Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the Creation of Nakao Takeuchi. The concept 
of Spider-Man is owned by Marvel Comics. No money is being made from 
this and no such intent should be inferred. C&C, public or Private, is 
always welcome.

Not much changed, expanded the ending and ran a spellcheck.

"The difference between fiction and reality
is that fiction has to make sense."
-- Tom Clancy

Ami and Naru sat in Study Hall in an isolated corner of the library 
watching as Usagi attempted to build a house of cards using only 
telekinesis.

At least, that was what it looked she was doing. With Usagi, it could 
be anything.

At that point, a copy of the Bugle slid on to the table as Flash joined 
them, knocking over the cards that had been already standing.

"Nico's dead," Flash said, tapping the paper. "Some bum found him in 
the park this morning, near the fountain."

"It says here that there was no sign of violence," Naru said, taking 
the paper and scanning the article. "He was just lying there. Dead, but 
otherwise unharmed. Freaky."

****

Beryl smiled as she walked around her new General. She hadn't expected 
the conditioning to take so little time, but she hadn't realized how 
much resentment and buried anger there was. There was quite a bit of 
it. Jealousy too. All buried, but there, and therefore, usable.

"The Senshi won't know what hit them," Beryl said to Kasuhito, Jinnai 
and Zon, who stood nearby. Or rather, Kunzite, Jadeite, and Zoisite, 
her Lord Generals. "Isn't that right, General Magnetite?"

General Magnetite smiled, it was not a pleasant expression.

****

Night had fallen.

In the park, Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Spiderwoman stood next to 
the fountain. There were still signs of the police having been there. 
Yellow tape, chalk on the grass, the usual.

Crouching in the grass, Sailor Moon, deerstalker cap on her head, took 
out a magnifying glass and a flashlight and peered at the grass.

"I deduce, Doctor Watson," she said, "that what we have here is nothing 
less then freshly tended grass."

"Who?" Jupiter asked.

"Sherlock Holmes," Sailor Moon said.

"No, Doctor Watson," Jupiter corrected.

"I..." Sailor Moon trailed off and stared at the blank look on 
Jupiter's face. "You have got to be kidding..."

"What?" Jupiter asked.

"Oh do I have some work to do," Sailor Moon said.

"Oh," Jupiter said when Sailor Moon had finished explaining about 
Holmes. "He sounds like a real putz."

"Putz? He was the greatest detective of all time!"

"Some great detective. From what you tell me, his nemesis was a friggin 
math teacher. A math teacher! What's so great about getting your ass 
handed to you by a math teacher?"

I..." Sailor Moon stared at Jupiter. "You worry me, madam," she said 
archly.

"Bout time somebody did," Jupiter responded. "Hey, what's Ami doing?"

"I told you," Sailor Moon said turning to see what Jupiter was looking 
at. "We don't use our real names when we're out as Senshi, it's a 
bench. Why is she staring at a bench?"

Indeed, Ami was wearing her civilian clothes and was staring at one of 
the benches that ringed the fountain. As they watched, Ami's head 
bowed, and her shoulders began to shake. Soft sobbing sounds reached 
their ears.

"Ami?" Sailor Moon asked, going over to her and laying a head on her 
shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Ami looked at her, blue eyes red from crying. "This is where I last 
saw Gendo," she whispered. "W-we fought. He . . . he wanted me to stop 
being friends with you . . . said you were a bad influence."

'Thanks for the compliment, Shinnie," Sailor Moon thought to herself, 
but wisely did not say that out loud.

"You bastard!" Ami shrieked, lunging forward and kicking the bench, her 
clothes becoming the Spiderwoman costume, causing Sailor Moon's mouth 
to drop open. Ami had not touched the armband to don her costume, but 
rather, she had seemed to ripple, and there it was. "Why did you leave 
me?"

The bench itself flew off its bolts, sending bits of concrete every 
which way, and arcing through the air to bounce and skid across the 
concrete path.

