Well here it is. The long awaited fith chapter.  I appologise for the delays
but RL in the Military is not and easy thing to balance.  Especially while
deployed. Thanks for the patience.

Neil K. (aka. TooWolves)




Sailor Moon S

Someone to love.

Chapter Five




	Ami sat on the bench for what felt like an eternity.  All around her
life went on as joggers ran passed were she sat and mothers called to their
children.  But Ami noticed none of these things.  She could not see them,
could not hear them.  For Ami life had ceased the moment she had struck
Eric.  The image playing over and over in her mind.  The look of stunned
betrayal on his face, the reddening mark on his cheek, The lightless eyes
staring back at her as he turned to walk away.  She desperately asked
herself why she had done it.  But no matter how many times the question was
asked, no answer was forthcoming.
	Eventually she looked up and realized that a good portion of the day
had passed.  The sun was now quite low in the sky and she realized that she
had probably best head home.  She stood slowly and started off for her
house.  Her legs felt like lead as she shuffled along the pathway.  Somehow
though, she didn't really seem to care.  She was in no particular hurry to
anywhere.  Part of her wanted to cry but she just couldn't seem to find the
tears.  Ami hated her life.

	Usagi watched as Setsuna walked down the street.  She never knew
exactly how to act around the older girl.  Sometimes she could seem so
distant and enigmatic, then there were times when she was like she had been
today, open, friendly, almost human.  She walked back to the phone and
dialed Ami's number again.  The only scouts she hadn't reached were Ami and
Makoto but Rei said that Makoto was on her way over to her place so she'd
get her.  When she got the machine again she hung up and tried Eric's
number.  When the phone picked up Usagi was surprised to hear an older man's
voice with a thick American accent. "Hello? This is the Riley residence."
	"Hi, is Ami there?"  She asked slowly so he would understand her.
	"No.  She went out with Eric a while ago but he came back about
forty five minutes ago by himself.  He looked kind of upset."  At this Usagi
furrowed her eyebrows.  She thanked the man and hung up the phone.
	"Hey luna? Ami's disa," But as she turned around she realized that
the cat was nowhere to be found.  With nothing left to do she sat down and
nibbled on the last of the toast while waiting for the others to arrive.
Thirty minutes later when Makoto and Rei had arrived, Usagi still hadn't
managed to raise Ami anywhere.  They quickly headed out to find their friend
working with the only knowledge that they had, Ami's last location with had
been at park with Eric.  They headed quickly over to see if they would have
any look finding her.  The found Ami two blocks away from the park heading
in the direction of her house.  She was plodding along with her head down
and her eyes only half open.  
	"Ami?"  Chibi Usa asked as she waved her hand in front of the girl.
Ami paid her no mind as she simply continued to walk along the sidewalk.
Haruka stepped up next and too k the initiative by standing directly in the
teal haired girls path.  She was not surprised to watch as Ami started to
make her way around her. Holding out one arm, the tall blonde halted Ami and
looked at her. 
	"Ami...Ami?"  She placed both hands onto the girls shoulders and
shook her slightly. "AMI!"  When she looked up into her eye's Haruka
instantly regretted raising her voice.  The sorrow and pity there in those
aqua colored eyes almost caused her to cry.  She had never seen Ami so sad
before.  It was almost overpowering.  Trying again in much reduced and
sedated tones she asked her . "What's going on?"  Ami merely lowered her
head back down and whispered.
	"May I go please?  It's getting late."
	Michiru lifted Haruka's hands and motioned to Ami. "Come on dear.
We'll walk you home."  Weather or not Ami heard her was impossible to tell.
She made no outward sign accept to start walking once more.  Minako placed
one arm around her shoulder as they went.  No one said anything until they
reached Ami's house.  As they entered the living room Usagi walked up and
placed a hand gently to Ami's cheek.
	"Want to talk about it Ami?"  she asked as the girl looked into her
eyes.  The pigtailed blonde could not believe the sadness and despair that
reflected within them.  Ami let out a long, slow sigh then threw herself
forward onto Usagi's shoulder.  Her tears erupting from her eyes in torrents
before she had even reached her.  She cried, wailing deep wracking sobs as
the others gathered around her and tried their best to comfort her.  After
several tear filled moments, Ami had calmed down enough to tell them what
had happened although it took several tries to get the part about the slap
out and she broke down at least six times in the process.  When she was
finally done Minako sat down on the couch beside her and hugged her along
with Usagi.
	Don't worry Ami, Once you've had a chance to cool down things will
work out."  Ami smiled although it was a weak, sickly smile.  Haruka
remained silent through out the whole explanation.  They favored each other
with knowing yet sad looks.  They knew all to well what their young friend
was going through.  How many times had they themselves went through this
very same song and dance?  The older blonde thought back to their last
fight.  It had started over something o trivial she could no longer recall
it exactly but it had escalated into a full blown civil war in no time.
Each said things that neither meant, insults were hurled like stones with no
concern for the damage they might cause.  In the end, both had spent the
night n silence, alone.  Michiru on the couch and Haruka in the front seat
of her car across the prefecture.  The following day saw the first steps of
an uneasy truce forged on nervous apologies.  Reconciliation came that night
over a candle lit dinner of fresh salad and wine followed by light, intimate
kisses and an evening that neither would be able to recall without blushing
fondly.
	Usagi piped up  "I really wish I didn't have to say this but it's
why I was calling you all together."  With that she started in on all that
Setsuna had told her about the creature and the other eggs. When she had
finished, the girls all sat in silence.  Finally Rei glanced up.
	"Well, when it' rains, it pours.  Now what?"
	Ami stood up and walked upstairs.  The girls quickly followed after
her as she entered her room and plugged in her mini computer to her PC. "I'm
going to need to download a patch for my scanner.  I noticed that earlier
that the daemon was barely registering on my visor.  
	"Are you going to be okay Ami?"  Asked Chibi Usa.  Ami turned and
looked at her and sighed.
	"I guess I have to be huh?  I mean, we have to save the world right?
It's what we do."  She turned sadly and picked up her henshin pen.
	Rei looked at her and forced a small smile. *You can be so strong
sometimes, but you're not fooling anyone.*  She thought sadly. 

