[FFML] [SM][Draft 1] The Beast Within - Chapter 1

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:39:59 -0700 

Author's note: This is a fic I was working on, but never was quite  
happy with it, and had forgot where I was going with it. Recently, I  
got re-entranced with the idea, so I dusted it off and did some  
rewriting. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: No money is being made from this and no such intent  
should be inferred.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The thickly  
muscled forearm slapped the books  
out of the teenager's arms,  
causing her blue eyes to go wide.

"Well, well," the owner of the  
forearm said, sneering. "A  
trespasser." The teenager looked  
at each of them as she began  
slowly backing up.

"Um...its wrong to trespass, so  
I'll just be going." She gave them  
a big hopeful smile.

"Relax. All we require is a small  
fee to aid us in the governing of  
our territory," the leader said  
smoothly, "and then you may  
continue."

"I don't have any money," she  
said, backing up a little  
faster. "I suppose I'll have to  
leave." The trio snickered.

"Relax," said the leader as his  
confederate's arm snaked out and  
grabbed the teenager's arm. "We  
take payment in many forms. Step  
into our office and we'll explain  
them to you." With that, he began  
dragging her towards a nearby  
alleyway while the third member of  
the trio scooped up her dropped  
things so no passerby would get  
suspicious and start poking his  
nose into matters that didn't  
really concern him.

                        ****                               
            
The radio filled the room with  
its deep rich sound quality. At  
this particular point in time, the  
radio was tuned to a local news  
station.
       
"And in local news, authorities  
remain baffled as to what it was  
that tore three young men,  
tenitivly identified as members of  
the Blood Dragons, a street gang,  
to shreds. Though the police  
remain closemouthed, a detective  
had this to say." The sound of an  
older man's voice came out of the  
radio. 

"We're still working on it, but  
it looks like they picked the  
wrong person and regretted it. The  
look on what's left of their faces  
certainly seems to indicate they  
were regretting something when  
they died." The reporter's voice  
returned. 

"A local woman, who spoke only on  
condition of anyomittity, said  
that she heard what sounded like  
the growling and snarling of a  
very large animal. More as it  
becomes available." A tall, barrel- 
chested man snapped the radio off  
and gazed at the people gathered  
around the table. They were all  
looking at him.

"I think we've heard enough," he  
said, opening the binder before  
him. "There is a were loose in  
Tokyo, and where there is one,  
there is usually others. We must  
ascertain the number of the pack's  
members, who they are, and deal  
with them."

"But, grandfather," said the  
young man seated at his right. The  
term was more one of respect,  
there were no actual blood ties  
between the two. "It may be a  
single were who simply wishes to  
be left alone." He locked eyes  
with his mentor. "Besides, the  
Order of St. Tulle exists to  
protect innocents from those who  
would steal it. The Blood Dragons  
are hardly innocents and chances  
are, they provoked it."

"A single were means a Ronin, and  
a Ronin were usually has something  
wrong with them," the older man  
replied. "Today the Blood Dragons,  
tomorrow, that blond girl you like  
so much." The younger man's eyes  
narrowed for a split second.

"That was a low blow," he hissed.

"But its the truth, and she's as  
innocent as they come." The  
younger man didn't reply. "Now  
then," said the elder, "here is  
how we will proceed."

                          ****
                                               
"Hey, guys," said the manager of  
the Arcade, a blond haired youth  
named Andrew. "How's it going?"

"Look!" squealed the blond girl,  
her hair done up in twin odangos,  
waving the piece of paper in his  
face.

"Not bad, Serena," Andrew dug in  
the pocket of his apron and came  
up with some tokens. "A round of  
the new Sailor V. On the house."  
Serena laughed with delight and  
ran for the video games. "She's  
certainly happy over a C," Andrew  
observed to his friend, a tall  
black haired youth named Darien.

"That's part of her gift," Darien  
said with a smile. "She can be  
happy when everyone is down and  
you can't help but be happy with  
her." Then he lowered his  
voice. "We have a were, possibly a  
Ronin." Andrew winced.

"We don't need that."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Not all  
Ronin's are bad. Don't ask me why,  
but something tells me this were  
is better off just being left  
alone."

                            ****   
                                        
"Amy Andrea Angela Marie  
Anderson!" The blue haired girl  
stopped short at her mother's  
tone. Use of her full name was  
sign that she was in trouble.

"Yes, Mother?" Doctor Sarah  
Anderson thrust the evening paper  
into her daughter's face.  
Blinking, Amy held the paper at  
arm's length and read the  
headlines which announced the  
grisly find in the alleyway. The  
older woman crossed her arms.

"Well?" she demanded. "Now would  
you like to explain why you came  
home in Lupushomid?"

