Subject: [FFML] Gaijin[Part 29a][Sm/SI][Dark]
From: Sean Danna
Date: 8/2/2003, 5:57 AM
To: ffml@anifics.com


Think PG-13 dark. 

Previous chapters: http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=404359

	Gaijin

	Part 29

	Acceptance.

++++++++++++++++++++

	It was an odd moment. I'll never really forget it. 

	I found myself wondering why it took me so damn long to realize it. I
really should have figured it out a lot sooner. 

	I had no real choice in my destiny, no hope for peace in the near
future. 

	I was finally free, there was no possible way I was going to have any
semblance of a normal life. There was nothing I could do about it. I was
stuck no matter what I did. It would follow me even if I ran to the
other side of the world, even after the messes I was in now were long
since gone.

	I was Spiderman, costume or not. I had to help the senshi, I had to
save the world, and I had to do it, or it was my ass that was going to
suffer for it. I had to look death in the eyes and laugh. It was either
that, or die.

	Not as easy as it sounds really. Death was right in front of me,
laughing madly as it waved the severed pieces of its victims around like
flags as it landed on the rooftop in front of me. I had to wonder why I
was the one who got stuck with it. 

	As Usagi Tsukino landed behind me, with a much heavier sounding thump
than a fourteen-year old girl should be able to generate. I didn't have
much time to be introspective. I knew I was looking at Carnage, and I
was Spiderman, with Venom backing me up. 

	Something right out of a page in a comic book from back home. After
all, here I was a lone hero against a monster, with a reluctant and
unstable ally that would turn on me in an instant? I wondered why I felt
so free at all. After all I was trapped between the two of them. Usagi
hadn't exactly offered any assistance either yet. I knew it would be
coming once she got a taste of that thing. Reluctant assistance
probably, but better than facing this thing alone.

	I had no idea what to do as it looked at me. It had landed on a rooftop
in front of us after we had both passed by, catching up to us easily as
we both tried to change our direction as the new threat appeared. Usagi
stopped herself first, clinging to a wall just over the monster as I
landed on the opposite side of the building from it. I was crouched over
the street ready to dodge anything it could toss at me.

	What the hell am I doing? I'm no superhero! That was what I was
thinking at first glance. As I landed I thought about it a bit more.
Damn it. Yeah, I am. Like it or not, I'm a superhero.

	I still have no idea why anyone would dream about having a life like
this. Gia really owes me for this one.

	I did what I thought I should. I opened my mouth to speak first. I kind
of wish I hadn't really.

++++++++++++++++++++

	"Man, that's a nasty looking sore! Maybe you should get it looked at?"

	Venom glanced over towards Carrot. She seemed slightly surprised by the
smug tone the boy had used. She quickly discarded it as unimportant.
"It's the other! How? It isn't possible for the other to take a human
host!"

	Carnage's head rolled backwards at an inhuman angle as he looked up at
the thing over his head. "Hello little brother."

	"You're looking at it aren't you?" snapped the boy angrily.

	"It doesn't matter. It must be destroyed. It is dangerous." Venom
snarled angrily and hissed.

	"Heh. That inferior prototype won't even scratch me. I've got the
military model," replied Carnage hatefully. He had yet to move to
attack. "Besides. I'm not interested in you. I want Spiderman!" It
pointed its finger directly at Carrot and still did not move its feet.

	"Give yourself up quietly, and we'll catch him for you," offered Venom.

	"I'd rather play with my food and kill you too actually," responded the
other.

	"Usagi. That thing killed two hundred people and broke Rei's back,"
said the boy calmly. 

	"We are aware of that," snarled the creature hatefully. "We'll make
sure it can't hurt anyone else!"

	Venom was showing surprising restraint as it continued to cling to the
wall overhead. That or the suit was worried about something and was
holding Usagi back.

	"How about you help me get rid of it, Tsukino? I'm the lesser evil in
case you didn't notice."

	"Very well. We'll help you again Spiderman, just don't get in our way."

	"Yeah. That makes a lot of sense," snorted Carrot lazily. "So. Are you
just going to stand there and make threats ugly?"

	"No. I'm quite patient. I want to enjoy killing you both. In fact, I'd
rather do it with an audience!" The thing shot upwards and nailed Usagi
in the chest as its arm formed a long spike. The girl was ripped from
the wall by the force of the blow and landed on the rooftop face first
as Carnage stuck to her former position and started to move up and away.

	"Damn it! Now we have to chase him!" snapped Carrot as he moved quickly
to follow and ignored the dazed Usagi.

	"Wait! Don't run from me coward!" snarled Venom as it jumped to its
feet a little shakily. "Come back here!"

	Carrot shifted sideways to get out of the black thing's path as it tore
after Carnage. "I've found you at last, you're not escaping!"