	Luna and Artemis sat on top of the wall.  It was a quiet little
street that ran along the drainage canal.  No one came down this particular
road except those few people that lived there so they frequently met there
to discuss things that needed to be kept between them alone.  Artemis looked
out across the water then back to Luna.
	"She wants us to find the what?  I thought the trident was destroyed
when the palace fell?  How'd it get here?"
	Luna glanced around once again, checking to make sure that they were
alone.  "She said that when Queen Serenity knew the castle had fallen and
that the dark warriors were pouring into the castle, she placed the trident
inside a true heart and sent it out along with the Senshi.  That way, if it
became needed ,it could be retrieved without worrying about it falling into
enemy hands."
	Artemis paced along the wall deep in thought. "Okay, but why does
Pluto think it's necessary to find it now?  Is this creature really that big
of a threat?"
	"She seems to think so and that bothers me.  Usually she doesn't get
involved unless it's something really serious."
	"Hmmm.  Well let's look at what we do know."  Said the white cat as
he shifted his weight on to his haunches. "Because of it's energy, whoever
it's inside will be drawn to Usagi and the others.  We'll be able to sense
them as well, though only faintly so that narrows the list somewhat."
	"Right." Luna replied. "We should probably start with friends and
relatives.  I know none of Usagi's family are it and I doubt Minako's are
either so you check Rei's Grandfather and her boyfriend while I go over and
see about some of Michiru and Hauka's friends.  We'll meet up here  when
we're through."  The two felines split up and headed off in separate ways.
This was going to be a long night.

