Clean-up crew, indeed. Harumph. DO-GOODERS Original Concept by Stefan Gagne In the corner of a perfectly normal café in Tokyo, three decidedly abnormal men were hunched over an odd diagram. "Elric, The souls that were mixed up... which two were they?" "I can't really tell, Chiang. I can read the soul-flow patterns, but both of you know that I could never keep all the players straight." The oldest seeming of the trio nodded and spoke "Yes, you never could, Elric. And neither can you, Baron, so let me." He then reached out and turned the diagrams towards himself. Immediately, he blanched to Elric's shade. "This isn't a swap, Elric. These two souls that are coming in.they don't belong in the picture at all." The third man looked up from his coffee, shock clear on his face. "What are you talking about, Chiang? Where would they be coming from?" "Outside, Baron. Outside." "You can't mean." Episode 27 - History! Is This The Face Of The True Enemy? by David H. Siegel [dhs28@columbia.edu] Morning broke over the Lost City of Ketrel. This had nothing to do with how long the night had lasted, and nor would the day last for any set amount of time. The Do-Gooders, Sailor Darkness, Villyn, and Queen Charity stepped out from the building they had passed the indeterminately-long period of darkness in. "How long do you think we were in there?" asked Hanaki, stretching. Villyn flipped open a panel on his arm, nodded and announced that it was exactly three hours since they had entered the building, and that it was now 4am in Tokyo. Tejina looked about. "Does anyone," she asked, "know how we can get back to the Darkverse, or Tokyo for that matter?" Villyn and the Queen looked at each other sorrowfully and shook their heads. "Charity-chan and I spoke about this earlier, and neither of us has enough gate-opening power to send us back. We'll have to rely on whatever we can find here if we wish to return to claim her rightful throne as absolute ruler." "Well," Tejina perked, "if you're stranded and need a magical method of getting from one dimension to the next, a city of a lost kingdom of magic is your best bet, right? So let's all search for something that could help." "One thing, Delight. Have you seen your mother around?" Becky was in full secret-agent mode, her fuku concealed completely beneath a trenchcoat, and the markings on her face faded to almost invisibility. Tejina was about to respond when her sister interjected. "Nope, Becky. Not since yesterday.or whatever you want to call it. She's probably already looking, though." Becky tapped her lips. "Logically, yes. We should split up, though. It will go faster." Everyone agreed, paired off, and headed down separate streets. Matusro and Keiko headed north, the two sisters south, Becky, Aki and Kireiko east, and the two adults took west. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ The pain was intense. It was all Koji could do to keep from passing out, his memory hazed from pain and.something else. Why was he wearing this ridiculous costume, and this silly mask? What kind of idiot speech had he just spouted? Programmers? Astrals? He tried to look around again, but barely avoided fainting when his eyes passed over his ruined legs. When his eyes passed right, however, there was something that hadn't been there before: a man in a perfectly tailored suit, carrying a cane tucked under his arm. Koji attempted to ignore the obvious hallucination, a task which became much harder when it began to speak. "This won't do at all," he said in a rich British accent, "not at all. You go back where you belong." As he trailed off he poked Koji with his cane and Koji felt something leave him. "And you, go back where YOU belong." As he finished speaking, he poked Koji with his cane again, and this time Koji vanished. A moment later, the man was gone as well. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Utter darkness had enveloped the Minions of Villyn ever since they had been removed from the throne room. The Bluefaced Black Shadow was stronger here, but little good it did him: There was no one to fight, and no way out was apparent. They all sat and waited, listening to the Blank Psychic hum mindlessly in the pitch-blackness. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Sailors Delight and Bliss strode confidently down the middle of the street. There was no sign of life aside from themselves, and preternatural quiet ruled the city. Tejina was idly singing one of her ideas for a new song, "Five Gallons of Lamp Oil" and letting her eyes wander over the shop windows. Everything was fully stocked, but shopping just wasn't the same when there were no sales people around to run ragged. Anyway, there were more important things right now. She was well into the third verse when Hanaki tapped her arm. "Hey, sis. That looks like a newsstand over there." "But I ain't got a wick.Huh?" "Newsstand? You know, like where they have news? It looks stocked, like everything else here. Maybe we can learn something from it. C'mon." As Hanaki