Well, I'm back.
Once again, thank you to everyone who's written me about my stories. As always, anyone who comments on this one will get a copy of the next one (which may be a Sailor Moon/Gunnm crossover, done RIGHT this time) when I get around to writing it.
This episode of what may be a very long saga is dedicated to John Walter Biles, author of more fanfics than you can shake a stick at, scholar, and gentleman of the first water.
[Note: I would like to offer my sincere, humble apologies to anyone who was told that this story would be done two weeks ago. It WAS .. but the formatting was such a mess that I've spent the last two weeks getting it legible ... in any case, gomen nasai.]
As always, a warning: this story is rated PG-13, for some fairly "heavy" mature content, and a bit of rough language. If it were on TV, it'd be in the same time slot as NYPD Blue, okay?
And now, our feature presentation.
by Chris Davies
Episode 102: "Battlesong"
Serena nibbled on her popcorn, awaiting the most important moment of her life. The theatre was not very crowded, as very few people had been given or acquired the special passes for this, the otaku event of the season. Melvin had wrangled one from an associate of his, and he had given it to Serena when Molly had made it completely clear that Melvin was not going to spend Friday night gazing in awestruck wonder at the silver screen, but rather enjoy a romantic evening with his wife. At home. So Serena, lucky Serena, was going to watch the movie.
Bishoujou Senshi Sailor V-III.
It was strange, watching this, and knowing ... or at least having known, once, the girl who had inspired it. She remembered, with a quiet, bittersweet smile, going to an animation studio with Amy and Raye, hoping to meet Sailor V ... had Mina had any involvement in the marketing of her secret identity? It didn't seem likely ... and if she had, she certainly wouldn't be collecting any royalties now, having forgotten everything about her life as Sailor V, and later Sailor Venus.
Serena missed Mina. She missed all of them, of course ... Raye, Amy, and Lita ... but right now, she missed most the kind, secretive, yet strong warrior who had helped her out of the darkest of her depressions in the days after the Dark Kingdom had taken Darien from her.
It was then that Serena realized that she had eaten all of her popcorn while musing about Mina. Damn, she thought, I have got to stop eating while I'm thinking, or stop thinking while I'm eating ... or something like that. Carelessly, she crumpled up the popcorn bag, and made to throw it over her shoulder ... then paused, and checked.
"Good," Darien said, "you're learning."
She wasn't exactly surprised to see him there ... he was, after all, the Globe's film reviewer, and he probably got passes to see new anime movies all the time. She was a bit startled to see him so close to her without having realised that he was there ... she had mixed feelings about his presence; on the one hand it was annoying to have him there, because this was supposed to be a private experience for her. On the other, he was the man she loved. Even if he didn't know it, and would have laughed to hear it.
Oh well.
She started to climb over the seat. "What are you doing?" Darien asked, bewildered.
"I'm coming to sit with you ... and share your popcorn," she replied, eyeing his large, mostly full bag. She plopped down next to him, and smiled her most engaging smile.
In response, Darien stared at her as though she had grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead, and clutched his popcorn close to himself. "Why in the world would I want to give my popcorn to you ... let alone sit with you?!! You almost threw a bag at my head!"
"But I didn't actually throw ..."
The movie previews started, so the two were forced to simply trade mean looks while a trailer for Dread Space Pirate Bailesu II was shown. Serena was amazed by the resemblance of the heroine to Amy ... and more than a little scandalized by what the trailer implied about her relationship with the Pirate -- the whole thing seemed fairly ecchi ... something about a stolen video tape and some Dragonballs ...
Finally, the film they had both come to see began, with the lovely (and very un-Mina-like) Sailor V battling through hordes of blood-crazed robots.
"What's the matter?" Serena whispered after she noticed Darien's bored expression. "I would have thought you liked this sort of thing."
"Nah ... I hate shojo stuff like this."
Serena watched as Sailor V tore off a robot's head with her bare hands, and wondered at Darien's definition of shojo. Well, as long as he was distracted, she took the opportunity to swipe a bit of popcorn, just as Sailor V delivered her first line of the film, one of her trademark fracturings of the fourth wall.
"Trust me; this isn't as easy as it looks."
Serena began to hack and choke on the popcorn. Darien stared at her. "I take it you don't like Sailor V's new voice actress?" he asked.
"It's Raye!"
Darien checked his press packet. "According to this, she's actually some girl named Shigotomei Hikane. No photo ... who's Raye?"
"You don't remember her?" As soon as she asked the question, she realized how stupid it was ... he'd only ever met Raye because she'd been with Serena that one time. If she hadn't known Raye, neither had he ...
"Is there some reason I should remember one of your weird junior high school friends?