	The girls waited until sundown so as to be less visible to both the
creature and the populace in general.  They stood looking out at the last
known place they had fought the creature, the docks.  Before them stood the
remnants of the warehouse that the had fought Luperos in not so long ago.
The dilapidated building looked no more inviting than it had the last time.
	"Well I guess this is as good a place as any to start looking."
Sailor Moon stated. 
	"We can show you a better place." Came a pair of voices behind them.
All of the girls spun around, surprised that someone cold have gotten the
drop on them.  Two girls sat on the ledge behind them, sinister sneers
painted across their faces.  One of them sauntered up to the girls and all
but growled. "Our lord invites you to surrender yourselves.  A quick and
merciful death shall be yours.  If you do not, then your deaths shall be
slow and agonizing.  Usagi took a step back as they both started to advance.
A streak of whit and the first girl went down with a smoldering parchment on
her forehead.  Before the second could react Uranus and Neptune grabbed her
in a two man arm bar lock.  She struggled as she heard Sailor Moon cry out
her enchantment and raise her wand.
	"Moon Healing Escalation!"  The wave of healing energy hit the woman
full on, rending the daemon from her as it cried out it's death knell.  The
other daemon faired little better as it erupted from the downed woman just
in time to catch the wave itself.  It died without the luxury of a last
utterance.  As the energy faded Mars looked at Moon and barked. "great job
meatball head!  We needed one of those to find out where they are."
	"No we don't." Ami's almost inaudible response came.  Everyone
looked over at her as she started over the side of the fire escape.  "They
left a energy trail .  We can follow it back to the source. The girls
exchanged worried looks at Ami's lack of emotion as they followed her down
the ladder way.  The trail led the scouts along the alleyway beside the
warehouse and back towards town.  The girls uneasiness continued to mount as
they entered the edge of the industrial park, finally coming to stop at one
of the far buildings.  Mercury pointed to a building just a couple of
warehouses away. 'There."  With no words needed the girls split up and
surrounded the building.

	The creature looked at the eggs as they floated before him in the
air.  All was going according to plan.  Now all that was needed was for the
eggs to mature and then he could feed the Senshi to them. ~Yes my siblings.
Soon.~  So preoccupied with it's musings was the creature, it failed to
notice the scouts as they slipped in through the upper windows and circled
around the rafters and walkways.  Then the fireworks started.
	"Mars Flame Sniper!"  A stream of fire rocketed across the room and
enveloped one of the eggs.  It sank to the floor with a wet squishing sound.
Immediately servants of the creature leaped for the other eggs, placing
themselves between them and the Senshi.
	~Protect the eggs at all costs~ The creature commanded.  Several
slaves picked up pipes and chains and charged towards the ladder wells.
	"World shaking."  Cried Haruka as she leapt to the ground. Several
of the running slaves now flew into the air or were knocked backwards and
into crates.  She wasted no time in engaging one of the few to stay standing
in combat.  She smiled as they began to dance.  She lived for this!.
	"Crescent beam."  Venus cried out as she made an attempt to snipe
one of the minions carrying an egg.  he succeeded only in forcing them to
drop the egg.  As she raced to get the egg a black, shadowy tendril slammed
into the ground like a lance sending a shower of splinters everywhere.
Shaking her head to recover she found a malicious voice raking her mind like
coarse sandpaper.
	~Uh uh girly. That doesn't belong to you.~  She screamed as her mind
reeled from the psychic roar.
	Sailor Mars cut loose with another pair of parchments and sent two
more of the creatures minions to the floor.  She readied another two and
back against Moon as she unleashed her healing escalation and sent the last
of the possessed down.  Four eggs destroyed and no human puppets left. but
why haven't the creatures the came out of the ones that Sailor Moon hadn't
brought down?  Something was not right here.
	"Give it up, your followers are all destroyed.  You're defeated."
Sailor Moon's voice was strong and self assured.
	~Are you so sure of that?~  The voice was not so much a voice as it
was a conglomeration of all the vileness and hatred and evil she had ever
seen or imagined all pressed down into what amounted to a mental growl.
>From out of the shadows four new daemons emerged.  Now Mars understood why
the daemons hadn't emerged, they had been waiting for the signal.  Now they
emerged making seven daemons in all.  They descended upon the girls in a
frenzy.  They each found themselves desperately fending off a screeching,
clawing mass of monstrosities, all except Sailor Moon.  With flowing grace
like a lack, silk flag, the creature slithered towards her.  It's Tentacle
knocking the scepter from her hands as she raised it.  The force form the
blow sending her to her knees.  ~Not this time kid.  Not this time.~   It
drew back, forming the end of it's shadowy appendage into a razor sharp
spike.  With no time to dodge and no where to go if she could, Sailor Moon
closed her eyes.
	Something heavy slammed into her from her left followed immediately
by a wet sliding noise and a grunt.  Sailor Moon opened her eyes.  There in
front of her was Sailor Pluto.  She had her staff raised defiantly blocking
the creatures spear.  As she got to her feet Moon noticed that a dark spot
on the back of Pluto's fuku was growing at a rapid pace.  Horror swept
across her face as she noticed now for the first time that in deflecting the
strike from her, Pluto had allowed herself to take the hit instead.  Even
now Blood was flowing down the older girls dress and pooling at her feet.
	~You FOOL! You have wasted your life for nothing.  The girl will
DIE!~  everyone reeled from the malevolence within the mind voice.  
	"As...long, as she...lives," Pluto took a shuttering breath.
"Nothing is...a waste." She cried out and sank against her staff as the
creature wrenched it's appendage free.  The others raced up to her.  She
leaned hard on her staff as she coughed p a gout of blood.
	"Take it easy Setsuna," Moon tried to comfort the agonized girl.
She knew deep down that it was probably already too late.  Pluto's breathing
was shallow and rapid as she stared into the creatures eyes defiantly.  
	~Brave till the end I see.~
	"Nope............still.....have one....last ace...."  With almost
inhuman effort she forced herself to take a long shuddering, raspy breath. 
	
