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concern, which grew into alarm as Mars was struck down and began to fall. 
"If she dies..."

A bright blaze of flame lit the night; Mars had recovered from the hit just 
in time to block a killing strike from Jadeite. She began to fly high and 
away from the Tower; within seconds, Luna had lost sight of the two specks 
in the night sky.

"Be safe, Mars..."

=-------------=

Despite the terrible ache in her back and the burning pain of unaccustomed 
exertion, Mars was outpacing her relentless pursuer. However, she feared the 
worst if Jadeite managed to land another solid hit. *I need to escape...but 
he's persistent...*

"You cannot elude me forever, Senshi!" Jadeite called. "Your death is 
inevitable! Surrender yourself to the reality of your fate!"

"The Princess has commanded me to live, and live I shall!" Mars replied. She 
tried once more to form her flaming bow, but the effort of sustained flight 
was beginning to drain her powers. She barely had enough strength to 
continue dodging Jadeite's attacks; if this went on much longer...

And then, she realised something.

*Jadeite isn't FLYING. He's FLOATING.*

She turned to face her adversary, slowing her wings and holding her 
position. Jadeite disappeared, then reappeared slightly closer; another dark 
energy blast soared past her.

There was no mistake: Jadeite's attacks were getting slower and weaker. *He 
can't fly. He can only teleport and hover. That's got to be taking a lot 
more out of him than flying is taking out of ME...*

With new determination, Mars began flying erratically, forcing Jadeite to 
repeatedly teleport, not giving him a chance to aim an attack. In the still 
night, she could hear him begin to swear irritably as he struggled to keep 
up with her unpredictable movements. *Yes...I can wear him down, force him 
to retreat...*

A firm, terrible pressure on her ankle made Mars look down, just as a heavy 
weight made its presence known, forcing her to double her efforts to stay 
aloft.

Jadeite had grabbed her ankle.

"I commend you for such a valiant effort," he called up to her, "but this 
little game ends now." His epee materialised in his free hand.

Mars' eyes widened. *If he...there's no way I can avoid...*

"Take heart in the knowledge that yours shall be an honourable death," the 
Shitennou continued.

Mars scowled. "As I have already said, I have no intention of dying this 
night!"

"Admirable. But the choice is no longer yours to make." Jadeite adjusted the 
grip on his sword, preparing to thrust upward and gut her.

"Yes...it..." Mars grunted through clenched teeth, struggling as the weight 
of her unwanted passenger fully took its toll on her; they were beginning to 
descend. Focusing, mustering all of her remaining strength, she reached 
within herself for the core of fire, grasped the power of Mars firmly, and 
expelled everything she had left in one intense conflagration. "...IS!"

Jadeite's eyes widened. Mars' body had erupted in a fiery corona; he could 
see nothing but flames. The searing heat travelled down the Senshi's legs, 
burning his hand through his glove. He dispelled his sword, now needing both 
hands just to maintain his grip on his winged foe. He began trying to climb 
her leg, intent upon grabbing onto her torso and forcing her out of the sky.

Mars' eyes blazed white-hot through the inferno as she clenched her fists. 
An intense blue-white pulse of flame pushed down from her body, enveloping 
her legs in a deadly flare. Jadeite screamed as the flames burned away his 
gloves and blackened his hands; his grip loosened and he began to slide 
down. He scrabbled desperately to maintain his grasp; ultimately, the 
intense heat was too much for him. With one last, desperate grasp, he caught 
hold of Mars' shoe...

...which slipped off her foot with ease, leaving the blond Shitennou in 
freefall.

=-------------=

Mars landed heavily on the roof of an arcade some distance from Tokyo Tower. 
Panting, she probed at her ankle, grimacing at the bruise there. Idly 
wondering at what the loss of her shoe would entail for future 
transformations, she gingerly stood, slowly flying down to street level; 
ducking into the darkened entranceway of the arcade, she reversed her 
transformation. Digging her phone out of her purse, she sent a quick e-mail 
to the other Senshi, then dug out change to buy a cold drink from a vending 
machine. The display on her phone had marked the time as midnight exactly; 
she would need to rest up, transform again, and fly herself home.

And pray her grandfather had not noticed her absence.

=-------------=

Jadeite shakily dug himself out of the wreckage of the bicycle rack he had 
landed on. Mars' attack had not inflicted much actual damage, but even for 
one of the Shitennou, a three hundred metre fall is guaranteed to hurt--and, 
galling as it was to admit to himself, he had exhausted far too much energy 
pursuing Mars to break his fall.

As he levered himself into a seated position atop the ruined bike rack, he 
glanced at the glossy red shoe still clutched in his charred, blistered 
hand. "Hmm...didn't I read this in a human fairy tale once?"

Somewhere nearby, a clock announced the stroke of midnight. Mars' shoe 
disappeared in a flash of fire, leaving only a faint wisp of smoke.

