EMSiT Productions Presents:
To Stand Alone
by: Una Moonstar and Quicksilver
standard disclaimers

Notes:  Previous Parts are available at Aria's Ink,
FF.net, or the ESML Lair: http://demando.net/emsl

~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~
Chapter Six: When Something Works
~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~


"Explaining?" Mamoru asked innocently. "Whatever do
you mean?"

Usagi narrowed her eyes at him. "You know exactly what
I mean, Cape Boy."

"Oh, if you're going to be that way about it..."

"I already guessed you know I'm Sailor Moon, so don't
bother. What do want to do about it?"

"You seem to be the one with all the bright ideas. You
tell me." He crossed his arms over his chest.

Usagi stuck her tongue out at him. "Come on. I'm not
trying to be a bitch about this, I swear. We need to
figure out what this all means, and the only way to do
that is to talk it out. So don't be a prick."

Mamoru sighed. "Fine. We can do it your way. You do
have a point. So how did you find out you were Sailor
Moon?"

The blonde in the tree froze, her whole essence
seeming to withdraw into herself. "You heard about
Naru?" she asked emotionlessly. "That's when."

"Don't do that, Usagi," Mamoru cautioned quickly,
worried at the change in her demeanor. "It'll only
hurt you in the long run. I know."

Anger flashed in the sapphire blues above him. "And
what do you think you know? How can you relate to
losing someone you love so violently right in front of
you? How?"

It was Mamoru's turn to withdraw. "I don't remember
much, but the brief flashes I do get make me wake up
screaming. My parents died when I was six in a car
accident. I was in the car with them. When I woke up
in the hospital after being in a coma for two weeks, I
found my parents gone and my memories of them and
myself gone as well. So just be glad you can remember
your loved one when you wake up screaming in the
middle of the night, Usagi. Because it sure as hell
beats the empty void I feel as I stare at my ceiling
trying to calm down enough to get back to sleep."

Usagi bit her lower lip as she realized she just might
have gone too far, and that Mamoru truly could
understand her pain - maybe even better than she
could. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't know,
and I shouldn't have snapped at you like that when you
were just trying to help. It's just so hard..."

His shoulders drooped a bit as he let his head drop
and his muscles relax at the break in tension.
"There's no way you could have known. And I am sorry
about your friend. You were obviously very close to
her." He brought his head back up and locked gazes
with her. "So what do we do now?" He gave her his
patented quirky grin. "And could you come down here?
I'm getting a crick in my neck."

Usagi giggled despite herself. "Well, maybe a little
bit." She scrambled down a few branches and sat down
on one that let her look her companion straight in the
eye. "Better?"

"Much."

She nodded thoughtfully. "What are we going to do? And
I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you have
the fondness for formal wear, are you?" she asked with
amusement.

He looked at her with serious eyes. "The first few
times, I barely remembered it afterwards... lately,
I've been getting a better picture... I'm after the
ninjizuishou to help get the ginzuishou..."

"The ginzuishou..." Usagi echoed. "I should know
that."

"I have no clue what it is for, but if it's involved
with these gems, you can bet it's powerful..."

"Who told you to?" she demanded.

"A princess, in a dream..." he said softly. "She's
begging me to get the ginzuishou, so I can free
her..." he said softly, then he gasped softly.
"Yume... a dream. Yumeni... a dreamseer... I
wonder..." he said softly.

"Huh?" 

	"Right after you collapsed, and I hid you here,
Yumeni had a vision- about a princess. I wonder if
she's a dreamseer. She has the name for it."

 	Usagi laughed in spite of herself. "You think she's
a seer because of her NAME?" she said, unable to hold
back her giggles.

Mamoru, though, was serious. "There's power in names."

"Sure. I'm a rabbit."

"Sure thing, Tsukino," he said, smiling slightly.

 "HEY! What do you mean- oh. Sailor Moon.
Coincidence!" she insisted.

 "Sure, Usagi," Mamoru said smugly.

"So what about you? 'Protector of the Earth'? What's
that mean? I fail to see the connection with running
around in a tuxedo, cape, and mask." Her attempt at
haughtiness failed miserably as the corners of her
mouth kept twitching upward.

