Dark Kingdom Renegades/Bubblegum Crisis : Bad Moon Rising
By Mark Latus

Part 4 : Hell Hath No Fury ...

MegaTokyo - October 2033 AD, 3am the same night 

     Sylia Stingray swore and rubbed her eyes.  Her calm facade was long
gone after hours of studying this damned blood sample.  This completely
impossible bloodsample. 
     It wasn't boomer circulatory fluid.  That much was obvious.  Boomer
organic tissue was composed of artificially gestated primate flesh.  This
was something new.  In some ways the DNA sequence was identical to human,
in others it was completely alien.  She'd switched from thinking they were
dealing with a Boomer to believing it was some sort of genetic experiment.
Except given the limits of biotechnology research who had the capability
to create a fully sentient adult lifeform?  Let alone one that could not
merely survive an attack by a dozen Boomers but triumph.  Organic
lifeforms just weren't that tough.  If it wasn't for the similarities to
human DNA she might even at grasped at the possibility she was dealing
with extraterrestrials. 
     Maybe they were aliens.  It might explain how they'd gained their
knowledge of the Knight Sabers.  If she thought about it perhaps she could
remember .... 
     Sylia shook off the paranoia of alien abduction theories.  She must
be really tired if she was considering that.  Time for a break.  She rose
and stretched then walked out of the lab.  In the crash room Linna was
sitting with a headset on as she fiddled with a handheld disc reader.  She
took the set off as Sylia entered. 
     "Anything?" 
     "Just snoring.  I think the girl's out for the night.  Speaking of
which ..."  Priss was slumped back in a padded armchair snoring lightly. 
Had anyone told her she looked very cute when relaxed she would probably
have killed them. 
     "When does she take over the watch?" 
     "Another hour and a half."  Linna paused a moment.  "Sylia, do you
have any idea just what we're mixed up in this time?" 
     Sylia sighed.  No longer the cool, collected ice queen with all the
answers.  Instead she looked tired and as puzzled as the rest of them. 
"Not a clue.  I don't know who or what these people are."  Linna knew she
was the only one Sylia would let see her like this.  Nene would panic and
Priss would figure she had to take charge.  "One thing I do know." 
     "What?" 
     "They aren't GENOM.  If GENOM had half the information they've let
slip we'd all be dead."  That thought jolted Linna fully awake. 
     "I'll see if Mackie and Nene have found anything more." 
     "I think Nene's asleep." 
     "Then I'm definitely going to look in on them." 
     Mackie was sitting in front of the screen with his chin resting on
his steepled hands.  He mumbled a greeting as Sylia entered.  Nene was
dozing on the couch looking very vulnerable.  Sylia made a quick check to
ensure her clothing hadn't been tampered with.  Everything seemed to still
be buttoned and zipped.  Mackie must have caught her reflection.  He
turned around looking more than a little offended.  "I do have a few
ethics you know." 
     "Then you've got nothing to hide do you?"  He scowled and mumbled
something uncomplimentary about sisters. 
     "So do you have anything more?"  Mackie and Nene had come up with
quite a bit.  First they'd broken into the Imperial Hotel's database and
retrieved pictures of the guests.  Calvin Hobbes was a dead ringer for the
berserker except that his hair was blond rather than green.  But it had
been blond before he berserked.  The couple in the adjoining room had also
been a goldmine.  When they hacked into the ADP system they'd found the
report on Sailor Arcturus.  Change the haircolor of Azure DeWitt, add a
mask and you had the mystery woman who'd also taken out one Boomer and
crippled the other. So two people capable of fighting Boomers barehanded
staying next to each other.  The girl wasn't in the register but there was
a definite resemblence between her and Hobbes.  However those were
undoubtably fake names.  Tracing their records in the hotel computer
backwards lead to a dead end.  Who they really were remained unknown.  The
system was still cracking databases worldwide looking for matches but
having no luck.  They seemed to have exhausted all their avenues. 
     Mackie looked uncertain.  "Well I may have something but it's a bit
crazy.  No, I take that back.  It's completely crazy!" 
     "Mackie I am willing to grasp at any straws right now." 
     "OK, here goes.  I was trying to trace those names, Sailor Arcturus
and Sailor Polaris.  I widened the search to every database I could think
of then made it Sailor and other astronomical terms.  What I got was
this."  He tapped a key and various cartoon graphics filled the screen. 