Spiderwoman darted forward, picking up the bench. Again, she rippled 
and there Sailor Mercury stood. She screamed, a wail of grief and rage 
that seemed to be beyond the power of any human throat. It was a scream 
that reached down into the soul, jerked things off the wall and made 
them writhe. Then, she hurled the bench at the fountain.

"Shit!" Jupiter cried and tackled Sailor Moon at the knees, knocking 
her to the ground as the bench sailed through the air where Sailor 
Moon's head had been.

The bench collided with the fountain, denting the steel hard enough to 
lodge in there and shattering the ceramic tiles.

"Kuso . . ." Sailor Moon breathed.

Spiderwoman screamed that horrible scream again, and then fired a 
web-line into the trees, leaping away into the park.

"Fuckin A," Jupiter said.

"After her!" Sailor Moon cried as she leapt to her feet and charged off 
into the woods.

"I deserve a damn medal," Jupiter said and took off after Sailor Moon.

"I was bluffing, I was bluffing, God, I was bluffing," Sailor Moon was 
saying when Jupiter caught up to her.

"Bluffing?"

"Spiderwoman's a killer!" Sailor Moon panted. "Remember when the Jet 
Hurl got trashed?"

"Yeah?"

"Right before that, there was an attempted rape. Spiderwoman stopped it 
by killing the rapists. Turned their heads into strawberry jam. I told 
her that if she ever killed again, I'd expose her to the entire city."

Jupiter frowned. She was vaguely aware that Ami was a looney, that is, 
was three different people in one body, but beyond that, she had lost 
interest.

"So far," Sailor Moon continued, "she's been good, but Gendo's a touchy 
subject."

"Who? Oh, the blond sword kid. Isn't he dead?"

"Yeah. Spiderwoman came about because Ami feels guilty that she ran 
rather then standing her ground."

They skidded to a stop. In a clearing, two teens sat, staring at a body 
lying on the ground. The teens, both girls, held onto each other and 
shook with fright.

"What the hell?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Some crazy woman!" One of the teens gasped. "That guy was going to 
rape us. She leapt out of the trees, beat him to a pulp and then took 
off, screaming the whole time."

"She was hot though," the second girl added. "That red and blue suit 
was totally formfitting."

"He's alive, barely," Jupiter said, examining the rapist's body. "I 
suppose that's a good thing."

"Get out of here," Sailor Moon said to the teens. "Find a phone, call 
the police."

The two teens nodded and stood up. "She went that way," one of them 
said, pointing.

"Thanks," Sailor Moon said. "C'mon, Jupes."

"'Jupes'?" Jupiter repeated as she ran after Sailor Moon.

Zoisite stripped off his disguise and looked at Kunzite. "That went 
well," he said.

"Indeed," Kunzite replied, removing his own disguise. "'She was hot'?"

"I was into the role."

Kunzite gave Zoisite a withering glance and then they both looked at 
Jadeite, who was sitting up, the bruises fading. "Did it work?" Jadeite 
asked.

"We'll know soon enough," Kunzite said. "Magnetite did say that the 
Senshi would remember this night for a long time."

****

A layer of asphalt flew up as both Senshi skidded out of the park and 
turned north. Horns honked as they crossed the street by jumping from 
car roof to car roof, leapt onto awnings and onto the rooftops.

"Which way?"

Sailor Moon pondered. Pacing back and forth, trying to think. "Scum, 
she wants to punish scum. Scum scum scum high crime--Shinjuku!"

****

The Green Goblin watched silently as Spiderwoman took out yet another 
petty thug, all the while screaming a horrible scream. The Goblin had 
yet to make himself known, content to watch her dispatching small time 
operators. The police radio built into his mask informed him that only 
just now, the police were arriving at the first call, at the edge of 
Shinjuku.

It appeared that Spiderwoman had a death wish. She had cut a straight 
line into the district, leaving behind a bloody trail. She had yet to 
kill anyone--pity--but she didn't seem to care about getting killed. 
Idly, he wondered what had set her off.

