It's late but it's finally here. I might be busy in the near future but 
my next episode is special. This episode actually seems to have worked 
out alright despite my misgivings. I worry whenever I do an episode like 
this: Fast paced, condensed, some great scenes, and not an especially 
huge ammount of furtherance of the plot. Well, that's for next episode 
^_- So enjoy this. Hope you like it.

Hino Rei

"Just A Day in the Woods" (episode #16)

The phone rang in Darien's apartment. Darien was close by at the time, 
and he answered it. He glanced at a small digital clock in the room, and 
it showed the time to be 10:30 am. Darien wasn't working today. It was, 
once again, a nice, sunny day, but there was a minor earthquake today. 
Just a bit of shaking, nothing serious, and they weren't that uncommon 
in small ammounts. This one was barely felt. It was a fact of life, and, 
as long as it was nothing like the last big one, nothing serious.

Darien picked up the phone and answered, "Yes," in a single motion. 
Andrew, his friend from the arcade and from the university, was on the 
other end, and said, "Hi, Darien, I need a big favor from you." Darien 
wondered what it was, and asked, "Yeah, sure, but what is it?" Andrew 
explained.

---

Apollo steeped into what had once been Nephlyte's observatory. Zeus was 
here now, and somehow the comparison seemed appropriate for once. Zeus' 
specialty, aside from god-like thunderbolts, was astrology and to a 
minor degree spiritualism. Zeus did not like being here, in another's 
footsteps. It was not his style, and Apollo felt the same way. But Zeus 
had a mission, and he seemed ready for it.

Zeus said without turning, "She is coming today." Apollo said, "A little 
late isn't it?" Zeus answered that she was arriving by plane and it had 
come from Nairobi, hence the time delay. Apollo shrugged and nodded at 
that. Apollo pressed further, "So your plans are set?" Zeus said, 
"Absolutely."

---

Rita was wandering around the terminal of the main airport outside of 
Tokyo, a place crowded with people, before she was to go pick up her 
luggage. She saw a friendly face, and smiled, saying, "Darien!" She 
rushed over to him and hugged him, the hug of two friends who hadn't 
seen each other for a year. It was good, Rita thought, to see him again. 
Darien welcomed the embrace. She pulled back, though, and looked into 
his eyes concerned, and asked suspiciously, "Darien, where's Andrew?" 
After all, Andrew was Rita's boyfriend, more like a fiancee, and she was 
really anxious to get back together with him after so long. Darien 
sighed, and said, "Andrew couldn't make it." Rita pulled back, and 
sucked her breath in, placing her fingertips on her lips in surprise.

Darien was quick to say, "No, no, Rita, it's not what you think. He 
really couldn't make it, it was a family emergency. He asked me to come 
pick you up." Rita blinked at Darien's eyes, which were quite convincing 
in and of themselves, and asked, "Really?" Darien nodded, in an 
understanding way, and told her, "He wasn't too clear but it would have 
taken a lot to keep him away from you. He really wanted to be here, and 
he'll be knocked off his feet to see you!" Darien smiled, and added, 
"You look great, Rita! Kept in shape running after grasshoppers?" Rita 
laughed at that one, it was pretty good... and quite truthful. Rita was 
a scientist who studied insects, not the most appealing of jobs to many 
people, but it was very interesting to her. And Andrew wanted to become 
a surgeon... they were a good pair.

Rita laughed, and asked, "So it's time we get my luggage, huh?"

---

Serena went, "Hmmm", and asked, "Hey, Lita, isn't that great? Maybe you 
two can hit it off again." Lita averted her eyes slightly, and shifted 
her weight on her chair on the other side of the table. They were both 
sitting facing each other at the arcade, and Lita had this little cute 
smile on her face when she walked in. Serena pried out of her the 
interesting tidbit: Lita had just heard that Jane dumped Game Machine 
Joe.

Now, Lita was very surprised by this, after all, it was usually the guys 
who did the dumping. But Jane was a well-endowed nurse, fully capable of 
getting just about any man she wanted, as long as there wasn't a woman 
stopping her. Lita gave her that, and wished sometimes that she could be 
more feminine like that, instead of a strong-as-an-ox tomboyish 
young-ish and maybe just a little pretty girl. Lita didn't really mind 
the way she looked, but Jane was downright stunning. Well, she was 
older, too, maybe Lita would look different once she got older.