"I'm working on that," he said a bit defensively,
although his eyes were twinkling.

"So what's with the princess?" Usagi asked once she
stopped giggling and decided to get at least halfway
serious. "Something about the idea feels right, but
I've never had any dreams like that. And I'm just as
drawn to these ninjizuishou as you are."

"I don't think we have all the answers yet. But we
need to keep the ninjizuishou out of the hands of the
Dark Kingdom no matter what."

"I agree. Does that mean we're going to work together?
Maybe we can help each other find those answers while
we're at it." The petite blonde cocked her head to the
side and looked at the young man standing before her
contemplatively.

Mamoru didn't know what to say to that. The two of
them seemed to work well together, and Usagi was a lot
deeper than he had originally given her credit for.
And the good looks certainly didn't hurt. "I think we
might be able to make some arrangements in that
regard. We do share a common enemy after all." He
smiled warmly. "And it's nice to run into a girl who
can keep her head around me. Keeps me humble."

Usagi scoffed. "Like that's possible. Maybe I can keep
you a little closer to the earth, but that's all I
dare promise." She grinned.

He chuckled. "Then that's what I'll take."

She started to giggle, but the laughter caught in her
throat as she saw Yumeni at one of the windows that
opened onto the back yard waving at them frantically.
"Um, Mamoru-san, I think Yumeni is trying to tell us
something," she said warily as she pointed behind the
young man.

He turned his head sharply and took in the same sight.
"Right. I think her parents must be home. Let's get
out of here before they start asking questions. The
back yard isn't in the best of shape after all, and I
don't think either one of us wants to take the blame
for it."

"Right." She jumped down from the tree and the pair of
them took off running just as an older couple opened
the back door to take a closer look at the mess the
vandal had left behind. Only the rustle of leaves from
the bushes marking the edge of the yard marked their
passing. 

~*~*~*~*~

"Did you hear?" Umino asked Usagi about a week later
right before homeroom.   "Apparently Sailor Moon has
become Tuxedo Kamen's sidekick after all!"

Usagi blinked slowly, hoping the sound of her grinding
teeth wasn't apparent.   "What?" she said, her voice
dangerously sweet.

The nerd plowed on, unaware of the mortal peril he was
in.   "At the most recent battles, they were working
together!"

"That doesn't mean she decided to be his sidekick!  
Maybe he decided to be hers," she suggested sweetly.

Umino looked slightly puzzled.  "I thought the girl
was always the guy's love interest or sidekick?" he
said.

"You've been reading too much manga again.   Just
because they're getting along better doesn't mean
she's his sidekick," she said in a disgusted voice.   

The teacher entered the classroom then, and the class
was called to rise and bow, so Umino was prevented
from asking anymore questions.

The day seemed to drag on and on, and Usagi only paid
attention through sheer force of will.   Her grades
had been steadily rising, much to her parents'
delight, and she fully intended on keeping things that
way.  Still, she had to meet Mamoru after school at
the Crown Fruit Parlor to discuss their plans, and
maybe figure out more of what was going on.   It was
like having half of a jigsaw puzzle, and being told to
take a guess at what picture it would form.

	Finally the bell rang, and she was out of the door
like a shot, and to the Crown at record time.   Mamoru
had gotten there before her, and snagged a quiet booth
in the corner.   She smiled as she saw he had taken
the liberty of ordering her a triple chocolate fudge
milkshake.   "Are you sure we should be talking about
this in public?" she said.

	He shrugged.   "Most people will think we're dating. 
 That won't bother you, will it?"

	She blushed.   "I don't think there's much chance of
me dating anyone soon, Mamo-chan," she teased.

	"Sure thing, Usako," he bantered back playfully,
before his eyes grew serious.   "It's been a week, and
none of the other nijizuishou have appeared, in spite
of the monster attacks continuing," he said seriously.
 "We may have to change our search strategy."

	"What, there's another method?  So far stealing the
nijizuishou during monster attacks has been working
pretty well."

	"We've been lucky so far... aside from your friend,
no one's been hurt seriously."

	"I wasn't Sailor Moon until after Naru died," Usagi
said softly.  So we're batting 1000," Usagi snapped.