"I didn't have a choice!" Amy  
snapped. "They wanted to rape me!  
I am not going to give up my  
virginity just so the Pack can  
cower in fear from the Order!" The  
sound of skin on skin was loud in  
the hallway as hand connected with  
cheek.

"We do not, 'Cower. In. Fear.'"  
Doctor Anderson's voice was very  
soft. "Nor will we allow humans to  
track us and label us like cattle."

"I won't sacrifice my virginity  
just to protect the pack!" Amy  
shot back, her eyes taking on the  
yellow tint that signaled an  
imminate transformation.

"You jeopardized our existence!"  
Doctor Anderson half shouted back,  
her eyes taking on the yellow tint  
as well. It was the ringing of the  
phone that saved the two from  
coming to blows.

"Anderson Residence," Amy said as  
she picked it up. "Oh, hello, Lita."

"Hey, Ames, Serena got a C on her  
math test and Darien's taking her  
for pizza to celebrate. We're  
invited to come along. You in?"  
Amy shot a sidelong glance at her  
mother. "Sure, Lita."

"Cool. We're at the Crown. See  
you here!" Then there was the  
click and the hum of the dial tone.

Without looking back, Amy grabbed  
her coat and her chem book, and  
left. As the door slammed shut,  
Sarah Anderson sighed, passing a  
weary hand over her eyes. Amy was  
right, the pack elders had no  
right to ask her to sacrifice her  
virginity just to keep a secret.  
On the other hand, there had been  
no need for her to kill them so  
messily. Now the Order would be  
scouring the whole city, searching  
for her. For them.
              
                                     
              ****          
                     
The pizza party went well, and  
the topic of the murdered gang  
members was mentioned only  
briefly. Which was all the better  
for Amy as she was still trying to  
recover her self-control. The  
Beast had a long memory and  
combined with the fact that her  
mother could be . . . grating, it  
was a wonder she hadn't gone  
changed and fought her mother  
right there.  Though the building  
they lived in was full of their  
fellow weres, it was considered  
bad form to strike your parent,  
and Amy, having a human father,  
was frowned on by the clan as it  
was. Striking her mother would  
have led to...to....Banishment and  
conference of the title Ronin. Her  
insides twisted with revulsion.

"Hey, Ames? Ames?" Amy blinked.  
Lita was looking at her with some  
concern. "You okay? You're looking  
a little sick."

"I'm fine, Lita. Just one to many  
late nights catching up on me I  
guess." She gave the brown haired  
girl her best smile, praying she  
wouldn't pursue it. Then again,  
maybe she should tell them. They  
never kept secrets from each  
other, they were too close.  
Unbidden, she thought of Haruna  
and Michiru. Some of them were  
closer then others. But no. The  
Law was very clear. No Outsiders  
except in very special  
circumstances. On the other hand,  
these were her friends. If anyone  
could handle her secret, it would  
be them. But could she tell them?

                                   ****                     

"...So then I slammed it into  
her, knocking her off her feet  
just as the buzzer sounded! We  
still lost, but that was the best  
moment of the game for me." The  
Senshi were gathered at Raye's  
place listening to Mina recount  
the final moments of that  
morning's soccer game. Amy stared  
at her books. How do you tell your  
closest friends that you weren't  
entirely human? Blinking, she  
tried to focus on her trig once  
more, but couldn't.

"Amy?" She looked up to see Raye  
and the others looking at  
her. "You said you had something  
to tell us?" Amy swallowed hard.

"Well, I ..." She sighed and held  
out her hand. "It's easier if I  
show you." She was about to will  
the transformation, but then they  
heard sounds of screaming from  
outside. As one, out came the  
scout pens and five separate  
voices called on power of the  
Starseeds.

                                   ****              
                     
The monster, Jupiter reflected,  
was ugly. It looked like a  
minotaur, but with batlike wings  
and a long, spiked tail. This, she  
decided as the monster's hands  
began to glow, would be easy.

                                   ****                            
       

Her first thought when she awoke  
in a haze of pain was that she  
needed a new definition of easy.  
She and the others were shackled  
to slanted tables in a large room.  
Behind a bank of controls, a  
wizened little gnome in a lab coat  
fiddled with knobs and dials.

"Starseed bearer awake!" He  
chortled, coming around the  
machinery. "Much trouble I go  
through to obtain Starseeds, yes."  
He pushed a stool over to her and  
spent the next several minutes  
peering into her eyes, taking hair  
and skin samples, and poking and  
prodding. All the while, muttering  
to himself and giggling. Finally  
he stopped and climbed off the  
stool. "Yes. Test tolerance now."  
Chuckling, he went off and  
returned pushing a large machine  
on wheels. Jupiter's eyes widened.  
She had seen it before. In the  
hospital ER. It was a crash cart,  
only a lot bigger. Cackling to  
himself, the gnome attached the  
leads to her forehead, collarbone,  
and hands.

