Data 14: Corlew's Last Stand The Lawndale Militia was beginning to move out of its bunker beneath the Lawndale Gun Club. Every soldier was equipped with serin grenades. Somehow, this new offensive seemed to carry with it the air of a suicide mission. As the last soldiers left the compound, Anthony Corlew turned around. He took out a remote control device and pressed the lone red button on it. The entire Lawndale Gun Club complex was blown up via hidden ordnance packs hidden in strategic points around the area. "If I fail in this, there won't be a trace of this facility left so they won't have any evidence against me.," Anthony said to himself. The Lawndale Militia was moving towards the downtown area, perhaps for the last time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Downtown Lawndale looked like a tornado had struck it.The Free Lawndalers just had to hang on for another hour until the National Guard arrived. Daria, Usagi, Ami and the others were at the ready. Upchuck, the geeky kid in school, went up to Daria. "After this is all over, you want to go to my foxhole and make love, not war? ROWR!," Upchuck said to Daria. "Upchuck, if you don't leave me alone this instant, I'll personally demonstrate on you what Lorena Bobbitt did to John Wayne Bobbitt!," Daria replied. Upchuck got the hint and got away from her. "This is it, everyone!," Mr. DeMartino said, "This is the battle that will either mean the end of the Lawndale Militia or the beginning of a dark age for this town! We've got to hold on until the National Guard arrives." Just then, there was a commotion at the edge of town. The Lawndale Militia was arriving! Anthony was at the front of the troops. They had gas masks on, and it looked like they were going to launch a terrifying attack. "On my signal, fire the sarin bombs!," Anthony said. The troops got ready to pull the pins on the grenades and throw them. There would be mere seconds to stop the attack before the deadly serin gas would be released. "Leave this up to me!," Usagi said. She spread her wings and began to fly. The Militiamen had now pulled the pins. The only thing that separated Death from Lawndale was the safety handles and a mere five seconds. They were ready to throw the grenades. "THROW AT WILL!," Anthony said. The grenades were being thrown at a rapid-fire pace. Suddenly, Usagi flew right above them, and waved her Moon Scepter around the general area. "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!," shouted Sailor Moon. The energy hit the grenades and turned them all into harmless dust, which then fell on the attackers. "GET THEM NOW WHILE WE'VE GOT THE ADVANTAGE!," Mr. DeMartino yelled. All the Free Lawndalers advanced on the bewildered Militia. The fighting was fierce. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the superior numbers of the Free Lawndalers was beginning to tell. Soon, one of the Militiamen was yelling, "Everyone for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost!" Suddenly, Anthony saw his support dissipating. "Come back here and fight, or I'll shoot every last one of you!," Anthony said. But it was no use. He was all alone now. "Give yourself up," Daria said. "The National Guard will be here soon, and they're going to restore law and order here." "NEVER! I WILL NEVER SUBMIT TO JACK-BOOTED THUGS LIKE THEM!," Anthony roared and fled to St. Eligus' Presbyterian Church, which had a tall bell tower. Daria, Usagi, Ami, Jane, Trent and Jesse were in hot pursuit. Anthony got there first, and ran up the stairs, first jimmying the door so it wouldn't open. Daria got there soon after. "The door's been jimmied closed. I can't open it," she said. "Stand back!," Usagi said; she then shouted, "SAILOR MOON KICK!" The door was kicked into splinters. She and the others ran up the stairs to the top of the bell tower. Anthony was there, armed with an AK-47, some white phosphorus grenades and a Bowie knife. "STAND BACK! I'LL KILL YOU ALL IF YOU DON'T!," he yelled. Sailor Moon stood in front of everyone else and said: "You evil man! Trying to subvert the very nation and government you claim to be saving! I am the pretty soldier Eternal Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice! In place of the Moon, you're punished!" "You're not in Tokyo anymore, you Jap bitch!," Anthony said, and flung his Bowie knife right at Usagi. Daria tugged on a rope, causing a bell to ring and strike the knife out of harm's way. Daria now stared at him. "Why are you waging this war for?," she asked. Anthony replied, "To bring back constitutional government." Daria responded, "Then why do you want to establish a dictatorship that is the complete antithesis of everything that the Founding Fathers fought for in the Constitution? About sixty years ago, another group existed that blamed their nation's problems on minority groups and a so-called decadent government. They eventually got into power and killed many who opposed them. They were called the Nazis. Groups like yours keep saying that the letter of the Constitution must be obeyed, but you violate its spirit by trying to deny rights to minorities and others who disagree with you. Besides, if you really take over this country, what is to stop the same groups you persecute from forming their own terrorist organizations like the Black Panthers and the FALN? Groups like yours forget that violence only brings on more violence. Your vision of the Americana Dream is everyone else's nightmare, and I won't allow you to bring that to reality." "Then you are a traitor!," yelled Anthony. "No, you're the traitor, Mr. Corlew," Daria replied. Anthony screamed "DIE, TRAITOR!" and lunged for the Bowie knife. Daria got there as well and a fierce struggle began. They were rolling around the floor, getting perilously close first to the opening for the ropes, then to the edge of the tower. Punches were exchanged. Blood was spilled. Usagi and the others stood there helplessly. Daria knocked