Act # 2
Autumn is such a reflective time of year,
The falling leaves, the colors that contain beneath their waxy surfaces the memories of spring and summers past had roused his inner power,
He, the Prince of Terra, remembering the caress of the seductress of spring, took great comfort in her touch,
Moist kisses drawing the sap forth, commanding it to yield to her will,
Nourishing and coaxing the thoughts of flirtatious blossoms into full-blown wonder,
Nature, offering its love song to the wind,
An ancient tale sung, burnished by the kiss of Helios,
Mamoru, despite the strangeness of his surroundings, fell into rapture at the sensory overload that swelled his heart and a rose appeared in his trembling hands.
The Other Place
Gravity called to him, ripping him towards its fatal embrace. Mamoru could only make out the shadows that broke up the sun's lemony shafts into a miasma of refracted color.
The huge wings blocking the light made it impossible to focus. They surrounded him, she-creatures of living nightmare, their shrill squawks and screams, like those of a pterosaur coming at him from all directions as he tumbled like a misbegotten leaf ever downward.
Though they lunged at him, slapping, prodding and laughing as they poked at him with steely claws, Mamoru continued to throw the roses. First, one of the blood-red blooms would pierce a wing, then another a leg, breast, a hand or strike the creatures true between the eyes and these harpy-like enigmas would scream before bursting into flames.
He could see them now, misshapen humanoid bat-like sirens of death salivating, licking their lips. These winged denizens of this strange world were a contradiction: dark eyes, brimming with desperation, but their perfect female bodies, naked, black as pure onyx gleamed in the pale sunlight of an alien sky as they moved a little further away from his roses. They weren't youma, but were intent on killing him just the same. Yet, these were beautiful, that is, if you didn't mind long sharp fangs and venom coated tongues reminiscent of reptiles borne upon the wind.
"Helios!" Mamoru called upon his inner power, it had not deserted him.
A golden flash and he was once again in free-fall, the winged sirens of the abyss gone, for now at least anyway.
Like a comet, the man fell to Earth and the spires pealed back their crystal fronds like a Venus flytrap to reveal a deep violet throat with tongues of blue flames dancing in spirals to its core that led to an abyss.
---
He was aware of the sound of dripping water. Mamoru looked up, catching the reflection of a knot of black shiny pipes snaking their way up and around the vast chamber in which he found himself. Droplets of dirty water, like acid, fell onto the slab of stone, worn by eons of time forming an indentation in the rock. He felt giddy and closed his eyes, his head aflame with searing pain.
In the inky blackness he heard it, as if from far off, the sound of a loud splash. Lying on his back, afloat in the numbing dark of some subterranean nightmare treading water, Mamoru was aware of the heaviness of his body, as if his clothes were pulling him down.
He struggled to stay afloat, the sound of wings still beating upon his ears eventually faded to a whisper, in a tongue he could not understand. Resigned, he allowed it to lull him into an inviting void of silent peace and resignation. At first, he didn't know what he was hearing, but shook himself, aware that it was the seductive call of surrender, of Lady Death whom had laid claim to him. Mamoru resisted her lethal seduction.
The water lapping at his face roused him to action. Something huge and shapeless rived, something black, something shiny moving towards him at speed. With a huge splash, it dove, sending ripples of filthy water over his head. He coughed, and spat out as much of the foul substance as he could manage then concentrated. Mamoru could sense its mass rising beneath him. He kicked out and struck something hard, like barnacles.
Without warning, a hellish visage, part amphibian, part reptile and part humanoid, thrust its long neck and frightening head out of the murky water, mouth of razor-sharp teeth bared, its red vine-like tongue flickering before him, a hellish growl issuing from its fiery throat. The beast was huge, primal, dinosaurian, and scared the shit out of him. Closing his eyes, Mamoru once more summoned the Kinzuishou.
The terror that had grabbed his leg loosened its grip and was gone; a wisp of acrid blue steam was all that remained. He gasped, his senses on high alert, twisting his face in a grimace, the water ranked on his nostrils like a dead fish.
"Kamis only knows what that was," he murmured into the void, grateful the Kinzuishou's power had decomposed the hideous thing that had tried to pull him under.
Coughing and spluttering, he spat the water that tasted like battery acid or something similar, out of his mouth and swam towards what he hoped was solid ground.
Pulling himself onto a ledge of some kind, he knelt there for a moment or two, climbed to his feet, and began to move along the dank conduit.
Cold and dripping wet, his eyes began to adjust for what passed for light and he thought it looked familiar, well as familiar as any sewer ever looked, ubiquitous, as it might have been.
The icy chill clung to his skin like a host of leaches, as had his sodden clothing. Numb from the cold he realized something heavy was weighing down on his hips and became aware of the hat hanging beneath his shoulders, dripping with water as he moved. Ignoring it, Mamoru climbed onto another concrete walkway.
After walking for almost an hour, his digital watch that read, 3 AM, now read, 2 AM.
Mamoru shook it.
"It's a diver's watch, should be working right, but time is either running backward, or shit knows…" he muttered, and he pressed on, noticing the vents in the walls pumping hot, dry and dusty air into the long tunnel, drying his clothing.
