Note: Well, Chapter 8 at last. Thing is, somewhere along the way, this 
chapter fell flat and I don't know where. If you spot it, please, let 
me know. C&C, public or private, is always welcome.

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the creation of Nako Takeuchi, the concepts 
of Spiderman and such are by Stan Lee. No Money is being made from this 
and no such intent should be inffered.

"If the knock-knock joke doesn't get them, then you kill the stupid 
bastards while they try to figure the damn thing out."
-Shayla-Shayla, El Hazard


Sailor Moon stared at Sailor Jupiter. Her expression was cold, hard. 
Jupiter had apparently found something on the ground of the alley very 
interesting because she didn't raise her head to meet that stare. 
Tuxedo Mask sat on an old crate, his injured leg propped up on a box.

Spiderwoman stood nearby, the ghostly images of Ami and Sailor Mercury 
staring at the two girls.

"Let me get this straight," Sailor Moon said in a maddeningly level 
voice. "In lieu of an actual plan, or even making a do or die try to 
escape, you threw a Supreme Thunder into the building we stood on, 
making it collapse under our feet. Then, somehow, we rode the collapse 
down and out of the building, while our enemies milled around and 
hopefully even got crushed by the rubble. Had even one thing gone 
wrong, just one thing, we might have gotten killed. Correct?"

Jupiter nodded and then had to quickly reposition her feet to avoid 
being knocked over as Sailor Moon grabbed her into a bear hug. "And 
here I thought you weren't paying attention!" The blonde haired Senshi 
squealed. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Er . . .?" Jupiter said, feeling a gigantic drop of sweat slide down 
the back of her head.

"We're wasting what energy we have left," Spiderwoman said. "Because of 
the upcoming festival, we won't have school for several days. I suggest 
we use the time to recover. Ami will be in touch." She fired a web-line 
at the roof and vanished into the night sky.

"You need help?" Jupiter asked Tuxedo Mask as he stood up on shaky legs.

"No thanks, I heal fast," Tuxedo Mask replied and then he leapt upwards 
and climbed onto the rooftops.

"You're welcome!" Sailor Moon shouted as his cape vanished over the 
edge. "Bastard," she muttered as she turned back to Jupiter. "And then 
there were two."

"You mean one," Jupiter replied. "I'm going to catch the dawn train 
back to my place." Pulling the gem off her blouse, it transformed back 
to her wand as her fuku and jewelry became once more the school uniform 
she had put on that morning. "Later." She left the alleyway and took a 
right and then looked back as Usagi caught up to her, school shoes 
slapping on the pavement.

"Room for one more?"

"Sure. Why the hell not. Come on."

****

Ami had already gone dormant by the time they had crossed into Juuban, 
picked up their schoolbag and began making their way to their home.

In the distance, the sky had begun to lighten over Tokyo, as 
Spiderwoman, little more then a red and blue shadow in the pre-dawn 
light, soundlessly bounded from rooftop to rooftop, the close and 
densely packed houses serving as a speedy roadway.

The first rays of sunlight were visible as Spiderwoman landed on the 
house roof and climbed down the wall, sliding open the window that led 
to their bedroom and then froze as Mercury seized control of their 
body.

'What are you doing?' Spiderwoman demanded. 'We--'

'We are being watched,' Mercury said, cutting her off. 'I can feel it.'

'Our danger sense says otherwise.'

'That only means that we are in no current danger from this watcher.'

'If they present no danger then we have nothing to worry about.'

'I doubt that Ami shares your confidence.'

Spiderwoman made a noise in their throat. 'We don't have the time or 
the energy to search for this . . . watcher you feel. If it doesn't 
trigger our danger sense, I'm not going to concern myself with it.'

'Very well,' Mercury said and they entered the room. 'It is fortunate 
that Aunt Mai is on the festival staff, and hasn't been home since the 
day before yesterday,' she said as they switched their clothing back to 
the school uniform. 'Explaining why we have not been home all night 
would have been . . . complicated.' Mercury flipped on the desk lamp 
and then turned and shut the window and the curtains before donning 
their pajamas and going to bed.

Across the way, the curtains in the window of the house next door 
twitched ever so slightly, as though a moment ago, they had been parted 
just enough for someone to see through them.

****

"A new General?" Naru asked. "Beryl doesn't waste time, does she?"

"That would imply that Beryl knows what time is," Usagi said with a 
snort. Having gotten a full night's sleep at the Akkona, Usagi and 
Makoto were at Naru's house so that Usagi could change clothes and grab 
a bath. Having  bathed, Usagi stood in the middle of Naru's room, 
putting on a clean bra. "Which in turn implies that there is a brain 
inside her thick skull."

