Gaijin 

	Part 27

	Strength.

+++++++++++++++++++++

	Ami Mizuno simply sat and waited. Rei's condition was still critical,
but there was nothing more the hospital could do for her. She simply
slept, and everyone who knew her waited. 

	Her grandfather sat silently with a glazed stare in his eyes. 

	She sat with her friends. Makoto and Minako were on either side of her.
Their hands were clasped, Minako was sleeping, and Jupiter was looking
away pensively while shaking her foot continuously.

	She simply stared forward at the wall. Thinking silently to herself. 

	"I almost died, because I wasn't strong enough. Rei... I might have
been able to help if I was just a little bit stronger." How could she do
something like that? She'd have to sacrifice so much of her life. Her
chosen path was not an easy one. The burden she already bore as one of
the senshi wasn't helping matters either. Now she had to take more time
away from her future.

	That was selfish and she knew it. Still, it mattered to her. It
definitely wouldn't be easy for her. She didn't like being very
physical. She was in shape enough to keep up with her friends, barely at
times. The added boost the powers gave her didn't hurt either. Still,
she had seen the others fighting and they could definitely move much
easier than she could. She found herself hanging back somewhat on most
of the battles. 

	Makoto would probably be glad to help her out with it. She was always
saying that she needed to get up a bit more. 

	She'd spend a lot of time talking with idiot jocks probably. Makoto's
taste in men didn't vary much. Well, she couldn't really put it that way
either. 

	She turned her head towards the girl slightly. She never imagined being
such good friends with someone like her before they met. It was kind of
strange they way they had bonded off the battlefield. Hardly any of them
would have thought the others were like them much at all. 

	"Rei." She wasn't sure if she'd said it out loud, but Makoto squeezed
her hand without moving otherwise.

	The girl who had brought them all together really was missing. No one
could contact her, she either wasn't carrying her communicator, or she
wasn't answering. None of the others had even mentioned the girl so far.
That struck her as extremely odd. 

	She had understood why Usagi wasn't with them before. "But after this
long?" muttered the girl to herself as she stood up and let go of her
friend's hands. 

	Makoto looked up at her but didn't speak. She was walking towards the
phone.

	Ami stepped up to the payphone and placed a few coins into it. After
dialing she waited patiently for the other end to pick up. It was
getting late, so she had to be home. 

	Several moments passed as the phone rang repeatedly.

	Finally someone picked up. "Tsukino residence."

	"Is Usagi there?"

	"Oh. Hello Ami! It's nice to hear from you."

	"Mrs. Tsukino. Please put Usagi on. Rei has been hurt."

	"Just a moment."

	She could hear the Usagi's mother calling the girl. 

	"Rei?" asked the nervous sounding girl.

	"Rei has been hurt. There was a monster at the hospital today. It
stabbed her, and then it threw her out of the building near the top
floor.  She's alive, but barely."

	There was nothing but silence on the other line.

	"Usagi?"

	"Hello?" said Mrs. Tsukino.

	"Where is Usagi?" asked the girl quietly.

	"The door is open. Usagi? Where?" muttered the woman in confusion.
"Where are you? I think she just ran out the door. I'll pick her up and
bring her there."

	"I'm at the hospital."

++++++++++++++++++++

	It hadn't been more than twenty minutes when she burst into the room
panting for breath.

	The trio all looked up to her, even Minako. The girl's entrance had
woken her up. Rei's Grandfather even took a moment to glance back at
her.

	Usagi simply froze where she stood. Tears streamed down her face as she
saw what was behind the three girls in the window. Rei was lying on a
hospital bed with all sorts of equipment attached to her. Sailor Mars
was as pale as a ghost.

	Slowly she stepped towards the window and walked to the glass beside
Minako. She touched the window as she stared in horror at her friend. 

	"What happened?"

	"Her back is broken," replied Ami. "The monster who did this. It's only
weakness we found was fire. It got away."

	Usagi put both her hands on the glass and hung her head. Tears fell
down her face as she simply cried. 

	The three girls moved a bit closer hoping to comfort her.

	She lifted her head up slightly. "It got away?"

	She turned and flashed them an angry glare. Her makeup was running from
her eyelids.

	"I'm sorry Usagi," muttered Makoto in a sort of shocked horror.

	The girl ran between Ami and Minako. She thrust her hands into the wall
by the door and put two holes into it with her palms. 

	Ami Mizuno backed away with a horrified choking sound growing in the
back of her throat. Usagi was not wearing makeup. A black ooze was
slowly covering her face. She staggered back into her chair and began to
climb up it in horror. 

	Makoto and Minako simply stood frozen where they were on either side of
the girl. 

	"Where did it go? We will find it!" snarled the dangerous looking beast
they had met the day before. 

Ami Mizuno was trying her best to scream. 

	"Tell me!" roared Venom impatiently.

	"Can't you see she's terrified of you?"

	"Eh?" muttered the monster as it turned its head towards the old man.

	"But...why?" was the confused reply.

	The old man merely stood up and stared her down calmly. "Because
everyone in the room is afraid my dear. I've heard the stories floating
around this place while I was waiting. The entire building is full of
such talk. It is heavy on the heart indeed. They tell tales of a
creature that looks like you, but a murderous beast covered in the blood
of his victims. Tell me truthfully before I die. Did you come to finish
what you've started?"