Yes, she replied silently, you should remember her because she was in love with you! It isn't fair! It ...
Wait a minute.
Raye was in love with Darien? But ...
"I've gotta go to the washroom," Serena said aloud. "Watch my things, okay?" And she got up and ran to the ladies' room.
Staring at her image in the mirror, Serena tried to make sense out of the welter of confusing thoughts in her brain. "Okay," she started, "Raye was going out with Darien ... but she told me, after he was kidnapped ... that she knew it was just a crush, that she was over him, and so forth. But she didn't act like she was over him at times ... but that means ... she lied to me. But Raye would never lie to me! Insult me, yes, slap me around, okay, but never actually LIE ... or would she? I don't know ... I need to talk to her. Now! But I don't know where she is. And she doesn't know who I am! Dammit!" she finished, punctuating her statement by slamming a fist into the wall.
A flushing noise came from the row of toilet stalls behind Serena. A young-looking red-headed girl in a red Chinese shirt and black trousers came out of the toilet, and stared at Serena for a long moment, before commenting, "Your love-life is ALMOST as screwy as mine is ... good luck!" And then the red-head strode out of the bathroom, leaving Serena in as much confusion as she'd been in when she went in.
*****
"Well, at least we know she's still alive," Luna commented after Serena had brought her up to date on the situation. "That's more than we can say for the others ..."
"WHAT?"
"I mean," Luna continued quickly, "that we don't know anything about the whereabouts of the others -- Amy went to Germany six years ago and hasn't come back yet; Lita went to North America -- California, I think -- four years ago; and Mina just plain vanished about the same time. At the very least, we know that Raye's still alive and in Japan, somewhere."
"You're right ... that is something ..." Serena noted, quietly, her brief moment of anger subsiding.
The two of them sat on Serena's futon, not speaking for a few moments. Finally, Luna had to break the silence. "What are you thinking so intensely about?"
"Would I be doing the right thing if I tracked Raye down and gave her back her memories? I mean, it's not as if I need help -- aside from that one youma last week, things have been pretty quiet."
"The, calm before the hurricane, Serena," Luna replied, shaking her head. "Where there is one youma there will always be others."
"Yeah ..." Serena muttered, and continued to brood. She didn't look right, brooding, Luna thought.
"So what's the other reason ..."
Serena shot Luna a look. "You know me too well ... do I have the right to take away whatever peace and contentment Raye's managed to gain just for selfish reasons?"
"What selfish reasons would those be?"
"I want a friend who knows who and what I am, that I can talk to about my life, and how things were before everything was different ..."
"Well, there is me, after all ..." Luna noted, ever so faintly offended.
"Luna, you know what I mean. I can't talk to you about ... you know, GIRL things."
"Why not, did I suddenly acquire a phallus?"
"Luna!" Serena shouted, embarrassed.
"Serena, please. I was a young lady once, too ..."
"Wait a minute. Luna, you're a cat. You were maybe a kitten once, but ..."
"No, Serena, I was a Lunar before I became a cat ... which means that I was human, essentially. I don't remember much of it ..."
"Why did you become a cat in the first place?" Serena asked, her mood rapidly switching from mild depression to curiosity.
"That's one of the parts I can't remember ..." Luna sighed. "Artemis might know ... on the other hand, he might not. I think my memory was damaged in the coldsleep, so his might be just as bad as mine. He certainly didn't remember that there wasn't any Sailor Senshi of the Moon ..."
"Uh, let's not go into that, okay, Luna? This isn't about me, it's about Raye. Do I have the right to interrupt her life so we can go chasing after youma? I mean, she could be perfectly happy with the way her life is, and be really annoyed if I drag her out of it ..."
"Or she could be utterly disgusted with her life, and welcome any change to it ..." Luna suddenly trailed off, as she realized what Serena had just done. She'd TRICKED her into arguing against her previous stance on this issue ...
Luna fixed her protege and pupil (who was trying, unsuccessfully, to hold down giggles) with a baleful glare. "You," said Luna, "are a very, very naughty girl."
Serena finally let out her laughter.
"And the only reason I think Raye would probably appreciate being reminded of her past is that she'd go back to fighting with you ... so there!" It was a pitiful defense, but Luna had to make it to retain some small shred of dignity ...
*****
Serena knocked hesitantly on Molly's office door.
"Come in, unless you're the men in white suits come to take me away!" Molly responded.
"Hey, Molly, you got a moment?"
"Sure! I got your comic this morning ... yet another masterpiece! Where'd you get the idea to have an ersatz Sailor V figure representing police brutality?"
"I dunno ... something about the newest movie bugged me. But that's not really what I want to talk you to about. I've got a little problem, and I was wondering if you could help me out ..."
