Morgan Hudson wrote:

Okay, take two, this time using cut and paste. Wonder where that attachment 
went?

-Morgan

REVAMPED LEGAL DISCLAIMER: the Sailor Senshi belong to Kodansha and
Cloverway, and the Samurai Troopers are the legal property of Sunrise and
Bandai Entertainment. I am only borrowing them for a few chapters, and I
intend no harm.

	Makoto:  "Really?  What about the fact that Touma can barely walk, 
not to mention his arm?"
	Touma: 	"I'm fine, really -- but your knee looks bad."
	Makoto:  "Just a scrape."
	Touma:  "Still, I should--"
	Koma:  "Kiss it and make it better?  Why don't you wait until we're 
OUT OF THIS BLOODY TRAP FIRST!?!?!?!"

                      RONIN SUMMER: CONVERGENCE

  A Bishoujou Senshi Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

                          by Morgan Hudson

"Convergence (n) - the approach of an infinite series to a finite limit."

	FOR x = (-1*infinity) TO infinity
	  y=1/x
	NEXT x

Chapter 6: Running Like The Wind

	The Tomoe mansion was an old and venerable house, first built
during the reconstruction era after the great Kanto earthquake of 1923.

	...I swear, I actually had a momentary BGC flashback there.  Then I 
read the date again.

It had been constructed at the wishes of the Tomoe family, a much larger
and wealthier group in those older days, to stand as a symbol of the new
Japan rising from the ashes of the old. They had built the house in record
time - some said too quickly. From its first days, rumours had abounded
that the mansion was built improperly. Workers claimed that there were
bodies buried under the foundations, corpses from the quake that the Tomoe
family had been in too much of a hurry to properly locate or care for.
Experts agreed that the feng shui of the mansion was horribly wrong,
letting only sorrow and misery gather within. The Tomoe clan had not taken
the time to discuss with astrologists and other experts before starting
to build, and the house had been constructed in an inauspicious way on an
inauspicious day.

	My inner Westerner says "bah!"  My inner otaku says "uh-oh."

	Age had not improved the mansion, nor had the recent other
accidents that had enveloped its ancient frame. It did not rise above the

	"enveloped"?  Not sure what you mean, here.

other buildings of the district: it squatted, creaking mournfully to
itself as its withered old boards rubbed against their nails and shuddered

	Niiiiiice bit of description, there.

in the wind. There was a dark air about the house, as though it had become
resentful of its place in the world, now that the rest of the city had
grown up around it and overshadowed its grandeur with the gleam and shine
of fresh paint and new chrome. On clear nights, when the moon was full and
bright, it was not uncommon to see a swarm of bats streaming out of its
chimneys and circling the vast lawns that surrounded the estate in search
of prey.

	Hey, they keep the mosquitoes down.

	The grass in the yard was dry and yellow, dead from too much sun,
or not enough rain, or maybe just simple neglect. There were a number of

	Someone obviously isn't hiring a good gardening service.

trees growing in the lawn, mighty oaks that had once stood proud and
straight, but were now gnarled and twisted mockeries of themselves. A
dilapidated old swing still hung forlornly from one branch by a single
rope, the other trailing despondently in the tall yellow grass. Several
feet away, the rusted remains of what had once been a tricycle lay on its
side, a single pedal still turning slowly in the breeze. Few people ever

	My inner engineer points out that if the trike rusted away as much as 
implied, the pedal bearings would certainly be rusted solid by now. 
My inner dramatist loves the imagery and is currently giving my inner 
engineer heck.

saw even that much of the place, however, as the giant cast-iron gates
that sealed the mansion from intruders were as new and strong as ever
before. The Tomoe family was not used to having many visitors.

	Especially not Robin Leech.  Or the crew from MTV's "Cribs."

	Souichi Tomoe, the current head of the household, had been meaning
to get around to cleaning up that yard. After eight years of neglect, it
was hard to know where to start. There was a lot of serious work that
needed to be done in the old place, he knew: most of the windows that

	Getting all that Really Dangerous Gear out of the basement lab, for 
instance.

weren't cracked were permanently etched, for example, and he was going
to have to tear up and replace almost all of the carpeting in the front
hall now that the velvet had faded and worn itself away to nothing. The
wallpaper was peeling, the bannisters on the staircase wobbled, and every
floorboard in the entire place creaked with a slightly different tone
when you stepped on it. He was half-expecting the upstairs bathtub to
come crashing through the ceiling at any moment. That was one of the many
reasons he had moved his baby's crib down into the main room, and had
taken to sleeping on one of the couches nearby. Going upstairs was just
not safe until he found out exactly how badly damaged everything things
were up there.

	The Prof *should* be well enough off to hire a good genercal 
contractor, I would imagine.

	Money was not an issue for Souichi Tomoe: he had plenty of money,
apparently. What bothered him was that he had no real idea where any of
that money had come from, and an abiding fear that some strange and
possibly dangerous people could show up at any moment expecting it back.

	Master Pharoah 90 -- interdimensional loan shark extraordinaire.  And 
here I thought he was just a Lovecraftian Cthulhoid Horror.

One of the ongoing problems of getting possessed by a demon for the better
part of a decade was that even after the demon went away, people still
wanted to hold you responsible for whatever it did while it was around.

	Sucks, don't it?

Sometimes Souichi wished he could recall any of the things that he *had*
done, while he was... otherwise occupied. At least that way he would have
known what exactly to expect. Apparently his demonic self had not bothered
keeping very efficient notes or records of any of its various transactions
for him to go over.

	Sug:  "for future review/examination"

	Hotaru kicked and whimpered slightly in her sleep, and Souichi
quickly walked over to the side of her crib. Reaching down, he scooped
the small baby into his arms and held her close to him as he began to
pace around the large sitting room. It was a circular room, with
bookshelves lining the walls and stretching upwards into the shadows of
the second floor. The only light was from a small green lamp sitting on
an antique desk next to his armchair. Resting at the base of the lamp,
a pair of wire framed spectacles glowed in the reflected light. Even
from the other side of the room, he could make out the strange rune that
had been carved over the entire surface of the right lens. Their recent
visitor had said that the glasses would help him with his recovery, but
Souichi still did not feel comfortable wearing them around Hotaru. He
didn't know why, but he was adamant that she never see him in his lab
coat or glasses. He didn't want her to think of him like that.

	Some memory traces must have stuck.

	"Professor?" Kaori knocked gently on the door before easing it
open, the light from the hallway spilling over her shoulder into the
darkened room. She was, as always, a vision in crimson, her long red hair
and matching dress offset only by the white labcoat she wore over her
other clothes. She was clutching a clipboard to her chest, and Souichi
could just barely see the gleam of the amulet that she had been given
recently by their strange new acquaintance.

	Kaori, on the other hand...

	"Yes, Kaori? What is it?"

	Kaori turned and looked over her shoulder before looking back.
"Miss Haruka Ten'ou is here to see you, Professor. Are you in?"

	One of these days, I've got to figure out the canon here -- I've seen 
so many different versions of who went where and lived with whom 
immediately following the end of the Death Busters arc, I've literally 
lost track.

	"For Miss Ten'ou? Always." Souichi smiled and shifted his grip on
Hotaru as the door opened the rest of the way and Kaori stepped inside,
ushering their new guest in with a sweep of her arm.

	Haruka entered slowly, as though she were expecting some kind of
trap. The young woman was dressed in a pair of green plaid trousers and a
white short-sleeved shirt that was a few sizes to large for her. Her
violet eyes scanned left and right suspiciously, and she hesitated before
stepping into the room. She was much as Souichi had remembered her from
their brief meeting after he had left the hospital: tall, slim, and
coltish, with a short mop of sandy blonde hair and a habit of dressing in
men's clothing. She looked a little older than before, perhaps a bit less
able to hide the fact that there was a woman under that boy's uniform, but
otherwise it was almost a relief to realise how little she had changed.
There was a slightly feverish look in her eyes, and she seemed a bit
peaked, as though she had only recently recovered from a serious
illness... or some equally serious injuries. Souichi could understand

	Hm.

where she might have gotten injuries that severe.

	He does?  I thought his memory was swiss-cheesed.  Oh, wait, he's 
aware of having been hag-ridden, so someone must have clued him in.
	Of course, I wonder how *much* he knows....

	"Hello, Miss Ten'ou," he said, smiling amicably. "I'm pleased you
could make it on such short notice. Shall I have Kaori bring you anything?
Tea, perhaps?"

	"I'm fine, thanks," Haruka replied brusquely. "What's going on
here, Headmaster? You said it was urgent."

	Ah, Haruka, the soul of tact.

	Souichi glanced over at Kaori, who moved her clipboard aside
discreetly and checked the device they had attached to it. Looking back
over at him, she shook her head minutely. No sign as to what Radanthus
might be using to spy on the girl, then. It was a shame that they had to
rely on passive scanning, but if this demon lord they had been told about

	Heh heh heh.  *That's* the Prof I was hoping for -- already on top of 
things and going for every bit of data.

was truly watching the Sailor Senshi as closely as they had been warned,
they needed to be very careful not to tip their hand. Sailor Jupiter was
a prisoner of these creatures, and if they wanted to rescue her (whoever
she was) then they would need the element of surprise.

	Well, he definitely has some memory holes, then.  I take it he 
doesn't remember anything about Sailor Saturn, either...

	"You don't need to call me by that title any more, Miss Ten'ou,"
he reassured the girl, bouncing Hotaru slightly in his arms as he smiled
down at her. "From what I've been been told, it seems our esteemed Mugen
Gakuen High will be closed indefinitely. I'm just Professor Tomoe, now."

	"Okay, Professor," Haruka agreed, looking behind her as Kaori
carefully closed the door and raising an eyebrow warily. "So what's this
all about? It's only fair to warn you that I told all sorts of people I
was going to be coming here, so if you were planning something...."

	<blink>  Okay, I hadn't gotten the impression that their relationship 
was that hostile....

	"Oh, nothing of the sort," Souichi reassured her with a dismissive
wave of his hand. "Although I suppose I can't blame you for being a little
concerned. I've been told that I did a few things over the past couple of
years that might have been a little... unwise... in retrospect. I want to
assure you, Kaori and I have no interest in any of that kind of thing
these days. We're scientists, you see - we work for the betterment of
mankind."

	Hence the Death Busters.  :/

	"Right." Haruka crossed her arms over her chest and gave Souichi
a disbelieving stare. "I can't help but notice you still haven't told me
what I'm doing here."

	Souichi grimaced and shot another look at Kaori, who sadly shook
her head again. Still nothing. Damn. He had been hoping that he and Kaori
could find out how Radanthus was spying on Haruka so that they could block
the transmissions long enough to explain what they were up to. Sadly, it
seemed that chance had passed them by, and he was not sure he could stall
much longer without making the girl even more suspicious than she already
was.

	"Well," he explained, "as you can see, our little home has seen
much better days. I was planning to call in some men to have the place
renovated, but a construction site is no place for a child, and Hotaru is
just starting to get into things, so...."

	"You want me to babysit for a while?" Haruka asked, relaxing
noticeably. "Well, okay - sure. I guess Michiru and I can look after the
little tyke for a couple of days."

	Heh.  Oh-so-casual -- she almost manages to conceal just how badly 
she misses Hotaru.

	"It may have to be longer than that," Souichi warned the girl, as
he passed Hotaru over to her. "I'll, ah, I'll contact you when it's safe
for my little girl to come home again. I'd take her myself, but Kaori and
I have some... some experiments that we really have to keep our eyes on
for a little while. Very sensitive, you understand. Can't leave them
unattended."

	...perhaps NOT the best thing to say to Haruka, given past history....

	"Yeah, of course," Haruka agreed, fumbling slightly as she took
the baby into her arms. "It's no problem, really. Glad to help."

	...and she doesn't even notice.  Yep, she's baby-smitten.

	"Kaori will get you the carseat, and she'll help you with whatever
else you need," Souichi said, as he patted Haruka on the shoulder and
began to show her back out of the room. "Now, Hotaru likes to be held, so
don't leave her by herself for too long or she'll get frightened. Oh! And
here: take this photograph of the two of us. She gets nervous when she
can't see me sometimes, so I want you to show her this picture every
night. And Kaori will get you a list of all the best pediatricians in
Tokyo, just in case something happens. I've circled all the ones I keep
on speed-dial: you might want to do the same."

	Souichi Tomoe:  Brilliant scientist, occaisional world-wrecker, 
doting father...

	"Right, speed-dial. Got it."

	"I really do appreciate this on such short notice, Miss Ten'ou,"
he said sincerely, and for the benefit of anyone who might be watching.
"Hotaru is... she's very lucky to have friends like you and Miss Kaioh.
I do hope that you'll take the very best care of her - she's such a
special little girl."

	"Believe me," Haruka replied with a slight smirk, "I know."

	Oh, the double entendres here...

	"I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her...."

	...let's NOT go there.

