Everything about this battle seemed wrong to Sailor Mars.

The fire within her spirit whirled frantically, warning her of a danger aside from the two monsters she and her companions faced, anthropomorphic versions of a snail and rose respectively. Yet the fight so far had been remarkably easy, and it was all thanks to Sailor Mercury and Greg.

Before Greg left town, he had shared with the Scouts a vision of two girls in Infinity Academy uniforms being attacked by Heart Snatchers. Amy had put the information into her mini computer and calculated the likely victims. Their preemptive efforts had worked - the Scouts had arrived before the monsters had taken the girls' hearts - but perhaps they would have been able to prevent it entirely had Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus assisted them in finding the right victims.

A shard of disappointment scratched Sailor Mars' concentration at the thought of the two Scouts. The two of them could have helped their fellow Scouts find the targets more quickly, but they were obsessed with their own mission and refused to help. If only they could trust Sailor Moon the way she did, she thought, and perhaps the two would have spared their classmates from even having to face these monsters. Then again, the duo had let her be a victim of an attack by a Heart Snatcher, and the memory of that horrifying event almost numbed her to the bristling thorns of the enemy that scraped her leg.

Her mind returned to the present fight, and she saw the Heart Snatcher - all too appropriately named Grimrose, throwing yellow flowers of her namesake from her fingertips. At least the Scouts had been able to prevent two girls from experiencing the pain of having their hearts ripped out of them, Sailor Mars thought. Yet a sensation wrapped around her head and neck, like wet blanket that threatened to extinguish the flame within her soul.

Now the two Heart Snatchers flanked Mimet, but both were visibly damaged. The pale Grimrose had begun to grow thin, wrinkled, and dark, and the petals in her skirt began to wilt. Snail's Pace did not show the same signs of battle wear, but retreated within her shell upon every instance of energy being thrown her way. Their inability to mount an offense gave Sailor Moon the opportunity to lift the Purity Chalice and trigger her second metamorphosis.

"Moon Crisis Power!"

In a flash of light, her skirt changed from blue to white with a rainbow-trim, her back bow became translucent and longer, while sheer material capped her shoulders and barettes clipped the front of her hair. Although Sailor Mars had long known that Sailor Moon had powers far beyond that of the other Sailor Scouts, the Purity Chalice placed their leader above her previous limits - at an unspeakable cost. Once the battle was over Sailor Moon would weaken and faint as the price for borrowing power that was not hers to wield. But now a rod appeared in her hand, and she struck a pose to execute the Heart Snatchers.

"Not so fast!" Mimet shouted. "Charm Buster!"

Mimet raised her staff in the air, summoning a buzzing storm of pink stars, then directed them at Sailor Moon. The stars dissolved upon impact and the Scout remained unfazed, beginning to twirl repeatedly. However, Sailor Mars watched the motions of Mimet's subordinates, who had been concealed by the swarm of stars. Her eyes were fixed on Snail's Pace, who attempted to toss a ribbon toward the adjacent legs of an unaware Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter.

"Look out!" Sailor Mars yelled toward her teammates.

That warning spurred Sailor Venus to leap away, and the ribbon that had been thrown fell short of Sailor Jupiter's boot. Sailor Mars, though, experienced no relief, for the Heart Snatcher was nowhere in her field of vision. Instead, a blue hand grabbed the upper arm of Sailor Mars almost as quickly as she had sounded the alarm to her teammates. Reflexively, her jaw loosened and she swung her head around to face the yellow sclera and bandage on her enemy's blue skinned countenance. Too late she remembered it was the worst thing that she could have done.

Snail's Pace placed another blue hand to steady the head of Sailor Mars, but it was an unnecessary and unwelcome action. The monster inhaled with her luscious red lips, producing an unearthly vacuum that sought to fill itself with her life force. The too familiar lethargy overcame Sailor Mars as quickly as when she had been attacked as merely Raye Hino. Yet her eyes were forced open, her lids paralyzed as she fell to the ground. In seconds she became her civilian, powerless self, but her body showed no signs of life. Instead, her sight and pupils faded as she realized what had been so wrong about this battle. The students had only been decoys. Instead, the Sailor Scouts had been Mimet's intended victims all along.