	"Holy shit, she's pissed," muttered the boy as he watched the pair tear
after each other. "Maybe I can just duck this fight?" The pair ripped
into the interior of the apartment complex through one of the windows. A
huge cloud of dust erupted from the room they had entered and small
debris showered down on the street below. The arm of an unfortunate
resident fell by him. "Son of a bitch," he grumbled as he shot out a
line of webbing and climbed towards an open window nearby. 

	In the distance behind him he noticed a giant plume of smoke had
started to form in the center of town. "Looks like I'm not the only one
who's busy tonight," he commented as he climbed through. "I hope Uranus
can get rid of that nasty scorpion thing. I sure as hell don't want to
deal with it again."

++++++++++++++++++

	"We are being watched."

	"Huh?" Minako's head snapped up from her magazine. It was resting on
top of an open textbook. "What do you mean?"

	"We need to leave, now. There is a way you contact the others?" Mai,
her guardian shinobi, had simply strolled into her room and announced
her business.

	"Go? Where?" asked the girl dumbly as she found herself being pulled by
the elbow.

	"Someone watches us girl. This is not some perverted teen either. I've
only caught glimpses of him, but three times in one night is a bit much
for coincidence. We need to go, or your life, and the lives of your
family could very well end tonight. Do you understand that?"

	The girl looked close to tears. "I can take them."

	"Are you willing to risk your entire family on that assumption?" she
asked coolly. Her eyes gave away no emotion as she stared at the girl
she was forced to protect. Minako still hadn't seen her face yet. She
kept it covered with a black scarf. She imagined all the strange girl's
friends did that.

	"Why do you hide your face that way? I bet you're really pretty!" said
the girl as she looked at the shinobi in front of her.

	"Because, I am not to be remembered." The girl gave that simple reply.
"I've packed a small bag for you already. You won't need anything else.
Don't bother with clothes. Simply transform so we can leave quickly. I
do not know how long it will be before we are attacked."

	"Are you..."

	"Positive," replied the shinobi calmly. "Come on."

	"I'll call the others!" cried Minako. "We can take care of this no
problem!" She fumbled around her room and grabbed her pen and
communicator. 

	"You should call them, but not for help. They will be far too busy this
evening I imagine. You should warn them, but do it while we move. As I
said before, time is important. I have alerted my comrades already."

	"Just a second, this takes a moment," grumbled Minako sourly. 

	"I hope you're pleased with yourself!" snapped her mother as she
stormed into the hallway. 

	"WHAT?!" cried Minako in horror.

	"Not now," growled Mai a she pushed the woman back. 

	"My daughter has a hit on her head!" snapped the woman.

	"That is why I am here. If you delay us any longer, you risk the lives
of all in this home. Good evening." Mai stormed out of the hallway and
Minako quickly followed her, fumbling with the bag she had been given.
Both her parents looked angry, pensive, and worried. She felt like an
absolute ass as she hurried past them. "I can't believe you told my
parents! After all that yelling you had time to tell my parents?!"

	"You can't return home until this is over. Your parents will not be
here. They will be leaving in a few hours to temporary residents. The
master likes you a bit more than you deserve I think." She glanced back
at the girl as she fumbled to keep up as they walked into the street.

	"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" snapped Minako as she started to grow
annoyed with the rude girl.

	"Would you transform? You're running around in your nightgown. We don't
need to attract that kind of attention right now."

	"Right, like running around with a senshi in the middle of the street
is any less contemptuous!"

	Mai growled under her breath. "Hurry up. I don't plan to travel through
the streets girl. You're not strong enough without those powers of
yours. I learned that much just by watching you."
	
	Minako held her breath until her face turned red as she threw the bag
on the ground and raised her pen over her head. 

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Uranus huffed angrily as she glared at the thing standing across from
her. It didn't look like she had even scratched it yet. It simply stood
there, glaring at her hatefully. "Damn. What the hell am I going to do?
I've got to think of a way around that damn armor."

	"Have you thought of a plan yet? Are you ready to destroy me yet?" said
Nine playfully. Her tail whipped about behind her and tossed the remains
of two cars into the buildings on either side of the street. Both of
them crashed through the glass windows of local businesses. The street
had been quite busy until they had landed in the middle of traffic.

	The creature opened its palm and grinned as a ball of dark power formed
above it. "You'll die. You cannot defeat me. Not even with the power of
all those planets to aid you. Just die and be done with it." She
screamed and threw it at her. 

	Uranus screamed as her hands came into contact with the ball of power.
A horrible pain coursed through her body as she was pushed skyward and
repeatedly shocked by the power. She strained painfully to keep it in
front of her and struggled to push off of it for several seconds. 

