(WARNING: This chapter is an exception but this story contains scenes 
of extreme violence.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!)

ENDWORLD: MOON RUN
CHAPTER 5: ON THE ROAD AGAIN......
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	"NEW YORK CITY?!?"

	This time it was Blade and Geronimo who did the exclaiming, as they 
both remembered their last trip to "The Big Apple".  During WW III, 
New York City had suffered a direct hit by a nuclear bomb.  The 
result had been that the survivors had become mutated, cannibalistic..
.. things, called Zombies.

	Worse.  There were all sorts of mutates that ate the Zombies, and 
any humans that happened to get in their way.  "Somehow," Timeiand 
chuckled, "I knew you were going to do something like that."

	"What else could you expect?" Blade sputtered, "Your crazy.  There 
is absolutely no way that I'll go or send any of the other Warriors 
to New York, if it can be avoided."

	Timeiand sighed and stood as he said, "You haven't been listening, 
have you?  It CAN'T be avoided.  The Supiriors are going to New York 
without any hesitation and so must we."

	The Senshi meanwhile, were getting nervous at the argument.  This 
was apparently not going to be a very pleasant mission.  "But," 
Minako thought to herself, "Since when was 'pleasant' ever part of 
the job description?"

	Blade sighed and said, "Very well.  We're going to need some time to 
prepare.  First we're going to have to get the SEAL ready and we're 
going to have to call the mayor of California and see if we can 
borrow one of his VTOL's."

	Usagi spoke up, "'SEAL'?  'VTOL's'?  What are you talking about?"

	Geronimo let out a sly smile and replied, "It's a surprise."

	Rei groaned and muttered, "I hate surprises."

	"I don't think you'll mind this one."

	Several hours later..........

	Blade sat with his wife Jenny in the wild section of the Home, 
staring up at the stars in the clear night sky.  The day, he 
reflected, had been a productive one.  The Elders had approved the 
mission, the SEAL was up and running, and the Californian government 
had agreed to send one of their VTOL Hurricanes for the Warriors use. 
 Now, came the hard part, explaining to his wife why he had to go on 
this mission, leaving her and their son alone for at least two weeks. 
 "Huh?" he said as a comment from Jenny brought him back to reality.

	Jenny sighed and said, "I said, Why do you have to go?  These past 
few months have been so peaceful.  You haven't had to leave the Home 
since that Freedom Force thing, and now this comes up?  Plus if you 
do go, you'll be taking along a group of defenceless children."

	"Those five?  defenceless??  I don't think we're going to have to 
worry about their safety.  I have to go though because I am one of 
only two Warriors who knows what New York City is like."

	Jenny sighed a more resigned sigh and said, "I know.  I just don't 
like it is all."

	Blade got a sly grin on his face and he hugged Jenny closer as he 
said, "Would you mind if I.... apologized.... to you?"

	Jenny copied his grin and rested her hand on his chest as she 
replied, "What do you have in mind?"

	Blades grin just grew wider and he leaned over and kissed her on the 
lips.  Jenny increased the passion of the kiss and Blade thought, "I 
could be in some REAL trouble here."

	They quickly broke off as they heard the sound of people walking and 
talking through the brush.  They looked over towards the scourge a 
few yards away.  It was Usagi and Mamoru walking along arm in arm, 
also looking at the night sky.  "See Mamo-chan," they overheard Usagi 
say, "I told you this place was pretty, didn't I?"

	"You sure did," Mamoru replied, " it's incredible, but it's no where 
near as incredible as the person I'm with."

	"Flattery," Usagi quipped back, "will get you everywhere."

	Jenny could feel Blade bristle slightly as they watched the two come 
together in a kiss.  Jenny pushed Blade back behind the tall grass 
they had been behind and turned to her husband.  "What is your 
problem?" she asked quietly.

	"Look at them," Blade whispered back, "that guy has got to be twice 
her age and she's probably only in her early teens.  It isn't natural.
"

	"So," Jenny shot back, "Who says love falls into the parameters of 
what SOME people would define 'natural'?"

	"What if he tries something with her?"

	"Ho, ho!  Weren't you the one who was skeptical when I said that 
those kids would be defenceless?  If he did try something she didn't 
approve of, she probably wouldn't hesitate to preform a 'Hickok Whop'.
"

	Blade had to laugh at the silly nickname that the Family had picked 
to describe that incident in the infirmary.  Hickok had taken it 
pretty well but still, Blade had seen him walking around the compound 
muttering something about, ".....think it was so blasted funny.... 
happened to them."