	"We've got a pretty good idea," Haruka interjected, with a roll

	Oh, yeah.

of her eyes. "It's okay, Professor - Hotaru's going to be fine. I'll take
very good care of her, I promise."

	"That means a lot to me, Haruka. It really does." Souichi paused
in the doorway, his hand on the edge of the door. "Kaori will show you
out. I need to be alone. I'm not feeling very well lately."

	The girl nodded her understanding, and Souichi slowly closed the
door behind her as she and Kaori headed off. The room was filled again
with darkness, save for that one halo of light cast by the single lamp
as it shone down upon his glasses. He crossed to where they lay and
picked them up, weighing them in his hands as he stared down at them. It
was odd, that a simple pair of glasses could be so heavy. The boy who had
given them to him had tried to explain about that: something about how
the lenses had been shaped from some exotic form of moon crystal instead
of plastic, and that was why they were so thick and heavy.

	And here I thought it was just the weight of all that symbolism and 
history...

	Souichi Tomoe turned and looked at the empty crib sitting in the
middle of his sitting room. A lonely pink stuffed rabbit looked up at him
from the corner as it rocked back and forth. He reached down and picked

	Errr... stuffed rabbits don't usually rock on their own.  Do they?

up a small picture in an engraved pewter frame from where it sat on his
desk. A young girl smiled happily up at him from behind the glass. She
looked to be about fourteen, dressed in a green and maroon school uniform
and clutching her bag in front of her. There was a lily tucked into her
shoulder-length raven hair, and the sunshine was setting off her dark
purple highlights. His darling little Hotaru.

	14?  Someone must have caught her during a good moment -- IIRC, she 
wasn't having too terribly many of those at that age.

	"Oh, my darling little girl," he sighed quietly. "Someone's always
giving you away, aren't they?"

	Now, Prof, don't get maudlin.  You just sent her to stay with some 
friends for a bit.  Even the best parents do that once in a while.

	A sudden light flared in the darkness of the room, and a small
boy dressed in ivory robes appeared. He looked to be about twelve, and had
short silver hair that glittered softly in the glow cast by the golden
horn that rose from the top of his head.

	"It needed to be done, Professor," Elios said calmly. "When we
move against Radanthus and his forces, they may attempt to retaliate
against your family or loved ones. Ail and Ann are safe enough from harm,
and I pity anybody who tries to move against Petz by attacking her
sisters, but Hotaru will need protection. Trust me: Haruka Ten'ou and
Michiru Kaioh are the best protection that she could hope for."

	Well, as long as they've gotten over their "Kill the Senshi of 
Silence!" phase.

	"I just wish it didn't feel like I was abandoning her," Souichi
said morosely, running his fingers over the smooth glass of the picture
in his hand. "That little girl is my life, Elios - my whole life, can you
understand? Ever since the day I met her, I knew that I would do whatever
it took to care for her."

	Which is what nearly got the world blown up (again), but let's face 
it -- what father *wouldn't* have done what he did?

	"Day you met-?" Elios paused and blinked. "What do you mean? Isn't
she your daughter?"

	Well, it would have been the day she was born -- first chance to 
actually *meet* her, and all.

	"Of course she is," Souichi snapped. "She's the only family I've
got left! Keiko and I... we couldn't have children of our own. When that
strange man brought little Hotaru do our doorstep, it was like God had
answered our prayers. I never saw my wife so happy." Pausing, the slender
man chuckled at the memory. "Who am I kidding? I was never so happy,
myself. She was so small, only a few days old... we just told everyone
that she was ours. That was how he said the parents wanted it."

	...??????   Okay, *that's* new.  I didn't realize he was speaking 
literally.

	"Who?" Elios asked curiously. "Who was this stranger?"

	"I never asked his name. I was afraid that if I asked too many
questions, he might change his mind and take her back." Souichi shrugged.
"He was a tall man, I remember that. Dressed all in black, very old style
clothing - it was covered in cobwebs. And he had an eyepatch...."

	OMG, it's... SPIDERMAN!

	"An eyepatch?" the young priest swallowed thickly and looked
around the room as though suddenly afraid one of the shadows might leap

	Him and me both.

out at him. "Tell me; did he have long, silver hair, and pale skin, kind
of like mine? Did he look anything like me? Anything at all?"

	...okay, *don't* tell me that Elios and Spiderdude are related.  I 
don't think I could take it.

	"Well, he didn't have a horn, if that's what you're asking,"
Souichi answered, looking confused. "The only thing he told us was that
the baby's parents were not able to care for it, and that the person he
worked for was a very powerful man who wanted the child destroyed. He

	Kaos...?  No, no way.  Demon Lord wossisface then, A-something, man 
my memory is going....

said that if Keiko and I took care of it, we could raise it as our own,
and the real parents would never interfere, as long as she was kept safe
from evil and no harm befell her. I suppose he must have trying to warn
me about that Pharoah Ninety individual, in retrospect."

	Mmmm... I wonder.

	"I'm not so certain," Elios said, looking concerned.

**********

	The sun rose in the Dark Kingdom, turning the black sky a dark
shade of grey as Jadeite stood at the mouth of his tent and watched his
troops picking up the mess from the night before. Nise Suiko had torn
through his youma as if they were barely a challenge, and there had been
a lot of damage to not only the camp, but also to the morale of the
troops. They were afraid, he could tell. They were afraid that he would be
disappointed in them, that he would think they had let him down. In a

	Or maybe that the Old Man isn't *quite* as bad@$$ as his legend implies.

sense, he did. After all, they had outnumbered Nise Suiko nearly ten to
one and the armoured youma had barely even slowed down.

	Still, there were other things to consider. His youma had been
caught by surprise, disoriented, and unprepared for their foe. Even with
all that against them, they had thrown themselves into battle without
even a bit of hesitation. Soldiers who were willing to hurl themselves at
an unknown enemy without any thought of self-preservation or personal gain
were not to be sneered at or discouraged. Several of them had shown

	Er, yeah, they ARE.  Just ask Patton.  Well, not *sneered* at, but 
definitely a bit of restraint is in orer.

remarkable levels of teamwork and improvised tactics. With a bit of
training, he could shape that raw potential into something more than
capable of handling the Sailor Senshi. In particular there had been one
youma who had managed to impress him....

	Since these were his troops *before,* one has to ask: why didn't he 
do this *last* time?

	"Oniwabandana," he said into the still morning air, and paused as
he waited for a response.

	Bannanna-nanna foo-fanna... I swear, that name just gives me the 
giggles.  I can't help myself.

	"Yo," the female ninja replied, melting out of the shadows in the
tent behind him. Jadeite knew full well that she had not been there a
moment before, but chose to brush it off. Let the girl have her dramatic
entrance, he decided.

	Help her be overconfident if she ever decides to sneak a fast one 
past him.

	"Shale tells me that you are a recent member to our ranks?"

	Sug:  member<>addition/recruit

	The youma winced under her mask and fidgeted nervously. "Well,
that depends on how you figure it. See, I *was* with the Dark Kingdom,
back in the old days. I was just... away... for a while, that's all."

	"She also told me that you used to be a human. One of Kunzite's
converts, I believe?"

	"Yeah." The ninja made a face and crossed her arms across her
chest as she tapped one foot impatiently. "I've already explained this a
thousand times: I was a person, Kunzite changed me, I fought Sailor Moon,

	Youma:  "Hey, we're 'persons' too, you know!"
	Unless this is a deliberate Oniwabandana-ism, I'd swap 'person' for 
'human.'

she changed me back."

	Jadeite glanced over at the obviously not-human woman. "And yet
here you stand," he said dryly, "the very picture of health."

	<snicker>  nice way of summing up viewpoints.

	Oniwabandana made a rude noise. "Let's just say I found humanity
to be overrated and leave it at that, okay?"

	"Fair enough." Jadeite had reached a similiar conclusion long
ago, himself. At least in the Dark Kingdom everybody admitted they were
monsters. It was more honest, in a way. "I have been gone for a very long
time, Oniwabandana, and I have no desire to repeat the mistakes of my
predecessors. Can I trust you?"

	So much for avoiding mistakes.... :)

	"Probably," the ninja replied with a casual shrug. "I mean, I
haven't been hearing any decent offers from anyone else, lately. Doesn't
mean I'm offering you an exclusive, or anything - I usually prefer to work
freelance."

	Heh.  Is an honest mercenary like an honest politician -- i.e., one 
that stays bought?

	"I need you to do a job for me," Jadeite explained, leaning
against the side of the tent as he watched his people work. "Information
gathering, mainly. I want to know more about what the Dark Kingdom has
been up to in my absence. Radanthus and Badamon, too. In fact, make that
Radanthus and Badamon *especially*. Before I sit down to talk to these
people, I want to know exactly what makes them tick. I want to know what
strings to pull in order to make them dance. Can you do it?"

	Y'know, Jed, for a blunt field general, you don't make a half-bad 
conspirator.  Better than Raddy, probably.  Badamon, OTOH...

	"Ooh, some good old fashioned yellow journalism? Crawling through
people's closets and seeing what doesn't want to be found in there? Dare
I say it, racking muck and slinging mud?" Oniwabandana grinned so widely

	SP:  raking.  I don't think she wants to put mud in racks.
	Of course, he's only askng her to snoop, not exercise her poison pen.

that Jadeite could see it through her mask. "Jadeite, baby, that's right
up my alley!"

	"Excellent." Jadeite smiled coldly in response. "I feel it only
right to warn you, though: if you accept this mission, you might run up
against Nise Suiko again. He's not likely to leave you on the ground to
bleed out, next time - if he sees you, he will finish you."

	"Then I'll just have to make sure I see him first," the ninja
replied bravely, but Jadeite detected a slight quaver in her voice. Her

	Smart girl.

hand strayed downwards to rub at the bandages covering her abdomen, where
Nise Suiko's serrated steel claws had plunged into her body the night
before. Even with the best treatments that the Dark Kingdom could offer,
she would be bearing those scars for some time. Jadeite nodded to himself.
Brave fronts aside, Oniwabandana had learned to fear Nise Suiko. Good. A
lesser youma might have been stupid or prideful enough to seek out another
confrontation with him, just to prove they were not afraid. Oniwabandana,
however, was scared enough to be sensible but not so frightened that she
was willing to back out of the mission.

	Heh.  It's been said that being a good judge of character is as 
important to a good leader as tactics, strategy, or even logistics. 
Jed does seem to have a bit of talent for it.

	"Succed in this, Oniwabandana, and I will be very pleased," he
promised her, "and with what I intend to get from Radanthus in exchange
for our assistance, I should find myself able to be quite generous to
those who have pleased me."

	"Lord Jadeite's gratitude is all I require," Oniwabandana assured

	Yaright.

him, bowing deeply before disappearing back into the shadows. Jadeite
allowed himself a slight grin. He liked her. He would have to remember to
give her a village, or something.

	"Reminds me of myself when I was her age."

	"Here only one day, and already you are inspiring the troops to
greatness." Shale emerged from the tent behind him, his coat draped over

	"It's a gift.  What can I say?"

her usual revealing uniform and a smirk on her lips. "Young Oniwabandana
seemed to be quite impressed with your initiative and generosity, Jadeite.
Perhaps I should fear for my own position in the camp, if your 'gratitude'
is so deeply desired."

	"Baby, I've got enough 'gratitude' to go around.  More than once."

	"Jealousy ill becomes you, Shale," Jadeite chided her. "A man in
my situation has many needs - I would never expect you to fulfil *all* of

	"After all, you have to sleep sometime."

them. Besides, it would be foolish of me to throw away the leader of the
Doom and Gloom Girls on a simple espionage mission. You and your team are
of much greater use to me here, training these youma into a force worth
leading."

	"From general to drill sergeant?" Shale placed one hand on her

	More like Command Sergeant-Major.  And the people who know who 
*really* runs any decent military would tell you that's a *promotion* 
from 'general.'  :)

chest and widened her eyes dramatically. "Well, Lord Jadeite, if you want
me to try out some new positions, far be it from me to object. I promise
that you will find me *very* flexible... in my command structure."

	Ah, yes.  Where *would* we be w/o all this wonderful innuendo?
	(making up our own, probably)

	Jadeite rolled his eyes expressively as the female youma slid by
him just a little bit closer than she needed to in order to make it out
of the tent. As she passed, he took advantage of their proximity to snag
his jacket back from her and quickly shrugged into it before she could
snatch it back. Despite her efficient and businesslike demeanour in front
of the rest of her troops, Shale was quickly proving to be a shameless
flirt in private. He had to admit, as their leader, it only made sense
that he sleep in her tent - anything else might make him seem subordinate

	Yep.  Right.  Definitely.

to her. It was also true that to force her to move *out* of her tent
could be seen by the rest of the troops as a possible insult, so their
cohabitation did make a sort of sense. Her arguments regarding shared
baths was a bit less convincing, though, and Jadeite had decided that
seemed like a good place to draw the line. Water shortages be damned,

	<snerk!>

there had to be *some* level of decorum around this place.