	Finally she felt herself fly away from it and slammed into the side of
a building, destroying nine of the rooms inside in her passing. She
shook her head as she staggered and fumbled to her feet. That had really
hurt. Her head turned towards the twisted metal support jutting up from
the remains of the floor a few feet to her right. She snorted and
grabbed it by hefting it over her shoulder. She had a frown on her face
as she simply walked forward, unobstructed by anything in her way as she
pulled a twelve-foot beam of steel out of the building's structure.
"This should do." She turned her eyes down to the street as she simply
walked through the outer wall and into the air four stories above the
ground. Her body pivoted into the same direction her gaze was directed.

	Nine was hissing at her below. "Still trying to fight."

	Uranus said nothing as she floated down to the ground and landed
lightly. "Come on." She waved the monster forward with her fingers. 

	"Very well," snarled the beast. It charged her and squirted some of the
liquid from its tail at the beam in her hands. "You're not strong enough
to harm me anyway!"

	Uranus skillfully twirled it out of the way and around her back as she
plowed the end of it into the thing's face. "I do have to keep my figure
somehow after all. Wouldn't want them getting too big you see. Ruins my
image."

	The beast was sprawled out on the ground and got up a little slowly.
Green fluid was coming out of its mouth. 

	"So. You're not invincible after all?"

	"True enough, but that will change, once I've destroyed you."

	"You haven't got what it takes," replied the fuku-clad woman angrily.
Her cape fluttered in the wind behind her, pieces of it were torn away
and the ends were now very frayed. 

	"I'm afraid you are quite mistaken. Skilled as you may be, I will
overpower you." Nine roared angrily as she reached for the woman again
with her claws extended. Her tail lashed out over her head and slammed
into the ground, forcing Uranus back. 

	The girl replied to the assault by wielding the steel like a bat. It
cracked across the monster's skull and sent it flying into a thick
concrete brick that had once been the corner of a large building. Rubble
crumbled around the fallen creature as it struggled to recover from the
blow.

	Uranus calmly walked towards the scene while bending her beam back into
shape again. She had a confident looking smirk on her face as she
stopped and waited for the monster to arise. 

	"I'm afraid you're about to lose your edge girl," snarled the thing as
it stood up in a shower of concrete dust and gripped into the remains of
the building above it. 

	"No way!" gasped Uranus as the monster ripped off almost the entire
wall above it. She watched helplessly as it came down on her in a wave.
"Damn it."

	"Now, back to the task at hand," said the creature as it calmly walked
through the ruins before they had even settled. "She has everything I
need. Wait, something is missing... Heh. No wonder this was so easy." It
plunged its fist into the rubble and pulled out the fallen girl. Uranus
hung limply from its grip with the twisted beam still gripped between
her fingers. More because they were stuck into the metal than anything
else. 

	The thing paused when it realized that she had a smirk on her face.
"What?"

	"I knew you couldn't resist picking me up," snapped the girl as she
swiped the monster across its skull with the steel beam. A car in the
street was cut in half by the motion of her swing. She gasped when the
weapon was ripped apart in her hands. 

	The monster had actually bitten her weapon in half. A large chunk of
twisted and smoking steel fell from its jaws. "Aw, You lose."

	The girl growled angrily as a black armor plated fist slammed into her
face. She was thrown back across the concrete and ripped up large chunks
of the road in her wake as she skipped a few times. She looked back and
didn't see the monster before she even got up. It was too late for her
to realize what had happened when it landed on top of her and crushed
her chest with its claws.

	"Now. To destroy you!" snarled the beast angrily. It beat on her
relentlessly with the end of it's tail, but did not use the hook.
"Pathetic creature. I'll have to hunt down the remaining outer senshi. I
had her power in mind as well when I designed this form."

	"Designed?" muttered Uranus painfully as she felt about around her for
anything to defend herself with.

	"Die, fool."

	The girl pulled up one of the discarded steel beam halves. She twisted
her body and launched it at the monster. It took the blow in the gut and
was thrown back by the force. "Get off of me!"

	"Very well. I'll end it quickly then," snarled the monster. Its tail
wagged behind its head and began dripping with fluid once again.

	The girl's costume was torn to shreds; she was bruised and bleeding as
she glared at the thing in front of her angrily. She raised her palm and
gasped for breath, a slight smile formed on her face as she pooled power
in front of it. "Eat this, you bitch."

	"Pathetic fool," snorted the beast as it closed its form up. 

	"Die!" screamed Uranus with an enraged cry. The monster had yet to
notice that the beam of steel was still planted between two of its
armored plates. A gap in the defenses was still present. Power exploded
from her palm and a painful sounding scream came from within the armor.
It folded back and the blast consumed her completely. 

	The dirty looking hero staggered to her feet and spit on the ground as
she wiped the blood from her chin. "Take that."

