Silver Moon

Souryuuden Volume 11

Novel by Tanaka Yoshiki
Summary by Amparo Bertram

Note: This story is based on a dream of the author's and is not part of the main series.

Jump to: [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Illustrations]

Chapter 1: In a Town of Withered Leaves

  1. "On the night of the meteor shower, the Silver Moon King will be reborn."

    In November, a town named Kiritachi to the northwest of Tokyo prepares for a gathering of famous actors (and other movie industry people) that will take place in ten days. Two night watchmen are patrolling vacant summer homes when suddenly they hear a loud noise and see a manhole cover go flying. They attempt to speed away, but their car is found ripped apart the next morning with neither one of them in sight. The other guards are ordered not to bother the police about the incident.

  2. The Ryuudou brothers arrive in the town a few days later, having borrowed the use of a summer house for a stay of two weeks. They settle into the huge house, Tsuzuku pointing out that they can even watch shooting stars through the window in the bedroom ceiling. Owaru's big disappointment is that the TV doesn't get his favorite channels.

  3. The boys had been asked to come by a man named Tokiwa, principal of the local acting school, who was a friend of their grandfather. He wants their help because several of the school's staff members have gone missing. The town itself is in dire straits because it isn't on the new bullet train route, which means fewer tourists. They're trying to conceal the disappearances until after the festival.

Chapter 2: The Town Secret, the Campus Mystery

  1. While the younger two boys go off exploring, Hajime resolves to research the town's past. It was founded by an American as a vacation resort, then occupied by Germans during WWII. He wonders if that history might bear any relation to the present mystery. He also puzzles over the "Silver Moon King" advertisement that stands out on posters.

  2. Owaru and Amaru wander through the school, pretending to be future students on a campus visit. Suddenly the ground shakes as faculty member Kobayakawa approaches. After demonstrating how she'll gladly crush anyone who defies her, she rumbles off. The two boys join their brothers for supper, where Hajime is approached by a pretty young woman who had met him at a college party. She explains that Silver Moon King is a new musical by the famous British composer Sir Nigel Chambers. She's curious why the main sponsor would pay so much money when he doesn't seem like the kind to appreciate art properly.

  3. The younger boys consider any young woman other than Matsuri coming into unnecessary contact with Hajime to be an Enemy of the Household. Tsuzuku reads more info about the musical when they all get home, saying the Silver Moon King takes on seven different personas, the last of which is unknown. He had also found out that the students at the school had wanted to put on a play for the festival, but they couldn't locate anyone to fit the lead role.

Chapter 3: Uninvited Guests

  1. Amaru has an odd dream involving the Silver Moon King. First he sees the character in a book, wearing a black top hat, swallow-tailed coat, and cape. Then he's suddenly on a stage, confronting a man with a bear's head, with strange animals in the audience. As Amaru is chastized for rudeness, he awakens to his brothers' concerned gazes--and a face peering in through the skylight. Owaru does battle with the masked intruder, but it escapes, leaving behind only a piece of its whiplike tentacle weapon made of chiton.

  2. While investigating the next day, Hajime and Amaru come across the home of the sponsor, Hougen Takamoto--the same house Amaru had seen in his dream. They're shooed away before they learn anything else. They encounter an old man the younger boys had met during their explorations, and it concerns Hajime that he knows more about them than he should.

  3. Kobayakawa approaches the middle two brothers and offers Tsuzuku a part in the play she's writing, which he promptly refuses. He diverts her into believing the actress Shinobu Sahoko (who spoke to Hajime the previous night) is plotting against her out of envy, figuring he may as well set the people he dislikes against each other. After Kobayakawa leaves, Sahoko herself shows up to greet them.

  4. Hajime and Amaru return to their lodgings, fallen leaves blanketing everything along the way. They notice that the house has been broken into. The intruder is the old man they had met, who has recovered the piece of tentacle that Owaru captured. Before their eyes, it slides into his ear as if he's performing a magic trick. He refuses to give them a straight answer when they challenge him. Hajime rushes him, and he leaps from the terrace.

Chapter 4: Moon Mansion

  1. They pursue the old man, who can emit tentacles from both arms as well as his mouth. He escapes into Hougen Takamoto's mansion. The brothers frighten the heck out of the guard dog as well as the watchman when Amaru bends his rifle barrel. Hajime intimidates the man into leading them inside.

  2. Sahoko weathers Tsuzuku's frosty glare. She's accompanied by a rude young driver. At her request, Tsuzuku hauls the driver out of the car and takes his place. Meanwhile, it turns out that the man the other two boys overpowered is Takamoto's younger brother, Masamoto. From their surroundings, they can tell Takamoto is not a literary man, but a hunter. Amaru gets the creeps from the mounted trophy heads.

  3. Takamoto listens to the boys' story about the old man. Hajime expresses his low opinion of someone who doesn't bother searching for missing employees, instead concealing the disappearances, and then allowing the old man time to get away. Amaru knows enough to realize that when Hajime stops showing deference to an elder, a battle is about to begin. He isn't disappointed, as Takamoto signals for a gang of black-suited flunkies to attack the two guests.

