Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos no Ageshio (Tides of Chaos) ❯ Episode 5: Tokyo Tower ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

BishoujoSenshi 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 5 - Tokyo Tower

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

~The words are so familiar

All the same greats, the same mistakes

It doesn't have to be like this

If you don't make a friend now

One might make you

So learn

The gentle art of making enemies

Don't look so surprised

Happy birthday... f#cker

Blow that candle out

We're gonna kick you, kick you

(Don't say you're not because you are)

(History tells us that you are)

And all you need is just one more excuse

(You put up one hell of a fight, you put up one hell of a fight)

I wanna hear your very best excuse

(I never felt this much alive! I never felt this much alive!)~

"The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" - Faith No More

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

As her private jet rolled to a stop at the Tokyo International Airport, Minako smiled. It was good to be back! She hadn't seen the others for years! Not since last Christmas, even! Idly she wondered how Artemis was doing. She had left him behind at Christmas 'on accident' (he had been nagging her a lot in the year before that). She hoped he didn't have a grudge about that or anything... oh well, that wasn't important. What WAS important was her fans! Her loyal fans that no doubt waited outside the plane even now as she was busy with this internal dialogue! Rising to her feet, Aino Minako walked to the exit and stepped outside. "Ah, my adoring public," she said, settling into a 'glamorous pose' as she emerged from the plane.

The crowd roared! "Minako!" they chanted as one, cheering and holding up signs that read, 'We love Mina-chan!' and 'Mina-chan is the best!,' and,"'AINO MINAKO! Put your hands over your head and walk down the stairway, slowly!"... and that was when she snapped out of her daydream and realized that instead of a cheering crowd, there were actually close to a hundred police officers out there, all pointing their guns at her.

Minako sweatdropped heavily before turning around, running back into the plane and shutting the door behind her. A spray of bullets hit the side of the plane an instant later as the police opened fire.

"You've got to take off RIGHT NOW!" Minako shouted at the pilot, who was just getting ready to get off himself.

"Huh?" he asked, blinking at her stupidly.

"Don't just sit there! Get back in the cockpit! We're leaving! Haste makes money earned!"

The pilot sweatdropped. "Ano, Minako-sama, I don't think that's quite how it goes..."

"Whatever, just take off!"

"Hai!"

A few seconds later, the aircraft began to move again. The police continued to fire on the plane, peppering it up and down with bullet holes. Fairly quickly the aircraft was no longer able to take off... but thanks to Minako, the pilot did not stop. The jet accelerated off the runway, lifted into the air, and then tilted crazily before crashing back to the ground and splitting in half. For a long and sickening moment, it skidded along on the ground, producing a noise not unlike that of a thousand psychotic teachers all torturing their blackboards with rusty nails... and then it exploded violently.

*******

Sailor Venus appeared at the Hikawa shrine in a flash of golden light with a very dazed pilot in her arms. She smiled cheerfully as she set the man down and told him, "Just forget you saw that, ne?"

He nodded mutely, his eyes as wide as it was possible for them to go.

Venus nodded to herself and then began to look around for the others. A few minutes later she found herself back at the entrance to the shrine; there was no sign of the others. On top of all that, the pilot she had brought with her was still standing stock still, his eyes wide open and staring into nothing. Venus frowned.

"Ano," she said, pikupikuing, "Shouldn't you be going somewhere?"
The pilot continued to stand there, staring into nothing.

"Like, somewhere ELSE?" Venus pressed.

He nodded mutely, and then promptly fainted.

Venus sweatdropped. She certainly hadn't expected THAT, but, now that she thought about it, it sure was convenient. After all, now she could detransform without having to worry about him getting a free peep-show (he wasn't QUITE cute enough for her to allow something like that to happen). In short order, she banished the Senshi fuku and began to dig into the pockets of her clothing for her communicator.

"Excuse me miss? You're one of Rei-sama's friends, right?"

Minako quickly turned around, coming face to face with Yuuichiro. "Hai!" she said cheerfully. Alright! Now not only could she get some help for the unconscious pilot, but she could also find out where the others were! It was like hitting two crocodiles with one stone, or something like that! It didn't so much as cross her mind that he might have witnessed her detransformation.

"Do you know where I can find them?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Gomen. They're not here, and I don't know where they've gone. Some things happened that... they couldn't stay here safely anymore."

Minako frowned. "I see... well, can you take care of this guy?" she asked, gesturing towards the unconscious pilot. "Having the airplane explode around him was a bit too much for his nerves."

