Author: Devin de Gruyl Title: _Pretty Soldier Sailor Andromeda_ Episode 101: "It Happened One Night" Size: About 60K Rating: PG-13 (language, brief nudity) Abstract: A SM fanfic author's life is twisted completely around when his own creation, Lina "Sailor Andromeda" Takashi, is brought to life under mysterious circumstances. First in a proposed 24-episode series. E-mail: ddegruyl@infinet.com Homepage: http://www.infinet.com/~ddegruyl/smoon/pssa.htm [A word to the wise: Do not be misled by the seeming tired familiarity of this story's title, nor its painfully familiar opening paragraphs. If you'll just bear with me, I think you'll quickly discover that, of all the "fanfic Sailors" that have proliferated online, our friend Lina Takashi is... well, something quite different. You only *think* you know her...] Pretty Soldier Sailor Andromeda Episode 101 "It Happened One Night" by Devin de Gruyl (The here-we-go-again Kid) --- Sailor Andromeda felt a series of chills run through her spine as she approached the end of the cavern. Behind that door just ahead, she knew, lay the ultimate test of her abilities. There was almost no telling what Zalania had in store for her... she heard an inner voice complain. "OK, I'm scared," she muttered under her breath in reply. "But who wouldn't be?" Lina, of course, knew the answer to that. *She* wouldn't be - at least, not normally. But this was no longer a matter of simply polishing off one of the many legions of cookie-cutter monsters Zalania had thrown her way. She was now going one-on-one with the self-proclaimed heir apparent to Queen Beryl's throne - and somebody who had already either captured or killed the other Sailor Senshi. That meant all the old rules went flying right out the window. She had reached the huge stone doors that, she knew, lead directly to Zalania's inner sanctum. She paused, took a deep breath, surreptitiously crossed herself for luck - that was a gesture she'd picked up from Rei, and her Catholic-school background - and, feeling about as ready as she ever would be, pushed the doors open and stepped inside. No sooner had she crossed the threshold than she heard a loud *CRASH!* from behind her. With a little gasp, Andromeda threw a glance over her shoulder to find that the doors had, indeed, slammed shut behind her. No turning back now. Lina took a moment to regain her composure, and pressed gamely forward. There was only one way out of this now, and that was straight ahead... through Zalania herself. After only a few steps, Andromeda heard a booming voice that seemed to come from all directions at once: "So, you've finally arrived." Andromeda wildly scanned the darkened room, searching in vain for the source of the voice. "Who said that?!" she demanded. "Show yourself!" "Very well -- you've earned the right to know your executioner." A series of footsteps could be heard, as eventually a dark, slender female figure began to emerge from the shadows in front of Andromeda. "Zalania, I presume," she muttered. Her opponent twisted her lips into an evil smile. "Correction, my dear - *Queen* Zalania, ruler of the Dark Kingdom." "Yeah, whatever," Andromeda growled. "Am I supposed to be impressed by that?" "You impudent little...!!!" But Zalania got hold of herself. "...ah well, not that it matters; I'll be rid of you very shortly. Observe!" With a grand flourish, the entire room became bathed in light. Lina instinctively blinked and shielded her eyes while they adjusted to the sudden change. When she was able to look around her again, she gasped in horror. Lining the walls of the room... were the other Sailor Senshi. Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Sailor Moon herself. All fully encased in crystal. All with expressions of terror frozen on their faces. None showing any signs of life. Zalania seemed to take great delight in Andromeda's mute horror. "Oh, they're not dead," she explained, as if that made any difference. "They're fully aware of everything going on around them - they just can't do anything about it. It makes their suffering so much more... *enjoyable*, don't you think?" Andromeda could only stare in slack-jawed shock at the horrific sight all around her. Her friends... the people who had put their trust in her... "...y-y... you..." she muttered, her voice gradually increasing in volume and fury. "...you... you *MONSTER!!!