"Entertaining, isn't it?" asked someone behind him.

Goblin whipped around, the flying craft responding instantly. Sitting 
on the chimney was a sensuous redhead in a form-fitting dress and a 
black crown. A crystal orb topped her scepter and she was watching him 
with a smile on her face. Her eyes held the promise of unearthly 
delights and forbidden knowledge.

Curious, the Goblin moved closer, sensing that he was looking at a 
kindred spirit.

"My name is Beryl," she purred. "You are the Green Goblin?"

"I am."

"I have a proposition for you."

****

Even Senshi had their limits and finally, both Sailor Moon and Jupiter 
collapsed on an air conditioner. It was almost midnight, and they had 
gone back and forth across Shinjuku, finding plenty of places where 
Spiderwoman had been, but unable to locate her.

Both girls were thoroughly winded. Sailor Moon had shed her leather 
trench, sending it back to wherever the senshi outfits went and still 
sweat poured off of her.

Jupiter, who often spent half the day every day doing grueling physical 
exercise, was hardly better.

"How .  ..the hell . . . does she . . . move so fast?" Jupiter demanded 
between gasps for air.

"Spider powers," Sailor Moon gasped back. "It must be. Gad, her 
endurance and stamina are off the charts."

"Does she get tired?"

"Let's hope so." Sailor Moon took a deep breath and forced herself to 
stand. "Let's keep moving. If we stay here much longer we won't be able 
to get moving again."

"Who picked me to be a Senshi?" Jupiter said as she too stood up. "I 
wanna smack 'em."

****

Get them. Get them all. No one goes unpunished.

Spiderwoman moved across the city. Vaguely, she was aware of voices in 
her head yelling at her, of her body protesting.

She ignored it. She ignored it all.

Get the scum. Must get the scum.

Gendo . . .

****

The big digital clock proclaimed it two in the morning, when Jupiter 
finally collapsed on a scaffolding. She and Sailor Moon were in the 
Entertainment district where the buildings on either side of the main 
street were topped with miniature skyscrapers of neon signs. The 
scaffolding itself was for maintenance workers.

"No more," Jupiter said. "I can't take another step."

Sailor Moon leaned against the sign, its heat soothing aching muscles. 
"If I ever get access to a time machine," she vowed. "Or even the 
chance to travel through time, the first thing I will do is go kick 
Gendo's ass for putting Ami through this hell. I don't care if the fate 
of the cosmos hangs in the balance, I am going back in time to kick 
that kid's ass."

Jupiter made a noise to demonstrate agreement. It wasn't as though she 
could do anything else.

Finally, after several minutes, Jupiter recovered enough to sit up.

"Fuck secrets," Jupiter said. "I say we drag Ami to a psychiatrist. Let 
them put her back together."

"My dad sent me to one once," Sailor Moon said.

"Yeah? What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I was explaining my theory of time-traveling hippo and 
penguin alien invaders from another planet in a parallel dimension when 
he suddenly started screaming and then hurled himself out the window. 
Granted, I was talking very fast and double-talking while I was at it, 
so maybe he was little confused."

"Let me guess, you would have only been too happy to explain had he 
asked."

"In triple-talk, of course."

"Of course." Jupiter voice was filled with sarcasm. "Look," Ami's 
probably worked her angst out by now. I say we go home."

"I can't," Sailor Moon replied. "Ami's my friend. I won't turn my back 
on my friends."

"Look at you . . . hell, look at me. We're both exhausted, probably 
beyond exhausted. It's two damn something in the fucking morning, and 
the person we've been trying to find has made like Casper and 
vanished."

Sailor Moon reached over and grabbed the front of Jupiter's fuku, 
pulling her close. Her blue eyes blazed and she seemed to have fangs as 
she snarled, her voice seeming to take on an otherworldly echo. "We're 
not going home until we find her!" She gave Jupiter a cheerful smile. 
"Okay?" she chirped.