Yuuichiro looked nonplussed. "Um... sure."

With that taken care of, Minako turned her attention to the other problem: getting in contact with the other Senshi. Once again, she was right about to call them on her communicator when Yuuichiro's voice interupted her again.

"Ano..."
Minako blinked, looking towards Yuuichiro. "Nani?"

"If you see Rei, tell her that I believe in her, ok? No matter what the news says."

Minako looked at the man for a moment. Then she smiled. "I'll tell her, Yuuichiro-san."

"Arigatou." he said as he picked up the unconscious man and headed inside.

It was then that Minako's communicator started beeping. She flipped it open, and was not at all suprised to see Usagi's worried face on the screen. Before Usagi could say anything, Minako gave her an annoyed look. "Ne, Usagi, why didn't you tell me they wanted to blow up my jet? I had most of my favorite clothes on board that thing!"

#MINAKO-CHAN! Are you alright!?#

Minako nodded, giving a V for victory. "Mou chiron!* After all, I'm the beautiful Sailor V-chan! It takes more than a shoot-out with the police to finish me off!" That seemed to have the effect that Minako had wanted. Instead of looking nearly dead from worry, Usagi was now smiling.

*translation of Mou chiron: "Of course!"

#I should have known that you'd be ok,# she said, her eyes shimmering with as yet unshed tears (though the waterworks would probably start any minute). #Meet us at the park where we used to go for field trips back in school, ok? And don't do…#

"Hai! I'll be there in a few minutes!" said Minako as she shut off the communicator, cutting off Usagi's insistance that Minako promise not to do anything like that ever again. A moment later, she produced a small compact from her purse. She hadn't used this since... well, since her days as Sailor V. She wasn't even sure if its enchantment was still intact. It couldn't be helped, though; she couldn't risk walking through Tokyo without a disguise, and she didn't want to risk another solo teleport (as they took a lot out of her). Throwing the compact into the air, Minako shouted, "Crescent Moon Power! Transform! Change me into..." a flash of memory came to her. A friend she had had back in those days was named... "...Hikaru-chan!" The compact flickered, and for one sinking moment, Minako thought that it wasn't going to work... and then it lit up with that familiar golden light.

*******

Sulia Ward materialized within the observation deck at Tokyo Tower, her face lit up with genuine excitement. This was what she had missed so much since Galaxia's healing! For her, there was no greater thrill than to work your way into your enemy's trust, them never suspecting a thing until your dagger was planted firmly in their back. She only wished that she could have seen the look on Chiba Usagi's face when she realized what had been done, and by whom. Now, the time between the betrayal and the culmination of the plan, was the time in which Sulia felt more alive than at any other. She was unable to keep a grin from appearing on her face as she prepared to summon her youma forces to this place. This was where the battle would be. It was only fitting.

It was then that Sulia realized that she wasn't alone. Two ridiculously bishounen young men, each wielding massive swords which were covered with occultic designs that neither one of them had any right to be able to lift were looking at her rather expectantly. They both possessed wings: the one like an angel's, the other like a demon's.

Sulia sweatdropped. "Ano... I'll come back when you two are done." she said as she vanished into the air from whence she had come.

*******

"Shouldn't Mina-chan have been here by now?" Usagi asked worriedly from where she sat beneath one of the park's many cherry trees. She, Makoto, Ami, Rei, Mamoru, Luna and Artemis had been waiting anxiously for Minako to appear for nearly an hour now.

"Masaka…!" said Ami. "You don't think that maybe…"

"Maybe…?" Rei asked worriedly.

"That maybe she spotted a handsome boy on the way here?"

Rei shook her head. "Uso! Minako-chan wouldn't do something like that at a time like thi…" she trailed off. "She would, wouldn't she."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Come on, minna, have a LITTLE more faith in me than that!" came a familiar voice from not far away. Everyone looked in the direction that the voice had come from only to see… a cute, brown-haired 14 year old girl that they didn't recognize at all. Upon seeing her, Artemis facefaulted, not quite able to believe his eyes. 'Minako-chan…' he thought, 'You still have that?'

"Ano… who are you?" asked Makoto.

The girl giggled as she held up a small compact. Her form blurred for a moment, and then seemed to flow into the compact's mirror. Where the girl had once stood was now everyone's favorite Senshi of love, Aino Minako. "The unbelievably cool Sailor V-chan has arrived!" she said, giving a 'v' for victory.

