Friendly Fire

Written by Adrian Tymes

[Legal disclaimer:

This story is based on characters created by Naoko Takeuchi.  Permission
is granted to freely distribute this story, so long as:
a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who
distributes the story, and
b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored.
In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it.

Copyright (c) 1998, all rights reserved, et cetera.]

******

The apartment building was quiet, as usual for this time of night.  Its
residents, mostly students at the university just across the street, were
almost all still at class.  Even so, the stealthy intruder felt as if
someone was watching her.  Anyone who had seen her before would knew she
was coming to see Darian, but she wanted no witnesses to this visit.
Serena would be especially upset if she knew, as she would easily deduce
what was about to happen, as well as the truth about what she had recently
seen.

A scrape nearby brought the shadow's mind back to the present.  She had
seen no one there, but now she felt a presence.  Backing away slowly, the
dark form crouched behind a vending machine, hoping whoever it was did not
see her...

"Hey, Luna.  Where's the mouse?"

Luna's tension vanished at Darian's voice.  "Meow?"

"C'mon, I've been saving some cream for you."  Darian walked down the hall
a bit, unlocked his door, and held it open long enough for Luna to pass
through.  After making sure no one else was nearby, he carefully closed
the door.

"There's no mice in here-"

"WHAT HAPPENED?"  Darian nearly exploded when the door sealed his
conversation off from the world.  "How did Serena wind up in the hospital
like that?  You asked me to leave before the girls could tell me
anything."

"Now, just calm down, Darian."

"Calm down?!?  Luna, if Artemis was given one week to live, could you calm
down until you knew why?"

"Huh."  Luna turned up her nose.  "If that arrogant waste of fur wants to
have a kitten with me, he's going to have to learn a thing or two first.
I was just worried that I might have to keep Mina in line by myself."

"Something happened to Artemis?"  Darian's anger faded.  After three
seconds, he spoke again, with a commanding tone that he had first learned
a thousand years ago.  "Tell me what happened."

"I will.  But first, you must do me a favor."  Luna leapt into the air and
tumbled, leaving a trail of sparkles where she passed.  The sparkles
coalesced into a briefcase with a Chinese dragon embossed in gold on its
face.  "Destroy this briefcase, but take its contents.  Most importantly,
you must tell no one, not even Serena, that I gave it to you."

"Why?  What's..."  Darian's voice trailed off when he opened the
briefcase.  His hand reached in, and pulled out a neatly bound stack of
American dollars.

"There's precisely one million in there.  It is too valuable a resource to
waste, even if it is blood money."

"Who's blood?"

"Sailor V's."

The color drained from Darian's face.  "They killed Mina?  I saw her alive
just now..."

"Mina is quite alright.  Artemis and Amy will live, and the others are
physically ok, but you can bet they'll all have nightmares tonight."

Darian searched the briefcase, but found only money inside.

"It's a long story, Darian.  Before I tell you, you must promise me."

"Ok, Luna.  I'll do it.  I can set it up so the girls will never suspect
this money came from you."

"Good.  And the briefcase?"

"I'll put it in the garbage when you leave."

"No.  You must destroy it."

"Ok, ok, I'll make sure it never sees another sunset."

"Good.  I only ask because the girls think I destroyed it and the money,
and I do not wish to spoil their illusion."

"Now, the story."

"The story.  You know a few pieces that I do not, and I will be most
interested to hear them.  But, for now, let us start at the beginning."

******

It started at the Sailor meeting at Mina's house last Friday.  Although
Artemis and I tried to keep the girls focused on business, they would have
none of it, as usual.  I suppose it was to be expected.  After all, Queen
Beryl no longer threatened us, the alien pair had left, the time
travellers had been dealt with, and no other major evil had come to take
their place.  With no immediate need for the Sailor Scouts, the girls
quickly turned what I had hoped would be a training session into an excuse
to chat.

Serena and Raye were having another of their arguments, Mina was answering
a phone call, and Amy was showing a contraption to Lita.

"This is Mina's science project?" Lita asked.

"Uh-huh," answered Amy.  "I agreed to help her with it, if Mina helped me
with my own project."

"Your project?"  Lita chuckled.  "What can us mere mortals offer to she
who knows everything?"

Amy blushed.  "I don't know everything."

"It sure seems like it.  And I do want to know - maybe I could get you to
help me."

"You're my friend, Lita.  You only need to ask.  As for the exchange,
Mina's getting me access to the police database."

Lita gasped.  "You asked her to hack in to their computers?  Oh, Amy-"

"I did not.  She knows the chief of police; at least, Sailor V does, and
the chief knows that V is Mina.  Don't worry, I'm pretty sure she doesn't
know about the rest of us.  Besides, if I wanted to break in to a computer
system, there's much better targets than the police."

Lita giggled.  "That's true.  So, what's the project?"

"It's a fuel cell.  You know how you can get pure water by destroying it -
breaking it down into hydrogen and oxygen - then recombining it back?"

"Yeah, I know.  I'm not a complete ditz."

Amy half-smiled, wondering which of their friends that had been a
comparison to.  "Anyway, you have to put in electricity to break water
down, but you can get most of that back when you recombine.  This fuel
cell does the latter."

"Oh, so it's a kind of battery?"

"Something like that, although the chemistry is a bit different."  Amy
broke off as she noticed Mina approaching, wearing the widest smile Amy
had ever seen.  "It went well?"

"What did?" Mina replied, still smiling.

"The database.  You got access for me?"

"No, sorry, I'll take care of that later."  Her voice, like her face,
remained cheerful.

Amy frowned.  "Then, what was the call about?"

Mina's voice burst into a sing-song tone.  "There's a price on my head."

"WHAT?" all four other humans, and both cats, replied simultaneously.

"One million dollars."

The girls' jaws seemed ready to hit the floor.  Artemis and I, with our
heads less than a paw's length above the ground, carried out the metaphor
a bit more literally.

Serena was the first to react.  She had been in the middle of a tongue war
with Raye, each trying to look away from the other while still presenting
an annoying face.  The picture they now painted would have been comical if
anyone had been in the mood to laugh.  "Oh, Mina, I'm sorry..."

