Silver Millennium Soldier
-19- Invitation to a Duel
by
Mike Macdonald
(Age: 27)
copyright 12-07-2006
Age Rating: 18 to 127
The meeting was brief, since everyone already had a pretty good idea about what had to be done. Thus far, every operation they'd thwarted was covert, and entirely relied upon that covertness for success. The more-than-noticeable manner of the airport crisis was an acknowledgement of the Silver Millennium Soldiers' intervention; in short, they were being called out.
The most immediate problem was that the airport was off the freeway several miles out of Cherry Hill, and Serena had almost asked how many years it would take to walk there when Mina appeared at the shrine doors with a knock and a smile, spinning a set of car keys in her right hand.
"Are we off, then?" she'd said. "One can only be so fashionably late, you know."
So they were off. Apart from Mina convincing the police blockades to let them pass in her special way, the drive was silent and uneventful. No one was in the mood for conversation.
Amy's stomach was trembling ever since they left the shrine. She thought it wouldn't be very civil to throw up in someone else's car, so she turned all her focus out the left window, to the orange globe on the horizon setting fire to the sky. Staying up as late as possible to give as much light to the world as time allowed, its diligence was admirable, and much like her own whenever she pulled an all-nighter to finish a painting she'd fallen in love with. She empathized with its inevitable retreat at nightfall, too, when it realized it was no longer in its own element and vanished behind the curtain until it was safe to come out again.
She reflected on her most recent work, almost one week old and still unfinished: A woman dangling helplessly over the abyss by a single thread, pleading with an icy shear not to cast her below; the unheeding tool licking at the thread, no thoughts for anything but the necessity of its duty. She would probably paint another after tonight.
Rei had slipped into deep meditation as soon as the door closed, just as Grandpa trained her to when any crisis approached. There wasn't much to see on the freeway other than billboards and housing projects. Useless distractions, like the rest of the material world, and generally easy to tune out. A few deep breaths and a bit of concentration and she could seal herself off from all of it, even when in fear's uncomfortable embrace. Even in the realization that all her experience with otherworldly creatures had amounted to ethereal pest control. Even in the stupor-inducing revelation that she'd only recently had the first dance with death in her life, having twice wandered into a situation that could have meant her end. And now she was on her way to a third.
Squeezed in between her comrades, Serena was mostly annoyed, if not only because the thought of having somebody else's problems dropped in her lap eased her fidgety hands better than the thought of Luna's and Artemis's grave conduct at the meeting. They'd frequently consulted each other under their breath while the girls discussed plans of action, and had dodged her every time she asked what was wrong. If Smartass Artemis was that spooked, Serena knew things weren't looking good. Maybe they didn't have faith in her abilities, or in the trio's capacity for teamwork. Pretty discouraging after all the optimistic pep-talks she'd been given by the guardians. Her stomach tingled as the car descended the off-ramp. Only five miles to the airport.
The trio's fear manifested itself as a massive black dome approaching in the distance, pulsing and writhing as if it were alive; the air traffic control tower reached up snorkel-like out of the mass as the terminal's last desperate attempt to signal for help. It was here, due to the ill-placed timing of Mina's next statement, that Serena truly lost her confidence.
"You should know," Mina said, "that I won't be accompanying you."
No one spoke on this, but Serena's and Amy's eyes swelled with such alarm that they really didn't need to say anything. Mina felt their hearts murmur and glanced at them through the rear view mirror.
"Well," she said, "all little birds learn to fly on their own eventually, if you know what I mean. You're all capable enough, based on what I've seen. In fact, I'm downright impressed with all of you. I didn't think you'd catch on nearly as fast as you did. As a team, you'll overcome anything these people throw your way. That I promise you."
Amy said nothing, turning her gaze to the black mass devouring the airport, which Serena was trying hard not to think about at all. Rei showed no signs of disturbance, or even consciousness.
"Just be sure to watch your backs," Mina added. "He's a tricky sort, he is."
It wasn't long before the car stopped in the airport parking lot. The black mass was even more oppressive from a worm's eye view, consuming the entire building like an amoeba, save the lonesome tower bobbing on the surface.