  4. Owaru is glad when the car stops and he can escape his brother's driving. (Tsuzuku always protests that he drives better than Matsuri...but she doesn't have a license.) They view the town from a mountainside, Sahoko pointing out important buildings, like the Kiritachi Dome. Owaru notices a figure in need of help on a ledge below their position and goes to the rescue. It turns out to be the old man Hajime had been chasing, who attempts a sneak attack.

Chapter 5: Something's There

  1. Owaru evades the tentacle strike. However, even he can barely keep up as the old man flees. While keeping Sahoko under guard, Tsuzuku throws a branch with his full strength at the man's head. The man is injured, yet keeps going until reaching a manhole. Tsuzuku joins his brother to watch countless tentacles burst out from underground and envelop the man. Attention focused on the horrid spectacle of his internal organs being sucked out, the boys miss the tentacles headed for them. They're caught and dragged into the manhole. (Owaru blames his lapse on an empty stomach.)

  2. At Takamoto's place, Hajime has won the battle. He finds out that the person responsible for building the mansion was the German, von Essen, leader of the Nazis who had occupied the town during the war. He had indulged in quite sadistic activities there. Takamoto's father had used ruthless means to acquire land and amass a fortune after the war, and Takamoto is busily following in his footsteps.

  3. Taking Hajime by surprise, Takamoto opens a trapdoor beneath the two brothers and Masamoto. Despite Takamoto's arrogance, Hajime doesn't believe he's the one pulling all the strings. They hear the barking of the dog that had been so easily intimidated at the front gate.

  4. Masamoto takes off after the sound of the dog, moving through the underground passages with the surety of someone very familiar with the place. Hajime follows, then wonders if the two Hougen brothers are conspiring to get them lost in the dark maze, with the dog as a pretext. Suddenly he hears new voices--Tsuzuku and Owaru, trapped in the same tunnels, bickering as usual. Together the four find the dried remains of the missing people, whose insides had been sucked out by the tentacles. They also find a note from Takamoto's father, addressed to his child. Then they locate a door.

Chapter 6: Aboveground Confusion

  1. The fleeing brothers encounter a dead end, then suddenly hear Kobayakawa's reverberating laughter from the other side of the concrete wall blocking their escape. Hajime doesn't want to knock down the wall for fear of hurting whoever's behind it, so they resort to calling out to Kobayakawa for help. They finally manage to get her to crash through the wall, and she reveals that they're in a cellar of the college. They head off for food and ponder recent events, concluding that the geographical center of all the bizarre happenings is at the just completed Kiritachi Dome.

  2. Hajime wonders why Takamoto would risk involving himself in murders that will eventually be uncovered by authorities over whom he has no influence, deciding that either he's overconfident or he expects a serious payoff for his scheme. The other possibility is that some kind of religion has warped his logic. The woman running the place they stopped for lunch tells them that Takamoto was responsible for keeping the town off the bullet train route.

  3. They know the police won't believe their story, so the next morning Hajime explains everything to the man who asked them to investigate. (He doesn't believe them, either, but at least they've carried out their duty.) Then Kobayakawa appears and, taking them all by surprise, stands up for the Ryuudou brothers. (The four boys manage to escape before she can demand eternal servitude from them in return.) Once outside, Sahoko approaches them and leaves them with no more than the message that they'll meet again during the festival. Days pass peacefully until finally November 15th, the first day of the event, rolls around.

Chapter 7: Phantom Celebration

  1. Reporters cover the opening of the festival. Kobayakawa ropes the boys into advertising her play (Hajime sporting a false mustache that makes him look lecherous). On a trip to the restroom with Tsuzuku, Amaru spots Masamoto in the crowd.

  2. Masamoto recruits some bystanders to help him, but they barely last a few seconds. Tsuzuku proceeds to interrogate him, and he turns to badmouthing his brother. He claims Takamoto is a loser whose current success is due to following someone else's orders. He adds that monsters in human guise roam the city. Tsuzuku wonders if the father's note really referred to one of the two brothers, or if they have another sibling somewhere.

  3. Just after Amaru runs off to fetch the other two boys, Masamoto's dog shows up. Even Masamoto appears stunned that its body is filled with the black tentacles. The dozens of strands act as a diversion to allow Masamoto to get away. When Owaru tries to pursue him, a tentacle pins his arms and begins forcing itself into his mouth. He bites the tip off, and it gives up, rolling into a ball.

  4. Owaru is shaken by the event, but after a moment he recovers and chases the tentacle ball with his brothers as it rolls down the street. However, they're unable to catch it. The four return home and receive a package from Matsuri containing a cake and a letter wishing them well. After saying he'll phone her with their thanks, Hajime reminds his brothers that it's the first night of the meteor shower.