	"Time flow FREEZE!"
	
	With that a sphere of energy shot away from her as if she had
detonated a bomb within herself.  The scouts where all flung backwards as
the wave enveloped them.  Daemons screeched as it tore their bodies asunder
on it's rippling pulses of energy.  In mere moments the sphere had grown to
encompass the entire building and beyond.

	Chibi Moon was the first to regain consciousness.  As she struggled
to focus her eyes , she could hear the others starting to stir as well.
Sitting up she fought back the urge to wretch as stabbing pain shot down
through her nerves from her brain and straight into the back of her eyes.
Blearily she could make out the creature disappearing through the roof with
what looked like the two remaining eggs inside itself.  A hand came into
view in front of her face.  She accepted it and grunted as Sailor Neptune
helped her to her feet.  Slowly the two staggered their way to where the
were gathering.  She saw her mother, Sailor Moon,  she looked very tired and
strained.  Lines of care and worry on her face and around her eyes as she
walked to the group and up to Sailor Pluto.  Chibi didn't like seeing her
mother look like this.  She looked far older than her years and somehow, it
saddened the young girl.  Turning her eyes from her mother she looked to her
friend and mentor.
	Pluto's skin was ashen gray.  The blood wasn't flowing from her
wound anymore.  As Chibi knelt down next to her, she could see the stream
had stopped in mid air.  Looking back up at the others she saw that she was
not the only one noticing the oddity.
	"What the hell?"  Jupiter asked looking around at the charcoal gray
world they had come too in.
	"She's frozen time."   Sailor Mercury said. "She told me about it
once.  As a last ditch measure she can freeze time, leaving a select few
people of her choice outside of the flow so that they may still interact.
She said she was immune as she lives outside of time anyway.  I'm guessing
she placed herself inside time in order to be frozen."  She looked up at the
others then back at Pluto. "This way we still have a chance to get rid of
the eggs and the creature without worrying about her."
	"Then we should go quickly." Rei said." It's getting personal now."
The others nodded and together they walked towards the doors.  Chibi Moon
paused a moment longer.
	"Don't worry Puu.  We'll be back."  She sniffed back a couple of
tears. "We'll make things right.  I promise."  With that, she ran and joined
the others.