In short order, everyone explained to Minako what had happened and what was going on now. Well, ok, so maybe I'm lying about the 'short order' thing. There was plenty of arguing and bickering all throughout - almost enough to make everyone forget what had happened, but eventually, the explanation came to an end. Minako was remarkably genki about the whole thing, especially considering that she had nearly been blown up because of it.

Ami shook her head. "And I still haven't been able to locate any other sources of dark power besides Tokyo Tower…" she trailed off and frowned deeply. "Wait a minute…"

Everyone looked at Ami expectantly.

"Of course! Why didn't I see it sooner? Tokyo Tower would be the ideal place to hide if you were wielding that kind of power! Are any of you familiar with the concept of sensory adaptation?"

Blank looks all around. Well, except for Mamoru, who actually knew what Ami was talking about. Ami didn't seem to notice this, however, and began explaining exactly why Tokyo Tower would be such a good place for dark powers to hide as increasingly large sweatdrops appeared on the heads of everyone except for Mamoru.

"Ami-chan kowai!" said Minako, backing away from the blue-haired woman.

"So basically what you're saying is that Sulia is at Tokyo Tower, right?" Rei asked.

"H… hai," said Ami, blushing slightly.

"Wakatta!" Usagi exclaimed. "Minna! Henshin Yo!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Moon Eternal!"

"MAKE UP!"

******

When the Tuxedo Mask and the Inner Senshi arrived at Tokyo Tower, they discovered that the place was under heavy guard. A sizable group of youma stood guard at the entrance, with sentries placed in a small circle around the building to give advanced warning of any attack.

Everyone crouched down just beyond the sentry line, watching the crowd of youma at the entrance. Mercury was the first to speak. "Wait a moment, minna," she said, "I think I might have a plan. According to the construction blueprints of the tower, there's a small access tunnel somewhere around here that leads to a small ladder near the back of the structure. If we can just sneak…" she trailed off as she realized that the others had not waited to listen to her, but had simply charged at the group of youma guarding the entrance. "Right. Or we could do that instead," she said, shrugging helplessly before running off after the rest of the Senshi.

Blasts of magical energy began to fly as the senshi let loose their attacks. The youma, however, had had plenty of advanced warning thanks to their sentry line, and as such were all now behind cover. Volleys of dark energy lanced out to meet the attacking Senshi. A blast took Jupiter in the stomach. She staggered, but didn't fall. A flash of red streaked across the scene as Tuxedo Kamen hit home with a rose in the arm of the youma that had blasted Jupiter just before he was forced to leap out of the way as another blast of dark energy came flying in his direction.

"BURNING MANDALA!" cried Sailor Mars, sending a spray of fiery disks across the enemy positions, forcing the youma to duck behind their cover and giving the other Senshi a chance to find some cover of their own.

"VENUS LOVE-ME… CHAIN!" The chain of golden hearts flowed out towards one of the youma who was taking shelter behind one of the tower's supports. Minako concentrated, and suddenly, the chain shifted its course slightly, wrapping itself around both the support AND the youma, binding the creature in place. A quick Crescent Beam finished it off.

Sailor Jupiter glared in the direction that the blast that had hit her had come from. The youma was behind cover. … Wait, correction: the youma was behind the steel base of the tower. Grinning viciously, Jupiter cried, "SUPREME… THUNDER!" and sent a blast of lightning flying towards the creature. Though the lightning did not hit the youma directly, it did hit the metal girder that it was crouching behind. A few seconds of painful electrocution later, the youma collapsed into dust.

Meanwhile, Sailor Mercury had produced her visor and was scanning the tower from behind the cover of a small bench and calling out the positions of the youma to the others. A flash of intuition came to her, and she dove to the ground, barely avoiding the sword blow of a youma that had snuck up behind her.

"SILVER MOON…" Eternal Sailor Moon began, a silver glow appearing around her as she gathered the power for her attack. That was as far as she got. Sailor Mars knocked her to the ground and then screamed in pain as the blast of dark energy that had been aimed at Sailor Moon struck her in the shoulder. "Sailor Moon!" she said, "We'll take care of these youma. You go take care of Sulia. Go quickly!"

"No! I won't leave everyone behind!"

"GO, Sailor Moon!" Venus called as she positioned herself between Sailor Mercury and the sword-wielding youma. It snarled and lunged at her, attempting to sheath it's blade in her innards.