Chapter 8: The Last Day, Afternoon

  1. The boys continue to advertise Kobayakawa's play (though Hajime lost his mustache somewhere and didn't search too hard for it). She informs them that Sahoko is Takamoto's daughter. They're not extremely surprised, since they know her mother was single, so her father could be anyone.

  2. The brothers, still in costume, take their seats for the musical. They're astonished to spot the old man they had believed killed by the tentacles. Hajime is more interested in watching the musical's opening preparations than doing anything about the man, however. Another surprise is in store as the announcer proclaims that the musical's author, Sir Nigel Chambers, is the great-grandson of the man who founded the town.

  3. Kobayakawa confronts Sahoko and tries to get her to confess what she's up to. Takamoto sneaks up behind and shoots the teacher with tranq darts. Sahoko orders Takamoto not to kill the woman, making it clear who's in charge. She says it's satisfactory that over 50,000 people are present in the town.

  4. Sir Nigel gives a speech, which Sahoko translates for the audience. He gives credit for his inspiration to Sahoko's mother. The boys leave during the following politicians' speeches, since the musical won't actually start for quite a while. Owaru is determined to eat as much junk food as possible before they have to return.

  5. Owaru notices that, not only has Kobayakawa's play not gathered any attention, the star herself hasn't shown up. Hajime wonders if von Essen left any descendents they should know about, but he can't recall seeing anyone who appeared part German. The four boys go back to the Dome and poke around, looking for the nest of the strange creature, instead locating Kobayakawa.

Chapter 9: The Last Day, Night

  1. Kobayakawa declares that she's really an undercover agent for the Ministry of Education and prances off to pursue her mission. As the brothers thread through the crowd to return to their seats, Tsuzuku is recognized as "Morpheus"--a name he went by for a part-time job at a poolhall bar--by a congresswoman who wishes they could go drinking again. (At Hajime's prodding, he insists that he maintains high ideals. He has yet to meet anyone, of either sex, with whom he'd want to go any further than drinks.)

  2. The musical plot revolves around the King of the Silver Moon, an immortal who long ago blended the DNA of his dead love with that of a Cro-Magnon and has since wandered the planet, waiting for her to be reborn. As the music swells and actors wearing animal heads emerge from the audience, chanting, Hajime begins to worry that the combination of light and sound resembles methods of Nazi brainwashing.

  3. Masamoto, drunk, staggers around insisting that everyone in town will die. Two guards outside the Dome hear a strange noise--the same that the missing security guards had heard before the creature attacked. Inside, the musical approaches the climax, where the King of the Silver Moon vows that if he can't bring his true love back to life, then he'll destroy all humanity. Just then, when the audience members are at the peak of tension, Kobayakawa's laughter echoes through the Dome.

  4. Kobayakawa swings down and crashes into the audience. When Takamoto tries to evict her by comparing her unfavorably to Sahoko's mother Kineyo, she attacks the other actress. Kineyo's wig flies off, revealing not black but brown hair underneath. Seeing it, Hajime is certain that she's von Essen's daughter. Masamoto stumbles in and puts the final piece in place by calling Sahoko his little sister. Sahoko confides in Tsuzuku that her mother has been behind everything, her actions due to the "Silver Moon King."

Chapter 10: Shooting Stars Battlefield

  1. Kineyo informs Hajime that she named the creature she works for "The Silver Moon King," and at its request allowed the boys to come to the city so it could feed on their energy. The doors of the Dome are sealed to keep out the persistent tentacles, but then the ground starts shaking and the place begins to collapse, crushing Kineyo. Grabbing hold of Sahoko, Masamoto, Tokiwa, and Sir Nigel, the four brothers attempt to escape the destruction.

  2. The monster isn't simply in a lair somewhere; the tentacles underlie the entire town, causing the surface to cave in for kilometers in every direction as it emerges from underground. Hajime speculates that it had essentially been hibernating to conserve its energy up until the present. What rises into the sky is a living spaceship, and the musical had been its "alarm clock." The tentacles continue to suck people's organs out as the craft hovers, even managing to wrap around Amaru and start lifting him into the air.

  3. All four boys transform into dragons and fly to attack the creature. They have to stop it before it gets to the vacuum of space, because although they can exist there, their powers are weakened. The White Dragon makes the first pass at it, using sound as a blade, but the spaceship is so huge that he only gives it hairline cuts.

  4. They manouver above the creature, and the Black Dragon calls down repeated lightning bolts all focused in the same spot, boring a hole into its armor. Then the Red Dragon takes advantage of his speed to avoid the tentacles and blast the top of the spaceship with heat on one side and cold on the other. Soon the combined attack makes it lose altitude. Rather than let it crash to the ground and cause as much havoc as a meteorite, the Blue Dragon sends it a telepathic warning to leave the planet and never come back. It limps off into space, defeated.

  5. Back in Tokyo, Matsuri sees the news report about the chaos at the festival. She immediately springs into action, making a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies before heading to the boys' house to cook supper for them. She also gets bath water ready and leaves a basket of clothes for them in the yard, just in time for their return. They all come home and discuss the adventure.


Illustrations

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