	Mamoru winced.   He had forgotten how sensitive Usagi
was about the subject of Naru.   "We could miss one,
and that'd be hard to recover.  The next one to appear
is the blue nijizuishou- maybe we should think of some
other way to find it."

	"And how do we get it out?" Usagi asked.  "Stab the
carrier?"

	Mamoru was quiet for a moment..  "I don't like it,
but it looks like we're going to have to wait for the
monster attacks."

There was a long silent pause where the two teenagers
just looked at one another. "Well?" Mamoru finally
asked.

 "Well what?" Usagi returned.

 "Why didn't you say anything? What's your opinion?"

 The blonde couldn't help but grin. "Oh, I was just
thinking that a line like that was like inviting a
monster attack, so I was waiting for the telltale
signs. Otherwise I'm thinking there's nothing else to
do. We don't know where to find the Dark Kingdom, so
we have to wait for them to come to us."

Mamoru chuckled. "You're right, Usagi, now that I
think about it. That line was a perfect set up line,
wasn't it?"

 "Would have been for the TV series."
 
"So, what do we have here?" a new voice said
suggestively. "A new pair of love birds?"

 "Don't even *go* there, Motoki," the ebony-haired
young man growled threateningly.
 
The arcade attendant grinned. "Oh, come on. I see my
favorite two antagonists sitting together having a
civil conversation, even sharing some laughs... what
am I supposed to think? Besides, this is the most
relaxed I've *ever* seen you with in the presence of a
member of the opposite sex."

"Is that so?" Usagi asked, a delicate blonde eyebrow
raised. "How does he normally act?"

Motoki fought to keep from laughing at the shade of
red his best friend's face was turning. "Stiff as a
board, short, curt answers to comments or questions,
stuff like that. Keeps them at an arm's length."

"If I don't do that they're all over me. Since I
happen to like my personal space, I try to politely
hold them off." He gave the blond young man a piercing
glare. "Not that *you're* any help."

"Okay, okay, you two. To be fair, how does Motoki act
around girls?" Usagi asked through her giggles.

Mamoru scoffed. "This boy's head is in the clouds. Any
connection to the real world is suspended unless
someone, namely me, manages to bring him back. I
should get paid for it, since it happens every other
week." He frowned thoughtfully. "Although I haven't
had to for about a month or so now. That's odd." He
shot another glare his friend's way. "That leaves two
choices. Either aliens have switched the real Motoki
for a pod person, or you found someone to get serious
about. Personally, I think it's option number one."

Motoki returned the glare as Usagi fell over on her
side of the booth laughing uncontrollably. "You
already knew about Reika, Mamoru. Don't give me that
line. We've been kinda serious for a while now."

"Maybe so, but you've said that about the last three
relationships you've been in. I was just making a
judgment call based on past experience." Mamoru
flashed him a humor-filled smile.

"Don't even get me started on past experiences..."
Motoki's words trailed off as the bells on the front
door jingled and he turned his head reflexively to see
who was walking in. A bright smile lit up his
features, and he waved the new girl over. She had
long, wavy brown hair and bright hazel eyes, and she
returned the smile aimed her way in equal measure.

"Hi there, Motoki. I thought you said you'd be working
today. I just got out of my debate club meeting, so I
figured I'd stop by and say hi before heading home for
supper. Hi, Mamoru. Who's the giggling girl? Are you
guys going out?" Her smile turned impish as she turned
it in the seated young man's direction.

This, of course, started a fresh new gale of laughter
from the other side of the table. "No, actually. We're
just friends. We were... discussing a few common
interests before Motoki came over. How was your
meeting?"

"Same old, same old. We really need to get a new
advisor. Mister Hakata just has too short a fuse."

As the conversation continued on, a quiet noise coming
from the backpack her head was resting on finally
caught Usagi's attention. It was a light beeping sound
that only seemed to have started when the new girl
walked up to them. The petite blonde's laughter died
out and she unobtrusively dug out the Crescent Moon
Wand that she had securely inside to discuss with
Mamoru. She could still remember the odd sensation
when it formed at their touch. The gem at the juncture
of the crescent and the handle was flashing, and Usagi
wasn't sure just what that meant.