"Sorry, Serena, no raises in sight, and I can't float you a loan this week ..."
"Molly! I don't need any money! I just need for you to listen, and give me some advice ..."
"Welllll ... okay, Serena. Let's hear it."
"Okay ... well, I've got this friend who I haven't seen in a few years that I'd like to check in on. But, like I said, I haven't seen this friend in a while. I don't know what my friend's situation is, whether there's been any kind of trouble ... it shouldn't be too much of an effort to track my friend down, but the problem is: suppose my friend doesn't want to see me? What should I do?"
Molly sat and considered Serena's question for a few minutes, giving it deep thought. "Serena, lemme ask YOU something. Do I look even remotely like Confucius?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, really, Serena, you come in here, spout this weird, hypothetical tale ... you don't even tell me if the person you're talking about is a guy, a girl, or whatever ... and then you expect me to give you advice? Come ON!"
"Er ..."
"Look, if I was in your shoes, I'd go and see if any of my other friends who'd also known this person knew if he or she or it had gone through some big changes ... and then decide whether or not I needed to talk to him or her or ... you get my drift?"
"Yeah ... but, Molly, suppose none of your other friends knew about your friendship with this friend of yours, and ..."
"OUT!"
"Right, sorry, bye."
Well, that was pointless, Serena grumbled silently. She slouched through the newsroom, feeling depressed, and unconsciously (okay, not so unconsciously) walked past Darien's desk.
"Hey, Mea ... uh, Serena!"
"Yes, Darien?" she replied, stifling an urge to call him by the nickname she'd somehow dreamed up for him ... calling him "Muffin" would definitely not do.
"Um ... I'd just like to say that you made an extremely unpleasant cinematic experience marginally bearable."
Serena blinked. Twice. "What?"
"The movie ... last night. It was lousy, but you were pretty good company, after you got back from the ladies' room."
Backhanded compliment ... but it made her cheer up just a bit. "Thank you, Darien ... maybe we could do it again sometime ..." she replied, letting only a small bit of her eagerness show through.
"Maybe," he said, in his irritatingly noncommittal way.
Well, Serena mused as she rode the elevator down, I got one useful idea from Molly, and Darien is being somewhat civil ... maybe even nice to me. On the other hand, I still have no idea how to find Raye, and I haven't eaten in over two hours. On the whole, today is pretty much middle-of-the-road.
*****
The Hikawa shrine was in much worse shape than it had been when Serena had last visited it, the night the Sailor Scouts had teleported to the Arctic ... but that had been seven years ago. Serena remembered reading about the old priest, Raye's grandfather, dying of a heart attack five years ago, but she hadn't known him when she'd heard about it, so she didn't remember any of the details.
Poor old Hentai-Grandpa ... she thought, walking up the stairs to the shrine. I guess Raye really did abandon this place, like you always worried she would. Damn. I wonder who's taken your place?
"Kin I help you?" a strangely accented voice asked from the shadows. Serena turned to the voice, and stared for a few seconds.
It was Chad ... but a Chad who had bulked up as he'd grown. When she'd first met him, seven years ago, Serena had thought he was a hunk; now, he was drop dead handsome ... if you ignored the unkempt beard, and the world-weary, half-dead expression in his eyes.
"Uh ... hi. I understand there used to be a spiritual girl at this shrine ... do you know where she is?" Serena asked, not very sure how to go about doing this.
"No." The word was delivered in a flat voice.
"Er ... you don't have any idea where she might be?"
"No. She could be alive, she could be dead. She could be sick, she could be healthy. I don't know. She could be hiding somewhere on this STUPID LOUSY STINKING shrine, and I wouldn't know. She might be hiding in plain sight, standing behind me, and I wouldn't know. And astoundingly enough, I wouldn't care." Chad stepped out of the shadows a bit more as he spoke, and Serena could see him pushing a broom. He punctuated his last words with a particularly vicious attack on the dust that covered the floor.
"I guess I'll have to look for her somewhere else, then. Um, g'bye," Serena said, turning slowly away and heading down the stairs.
"Hey," Chad called. "If you do find her ..."
"Yes?"
"Tell her I've changed my mind."
"Huh?"
"The last thing I said to her ... `Raye, please come back' ... I've changed my mind. I never want to see her again as long as I live!"
"No!" Serena shouted. "You don't ... you shouldn't say that."
"Why not?! It's true!"
"No, you're only saying it because you're hurt and angry with her .. you'd regret never seeing her again."
"What the hell do you know about it?!" Chad shouted. "Do you know what that ... that ... WOMAN did to me?"
"No ... but it's nothing compared to what you're letting your bitterness and anger do to yourself," Serena replied, quietly.