"Wha-What are you doing?" The  
gnome peered at her.

"Must be sure Starseed is pure.  
Must test how well it handles  
pain. Hm? You cooperate with  
Silmas. Yes?"

"No!" Jupiter snapped, glaring at  
him with hate filled eyes. "I  
demand you let me and my friends  
go now!" To her surprise, the  
gnome considered it.

"No. Must have Starseed." With  
that, he went back to work. "Your  
life go for good cause. Bring  
Silmas much honor." Climbing the  
small ladder, he perched on the  
machine. "Now we test." He pushed  
a button and the Senshi of Thunder  
screamed.

                                       ****       
                            
Her body ached. She could barely  
move. Dimly, she could hear the  
sound of Mars screaming as their  
tormentor performed his sadistic  
little tests. Blearily, she opened  
her eyes to see the gnome  
attaching the leads to Mercury.  
Struggling, she tried to break the  
bonds.

"No." She said, her voice a  
hoarse whisper. "Not Mercury . . .  
not Amy . . ." She tried to move,  
but her body refused to respond.  
She could only watch in horror as  
the gnome climbed his damned  
machine and pressed the button.  
Mercury screamed as the  
electricity poured through her.  
Then suddenly the screaming  
stopped. Mercury's head fell  
forward, her teeth clenched tight  
her entire body shaking.

"Eh?" Silmas climbed down from  
the machine and up onto his stool  
to have a closer look. "Starseed  
Bearer?" Mercury's head snapped  
up, her eyes were blazing yellow.

"No more," Mercury growled, as  
brown hair began to rapidly cover  
her face, her head seemed to  
change shape as her arms  
thickened. Her costume began to  
tear as her ears moved up her head  
and became pointed. With no  
effort, she tensed, and the  
shackles snapped off as she  
continued to grow. Within moments,  
Mercury had been replaced by seven  
foot tall beast. Its hands were  
large and powerful, the head most  
definitely that of a wolf's and  
there was murder in its eyes as it  
advanced on Silmas.

"Starseed Bearer?" Silmas seemed  
unable to believe what he was  
seeing. Then he shook his head,  
getting a grip on himself and  
shouted something in a strange,  
harsh language. No sooner had the  
words left his lips then the  
monster came running in, roaring.  
Mercury roared a reply and the two  
collided in the thud of flesh  
against flesh. The battle that  
followed could only be described  
as primal. Wounds were carved that  
healed almost instantly, jaws  
ripped out chunks of flesh and  
bone fragments littered the floor.  
Jupiter watched as long as she  
could before blacking out once more.

When she awoke, Mercury was  
standing over her, her face human  
and her fuku intact.

"Don't," Mercury said, pushing  
Jupiter back down as the green  
clad Senshi started to sit  
up. "You've suffered extreme  
electrical shock and you have to  
stay still. The ambulance is on  
its way."

"I saw," Jupiter gasped  
out. "You . .  turned into . . .  
monster."

Mercury shook her head. "You need  
to transform back into Lita.  
Hurry. The ambulance is almost  
here."

"Saw . . . you."

"Transform back, Jupiter. Please?"

Jupiter complied. "Saw . . .  
you . . . wolf . . ." she managed  
before she passed out again.

Mercury took the pen from Lita's  
hand and looked around. Silmas was  
gone, and he'd taken that monster  
of his with him. She looked back  
down at Lita.

Hopefully when she awoke, Lita  
would think that what she'd seen  
was a dream, but Mercury knew that  
there were more pressing concerns  
to worry about.

She looked down at the button  
she'd ripped off Silmas' clothing.  
Every werewolf alive knew this  
symbol, and feared it even more  
than the Order.

If the Bloody Bones were in  
Tokyo, then the Senshi were bound  
to get involved. If they did . . .  
she decided not to think about that.

She looked down at the symbol  
again and slipped the button into  
her pocket as she heard the sirens  
approaching.

Time to go.

*************

Tokyo Central Hospital, the next  
afternoon...

"Lita?"
       
"Hm?" Lita looked up at Raye.
       
"You seem distant. What's wrong?"  
The two girls were seated in  
wheelchairs on the patio of Tokyo  
Central Hospital, taking in some  
much needed sunshine and fresh air.

Lita grunted a reply and resumed  
staring at the trees on the  
grounds. Raye tried a few more  
times to engage her in  
conversation, and then went back  
inside.

"I know what I saw," Lita  
muttered to herself. "I know what  
I saw!" she exclaimed softly as  
she banged her fist on the arm of  
the chair with each word. "It  
wasn't a dream, I know it  
wasn't . . . and I'm going to  
prove it."

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