	"What?" whispered the thing. "That's not possible. I was..."

	The old man waited patiently for his answer.

	"Other? What do you mean other?" It was the girl's voice again. She
sounded upset. 

	"What's that mean?"

	"Who are you talking too? At least give me some dignity and stop
playing games with me!"

	"The other is still functioning."

	"Other?" asked Makoto nervously.

	"We are not the only prototype of this line. There was another, earlier
version."

	"Earlier version of what?" muttered Ami. It was talking as if it was
some sort of machine.

	"That is classified," replied the beast. 

	Usagi sighed. "Perhaps it would be easier if we talked this way." Her
monstrous form melted away. "It's not good news by the way."

	"I gathered that much," muttered Makoto. "What the hell is that thing?"

	"It won't let me tell you. Some sort of security protocol or
something."

	"It won't let you?" stammered Ami nervously? "Usagi? Are you all
right?"

	"Oh. It's nothing like that. I'd lose my security clearance and I
wouldn't be able to use it anymore. I'm still trying to talk it out of
silly things like that. It's starting to listen to me a bit more."

	"Get back to the point!" snapped Ami angrily. 

	The blonde sighed. "The other is like us. It was an earlier version of
the project. Certain classified defects had to be corrected before this
unit was to be completed."

	"You'd better find a way to declassify them fast!" snapped Makoto
angrily. "I want to know what the hell that thing was!"

	"If I do that. I won't be able to fight it," replied Usagi calmly. 

	She turned around to find her mother standing there staring at her.
"Usagi? What are you talking about?"

	"Sorry mom," replied the girl. She turned away and started running down
the hallway.

	"Usagi? Where are you going?" she started to chase after her daughter.
Her pace quickened as she realized that her daughter was running right
for a window. She couldn't catch her. "NO!" She jumped forward despite
the hopelessness of reaching her.

	The girl burst through the glass and some sort of black substance
seemed to explode out of her back and cover her body. It shot some sort
of line out of its wrist and swung away.

	The woman simply watched the scene while lying on the floor. Her jaw
was hanging open wide and confusion was starting to become very clear on
her face. Finally, her eyes rolled up and her head fell to the floor.

	Ami, Minako, and Makoto all rushed up behind her. 

	"Great," grumbled Makoto.

	"Are we dead yet? Is it still playing with us?" asked the old man.

	"Usagi is not going to kill us," snapped Makoto. "This was something
else. That thing worries me though."

	"Not as much as it worries me," said Ami quietly.

	Everyone turned to look at her a little uncomfortably. 

	"Sorry we didn't say anything about that Ami," said Minako quietly. 

	"You knew?" whispered the girl in shock.

	"We weren't sure. Rei said something about it a few times, neither one
of us really believed it," said Makoto calmly. "I'm sorry Ami. We were
both afraid to call her. If it was true, we knew it wasn't something you
needed to see right now."

	"How could you think that?"

	"Because we both knew where she was while this was happening. You could
see the explosions for blocks."

	Ami was frustrated with them, but it didn't really matter right now.
Rei was still out cold, and Usagi was probably in more danger than she
realized. 

	"If you two need to follow her I'll stay with Rei. Give me one of your
communicators so I can tell you if anything changes."

	"It won't do us any good. She's way too fast with that thing. We fell
behind miserably as soon as they started moving again," replied Makoto
as she shook her head. 

	Ami frowned at this, but nodded.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Venom was flying across the rooftops. She would hunt until she found
it. 

	The problem worked itself in her mind over and over. If only she hadn't
been chasing Spiderman around all day. She might have been able to save
her friends. 

	It was all his fault!

	She'd deal with that problem soon enough.

++++++++++++++++++++

	She watched the phone. Another burned out cigarette lay gripped between
her fingers. The ashes of the whole thing were dangling over a
good-sized pile of ash next to her feet. There was a bottle of liquor
sitting next to her chair. The television was on. She knew the phone
would ring first though. Someone had to come and identify the body.

	It started to ring. It was a horrible sound that caused her head to
explode in pain. She picked up the receiver quickly and held it against
her ear. "Hello?" Her voice was tired and haggard, but she didn't really
give much of a shit right now.

	The man on the other side of the line spoke softly and her head hung
lower with each word. Finally she curled up into a ball and began to
cry. 

	They didn't need her to come down and identify the body. Her sister had
been wearing her nametag, and most of her uniform was still intact.

++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot sat upright and gasped for breath. He was covered in sweat and
had short quick breaths. "A nightmare?" he muttered hopefully.

	A quick jolt of pain at his side told him it most definitely was not.
He cringed as his body responded to his quick motion. "Damn..."

	"Are you all right?"

	He froze for the briefest of moments. He was still in Michiru's room.

	"I'm fine." His face told a different story though. He still looked
like he was in a bit of pain.

	She was wrapping herself up in the sheets as she yawned and sat up next
to him. Her hair was messed up and she had all the sheets hung over her
shoulders. "Was it that bad?"

