for that, bitch!" "Oh YEAH? Come and try me, tramp." "Now now.... Lets not be hasty.." Brown put a hand on blue- green's shoulder and held up the other to black. The both of them stared at one another a few moments more, then went back to lounging back against their respective backpacks. All three were shaken as the cart came to a dead stop, and stared at their shorter companion, who was pointing out towards the side of one of the nearby mountains. "Look, there's someone trying to climb the mountainside." "What?" Brown squinted at the figure, blue-green and black sniffing with momentary interest. "Probably a loony on the loose. Who else would be out here, climbing mountains?" Black shrugged. Brown opened up her backpack and took out a pair of binoculars, using them to get a better image of the figure. She let out a gasp and the others stared at her. "What is it?" Asked blue-green. "Its her. Its Sailormoon.... The Tsukino girl." The other three sat bolt upright and stared at the distant figure. "You're shittin' me?" Black stuttered. "No shit. Its her, alright." Brown watched for a few moments more. "I think she's in trouble. She's losing her footing!" Usagi was most certainly in trouble. She'd tried to get around a small overhang, only to find a bigger one nearby. In an attempt to avoid that one, she'd had a go at scaling the first. Her foothold went in an instant. Placing her foot in a weathered gap, she'd tried to push herself upwards, only to find the stone not nearly as strong as it looked. It collapsed beneath her foot, and she made a desperate grab for the rock overhang. She almost succeeded, but the stone there was equally as brittle, and soon she found herself tumbling down the mountainside. The quartet watched her fall, cringing as she struck each rock on the way down. "We've got to help her. She must be badly hurt." Black gripped the side of the cart as Usagi hit the bottom and lay there, unmoving. Blue-green shrugged. "Why should we? After what she did to us?" All of them were surprised when brown grabbed a blanket and some cloth from her backpack and jumped off the cart, charging for the still figure. They shrugged and jumped off the cart. The short one deciding to stay with the horse. The other two following their companion rather lamely. Usagi looked up in a daze, feeling pain all over as her face was touched by a hand. "What on Earth were you doing that for, you stupid girl?" The owner of the hand looked down on her sternly. For some reason, Usagi felt she knew the girl from somewhere. "I wanted to get a better view. I wanted to see if there was anybody or anything about." "Well, now you know. Can you move? Does it hurt anywhere?" Usagi moved her feet and hands, then her arms and legs, then her back and neck. "Seems like everything is in working order." She slowly began to sit up, helped by the girl. "Well, you're damned lucky. You could have been killed, you know that?" Usagi nodded dumbly, then a look of realisation came across her face. "I know you! You were one of Galaxia's lackeys.... What was it again? Lead Crow! That was it...." "Lackey?" Crow cleared her throat. "Yes, well, there's no need to rub it in." "I thought you were sucked in to a black hole." "So did I." "So what are you doing here, now? And why are you helping me?" Crow shrugged. "One, I don't know what the hell I'm doing here right now. Two, I don't know why the hell I'm helping you. You seem rather unappreciative of my efforts." "Ah, leave her be. We can do without being given grief by that dumb blond bitch." Usagi turned to see the voice coming from Aluminium Siren, who was standing next to Tin Nyanko. Neither of them looked particularly pleased to be there. "Ah, gomen. I didn't mean to be rude." "Well, you were. Ya can't change that now." "Siren, stop that." Crow sighed. She turned back to Usagi. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid Siren is a touch bitter about... What happened back then." "So I should be." Siren sniffed. "I was killed by Galaxia over it all." "You were killed?" Usagi looked from Crow to Siren to Nyanko. "Well, that makes sense." "In what way?" Crow looked puzzled. "Well, I'm dead too. This is nothing more than a fantasy creation." She waved at their surrounds. "It doesn't exist at all." To say the expression on the face of the three animates was nothing short of comically tragic would have been an understatement. Hotaru leaned out of the window, her face slowly returning to a healthy shade. It was the most that Minako could think to do at the time. "How's the air out there?" "Sure can't be Tokyo." "Why?" "I can breathe it without having to chew first." Hotaru turned and leaned back, looking at the sky for a moment. "Looks like rain." "Hmm... I can smell it in the air." Minako was sitting at one of the desks, with Artemis and Luna on top of the desk next to her. Luna had been quiet for a while, but finally seemed ready to speak up, turning her face up to Minako. "Mina-chan..." Minako turned from Hotaru to Luna, raising a quizzical eyebrow. "What is it, Luna?" "Have you ever heard the story of the Eteranl City?" "Can't say that I have. Why, is it important?" "It might be, although I'm not great on the details." "Nothing new there." Artemis sniffed. Luna whopped him one over the head for that. "Hey, guys... Look at the ceiling." They all turned to Hotaru, who was now standing upright, pointing up at the ceiling. They all followed her direction. Minako stood and squinted. "Looks like its been patched up recently. Like its been damaged or something." "Or had someone fall through it." "As in?" "As in us." Minako stared at Hotaru for some moments. