TSM: Viva La Vida - Ch3
Title: This Sweet Madness: Viva La Vida
Genre(s): Angst/Dark, friendship, action/adventure
Length: 1570 w
Summary: When a set of old faces reappear in their lives, the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask struggle to decide whether these persons are friend or foe as they begin to realize that what they believe of the past may not be true at all.
Warnings: dark themes are touched upon, including mental disorder, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, death and murder.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon and make no profit from this work of fictional fun.
A/N: Originally called “intermissions,” these chapters cover a portion of the senshi’s story during the events of This Sweet Madness; they are not stand alone. I removed them from the other body of work as they didn’t seem to fit mood of the rest of the piece, but decided to put them in as an in-between, or intermission, before the sequel, This Glorious Sadness.
Chapters:
Ami
Minako
MAKOTO
July 2009. Tokyo, Japan
The smell of fried bear was not one she was liable to get out of her nose any time soon. Jupiter cupped a ball of electricity between her hands, standing at ready to unleash another at the monstrous animal limping about the hospital parking lot. On all fours it towered over the mini-vans and cars, and one swipe of its massive paws had sent several vehicles flying already.
“Mercury, we need a plan!” Venus whipped out her chain. It wrapped thrice about the creature’s neck, and she tugged, trying to hold it down. The bear roared, foam spraying from its lips. It raised one paw, its gaze locking upon Venus, and Jupiter tossed her ball of electricity underneath it.
A thousand chords of miniature lightning sprang up under the beast’s belly, and it reared back on its hind legs. The Love Me Chain was ripped from Venus’s hands, and the girl stumbled backward. “Shit!”
Mars tacked Venus, pushing her out of the way before the bear’s paw would have taken off her head.
“Sorry, I thought--” The bear whirled to face Jupiter before she could finish, then charged. She yelped and dived out of the way as it caved a hole into a work van directly behind where she’d just been. It tossed its head, and the van moved with it. “It’s stuck!”
“Good,” said Mars as she helped Venus back to her feet.
“Mercury?”
The soldier in question looked up from her computer. She yelped as the bear got to its feet and swung around, head and shoulders still inside the van. “Moon dust it!”
“That’s your plan?” Mars rolled to one side to dodge a swing of the van-bear’s head. “Kind of difficult with Moon--”
“I’m working on it!” Makoto looked up to see their glorious leader still stuck in one of the oak trees that lined the hospital’s entrance. Her foot was stuck in the crux of a tree branch and she’d had little luck in removing it.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“I’ve! Got! It!” Moon gave one massive yank on her foot and went tumbling out of the tree onto the grassy partition below. “Owwwwwww.”
Attracted by the sound of whining, the bear roared--muffled, by the van closed around its head--and began to turn around in circles. Vans were not, Makoto figured, very good for acoustics. Venus ran around the animal, ducked a few awkward slashes of its paws, and grabbed Moon up onto her feet.
“This was so much easier when we were younger,” Moon cried.
“I really don’t remember that,” Makoto muttered to herself, then rolled out of the way as the bear sat back on its haunches. It clawed at the van, and the air filled with the sound of claw on metal.
Suddenly the air went freezing cold, and the bear’s butt began to grow--crystals? No, ice. Makoto jumped up onto a car before it could touch her. “Usagi!”
“On it.”
Moon twirled her wand, and Jupiter felt the familiar tug at her core. She held her position, bracing herself as her power drained toward her princess. “MOON HEALING ESCALATION!”
A beam of light shot out from the wand. It hit the bear square in the chest, and immediately the bear began to...shrink. Jupiter wasn’t sure what she’d expected, exactly, but the van fell to the ground as soon as the bear’s head was too small to fit it, and the monster just continued to shrink and deform. Its fur retracted into its skin, as did it’s claws. The bear gave one last, strangled growl before its mouth sewed shut. The raging red eyes turned black and button-like.
No, Jupiter realized, they were buttons. A doll sat on the pavement: a simple bedraggled teddy bear, beside the ruins of some mom’s minivan. Mercury choked down a sob. She ran to it and picked it up, crushing it against her chest.
Sirens were closing in, now, and a screech of tires announced a TV van pulling into the parking lot. Turning, Jupiter glanced over the crowds of shocked patients and medical staff who had witnessed the battle, and she backed toward her companions.
