Hi! I'm back! Well not subscribed, but that's okay! Here's my latest 
fanfic, long overdue! Read!! The ending's a sizzler! Anyway if you want 
to send C&C send it to my new address, jbourque@atcon.com. Thank you and 
I want to hear what you have to say!

Misa-chan, if you do more reviews of SM stuff, like mine, let me know. 
And now I think I'll have more time to track down manga translations.

Everyone else, enjoy!

Hino Rei

"Showtime!"

A slow ticking noise was barely audible. A single thin red-colored 
plastic needle moved incrementally with every tick clockwise, a quarter 
way to pointing straight up. This was a small timer, with a white face 
and red lines indicating just how far the needle had to go, trimmed with 
a thin rim of black plastic. The timer continued to tick away, fifteen 
seconds left.

The last few weeks had been hectic for the Sailor Senshi. Jadeite had 
come back and with him he brought an enormous ammount of trouble. The 
Dark Senshi were strong, even though the Sailor Senshi had won several 
victories. Their luck might go on.. but luck was not really part of this 
equation.

Ten seconds left.

No one really knew what the Dark Senshi wanted anymore. No one really 
asked, and no one told the Sailors. They had been too wrapped up in 
individual battles. Lita had been assaulted in her own mind. Rei had her 
own inner demons to fight as she struggled to regain control over her 
abilities as a priestess, to decipher her visions and learn the secrets 
of the Dark Senshi. Mina was in her own romance, as was Serena, but both 
had to help the others fight against these evil threats, and both did 
so, willingly, knowing what was at stake.

Five seconds...

The day before they had saved Rita, who was turned back once again into 
a Shadow Warrior by the new generals of a new Dark Kingdom, but that was 
a relatively easy fight. Infinitely more disturbing was what had 
happened to Amy. She discovered that the guy that she seriously had a 
crush on, the brilliant genius Chris Kazuko, was in reality the 
cold-hearted and completely evil Frost, the one who had killed Jadeite, 
the one who lost his hand when he could not handle the power of the 
Silver Moon Crystal. He might have killed Amy, if it was not for Tuxedo 
Mask and Sailor Mars. Frost was probably seriously injured, although no 
one believed he was dead. Not for a minute.

But the way Frost had revealed himself to Amy was absolutely horrible. 
He revealed his mechanical hand by removing the synthetic skin that hid 
it. It was about as cruel as he could possibly have done it.

Three...

The Sailor Senshi were fighting back though. They were hot on a few 
leads. Amy was so determined now. She was at her computer school now, 
doing research on her own.

Two...

Rei was at the temple researching in her own way. She also had plenty of 
chores today. Mina, though, was with Artemis. They had something special 
in mind. 

One...

The one Dark Senshi they had pinned down was a public figure, Lance 
Stockton, otherwise known as Apollo. So Mina was spying on him. It 
wasn't hard to slip onto a movie studio for her at the time. Or so she 
had said. The others weren't so sure of that, but Mina said she could 
handle it.

The needle of the timer reached its peak. The timer emitted a loud, 
attention-grabbing, "PING!" as it stopped.

Lita yelled, "SERENA! LUNCH'S READY!"

Serena was in the next room, sitting in a plush chair, sitting forward 
with her bent wrists locked below her chin, giggling at the TV screen, 
with Luna lying on the arm of the chair, utterly bored. Serena took a 
few more seconds to enjoy the show, then said, "Okay, Lita, I'm 
coming!", and then giggled again. Then she giggled _again_, louder this 
time, and Luna had to almost drag her to lunch.

Serena walked into the other room after Luna shut off the TV with the 
remote control. Gotta love those modern electronics. Rei was really 
missing out... she just had an old TV. Although, Serena thought to 
herself as she pulled herself up to the table in Lita's roomy and 
well-stocked kitchen, Rei certainly had music going for her. Serena 
looked down at her plate of delicious food, and dug in.

Lita smiled, and served her own lunch. She also had some good stuff for 
Luna, and Luna also enjoyed her cooking. Lita thought to herself that 
having Serena hang out here for a while has been a lot of fun so far. 
Sure, Serena was a flake sometimes, but so was Lita, sometimes. Wasn't 
everyone? Except say Amy and Rei, and Luna. Lita scratched the top of 
Luna's head for a little while before moving on to get her lunch. She 
loved animals, and Luna was a very special animal, almost like a person. 
And certainly smarter than a lot of people she knew, like Serena here. 
Luna could probably help her out with her mathematics. So could Amy, but 
Amy wanted them to work hard at it. Lita appreciated the help, but Amy 
was a tough teacher, too.