All of them of teenage girls wearing outfits similar to the green haired
girl's.  "These are from the cartoon 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon'.  It
was aimed at, and very popular with girls pre to early teens back in the
1990's.  There was also a manga version.  Anyway the characters were
always Sailor something.  Planets mainly.  So there was Sailor Moon,
Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury and so on." 
     "So we have the inspiration for our two sailors identities?" 
     "That's not the crazy part.  See I was reading a synopsis of the
series and this picture caught my eye."  He tapped the screen and a
graphic expanded. A blond man in a light purple uniform.  "This is one of
the villains from the series.  His name's Jadeite.  They used a lot of
mineral names for the bad guys.  Anyway, look familiar?"  Sylia nodded. 
He looked very familiar. Mackie split the screen and reduced the graphic
to a headshot.  The face of Jason Deite appeared next to it.  "So what do
you think?  Separated at birth?" 
     "This is ridiculous!" 
     "I warned you." 
     "So you did Mackie, so you did." 
     Mackie glanced at her.  Sis sounded unnaturally cheery.  "Are you all
right?" 
     "Never better.  See if you can dig up some copies of that show. I'm
going to get a little sleep.  I want to look good when I meet our Boomer
crushers in the morning." 
     "Are you feeling all right?" 
     "I've made up my mind.  The only hope of learning anything is to talk
to them.  Since they already know who I am there's no further risk of
exposure." 
      "It could be a trap!" 
      "Then it's too clever for me.  So I might as well walk into it. 
You've done well, now get some rest."  Sylia glanced at the sleeping Nene. 
"In your own room please." 
      Sylia headed back to tell Linna she might as well call it a night. 
Still no answers.  What a night.  Maybe tomorrow would be better. 
      In her own apartment Margrave's night was about to take a turn for
the worse.  Though it would be even more unpleasant for unit MAR6N
(MARVIN).  Margrave was currently writhing in the embrace of MAR6N.  She
wasn't using her glamour for the first time in ages.  Being equally
nonhuman MAR6N wasn't shocked by her appearance.  The sexaroid had been a
present from Lord Jadeite. A crumb thrown her way to celebrate the
inaugaration of his plan.  She was doing everything she could to avoid
thinking about what he'd told her.  Now she knew what he was going to do. 
Her blood had run cold on hearing him. But she wasn't suicidal enough to
either object or get in his way. 
     When he'd produced MARVIN she'd been surprised.  While she'd heard of
sexaroids she'd thought they were only in use offworld.  She'd also been
unaware of the existence of male sexaroids. 
     Lord Jadeite had pointed out that sexaroids were intrinsically
neither male or female.  Gender was determined by the final modifications
of the skeletal structure and the placement and shaping of the tank grown
flesh.  The majority built were female because most of the powerful who
sought to own sentient slaves were both male and heterosexual.  This world
had been, and still was, a man's world.  Which, after centuries of obeying
a psychotic queen, was fine with Jadeite. 
     So she'd thanked him and brought it ... him home with her.  Then she
had dropped her glamour and proceeded to test the unit's capabilities. 
Several hours later she had to admit they seemed adequete.  The problem
was that Margrave was used to mintaining a certain level of self control. 
While it had been strained it hadn't broken.  Not quite. Until now. 
     To explain the problem here is a quote from Larry Niven's essay, "Man
of Steel, Woman of Kleenex", a speculative essay on the problems of sex
between Superman and a human woman. 
    "The problem is this.  Electroencephalograms taken of men and women
during sexual intercourse show that orgasm resembles 'a kind of
pleasurable epileptic attack' One loses control over one's muscles. 
     Superman has been known to leave his fingerprints in steel and in
hardened concrete accidentally.  What would he do to the woman in his arms
during what amounts to an epileptic fit?" 
     Margrave didn't have that level of strength but was far stronger than
a human.  She also had claws that could cut steel.  MARVIN's night was
about to take a definite dive. 
     Margrave howled and her claws extended involuntarily.  Driven by the
spasm her hands dug into the sexaroid's back.  Literally. 