	"You saw how I showed up at your door. I still don't know what I was
thinking when I did that. I think I was worried about being late for
some reason."

	The girl smiled at this and remained silent.

	Carrot wished he hadn't said that, maybe. His ribs were sore, but he
could move about easily enough. 

	Michiru was absolutely beaming with cheerfulness. Carrot felt like he
had a small hangover. 

	"You can probably take off a few of those bandages now; if not all of
them. You're moving pretty well."

	"No thanks to you," he muttered half-heartedly. 

	"Are you saying we should have waited?"

	"..." He just stared at her with his mouth open. "Um...well..."

	"Good," she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and jumped to her feet
tossing the covers back. "Come on and pick up this stupid sword."

	The boy slowly moved onto his feet and hung his head. Standing didn't
suck as much as he'd thought. He slowly staggered towards the clothes
Michiru had gotten out for him. Apparently they were her father's, old
things he never wore. It was just a pair of light brown slacks and a
button up shirt. He took a bit longer than normal to dress himself and
followed after his girlfriend. 

	"Oh god. I've got a girlfriend and I've got no idea how it happened!"
he lamented to himself as he stepped out into the hallway and looked
down at the ground. 

	Her room was an upstairs room; a stairwell turned down to the entrance
to the home just to his right. He walked down and yawned lazily. It was
sitting on the floor just inside the door. She had pulled it out of the
middle of the room with the umbrella that was resting against the wall
next to it. The scabbard was leaning beside the umbrella.

	He walked over to the floor and picked it up. It didn't have near the
reaction it had before thankfully. He really didn't expect it too. A few
tendrils of power crackled across his wrist as he flipped it around his
wrist and tossed the scabbard across his shoulder at the same time. With
a quick fluid motion he placed it on his back and slowly pulled his hand
from the hilt with a somewhat shocked look about him. 

	"Wow! You're pretty good. Been studying for a while?"

	"No," replied the boy quietly. "I've trained with a sword before,
but...I'm not this good. I know I'm not." He looked at his hand and
frowned. These little surprises were usually in his favor, but it was
growing more and more unsettling. "What's happening to me?"

	Michiru simply watched him in silence for a moment. She had no idea
what to say really. "This is good, isn't it? I mean..."

	"I'm not sure what it means. That's all." He shrugged it off as best he
could and pulled his eyes away from his hand almost forcefully. "It's
just something I've got to figure out for myself I guess."

	"I'll make breakfast then," replied Michiru as she turned away from
him. She had a somewhat pensive frown on her face as she walked towards
the kitchen.

	"I guess I should stay and eat," he said to himself as he walked after
her.

++++++++++++++++++++

	"Wow. I haven't had pancakes in years," said the boy as he sat back in
his seat. They were in Michiru's car and heading back towards the
clinic. "I've been living off of instant stuff really."

	"I thought you might like it," replied the girl as she smirked to
herself. 

	"I did," he replied honestly. "Thanks."

	"Years?"

	"I guess I haven't been out much recently. Well, I have, but not when I
could help it..." Who was he kidding? He spent more time outside running
for his life recently than he did hiding out inside. 

	That was when it hit him. A lot of his problems sort of ironed
themselves out. Hisami was dead, Goblin had blown up, and the Ninja
appeared too want to leave him alone. There was still Kei, and Venom to
deal with though. He still wasn't sure about the Yakuza though. If he
played his cards right, they might just forget about him. 

	"You've been quiet all morning," said Michiru.

	"I've had a lot on my mind," he replied with a small smirk forming on
his face. "I may have solved a few of my problems, but not all of them.
I'm really not sure just how much that mess may have solved itself just
yet."

	The girl merely nodded at this. "I see."

	"Are you upset?" he asked her calmly.

	"No," she replied calmly. "I was just wondering."

	"Let's get one thing straight right now. If you ask me what I'm
thinking, and I say nothing. I mean it. I can do that sometimes, for
hours even."

	Michiru blinked and glanced over at him. He looked completely serious.
A small giggle escaped her lips and she shook her head. "Unbelievable."

	"Yeah. I get called that all the time."

	"It's true you know."

	"That's what bothers me most."

	It was a strange answer; the boy seemed to almost be trying to suck the
mood out of the air.

	"Stop sulking!" she snapped as she smacked him on the back of his head. 

	"Ouch! Hey!" he whined as he rubbed the spot and glanced over at her
nervously. 

	"You're going to put me in a bad mood!"

	"Sorry," he said a little guiltily. 

	"I expect a call later as well," she said as she narrowed her eyes at
him.

	"Don't worry. I remember what happened last time," he replied with a
smirk of his own.

	The girl blushed badly and looked away from him.

	"I've got no plans to go out looking for trouble for a few days at
least anyway."

	"Looking for trouble?"

	Carrot turned back towards the window. He wasn't sure how she meant
that. "Well. I didn't mean literally. I'm planing on laying low until
this last mess kind of blows over a bit. If I'm lucky, certain people
will forget about me because of some stuff that happened."

	"What sort of stuff?" she inquired smoothly.

	"Huh? Some Yakuza boss died, I'm hoping it was sort of a personal thing
and that the guy who takes over won't care about me. That or some sort
of internal war makes it more trouble than it's worth, and they forget
about me."