*" "Why, thank you," Zalania said, with just a touch of sweetness permeating the hateful tone in her voice. Andromeda, however, was not amused. "Go to Hell," she spat. "GALACTIC VORTEX!!!" A large tornado appeared in her cupped hands, which she "shot" at Zalania by making a pitcher's motion at Zalania. The self-professed Queen of Darkness, however, had no trouble at all leaping over the projectile. "SPIRIT GALE!!!" Again, though, Zalania appeared totally unaffected by Andromeda's attack. She stood like a rock against the hurricane-force winds the Spirit Gale summoned up against her. "Very amusing," Zalania admitted. "Too bad playtime's over..." With that, she unleashed an attack of her own. About twenty or so fireballs materialized around her body, which then unleashed themselves in Lina's direction. Direct hit. Lina screamed as the flames seared her flesh and knocked her to the ground. This was almost unreal. In all of the time she had been doing this, she had never felt pain anywhere closely resembling what she now felt. It was almost as if the fires were designed to drain away all of her reserves, leaving her powerless. Gamely, she struggled back to her feet, choking on the acrid smoke that rose from the char-marks on her formerly pristine Senshi uniform. "You're... gonna have... to do better... than that," she managed through all the agony she was feeling. Zalania almost shrugged. "Fine with me." And let loose with another attack, just like the last one. It had the same result. Andromeda crumpled to the floor the instant the first fireball made contact. She made no effort to get back up again this time; the pain was now so intense she literally could not feel her arms or legs anymore. Zalania stared down at her beaten adversary, and cackled in triumph. "I knew you'd never be a match for me," she gloated. "Now, you can join your friends in eternal sleep!" There was no trace of Lina's earlier flippancy now; her gaze was one of terror, and if it had been a graceful option, she very likely would have begged for her life. Wincing, she tried to think of a plan, even as Zalania began chanting the words that would entomb her in crystal for all eternity... --- "..." Gary stared dumbly at the screen for several minutes, trying to figure this situation out. This is where he kept running into trouble; Sailor Andromeda had to find herself in an inescapable situation in order to heighten the drama and intensity of this, the final encounter between her and the evil Zalania. After eighteen chapters of buildup, this almost HAD to be a show- stopping, edge-of-your-seat, explosive climax. The perfect way to do that would be to have poor Lina try to get herself out of the ultimate deathtrap. And therein lay the problem Gary Evans was having. He had made his villain TOO good, at least in this situation. There was almost no way on God's green earth that Lina could extricate herself from this predicament. Or at least, none that he could see. Briefly, he flashed back to a story he had once read - probably apocryphal - about how Chester Gould, the creator of the "Dick Tracy" comic strip, had once written the famous lantern-jawed detective into a deathtrap that was so inescapable, so diabolically perfect, that even *he* was stumped as to how he'd pull his creation's bacon from the fire. His initial decision, one that was quickly and wisely shot down by his friends, was to simply have Tracy break the "fourth wall," complaining to the unseen artist that "OK, you've *really* done it this time, Gould, NOW what?!" - at which point, a hand would have been shown actually *erasing* the imminent threat to Tracy's life, allowing the story to continue... in effect, the ultimate deus ex machina. It was a clever, inventive, and potentially funny solution... but, from a dramatic standpoint, it stunk. And Gary knew better than to try anything like that. However, at the moment, it seemed the only way to save Andromeda's life. Unless, of course, he could come up with something better... he thought, "Yeah, shut up, I know," he answered himself out loud, as if this would do any good. "I'm thinkin'... I'm thinkin'..." He always thought best when he was on his feet. He stood up from his computer and started to pace around his studio apartment. He crossed to the picture window. He wandered over to the staircase leading to the loft bedroom. Finally, as if to complete the imaginary triangle he was walking, he went to the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee. It was no use; he just couldn't think of anything. He had made her injuries hurt too much, he had made Zalania too resistant to her attacks, and he'd even foregone giving her any kind of last-resort, deus ex machina escape route. Gary sighed deeply and resigned himself to having to rewrite his big climax yet again. This had all been so much easier when he was just starting on this story, when he had far more latitude with the plot and could mold it into different directions almost at will. But now, at the climactic point, he was fairly well locked in to just one course of action. He had now spent almost a full year of his life documenting the adventures of Lina Takashi, AKA Sailor Andromeda, for the benefit of Sailor Moon fans the world over. Prior to this, he had never really written any fiction of any kind, let alone anime-based fan fiction. He didn't even really consider himself a writer