Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Toei, the concept of Spiderman  
and other characters are owned by Marvel Comics. No money is being  
made from this and no such intent should be inferred.

Note:  I've been waiting for over a year to write this part.

C&C welcome.

- - - - - -

"I have come, father," said the prince as he knelt before the throne.  
The king stared down at him, his single eye seeing all, even what was  
in his son's heart.

"You know what this is about," the king stated.

"Aye," replied the prince. "I do."

"Then you know why you must stay here." The king was compassionate.  
His son was a warrior born, and sworn to the people of the world as  
their guardian. To be forced to not stand with comrades in battle,  
especially with what was coming, was no doubt painful.

"Aye, but I do not like it. Why must we stay here? Surely we can do  
more good if we stand with them."

"It is not our fight," the King replied. "All the Gods will not  
interfere in what is coming, aye, and we will be having our own  
problems soon enough."

The prince nodded. "Tell me, father, what problems do you speak of?"

"The Devourer approaches. Even know, his herald moves towards  
Midgard. We must be ready to meet him."

"We shall, father, I swear it."

-------------------

The youma had not always been monsters, not as the humans saw them  
now, twisted and mutated beyond recognition. Master Troya of the clan  
Neruim knew this, for he was one of the few left who remembered the  
old times. Before the Dark Queen had been exiled to their world from  
hers. Before Metallia.

But now, Neruim was but a shadow of its former self. Where once  
legions had marched upon their foes, leaving only the broken and dead  
in their wake, the clan was made up barely enough to exist without  
dying. Mettalia had used Nerium, corrupted the Elders and waged war  
on the other clans, bending them to her will.

"Stand ready! Incoming train! Move or be gutted like worms!"

Troya's eyes narrowed and his lips curled back from his teeth in  
disgust. Clan Chief Khandir was a fool and what he lacked in brains,  
he made up for in a thirst for blood. Metallia had given the young  
idiot power enough to defeat his predecessor, a youma Troya could at  
least respect, as he was unwilling to needlessly throw away lives, if  
not like.

But Khandir had no qualms about wasting lives on the battlefield. If  
Troya had the power, he would have ripped out Khandir's throat before  
the fool had even left the challenge circle.

But he didn't. So Troya followed orders, and tried to teach the  
younglings the old ways, to give them some sense of honor. It took in  
some, but not enough.

Khanadir's lust for blood should have given Nerium to war. To be  
wiped out in battle was preferable to being the clan that served in  
the cargo entrance to the palace. But even here, Khandir's  
incompetence and stupidity showed and it fell to Troya to see to the  
shipments of supplies and their proper handling.

It was odd to struggle at so menial a task, but Troya did so. He  
would not let Nerium's honor be any further stained by his own actions.

He stormed forward, bellowing orders and goading the others into the  
groups he'd devised, one that could empty any train within mere hours  
of its arrival, less, depending on the load. He did this while  
ignoring Khandir, who stood in the middle of things, fingering the  
hammer-axe that marked his rank as Clan Chief.

The train pulled in with a sound that was a cross between a roar and  
whine and Troya went to the engine to welcome the driver.

The door slid open and Troya stared at the black clad, jade green  
monster within.

"Who?" he gasped.

"Oh sorry," the giant replied, "my card."

Troya didn't even realize that he'd been hit until after he bounced  
off the wall and crumpled to the ground.

As he raised his head to see, he saw the giant charging the rest of  
his clan and a figure in green and white -- Troya stared. Yes, it was  
a Senshi. But if there was a Senshi here, then so must be . . . he  
got to his feet and then picked out the figure clad in black,  
wielding a sword, golden hair tied up in a pair of spheres.

Yes, Sailor Moon, Serenity's champion, the chosen one. YES!

Roaring, Troya charged into battle. This would be a good death.

-----------

"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter shouted and reveled in the feeling of  
electricity coursing through her body and out her hands.

"Total slaughter! Total Slaughter! I won't leave a single man alive,"  
Sailor Moon sang as she carved a gory path through their foes with a  
longsword.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Jupiter asked in an "oh shit" tone  
of voice."

"You like it?" Sailor Moon chirped. "Luna gave it to me before we left."

"Luna?" Jupiter asked, dismayed. She'd always given Luna more credit  
for brains than to give someone like Usagi Tsukino anything sharp.