	"Oh."

+++++++++++++++++

	Carrot walked into the clinic with Michiru just behind him. The moment
he stepped into the door he stopped cold and stared at the pair standing
before him.

	Luna and Mei Lin were standing there staring at him. Neither one looked
particularly happy. 

	The girl spoke up first and turned her gaze away from him. "Gia..."

	"What's wrong?" asked the boy with a cautious look about him.

	"Gia is in her room, she hasn't come out since she got that phone call
earlier. She's been crying in there all morning." Luna had a serious
look on her face as she said this too him.

	Michiru looked uncomfortable for a moment and glanced at her boyfriend. 

	"What happened?"

	"I'm not sure. She said she wanted to speak with you when you got back.
It's the only thing she's said to us all day." Mei Lin turned towards
the door and nodded her head.

	"Great. I guess I'd better go see then," replied the boy with a heavy
sigh. He started towards the door and left Michiru standing there. "Hang
around for a few minutes will you? If she's in real bad shape I may need
help. I'm not real good about being..." He couldn't quite find the right
words.

	Both girls nodded at this. Luna didn't look particularly interested and
moved off into a corner to take a nap. She would find out what was going
on soon enough.

+++++++++++++++++

	"Hello?" He stopped in the doorway and stared into the darkness of the
woman's room. He could see a pile of sheets in the bed that shifted
slightly. "Gia?"

	"Carrot?" said a quiet voice. The woman sniffled as she sat up. He
couldn't see her very well, but it was easy to see she was a mess.

	"What happened?" he said as he stepped into the room and closed the
door.

	Without warning the woman jumped up and grabbed him in a rough hug. She
was crying.

	He didn't move to push her away, but was clearly uncomfortable. "Hey.
Come on now. What happened?" He patted her on the back gently and moved
her to sit down on the edge of the bed. 

	"She's dead."

	This confused the boy. "Who?"

	"I guess I never told you I had a sister." She was trying very hard to
control herself. 

	"No. You never mentioned it," he replied honestly. "What happened?"

	"She was a doctor at the hospital." The woman's voice became laced with
anger. 

	"Hospital?" 

	"That monster murdered her."

	He didn't like the sound of this. "What happened?"

	"You don't know?" said the woman in confusion.

	The boy turned his gaze away from her. "No. There was a monster at the
hospital?"

	"Haven't you been watching the news?" muttered the woman with a hurt
look in her eyes.

	"Sorry. After that mess ended I've been kind of avoiding..."

	She cut him off suddenly. "There was some sort of attack on the
hospital. Some kind of monster killed two hundred people and destroyed
the place. The senshi were able to drive it off, but..."

	"Shit." This wasn't good news. He wasn't sure what to make of it
either. Two hundred deaths didn't sound much like the work of the
Negaverse. Then again, things hadn't exactly been going the way they
should have recently. He had no clue what they had been up too.

	The woman gave him a small humorless laugh. "I see."

	"I'm sorry..."

	"It got away."

	Carrot growled under his breath. Those idiot girls would screw
something like that up. 

	"Carrot. I've never really asked anything of you before..." She left
the rest unsaid as she pulled her knees up to her chest. 

	The boy looked at her in silence and took a step back. After a long
moment he spoke up. He owed her this much and he knew it. "I'll do what
I can."

	The woman nodded and moved back onto the bed without another word. 

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Underneath Tokyo, in the darkness of the tunnels under the streets, a
lone figure crouched just above a small stream of sewage. The smell
didn't seem to bother it at all as it simply seethed in anger in the
darkness. 

	The torn remains of a newspaper littered the ground at its feet. The
double headlines were shredded completely leaving the rest of the paper
in a few larger pieces. 

	"No. It's not time yet. I'll kill her when I beat her." Its skin jumped
about excitedly. "I want to enjoy her death."

	It's head cocked as it peered down the tunnels. "Repairs are complete
now. Its time to go back. I've got a lot of work to do, Spiderman seems
to be keeping me out of the limelight. We'll have to do something about
that, without him, she'll fail for sure." It giggled to itself madly as
it jumped away into the darkness. 

+++++++++++++++++++++

	"Call Spike."

	Mei Lin and Michiru glanced up as the boy stepped out of Gia's room
with a deep frown on his face.

	"What's going on?" asked Michiru with a worried looking frown.

	"I'm sorry," he said as he looked over at her for a moment. "I've got
something I've got to take care of."

	She looked confused by this.

	Mei Lin nodded at him seriously. "I thought maybe it was him."

	"No. She had a sister."

	The girl merely nodded at this and stood up to make the call.

	"Gia's sister is dead?" asked Luna as she hopped onto the table where
the girls had been sitting. 

	"Yeah."

	"You're going to go looking for whoever did it aren't you?" asked
Michiru.

	"I owe Gia a lot."

	The girl merely nodded at this and remained silent.

	His costume was destroyed. Spiderman was sort of out of it for a little
while it seemed. He glanced down at the paper and sat down as he picked
it up. It wasn't the newest issue, but the one with the double headline.
"Shit," he muttered as he read through the story. Each of the Sailor
Senshi, with the exception of Usagi, was mentioned by name.

