Minimal Damage Amy reached out and hit the power button to begin the portal's deactivation process. As she did this, she never took her eyes off of Serena for a moment. To think, she had been back only seconds and already she had the woman who was responsible for all the indignity and inconvenience she had just gone through right at her feet. Injured, unable to fight back, and utterly at her mercy. And it was all thanks to soft, weak and foolish Ami. The Dark Sekkou of Mercury had only one thought running through her mind as she moved closer to her fallen companion. Payback time. She stood over Serena for a moment, staring into the woman's eyes, saying nothing. Serena's Sekkou uniform had faded to a light gray color, since she had given her medication to Ami. It had been Serena who had wanted to find a way to negotiate with the Senshi for help, rather than proceed with the more logical plan Amy had come up with that would have a higher chance of success. The Sekkou had debated it endlessly for years. In the end, once the plan was in place and ready to be launched, there was only one who disagreed. One holdout. Serena. Dark Sailor Moon was the only one of them who just couldn't accept that the plan was the only one that would succeed. Even with her medication, she was just too accepting of things like friendship and honesty. She was too weak, and too stupid to see the truth: the only way out of their situation would be a path paved in the blood of the innocent. Lies, deceit, violence, were their only friends now. The Sekkou couldn't rely on such virtues . . . no, weaknesses. Weaknesses such as love, honesty and friendship to help them. The world they lived in simply didn't allow it. It always struck Amy as illogical that the one directly responsible for the troubles they had gone through for fifteen years, and wanted most out of all of them to fix things, was also the one who would not support their decided goals. The events Serena had put in motion showed that the woman's thoughts were clearly dangerous to the plan. It was now time to try to impress on the blonde the importances of the plan. Amy activated her visor for one second. Plenty of time to analyze where the fallen Sekkou's injuries were. Three broken ribs. Perfect. As the visor switched off, she dropped to her knees, so that they landed on top of Serena's broken ribs. Amy ignored Serena's cries of pain as she put all her weight on her. A small smile came to the intelligent woman's face as she felt the broken segments of bone move ever so slightly under her weight. Amy closed her eyes as she listened to the piercing scream filling the room, and nodded slowly. In a voice as cold as the ice she could call to her defense, she said, "I know it's difficult for you. Knowing we have to kill them to save ourselves. Stain our hands with blood, and become murderers. But that is how it has to be. Don't you see it? Don't you feel it?" She tried to reposition herself so that even more of her weight was pressed on Serena, then continued. "This is what happens if we ask them for help, and if we give in to weakness. We suffer agonizing, painful, defeat. Either help us, or get out of our way. It is fortunate the damage done was minor. If you choose to interfere again, we will crush you." Feeling her point was made, Amy gave one more push on her knees, then stood to her feet. Then she looked down at the foot of the stairs and noticed the other seven Sekkou coming up, along with dozens of soldiers surrounding the area with more guns than she cared to count being pointed in her direction. Didn't they think they were overdoing it just a bit? "All right, what did I miss?" Amy said under her breath. As her companions formed a circle around her, Amy suddenly felt uncomfortable. They didn't take their eyes off her for a moment, not even to help Serena stand up. Dark Sailor Uranus and Neptune even powered up their attacks, but held off firing them, almost as if daring the shorter Sekkou to move. She looked at each of them, then focused on Mina and said impatiently, "Come on! It's me!" Trista stepped in between Amy and Mina and looked down into Amy's eyes. With a voice so calm it was unnerving, Dark Saturn said, "Prove it." Amy smiled then said, "You are a female Canis Lupus Familiaris." She put her hands on her hips and nodded, feeling confident in her assessment of the taller woman. Trista didn't move. She just continued to look down at Amy with a calm straight face. When Amy realized that she hadn't understood her, she said, "What do I have to do? Spell it out for you? You are a bitch!" Ray leaned over the railing and yelled down to some of the soldiers, "It's ok! Everything is under control!" Amy looked up at Trista and spoke quietly so that only she could hear. "Obviously by now, you know what happened. Serena here was trying to sabotage the plan. When the rest of you fell back and I was captured, she managed to time things just right so that she could switch me with Ami. It is unfortunate that my double was able to escape. Whatever knowledge the woman gained will be of little use to her in stopping our plans, however detailed