Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Fri, 23 Aug 2002 01:59:16 +0400 "Kinnison, Myron N. AZ2(VF-103)"
<kinnisonmn@vf103.navy.mil> wrote:
Ami woke up in Usagi's bed. Luna was {setting : sitting} near her on the bed
while {Chiba : Chibi} Usa was looking out the window at the sky. Slowly she sat up,
her knees coming to rest in front of her face as she wrapped her arms around
her legs. Luna walked over and sat down beside her.
"I feel sick." Was all the short-haired girl could reply. Luna's
heart went out to her as she listened to the sorrow {ring hollow within : in} the
young {girls : girl's} voice.
"Don't worry, We'll get him back. I promise." The usual
ever-present cheerfulness in Usagi's voice was gone. Her words were solemn
and spoken in a matter of fact tone. She stood up and finished drying off
then began to get dressed. Ami stared out the window as {Chiba Usa : Chibi-Usa} helped
her mother braid her hair. When they were done, the three left for the
Hikawa shrine.
The message was not long in {it's :: its} coming. They didn't know what it
was written in{: ,} but it was scrawled crudely in {Hiragana : hiragana} on what was left of
the missing scrap of Eric's jacket. It was simple, {strait : straight}, and to the
point.
"Pier 56, Warehouse #1823. 11:00 p.m." {Reid : Rei} read the note again. The
others were all there now along with Artemis and Luna. She tossed the note
onto the table and looked at Usagi then to the cats. "Well, what do we do
now?"
{Hark : Haruka} looked at Usagi as did several of the other girls. "So that's
it, we just give in? We don't have the grail. Heck we don't even know were
to begin to look!" The statuesque blonde raised her arms in exasperation as
Artemis stepped forward.
"She's right." The girls all turned and {look : looked} at the white cat as he
continued. "If we want to get Eric back we have no choice but to go to the
warehouse tonight. But we don't have to all come in through the front door.
Haruka, you and Michiru will hold back and come in from the side. {Chiba Usa : Chibi-Usa},
Luna and I will come in from the other. Tomoe is expecting the inner scouts{: ,}
but I doubt he's expecting any of the rest of us.
"No. He's not a {Daemon : daemon}. That much we know for sure. Whatever it
is, it's lunar based." Artemis assured her. Ami visibly relaxed.
"When I scanned for {Daemons : daemons} on our first date, I noticed that he
registered on the screen{: ,} but it was so faint it almost didn't register. I
didn't really think to much about it then..." She closed her eyes and
sighed. Usagi placed her arm around Ami's shoulder and gave her a hug. Ami
smiled weakly as they began to devising their strategy.
The {Abandoned : abandoned} warehouse sat at the end of the pier. Burned and
partially collapsed, it resembled a half-decayed corpse rather than a
building. This night however, the shadows hung a little heavier, almost
radiating darkness. The rotting frame was about to become the stage for a
very perverse play.
"Give us the grail." Tomoe watched as Sailor Moon produced a wooden
box from behind her and held it aloft. He could feel the holy power
radiating from within it. "{Your : You are : You're} far too trusting my dear." With a snap of
his fingers, three {Daemons : daemons} crawled {forth from : out of} the shadows around the girls.
"So are you." Came the {Pigtailed Blonde's : pigtailed blonde's} reply as the box slipped
from her hands. As Tomoe watched the wooden box tumbled to the ground with
a clatter, {Temple : temple} incense spilling onto the ground in a billowing heap.
"Mars Flame Sniper!" A streak of fire flew from Mar's hands and into
the side of the closest {Daemon : daemon}. With a howl the creature dissolved into
nothing. Another made a leap at Mercury only to become impaled on by
several water spikes that erupted from the ground. It turned it's head to
see its tormentor, Sailor Neptune{: ,} wave her hand and send it back to the
primal darkness from {witch : which} it was made. Across the room at the opposite
side Sailor Uranus was preparing to unleash her attack when Tomoe began to
laugh.
"Very good. I would have expected nothing less." He held out his
hand and chuckled. "Here's something that you didn't count on." As he
spoke a dark mass formed above his hand. It swirled and condensed into a
large, daemon egg. With no more than a casual toss, Tomoe threw the egg
onto Eric. It exploded, covering Eric's chest with a thick black mass that
began streaking across his body in streams. Eric writhed as the black veins
covered him, sinking to his knees as he fought against his bonds. The girls
reeled as his restraints gave way under his panicked throws. With a
gurgling cry Eric sank onto the ground and stopped moving. Slowly, he stood
back up, his skin was ashen gray and his eyes glowed a powerful red.