"Don't be.  It's only for Sailor V."  Mina relaxed from being extremely
happy to being merely happy.  "Someone's a bit miffed about the bank
robberies I've been foiling lately.  The police know who he is, and
they'll pick him up as soon as they have enough evidence.  They think
it'll take a couple weeks, and they're sure he does not know Sailor V's
secret identity."

Serena relaxed.  "Good."

"And he won't, even when she captures him."

"MINA!"  Serena was scandalized.  "No.  It's too dangerous.  The police
can handle it.  I don't want you risking your life like this."

"Come on, Serena.  It's not like I haven't done this before, even before I
met you guys."

"That was different.  Only we could fight those monsters.  Anyone can
handle these clowns."

"But, Serena..."

"I mean it.  No Sailor V until this is taken care of.  Not even Sailor
Venus, unless it's an emergency."

I was not sure whether to be more surprised by Mina's situation, or by
Serena's handling of it.  "At least she has learned to take charge," I
muttered to Artemis.

"Oh, alright," Mina sighed, clearly disappointed.  "Spoilsport."

"Don't you think that's a bit much?" Raye asked.  "Mina's right, she's
done this before.  If word got out that Sailor V took care of this..."

"...she would become a target for organized crime throughout Tokyo,
possibly all of Japan," Amy finished.  "Serena's right, it's too risky."

"Yeah, sure."  Raye smirked.  "I suppose you can tell us the exact odds of
that?"

Amy shrugged, brought out her computer, and began typing away.  "Well,
since you asked..."

Raye gaped for a second.  Amy looked up, giggled, and stuck her tongue at
Raye, who quickly recovered and returned the gesture.  Serena's tongue
leapt to Amy's defense, as Mina's did to Raye's.  None of them saw Lita
pick up a camera, but they all heard the click of their picture being
taken.  As one, they turned towards her, with varying degrees of amusement
and embarrassment on their faces.  Raye tossed a pillow in her direction.

Lita easily parried.  "Come on," she responded, "I can get you and Serena
anytime, but Amy and Mina...that's one for the scrapbook."

At that point, I gave up on any hope of getting anything useful done, and
walked off to rest until Serena was ready to go.

******

Darian scratched his head.  "Luna, could you just cut to the chase?  I
mean, how did Sailor V having a price on her head relate to Serena's
getting burned?"

"I do not know precisely what is relevant, and what is not.  As I said,
you know parts that I do not.  For instance, I understand you stopped by
the meeting shortly after I dozed off."

"Yeah.  By the time I got there, there was a major pillow fight going on.
I wondered what caused it.  But, nothing important happened while I was
there.  At least, nothing that seemed important.  I don't even remember
the exact words we said."

Luna sighed.  "You may be right, at least about that part.  I was hoping
there would be some missing piece that those details would help you
remember.  Besides, I'm in the mood for some storytelling."

"Right, whatever.  Just skip to the next piece that you know is
important."

"Very well.  That night, Amy had a nightmare..."

******

She was standing on a rock spire, which jutted a few hundred meters out of
an endless sea.  Dressed as Sailor Mercury, she was practicing controlling
the water, sending tidal waves wherever she pleased.  However, the water
level was rising.  It was too slow for her to notice at first, but
gradually, it ate away at her perch, then rose up around her, no longer
heeding her commands.  She tried to swim for the surface, but the water
rose faster than she could.  Even worse, the water itself seemed to be
pulling her down, as if imploding...

Amy woke up to find her room mysteriously drenched.

******

"Uh, Luna?" Darian queried.  "If it was her nightmare, how do you know
about it?"

"That was the last thing Amy remembered for quite some time.  She now
knows little of the following days, and it would perhaps be best if she
never remembers.  I will tell her everything, although I suspect she will
get most of the details from the others first."

Darian's confused look gradually gave way to a smile.  "Ok, Luna, I'm
listening.  Let me guess, the next important event was Amy's new job?"

"Indeed.  How did you know?"

"A couple days ago, Serena asked if I could check out Aqualite Industries.
When I asked why, she only said that Amy was working there.  She didn't
give me much information about the place."

"That's because none of us had heard of Aqualite Industries before, and
there were scarce business records.  I investigated them, too, after she
told us that they hired her as a part-time lab technician."

******

"Congratulations, Amy, that's wonderful news," Serena beamed.

Amy blushed.  "It's only temporary.  But they have agreed to show me how
everything works, perhaps even let me run an experiment or two.  I'm going
to learn so much..."

"Yeah, if they keep their word," Raye snapped.

We had been walking home, but now, Serena and Amy stopped two steps behind
Raye, as a moment of silence chilled their moods.  I could feel the sudden
tension in the air.

"What's eating you?" Serena asked.  "Do you know them?"

Raye sighed, then turned around to face her friends.  "I'm getting a bad
feeling about them."

"It's because of their name, right?  Aqualite, Malachite, Zoicite,
Nephlite...I already asked, and they told me there was no connection.  I
believe them."

"Amy?" Serena tried to ask, but was cut off by Amy's continuation.

"Or, is it another one of your 'mystic readings'?  As I recall, the first
time we saw you do one of those, you brained Serena with one of your
papers."

"Amy!" Serena interrupted, her eyes wide.  "Do they know...?"

Amy smiled and winked.  "It's actually Sailor Mercury who works there.
They recovered some artifacts from the Negaverse's former bases, and I'm
helping them analyze the technology."

Raye scowled.  "So, you just waltzed into this lab, happened to see the
artifacts, transformed right in front of the receptionist, and applied for
a job?"

"No, actually, they sought me out, three days ago."

Serena's face reflected her question.  "What was Sailor Mercury doing
three days ago?  We haven't seen any monsters in weeks."

"Giving a press conference.  SOMEONE had to explain our battles to the
public.  Their lack of information was starting to generate rumors."

Raye snorted.  "So, you put out new ones instead?"

Serena glanced from Amy to Raye.  "Geez, you two need to lighten up."