it may be. I consider this to be an . . . internal problem. There is no need to involve the authorities. We will deal with this. So long as Beryl doesn't find out, the damage is minimal." Trista smiled sadistically and said, "Oh, let me assure you, the damage is far from minimal." The soldiers at this point had finished forming their security perimeter. As if on cue, six of them wearing riot gear made their way up the stairs and stood to either side of the outer most planetary Sekkou, pushing their way past the others as if they weren't even there. Then, five of them removed their pistols from their holsters and took careful aim at the original Sekkou while the remaining one removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt. He was careful to keep his free hand on a nightstick, just in case. It was a rare event when mere soldiers and guards were so confident around the Sekkou, since usually such people lived only a short time after doing so. As the officer holding the handcuffs spoke, his voice sounded tiny and muffled from behind his riot gear's plexi-glass and gas mask. However, the words were unmistakable. "The five of you are under arrest for high treason against the Queen." Mina looked as if she were going to twist the man's head off. "What?! Do you know who you are speaking to?" She took a step forward and said menacingly, "I believe you are making a mistake." He nodded, and snapped off a salute then said, "Yes, ma'am. I am well aware of your status, name, and rank within the Grand Army. My orders come from Queen Beryl herself." With that, he stepped forward as if he had all the authority in the world. Mina's face turned pale at those words. She was shaken out of her thoughts by Hotaru, who said, "Don't try to resist, or we will aid them in bringing you in." Mina could almost hear the girl smiling as she said, "You wouldn't want to add resisting arrest to your charges now, would you?" The blonde glared angrily in the direction of Hotaru. She couldn't even see the girl's face since she was so much shorter than the men in front of her, but that didn't stop Mina from trying to kill her with the look she was giving. "You wanna fight, little girl?" Amara spoke up in Hotaru's defense. "Hey, we aren't the ones who let a Senshi get within spitting distance of Beryl." "What the --" Rei stopped herself short. Insults and swearing weren't going to get them out of this. She decided to try reasoning instead, under the circumstances. "You should be arrested right along with us for that! We didn't know what was going on any more than you did until the last moment!" Lita glared at the other outer planetary Sekkou angrily. "What gives you the right to arrest us for things you are just as guilty of?" Michelle walked forward and looked down at Serena with disgust. Then she gave the woman a sharp kick to the ribs and listened as the injured woman groaned loudly. Now satisfied, she said calmly, "Were you going to tell Beryl about this . . . incident? Or keep it in the dark amongst us?" When she was greeted by silence from the five accused, the Sekkou of the Wind said, "That's what I thought." Glaring at the officers who stood by silently during the conversation, she said, "Cuff them. Noble and glorious Queen Beryl will . . . sort this out." Her words sounded almost as if they were prison doors being slammed shut. The journey to Queen Beryl's throne room was always an uncomfortable one for most of the Sekkou on the best of meetings. This time, Dark Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus found it difficult to hide their nervousness. The rather long walk to Beryl's throne room was starting to unnerve the prisoners. It gave them much more time to think about things than they liked. Amy was ghostly pale with fright while Lita stayed as close to her as she could, trying to reassure her with her presence. Ray preferred to watch her feet as she walked. Mina could feel her limbs tremble with every step. Each was lost in their own thoughts. None of them spoke. Serena was spared the stress of the journey since she was unconscious and being dragged by two guards. None of them would show fear in front of Beryl, but at the moment they had the luxury of not having to hide behind false confidence. Much sooner than they liked, they arrived in front of the large doors. Hotaru said quietly to the lead soldier, "Leave them to us. Your services are no longer required." The man saluted her, then turned to his men. He slapped his own wrist once and pointed back down the hall. Then, the other soldiers uncuffed the prisoners, handed the limp Serena to Amara and Michelle, did an about face, and marched away in perfect synchronization, as if they were nothing more than windup toys. The doors opened a moment later, seeming to cause the men to march just a little faster. "My loyal servants. Come forth." Beryl's voice called out from the darkness. The Sekkou did as they were told, lining up as before, only this time, Serena was left to lie on the floor in front of them like an unworthy sacrifice for a god. "I give you power. I give you strength. And this is how you repay me?" Beryl