So Lita spilled, and Serena wanted to know if they could get back 
together. She meant, could they be a real item, and Lita shook her head. 
"Nah," Lita mused, "I don't think it would work out, not for a real 
relationship." Then, her smile widened and she said, "But I can flirt!" 
Serena giggled, and Lita followed in the giggling. 

Serena added, "You know Rita's coming back today." Lita nodded, and 
tilted her head to the side before saying, "Yeah.. but I got over Andrew 
a long time ago." Serena asked, "Okay, what about your old boyfriend?" 
Lita looked at Serena, sadder, and sighed. She said, "Not really..." Oh, 
Serena thought, now you did it. Serena tried to cheer Lita up, "Well 
you've got to get another guy, one that'll really do you some good. You 
can flirt with Joe, but there's a lot of other guys out there." Lita 
looked at Serena, and asked, "So you're over Andrew right, too, right? 
Since you're in love with Darien." Serena had hearts in her eyes, and 
sighed, "Yes.... oh Darien is just too wonderful..."

Lita smiled and glanced over across the room. She asked Serena in a 
curious voice, "What do you think of the two lovebirds over there?" 
Serena turned around, her pigtails swinging around her head, and she 
smiled too. She turned back, and told Lita, "I don't know, but they look 
like they're having a good time!"

---

On the other side of the arcade Alex was treating Mina to a milkshake. 
The two had a table right next to the storefront window, and the 
sunlight made the place quite pleasant. Mina was slurping silently, 
staring into Alex's dark eyes, eyes that commanded her attention even 
from far away. Then again, they were usually hidden behind cool 
sunglasses, and Mina liked his style. Or maybe he was just a cool guy 
that seemed to care about her. Whatever the case, she was enjoying 
herself.

Little did she know that staring at her through the window was her 
compagnion, mentor, and guide, the white cat from the Moon Kingdom, 
Artemis. Alex could see Artemis, who was located well behind Mina's line 
of sight, but Alex dismissed the cat as simply staring at its - no, his 
- owner and friend. Mina was certainly the friendly type, and seemed to 
take very good care of Artemis from his perspective. A perspective which 
was rather biased at the moment, but that was alright, Mina deserved the 
benefit of the doubt.

Because Mina was a very beautiful girl, her long blonde hair following 
behind her, that red ribbon simply adding to her girlish approach. 
Although it made Alex fantasize about pulling that ribbon off sometimes, 
and running his hands through her long hair. Then he thought to himself, 
she's rather young, isn't she? Well, he thought, that was no big deal. 
Was this just a schoolgirl's crush? Even if it was, he cared about her, 
and he was willing to be her boyfriend.

He wondered how things would be if things changed. Then he refused to 
think about it. They had bigger things to worry about, assuming that she 
was right, and her hunches were reliable. He was willing to believe her, 
but he was always forgiving with the opposite sex. It didn't help that 
Zeus couldn't confirm or deny any of it... yet. That meant two things. 
Either it was nothing or she could feel it coming in a way none of the 
others could.

So he wondered, and as he wondered, he looked at his watch. He said to 
Mina, "I have to head across town." Mina's smile vanished. He said to 
her, "I could use some company for the trip, and it's not far." Mina was 
beaming, "Really?!" He said, "Finish your shake and I'll give you a ride 
on my cycle. I brought a second helmet just for you," he finished with 
his own warm smile. Alex looked the part of a biker. He had jet-black 
hair, short and slightly greased, and wore his usual leather jacket, 
this time with a red shirt that showed under the open jacket. The rest 
of him was all black, as usual. It was his style, red and black. It was 
different for him in battle, but he hadn't been in battle for about a 
week, and even his training was suffering. Things were moving so fast 
these days.

Mina gulped down the rest of the shake with a few mouthfuls, put the 
empty glass down, let out a satisfied sigh, and quickly got up. Alex got 
up too, slowly, and was quite surprised, although in a pleasant way, 
when Mina rushed towards him and gave him a loving hug, and kissed him 
on the cheek, as Mina said to him softly, "Thanks." Then she giggled and 
turned around, stooping slightly to pick up her light jacket. Alex 
smiled, and zipped up his black leather outfit.