	"What are you going to do now?" asked Michiru.

	"The senshi have been revealed. Everyone knows who they are now."

	The girl seemed confused by this.

	"I'm going to become very busy again real soon," he said as he glanced
at her. "If everyone knows who they are, then the Negaverse will be able
to attack them directly."

	"Negaverse?" muttered his girlfriend in confusion.

	"That's where all these monsters are coming from. Without the senshi,
we won't be able to stop them."

	Something pulled at the girl, she wasn't sure why, but the very idea of
that terrified her. "I don't like the sound of that."

	"Neither do I."

	Mei Lin walked back into the room and sat down. "Spike is on his way."

	"Good. I probably won't be here when he gets here."

	The younger girl nodded and spoke up suddenly. "I need to talk with
you."

	The boy glanced at her as he leaned his blade against his shoulder.
"What's up?"

	"It's about that thing...from yesterday. The one you were fighting..."
she seemed somewhat embarrassed. 

	"Huh?" he wasn't expecting this.

	"I've seen it before."

	"Keep talking," he said as he turned to face her completely and
narrowed his eyes.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	"Are you sure this is a good idea? He's probably not happy with us."
Hakage frowned at the young female ninja that was squatting down beside
him on the rooftops of Tokyo.

	"We must find him," he replied simply. 

	"I don't like the idea of this," snorted another young male shinobi.
Both of the young ninja were dressed in traditional black garb. Their
hoods hid their faces from view. The female was slightly smaller than
the male, but both of them were much shorter and slimmer than the older
shinobi. "We should..."

	"Don't speak of things you do not understand boy. I've seen his power
myself. This is something we should take very seriously."

	"If he isn't with us, he'll destroy us right?" asked the female. She
didn't sound impressed.

	Hakage was growing annoyed. "This man single handedly destroyed all of
our leaders in less than six months."

	"I recall Hikyu had a hand in it as well," snorted the female.

	"Destiny is more powerful than you seem to think. We must find him."

	"Fine," snorted the boy as he stared down at the street. The building
they were on was only about four stories tall and the bustle of Tokyo
below them was quite clear.

	"Where do we start looking?" asked the female.

	"The rooftops and above the streets are the most likely area to meet
him," replied the older ninja gruffly. "Start looking, if you see him
follow until you lose him or he gets where he's going, report to me if
you find him. Do not attempt to contact him yourselves. I'm not certain
how friendly he'll be. I don't think he'll attack me though. I've spoken
with him before now. You two I am not certain of."	

	The youths glanced at each other wordlessly and bounced off in opposite
directions.

	The older shinobi sighed heavily. "Rebuilding the clan will be more
difficult than I imagined."

+++++++++++++++++++

	"Well! Good morning sunshine! How do you feel?"

	Kajura glared at his partner angrily. His arm was in a sling and he was
lying on a hospital bed with a sour frown on his face. "How the hell do
you think I feel?"

	"It's nice to see you're so cheerful," replied Saito. The man had an
unlit cigarette in his mouth and grinned at his partner as he shoved a
bouquet of flowers into his chest. "After all, you get out of all that
paperwork."

	"I'm sure I'll have plenty to fill out when I get back," replied the
man sourly. 

	"I've got more good news," said Saito as he sat down in a chair that
was next to the bed in front of a window.

	"What is it?" snorted the man as he turned his head away.

	"Seems Hisami's son took a nose dive out of the window when he found
out about his father."

	"That's unlikely, he's been trying to kill his father for years. Got
tired of waiting on him to die."

	"Well, in any case, we haven't gotten any word on who the new leader
might be."

	"We can expect a big mess then," snorted Kajura.

	Saito shook his head. "Things have been remarkably quiet. I know it's a
little early, but we haven't heard a peep. It's likely someone took over
right away."

	"So we accomplished nothing?"

	"As usual," replied his partner cheerfully. "At least they didn't blame
us for the explosion. We're expecting word from the legal team at the
faction soon. They'll probably put the blame on people who died in the
mess."

	"Be still my beating heart," snorted Kajura. "Hisami will be cleared of
blame of course."

	"That's the rumor. Murdered by one of his underlings when he
'discovered the illegal activities and attempted to stop them'. We
should find out who's running things when they release their cover up.
It's expected any time now actually."

	"How much longer do I have to sit here?" grumbled the older man as he
looked out the window.

	"We'll work out the details later. How's the wound?"

	"It hurts."

	"That's nice. I'll see you later. You're being released later this
evening. Lucky for you, the poison in that dart wasn't real strong."

	Kajura merely closed his eyes as his partner left. That old man hadn't
wanted him dead, he wanted his partner to be busy keeping him alive
while he escaped with Hisami. He almost wished the old man had managed
to pull it off.

	"Maybe then I could..." He squeezed his eyes shut. It was too late. He
had to move on now.

+++++++++++++++++++

	"Who's this?" The young man sitting behind the wheel of the van that
had pulled up in front of the clinic stared at Carrot. He had a ball cap
pulled onto his head backwards and a toothpick clenched between his
teeth. He looked to be in his early twenties and was dressed in street
clothes.