Chad stared at her, then swore once, and turned and walked away. "Bloody Buddhist nonsense ..." she heard him mutter.
Buddhist nonsense? Serena wondered as she walked home. Common sense!
She related the story of her day to Luna, that night, and they both agreed that things were not going well. But, as Luna said, "Tomorrow something might happen that will change everything ... maybe Artemis will show up with news ..."
And so, since even a slightly hyperactive woman needs her sleep, they went to bed, Luna curled up at Serena's feet.
Serena's nightmares about dying had been banished, she hoped forever, when Luna had revealed the truth to her. But in the week since then, her dreams had remained as vivid and real as the nightmare had always been. Serena vaguely remembered that her dreams had always been very vivid. Sometimes she dreamed of the Moon Kingdom, sometimes of her times as Sailor Moon, sometimes ... of other things that she didn't understand. But it always seemed completely real to her.
That night, she dreamed of herself and Raye ... but they couldn't have been more than eight years old in her dream, and she hadn't known Raye then. So they must have been on the Moon.
They were playing hide and seek with several other noble children, and Serena ... Serenity was It. She found the other children, one by one, with ease. But where was Mars? Finally, when she'd looked everywhere, Princess Serenity did what she always did when pushed to her absolute limits.
She sat down and cried her eyes out.
"Okay, Silly-enity, here I am!" Mars shouted as she dropped out of the tree that Serenity had leaned against when counting up to a hundred.
"Buh-but I looked there!" Serenity protested.
"Buh-but you didn't look hard enough!" Mars mocked her, gently. "I was hiding in plain sight!"
"Hiding in plain sight!" Serena exclaimed as she sat straight up in bed. It was six in the morning.
She hopped out of bed, and ran to her phone book. She'd checked the directory without success for "Shigotomei Hikane" already, but it hadn't occured to her to look for ... damn. No "Hino Raye" either.
But what about ... flip over the page, and there she was.
"Hino Rei".
She'd tried to blend in, hide in plain sight, by adopting the Japanese spelling of her personal name, instead of the Western spelling that her father, who'd converted to Christianity, had given her. It would have worked, except for Serena's intuition.
"Smart rabbit, such tricks are for kids!" she murmured to herself.
*****
The day crept by with agonizing slowness. Serena did her cartoon, sent it in, and paced around her apartment, waiting for five P.M., and coming close to driving Luna (not to mention herself) crazy.
Finally, the appointed hour came, and Serena lifted up her phone, and dialled the number, trying very hard to remain calm.
It rang once.
It rang twice.
In the middle of the third ring, the phone was picked up.
"Mishi mishi?"
It was her. Serena struggled to retain control.
"Hello?" Raye's voice asked suspiciously. "Is anybody there?"
"Uh, yes! Is this Hikane Shigotomei?"
Dead silence. Then, "Okay, who is this?"
"I'm a reporter with the Tokyo Globe ... I'd like to arrange an interview with you ..."
"Why didn't you go through my publicist? How'd you find out my real name?"
"Keen deductive instincts," Serena lied. "And the reason I didn't go through normal channels is ... well, it has to do with the nature of the interview I want to conduct. I want to give you a chance to talk freely about any gripes you might have with the anime industry, and I can guarantee your anonymity ..."
"I don't really have ... well, very many gripes with the industry, so ..."
"Oh, you don't have any problems with your life, eh?" Serena asked, her will to continue fading.
"Well ... I wouldn't go that far. Listen, come to the Toei studio tomorrow afternoon, and we'll talk about it, okay?"
"Sure!"
"What's your name, by the way?"
"Uh ... Chiba Usagi!"
"Huh ... you sound sort of familiar ... but never mind, just come around four o'clock, and I'll be in the dressing room ... we're shooting a promotional video for the new Sailor V television series, so I get to dress up in a sailor fuku -- joy of joys."
"Right. Four o'clock, and you hate sailor fuku ..."
"Beg pardon?"
"Never mind. Bye." Serena hung up quickly, not trusting herself to say anything more. `She hates sailor fuku ... this could be a problem.'
*****
"Why not?"
"Because it's not something I can TEACH, it's something I can just do. I can't show you how to restore Raye's memories because you don't have the right equipment for it."
"Oh, come on, Luna ... you mean to tell me that in all your bag of tricks, you don't have anything that can duplicate the Luna Mind Melt?"
"Meld. Not Melt. And ..." Luna psychically probed her Kitty-space. She didn't think ... well, maybe that would work. Serena's mentality was more potent than anyone had ever realized, so she might have the capacity to use it.
"Here," Luna said, after she did her back-flip to access the device she needed, "this is the Mentatic Force Adjuster."