“Come on,” said Venus. She took Moon’s hand and drug their leader toward the others. Jupiter reached for Mars, and Mercury tucked the bear under one arm in order to join hands with the rest. Light glowed about their forms for an instant, and then the world shifted around them.
They reformed on the roof of the main hospital, still in viewing distance of the ruined parking lot. Venus dropped the others hands and stalked toward the edge of the roof. “I haven’t seen a youma like that since...”
“Them.” Mercury removed her hand from Jupiter’s and tucked her arms once more about the bear they’d fought. A blue sheen encased Mercury for a millisecond, then faded to reveal Ami’s usual lab coat and work clothes beneath. The doctor did not raise her eyes from the ground. “It’s Zoe’s bear.”
Mars swore faintly and crossed her arms, one red heel tapping upon the ground. She turned away to pace and Moon sighed. A pink glow sparkled about Moon for a moment, then her civilian clothes returned. She joined Minako at the edge of the building.
Jupiter took a deep breath and let the electricity drain from her body. She rubbed her arms as it went, soothing the goosebumps on her arms. “They’re getting stronger, then.”
“And more dangerous,” said Minako.
Ami squeezed the bear tighter. “We don’t--oh god, Jun.” The bear was tossed to Makoto as Ami went sprinting for the stairs. Usagi turned to follow, but Minako caught her arm.
Their leader pursed her lips. Since she’d returned from America a few weeks ago, Minako had seemed to age rapidly. It didn’t show on her face, but there was an exhaustion to her eyes which Makoto was certain had never been there before. “Mars, has there been any luck with the fire? Surely--”
“No!” Makoto stared as the fire senshi continued to pace. The air about Mars shimmered faintly, like the heat waves over a flame. “Nothing. Not a stir, not a vision, not even the smallest hint that something is wrong. I didn’t know there was a thing wrong until I got the call--and the temple is just down the hill.” Mars gestured wildly to one side, and Jupiter looked to see the rooftops of the shrine maybe half a mile away. No wonder Mars had gotten here so fast.
The bear in her arms was soft, like a teddy bear should be. Makoto stared at it a moment, and turned it over in her hands. There was absolutely no indication of the monster it had been only moments before.
“Maybe it’s because of what you said.” Makoto caught Mars’ eye as she looked up. “About them being reincarnations, not resurrections? Maybe...”
Mars shook her head and was obscured a moment by a red blaze of her power. She glanced in the direction of the stair. “I’ve never had any problem before.”
“We’re assuming that they’re enemies.”
They all turned to look at Usagi, who had her arms wrapped about herself as she turned from the building’s edge. She smiled and offered them a tiny shrug. “Why are we assuming that they’re enemies?”
“Because they’re acting like enemies.” Minako touched Usagi’s shoulder. “Because we can’t risk that--”
“Well I think we should!”
“You just want Mamoru to be right.” Makoto’s fists dug into the bear. A sudden anger, stronger than anything she’d felt in all of this, struck her as the princess bowed her head. “It’s all you ever want! And I get that, really I do--but we can’t just ignore an enemy right under our noses because it interferes with your perfect world.”
“Mako-chan,” Minako said with a frown, “Calm down.”
Usagi shrugged off Minako’s hand and took a step toward Makoto. “I don’t like what he did, either! I hate it as much as you do, why can’t you see that?”
“Maybe because you aren’t acting like it?” Her teeth ground together and she shook the bear at Usagi. “This just attacked us. This could have squashed us! And that kid is responsible. Whether you like it or not, they’re enemies. But all we hear from you is how Mamoru isn’t to blame, and how he was just thinking of us, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
They glowered at each other for what seemed an eternity, and neither Rei nor Minako moved to intervene. Then Usagi’s lips began to wilt. She stifled the first sob, but not the second or third. “I’m sorry!” The woman ducked around Makoto and ran for the stairs.
Makoto closed her eyes as the door slammed. “I’ll go,” Minako sighed, and in another moment the door shut once again.
Rei took the bear from Makoto’s hands. Immediately the anger drained from Makoto and she rubbed one palm over her face. “Oh gods, what did I just--”
“You weren’t wrong,” the priestess mused. Rei stared at the stuffed animal she’d taken, and turned it over a few times in her hands. “Not wrong at all.”
Their eyes met, and Makoto realized that Rei knew something--or at least, thought she did. “I’m going to see Setsuna,” Rei continued.
“I’m coming with you.”