at all. Gary cut off that thought before it could take over his mind - as thinking about Naomi invariably did. The passing of more than one year did nothing to erase the sadness over what had happened to her... nor his own guilt over it. In any event, "The Adventures of Sailor Andromeda" had become something of a cult favorite among the hordes of SM fanfic readers. He received, on average, six fan e-mails per week praising him for creating Lina and giving her such a fun, likable personality. In a fanfic world literally flooded with dozens and dozens of cookie-cutter "new" Sailor Senshi - above and beyond the thirteen total that had been seen in the actual SM anime - Lina Takashi had a certain attitude, a certain stylishness that put her in a league entirely separate from all others like her. "An obvious labor of love," one notable fanfic reviewer had remarked. "The author clearly likes Lina a great deal, as a person as well as a character, and thus has infused her with one of the most complete personalities of any fanfic Sailor to date." If only those fans knew what had inspired her creation... Gary sighed, and poured the rest of the coffee down the drain. "This just isn't working," he commented aloud. "I'll just have to come back to this in the morning... maybe I'll come up with something in a dream..." With a groan, he went back to his computer, saved the work he had already done (in the faint hope he'd be able to salvage it later), and powered it down. Then, in a moment of self-consciousness, he peeked out the large picture-window doors that led to the apartment's balcony. From here, he had a decent view of the parking lot, and the small forested area surrounding it. Recently, within the last two weeks, there had been reports of some tough-looking customers lurking around down there in the middle of the night, preying on unsuspecting visitors and returning residents. However, as yet, nobody had said Word One about them to the police. Gary, by nature an inquisitive sort, found that very strange. He had made a point to try and find out if these stories had any truth to them at all, but so far, he hadn't had any luck. Tonight looked to be no different. He looked, but could not find any hint of movement or anything out of the ordinary. "Ah well..." he sighed, drawing the curtain closed. "Who did you think you were, Lt. Columbo or somebody?" With that, he trudged up the stairs to the bedroom loft, and within minutes he was asleep. He had no way of knowing that his life was about to change forever... --- As Gary slept, a very odd thing happened in the apartment. Without any outside help, the computer suddenly activated, running through its BIOS startup. However, at the point when it would have started to load Windows, it seemed to freeze. Gradually, the image on the screen glowed brighter and brighter, swallowing up all the text until the screen just showed a very bright light. It continued to shine, far beyond the point where a monitor's picture tube would normally have burned out. Finally, at about a level where the human retina would have been scorched even through squeezed­shut eyelids, something even stranger began. The light from the monitor coalesced itself into a sphere, a virtual ball of light energy. This traveled off the screen, and slowly began to make its way across the living room, to the couch. Once it got there, it settled itself onto the cushions... and, once it had come to rest, began to change its form. It grew to an oblong shape fairly quickly. Eventually, what looked to be arms and legs could begin to be made out, as gradually its light dimmed and lost its intensity. Slowly, but surely, more details - a head, fingers, toes, hair, eyes, and the rough outline of a human body - could be discerned. By the time the last of the light had faded, its form had become that of a nude, sleeping human female, curled up on the couch in a fetal position. After a moment, she snapped her eyes open... --- Some strange noises filtered up from the main room of the apartment to the loft. Gary awoke with a start when his ears registered the sounds as something quite unnatural for this ungodly hour of the morning. "...huh... whuzzat...? Whoozere?" Gary fumbled around in bed, trying to locate the edge. His brain was always the last thing to come on-line in the morning. Finding his slippers, he managed to remember how to sit up, push his way off the bed to his feet, and quietly make his way to the top of the staircase leading down. It was only as he put his foot on the first stair that his brain finally clicked into the "on" position. Nervously, he managed a voice that came as close as he could at the moment to "commanding". "Who's down there?" No response. Just the continued noises of somebody rummaging around downstairs - the kitchen, probably, from the sounds they were making. Gary could hear silverware tinkling