"It's a scepter," Sailor Moon explained. "But it can turn into a  
sword too. Anything I want . . . well except for a life size and  
naked Legato Bluesummers."

Jupiter decided not to think about it. In fact, she was going to stop  
thinking about anything Sailor Moon said.

Migraines had no place in a fight.

---------------

No one was really sure when the silence started, but it swept over  
the cargo area like a breeze.

Bit by bit, human and youma stopped fighting and looked around,  
finally coming to rest on Sailor Moon, who stood on one of the  
massive cargo containers. In one had, she held a cross between a war  
hammer and a battleaxe and in the other, the head of a youma.

"This guy," Sailor Moon said, "claimed to be your strongest warrior.  
I just killed him and took his head. Anyone else want to argue the  
point?"

Troya was in a state of shock. Sailor Moon was no friend to the  
youma, but even a youngling knew that Sailor Moon was the Moon  
Princess' champion. His brain began working, churning out a desperate  
plan. She had to be smarter than Khandir, and if he could get an  
audience with the Moon Princess . . . yes. It would not be easy, but  
it could be done. But he would have to move fast.

"Hail the clan chief!" He bellowed, raising his spear high. "Hail  
Sailor Moon, Chief of Clan Nerium!" Automatically, the other Youma  
followed his lead, bellowing out similar echoes. Troya then grabbed  
the arm of Keitian, one of his more adept students. "Get to the  
others," he hissed. "Round up Khandir's toadies and the suspected  
loyalists to Beryl. Keep them away from the doors and com systems. Be  
quick!" Keitain nodded and moved into the crowd.

Troya nodded to himself and looked back at Sailor Moon, who was  
desperately trying to cover up her shock and surprise. In two quick  
steps, he leapt out of the crowd and onto the cargo container.

"Clan Chief!" He shouted, kneeling before her. "I am Troya, Keeper of  
Clan Lore and Warmaster of Clan Nerium. I pledge my loyalty and that  
of the clan to you. May you rule with wisdom and honor." He rose. "My  
loyalty comes with a price, Sailor Moon," he said softly.

Her eyes narrowed, became cold and calculating. "I'm not surprised,"  
she replied. "Let's talk."

-----------------

Sometime later, Troya sat with Sailor Moon, two senshi, the jade  
green giant who he learned was named Banner, and a man the others  
called Fury.

"You said your loyalty had a price," Sailor Moon said. "Name it."

"Freedom," Troya replied simply. "We youma were once a spiritual  
race. Warriors, yes, but we knew honor and the ways of the spirit.  
But then Metallia came and she twisted us into the monsters you see  
today. All younglings are also twisted, for her dark magic cannot  
affect the truly innocent until they have tasted the air with their  
own lungs. I have watched my race, my clan, become mockeries of what  
they once were, and it sickens me. We need to be free."

"Then why hail Sailor Moon as Clan Chief?" asked Banner. "She's not  
even a youma, much less from your clan."

"She serves the Moon Princess," Troya said simply. "If she can give  
me an audience with the Moon Princess, let me state our case, then  
perhaps the Moon Princess can undo what Metallia has done to us."

"Why should we believe you?" demanded Fury. "How do we know that this  
isn't some complicated trap?"

"I can only offer you my word of honor that I speak truthfully,"  
Troya replied. "Metallia is a fearsome and dangerous opponent, you  
need my clan's help to get near her, or Beryl."

At Beryl's name, Sailor Moon's expression became one of feral hunger  
and then thoughtfulness.

"All right," she said. "Troya, you come with us. The rest of your  
clan stays here."

"What? Alone?" Fury demanded.

"No, with your men," Sailor Moon replied. "It goes like like this;  
We, the Wakandans and Troya go looking for Beryl while your men stay  
here and the youma stay away from the doors and communicators. The  
first sign of betrayal from either Troya or the Youma and your men  
open fire."

Troya shivered, more from Sailor Moon's matter of fact tone than her  
words. "And if we prove true?"

"Then we take you with us. Otherwise, you stay here and your fate is  
your own."

Banner and Fury looked at each other.

"I don't like it," Fury growled. "Any holier and that plan could be  
Pope."

"You got a better one, Nick?" Banner shot back. "Like it or not, we  
could get this done a lot faster with a guide."

"By holier do you mean that its full of holes and by rights shouldn't  
work?" asked Sailor Moon.