As oblivion embraced the final embers of her consciousness, she felt a strong, spiritual force drawing closer to the ashes of her mind. She hoped it was the beckon of her next life calling her, and promised herself that she would not be so careless the next time around.


A blue streak of light and energy streamed past a sky covered with clouds that were far too scared to rain. Instead, the clouds reeked of both the moisture they hoarded within and the urban scents cast aloft by the buildings below. Vegeta paid little regard to the annoyance. His body had long become accustomed to the bluster of winds that sliced him in flight, and such a smell was far too common on this planet for his liking. Instead, a single concern consumed his mind.

Kakarot was taking far too long to recover.

Of course, he thought, Kakarot should have never allowed himself to get sick in the first place. It was unheard of Saiyan warrior to succumb to infirmity and let an invading, unintelligent organism to overwhelm his body to this degree. Even those powerless human simpletons that Kakarot called his friends were not as lazy as to let a disease eat at their organs, and that boy had warned him of this illness. Yet it had all been for naught, and precious time was being wasted as that lower-class warrior convalesced at the pace of a tortoise. Now, the androids were to steal the victory that should have been his - the defeat of Kakarot.

The memory of those creations sent Vegeta's thoughts into a cyclone of fury and frustration. It was bad enough that he had lost to a common Saiyan who could now not even move from his bed. Yet, those androids were nothing more than artificial copies of an inferior species, and worst of all, he had been defeated by a female. A mere servant girl who was not even a real woman had left him helpless, broken, and defeated in her tireless and breathtakingly effortless assault.

A pinprick of an energy signal broke him out of his pattern of thought, and the continued afterglow of its presence caused him to stop completely, quieting the roar of the wind around him. This new power was neither particularly strong nor well controlled. Against the backdrop of weaklings, though, it called to him as clearly as a siren's song over an open sea.

He began a descent into the maze of steel and asphalt, not letting the unpleasant sounds and smells of the city deter him from this new source. More energy signals called to him, and he felt one of the sources plummet quickly rather than slowly. Faster and faster he fell, letting gravity pull him unassisted. He crashed to the pavement feet first. The asphalt cracked and splintered like the skin of an elderly human.

Without delay he looked around at the participants in the battle. To one side of him was a young woman in orange and black attire who carried a staff, and two female creatures who were clearly not human. One was a scantily clad woman with blue skin, with blue hair covered by a red cap, and sporting a beehive-shaped shell on her back. The other figure was a gaunt woman who resembled a flower. On the opposite side of the battlefield were five young women in uniforms composed of leotards and bows, and a girl in similar dress who was slightly younger than Kakarot's son. Disappointed at what his senses told him, he sent the comparison away from his mind. All of those present were female and weak, almost unworthy of challenge.

"Does this mean we've got reinforcements?" one of the uniformed asked, her golden hair swept away from her face by a red bow. Another of the women, one with short, dark blue hair, patted a device in her hand with a torrent of keystrokes, while another, taller woman stood protectively in front of her.

"Is this another one of your friends?" asked another of the ladies, bending down to the little girl. Vegeta threw his gaze to the woman, whose hair dangled like two golden ropes, He smirked, although not at her question. No, she was clearly the most powerful of these simpletons and he recognized she was the leader. Behind him, the face of the orange-haired woman spread into bemused surprise, and her words tugged at the edges of his attention.

"Oh my..." she declared, gasping and shaking in excitement. "What a heart! What a mighty good heart. I don't care if you're with them. I've gotta have it." She spun her head toward the blue-skinned minion who speedily retreated within her shell. Mimet then swung around to the wilting flower-woman who lacked a hiding space.