Lita served her meal and watched Serena begin to eat a tasty desert. 
This time, Serena enjoyed her meal slowly, just because it was tasty. 
Lita smiled, and said to her, "Glad you like it." Between mouthfuls, 
Serena replied, "Of course I like it. I always like your cooking."

After they finished lunch, Lita put the plates in the sink and began to 
wash. She insisted on doing it herself, and Luna dragged Serena off to 
her futon (she was sleeping on it while she stayed here and kept a low 
profile), and Serena sat down while Luna sat on her hind legs. Luna had 
something to talk to her about.

Serena asked, "So... Luna, what's up?"

Luna said to her, in a kind but almost parental voice, "I know things 
have been going fast here lately, but we need to talk about these Dark 
Senshi. We need to do something to stop them from doing more damage."

Serena replied, "Okay..." She narrowed her eyes very slightly as she 
started to think about her situation. She said to Luna, "Well, we're 
doing okay now, why worry about it?"

Luna yelled, "SERENA! How could you even think such a thing!"

Serena yelled back, "Well, we're _winning_, aren't we?"

Luna said to Serena, not yelling anymore, "I'm just worried about 
this..."

Serena replied, cheerfully, "Don't worry, Luna. I can handle it." Luna 
sighed. Maybe she was right...

---

The sound of fingers tapping a keyboard rapidly is not unlike that of a 
machine gun, without the bang or the gunpowder. So it was with Amy as 
she typed commands into a lonely terminal in an empty computer school 
class. While there was summer school it was not to begin for some time 
today. The teachers did not mind that Amy had work to do independently. 
They were willing to give her some slack, since she invariably made it 
up. And, above all else, they trusted her. She was an honest and willing 
student, and they trusted that she would use the computers in the 
labaratory only for good purposes.

They assumed that meant legal purposes, when that was not necessarily 
the case.

The display on the computer screen flashed, "Access Granted", in 
Japanese letters.

Amy did a word search for a name in a database. A government database. 
There were not so many residents in Tokyo with this name, but she needed 
one in particular. A few minutes and she found the name, Lance R. 
Stockton.

She pressed the "ENTER" key and a file was downloaded into her computer, 
a record of a recent real estate transaction not too far from Tokyo. 
There was all the information she needed, and she downloaded the address 
into a disk of hers. Then, she began typing again, carefully covering 
her electronic tracks. Then she shut the modem connection off, and 
turned off the computer. She flipped the disk out of the computer, a 3 
1/2 inch disk by American measurements, and placed it into her handbag. 
Then, without a pause, she rose from her seat and carefully replaced her 
chair. Then, she picked up the handbag and swung it over her shoulder. 
Then, she gently and evenly walked to the door, opened it, then closed 
it, locking it tight.

---

A movie set is a classical example of anarchism and barely controlled 
chaos. Japan is not, by its nature, a chaotic society. Too many people, 
too little space... if chaos ruled, the society would collapse in a way 
that more spacious Western societies cannot begin to grasp. Yet even 
here, the entertainment industry was one in which there were, for all 
practical matters, no rules whatsoever, few precedents except tradition 
and the reliability of certain individuals, a place where nothing was 
ever for certain and movies were usually created by the skin of their 
teeth.

And yet this movie studio, strewn with cables and expensive equipment 
loosely scattered, with technicians, secretaries, and functionnaries 
moving to and fro, exhibited the technical proficiency and 
professionalism that was routinely displayed by the movie studio's crew. 
The problem, one might then expect, would be the actors and the 
producers. But the main problem was not in-house, it was that a movie 
studio is nothing but an island, and if it is not well provisionned from 
outside, from the equivalent of ships, then the small, frantically 
moving army of workers would simply become starved of resources, and 
nothing could be done. Add in chance, unreliability, competition, and 
the admittedly chaotic, fast-moving nature of the environment, and the 
fact that any normal person - or an exceptional one - thrown into this 
mess cannot remain unaffected, and the closest thing to organized 
anarchy humanly possible was created.