walked forward from the shadows looking at the accused angrily. Amy stepped forward and spoke, trying not to beg. "My lady, we never meant for this to happen. There was no harm done, and the damage was . . ." The glare the tall queen gave her was more than enough to stop Amy's methodical mind. "You allowed yourself to be captured rather than die trying to escape. You let a Senshi within an arm's reach of me, and you let her get away with a device that may allow her to return here any moment she chooses." Amy held up the small pendant Ami had given her and spoke quickly. "That's how I got back. So you see, since I recovered the stolen technology, no harm -- " "Silence!" Beryl snapped angrily. "Who gave you permission to speak? It doesn't matter what you managed to correct or not! The point is, you failed me!" Hotaru and Trista smiled happily. Beryl screamed, "All of you!" Hotaru and Trista's smiles faded quickly as Beryl addressed the two of them."Your lust for power and greed to prove yourselves better than your teammates blinds you to matters of far greater urgency. You are poor examples for your two student Sekkou, and you have dragged them with you into the bowels of failure." Beryl looked at the four inner planetary Sekkou, with more anger than they had imagined possible. "The four of you are practically traitors. You allowed your dimwitted companion to endanger us all with her efforts to restore her failed destiny. You planned to hide this from me rather than admit your weakness." Ray could hold her temper in check no longer. She stepped forward and yelled, "You can't hold us responsible for this!" Pointing a finger angrily at Serena, she said, "What did you expect her to do? She's not one of us! She still possesses full control over her own thoughts and actions." She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration as she looked back at Beryl and said, "If anything this is all your fault! If it weren't for the fact that you,-- AAAGH!" Ray's words were cut off when Beryl sent a wave of energy flowing through Dark Mars, causing her to fall to the ground, writhing in agony. Beryl finally stopped electrocuting her servant and looked at the others. The only sound in the room was Ray's whimpering as she crawled back to her place in line and stood obediently back up, much like a beaten dog returning to its master's side. Finally the queen said, "I don't tolerate insubordination and deceit from anyone, especially from the likes of you." At that moment, Serena groaned loudly and started to roll over as she came back to reality. As she came to, for the first time in over a decade, Serena found herself out from under the influence of the medication Beryl and Amy had engineered. Her uniform was the familiar pure white uniform she had worn when she first became a Senshi. Despite the pain, she pushed herself off the floor so that she was kneeling in front of Beryl. For the first time in a long time, not out of fear or loyalty, but out of weakness from her injuries. Still, she did her best to be strong, if only for her friends, even if they didn't appreciate it or understand. The sudden movement got Beryl's attention and she said quietly, "However, I suppose you are correct. Sailor Moon is too dangerous." Beryl looked down at the weak Senshi, keeping her expression and voice neutral as she spoke. "I have kept you around as a trophy, Sailor Moon. For no other purpose than to gloat over you, the fallen mighty Senshi. The one who would deliver her entire world, and the very spirit of her friends to her enemy, just to save their pathetic and useless lives. The descendant of Queen Serenity reduced to but a prize, and no more." "Perhaps . . ." a wicked smile formed on Beryl's lips as she thought for a moment. "Perhaps, I have no further need of a trophy for a victory long since won. It is time for me to correct the one flaw in our plans. Good bye, Sailor Moon." Beryl raised her hands summoning dark energy between them. As Amy watched, something stirred within the depths of chaos that was her cybernetic brain. At first she thought it was a program loop or some technical error from the damage Haruka had inflicted on her. But within seconds it became a full fledged thought. One she couldn't just ignore, no mater how much she would have liked to. 'This is . . . wrong! Serena was my friend wasn't she? Sure she screwed up all the time, and was down right stupid. But she was the first person other than my mother to treat me like a normal human being. With kindness and warmth. She was my friend. She is my friend! Beryl has no right to kill her, does she?' Just before Beryl sent the blast of energy hurtling toward its target, and despite the fact that she could barely understand the logic of why she was even moving, Amy bolted forward. Lita tried to reach out to her to stop her. In a frantic last attempt, Dark Jupiter yelled, "What the hell are you doing?" But it was already too late. She watched with horror as Amy reached Serena with a fraction of a second to spare, right when Beryl hurtled her attack down toward Serena. There was a sudden flash of bright purple light, blinding