
Secondary Characters: The Beginning
{Jon Carp}
address: jcarp@med.unc.edu


Why are we always reactive?  Let's activate something!  Let's fuck shit up! 
 Whatever happened to revolution for the hell of it?  Whatever happened to 
protesting nothing in particular?  Just protesting, 'cause it's Saturday, 
and there's nothing else to do?--King Missle


Don't interrupt me as I struggle to complete this thought.  Have some 
respect for someone more decrepit than yourself.  And I'm not done, and I 
won't be 'till my head falls off.--They Might Be Giants


	Simplicity.  That was the key.  Anything can be done, as long as 
it's simple enough.
	Don't mess around with super-powers or traps or dramatic, drawn-out 
schemes.
	Just quick and easy.  Bang.  Bang.  And it's done.
	

	Four people can often live in one body.  We're being symbolic, here. 
 	First, there's the appearance to the outside world.  Loved or at 
least respected by all.  Strong, focused, witty, handsome, in control.  
Partly a lie.
	Then, there's the game-face.  The person who comes out when the shit 
hits the fan.  Intense, harsh, bitter, in control.  Again, partly a lie.
	Next is the one who's only for those closest to the whole person.  
The friend, lover, mother/father.  Kind, happy, loving, in control.  Kind of 
a lie.
	Finally, there's the sincere one.  The one that's never shown to 
anybody (maybe one person).  The painful one.  Always hidden, but impossible 
to keep down forever.  It surfaces once in a while, reminding the rest of 
the futility of life and its many disappointmens.  How everything, no matter 
how blissful it seemed, has been a failure.  A lie.  Sometimes.


	Haruka sat in the corner, rubbing her dirty hands all over her face, 
making a futile effort to force the tears away by wiping them through her 
short blond hair.  It didn't work.  Nothing worked.
	Michiru was, of course, right there beside her.  "It's okay," she 
kept saying.  "It's okay."
	And Haruka's response to that was always, "No."  And she was right. 
It, whatever It was, was not okay.
	"I'm so horrible," she muttered.  "So...evil.  I shouldn't be alive! 
I...I don't..."
	"Hush, Haruka," Michiru said soothingly.  "You know that's not 
true."
	"I hurt people," Haruka sobbed.  "I've let them die!  I've let you 
die!  Oh god, how could I be so cruel?"
	"You're not cruel."
	"It's all I ever am!  It's all I can be!"
	"That's not true," Michiru murmured.  "If it was, would I love you?"
	Haruka shook her head.  "You don't love me.  You can't!"  She looked 
up, tear streaks both down and up her face.  "I don't deserve you!"
	"Sshhhh," Michiru whispered.  "I love you.  You know that.  I 
couldn't live without you."
	"My god," Haruka said with genuine awe.  "You're so beautiful.  How 
could you love someone like me?  I've been terrible to you.  I've mistreated 
you, controlled you, hurt you..."
	"You haven't done any of that!" Michiru exclaimed, tears beginning 
to come to her eyes as well.
	"I've brought you nothing but pain," Haruka said harshly.  "I'm such 
a failure.  All I ever wanted was to make you happy!  You'd be better off if 
you'd never met me!"
	"No, no, please, Haruka, don't say that."
	"You're so beautiful," Haruka whispered again.  "I...I don't know 
what I'd do if I didn't have you.  Did I ever tell you about my dreams, 
Michiru?"
	"What dreams?"
	"The ones where you...die."  She paused miserably.
	"Tell me, Haruka," Michiru said softly.
	Haruka closed her eyes, forcing more tears out.  "It always starts 
the same.  We're happy together, at the beach, or playing music, or going 
shopping or something, but then...oh god, this is horrible!  It's always 
different, how you're killed.  Sometimes you drown.  Sometimes it's fighting 
a monster, or a car wreck, or something.  But whenever it happens, I can't 
stand it, I just sit by myself in my room, without eating or bathing, all by
myself, and I just feel so...empty and torn apart.  Usually Setsuna tries to 
help me, but she can't do anything.  Nobody can.  Sometimes I even...kill 
myself to be with you."
	Michiru gasped.  "Haruka, you wouldn't..."
	"It doesn't do anything," Haruka said.  "I can't do anything.  I'm 
completely helpless."
	Michiru tried to say something reassuring, but couldn't think of a 
thing.  "It's okay," she said eventually.  "It's okay."
	"But then you come back."  Haruka smiled in rememberance.  "You 
always come back, every single time, no matter what.  And when you do, I'm 
so happy, I can't...it's like I'm filled, and not alone anymore.
	"I've had so many of them they all run together.  You just die over 
and over and over and over.  I can't even remember most anymore.  All I 
know is the difference you make.  
	"It's like the other dreams.  I see myself before we met, and I'm 
alone and messed up.  But them I meet you, and you save me.  Oh god, I DON'T 
DESERVE YOU!"  She began sobbing again.
	Michiru embraced her.  "I have the same dreams, Haruka," she 
murmured.  "It's awful, I know, but it's not going to happen.  We're always 
going to be together, like we are now."
	Haruka sniffled, trying to control her tears.  She didn't have 
nearly enough energy, so they continued to flow.
	Michiru led her to the bed.  "Come on," she said softly.  "Let's go 
to sleep."
	They lay down together.  Michiru held her lover as tears soaked into 
the sheets and Haruka slowly cried herself to sleep.