She nibbled her lip, looking up at Reika, wondering
about the other girl.   The girl was assured, and
projected confidence, but Usagi had no clue who she
was.   "Mamoru, aren't you going to introduce me to
your friend?" she suggested pointedly.

Mamoru looked at the blonde, noticing the tense look
in her sapphire blue eyes, and immediately his
instincts kicked in.   Usagi had noticed something.  
"Usagi, meet Sadoka Reika.   She has the misfortune to
be Motoki's current girlfriend.   Reika, this is
Tsukino Usagi.   She's one of Motoki's best
customers."

"Hi!  Nice to meet you!" Reika said, bowing politely. 
 Her bearing made her seem around Mamoru's age, but
there was a look in her eyes that made Usagi place her
age much younger than that.

"Indeed," Usagi said.  Then she did something totally
out of character, and offered her hand.

Reika smiled and shook it easily, unaware of the jolt
of dark energy she scent up the disguised heroine's
body.  It was all Usagi could do to keep from gasping
in shock and recoiling.   She maintained a pleasant
expression, but Mamoru sensed the stress she was going
through, and came to her rescue.

"Isn't this month your and Motoki's sixth month
anniversary?" he said, giving Usagi a moment to
recovery her hand and take an unobtrusive deep breath.
 Her wand was still beeping, and combined with the
jolt of energy she had just experienced, she had a
pretty good idea what was going on.

Reika was one of the nijizuishou carriers.

So now all we have to do is hand around her until
she's attacked and steal the nijizuishou before the
Dark Kingdom gets it, she thought.   Strangely, she
felt no sense of pride over locating one of the gems
before an attack,  This time, the victim would be
someone who was loved by a friend, and if she failed,
it would be like failing Naru all over again.

	"Yup!" Reika was saying.  "Our anniversary is on the
13!   People say it's unlucky, but I've never found it
so!"

	"Are you in college with him?   Or high school?"
Usagi asked.

	Mamoru and Motoki burst out laughing, though Motoki
seemed a little embarrassed.  Reika explained, "I'm
taking my high school entrance exams next March," she
said.   "I know I'm a little young to be dating
Motoki,  but sometimes love just isn't rational," she
said, a little bit more quietly.   "I'm a lot more
mature then all the guys in my class, and being with
Motoki just feels right.  People joke about destiny,
but... I believe in it.  Especially when I'm with
him."

	Motoki, by this time, had turned the color of a
tomato.  "Reika..." he said, looking like he wanted
the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

	She grinned up at him.  "I'm so happy with you that I
want the whole world to know how I feel."

	Mamoru looked at them.  "I hope I'm never as
head-over-heels as you two are.   If I ever date a
girl, she's going to know her place."

	"Her place?" Usagi echoed, not really paying
attention.  The damn beeping was going through her
skull.   She could hear it throbbing into her skull.  


	"Uh-ohhhhh..." Motoki said, laughing.  "We'd better
leave, Reika!   Here comes an Usa/Mamo battle royal!"
he said.  "All wise people run for cover when one of
these blows up!"  He wrapped his left arms around his
girlfriend's slender waist, dragging her off to a more
private location.

	Mamoru watched them leave.   "What is it about Reika,
Usagi, that has you so on edge?"

	Usagi pulled out the Crescent Wand, which was still
beeping lightly, though its intensity had decreased. 
"Look," she said.

	Mamoru looked at it.  "Not good.  And when you
touched her?"

	"Waves of dark energy."

	"You think...." He trailed off, not wanting to
believe that his best friend's girlfriend was one.

	"Nijizuishou carrier.   Makes things easier, in a
way.  Problem is, we don't know how to get the damn
thing OUT," Usagi grumbled.

"Hmm," Mamoru murmured thoughtfully. "The wand can
detect the carriers, obviously."

"Too bad we didn't know about *that* little function
earlier," Usagi said with a scowl.

"And we know you have to use it to heal them when the
crystal's been removed," he continued, ignoring the
last comment.