     The Boomer's CPU went into overdrive as the spinal column was severed
in four places.  Nerves reported massive trauma and the loss of large
amounts of circulatory fluid.  Upper body mobility was lost as the nervous
systems pathways were cut.  The lungs ceased drawing air as the autonomic
nervous system went down.  The CPU calculated the time organic components
could survive withouot oxygen and tried to use alternate pathways.  Error
messages multiplied and the CPU found itself unable to work around the
damage.  Failure cascaded and MARVIN suffered total systems crash.  Or
died, depending on your point of view. 
     Margrave became aware of the Boomer's total stillness.  Maybe it
wasn't recharging after all.  She realized her hands were soaking wet and
had a sudden nasty suspicion.  Rolling the Boomer over the damage became
obvious. Great, she'd broken it.  Long time since she'd done that.  Years
ago, besides she hadn't meant to pull out his kidneys.  "So much for the
afterglow." After a moments' thought she dragged the carcass into the
bathroom and dropped it in the tub.  That would hold it temporarily.  Then
she scrubbed the bits and fluid off her hands.  What a mess.  Combing this
crap out of her fur was going to take a while.  After she was done she
surveyed the bedroom.  The sheets were a disaster area, stained with a
variety of fluids.  They'd never wash clean, best to dispose of them. 
Maybe the mattress was salvageable though it'd be simpler to replace it. 
She dropped the sheets on the body for disposal with it.  Finally, the bed
being a mess, she curled up on the couch and went to sleep. 
     She woke the following morning unable to remember why she was on the
couch.  Stumbling into the bathroom she found a reminder.  She'd half
expected the body to disappear during the night.  OK, no shower this
morning.  She'd have to dispose of it somehow.  Lord Jadeite could make it
vanish easily enough but he might take offense at her destroying his gift
this quickly. She'd never had to do this before.  Her vigilante victims
got left where they fell and her youma enemies had crumbled to dust after
death.  She'd have to dismember it and smuggle it out of the building. 
Margrave made a mental note to pick up a few heavy duty trashbags. 
     Finishing breakfast, and not in the best of moods, she headed for the
office.  First she reestablished her normal glamour.  She didn't make her
shape appear to alter.  Instead she just overlaid the image of skin over
her fur.  Everywhere apart from the areas humans were supposed to have
hair.  She saw no need to alter its' color. She was fond of white.  Let
the humans speculate about hairdyes.  Just one minor alteration to her
eyes and she was set.  Her pupils changed from oval to round.  Perfect. 
     She arrived to find the receptionist arguing with two men.  "What's
all this about?"  The taller one took a moment to appraise her.  The other
produced his ID.  "ADPolice Detectives Wong and McNichol.  We'd like to
ask Mr. Deite a few questions about an incident last night." 
     How had they known?  Easy, they didn't.  Well nothing to worry about,
neither Lord Deite or herself had been up to anything last night.  As far
as she knew anyway.  She smiled at them.  "I'm afraid Mr Deite is an
extremely busy man.  However I'm his executive assistant Catherine
Margrave.  Perhaps I can help you.  She watched them consider forcing the
issue then give up.  So, no warrant and no real hope of obtaining one. 
They followed her into her office.  She took a moment to pop a few buttons
and turn the full force of her appeal on them.  She gave a seductive smile
and purred, "Now how can I help you?" 
     The distraction didn't work as well as she'd hoped.  While McNichol
was ready to eat out of her hand (or wherever) she seemed to hold only
aesthetic appeal to Wong.  He kept his cool and said, "We'd like to ask
you about you new Boomer development." 
     "I'm afraid all that information is classified to avoid industrial
espionage." 
     "I understand.  I was just wondering if you'd misplaced of your new
boomers." 
     "Misplaced?"  What the hell was this about.  "Those are very
expensive and experimental pieces of hardware.  If we'd lost one I'm sure
we'd have noticed." 
     He was watching her closely.  "Can you at least ell me if these new
Boomers are designed to look human?" 
     "Why would we want to do that.  The human shape isn't the most
effective one for either construction or military work?"  Where was this
leading? 
     McNichol produced a photograph.  "The reason we ask is that last
night someone who looked human demolished two Boomers stolen from your
competing development section." 
     "That sounds like a security breach in Webster's division.  You
should talk to him." 
     Wong nodded.  "We'd like to but he committed suicide last night." 