	The monster was glaring at her on its back. Its breathing was labored
as it simply lay where it was and smoked. "Damn you. I'll destroy you
yet."

	"Not if you're not around to do it," said the girl as she started
forming more power in her hands. "I'm not about to let you live and grow
strong again."

	"Heh. So stop me then," snorted the creature. A beam of purple energy
shot into the sky from the monster's chest. Pieces of road and dirt were
thrown in every direction as it burned through the street. 

	"No!" The heroine rushed forward towards the blast as it started to
fade. She glared down at the hole in the ground. It had burrowed down
into the earth, and then sealed its path with that beam of power. She
had lost it. 

	She hung her head and rose into the sky. "I'm starting to realize why
that Spiderman guy is so pissed off all the time."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

	Speaking of which...

	"Where the are they?" growled Carrot. He could still hear panicked
screams as he strolled up the stairwell of the building. It was obvious
they were moving up, but Venom wasn't slowing his little brother down
much apparently. There weren't many bodies either. He'd give her that
much credit. He'd only found two dead people as he followed their
destructive trail up the interior of the building. It was a large
complex of about ten stories. He was on the ninth floor. "Hope they took
off already." He reached the door to the roof and opened it. Carnage and
Venom were squaring off in the middle of the rooftop. "Damn."

	"Where the hell were you at?" snapped Venom angrily.

	"Trying to catch up to you two assholes. Did you see the mess you made
back there?" The boy now had a red handkerchief tied around the bottom
of his face. All he was missing was a ridiculous American hat.

	"Let the worms deal with it themselves," snorted Carnage. "Now, where
to take you? I know!" He cackled madly as he jumped off the edge of the
building and began hopping across rooftops further into the city. 

	Carrot and Usagi were hot on his heels. "I hope none of those chunks I
saw were yours, Tsukino."

	"We protect the innocent," snarled the thing angrily.

	"Where the hell is this jerk going anyway?" growled Carrot as he
ignored this. 

	Both of them passed on opposite sides of a building on parallel
streets. Carnage was moving fast enough to stay ahead of them, but not
by much, he wasn't even trying to dodge them.

	"He's taking us somewhere. You couldn't even hold him in one place?
Some help."

	Venom snarled in response to this as she squirted some of her webbing
in his direction. He dipped his head neatly aside and dodged the stream.
She was aiming for his mouth. 

	"Jerk." Something large an ominous loomed on the horizon. Tokyo
Stadium, and the Hikari Negashi concert. He didn't care for her music,
but she was popular enough that he recognized her name. There would be
thousands of people inside the stadium, with cameras, and all he had
covering his face was an unstable piece of cloth. "Aw, man," he whined. 

	It took a moment for what was leading them there to click in his mind.
"Shit." He glanced over at Usagi and called out to her. "Hurry it up!
He's heading for the stadium!"

	"Good, lots of room," snarled the creature in retort.

	"Do you see those lights? There's a concert tonight, it's going to be
packed with people you idiot!" snapped the boy angrily as he flipped
over a flagpole in his path. "He's heading straight for it!"

	"He must be stopped!" Usagi picked up speed slightly as she rushed
towards the monster. 

	"Haven't I had enough of a pounding tonight?" The boy landed in the
parking lot just after Venom. She was already chasing after Carnage
towards the stadium. The monster was currently crawling up the side of
the building.

	"Come on!" snarled his companion impatiently. 

	"All right all ready!" he snapped as he rushed up and jumped onto the
side of the building. "Jeez. What does that thing do, put you on the
monthlies permanently?"

	"Mind your own business!" snarled the beast as it lobbed a large
section of wall down at him. It missed by a large margin, but silenced
him for a few moments at least. 

	They reached the rooftops and found Carnage standing on the edge of the
stadium, looking down into the crowds. "Look at them. Pathetic cows,
none of them suspect how close to death they are." His fingers were now
long barbed knife-like edges. "You can't stop me. I'll destroy you both,
when I'm finished playing with you."

	"Who are you?" Venom crouched low as it awaited an answer. 

	"Death, Chaos, Carnage..." It replied and turned to face them, waving
its claws dramatically. "All the fun things in life."

	"So, Carnage," growled Carrot. 

	"Yes?" 

	"What you're telling me is you intend to walk into that place, and
murder as many people as you can?" 

	"That is correct," replied the thing.

	"Lethal force...engaged," said Venom in an electronic sounding tone.

	"Thanks," said the boy cheerfully.

	"What?" snarled Carnage as the creature in front of him turned silver.
It's head elongated and its claws grew larger. A whip-like tail thrashed
behind it. "I see. Should be interesting, come on, let's go make the
front page!"

	The monster dove into the stadium and into the crowd with its claws
extended. 

