Hello again guys and gals !

This is a revised version of Lavender #1, since I'll be releasing three
new parts in the coming weeks. I'm modifying all of them since I need to
fix grammar/tech mistakes and a few aesthetic points. 

It's still essentially the same but I believe this is a better version and
this will be come the final draft. 

The next thing I'll release will probably be the next story in The Women
They Love cycle, alternating with parts from Lavender and culminating with
the release of the Haruka fic I sent a teaser for a few weeks back, "Two
Heavens" and the release of A Long Strange Walk 1999 edition.

Hope you send C&C and MSTs.

Elsa Bibat is: a happy camper.   


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Disclaimer:


Sailormoon and the other stuff don't belong to me.


They belong to someone who could easily have


me killed. Lavender and Apollo are copyright 1998


to me.





*********************************





The night hung over the city. The full moon helped 


illuminate the already brilliant city. On the surface 


it looked to be a night perfect for romance, of 


tuxedoes and roses, of ballrooms and dances. But always 


there is a dark side of things. The lights that shine 


bright and bring illumination to swank restaurants 


and beautiful parks also make shadows. Shadows that 


hide the dirty brothels and the smoky gambling dens. 


Shadows that hide the trenchcoats and black orchids,


the shadowy alleys and the crimes commited in their 


territory.





A case in point, a woman, obviously very frightened, 


surrounded by three big looking men. She was pursued 


into the alley as one could surmise from her heavy 


breathing. The three men leered as they approached her,


one brandished a knife, turning it over in the weak 


moonlight, making it glint wickedly as they approached.





"P-please d-don't hurt me..." The woman pleaded as 


she backed up to the brick wall.





"No, baby, we're not goin' to hurt you if ya just let 


us have some fun." The man with the knife grinned as 


he approached.





"Yeah, yeah, fun, fun, hehehe." the other said as he 


moved in from the right.





"Yeah, baby. All we want is to have some fun." the one 


on the left said.





"Now, be a good girl and just sit back, relax and enjoy 


the ride." The knife wielder said as he let the cold 


metal of the knife move over the skin of the woman's 


cheek. As the knife left her cheek, the woman's 


expression changed into a wicked smile, that caught 


the thugs unaware.





"Oh, I thank you for letting me enjoy." the woman said 


in a voice, a voice that could have been both male and 


female, filled with mirth as the face of the woman 


shimmered and became a solid mask, a red smile painted 


on it's white frame. The knife wielder suddenly saw a 


white glove impact into his face before his world went 


black.





The other two stepped back as they saw their leader fall


from the stranger's strike. They saw that it was a 


figure dressed in a lavender cloak that covered most of 


it's body. The mask obscured the face but let neatly 


combed black hair be seen. They could see the white 


gloved hand that knocked their leader back, knife flying


backwards and what seemed to be a lavender tuxedo 


underneath the cloak. The mask seemed to look down at 


the man at his feet and sighed. A few incomprehensible 


gurgles came from the fallen mouth before he fell 


totally silent.





"Crushed windpipe. Really unpleasant way to die. And I 


wanted to play with him too." The mask looked at them 


smiling it's red smile, the white gloved hand returning 


into the folds of his lavender cloak. It was a woman's 


voice that spoke behind the porcelain mask.  





"So who's next ?" The voice had changed again, a 


masculine voice replacing the soft, sultry voice that  


had spoken earlier, taunting the thugs that looked at 


the figure jaws agape.





The left-hand man growled and charged. He passed through 


the cloak like a bull through a bull fighter's cape. The


sound of vertebrae being cracked into a several pieces 


could be heard as the man felt something like a 


jackhammer strike into his spine. The pain was momentary 


since one of the aforementioned pieces buried itself 


into his heart.





The last thug had a flash of intelligence and quickly 


whirled around and ran like hell down the alley. The 


masked figure tsked as a gloved hand flicked out from 


his cloak and a rose, purple in color, appeared as if 


by magic, embedded in the man's back. Another sigh 


could be heard behind the mask as the man looked around 


at the trio of dead bodies.