     "Oh.  I hadn't heard that."  Wonder if he finally pushed Lord Jadeite
just a little too far. 
     "Our condolences." 
     "Why?  He was an SOB when he was alive.  Why say nice things about
him just because he died?" 
     "Probably true.  Anyway Leon ..." 
     "Gotcha Daley.  This is from a surveillance video recording of the
woman who destroyed those Boomers."  Leon held up the picture.  "She
called herself Sailor Arcturus."  Margrave stared at it in shock. 
     Leon heard Daley swear and turned to look at him.  "What's wrong" 
     Daley seemed to be staring at Margrave in shock.  He shook himself. 
"I ... uh ... it's nothing forget it." 
     This gave Margrave time to compose herself and at least appear calm. 
"This woman destroyed two boomers?  I assume she was heavily armed at the
time." 
     "No.  She used her hands." 
     "Her hands ... could I see your ID again?" 
     Leon slammed a hand on the desk.  "Look lady, this woman did things
no human could do.  That makes her a Boomer.  A new type of boomer." 
     "So you decided we'd made it?  Sorry to disappoint you but our Hyper
Boomers could never pass for human.  Why would we want them too?  We're
designing military hardware not Ms. GENOM contestants." 
     "Can we see the factory?" 
     "Not without a warrant.  As I said we have security considerations
and no connection to this incident anyway.  Mind leaving the picture? 
It'll give our technical staff something to chuckle over." 
     "Fine.  Let's go Daley."  Hopefully they'd rattled her enough to make
her run to Deite.  Which would hopefully stir up a few things.  Leon was
sure there was some sort of connection between this place and that ...
whatever. 
     When they were outside the building Leon asked his partner, "So do
you think this is some sort of internal feud?  Webster lets his new
Boomers run wild to test them so Deite deploys his new model to trash
them.  When they get wiped out so quickly Webster gets drunk and
suicidal?" 
      "Maybe ..." 
      "Hey what's up man?  You're kind of out of it." 
      "I ... I'm not sure.  Look when you showed her the pictures did you
see her face?" 
     "Didn't notice." 
     Daley smiled.  "That's because you were watching her body.  I was
watching her face."  He stopped smiling. 
     "So what's the story.  She looked like she recognised it." 
     "It was more like she looked scared.  But it was her eyes ... look
this doesn't make any sense but ..." 
     "But what?" 
     "For a second I'd swear her eyes changed." 
     "Changed?" 
     "The pupils stopped being round, they turned oval.  Like ... well
like a cat's." 
     "Uh huh.  Maybe you should get some sleep, you've obviously been
working too hard." 
     Daley shrugged.  "I said it didn't make any sense." 
     "Maybe just weird contacts or something."  Leon opened the car door.
"I've never liked cats.  Always preferred dogs.  They're loyal, cats don't
give a damn about anything but themselves." 
     "I like cats." 
     "Then I guess we're incompatable.  So you might as well give up on
me." 
     "Nice try Leon." 
     Margrave controlled her anxiety until security reported the ADP
officers were heading out of the parking lot.  Then she headed for
Jadeite's office as fast as she could without appearing to be an olympic
sprinter.  She barged past his secretary and strode into his office
slamming the doors behind her.  So they wouldn't be understood if
overheard she switched into their native tongue.  "Lord Jadeite we face an
emergency!" 
     Jadeite looked up from the document he was composing.  Using this
guise meant having to provide reports on the projects fictional progress. 
The brainwashed technicians provide similar reports.  He looked forward to
the day this nonsense wasn't necessary. 
     Before he could demand she explain herself Margrave slammed the
picture on his desk.  "There is a Sailor Senshi in this city.  She
destroyed two Boomers last night." 
     "What!" 
     "She calls herself Sailor Arcturus. I ..."  She trailed off as Lord
Jadeite began laughing loudly.  "My Lord ...?" 
     "Ah yes you don't know do you?  This so called Senshi is in fact a
Youma." 
     "A Youma?!" 
     "Her name is Azurite."  Margrave gaped in surprise.  "She escaped the
Kingdom in the company of another humanic by the name of Calcite." 