Originally posted at The Mouse Hole.
Genre(s): Angst/Dark, friendship, action/adventure
Length: 1570 w
Summary: When a set of old faces reappear in their lives, the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask struggle to decide whether these persons are friend or foe as they begin to realize that what they believe of the past may not be true at all.
Warnings: dark themes are touched upon, including mental disorder, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, death and murder.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon and make no profit from this work of fictional fun.
A/N: Originally called “intermissions,” these chapters cover a portion of the senshi’s story during the events of This Sweet Madness; they are not stand alone. I removed them from the other body of work as they didn’t seem to fit mood of the rest of the piece, but decided to put them in as an in-between, or intermission, before the sequel, This Glorious Sadness.
Chapters:
Ami
Minako
MAKOTO
July 2009. Tokyo, Japan
The smell of fried bear was not one she was liable to get out of her nose any time soon. Jupiter cupped a ball of electricity between her hands, standing at ready to unleash another at the monstrous animal limping about the hospital parking lot. On all fours it towered over the mini-vans and cars, and one swipe of its massive paws had sent several vehicles flying already.
“Mercury, we need a plan!” Venus whipped out her chain. It wrapped thrice about the creature’s neck, and she tugged, trying to hold it down. The bear roared, foam spraying from its lips. It raised one paw, its gaze locking upon Venus, and Jupiter tossed her ball of electricity underneath it.
A thousand chords of miniature lightning sprang up under the beast’s belly, and it reared back on its hind legs. The Love Me Chain was ripped from Venus’s hands, and the girl stumbled backward. “Shit!”
Mars tacked Venus, pushing her out of the way before the bear’s paw would have taken off her head.
“Sorry, I thought--” The bear whirled to face Jupiter before she could finish, then charged. She yelped and dived out of the way as it caved a hole into a work van directly behind where she’d just been. It tossed its head, and the van moved with it. “It’s stuck!”
“Good,” said Mars as she helped Venus back to her feet.
“Mercury?”
The soldier in question looked up from her computer. She yelped as the bear got to its feet and swung around, head and shoulders still inside the van. “Moon dust it!”
“That’s your plan?” Mars rolled to one side to dodge a swing of the van-bear’s head. “Kind of difficult with Moon--”
“I’m working on it!” Makoto looked up to see their glorious leader still stuck in one of the oak trees that lined the hospital’s entrance. Her foot was stuck in the crux of a tree branch and she’d had little luck in removing it.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“I’ve! Got! It!” Moon gave one massive yank on her foot and went tumbling out of the tree onto the grassy partition below. “Owwwwwww.”
Attracted by the sound of whining, the bear roared--muffled, by the van closed around its head--and began to turn around in circles. Vans were not, Makoto figured, very good for acoustics. Venus ran around the animal, ducked a few awkward slashes of its paws, and grabbed Moon up onto her feet.
“This was so much easier when we were younger,” Moon cried.
“I really don’t remember that,” Makoto muttered to herself, then rolled out of the way as the bear sat back on its haunches. It clawed at the van, and the air filled with the sound of claw on metal.
Suddenly the air went freezing cold, and the bear’s butt began to grow--crystals? No, ice. Makoto jumped up onto a car before it could touch her. “Usagi!”
“On it.”
Moon twirled her wand, and Jupiter felt the familiar tug at her core. She held her position, bracing herself as her power drained toward her princess. “MOON HEALING ESCALATION!”
A beam of light shot out from the wand. It hit the bear square in the chest, and immediately the bear began to...shrink. Jupiter wasn’t sure what she’d expected, exactly, but the van fell to the ground as soon as the bear’s head was too small to fit it, and the monster just continued to shrink and deform. Its fur retracted into its skin, as did it’s claws. The bear gave one last, strangled growl before its mouth sewed shut. The raging red eyes turned black and button-like.
No, Jupiter realized, they were buttons. A doll sat on the pavement: a simple bedraggled teddy bear, beside the ruins of some mom’s minivan. Mercury choked down a sob. She ran to it and picked it up, crushing it against her chest.
Sirens were closing in, now, and a screech of tires announced a TV van pulling into the parking lot. Turning, Jupiter glanced over the crowds of shocked patients and medical staff who had witnessed the battle, and she backed toward her companions.