everyone. When Lita's eyes cleared, she was horrified when she saw that Amy simply wasn't there. She was gone! Seemingly vanished into thin air. Lita could feel intense anger welling up within her. She glared at Beryl, preparing to do the unthinkable, when she noticed Beryl was looking behind the line of Sekkou with a look of mild interest. Seeing one strand of hope to grasp, Dark Jupiter turned around. The attack had sent Dark Mercury flying over them, where she had crashed on the hard, unforgiving ground. She was badly injured, missing most of her right leg, while a fury of sparks flew from her now-damaged robotic parts as she tried to move. Luckily, the small explosion had cauterized the wound to her leg. Otherwise, she would have bled to death in minutes. Lita ran to her wife, no longer caring what Beryl's reaction would be. As she did so, she noticed Amy apparently didn't know she was missing a leg yet, because she kept trying to stand. As Lita gently lifted her broken lover into her arms, Beryl said, almost to herself, "Why did you do that? Surely not out of loyalty or friendship." She snapped her full attention toward Amy. The look she gave the injured Scout was enough to convey she demanded an explanation. Amy blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision, both from the bright explosion and the pain, as she responded weakly, "She's our friend. I understand fully the necessity of having her executed. It's too dangerous to give her the opportunity to damage our plans further." She coughed for a moment, and a small amount of blood ran down the corner of her mouth as she finished, "But she is our friend and comrade. If anyone is going to kill her, it should be one of us!" Beryl nodded once and said, "How right you are." Then she turned to Trista and said, "Dark Sailor Saturn! Now is your chance to redeem your dignity and honor in my eyes!" She smiled and like someone sicking a dog on its prey she said, "Kill her." As Dark Saturn walked forward with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes, Serena got to her feet. Looking defiantly up at Beryl she said, "It doesn't matter what happens to the Sekkou, or me. The Senshi will defeat you and bring your reign of terror to an end. Even you know in your twisted heart this is the truth." Beryl looked into Serena's eyes and said calmly, "Perhaps you are right, perhaps not. Regardless of the outcome, I will always have the satisfaction of watching the life leave your eyes." Then she nodded to Serena's executioner. To her credit, Serena met Beryl's gaze, unafraid of her fate until the very end. One swing from Trista's glaive, not much more than a mere flick of the wrist, cleanly removed Serena's head. The deed done, Sailor Moon's body fell to the ground, landing moments after her head crashed next to it, ending her disgrace and defeat once and for all. Beryl snapped a finger, and Serena's body burst into flame, crumbling to dust. Just as the previous times she had done this to other Sekkou, a small light, little more than a spark, rose from the ashes of the doomed. The mighty queen reached out and grasped it in her hands. She looked at the spark as if it were a captured firefly and admired her handiwork. Then she clenched her hands together tightly and said, "I could destroy you right now, but I have a better use for you. Something much better than a mere trophy could ever be used for." She threw Serena's soul back toward the ashes of her body, then as before with Amara and Michelle, she pointed the Ginzuishou toward Serena's remains. Dark energy swirled around the dust, and in the center could faintly be seen a form being rapidly pieced back together, bit by bit, as Serena was slowly reborn. Reborn, with . . . improvements . . . from Beryl. Something between a scream of sorrow and a laugh of insanity could be heard coming from Beryl's latest abomination as the process ended. Beryl admired her new creation for a moment, then casually waved a hand to dismiss them, saying, "Go. Make your plans, fight your enemies, and do not come before me again until you have one of their heads on a platter." ---------- Lita always found Lunatech's cybernetics lab to be a cold, uncomfortable place to pay a visit to. The walls were made of stainless steel, the floors nothing more than boring white tile. The smell of disinfectants hovered in the air always. It was as if it were designed to lack as much spirit and emotion as possible. The cyberneticists and surgeons had attached Amy's new leg. Also, due to damage and since Amy was overdue for an overhaul anyway, they went ahead and replaced most of her existing prosthetic and orthotic parts. The process was extremely painful to endure so, halfway through, Amy was allowed to rest. She currently lay on a cold steel examination table, draped in nothing but a clear sheet of plastic, making her appear as if she were on some kind of sick, twisted display before the altar of science. The next process involved putting the calciplastic covering over the metal supports, artificial muscle, and then the artificial skin. Then attaching the electrodes and neurons that