	Setsuna stood in the doorway, watching the two she loved (hated).  
Michiru looked up.  She saw her friend, and smiled.
	"Haruka's asleep," she whispered.  "I think she'll be okay in the 
morning."
	Setsuna wasn't listening.  She studied the beautiful (you don't 
care) face of the young, kind, talented, intelligent, loving...
	(She's the test.  Her, then the world.  You're not weak, are you?)
	"Michiru," she murmured.  "I...I'm not sorry."
	Michiru's face was confused, but her eyes showed the truth.  
Respect, friendship, love.
	With one quick motion Setsuna raised a gun and fired.  


	She wasn't sure if it was the noise or the motion.  Maybe neither.  
Maybe her mind knew before her ears.
	Whatever the reason, she woke up.
	Stage 1: Denial.
	"No," she said.  "No.  No.  No.  No..."  She stared at the blood 
around her stupidly, before even noticing the body.
	When she did see it, the reaction was truly incredible.
	Setsuna grinned.  She raised the gun, studying Haruka's face 
carefully.  Pain.  That was all that was there.  Pain.
	Setsuna grinned wider.
	Bang.



	Rei's eyes popped open.  She stood up and walked to the window, 
staring out intently, but not seeing anything.
	"My god," she whispered.  "She's done it.  She's actually done it."
	She shivered.  The others would have to know.



	Pluto sat on his throne, eating a soft pretzel and speaking into a 
cellular phone.
	"Okay," he was saying.  "Yes...well, I understand that, Mr. Woods, 
but...what?  No, my problem was never that.  I realize that you're an actor, 
and you do what the director tells you.  But certainly a major Hollywood 
star such as yourself has some say on how you portray a character...well, 
you could've done some research or something.  Had I known about the 
project, I would have given you something to work with.  Okay, but...well, 
here's my question.  Why do I act like a stand-up comedian?  I don't 
appreciate going to the theater and seeing myself apparently doing an 
impression of Billy Crystal.  Yes, I'm angry.  Oh, and why the hell am I 
blue?  Well, give me the names of the animators!  Mercury's wanted to talk 
with them too.  Wait, hold on, let me get a penci..."  His beeper went off. 
 He clicked it and checked the number.  "Damn," Pluto muttered.  "Listen, I 
gotta go.  Yes, you can expect to hear from me again.  Yes.  Right.  Okay, 
bye."
	He shook his head.  "Asshole," he muttered.  He dialed a number on 
his phone.  "Yes, Death, what is it?" he asked.
	A raspy, annoyed voice came across the other side.  "I've got a 
problem up here.  I think you'd better come."
	Pluto sighed.  "Listen, ALLEGORICAL FIGURE," he said darkly.  "We 
GODS don't appreciate being bothered.  This had better be pretty damn good."
	He beeped the phone off and disappeared.
	