and glasses clinking together, as if they were systematically going through every drawer and cabinet. Gary looked sharply around the loft for anything he could use as a weapon. He had to settle for a small table lamp beside his bed. It was the only thing he had that could be used to defend against any personal assault - everything else up here was either too large, too small, or dirty clothes. He unplugged the lamp, removed the shade and light bulb, and brandished it with both hands as if it were a saber. "I said, who's down there?!" he called again from the loft railing. "I'm warning you, I'm armed and dangerous!" Still no reply. "OK, I'm coming down there, and if I see anybody, I'm callin' the cops!" He started down the stairs slowly - - and kept his eyes and ears warily open for any sudden motions around him. The main room was undisturbed; everything seemed to be where Gary had left it before going to bed. He noted that his computer's monitor was on. he thought, Muttering to himself, he reached over and shut down the system. A light was coming from the kitchen area of the apartment. Just as Gary had thought. From this distance, he couldn't quite make out who was there... but there was definitely somebody in there. Stealthily, he crept over to the kitchen... took a moment to hide himself behind a wall, as he'd seen cops do in movies... and, finally, brandishing his lamp, whirled around and jumped into the kitchen. Gary froze when he saw his intruder. He could only gape open-mouthed at what was here to greet him. The girl standing before him was completely naked. She had thick red hair, large green eyes, and seemed to be completely unaware of her own nudity. She looked him in the eye as if absolutely nothing were wrong or out of the ordinary. "Hi there," she said in a bright, perky voice. "This your apartment?" The only thing that came out of Gary's mouth was a series of tight, unconnected sound effects. The girl reached over to him and gently, almost playfully, pushed his lower jaw into a closed position. "You're starting to catch flies there, ya know," she grinned. "Y-y-y...you-you..." Gary stammered, trying to regain control of his mouth. "...you're... you're... got no... no..." "Huh?" She gave him a puzzled look. "What's wrong?" Gary continued to stutter, but managed to point the girl in the direction of a clock on the wall. (It was the only reflective surface outside of the bathroom mirror in the apartment.) She shrugged. "Yeah, so? I know what time it is --" She cut herself off when she turned towards the clock and got a glance at her reflection in the polished-silver face. Gary could see the light gradually dawn on his "guest" that she wasn't wearing any clothes. When it hit her, she screamed! Gary winced at the sound. "Keep it down!" he whispered loudly. "These walls aren't very thick, and my landlord's right next door!" The girl just screamed again and made a futile effort to cover herself with her arms. She was absolutely in hysterics, and Gary got even more worried. As his uninvited guest raced madly around the room, he silently began going over a mental list of other apartment buildings in the area... A loud and insistent knocking came at the door. Gary thought. Quickly, he seized the rampaging madwoman by the arms. "Shhhhhh, quiet, calm down!!" he hissed. "Listen to me --" "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!!" she shouted frantically. "RAPE!!! RAPE --" "Shut UP!" He punctuated the point by clamping his hand over her mouth. She obligingly clammed up. "Now, you listen to me and do EXACTLY what I say, and maybe we won't both get our butts thrown out on the street, got it?!" She nodded vigorously. "OK then..." He pointed to the foot of the staircase, where a linen closet with a sliding door was situated. "Go in there and close the door - and for God's sake, keep your mouth SHUT! I'll let you out when I get rid of this guy..." She surprised Gary by actually following his order. When she had been safely tucked away in the closet, Gary ran to the front door of the apartment. After hyperventilating a few breaths to create an illusion of discombobulation - not hard to do, given what had just happened - he opened the door. "IcanexplainMrCaldwellpleasedon'tkickmeoutofthebuildingIcanexplain," he breathlessly managed. The imposing landlord stepped into the apartment with blood in his eye and (Gary fervently hoped not) eviction on his mind. "What goes on in here, Evans?!" he demanded. "SOME people SLEEP during the night, you know!" "I'm sorry, really," Gary continued, speaking as if his life depended on it. For all he knew, it just may have. "I just must have had the TV turned up too loud..." Mr. Caldwell scoffed. "Oh *really*? We'll see about THAT..." He crossed over to where the TV was, and put his hand on the vents in the back. "Hmm, it's ice cold. Now *that's* rather odd, isn't