	<ROTFL>

	"Quartzie, Verdelith, get over here!" Shale ordered. Two other
female youma looked up from where they had been clearing debris and
quickly hurried over. Like Shale, both girls were dressed in uniforms that
looked suspiciously like swimsuits, with exaggerated white cuffs around
their wrists and high-heeled boots that accentuated their height. Unlike
Shale, whose skin and suit were in various shades of blue, Quartzie was
a riot of pink and red while Verdelith was a slightly cooler and more
refined blend of greens. As a secondary commander, Verdelith was allowed
to let her wavy black hair hang down to the small of her back - Quartzie
was required to keep hers in a short bob to represent her position as
the junior member of the team. The golden wings on their temples fluttered
nervously as they stood at attention and waited for their leader's
command.

	Heh.  So, what's the haircut difference between a Lt, a Captain, a 
Major, and the different grades of Colonel?  :)

	"Lord Jadeite has expressed a concern with the skill of our
troops," Shale said coldly, frowning as she cast her gaze over the youma
still working to clean up the remnants of their fight. "You two are to
take a registry of every youma in this camp, including our scouts and
anyone foraging for food, and return with your list by lunch. Include

	Hm.  If I were Jed, I'd be wondering (quietly) why she hadn't done 
this *already.*  Maybe her hold on leadership wasn't as tight as she 
needed it to be?

name, powers, skills, and who else in the camp they may have experience
working with. Jadeite and I will be dividing the muster into active duty
squads, and you will be leading them in combat drills starting this
evening. Am I making myself clear?"

	"Yes, Commander Shale!" the two youma chorused, saluting and
rushing off to see to their duties. Jadeite had to admit, Shale brought
more than enough to the table to offset her flirtatious tendencies. She
was one of the deadliest warriors in the Dark Kingdom, and her Doom and
Gloom Girls were among the elite of the elite. Nise Suiko may have gotten
the drop on them last night, but those five were the reason the fight had
been as close as it was. Anyone who could bring Nise Suiko to his knees
more than twice in the same fight were people that Jadeite could trust to

	I *know* Jed just met NS for the first time last night.  Anti-Shin 
must have made quite an impression.

train his troops. Most importantly, they would be training at night, so
that none of Radanthus' minions in the nearby castle would be able to
observe them. That had been a particularly tricky move on Shale's part,
and something Jadeite had not considered. In the meantime, he had other

	<wince>  Night training is usually a nightMARE, unless the troops are 
already well-organized.  But, needs must...

ways to entertain himself. A little bit of detective work, to help put
together some old pieces that he never got the chance to play with in the
old days.

	Oh, WHY does this not sound good?

**********

	Minako Aino did not usually sleep in. It was true, she used to
have a habit of staying under the covers for as long as possible, but

	Sug:  "had once had the habit"

that had slowly faded away over the past few years. Most mornings, it was
more her usual routine to bound out of bed and lunge straight into her
morning calisthenics. This had been a change brought on when her cat had
explained to her that the word 'calisthenics' came from the Greek terms
for 'strength' and 'beauty'. Obviously, she had concluded, this was
something that was custom-built for her. After all, as the official
warrior of Love and Beauty, she had a lot of training to do if she wanted
to keep ahead of the rest of her teammates. Plus, all of the jumping
around and (inevitably) breaking things gave her mother ample warning to
start getting breakfast ready.

	...ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Mina's Head.  Strange in here, 
ain't it?  Not *empty,* but definitely... sparse.

	On this particular morning, however, peace reigned in the Aino
household, as Minako Aino curled herself into a ball and coiled her sheets
around her until only a small tuft of blonde hair and one foot were
visible. The early morning sun streamed cheerfully through the slats of
her venetian blinds, casting long bars of golden light across the piles
of laundry and scattered crates of Sailor V merchandise that littered her

	<snerk>  The 'crates' I usually work with are bigger than the average 
Japanese bedroom.  Made for a weird mental image there, for a moment.

floor. On cue, the large white globe on her bedside table flipped open
to reveal a small animated picture of a dancing cat with a crescent moon
on his forehead.

	Artemis is either getting a cut of the royalties, or he's plotting 
her slow, painful demise in excruciating detail.

	"Wake up, Minako!" it chirped, as the cat spun and waved his
fans dramatically. "Wake up, Minako! Wake up, Minako! Wake u-"

	A slender hand wormed its way out from the cocoon of blankets
and slapped the alarm clock shut, silencing its shrill voice. After

	a few moments, the clock popped open again and Artemis crawled out, 
looking dizzy.
	"Never again.  NEVER again...."

several moments, the hand slowly retreated back under the covers. Many
minutes later, the blankets shuddered and began to move as Minako sat up
and tossed them aside onto the floor in a heap. Scratching the top of her
head, she yawned into the back of her hand and stretched her arms wide.

	No, I am *not* engaging in hentai speculation as to what she is or 
isn't wearing in terms of sleepwear.  What?  Why are you looking at me 
like that...?

	"Stupid clock," she mumbled, swinging her legs out of bed and
letting her bare feet hover over the floor as she rubbed her face. "Stupid
Artemis. Stupid world."

	Artemis:  "I heard that."

	The door slowly opened, and a small black cat poked her head
through the resultant crack. "Minako! You were supposed to get up nearly
an hour ago! How many times were you going to keep ignoring that alarm?"

	"As many as I could get away with, plus a few more."

	"Oh, hey, Luna." Minako stifled another yawn. "I was having the
most wonderful dream about someone I've never met...."

	Somewhere, Seiji just sneezed and felt a massive chill crawl down his 
spine.

	"Your one true love again?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
Artemis had warned her about this. Minako tended to gather 'first loves'
the way that some people gathered baseball cards.

	...but where does she *store* them?

	"I think so," Minako said dreamily, resting her hand against her
cheek. "Don't you ever feel that way, Luna? Like there's one person out
there just for you, somewhere? That one perfect guy, the one who just fits
with you completely?"

	"No.  And whoever he is, he's not Artemis."

	"Certainly not," Luna replied sensibly. "And frankly, you should
not be wasting your time waiting for some dream boy to come along and
sweep you off your feet."

	Cue:  Bonnie Tyler, "Holding Out for a Hero."

	"Oh, he doesn't usually do that," Minako corrected the cat
absent-mindedly. "He's... I don't know... sweet, and gentle, and quiet.
I think he wears glasses, maybe. And he's been injured fighting the forces

	...Touma?  Nah, can't be, he's welded to Makoto already.
	Huh.  Even given my lousy Yoroiden-fu, I'd've thought I'd remember 
one of them wearing glasses...

of evil, and I nurse him back to health, and it's just SO romantic, Luna,
it really is... Do you think maybe he's one of my boyfriends from back in
the Moon Kingdom? I'll bet I had all kinds of boyfriends - ooh! Or

	
	<choke>  Not... saying... ANYthing.

paramours! Paramours are even *better* than boyfriends!"

	<head====>desk>

	"The princess of Venus most certainly did not have any boyfriends
*or* paramours!" Luna replied indignantly. "Why, the very idea would have
been scandalous! None of the Senshi had *anything* like that! Their focus
was entirely on their duties, as was only fitting for such powerful and
highly trained warriors."

	...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm about to side 
with Mina over Luna.

	"Wow, no guys at all, huh?" Minako pouted thoughtfully. "Not even
any secret, forbidden loves? Those used to be pretty popular. You gotta
tell me that at least *one* of us had a secret, forbidden love."

	You mean, aside from Usagi and Mamoru?

	"Minako, I think your image of the Moon Kingdom is a little bit
skewed," Luna warned the girl. "It was mostly a very peaceful and quiet

	Well, then why didn't they have time for boyfriends?  That next 
generation of Senshi has to come from SOMEwhere, after all.

place: there were really very few scandals or torrid affairs taking place
there at any one time."

	"Did they have a hedge maze?"

	"Well, yes," Luna confessed. "Actually, they had several."

	"And balconies, and spiral staircases, and secret passages?"

	"Many," Luna admitted with a nod, "but I still don't think..."

	"Trust me, Luna: I'm right, and you're wrong. You fill a palace
with all that kind of romantic stuff, and *somebody* is going to be using

	Typical Mina logic.  Thing is, I suspect she's *right.*

it."  Rummaging through her closet, Minako emerged with a white blouse
and a crimson skirt, which she threw on the mattress. "So, how's our
patient?"

	"I think he's feeling better," Luna said, with a sniff. "He's
finally healthy enough to be annoying again, at least."

	Y'know, one of these days, someone is going to mention 'repopulation 
of the species' to Luna, and we're going to get to see her go 
completely nucking futz.

	"Well, that's good," Minako decided after a moment's thought. "I
guess I'd better swing by the pharmacy and pick up some more eardrops on
our way to the temple today." There was nothing wrong with Artemis' ears,
but Minako was firmly of the opinion that eardrops could cure anything.

	Well, at least it's not onion suppositories (gratuitous Negima V8 ref)

	Luna cocked her head to one side curiously. "I wasn't aware we
were going to the temple today, Minako."

	"Yeah, well, Rei wants me to check in and make sure her Grandpa
isn't trying to start another 'Ladies' Night' while she's out, or
something. The O-Bon is a pretty big deal for the temples in this area,
and she's worried that he'll get something set up that she won't be able
to catch in time when she gets back from Yokohama." Tapping her chin

	Oh, c'mon, Grandpa's not so... okay, he *is,* but still....

thoughtfully, Minako began looking for her other sock. Since the piles
of laundry in her room were actually sorted from clean to dirty based on
their location on the floor, this was trickier than it sounded. "Hey,
speaking of Yokohama, what's the word on those Samurai Trooper guys?"

	"I don't remember them, so they're obviously not from the Moon 
Kingdom, so they're obviously evil, so you obviously should not trust 
them, and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT fall in love with one!"

	"Honestly?" Luna sighed, and hung her head. "I have no idea,
Minako. I've never heard of them. Ami said they were like some kind of
male counterpart to the Sailor Senshi, but I can't imagine any normal
boys being able to wield that kind of power. They must have been before
my time... or maybe after it. Or just one of the ten million other things
I can't remember about back then. It's very frustrating, really."

	I hear *that.*

	"Don't worry about it," Minako reassured the cat as she gathered
her clothes and headed towards the bath. "Ami said that the Troopers were
all down in Yokohama, right? So, whoever and whatever they are, they're
none of our concern. Those guys are all miles away from us!"

	All but one, but he's on his way to Yokohama.
	So, WHY do I suddenly suspect that his route will, for some unknown 
reason, pass Right Through Juuban?

**********

	Seiji Date sighed to himself as he watched the scenery flash past
through the train window. According to the soft recorded voice that chimed
in every couple of miles, they would be arriving in Shibuya in just a few
minutes. As usual, he sat alone in the green car: his family had a
tradition of always buying all of the reserved seats when they travelled
to ensure their privacy. Heaven forbid any of the common people
accidentally sneak in and rub shoulders with their betters, he guessed.

	.... O_O

Personally, he did it because it meant he could enjoy the trip without
needing to dodge starstruck young girls who wanted to force him on a date
with them. After that debacle he had been forced to put up with a few
months ago when Shuu had raffled off tickets promising a romantic dinner
with the famous Flirt King of Ha'na High, Seiji could use the privacy. He
still couldn't believe that Shuu had let the entire girl's field hockey
team all chip in on a single ticket. Or that they had won. Seiji had

	....
	......
	.........BWAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

barely gotten out of that one alive, and he still wasn't sure what would
have happened if Ryo hadn't intervened and held them all off long enough
for him to hop that passing bus.

	Ryo:  "No big, bro, I've got your back.  I'm supposed to be the one 
having all the bad stuff happen to him, remember?"

	For as long as he could remember, Seiji had suffered from one
little problem. It wasn't that girls didn't like him: it was that they
liked him far too much. Every time he turned around, there was some new
girl staring at him with that disturbing look in her eyes that let him
know that it was time to start running for his life. He was the only boy
he knew that was routinely chased off of school property by a throng of
bloodthirsty schoolgirls clamoring for his head. Or a date, or something.

	Ranma:  "Guess again, Bub."
	Tenchi:  "Yeah."
	Ranma:  "Say what?  What're YOU doing here?"
	Tenchi:  "Trust me, what Ryoko lacks in 'throng,' she makes up for in 
'bloodthirsty'."
	Ranma:  "Point."

When there were more than fifty girls all charging towards him in a mob,
Seiji didn't hang around to ask questions. It was very hard for him to
tell which mobs wanted to date him, and which mobs wanted to kill him for
somehow failing to date them when they had wanted him to. Somehow, his
shrieking and fleeing in terror had gotten interperated as playing 'hard
to get', and now everyone had him pegged as some kind of Casanova. It was

	I could almost wish for his kind of problems.
	Almost.

really all a huge misunderstanding: all he wanted to do was be left
alone. Couldn't any of those crazy girls realise that he was already in
love with somebody?