"Yeah," Fury said, wariness in his voice.

"Are you kidding? Those are the best kind!" Then she whirled to face  
Troya, the hammer-axe pointed at his throat. Her expression was hard  
and meeting her eyes felt like staring at the point of a sword.  
"Khandy or whatever his name was kept bragging about how this thing  
symbolized his rank as Chief," she said in a voice colder and more  
empty than death itself. "I got bored with the noise, so I chopped  
off his head. Swear to me on this weapon and on your clan that you  
will not betray me to Beryl and that your promise of loyalty is true."

"I swear," Troya said, laying his hands on the hammer-axe. "In the  
name of Clan Nerium on its own symbol and by all the Gods, I pledge  
my loyalty to you unto death and beyond."

Sailor Moon then laid her free hand on the hammer-axe. "In the name  
of the Moon," she said, "I swear that I will lead Clan Nerium to  
freedom. When I mete out Justice, it will be with mercy, and when I  
lead you to war, it will be an honorable fight. Whatever strength I  
have, I will not let this clan or the youma race spend one day more  
in thrall to Beryl. I will give you the freedom you seek if its the  
last thing I do."

"So be it," Troya whispered, and he meant every word.

"Did you feel that?" Jupiter whispered. "It's like everything just  
shifted somehow."

"Yeah," Fury said. "I still don't trust him, or her." He turned away  
from the group and waved Moubu and Carol Danvers over. There were  
plans to make.

- -- - - - -

The Wakandans took point as they left the cargo area. Jupiter found  
herself next to Troya as they cautiously moved through the halls and  
corridors.

"These are yours," Troya said to her, laying a hair ornament in her  
hand. "I led a squad of thirty during the final day of the War with  
the Moon. You met us in the east courtyard."

"I what?" Jupiter demanded. "I don't remember that!"

"You weren't told then?"

"Told what?"

"The Senshi are more than the defenders of the Moon Kingdom. It was a  
well known fact that when a Senshi dies, she is reborn into a new  
life. It was the design of the creature called Setsuna, I understand."

Jupiter couldn't think of what to say and examined the hair ornament  
instead. It was a pair of spheres on a stretchy type of cord, much  
like the one in her hair now. The spheres, however, seemed to be made  
of crystal and there was something moving inside.

"Gas from your homeworld," Troya told her. A miniature storm of some  
sort, I believe."

"Thanks?" Jupiter said, the word coming out as a squeak.

Troya nodded. "You met us in the East Courtyard. It should have been  
an easy battle, but you killed every member of my squad before  
falling to my hand. It was a good death, and a worthy battle. So I  
took that," he nodded at the ornament, "as a trophy." He sighed. "It  
was a glorious war."

Jupiter looked ill.

"Pleasant conversation," Bruce observed from behind them, where he'd  
been bringing up the rear. "Why don't you--"

"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!" From around a corner, the Green Goblin came,  
a pumpkin bomb in each hand. "Enjoy your stay!" he shouted as he  
threw them and the humans and one youma scattered as the hallway  
echoed with thunder.

Spiderwoman rolled with the concussion of the blast. She remembered  
all too well the circumstances of her last fight with the Goblin and  
was determined to make him pay.

Leaping off the wall, she used a web-line to swing towards him, but  
the Goblin only sneered and aimed a strange weapon at her.

Spiderwoman fired another web-line to change trajectory, but the  
Goblin was already firing.

Two bright flashes of light and Spiderwoman screamed in pain, a  
scream that could not have come from a human throat and spoke of  
unthinkable pain and then she fell to the floor.

"Third time's the charm," Goblin sneered as he aimed the weapon, only  
to curse as a well aimed shot from Fury made it explode in his hand.

"Two out of three!" he cackled as he zoomed away.

"Spiderwoman!" Sailor Moon yelled as she and Jupiter knelt next to  
their friend. "Spiderwoman, can you hear me?" She fumbled for the  
watch and Spiderwoman's costume reverted back to the Navy uniform.  
Blue eyes fluttered open. "Spiderwoman?"

"She's not here."

"Not here? Who's not here?" Demanded Jupiter.

"They're not here," Ami Mizuno whispered in fear. "They're gone. I'm  
alone in here. It's so empty. So alone." Her eyes were crazed. "Why  
can't I hear them? Where are they? Alone. So alone."