Lita and Serena came out of the arcade to spy a minute or two later, and 
all they saw was Mina screaming with delight as she held on to Alex, the 
white helmet Alex gave her on her head, her hair drooping far behind, 
and her onto his red motorcycle as he gave it some juice, revved it up, 
and sped off with a wheelie like some cowboy from the Wild West. All 
that was left, was dust. Lita felt cheated. She wanted to see more.

---

As Darien was carrying some of Rita's luggage to her house, he heard a 
man with a deep voice say, not far behind him, "Excuse me." Darien 
hadn't noticed the man before. Rita turned around as Darien did. The man 
was dressed as a police officer, a very large man, with piercing green 
eyes, and long black hair. Funny, Darien thought as the man approached 
Rita, as the man told Rita that she had left something at the airport. 
Rita thought the man was very polite. Darien thought to himself, a 
police officer? With hair of that lengh, in a _pony tail_? Very unusual. 
Darien put the luggage down, and walked towards the two. The police 
officer looked at Darien as he approached. Darien asked the man, fairly 
aggressively Rita thought, "Now why did you come all the way from the 
airport to find her? And how'd you get that doo past the inspectors?" 
The man made one step closer to Rita, and said to her, "Excuse me." Rita 
politely responded in kind, and the police officer - or someone with 
that uniform - walked towards Darien, with a calm, yet overbearing, 
posture.

Darien said, "You'd better explain yourself right now." Darien was very 
suspicious of this man.

The man's left hand reached out towards Darien, yet Darien was out of 
reach. Not so, as he discovered, as white lightning reached out from the 
large man's hand, reaching deep into Darien's muscles, forcing Darien to 
scream in pain as the massive electrical jolt shocked his nervous and 
muscular systems. Darien collapsed, not unconcious, but unable to move. 
The man took two more steps towards him as Rita stood behind, utterly 
speechless. The man stood over Darien, and Darien stared into the man's 
green eyes, as this man told him, "Nothing personal. Just business."

Then he turned to Rita, who began to run.

The package that Zeus had given her was a small purse, and inside it a 
globe of black energy glowed, and expanded past the boundaries of the 
physical leather of the brown purse to envelop the woman, who then 
screamed as the energy dug deep within her. Then, the globe changed 
her...

Rita transformed into a youma.

In another life Rita was a Shadow Warrior, one of the finest youma of 
the Dark Kingdom, but she had left that evil life behind when she was 
reincarnated in the future as her present self. As a soldier she had 
been a biologist and chemist, a formidable opponent. Her eyepiece, the 
lens that covered her right eye, reflected the daylight as she turned to 
face Zeus, who was now fully transformed, without the disguise. Except 
for the hat, which he tossed to the ground.

The youma asked, "Who are you?" Zeus answered, "Your new employer." The 
youma said, "I don't know you." Zeus answered, "That does not matter. 
The Dark Kingdom is rising again, and you are required for a special 
mission: the destruction of the Sailor Senshi." The youma grinned. This 
would be fun.

---

Darien staggered into the room, a nice guest room in Rita's house. He 
groaned as he saw Andrew lying on the couch, on his back, a thin line of 
blood trickling down the side of his mouth.

---

One of the young men who worked at the arcade yelled, "Hey Serena!" 
Serena stopped playing the Sailor V video game, and her character 
promptly got whacked. Serena jumped back to the screen, yelling, 
"OOHHH!!! I _HATE_ it when that happens!!!" She turned around, in a 
"patented cute girl pose", and asked in a high-pitched voice, "What is 
it??" The teen answered, "It's Darien, he's on the phone and he wants to 
talk with you. Says it's important..." Serena was already past him, 
running, and lunged to pick up the phone. With a quick exhale, she 
brought the phone up to her ears, and said, "Yes?"