	Mei Lin was standing beside Carrot with a blush on her face. "Um. This
is a friend of mine."

	Carrot didn't look happy with the girl at the moment. "I sent you to
that job so you could tell me about things like this before they tried
to kill me."

	"It didn't seem important!" snapped the girl.

	"Well that unimportant thing told me it was going to poke a hole in my
throat."

	The man behind the wheel turned his gaze towards Mei Lin. "Am I missing
something here?"

	"Sorry about the short notice. I need a favor," muttered Mei Lin as she
bowed to the man behind the wheel.

	"No problem. Is there a story in it?"

	Carrot glared at the girl for a moment.

	"Maybe," she replied sheepishly. "I really need to check up on an old
lead..."

	"Great. So who's this?" said the man cheerfully.

	"This is...um...Spiderman."

	The man stared at the angrily glaring Carrot for a moment. "Yer
kiddin?"

	"No," replied Carrot with a sigh. "I wear a mask for a reason you
know."

	"Well he's not going to help us unless he thinks it will be fun. He's
still working you know. He had to ditch another reporter for this and if
I don't get something to bring back he could lose his job if he does
help us."

	Carrot hung his head. "Fine." 

	"Great. Hop in," said the man cheerfully.

	"This is Hibiki. He's a friend from work," said Mei Lin nervously.

	"If what you just told him shows up in the paper I'll kill him," said
Carrot calmly as he opened the side door of the van. "Wait a minute. Did
you say Hibiki?" He turned to look at the man for a moment nervously. 

	"Yeah. Why?" asked the man as he glanced back at the boy for a moment.
He put on a pair of mirrored sunglasses as he started the engine.

	Carrot's mind relaxed a bit as he recalled seeing Ranma manga on store
shelves. "It's nothing."

	"It's just a nickname actually. Real name is Jiro." The man tapped a
button on the dash and the CD player came on. Carrot's ears were
bombarded by high speed metal at extreme volume levels. 

	"Turn that down! We need to be able to hear if anything or anyone
decides to land on the van!" cried Carrot into the man's ear.

	"Is he serious?" asked Hibiki nervously as he dramatically lowered the
volume.

	"Probably. I'm not sure," replied Mei Lin as she hopped into the back.

	Carrot hopped in behind her and shut the door. Both of them took their
seats. Mei Lin looked somewhat embarrassed and Carrot looked bored.

	"About that killing me thing too?"

	The girl simply shrugged.
	
	"So. Where too?" asked the driver cheerfully.
	

	"Cybertech labs."

	"Wait a minute! You mean somebody built that thing?" said Carrot in
shock.

	"Of course," replied Mei Lin as if it should have been obvious.

+++++++++++++++++++

	Mamoru Chiba was frowning as he walked down the street. His entire body
had burn scars all over it. The only injury to his head or face besides
his new extremely short haircut was a small burn mark on his right
cheek. 

	He was sulking more than anything else. His life had been miserable
over the past few months. He barely saw Usagi at all. The couple had
been in and out of the hospital so much recently that they had grown
fairly distant. He needed to do something about that. 

	There had been a rain earlier in the day, the pavement was still
slightly wet and large puddles littered the roads. He was walking along
the edge of the sidewalk by the buildings with his hands in his pockets.
A somber looking frown was stretched across his face as he glared
forward angrily. All of his problems recently were because of one man.

	He froze and stared forward in shock. A large van was bearing down on
him from the other side of the street. It actually crossed in front of
two lanes of traffic as it zeroed in on him.

	Carrot was sitting in the passenger side with a huge grin on his face
and his hand on the wheel. The driver was screaming in fear.

	At the last moment, the vehicle turned sharply and actually slid the
rear end around as it went back across traffic and into the same lane it
had started from. A large arc of water shot into the air from the
gigantic puddle that ended at the sidewalk.

Mamoru's eyes went wide with terror as he watched the wave come down on
top of his head as it slammed into his body. He simply stood there
shaking as the vehicle squealed away.

++++++++++++++++++

	"ARE YOU NUTS?" cried Mei Lin as she tried to move her arms and failed.
She had her seat in a death grip.

	"Woah. That was cool. You must hate that guy," said Hibiki in awe as he
took the wheel again.

	"Yeah," said Carrot simply as he lit a cigarette and rolled the window
down a bit.

+++++++++++++++++++

	The scientist staggered back clutching his nose as he stumbled back
onto a desk. He looked surprised and frightened as he did his best to
scramble away and fell onto his back on the other side.

	"You asshole! That thing you made tried to kill me!" Carrot was pissed.
"What the hell were you thinking!? Who else was involved?! I'll kick all
your asses!"

	Mei Lin grabbed him around his waist and pulled him back. "We need
their help don't we?"

	The wimpy looking scientist peered over the edge of the desk nervously.
"You...found it?"

	"Um, you could say that," muttered Mei Lin sheepishly. Carrot had
calmed down considerably and she released him.

	"Boy is that an understatement," grumbled the boy as he glared at the
man angrily.

	"This is great!" cried the scientist as he seemed to forget that he'd
been punched.