Jadeite found the look on her face priceless.  "It seems when I sent my
little gift through recently they spotted the gate.  They took the chance
to escape a city patrolled by Sailor Moon and fled to this world.  After
you left last night Calcite wandered by.  He was searching for the creator
of the gate.  No doubt intending to force them into servetude if it was
someone weaker.  When he realized it was me he immediately offered to
serve me." 
     Margrave's sense of smell kicked in.  There was a familiar scent in
here. One she'd been to preoccupied to notice earlier.  "He was here?" 
     "Indeed.  He is not alone, Azurite accompanies him." 
     "I saw four youma open the gate." 
     "Two didn't survive."  It didn't occur to Jadeite to wonder if a
lesser youma would lie to him.  Who would dare?  "Only two could
successfully make the jump.  He chose himself and his lover."  Jadeite
missed the expression on Margrave's face attributing it to the shock of
learning they weren't alone." 
     "How ... how did they react to learning about us?" 
     "Us?  Oh I didn't bother mentioning you." 
     "Of course my Lord ... Lord Jadeite, how will they fit into your
plans?" 
     "I haven't decided yet.  For now I have told them to wait at the
Imperial Hotel and await my orders." 
     "Very good Lord.  My apologies for disturbing you over this." 
     "Yes, yes. You've shown you're dedication."  It was a dismissal.  She
bowed and backed away.  Margrave returned to her office.  With every step
she took her anger built.  Calcite and Azurite!  That bitch finally got
her hooks into him.  So he takes her and leaves me to perish along with
everyone else. That lousy stinking sonofa ...  She slashed the desk in
anger leaving a row of four parallel gouges.  She sheathed her claws and
seethed.  The Hotel Imperial. 
     Margrave stalked out of her office and glared at her secretary. 
"Kasumi hold all my calls!  I have an errand to run." 
     "But Ms. Margrave you have a meeting at ..." 
     "I SAID HOLD ALL MY CALLS."  The white faced secretary nodded and
watched her stalk off.  When Margrave snarled at her she'd have sworn she
saw fangs. 
     She'd leave her car in the lot.  Head out and catch a taxi.  So
intent was she on her mission that she missed the couple who saw her leave
the building. 
     The man's eyes followed her down the street and around the corner. 
The woman beside him elbowed him and said, "If you're going to girl watch
would you try to be a little more subtle about it?" 
     "I'm sorry Azure!"  Pyrite removed his sensor equipment from his
pocket again and resumed scanning the building.  He was the only one of
the four able to completely blank his aura.  This ability had come in
handy on several occasions.  He could extend the blocking field to anyone
in close proximity. So Azurite was now equally undetectable to aura
scanning.  Even Jadeite couldn't spot them at this range or sense the
modulated sensor waves he was using.  At least that was the theory.  "It's
just that I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before." 
     "Considering this is only our second day here that's a little
unlikely." They'd come here to get some definite readings on Jadeite's
capabilities. Maybe they were over-rating him.  Unfortunately from the
look on Pyr's face that wasn't the case.  Ti was still asleep when they
planned this.  Cal was still weak (relatively speaking) so he couldn't
come.  Besides Jadeite had ordered him to stay there.  They needed
information but didn't dare appear to be defying the last General.  So
they'd evolved this plan.  Cal had stopped shielding his aura to make it
obvious where he was.  Pyrite had used a few tricks to make Ti's aura
match Azurite's.  At least from a distance.  So if Jadeite thought to
check he'd sense two youma in the hotel.  If they got a signal from Cal
that Jaeite wanted them they'd both 'port back and Pyr would block Ti's
aura leaving hers exposed.  So again only two youma would register.  As
she turned this over in her mind Pyrite searched his memory. That woman
had definitely reminded him of someone. 
     Outside the hotel a nondescript van was parked.  Inside Sylia
Stingray waited along with Priss.  Sylia was wearing a smart blue skirt
with a matching jacket and a ruffled white blouse.  Priss was wearing a
softsuit and standing next to her hardsuit.  "Try and relax Priss. 
Hopefully there won't be any trouble." 
     "I still say this is a stupid idea.  If all four of us went in ..." 
     "This place is full of civilians.  How many times do I have to say
it!" 
     "You all right Sylia?"  She definitely didn't sound as cool as usual. 
     Sylia supressed the urge to grab Priss by the shoulders and shake her
while screaming that of course she wasn't all right, everything about the
Knight Sabers seemed to be compromised.  Instead she said, "I'm fine.  It
was just a rough night."  She picked up her secured phone.  "Anything." 