	Artemis and Luna had narrowed the list down considerably after a few
hours work.  Together they headed over to Eric's.  As they got to the
driveway, a wave of energy slammed into them, knocking them both across the
front yard several feet.  When the got back to their feet each looked around
and noticed that the world had become gray and lifeless.  Both knew what it
meant.  Pluto had played her trump card.  
	"Now what?" Artemis asked.
	"We keep going.  We haven't find the bearer of the trident."  She
raced up to the door with Artemis right behind her.  They slipped in through
the half open front door and immediately came face to face with a Jack
Russell Terrier.   Teddy was frozen in mid bark.  A look of stark terror on
the small dogs face.  The cats found Eric not too far away lying on the
floor motionless.
	"Well, it looks like he's not the bearer either." Luna said.  She
turned to Artemis but halted as she heard a moan from over her shoulder.
Turning back around she watched as Eric rolled onto his side and slowly sat
up.  Rubbing his head slightly the boy looked around at his charcoal and ash
colored world.
	"[What the hell?]"  Eric looked around and shouted down the hallway.
"[Hey dad did we blow a fuse?]"  Eric was at a total loss as to why the
lights seemed to be off now or why everything seemed so quiet.
	"Actually you're outside time Eric." came a voice from somewhere off
to his left.  He looked around and saw two cats, one white and one black
setting next to what seemed to be his dog.  He recognized them as Minako and
Usagi's cats.  The white one walked slowly up to him.  Something was very
wrong here and the more he thought about it the more it was scaring Eric.
The cat sat down and spoke to him again.  "Look, we all have very little
time so I'm going to say this once.  We need you to..."
	Eric wigged out.  Artemis and Luna started as Eric rolled into a
small leap and landed halfway across the room and tried to scramble into the
kitchen.  He stopped when he felt the counter at his back.  *What in the
HELL?  Cats can't talk!  Oh shit I'm going crazy. This isn't happening. It
can't.*  The small black cat was right in front of him now as was the white
one.
	"Eric," the cat began. "Listen to me.  My name is Luna and this is
Artemis and right now you don't really understand what's going on but if you
let us explain a couple of things  you will.  Will you let us explain?"
Eric took a couple of deep breaths  and tightened his grip on the carpet.
	"Only if it involves why I'm hearing cats talk and whether or not
I'm crazy."
	"Oh you're not crazy" Artemis spoke as he closed his eyes. "And yes
you'll understand why you hear us."  A slender beam shot out from the
crescent on his head and hit Eric between the eyes.  Slowly the boys eyes
flickered shut and his body slackened.  Luna watched and hoped this was for
the best.

	The creature had not been hard to find.  With the modifications that
Ami had made to her visor it's path stood out brightly against the
landscape.  They followed the trail as it wound a coarse to a park across
town.  When the girls reached it, they could see the creature as it filtered
in and out of the shadows across the main clearing.  When it saw the girls,
it slithered out into the open and drew itself up to it's full height.  With
little else left, the girls walked slowly out to meet it on this last field
of battle.  They fanned out as they approached, presenting a united and
widened front before it.
	~It was useless to have stopped time.  Your friend wasted her
miserable life.~  It's mind voice was dripping with contempt.
	"You can't posses anyone else now." Came Sailor Moon's reply.
	"It's just you and us."  Mars followed.
	~You honestly didn't think I wouldn't plan around loosing my minions
did you?  I may not be able to create new slaves but it doesn't stop me from
using those that I already made and placed in dormancy.~  As the voice
drifted venomously into their minds, it's eyes flickered brightly for a
moment and the girls could feel the presence all around them.  Quickly
glancing they could see the trees and bushes were alive with hissing and
glowing eyes.  Several daemon creature crawled from their hiding places and
began closing in on the girls.  The Senshi back against each other and took
up their fighting stances.  This was going to be a very nasty fight.  In the
blink of an eye, all hell erupted.  Daemons rushed forward only to be beaten
back as Jupiter and Uranus unleashed their attacks in succession.  Venus
with her crescent beam, slicing two daemons in half while Mars,  Moon and
the others raced to the creature.  Seeing the attack it roared into it's own
ranks forcing the girls to alter coarse.  If they wanted the eggs, it was
now clear that they were going to have to wade through the horde to get
them.  They waded in and began fighting it out with the creatures in a
desperate bid for the prize.  Soon the melee settled into a fierce battle of
attrition. The girls pushed back to back in a couple of small groups.  Each
time the daemons charged they were forced back but fatigue was setting in on
the scouts and the daemons had raw numbers on their side.
	Venus didn't even watch as the two daemons she had just dispatched
evaporated.  She spun around catching a third in a round house kick.  It
flipped over a bench and into Mercury's firing range.  She was lining up on
another group when she heard the scream.  Sparing a glance over her shoulder
she saw Chibi Moon disappear under three of the little beasts.  She grabbed
the arms of the daemon before her and used it's momentum to swing it into
the two behind it like a baseball bat.  She pivoted and raced after Chibi
only to be cut off by two of the three that had taken her.  As she fought
them she saw the creature and it's minion take Chibi moon away into the
woods.