"Okay," Jupiter squeaked and extracted her fuku from Sailor Moon's 
grip. "All I'm saying is, we don't know where she is and we're running 
ourselves to death going all over the city trying to find her. We need 
a plan."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry." Sailor Moon sat down next to Jupiter. "I'm just 
worried about her."

"You two are pretty tight then?"

Sailor Moon shrugged. "She doesn't care that I have more money then 
most small countries. That means a lot."

Jupiter watched the street below. "I guess I owe her an apology. I've 
been a real bitch to her . . . I couldn't help it . . . I hated her--" 
Jupiter cut herself off. "Never mind."

"Do my ears deceive me?" Sailor Moon asked. "You're really sorry?"

"Yeah." Jupiter sighed. "Yeah I am. Go figure, huh?"

"Think fast," Sailor Moon said and tossed a camera at her.

"What?"

"Take a look at the lens."

Jupiter peered closely at the lens. A crack ran across it and in it's 
depths, she saw more cracks.

"It took a hit while we were saving you. The film got fried by light. 
All the pictures are gone."

"But . . . why..." Jupiter stared at her as she suddenly realized how 
she had been manipulated into being friends with Ami . . . at the same 
time, relief flooded through her that she could go back to her old life 
and . . .

And what?

Lonely days filled with nothing but school, games, and shallow jocks 
who only cared about her because she getting them glory? She was only 
too well aware that the only reason her freakish size was ignored was 
because she was useful to the team and to the school.

But for the past month, she had . . . well, be honest, she had grown to 
like hanging out with Usagi and Naru. And Ami wasn't too bad . . . but 
she had been forced into it.

And all things considered, the end result wasn't too bad, was it?

Jupiter stared at the camera for what seemed like hours, then her eyes 
closed as her fingers crushed the camera.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Sailor Moon grinned. "I never turn my back on my friends."

Jupiter stared at her. "One question. What did you have on Ami?"

"Her hair. It's actually mauve. She dyes it." They both started 
laughing.

When they had calmed down, Sailor Moon turned serious. "Can I ask you 
something personal?"

"Sure?"

"You said you hated Ami . . . why?"

Jupiter stared at Sailor Moon. On one hand, she desperately wanted to 
tell someone the secret she had kept locked away for nearly ten years. 
On the other, the blonde next to her had proven she had no qualms about 
blackmail to get someone to do something.

'Yeah, but look at what happened. You have friends. Real friends.'

'Do I? Maybe she's messing with me.'

'Maybe. But why would she tell you about the camera then? Go for it. 
You can disappear if you have too.'

'I don't want to.'

. . .

'Yes, I do.'

Jupiter took a deep breath. "I lost my parents at Okinawa," she said 
simply.

"So did Ami," Sailor Moon replied.

"You don't understand. They were all I had. I'm an orphan."

"But you--" Sailor Moon blinked several times. "How did you . . . I 
mean, you have the apartment, you go to Juuban Academy."

"There were so many unknowns," Jupiter said. "So many people so badly 
mutilated that they were unidentifiable. We lived up north. Isolated. 
It was so easy to just vanish. Head south. Move from school to school. 
Learn how to get around the system."

"How did you do it?"

"Whatever I had to do. My folks were stockbrokers. Had things set up so 
that the money pretty much ran itself. I'd spent enough time in their 
office that I knew what to do to keep things on track." Jupiter 
shrugged. "If anyone asks, I tell them my folks are traveling and they 
wire me money here and there." Jupiter smiled painfully. "'Cause they 
trust me."

"Surely someone's gotten curious," Sailor Moon said.

"Here and there. That's usually when I moved on. But here in Tokyo  . . 
."

"Nobody notices enough to care," Sailor Moon said flatly. "But you 
haven't answered my question."

