I do not own the senshi, the crow, or the joker. I do own ryushu.

Setsuna looked up from her paper. An uneasy feeling had descended on her. She hoped nothing bad would happen until after Hotaru and Chibi-usa returned from their field trip. She was confident the senshi could deal with whatever she felt, but that didn't mean she didn't want the strongest senshi at their side at the moment. Setsuna looked at the clock. They would be returning from their trip to the forest in a few hours. She hoped they had a good time.

Hotaru sat in her seat, staring at the men in fear. They had been on their way back when a wounded man walked into the street. That had turned out to be fake and the next thing anyone knew, five men with guns ran over, killed the bus driver and had taken them hostage. They planned to hold them for a large ransom. One of the guys went into the bushes for a minute as the apparent leader was going over the rest of the plan to one of the men. "We hold a few more of these kids as insurance, so the cops can't double-cross us. After Buzz gets the money and is hidden, we release the kids. It's fool proof." Hotaru was startled by the sound of a phony forced laugh next to her.

Everyone looked to the back of the bus at the sound. A man was sitting in the previously empty seat next to Hotaru. His face was white, with a black line going up and down each eye, and a black "smile". "Ha ha ha oh ha ha ah." The man stood up, giving a view of his wardrobe. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt with the words, "Tokyo Ink" on it, as well as black pants and black combat boots. And I thought my jokes sucked. "The man said as he began walking to the front. "Where did you come from?" One of the men demanded. "You'll never know." He said as he passed seat 18. "Forget this, KILL HIM!" the leader shouted. One of them raised his gun and fired twice. Their protector fell into seat 16 after meeting the lethal man-made construct. "Well that's that." "You won't get away with this." Chibi-usa declared. "Justice will be served." The leader laughed." You really are clueless aren't you?"

Suddenly the person sitting next the Usa turned and smiled. "Better than being hopeless." Everyone stared in shock. One of the men stumbled out, "I p-p-put two b-bullets in you man." The painted face man hopped over Usa and grinned. "So, go for three." As the kidnapper went to do that the guy kicked his hand, punched him in the jaw, and jabbed his elbow into his heart. As he fell, one of his friends went over to help, but didn't do better, he got his face smashed through a window and his neck introduced to the broken glass. The man looked at the leader and said, "Wanna try your luck?" The leader broke out into a run, fleeing as fast as he could.

Setsuna frowned as she listened to the police captain. While everyone else was worried about how the children were doing, he was saying how the police had never been better and that everything would be ok. She regretted voting for him in the election. Just as he was saying how any second now the police would know where the gang was, a large crash was heard. Everyone turned to look at the police blockade; a semi-truck had run right through the cars and was headed for them. Setsuna gained a moment of amusement as she saw the police captain wet himself. Suddenly the truck turned and stopped. The trailer behind it read, "Laughter Heals", only an "S" was painted on, making it read, "Slaughter Heals."

Then a door on the driver's side opened and a man in black, with a painted face walked out and opened the trailer door, helping the children out. Setsuna noticed most of the kids had some type of face paint on. Some had butterflies on their faces, others had tiger stripes. Hotaru and Chibi-usa had paint similar to their apparent rescuer. The only difference was that Hotaru didn't have the line going up and a second line going down her eyes, this one in red. Chibi-Usa had both lines but no smile. "Last stop on the carnival of Carnage. Please watch your hands and feet as the ride comes to a complete stop. Thank you and have a nice day." The man said as he shut the door after helping the kids out.

A reporter ran over to him and shoved a microphone in his face. "I'm Asuka Ikari, with channel 7 news. What's this about, are you with the kidnappers, why do you paint your face?" The man stared at her." I'm returning the kids; obviously, I'm not with the kidnappers. And I just do." "Can you explain why you did this?" "Well, I was heading for Jubuan anyway, so when I found these kids, I beat up the kidnappers, piled them into the truck, and drove them here. And since I was in such a good mood, face-paint for all." He said, causing some people to giggle. He turned and climbed into the truck as the reporter asked another question. "Can you at least tell us your name?" The man stopped and looked back at her and grinned. "Call me, Nemesis Crow." As the captain regained use of his feet, mouth and brain, and attempted to order him down, then Nemesis Crow drove off. Hotaru smiled at Chibi-Usa. "I think that was a good trip." The rest of the senshi face-faulted.

As the Senshi turned in for the night, after agreeing on a meeting tomorrow, the Nemesis Crow smiled, watching the Outers' home. Things were going to get fun.

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