	Haruka drummed her fingers on the desk.  This was getting boring.
	"Pluto's on his way," Death said.  "He should be able to straighten 
this whole thing out."
	"He'd better," Haruka grunted.  
	Michiru nudged Haruka.  "I'm sorry," she said to Death.  "She's just 
had kind of a hard night."
	"I understand," the smiling skull empathized.  "This process can be 
stressful for anyone."
	Michiru smiled politely, and Haruka did nothing.  They sat in 
silence for a few minutes, until Pluto walked in.
	"Man, Death, can't you handle routine pick-ups after all these 
years?  What's the matter with..." he trailed off, looking at Haruka and 
Michiru with slight recognition.  "Um...are you guys Sailors Neptune and 
Uranus?" he asked.
	Haruka glared at him.  "Yes," Michiru answered.
	Pluto blinked.  "How did this happen?" he asked.  "This definately 
is not supposed to be."
	"Your damn senshi killed us," Haruka growled.
	Pluto shook his head.  "I knew it," he muttered.  "I KNEW no good 
could come from this evil thing of hers."
	"What should we do with them?" Death asked.  "Send them their 
respective ways for their respective beliefs?"
	"We want to stay together," Haruka said. 
	"Right.  I forgot.  So, should we ship them down with you?  Send 
them back?"
	"No," Pluto said harshly.  "We're NOT going to be sending them 
back."  He started walking away.  "Just keep them here until I figure out 
what to do."  He took out his cellular phone.  "Gotta call a meeting with 
the other planet gods..."  He disappeared through the doorway.  A few 
minutes later, Death followed without a word.
	"Michiru?"
	"Yes, Haruka?"
	"I have the feeling we're going to be getting screwed by all of 
this."
	"I know," Michiru said.  "I know."




	They didn't believe her at first.  Setsuna?  Evil?  Yeah, right.
	"Listen," Rei said.  "I told you, she came to me the other day and 
told me she'd decided to be evil!"
	"Hmmm," Minako said thoughtfully.  "Maybe she was being figurative. 
 Y'know, like, 'Hey, that girl is EVIL!'"  She couldn't help giggling at 
that.
	"This is ridiculous," Rei said.  "Why aren't any of you taking this 
seriously?  I think she's done something terrible!"
	"We trust you, Rei, it's just that what you're saying sounds so 
far-fetched," Ami said.  
	"Yeah," Minako agreed.  "Setsuna's been doing this for who knows how 
long.  Why would she just turn evil now?"
	"Maybe someone's controlling her mind, or something," Usagi 
suggested.
	"Maybe," Rei said.  "I don't know.  "But at least let's go to the 
Outers' house and see how she is.  Okay?"
	Makoto looked at her watch.  "I have a date in fifteen minutes," she 
said.  "Is it okay if I don't go?"
	"Sure," Usagi said.  The others nodded.
	They went off in their seperate directions, not one of them, not 
even Rei, really suspecting something to truly be wrong.  Setsuna smiled.


	Four go one way, one goes another.  
	By herself.
	Alone.
	If this were a horror movie, what happens next would be obvious.





	They were all gathered around a large conference table covered by 
coffee stains and little pieces of dried chinese food.
	"Thank you for coming," Pluto said.  "We have a bit of a...situation 
with the senshi."
	Uranus raised an eyebrow.  "You're fucking telling us," he muttered.
	Pluto grunted.  "Please don't interrupt.  Now, things are happening 
that...might piss you people off, but..."
	"Tell them the truth," Neptune snorted.  "His senshi killed ours!"  
He indicated himself and Uranus.  "And very easily could go after the rest 
of them."
	Jupiter drummed his fingers on the table.  "Pluto?"
	"Yes?"
	"Why is your senshi a homicidal maniac now?"
	"I have no idea," Pluto said.  "We got someone here who does, 
though."  He pointed to the person sitting next to Saturn, smoking a cigar 
and brushing her dark hair away from her face.
	"Thank you," Hotaru said.  She stood up.  "Ahem.  Setsuna wanted to 
be evil, and now she's going through with it."  She smiled, and sat down.
	Jupiter blinked.  "Thanks for your input," he said sarcastically. 
He turned to Pluto.  "Can she be reasoned with?"
	"Yes," Pluto said quickly.  "Definately.  I can deal with this.  
None of you need to worry."
	"Excuse me," Uranus said.  "But, uh, I already have a dead senshi.  
What do expect to do with her and Neptune's?"
	Jupiter rested his chin on his fist.  "Well, it seems obvious what 
Pluto has to do...besides kill Mercury for talking to Michael Eisner while 
we're TRYING TO HAVE A MEETING!"
	Mercury sheepishly turned off his cellular phone and did his best 
to pay attention.
	"Anyway," Jupiter continued.  "It seems obvious what we have to do. 
Bring the two senshi back to life and try to..."
	"No," Pluto said.  "We're NOT going to be bringing them back any 
more.  I'm getting sick of that."
	Just then Jupiter's beeper went off.  He clicked it, checked the 
number, and paused.
	He looked up at Pluto.  "It's Death," he said.  "This had better not 
be what I think it is."
	Pluto shrugged.  "I'm not bringing any of them back," he said 
stubbornly.
	And with that, the meeting was adjourned.

