Ami Mizuno frowned up at the man who was following just behind
her, "I thought I gave express orders not to be followed?"
The green haired man shrugged slightly in return, the katana
that he usually carried over his shoulder shifting a bit. "I also
received express orders from Lady Mars to go with you," Saionji
Kyouichi explained to her cheerfully. He gave her a wry look, "Do you
really thing I'm going to try and argue with her?"
Ami had to smile slightly, "I suppose not." She looked over at
the weapon he carried, "How's the new alloy for your blade working?"
"Quite well, Lady Mercury," Saionji answered.
Ami stopped so suddenly that the taller man nearly bumped
right into her. "We've known each other for nearly a thousand years
now," she sighed, "so surely you could call me something a bit less
formal, Saionji!"
"Of course, Mercury-sama," Saionji's lips twitched, fighting
back a smile.
"Arrgh," Ami wheeled around, striding off.
Saionji smiled, speeding up a bit to keep up with her. Teasing
Ami was one of the things he rather enjoyed, honestly, and it was
something he had done for her down through the years. Her first
degree, when she became a doctor, and all her other titles down
through the years. It was an old game, and one her rather expected
they both enjoyed.
"So where, exactly, are we going?" Saionji asked, looking
around them at the bleak, rocky heights they walked through
cautiously. Ami had teleported them out there from the Palace, and he
didn't see any landmarks around them.
"To see someone," Ami answered him quietly.
"Visiting an old friend?" Saionji asked.
"Not exactly." A grim little smile appeared on Ami's face,
"The last time we met, she tried her very best to kill me."
Saionji looked down to see if she was joking with him, but he
saw no trace of humor on her face. He reached up to adjust the sword
over his shoulder to make drawing it a little easier as he asked, "Do
you think her attitudes have changed?"
"I'm not expecting it," Ami admitted, "but I'm obligated to
approach her. It's partially the Senshi's fault she's in the position
she's in."
"Who, exactly, are we dealing with?" Saionji asked seriously.
"Jun," Ami said softly, "the Devilman Lady."
Saionji looked down at her in honest disbelief. The Devilman
Lady had almost acquired an mythic status over the years, and he knew
her story pretty well. While the Senshi were facing a crisis in time
itself, the Lady had fought valiantly against a small army of humanoid
monsters in Tokyo. Without her knowledge she was manipulated by the
dangerous Asuka, and had only been able to stop her tormentor at great
cost.
"How can she still be alive?" Saionji blinked.
"Her body has an incredible regenerative factor," Ami answered
softly, "it's held off the effects of time, as well as protected her
from injury." Their steps brought them to the base of a sheer cliff,
"We'll have to climb from here."
"Climb," Saionji echoed as he looked up at the gray stone
face, feeling the wind begin to pick up around them. "Rei, you're
going to owe me a great deal for this," he muttered to himself softly
as they began to ascend.
Ami climbed easily, her blue visor appearing in front of her
eyes. With unerring precision she found the secure handholds, her path
guiding Saionji on up. The wind rattled them a few times, but after a
moment's rest they would continue onward. Finally, the two reached a
large shelf, and just beyond a cave disappearing into the cliffside.
"I want you to stay out here," Ami crisply ordered him, all
the while expecting what his response to that would be.
"I can't do that," Saionji shrugged.
Ami looked at him, her expression more worried that angry, "I
don't know if I can protect both of us from her!"
Saionji actually smiled slightly, "I'd be more worried about
her."
"You haven't fought her before," Ami muttered. She sighed, "If
you won't see reason, I guess we'll have to go in."
"That isn't necessary," the cold voice said quietly. She
walked out of the cave dressed in simple clothes, a plain tunic and
pants, her long brown hair flowing behind her. She gave Ami a cold
glance, "You aren't welcome here, Mizuno."
Ami met those dark eyes, relieved to see the madness and grief
that once filled them was gone. But in it's place was a cold rage, one
that she feared would be as resistant to reason as the madness had
been. "It's vital that I speak to you," Ami said quietly.
Jun moved like a shot, the transformation overtaking her. Dark
fur swiftly covered her form, her hair raising up into stylized bat
wings as muscle bulked up her entire body. With an inhuman strength
she hammered Ami into the stone wall, her hand on the smaller girl's
throat, "Leave here!" A chill at the base of Jun's throat distracted
her from her rage, and she looked down to see the silver of a sword
blade being held there.
Saionji smiled grimly at her, "Let Ami go, right now. I don't
know if your regenerative abilities can handle a decapitation, but I
wouldn't risk it."
'I never even saw him draw,' Jun noted as she eased her grip
on Ami's throat. "Leave here," she said coldly, "I'm not interested in
what you're selling."
"I know you're angry at the Senshi," Saionji frowned at her,
"but you should at least listen to what she has to say."
Jun looked at him curiously, her long hair flowing around her
as she quietly asked, "Do you understand what she did to me, boy?"
"I know the Senshi were gone for a time, and that you were
forced to watch over Tokyo all alone," Saionji looked at her in honest
confusion.
"She didn't tell you," Jun laughed, a harsh, cold sound. "The
research, the initial theories that Asuka used, they were all based on
one thing. Professor Ami Mizuno's research into human/ animal
splicing. Without her," Jun finished, "I wouldn't even exist."
As Saionji looked at her in shock, Ami leaned up against the
wall, rubbing at her throat. "That's why I'm here," she said softly,
"I think I can cure you."
Jun looked away as she bitterly asked, "And can you cure
Katsumi, too? Or any of the others who were transformed?"
"No," Ami said to her softly. "But I've tried to understand
how Asuka corrupted my work, and I think I've reverse engineered the
virus they used."
Jun's gaze seemed to soften a bit. "No," she shook her head
slightly, "it isn't necessary. I've adapted to what I am, I'm...
content."
"Which is why you're living in a cave?" Saionji asked dryly.
Jun flashed a sudden smile, "It seems I still have fans, in
both of my identities. At least out here, I am rarely visited."
"A few have managed it," Ami rubbed at her throat, the red
mark already fading, "it's how I knew she was here." A breath, "Would
you consider visiting Crystal Tokyo?"
Jun raised an elegant eyebrow, "And why would I want to do
that."
"There are others like us," Ami answered, "who have lived a
very long time. Over the past few weeks we've been gathering there,
with more still to come." A slight smile, "At least around them, you
might not feel so.. alone, anymore."
"I'll consider it," Jun finally said, disappearing into the
darkness of her cave once again.
Characters in this Episode: Ami Mizuno is from Sailor Moon. Saionji is
from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Finally, Jun is from Devilman Lady
(released in North America simply as Devil Lady).
Author's Notes: Jun mentions Katsumi, a girl she cared about, and
possibly loved, in the Devilman Lady series. The connection between
the Devilman Lady and Ami Mizuno's research is something I added, not
from either series. When did Ami begin her studies on human/animal
fusion? Probably while studying Luna and Artemis...
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