As such no one really noticed strangers here, because almost everyone 
was a stranger. What someone did was far more important than who they 
were. And so, no one noticed yet another young woman in a short grey 
skirt and a grey buttoned suit of the same color, with shapely legs 
covered in white panty hose, with matching yet of a much darker grey 
two-inch high heeled shoes, and, as she stepped over cables, carrying 
sheets of paper in her left hand, her long, straight blonde hair 
stretching behind her.

Mina almost felt at home here, in the bustling environment. She looked 
like and acted like she was supposed to be here, which of course she was 
not. But a disguise had certain advantages, and one was, unless someone 
had a good reason to suspect you, chances are you weren't suspected at 
all. Artemis was nearby, but having a cat with her would make people 
suspicious. One person with an allergy and any hope of avoiding 
attention would be gone.

Mina moved around, trying to find out where Lance Stockton was staying. 
It was important that she get as much information on him as possible, 
because he was the Dark Senshi (Apollo) out in the open. So Mina 
eavesdropped on a conversation between Lance and a director, and a 
couple of minor lackeys.

Lance said, "Alright, I understand, but is that it? I mean, the end, 
kaboom?"

The director replied quickly, "You're done, we took care of everything 
that was left this morning. It'll take months to get the special effects 
in order, and whatever's left is with you off-camera."

Lance said back to the director, "I just didn't expect that it would be 
over so soon. Well I guess I just lost count."

Miina thought to herself, "Well, that's quite something. It sounds like 
the filming's over. No, that's not right, it sounds like Lance isn't 
acting in the film, that he's done... what does that mean?"

Lance said, "So our contract's over now, is it?" The director nodded. 
Lance said to the director, "Okay, I'll get my things. No need sticking 
around anymore."

Mina thought that she was lucky to have gotten this story so soon. But 
that meant that Lance wasn't going to be in such an obvious place 
anymore. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. As Lance left to head to his 
trailer on the studio grounds, Mina followed from a distance.

Lance stopped by his trailer soon enough. It was generally nondescript, 
merely with his name on it and a Hollywood-type star on it, nothing 
more. A rip off from old Hollywood traditions. Then again, Mina thought 
to herself as she hid behind a parked car nearby, watching him go 
inside, Lance came from California. He wasn't even Japanese, but he 
spoke it perfectly. Mina wondered what the story behind that was... she 
could speak English well enough, but she wondered how this young man 
learnt it. Well, there's enough Japanese people in California, she 
thought, or he could have learnt it in school, too. Maybe...

Lance was only in his trailer for a minute. Then he left, walking with 
his hands in his pant pockets, his back turned to Mina. He was wearing a 
light tan jacket, and he normally wore bright-colored clothes, like he 
did today, to match his hair and complexion. Mina silently thanked her 
luck when Lance opened a door to a nearby building, and closed it behind 
him without looking. Artemis surprised her somewhat when he walked close 
to her, also behind the car, and whispered to get her attention. Mina 
turned her head to Artemis, surprised, but glad to see him. Artemis 
said, "Now's your chance." Mina nodded.

Mina hurried to the trailer, went to the door, and opened it, and 
slipped inside, quickly closing the door behind her. The trailer wasn't 
large, but she wasted no time rummaging through drawers and papers, 
trying to find out more about this man. Artemis waited outside.

The door to the building behind the trailer opened. Lance Stockton 
walked out straight towards the trailer. Artemis' jaw dropped 
momentarily, and he tried meowing loudly to Mina to try to warn her. 
Lance looked at the door to his trailer unwaveringly, and his pace was 
fast. He walked up the steps as Artemis slipped under the trailer, very 
worried about Mina. Lance opened the door and Mina was startled, as she 
was bent over looking through papers, as Lance stepped in, and closed 
the door.

Mina gasped.. now she was in real trouble.

---

Lita's watch beeped not long after she finished with the dishes, 
finished cleaning them and putting them away. It was her communicator. 
Luna's collar, courtesy of Amy's adjustments, was beeping too. Lita 
pressed a button on her watch and said, "Lita here, what's cookin'?" 

Artemis was on the other end. "Trouble."

Serena peeked into the room from behind the doorway, confused as to what 
was going on. Then she noticed that her watch, which was laying beside 
her futon with some of her other things (strewn about without any 
semblance of order), was beeping too, and she went to pick it up. 
Meanwhile, Artemis explained the situation.

As Serena picked up the watch, she heard Artemis conclude, "Mina's in 
real trouble this time. You have to come right away."

Serena said boldly, "Okay!! Let's go!!"