	"Sick him," growled Carrot as he pointed down and glared at Venom.

	The creature snapped at him. "We'll discuss this later." She dove down
after him and roared angrily. People were already scattering away from
the thing.

	Carrot smirked at this. Usagi would not be able to access that form
once the danger had passed. It was a code that responded to certain
phrases, or threats. As angry as Usagi was, in the eyes of her costume,
he was only a level two threat. It would only respond to one threat
level at a time, she couldn't attack him in that form unless he did
something really stupid in front of her. The fact that he was only
considered a level two threat annoyed him for some reason.

	Yoshi was a bad drunk. He'd been really lucky to find him.

	He jumped into the panicking stadium, Hikari Negashi was standing on
stage watching the events unfold with her backup singers. The show had
stopped quite abruptly. Showers of blood spraying from your audience
periodically was quite the buzz kill for a J-pop singer's act.

	"Oh no! Not again!" she whined. 

	"We should run!" cried one of her backup singers.

	"Yeah!"

	"Maybe that Uranus babe will show up again?" she squealed happily. 

	"Darn," muttered the two backup singers as they scurried away without
her.

	"I don't want to be reduced to a tribute band!" whined one of them as
she dashed off stage.

	Hikari glared at the direction the girl had gone in. "I'll be all
right," she told herself.

	Then she turned to see the blood soaked monster that had climbed onto
her stage by carving a path through her fans. The liquid metal monster
that was tearing through the crowd didn't look any friendlier. 

	"Hello. Can I have your autograph?" asked the monster. 

	"Move!" screamed someone as she felt a soft impact as her feet left the
ground. 

	The metal beast had rammed into the monster full force and tumbled
across her former position in a flurry of claws and razor edges. 

	"Wha?" she muttered as she squeezed her rescuer's chest a bit tighter.
She glanced at him as they landed on top of the stage. "A guy?"

	"What the hell is wrong with you? What the hell were you still doing on
stage?!" he cried angrily. He turned his eyes towards the battle below.
There wasn't much he could do at the moment. Carnage and Venom were
beating on each other and wrestling around with little real result from
either side. Aside from destroying their surroundings that is. The
supports for the area they were standing on began to shake precariously
and he grabbed her. 

	"Wait a minute, where's that hot Uranus babe?"

	"She's busy. You get me or you can stand here and fall. I've got more
important things to worry about. When we land, run away."

	"What? Do you have any idea who I am?"

	The boy simply frowned and squirted a jet of liquid over her mouth. He
hefted her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and jumped down and a
fair distance away from the battle below. He sent out a line and slid
down to land lightly. He placed her back on her feet and pointed towards
the nearest exit. "Go. Now. I'm not saving you again."

	She glared at him and growled as she tried to scream something at him
from under his webbing. 

	"Lesbians," he grumbled as he ignored her ranting and walked closer to
the battle. 

	Venom was on its back with Carnage diving for it. The silver monster
slammed its feet into the evil creature and sent it flying off the stage
into the now abandoned lower bleachers. People were still scrambling
into the exits to escape. 

	Carrot watched the thing sail over his head and growled irritably as he
realized exactly where it was. "Shit."

	Hikari Negashi was firmly in the monster's grip as soon as it landed.
She was frozen in terror as the thing wrapped its claws around her
throat. "A great loss for society I'm sure. Murdered, with her own loyal
fans, the star of the show. Front page material indeed."

	The boy froze as he watched this. The monster was holding her out and
up, looking at her face as if it was a prop from a Shakespearean play. 

	She gasped and stared at him. "Help me you idiot!"

	Carrot had no idea what to do. His mind was a complete blank as he
stared at the monster. 

	"What are you going to do?" it asked coldly. "What can you do? It is
too late."

	"I can do this," he replied sharply as he reached behind his back and
drew his blade in a cutting motion. To his surprise, a trail of power
crackled in the afterimage of his swing. The monster's arm fell off with
Negashi still attached to it. She hit the ground hard and fell into a
heap.

	Carrot rushed forward and twisted out of the way of the shards the
monster was sending towards him. The creature landed next to its arm
after flipping over his head. The boy twisted towards the monster and
growled when he noticed the arm had attached itself to its leg. "I'll
fix that later."

	"Not if we have any say in the matter!" roared Venom as it dove at it
from above. 

	Carnage whirled around and thrust its good arm towards her. A long
spike formed from the costume that pushed her back away from him, but
did not penetrate the metal surface. 

	"I think it's time I cut my losses and ran, for now," said the monster
as it jumped away from the boy's sword swing and forced him to dodge
another volley of spikes as it jumped into the air away from him. 

	"Stop him!" snarled Usagi. 

	He didn't need to be told. He was already jumping after the creature.
He had little doubt Usagi had seen what he had done to Carnage. She was
staying a good distance away from him at the moment. 