Amy shrugged.  "Tell you what, Raye, just to prove that your misgivings
are groundless, I'll take you on a tour of the lab tomorrow, half an hour
after school.  You, too, Serena."  She knelt and scratched my ears with
one hand.  "Sorry, Luna, but they don't allow cats inside."  She smiled,
held out her other hand to Raye, and winked.  "Wear your best."

Raye relaxed, and shook Amy's hand.  "Ok."  She grinned.  "But, if this is
some Negaverse trap..."

"...you can kill me afterwards.  Oh, there's my bus!"  Amy dashed off to a
nearby bus stop, and hopped on the bus that had just pulled up.

I watched her leave.  "What an odd thing for her to say.  And, that bus
doesn't go anywhere near her house."

"Don't sweat it, Luna," Serena responded.  "Hey, Raye, what do you think
the chances are that there's some cute guy working there?"

Raye looked down her nose at Serena.  "You've already got Darian."

"Not for me, for Amy."  Serena grinned.  "She's deficient in the boyfriend
department."

"She's already got one, even if she doesn't see him that much.  I would
have expected that from Mina, but from you?  Speaking of which, shouldn't
we invite Mina and Lita to the tour?  I mean, if they *are* Negaverse
artifacts..."

"No can do.  Lita's got detention for the rest of the week, and Mina's
turning in her project after school tomorrow.  They'll be delayed for at
least an hour."

"Amy knew this," I added, waiting for Amy's bus to turn a corner and leave
our sight.  "She should have delayed the tour until they could come.
Bring your wards, Raye; there is evil afoot.  This might very well be a
trap."

"Luna?"  Raye blinked.  "What's going on?"

"You didn't hear about the attack?" Serena responded.

"I was on a field trip today.  I didn't get back until just before school
got out.  What attack?"

"A bunch of water monsters burst out of the fountains at lunch.  They were
easy enough to take care of, but no one has a clue where they came from,
or what they were after."  Serena chuckled.  "The first one appeared when
Amy was drinking.  It tried to solidify in her mouth.  The look on her
face...now that I think about it, it was priceless."

"I bet it didn't seem so funny at the time."

"Of course not.  We're going to go over what happened at Amy's place after
dinner.  Can you make it?"

"Sure.  See you then."

******

"And nothing happened until the meeting?" Darian guessed.

"Actually, a lot happened, but nothing that we were aware of at the time.
Our first clue was that Amy was not home when we arrived.  Her mother let
us in to wait for her.  Clue number two was that Mina showed up without
Artemis, and none of us could raise him on our communicators.  The third
clue came shortly thereafter..."

******

We ran out of the house when we heard tires squealing.  I got to the curb
first just in time to see an old car, riddled with dents and bullet holes,
swerve through the street.  As it passed, someone inside tossed Amy out
through an open window.  The car sped off before I could make out too many
details, just as Raye, Mina, and Lita arrived.

All three were speechless when they saw Amy's unconscious body.  Raye and
Lita nodded to each other and picked her up, while Mina tried to stifle
her reaction - whether she wanted to throw up or scream, I could not tell.
Either one would have been excusable, given the shock of seeing Amy
covered in bruises.  It was obvious that most had been given to her before
she left the car.  Just as I had collected myself enough to hope that Amy
was still alive...

"MOON CRYSTAL HEALING ACTIVATION!"

Even after all we have been through, I still wonder how the Moon Princess
could have been reborn as Serena, or even if I did not actually force some
innocent Earth girl to become Sailor Moon.  It is moments like that one
that renew my faith in her.

Raye and Lita laid Amy on a couch as her marks finished fading away, and
Sailor Moon turned back into Serena.  Raye looked up, eyes furrowed, as
Serena followed Mina in.  "You should have waited until we got inside.
People could have seen you!"

There are times that I wonder about Raye, too.

"I checked!  There was no one around.  Besides, she could have been dying
for all I knew."

"I was..." Amy croaked.

******

Darian's face went sheet white.  "I thought you said she'll live..."

Luna blinked.  "Oh, sorry, bad choice of words," she eventually replied.

******

"I was..." Amy cro...er, said.

Serena looked at Amy for a bit, then turned and stuck her tongue at Raye.

Instead of replying in kind, Raye slapped Serena and stormed off,
grumbling to herself as she went back outside.

Serena rubbed her cheek.  "What's with her?"

I was the only one paying them attention at the moment, as Mina was
questioning Amy while Lita checked her for any remaining bruises.

Mina's cry of "ARTEMIS?" got my attention.

"What's this about Artemis?" I asked as I quickly joined them.

"They kidnapped him," Amy replied, "when I went to see him.  They got me,
too, but agreed to let me go if I delivered a message to his owner."

"If anyone thinks that beating up a friend's going to stop the Sailor
Scouts..."  Lita started.

"They don't care about us.  They did that when I swore I did not know
Sailor V."

Mina gulped.  "The crime lord?  The one who put the reward out?"

Amy nodded.  "That's my guess.  He told me, if I did see Sailor V, to tell
her to take a vacation if she wanted Artemis to live."  She looked up.
"I'm sorry, Mina.  They had a knife to his throat the whole time.  If I
had tried anything, even just becoming Sailor Mercury..."

Mina put a hand on Amy's shoulder.  "It's ok.  You did the best you could,
and at least he's still alive.  I'll get him back.  I can just follow the
tracking beacon in his collar..."

Amy pulled a sliced collar out of her pocket.  "They thought you might,
and I eventually convinced them that I did not know you.  I was supposed
to give you the message when you found me."

Lita and Serena continued to comfort Amy and Mina, while I went outside to
see what was the matter with Raye.

I tried to sneak up on her using the tree she was sitting under.  Just as
I was about to jump onto her shoulder, she asked, "Did you feel it, too?"

"Feel what?" I replied, staying on a branch above her head.

"An evil I haven't felt since..."  She closed her eyes in thought.

"Since?"

"Since before I died."  She looked at me, and for once, I read fear in her
eyes.  "We destroyed the Negaforce, didn't we, Luna?"

"Yes."  I feigned confidence, but I had no way of knowing for sure.  Even
before the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, I didn't know half of what
they were capable of.  I still don't remember everything I knew then.

"And there's no way they could have possessed Serena?"