He then heard a sucking sound, and a thump coming from somewhere behind the wall and a cry, like a bat and more thumps and another creature shrieking, as squeaks and snarls rose to a frightening crescendo before the sounds of crunching bone and something lapping hungrily made him jump back from the granite wall. Mamoru quickened his pace. Whatever this place was, it was strange and not home, of that he needed no convincing.
"Where am I, and what the hell…," he trailed off, catching the light at the end of the long tunnel, the sight making him almost laugh in disbelief as he came to an abrupt stop.
The men and women, eight of them that he could make out at least, sat before a line of consoles, the layout reminiscent of a mock-up submarine. They were in uniforms, looking like a crude version of the Shitennou, but for the naval stylization. The women he observed, in brightly colored skirts so short he thought them fan girls of the Sailor Senshi.
‘Was this a strange subterranean fan club, or something else?' of that, he wasn't sure.
Mamoru would make it his business to fine out, and moved gingerly towards the surreal chamber. He squelched, rather than strode towards the group.
‘What the fuck am I doing?' he asked himself, realizing that there were eight of them, and all wearing side arms and only one of him and if they meant to-.
"Kamis preserve my sanity, a big robust lad cried, bowing and spluttering an apology, and rousing the others to Mamoru’s presence, “Please, Forgive us, gunslinger; we didn't mean to ignore you.”
Then a pretty green-eyed blonde with hair in a braid that fell to her waist, reminding him of a diminutive china doll spoke up, “Surely you are on a mission for the light?"
He didn't get it, him, a what?
"Mission… yes, a mission," reaching for a thread that would buy him a little more time, he came up with the only thing he could think of, and hoped it was convincing. Either way, it had to do. "I hit my head, I was jumped upon by dark scum…, I am unsure of where-"
"My Lord Gunslinger, sire, please, let us take care of you,” the girl with eyes as large as saucers said, taking his hand and leading him to a nearby chair, “Allow me to arrange a little food and a bed for the night.”
“Arigatou,” he said, and she beamed.
“You are most welcome, my Lord Gunslinger!”
After he had eaten a hot meal, washing it down with coffee that was extraordinarily good, he stood up and stretched his legs.
The golden haired girl, whose name he discovered was Adriana, sat and made small talk while Mamoru continued to pace. “Our headquarters are sparse and not as comfortable or grand as you are used to, but it is clean, dry and our food is good."
Then a young military looking man, though more like a teenage pirate wearing a silver headband with a samurai sword strapped over his back and an eye patch bowed.
He was in Japan, Tokyo perhaps, but a Tokyo not like his own. Mamoru returned the gesture.
"Arigatou," was all he could manage.
Symbols, representing the planets of the old alliance, Moon and Terran Kingdoms were emblazed upon every wall; the badges they wore also bore these stylized motifs.
Mamoru wondered if he were dead or just dreaming as the girl in a body hugging top and skirt with legs that seemed to go on forever and a smile that meant no nonsense strode towards him like a cat gunning for the cream. She had a carbon fiber machinegun strapped over her shoulder, and he observed lots of cleavage.
Bowing, Mamoru cleared his throat, and cursed himself for being so tongue-tied and at his nether regions that of their own volition swelled in the face of this girl's sexual magnetism. She was comely all right. She radiated kindness and something else, pure animal lust. She handed him a goblet of wine and smiled.
"I am Aurania. Drink Sire Gunslinger, it is a restorative brew and fine wine combined."
He nodded and drank, sipping at first, and feeling the soothing heat flowing through his battered and bruised body he gulped the rest down in two swallows and handed back the empty vessel. She winked, licked her lips and spun around, her sumptuous locks swirling about her hips like a fan.
The leggy woman bade him follow; his eyes could not help but glide over her curvy frame as she glided deeper into the compound, his eyes returning to her rounded hips, and those exquisite dusky bare legs in calf-length grey boots that had him mesmerized. Her hair was a strange purple-pink color and he wondered if she dyed it when she slowed, turned to meet his eyes, and held out her hand. It glowed, with golden light.
"I'm Terran Magi, Sire Gunslinger, I can heal your injuries and…" He slid into a comfortable space, her eyes blazing with a heat that was ageless and seductive. She spoke again, "warm yourself, take refuge in the inner and outer fire. I feel your need, I feel it burning inside you, come."
He was like putty in her palm, "Yes, I would appreciate that…" not realizing what exactly she had in mind, his willpower deserted him.
Mamoru, by this time in a euphoric state, felt as if he were on a carousel of joy. He didn't care. The wine had done something to him, but there was time enough for worrying over that later.
"You are a bright one and I am your twin-flame," Aurania said, touching his cheek and winding her arms around his waist. He could smell her then, the flowers in her hair, a perfume, musky and wild.
Before he knew it, he was kissing her.
'What the hell are you doing, Chiba Mamoru?' a voice screamed inside his head. ‘But, she's not real. She's just a fantasy, the result of a bump on the head, of-' his hands no longer under his will, betraying him. He was so tired. His body heavy. The cry of his loins knew no other voice at that moment but this siren's, she soon had Mamoru out of his clothes, having flung his hat, gun belt over an overturned crate. Then a silvery-blue fire, of its own accord, appeared in mid-air.