"This is going to be hard to clean up." It said as it 


looked up at the full moon the single witness to the 


events in the dark alley.





********************





The same moon was the witness to another scene in a 


vacant lot across town. 





Humanity has a very peculiar trait, one of the traits 


that separate him from the animals. It is, ironically, 


the ability to torture, to inflict pain, slowly and 


intentionally. No other animal has the intellect to 


derive pleasure from bringing pain. Especially on one's 


lessers or as, in this case, a lesser species. The cat's


yowling reached fever pitch as it felt pain rack it's 


entire body as another kick landed on it's side.





University kids who get their kicks out torturing 


animals are actually rare. The fact of their rarity 


didn't seem to help the cat as it felt the blood from 


all it's wounds dripping over the white fur. Yowling 


in pain it tried to get away. But Hiroshi decided to 


play with it more. Yes, Hiroshi, knew it was wrong. 


But, the sight of blood, yes, the blood most 


especially, oh, yes the blood. And the look of pain in 


the eyes of the cat. Yes, the pain, the pain. Hiroshi 


picked the cat up awhile ago when he had the urge. 


The urge to hurt, the urge to see the blood. No problem 


in anyone finding out. Totally vacant lot, no one 


around for a few blocks. He looked once again at the 


eyes. 





Eyes,eyes, such beautiful eyes, yellow and green. 





Ooohhh, I want an eye.





**********************





The same moon can be seen from an apartment on the other


side of town. In particular a room facing the window, 


where the moon's silvery light spilled across the room. 


The occupant, a young girl with shoulder length hair is 


writhing in her sleep as the nightmare of being a cat 


and being tortured by a sadistic young man started to 


reach it's climax.





************************





"Eyes, eyes, I want your eyes...." Hiroshi chanted 


softly as he reached for his ballpoint pen. 





Yes, the blood thebloodthebloodeyeseyeseyeseyes. The 


thoughts running through Hiroshi's helped distract him 


from what seemed to be a glowing coming from the cat's 


forehead.





Hiroshi laughed as he let the pen take the eye.





*************************





"AAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH" screamed the young girl as 


she stood up from her sleep, a sigil flaring on her 


forehead. Two women ran in immediately, one 


sandy-haired, the other with turquoise hair in time to


see a sigil flaring with purple light upon her white 


forehead.





The sigil of Saturn.





**************************





"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" yowled the cat as 


it felt something sharp take it's left eye.





As the pen drove into the cat's eye, Hiroshi Bayushi,


Chemistry Student in his third year at Tokyo University,


saw the sigil on the cat's forehead, saw the purple 


light streaming from it.





He calmly wondered why the alchemic sign for lead 


suddenly appeared on the cat's forehead.





Those were one of his last thoughts before his world 


exploded into purple light.





The other one was a little factoid he learned from his 


professors.





That the alchemic sign for lead was also the sign for 


the planet Saturn.





************************





As Haruka Ten'ou and Michiru Kaiouh entered the room and


saw Hotaru's sigil flaring on her forehead they heard 


the explosion that rocked the city. From outside they 


could see a column of purple light that seemed to rise 


to the skies.





************************





The masked man just finished disposing of the men when 


he saw a column of purple light flare up into the dark 


night sky.





"Bloody hell !" the figure swore in a raspy voice as it 


made a wide brimmed hat appear in his gloved right hand.





The cloaked figure put it on and jumped upwards landing 


on the roof of a nearby three story building. "You 


always liked doing things with an added flare, Apollo." 


the man continued as he started jumping from roofs to 


the direction of the disappearing column of light.





"You seem to have woken up with a bang." the figure 


finished as it jumped to the nearest electric post and 


ran down the cables towards his destination.





______________________________________________________





Thanks to Stacy Rogers and James Graham for sending me


a copy of this, since I lost it. The two will be getting


a cameo appearance, along with D.B. Sommer in 


Lavender #8: Mists as part of the courageous crew of 


the E.F.S. Flying Dutchman.