---

Darien said to her, "Serena, it's Rita... she's in big trouble..." 
Serena gasped, asking, "But I thought she was with you..." Darien 
replied, "Zeus attacked us. He's turned Rita back into a Shadow Warrior, 
and he's going to use her to go after you." Serena gasped again, and 
asked Darien, "Well what are we going to do about it? Darien?? Did you 
say he attacked you?? Are you all right?" She said in a very concerned 
voice. Darien said, "I'll be fine, but I might not be able to help for a 
short while. But time's ticking away. Find Rita, and fast!" Serena 
asked, "What about Andrew? Does he know?" Darien answered, "Andrew's 
here, he's out cold. I think he'll be fine too, but Rita won't be unless 
you change her back. Fast." Serena agreed, and hung up.

She pressed a button on her wristwatch, and stepped a little away so 
that the guys working at the arcade couldn't hear.

She said into it, "Guys, we've got trouble."

---

Rei, in her robes at the Temple and cleaning one of the outer walls, 
answered into her communicator, "I'm on my way."

---

Amy, working at her computer, answered quickly, "I read you Serena."

---

Lita, who was just a couple of blocks away, answered, "Pumped up and 
ready for action."

---

Mina couldn't hear her communicator over the noise of the engine of 
Alex's bike, though...

---

A little later, the girls assembled at the park. Everyone was there 
except for Mina. Artemis said to them all, "I don't think she'll be 
here." Lita wasn't impressed, bluring, "Well where is she when we need 
her?" Amy answered, "She may not have recieved our message. And you did 
say she was busy with Alex, Lita, it's not inconcievable for..." Lita 
interrupted, "Well she still should be here." Rei said, "We can do fine! 
There's four of us and two of them. And we beat Rita when she was a 
Shadow Warrior before." Serena gibed, "We'll be okay as long as Lita 
doesn't use her thunder against her this time." Lita turned on Serena, 
frowning hard, looking very upset. Serena almost jumped a foot back, and 
certainly backed up. Rei said, "Enough of that. Either they find us or 
we find them. I say we go for #2, don't you?"

Luna asked, "Amy, can you track them on your computer?" Amy said, "If 
they're in the area, not a problem. But remember that the Dark Senshi 
seem able to teleport at will, so no guarantees." Amy took out her 
computer and began to make calculations.

Amy soon said, "We won't need to go far." Lita asked, "Why?" Amy said, 
"They're approaching this position right now. Not straight for us but 
close enough."

Serena said, "Then it's time to roll open the welcome mat, right girls?"

The others: "RIGHT!"

Serena began her transformation with the words, "Moon Crystal Power!!"

"Mercury Star Power!!"
"Mars Star Power!!"
"Jupiter Star Power!!"

"SAILOR SCOUT POWER!!!"

The Sailor Senshi present transformed into Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, 
Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter. Jupiter exclaimed, "Let's rumble!"

---

They didn't have to go far. Rita, in her Shadow Warrior form, was 
waiting for them at the edge of the park, in the middle of some trees. 
There was no one else nearby, likely scared off by her. The hag 
chuckled, "Welcome. I've been expecting you."

Serena whispered to the others, "No big deal. Just get me a clear shot 
at her and..." then she noticed something in the sky. The sky was 
beginning to darken, but as it was doing so, there was a flash... a 
large flash... then something coming down... fast... Serena's eyes 
popped wide. Luna yelled at the Senshi, "Get out of the way!" They 
scattered as a thunderbolt impacted, leaving a small crater of scorched 
earth as Zeus revealed himself on their left flank, his arms crossed, 
obviously confident with much reason to be.

The shadow warrior began tossing vials of explosive compounds after the 
Senshi. Jupiter was dodging frantically as the explosions chased her, 
while Rei counterattacked, "Fire.... SOUL!!!" The fire on her fingertips 
was launched as a ball of flame, scorching the area around the shadow 
monster but not causing any damage to her. The scientist/warrior had a 
deep bag of tricks, and threw a vial of liquid after Mars. Sailor Mars 
easily dodged as the vial shattered.

Then, a vapor filled the air where the vial had been, forming a large 
cloud of gas nearby. Rei was in it. She choked, and gagged, and then she 
slumped to her knees, and fell forward, her cheek landing on the soft 
grass.

Sailor Mercury, meanwhile, used her shabon spray to blind the youma, 
allowing Sailor Moon her chance.. if she was ready to take it, which she 
was not. She was dodging a powerful blast of lightning from Zeus, which 
ripped apart much of the earth near where she had stood. Sailor Jupiter 
was back up, now, and in a foul mood. She wasn't going to go after Rita, 
but Zeus was a far more tempting target.