	Oh, poor Minako.
	...Unless....  <!>

	He had seen her only once, on his thirteenth birthday. It had been
a big day for him, because he had been visiting his father at work.
Usually, Seiji's family disapproved of their young heir wasting any time
in a place so unsavoury as a police station, where he might brush

	So, why does his *father* work there?  Lemme guess, the "Family" is 
his *mother's* side, and his father married in.

shoulders with any number of lower-class people. That day, though, Father
had left his badge at the mansion, and Seiji had decided to deliver it to
him before he had to take time out of his day to come back for it. Father
was a very important policeman, after all. There were all sorts of
criminals that needed to be stopped, and only Father could do that.

	...just a *bit* of hero worship going on, here?
	....hold on.  13th bday?  Police station?  Oh HO -- he's the same age 
as Minako, isn't he?  Heh heh.

	Seiji smiled at the memory. He had been on his way to Father's
office when she had stepped out of another door and into the hall. They
had only barely brushed against each other in passing, and he had gotten
a single glimpse deep past her mask and into her glorious, wind-coloured

	Mask?  Oh.  My.  Bog.  He's in love with SAILOR V!
	BTW, the wind is usually transparent.  Or at least translucent.

eyes. Back in those days, he had still worn his hair tied back, so that
both of his eyes were visible. Most of the other children at school had
cried whenever they looked at him, saying that he was scary. Even the
police officers in the station had flinched away from his gaze, stammering
as they had given him the directions to his father's office. She had the

	???  What's so scary about him?

first person who had ever looked at him and not been afraid. With that one
look, she had stolen his heart. As befit a true samurai, of course, he had
never shared his love with anybody. Such feelings were sacred, and had to

	Oh, *so* the drama....

be guarded closely. He had asked his father about her, though, and he had
learned that she was known only as Sailor V, an enigmatic girl who fought
for love and justice.

	Mina:  "That's love and BEAUTY.  Well, and justice, too.  Um, but 
that makes my trademark speech too long..."

	It was said that nobody knew her. She had vanished from the face
of the Earth almost as soon as she had walked out of that hallway. He had
heard rumours that she might be in England, but nobody had ever been able
to say for certain and he was far too wary of giving away his interest by
asking. Luckily for him, his youngest sister Satsuki was obsessed with
Sailor V: she had made a good excuse for most of his inquiries.

	<eyeroll>

	Closing his eyes, Seiji leaned his head back against the cushioned
chair and sighed softly. He knew it was pointless, and silly, and even a
little bit immature of him to still be carrying a torch for some girl he
had barely even bumped into over three years ago. That was one of the
other reasons he did not mention it. Maybe his friends were right, and he
needed to choose a girlfriend - if just to reduce his number of admirers
to one. How could he do something like that, though? Seiji wasn't able to
lie about his true feelings: it would be wrong of him to string some poor
girl along by pretending that he cared for her when he was really thinking
of somebody else. Worse, by telling someone else that he liked them, he
would be betraying Sailor V in his heart. He had tried, once or twice
before, but every time he was about to bring up the subject, all he could
see was that beautiful masked girl in his mind, looking so sad and hurt
by his cold denial of her that he just couldn't go through with it.

	Good GRIFE, is this a fic or a soap opera?  Somebody whack this guy 
with a clueX4, *stat!*  I swear I can *hear* the violins playing 
Tragic Hero Theme #327a in the background.

	He was such a dork. If the rest of the guys found out, they would
probably laugh him straight out of the Samurai Troopers. God help him if
he ever did manage to run into Sailor V; he'd probably come across like
just another giddy fanboy. She probably had so many people wanting to be
her boyfriend that she had a different guy for every day of the week. Who
wouldn't want a chance to be the boyfriend of a perfect girl like that?

	Yo!  I'd take Makoto or Ami any day of the week, and Rei on days 
beginning with T, but Mina?  No thanks.  Don't get me wrong, she's a 
sweetheart, but... no.  Just, no.
	(As for Usagi... too much like dating my little sister)

**********

	Minako was roughly halfway up the long stone stairs before the
sound of frantic hammering reached her ears. Considering that the Hikawa
Shrine was not usually known for heavy construction, that did not bode
well for Rei and her concerns about her grandfather. Hanging a couple of
extra spirit wards and some decorative bunting should not be requiring
that much noise. The only thing that could be causing that much noise was
if Grandpa Hino had gotten it into his head to do something stupid. If

	Or grandiloquent.  That's not always synonmous with stupid.

Rei came home and found out that he had finally carried through on his
threat to build a 'Tunnel of Love' in the backyard, she was going to hit
the ceiling.

	...On the other hand....   O_O;;

	Clearly having similar concerns, Luna gave the blonde girl a
worried look and then leapt out of her purse to bound up the stairs at
a faster pace. Minako groaned and began running after the small cat, her
legs burning from the exertion. Of all the things she hated about visiting
Rei's temple, the stairs were the worst. Darned things just went on
forever, sometimes. Oh, she hoped it wouldn't be a Tunnel of Love. Or a
kissing booth. Well, maybe a kissing booth wouldn't be *such* a bad idea,
if it were properly staffed...

	Time to pucker up, Rei.  Rei?  Hey, put that flaming ward down -- REI!!!

	Reaching the top of the stairs, Minako's shoe caught on the edge
of the step and flew off of her foot. Pinwheeling her arms frantically,
Minako yelped and plunged facefirst into the ground, her one hand still
outstretched and her fingers twitching slightly. Minako groaned softly as

	Classic.

her own shoe dropped out of the sky and bopped her right on top of her
head before bouncing to the pavement nearby. After a moment, a shadow fell

	Classic^2.

over her prostrate form and a pair of men's feet in straw sandals edged

	Sug:  "man's" or "male"

into her field of vision. The man spoke, and it was not a voice she had
been expecting to hear.

	"You know something, Minako? You fall down *exactly* the same way
Usagi does."

	The Charge of the Blonde Brigade.

	"Mamoru?" Minako looked up in confusion. Sure enough, there before
her was Mamoru Chiba. Why exactly he would be dressed like a shrine priest
was something she wasn't sure she wanted to get into at the moment. He had

	Got drafted by 'jiisan, obviously.

rolled up the sleeves of his white gi jacket, and a braided headband was
holding his short raven hair out of his eyes. His powder blue hakama were
dusty and covered with wood shavings, and he was carrying a large bundle
of bamboo on his shoulder.

	"Yeah, Motoki and I are helping out here today," Mamoru explained.
"We ran into Rei's grandfather putting up flyers down at the gym, and,
well, one thing kind of led to another. Next thing I knew, we'd been
recruited. The old guy's really excited about this thing. I've got to
tell you, it's really amazing: I can't wait to try it out..."

	Well, that pretty much kills the hentai potential -- Mamoru just does 
not get freaky that way.  He's got a little Usagi-shaped conscience on 
his shoulder, I swear.

	"Oh, no," Minako moaned, leaping to her feet and grabbing Mamoru
by the shoulders. "Don't do it, Mamoru! Don't let that old lech's evil
schemes corrupt your noble soul! You've got to stay good and pure, for
Usagi's sake! Even if the ticket sales for the kissing booth *would*
skyrocket with two babes like you and Motoki there -and I would probably
have to buy a couple of rolls myself- I can't bear to think of you that

	Rolls.  RollS.  Plural.  Oy....

way! Please, Mamoru, tell me you have not been seduced by the promise of
easy money and beautiful women!"

	...I *swear* I can *hear* her babbling this.

	"Hey, how come you're getting easy money and beautiful women?"
Motoki asked, as he walked up behind the two and gave Mamoru a look of

	<snicker>

exaggerated shock. He was dressed similarly to the other boy, but was
carrying a hammer instead of a bundle of wood. "All I got was two hundred
yen, and I'm doing all the hard work!"

	<snicker^2>

	"I didn't know I was," Mamoru replied honestly. "Maybe it's some
kind of special discount because he likes me better than you?"

	<plotz>

	"Hey, I closed the arcade down all day just to help him build this
monstrosity! The least he could do is corrupt my noble soul, too!" Motoki

	Grandpa:  "So many souls, so little time."

grinned as he patted Mamoru on the back. "But, seriously, I can't help but
notice that you're standing around talking to Mina-chan, and there's a
whole lot of bamboo over there that's not going anywhere by itself. Shake
a leg, man: we need to get this finished by tonight if you want our
little Maya to have time to practice on it."

	"Maya?" Minako asked, her nose wrinkling in confusion.

	"Yeah, you remember Maya Touno, right, Minako? The famous taiko
drummer that Rei talked into helping out at that big festival a year or
two ago?" Mamoru laughed and ruffled the girl's hair. "She was such a hit
that Rei's grandfather convinced her to perform at the bon odori dance
he's holding next month. He's been buying up advertising for it all week.
That's what we're doing here: he needed extra hands to put together the
yukaba platform for Maya to perform on. Although, if we've got some lumber
left over when we're done, I'm sure we can talk him into that 'kissing
booth' idea of yours, too..." He winked at her playfully. "Hey, promise

	Okay, Mina, now just *who* exactly is corrupting Mamoru's soul?

not to tell Usagi and I'll buy a few tickets, myself. Unless you think it
might corrupt my noble soul, of course."

	Hold up, Mamo-kun -- if you're buying tickets, then who's manning 
(ahem -- womanning?) the booth?

	"I thought Usagi made you promise not to make fun of us any more,"
Minako said sourly, as she pouted and folded her arms across her chest.

	1:  Define "us."
	2:  Stop making it so easy.
	Sug:  "...more."  Minako pouted, folding her arms...

	"Nope," Mamoru said cheerfully as he lifted up the bamboo and
began walking back towards the temple. "Usagi just said I had to promise I
wouldn't make fun of *her* any more. She never said anything about the
rest of you."

	You know, I think he's finally learning how to handle them.

	"Stupid Usagi," Minako grumbled, and followed after Mamoru as he
walked down the garden path. Well, that explained all the construction,
at least. If she had been paying a little more attention to anything other
than her sick cat for the past few days, she might have known what was
going on here and saved herself some embarassment. She felt like such a
dork.

	Emotional congruence with subject SD achieved.  Convergence 
preparations complete.
	INITIATE.

**********

	The station in Juuban was crowded, and Seiji Date had not intended
to be in it. The somewhat disturbing news when he had reached Shibuya was
that there had been an incident with one of the local trains a few days
before - it had somehow managed to jump the rails and coil itself up like

	O_O  Well, I'll be-- everything ties together.  That's a clever bit 
of writing, that is.

a spring. Repairs and cleanup had been aggravated by the fact that it had
been raining for two straight days. Most of the newspapers in the terminal

	...uh.  Oh.  Um, this wouldn't be the skies mourning their Prince, 
would it?

had focused on how wonderfully the train's security system must have
worked, since there had been no more than a few slight injuries to some
of the passengers. No deaths, no serious harm... nobody had even needed
to go to the hospital for more than a quick check-up and an official bill
of health.

	What had caught Seiji's eye was the mention of a 'blue streak'
that had apparently torn through the whole train seconds before the crash
and safely deposited everybody in the rear section while everything had
been splintering and shattering around them. He happened to know a blue
streak that could do that sort of thing to people. The only thing that
bothered him was what his old comrade Touma Hashiba had been doing on
that train when it crashed. Touma lived in Osaka with his father, and he
wasn't going to be having his annual visit with his mother until August.
Even then, she lived in Harajuku, not Juuban. If Touma had been on that
train (which he had no business being anywhere near), had he tried to
prevent that crash, or had he somehow been the reason for it?

	Nice when your friends have such faith in you.
	And once again, the lack of carefully coordinated data prevents Our 
Heroes from making the critical connection.
	<sigh>

	It would hardly be the first time that one of the Samurai Troopers
had trouble with transportation. Almost any time one of them tried to
go anywhere, it ended in disaster. When they got on the subway, it
derailed. In a car? It wrecked. On a plane? Flight 327 was still at the
bottom of New York Harbour. Half the time it seemed like they couldn't
even walk somewhere without the street exploding. This had nothing to do
with bad luck, and a lot more to do with the fact that almost every demon
in the entire netherworld had a plan for world domination that seemed to
include messing with the Samurai Troopers as step number one.

	...uh, hello?  Seiji?  CONNECT THE DOTS!!!!!!

	Seiji grinned. That was okay: if past performance was anything to
judge by, steps two through eight tended to involve *regretting* that they
had messed with the Samurai Troopers.

	Regardless, Touma being on a train that suddenly decided to flip
like a coin with no prior warning was not a good sign. Adding in the
mysterious circumstances of a thunderstorm from a sky with no clouds in
it, and it didn't exactly take a genius to suspect there might be some
kind of dark magic involved.