Jupiter sighed. "After Okinawa, Ami and the other Miracles were paraded 
all over the TV. Every time I turned on the TV, there they were. They 
made a big deal out of Ami. Kept going on how she had her Aunt and her 
grandparents." Jupiter's eyes narrowed. "Miraculous Ami Mizuno. The 
last survivor. Look at her. She lost her mother, but she has family. 
People to love her." Jupiter's voice was flat. Her nostrils flared. She 
stared at something only she could see, her fingers gripping the 
scaffolding hard enough to twist it. "What did I have? Nothing. A big 
old empty house. Not even a pet for company. Meanwhile, good old Ami 
was having all sorts of stuff just given to her. She had a family." 
Tears began to streak down Jupiter's cheeks. "Family to tuck her in at 
night, to hold her during a thunderstorm. It wasn't fair. Where was my 
family? It just wasn't fair."

Angrily, Jupiter dashed her tears away with a swipe of her hand.

"That's when I began to hate her. I knew it was wrong, but I didn't 
care anymore. All there was the pain, and the hate. I wanted the hate. 
I used it. But the pain . . ." She laughed, a laugh without humor. "I 
couldn't outrun the pain. It was always there in my dreams. A sharp 
knife buried to the hilt my heart. Then, when I was twelve, I took a 
dare. Dead man's Current. A fifty yard section of a river scattered 
with razor sharp rocks. You hit one of those, you're dead. I made it. 
It was such a rush. So was sex. I'd found a way to outrun the pain."

"You were twelve?" Sailor Moon asked. "You lost it when you were 
twelve?"

Jupiter nodded. "Sports was another one that gave me a rush. I'm so big 
and tall that I can play on equal terms with the boys. Schools will 
bend over backwards for their stars, cut them all sorts of breaks and 
look the other way, so I made sure I was one. Anything to keep up the 
charade. Then I came to Juuban and I saw Ami, it all came back. All I 
wanted was to hurt her. Make her feel what I felt for ten years. But I 
couldn't tell her why. I was scared. I was afraid she'd understand. How 
can you hurt someone when they know your pain as keenly as you do?"

"So you hid the pain," Sailor Moon said gently. "And bullied Ami 
because you know she wouldn't fight back."

Jupiter nodded. "That was my life. Sports, sex, bully Ami. All of it 
kept that knife out of my heart. Then, a few months ago, the knife came 
back. Nothing I did would get rid of it. Nothing except a good screw. 
But the knife always came back. And then came that night in my 
apartment." She watched the signs across the way for a moment. "I 
didn't realize it at first, but ever since I first used that wand, 
since I started hanging out with you guys, the knife is gone. I'm 
free."

"You have friends," Sailor Moon said softly. "Real friends who accept 
you for who you are instead of what you are."

"That's so sappy," Jupiter said. "True, but sappy as hell."

"I try," Sailor Moon said with aplomb as she glanced at the clock. 
"We'd better get moving."

"Yeah, I . . . what the . . .?"

Sailor Moon looked at Jupiter. The other Senshi was staring across the 
street at the signs. Silhouetted against one of them was a figure.

The Figure raised it's hand and the scaffolding began to  shake.

"SHIIIIIIT!" Jupiter screamed as the scaffolding pulled away from the  
building, raining debris onto the street below.

"Hang on!" Sailor Moon shouted as the scaffolding, as tall as a three 
story building, crashed into the offices across the street. "Move!"

Driven by adrenaline, the two girls scrambled up the metal bars of the 
scaffolding and onto the roof.

"Now what?" Jupiter asked.

"Duck!" Sailor Moon shouted, pulling Jupiter to the rooftop as an AC 
unit whizzed through the space where their heads had been.

"Thanks," Jupiter said.

"Thank me if we live," Sailor Moon retorted. "Run!" She leapt to her 
feet and sprinted across the rooftop and launched herself across the 
narrow gap, arms spread wide like wings as she seemed to fly and 
touched down as gently as a falling leaf on the next roof.

Jupiter's landing wasn't as graceful. In fact, it was downright 
painful. She stumbled several steps and then fell forward, bouncing 
slightly as she slid.

"Owwww . . ." Jupiter moaned. "How did you manage that leap -- and if 
you tell me to free my mind, I will hit you."