I nearly fell off my branch.  "WHAT???"  Leaping down to her side, I tried
to read her face for clues, but found none.  "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the evil I felt seemed to be coming from Serena."

I was about to respond when we both sensed it.  Serena was in danger,
again.

******

"9 PM, last Tuesday?" Darian queried.

"Yes.  You felt it too?"

"Yeah, but I was with some friends.  I got away as fast as I could, but
the feeling was already gone."

"Well, it was a very short fight.  Raye and I never even saw the enemy
this time.  By the time we returned to the house, the other Sailor Scouts
were already celebrating another victory.  It was another one of those
water monsters, which presumably gained entry through the pipes.  Its
presence at our meeting allowed only one conclusion: whoever controlled
them was after us."

"Hmm...water monsters...Luna, didn't you mention something about one of
the Negaforce's minions using water monsters?  Piranha, or something?"

"Titana...or was it Titus?"  Luna pondered for a second, but quickly
dismissed her own question..  "We defeated her when I had only found
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars.  As I recall, you missed
that particular adventure."

"Huh.  So, what happened at the tour the next day?  Was Aqualite holding
any Moon artifacts?"

"We did not get a look inside.  Not until later, anyway."

******

Raye was waiting at the steps to Aqualite Industries' laboratory, already
transformed into Sailor Mars.  Someone had had a sense of decoration when
designing it, as it looked from the outside like a small replica of an
ancient samurai warlord's palace.  But the only thing Raye saw was Serena,
who had stopped by her house and put on her best pink dress before
arriving.

Serena could see Raye's expression half a block away.  "What?"

Raye ran up to her and hissed, "We were supposed to be in our Sailor
uniforms, idiot.  Transform before somebody sees you!"

"What?  But I thought Amy said to wear our best.  Those uniforms are
definitely not on the cutting edge of fashion."

"And that dress is?"

I could sense trouble brewing.  "Girls, please.  Serena, transform.  Raye,
we can discuss aesthetics when Amy is not waiting for us."  I pointed back
down the street, to where Sailor Mercury had just stepped out and was
distracting what evidently was to be our tour guide.

Serena held her brooch, but noticed Raye twinge.  "Come on, Raye, I can't
look that bad."

"Evil..." Raye whispered.

Completely forgetting what she was about to do, Serena looked at her
dress.  "You really think?"

"So much evil..."  She turned to face Amy, clasped her hands, and closed
her eyes.  "MARS..."

"Raye?"

"...FIRE..."  A speck of fire began circling her fingers.

Serena noticed what Raye was aiming at.  "RAYE, NO!!!"  She interposed
herself between the Sailor Scouts, flailing her arms.

Too late.  "...IGNITE!"  Raye opened her eyes just in time to see the
flames engulf Serena.

******

Luna noticed Darian go through several stages of emotions.  Just before
rage could set in, she added, "I refuse to believe that Raye was
responsible for her actions at the time.  Something must have forced her
to attack."

Darian's anger simmered.  "Something did.  I'm still not sure if that
something was Raye, or..."

"Or?" Luna asked after a pause.

Darian shook his head.  "Just go on with the story.  I assume you followed
Raye to find out her motives; her actions will tell me if she was at
fault."

"I did, but not for that reason."

*******

Amy counterattacked with her fog, managing to put out Serena, but not
before Serena had already fainted.  Raye stood in shock, as did I, while
Amy ran up and checked Serena's pulse.

I will never forget the look on her face when she looked up at Raye.
Neither, I suspect, will Raye.  It was mask of utter hatred, beyond
anything I have seen on our enemies.

Amy's voice was as cold as ice.  "How *COULD* you?" she spat.

Raye still did not move, but tears were slowly rolling from her eyes.
However, sadness did not seem to be her main emotion, but rather fear.

I knew her well enough to know what was going through her mind, so I was
already placing the first of two calls on a nearby pay phone when Raye
broke the silence by running away.  When I finished, I looked at Amy, who
had already detransformed and was tending to Serena.  I would have liked
to have helped more, but I had already summoned an ambulance for Serena,
and Amy was more than capable of keeping her stable until it arrived.
Raye, on the other hand, was in immediate danger.  Fortunately, I knew a
series of shortcuts that allowed me to get to her temple before she did,
even with her head start.

------

Raye was kneeling in front of the fire, trying to calm herself enough to
invoke its guidance, while I pretended to sleep next to the fire.  I
figured she would talk to me when she was ready, but I made sure she knew
I was following her since she arrived.  Even with my eyes closed, however,
I could hear Chad cautiously tiptoe in.  He was apparently trying to be
silent, but not hard enough.

"Leave me alone, Chad.  It's bad enough I got one shadow."  She gestured
to me as if trying to bat an airborne speck of dust away.

"Whoa, are you, like, okay?  Some hysterical woman called and warned me to
hide the sharp objects from you.  She was afraid you were gonna commit
suicide or somethin'."

Raye glared at me, but I pretended not to notice.

******

"Suicide?  She might have been depressed, Luna, but suicide?"

The cat gave a good imitation of a shrug.  "I figured that erring on the
side of caution would be prudent in this case."

******

"No, Chad, I wasn't going to make things worse."

Thick as he was, even Chad could not miss that sign.  "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."  Raye faced away from Chad.  "Please
leave."

A few seconds of silence passed.  I opened my eyes for a brief glance, and
to my suprise saw that Chad had walked up to the fire without making a
sound, and was now kneeling in front of it.  I was completely unprepared
for what came next.

"Oh, sacred fire, please tell me what's bumming my friend Raye."

Raye whipped around, also suprised.  "Chad, what are you doing?"

Chad did not answer for a few seconds, intent instead on reading the
flames.  "You hurt someone close to you...Serena..."

Raye stood between Chad and the flames, cutting off his reading.  "That's
enough, Chad!"

He relaxed.  "That's ok, I wasn't getting much anyway.  I guess I need
more practice."

"That, you do," Raye's grandfather replied from the doorway, where he had
followed Chad in.  "But you're making progress.  I was beginning to think
you'd never be able to use the fire."

