Jun Fudoh hesitated, her long black hair flowing down her back
like a cape as she topped the hill and took in the view before her. The
clothes that she wore were all simple ones, a pair of jeans, sweatshirt,
her long hair pulled back in a ponytail. Still, there was a beauty to
her, an almost dangerous kind of attractiveness.
‘I shouldn’t even be here,’ Jun thought grimly, looking out at
the crystal towers mixed with more common forms of construction, a city
of many faces and uncommon beauty, ‘this is no place for a monster like
me.’
Jun closed her eyes a moment, those lovely scarlet eyes, then
she opened them up once again. Despite her words she walked down the
hill, heading onto the city itself. The outskirts resembled an older
incarnation of Tokyo, more brick construction and even some wood and
plaster. She walked on, her surrounding shifting to concrete, then
alloys. And finally the crystal towers the city was known for, the
latest in building technology.
Jun gazed up at one of the massive crystal towers, for an
instant tempted to transform to the Devilman and shatter it, rip it down
with her bare hands... but she quelled the urge. Instead she went inside
the bank, walking up to a counter.
"I'm rather surprised that the Bank of Tokyo is still running,"
a mildly bemused Jun noted as a teller came to help her.
"The bank has tried to maintain it's continuity for the
customers, ma'am," the blue haired young man behind the counter said to
her a bit scoldingly. He brightened as he asked, "My name is Sam, how
may I help you?"
"I'd like to find out if an older account was still on file,"
Jun said to him calmly, "in the name of Jun Fudoh."
Sam's eyes widened just slightly, but other than that he didn't
react. "I'll access the data archives." he hit several keys on her
keyboard then produced a flat device. "Could you lay your hand on this?"
he asked.
Jun looked down at it suspiciously, then laid her hand palm down
on it. A shimmering light ran over her hand, quickly winking out as a
chime went off at the man's station. "Is that it?" Jun asked him
curiously.
"Yes, ma'am," Sam smiled. He went through his files, his eyes
widening slightly as he read. "Ms. Fudoh, you have several billion
credits on record here," he noted.
"Billion...?" Jun echoed in surprise. She looked mildly stunned,
"I had hoped I'd have some money available, but not that much."
"You're still a fairly well known Idol, ma'am," Sam explained to
her gently, "and with the revival fad going on you're face and image has
been appearing more often. I assume your agent has paid you for services
rendered."
"So I'm probably going to be recognized?" Jun asked him, the
tone of her voice clearly displeased with the idea.
"Sorry, yes," Sam admitted. He worked his keyboard a second and
passed her over a plain silver card, "This will let you access your
funds, ma'am."
"Thank you," Jun frowned at the plain card.
"It's been keyed to your DNA sequence," Sam volunteered the
information, "no one else can use it to access your account."
"Ah," Jun put it into her pocket and turned to go.
"Ms Fudoh?" Sam spoke up nervously.
"Yes?" Jun stopped but didn't turn around.
"There's a message waiting for you in the city archives," Sam
said in an awed whisper, "it was activated when I accessed the archives
for your data. Do you want to read it?"
"Who is it from?" Jun looked back at him curiously.
"It appears to be one of the Senshi," Sam said nervously.
"No," Jun replied simply before she turned to walk out of the
building, quickly emerging into the sunlight.
The sidewalk outside was lined with people going back and forth,
all bound for different destinations. A few curious glances came her
way, and Jun fought back the urge to snarl at them angrily. They looked
so pretty, untouched by pain and hurt, it was almost sickening. She
randomly picked a direction and started walking, putting distance
between her and the bank.
'I wonder if it's Ami Mizuno trying to apologize once again?'
Jun thought to herself bitterly. The genetic research that Ami had
pioneered had lead to the Beast Progression that had reshaped Jun into
the Devilman, and nearly brought Tokyo to ruin. And had lead to the
death of the woman that Jun had once loved. Forgiving Ami wasn't in
Jun's power, now or ever.
Jun turned away from the brightly lit street to step into the
dimness of an alleyway, feeling that odd certainty that she was being
followed. She stopped in the middle of the alley, not turning around
before she said, "Something I can do for you?"
"As sharp as ever," the amused man's voice answered.
Jun turned at that familiar voice, taking in the figure dressed
in a long overcoat, suit and hat all in blood red. The sunglasses
glinted orange, and his smile glittered, his white teeth oddly sharp,.
somehow. "Arucard," Jun recognized the vampire lord almost instantly.
"It's has been a long time," Arucard nodded to her regally. "We
last met in London, 2080?" he offered, "The Royal Order mistakenly
targeted you as a demon, I believe."
Jun studied him warily, ready to move. "I remember," Jun
answered him calmly, "Seres and Integra were rather dangerous, back
then. As were you." She looked at hum curiously, "What is a monster like
you doing in a city like this?"