"I'll be close by," she said, "in case things get out of hand in there. Rather you didn't have to walk home after this, besides."
Mina turned around and flashed a coy smile once more at the three girls in her back seat, if only to keep the growing sadness in her chest from presenting itself on her face; it was very possible that she would never see them again. Her smooth pianist's hand patted Serena on the knee, and the empty oceans in her eyes that Serena was so accustomed to finally showed a glimmer of warmth, and possibly admiration like one sister to another.
"Break a leg, Love," she said.
"It's been a real honor meeting you," Serena said, lacking the will to smile back. "And…y'know, being rescued by you and stuff."
"It's been an honor rescuing you," Mina replied, patting her knee again. "More than you know."
*************************************
Three valkyries stood fifty feet from the entrance to the terminal, staring dumbly up at the flickering black monster smothering it. They knew somewhere beneath it two hundred or so civilians were praying and crying together, even though the windows were so dark through the otherworldly veil it was impossible to tell if the building was inhabited at all. Sailor Moon had wanted to go home at first sight of the thing. Her mind was a total blank, her stomach twisted into a jug sling knot.
She took a deep breath and slapped herself a couple times. It didn't matter if she was a third-rate heroine; nobody else was going to do the job. May as well get it over with. Nothing she couldn't handle, right? She'd lived through the whole month, in spite of all the misfortunes and bizarre creatures.
"All right, Leader," Mars said, seeming to read Moon's mind. "Now what?"
"I suppose we should see if this Jedite guy’s home," Moon said. "Anybody wanna knock?"
Mars chuckled. "You first."
"No, don’t go near it," Mercury said. "It’s made of some strange kind of null matter mineral, the same stuff the life force conduits consist of. Its absorption rate is three-hundred-twenty percent. You’ll be dead before you touch it."
Moon and Mars turned and stared at Mercury in response: her EMS visor was drawn across her face as she studied the airport's shimmering prison with the same attentiveness she always displayed in school. The awkward silence brought her back to reality, and she stared back at her friends.
"How do you know how to use that thing?" Moon said, pointing to the visor.
Mercury smiled. "I’ve been playing with it all week."
Moon flung her hand out in the black dome's direction. "Well, then, ask it how we can get rid of…that."
Mercury's eyes dove back into the EMS's sea of menus. Mars sighed and considered breaking out another cigarette while she waited.
"According to the HUD," Mercury said, "Pure Light can cut through it like a diamond to glass. You got any of that on you today?"
"I think that’s what Luna said this thing’s made of," Moon said, spinning her blazing discus on her finger.
Mars shrugged. "I destroyed a bunch of those crystals with fire, though. Why don’t I just punch a hole in it?"
"No, no, this is much denser," said Mercury. "We’d be here for days if you tried that."
"Quit tryin' to steal my thunder, Rei," said Moon, tossing her discus in the air as if it were a toy.
"Mars," said Mars.
"Mars. Whatever."
"It’s amazing!" said Mercury. "They’ve used minerals and magic glyphs to make some otherworldly technology! Look at how this thing works-"
"Later, Mercury," said Moon as she reared her weapon back for an overhand throw.
The instant Sailor Moon's weapon was in the air, the colossal black dome vanished, too suddenly for anyone to react. The Tiara Disc smashed through the terminal doors and put one of the hostages out for the night.
"Dammit, Moon-!" Mars cried, and let loose a string of Japanese profanities.
"That asshole did that on purpose!" Moon shouted back.
With a huff, Mars threw her hands up and stormed into the building. Most of the hostages had mustered in the baggage claim. A dozen more were rushing in, babbling about the "black thing's" disappearance and shushed up once they saw Sailor Moon and her partners standing in the doorway. Like a roaring herd of buffalo, the civilians merged as one unstoppable mass and stampeded to their salvation in the parking lot. Mercury let out a squeal and clung to the wall as they passed. The less fortunate Moon and Mars were slapped about the crowd like pinballs.
"Everyone please calmly exit the building!" Mars screamed. "Calmly, I said! Hey, watch it-!"