"Well, I guess it helped to have a focus.  I mean, from the tone of that
lady on the phone, I thought Raye might, like..."

Raye chose that moment to step on my tail.  I pulled it out from under her
foot before she could put her full weight on it, but it still hurt.  From
Chad's surprised glance, I surmised that my yowl was his first clue that I
was there, despite the fact that I had been in plain sight all along.

An uneasy silence descended again, and once again, Chad broke it.  "So,
like, what did you do to her?"

"She nearly killed her," Raye's grandfather answered for her.  "Her friend
Amy just called.  Serena's not expected to live more than a week."

That got Raye's attention.  "Called?"  She fingered her communicator.  "We
got these things so we could talk to each other directly..."

"She said she did not want to break the news to you herself.  She said
several other things, most of which I will not repeat."  He looked at his
descendant, frowning.  "And none of which I would prefer to believe.  I
have never known Amy to lie, but I can not imagine you deliberately
setting anyone on fire, especially not Serena."

I lost most of the ensuing conversation as I contemplated this new event.
Seeing that Raye was now definitely safe from herself...

******

"...as if that was ever a worry," Darian quipped.

******

The comments of a certain peanut gallery notwithstanding, I decided to go
see Lita and Mina, who were just then getting out of school.

Mina's communicator was not responding, and Amy was not answering hers, so
I briefed Lita on the afternoon's events as I headed for Mina's house.  As
expected, Lita had no new information on the situation, aside from the
fact that Amy had not contacted her yet.  I guessed that Amy planned to
break the news at school the next day.  The only reason I could think of
for the delay troubled me, although it turned out to be correct.

My contemplation was interrupted as my tail narrowly avoided its second
crushing of the day.  I skidded to a halt to see who had nearly stepped on
it this time...

"Sorry, Luna," Sailor V said.  "I didn't see you there."

******

"You mean, Sailor Venus," Darian corrected.

"No, I mean Sailor V.  I was still a mile from her house, in one of the
seedier parts of the city.  Seeing her here could only mean one thing."

"She was going after Artemis."

******

That's what she said, when I asked her.

"Were you trying to call me earlier?  I turned my communicator off for a
few minutes while I mugged a mugger," she added.

"You promised Serena you wouldn't do this," I protested.

"That was before Artemis got kidnapped.  I figure, if I interrogate enough
criminals, one of them has got to know where Artemis is being held."

"The police will find him when they find the ones who took him.  That's
their job.  Let them do it."  This was clearly not getting through to her,
so I tried a different tactic.  "What about your family?  What about
school?  How will you explain Mina's disappearance?  This isn't like our
battles with the Negaverse, you know.  This could take weeks."

"When we're done, I'll just say Mina got mistaken for Sailor V, and
kidnapped.  Serena can use her Disguise Pen to pretend to be me, and back
up my story."

"If she lives," I muttered.

"If she...WHAT?"  Mina knelt so our eyes were level.  "What do you mean,
'if she lives'?"

"She got in the way of one of Raye's fireballs.  She's in no condition to
pretend to be anybody."  After a moment, I queried, "Has Amy tried to
contact you?"

"No."  She pulled out her communicator and pushed the button for Amy, but
got no response.  "Something tells me we'd better check on her.  Come on,
Luna."

We stopped by Amy's house, but she had not been home.  On a hunch, we
checked Aqualite as well, but there was nobody there.  Trying the door, we
were both suprised when human shaped blobs of water seemed to melt out of
the walls and attack.

Mina managed to hit all of them with a single Love Chain.  Fortunately,
the monsters turned into puddles of water when the chain touched them.
Unfortunately, or so I thought at first, the chain also left a deep gouge
in the laboratory's wall.

After the short fight, we heard a mild sobbing.  We both followed it
around the side of the laboratory, but not before I noticed the slash in
the wall healing itself.  Mina gasped before I could point this out.  When
I caught up to her, I could see why: Sailor Mercury was sitting nearby,
crying into her hands.

"Stay back," she warned.

We looked at each other, then continued approaching her.

"Please.  I'm dangerous."

"Amy?" Mina asked.

"I'm the source of the monsters."

Mina was too shocked to reply, so I did.  "What are you saying?"

"Those monsters at the school, at my house, and the ones you fought just
now.  They're manifestations of my power.  I'm losing control, I can feel
it."  She paused to cry again.  Through the sobs we heard, "I...can't...
be...Sailor...Mercury."

"Amy, please, start making sense.  You are Sailor Mercury, right now!"

"But, if I stay like this, I'll lose control again.  The monsters could
come back.  Someone could get hurt."

"Amy..."  Mina reached out.

Amy jerked away.  "DON'T TOUCH ME!"  She shrank away, slowly getting to
her feet.  "Don't come near me for the rest of tonight."  She held up her
transformation wand.  "I've got to destroy this, before it's too late."

"AMY, NO!"  I leapt at Amy to take her wand away before she could act on
her threat.

"MERCURY BUBBLES, BLAST!"

I was caught off guard by the expanding pressure wave.  Fortunately, Mina
was a bit more alert, and managed to catch me after Amy's attack knocked
me off course.  However, when we looked up, Amy was already gone.

******

"It's a good thing her threat was hollow," Luna sighed.

"She couldn't bring herself to do it?  Or, she wanted to, but she could
not break the wand?"

"Neither.  I could make another one, eventually, if she destroyed hers.
The same goes for most of what I have given them.  Of course, I don't let
the Sailor Scouts know that; if I did, Serena might get even more careless
with her equipment.  It's not the replacement I dread so much as if
someone found it, and figured out what it was used for.  The Scouts'
identities must be protected.  I'm surprised they haven't let the secret
slip to more people as it is.  No, her threat was just a bluff, to put us
off guard."

"Why would she do that?"

"For the same reason she almost fought Raye after school the next day."

******

Lita and I had been trying to cheer up Raye, but she insisted on dwelling
on Serena's absence.

Amy announced her presence simply.  "YOU MURDERER!"

Raye did not react visibly.  Lita and I looked at Amy, but almost did not
recognize the angry woman in front of us.  Lita stood up, ready to put
herself in harm's way in case a fight broke out.