would allow her to feel and control the new parts. It was always difficult for Lita to see her like this, but it was the only time during the process she was allowed in to comfort her lover. Her new leg gleamed in the low light of the operating room, little more than thin rods of titanium, its pistons and wires yet untested by its new owner. Her left hand had undergone extensive modification, so her usual soft, warm fingers showed their true form, that of nothing more than cold steel with wires looped around metal and plastic. It was always Amy's head that bothered Lita most to see when she was in this state. All of the synthetic flesh, outer eye, and even the tan calciplastic that replaced part of her skull were removed, revealing nearly a quarter of the contents of Amy's head for all to see. A camera looked out from within the maze of wires and steel, staring blankly up at the ceiling through a hole that would eventually be an eye again. It made a quiet whirring sounds as it went through it's calibration process. Tiny lights shining from diagnostic equipment built into her brain blinked in a steady coordinated pattern. Cool steel electrical conduits, circuit boards, and various diagnostic outlets were weaved through salvageable brain tissue and flesh. The cords running from outlets built into her brain ran to diagnostic computers on the other side of the room made for the last unfeeling touch. The sight of her head in this state was always a reminder of how amazing it was that Amy had survived the fight with Dark Venus at all. Still, Lita knew that deep down, Amy dreamed of death. She hated living like this. That was probably part of why Beryl hadn't punished Amy by killing her like she usually did to the rest of the Sekkou. But then, when Lita was honest with herself, they alllonged for death's sweet release in their own way. Amy was just a bit more open about it at times. At least, alone, the two could be somewhat themselves. They didn't have to put on a strong front for the other Sekkou, spend every breath trying to strike fear into the hearts of the Senshi, or bicker about their own selfish goals. When they were alone, it was just Amy and Lita, pure and simple. It was a bond not even Beryl's evil spells could break. Lita's first hint that Amy had woken up was the small camera-like eye turned to look at her a moment before Amy's real eye opened slowly. Lita shook her head sadly as she gently held Amy's hand. There was only one thing she wanted to know at the moment. The same thing she had called out to her partner when she had dashed madly in front of Serena. "What were you thinking?" Amy sighed quietly, then sat up, clutching the cold sheet of plastic covering to her in a vain attempt to keep warm. She looked away from her wife in shame, not wanting to admit the truth behind her thoughts at that moment. A warm hand touched her cheek, turning her face so she was looking back up into green eyes. "Don't be like that. Don't hide from me. You scared the hell out of me. I deserve an answer, and you know it." Lita sighed herself when Amy turned her eyes away again, clearly trying to find a different topic of conversation. Before she could, Lita said somewhat irritated, "What if you had been killed? Did you even stop to think about that?" The last comment got Amy's attention. She grumbled in self-pity, "If I had been killed, Beryl would have brought me back to life since she still thinks she needs me. At least then, I wouldn't need cold steel and electrical conduits laced through me to move." Lita rolled her eyes. Leave it to Amy to find a way to stay on topic and still avoid it at the same time. "Let me try this again. What were you thinking? Did you stop to think that what you were doing was insane? Even by our standards?" Amy finally met Lita's gaze and said, "Did you ever stop to think that what we are doing might be wrong?" Lita dropped her hands to her sides and started laughing, as if the comment were a hysterical joke. Shaking her head again as she forced herself to stop laughing, she said, suddenly angry, "Of course it's wrong! Everything about our lives is wrong! Everything is unfair, tilted the wrong way. That's just how things are for us." She grabbed Amy's shoulders and shook her gently, trying to bring her back to reality and said, "You know that already." Amy looked up and away from Lita and smiled wistfully. "Do you know what they were doing while we were planning how best to smear their blood all over the walls?" When Lita said nothing, Ami continued, "planning an outing to the mall to go shopping, that's what." Amy put her hands over Lita's, guiding them away from her shoulders. "Something so simple." She clasped their hands together in front of her for a moment, toying with her lover's hands in hers, lost in thought. Then she gripped them gently, looked back into Lita's eyes and said, not caring how childish it sounded, "I want to go to the mall too. I want to enjoy a sunny afternoon without a care in the world." It still didn't completely answer Lita's question, but it was enough. She asked, "You're having second thoughts, is that it?" Amy looked