     "I think she just got out of the shower."  Linna paused.  "They're
talking again I'll patch it through."  Due to space limitations everyone
else was back at base.  Linna was monitoring the tracer again. 
     Ti emerged from the bathroom with a large towel wrapped around her. 
She headed for the backpack she'd brought with her.  A thought occurred to
Calcite.  "You didn't bring any other luggage with you did you?  And with
those laser discs in there you can't have had room for much in the way of
clothes." 
     "If I'd brought clothes you'd have known I was planning to stay.  So
I just tossed a change of underwear in here.  Mind turning around?" 
     Calcite complied.  Wonder where she picked up this modesty?  It
wasn't normal for youma females.  Or even renegades, Azurite didn't worry
about it. At least physically.  He sometimes got the idea that when it
came to expressing her feelings Azure could be a little shy. 
     Behind him Ti finished wriggling into her Sailor Polaris costume. 
She didn't notice the small device stuck to the back of the skirt.  "All
clear." 
     "Ti that is going to look a little conspicuous at breakfast." 
     "No problem big brother.  The bracelet's programmed for one other
pattern besides this and my school uniform.  She tapped it and her
clothing shifted. The transmitter fried and Linna swore as she pulled off
the headphones to escape the white noise. 
     "Sylia we just lost the bug!" 
     Back upstairs Calcite was looking at his sister.  She was now wearing
blue slacks and a white T-shirt with some anime character on it.  "Fine,
now do your glamour." 
     "Why bother?  There's no shortage of odd colored hair around here is
there?"  After a day walking around the city Calcite had to concede that.
"Please big brother.  How often will I get the chance to walk around
completely undisguised?"  Calcite sighed.  When she did her big eyed
innocent look he tended to give in way to easy.  Well why not? 
     "Just this once.  Now let's get something to eat." 
     In the van Sylia saw the pair from last night cross the lobby as they
headed for the restaurant.  "Here I go." 
     Priss nodded.  "I'm reading you loud and clear.  Just whistle and
I'll be there.  Good luck Sylia."  Sylia took a momnet to center herself
then got out and headed for the main doors.  When she got to the
restaurant she slipped a large tip to the waitress.  Then asked her if
she'd mind if Sylia went to surprise an old friend at his table.  As the
security system wasn't reading any weaponary the waitress didn't see any
reason to refuse.  Sylia released the other 1000 yen bills and looked
around.  She spotted the girl's green hair and headed over. 
     Calcite had opted for the continental breakfast and was buttering a
croissant when he realized the woman was heading their way.  Human aura
...  a bit austere but still very attractive.  "Pardon me, may I join
you?" 
     He realized Titanite was staring at the newcomer openmouthed.  "Cal
... do you know who she is?" 
     "No I don't.  Should I?" 
     "It's her.  Sylia Stingray.  The Sylia Stingray!" 
     She smiled faintly.  "Well I'm a Sylia Stingray.  I don't know that
I'm the only one." 
     Calcite indicated an empty chair.  "Please join us Ms. Stingray." 
     "Just call me Sylia." 
     "Of course.  Well I'm Calvin Hobbes though I normally go by Cal. 
This is my sister Titania."  Ti was still staring at Sylia with awe.  He
recognised the name from Ti's story.  For that matter the face was a match
for some of the pictures on the disc jackets.  "Perhaps you are the only
one with that name.  Stingray is a little unusual." 
     "Feel free to laugh." 
     Calcite smiled.  "The animal kingdom's no stranger than the mineral
kingdom when it comes to names.  Now what can we do for you Ms. Stingray?"
How'd she find us and what does she want? 
     Titanite recovered her voice.  "This is an honour Ms Stingray.  You
don't sound a thing like your voice actress.  If I could just get an
autograph ... Cal do you have a pen?"  He handed one to Sylia and she
scrawled her name on a napkin.  She filed Ti's comments for later
analysis.  Right now it didn't seem to make any sense. 
     A waiter placed a glass of icewater by Sylia.  She took a sip and
checked there was no one else in earshot.  "Let me start by saying that I
am not a Boomer."  Titanite gaped again. 