	"I guess your right Jenny.  Still, your friends with that girl 
aren't you?"

	"We've talked," Jenny replied, "and I guess I'll talk to her now, if 
it'll put your mind at ease."

	Blade smiled and said, "Thanks."  Then he kissed her and she rose to 
be on her way.

	A few minutes later......

	Mamoru looked down at the love of his life and gave another smile as 
he said, "I guess we better turn in if we expect to get up in the 
morning."

	"Awww," Usagi whimpered back, "Can't we stay just a little longer?"

	Mamoru leaned over and gave her another kiss as he said, "Sorry, 
afraid not.  See you in the morning."

	Usagi watched him go, a soft sigh escaping her lips as stars 
sparkled in her eyes.  So she was caught quite off guard and jumped 
high in the air as someone from behind her said, "Usagi?"

	Usagi turned toward the scourge of the voice, her heart racing, and 
she said, "Hi Jen.  You scared me."

	Jenny chuckled and replied, "I noticed.  Sorry about that."

	"It's okay."

	"Could I talk to you?"

	Usagi recognized the tone in Jennys voice.  It was the same tone her 
mother had used when she had voiced her concerns at the difference in 
her and Mamorus ages when her parents had first met him.  "Sure.  Go 
ahead.  Although I think I know what your going to say."

	"Well, he is a bit old for you don't you think."

	"That doesn't matter.  We were destined to be."

	"Are you sure about that?  I mean," Jenny tried to put it as gently 
as possible, "you probably don't have that much experience with 
something like this."

	"I'm certain.  We've had our share of problems and we've come 
through them still together.  Nothing could ever truly separate us."

	Jenny nodded in satisfaction (she hadn't needed that much convincing 
anyway) and after saying good bye, left Usagi alone as she stared up 
at the moon.

	The next morning..........

	"Where IS she?!?" Rei snapped in annoyance.

	"Still sleeping," was Makotos reply, "Where else?"

	"Is she always like this?" Hickok asked.

	"Unfortunately," Rei answered, "Yes."

	"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!" Usagis voice rang out 
from the sleeping area, "IT'S SOOOOO LATE!!!"

	Hickok, Blade, Geronimo, Mamoru and the other four Sailors were 
waiting in the middle of the compound for Usagi and for the SEAL.  
Blade looked up and shook his head in disbelief as he bent over and 
scratched Luna behind the ears as he said, "Wonder how many times 
she's knocked you off the bed in that state."

	Lunas only vocal response was to purr, but she thought, "More times 
than I'd care to remember."

	The Warriors and Sailors watched as Usagi raced into view, pulling 
up her shoes around her feet and she said, "Sorry, I'm late."

	"Don't worry about it," Blade answered, "Your not really late.  
We're still waiting."

	"Hey.  I'm not late for once.  Cool!"

	Rei was about to give a sarcastic quip when Hickok pointed and said, 
"Thar she blows.  Ya'll were askin what the SEAL was.  So there she 
is."

	The Sailors all turned and went wide eyed at the incredible machine 
that rolled over to their position.  "So," Ami said in wonder, 
"That's the SEAL?"

	Riki-Tikki-Tavi leaned out of the drivers window and said. "Yes."

	Blade took over at this point.  "The Solar Energized Amphibious or 
Land Recreational Vehicle or SEAL for short, is the pride and joy of 
our arsenal.  It was built by a team of scientists, funded by our 
Founder Curt Carpenter.  Its covered in a special plastic armor that 
can protect it from just about any type of arms fire.  Even a rocket. 
 As its name suggests it can travel on both land and sea, except 
we've only had to use the amphibious mode once before."

	"Wow!"

	"Cool!"

	"Incredible!"

	"Unbelievable," was the responses of the five Sailors and Mamoru, as 
they looked over the vehicle.  The plastic shell gave the SEAL a 
greenish color, it was shaped like and was the same size as a mini 
van, and it sat on four extra large tires that were made out of a 
material that looked like rubber, but was a whole lot stronger.  At 
that moment the collected group turned their heads skyward as the 
sound of an approaching jet came overhead.  "The Hurricane's here 
right on time," Blade shouted.

	The VTOL Hurricane was one of two such planes that was owned by the 
government of California.  It was capable of Vertical Take Offs and 
Landings, giving it the acronym of VTOL.  It was capable of holding 
six passengers and the pilot, and carried a full arrmorment of 
missiles and rockets.  The VTOL landed right next to the SEAL and cut 
its engines.  "So," Setsuna said as she and Timeiand showed up, 
startling everyone, "How do we divide our forces?"