---

Amy said into her communicator, "I'm not far from there now. I'll meet 
you all there."

---

Rei was at the temple in her traditional robe, outside on this sunny 
day, and said to them, "I'll probably be there last, but I'll get there, 
count on it. Good luck, Serena." Serena thanked Rei...

---

Serena said to Lita and a surprised Luna, "Well, what are we waiting 
for?!?! Let's GO!" She threw on her jacket and began to slip on her 
shoes, then darted through the door, Lita scrambling to catch up. Luna 
ran after them both, wondering if Serena finally got her backbone after 
all.

Luna thought to herself, "No, couldn't be. I must be dreaming again."

---

Mina tried to smile and talk herself out of the situation as she rose 
upright, dropping the papers she was holding in her hands, and said in a 
friendly, nice voice to Lance, "Er, sorry, wrong trailer... I didn't 
mean to make a mess of everything..."

Lance replied evenly, in a fairly deep but moderately pitched voice, 
"The name outside makes it quite clear."

Mina, unsure of herself, tried smiling again, and said, "Well I must 
have missed it. I'm new here. I don't think we've met..."

Lance said, "I think we have."

A large drop of sweat began to roll down Mina's forehead as she smiled 
again, trying to laugh softly to herself.... trying to keep her spirits 
up...

Lance said to her, as he calmly found the small bench on his side of the 
trailer, door now closed, and sat down, "I liked that red bow in your 
hair, too. Very nice."

A much larger ball of sweat rolled down Mina's forehead now. She was 
beginning to become unnerved at Lance's - Apollo's - calm, disarming, 
yet chilling way of talking. Was this how Frost was like? No, he was far 
worse...

Lance continued, asking Mina offhand, "Do you like coffee?" 

Mina was stunned by the question. Slowly, she gathered her senses and 
said, "Um, no thank you, I'm not really in the mood..." and forced 
herself to chuckle slightly as she moved her hands behind her trying to 
find something to hold onto as she edged backwards, away from Lance.

Lance just sat for a moment, sizing up the situation. Meanwhile Artemis 
was outside, listening intently, now realizing just how much trouble 
Mina was in...

Lance asked Mina, "So, what did you want to find out about me? Oh, and 
please sit down." Mina found a swivel chair, almost falling backwards 
over it. She forced her nerves to not shake her body, and sat down in 
the chair, legs tightly together, palms on her skirt, on top of her 
thighs, sitting upright due to fear and shock, facing Lance. Lance 
waited for her to respond, so Mina asked, "What do you mean?"

Sitting back, relaxing, Lance softly, quietly laughed to himself. He 
explained to Mina, "I mean, Sailor Venus," which drew a gasp from Mina, 
though she should have expected this, "you obviously came here to spy on 
me. What do you want to know?"

Mina gulped, and she was shaking slightly, now. She tried to gather her 
thoughts, which was not easy at all under these circumstances. So she 
improvised, asking in a somewhat quivering but also fairly bold voice, 
"Well, what are you and the Dark Senshi after?" Lance laughed at that, 
more loudly, but not mockingly. Did he expect the question? Mina 
wondered. Was this guy just going to spill his guts out??? Probably not, 
but he wanted to talk, fine, she'd talk, too. Better than the 
alternative...

The blond-haired, blue-eyed villain seemed to torture her with the pause 
before he began to respond. He said to her, "It's a good question, 
because in all honesty I don't know myself anymore. But don't worry, 
we'll think of something. There's always taking over the world, but if 
there's no world left to take over, it's not much to worry about." Lance 
looked around, hoping to find a cup of coffee, but none was anywhere to 
be seen. So he reached into his pockets and pulled out a cigarette. Mina 
frowned. As he pulled out a chrome-covered lighter, he asked Mina, "You 
don't approve?"

Mina responded, "Those things can kill you. They're ugly, they smell 
bad, they're bad taste." Lance responded, "Anything can kill you unless 
you protect yourself against it. I don't smoke much, it's just a little 
something I picked up in this sorry excuse for a business. I'm just 
trying to find a way to relax. Sorry if it bothers you." Mina was almost 
screaming to herself inside her head, "*HE* NEEDS TO FIND A WAY TO 
RELAX!!!!" Mina looked at Lance as he lit the cigarette, which wasn't 
nearly as bad-smelling as she thought. So far anyway, she just didn't 
like them. Then she looked at his right hand, which held the lighter, 
already lit with a hot blue flame. She looked at his fingers, and then 
she was truly short of breath.