"How does it work?" Serena asked, puzzling over the lipstick shaped device.
"Take off the lid of the lipstick, give it half a twist, point it at Raye, and say Remember. I still don't see why I can't just come in to the studio with you."
"Because I'd look silly carrying a cat around the studio! Trust me, Luna, I can handle this."
"Okay, let's review. You're going to use your Disguise Pen to turn yourself into a fully-credentialed reporter."
"Right, I got Molly to tell Raye's agent, when she got called about it, that there was a reporter on staff named Chiba Usagi. She thinks I'm doing this as a sort of prank ..."
"That could cause trouble later on, but we'll have to roll with it. During the interview, you're going to make up your mind about whether or not to give Raye her memories back."
Serena nodded, but there was a lump in her stomach. What would she do if Raye was actually quite happy with her life? The thought of never seeing her again ...
"And after that, everything is up in the air," Luna continued. "I'll be waiting here, so call me when you get done ..."
"Right. Wish me luck."
Luna watched as Serena marched out of the apartment. The girl wasn't nearly as good at concealing how she really felt as she thought she was; Luna had seen the faint expressions of nervousness on her face.
"Good luck, Serena ... I hope this doesn't turn out badly ..."
*****
His name was Shraven, and he had the best job in all of Tokyo. Manager to the almost all the hottest young idol singers in town, he was the one who pulled the strings that made them dance. Whether they liked the music or not.
He was also a youma.
His task was so ridiculously easy, that he'd thought the Mastermind was nuts when it had been explained to him as he lay, sucking in the air, before the vats from whence he sprang. Corrupt. It was just that simple. Make sure the little nincompoops had lots of secrets in their closets, secrets they'd do ANYTHING to protect. And doing those "anythings" just ensured they'd have more secrets.
Oh what a wicked web ...
From time to time, though, some of them got uppity. They started hinting that they wanted out of the deals that they'd cut with him for fame and fortune. That was why Shraven had come to this studio today, to deal with one such uppity girl ... Hino something. Not that names really mattered ...
So he sauntered down the hallway, fully in command of the situation. The receptionist had given him the number of the room where the Hino girl was dressing ... maybe he'd be able to catch her naked ...
After all, it was nothing that he hadn't seen before ...
Something that he HADN'T seen before was the sheer aura of innocence and purity that surrounded the girl who was also walking down the hallway, studying some piece of paper. While she was not the looker that most of the girls in his stable were, he could tell that there was something very marketable about this girl ... and besides, there was nothing that corruption loved so much as innocence.
"Excuse me, miss, but ..."
"Uh, I'm with the press!" she said quickly, and held up a press pass. Evidently, she thought he was with security.
"Oh really? What's a nice girl like you doing working in a newspaper?"
"Er ... what?" She looked confused.
"You aren't using all your assets! With looks like yours, you'd be a hit on the screen ..."
"Well, that's very flattering, but ..."
"Please, take my card ... call me if you ever want to get into show business ..." He whipped out one of the thirty or so business cards that he carried around with him at any given time.
"No, really, thanks, I'm much too busy."
"Oh but I insist! And if you became an idol, you wouldn't be busy hardly ever ... just a life of fun fun fun." He pushed the card towards her.
"Look, I really don't have time for this."
"Maybe you oughta make a little time for me, babe," he said with a smile. "I can make all your dreams come true ... just give me a call, and ..." he set a thick-fingered hand on her shoulder, and let his fleshy smile say the rest.
The knee to his groin came as an utter surprise, as did the slap to his face. "Keep your FILTHY hands off me, you lech!" she said in a voice of steel. Then she strode down the hallway, leaving Shraven curled up against the wall.
Shraven was going to enjoy corrupting this one. But maybe he'd get to that a bit later ...
*****
Serena fumed as she walked down the hall, trying to get how the man's hand had felt on her shoulder out of her mind. There was something about him that had triggered her fight-or-flight instinct, and with her newly acquired confidence, she'd elected to fight. Damn, it had felt good to be able to dish it out ...
The room number that the receptionist had given her was just ahead. Serena could hear the sounds of some sort of an arguement in progress, and while she couldn't make out any details, she recognized at least one of the voices ... it was Raye.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and an attractive woman in her mid-twenties with glasses stormed out. "You think I need this? You think I need this crap? I don't! Good-bye, Shigotomei! I am out of here!"
"GOOD!" Raye's voice bellowed in response. "I never want to see you again as long as I live! Get out of my life!"
There's that phrase again, Serena thought numbly. The other woman stormed past her, taking no apparent notice of Serena as she stalked along repeating the word "bitch" over and over again. With extreme hesitation, she knocked on the door.