“Come on,” said Venus. She took Moon’s hand and drug their leader toward the others. Jupiter reached for Mars, and Mercury tucked the bear under one arm in order to join hands with the rest. Light glowed about their forms for an instant, and then the world shifted around them.
They reformed on the roof of the main hospital, still in viewing distance of the ruined parking lot. Venus dropped the others hands and stalked toward the edge of the roof. “I haven’t seen a youma like that since...”
“Them.” Mercury removed her hand from Jupiter’s and tucked her arms once more about the bear they’d fought. A blue sheen encased Mercury for a millisecond, then faded to reveal Ami’s usual lab coat and work clothes beneath. The doctor did not raise her eyes from the ground. “It’s Zoe’s bear.”
Mars swore faintly and crossed her arms, one red heel tapping upon the ground. She turned away to pace and Moon sighed. A pink glow sparkled about Moon for a moment, then her civilian clothes returned. She joined Minako at the edge of the building.
Jupiter took a deep breath and let the electricity drain from her body. She rubbed her arms as it went, soothing the goosebumps on her arms. “They’re getting stronger, then.”
“And more dangerous,” said Minako.
Ami squeezed the bear tighter. “We don’t--oh god, Jun.” The bear was tossed to Makoto as Ami went sprinting for the stairs. Usagi turned to follow, but Minako caught her arm.
Their leader pursed her lips. Since she’d returned from America a few weeks ago, Minako had seemed to age rapidly. It didn’t show on her face, but there was an exhaustion to her eyes which Makoto was certain had never been there before. “Mars, has there been any luck with the fire? Surely--”
“No!” Makoto stared as the fire senshi continued to pace. The air about Mars shimmered faintly, like the heat waves over a flame. “Nothing. Not a stir, not a vision, not even the smallest hint that something is wrong. I didn’t know there was a thing wrong until I got the call--and the temple is just down the hill.” Mars gestured wildly to one side, and Jupiter looked to see the rooftops of the shrine maybe half a mile away. No wonder Mars had gotten here so fast.
The bear in her arms was soft, like a teddy bear should be. Makoto stared at it a moment, and turned it over in her hands. There was absolutely no indication of the monster it had been only moments before.
“Maybe it’s because of what you said.” Makoto caught Mars’ eye as she looked up. “About them being reincarnations, not resurrections? Maybe...”
Mars shook her head and was obscured a moment by a red blaze of her power. She glanced in the direction of the stair. “I’ve never had any problem before.”
“We’re assuming that they’re enemies.”
They all turned to look at Usagi, who had her arms wrapped about herself as she turned from the building’s edge. She smiled and offered them a tiny shrug. “Why are we assuming that they’re enemies?”
“Because they’re acting like enemies.” Minako touched Usagi’s shoulder. “Because we can’t risk that--”
“Well I think we should!”
“You just want Mamoru to be right.” Makoto’s fists dug into the bear. A sudden anger, stronger than anything she’d felt in all of this, struck her as the princess bowed her head. “It’s all you ever want! And I get that, really I do--but we can’t just ignore an enemy right under our noses because it interferes with your perfect world.”
“Mako-chan,” Minako said with a frown, “Calm down.”
Usagi shrugged off Minako’s hand and took a step toward Makoto. “I don’t like what he did, either! I hate it as much as you do, why can’t you see that?”
“Maybe because you aren’t acting like it?” Her teeth ground together and she shook the bear at Usagi. “This just attacked us. This could have squashed us! And that kid is responsible. Whether you like it or not, they’re enemies. But all we hear from you is how Mamoru isn’t to blame, and how he was just thinking of us, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
They glowered at each other for what seemed an eternity, and neither Rei nor Minako moved to intervene. Then Usagi’s lips began to wilt. She stifled the first sob, but not the second or third. “I’m sorry!” The woman ducked around Makoto and ran for the stairs.
Makoto closed her eyes as the door slammed. “I’ll go,” Minako sighed, and in another moment the door shut once again.
Rei took the bear from Makoto’s hands. Immediately the anger drained from Makoto and she rubbed one palm over her face. “Oh gods, what did I just--”
“You weren’t wrong,” the priestess mused. Rei stared at the stuffed animal she’d taken, and turned it over a few times in her hands. “Not wrong at all.”
Their eyes met, and Makoto realized that Rei knew something--or at least, thought she did. “I’m going to see Setsuna,” Rei continued.
“I’m coming with you.”
Originally posted at The Mouse Hole.