	The monster ripped through the wall and out into the hallways of the
stadium. 

	Carrot and Usagi both climbed into the room and glanced around. The
creature had vanished.

	"You lost him!" snarled Venom. It's form shifted back to the low-level
threat form. 

	"What? All that sensor equipment and you can't see him?"

	"He has an advanced cloaking system," replied Venom irritably. "Like
ours."

	"Great," grumbled the boy. That meant it was possible for Carnage to
bypass his spidersense like she had. He didn't want to put any ideas
into the thing's head if he could help it. 

	"Well. I guess that's that then," said the boy with a heavy sigh. 

	"Not quite yet Spiderman. We still have unfinished business. We are
quite irate with you for losing the monster as well."

	"Haven't you had enough tonight Usagi?" He turned to look at her with
his sword gripped in his hand. "I don't want you dead and never did."

	"Lies!" snarled the beast.

	"Since when did you take a liking to tossing people around Usagi? If
we're working together, I am not a weapon! Don't look at me like you
don't know what I'm talking about Tsukino. You didn't kill anyone, but
some of those people still haven't gotten up yet."

	"They are acceptable losses. Many would have died if I had not reacted
quickly."

	"Yeah. Well I know something you don't kid."

	"What might that be?" growled the beast. It hunched down and hissed at
him as it prepared to attack.

	"Sailor Moon can fix Rei Hino's back. Venom can't." He lit a cigarette
and turned away from the beast. His mask was pulled down around his neck
and his face wasn't a pretty sight to look at.

	"Wh-what?" said the tiny sounding voice of Usagi.

	"I don't like repeating myself, and I don't particularly like you. You
want to really help your friends? You find a way to change back. That
thing will only get you killed in the end."

	"What would you know?" growled the thing angrily.

	"The Silver Imperium Crystal is inside you," he said as he continued to
smoke and leaned against the wall. "It's the crystal you've been looking
for remember? It was sealed away inside you, the Princess of the Moon.
Without it, you don't stand a chance against Metallia. That's not
something brute force will destroy."

	"We will find a way to stop this evil then," replied the creature.
"Sailor Moon was weak!"

	He flicked the butt away and stared her down. "I can't kill you. If you
die, I'll die when that monster comes anyway. I'm not strong enough to
fight it on my own. Sailor Moon can win, Venom can't. It's that simple."

	"We won't be fooled so easily Spiderman."

	"Fine." He started walking down the stairwell away from Venom. "I'm
going home. You can waste the rest of your night looking for that thing
if you want. I'm not in the mood for a fight."

	"What makes you think I'm giving you a choice?" growled Venom as he
started after her. 

	"Usagi has too much to think about for that." 

	"She doesn't need to think on it at all. We don't trust you."

	"Darn. I was hoping that would work," he said with a heavy sigh.

	"Come on," hissed the creature. 

	"Yeah, yeah," grumbled the boy as he held the blade out in front of
himself. 

	She charged him and he tapped the edge of the blade against one of the
things arms. It jumped back sharply and growled at him as it gripped the
injured arm. "That hurt." It glared at him and noticed that his entire
body was crawling with electricity, she'd need more time to plan around
this new development. The flashing sirens closing in on them clenched
the deal. "I see. Another time then Spiderman!"

	"I can't believe that worked," he said with a relieved look on his
face.

	Venom would probably come back ready for that trick next time. He hung
his head and sighed. "Didn't take much to get rid of her." It was
something of a break in his eyes. He tried to smile, he really did, but
that was about the time his adrenaline stopped, and the beginnings of
his aches and pains would start.

	"Son of a bitch," he grumbled as he fell flat on his rear and scrunched
up his face. It only served to worsen the pain as the numerous bruises
flared to life. 

	Finally, he was simply looking up at the ceiling. The sound of sirens
forced him to stand up. He glanced around and melted back into the
shadows of the stadium. He stealthily took the same path he had taken to
enter and avoided detection as emergency teams began to swarm up to the
building. They had a long night ahead of them. The fans had become an
uncontrolled mob of panic and had still not been brought under control.
It wasn't a pretty scene though.

	It did, however, make his escape quite a bit easier. He quietly moved
into the streets unnoticed.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
	
	"Um, what?" Ami Mizuno stared at the shinobi in front of her. She was
at the hospital again with another shinobi standing next to her. Both of
them looked to be quite serious. The most authoritative of the group
appeared to be guarding Rei. 

	"You are being gathered together, so that we can find safe places to
put you until your lives are out of danger. You must remain hidden until
the enemy is defeated from now on. All of you." He glanced back at the
ninja behind her and nodded. "Where are the others?"

	"Kenshi is on the way now. I'm not sure about Mai, she should be here
by now."