"Kill them." Tomoe ordered.
"Yes, {M :} Master." Came Eric's reply. His voice was hollow sounding
and mechanical. With a lurch he started {forwards : forward} only to stop shy of the
girls. He stared at them unmoving for several moments. His eyes neither
registered them or the {Daemon : daemon} that was at his side. Tomoe looked at him and
commanded him again.
"I said kill them. Why do you hesitate?"
"I, I do not {know-master : know, Master}. I ahhhhhhhhhhhhh." Eric clutched his head
and sank to one knee, half doubled over.
"Enough!" Tomoe waved his hand and the last {Daemon : daemon} leapt at Eric.
A moment later it was dead. Its head lying next to Eric, its body landing
at Tomoe's feet. Eric now stood facing him with an outstretched hand. His
fingers no longer looked like normal fingers but very long claws.
"What the," Sailor Venus started. Before she could continue Eric
walked {forth from : from : out of} the shadows. In one hand he carried the limp form of
professor Tomoe.
"Space Sword Blaster!" Sailor Uranus's attack erupted, slamming the
werewolf square in {it's : its} chest. He rolled onto the floor and stood back up.
"That hurt...bitch." With a fierce growl he hunkered slightly "My
turn, THUNDER CLAW!" With a slash, streaks of energy raced toward Uranus .
Diving out of the way, she barely avoided the attack as it hit the wall
behind her sending a shower of {blaster : plaster} and debris through the air. As she
landed on the ground. She heard the rock crack against her head. {Not even a
second later pain : Pain} erupted inside her skull sending her into the dark depths
of unconsciousness.
Sailor Mars raced up to Sailor Moon as she came leaping out of the
building. It didn't take long for her to see why. The giant feral
monstrosity thrashed around, fighting all of the sailors at once. Anything
that caught {it's : its} eye became fair game for attack. " What the heck is that?"
She asked as Usagi raced back into the building from a different angle.
" Eric!" Was all the {Blonde : blond} replied as she disappeared through a
door. With no more explanation needed, Reid pulled out a slip of paper and
started to chant. As she closed her eyes she could feel the energy well up
inside her, concentrating on the paper, she never saw Sailor Jupiter's body
fly towards her. The two girls crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Neptune knelt down beside Uranus's prone form. She couldn't tell if
the her beautiful blonde lover was alive or dead. She glanced up at the
creature as it swatted Jupiter away like a limp rag doll. She would make
the creature pay for hurting her beloved, Eric or not it was going to suffer
dearly. But with no warning the creature fell back into a shadow and
disappeared. She began to scan the room, searching for anyplace it could
have gone. Across the room {Chiba Usa : Chibi-Usa} was helping Ami up off of the ground.
She saw that Sailor Venus was still standing. The {Blonde : blonde} girl was against
the far wall, her eyes darting around nervously. Kneeling down she checked
Uranus for signs of life. Just as her fingers reached Haruka's neck
however, the wall behind Venus exploded in a shower of drywall, plaster and
wood splinters. The Green haired Senshi raised her arms and tried to shield
herself from the debris. She winced as a sliver of wood the length of her
forearm pierced her thigh. As one of her arms lowered in reflex to the
wound, a hunk of plaster ricocheted off of her tiara with a dull "clank".
She tumbled to the ground beside her lover's body. Emerging from the rubble
of the wall the werewolf laughed.
Chibi{ : -}Usa knelt beside Ami and tried to help the girl stand. Blood
trickled from a gash over her left eye and was making it hard to see out of
it. She looked up at the towering creature before her and whimpered. An
evil sneer crossed it's lips as it stared down at her. She began to shake
as she stood there, watching in {wrapped :} horror as it drew back it's massive
fist.
"Say goodnight little one."
{Chibi : Chibi-Usa} began to cry. She didn't want to die...but she knew she would
not survive what was about to happen. No one was going to save her. She
closed her eyes and waited.