"CHAIN-WINK SWORD!" Sailor Venus cried. The youma's cold steel sword met Sailor Venus' glowing weapon, and there was a bright flash. A moment later, both the youma's head and the upper half of it's sword fell to the ground, neatly severed.

"We'll be fine. These things are only here to delay you, anyways," said Jupiter as she ducked to avoid the claw swipe of the youma that she was facing off against.

Sailor Moon hesitated a moment longer, and then ran for the tower, with Tuxedo Kamen close behind. Several blasts of dark energy lanced out towards her, but each was blocked by a thrown rose. A moment later, both she and Tuxedo Kamen ducked inside the tower's elevator. The doors closed, and up they went.

"Alright!" said Jupiter, seeing that the Princess and the Prince had made it in safely. "It's time to cut loose…" Electricity crackled around her for a moment, and then she called out, "ION STORM!" There was a noise like the booming of thunder, and the world disappeared in a wash of white.

*******

The tower's glass elevator had just started to ascend when there came the booming of thunder and a flash of intensely bright light followed by a tremendous explosion.

Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon looked down at the base of the tower and gasped in horror at what they saw. Sailor Jupiter was down, and her body was smoking. They couldn't tell if she was alive or not, but her opponent most certainly was not.

"Mako-chan!" cried Sailor Moon. But she could do nothing, and the elevator continued its ascent.

At length, the elevator reached the observation deck, and Sulia Ward was waiting for them there. "I was wondering when you would get here," she said, smiling amiably as the Princess and her Prince stepped out of the elevator.

Sailor Moon stepped towards Sulia. "Sulia… So it really is you, then. Sulia, why? Why would you do such horrible things to the people I care about?" Sailor Moon asked, tears in her eyes.

Sulia smirked. "Because it's fun, of course."

Sailor Moon blinked. Surely she couldn't have heard that right... "...Fun?" she asked, her disbelief obvious. "I thought you were my friend. Was all that a lie?"

Sulia's smirk widened into a full blown smile. "Don't look so suprised. Did you REALLY think that I would have gone through all the trouble of destroying your life and the lives of your friends so completely if I didn't enjoy it? Heh. That look of anguish on your face makes it all worthwhile."

Sailor Moon stood there, arms at her side, trembling. A look of horror filled her face as she stared at Sulia as if seeing her for the first time. "Fun?" she asked, not wanting to believe what she had heard.

Sulia nodded pleasantly.

Sailor Moon shook her head and produced her scepter. "Iia! That's wrong! Sulia Ward, for what you've done to my friends," she twirled her scepter in her hands, "in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Sulia rolled her eyes. "Oh brother."

"Silver Moon Crystal Power..." Sailor Moon began, gathering her power as she prepared to purify the monster before her.

That was as far as she got. Sulia darted forward almost too quickly for the human eye to perceive, kicking the sceptre out of Sailor Moon's hand and drawing her own sword all in one movement. Not wanting to give either of her enemies time to react, Sulia continued with her attack, sending a vicious thrust at Sailor Moon's heart. Moon's eyes widened.

At nearly the last possible moment, a streak of red flashed across Sulia's vision, followed by a loud *crack* and a noise like glass breaking. An intense, stabbing pain flared in her right hand. Looking down, she saw that her sword had been shattered, and a red rose was now sticking right through her hand. Sulia looked at her hand curiously for a few moments, watching as her black, inky blood oozed from the wound and slowly dissolved the rose.

Sulia's gaze met Tuxedo Kamen's, and she saw the determination in his eyes. She was not impressed.

Sailor Moon lunged for her sceptre, hoping to take advantage of Sulia's distraction. No dice. Using her superior speed, Sulia scooped up the sceptre and hurled it at Tuxedo Kamen before either defender of justice could react. It hit him solidly, knocking him to the ground.

"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" Sailor Moon cried out, reaching for her fallen husband. That was when Sulia grabbed her arm and hurled her into the wall.

"Where are you looking?" Sulia asked, smiling maliciously.

Sailor Moon clambered back to her feet and lunged for her sceptre once more, only to trip over one of her ponytails and hit the ground face first.

Sulia's smile faded. "You're mocking me, aren't you? I don't like being made fun of..."

Sailor Moon pushed herself up with her hands and threw herself towards Sulia feet first, shouting, "SAILOR MOON... KICK!"

Her luck was no better this time than with her last attack. Sulia caught her leg in mid-air and used it to slam her into the ground. She then brought her leg around to stomp down on Moon's face, but had to break off her attack in order to dodge a volley of roses thrown by the now recovered Tuxedo Kamen.

