Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos no Ageshio (Tides of Chaos) ❯ Episode 4: The Point of No Return ( Chapter 4 )

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Chaos no Ageshio

(Tides of Chaos)

by P.H. Wise

key:

" " represents Japanese

< > represents English

* * is telepathy

. o O ( ) is thoughts

and [ ] is panda signs, which won't be appearing in this story. 8)

Episode 4: The Point of No Return

A bad day gets worse...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was now one month after the day that Sulia Ward had come to

visit Mamoru and Usagi at home. The Senshi had met together several

times since then, but monster attacks had been few and far between.

All things considered, Mamoru's day was actually going fairly well

thus far. He had finally finished the mountain of paperwork that had been

on his desk for weeks, and was now able to move on to what he considered

important: research.

Unfortunately, Sulia had other ideas. It started out innocently

enough. Mamoru had decided that he would at least try to be friends with

his assistant. Unfortunately, Sulia wouldn't let it remain at that.

Their conversation started out innocently enough that day, running the

whole gambit of small talk before Sulia was finally able to say what she

had wanted to say.

"Ne, Mamoru-san, do you remember what you told me when I first

started working here?"

Mamoru blinked. "What I told you...?" he sweatdropped, suddenly

feeling a bit nervous. "H.. hai. About being in love, right?"

"Mamoru-san," said Sulia as she looked at Mamoru, her eyes shining,

"I've finally fallen in love."

Mamoru smiled warmly. "I'm happy for you, Sulia-san. Who's the lucky

man?"

"You, of course!" Sulia said, not breaking eye contact.

Mamoru sweatdropped, suddenly VERY nervous. To himself he thought,

'Not again! ... At least it's not another sorceress in a really slinky

dress this time, but still!'

*******

Meanwhile, Usagi walked across the campus of the University of Tokyo,

purse in hand and a small bag full of cookies in the other (which she

had actually managed to cook correctly!).

"Sumimasen!" she said to a passing student whom she recognized.

"Megumi-chan, do you know if Mamoru is in his office, or is he in the

lab?"

Megumi, a recent transfer from NIT, was one of the few of Mamoru's

students that Usagi had actually spent any amount of time with. It

irritated her to no end to be called 'chan' like that by someone who was

not actually one of her close friends, but Megumi had come to expect such

things from Mamoru-sensei's wife.

"Ano… oh, Usagi-san, it's you!" Megumi said. She thought about it

for a moment, and then smiled as she said, "I'm pretty sure that

Mamoru-sensei is in the tower of sorcery today."

Usagi laughed. "Arigatou, Megumi-chan."

"Dou itashimashite," Megumi replied.

With that, Usagi headed for the science department's

laboratories.

*******

Mamoru shook his head. "Sulia, I love my wife. Usako means

everything to me."

Sulia didn't seem to hear him. "I'm going to be leaving soon, you

know. You should come with me. Bad things are about to happen."

He frowned. "What?"

Sulia smiled. "Come with me, Mamoru-san. It's your only chance to

avoid what's about to happen."

Mamoru shook his head and opened his mouth to reply with a negative,

but fell silent when Sulia put a finger to his lips in a hushing motion.

Smiling sadly, she kissed him. And that was the moment that Usagi arrived

at the door to the laboratory; just in time to see them kiss through the

glass on the door.

Though Mamoru did not see her, her eyes widened in shock. She took

a step backwards, unable to believe her eyes. She turned to run, and

yet... something stopped her. It broke her heart to see this, yet at

the same time, she KNEW it couldn't be what it looked like. Her moment

of doubt passed, Usagi resolved to wait and see what would happen.

Mamoru didn't return the kiss. Shock rippled through his body. He

couldn't BELIEVE that Sulia had just done that! Pushing her away from him,

he said, "I think you should leave now." The friendliness in his eyes was

gone. "I won't tell you again: I love Usako. I will not go with you."

Sulia's smile faded, but the sadness lingered a moment longer.

"Very well." she said. From her eyes there came forth a light like a

burning coal, and an aura of menace grew around her. "I will do as you

ask, Prince Endymion, but if we should ever meet again, I will not be

so cooperative," she said, just before vanishing in a flash of light.

Usagi burst into the room a moment later, and Mamoru turned to

look at her with a horrified expression. "Did you…?" he began.

She nodded. Her lower lip quivered a bit, and then she ran to him

and embraced him tightly. "MAMO-CHAAAN!" she wailed, "Why did you let

her kiss you…!? How did she vanish like that??? Did you see how she was

glowing?"

Mamoru found that he could make no real answer to his beloved's

questions. They remained like that for a while, drawing comfort from

each other's presence. Suddenly, Mamoru's eyes widened with horror.
"Usako, call the others. We might be in trouble."