"Mercury bubble dome!" Cried a hoarse voice. Chibi{ : -}Usa opened her
eyes to see a bright blue sphere of energy spring from Mercury's hand and
envelope them both a split second before Luperos's fist landed. The pink
haired youngster stared at the fist only an inch from her nose with fright.
With renewed {furry : fury} the creature began to pound on the dome. "Come on
girls! You can't stop me. You can't stop the power of LUPEROS!" He swung
one last time and the dome flickered then winked out completely. Slowly the
great wolf creature leaned down to Ami until he was but a hair's breadth
from her. " Did you really think you'd stop me little one?" He flexed his
claws and growled.
"Akuryou Taisan!" The small paper ward streaked through the air and
slammed into the charging {creatures : creature's} chest. With a horrifying howl Luperos
reared back as his body was ripped apart. Smoke billowed from his eyes and
mouth as slowly Eric's body reverted {back :} to normal. As the last wisps of
smoke trailed into the dark shadows, his body slumped to the floor. Slowly
the four girls gathered beside him. "{Your Immune : You were immune} to Moon powers but NOT
holy wards." She said triumphantly.
" Always willing to help." She replied, her tone was serious, her
eyes never leaving Eric's prone form. The four traded weary smiles then
started checking {there : their} comrades. Venus was starting to stir, slowly coming
back to life. She was battered, bruised, but {none the : no} worse. Michiru was
still out but breathing steady. Haruka however was rolling onto her side
with one hand on her head, moaning. As Chibi{ : -}Usa helped the blonde up
Sailor Jupiter sat down beside them. Her face was scraped up and one eye
was swollen shut. She smiled weakly at them as they started to help Michiru
back over to Usagi and the others. As they started to walk over to Usagi,
The sound of scrambling feet caught {there : their} ears. They looked up to see Eric
backing away from Ami and the others. He turned and ran outside and into the
darkness before anyone could catch him. Ami started to follow but one of
her knees gave out {from :} under her and she sank to the ground.
The creature watched from the nurturing shadows as the sailor {senshi : Senshi}
started gathering back together. It was beaten, for now at least. It had
underestimated their strength and their teamwork. It would not do so again.
It watched them as Eric pulled away from them and scurried off into the
night terrified. It could take some pleasure in knowing that the boy would
not easily get over all that he had made him do. But that was unimportant.
What was important right now was recovering it's strength, then plotting
it's revenge. It would take time and patience but time was something the
creature had plenty of...and it could be very patient. *For now scouts. For
now...* it thought.
The next morning Ami woke up in her own bed. She could not remember
exactly when or how she had gotten there but she was there, nestled in her
covers in her favorite flannel {Pajamas : pajamas}. The rest of the night however, she
remembered with amazing clarity. She got out of bed and quickly dressed and
raced down stairs. As she passed through the living room She heard her mom
call out from the couch were she sat drinking a cup of coffee and reading
the paper.
"Why the hurry{: ,} dear?" Ami turned and opened her mouth , a hundred
excuses flying through her mind. She settled on a very vague version of the
truth.
* Maybe I'll stop at {Mina's : Mina-chan's} for a few minutes. It's on the way home,
I could use the company too. * She contemplated her options as she reached
the sidewalk.
"Hey there you are! I called earlier but no one answered. I was
going to just wait for you{: ,} but Teddy here insisted that he be walked with no
arguments." Ami's head snapped up as she heard a voice that sounded like
angels on high to her ears. Teal blue eyes met earthen brown and she
started to cry. She flung her arms around Eric and buried her face in his
shoulder. "What's wrong Ami? Are you okay?" He started to sooth her when
Teddy erupted into a furry and darted across the yard at top speed. They
followed the {dogs : dog's} trail only to find him barking at a rather terrified white
cat perched atop a bird bath safely out of the small {dogs : dog's} reach.
" There people born here on earth but at a certain time and lunar
cycle. The have a small amount of lunar energy in them as well as a small
amount of earth energy. They were Queen {serenity's : Serenity's} most loyal subjects and
the first to answer King Endymion's call to arms. Some of the more powerful
ones could alter their bodies to become huge wolves. Those {we're : were} the ones
who turned back the first waves of Beryl's forces." Ami carefully listened
to Artemis's words. When he paused she asked the one question that bothered
her.
" Can Eric ever become a werewolf again?"