it?" Gary just laughed nervously. "Care to try another explanation - or to save time, should I just fill out your eviction notice right now?!" Whether Gary could have come up with some sort of alternate explanation would never be known. That's because, as he was struggling to think of something, *anything* that would placate his landlord, both mens' attention was grabbed by a series of small clattering noises coming from the corner of the apartment. The linen closet door was rattling. Gary breathed a silent curse. "What's in there?" Mr. Caldwell wanted to know. "Um... er... ah..." "What, you don't know?" The landlord's tone became cruelly sarcastic. "Why, don't tell me that, with all those rumors going around, you're actually *skimping* on home-security measures, are you?" "..." "Well then, we'll just have to find OUT what's in there... WON'T WE?" Before Gary could stop him, he had stormed over to the door and, with the last words in his sentence, slid the door wide open with a grand flourish. Gary groaned audibly as his eyes fell on the strange girl. She had, at least, managed to find a white towel large enough to wrap around herself, so she was no longer, strictly speaking, in the buff... but still... "...er... hi..." he heard her timorous voice emerge from the closet. Mr. Caldwell's eyes practically rocketed out of their sockets. Here was a stunningly attractive young redhead, hiding in the closet wearing only a towel... it didn't take much to piece this one together. After composing himself, he smiled triumphantly - an evil smirk - and turned to the rapidly faltering Gary. "MISSS-ter Evans," he began, with an air of deliberate pomposity. "While I consider myself a reasonable man - and CERTAINLY not one to meddle in your personal life - I *DO* have some RULES in my building, as I am sure you know --" "What the hell are you DOING here?!!" Gary suddenly thundered. He ran over to the closet, grabbed the girl by the arm, and pulled her out. "Look, HOW many times have I told you - I am NOT interested in sleeping with you!!!" "Huh?" She gaped at him. "What are you talk--" "Justplayalong," he hissed, quickly and discreetly, in her ear. "Oh," she said, getting the message. She quickly put on a great show of sexuality, gently caressing Gary's face. "Aww, come on... give a girl a *chance*, y'know?" "Forget it! I'm spoken for, I've told you time and again --" "Oh, don't be such an old stodge-meister... you know you want me! C'mon" - she continued to playfully fondle him - "it'll be *fun*..." "NO!" Then, to Mr. Caldwell, sheepishly: "Er... ahaha... I'm sorry about this - see, she's been pulling this act on me for months now, at work and whatnot..." "...but can you *blame* me?" the girl added, squeezing Gary's cheeks together. "This hot hunk of man... I can't help myself..." Mr. Caldwell watched this for about a minute. Finally, he just burst out laughing. "Oh, this is just too MUCH - so, it's GIRL problems, eh, Evans?" Gary grinned sheepishly as Lina continued to stroke his face. "Er - yes, Sir, that's it - girl problems, yep..." "Y'know, I *was* gonna just kick you out for this - but on the other hand, it'd be MUCH more fun to watch you try to squirm your way out of this one with HER!" He gave another hearty laugh. "Have fun, you two - and don't do anything I wouldn't do!" With a little wink and nudge in Gary's direction, he went back to his own apartment, chuckling to himself all the way. Gary breathed one of the deepest sighs of relief he'd ever known. His quick thinking and fast talking had managed to drive Mr. Caldwell off, even when he himself never thought it'd actually work. One disaster down... just one more to go. "That was great!" the girl squealed with delight. "I think he actually bought it too..." She half-skipped, half-sprinted across to the foyer. "Just like I knew you could do it..." "Hold it *right* there!" Gary's harsh tone stopped her dead in her tracks. "The ONLY reason I didn't have him throw you outta here," he said crisply, "is because I want some answers outta you myself!" She seemed to be caught off-guard. "What kind of answers ya want?" "Well, YOU do the math! You come into my home totally naked, you start going through my kitchen - for all I know, you were probably gonna sell my silverware to a pawn shop of something, for all the good it'd do you - and you just about cause me to start filling out change-of-address forms!" He regarded her with the best steely gaze he had at this hour. "You tell *me* what you think I wanna know!" "Um..." She suddenly shut her eyes and grinned from ear to ear, looking for all the world like a real-life anime girl. "How I can do all that and still be just so gosh-darned *cute*, right?" she giggled. Gary made an exasperated noise and threw his hands into the air. "I give up!" he sighed in resignation. He stormed into the kitchen for some coffee. "Just tell me this