"It wasn't my fault," Raye finally spoke.  "Serena got in the way."

"Oh, really?" Amy replied.  "Then, why did you attack in the first place?"

"I sensed a great evil.  One so powerful, I...I just lost control.  I had
to attack, to strike it down."

"And what was this evil?  Me, I suppose?"

Raye just nodded.

Lita and I stared, not believing our eyes or ears.

"You should have told me you wanted Serena dead.  That, at least, would
have been believable."  Amy turned to address us.  "In the future, please
stay away from this pyromaniac, and tell Darian, Mina, and Artemis to do
so, too.  I do not think I could live with myself if she killed another of
my friends."  She stormed off.

Nothing further needed to be said.  Nothing more was said, either, before
Mina called on our communicators.  "Good news, guys."

"We could use some," mumbled Lita.

"I've got a lead on Artemis.  If it's correct, I'll have him back within
an hour."  A bus pulled up behind Mina, temporarily distracting her.
"Oops, my ride's here.  I'll fill you in later.  Don't try to follow me."
She flashed a V sign on the communicator's screen before signing off.

Lita was running before I noticed.  I scrambled to catch up with her.
"Where are you going?"

"I recognized Mina's bus.  I know where she's headed."

"But she asked us not to follow her."

"So?  I won't.  I'll show up before she does.  You stay with Raye."

Only then did I look back and see that Raye was not following us.  When I
looked up again, Lita was already gone.  With nothing else to do, I
followed Lita's request.

------

Half an hour later, Raye was praying at the temple.  Although her voice
was quiet, I thought I heard her wishing for Serena's health to return.
Not that I thought it would do much good at the time, but I did not want
to dash her hopes just yet.  With nothing else to do, I suddenly
remembered that I had not contacted you.

******

"I already knew.  Amy told me," Darian replied.

"I feared as much."

"Don't worry, Luna.  I could tell she was not telling me the entire truth.
This was about two hours ago, right?"

"Correct.  As fortune would have it, Mina had left her communicator on, so
I was able to witness what happened next."

******

I could see that she was in a warehouse, apparently near the shipping
district.  Although it was dark, I saw a movement behind some crates, as
did Mina.  From her gloves, I could tell that she was already in her
Sailor V guise.

"VENUSCRESCENTBEAMSMASH!"

And she was getting her attacks off faster than I ever had seen.

"Eep!"  Whatever she was firing at ducked, just in time.

"Come out of there with your hands up," Mina shouted.

Sailor Jupiter did as ordered.

I could almost hear Mina's eyes rolling.  "I thought I told you not to
follow me."

"I didn't.  I've been waiting here for the past five minutes."

"Lita, get out of here.  I've dealt with these criminals before.  You
haven't."

"So?"

"So, this isn't like dealing with the Negaverse, or those aliens.  Come
with me and we'll both regret it."

"If I don't come with you, I'll regret it," Lita replied.

I heard Mina take in a breath to reply, then hold it for a second as she
considered something.  "I don't have time to argue.  Just follow me, and
keep quiet."

"Yes, ma'-"

Mina slapped a hand over Lita's mouth, cutting her off.  Lita's eyes
looked to the side, apparently following Mina's, and I heard footsteps in
the distance.  Carefully, Mina let go of Lita and tipped over a hollow red
crate, which had concealed a trap door.  They snuck inside, and moved
through an area with too little light for Mina's communicator's camera to
pick up.

When the screen finally lit up again, they were in the doorway of a large,
empty room.  Artemis was in the exact center, his paws individually
chained to the ceiling, and his head in a large, funnel-shaped collar that
prevented him from trying to bite the chains.  His fur was smudged in
places; the only possible causes of these marks were tortures that I did
not care to think about.  Guarding him were three goons in dark business
suits; the ceiling lights were just bright enough to glint off of their
pistols.  They were standing back to back to back with their guns raised,
as if they knew danger was near.

"Three of them, two of us, and we'll have to dodge bullets while we
charge," Mina said.  "Not my idea of fun."

Lita glanced sideways at Mina as if trying to decide whether her partner
had gone insane, then stepped out into the office.  "I am Sailor Jupi-"

Mina quickly grabbed Lita back to the hallway outside the office as the
goons opened fire.  One of the bullets grazed Lita's arm, but the rest
missed.

"That..always...worked..." Lita panted once her suprise faded enough that
she remembered to breathe.

"I told you, this isn't the Negaverse," Mina scolded.

"Ok, no speech.  JUPITER THUNDER..."

Mina yanked her hand off of Jupiter before the gathering electricity could
touch her.  "DON'T!"

Lita jumped through the doorway, above the goons' aim.  "...CRASH!"

The guns went silent, and Mina bolted through the door.  Sure enough, the
goons were down.  Mina quickly checked their pulses.

"Nailed 'em."  Lita sounded happy.

"Killed them."  Mina did not.

No sound for a moment.

"Three human beings, Lita.  With lives, and families.  Dead, because of
you."

"I..."

"Not long before I met you, when I saw what Sailor V was becoming, I swore
to myself that no more people would die because of Sailor V.  No more
human lives would be lost."  Mina sounded close to losing control, and
from the communicator's camera, I could see one of her fists balled up
under Lita's jaw.  "You have just broken my promise," she snarled.

"...I'm sorry..."

"I told you we'd regret it if you came."  Mina pointed to one of them.  "I
knew this one; he's the one who slipped up and lead me here.  Mr. Haruna."

"Haruna?"  Lita gulped.  "Like our teacher, Mrs. Haruna?"

"Her brother.  His illegal income was helping to support her.  At the
least, you should apologize to her for this, so she will know how he died.
And why."

"I will."

One of Mina's tears rolled down the camera's lens.  "And know this: you
will remember today for the rest of your life.  Even when you have done
everything you can to make up for it, you will never fully regain what
peace you had.  You may force yourself to be cheerful, but inside, you
will...you CAN...never be the same again.  Monsters of evil know nothing
other than fighting, cruelty, and obedience; they live to serve and die
for their masters.  But even the vilest human being can know love..."

Artemis coughed.  "You're being a little rough on her, V."