"Even Beryl knows what time is," Naru pointed out. "She's not that 
stupid. Superintendent's daughter or no, there's no way she could have 
gotten into Juuban Academy without some brains."

"I hate it when you apply logic to my unsubstantiated declarations," 
Usagi said and turned to rummage in the stash of clothes.

"Hey, Naru?" Makoto whispered.

"Yeah?" Naru whispered back.

"What's up with Usagi and Beryl?"

"Long story. Short version is that they used to be friends until Beryl 
did something somewhat foolish. Usagi took it badly and they've been 
fighting ever since."

Makoto thought about that for a moment. "What did Beryl do that pissed 
Usagi  so badly?"

"Beats the hell out of me," Naru said with a shrug. "I've forgotten and 
just between you and me, I think Usagi has too. I know Beryl has."

"So she's just hating Beryl out of habit?"

"Yup."

"That's . . . insane . . .," Makoto said and then paused. "Sorry, 
forgot who we were talking about for a minute."

Naru had to laugh at that.

****

Kenji Tsukino shut the door to his private lab behind him and only then 
allowed the fury that had been bubbling inside him since the previous 
night to come out. Snarling, he rammed his fist into the metal locker 
near the door, leaving a small dent. How? How could he had missed the 
connection? Now that he knew Sailor Moon's real name, it was so 
obvious. How could he have missed it?

"Temper, temper," a woman's voice chided. Turning, Kenji saw Beryl 
seated demurely on a lab stool.

"How dare you not tell me Sailor Moon was Usagi?" Kenji demanded.

"You mean you didn't know? I'm shocked."

She acts completly different as Sailor Moon," Kenji seethed as he 
removed his coat and tie. "She's more bold, more brash. Not to mention 
she looked different until your general said her name."

"More?" Beryl asked, puzzlement evident in her voice. Then she laughed. 
"My God, she has you totally fooled, doesn't she?"

"What do you mean?" Kenji demanded.

Beryl leaned forward. "Usagi's completely insane. She terrorizes the 
school with pranks, has been known to argue with sculptures and never 
gets in trouble because her grades are so good and the school is afraid 
that you, or rather, your pocketbook, will stop being so nice if she's 
punished. I don't know how she acts around you, but believe me, she 
doesn't change as Sailor Moon."

Kenji nodded. "Then it's good that I'll kill her instead of marrying 
her. An insane wife would do me little good."

Beryl cocked her head. "I'm not sure whether to be surprised by your 
ruthlessness or the fact that you're more concerned that you nearly 
married a crazy person who happens to be your daughter."

"Blood ties are merely a obstacle," Kenji said. "Easily dealt with if 
one has the money and connections. I have both. And she's not my 
daughter."

"You sired her, she has your name."

"Her siring was an accident, her name a mistake on the part of the 
hospital. I call her my daughter because it's convenient."

Beryl's lips quirked. "So, the rumors are true. Interesting."

Kenji snorted. "What are you doing here?" He went to his work bench and 
began mixing the chemicals for the Goblin's pumpkin bombs.

"Last night," Beryl said. "I told you that I would make you king of the 
Tokyo Underworld if you helped us destroy the Senshi. True, they got 
away, but the deal remains." He felt her join him at the work bench. 
"Your majesty."

"Your deal no longer interests me," Kenji said. "I will seize the city 
without your help."

"This is a different deal. We're offering an alliance." Beryl ran her 
finger down his arm. "We need something from you, Kenji. Something only 
you can do. In return, my Mistress offers you Japan. All of Japan, 
yours to rule as you see fit. We get the rest of the world." She leaned 
against him. "You would also get a queen, one deserving of your power 
and station." Her lips brushed his ear. "Consider it, that's all we 
ask."

Kenji turned his head to reply, but she had vanished.

****
Ami loved Aunt Mai, she truly did. But occasionally, the woman would do 
things that not even a Spider-Sense could warn about.

"I think you should start dating again."

Ami dropped her toast while Mercury restrained Spiderwoman from seizing 
control and peppering Aunt Mai with obscenities.

"Aunt Mai?" Ami asked, bending to retrieve the slice of bread.

"Dating," Aunt Mai replied. "It's been several months since Gendo died, 
it's high time you stopped mourning." Ami's eyes flicked to the black 
band she wore on her wrist and then back to her breakfast.

"I'm not interested," Ami replied. "I need to study. Cram school."