	Seiji did not like dark magic. He and dark magic did not get along
very well at all. Ever since he had joined the Samurai Troopers, it had
seemed like he was constantly running afoul of one evil sorceror after
another. This whole thing had all the classic marks of another attack by
the forces of the Evil Dynasty. So, since his transfer from Japan Railways
to Tokyu Rail was delayed anyway, he had decided to take a day or two and
investigate. His friend Shin had an apartment in Harumi, and he had given
Seiji a key years ago, so it wasn't like he wouldn't have a place to stay.
He'd just call Ryo and the rest of the guys from the apartment and let
them know what he was up to, so they wouldn't worry.

	Convergence initiated.  The clock is running.

	That one made him snort slightly, and he quickly composed himself
before he drew attention from the other people in the station. Ryo and
Shuu, worrying about anything? Yeah, right - the whole city could be on
fire, and those two would go back inside for marshmallows. Assuming that

	Ryo:  "Hey, we'd make sure everyone got out safely first!"

they weren't hiding under the bed and hoping nobody tracked it back to
them in the first place. Shin was about as easy to bother as an ice

	Shuu:  "Wow, that pipe *really* didn't look like a gas main. 
Somebody should have posted a sign."

statue - the rest of the guys were starting a petition to get his picture
in the dictionary next to the word 'unflappable'. Given that they were
only a few signatures away from getting Ryo next to 'feckless', it was
looking like they might pull it off. Seiji would be lucky if the rest of
the guys even noticed he was late, let alone worried about it.

	With coordination like this, it's a wonder they haven't all been 
picked off by somebody already.

	The most important thing was to set up his home base and get in
touch with the rest of the gang. First, though, he had better stop by the
local temple to pray for a safe journey and the well-being of his

	Convergence:  Proximity warning.

teammates. After that, he would track down Touma and find out if the
little walking computer had gotten himself in trouble again. Then,
assuming the answer was 'yes', Seiji would probably get to the fun part
with all the swords and the hurting. Perhaps there would be a light tea
afterwards, but only if time permitted.

	I just have to sit back and admire the artistry of that paragraph for 
a moment.

	It was a plan. Seiji liked to have plans. They made him feel all
warm and secure in a way that blindly rushing into danger with no idea
what he was doing never did. He was almost looking forward to being able

	Ryo <blankly>:  "Say wha?  Huh?  Watchoo talkin' about, Willis?"

to actually sit down and plot his moves, instead of getting dragged along
with one of Ryo's half-baked 'they'll never expect us to try a full
frontal assault' excuses for a strategy.

	In this case, the battle plan is not going to survive contact with 
his One True Love.  Poor Seiji -- just when he gets a chance to plan 
his campaign against his enemies, he gets mugged by Romance.  Poor guy 
just can't win.

	He just hoped that Touma was keeping safe, wherever he was.

	And THAT's a cue...

**********

	It had been nearly a day since they had found the cavern. Touma
had been the one who noticed it: a deep crack in the side of the canyon
wall that stretched for miles. The fissure snaked for miles through the
rock, cool and damp and completely uninhabited except for a handful of

	Wait... is the crack miles long, or the canyon?  This paragraph is a 
bit vague on that point.

salamanders and the occasional bat. Toshitada Koma had insisted on going
as deep as possible so that he could make sure there wasn't some sort of
unimaginable evil lurking at the other end of their hiding place, and
Makoto had decided to let him. The young monk had wandered off into the

	Young?  I suppose, but he sure manages to come across as a dried-up 
old sourpuss.  We *really* need to get him and Pluto back together -- 
it'll do both of them a world of good.  Not to mention how the rest of 
the cast will benefit from them mellowing out a bit.

dark and promptly vanished. The only thing that kept that from bothering
Makoto was that she could still faintly hear the echoes of his shakujo
staff jangling as he wandered around somewhere in the distance. She might
have offered to go with him, but Toshitada was not exactly the most
friendly of travelling companions, and Touma had assured her that any
evil creature unlucky enough to run into that monk deserved what it got.

	I can hear what he *didn't* say....

	Makoto cast a glance in Touma's direction. The blue-haired teen
was sprawled on the rocky ground, one arm draped over his chest as he
slept. Touma had stretched out on the caveren floor and fallen asleep
almost seconds after Toshitada had left, and he had stayed that way ever
since. It was obvious to her that Touma had been pushing himself past his
limits for at least the past couple of days: he was still battered and
bruised from the train crash that Fei Lian had caused, and his ankle was
looking worse every time she checked on it. He needed to stay off of his
feet and get some rest, if he wanted to be good for anything when the time
came to escape this dreadful place.

	Do Toumas Dream Of Escape and Evasion Plans?  Somehow, I doubt that 
capacious cranium ever completely shuts off, even in sleep.

	She hid a smile as she walked over to where he lay and crouched
beside his head. Touma Hashiba had come all this way just to rescue her.
Touma Hashiba was a magical samurai warrior, who had saved the world at
least two or three times that he had been willing to admit to. It was
almost as if the universe had decided he was not quite hard enough for a
girl to resist when he was just a nice, smart, cute guy who happened to
be living in her apartment for the summer. Now she had to get her head
around the fact that he was a real, live, hero. A knight in shining
armour, even.

	AND a guy that isn't likely to end up endangered by being a Senshi's 
boyfriend.  At least, no more than he already is.

	Resting her chin on her fist, Makoto stared down at the boy and
tried to see it. Touma was cute, sure, but it wasn't really 'hero' cute.

	Oho, girl, you haven't seen him MAD yet.  You didn't see him facing 
down Fei Lian after you got sucked into this place.  You haven't seen 
him forget his confidence problems and become the Archer in truth.
	But you will.  Oh, yes....

He had more of a 'lost puppy' feel to his cuteness. Or 'sexy librarian'.
Touma could definitely pull off the sexy librarian vibe. He always seemed
to have a slightly befuddled look on his face, like he had been thinking
about something else for a moment and was trying to catch up on what had
just happened. He also had a bad habit of dressing in clothes that were
a little too big for him: it made him look like a kid playing dress-up.
Just looking at him, she was filled with the urge to straighten his collar
and fix his hair.

	Of course, this is probably the kind of cuteness he *should* have, 
when he's not 'on duty.'

	Okay, maybe it wasn't the *only* urge that filled her, but it was

	<snicker>

definitely in there with all of the others. Her senpai was seriously in
need of some looking after if he expected to be able to take care of her.

	There's some perfectly circular reasoning.  Of course, she's right.

Watching him sleep, she wanted to take him in her arms and hold him until
everything was all right, because somehow that seemed like the perfect
way to make sure that it would be. Sighing wistfully, Makoto cradled her

	Gee, the Infinite Impro-- er, Regret Field seems to be losing its grip.

cheek in her hand and let her head tilt to the side as she looked down at
him. He was so adorable when he was asleep.

	"Well, that was fun," Toshitada said bitterly as he emerged from
the darkness and took a seat on a nearby rock. "The good news is that
there don't seem to be any giant slumbering evils waiting to leap out and
murder the two of you in your sleep. Of course, now you can both look
forward to starving to death, instead...."

	Cue:  "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life."

	"Do you always look on the bright side?" Makoto asked, giving the
monk an irritated glance.

	"Sometimes," Toshitada confessed, sliding off his broad straw hat
and setting it on the ground beside him. "But only if the situation calls
for it. At the moment, we are alone and outnumbered in an alien dimension
filled to the brim with creatures that want us dead on general principles.
Not to mention that there's at least one Medean around hunting *your*
pretty little head."

	Spiny Boy?

	"Medean?" Makoto wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow in
confusion. "What's a Medean?"

	"Someone from Medea, obviously." Toshitada answered her, snorting
gently as he rolled his eyes. "You really don't know anything about your
former life, do you, Princess? It's all just one big haze of cocktail
parties and pretty dresses up there, isn't it?"

	....oooh.  Oh, you did NOT just say that.  Oh, Toshi, prepare to have 
your paradigms shifted

	"Can the sarcasm for a second, okay? It's wearing real thin."
Makoto scowled and clenched her fist at her side. No matter what Touma had
told her about this guy, if she had to put up with his condescending
attitude for three more seconds, she was punching him in the face. Even
if he was a ghost. "Just try giving somebody a straight answer for once,
and spare me the insults to my intelligence. I know I'm not a genius, so
quit throwing it in my face all the time!"

	"Very well," the monk agreed, raising one eyebrow. "Medea, or
Ganymede, as it is now known, is one of the moons of Jupiter. Of course,
in the old days nobody actually lived *on* Jupiter - the planet would have
crushed them. Your palace was on the moon of Io, and your subjects lived
on the various other moons. The Medeans were a rebel group that sided with
Queen Beryl and joined the Dark Kingdom during the final battle."

	Hm.  Has she asked how he knows so much about the Silver Millenium, yet?

	"What? Why?"

	"Mostly because of you," Toshitada said bluntly. "Apparently they
were not fans."

	"What do you mean?" Makoto asked, rising to her feet and placing
her hand over her heart. There had been a whole moon full of people who
had hated her? "What could I have been doing that was so horrible to
them?"

	"I have no idea," Toshitada admitted with a shrug. "Maybe they
didn't like your fetching little outfit with the pretty pink bows and
shiny tiara. Personally I think you pull it off quite well, but there's
no accounting for taste. Regardless, Beryl was more than happy to convert

	Why do I hear this as just *dripping* sarcasm?

the whole lot of them into those spiky little assassin beasts that have
been tracking you ever since you got here. Care to hear the details of
what they did when they finally caught up to you, Princess? It's almost
guaranteed to keep you up at night."

	Toshi, stop enjoying this.

	"No, thanks," Makoto said flatly. Well, she guessed that explained
why none of her special attacks had worked on those creatures, and how
they had been able to track her like they had. Great - a whole species of
youma dedicated to killing Sailor Jupiter. She had always wanted something
to make her feel special.

	...at lest her sense of humor is still working.

	"Since I'm sure Touma would never shut up about it if something
were to happen to you, rest assured that I will gladly exterminate any of
those things if they trouble you again," Toshitada reassured her. "I do
want it put on record that I still don't like you, though."

	"Why should I care? You don't seem to like anybody."

	Yeah, Toshi, answer that one.

	"Good point." Toshitada leaned back against the side of the
cavern wall and closed his eyes, resting his chin on his chest. "Still,
the fact remains that we need to get back to the Earth realm before you
two starve. It's only logical that there must be a way out of here -

	What about Toshi?  He's suddenly got hunger&thirst problems, too.

nobody would build a prison like this without some kind of back door in
case they got trapped in it by accident."

	Unless they were so darned arrogant as to believe that couldn't 
happen to them.
	Speaking of... just how did Touma get out last time?  Why can't they 
just do that again?

	"So if there's a way out, why is everybody so convinced that this
place is escape-proof?" Makoto asked.

	"Because," Touma interjected from where he was lying on the
ground, "nobody has ever *found* the exit. Fei Lian is assuming that just
because it's never been found, that means it isn't there. I hope to prove
him wrong."

	"How long have you been awake?" Makoto jerked back and looked down
at the blue-haired boy in surprise.

	"A while. I've been thinking about our situation, and I believe I
may have a solution to this little riddle." Touma sat up and smiled
brightly at his companions. "I mean, when you think about it, it makes
sense. Everything in this whole stupid dimension points at the Castle of
Eternal Regret. Nobody wants to get any closer to it than they need to,
and most of the creatures here avoid it like the plague. They haven't
found the exit because it's in the one place none of them want to go. It's
got to be somewhere inside the castle."

	Which means that Something Nasty must be there, too.

	Makoto blinked and scratched her head. "So... once we get to the
castle, it'll be safer?"

	Um, No.  Noooooo.

	"Of course not," Toshitada replied sourly. "He just said that
everybody avoids the castle like the plague. If it was *safer* there,
they wouldn't prefer things out here. Whatever is inside, it's got to be
worse than any of the dregs we've run into so far. And judging from the
look on young Touma's face, we're going to be finding out exactly how
*much* worse very shortly."

	"You, sir, are a very good judge of character," Touma admitted
with an impish grin. "We're moving out as soon as I'm back in fighting
trim - I don't want to hit that castle if we're not all at full strength."

	"Oh, good," Toshitada said hopefully. "Maybe there's still time
for us to starve to death, after all."

	I love this guy.  Really.  The fact that I want to kick his butt up 
around his ears is not contradictory at all, I swear.

**********

	Minako had to admit, she was impressed with how quickly everything
seemed to be coming together. Mamoru and Motoki may not have been the most
experienced carpenters in Juuban, but with a little help from Yuuchirou
and a lot of yelling from Rei's grandfather, the massive wooden platform
was rapidly taking shape. As an added bonus, the wizened little old man
was so busy keeping his young charges in line that he hadn't had time to
even attempt peeking up Minako's skirt or any of his other usual tricks.
As strange as it was to admit, Rei's grandfather seemed to be legitimately
trying to put on a decent showing for the O-Bon festival.