"I continue to serve humanity," Arucard shrugged eloquently, "it
seems that even the Senshi have need of a monster occasionally." He
smiled slightly, "As you would have discovered, had you read my lady's
message."
Jun met his eyes, trying to read his intentions. "I'm not
interested," she finally said, "not in serving humanity and especially
not in working for a Senshi."
"I hope that you'll at least listen to my offer first," the
woman spoke up from her other side. Jun spun around, taking in the brown
haired woman who was standing there, her eyes completely covered by her
dark sunglasses.
"Who are you?" Jun hissed, feeling her body beginning to change,
fur flowing across her body as muscles bunched and swelled.
"My name is Motoko Kusanagi," she said as she smoothly took off
her sunglasses, "would you care to join me for a drink?"
"A drink?" Jun echoed. She looked between Motoko and Arucard,
"Am I a prisoner?"
"No," Arucard stepped aside.
Motoko nodded slightly, "I'd like to talk to you, but forcing
you isn't in my best interests." She shrugged, "And it isn't my style."
Jun looked over at Motoko, her enhanced sense of smell quickly
tagging her as a advanced cyborg. Looking back at Arucard she found
herself thinking, 'A vampire and a cyborg, certainly strange
bedfellows.' Jun took a deep breath then even surprised herself a bit by
saying, "Just one drink, and I'll listen to what you have to say."
The suite that they arrived at not long after was comfortably
laid out with two couches, a well stocked mini-bar and a desk pushed up
against a far wall. Motoko poured drinks for herself and Jun, leaving
Arucard to fend for himself.
"You really need to get a better class of alcohol Major,"
Arucard noted as he poured himself a glass of amber fluid.
"Coming from you...." Motoko smiled slightly. She carried a
drink to where Jun warily sat and said, "I hope this suits you."
"It'll do," Jun took it, smelling nothing but rum and cola. She
took a drink then set the cup down to look up at Motoko, "Major, I think
he said?"
"It's an honorary rank, more or less," Motoko said to her
simply. She swirled the fluid around in her glass, then took a long
drink before saying, "The only human part I have left is my brain, the
rest of me is a machine." She raised her glass to Arucard, "He's been a
vampire for well over a thousand years, maybe more if you believe him."
Arucard raised an eyebrow, "You doubt my identity?"
Motoko just ignored that as she continued on, "You're not the
only one who isn't quite human anymore, Jun Fudoh."
"Your point being?" Jun asked, looking at the two of them
thoughtfully.
"Even monsters look for a reason to be," Arucard said calmly, "a
purpose greater than yourself. I found that in the Royal Order, and
later here."
Motoko smiled wryly as she said, "Not that I don't occasionally
regret recruiting him." She looked over at Jun, "I represent an
organization, one that works covertly to help defend both Crystal Tokyo
and the Realm itself. We aren't publicly known, and we won't be getting
any rewards or medals for what we do."
"So why do you do it?" Jun asked curiously.
"The satisfaction of a job well done," Motoko answered with an
odd little smile. A bit more gravely she continued, "I look at it as the
opportunity to prevent the sort of things that happened to me from
happening to anyone else."
"And to stop others like us from being created," Arucard
murmured.
"And you want me to join you?" Jun sounded rather skeptical. She
rubbed at her arms in an unconscious gesture, "Not the wisest course, I
think."
"Think about it, only," Motoko said. She tilted her head to the
side, "I may contact you, someday, needing your help. I hope you'll
provide it."
Jun rose from her seat, setting her empty glass down. "I'll
think about what you said," she finally replied, "no promises, however."
"Good enough," Arucard set his glass down then nodded to Jun.
"I'll escort you out," he said, walking to the door and pulling it open
for her.
Motoko silently watched them go, setting her own empty glass
down. A few moments later a blonde haired woman entered from the other
door, a frown on her face. "That didn't go as well as I hoped," Minako
Aino said.
Motoko shrugged slightly, "We planted a seed here, I think. Who
knows how well it might bloom, in time?"
Minako put her hand on her lover's arm, "Fair enough. I was a
bit surprised that you didn't tell her exactly who you were working
for."
"The lady has a real hatred for the Senshi," Motoko said dryly,
"I'd rather not tell her that we're trying to recruit her for Neo-Queen
Serenity's secret service. We'll break that to her later."
Minako chuckled softly, "That should be interesting to see."
To be continued...
Author's Note: This Episode ties in with Part Thirteen, 'Here be
Monsters.' Jun is from the series Devilman Lady. Arucard, Ceres and
Integra are from the series Hellsing. Motoko Kusanagi is from Ghost in
the Shell. Finally, Ami Mizuno and Minako Aino aka Sailor Venus are from
Sailor Moon.
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