one thing - who put you up to this?" That puzzled look again. "Put me up to what?" "Scott? It was Scott, wasn't it?! ...Look, whatever he's paying you, I'll *double* it - *TRIPLE* it - if you'll just please get your clothes on and get outta here..." "Who's Scott?" she asked. "Nobody put me up to *anything*, I swear!" Gary ignored her, and scooped sugar into his drink. "This is gonna be worth, oh, I dunno... a Christmas card loaded with plastique? Dead roaches in his mailbox? A Manilow boxed set? He'll *pay* for this one..." She crossed over to him and took his hands. "I'm *serious*," she insisted. "...Oh, I see. You - you don't recognize me, do you?" "No, as a matter of fact, I do *not* recognize you," Gary growled. "Nor is there any reason why I should! Look, I'm giving you two minutes to pack up and get out of my hair before I call the cops..." The girl looked disappointed. "Are you sure? Take a look at me... look VERY closely... it'll come to you, I'm sure..." Gary grumbled, but did as he was asked. It suddenly dawned on him that he had yet to actually take a *real* look at his uninvited guest; he'd been too busy being angry, and also trying to throw Mr. Caldwell off the trail. So, he took this opportunity to really give her the once-over with his eyes: The girl was almost a full foot shorter than he - perhaps not THAT much, but he had at least a good eight inches on her. Her thick hair, which tapered off just below her shoulder blades, was the color of fire, and her jade-colored eyes were large and exquisite. Her body was almost that of a supermodel, only somewhat more athletic and not quite as voluptuous. There was almost a certain... for want of a better term, "air," about her that belied a hidden power, buried just beneath the surface. She was right; as he gazed at her, Gary could sense a faint, nagging sense of recognizability at the edges of his consciousness... ...but, in the end... "...no... no, I'm afraid... I don't know you." She remained insistent, however. "You *sure*? Not even a *glimmer*?" "Sorry." She sighed. "O-kaaay... then, how about this? Does the name 'Lina Takashi' hold any meaning for you?" Gary practically spat coffee across the room. "I can see it does," she said, under her breath. "H-h-h... how'd you... know about that?!" Gary sputtered. "I mean, yeah, that story's all over the 'Net, but..." "I don't just know *about* Lina, Gary," she said, sweetly and with just a hint of mysteriousness. "You see... I *am* her." "Her? Her who?" "Lina Takashi. That's me!" Gary bolted to his feet and started towards the stairs. "Excuse me, please..." The girl followed him. "Where you going? I *mean* it..." Gary swirled back around to face her. "Look, lady... whoever you are, whoever put you up to this... it's not working, OK? Lina Takashi is a character I created. She's a fantasy, a product of my deluded imagination, and nothing more. She. Doesn't. Exist." "I'm telling the truth, Gary!" "And if you honestly believe that... get some help, 'cause you *obviously* need it! Now GOOD NIGHT!" He stormed up the stairs. "OK, OK - wait a sec! I'll prove it to you! ...Here, take a look at this!" She tossed him a small item, which Gary grumbled and caught. It was a thick, black pen, with an ornate star-shaped cap. In the center of the star was a symbol Gary did, in fact, recognize: A pair of opposing, interlocking arcs arranged in the approximate shape of a galactic spiral. "That's my Andromeda Pen," "Lina" explained. "Exactly the way you described it in the story, right?" Gary tossed it back to her, and snorted. "Nice job on that - I really mean it. You must really be a big fan of my work, to go as far as making your own Andromeda Pen. I'm flattered - but you're still loopy if you think I'm buying this for a second!" She thought fast, as he continued to climb the stairs. "OKOKOK... how about this? I know you've been having major trouble writing the last chapter of my story; you keep getting me stuck in a deathtrap you can't find a way out of!" This actually made Gary stop for a moment... but no more. "Strike two," he shot back. "Anybody could know I've been having trouble with the ending; I've been bitching about it in the newsgroups often enough. And as for the deathtrap thing... a lucky guess." He was nearly at the top now. "Lina" decided to go for broke. "WAIT! I know --" Gary reached the bedroom level, and looked over the edge. "Good NIGHT, 'Lina'! You can let yourself out the way you got in --" "I know... about Naomi," she finished. Gary instinctively froze at the mention of that name. He felt his fingers grow cold and stiffen on the railing. He looked down at the girl, no longer sure what to think of her. "What do you know about that?" he demanded, in a carefully controlled monotone. "You loved her. You really did... but you never had the guts to tell her. And when she died, you were really down on