	A stuffy looking man with slicked back hair walked up to the group. "I
hear you've found our Unit."

	"I'm going to ignore that statement," grumbled Carrot. 

	The scientist nodded feverishly. "Yes. It's very exciting!"

	Hibiki spoke up suddenly. "Yoshi, you're pissing off the kid again. Do
you really want to get punched?"

	Carrot glanced back at him in annoyance, but didn't respond.

	"Right," muttered the man as he blushed. "Sorry."

	"Whatever. Can you help me get rid of it or not? That thing has tried
to kill me more than once."

	"Damn," growled the other man. "I had hoped that was worked out in this
model."

	Carrot clenched his fist tightly as he stared daggers into the man's
chest. He had a feeling if he hit him, he'd end up fighting whatever
security the building had though. If they kept talking this way, he
probably wouldn't care much. He'd have to remember to keep them alive if
that happened. He'd need to torture them to get all the information he
needed about Venom out of him.

	"I'm surprised you lived at all."

	"You're telling me that you didn't know your monster was involved with
destroying half of Tokyo a few days ago?" snapped Carrot angrily.

	"Yes. We were aware. However, if it's targeted you, we have a means to
catch it. If you'll just cooperate with us�"

	"How do I get it off that girl?" he said as he narrowed his eyes at the
man. "I know fire works, what about sound?"

	Both men blinked in surprise.

	"How did�?" muttered Yoshi nervously.

	The stuffy looking man narrowed his eyes at the boy. "My name is Carl.
I think you and I should have a talk kid. I didn't catch your name?"

	"I didn't give it," replied the boy coolly. 

	"I see," said the man as he glanced at the two reporters. "Who else
knows you're here?"

	"What kind of question is that? Thinking of covering up this mess you
made?" said Carrot as he smirked at the man. "You need us to catch it.
You can't risk finding it on your own. If it kills anyone while it's
loose you're in serious trouble if anyone else can say where it came
from. I'll tell you there are others, friends of mine, who know about
it."

	"It seems you have me," said the man with a small nod.

	"Don't think I trust you just because I have a little leverage," said
the boy with a small smirk forming on his face.

	"What are you doing?" snapped Mei Lin angrily.

	"The reporters stay here," said Carl as he turned towards the back. 

	"I think they were just leaving. I'll see them to the gate." He turned
towards the pair and frowned.

	Hibiki caught on rather quickly and nodded seriously. Mei Lin looked
confused and was growing more irritated by the moment. 

	"There's no need," said the man calmly. The scientist was wisely
keeping quiet and backed away from the scene nervously. 

	"I insist. I still don't trust you."

	The man smiled at this. "Meet me here in ten minutes."

	He pulled a small radio from behind his back and spoke into it. "Let
the reporters leave."

+++++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot walked out the front door with the pair. "I might have to fight
my way out of here. You two get back into town, drive vast and keep an
eye out for tails. These people don't want anyone to know they were
involved with any of this. I recommend that you forget about this story
Mei Lin."

	The girl glared at him angrily. "What?"

	Hibiki grabbed her shoulder. "He's right. These people can be dangerous
Mei Lin."

	"I suppose you're right," replied the girl with a heavy sigh.

	 "Good. Get lost," said Carrot as he turned her towards the van and
pointed.

	"Hey!" she snapped as she started walking away. 

	"Good luck," said Hibiki.

	"You too," replied Carrot. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

	"Who is he?" growled Carl as he stared at the security officer at the
desk.

	"There's no record of him in any of our databases," replied the man.

	"He's American. He's got to have a passport or something!"

	"I'm sorry sir, I'm not getting anything. Maybe he has military parents
and was born here?"

	"Damn it," growled the man as he pushed his fingers through his hair.
"Who is this kid?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot stood in the room waiting patiently. The scientist was sitting
at a desk nearby looking rather nervous.

	"You built that thing?" asked the boy calmly as he glanced at the man.

	"Y�yeah," muttered the man. "I led the project�I mean�"

	"You know everything there is to know about it?" queried the kid as he
smirked at him.

	"That's right. It's a real piece of work. It's actually made of liquid
metal. It's basically a liquid computer!"

	"A computer huh?"

	"Sort of, there are some biological elements involved. It interacts
with your body. It's not quite a cyborg though."

	The boy snorted. "Whatever."

	The man glanced away nervously. He'd gotten a little excited again. He
couldn't help it if he loved his work.

	Carl walked back into the room with a deep frown on his face. "Who are
you? What do you want from us?"

	The boy merely smirked as he calmly walked up to the man. "What do I
want? You're more desperate than you should be about hiding something
like this. I mean, you'd be in real trouble if anyone found out about it
now, but�it hasn't killed anyone yet has it?"

	The man narrowed his eyes at the boy. 

	"It has, hasn't it?" Carrot's hand moved like a striking viper as he
punched the man dead in the face. As he was going down he kicked him in
the chest and sent him skidding across the floor. He could hear the
doorways bursting open as men rushed to their leader's aide. 

	Without a word he turned and grabbed the scientist by his waist. He
pointed his wrist at the ceiling and shot a line to he skylight in the
ceiling. The place was outside of Tokyo in the middle of a large forest,
the entire building was only one story tall, but probably had multiple
sub-levels. 