She smiled, and as he gazed upon her now naked form, she giggled. "Magic is a blessing is it not, Sire Gunslinger," she purred, taking him in her hands and running her fingertips over places he'd thought the icy water had almost rendered useless. But the heat from her touch brought more than simply pleasure to his body as a blaze of golden light enveloped them both as he kissed her again, deepening the kiss.
‘What was the harm anyway'
Fighting the urge was futile. He groaned with the pleasure of her as she became bolder in her caresses of which he delighted, Feeling the fire crackling within his spinal column as the power of Earth surged forth unfettered by any moral reserves on his part to meet the Goddess of Fire, his want of her pouring over him like a tidal wave. Without a shred of hesitation or caution, Mamoru took her. He slid off her panties, lifted her onto a steel table, the cold metal surface hadn't fazed the girl as she opened herself up before him like a spring bloom, her gleaming skin offering her bounty for the honeyeater.
Pulling his head to her warm breasts, he thought of nothing else in that moment, trailing kisses down her body, closing his eyes as he had his fill of her, matching the sultry Aurania stroke for stroke and thrust for thrust as they made love. Thinking it a wild fantastic dream, he gave into this fire vixen.
---
"Fuck! Was it all a dream?" he moaned, feeling something hard under his head and running the length of his stiff limbs. However, he could smell her, her scent, her perfume on his skin and clothes, but where was she, and where was he now?
"Surely it was a dream, wasn't it?"
As his head stopped spinning, he leaned over, and lost his lunch. Gripping the wooden bench, he took in deep breaths of fresh air. Gingerly, he rolled back onto his back and lay there for a time, refusing to open his eyes.
With some effort, Mamoru sat up and opened his eyes, and squinted against the light. As his vision cleared, he gasped.
"What is going on?"
Everything looked so real: the clothes he wore, and the – gun belt? Yes, it was a gun belt, bullets of golden metal shining in the late afternoon sunlight, not a flake of snow in sight. All that felt as if it were fable, an old man's tale, or old woman's if you will. Mamoru was sure he had left another dream behind, but now wasn't the time to speculate, his head ached and his mouth tasted like the bottom of a birdcage. He hawked and spat into a patch of overgrown weeds. Shrugging vigorously, he attempted to get the stiffness out of his bruised and battered body.
Mamoru dared to look skyward, "not a single cloud in the sky, what is this place? Yeah, I've fallen into the rabbit whole and am in… wherever it is; it's not Juuban, at least, if so, not the Juuban I know."
He blinked, and surveyed his surroundings, the park looked neglected, and the wind was blowing dust and debris over the pathways, and as he began to move, he heard the clinking of stirrups and the weight of six-guns, and suddenly aware of it, a hat, a cowboy hat no less. He plucked it from around his neck to examine it then remembered.
"She called me, Sire Gunslinger? Oh, Aurania, she was real!" he felt a flush and a burning sense of guilt and regret. "But surely this couldn't all be real, could it? Either somebody is playing a joke on me or-"
"Gunslinger!" a voice, a familiar voice, called out behind him. He spun around to face the sexy looking woman before him who was looking him up and down, and her lascivious eyes made him feel a little uneasy. It was Rei all right, but he'd never seen her quite like this. She wore a camel colored mini-skirt, her mid-riff bared and very tanned, the skirt itself held up by a white leather belt that must have been five inches wide, a matching vest, hat and calf-length boots with gold stars, and a whip that sparked in her hand that she threatened to use. Was she some kind of dream dominatrix or practicing for the circus? If so, it would have been the kinkiest circus in town. Now, he caught himself thinking like a lawman, which he was as it turned out, he smirked and strolled toward the leggy woman who eyed him curiously.
"Rei?" he drawled, in a slight accent that had more in keeping with spaghetti westerns than his usual cultured speech.
"Of course it's me, Sheriff Endymion. I think you've lost it, come on, we've got some business to attend to at the Crown Saloon, and if you be feeling a little frisky," she wiggled her shapely butt, "There's time for that later, if you've got that lil meatball brained child out of your system!"
"Usagi?"
"You flirting with some other chick? I shouldn't be surprised. Of course, it’s that girl you call Bunny! She would be so upset if she knew you looked at, let alone, slept with another woman."
"Huh?" All he could do was stare as Rei pirouetted, and curtseyed, wiggling her ass once more and laughed. "C'mon, dreamboat, we've got some youma to snag and tar and feather. We need every gunslinger we can find. Have you forgotten the face of your father? Now, move it!"
"Yes ma'am…" he heard himself say, donning a cheesy grin.
‘This is so freaking weird, I am even talking, acting and like – I am a gunslinger,'
As if to emphasize the fact, he drew the golden weapons and spun them at lightning speed, smiled, slipping these back into their holsters, warming to his new life. If it were a dream, to hell with trying to puzzle it out, he was going to have a little fun with all this.