yourself for it... you were torturing yourself because you never told her how you really felt, and now it was... too late." She was almost crying now, feeling the emotion behind the story she told. "Not long after, you got into the whole Sailor Moon thing - the series, the books, the fanfics - and decided you wanted to try writing your own story. And when you went to create your own character..." She suddenly looked back up at him, her eyes wide. "...you still felt guilty about Naomi... so, you built a character based on her, hoping to get those demons out of your system." She looked up at him sadly. "That's me. Lina Takashi, Sailor Andromeda... or Naomi Yumeni. Take your pick." Gary practically bolted back down the stairs. He stopped in front of this stranger, this intruder, this person with the unmitigated gall to say what she just did, and seized her wrists. "How in the HELL did you KNOW that?!!" he roared. "NOBODY knows that!!!" She wasn't the least bit fazed. "I do," she whispered. "You created me... the feeling was very strong when you did... I picked it up." The truth of her words sunk through Gary's rage. He staggered back from her, holding his head in his hands. "...no... no, this... this can't... be... it's *impossible*..." "It's not impossible... it's for real. I'M for real." The girl - Lina - suddenly brightened again, and giggled. "Hey, c'mon, lighten up a bit here! This is every author's fantasy come true - their character comes to life right before their eyes!" "...I... I just... I..." Gary stammered. It was all too much to take. "...I... need some air..." He stumbled over to the glass door leading to the balcony, thumbed it open, and somehow managed to step outside without falling flat on his face. Lina simply stared off in the direction he had gone, wondering if, perhaps, she'd overplayed her hand. --- Gary leaned over the balcony railing, staring at the parking lot below in a state of total shock. Fictional characters of your own creation simply did not just jump off the computer screen and into your life. he tried to convince himself. Only it wasn't. Nor was it a prank, the girl simply an actor hired as part of an elaborate practical joke. The fact that she knew about Lina's creation - and the inspiration for the character, something he had never shared with anybody - was proof. Nobody, not even Scott, knew that particular aspect of Lina Takashi. And yet, the total stranger in his living room had pegged it exactly, right down to his own stupidity in never having told Naomi just how much she had meant to him... It was, of course, patently impossible. Yet there it was; there was no other logical explanation for it. And, as a famous detective had once asserted, after you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, *must* be the Truth. But if Lina had, indeed, come to life... if, indeed, this entire situation wasn't just the product of his tortured mind... how? And perhaps more importantly, *why*? Was God, in His divine wisdom, singling him out for some kind of cosmic practical joke? Was the girl he had believed to be fictional somehow real, and now at his house looking for some sort of financial compensation? Had he simply been using that expired milk in his coffee for too long? Gary was so wrapped up in trying to piece this enigma together that he never heard Lina come out on the balcony behind him. Nor did he notice when she took up a position next to him, nor did he feel the hand she eventually placed on his arm. "Hey, listen... uh..." she began, uncertainly, "...if this is about what I said back there... I'm really sorry I had to bring that up..." He did not meet her gaze, continuing to stare at the asphalt three stories below. "I just couldn't think of any other way to prove to you that I was telling the truth," she continued. Gary shook his head, as if clearing out a year's worth of accumulated dust from his brain. "You show up stark naked in my living room... you very nearly cause me to get evicted..." "Not exactly the best first impression to make, was it?" Lina remarked, with a little self-deriding chuckle. "And then when I tell you that I'm really your personal Sailor Senshi --" He whipped his head around to her so fast that for a moment he actually feared whiplash. "Yeah, I'm... still workin' on THAT one, OK?" "Hey, sorry..." Lina sighed. "But, you're right. I understand, I really do. If it were the other way around, I'm sure I wouldn't believe a story like this either... at least not at first. You just need some time to think it over, that's all..." "Time?" Gary suddenly drew himself to his full height, and took a single, almost threatening, step in Lina's direction. "You come in here asking me to accept - at FACE VALUE, no less - the most incredible, ridiculous story that anybody could tell this side of Pecos Bill... and you say I need TIME to 'think it over'?! Who the hell