"Nothing so cheesy," Sailor Moon said. "Don't think about how, just do. 
Instinct handles the rest."

"I'll give it a try," Jupiter said as she got to her feet.

"No," Sailor Moon said. "Do, or do--

"Don't." Jupiter said. "Don't go there. Just . . . don't."

A metallic thud behind them caused them to turn around. Standing there 
was a twenty-foot tall colossus of metal pipes and roof AC units.

"Run!"

Like a well oiled machine, Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter darted across 
the rooftop as the colossus' hand missed them by inches.

"Don't think just do, don't think just do, don't think just do," 
Jupiter repeated to herself as she flew off the roof edge after Sailor 
Moon. Below them, the street glittered like gems and then she was 
landing lightly on the the next roof. "Hey that was easy," she laughed.

"What's that noise?" Sailor Moon asked.

"What noise?" Jupiter asked.

There was a loud cackling laugh and the howl of turbines as something 
swooped overhead.

"The Goblin!" Sailor Moon gasped.

"Goblin? That thing that's been on the news?" Jupiter said and then her 
martial arts trained reflexes threw her to the side as something (It 
looked like a metal shuriken that was shaped like a bat) whipped past 
her ear and buried itself into the rooftop.

The next moment, something red and blue cleared the rooftop edge and 
leapt up at the Goblin.

"Spiderwoman!" Sailor Moon howled with glee.

"Shit!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"What are you swearing for?" Sailor Moon asked Jupiter and then saw 
what the other Senshi was staring at. "Shit."

Crouched on a chimney, a youma stared at them with reptilian yellow 
eyes. It was big, with large clawed hands and a hungry expression on 
it's face.

Overhead, there was the sound of a curse and Spiderwoman hit the 
rooftop hard and didn't move for several moments.

The youma lunged, but then Tuxedo Mask was there, driving the youma 
back with punches and kicks. The Youma snarled in anger and sent him 
into the air with a single uppercut and then slashed with it's lethally 
sharp claws.

Tuxedo Mask landed upright, but on one leg, which then folded beneath 
him. Without quite knowing why, Sailor Moon helped him stand as Jupiter 
picked up Spiderwoman.

With a sound that was a cross between a snicker and a snarl, the youma 
approached them as on the other side, the Goblin descended from above, 
crouched on his flying craft, cackling softly.

 From a third side, the metal colossus stepped onto the roof with a 
metallic clank and floating overhead, silhouetted against the full moon 
was the figure who had somehow pulled the scaffolding away from the 
building without touching it.

It was a triangle formation, no matter what direction they went, at 
least two of their enemies could catch them in a proverbial vise.

"Senshi!" A woman's voice rang out. Jupiter frowned. There was 
something familiar about that voice. "I am General Magnetite."

"If you're going to sell us Avon," Sailor Moon called out, "we're not 
interested."

"Ah, the grand Usagi Tsukino . . . wit," Magnetite said. "I would 
compliment you on the ability to wisecrack in the face of destruction, 
but my honor as a soldier forbids lying."

"Oh sure," Sailor Moon replied. "Rob the world of comic genius why 
don't you?"

"First show me one and then we'll talk."

Jupiter's mind was racing. She couldn't explain why, but something told 
her that she should know Magnetite. She glared up at the hovering 
finger.

Up . . .

Emerald orbs narrowed and she resisted the impulse to look at the 
escape route that had suddenly presented itself.

"Fine," Sailor Moon was saying. "I'll show you wit if you can give me 
one good reason why this Mettallia person named a bimbo like Beryl as 
their field commander. Last time I looked, that office required, oh, I 
dunno, brains, for starters."

"Oh, the pot calling the kettle black."

"What can I say? We who are about to die disrespect you."

"Not today," Jupiter said and summoned up all her power as she screamed 
their only chance into the night air.

"SUPREME THUNDER!"

-Steve "Komodo" T.
http://livejournal.com/users/pandoras_closet
http://aberdawnknights.keenspace.com
http://www.fanfiction.net/~pandorascloset


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