	"The whole thing just makes me more suspicious," Luna whispered
into the girl's ear as they casually inspected the work and tried to stay
out of the men's way. Minako had carefully draped the small black cat over
her shoulder specifically so that they could talk without drawing
attention to each other: being the owner of Artemis for so many years had
taught her a number of useful tricks.

	"I know what you mean," Minako whispered back as they picked their
way around the construction site. "This may all look innocent enough, but
something tells me there's more going on here than meets the spy. Rei's
grandfather always gets in some kind of trouble when she's not around to
keep her eyes on him, and lions like him can't change their spots!"

	"Lions?" Luna merely looked up at the smugly grinning girl, and
felt her head start to spin. Was this what it had been like for Artemis,
having to work with Sailor Venus for so many years? "You're... really not
much like Usagi at all, are you, Minako?"

	"Nah," Minako replied, grinning even wider. "Our similarities are
totally different. Hey, look! It's Maya!"

	Following Minako's eagerly pointing finger, Luna noticed a
familiar looking girl sitting patiently on one of the benches that the
boys had been setting up around the open courtyard in front of the temple.
She was dressed in a white blouse and short grey skirt, with a thin
crimson ribbon tied around her neck like a bow tie. She had been letting
her hair grow out from its former pageboy style, Luna noticed: the
chocolate brown locks hung down to the small of her back, and she had
tied them loosely back with a patterned silk handkerchief. There was a
grey blazer lying on the bench next to her, and a small pile of books.

	"She certainly has grown," Luna commented quietly. "Why, I
remember when she used to be smaller than Usagi! It looks like she had
quite a bit of a growth spurt since the last time we saw her."

	"Yeah, looks like it was in more than one direction, too," Minako
added enviously as they approached the other girl. "If I didn't know
better, I would have thought I was looking at Makoto! Why do figures like
that always go to girls who don't need them?"

	"Minako, be nice," Luna warned. "Maya is an old friend of Rei's,
and if Sailor Mars finds out you said something stupid, she'll be very
upset with both of us."

	"Oh, relax! I'll be good." Minako shushed the cat with a
reassuring pat on its head as she neared Maya and smiled brightly. "Hi,
Maya! I'm Minako - Rei's friend. Remember?"

	Maya looked up and smiled politely in return. "I think I remember
you from the coffee shop," she replied. "Still stalking people?"

	"Every chance I get!" Minako admitted cheerfully, taking a seat
bedside the other girl. "So, what's got your interest, Maya? I'd think a
dedicated taiko drummer like you would be way more interested in all of
this... drum-related... stuff... than some old book!" Tipping over
sideways, Minako tried to sneak a glimpse at the cover of the book as
Maya quickly closed it and gave her an odd look.

	"It's just some school work," she quickly explained, as Minako
righted herself. "I've been so busy lately that I fell a little behind
this semester. Ha'na High is a very prestigious school, so I need to catch
up again soon or I might be in trouble on the exams. I'd hate to miss my
chance to attend."

	"Why?" Minako asked curiously. She had never heard of Ha'na High
school, and personally she couldn't care less about it if she tried. The
way she saw it, any place that was hard to get into was no place for her.
Besides, she was already doing everything in her power to make it into
Juuban High next year so that she could be in the same school as all of
the other Senshi. That way, when a monster inevitably attacked Usagi in
the middle of class, she would have less running to do in order to get
there. There was nothing more annoying than showing up late for a battle.
If she missed the introductory speeches, it took *forever* to figure out
what was going on.

	"It's a very good school," Maya tried to explain. "Most of the
students who get placed there have no problem moving on to the university
of their choice. If I want to get into the Tokyo National University of
Fine Arts and Music, it's the best way to go. I'm not even too worried
about all the rumours they have about the Flirt King - he probably
wouldn't even notice someone like me. I was thinking that maybe Rei might
want to go too, and that way we could have some of the same classes
together...."

	"Wait a minute," Minako interjected, "what was that about a Flirt
King? Go back to the part about the Flirt King."

	"Oh, that?" Maya laughed and waved one hand as if brushing away
the comment. "That's nothing. Just an urban legend about some guy who's
supposed to be the cutest boy in all Japan, or something like that. They
call him the Flirt King because no girl can resist his seductive charms.
Everyone down there says that once you lay eyes on the Flirt King, nobody
can blame you for losing all control of yourself! Isn't that just
horrible? Rumour has it that he's so picky he'll only date the most
beautiful and glamourous girl in the school, so of course every girl is
just mad to go out with him so they can prove that they're better than
everyone else."

	"Wow, that's pretty shallow," Minako commented. "I could never see
myself chasing after some guy and acting all desperate like that."

	"Is your cat okay?" Maya asked, suddenly concerned. "I think it
might be choking."

	"It *better* be choking," Minako growled menacingly as she gave a
murderous glare to the small black cat that was rolling around at their
feet. It was shaking violently and making noises that sounded suspiciously
like someone trying their hardest not to burst into hysterical laughter.

**********

	"I don't like this," Xiang Yao hissed under her breath as she
inched carefully around the orange and black torii gate that stood at
the top of the long staircase and stepped gingerly onto the holy ground.
"I hate going near shrines, especially Shinto shrines. These damned places
are full of priests, and I have very bad luck with priests...."

	"Noted, your concerns have been," her companion said flatly as he
stepped directly through the gate and gave her a disgusted glare. Fei
Lian had done away with his usual coat of scales and conical helmet in the
interests of blending in. Dressed in a sedate grey suit and black silk
shirt with mandarin collar, he looked every bit like a handsome Chinese
gentleman out on business. The look was only spoiled by his pointed goatee
and the dragon tattoo that coiled along his jawbone and perched atop his
right eyebrow. Nothing he had tried had been able to make either flaw go
away, to his eternal frustration.

	Xiang Yao scowled as she watched her companion stride down the
pathway without a care in the world. It was easy for some youma to act
like they had nothing to fear - he hadn't been stuck in a box for eighty
years by some uptight mortal in a bunch of white robes. Xiang Yao had a
very good memory of the last few times she had been at a shrine, and they
all ended with that same damned box. Old man Yudai was a thorn in her
side, and his grandson Touma was only slightly less annoying. There was
no telling when yet another Hashiba was going to leap out of the woodwork
and try to ruin her day. Every time she set foot on consectrated ground,
it felt like everything in the whole place was staring at her.

	Well, let them stare. She had nothing to hide. True, she was
currently in human guise, like Fei Lian, but unlike her reluctant comrade,
she bore her flaws proudly. There was a certain exotic beauty in her
crimson eyes, and the delicate snake tattoo that coiled down from her
eyelid to slither across her cheek was a mark of pride. Xiang Yao would
not have hidden that brand even if she were capable of it: she *was* a
criminal, and a killer, and she wanted the whole world to know it.
Radanthus the Unconquered had not freed her from her prison because of
her sultry looks and seductive beauty. She had been freed because he had
needed someone who would murder what he wanted, when he wanted, and not
care about any of the paltry details.

	But still... on holy ground? She didn't like it. She might even
have refused, if she hadn't been very certain that Radanthus was willing
to eat her the second she gave him any trouble. Dealing with the dark
priest Badamon had been putting the youma lord in a very sour mood
lately - he was not willing to put up with any more annoyances. It was
all just one more sign that priests were bad news, in Xiang Yao's humble
opinion.

	Fei Lian suddenly stopped in his tracks, and Xiang Yao nearly
bumped into him before realising what was going on. There were at least
four or five men dressed in Shino robes, putting together some sort of
giant wooden framework for something. Probably another of those nasty
spirit gates they liked putting up everywhere, she guessed. Some kind of
demon trap, maybe? You could never be too careful, with priests. That was
why she always made it a point to kill as many as possible.

	"That girl," Fei Lian said, his voice strained. "Impossible, it
is... how could she have escaped?"

	"What? Who?" Xiang Yao took a second glance at the clearing. Fei
Lian's attention was not on the priests, as she had at first assumed, but
on a couple of girls sitting on a bench in the distance. One was blonde,
dressed in a red skirt and a white blouse, and the other had long brown
hair and was dressed in grey. They didn't look particularly special in any
way. Certainly no reason for Fei Lian to look like somebody had shot him
in the gut.

	She chuckled slightly. Oh, right - somebody had. She would have to
remember to tease him about that, later.

	"The Archer!" Fei Lian spat, as he clawed at the small wooden
puzzle box inside his jacket. "Freed her, he has? Impossible! Unescapable,
it was supposed to be!"

	"Woah!" Moving swiftly, Xiang Yao slapped his hands away from his
coat and gripped him firmly by the shoulders. "You just leave that cursed
box right where it is, understand me? You open that thing again and so
help me, I will rip your head off! Now slow down for a second and tell me
what the hell the problem is. What's the big deal about some girl?"

	"The Archer!" Fei Lian repeated, as though that somehow explained
anything. Noticing his comrade's half-lidded glare of imminent violence,
he took a deep breath and tried to explain himself. "His consort, she is!
Within the Castle of Eternal Regret, did I trap her! Rescued her, my foe
must have! Too easy, I always suspected it was...."

	"Are you sure it's even the same girl?" Xiang Yao asked, looking
over at the young women sitting on the bench and talking quietly. "Maybe
you just took a few too many knocks on the head during your last fight."

	"Transformed, she may be, but no magic shall hide from me my
rival!" Fei Lian vowed, and a sudden flare of energy burst from his body.
A gust of wind ripped through the courtyard, stripping the leaves from
the trees and swirling around his form as the tattoo on his face glowed
and began to move of its own volition. The humans cried out and began to
scatter as their wooden framework creaked and swayed dangerously in the
powerful breeze, and Xiang Yao wisely decided to make herself scarce.

**********

	"Where is the Archer?" Fei Lian yelled over the howling of the
wind. He rose from the ground, a pair of massive wings with razor-edged
steel feathers sprouting from his back and curling around him to form a
gleaming coat of scale mail that stretched down to his ankles. A gleaming
rack of golden antlers flashed into existence on his head, coiling and
writhing around themselves to form a studded conical helmet with a long
tassel of horsehair fluttering from the spike at its peak, and a pair of
spears appeared in his hands. "Ready, I am! Concealed, he cannot hope to
be! Before me, you shall bring him!"

	In the distance, the girls tried to flee, and Fei Lian cackled
in delight as he soared after them. He had known! All this time, it had
seemed too simple, too easy - his victory over Touma Hashiba cheapened
by how little resistance the Archer had put up. Oh, but he had forgotten
just how crafty and resourceful his foe could be! No battle with the
Archer was ever as simple as it appeared: how like his rival, to send the
girl in disguise to spy on his actions! Well, if Touma thought that Fei
Lian would be caught unprepared, then the mistake had been his. Fei Lian
would capture this young Amazon, before she could reveal her true
identity, and he would make her tell him how they had escaped. He would
force her to reveal his enemy's location. He would use her to draw the
Archer out of hiding!

	The blonde girl and her feline darted to the left, disappearing
into the trees, and Fei Lian snorted as he swooped past. Let the other
girl save herself, if she thought she could. She was no interest to him,
anyway - it was the Sailor Senshi he wanted. Gripping his spear eagerly,
he veered to the right and flew after the running brunette. She did look
a bit different, but he was all too familiar with magical disguises. No
magic in the world could conceal those long legs and that statuesque
figure; there was no doubt that she had to be Sailor Jupiter.

	"Hide from me, you cannot!" he called out to her, as he skimmed
close to the ground and began to close the distance between them. "Running
shall not avail you! Fei Lian will not be denied again!" Any moment now,
he could tell, he would be close enough to reach her. She could not run
forever, no matter how fit she might be. Throwing his arms back, he
redoubled his efforts as she darted around one of the torii and he flew
after her.

	He had not been expecting a broom to slam into his face. Flipping
over backwards, the youma landed on his back and skidded across the
courtyard before coming to an abrupt stop against a partially constructed
wooden frame. Rolling over and sitting up, Fei Lian saw his quarry pressed
against the spirit gate, clutching her chest and gasping for breath as two
young men stood protectively in front of her. One had long, dark hair that
hung over his eyes, and was still holding the broom he had used to strike
the youma down. The other stood slightly taller, with a curly mop of sandy
blond hair and a hammer held at the ready.

	"I don't know what you're up to, dude," the boy with the broom
said, "but we've had just about enough of your kind around here!"

	"Yeah, so if you want to hurt Maya, you'll have to go through the
three of us first!" the other boy added, hefting his hammer and pointing
at the youma with it.

	"Three?" Fei Lian asked, as he drfited lazily to his feet. "A
stange way of counting, you Japanese must have. Only two, do I see."

	"What?" the boy with the hammer looked around with an air of
desperation. "Hey, where the heck is Mamoru?"

	"Forget him, man!" the other boy with the shaggy hair replied
angrily. "We just gotta deal with this creep ourselves! Gramps, you get
Maya somewhere safe - we'll keep the guy in the hat busy!"