"You made plenty of time for Gendo," Mai pointed out. "It's not normal 
for a girl your age to not be dating. Makes you stand out."

Ami ate her toast while trying to come up with an answer.

Aunt Mai took her niece's silence for agreement because she continued 
talking. "Now Mrs. Wantanabe next door just had her nephew move in 
while his parents are in America. I've already met him and he's a 
wonderful, handsome young man. I think you would get along well 
together."

"I don't know . . ." Ami replied. To be honest with herself, she missed 
having someone as close to her as Gendo had been, but it hadn't been 
that long since he had died. Still, she . . .

'To date again is betraying Gendo,' Spiderwoman hissed.

'I must agree with Spiderwoman,' Mercury said. 'Gendo gave his life for 
us. We cannot dishonor his sacrifice by letting someone replace him.'

" . . . So he'll be here on the sixteenth," Aunt Mai said, distracting 
them.

"Sixteenth?" Ami asked.

"Yes, Ami, the sixteenth," Aunt Mai said. "He was here before the 
festival, but has to go back to Manju. He'll be back here on the 
sixteenth. I expect you to be able to meet him." The older woman fixed 
Ami with a steely glare that dared it's target to say no.

None of them accepted it.

***

"Drill," Usagi said. Ami passed her the drill.

"Pliers," Naru said. Ami handed her the pliers.

"So your aunt wants to set you up?" Usagi asked. She and Naru were 
crouched under one of the sinks in the staff bathroom doing something 
to the pipes. Ami crouched nearby, passing them items from a sack. 
"With someone she thinks would be a good match?" All three girls wore 
gloves.

"Well she approved of Gendo, didn't she?" Naru said. "Grease."

"Yeah, but he hated wearing women's clothing," Usagi said.

"Even though he looked so cute," Naru cooed. "Wrench."

"But  . . . Gendo . . ." Ami said. "I don't want to replace him."

"Look," Usagi said, pointing the drill at Ami. "Nobody's suggesting you 
replace Gendo. Nobody can replace Gendo, and if this guy values his 
testicles, he's not going to try."

Naru made noises of agreement. "If you decide to jump his bones," she 
said. "It's going to be because of . . . what's this guy's name again?"

"Motoki," Ami said after a moment's thought. "Motoki James Watanabe."

"James?"

"His mother's American," Ami said. "Aunt Mai said she insisted that he 
have that name. I don't know anything else."

"She makes it so easy," Naru sighed. "So if you decide to jump his 
bones," she said. "It's going be because he's Motoki James --"

"I think it's just Motoki," Ami said. "Aunt Mai said James was his 
middle name."

"Middle name?" Naru looked at Usagi, who shrugged.

"Something they do in the west," she said. "Poor kids get slapped with 
an extra name or five on top of their personal and family name." Usagi 
did something under the sink and removed a large metal pipe about a 
foot and a half long and a good two inches wide.

"Ew," Naru said. "My point is, Ami, is that Gendo was Gendo and Motoki 
is Motoki. There's no similarities between the two and there shouldn't 
be. Shinnie loved you and because he loved you, he would want you to be 
happy. If this Motoki guy makes you happy, tie him down and eat sushi 
of his chest."

"You have this odd fascination with tying people down and then using 
them as dishware, Naru," Usagi said. "Hand me the red bag, Ami."

"Just because I refuse to limit myself," Naru said snottily, "and 
encourage Ami to do the same, should in no way be inferred as a 
fascination with a certain carnal act."

Ami removed the bag with the red, viscous liquid. It was made of clear 
plastic and had an odd arrangement of flaps at each end. It weighed 
several pounds and was about the size of the pipe Usagi had just 
removed. "What is it?"

"This? This is the stuff they use in those hyper violent horror movies. 
Mixed with water at about three to one, it makes for very realistic 
blood. Even smells like it." She took the bag from Ami and began to 
carefully insert it into the pipe. "This bag is a mixer bag. It lets 
water in at one end and pressure forces it out the other end in the 
proper mixture. The pipe is the feed pipe for the sinks in this 
bathroom. Once this baby is installed, whoever uses these sinks will be 
washing their hands in blood, not water."

Ami raised an eyebrow, but Naru beat her to the punch. "And why, 
exactly, are we doing this?"

"Drama club is putting on MacBeth tonight." Usagi's face twisted up 
into a grimace of horror. "Oh these hands which will never be clean!" 
She finished the bag and reached in to put the pipe back into place. 
"The stuff also stains and can't be taken off easily. Anyone who uses 
this bathroom will have their hands stained red with blood."