"Dammit, Mars-!" Sailor Moon said, mimicking Mars from earlier.
"I don’t see you doing anything leader-worthy, Commander!"
Soon the three Sylvan Soldiers were alone in the terminal, their ears ringing from the screams of the liberated civilians. After brushing themselves off and taking the time to straighten their mythril armor, they began a preliminary search of the terminal.
Most of the lights had been broken or shorted out; the terminal's shadows were thick and grew on every wall and every corner like a fungus. The television monitors blinked and buzzed with static instead of departure times, and in most areas they were the only light source. The security cameras appeared fully operational; and the reflection of the flickering monitors gave each lens an unearthly glowing iris at the center. Sailors Moon, Mars, and Mercury weren't sure if it was a trick of the light or if they could, indeed, see the infernal eyes of Jedite watching their every move.
The second floor was just as dismal, if not worse. Mercury's EMS presented its wearer with a mosaic of blue and purple, with flecks of red marking each monitor the trio came to as they traveled from gate to gate.
"Nothing out of the ordinary here," she said, despite her shortness of breath. The ever-staring camera lenses made her dreadfully uneasy.
Sailor Moon was not about to be intimidated by a hunk of plastic from Radio Shack. As they reached the next gate, she mounted the ticket counter and stared right back into the security camera mounted overhead, despite Mars's insistence that she act less like a five-year-old or a monkey. She dropped back to the floor and turned on the counter's microphone, tapping it three times with her forefinger and startling herself and her comrades with a loud burst of feedback. Apparently, it was in perfect working order.
"Hey, Jed, where you at?" her voice resounded throughout the terminal. "We showed up for the party, but we didn’t know if it was BYOB and the liquor stores have gotten real strict about carding people. Oh, and I brought my friend, Mars, with me. She says she mighta left her vibrator at your place last weekend. Any chance you got it with you?"
Apart from Mars's offended expression there was no response to Moon's announcement. But just the thought of Jedite shaking his head in disgust was enough for her.
"Well, stay right where you are," she said to the mic. "We’re comin’ ta get ya. Peace out."
She tossed the microphone back onto the counter and shrugged at her teammates. Mercury was covering her face to hide a tiny smile from Mars.
"We should split up," Mars said, ignoring both of them, "and keep in contact through the PDA’s. It's obvious he's not going to come out and face us as a group."
Moon sang under her breath. "Stealin’ my friggin’ thunder again…"
Mars threw her hands up. "Fine. Might I suggest, Chief, that we split up so we can cover more ground in a more effective manner?"
Moon smiled. "Good idea. I'm gonna go back downstairs. Mercury, secure the rest of this floor. Mars Bar can check the runway."
"Brilliant," said Mars.
"Hey, you’re the pyro. Maybe you can figure out what made the planes go boom, huh? Anything funky goes down, we regroup at the metal detectors."
**************************************
Darien had succumbed to another attack that evening as he was finishing a bit of required reading for Chemistry. His vision blurred, and he'd dismissed it as sleep deprivation and gone to his kitchen to get a glass of water when the scenery changed around him.
The last two attacks were less like lucid dreams; he felt a stronger sense of consciousness as he leapt across the rooftops of what appeared to be nineteenth century France, once again dressed in the overly formal garb of an opera singer, sleek cane in hand, cape flowing like an angel's wings behind him. He knew who he was, and he'd recently begun to comprehend what was happening to him, though the purpose of his clothing still escaped him. It was no illness or condition. He was sure of that now. But then, if not, what odd force was making him dress up and hallucinate leaping across rooftops in olden times to save ambiguous damsels in distress?
His next leap carried him through the air over vast woodland, toward a brooding black castle with a single turret in the midst of a clearing. With the grace of a bird he descended and perched on the edge of the castle wall and surveyed the property with a growing sense of alarm: the courtyard was decorated with dozens of sleeping dragons, their wings spread as if ready to awaken and attack at a moment's notice. At the heart of the castle--how he could see, he did not know--the Girl wandered through the shadows; his beloved goddess who summoned him on those strange nights. Could she never stay out of trouble?
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