	"I know. I'm getting worried," said Aman coolly. "We can't abandon them
to check on her either. I must remain here, no matter what happens. When
Kenshi arrives, he will be sent to find her. You will guard his charge
while he is away."

	"That means keeping two of them together," warned the ninja coolly. 

	"I am aware of that, but our orders are to keep them all alive and
ready to fight should the need arise."

	"Then I'm going now!" said Ami firmly. "I won't wait here while someone
attacks my friends!"

	"We do not know that is the case yet," replied Aman.

	"I'm not willing to take that chance," she snapped angrily as she
turned away from him and stormed towards the door.

	"What should I do?" asked Hito nervously. He had thin black hair that
he kept short. The scarf around his face was red and his uniform was a
dark brown in color. On his back was a hefty looking broadsword. 

	"Follow, keep her safe. Our command includes letting them operate as
they see fit. Aid them if need be. According to the Master Hakage, they
have very powerful magic at their command."

	"These brats? That doesn't sound good," grumbled Hito as he turned
towards the door and followed after the girl. "I'll see you when we meet
up here again I guess."

	The ninja found himself standing alone with the sleeping senshi. He
stood silently for several minutes thinking to himself. He often had
time to do just that in his duty. The girl was young, and pretty.  She
had awakened several more times earlier, but had yet to stay awake for
more than a few moments. That worried him on some level. She was taking
far too long to wake up given her status now. What he didn't understand
was why she needed him. What made her so important to warrant such a
guard? Their new master wasn't exactly trusting of them from what he'd
seen. Perhaps he was hoping it would keep them out of his hair for a
while? "I wonder how long I'm going to be stuck here?" He wasn't sure he
liked the idea of spending the rest of his life guarding this girl on
some long forgotten duty. 

	"I'm going to have to have a talk with them about security when they
all arrive," growled Aman irritably. He didn't really feel like dwelling
on the other subject. None of the doctors seemed worried about her not
waking up just yet anyway. His frown deepened as all the lights in the
room went out suddenly. "Shit."

	Standing in the hallway with a wide grin plastered onto his face was a
slim looking man in a gray uniform. He had long white hair that flowed
down his back as he simply looked through the glass of Rei's hospital
bed. The boards that had been placed over the hole were carelessly
tossed to the ground below by the man's entrance. He hadn't even noticed
him until he was already standing in front of the glass.

	"And who might you be? Boy?" asked the white haired man calmly.

	"If I gave you my name, you'd get it dirty," replied the boy coolly.

	"How quaint. I am to assume you are charged with guarding this one?" He
turned to face the boy with a grin on his face. "Easy prey, too easy to
resist."

	"Not so easy as you might imagine," said the boy firmly as he drew his
katana from his back. He took an offensive stance and held the blade up
in front of his torso. 

	"So, you want to play with swords do you? Very well." A rapier like
blade appeared in the stranger's hand. "Come, let us see how well you
guard your princess."

	"I don't serve her," replied the boy firmly. Both of them were standing
off in the middle of the empty hallway. The staff of this area had long
since been driven to a skeleton crew and it was completely empty and
open. 

	"Come!" snarled the man as he stabbed at the boy. 

	The strike was easily blocked and the boy spun into a kick that nearly
planted itself in his opponent's face. 

	"I am Zoicite. I am impressed by your skill boy."

	"I give my name to no one. It is our way to remain hidden." The boy
slashed at the man a few times as he said this and all the strikes were
skillfully blocked. 

	"A pity skill alone will not be enough," he raised his palm and a ball
of flames shot out of his hand. 

	"Fortunate that I have more than skill to aide me," he replied as he
became engulfed in flames. He stood up tall as the inferno burned around
him. "Fire, makes me stronger." He raised his sword as the flames
ignored his body and uniform. "Face me now, and I'll destroy you. Go,
and do not return here again."

	"You piteous fool. You think I might be impressed by such weak human
magic? You are the one who will fall." He charged forward swinging his
blade at the shinobi's exposed abdomen. 
	
	The boy performed a low sweeping arc in front of him as the man charged
and yelled angrily as he did it. "Back off!"

	The man was thrown back as an arc of fire shot ripped across his chest.
He fumbled back to the ground and stared at his ruined uniform for a
moment. Calmly he stood up and dusted off his sleeves. His chest was now
exposed, but unharmed. "This isn't over worm. Perhaps I underestimated
you a little bit this time, but I won't make the same mistake again."

	Aman glanced around as the flames around his body slowly died down. "It
is as I feared. This one will need to be moved as well. I hope the
others get back soon."

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Mai Frowned as she stood on a rooftop overlooking Tokyo with Minako at
her side. "We must hurry. The others will be waiting for us. We have the
most distance to cover."