"Woah!" Sailor Moon shouted. "Ami!" She gripped her by the shoulders.  
"Ami! It's Usagi! Come towards my voice! Listen to me. Come towards  
my voice! Come on, I'm not done selling pictures of your ass. Come to  
me."

"I can't, Usagi, I have to find them. I'm so alone." Her eyes turned  
inwards.

"No!" Sailor Moon shouted. "No, damnit! We're friends! We have so  
much to do! Please!" She hugged the blue haired girl to her. "Stay  
here, Ami. Please, for the love of God, don't leave me. You're all I  
have left. Please."

"I'm here too," Jupiter said as she hugged them both.

"We can't stay here," Fury said, "we're-" He broke off as the three  
girls began to glow with a pure white light that seemed to come from  
within. "What in the name of Heaven?"

The Senshi glowed for perhaps thirty seconds and then it died away  
and Ami's hands hesitantly came up and encircled them in a hug.  
"Usagi?" Ami asked in a whisper. "Usagi, I heard your voice. There  
was this light."

Sailor Moon pulled away and there were tears running down her cheeks.  
"You can't get away from me," she said, "even if you want to."

"Usagi, he did something to me. Spiderwoman and Mercury, they're  
gone, I can't feel them in my mind."

"Some kind of psionic transmitter," Troya mused. "Probably intended  
to erase the mind, but leave the victim alive."

Sailor Moon looked at Jupiter. "Spiderwoman was dominant when they  
put on the costume," she said. "Mercury was usually in there  
somewhere as well."

"You think they shielded Ami?" Jupiter asked.

"Yeah, if unintentionally," Sailor Moon said and then her expression  
turned grim. "Naru has a big mouth. Nobody else but us knew that Ami  
had three different personalities."

"Well then," Banner said, "why don't we go shut it for her?"

"Taking this awfully personally, aren't you, Banner?" Fury asked as  
they moved out again.

"Mizuno's a good kid," Banner said with a shrug. "I can relate to  
her." Fury looked at him oddly and he grimaced. "Smartest kid in the  
class, few friends, voices in your head, yeah, I can relate."

"Banner, what do you mean, 'voices in your head'? I thought Samson  
fused you with Fix-It and the Hulk to create one person."

"He did, but there's still . . ." Banner struggled for the words.  
"It's like, they're echoes, if that makes any sense. My imagination  
taking their memories and using them to like . . . I dunno, I'm a  
nuclear physicist, not a shrink."

Fury eyed him suspiciously, but let the matter drop.

Ahead of them, Ami gave up trying to walk in heels and put the  
Spiderwoman costume back on. It was easier to walk in and it felt right.

"Ami, you sure you need to wear that?" Jupiter asked.

"It's easier to walk and move in," was the reply. "And . . . and call  
me Spiderwoman."

- - - - - - - - -

Stephen Strange sat crosslegged in midair. The portal mostly required  
his physical presence and a bit of attention to stay open, allowing  
him to focus on the pack of feral and near feral youma that had him  
surrounded.

Several of their fellows lay dead on the ground and Strange calmly  
regarded their leader.

"I am not your next meal," he informed the catlike creature calmly,  
"You are wasting lives and time."

"Hungry!" the youma growled, beating on the ground with a large club.  
"Floating thing will--"

What Strange would do was never answered as a speedboat flew through  
the portal and landed on the youma, incinerating the entire pack in a  
fiery  star of petroleum.

Putting out the fire with a simple spell, Strange watched the man  
clad in a black tuxedo, having leapt out the boat just before the  
crash, run across the desert towards the palace. He was making very  
good time, Strange noted.

Checking the portal and finding it stable for the next few minutes,  
he unleashed his astral form and sent it towards Fury.

"Nick," he said as he arrived. "Someone new just arrived, I believe  
it's the one called Tuxedo . . ." he trailed off as he noticed the  
scene before him. "Ah. Bad time, I see. I'll call back later." He  
vanished.

"I hate magic," Fury growled.

- - - - - -

Two minutes ago . . .

The attack killed two of the Wakandans and was meant for Spiderwoman.

Moving fast enough to make the air whistle, the massive metal sphere  
with it's huge chain rocketed out of a side corridor, smashing aside  
the Wakandans and it was only Spiderwoman's unnatural reflexes that  
saved her, sending her leaping upwards and out of harm's way.