" On his own no. He'd have to have access to a large amount of
Lunar energy again, like when Usagi hit him with her {healing escalation : Healing Escalation}. By
himself he barely has enough power to register on our senses." Ami breathed
a sigh of relief. She watched as Eric came walking back across the yard to
her. She began to rub Artemis and scratch at his ears. Artemis took that as
his cue and began acting like a perfectly normal, run of the mill cat.
" Are you okay{: ,} Sweetheart? That was some kind of welcome you gave
me." She sighed and pressed against him.
" Well you awake {now sweetie : now, Sweetie}. And I haven't left you, not going to
either if I have my way." Ami wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled
closer to him. So close to him in fact, Eric was having a little trouble
breathing, but that was okay. He was happy. And, for the first time in far
too long...so was Ami.
The days began to pass again as they always had, slow and methodical
in their repetition. Without Professor Tomoe to guide them, the {death
busters : Death Busters} quickly turned against each other. The scouts had little trouble
dealing with them and all {to : too} soon the girls found themselves facing a far
more frightening advisory, the real world. With no threat of supernatural
incursion happening anymore, the girls everyday lives now stood up and
demanded attention.
"I owe you for this{: ,} Sweetie." She said teasingly as Eric handed her
a wrapped present. All she received in reply was his trademark devilish
grin. She giggled and began to open the gift. The festivities lasted for a
few hours before {Her : her} mother took her leave saying that she needed to {: be : get} up
early the next day and wanted to get a little sleep before then. The others
slowly began leaving too, each needing to head back to their homes for this
or that. Haruka and Michiru {we're : were} the last to leave, arm in arm and
flirting all the way down the walkway. Ami giggled at the thought that
those two probably wouldn't make it all the way back to their apartment.
With {Just : just} her and Eric alone (Teddy was asleep on his little doggy bed.) she
pulled him close and kissed him very passionately. "Alright you," She said
as they broke the kiss. "You said you had to take Teddy to the vet today and
that you'd be a while."
"I love you {two : too,} Darling." Eric replied as they held each other
close. He began to kiss her again, then started to slide his lips down to
her neck. Ami "mmmm'ed" as she felt his lips trace very faint lines along
the length of her neck. Her hands began to slide down his spine and onto
his lower back eliciting a very soft moan from Eric. Her hands continued to
slide down onto his behind, squeezing his firm buttocks tightly as she felt
his hands roaming along her back and waist. Their kisses slowly began to
become ever so subtly more {hungered : hungry} and needing. Ami felt Eric's hand slide
slowly up her abdomen as he kissed his way her collar bone. His lips
caressed her flesh, brushing lightly against the top button of her blouse.
Through her rapidly hazing consciousness Ami noted that her hands had
stopped their roaming. One was kneading his butt in a not all together
gentle way, the other one had come to rest between them both and was being
extremely gentle with what it caressed. Against her body's will, Ami leaned
up and whispered into his ear.
"Eric...{Eric , we n,need : Eric, we need} to stop..." She laid back down and tried
to steady her breath. Eric, for his part slowly rose up from her, not even
realizing that they had lowered themselves onto his couch or that she had
been under him.
"Yeah.{,, :} That was starting to get a little fast wasn't it?"
"This isn't the first time that this has happened." His statement
was rhetorical. She knew it, they both did. "What happens the next time?
Ami, are we ready for this?" His voice wavered. Ami could {here : hear} the fear,
or was it just apprehension in his voice. After a moments thought she
turned to face him.
"I do think that we need to redefine our relationship a little."
She slipped from his arms and walked over to the counter between the living
room and the kitchen. "I think {m, :} maybe it's time..." She took a breath to
steady her nerves. "Maybe we could take things just a little bit farther,
maybe." She leaned on the counter facing away from him. The cool ceramic
tile felt good on her fore arms. She felt Eric's arms slide around her
waist as he walked up behind her, pulling her against his body.
"Let's wait a day or two before we {decide okay. : decide. Okay?} That'll give us
time to think about it with clear heads." Ami smiled. That was what she
liked about Eric. He acted with a cool head, always trying to think of a
good plan of action just like she did. She sighed and agreed with him. She
stayed in his arms for several more moments before finally pushing away.