	"Amusing, this would normally be," Fei Lian admitted with an evil
smile, "but time to deal with you, I do not have." He snapped his fingers,
and a blast of hurricane force wind hurtled towards the hapless boys.
Their eyes wide with panic, the two would-be heroes raised their weapons
in a futile attempt to shield themselves as the gale slammed into them and
threw them, screaming, through the air.

	There was a sudden flash of black, and a strange caped figure
seemingly flickered into existence behind them. Easily catching both boys
by the collars of their robes, the man in black tucked them under each
arm and landed in a crouch. His black and red cape pooled around him like
a silken shroud, and a pair of mirrored lenses glinted softly from beneath
the brim of his top hat as he lifted his head to stare at the youma.

	"The natural desire of any man to protect and shelter a girl in
danger should never be so callously ignored," he said warningly, as he
rose to his full height and flicked his cape back over one shoulder. "I
am the champion of that desire, the friend of all girls in their hour of
need! One more step, monster, and you will have to face Tuxedo Kamen!"

	"So, another seeks to stand in my way?" Fei Lian sneered. "Allies,
it seems, the Archer does not lack. Very well - let your destruction
warn him of his final fate!" Howling angrily, the youma sent yet another
gust of wind plummeting towards the masked man and his two associates. If
he had to, he would just kill them all! Then the Archer would have to
appear!

	Tuxedo Kamen stood his ground, spreading his arms wide and bracing
his feet as the wind buffeted his slender frame. His cape ballooned out
as it filled with the powerful breeze, and his feet began to skid back
slightly, his heels digging small trenches in the dirt.

	"Yuuchirou! Motoki!" he called out, looking down at the two men
still crouching on either side of him. "Get the girl and get out of here!"

	"Whatever you say, masked man!" Yuuchirou agreed, saluting
smartly and then crawling back over to where Maya was leaning against
the spirit gate and staring at the scene before her in stunned amazement.
Motoki quickly scurried over to where Maya was and helped Yuuchirou lift
her. As they began to hurry back towards the temple, he gave Tuxedo Kamen
a suspicious look, then shook his head and ducked indoors with Rei's
grandfather following closely at his heels.

	As soon as the others were clear Tuxedo Kamen leapt into the
sky, the powerful wind tunnel blasting past beneath him and shattering
the spirit gate into kindling. Fei Lian cursed and hurled one of his
spears at the man as he soared overhead, but with a deft spin of his cane,
the masked man deflected it back towards its owner. Fei Lian hopped back
as the spear dug into the ground at his feet and soared into the air after
his new opponent. They clashed in mid-air and thunder rumbled from the
clear afternoon sky. A thick bank of clouds rolled in from nowhere,
casting the entire temple into darkness.

**********

	Seiji looked up at the rapidly darkening sky and groaned. Every
time any of them tried to go anywhere....

	Thunder boomed in the distance, and the young man began to walk
just a little bit faster. Keeping his eyes on the sky, Seiji pushed his
way through the crowded streets with as much decorum as possible. The
clouds looked like they were all gathering directly over that shrine he
had been planning to visit. Clouds did not move that fast, or spiral over
one place. Not normal clouds, at least.

	The air around him trembled with evil purpose, and Seiji broke
into a run.

**********

	Some days it really sucked to be a hero. As far as Mamoru Chiba
could tell, this day was rapidly becoming one of them. Whoever this
Fei Lian guy was, he did not seem to be willing to give up and die quite
as quickly as most of the youma that Mamoru normally fought. They were
stuck in a stalemate: every time he tried to throw one of his roses, Fei
Lian would just deflect it back at him with a gust of wind, and so far
Mamoru had been able to use his cane to parry most of the youma's spear
thrusts. Neither of them could land a hit on the other, but it was only
a matter of time before one of them got tired enough to drop his guard.
Mamoru was not entirely sure how many roses he had as Tuxedo Kamen: they
just sort of appeared as he needed them. Could he run out? What would
happen if he did? He wasn't sure he trusted his cane enough to want it as
his only weapon.

	Blocking Fei Lian's spear with a twirl of his walking stick,
Mamoru jerked his head out of the way as a second spear hurtled past his
head and grazed his ear. Great; the monster could control his weapons
without needing to touch them. That was a very useful ability that Mamoru
was going to need to pick up, someday. The floating spear spun and
reversed its direction, launching itself back at his head as he ducked
and batted it aside with his cane. Fei Lian struck, and Mamoru barely
weaved out of the way in time to tangle the youma's weapon in his cape.
Gripping the cape with his free hand, Mamoru yanked with all his strength
and managed to tear the weapon from his enemy's hands even as the floating
spear flew back to cut a burning line across his chest. He fell back with
a pained hiss and lashed out with his foot in passing, catching the youma
in the head with his toe. He hated to admit it, but he could really use
Sailor Moon right about now. Too bad she was in Yokohama.

	What did this guy want with innocent little Maya, anyway? It
wasn't like she was any threat to him. She was just a normal girl. A
prodigy at playing the drums, maybe, but how did that rate a youma attack?
At least last time, she had been targeted b Eudial because of her pure
heart. Was it part of some energy gathering scheme? If so, why hadn't
they attacked when she was doing something energetic, like drumming? It
didn't make sense.

	Mamoru hit the ground hard, and rolled as soon as he landed to
avoid Fei Lian's descending foot. The iron-clad boot hit with enough
force to crack the rock, and Fei Lian scowled as Tuxedo Kamen scrambled
to his feet again and flicked another rose at the armoured youma. Glowing
with crimson energy, the flower darted from his fingers like a miniature
bolt of lightning, and Fei Lian quickly leaned aside to let it pass by
before throwing himself forward again. There was a small explosion as the
rose hit one of the temple walls and vaporised, taking a large portion of
the wall with it.

	Fei Lian struck with his bare hands, punching and clawing at
Mamoru as the masked man staggered back under the ferocity of his enemy's
assault. It was all he could do to keep his cane moving, blocking and
parrying a flurry of fingers, elbows, and knees that seemed to come from
ten directions at once. Mamoru was left spinning in place, ducking and
weaving as the youma circled around him and struck at any available
opening. A fist found its way to Tuxedo Kamen's ribs, and a foot followed
to his stomach soon after. Mamoru gasped for air and doubled over,
desperately bringing his cane up to block Fei Lian's descending fist.
There was a loud crack as the walking stick met the youma's wrist, and
Fei Lian cursed loudly. Hopping back, the youma gingerly rubbed his arm
and hissed in pain.

	"Skilled, you are," Fei Lian admitted regretfully. "But delayed in
my course, I shall not be! Destroy you, I must!"

	"Better creatures than you have said those words," Mamoru replied
confidently. "The last time I checked, none of them were around any more."

	Fei Lian responded by crouching low to the ground and growling. A
thick cloud of dark purple mist began to rise from his body, swirling
through the air and funneling into his spears as the weapons lifted into
the air and drifted into place over each of his shoulders. His eyes flared
with power, and the spears began to crackle ominously. Tuxedo Kamen took
a step back and lifted his cane warily. There was something about this
that he definitely did not like.

	"Perfect Annihilation Technique! Kataki no chuushin ryoushi!"

	The spears screeched through the air, spinning wildly and spitting
a meteor-like trail of sparks as they flew towards Tuxedo Kamen. Ducking,
he threw himself to the side and skidded across the ground, tumbling and
rolling to his feet again as they sparkling spears of energy twisted in
their path and homed in on him again. Despite himself, Mamoru flinched
back and covered his eyes as a sudden blast of golden light filled the
darkened shrine with light and sound. He felt the shockwave hurl him
back, and bounced twice when he hit the ground. He was dead, he was done
for, there was no way that he could possibly have survived....

	Except that he was still alive. In fact, the longer he thought
about it, the less hurt he seemed to be. Opening one eye, Mamoru slowly
sat up and stared at a stunned looking Fei Lian. Somewhere between the
two of them lay the shattered remains of the youma's weapons, still
burning feebly where they lay scattered amongst a large scorch mark in
the ground.

	"What?" Fei Lian managed to stutter, as he slowly came out of the
almost stupefied state that he had been in and began to look around him.
"Who?"

	"I am called by many names, monster!" an exuberant female voice
crowed, carried on the breeze like a constant echo. Mamoru frowned in
concentration for a moment, and then smiled broadly. He had been wondering
where she had gotten to.

	A single light split the darkness, shining directly into their
faces before dancing about the courtyard and settling on the young girl
standing atop the shattered remains of the torii gate. Her long mane of
golden hair stirred in the breeze like a war banner, and her orange and
white uniform glowed softly in the light that enveloped her until it
seemed as if a ghostly halo was forming around her. A crimson ribbon
held her hair back, and the lenses in her mask glinted softly as she
looked down at both men.

	"One time," she intoned, her voice ringing out across the open
area as she reached up to touch the mask she wore, "I concealed my lovely
features behind a veil of mystery, but true beauty and justice can never
be hidden for long! I am the soldier of love, the pretty sailor-suited
warrior Salor Venus! The divine archer Shen Yi and his lover Chang O may
forgive you for what you have done here, but I won't!" With a flourish,
Sailor Venus tore the mask from her face and leapt from her lofty perch.
She landed directly in the centre of the large black mark she had
blasted in the ground, and tossed her mask aside with a flourish as the
light on her changed colour to become an angry crimson. "Dark and
cannister man, have at thee!"

	"Sinister!" a voice whispered harshly from the bushes.

	"Dark and *sinister* man, have at thee!" Sailor Venus corrected
herself without missing a beat, as Mamoru quickly ran alongside her and
lifted his cane again. He had to admit, that had been a very good
entrance. He would feel even better about it if he could be a little less
certain that she and Luna had not been planning the whole thing out
instead of helping him, earlier.

	"Glad you could make it," he said, nodding to the blonde Senshi
as she winked at him in reply.

	"So, any idea what his deal is?" Sailor Venus asked, tilting her
head in the direction of their opponent.

	"Not really," Tuxedo Kamen admitted. "He seems a bit cranky. You
go high, I go low?"

	"Sounds like a plan," she agreed, and the pair charged forward
in unison. Fei Lian snarled and gestured, summoning another of his
hurricane force winds, but the two warriors dove in opposite directions
and let the gust blow past them as they advanced. Tuxedo Kamen dove
forward, his cane stretching until it was nearly as long as a bo staff,
and he deftly spun it towards the back of Fei Lian's knees as Sailor
Venus vaulted over a piece of rubble and hurled herself at the youma's
face, fist first. They struck at the same time, and Fei Lian was knocked
flying off of his feet. Sailor Venus tucked her feet under her and
kicked, using the airborne youma's stomach as a springboard and
somersaulting back to land next to her partner.

	Fei Lian hit the partially constructed yukaba platform like a
missile, cracking through one of the support beams and landing in a heap
beneath the heavy wooden frame. With a weak groan, he flopped over and
tried to sit up.

	"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!" Reaching down to her hip, Sailor Venus cast
her arm out as though throwing something, and a glowing steel chain
unfurled from her fingers. Writhing like a living thing, the gleaming
chain coiled around one of the other support beams and caught fast. The
blonde Senshi gripped her weapon firmly in both hands and leaned back,
pulling as hard as she could. The frame began to creak and sway, badly
weakened by the gales and damage it had suffered through already.

	Tuxedo Kamen stood behind Sailor Venus, bracing her against his
chest as he grabbed the chain and helped her pull against the weight of
the platform that he had spent all day building. Fei Lian crawled to his
feet, weaving slightly as he clutched his head and gave them a menacing
glare. Noticing what they were doing, the youma quickly followed the chain
to its anchor and looked back at them, his eyes wide with shock. He leapt
forward, and the beam gave with a thunderous crack as the entire platform
collapsed on top of him in a rain of falling lumber. The chain went slack,
and both heroes fell, tumbling to the ground with Sailor Venus landing
on top of Mamoru, who wrapped his arms around her instinctively.

	"Hey! Watch the hands!" she said with a chuckle. "You're spoken
for, remember?"

	"Keep your mind on the mission, Sailor Venus," he admonished her,
as they clambered to their feet. "I don't think that's going to do more
than slow him down for a little bit. This guy's a lot tougher than some
of your other opponents."

	"Then I guess I'll just have to kiss him off," the girl replied
with a twinkle in her eye. "You go left, and I'll go right. He can't block
both of us at once!"

	Just as Mamoru had feared, the pile of rubble was already starting
to quiver and make ominous rumbling noises as he and Sailor Venus took up
their positions on opposite sides of the collapsed platform. Shielding
himself with his cape, Mamoru rubbed his fingers together until he felt
the familiar weight of a rose between them. Frowning slightly as a few
planks clattered free of the rest of the pile, he conjured up a second
one, just in case, and held it ready in his teeth. Sailor Venus was
right: Fei Lian couldn't use his wind to stop any of her attacks, and he
couldn't focus on avoiding her and blocking Tuxedo Kamen at the same
time.