"Wait a minute," Usagi interrupted, finally shaking
off the effects of the bad feelings she was being
swamped with. "Are you trying to say we might be able
to use the wand *before* the Dark Kingdom does
whatever it does to get the nijizuishou out of the
carriers? Before another youma attacks?"

"Possibly. But I'm not sure exactly how."

Again the jingling of the front door bells rang
through noticeably. The pair of undercover superheroes
looked over and saw Motoki grinning as he returned to
his customary position behind the counter. Reika must
have left while they were talking.

Wait a minute... The two of them gasped as they both
realized the significance of that little nugget of
information. "Let's go!" Usagi cried as quietly as she
could manage in her excitement.

"Right," Mamoru agreed, rising from his seat. "Let me
pay for this and we'll leave." Usagi nodded and
followed him from the table.

"Leaving so soon?" Motoki queried with a knowing smile
on his face as he took the money Mamoru offered him
for their drinks. "Need a little time alone, maybe?"

"Where did Reika go, anyway?" Usagi asked before her
companion could get started again. "I thought she
would have stayed longer."

"She would have, but her parents wanted her home for
supper, and she lives a ways north of here. If she was
going to get there on time she needed to leave now.
I'll talk to her later."

"I'm sure you will, Motoki. Just be sure to let the
girl get some sleep tonight. I know just how
long-winded you can get," Mamoru drawled, smirking.
"Now let's get going, Usagi. Reika isn't the only one
who has parents who expect her." The girl shot him an
annoyed look, but followed him out, the pair giving
Motoki a last wave before the doors closed behind them
and they found themselves outside on the sidewalk.

"You know, your last comment could be taken the wrong
way, Mamo-chan!" Usagi shot.  "Do you want Motoki to
think we're dating?"

"I thought you said you didn't mind."

"Well... not Motoki!  He'll never let either of us
live it down!" Usagi protested, pouting slightly.

"Do you really care?   I don't know if either of us
will live through this."

Usagi halted and glared at him.  "You are absolutely
horrid.  I don't want to think like that!"

Mamoru looked at her, his blue eyes hard.  "You'd
better start to.  If you don't think about dying,
you're a fool.  You saw what those monsters did to
your friends, and death is a very real part of this
game we're playing.  So if you're not willing to risk
that, go home, little girl," he said.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she said stubbornly. 
"I'm in for the long haul, Mamoru.  I just prefer not
to go into it thinking I'll die.   There's such a
thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy, you know."

"There's also a little thing called denial," he
snapped back. "If you don't face the reality of our
situation, it could be detrimental to our cause."

Usagi's arm shot out, grabbed Mamoru by the lapel of
his jacket, and dragged him down so he was at eye
level with her. "I *will* *not* fail in my duty,
Mamoru. Don't you worry about that. But the last thing
Naru would want for me was to even think about dying
in the process. I watched my best friend die; I know
that is a very real possibility. But I *will* do
everything in my power to come out of this alive, for
Naru's sake. Because she'd want it that way. And the
hell if I'm going to let you go before me. I won't
lose anyone else." Her intense words and expression
made up for the lack of volume as Mamoru recovered
from the complete shock of her actions.

He straightened and readjusted his clothing. "Well,
that being said..." His shaky voice cut off as a
scream rang through the air from somewhere north of
them. "Damn! It's happening again!"

"No!" Usagi cried as she ran off in that direction.
She couldn't lose this fight. She just couldn't.

Mamoru grabbed her and dragged her into a nearby ally.
  "Change into Sailor Moon, then we can take Rooftop
Highway," he said.

She nodded, deciding her embarrassment over her stupid
henshin was outweighed by the urgency of the
situation.  "Don't you dare watch!" she commanded. 
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!" she yelled, feeling the
energy course through her, and Mamoru threw his rose
out to initiate his own change.

The change felt different.  She could feel Mamoru's
own power reverberate with her own, and it seemed to
course over her in waves of refreshed power.   The
ribbons danced more intensely, and she wondered what
was happening.  Still, they didn't have time to sort
things it- it would be something to discuss later.  
Perhaps it was due to him being able to help her
channel  with the Crescent Wand.

The transformations complete, Mamoru looked at her. 
"Need a lift?" he asked.  