"Mamo-chan?" asked Usagi, looking concernedly up into his eyes.

"She called me 'Prince Endymion…'"

*******

Sulia Ward appeared in a darkened room before a small crowd of

youma, her emotions in turmoil. At her arrival, the youma immediately

stood at attention.

'Why did he have to just cast her aside like that?' she wondered.

'What's so special about HER…?' Sulia shook her head, trying to clear

her thoughts. This was NOT the time. She stepped out of the light and

her features dissolving into a vague shadowed figure. "What have you to

report?" she asked, her voice filled with authority and (for which she

was thankful) not showing any sign of the emotional hurt that she had

taken.

"Our work is complete, my lady," intoned a fairly human-seeming

creature, save only for its slitted, catlike eyes, claws, and slightly

elongated features.

Sulia smiled viciously, and it seemed to come more naturally than

did any of the smiles that had graced her face in the time she had spent

with the Chibas. "Excellent. My servants, the time has come to move to

the next phase of the plan. Soon, you shall have your revenge against

the ones who destroyed your homeland."

The youma roared their approval.

*******

Usagi shut down her communicator and glanced out the passenger

side window of Mamoru's car, a worried expression on her face.

"Everyone's going to meet at Rei's place," she said. "I couldn't reach

Ami, but the others said they'd try to contact her to tell her what's

happened."

Mamoru nodded. "Did you tell them we needed to stop by our house

first?"

"Hai," Usagi replied.

Mamoru blinked slightly and glanced at the radio. The music that

had been playing softly in the background had stopped, and now a voice

was speaking, but too softly for him to make out the words. Quickly he

reached out and turned up the volume knob.

"…Another government official was found dead today, this one by

electrocution. However, thanks to an anonymous tip, the police have

discovered the identity of the ones behind these assassinations and

are currently en route to the home of the leader of this group. Hard

as it may be to believe, the ones responsible for these killings are

none other than the Sailor Senshi. If sighted, they should be reported

to the police immediately…"

Mamoru shut off the radio.

Usagi shook her head. "Why is this happening, Mamo-chan? Is this

because of Sulia? … This is a bad dream, isn't it?"

"Sulia…" said Mamoru, his expression hardening as he pushed his

foot down on the accelerator.

*******

"I've very proud of you, Ami-chan! I've always been proud of you,

you know?"

Ami smiled at her mother, taking another sip of the tea that had

been provided for her. They had been talking for nearly an hour now,

and that was not something that Ami got the chance to do very often.

"But still, I worry about you. You're very lucky, you know. Even

though you're thirty, you look like you're still twenty! But you can't

expect that to last forever! You need to settle down and get married

soon, Ami-chan. I'm worried about you, still not having a boyfriend."

Ami blushed profusely, her thoughts turning involuntarily to

Urawa. After a few moments, she managed to say, "Ano… there IS

someone... that I hope to see again."

Her mother smiled. "Yokatta. Have you..." her mother trailed off

as she noticed the special news report that had just come on the

television mounted on the wall.

"…Hard as it may be to believe, the ones responsible for these

killings are none other than the Sailor Senshi. If sighted, they should

be reported to the police immediately. Be warned: these girls are

considered armed and dangerous…"

Ami dropped her teacup, and it shattered all over the floor.

Dr Mizuno blinked in surprise, turning to look at her daughter.

"Ami-chan? Is something wrong?"

Ami shook her head hastily. "No… no, nothing's wrong. I'm sorry,

mom, but I have to go… I have to go now."

Dr. Mizuno frowned. "... Alright Ami-chan. I'll talk to you tonight

when I get off work, ok?"

Ami nodded. "Gomen ne, okaasan," she said as she darted out of the

room. Once she had reached a place where she couldn't be overheard, she

turned on her communicator and called the others.

"Minna!" said Ami, speaking into her communicator. "Have you been

watching the news?"

Makoto's face appeared on the communicator. #Ami-chan! Where have

you been? We've been trying to contact you!#

Ami blushed. "I turned off my communicator."

Rei's face appeared in Makoto's place. #Ami-chan, we're meeting at

the shrine. Come quickly!#

"I'm on my way. Is everyone already there?"

#Everyone except for Usagi, but that's no surprise.#

#Rei-chan, now is NOT the time.# came Makoto's voice.

*******

Mamoru's car came speeding around the corner and into the view of

his home, a desperate sense of urgency growing on the minds of its

passengers. Immediately, the two within that car knew that things had

taken yet another turn for the worst: parked in front of their home were

nearly a dozen police cars. A roadblock was in place in front of them,

and several more police cars had moved in behind them to block their

way back.

The car came screeching to a halt, and a booming voice rang out:

"Chiba Mamoru and Chiba Usagi! Step out of the vehicle and put your

hands behind your heads!"