the knife out of Anthony's hand. Anthony then locked Daria in a chokehold and threw her up against the ledge. "You can't stop us all! There's too many like us all over the country!," Anthony bellowed. "Now I'm going to snap your neck!" Everyone knew they had to do something now. Trent saw the Bowie knife there on the floor and picked it up. "I WON'T LET YOU MURDER THE WOMAN I LOVE!," Trent yelled Anthony turned around to see Trent throw the knife right into his heart. Anthony stood there for a second, then drew the knife out. "I'll take you with me, you welfare-cheating hippie!," he managed to spurt out. He was ready to fling the knife back at Trent. Usagi, however, ran up to him. "SAILOR MOON KICK!," she yelled and kicked him real hard. The force of the kick threw Anthony clear of the ledge and out of the tower. Anthony yelled "AAAAAAAAAA!" as he plunged the one hundred feet to the ground.The body made a great "SPLAT!" upon impact, then was ran over by a Humvee troop transport, an M1A1 Abrams tank,and a National Guard unit singing Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk": "Why don't you ask him/If he's going to stay?/Why don't you ask him/If he's going away?/Why don't you tell me/What's going on?/Why don't you tell me/Who's on the phone?/Why don't you ask him/What's going on?/Why don't you ask him/The latest on his throne?/Don't say that you love me!/just say that you want me!/Don't say that you love me!/Just say that you want me!/Tusk!/Tusk!/Tusk!" Jesse saw the whole thing and then said, "Trent, this is bumming me out, man!" Trent replied, "I know, man, but it had to be done." Jesse added, "My Uncle Phil went the same way." Daria could now see that the National Guard had arrived. "This is the National Guard! You are to surrender immediately! You are completely surrounded!," a voice said on a bullhorn. Daria went to Trent and said, "Thanks for saving my life." "I'll never let anyone hurt you, Daria," Trent said as he embraced her. They French kissed. Some National Guard soldiers clambered up the tower. One of them asked, "Is everyone all right?" "Yes, everything's fine now," Jane said. She had this satisfied smile on her face as she saw her brother and Daria continue to kiss. She wasn't going to forget this moment anytime soon. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Sometime later, the National Guard was beginning to restore order.Trucks full of captured Lawndale Militia soldiers were being routed out of town to Powell Armory, where the unit was stationed. The mayor, along with the commanding officer of the unit, approached Daria and the others as they came down from the bell tower. "This town--in fact, the whole nation--owes you an immeasurable debt of gratitude, young lady," the commander, who was Col. Thomas Wood, said to Daria. "No need to thank just me, Colonel," Daria said, "this was a team effort." She threw her arms around Usagi and Ami, then motioned to the rest of her friends. "Ms. Morgendorffer," the mayor said, "words can't even begin to express our thanks to you and the others who freed our town from this menace." Mr. DeMartino now approached with Ms. Li. Somehow, the usually pushy Ms. Li was rather downtrodden. "Ms. Li," Mr. DeMartino said, "I think you owe the good citizens of this city an explanation for the callous disregard for the public's safety and the shameless huckstering of corporate sponsorship and waste of taxpayers' money you made with your silly football game." "Ms. Li," the mayor said, "I intend to have the Board of Education audit your school's entire finances. I think you have some major explanations to make to myself, the City Council and the State Education Department for all this." "When I'm eventually vindicated," Ms. Li said, "You're going to pay, DeMartino!" "I seriously doubt that!," Mr. DeMartino said, his right eye bulging out again. "I've got some very convincing evidence here that will prove my case. Once they're done with you, you'll never become school superintendent here or anywhere else." Ms. Li just slunk away. "As much as we'd like to stand here and collect all this praise," Daria said, "we've still got some outstanding business to deal with in Tokyo, right, everyone?" "You said it, Daria," Sailor Moon said. Daria then added, "But, before that, there's just one little detail I want to take care of." Sailor Moon asked, "What's that?" Daria replied, "Change my costume from this stupid seirafuku to one of those armored bikinis I keep seeing in your anime back in Japan." Sailor Moon was aghast in shock; she then said, "Are you kidding me?" "Hey, you just saved my life; it's the least you could do," shot back Daria. "OK, OK," Usagi said. She took the Moon Scepter and waved it in front of Daria. "MOON TRANSFORMATION MAGIC!," she yelled. Daria was transformed again, and this time she was wearing a blue armored bikini with blue knee-length boots. On her left breast was the symbol for Mercury. "Now you're talking," Daria said. "OK, who's with us?," Sailor Moon wanted to know. Jane, Trent and Jesse raised their hands."Count us in, too!," a voice said nearby. It was Mack and Jodie. "Mack, Jodie, you want to join us as well?," said Daria. Mack replied, "Hey, I want to help; besides, I want to know if my cousin is OK." "He is, I assure you," Daria said. "But you're more than welcome to join us anyway." "OK, as they say in railroading, 'ALL ABOARD!'", Usagi said. "Everyone gather around me." They did so. Sailor Moon help up the Moon Scepter and said, "MOON TELEPORTATION ACTIVATION!" They were gone in a flash. "Godspeed, Daria Morgendorffer, godspeed," the mayor said. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Back at Tokyo, Yoriko was so close to the Imperial Palace she could almost sense the impending victory. She was looking forward to this for a long time. "Soon, Father, you will be vindicated!," she yelled. Unless a miracle happened, Japan would once again be in the iron grip of tyranny.