Jupiter wasn't so lucky. As Spiderwoman moved, Jupiter spun to face  
the threat and took the impact full front, thrown backwards where she  
became embedded in the wall.

"Hurk!" she gasped out, blood gushing from her mouth. A moment later,  
the ball and chain went back the way it came, Jupiter falling forward  
and hitting the floor. Stone embedded in her bare arms and legs.

The Wakandan medic, Ubiu by name, crouched next to her as somebody  
approached.

It was a man with dark skin, and clad in green and yellow. He carried  
the massive sphere and he was smiling unpleasantly.

"Well," he said to Spiderwoman, who was crouched on the wall, "you  
have the devil's own luck, Miss."

"And you are?" Fury demanded, gun out and aimed. The Wakandans  
followed suit and Troya was holding his spear in an attack stance.

"Why you can call me Thunderball," the man replied. "Mayhem and  
general chaos to order is my trade, pleased to meetcha." He smiled,  
showing even white teeth. But despite Thunderball's pleasant tone and  
well mannered speech, Fury saw thug. Thunderball had large hands with  
blunt fingers, broad shoulders and powerful chest, and heavy brows.  
His blue eyes were those of an intelligent man, but they were also  
cruel and greedy.

"Wait," Banner said, pushing past the Wakandans. "I know that voice.  
"Elliot Franklin!"

"You know him?" Fury demanded.

"A year or so behind me and Reed," Banner replied. "Physics. Last I  
heard, he was being investigated for fraud along with some  
engineering genius named Ebersol."

"Why Bruce Banner," Thunderball exclaimed in mock surprise, "as I  
live and breathe, here you are. Been a busy boy, I hear."

"So have you," Banner shot back, arms crossed. "Where'd you get the  
ball and chain, Eli?"

"You'd best be calling me Elliot, if you've got any sense, Banner,"  
Thunderball growled and then his expression brightened. "As for my  
Thunderball here, why it was the strangest thing. While in prison I  
met a man named Dirk Guthwaite and he told me the oddest tale. When  
and two other fine fellows broke out, we investigated and Dirk was  
telling true. Not only that, he was kind enough to share."

"Guthwaite . . ." Banner began, and then swore. "I ran into him as  
Mr. Fix-It a few times," he said to Fury. "He had this crowbar that  
gave him super-strength and near-invunrability. I'd heard he formed a  
gang, but as far as I knew, Code Blue in New York broke it up and  
they got stripped of their powers."

"Indeed they did," Thunderball replied. "But as I sat there in the  
Vault, Beryl came to see me and made me an offer I just had to take  
her up on." He grinned at Banner. "That's a right fine invention of  
yours, Bruce," he said. "Gonna make a fine bomb with a few changes."

"You can't beat all of us, Eli" Banner retorted, "hell, you can't  
even beat me."

"Well now, Bruce, that's a mighty interesting proposition there.  
Think I'll take you up on it." With that, Thunderball charged and  
swung his weapon, the massive sphere whistling through the air as it  
headed for Banner's side.

Banner made no attempt to dodge, he merely put out his hand and the  
ball made a clanging noise as hit. But Banner didn't move. The blow  
should have at least made him stumble, or even twitch with impact,  
but instead he absorbed the entire energy of the impact and just  
stood there.

"It's not a bell," Banner said quietly, "but we'll start the lesson  
anyway."

With that, Dr. Bruce Banner gave Dr. Elliot Franklin a short and  
painful lesson in why the Incredible Hulk was the strongest one there  
was.

It took him a minute and fifteen seconds to beat Franklin into  
unconsciousness.

"Did I hear Strange's voice?" he asked Fury as he threw Franklin and  
his Thunderball down the hallway.

"He wanted to tell us that someone was coming," Fury said. "Tuxedo  
something.

"Tuxedo Kamen?" Sailor Moon asked and then swore. "That asshole is  
going to ruin everything." But her blue eyes were worried and she  
clutched Jupiter's hand.

"How is she?" Banner asked.

"Not good," Ubiu replied. "She's got a healing factor, but she's lost  
a lot of blood. She might not make it. She needs a transfusion and  
worse, she's a rare blood type; A plus. Nobody else here is compatible."

Banner felt a lurch in the pit of his stomach.