Mina began undoing his restraints.  "She insisted on coming.  Now she can
see why I fight crime alone, but welcome company against other enemies."

"Speaking of which," Artemis replied, "I should warn you...Amy set you
up."

I had not heard Raye sneak up behind me.  "Amy WHAT?" she exclaimed.

The communicator's view spun; I would guess that Mina jumped in surprise.
When the view stopped, it was looking at Mina.

"You left your communicator open," I answered before Mina could ask the
obvious.

"Then we won't have to call you," Artemis replied.  "Amy delivered me for
the bounty on Sailor V, planning on giving you a story to make her rescue
me.  She even asked the goons to rough her up to make her story more
believable."

"Thanks for the warning.  Are you alright, Artemis?"

"I'll live.  Thanks for the concern."  He smiled directly into the
communicator.

"Huh.  Don't let it go to your head.  I think we all know where we should
go next."

******

"Aqualite," Darian mused.

"No one had to say it.  Although, once we were there, I did have a hard
time convincing Raye to wait for the others.  I was doing well enough,
though, until you appeared on Aqualite's doorstep.  Or, rather, what we
thought was you."

******

The laboratory seemed as abandoned as always, but this time, no monsters
appeared when we touched the door.  It was unlocked, so Raye insisted that
we wait inside.  The lobby seemed just like that of any other office
building, but the utter lack of people, even considering that night had
already fallen, seemed a bit odd.  Shortly after we entered, 'Darian'
walked through the front door.

"Raye," 'Darian' beamed, "thank you!"

Raye blinked.  "For what?"  She unconsciously walked towards him.

"For freeing me.  For breaking destiny."  He held out a single,
long-stemmed rose.

"Darian?"  She took the rose and sniffed it.  I could tell she was going
into a trance, especially when she showed no reaction to my yelling a
warning.

"I was fated to marry Serena.  But now, by killing her, you have freed my
heart to follow my true love.  You."

"Then...you're glad I..."  Her eyes seemed glazed and far away.

"Yes."  He clasped her hand, smiling.

Her free hand slapped his head off.

'Darian' melted back into the floor, along with his rose.

"I'm sorry," Amy giggled.   "I would have made him tougher if I'd known
you like it rough."

Raye and I turned as one, and saw Sailor Mercury leaning in an interior
doorway, grinning.

"The real Darian would never forgive me," retorted Raye.

******

"She's wrong.  I do forgive her," replied Darian.

"Make sure to tell her that when you see her," advised Luna.  "She really
believes what she said."

******

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"Why don't you ask her?"  Amy smiled, and pointed to another of her
constructs: a parody of Serena, with only a charred skeleton where her
skin should have been.  Oddly, the parody's hair was intact; even her
braids were not burnt.

"Why, Raye?" the parody asked.  "Why did you do this?"

"I already told you," Raye growled, still facing Amy but watching the
parody out of the corner of her eyes.

"You sensed I was evil," Amy answered, dismissing the parody with a
thought.  "We only have your word on that, but even if you told the truth,
how do you know you can trust your senses?  Have they been failing you
lately?  You attacked Serena when we first met you; perhaps you thought
she was evil then?  Or now?"  I had expected anger, but her voice seemed
calm, even a bit happy.

Raye gasped, then looked at me.  I knew she was wondering if I had told
Amy about her misdetection at Amy's house, so I shook my head to answer
no.

"And, if you can't trust it, is it worth acting on?  Taking a life?"  She
grinned, and I thought I saw a spark of red in her eyes.  "You killed
Serena, your...our...best friend, for no good reason.  You will remember
that for the rest of your life.  I could go around reminding everyone, but
I will be merciful."

Raye charged, but a web of gelatinous water materialized out of the floor
and lifted Amy to safety before Raye could get to her.

"Now, Raye," Amy chided.  "Violence will get you nowhere."

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"  Raye's fireball headed for Amy, but Amy's net shifted
the target away.  The fireball created a hole in the ceiling, which
quickly sealed.

"Is the pyro feeling a bit outthought?"  Her cheerfulness seemed most out
of place, given the seriousness of the situation.  "I've planned for every
trick you might try.  You're helpless."  Tendrils of water leapt from the
floor and ceiling, binding Raye tight.  "And now, Raye, it is time to end
your life, to make up for the one you ended."

A glowing disc severed the top tendrils, then boomeranged back to sever
the bottom ones.  When our eyes followed it back to its owner...

******

"Go on," Darian interjected when Luna paused.

Luna blushed.  "Well, I'm afraid I fainted when I saw Sailor Moon."

"Ah, so this is the part you want me to fill in," Darian replied.

"Partly.  I also want to know how she recovered."

Darian took a breath.  "Well, I was keeping a vigil on Serena..."

======

I was practicing my rose tosses into a vase next to her bed.  I tried not
to look at Serena; even though only her face and hair were outside her bed
covers, they were scarred and burnt enough that even glimpsing them told
me what the rest of her body must have looked like.  I could feel that a
way to revive her was right there, if only I could see it.

Then I saw it, just as she woke up.

"Tuxedo Mask?"  Her voice was weak.

"I'm here."  I did not know what to say.

"I had a terrible nightmare.  Raye..."  She was trying to cry, but could
not.  I hoped it was just because she was too tired.

"It was no nightmare."  I picked up her brooch, opened it, and carefully
pulled her hands out from under the covers.  "Stay with me; don't let
yourself fall asleep again."

"But I'm so tired."  She winced from the pain of motion, but at least it
was keeping her awake.

I placed her brooch in her hands.  "Just say the words, Serena.  Repeat
after me.  Moon..."

"moon..."  Her voice was still weak, but I sensed hope.

"Crystal..."

"...Crystal..."  She seemed to regain strength even before the magic
completed.

"Healing..."

"...Healing...ACTIVATION!"

The monitors she had been hooked to all flatlined.

It took me long enough to figure out that their sensors had merely fallen
off that I missed Serena's healing, and did not notice her transform to
Sailor Moon.  When I looked at her again, it was as if she had never been
injured.  Even her braids were at full length.  "You look..."