	He kicked the glass out and pulled the screaming man up to the ceiling.
He dumped him onto the rooftop and slapped him across his face. 

	"You want to stop that thing?" he snapped as the man stopped his
screams. 

	"Huh? Of course!" snapped Yoshi.

	"Good, I don't have to torture you. You're coming with me."

	The man went pale and swallowed hard. Carrot grabbed him around his
waist and started running towards the edge of the roof. Yoshi screamed
in alarm as he dove off the side of the building and sent what looked
almost like liquid rope to one of the light posts that dotted the
landscape around the complex. The boy released the line and sent out
another with the same hand and they sailed over the fence and into the
woods.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	"We're being followed," said Hibiki as he glanced over at Mei Lin. 

	"Great," muttered the girl as she frowned. She was sitting in the
passenger side and stuck her head out the window to look back at them. 

	"I don't think the van will outrun them, and this is the only road for
about twenty miles." The men were driving black sedans that looked new
and polished. 

	"Why do people drive black cars when they don't want to be spotted?"
muttered Mei Lin.

	"Harder to see at night," replied Hibiki simply. "This thing won't go
off road. We're stuck."

	The girl stuck her head out of the window again and stuck out her
tongue and pulled down her eyelid back at the sedans. "Stop the stupid
van."

	"What?! Are you crazy?!" cried the man.

	"If you don't, they'll just bang it up catching us."

	"They're going to kill us Mei Lin!"

	"Stop being such a wuss, stop the van," snapped the girl as she put her
foot onto the brakes over his leg. The vehicle screeched to a halt
loudly and she jumped out the door before the man could recover.

"Aw, man!" cried Hibiki as he put on his glasses and jumped out with her
after putting it into park.

	"What the hell are you doing?"

	She simply smirked and watched the men climb out of the sedans that had
stopped about ten feet behind them. Seven men in security uniforms and
two men in black suits climbed out. They all strolled towards the pair.

	"Now what?" grumbled Hibiki. "You'd better have a plan."

	"I'm going to kick their asses. Don't be silly."

	"Say what?" said the man dumbly. 

	She calmly walked towards the man in the black suit who had stepped up
in front of the group with a frown on his face.

	"I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

	"You can't stop us."

	"I can," replied the man as he pulled a handgun out of his coat and
pointed it at her head.

	She looked down the barrel of the gun and into his eyes. "Shit."

	"Get into the car. We'll take care of the van."

	"Naw. This'll just be a bit harder!" screamed the girl as she snagged
his wrist, shifted it aside and kicked him in the head by flipping
herself over and across his arm, twisting his shoulder into a lock. Her
knee came into the back of his neck and he slumped to the ground. 

	The men around her took a moment to recover from the shock and she dove
into them creating chaos. The girl jumped forward and planted her elbow
into one of the uniformed security guard's crotch. Without missing a
beat she hooked her ankle across another one's neck with a spinning kick
and sent his head into the cranium of another guard who was diving for
her. Both of them were out cold, and the first guard was clutching
himself in pain.

	The five remaining men charged for her from all sides. She spun in a
sweep and toppled one of the men directly into her waiting hands. With a
quick motion she tossed him headfirst into the man on the opposite side
hitting him directly in the face. They both stayed on the ground and
didn't move.

	The only remaining man in a suit tried to sweep her from behind just
after that, but she jumped and turned in the air kicking him in the face
twice. He staggered back but wasn't knocked out. 

	The last two guards tried to grab her arms from either side to hold her
down, but she flipped her legs over her head and tossed them both off of
her and onto their backs. With quick and precise punches she made sure
they both stayed down.

	The man in the suit growled angrily as he realized that none of his
companions was in the way any longer. He reached into his coat pocket
and came up empty.

	"Looking for this?" asked Mei Lin as she waved the gun at him from just
out of his reach. 

	He was staring at her blankly as she removed the clip and then shot him
in the leg with the bullet that was in the chamber. He hit the ground
clutching his wound and cried out in pain. 

	The girl dropped the weapon to the ground and dusted off her hands.
"There. That takes care of that. Come on. Spiderman will tell me about
this 'Venom' thing when I meet him later and we can probably make
tomorrow's edition."

	"Yeah. Sure," muttered Hibiki dumbly. He was still standing as he was
when the mess had started. "Whatever you say lady."

	"Hurry up!" snapped the girl as she pulled at his arm and turned him
towards the van again.

	They hopped into the vehicle and drove away from the mess.

+++++++++++++++++++++

	Kunzite smiled as he stood on a street corner in Tokyo. He had just
walked out of a phone booth. In his hand was a small slip of paper with
addresses written on it, and a copy of the paper from two days before.
"Such an amazing place Earth has become. One book that can tell you how
to find anyone. All you have to know is a name."

	He chuckled to himself as he continued down the sidewalk. Sailor Moon
was the only name he didn't have. That didn't matter much though, after
all, she was missing. If she did show up, she'd be easy to destroy
without her friends around.

	"I'd best get started. I've got so much work to do." Beryl would be
most pleased with him. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

	TBC�

	Next Time: With friends like these�

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