"Back so soon?" Raye roared as she yanked the door open, only to stop suddenly as she realized that the person on the other side was not whoever that woman had been.
"Erm ... Chiba Usagi of the Globe. Is this a bad time?"
"Uh," Raye said, clearly embarrassed. "No, no, I'm just having .. a few difficulties with my manager ... come in, please."
Serena stepped in quickly, and took a good look at Raye. She was, despite being angry enough to be red in the face, gorgeous. The not-inconsiderable beauty of her teen-age years had only improved with age. She was akin to what American magazines called "supermodels". Lustrous black hair, full red lips, and those deep, dark eyes ...
Raye became conscious of the scrutiny, and stared at Serena with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, sorry ... I've never actually met a seiyuu before ..."
"Right. Why don't we start this interview with you telling me how you found out my real name?"
"Well ... I think I may have gone to the same Junior High School with you ..."
"St. Ignatius?"
"Yes, that was the name ..."
"Pity ... and then you saw the movie and recognized my voice?"
"Yes!" Serena enthused. "That's it, exactly." And the best part was, she didn't have to lie!
"Oh well. There's worse ways of being tracked down, I guess."
"Right," Serena agreed. "So, tell me about yourself."
"Well ... I started singing professionally when I was seventeen. The teen idol scene, y'know? About a year later, I finally got sick of touring ... well, not really the touring, but the public performances. They made me nervous ..."
"Stage fright?"
Raye paused, as if gathering her thoughts. "Not exactly ... anyway, I quit the business for a bit, and went back to high school ... did you go to my high school, too?"
"Uh, no. So when'd you get back into show business?"
"My second year at college. I got a few small parts ... I was one of the screaming voices in the most recent Patlabor series, for instance ... but nothing really major until Sailor V." Raye undid the straps of the dressing gown she was wearing to show off the costume she had on underneath. It was pretty silly-looking ...
"So you're going to be the voice of Sailor V on the new TV series?"
Raye was silent for a long moment. "No ... they're giving it to some younger girl. I was pretty ticked, at first, but ..."
"And that's why you've been having difficulties with your manager?" Serena asked.
Raye looked like she was deep in thought. "Huh? Uh, no. You know, something strange ... I can't ever remember seeing someone with a hair style like yours at St. Ignatius' ..."
"Oh, you mean my meatballs ..." Serena said before she could stop herself.
Raye's expression grew more pensive. "Yes ... those are the first words that came to my mind ... but even though I can't remember seeing someone with hair like that, I think I knew you. Did you ever buy good luck charms at the Hikawa shrine?"
"Uh, maybe once or twice ..." Serena said, on the edge of panic but trying to hide it.
"What's the matter?" Raye asked, suspicious now. "Why are you so nervous about my questions?"
"Because I'm the one who's supposed to ask questions!" Serena said quickly.
"Listen, you meatball head, I'll ask questions if I want to ask questions!" Raye exclaimed, angry now.
And that's when Serena knew, beyond any logic or intuition, that she had to do it. She hadn't realized, until just now, exactly how much she missed her argument with Raye. She remembered what Raye had said just after Mina's horrible, horrible death ... "We fought all the time .. but it was fun."
"Raye, you may hate me for this ..." Serena began, pulling the Mentatic Force Adjuster out of her pocket.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"But I need you to REMEMBER!"
And she did.
Bidding her farewell. Walking alone into the desolation. Two against one, extremely unfavorable odds. And they moved so fast! Caught! One went to ... no. That would not happen. With all her might .. and then the other began to slowly kill her. When it was done ... above the ice. The other rising up. Seizing a grip. "It's ... not over yet." FIRE. Explosion. Lying on the ice. So much to say. So much ... "You were right, Serena ... it would have been better to kiss ... the one I loved ... goodbye." Then a long, bright light. Then standing beside her once more, giving everything that a ghost could give. And then, reborn. Never knowing.
Until now.
"Oh, Serena ..." Raye whispered.
"Hi, Raye," Serena said softly.
"You meatball head ..." Raye sighed. "Why did you go through that? Why didn't you just give me back my memories immediately?"
"I didn't know if you'd want it back or not ..."
"Of course I'd want it back! Do you have any idea how bored and disgusted I'm getting with my life?" Raye exclaimed.
"Well, a little ... you made it kinda obvious while we were talking. It's weird ... I always thought you'd love show business."
"The show, I love. The business, I hate. There's a lot of really unpleasant people you have to pretend to like ..."
"Like that guy ..." Serena thought aloud.
"What guy?"
"Oh," Serena murmured with a blush, "just this guy I met in the hallway ... he kept trying to get me interested in a career as an idol singer, and I think he was also coming onto me ... so I gave him a shot in his ... um ... you know." She demonstrated.