"I feel fine."  She walked around the room, gathering her possessions.
"What happened?  The last I remember, I was protecting Amy from Raye..."

"I don't know."  I had picked up her communicator, which was set to tracer
mode.  "But whatever it was, something's happening now."  I showed her the
screen.  "The other Scouts are converging on Amy.  We'd better check it
out."

======

Luna smacked herself on her forehead with a paw.  "The Empyrean Crystal!
How could I forget?"

"You thought she was unconscious.  She can't use the crystal when she's
asleep."

"Oh, right.  Anyway, I gather that Amy had not entirely been in control of
herself since her nightmare, but I do not know the specifics."

"I do.  At least, I do now," replied Darian.  "It came out during the
fight.  While you three were stunned by her entrance, Serena used her
crystal to heal Amy."

"Heal?"

"We'd already tested Aqualite's walls.  They were pure water, shaped by
the same force that made the monsters.  When she saw the fight, Serena
just assumed that something had possessed Amy...and she guessed right."

======

At first, it seemed that nothing had happened.  Slowly, water dripped out
of Amy's skin, until she appeared a bit shriveled.  The water swirled
around itself, slowly taking shape...

"Titana," Serena finally said, her voice on edge.  "I thought we destroyed
you."

"No such luck, I'm afraid," the former Negaverse servant replied.  "You
wounded me, but with all of Tokyo Bay right there, I could easily lay low
until I recovered.  I thought you would have noticed that I did not
disintegrate."  Her voice seemed to be permanently cheery, as if her
universe was pure delight.

"So, why come back now?" queried Raye.  "Your masters are gone.  Your
cause is lost."

"Revenge.  I could have been one of Beryl's generals, if she still
survived.  You ruined my life, so now I have ruined yours.  Even as we
speak, your two friends are heading to their deaths in a futile attempt to
save their cat."

Raye grinned.  I followed her line of sight, and saw Sailor Jupiter
sneaking up behind Titana, while Sailor Venus tended to a bandage where
Lita had been shot.

"But before I could take care of you, I had to enhance myself to counter
your powers."  Titana pointed at Raye.  "Take, for instance, your sense
for evil.  I can control it, to hide myself completely..."

Raye's eyes widened in suprise.

"...or make you lose control."

Raye frowned.  "I'll...never...lose," she said with difficulty, her
concentration split between forming the words and backing them up.

"No, you probably won't, now that you're expecting it.  But you weren't,
when I made you burn Sailor Moon.  Speaking of which..."  She faced
Serena.  "I'm suprised that you would throw away your friend's life like
that."

"What do you mean?" Serena demanded.

"You didn't know?  My water was infused in every cell in her being.  By
stripping my essence from her, you've dehydrated her fatally."  She
cackled.  "Amusing to think that you did it by 'healing' her."

"You can't kill someone by healing them!"

"Care to bet your life on it?  You've already bet hers."

"Enough!" Raye shouted.  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"

The fire attack turned Titana into steam, but she quickly reformed.

"Did I mention that another of my enhancements was invulnerability to your
attacks?  You can cut me, boil me, or freeze me...if your friend was still
around...and I won't care," she gloated.

As if her words were not bad enough, her voice was starting to get to me,
so I did what came naturally.  I tossed a rose straight at her.

It went straight through her.

"Even your magic won't work against me.  Anything that is water, I can
control."

"Thanks for the tip," Sailor Jupiter quipped.  "JUPITER THUNDERCRASH ZAP!"

I don't think they had chemistry in the Negaverse.  Her scream as she
disintegrated was not caused so much by the fear of death, as by the fear
of not understanding that her body was no longer water.  The important
thing is, she disintegrated, as did the Aqualite building.  When we were
done wiping water from our eyes, all that was left was a vacant lot, us,
and...

======

"...that briefcase," Darian said, pointing to the container Luna had
brought in.

"The splash woke me up.  When I saw the briefcase, and I heard Artemis
identify it as the one the crooks had give Amy, I knew what was about to
happen.  That's why I asked to meet you here, now."

"I see.  I bet the girls were a little puzzled when I left."

"They were, but they were more relieved to see Amy get back up.  She
remembered nothing since Titana possessed her during her nightmare.  Given
that, the others were more than willing to forgive her for what happened."

"And the briefcase?"

"Mina wanted to keep it, but Serena, Raye, and Lita all voted against, on
the grounds that profiting from blood money was wrong.  Before anyone
could get any ideas, I touched it, and turned it into a swirl of sparks
which seemed to disappear into my mark," Luna concluded, touching the
crescent moon on her forehead.  "I so hate carrying anything not of the
moon in there, but it had to be done."

"LUNA!" Serena's voice echoed, causing both present to jump and look
around.

"Serena?"  "Where are you?"

"Luna left her communicator open," Mina giggled.  "We've been listening
in."

"Luna, when I get my hands on you..." Serena fumed.  "You tricked us!"

"Darian?" Raye queried before Luna and Serena could start arguing.  "I'm
sorry I..."

Darian cut her off.  "You're forgiven.  Just don't let it happen again."

"I won't."  Raye lowered her voice.  "Even if the brat could use an
attitude adjustment."

"Raye!"  Lita's voice came in loud and clear over Serena's muffled crying.
"Stop being so mean to her!" 

As the Sailor Scouts' voices dropped back to their standard cacophony,
Artemis spoke up.  "Well, Luna, looks like things are back to normal."

"Indeed.  Although..."  Luna switched off her communicator.  "Darian,
would you mind terribly if I slept here tonight?  I think it would be a
good idea to give Serena some time to forget about my deceit before I see
her again."

"No problem.  I've got a perfect cat bed."  He gestured to the empty
briefcase.  "And, in the morning, it turns into a scratching post."

Luna purred.  Once again, things had worked out for the best.  If only
things would always do so...

"Of course they will."  Darian scratched Luna between her ears.  "You need
to stop worrying so much."

And to stop thinking out loud.

Her thoughts became incoherent as she stretched out in the empty
briefcase.  Her  last conscious act that night was to look out the window.
Tonight, like most nights that the Sailor Scouts had seen action, there
was a crescent moon out...