She began to collect energy in her tiara, which acted like a lightning 
rod. She reached back, collected energy in her hands, and yelled, 
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" and tossed a disc of collected thunder at 
Zeus from a distance. Zeus saw it coming, and put up a shield of 
electricity. The two fields collided, and Zeus' shield dissipated, 
although everyone could tell he had just put up enough to stop the blow, 
and Zeus was ready for anything.

Except one thing.

A rose implanted itself about five feet in front of him, and Zeus knew 
that Tuxedo Mask had arrived. Zeus had to look behind him, and upwards 
into the trees, to see Tuxedo Mask's outstretched gloved hand, and the 
rest of him standing on a sturdy branch of an oak tree.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon was wrapping up on her end. She took out the 
Crystal, said, "Moon Crysal Healing Activation," and Rita, still trapped 
in a cloud of fog, was promptly returned to her normal self. Sailor Moon 
said, "Good, that's over." The other Sailor Senshi stood by her, and 
faced Zeus, who was still facing Tuxedo Mask.

Tuxedo Mask said, "It's over, Zeus. Give up now while you have the 
chance."

Zeus clutched his right handed fist, veins visible as he did so, his 
hand trembling with rage. His dark green ring with the symbol of Jupiter 
on it began to darken even further, and Zeus' grimace was one of hard 
determination. He was not going to give up so easily, and the proof was 
a quick thunderbolt, shot from a side slinging right arm, that shattered 
the branch that Tuxedo Mask was on a moment before, just before the 
caped hero leaped from it, joining the Sailor Senshi.

The clouds overhead, clouds which until a few minutes ago had not 
existed, became more ominous, and the sun was completely blocked out 
over the area.

---

The black veil of Bishoujo Mask wrapped around her face, the hazel-eyed, 
brown-haired woman, dressed in a black silk kimono, wearing nothing on 
her feet, walked upon the fine carpet of her room, where her pet, 
Damiano, was waiting for her. Perched upon a stand crafted from fine 
wood, Damiano, the own, was preening his feathers as she entered. He 
said to her in a gurgling, yet clear, voice, "It seems that Zeus is 
overmatched." The lady ninja commented, "They haven't seen him get 
upset." Damiano replied, "Have you?" Bishoujo shook her head. She simply 
said, "It looks like I'll have to bail him out of trouble this time, 
eventually." She smirked, and added, "But he'll take quite a chunk out 
of their ego before he's done, I'm sure."

Casually and confidently swinging her fine hips as she walked, she 
stepped towards the far end of the room, her right hand casually placed 
upon her side, her elbow bent, her other arm dangling casually. She 
muttered to herself, "What to wear, what to wear..."

Damiano was outraged as he asked, "You're worrying about wardrobe at a 
time like this?!" Which was rather idiotic, as she never fought in 
anything but her perfectly fitting black ninja garb. Or maybe she was 
debating, tabi boots or high heels. She'd probably take high this time, 
good grief, Damiano thought to himself. All that training and he had to 
waste it on _this_ woman.

Bishoujo Mask shot back a look at Damiano, scowling briefly, but not in 
an angry way, more as a way of dismissing his comments. She mused, 
"No...", as she slid open a panel to one of her closets.

This was not a typical closet. Arrayed within it were deadly tools of 
the ninja trade. On the far left was her bow, of the finest make, 
followed by her favorite weapon, the dagger, as well as an assorted 
variety of sais, their polished steel reflecting in the artificial light 
of the lamp in the room. Damiano was normally asleep at times like 
these, she thought to herself, as she studied the rest of her armaments.

Arrayed there was an arsenal of shurikens, darts, blowguns, needles, gas 
and flash pellets, climbing claws... there were ropes here, a grappling 
hook made of finer steel than the typical variety, and most importantly, 
her ninjatos, of which she wore one or two depending on her fancy, the 
straight, relatively thin, relatively short but ultimately very deadly 
blade of the dedicated ninja. All ready, all utterly lethal in the right 
hands, such as her hands, gentle yet calculating, like a cobra ready to 
strike. As Damiano watched, Bishoujo Mask purred gently, "No, not 
wardrobe."

"Accessories."