	Blade said, "Well, I've been thinking about that and here's the 
split, Usagi, Ami, Mamoru and Geronimo come with me to New York in 
the SEAL.  Hickok, Rei, Minako, Makoto, and Riki go to Houston in the 
VTOL."

	"Very well," was Timeiands reply, "Setsuna, you go with the Houston 
division and I shall accompany those going to New York."

	Setsuna nodded and as the two teams prepared to leave Riki walked 
over to Blade and whispered, "I found what you wanted me to look for. 
 It was in a book of ancient myths.  That mark on that girls and 
those cats heads is a symbol for something called, 'The Moon Kingdom'.
  So what's the deal?  You think it's some kind of cult that's heard 
of the myth?"

	"With the way things have been since they arrived," Blade responded, 
"I wouldn't be that shocked if they were really from there."

	Luna and Artimis were being left behind at the Home because the 
danger to them and their chances of getting lost were much greater.  
It also had been rumored that cat meat was considered a special treat 
to the nomads that wandered out in the world and the thought of their 
guardians becoming cat food, instead of eating it, made Minako and 
Usagi make them promise to stay and wait for them.  Luna scratched 
Usagi on the ankle as they prepared to leave and as she looked down, 
Luna pointed to the moon mark on her forehead.  "Oh yeah, "Usagi said 
as she turned towards the other Sailors, "Hey, aren't we forgetting 
something?"

	Geronimo started to respond, "Our weapons'll be here in a second so 
what could we pos....."

	He was cut off as the six girls shouted out to the sky....

	"MERCURY STAR POWER, MAKE UP!"

	"MARS STAR POWER, MAKE UP!"

	"JUPITER STAR POWER, MAKE UP!"

	"VENUS STAR POWER, MAKE UP!"

	"PLUTO PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!"

	"MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"

	The Warriors watched as the girls turned into their Sailor Senshi 
alter egos and Mamoru as he pulled out a red rose and using the 
energy from it, transformed into Tuxedo Kamen.  "Ready when you are!" 
Tuxedo Kamen said.

	The Warriors shook their heads as a man ran over and said, "Here's 
the special weapons you asked for."

	Blade and Geronimo each picked up special rifles.  Superficially, 
they looked like Uzi machine guns.  After that there was no 
resemblance to any gun ever seen before.  They were black to minimize 
reflection, had short silencers, a 30-shot fragmentation bullets 
magazine and on one side of the guns were four buttons, mounted on 
top of the barrel was a small tube that was used for the laser 
targeting.  They were Dakon II rifles and they had been confiscated 
after a run-in with the group that had created them, the Technics.

	Hickok and Riki each took two little grey pistols.  They were 
Gaskell Lazer pistols.  Unlike the laser sighting on top of the 
Dakon's, these weapons fired actual laser beams, like in a science 
fiction movie.  They had been taken when Blade and Hickok had escaped 
from Houston, Texas, what the Supiriors now called Androxia.  Also, 
the four Warriors carried their usual specialty weapons, respectively,
 Bowie knives, a Tomahowk, Colt Python Revolvers, and a Katana.  
Jupiter looked at the four Warriors and sarcastically said, "Sure you 
got enough fire power?"

	Blade hefted his Dakon II and looked at the Sailors with a sly grin 
on his face as he said, "Let's go kick some butt!"  Somehow, the 
image seemed fitting.

	The Warriors and Sailors split into their respective teams and their 
respective vehicles.  The VTOL's motor roared and it took off 
vertically.  Then, after a slight course correction it headed off in 
the direction of Texas.  The SEAL also started its motor and slowly 
rolled out of the Home and off in the direction of New York.  Luna 
and Artimis watched the two vehicles leave and as they made sure no 
one was near enough to hear, Artimis whispered, "You think they can 
do it?"

	Luna sollomly replied, "They have to."

	END CHAPTER 5

	NEXT: CHAPTER 6: BUSHWAKED

	Now that their mission has begun, our heros must be on their guard 
against all that stands in their way.  However, it seems as though 
just about every little thing stands in their way.  With the Russians,
 Technics, Mutates, and who knows what else is out there, how will 
our heros survive? (Also, can you imagine being locked in a car with 
Usagi for several days?  I shudder at the thought.)  To find out..... 
read on!

	May The Spirit Preserve You!