away again, turning her still calibrating robotic eye toward Lita as she did so. After sorting her thoughts she said, "No. I know what we have to do. And while it's wrong in so many ways . . . I know it's the right thing to do. The ends justify the means. It's just . . . in a small way, don't you feel guilty about it?" Lita said, "Try not to think of it as guilt. Think about the fact that If they were in our shoes . . ." Amy nodded her head slowly, but didn't look at Lita. It was the same thing she herself used to say to Serena to try to convince her what they were doing was right. "Then they would do the exact same thing." Somehow, having her own words thrown back at her seemed unfair. Lita sighed as she ran a hand through her hair in frustration. This whole thing had been Amy's idea to start with, and It wasn't like Amy to have doubts about anything. Especially not her own ideas. She put her hands on Amy's shoulders again, and said calmly, "Ok, look. I know the process will be hard on them. And while we are technically going to have to kill them for your plan to work, it's not like we are truly going to kill them right? We're just --" Amy interrupted with, "They'll wish for death any day over what we have in store for them. It's just . . ." Amy sighed again, feeling frustrated with her own thoughts as much as Lita was. She swung her legs back on to the operating table and laid back down. She absently wiggled her new steel toes as she spoke, "You know, when you do experiments on lab rats, there isn't much problem. Some times you wind up killing them in brutal ways, terrible ways, all in the name of science. It's not a problem. You just dispose of the bodies and be done with them. But what happens when you start to truly see a little bit of yourself in the rats?" Lita pulled the plastic sheet over Amy and said, "Then you look yourself in the mirror, and tell yourself to do what must be done. It's as simple as that. Ya gotta just cut off their little heads. You always do." Delicately patting Amy's shoulder, she said, "That's one reason I love you. You always come through in the end. I have to go, and you need to rest up for the rest of your surgery. By the time you get done, you'll have forgotten all about this." She kissed Amy tenderly on the cheek and then whispered, "And if that doesn't get your mind off of it, I know some things that we can do when we are somewhere . . . more private . . . that will." Amy rolled her eye, then closed it as she said under her breath, "That's all you think about isn't it." The light blush that tinged her cheeks told Lita that despite Amy's comment, it had gotten the shorter woman's attention moving in a different direction. Lita threw her a smile and said as she walked out, "Get some rest. You'll be needing it later." Amy started taking deep breaths to clear her head of unnecessary thoughts while trying to will her body to go back to sleep. The cold steel beneath her, and the feeling of vulnerability she had from being naked with nothing but the thin clear plastic to cover her was more than unsettling. Just when she finally managed to get almost comfortable, she heard footsteps entering the room. As they drew closer, Amy opened her eye and said quietly, "Look Lita, you're right. I truly do need to --" The eyes she looked into didn't belong to Lita. Trista and Hotaru stood over her, looming like shadows in the night. Amy narrowed her eye at them, and did her best to cover herself with her arms beneath the sheet. Yes, vulnerable was a good description for how she felt at the moment. She didn't need to speak to get her point across. Everything about her expression and body language screamed, 'Go away!' When the two didn't, she rolled over onto her side and curled up into a ball, thinking, 'Maybe if I ignore them, they will leave me alone.' Hotaru said, "Oh, come now, don't be like that, with the cold shoulder and all." She started to reach out with her hand to place it on Amy's shoulder. Ami growled, "If those fingers so much as touch me, I swear I'll give you the opportunity to find out what having a prosthesis for a hand is like." Trista brought up the butt of her staff and pushed Hotaru's hand away delicately as she said, "Come now, Hotaru. We mustn't upset her. After all, we want her to be our partner in our little scheme." A little scheme. The last thing Amy wanted to think about at the moment. She was involved in so many 'little schemes' already. They stretched like a spider web through her mind. She wanted none of it. "Just leave me alone," she said, squeezing her eye tightly shut. Trista decided to at least offer their little rabbit a carrot to get her attention, and leave it to her to decide whether to bite or not. "Fine, then. Ignore us if you must, but you will hear us. You can give us your answer later." As Trista and Hotaru confided in Amy their plan, for her part, Amy continued to remain silent. But she had to admit to herself, it was a good plan. And within the darker confines of her soul, she was more than tempted by their offer. It was, after all, a good plan.
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