	Minako simply nodded and sighed. "Where are we going?"

	"To the hospital," said the shinobi calmly. "We should arrive within
the hour."

	"Great. We have to run all the way there?" Minako didn't seem pleased
with that. 

	"I'm going to have to do something about that whining girl. Your life
is at stake here, and I take my orders very seriously."

	"Right," mumbled the girl as she hung her head. 

	"It is not wise, to pick such an obvious meeting place, nor is it wise
to take such an obvious route," said Kunzite as he stepped out of the
shadows in front of him. He was eyeing them both coldly and had his
hands behind his back.

	Two large ugly lizard youma stood on either side of him. They resembled
chameleons and were almost comical in appearance. One of them opened is
mouth and lashed out with its tongue. Mai was tossed across the gravel
on her back in front of Minako. A large red mark was present on her face
as she slowly stood back up. 

	"Damn," she growled.

	Minako strolled forward. "I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends!"

	"Stop me," said the man with an arrogant chuckle. 

	The two lizard men hissed at her and started to stalk forward. 

	Mai reached behind her back and pulled out two silver sai. She spun
them skillfully around her hands and stopped in a ready stance. "Come on
then."

	The man turned his back on her and started walking to a comfortable
place to view the battle. 

	"We'll attack them together," said Mai firmly. "I hear you command some
rather powerful magic?"

	"You got that right," said Minako as she realized that things might be
just a little more in her favor than she had thought. "Let's get them!"

	The pair charged forward towards their enemies. A ball of golden light
shot from Sailor Venus's fingertips as she ran girlishly forward.

	Mai was a bit more direct, she rushed towards her target in full
sprint. Both attacks hit home at once. Minako's ball of power exploded
on contact and sent the monster on its back.

	Mai ducked under a claw strike and stabbed the monster in its eye with
one of her sai as she shifted back upright. A quick slash with the other
opened its throat wide open. It fell back and struggled to breathe as it
suffocated and vanished into dust. 

	The remaining lizard was slowly rising up as Minako perched herself
higher up on a small air vent that was wide enough for her to stand on.
"Now you're going to get it!" She pointed the wand her pen had become at
the monster and smirked. "Take this!" A golden beam of light shot
forward and went right through the monster's chest. It collapsed to the
ground on its face and vanished.

	Kunzite merely chuckled. "Most impressive, I look forward to meeting
you again young lady." 

	Mai growled at him as he floated into the air and away from the
rooftop. "He's getting away!"

	"Drat," snapped Minako. "We'll get him sooner or later."

	"Thinking like that leads to failure," said the older girl irritably.
"Not that it matters. You're no fighter."

	Minako bristled slightly at this, but didn't argue. "Fine. Be that way
then!"

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot stumbled through the window of the clinic. He was dirty, tired,
and in a lot of pain. 

	"Um. I hope you don't mind..." said Mei Lin as she met him at the
window with a pensive frown on her face. 
	
	"What?" he growled angrily. 

	"Um. I was at the concert tonight, so were a lot of other
photographers..."

	"You took my picture?" he grumbled. "You've done it before. So what's
the big deal now?"

	"Well, you said not to take any if you weren't wearing that costume,
but I wasn't the only one there, and I didn't want you getting upset
about it later..."

	"Whatever. I just want sleep. Tomorrow is going to suck."

	"Michiru called a couple of times," muttered Mei Lin sheepishly.

	"What are you, an answering service? You don't know half of what
happened to me tonight!" He didn't sound that angry with her when he
said this and leaned against the wall. 

	"I'll bet. You look terrible," she said with a small sigh. 

	"Yeah. I know. I'm goin to bed. If there's any other business, I'll
deal with it in the morning."

	She shuffled over to the phone and picked it up. "Sometimes it's hard
to tell he's a pretty nice guy." She glared in his general direction out
if spite and dialed the number as instructed. It rang a few times and
Spike picked up the other line. 

	"Yo."

	"He's not going to be any help until tomorrow. You can come over and
talk to him if you want."

	"I guess we'll just keep him here. Keeps messin up the bathrooms
though. Jiro's gonna make him clean it up when he sobers up tomorrow."
The man sounded somewhat disinterested in what was going on at this
point. "I'm gonna hit the sack myself then. We'll meet him here
tomorrow."

	"I'm not sure how long he'll be around here tomorrow, but I'll give him
the message. Michiru called earlier and said she wanted to see him when
he got back. I'll call her and tell her to stop by tomorrow." Mei Lin
grumbled as she realized that she was acting like the secretary for the
group. Carrot's comments didn't really come at a good time. 

	"See you then I guess."

	"I've got to work tomorrow, but maybe I'll see you," she replied
cheerfully. "I've got to get these photo's developed."

+++++++++++++++++

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