"You WHAT?" Raye exclaimed, her jaw dropping.
"It's what they taught me in my self-defense class ..." Serena replied, shrugging.
"What'd this guy look like?" Raye asked, a slightly worried note in her voice. After Serena described him, the note became a symphony of worry. "Crap. Of all the ... never mind, he can't hurt you ..."
"What's the matter?" Serena asked, a little frightened by Raye's obvious concern.
"There's nothing the matter, Serena ... really. So, you married Darien, huh?"
Serena blinked. Then she remembered. "Oh! No, I just used his last name as a cover. He works at the Globe too, though ... maybe you've read his reviews ..."
"You let him get away?! Are you nuts, girl? You're at least dating regularly, aren't you?" Raye shouted ... and then she noted the tears that were starting to pool in Serena's eyes. "Serena, what's wrong ..."
"He doesn't remember, Raye. He doesn't remember any of it. Luna tried to give him back his memories ... but she said it was like there never were any to begin with ..." She slumped in her chair.
"He doesn't remember ... not even me?"
"No ... I mentioned your name, and he was like, why should I remember one of YOUR silly friends ..."
Raye closed her eyes, and let out a long, slow sigh. "It's for the best," she whispered. "He deserves a girl like Serena ... someone pure, and innocent, and good ..."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, perplexed. "Raye, you're as good a person as I am. Maybe better! What do you mean by that?"
Raye looked mortified that she'd been caught thinking aloud. "Uh, never mind."
"No, I do mind. What's going on?" Serena pressed.
"It's nothing, Serena," Raye sighed.
She was lying. Serena KNEW she was lying. Did this mean ...
"You WERE in love with Darien! You LIED to me!"
Her eyes snapped open. "What ..."
"When we were trapped in that avalanche, you told me that what you had for Darien was just a silly crush! How could you lie to me like that?! If I was in love with someone YOU were destined to be with, I'd sure as hell fight you with everything I had to keep him!"
"Serena!"
"And you're lying to me now! Something IS wrong, Raye, and you're not telling me what it is! I almost threw Luna out of my life for hiding the truth from me, and I will NOT let you lie to me now! What is the matter?!"
Raye turned away. "I can't tell you ... it's too horrible."
Serena got up out of the chair, and tried to get in front of Raye. But the dark-eyed girl kept twisting and turning to avoid her.
"Raye, nothing could be so bad that you can't tell me about it!"
"THIS could! Serena ... to get where I am in show business ... I've had to do some things I'm not proud of ... things I'm disgusted by ... do you understand?"
"Raye, it's all right. No matter what you did, it doesn't ..."
"Yes it does! I've done HORRIBLE things, Serena! If I don't love me after what I've done, how could someone like Darien ..."
"Raye!" Serena grabbed her on the shoulders, and forced her to hold a gaze with her. "Forget Darien. Forget everybody else. No matter what you've done, I will always be your friend. I care about you, dammit! Now what did you do that was so horrible?"
And then, because there was nothing left to do, Raye told her, in graphic detail, about the pornographic film she'd made when she was seventeen.
And then she lowered her eyes, and waited for the scorn, the contempt, the disgust.
"Oh, Raye ..." Serena whispered in a voice of anguish.
Raye dared a look. Serena's eyes were filled with pain ... not for herself, it was obvious, but for Raye. It was not pity ... it was compassion.
"Raye, you've done NOTHING wrong. Something HORRIBLY wrong has been done TO you. Do you understand?"
"Whatever you say, Serena ..."
"No, not whatever I say! Listen to me, Raye. I gave up a job I loved, working at a manga publisher, because I was sick of being felt up by one of the artists there. It was not my fault, it was his. It was not your fault, it was the fault of the slimey-souled people who had you make that ... thing. Do you understand?"
"Yes ... domo arigato, Serena." It was both a thank you and an admission of pain, and it fit perfectly.
Serena suddenly and impulsively hugged Raye close. "I've missed you, you meanie you ..." she murmured.
"Well isn't that the cutest thing," the smarmy voice of the man from the hallway sounded behind them.
They whirled around. He was leering at them, his teeth almost looking as if they had been filed to points. "Rei, my dear, your taste in companions has improved, even if your luck has not ..."
"Raye, is this the guy who ..."
"Yes," Raye answered flatly. "His name is Shraven. And he's kept copies of it, as blackmail material ..."
"Oh, so you told her about your little cinematic accomplishment ... honest of you ... I wouldn't call it blackmail, that's such a nasty term ... let's call it incentive to perform? And you haven't been performing to my expectations, Rei honey ..."