Usagi and Naru put the pipe back in place and then while Usagi cleaned 
the door handles so that they had no fingerprints, Ami and Naru packed 
away the tools and verified that nothing had been left behind that 
would point at them. Then, once Ami's spider sense had verified that no 
one was in the hall, they exited and re-locked the door. Only then did 
Ami and Usagi remove their gloves and replace them and the cleaner in 
the bag.

While Naru went to return the tools, cleaner and gloves to the 
maintenance shed, Usagi and Naru made their way to the small grove of 
trees where they typically ate lunch. They had only spent ten minutes 
in the staff bathroom.

Flash was already there. "Where have you two been?" she demanded and 
then saw the look on Usagi's face. "Do I want to know?"

"You'll find out," Usagi said and then looked at her pinky. "Won't 
they, Pinky-chan?" Her voice became lower and more gravelly. "Yes, 
Usagi-sama." She looked back at Flash. "See?" She said in her normal 
voice. "Pinky-chan says so." She flung an arm around Flash's neck and 
pulled her down to eye level. "Never argue with Pinky-chan," she said 
in a voice colder then death itself.

Flash looked at Usagi with a mixture of terror, fascination, and 
curiosity. When she sat on the grass, it was as far from Usagi as 
possible.

****

As light as the breeze, Spiderwoman soared over Tokyo, swinging on 
gossamer web-lines at speeds of up to forty kilometers an hour.

At times she left the web-lines entirely, soaring through the air in 
arcs that covered whole blocks.

Buildings flashed across her vision, instinct having her avoid them and 
by the time her conscious mind processed their presence, they were 
already behind her. As were Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter, themselves 
two or three wards behind her.

Spiderwoman was as she wished. Alone and free.

****

Superintendent Souma and his daughter Beryl lived in the penthouse of 
one of Tokyo's tallest buildings.

No one knew that Souma was a puppet. Three years of being tightly 
controlled  had destroyed his mind and the creature that was left 
looked, acted, and talked like Souma, but wasn't. Tonight, it lay in 
its room, blind and deaf to the world while in the main room, its 
mistress committed insane carnal acts with a man twice her age.

Beryl left Tsukino on the floor, asleep. Naked, she walked to the 
window and stared out at the city. Far out in the distance, she watched 
as something about the size and shape of a human body flew out of the 
urban canyons in a huge arc and then plunged back out of sight.

'Spiderwoman,' Beryl thought to herself. 'Sailor Mercury. Ami Mizuno. 
Three people in one body. Not one opponent, but three. All of them 
trying to avenge a meaningless death. How very melodramatic.' She heard 
her new lover make a noise and looked over, but he was only rolling 
over in his sleep and she smiled slightly and then stretched. Her body 
felt pleasurably sore, the results of his more then satisfactory 
efforts over the past several hours.

Such an interesting man. She had known a few humans like him, both in 
her former life and this one. Men and women without conscience, mercy 
or ethics. They sought only power and seized it. What they did, they 
did because they could. Kenji though, she knew there were depths to his 
ruthlessness even he was unaware of. In time, with her help, he would 
find them and she looked forward to that.

Not for the first time, she wondered why Metallia wanted her to seduce 
Tsukino rather then simply warp his mind the way she had her generals. 
Beryl didn't mind seducing him, he'd certainly proved to be worthy of 
her attention, but she wondered. Still, it was not for her to question 
her Mistress.

On one of the rooftops below, she saw two figures run across the 
rooftop and then one of them turned and made a rude gesture at the 
penthouse before chasing after its companion.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter. Usagi Tsukino and Mokto Kino. Magnetite 
had been thorough. Beryl could destroy Usagi with just the information 
her newest general had placed in her hands. One well placed rumor and 
Usagi would be ruined, that's all it would take.

Beryl smiled to herself. She hungered for Usagi's destruction. Thirsted 
for it. Craved it with her mind, body, and soul.

Yet, her latest instructions baffled her. Mettalia now said that Sailor 
Moon was the key to finding the crystal, or at least would making 
finding it easier. The crystal would find the Moon Princess, the one 
person who could stand in Mettalia's way if she ever came into her full 
power.

Beryl could not, would not, let Metallia be stopped.

'You're safe for now, Usagi,' Beryl thought. 'But once the crystal is 
found, you will die and I intend for it to last a very . . . long . . . 
time . . .'


-Steve "Komodo" T.
http://www.geocities.com/studio_pc_hub/


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