"Don't you dare," Fury warned. "Don't even think it."

""I'll handle it and I can't let her die. Besides, you can't stop  
me." Banner  sat down and held out his arm. "I'm A plus. Do it."

Ubiu nodded and got out the kit.

"Wait," Troya said. "Can she be moved?"

"I suppose," Ubiu said, "if we're careful."

"I am familiar with this transfusion of blood," the youma said. "It  
sometimes takes time and we are vulnerable here. There is chamber not  
twenty feet away, a storage room. We will be more secure there."

Ubiu nodded and one of the Wakandans set up a portable stretcher and  
once Jupiter was on it, they carefully moved her to the storage room.  
Once inside, they secured the door and Fury began barking orders.

"Set up the transfusion in the middle of the room. You two with the  
heavy weapons, you're on door duty. Spiderwoman, you're the early  
warning system. If you feel anything, call out. The rest of you, set  
up to cover the door."

"No more than a pint should do it," Banner said to Ubiu as the medic  
swabbed his arm with an antiseptic. "We just need to give her healing  
factor a boost." Ubiu nodded and shoved in the needle before flipping  
on the pump.

"It's red," Sailor Moon noted as she watched the blood flow through  
the tubes and into Jupiter. "I'd figured it would glow or something."

Jupiter began moving and making noises of pleasure. Green flashes of  
light appeared over her wounds.

"That's it," Banner said and jerked the needle out of his arm. "Kill  
the pump."

Ubiu nodded and switched off the pump as the last of the blood  
disappeared into Jupiter's body. The noises became louder as  
Jupiter's wounds healed with astonishing speed and then her eyes  
snapped open.

"AH!" The Senshi of Thunder sat up and everyone looked away. "What?"  
She looked down and realized that whatever support the Senshi costume  
offered, it had been destroyed by Thunderball. "Oh." With a blush,  
she covered herself.

"I got this one," Sailor Moon said.

- - - - - -

It took some work, but with a field blanket altered to become a  
binding wrap and a jacket for modesty, Sailor Jupiter was ready to go.

Once more they moved out, but they were far more cautious, relying on  
Spiderwoman's danger sense to warn them of trouble.

Even so, the castle was filled with traps designed to kill the  
unwary. False floors that hid deep pits, strange beasts that roamed  
the halls, and explosive shrapnel seemed to be a favorite.

Troya was of some help, but many of the traps were a surprise to even  
him.

"Beryl is crafty," Troya said they eased around a deep pit. Not only  
did huge spikes point upwards from the bottom, but they could see  
long objects moving around the spikes. Snakes, or something like  
them. Even if someone somehow managed to not be impaled on the  
spikes, those creatures would get them.

"Beryl used to eat paste," Sailor Moon replied. "She's an idiot who  
needs a severe beating with a clue by four."

"Sailor Moon is constitutionally incapable of admitting that Beryl  
has a brain," Jupiter said. "I think it's her religion."

"I'm my own religion," Sailor Moon said loftily. "I'm the only one  
worthy enough to be worshipped by me."

"So you're saying you're an atheist," Banner replied.

"Oh hell no. If I came up with sex, it wouldn't be as funny."

"Less banter, more moving," Fury growled.

Sailor Moon ignored him, continuing to needle both Jupiter and Banner  
as they entered a large room. In the center, suspended over a  
seemingly bottomless pit by cables was a huge glass sphere. In the  
middle of the sphere was a metal ball, which glowed green.

"What the hell is that?" Fury demanded. "Is that Beryl's gamma bomb?  
Banner?"

Banner, however, was staring at it, open mouthed and then he slapped  
his hand to his face. "Idiot! Bruce Banner, you damn idiot!" He  
grabbed his hair and made to rip it out. "Moron! Fuckup! Blind as a  
bat!"

"Bruce?" Fury demanded but Banner didn't hear him. "Damnit," Fury  
muttered and then drew his pistol and shot Banner in the leg. "Got  
your attention, didn't it?" he said when Banner whirled to glare at  
him. "You'll heal. Now what is that thing."

"Let me put it this way, Nick. Do you know the difference between a  
nuclear reactor and a nuclear bomb? One's a controlled reaction, the  
other isn't." He jabbed a massive green finger at the sphere. "That's  
not a bomb, Nick. Beryl was never building a gamma bomb, she was  
building a gamma reactor. Elliot let it slip, remember? He said my  
invention would make a nice bomb. He was talking about this."