do you think you --" A sudden cacophony from below cut Gary off in midsentence... fortunately for both he and Lina. "What was THAT?!" Lina shouted over the din. She and Gary peered over the railing to see what was going on in the parking lot. The noises were apparently caused by some sort of struggle. A pair of dangerous-looking thugs had accosted a helpless apartment resident in one of the darkened alcoves below... and they were, to put not so fine a point on it, beating the living shinola out of him. "So... they're for real after all," Gary muttered. Lina was incredulous. "You KNOW those bozos?!" "Of course not, but I've heard about 'em - everybody that lives in this complex has," Gary explained. "Just never actually SAW them before..." he added to himself, Lina just continued to watch the beating until she could, finally, stand no more. "They're gonna KILL him!" she cried, her expression hardening into a mask of determination. "And I, for one, am NOT about to let it happen!" "Willya keep it down?!" Gary hissed at her. "Don't let them HEAR you..." But Lina was already gone, having ducked back into the apartment. She motioned for Gary to join her inside. "You didn't want to believe that I was who I said I was," she said once he'd gotten back into the living room. "Well, maybe I can prove once and for ALL that I'm Lina Takashi, hmm?" "What're you talking about? You can't take those guys on; they look like they bench entire GYMS just for fun --" It was only then that Gary noticed what had suddenly materialized in Lina's left hand. He began to feel ill. "Oh no... you're *not*... you *can't*..." "I can, and I am," Lina said coolly. "Watch..." She held the black-and- gold Andromeda Pen above her head, and shouted: "Andromeda Star Power... MAKE UP!!!" Suddenly, Lina was swallowed up in a blinding flash of light, accompanied by appropriate-sounding thunder effects. Gary had to shield his eyes for a moment (while praying, insanely, that Mr. Caldwell did not decide to knock on his door for a second time). When it was all over, not even three seconds later, Gary blinked and saw a changed woman standing before him. Lina was now wearing the traditional Sailor Senshi uniform. There was no doubt about that; Gary had seen and written about it enough to recognize it right off. A steely-grey collar and miniskirt worn over a white, sleeveless bodysuit; giant golden-yellow bow in front with a solid black brooch holding it in place; elbow gloves with grey padding at the ends; a large black bow tied in the small of her back; black pumps with ankle straps; golden tiara over her forehead. She had also, quite inexplicably, sprouted glasses and black, star-shaped earrings. Around her neck she wore a grey choker bearing the same "galaxy" symbol Gary had seen in the tip of her pen. Sailor Andromeda was ready for action. If Gary was merely stunned by Lina's earlier revelation, he was absolutely flabbergasted now. "OK... ready!" she announced. Without another word to Gary, she peeled off out the door. Only after she was gone did Gary snap out of his reverie enough to think about what might come next. If she showed up out there... like THAT... "Hey, WAIT!!!" he called, running into the main hallway after her. "Hey you -- Lina -- come back here!!" But Andromeda was long gone. Gary groaned. With a silent prayer that Lina wasn't about to do anything stupid, he started off in the direction he had seen her leave - after placing a quick 911 call to report what was going on in the parking lot. With any luck, he could talk Lina out of whatever she was planning on doing before the boys in blue showed up. --- Using the superhuman speed that being a Sailor Senshi afforded her, Lina tore through the hallways of the apartment building at almost warp speeds. As she ran, she could hear a chorus of opening doors and complaining tenants yelling at her to "Keep the noise down, dammit!" and "Where the hell's the fire, I'm tryin' to sleep!", among other pleasantries. It was yet another bad first impression for her, on a night where she was making more than her share of bad first impressions. However, this time, she wasn't concerned about that at all. Current matters were just too serious. Deep down, she couldn't understand why Gary was so antsy about her doing this. After all, he was the one who had created her with such a deep-rooted sense of justice - and seeing an innocent person being attacked for no good reason, when she was in a position of doing something about it, really ate at that sense. To stand by and do nothing in such a situation was an idea totally abhorrent to her. Gary knew that - he HAD to, by definition - so why was he trying to hold her back? It didn't make any sense... No time for that now, though. She had reached the exit to the parking lot¸ and through the glass door she could see that the pummeling continued unabated. she thought,