"Normally I'd say something about being a
self-sufficient woman, but this is an emergency!" she
said. 

He nodded, cupping his hands.  She stepped into it and
he flung her upwards, and she used the momentum to go
towards the nearest roof, but not before knocking his
hat off his head.  "Hey!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry!" she mocked.  "I just can't stand that thing
anymore!"

"You're just lucky I happen to share that opinion," he
grumbled as he leapt up and joined her in a mad dash
toward the source of the now-apparent disturbance.

The sight that met them when they arrived on the scene
brought involuntary tears to Usagi's eyes. Reika was
pinned to the ground in the courtyard of a large
museum, a huge minataur-looking monster hovering above
her. Just as the blonde hero was about to jump off the
roof she had paused on and knock the ugly thing off
the other girl, beams shot out from the creature's
eyes and impacted its victim's chest. The screaming
that had been echoing periodically intensified
exponentially, finally ending with the blue
nijizuishou hovering in the air above the
now-motionless young woman.

With a wordless shout, Sailor Moon tackled the
minataur, causing them to roll a distance away from
Reika as a bright blue aura surrounded her, both
breathless form the impact. "You lousy piece of
trash!" Usagi gasped out as she kneed the creature
where it mattered, having landed on top of it. "How
dare you touch her?"

The thing lost what breath it had somehow recovered,
but still managed to grit out, "You're too late,
Sailor Moon. The Shadow Warrior has returned, and it
shall rend your flesh from your bones."

"Promises, promises."

"We're not beaten yet," a familiar voice said from
above the pile. "And we have the blue nijizuishou. So
bring it, bucky. We don't lose."

Usagi looked up and saw Tuxedo Kamen standing next to
them, a cocky smile on his face and the blue crystal
displayed in his right hand. She started to return the
expression when something else caught her eye. "Look
out behind you!" she cried.

Tuxedo Kamen, minus his much-hated hat, didn't have
time to see it coming.   

Reika had transformed.

The youma who had once been the pretty young middle
school student had risen from the ground, her features
dramatically changed.  Her long brown hair was gone,
replaced by a yellow and red crop that only covered
half her scalp.   Her figured had developed more, and
her skin had changed into a dramatic green.  What
almost amuse Sailor Moon was that her outfit was now
more revealing then the senshi fuku.  Still, it was
the youma's eyes that horrified her.

None of her kindness remained, which she aptly
demonstrated by jumping on top of Tuxedo Kamen while
his back was turned, and proceeding to strangle him.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" Sailor Moon yelled, wondering what to
do.   She couldn't get a clear shot at the youma, and
she had no clue what the Crescent Wand would do to
him.  "Get out of there!"

He had the presence of mind to pocket the nijizuishou
before raising his hands to attempt to break free of
the preternaturally strong hold.   

"Give Rikoukeidaa your nijizuishou, Sailor Moon, and
Rikoukeidaa will let your friend go," the monster
purred, apparently naming itself.

Usagi's tortured thoughts were put on the backburner
when the minataur beneath her pitched up and sent her
flying. She just missed a large statue on top of a
marble pedestal depicting a ancient samurai warrior,
finally hitting the ground and somehow managing to
roll back to her feet.

"Okay, that hurt," she ground out through clenched
teeth as she gripped her left shoulder. It had taken
the brunt of the fall. She quickly reassessed the
situation and found that the dilemma hadn't changed.
The creature formerly known as Reika still had her
ally in a life-threatening hold, and the labyrinth
escapee was hunting her down. She roller her eyes.
Just another day at the office...

"I..."  She let her eyes fill with tears from pain,
and decided to do a flashback to the old Usagi.  
"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" she wailed at the top of her
lungs.

Rikoukeidaa looked at the crying heroine in amazement.
  "This is the one who defeated my siblings?" she
wondered aloud.

"You're sooooo mean....." Sailor Moon said, sniffling.
  "I'll give you the nijizuishou I have.... will that
be enough?   And I'll ask Tuxedo Kamen-sama to give
you his..." she whimpered.  "Just don't hurt me.

The youma wasn't about to question its good fortune
when Sailor Moon produced the red and yellow gems.  
It released its prisoner, and walked towards Sailor
Moon, forgetting about him in her haste.