Sailor Pluto stared at the image before her. Things were looking
very well. So far everything was going according to destiny, the future of
humanity was secure. Tomoe was defeated{, : .} Crystal Tokyo would be built,
signaling the founding of the moon kingdom and heralding the silver
millennium. Tsukino Usagi would ascend the throne as Queen Serenity and
Mamoru would be her king. The Senshi would go on to form the eight great
houses. With a contented sigh she aloud herself to smile. "Perfect." She
sighed and eased back into her chair. Then she saw the ripple. The scene
changed in the blink of an eye and she saw all that was turn to ashes and
ruin. Pluto bolted from her chair and stared at the image. "But, how?" Her
eyes blazed with determination as she began scanning the streams of time
looking for the answers. So many variables, so many lines of probability.
It was going to be a painstaking process but she set herself to the task
vowing to find out what had went awry.
I think it should be Crystal Tokyo and the Crystal Millenium.
Ami watched as Minako pondered the question before her. She had
never thought that she'd need to take her friend up on the offer of advise
about her relationship{: ,} but she needed to talk to some one and {Mina : Minako} was the
only one that she felt comfortable talking to, at least about this. "Well?"
She asked hesitantly.
"But you want a little more than a good night kiss. I know. I've
been there." {Mina : Minako} replied. Ami's eye shot wide open as she started at her
friend in shock.
"No. Not that far but I have gone a stage or so farther than just
kissing. Only once though." {Mina's : Minako's} eyes became saddened. "It ended up not
working out. He turned out to be only interested in me for just that
reason. When I said no{: ,} he dumped me." She sat up and hopped off of the bed.
"Oh well. Maybe one day I'll find a guy that's not a total jerk." She sat
down next to Ami and hugged her. "Just like you did." Ami just giggled and
hugged her friend back.
"Thanks {Mina : Mina-chan}. Eric said we should wait a day or two, that was a
week ago. It's all I've been thinking about but I think I know what I'm
going to tell him." {Mina : Minako} leaned in close.
"What?" she asked. Ami looked down and started to blush. {Mina : Minako}
smirked then began to grin. This set Ami into smiling as well all be it an
embarrass smile. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, maybe just a little." Ami admitted. "Thanks {Mina : Mina-chan}. I knew I
could count on you."
"Hey you go through a few relationships you pick up a few things."
{Mina : Minako} said as Ami left. "Good luck kid." *You're going to need all you can
get.* She added mentally.
Ami headed home and noted that as usual, her mother was not at home.
A message on the answering machine told her the reason for the late shift
switch so Ami was not worried. Plopping down her books, she picked up the
phone and began dialing. "Hi{ honey : , Honey}." She chimed as Eric picked up the
other end. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to study here or at your
house tonight? Here? Okay I'll see you in a bit then." She hung up the
phone and ordered dinner. Eric arrived, conveniently enough, at the same
time the Chinese delivery girl did. He bowed {at : to} the buxom teen as she
handed Ami her change. Together they went inside and began their usual
study routine. A few hours later, with all of their other studies complete
Ami and Eric began studying what was rapidly becoming their favorite
subject, each other.
"I want us to go {farther. Not all the way but, : farther, but not all the way.}" She paused for a
moment. "Let's not get carried away, agreed?" She smiled down at Eric and
placed her hand on top of his. He smiled and pulled her back to him gently.
The club looked like little more than a small coffee shop really.
Miyaki explained as they approached the door that it had only recently
opened up and they were still getting the front remodeled. He nodded and
handed the bouncer several yen notes as {her : they} passed through the door. Not
cheap but definitely not the worst place he'd been in. The place was packed{: ,}
but no one seemed to be dancing. "Hey Miya-chan? How come there's no music?"
Hiro asked as the wandered deeper into the crowd.
~Very good my little ones. now, go. Find the lair {which : where} Tomoe kept
the eggs. And find out who the Senshi are and where they live. I want to
destroy them and all whom they hold close.~ The people in the room nodded
and turned, filing out of the room one by one. The creature watched them and
thought to itself. *Soon my siblings, soon we shall all have human hosts.
You shall dwell in the husks of the Senshi while I walk this world within
dear sweet {sailor : Sailor} Moon's body, and torture her soul for all of eternity.
But first. I shall deal with you{: ,} Mercury.* It's thoughts grew darker and
filled with near unchecked rage and malevolence. *Or should I say Mizuno
Ami?* Had it a voice it would have laughed.