Chuckling ruefully, Jadeite stood, dusted himself off, and walked casually 
into the neon Tokyo night.

=-------------=

Nephrite was leaning against the recessed entryway alcove of the apartment 
mansion where the Shitennou had acquired residency in the human world. Curls 
of smoke drifted lazily up from a cigarette held lightly between two fingers 
of his right hand. He glanced up, noticed Jadeite calmly approaching, and 
raised his left hand in silent salute. He took a long drag from his 
cigarette and exhaled a plume of smoke. "Hail, brother."

"Mm-hmm," Jadeite responded absently. He raised an eyebrow. "What's with the 
cigarette?"

"Among the humans, I assume the guise of a wealthy, debonair man of worldly 
pursuits. Blackening one's lungs with this cancerous rubbish is an expected 
affectation of such a person." He flicked ash on the pavement in a 
disinterested manner.

Jadeite shook his head, chuckling ruefully. Then, after a moment, he said, 
"Here, let me have one."

Nephrite raised an eyebrow, but removed a pack of cigarettes from his jacket 
pocket with a shrug, then passed it and a book of matches to the blond 
Shitennou. Jadeite tapped a cigarette out of the pack, lit it, and took a 
drag, mirroring Nephrite's relaxed pose. He tilted his head back and exhaled 
smoke into the night air.

The long-haired Shitennou observed him, eyebrows raising even farther. 
"Twould seem, brother Jadeite, that thine evening has been...eventful."

"I've just been defeated by Mars," Jadeite admitted curtly, drawing again on 
his cigarette. An inch of chalky ash crumbled away, scattering on the 
pavement. "Hmm. That's not too bad. I think I see the humans' attraction to 
these things."

"It does seem to aid one in collecting one's thoughts. A particularly 
self-destructive form of meditation, as it were." Nephrite flicked away 
burnt ash expertly, then appraised Jadeite more critically. "By Mars, you 
say? Unaided by her sisters-in-arms?"

"Un. Zoicite's going to have a field day with this one." Jadeite shook his 
head, taking another long drag. "Hope your day went better than mine."

"Alas, no. I have long suffered the pompous human and his shrill mate for 
naught."

"You've confirmed what you overheard the Princess tell them?" Jadeite asked 
curiously.

"Indeed. Brother Zoicite infiltrated their abode whilst I occupied the 
humans today. It is as the daughter of Serenity said. Alas, this places us 
in a rather untenable situation." He examined his cigarette, saw that it had 
burned clear to the butt, and idly flicked it onto the sidewalk.

"Mm." Jadeite gazed upwards. "This just wasn't our day, I suppose."

"And the device? Is it compromised?"

Jadeite chuckled darkly. "Oh, they know it's there. But that traitorous cat 
noticed the trap. The Senshi don't strike me as stupid enough to risk 
killing every human in Tokyo trying to shut it down."

"No, I would expect not."

The blond Shitennou stretched, then flicked his cigarette butt onto the 
sidewalk. "I'm going to rest now." Raising a hand in salute, he turned and 
walked into the building.

Nephrite stood in the alcove for several minutes, silently watching the 
discarded butts smoulder, then faded from view.

=-------------=

A thick, silver mist surrounded her.

She padded through the cool, misty darkness, feet bare; despite wearing only 
a thin white silk shift, she felt no chill from the dense fog.

A faint, muffled sound echoed in the still mist.

*karankoron*

She paused mid-step, straining her ears.

*karankoron*

"Hello? Is someone there?"

No response. Cautiously, she took another step into the mist.

*karankoronkarankoronkarankoron*

She tensed, turning this way and that, eyes darting warily from side to 
side.

"Please...where am I? Who are you? What--"

*karankoronkarankoronkarankoron*

Fear, annoyance, and a faint flame of anger warred in her as the mist 
pressed in, the chill beginning to seep at last through her gown. "If you're 
trying to scare me, it isn't working. Show yourself. Answer me!"

*karankoronkarankoron*

The sound seemed to be growing closer, but the echoes were distorting her 
perception. What was clear, however, was that whoever it was, they were 
moving more quickly now.

*karankoronkarankoronkarankoron*

She tensed; it WAS getting closer. "Who ARE you?!" she shouted into the fog.

*karankoronkarankoronKARANKORONKARANKORONKARANKORON*

A dark, indistinct shape abruptly appeared directly before her. Through the 
fog, she could just make out what appeared to be a single large, gleaming, 
pearlescent eye.

Sudden fear made her hesitant, indecisive. She took a cautious step 
backwards.

The dark shape wavered. A drift in the fogbank obscured it. When the mist 
thinned once again, it was gone.

In the distance, the faint echoing karan-koron clack of geta gradually faded 
into mere memory.

=-------------=

to be continued

=-------------=