With both monsters baring down on the supposedly
defeated heroine and her partner staring at her as
though he'd never seen her before, Usagi bided her
time. Just when they were close enough to be unable to
retrace their steps and threaten Tuxedo Kamen and far
enough away to be unable to stop her she grinned,
giving the dumbfounded man an outrageous wink. "You
know what?" she asked with her usual spirit, tossing
the two gems in the air slightly. "I think I changed
my mind. You know how fickle teenagers are. Catch!"
she yelled as she threw the nijizuishou in a high arc
with marvelous accuracy to land at Mamoru's feet.

Everyone followed the trail of the red and yellow
prizes in stunned amazement, Tuxedo Kamen fortunately
being the first to recover and scoop them up and start
moving. Usagi took advantage of the distraction and
drew the Crescent Moon Wand, going into her healing
attack as the youma turned their attention back to the
blonde hero.

Just as the silvery light and energy was about to
connect with Rikoukeidaa, she yanked the startled
minataur into its path and rolled out of the way,
snarling a barely intelligible threat.

Sailor Moon watched the minataur dissolve with mixed
feelings.   It was great the brute was gone, but
Rikoukeidaa was still wandering around, and the longer
she stayed that way... 

"Tuxedo Kamen, are you okay?" she called.

"I'm going to have bruise marks tomorrow, but aside
from that..." he said, pulling out three roses and
fanning them between his right hand.

"Just tell them your girlfriend plays rough," Sailor
Moon retorted before looking at Rikoukeidaa.  "You
need to hold still... this won't hurt that much!"

"Be careful," the caped hero warned the transformed
carrier with a sardonic grin, "she tends to say that
to me right before things get *really* rough." His
eyebrows rose above the edge of the domino mask. "That
good enough?"

Sailor Moon couldn't help but laugh. "Whatever works
for you. Moon Healing Escalation!" Once more the
silvery waves of energy washed out from the magical
weapon toward the creature now standing still between
both its targets, her rage-filled mind torn over who
to rend limb from limb first. She screamed as the
light reached its usual blinding intensity, and when
it cleared, the ninth grader Rikoukeidaa had sprung
from stood briefly before collapsing in a heap on the
museum lawn.

"Reika!" both superheroes cried, dashing forward to
check that the girl was truly alright. When they found
that she was merely unconscious, they shared a huge
sigh of relief and a knowing look that revealed how
important saving this particular victim had been for
both of them.

Usagi hated to disturb the moment of Zen her volatile
relationship with Mamoru was having but she needed to
clear up a little something about the goal of it all.
She opened her mouth to politely demand her crystals
back, and now thank you very much, when she gazed into
the young man's face before her. She gasped as
suddenly Mamoru's midnight blue eyes were visible from
behind the normally opaque mask he wore. All the words
she was about to say fled from her mind, and she
decided the... request could wait until the next time
they got together. Somehow, she just knew they'd still
get together. "I'll see you tomorrow at Crown," she
said softly. "We'd better get going before she wakes
up."

He remained where he was, crouched beside his best
friend's girlfriend, watching the little enigma that
had barreled into his life like a lightning bolt walk
away from him. Then, as though he were being tugged
after her, he jerked to his feet and hurried to catch
the petite blonde. "Hold on a second, Sailor Moon," he
said as he reached her, digging into his pocket. "I
believe we had a deal. Until tomorrow." He shot her
one last smile and leapt to the roofs, quickly running
off out of sight.

Usagi looked down at what he had pressed into her
gloved hand. There, staring back at her, were the red,
yellow, and blue crystals, twinkling merrily in the
fading sunlight. A smile slowly transformed her
features and she gripped her prize tightly. "Until
tomorrow, Mamo-chan. You can count on that." She shook
her head and ran off toward home.

END PART SIX


=====
Crazy world - full of crazy contradictions like a child
You're cold and you're cruel
And I, like a fool, try to cope
Try to hang on, to hope
But I've got my pride, I won't give in
Even though I know I'll never win
Oh, how I love this crazy world

__________________________________________________
Yahoo! - We Remember
9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost
http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute

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