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have laughed this off. But these were not ordinary circumstances. "I guess so. We fell through the roof of this building and ended up in this office, alive despite the impact. So what?" "So who patched it up?" "The city did." The Usagi-cleaner stepped out of the body room, carrying her mop, bucket and eradication device, which was now slopping with a sticky red fluid in its catcher. They all turned to her. "Well, that should keep things sanitary for a bit longer. You know you really should apply to the city council for better waste storage premises. This thing is far too close to residential areas." "Uh... Sure." Minako stammered, lost for words. "I'll put in a word. But you know bureaucracy." She chuckled and opened the other door. "See you in about two weeks." "Uh... Wait." Hotaru reached out a hand and the Usagi- cleaner turned to her. "Yes? Is there anything else you wanted cleaned?" "Its about the ceiling." "Not my job. If you're not happy about it, call the interior decorators." "No, thats not what I wanted. I want to know what you meant about the city being responsible for patching up the ceiling." "Oh that? Autonomic healing processes, I think. I can't be sure, of course." The cleaner shrugged. "I must be on my way. Got work to do elsewhere." The Usagi-cleaner stepped into the waiting room and disappeared out of sight. The girls and the cats sighed. "This is getting worse all the time. Was she trying to say that this city is alive?" Artemis scratched his head. "I think that was exactly what she was trying to say. In as many words. It all fits in with what I know about the Eternal City." Luna rubbed her chin with her paw. The other three got no further in questioning her when a soft voice called from the doorway. "Ano.... May I come in? I'm first in the queue." The Usagi held up a card with a big red number one on it. Minako and Hotaru stared at each other and shivered. Aoi was quick on her feet, Makoto had to say. When that lump of pink that was once mamoru began making some rather threatening noises, she told everyone to run. And they did, only she was fastest, so they all followed her. Aoi hadn't had the time to explain everything to Rei, as Naru and Chibiusa chose that time to wake up. This was about when the lump of pink decided to gurgle and moan. "Where are we going?" Makoto gasped. "To Ami's house?" Aoi replied. "Ami's? Why there?" Rei asked, puzzled. "Because, if my hunch is right, she'll be there now." "What the hell was that thing back at the shrine, and why did you have to level the shrine to scrag it the first time?" "That was a Resonator." "Should I bother asking what that is?" "You can, but it'll take a while to explain." Rei screwed up her nose. "Try me." "Well, a Resonator is a being without a mind of its own. Or, at least, they have the average intellectual capacity of a common or garden neuron, singular." "Hmm. Seemed to be displaying a surprising level of intelligence to me." "Well, Resonators tend to latch on to beings of great intellectual capacity, rather like leeches. This means they become a part of the host, and can be controlled to a certain extent." "And so?" "Well, they'll do whatever the host bids, as long as it benefits them. This particular Resonator has obviously been sent here in the form of Chiba Mamoru, with the intention of fitting in within your group. Why your group and why this world I have no idea, but its obvious the Resonator sees in this planet a viable collection of intellects for its kind to attach to. Until I disconnected it back there, it had leeched itself onto your minds, thus making you susceptible to whatever its former host wanted from you." "What are you saying? We were being controlled through that thing?" Makoto's mouth was wide open. "Hmm.... In a way. I think you were being influenced by it rather than controlled." Something occured to Makoto at that point. "We don't know when that thing replaced Mamoru, do we? Or even what had happened to Mamoru in the first place...." "Indeed." "So, one can say we've been influenced for quite a while now..." Rei interjected. "What are you saying? That we were influenced by that thing in what we did to Usagi?" "Thats exactly what I'm saying." "But thats impossible. My mind is not so weak." Rei turned to Aoi. "And how do you know all this?" Aoi smiled. "Thats for me to know and you to find out." Suddenly, Aoi paused, almost being bowled over by Rei and Naru, who were running behind her. "Ow! What did you stop for?" Rei held her nose, which she had hit on the back of Aoi's head." "Destiny's path is changing again." Aoi held a hand over her mouth. "Ami is going to... She's going to..." Aoi grabbed Rei by the arm and began running with renewed vigour, almost leaving the other three behind. "What? What is she going to do?" Rei stammered as Aoi raced forward. "Die." Aoi said simply. "Yes, I'm sure thats what she said...." Pause. "No, she hasn't mentioned anything else. I gave her something to help her sleep and sent her straight to be." Another pause. "Very well, you can speak to her, but she might not be in the best frame of mind to answer them." Yet another pause. "Alright, I'll be waiting." Ami lay on her bed, feeling tired. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. Given close to everything away to her mother. Ami sat up and stared around her darkened room. She felt so tired, so devoid of energy. Slowly she stood and walked over to the window. She opened it and allowed the cool breeze to blow over her. So nice, she thought. Her eyes, red with tears, stared out into the garden, at the small swimming pool her mother had installed not so long ago. Ami stepped over the window ledge, and almost pitched backwards as her head spun. Somehow, she managed to stay up. After a few more moments, she slipped onto the ground and began to wander towards the pool. Over rocks and grass, she walked without even registering. The pool's soft blue glint enticing her forward. So beautiful, she thought. She let her body fall into the water. A momentary splash that alerted her mother that something was amiss. She floated on the surface for some time, looking down into the darkness. How peaceful it seemed there. She felt her body melting into the water, its calmness accepting and swallowing her whole. The last thing she heard was her mother calling out her name. Then nothing. END OF PART 7 Notes This part was the hardest of all to write, and I'm still not satisfied with it. There were a lot of scenes here that I wrote with a great deal of ambivalence, and that will probably show with the almost emotionless tone of the narrative. It should have been a lot easier to do, especially after part 6. Maybe I made things hard for myself. Anyway, I'd like it if people were to make comments to me about whether or not they think this chapter works. All of those comments, criticisms and outright abuse should be sent to ayanami@merlin.net.au DDFA