<The theater doors open, admitting Lurker and Hikaru>

Hikaru: Nee, Lurker-kun...is Skuld back from helping Chris yet?

Lurker: <shrugs> I dunno. Last I saw her she was whining at God-boy about
love triangles or some such.

<Theater doors open again, Skuld enters> 

Skuld: Tadaima! 

Lurker: OK! Let's get down to business...

I'll tell you all the truth.  I hate this chapter.  Not because of
how it's written, because of what happens.  I had to go read every
WAFF fic I had after writing this thing, it screwed me up that much.

Lurker: Sounds like fun.

8 - Bloody Memories

Lurker: Bloody hell?

As Crimson flew through the air to attack Jadeite, a few things
became very clear, very quickly.  First, he was moving far faster
than the Senshi had ever seen anyone move before.  Second, his entire
body seemed to glow with a flaming red aura.  Finally, he was in a
murderous rage, and woe betide anyone who got in his way.

Lurker: Woe, shit!
Hikaru: <wince>

Sailor Mars ran up to the two men and tried to hold Crimson's arm
back, but she could barely budge it.  "Crimson!  Please, stop this!" 
 She felt his arm give as he allowed her to pull it back.  "If Queen
Serenity can forgive him, why can't you?"

Lurker: Yeah, why can't you?
Hikaru: What he said.
Skuld: What she said.
Lurker: What I said.

"HE KILLED YOU!" Crimson roared in a tortured voice, stunning the
Senshi with his words.  "All of you!"  His anger spent, he fell to
his knees, tears streaming down his face.  "He betrayed all of us for
Beryl.  He killed you all."

Lurker: O_O

Sailor Mars was very still.  She felt a memory returning, one that
was extremely painful, but it was one she knew that she needed to
know.   As the memories replayed themselves, she understood Crimson's
anger and shame.  "He made you watch," she breathed.  "He made you
watch as he killed me."

Lurker: O_o
Hikaru: o_O
Skuld: o_o

"Why do you call him that?" Crimson asked, trying to change the
subject.  "Jadeite, I mean."

"Because I don't deserve the name I was born with," Jadeite said from
the ground.  "I betrayed you, I betrayed Serenity, and I betrayed HER
most of all."  He stood, and swayed on his feet.  "I've lost all
right to that name."

Lurker: Why do I get the feeling he's going to turn out to be related to
one of them?
Hikaru: <shrug> Don't ask me. You're the plot expert around here.

"I don't deserve forgiveness."

Pluto was silent for a moment.  "Perhaps not, in your mind.  But I
can forgive you, because I know the man you were, and the man you
are.  I know the man I fell in love with eleven millennia ago is
standing right in front of me."

Lurker: I was close.
Skuld: Pluto fell in *love* with someone? Wow. 
Hikaru: Never would have suspected that...

As the aura of shock, confusion, anger, and betrayal filled the room,
the darkness hungrily fed on the energy released.  It was nice, but
it would have to find a host soon.  It looked down on the inhabitants
of the room, and carefully tested each one.

The queen?  Even its mother wasn't dumb enough to try that, and the
Serenity of the past was much weaker than the one before it.  

Lurker: Its...mother? Metallia, perhaps?

The king?  It felt his power and reeled back in surprise.  This man
was linked to the planet!  With him as a host it could feed on the
life energy of the planet itself.  It tested the boundaries of his
mind, and found with dismay that he was far too old.  The darkness
could never break through his defenses in time.

Lurker: No Makou-ro for you...
Hikaru, Skuld: <whap Lurker> GET OFF THAT GAME ALREADY!!!

It scanned the crowd, noticing the pockets of power that showed the
latent abilities in some of the attendees.  It noticed one young man,
one with a dark complexion and black hair, who had an odd aura, as if
there was something missing that should be there.  A power that
should be there.

Lurker: Hmmmmmmmm.........

Wait!  The man!  The one with the reddish-blonde hair, in the oddly
familiar armor.  If it could have, the darkness would have laughed. 
Such power in one so young.  The takeover would be swift and
unstoppable.  For the first time in days, the darkness realized it
would survive.  It was sure of that now.

Lurker: Uh-oh...

<crack*boom*ominousthunder*galeforcewinds>

Skuld: Make that *Hurricane* Uh-Oh...

It watched the man leave the hall, and flew rapidly after him as the
man disappeared deep into the halls of the palace.  It must take him
quickly, before he knew what hit him.  At the speed of the light that
was its bane, the darkness flowed into the man, preying on his anger,
his shame, and his confusion.  The man screamed in pain, and
collapsed in an abandoned hall.  He screamed again, and Crimson's
eyes closed.

Lurker, Skuld, Hikaru: O_O

And Blood's eyes opened.   Their features were gone, leaving only a
deep, awful red, that seemed to suck up the light that shone on them.
 He stood, and his armor began to darken and shift, the silvery
guards tarnishing with a stain the color of rust, that spread and
flowed until they were completely covered in that horrifying color. 
His other gear had become as blood red as his eyes.

Lurker, Skuld, Hikaru: o_O

Blood looked down at himself, and began to laugh.  It was a laugh
that echoed through the halls, and sent chills down the spines of
those who heard it.  "Oh, my," he breathed. He turned and ran down
the halls, finding the nearest exit, pausing to drain the guardsman
at the gate until the body was limp.  As he finished, a black flame
seemed to erupt from his body, a flame that ate the light around it,
shrouding the area in darkness.

