had accidentally caught the interest of a demon named Zoicite.  Apparently, 

between 

attempts to conquer the planet there had been nothing Zoicite had  liked 

better than to curl

up with the latest tabloids and see who Nana was going to skewer  next.

 
Probably waiting with baited breath for an expose on Nephrite or  Jadeite.
 

Her only redeeming feature was that she was not as bad as she used  to be,
and whenever she tried to explain that to people, they  assumed she was
lying to them again. Nobody would be willing to help her. The only  hope
she had was to find a way to help herself.

 
One of those things that really should be taught in school:
'If you lie, cheat and steal, you may get what you want right away,  without 
much effort. But eventually you WILL get caught and then you will  lose your 
good name. Then you will find it takes ten times the effort to  win back that 
good name.'
(Well, taught in schools other than sunday school).

There had been a price, of course - there always was, when dealing  with 

the Ankoku. So 

far as Oniwabandana could tell, however, it had been a surprisingly  small 

one. It was 

almost a relief to realise that she was free to be bad again after so  much 

time spent as a 

spineless weakling.

 
Precisely on the lines of Dynasty philosophy as delivered by Kayura.  
Oniwabandana was obviously the perfect convert to being a  Youma.

He was generous in times of plenty, fair in times of  famine, and - which 

was important - 

understanding when things went wrong.

 
A mark of intelligence on his part - he's been there himself after all.  
Jadeite's looking more and more dangerous - he knowns how to keep troops loyal,  
not just afraid of him.
 

Nobody wanted to work for someone who would kill them the second they  made 

a mistake. 

Most youma only served masters like that when they had no other  choice.

 
That would be most of the time then.

Oniwabandana closed her eyes and bowed her head, her aura  flickering and 

writhing 

around her body as the ghostly images of multiple arms and legs began  to 

emerge from her 

body. There was a sudden flash of dark purple energy, and a swarm of  

identical women 

raced out from their starting point, each one trailing a thin metal  wire 

from her wrist as 

she charged off in a different direction from all of the  others.

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! She's a real ninja!

Curious, she poked  her face through the surface of the rock and took a 

quick look around. 

It was a shame they had let the palace go to waste like they had: if  it 

was still in the shape 

that it used to be, she could have seen them clearly even while still  

inside the wall.
 
Cleanliness is next to godliness - and the new owners are most  definitely 
among the ungodly, as Simon Templar would put  it.

Without his crimson battle armour, he actually looked  fairly harmless: 

just another sullen 

young man with a tousled head of shaggy red hair and the kind of face  that 

might be 

cute if it would just stop frowning all the time. How was it possible  that 

this could be the 

same armoured juggernaut who had steamrolled through half of her camp  just 

a few nights 

ago? He looked like a kid. He didn't even look like a particularly  

dangerous kid.
 
And that's another thing to blame on Shin, obviously. It's tough being  the 
evil twin of someone who doesn't look especially evil.
 

"Give me a break," Shuu snorted, rolling his eyes. "You don't want to  

protect anybody - 

you just want another chance to lay into the guy. He kicked your ass,  and 

now you won't 

be happy until you've kicked his back. It's only natural,  man."

"That's got nothing to do with it," Shin argued  halfheartedly, walking over 

to the table and 

shuffling through the charts as though he was looking for  something.

 
Probably a map of Egypt - obviously Nise Suiko is hiding in that bigass  
river they have there. What was it called again...?
 

"Besides, no evil twin could hope to copy your limp wrists and girlish  

figure."
 
Nise would probably be taking notes if he could hear this.
 

"Yeah, *that* would have been a real nice date," Ryo replied snarkily,  

then paled and 

winced as he realised what he had said. "Aw, nuts...."

 
BUS-ted

"Man, I hope we get attacked by a demon soon, or  something," he muttered, 

covering his 

face with his hands. "I could use the distraction. I am seriously in  over 

my head, here."
 
You and Ami both.

"Don't worry about it," Shuu said  consolingly, shaking his head in 

sympathy to his leader's 

obvious discomfort. "Trust me, Ryo: girls always have stuff like this  

worked out years in 

advance. You might be a little confused right now, but I can guarantee  you 

that Ami Mizuno 

knows exactly what she's doing."

 
*twitch* Good ol' Shuu... you can always count on him to get things  wrong...

"She certainly doesn't *seem* very upset," Ami noted  carefully.

"Trust me," Rei growled between her clenched  teeth, giving Usagi a dirty 

glare, "She was 

VERY WORRIED about you. She's just... hiding it really well."

 
The thing is, without more information, this could be Rei passing off  her 
own panic onto Usagi or Usagi really panicking and then forgetting all about  it 
once the problem is over. You then provide that information, of  course, but 
I can just picture it.

"What kind of stupid  logic is that?" Rei asked, looking offended. "Just 

because a guy can 

toss around some fireballs does not mean I'm going to be interested in  

him! I happen to 

prefer older boys, Usagi: the Samurai Troopers are all too goofy for  my 

tastes. Uh, no 

offense, Ami."

 
That's just because you haven't met them all yet, Rei. Goofiness is not a  
requirement to be a Samurai Trooper...
 

"Now," she said, with an impish grin, "tell me more about Ryo Sanada.  Is 

he cool?
 
No, he's hot.
 

Does your heart go all squishy when you look at him?

 
Oh yeah...
 

Oh, Ami, I'm so excited for you! Now you and Ryo can go on double  dates 

with me and 

Mamoru, and we can make them wear matching tuxedoes, and all the other  

girls at school 

are going to be *so* jealous when they find out that you're dating a  

Samurai Trooper - once 

we tell them what one is, I mean - and he can walk you home from  school, 

and carry your 

books, and...."

"I'm not entirely sure that's how  this works, Usagi," Ami said nervously.

 
You were about to ask her for dating advice, Ami. Too late to back out now.  
The Usagi matchmaking service is now in action. You WILL have a cute 
boyfriend.  Resistance is futile.

"Okay," she said to herself, working her way towards the cockpit,  "so I 

have to handle the 

plane. Whatever. Can't be *that* much harder than flying a  UFO...."

And safe landings are usually the toughest part of flying... I'm not  holding 
out any hopes here.

Of course, she reminded herself, as the loathsome creatures  flocked over 

her body, she 

had to be careful about thinking things like that. The Professor had  told 

her that he liked 

*good* girls, now, so that meant she had to be on her best behaviour  until 

he changed his 

mind.

 
Man, Elios can really pick his allies.

She knew that she was at least as powerful as Sailor Jupiter was:  Elios 

had told her so 

when he restored her powers.

 
Elios should just hope Nise Suiko finishes him off next time. When Makoto  
hears that he said that, she's going to be PISSED.
 



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