had expected, there were newspapers available. What she had not expected was who would be on page one. "We'd better show this to everyone, Tej." "Yeah." - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Esjie cackled on his throne. His laughter would have inspired fear in the hearts of even the most depraved and twisted Youma in the Darkverse, had they heard it. As it was, he had even sent the Generals out of the throne room, and the only being besides him had never emerged from the shadow. "Soon." Esjie whispered. "Soon, all this will become nothing. The three kingdoms, nothing. Earth itself, nothing. The dream of a million times a million years will come true." "[Yes]. The [Dream] will become [Reality]. Your "sister" has [Awakened], and with her return, all this will become [dust]." Esjie's laughter once again filled the throne room, echoing about the vast chamber, shaking the waiting Teletubbies. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Baron Stagner von Carrlson looked up from his ice water, his face now as white as Chiang's or Elric's. "That settles it then. We're doomed." Chiang smiled slowly. "Perhaps not, my dear Baron. If the forces of the two kingdoms are once again allied, then perhaps there is a chance for all of us yet." Elric simply looked grim and started matching shots with his sword. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Nemesis Serendipity Villyn and Charity Darkness Vengeance had become.distracted from their search. The road they had selected didn't do much but run out of the city, anyway. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ It was very dark, and the Blank Psychic's humming was starting to get on everyone else's nerves. The Unnamed Minion had attempted to do something about it, but had forgotten about the Blank Psychic's defense, and was peacefully sleeping on the floor. Competing with the humming, however, was the sound of the Quake Camper rustling about in his enormous backpack. Suddenly, there was a *shik* and the Quake Camper held a small flame above his head. Just before the match went out, the Minions could see where they were. The ceiling was high and vaulted, the ground made of stone, and the walls covered with all variety of weapons and weapon-like objects. The Darkverse Armory. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Keiko and Matsuro strolled along the street together, not holding hands, but side-by-side and close together. Keiko had her attention focused entirely on the bishounen man to her right, but Matsuro was to busy watching the city melt into little crystal puddles and give birth to flying kittens to return even a portion of his attention. Keiko sighed and window-shopped as they passed. "I wonder if my mother can reach me here." Matsuro thought, "It might be nice if I can finally get some rest from her nagging." "Oooh!" Thought Keiko, "Pickled Deep-One eyes!" "Come on, Matsuro-kun, come shopping with me." Matsuro allowed himself to be dragged along, giggling softly at the stand-up act performed by the forty-foot-tall rabbit that had eaten the cats. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Ayame gloried in her newfound power. She knew what she was now, she knew where she had come from, and she knew her purpose. What was left of the Kingdom of Delight would fall; the Darkverse would be eradicated; that meddling Kingdom of Obscurity would be reduced to absolute nothing; and Earth, the center of it all, would die screaming. Cackling obscenely, she wrapped herself in energy as dark and empty as the vacuum of space and lifted herself into the air, Artifact of Dusk gripped in her claw-like hand. Now to return to the Darkverse, to begin the end. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ Boringly for Aki, Becky, and Kireiko, east of the main square seemed to be a residential area. House after house made of crystal, and not a single magical object visible. Just before they were prepared to die of boredom, however, they saw the poster. Aki stared. Kireiko blinked. Becky gazed coolly at the life-size poster of the woman in the wedding dress. "That's not me. That CAN'T be me." "She looks like you, Aki. And that dress is the same as yours. Except for the veil, of course. 'Thumbs Up!', Aki! It looks like you're getting married. I wonder who the lucky guy is." "It would appear that way, Kireiko. Perhaps it is a remnant from the last days of the Kingdom, however. We should really see what everyone else found before jumping to conclusions, however." "It CAN'T be me. Not possible. No way. Never.." - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ It called to him. Its shape looked like it was made to be in his hands, beautiful, sensual. His fingers itched just looking at it. He reached out for it in the darkness, its location on the wall burned into his brain by that brief glimpse by matchlight. When his fingers touched it, he stopped breathing. When he lifted it gently off the wall and cradled it in his arms, the Quake Camper sighed. It was like he