     "You see to be a very well informed woman."  Obviously she heard Ti
last night but how ...?  Damn!  We checked for magickal surveillance, we
didn't think about technology based spying.  A mistake in a high tech
environment like this.  "I have no knowledge of the accuracy of my
sister's information. If you have any specific questions you'll have to
ask her." 
     "It was remarkably detailed."  Sylia wasn't sure what to ask next. 
"So much so that it threatens my own operations." 
     "So you've come to take our measure and see if we truly are
uninterested in your ... crusade." 
     "I prefer to think of it as maintaining the balance." 
     "So the bubble neither explodes or implodes.  That's a worthy goal. 
However we have matters of our own to resolve." 
     The taxi dropped Margrave outside the Hotel.  She stalked in and
caught a familiar scent.  Two familiar scents!  Confused she pushed past
the maitre'd and followed her nose. 
     Back near the Boomer plant Pyrite suddenly snapped his fingers. 
"Margrave!" 
     "What?"  Why bring her up? 
     "That's who that woman reminded me of.  It was back while Cal was
doing the Lord Calcite routine.  She showed up this one time and tried to
talk him into taking her along for a look around.  She said she'd been
practising her glamour then demonstrated.  She looked pretty near
identical to that woman." He didn't notice the sick look that crossed
Azurite's face.  "Funny coincidence ... you don't suppose there's any
chance it's actually her?  No of course not.  She had no dimensional shift
powers.  The only way she could have escaped the Kingdom would have been
if she stumbled across our warpgate right after it opened.  What are the
chances of that?" 
     "A lot higher than you think." 
     "What?"  Azure looked very guilty. 
     "Pyr ... there's something I should have told you quite a while back
..." She was interrupted by the emergency signal on the communicator. 
Grateful for the reprieve she flicked it on.  A very worried looking
Titanite appeared onscreen.  She must have been eating very messily as she
was smeared with food. 
     "We've got a real problem here!" 
     A few minutes earlier Calcite and Sylia were still verbally fencing. 
Neither trying to get too specific about anything.  Titanite watched with
fascination.  Then Calcite broke off.  He sensed a youma aura nearby. 
Very well shielded indeed.  It'd be difficult to be sure of it if it
wasn't so familiar.  But he knew this one intimately.  Except it wasn't
possible.  She was dead!  He froze in place unwilling to turn around. 
     Then Titanite gazed over his shoulder and her eyes widened.  "Auntie
Margrave?!" 
     "Hi kid.  Long time, no see." 
     Calcite turned to look at her.  Sylia recognised the woman from the
file on Deite.  Catherine Margrave, his executive assistant.  Why was she
here? 
     "You're alive!?"  Unoriginal but it was all that came to mind.  "But
how?"  Even as he asked it he knew the answer must be Jadeite. 
     She didn't answer, just said, "So how have you been Calcite?  It's
been a while.  Last time I saw you you were warping out in a hurry without
waiting for me.  If I hadn't been incredibly lucky I'd be as dead as all
the other poor bastards in the Kingdom." 
     "I ... look we have to talk." 
     She nodded.  "I thought you'd say something like that.  You always
said that the rational thing to do is think before acting.  But you know
what?  I'm not rational.  I'm too angry to be rational!"  Her arm swept
down in a blur. Calcite's shield boosted to maximum. 
     It didn't absorb the impact.  Calcite slammed across the room
demolishing three tables before coming to rest among the potted trees
along the wall. 
     "Cal?!"  Titanite started up and grabbed Margrave's arm. 
     "Stay out of this kid!"  Margrave tossed Ti into the buffet upsetting
the table in the process.  Titanite lay among the spilled dishes wondering
dazedly why there was egg in her hair.  Sylia pulled herself from under
the table and watched. 
     Calcite had a moment to realize two things.  First that in his
current state his shield couldn't handle much kinetic force.  Second that
rage was boosting Margrave's strength.  Then she grabbed him and threw him
across the room.  He managed to roll to his feet and fire a shockblast at
the onrushing youma.  She slowed but didn't stop.  Those were weaker too. 
Both of them crashed through the window.  Margrave broke free of the
tangle and grabbed a car.  Just how strong was she?  The blow slammed him
across the street into a parked car.  From the way it moved they must be
using lighter alloys these days.  Margrave charged him screaming,
"YOULEFTMETODIE!PICKEDAZURITEOVERME!ITRUSTEDYOU!" 