"But you said all the data was destroyed after that accident,"  
Jupiter said.

"For the bomb, yes," Banner replied, "but my original pitch was for a  
reactor, the government just wanted a weapon instead."

"So you built one, but the plans for the reactor were still in a file  
cabinet somewhere, free for the taking," Sailor Moon finished. "Great."

"Onslaught," Troya said. "This must be connected to Onslaught."

"Do I even want to know?" Fury asked.

"There is little I can tell you," Troya said. "I have only heard  
rumors, whispers that Beryl was constructing something called  
Onslaught, which required vast amounts of power, more than stealing  
energy from humans could supply."

"And so I built this." Surrounded by her generals, Beryl emerged from  
the shadows. She held a scepter topped with a crystal orb in one  
hand. "Doctor Franklin does such excellent work." She gave them a  
triumphant smile. "The reactor is fully operational, and Onslaught is  
nearly complete. There is, of course, nothing any of you can do."

"Wanna bet?" Sailor Moon growled.

"Of course not. That's why I recruited your dear cousin, the one  
person in Tokyo who knew you as well as you knew yourself."

"Believe me, Beryl, nobody in Tokyo thinks like I do." Sailor Moon  
smirked. "Nobody in Tokyo would even imagine doing what I'm doing."

"As you say. Still, if you want to fight me in some futile and heroic  
battle for love and justice, I suppose I can oblige." Beryl's scepter  
became a sword. "Come along then, Usagi, I'd like to get on with the  
taking of your head sometime before dinner."

"Really? I'm planning on having yours bronzed." With that, Sailor  
Moon charged, but no sooner had she gone three steps than Beryl  
gestured and Sailor Moon vanished. A moment later, so did Beryl.

"Trap?" Banner asked.

"Ambush," Fury replied as the generals spread out, youma teleporting  
in all around them.

"Beryl was after wanting Sailor Moon," Thunderball said from behind  
them. "But we get your lot all to ourselves."

With a soft cackle, the Goblin joined them.

"Big and green is mine," Magnetite snapped. "Anyone who lays so much  
as a finger on him dies." She pointed at Banner. "I owe you a  
beating, pal. Time to pay up."

"Come and get it," Banner replied.

Fury keyed his com-link. "Danvers, what's your feeling about a game  
of Jungleball?"

"I thought you'd never ask, sir," was the reply. "What about Nerium?"

"Take 'em along. Collect the rest of the clan and we rendouvouz at  
the hanger bays."

"Roger that."

"What's Jungleball?" Jupiter asked.

"Sheer, unfettered brutality," Banner replied, cracking his knuckles,  
"Screw Geneva, screw honor, and screw the U.N. It's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s  
cute little way of saying that the gloves are off and absolutely  
anything goes."

Jupiter smiled. "I like it already."

- - - - - - - -

Sailor Moon sat up. She was in a cone of light and surrounded by inky  
blackness. The last thing she remembered was charging Beryl in the  
reactor room.

Out beyond the cone of light, Beryl's face appeared, fifty times  
larger than life.

"Hello, Usagi," she purred. "Do you know where you are?"

"I'm guessing Hell," Sailor Moon retorted.

"Your Hell, Usagi," Beryl replied. "One person's Hell is another's  
paradise."

"So?"

"So it goes like this, feel free to stop me if I'm going to fast for  
you. Naru warned me that if I tried to kill you, you'd find a way to  
escape and if you died, you would just be reborn in a few years and  
I'd have to go through the trouble of dealing with you again. So, I  
decided to imprison you, Usagi. Your body is imprisoned in a virtual  
reality tube and your mind is here, inside the main computer. You're  
going to live for thousands of years, Usagi and your every nightmare,  
your every dark imagining will be brought to life. If you're not  
insane, Usagi, you will be soon enough."

Sailor Moon let out a derisive snort. "This is the best you got? A  
cheap Matrix rip off? You deserve every bad thing I ever said about  
you."

Beryl smirked. "It suits your outfit. Even if your friends find your  
body, there's no exterior way to free you. Goodbye, Usagi, I'll  
remember you fondly . . . every few centuries, perhaps." Then she  
vanished.

"Bitch," Sailor Moon muttered.

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