Thinking quickly, Tuxedo Kamen produced a handful of roses and hurled them at Sulia, throwing them in such a way as to ensure that the only way she could avoid taking a potentially painful hit was to remain still. The roses struck in Sulia's clothing and pinned her to the wall.

"Ima yo, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Kamen shouted.

"Hai!" Sailor Moon replied as she scooped up her sceptre. "Silver Moon Crystal Power KISS!" she cried, sending forth a beam of purifying energy.

The beam washed over Sulia, and she screamed. Her flesh *WRITHED*, and she screamed like her very soul was being torn away. When the light had finally faded, she collapsed to the ground and wept.

"What have you done to me!?" she demanded, fear and sorrow threatening to overwhelm her. "Why do I feel such sorrow!?"

Eternal Sailor Moon rose to her feet and stood beside Tuxedo Kamen, a look of compassion on her face. "I've awakened your humanity, Sulia. It's ok! You don't have to be afraid!"

"Don't have to be afraid...?" Sulia asked, choking back a sob. "I'm sorry, Usagi. I... I was created as a joke. A JOKE! The Blind Ape of Truth... my father... he thought it would be funny to have a hybrid daughter." she laughed bitterly. "I was in the service of Galaxia, you know. I worked for her, back then, before the earth became the place of Rebirth. Before you saved her from Chaos. Do you know how many Senshi I have killed with my own hands?"

When neither Sailor Moon nor Tuxedo Kamen answered her, Sulia went on.

"Dozens. Hundreds, maybe. I killed them all, and took their starseeds for Galaxia-sama. For Chaos-sama. Stop looking at me with such forgiving eyes!" Sulia tried to rise to her feet, but found herself unable to stand. "Damn you... why am I even telling you this?"

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen walked forward, and Sailor Moon placed her hand on Sulia's shoulder. "You're not a joke, Sulia." she said, and she meant it. "We care about you!"

Sulia broke down into sobs then, unable to speak for several minutes. At length, she said, "I feel guilty about many things, you know, but there's one that stands out in my mind. I killed one small group of Senshi ... one of them actually impressed me. It wasn't their Princess; that one gave up after I had killed only two of her Senshi. But a newly awakened Senshi of that court... now SHE had fire. Even to the end, she hadn't given up. When her planet lay shattered before Galaxia-sama and all her friends and everything she had ever cared about was gone, still she fought on. We killed her anyways, of course, and took her starseed away. Heh. With the planet destroyed, I doubt she was reborn when you cleansed Galaxia. I'm not a good person, Usagi. Mamoru. You should kill me."

Sailor Moon shook her head. "We won't kill you, Sulia. You've done horrible things, but we don't hate you. We want to help you. Don't you see that you don't have to be like that anymore?"

Sulia clambered to her feet, staggering away from Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. "Iie. You're wrong, both of you. For someone like me, there can be no forgiveness." Her flesh began to writhe once more, and Sailor Moon reached towards her. "Sulia-chan, come with us! We can help you!"

"Urusei!" Sulia snapped, crouching down like a cornered animal. Suddenly, she lunged forward, a set of vicious claws sprouting from her fingers as she yelled, "Sailor Moon... DIE!" And in that moment, a streak of red cut across her vision. *BLAM* Pain lanced through her body as Mamoru's rose pierced her heart.

Sulia stared down at the rose in her chest. "... Masaka..." she whispered, barely daring to hope. Then her world was dissolved in a wash of pain. She began to scream, and her flesh writhed violently as she slowly disintegrated.

"Sulia-chan!" Sailor Moon cried out, reaching out for the girl, and knowing that it was futile. Tears in her eyes, she would have collapsed then were it not for Tuxedo Mask's support. "Why did it have to be this way, Mamo-chan?" she asked, her voice quavering.

Tuxedo Kamen opened his mouth, but then shut it again, finding himself at a lost for words. Holding Sailor Moon, he looked at the spot where Sulia had disappeared, his sorrow and pity plain for anyone to see. It was there that the other Senshi found them. Out of the elevator, on to the observation deck they came. They were injured, their fukus torn, limping noticeably, yet victorious. But it was a hollow victory.

*** END OF EPISODE 5 ***

Love it? Hate it? Let me know!

C&C is welcome. Flames will be laughed at. MSTies will also be laughed at, but for different reasons than flames. ^.^

P.H. Wise

Stillwell_phw@hotmail.com