"Mamo-chan!" cried Usagi, clinging to her husband almost

desperately. "What's going on!?"

Mamoru shook his head, a feeling of despair growing within him.

Though he didn't know why Sulia had done this, it seemed to him that

she had certainly done it WELL. He sat there holding Usagi for a moment

before opening the door to the car. "Come on, Usako. We have to go."

Nodding fearfully, Usagi opened the passenger door and stepped

out of the car.

The regular police hung back at the roadblock as the MHT

approached the couple, their weapons at ready. Makaino Ryu was at the

front of that group.

As the MHT approached, Mamoru had time to take in the scene. From

where he was standing, he could see that the garage door was open. Just

inside the garage, surrounded by a group of policemen, was the crate

that Sulia had left there, which was now open, it's lid lying on the

ground nearby. Mamoru's heart sank when he realized what the crate

contained. ... Weapons. Within the crate were perhaps a half dozen M16

Assault Rifles as well as numerous grenades and other explosives.

He had thought that his spirits could not sink any lower at that

point. He was wrong.

Lying on top of one of the M16s… was Usagi's most recent diary,

containing all her entries for the past year. Within that diary would be

recorded the names and identities of all of the Inner Senshi. Within that

diary was probably quite a few references to Crystal Tokyo. Within that

diary was enough information to damn them all. The only consolation was

that it was a recent diary, and thus contained no references to the

Outer Senshi as such, though it did make mention of people named Haruka,

Michiru, and Hotaru.

"Usako," said Mamoru, producing a rose from his pocket, "It's time

to go. Hold on to me."

Usagi nodded, grabbing on to Mamoru and holding on tightly.

"Please, Chiba-san, put your hands over your head," Ryu said, a

look of sorrow in his eyes.

Mamoru and Ryu's eyes met. In that instant, a band of light flowed

across Mamoru's clothing as he transformed into Tuxedo Kamen, his cape

flaring out behind him and billowing in the wind.

The MHT members leveled their weapons at the couple.

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Chiba-san. The

Chinese government has already denied your request for political asylum."

Usagi blinked. "… What? What are you talking about?"

Ryu produced an official looking paper. "Don't try to deny it. We

have a copy of it right here."

Usagi's eyes widened as she looked upon the paper that Ryu was

holding up in front of her. It was exactly what Ryu had said it was; and

written in black ink on its bottom was her own signature. A look of

horror appeared on her face as she realized exactly when she must have

signed that damning paper. "That…! That's the application for the

account at that movie store Sulia took me to! That's what she said it...

she said it was..."

Ryu shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Now please, both of you,

surrender quietly."

Tuxedo Kamen smiled faintly… and then leaped. Up into the air he

went, carrying Usagi in his arms. Up he soared, over the police, over the

roadblock, and onto the roof of a nearby building. The police opened fire,

but Tuxedo Kamen quickly produced his cane and spun it in place, using it

to deflect the bullets away from Usagi and himself. From there, he lept

away to another rooftop, and then another, and then another, until he was

lost from view.

*******

"What do they want? Do we know anything about this enemy?" asked

Makoto.

Mamoru had arrived with Usagi just a moment earlier, and Usagi was

still in shock and thus not able to contribute to the conversation.

"Is this what Rei-chan's vision was about?" asked Artemis.

"I've run a check on this Sulia Ward… she doesn't exist. There are

no records of anyone by that name ever having entered Japan. There's no

record of her ever having been a citizen of the United States.

Furthermore, the video store that she took Usagi to… doesn't exist. The

building at that site has been abandoned for years, and is actually

scheduled for demolition next fall. Minna… this is very, very bad."

Mamoru shook his head. "I'll tell you what I know. Usagi could tell

you more, but…" he trailed off and looked at his wife who was still crying

in his arms. "We'll have to wait for that." And so he began his tale,

telling everything he knew about the situation, from beginning to end.

The others listened in stunned silence as they realized the full weight

of what had happened.

At length, Rei spoke. "It's probably not safe to remain here

anymore… the police know that I live here."

The others nodded.

"What about Minako?" asked Luna. "Didn't her flight leave for Tokyo

three hours ago?"

Artemis shook his head. "She's not responding to her communicator.

She probably turned it off. But if you're right about it not being safe

to stay here, then we'll need to find another place to hide. Any ideas?"

The Senshi began a discussion of various other places where they

could hide out at that point, all of them sharing a silent determination

to weather this storm and to protect their Princess. And through it all,

Usagi just lay there, holding onto Mamoru like he was the only life raft

in the middle of a hurricane, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

*** END OF EPISODE 4 ***

Like it? Hate it? Let me know!

stillwell_phw@hotmail.com

C&C is welcome, flames will be laughed at, and MSTies will also be

laughed at, though for a different reason than flames. ^.^