	The battle was not going well.  For every one Daemon that Sailor
Moon could dispatch, two more took it's place and Mars was running out of
wards.  She had to find a way to break heir line and get to her daughter.
Beside her, Mercury was crossing her arms for an attack when a daemon leapt
onto her and knocked her into the others.  the girls rolled across the
ground in several directions.  When Mercury came up to her feet she found a
brick wall at her back and five very enraged daemons facing her.  She
steeled herself up for the attack but was seriously doubting her chances.  A
white blur flashed before her eyes and Ami flinched.  When she drew focus
again, the daemons where gone.  She saw three of them twitching on the
ground not far away, there body's already withering into wisps of smoke.
The other two caused her to gasp in almost sheer horror.  Each was held
tightly in the grasp of huge hands.  With a violent jerk, one's head snapped
sideways to a very odd angle and it quickly dissolved.  The other was flung
into the wall with a sickeningly wet squishing sound.  She looked at the
creature and sank to her knees, tears flowing from her eyes.  She sank to
her knees as shock sank in, her stomach heaved, her world started to go
black.  *How? We destroyed him. Didn't we?* She watched as her defender
turned and launched into another group of enemy with a ferocious abandon.
*White...Fur...* Sailor Mercury slipped into unconsciousness.
	Sailor Moon heard a roar from behind her.  She whirled around to see
the broken bodies of daemons flying through the air.  She watched as a new
creature emerged, cutting a swath through their ranks as it went.  She
backed away as recognition hit her as to the identity. It was someone she
feared more than almost anyone.  "Luperos!"  she cried out as she back the
rest of the way against the wall next to Mercury.  Without so much as a
glance in their direction, Luperos bolted back into the fray.  He tore into
the rank an file of the Daemons with a lustful fury.  The Scouts slowly
began to notice their apparent new ally as most of the Daemons turned their
attentions to the werewolf.  The Senshi began to exploit this momentary
lapse in judgment and within minutes the last Daemon was no more than a wisp
of smoke in the air. All of the girls now turned to the massive, growling
werewolf and edged closer to Sailor Moon.  With a steady, purposeful stride,
Luperos walked towards Sailor Moon, clearing the distance in three strides.
The other Senshi tried to intercept but before even the closest could reach
him, he stood before Moon.  She trembled as she stared up at the
Monstrosities' face.  It made no move to harm her.  It just stood before
her, watching her.  From beside her Mercury had awoke and was starting to
stir.  
	"Usagi?...Did I see,"  She started but her voice left her when she
saw who stood before them both.
	"Yes.  It's him."  The blonde replied solemnly.  "He seems a little
different though."  She looked up again at the massive, shaggy creature.
Gone was the black furred nightmare they had fought.  Now his fur was
gleaming white and his bulk half again bigger than before.  As they both
looked at him he did something unexpected.  He knelt down before Sailor
Moon.
	"Are you alright, your Majesty?"

 

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