Like I really need to say this, but I don't own any of the characters...except MAYBE - I think - the human forms I gave the Phlebiacs. And some of the bad puns that may show up. And the dialogue. Other than that...it's the usual stuff.
Chapter Four

It was another half hour before Mammon had managed to calm everyone down. By then, Spawn was grumbling, his cape so close to him it looked like it was shrink-wrapped to his body. That was a sure sign he was angry beyond normal limits, but holding it in...which was good. The Senshi were much easier to deal with, being that they were used to this sort of thing....long speeches and discussion, anyway, things that his 'student' loathed with a passion.

"I'm...rather pleased we've managed to work out some of our difficulties," Mammon was smiling thinly, still rubbing his forehead every so often.

"I'm not happy with this, Mammon. You never said I had to work with amateurs," came Spawn's sullen reply. "I don't even know if they're competent enough for something like this..."

"Hey!" Mars growled at him. "Shut up, or I'll..."

"You'll what? Hit me with your purse and go crying home to mommy?" Spawn snorted, his eyes glowing brightly. Mammon gritted his teeth, and facepalmed.

"The lot of you are no better than children...yourself including, Spawn."

"That's rather rude..." Mercury blinked cutely. Mammon made a low growl in the back of his throat.

"I think it would be best if I leave you all to working out your difficulties...Anymore of THIS..." As he spoke, he walked off into the darkness, vanishing from sight. Spawn made a groan, and walked over to a still-in-one-piece park bench, slouching down on it and putting his hands over his eyes.

"This is lovely...Here I am stuck with high-schoolers with no one to help me...Christ..." He mumbled, looking at a tree that had caught his attention.

"Is all you can do is whine? No wonder you need help—" Mars began, before being silenced by a harsh glare from Mercury.

"You're acting like a child, Sailor Mars, NOT a Senshi. Perhaps we would all get along better if we all thought about how serious this is. It's not something that the five of us, even with Chibi-Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, can handle, and it's nothing something he can do alone either," she gestured at the sulking Hellspawn. "I agree that all of us should work together, as a team, to stop whatever's happening here before it's too late to do anything about it..."

Spawn made a small nod and a sound, meaning he agreed...reluctantly, of course. He hated backing down on something, but he couldn't argue with the logic.

"...And I also think we should stop yelling at each other – there's no reason to—" she continued, before being interrupted.

"Yet anyway..." Venus cut in, favoring Spawn with a mild glare. He made a face beneath his mask at her before returning to staring at the tree.

"Mercury's right, guys...we have to get along, at least for a little while...I mean, it's not going to take as long as everything else we had to do...this is something different, right?" Sailor Moon added her bit, before a loud sighing noise came from the direction of the future General of Hell's Armies. "What?"

"You don't get it...this is what I've been living with for I-don't-know-how-long, and it will never end...That's why this is happening...both sides are dead-locked, and they need something to tip the scales in their favor. First it was me, then that weapon, now this..." he shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what to do to make it stop...Maybe it won't...But that doesn't matter now, does it?"

"...Okaaay...he lost me," Mars rubbed the back of her neck, her face twisted up. "That was confusing..."

"It's best not to dwell on it," Venus offered, trying to be helpful, which prompted a snort from the trained killer sitting on the bench. "What? It is..."

"Whatever you say," he made a low chuckle, which prompted her to stand with her legs parted and her hands on her hips, glaring as hard as she could. He returned with a glare of his own, and the two remained that way for a while.

"This is getting us nowhere...fast," Jupiter sighed, shaking her head and making a 'tsk' noise to herself.

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

"This is never going to work..." Mammon sighed, looking down at the street below from the bridge he was standing on. He tapped his fingers against the stone and metal, waiting as patiently as he could, considering that the world could literally end any second.

"You only say that because you don't have any faith..." a soft voice spoke next to him, almost startling him. He glanced over and saw Setsuna standing close to one of his shoulders.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" he replied curtly.

"Don't you?" she returned politely, much to his discontent.

"...."

"I thought as much," she said with a smile. "It's not quite as easy as you thought it would be, is it?"

"It was easier to get him to agree to work with rogue Angels," Mammon admitted ruefully. "And of course your 'friends' aren't making it any easier...do they always behave like that?"

"Not usually..."

"Thank God."

"Sometimes they're worse."

"...."

Setsuna covered her mouth to muffle her laughter as Mammon gave her a dirty look. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked huffily.

"Very much so, hai."

Making a small grunt, Mammon folded his arms over his chest and looked up at the sky. "I can't give up, you know."

"I understand."

"Do you?"

Before she could answer, Mammon had vanished, leaving Setsuna alone there. She looked over in the direction of the park and sighed the sigh of someone who knows and has seen far too much in life.

"Yes, I do..."

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

In another place, creatures of Hell were gathering.

"What do you mean the General is here?"

"Precisely what I said...Spawn is here, and he knows what we're after."

"Damn you, Vandalizer..."

"Stuff it, Vaporizer! You wouldn't have fared any better than I!"

"Brothers, please calm yourselves. There is only one who is truly to blame for this..."

"You mean Violator? Don't get me started on him...Even if he is family, he's still too incompetent..."

"It would appear our master doesn't share your opinion, Vindicator..."

"Vacillator, you're pushing it..."

"Everyone, shut the fuck up!"

"....."

"That's better...what we need to do is get some kind of strike force together, instead of just sending out Imps. They don't stand a chance against Spawn OR the Sailor Senshi, and we can't afford to lose this time."

"That's something we can consider...does anyone else have any ideas?"

"This is going to sound insane..."

"What?"

"Yes, what?"

"You can tell us, brother..."

"Maybe we should bring Violator in on this.."

"Why in Malebolgia's name would you even think that?"

"It's simple...he can occupy the General and his new playmates while we find that Crystal and claim it for our Lord."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Vandalizer has a point: Our brother has a negative influence on Spawn, and is easy to drive him to fits of unreasoning anger. This would come in handy...However, Vacillator's suggestion is also a good one, therefore I suggest a compromise..."

"What?"

"We shall assemble a small force of the Demons for our purposes, but if that fails, we'll bring Violator into the group and use him to get what we want."

"Perfect."

"I agree."

"Same here."

"I knew this would actually work."