"You're going to give me all those copies, or proof of their destruction ..." Serena informed Shraven.
"What?"
"Or else."
"Or else what?" Shraven sneered.
"Remember where I kicked you before?" Serena asked sweetly, then made a tearing motion with her hand.
"You wouldn't DARE," Shraven sneered, again.
"Who dares, wins. One of my grandpa's favorite sayings ..." Serena trailed off as she realized that something was wrong with the man before her.
His eyes ... their pupils had dilated so that they almost filled the eye with a single black dot ... and his neck was swelling up ...
Serena had only a handful of seconds to jump back as a second pair of arms burst from the sides of his body, and he grew a foot in height.
"YOUMA!" she shouted at Raye.
"No shit!" Raye shouted back. "What do we do?"
"Transform and fight it of course! MOON!"
"I don't have my pen anymore ... I ..."
"Yes you do! PRISM!"
"How do you know?!"
"I just do! POWER!"
And as the transformation began, Raye suddenly realized that she did indeed have the pen in her left pocket ... but where had it come from? Time to worry about that later. "MARS POWER!"
Fire danced around her, burning her clothes and body to ashes and beyond, until there was nothing but flames. And the flames took form, and she was at last who she was meant to be.
"I am the no-longer-solo fighter of love and justice, Sailor Moon!"
"I am Sailor Mars! You have toyed with my life for the last time!"
"In the name of the Moon ..."
"... and the planet Mars ..."
"... we will right wrongs and triumph over evil!"
"And you are DOGMEAT!"
Sailor Moon gave Sailor Mars a quick look. "Dogmeat?"
"I like the sound of it. Sue me."
The youma that had been Shraven took one look at the extremely angry pair of superhumanly powerful women before him, and chose the best tactic for dealing with them.
He turned and ran, his forked tail between his legs.
Needless to say, they pursued him. And equally needless to say, they did catch up to him.
"Moon Tiara ..."
"Mars Fire ..."
"Magic!"
"Ignite!"
The discus streaked towards the Shraven-youma, sheathed in flames. Shraven's last thought before he exploded was to wish he'd had time to cancel his dinner reservation ...
*****
The lowly demi-youma approached the Mastermind's desk. "Aum ... master?"
"What."
"Well ... a report has come in, and it seems that Shraven has been destroyed."
"How."
If the demi-youma hadn't been terrified before, he would be at this point. "He was ... destroyed by Sailor Moon."
The Mastermind said nothing.
"Apparently, the Berserker flaw emerged in him ..."
"Sailor Moon has not been seen nor heard from in over seven years. All indications are that she died in the assault on the Negaverse. How do you account for this."
"Master, I cannot ... there are dozens of witnesses, and they all agree that the youma which we know to be Shraven was annihilated by a woman who has been positively identified as Sailor Moon, with the assistance of another who is perhaps 78% likely to have been Sailor Mars. We cannot explain why they have not appeared or interfered in our plans until now."
The Mastermind said nothing again.
"Shall I have the Birthing Factory prepare another youma to take Shraven's place in your operations?"
"No ... let them think they have achieved a measurable victory over me. If another takes Shraven's place, they will begin to realize the full scope of my operations ... and then they will become cautious. Now, they are careless. I will exploit this."
And then, Serena Tsukino, you will die. And stay dead.
******
As the film burned, Raye let out a deep sigh of contentment. "That's one less millstone round my neck ..."
"Yeah ..." Serena agreed, warming her hands over the fireplace in Raye's house. "So, what now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are you going to keep working in the business?"
"Well, duh! Of course I am. After all, it can't be that hard to balance a career and work as a Sailor Scout, can it?"
"What about your manager?"
Raye looked confused for a moment. "Oh, her! No problem. I can get another one like that." She snapped her fingers.
"That's good. There's ... still something we have to talk about though."
"Darien."
"Yes."
They were silent.
"I did love him. But I knew it was one-sided," Raye spoke quietly. "If he ever felt anything for me besides the same, good-natured liking that somebody might feel for a younger brother or sister, I never got any indication of it."
"All right. And how do you feel about him, now?"
"I haven't SEEN him in seven years, Serena! I don't KNOW how I feel."
"Okay. I'm going to win him back, Raye. Please, please, don't interfere."
"What do you mean, interfere?"
"Exactly what you think I mean!"
"Oh, it's great to know that my best friend has such a high opinion of me!"
"Well, what do you expect, considering all the times you've been giving me YOUR high opinion of ME!"
Raye decided to use her time-tested way of winning a fight with Serena. She stuck her tongue out.
Serena, who would in no wise allow herself to lose the fight that easy, stuck her tongue out in retaliation.
And they were still like that, four hours later.
The End
(for now)