His second finger had a ring on it, a ring that appeared to be made of 
solid gold. Not unusual for an actor, perhaps, but what caught Mina 
short of breath was the symbol on it, the symbol of Venus.

She asked herself what it meant...

Lance stopped puffing on the cigarette and removed it from his mouth, 
shutting the lighter. He asked Mina, "Is something wrong?"

Mina excused the absurdity of the question... she knew what he meant. 
She said to him, "That ring.... where did you get it?" Lance looked at 
the top of his hand, palm down, as he held the cigarette between his 
thumb and index finger. He looked at the ring, and said at lengh, "I 
suppose it's something we have in common. The astrological sign of 
Venus." Mina retorted, "I think you have your signs mixed up. I'm a 
Libra." Lance looked back at her, into her own blue eyes, and said, 
evenly, "That's not what I meant. I mean our powers." Mina said to 
herself, aloud, "Oh."

Lance said, "Jadeite gave it to me when he recruited me. I don't know 
its origins, and I don't really care. It's enough to know its powers, 
the powers which enable me to thrive as a Dark Senshi, a warrior. That 
is _my_ destiny, to conquer my enemies!"

Mina retorted, "My destiny is to defend the _true_ Moon Princess, and 
protect this world, _my home_, against evil scum like you."

Lance laughed at that, but Mina did not back down, either in her facial 
expression nor in her posture as she still sat in her chair, facing him. 
When Lance finished laughing, he spoke to her in a tone that marked 
deadly seriousness, saying, "The world as you know would be destroyed 
without our so-called help to save it. None of us can avoid what is 
coming. But more to the point you misunderstand us. We want to rule the 
world, not destroy it."

Mina said back, "And enslave the people! What's the good of ruling the 
world if everyone does exactly what you say?" Lance laughed again.

Lance said to her, "And what would you do if _you_ ruled the world? 
Think about that for a while."

Mina bit her lip. She thought to herself about what she _would_ do... 
what they would do... what would happen... in the future... in... 
Crystal Tokyo...

Artemis, underneath the trailer, hoped that the others would get here 
soon. Then his keen ears picked up footsteps approaching the trailer's 
door. He looked, and all he could see were black shoes at first, then, 
as he turned himself to see the unannounced visitor better, he saw 
behind the man's black pants, a cape, lined with red. He knew what that 
meant instantly, and smiled. Lance wouldn't know what hit him.

The door to the trailer flew open. Lance was taken by surprise, and the 
door opened towards him. Tuxedo Mask stepped into the trailer quickly, 
Seeing Lance to one side, he flicked a rose that hit dangerously close 
to Lance's left hand. Lance pulled his hand back by reflex as the rose 
penetrated into the bench. Tuxedo Mask turned to Mina and extended his 
hand, saying quickly, "Come on, Mina, let's go." Mina jumped up and 
rushed towards him, and past him, running out of the trailer. Leaving 
the door open to hinder Lance, Tuxedo Mask ran after Mina.

When Lance finally closed the door and rose slowly to his feet, 
recovering from the shock of what had happened, he was beside himself... 
completely overwhelmed... as he whispered... "Mina?"

"MINA?!"

"It... can't be..."

"It couldn't be... how... is it possible?..."

"Yes of course it's possible." Lance stood upright now, clutching his 
right hand into a fist and raising it, the golden ring of Venus glowing 
brightly. He said to himself, evenly, "Then this ends NOW!" The ring 
glowed even brighter.

"Solar Power. Transform!!"

The ring flashed in such a bright light that it bathed the entire room 
in blinding rays. It soon subsided, leaving the fully transformed 
Apollo, cape flowing, his blue eyes focused, and his white and 
gold-trimmed suit ready for action. He had a cape that was colored 
sun-yellow, and shoes that were of a darker but similar color. A visor 
materialized over his eyes, a visor that was translucent and 
amber-colored, before he left the trailer, no longer concerned with 
trivial matters such as insurance bills.

He blasted a hole in the roof, and, as the debris flew and fell around 
the trailer, he himself flew straight up through the hole, into the sky, 
surveying the area.

Artemis heard the explosion directly above him, and knew that they were 
in serious trouble.

---

Serena was running down the street, panting, "We should have never let 
her go alone!" Lita replied as she ran with her large strides, "But we 
didn't know!"