     "WAIT!"  She didn't.  Just grabbed him and rammed him into the wall.
Calcite slumped at her feet.  Margrave unsheathed her claws and raised her
right arm for the killing strike.  Her arm swept downwards. 
     ENOUGH!  Calcite's left hand surged upwards and grabbed her wrist. 
Before she could react his right hand speared upwards.  Margrave screamed
as her forearm broke.  Even as she did that Calcite released his grip. 
His right hand glowed.  The shockwave slammed her into the side of the
hotel.  Lights exploded in her head.  Margrave's vision cleared enough to
see the blade strike the wall beside her.  It exploded and flung her into
the street. She lay there unable to move.  Calcite was stalking towards
her a sword forming in his right hand.  Advancing as implacably as death
itself.  She closed her eyes and waited.  The footsteps stopped.  There
was the rustle of clothing.  She opened her eyes to see Calcite kneeling
down besides her.  The expression of his face had changed from vengeful to
concerned.  "Margrave ..." 
     She forced to smile.  "You bastard.  I never could beat you."  She
managed to throw an arm around his shoulders and pull her face to his. 
The kiss was interrupted by him wrapping an arm around her then touching
the back of her skull.  Energy pulsed and the cat woman faded into
unconsciousness. Calcite gently lowered the sleeping youma then probed his
chest, trying to decide how many ribs she'd broken. 
     "Anyone ever tell you, you two don't have a healthy relationship?" 
     "About average for the Dark Kingdom.  And I'm really not in the mood
for this now Azure." 
     Azurite looked down at him.  "It's your own fault you know." 
     "My fault?" 
     "I cannot believe that even weakened you couldn't take her out easy. 
But you were hung up on not hurting her and that threw you off."  She
reached a hand down.  "Come on let's get you upright then ... oh shit!" 
The advancing figure in blue armour looked decidedly hostile.  Azurite put
herself between Calcite and the Knight Saber.  Ok armour ... best thing to
do is hammer her against something solid then keep up the pressure until
it implodes.  Should have asked Ti how tough this stuff is. 
     "Wait!"  Azurite didn't know the woman though the Blue Saber
evidently did.  She'd emerged from the now deserted restaurant with Ti. 
When the fight began someone had screamed "BOOMERS!" which was followed by
a mass exodus. She stalked past the Saber and stopped just before Azurite. 
Looking down at Calcite she said, "Mr. Hobbes ..."  Her train of thought
derailed momentarily as she saw Margrave's appearance change as her
glamour collapsed.  "Cal ... I would like your group to accompany me. 
There is no coercion though you might have difficulty explaining this
melee to the authorities.  My brother is on his way with transport to our
headquarters."  The Silky Doll truck should be here in a few minutes. 
Nene's interference was keeping ADP from full deployment.  She'd upped the
scale of destruction so the SWAT teams were trying to mass enough
firepower to handle it. 
     He didn't look convinced.  Time to take a wild stab.  "Is the name
Sailor Moon familiar to you?"  That jolted both figures before her. 
     After a moment he said, "Perhaps we do have things to discuss."  His
gaze flicked to Azurite.  "Where's Pyr." 
     "Right here!"  He materialized a little to the side with several
bags.  "I went up to strip the rooms of everything special.  Then I looked
at the window and saw everyone here so I figured, 'what the hell?'"  He
handed Ti her backpack. 
     Calcite studied Sylia Stingray.  She'd regained her composure
remarkably quickly after Pyrite's appearance.  How had she heard of Sailor
Moon?  Given that they were going up against Jadeite he'd grasp at any
straw.  "We'd be delighted to accompany you Sylia."  Azurite caught his
signal to stay on guard as she helped him up.  Pyrite looked uncertain. 
Titanite looked overjoyed. 
     "We get to meet the other Knight Sabers?  This is great."  She
approached the armoured figure.  "You know which song of yours I really
like?" 
     Priss was saved from answering by the honking of a horn as Mackie
arrived with the van. 

End of part 4

Next in part 5 :  Things start to snowball and several old secrets are 
                  exposed.  For the first time the Renegades are truly
                  divided.
                  Part 5 : Revelations.