	The pile exploded in a hail of screeching wind and flying debris,
as Fei Lian rocketed up from his makeshift cairn in a nimbus of
coruscating energy. His eyes were alive with violet fire, and his face
was drawn into a grim rictus of sheer fury. Mamoru hurled his first
rose into the vortex, watching as it spun and tumbled amongst the other
debris, eventually glancing off of the youma's armoured form. Fei Lian
turned to face his attacker, emitting an inhuman screech as the ghostly
image of a winged serpent formed around him. On the other side of the
youma, unnoticed, Sailor Venus gently kissed her gloved fingertips and
waved her arm in a wide arc, golden light trailing behind her hand and
orbiting her waist like a small comet.

	"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!" The golden aura circling her
shot out, taking the form of a giant glowing heart before smashing into
Fei Lian's side and sending him spinning out of control. Seeing his
chance, Mamoru threw his second rose. The flower streaked from his hand
and slammed into Fei Lian, throwing him into the air in an explosion of
crimson energy. The youma fell to the ground amongst the rest of the
platform as his winds faltered, landing with a heavy thud. After a moment,
the armoured youma shuddered and slowly pushed himself up off the ground.
Reaching his knees, he stretched his hand towards the two heroes and a
breeze stirred weakly around them, fluttering Mamoru's cape and ruffling
Sailor Venus' skirt. The light in Fei Lian's eyes died, and he collapsed
back onto his face, lying motionless in the dirt.

	"Well, this is a disturbing development," a young Chinese woman
said dryly, as she walked out of the shadows and calmly lit her cigarette.
She was dressed in a slinky black dress that was cut far too high to be
completely decent and had a dark violet trim that went well with her long
purple hair. Her eyes were dark crimson, and her skin was as pale as
alabaster. There was a tattoo of a snake worming its way from the corner
of her mouth to the bottom lid of her right eye, and it seemed to move
as she smiled and raised her eyebrow. "I really thought the old windbag
had it in him, for a second there. He's been having a very bad week, you
know? My name's Xiang Yao, in case you were wondering. I see you've met
Fei Lian already."

	"What's going on here?" Venus asked. "Why did you go after Maya?"

	"That's really none of my business," Xiang Yao replied lazily, as
she took a long drag from her cigarette and released a cloud of smoke into
the air. "Fei Lian is always flying off the handle about some thing or
another. Me? I'm more of a professional. I wouldn't have interfered, but
I thought I should introduce myself. I'm going to be the person who
murders you in your sleep, Sailor Venus. You, and all the rest of your
little Sailor Senshi friends. It's my job, you see."

	"I'd like to see you try," Sailor Venus said, and Xiang Yao
laughed.

	"Well, that's rather the point, isn't it? You won't."

	"I say we take care of you right now," Tuxedo Kamen suggested,
taking a step forward and reaching to his lapel for another rose. "Why
should we wait and let you come after us whenever you feel like it?"

	"Because I'm going to take my partner over there and walk out of
here," Xiang Yao answered, with another drag of her cigarette, "and you,
good sir, will be far too busy to stop me, what with all the choking and
dying that you'll be doing." She smiled, and her fingernails grew into
foot-long talons of bilous green crystal. With a flick of her wrist, she
sent all five nails soaring towards Sailor Venus. Realising her intent,
Tuxedo Kamen leapt in the way and cried out as all five blades sunk into
his chest. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath, as Sailor Venus ran
over to check on him.

	"Tuxedo Kamen! Are you okay?" Sailor Venus gently lowered the man
to the ground as his hat toppled from his head and rolled across the
ground. His skin had turned a pale green, and the veins in his neck stood
out a vile midnight blue against the palour. He opened his mouth to speak,
and a thin trickle of dark green liquid was all that came out.

	"Heroes," Xiang Yao sighed. "So predictable. You're all just lucky
you're so delicious, or I'd have no use for any of you whatsoever."

	"What did you do to him?" Venus asked, glaring at the youma as
she rose to her feet and clenched her fists.

	"Who? Oh, him. I poisoned him, of course." Xiang Yao blinked and
calmly returned to lifting Fei Lian off of the ground. "He should be dead
within about seven minutes, if I haven't lost my touch after all these
years. I suppose it's possible that there *might* be a cure, but somehow
I doubt that you'll find one in time. Somehow I suspect that you would
rather help your friend than waste precious time fighting me, though. Am
I right?"

	"You'd kill him just to distract me?"

	"Why not? Having no reason to kill somebody is no reason not to
kill somebody. Besides, he was starting to get annoying." Xiang Yao
hefted the fallen youma over her shoulder and smiled cheerfully as she
began to fade out of existence. "Ta-ta for now, dearie! Sweet dreams!"

	"Wait! Come back here!" Sailor Venus took a step towards the
disappearing pair of youma, grabbing at them and finding only a handful
of air as her fingers passed through the space where they had been only
seconds before. Stumbling to her knees, she turned and looked back at the
prone form of Tuxedo Kamen. Luna crouched near the masked man's head and
gave the girl a worried glance that made her heart sink in her chest.

	"This doesn't look good," Luna said quietly, her ears flattening
against her skull as her tail drooped sorrowfully. "I've never seen a
venom this toxic before."

	"I have," a young man in green armour interjected, hopping down
from the branches of a nearby tree. He was clad from head to toe in
a sleek suit of emerald and ivory armour that gleamed coldly in the gloom
of the courtyard. "Sorry I'm late: looks like I missed most of the fun."

	"It wasn't fun," Sailor Venus said flatly, as she pressed her
hand on the side of Tuxedo Kamen's neck. His pulse was weakening, beating
againt her fingers like the wings of a hummingbird. "Who are you supposed
to be, now?"

	"Korin no Seiji," the boy said, with a simple bow. "A Samurai
Trooper, and friend, if you'll have me. If you can pull those things out
of our comrade, there, I might be able to lend a hand. I've dealt with
things like this before."

	Silently, the blonde girl moved to one side and let Seiji crouch
beside her. A set of whiskers inched around his leg, as Luna tried to get
a better view of what was going on. Closing his eyes, Seiji clasped his
hands in front of him and extended his index fingers, humming softly to
himself as a gleaming green emblem burned on his forehead. The clouds
above them began to shift, and a shaft of sunlight fell onto his
shoulders, causing his shaggy mop of blond hair to glow with a nimbus of
warm light. Slowly, Seiji stretched his hands down to hover over Mamoru's
chest as Sailor Venus snatched out the venomous darts and cast them away.
A golden light drifted down from his open palms and filtered through the
cuts in Tuxedo Kamen's white dress shirt. There was a flash, and when he
moved his hands away the cloth was once again whole and untouched by
blood. Still humming to himself, Seiji placed his fingers against the
sides of Mamoru's head and started to rub in small circles around the
other man's temples. A bilous green mist began to pour from Tuxedo Kamen's
body, dissipating as it swirled towards Seiji and came in contact with his
burning golden halo.

	Mamoru's eyes snapped open and he took a sudden, ragged breath.
With a spastic jerk, he bolted upright and clutched his chest, his mask
falling from his face as he looked around him. His face was flushed, and
his eyes held the intense clarity of a man who had just awoken from a
long fever, but he was most definitely not dying.

	"Sailor Moon," he said fervently. "We have to get to Yokohama!
That thing is going to go after Sailor Moon!"

**********

	The sun was sinking low in the sky, casting its shadows across the
vacant courtyard in front of Juuban Secondary School. The trees stirred
in the breeze, their leaves rustling quietly as the steel gates that
barred entry swung on their hinges and clanged softly against each other.
There were no students here to fill the air with their chatter as they
filed to and from their classrooms - summer vacation always left the place
as empty as a tomb. The classes sat empty, their desks lined in perfect
rows and still gleaming softly from the ritual cleaning they had recieved
before vacation.

	A single man walked the hallways, his shoes clicking softly on the
polished tile as he strode through the corridors. He had the dark, swarthy
complexion of someone who had spent far too much time in the sun, and his
jet black hair was as carefully cropped as the pencil-thin moustache he
wore. His suit was perfectly pressed, with creases that could cut paper
and a plastic badge clipped to his lapel that marked him as a special
member of the Board of Education. He had merely needed to step into the
local office and they had given him almost all the information he needed.
Juvenile delinquents, he had explained. Causing public disturbances in one
of the nearby wards. No decent descriptions of the children, but they had
been seen in their school uniforms. After that, people had fallen all over
themselves helping him figure out which school in Juuban used that exact
style of uniform so that he could track down the guilty children.

	Jadeite resisted the urge to laugh as he walked down the hall.
Humans were such gullible swine, sometimes. It was hard to believe that he
used to be one. People had been so eager to help him that they had barely
even glanced at him beyond noticing his fancy suit and official-looking
badge. Nobody had asked him to provide any paperwork or proof that there
had even been any attacks like the ones he had described. A quick check
with the local maps later, and he had already followed his prey back to
their usual hunting grounds. Soon he would have even more than that.

	The office was exactly where he had expected it to be, and the
lock on the door gave just as easily as the gates out front had. With
quick and brutal efficiency, Jadeite marched over to where the filing
cabinet sat and crouched in front of it. Easier to start at the bottom and
close all of the drawers when he was finished, he figured: it would save
him precious seconds. The bottom drawer jiggled slightly in his grip and
Jadeite frowned. Locked. He might have guessed that they would be more
careful with the permanent records.

	The swarthy man focused his power, his chestnut eyes flashing with
purple light as a tendril of black energy crept from his fingertips to
encircle the lock on the drawer. It was the same technique that he had
used on the office door, but a little bit trickier. He needed to break the
lock open without harming any of the files inside. That took more fine
control.

	The lock clicked, and Jadeite smiled with relief. Luckily, he had
always prided himself on his fine control. Sliding the drawer open, he
quickly rifled through the thick stack of manilla folders within. It
didn't take long; every file came with a photo, and Jadeite knew exactly
which faces he was looking for.

	He had tried to warn Beryl not to freeze him. He had tried to
explain what he had discovered, but she had paid no attention to him. If
she had been a little more understanding, just a little more willing to
listen to reason, then they could have done this years ago.

	The middle drawer was his friend. It yielded its secrets to him
like an old lover on a cold and lonely night. Two folders, two photographs
of girls whose faces had burned in his mind's eye all those interminable
ages he had floated in his tomb of ice.

	"Hello, Miss Usagi Tsukino," he whispered to the top folder as he
gently caressed the photograph with his fingertips and paged through the
contents. There was no doubt who he was really looking at: he would have
recognised that stupid hairstyle anywhere. This was his darling Rei's
little blonde friend from the airport - Sailor Moon.

	"Let's see," Jadeite muttered, scanning over the first few pages.
"Age sixteen, five feet, four inches tall... born July 30... Hmmm. Here
we go - next of kin and home address. Thank you very much." Removing the
relevant pages, he checked to make sure that nobody was around and then
stuffed them under his jacket. Before returning the file to its proper
place, he paused and took another disbelieving look at her grade point
average. Really, that was almost enough to make him feel sorry for the
girl.

	Shaking it off, Jadeite flipped open the next folder and began to
peruse the information on Ami Mizuno. It was a much thinner folder, with
more gold stars in it than the night sky. He was just getting to the good
parts when he heard something very disturbing.

	He heard the office door behind him opening.

	Jadeite grabbed a fistful of papers from Ami's folder and jammed
them inside his jacket with one hand while he tossed the file back into
the drawer and threw his body against the cabinet to slam all of the
drawers at once. Reaching up, he quickly adjusted his wig and tried to
look natural as the door swung fully open and a very confused young man
looked up at him in shock. A pair of keys were still held in his hand,
and he was reaching out as if he had been about to insert them into the
lock when the door gave unexpectedly.

	"What the hell-"

	Jadeite's punch moved too quickly to be seen, sheathed in a
corona of crackling dark energy. There was a flash of black lightning as
fist met jaw, and the man spun like a top before crumpling to the ground
in a senseless heap. With a disgusted sigh, Jadeite peeled off the false
moustache and tossed it down on top of the unconscious man. Kneeling in
the doorway, he gathered up the papers that had fallen from his jacket and
put them away more securely.

	"Give me that," he said, yanking a handkerchief out of the fallen
teacher's pocket and using it to scrub off his false tan. There was no
point maintaining the disguise: he never used the same identity twice,
anyway.

	Rising to his feet, Jadeite extended one hand and curled his
fingers. At his mental command, a shimmering black portal appeared under
the prone man, swirling and burbling with the formless matter of the space
between spaces. The portal rose, quickly swallowing the man, and then
disappeared with a soft popping sound. Jadeite lowered his hand and
nodded to himself as he examined the room to make sure there was no sign
of his presence. The last thing he wanted this early in the game was for
any of the Senshi to know he was coming. Especially not when he had all
of their friends and loved ones held so close to his heart.

	Killing people was easy. Hurting them? That was an art.

**********

To Be Continued...



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