Luna said aloud, "I can't believe Artemis let her do this! What was he 
thinking?!"

Serena said, "I know! Let's transform and get there really fast. That 
way we can help her out much more quickly."

Lita said, "I should have thought of that..."

Luna said, "Alright, come with me." Luna turned into an alley, and the 
others followed.

---

Tuxedo Mask led Mina quickly into the nearby building, a warehouse of 
goods used for the production of movies. At this time, it was mostly 
crates and miscellaneous supplies, formed in low rows. It was a spacious 
building though, but much of the material was being used at the time, so 
the rows were not their usual height, much higher than a person stood. 
After they went a bit further, Tuxedo Mask told Mina that she should 
transform now.

Mina said, "Tuxedo Mask, Apollo knows who I really am! He knows I'm 
Sailor Venus, and I think he knows I'm Mina now!" Tuxedo Mask shook his 
head and said, "That doesn't matter. You have to transform because he's 
going to come looking for us!"

So Mina transformed.... "Venus Star Power!" and she became Sailor Venus, 
ready for action.

They continued to move among the aisles, but then the ceiling shook and 
debris fell down from the rooftop, not too far ahead of the two. Mina 
looked up, and Apollo descended from the hole blasted in the ceiling, 
slowly, with a smile on his evil visage.

Tuxedo Mask said to Apollo, "You're not getting away with anything here 
anymore." Apollo laughed then, supremely confident of his own abilities. 
He said to Tuxedo Mask, "You don't have any idea who you're dealing 
with, do you? Well you're going to find out!"

Apollo pulled his ring up to his chest level and it glowed brightly. 
Amber energy flowed from it into Apollo's arms, as Tuxedo Mask and 
Sailor Venus watched closely, ready to dodge the coming attack. The 
energy took a physical shape, one that changed the tone of this 
encounter.

It was a chain gun.

The chain gun was made of translucent amber light. Large belts of 
ammunition magically appeared on Apollo's uniform, and he aimed the 
chaingun at Tuxedo and Venus, then began to viciously fire in their 
direction. As they dodged, gold-colored bullets ripped apart crates and 
their contents all around them and behind them as they quickly jumped 
and ducked to safety. Apollo continued to fire at full speed, spraying 
the area further at a high rate of fire, smiling gleefully, his blue 
eyes behind his visor, which for that reason appeared black to the 
casual viewer, tracking the two. His bullets tearing into the room as he 
floated in the air, Apollo suddenly stopped hearing the gun firing. 
Rather, he heard a motor whining... he looked down, and saw that his 
chain gun was empty, and the six barrels were turning without anything 
being fired. He dropped the weapon. It fell to the ground, then, as it 
barely touched the floor, it shattered into shards of amber light, which 
soon vanished into thin air. Apollo surveyed the area, and flew after 
his prey.

As Apollo descended into an aisle, he sensed movement behind him. He 
heard a girl scream, "Venus Love-Me CHAIN!!!", and understood that an 
attack was on the way. He dodged to the side, burying his shoulder and 
upper back into the oppsite side of the aisle, along a set of large 
shelves. A gold chain of heart-shaped links sped past him and curved, 
easily penetrating the shelves further behind him.

Apollo raised his right hand back, and brought it down with a snapping 
motion. A sword appeared in his hand, and cut straight through the 
chain, shattering it. He looked up to see Sailor Venus backing up, with 
a concerned and frightened expression on her face, as Apollo touched 
down and began to approach her, sword still in hand.

A rose shattered the blade of the sword in half and buried itself into 
the wall. Apollo hadn't even flinched.

Apollo turned towards the direction where the rose had come from and 
blasted full force. Tuxedo Mask wasn't there to take the hit, having 
dove aside, but the destruction was quite formidable nevertheless. 
Debris flew everywhere in sight. But when Apollo turned back, Sailor 
Venus was gone.

Suddenly he recieved a message that spoke within his head, the voice of 
Princess Serenity, an urgent one, saying to him quickly, "Apollo, turn 
back. Return to headquarters." Aloud, Apollo, in disbelief, protested, 
"I can take on these losers!" Serenity did not accept that argument, and 
ordered him, "You will return to me NOW! Is that clear!" Apollo lowered 
his head and sighed, then with a flash, blinked out of sight and 
returned as she had asked, leaving Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Mask, coming 
onto the scene, very confused, neither completely convinced he had left.

---