Lurker, Skuld, Hikaru: O_o

He hissed in pain as the shield at his left arm flared bright red and
burned him.  Taking it off, he flung the object away from him,
letting it clatter to the ground far down the hall.  It was a foolish
weapon, anyway.

Blood looked upon the city who's heroes he was about to destroy, the
city he would rule, and smiled.  "Oh, yes."

Lurker: Oh, no...

Serenity spent several minutes trying to calm her friend and discover
what she was talking about, but Mars was too distraught to be of any
help.  Once again, she used the Ginzuishou to look inside her friend
at the bond between her and Crimson.

What she discovered brought tears to her eyes and horror to her
heart.  The link was strong and healthy at Mars' end, but as it
stretched out to Crimson it became something dark and twisted, almost
rotten.

Lurker: That stinks!

Mars looked up at her old friend, her eyes red from crying, and took
the shield, holding it like it was the most delicate thing on the
face of the earth.  "He's gone," she said again in a voice hoarse
with pain.  "He's gone and there's only hatred and anger there now." 
She looked up at Jupiter, and her eyes caught Jadeite.

"You," she growled.  "This is YOUR fault!"  She stood, and made to
attack the wretch of a man, but Jupiter held her arms and stopped
her.  "If you hadn't come, none of this would have happened!"  She
struggled in her friends grip.  "Let me go!  I'll kill him!  I just
got him back!"  Her sudden burst of energy left her as quickly as it
came, and she began to cry again.  "It's not fair.  I just got him
back."  Mercury returned, took the sobbing woman from Jupiter, and
led her out of the hall.

Serenity watched her friend leave, and felt her husband's hand on her
shoulder.  She embraced him.  "Oh, my love, why can't we ever be left
in peace?"

Lurker: <sniffle>
Hikaru: <sob>
Skuld: <sad expression>

Neptune nodded.  "He's a most cunning enemy.  He's managed to hide
himself from Mercury's computer and the Queen.  That is no small
task."  She paused.  "If it wasn't for the fact we can track him when
he attacks someone, he'd have the run of the city."

Uranus snorted in derision.  "He does have the run of the city. 
People are afraid to leave their homes in fear of him."  She started
to grow angry.  "Here!  In Crystal Tokyo of all places!"

"Why ladies, I'd think you didn't like me or something."

Lurker: Uh-oh...

The two sailors whirled to see a man looking out over the city,
facing away from them.  His armor resembled that of Crimson's, but
instead of being bright red and silver, it was blood red and rusty. 
"Crimson?" Neptune asked tentatively.

Slowly, the man turned to look at the pair, and the women were
shocked by what they saw.  The man's eyes were the same color as his
clothes, a single, solid shade.  "The name," he growled as a dark,
flaming aura appeared around his body, "is Blood."

Lurker: Now *that* is an entrance.

"I don't have time for this," he growled, and turned to Neptune, and
smiled in a way that sent shivers down her spine.  "I was hoping to
kill you both, but since you don't want to cooperate, maybe I'll just
kill you."  He cupped his hand and the dark flame that surrounded him
flowed down his body to form into a fireball.   Winding up like a
baseball player, he threw it at Neptune.

The black ball expanded as at flew, and despite her attempts to
dodge, Neptune was hit by the attack, if only barely.  With a cry of
pain, she fell to the roof, holding her left arm.  The flesh of the
arm was white and blistered, like it had been flash-frozen and burned
at once.  

Lurker: Ummm....strike one?

"Haruka?  Michiru?"  They turned and saw Blood kneeling, looking at
them in horror.  "What am I doing?"

Lurker: Being a prick? 
Hikaru, Skuld: <whap Lurker>

Ares looked down at himself, and touched the armor in disgust.  "Why
am I like this?  What's going..." he trailed off has his face twisted
in pain.  "NO!  You can't do this!"  He frantically looked at the
watching women, his plea written on his face.  "You have to stop
him...me!  You can't let me near Rei.  Promise me you'll kill me
first!"

"Why?"  Neptune asked.

Ares held his head and screamed in pain.  "Because if he...if I get
to her...I'LL TEAR HER APART!!"  With that, he screamed again, and
his eyes misted over, once again becoming the blood-red orbs they
were before.

Lurker: Ouch.

Blood stood and swayed.  "We'll finish this later."  He turned and
jumped off the side of the building.

"Wait!" Uranus cried, rushing to the edge of the roof.  She looked
down, and there was no sign of Blood.

Lurker: And no sign of Guts either.

Neptune came to stand beside her, and looked over the edge.  "We
can't do this, Haruka...not again.  I can't do something like this
again."

Uranus face was grim as she looked at her partner.  "I know, Michiru.
 But we may have no choice."

Lurker: Very, very dark chapter. Looking forward to the next one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Akane, Ukyou, Ryouga, Shampoo, and Mousse 
embark on their journey to find the Escudo.
Jikai ni: Onna: Red Side, Chapter 20.
Don't miss it! Coming soon!

---
One Angel.
One Demon.
One Planet.
One Weapon.
Zero Hope.
-=FINAL IMPACT=-
Lurker's new crossover epic
Coming soon...
---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
Kyouju, Shin Mugen-gakuen
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net

Crack kills. Remember that next time you eat chili.

Itsu mo Koka-koura....
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