had been searching for it his whole life. Now he could TRULY serve Villyn as a proper minion. He stood straight and spoke to his fellow Minions. "Everyone get behind me," he said in his now strangely gruff voice. "We're getting out of here." Unsure of what the Camper was going to do, the other Minions followed his instructions, clustering behind his back. Pointing his newfound friend towards where he remembered the door was, the Quake Camper pulled the trigger. When the rocket obliterated the door in a great explosion, letting in a flood of light from the hallway, he smiled. "Let's go. Villyn would want us to meet him in the throne room." - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ The light of the strangely timed "day" was nearly gone when our heroes rendezvoused in the main square of Ketrel. Keiko sat happily on one of the Crystal benches, snuggled up to Matsuro and happily holding a bag labeled "Crystal Magical Supply Store". Matsuro sat next to Keiko, absolutely sure that it was raining rainbow sherbet. Hanaki and Tejina leaned side-by-side against a wall, a rolled up newspaper in Hanaki's hand. Villyn and Charity snuggled as well, although they stood. Kireiko leaned lazily against a wall, picking at his oni-claws, Becky stood silently, trenchcoat flapping in the non-existent breeze, and Aki kept repeating her litany of denial. "So," Hanaki began, "Since we haven't seen Mom around all day, I guess I'll start. Tej and I didn't find anything that could help us get out of here, but we did find this." With that, she unrolled the paper and displayed it to the others. On the front page was a picture of what looked EXACTLY like Matsuro, dressed in black plate-armor, flanked by two men in gray tunics and a woman in a tight, revealing, leather black fuku. The headline read, in what was similar to modern Japanese script, "Grand Duke Midnight Arrives in Crystal City". This alone evoked a gasp from the group. That was nothing, however, compared to the surprise when Hanaki began to read the text of the article: "The Grand Duke, shown here accompanied by two Darkverse Generals and the Guardian of the Darkverse, Sailor Darkness, is second in line to the throne of the Darkverse. It is hoped by all that his upcoming marriage will further cement the alliance between our two kingdoms, although factions in both governments oppose it." "It goes on," Tejina said, "But it doesn't say who he's marrying, or anything about how long until they get married. It must have been from just before the war began, 'cause we didn't see any later papers." Aki, already distraught, yelped when Hanaki read the part about marriage. Becky took this as an opportunity to unfurl the poster they had found. "I think I know who he was going to marry, Tejina." The poster was simply a picture of a woman who looked similar to Aki, dressed in a virtually identical dress, with the words "Be Sure to Watch Princess Annikki's Wedding! Only on DBN!" written decoratively beneath it. Everyone gaped at that. "So I DID marry her?" Matsuro said, incredulous. "And I was from the Darkverse?" Keiko looked shocked, until Queen Charity spoke. "No, Matsuro. You didn't. Much of our history was lost over the years, but I do know that the Kingdom of Delight betrayed us on the eve of the day that would bind our two kingdoms together. That must have been the day before your wedding. That began the war." "WE betrayed YOU?" The voice was filled with majesty and command, and everyone turned to see its source. Surprisingly, Aki had recovered from her shock and was speaking. "Midnight betrayed me for that evil little SLUT of his. His deceit began the war. We did NOTHING. If it hadn't been for." Aki was cut off by another voice, filled with power as well, but this one crackled, snapping with madness. "Argue all [you] want. Nothing you [do] will matter. I return [now] to my brother. When we [meet], you will all be destroyed." Everyone turned towards the source of the voice, even Aki. There, floating above the ground, was Ayame, her body sparking with dark energy. "We will [destroy] you all. Mark my [words]." "MOM?" called out the twins in unison. "Not any [more], fools." With that, Ayame raised the Artifact of Dusk. There was a surge of total blackness, and a hole opened in the air, the Darkverse throne room visible through it. Ayame smiled briefly and flew through the hole. As soon as she was through, it began to close. "Quickly!" Shouted Charity. "Follow her or we'll be stranded here!" Everyone leaped through the dark-rimmed gate.. - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ WHAT HAS POSSESSED AYAME AND ESJIE? WHO IS IN THE SHADOW? WILL THE QUAKE CAMPER HAVE ENOUGH AMMO? WHO BETRAYED WHO? HOW? WHY? WILL OUR HEROES BE ABLE TO PREVENT THE ERASURE OF ALL REALITY? WOULD YOU LIKE SOME POCKY? WILL KEIKO TRY AND GET BACK TO KETREL FOR SHOPPING? HAS BECKY BECOME UNBALANCED AGAIN? It's all up to Streith now. Can we trust him? Dare we trust him? Special thanks goes to ACIS, for vaping my RHNO connection yesterday.