"But, Mimet, he's too strong!" the latter protested.

"The stronger the heart, the better!" Her enthusiastic smile dropped, then tightened into an angry stare at the Heart Snatcher. "Now I gave you an order, Grimrose!"

"You're pathetic," Vegeta remarked without turning around. "Hiding behind your own flunkies." He rotated and pointed to the floral creature. "Come on, you overgrown weed!" he shouted. Do your worst."

With a gulp, Grimrose donned a false zest and charged at Vegeta. He stood completely still and unblinking, prepared for any strike, push, or blast she had in store for him. Instead, Grimrose grabbed him by the shoulders in an embrace.

"Open wide," she ordered.

He responded by expelling a laugh so loud and large that it made the already broken asphalt under his feet vibrate. He watched and felt as the monster inhale, yet he did not quit laughing at first. This creature's breath wasn't even strong enough to asphyxiate a toddler. Yet there was another component to this creature's breath, one that tried to debilitate him. She was trying to literally suck the energy out of his body.

Her efforts were inadequate at best. She could not siphon even the tiniest amounts of power he radiated. Even the android that had stolen his energy had been more effective, as he could feel his strength leaving him from the moment that absorption had begun. By comparison, her suction netted nothing for several seconds, but there was another component to the assault that was cloaked behind this inept preamble. Almost more quickly than he could react, something wrapped its way around his heart and jerked it.

He stopped laughing. Had it been a physical attack, or even energy attempting to strike at his heart, he would have continued to express his amusement, but in less than a millisecond he felt something terribly wrong within him. She wasn't trying to steal his energy. She had magically unlocked the entire seat of his spirit. With a celerity that unnerved him, she had gotten a foothold.

The trickery of this female figure had exposed a vulnerability he had not known, and he quickly resolved to end this battle. Yet energy drained from his body in a loss far more rapid than he expected. Her breath had severed the connection between his spirit and his body and manifested that spirit energy into a physical form, separate from himself. This was not a tactic he could guard against, but a procedure stemming from an arcane power beyond even his comprehension. It was treacherous and dishonorable, no different in that respect than the human-shaped machines he had fought.

His muscles were soaked in a cold, paralyzing atrophy and he felt the hard jagged thing inside of him swirl up his throat. His face was now frozen in disbelief and his mouth remained agape as though still in mid-laugh. He only remained upright because his attacker held his shoulders in place.

The crystal reached the back of his throat, and he began to open his fist to a claw-like gesture, and he willed what little energy he control into a sphere. The energy in his frozen hand formed a tiny sun for less than a second, but died out as the crystal floated out of his mouth and into that of his opponent, restoring her dying form to full bloom. His body soon followed in languish and he fell to the ground like a discarded rag. The loss of sensation was all too familiar for a warrior who had already experienced death. Now a mere minion had felled him even more quickly than even Freeza had, without a single physical blow. At once Grimrose joined her colleague, who had emerged from her shell. Their boss danced around the street in exultation. At the same time, Vegeta felt an accumulation of power from the source that had drawn him to this spot, and heard the words that accompanied the release of energy.

"Rainbow Moon Heart Ache!"

He could feel the spirits of the creatures dissolve in the heart-shaped energy that crashed into them, and his own spirit diminish in tandem. For the first time in his life, he experienced the horrifying sensation of empathy. If Kakarot were rendered as helpless as him by that disease, it was amazing that the common warrior still lived. Quickly Vegeta admonished himself for thinking such a foolish thought, and steeled himself for what was to come. Death would consume him, pride and all.


The Scouts had been in trouble before, and Sailor Mini-Moon had been in peril herself countless times before this morning. As scary as it was for her life to be in danger, her childlike imagination envisioned her and her friends perishing together or triumphing together. With that unity, no matter how horrible the circumstances she faced, the Scouts would prevail as one.

This time, Sailor Mini-Moon grew up ever so slightly as her expectations were swallowed by reality. Seeing Sailor Mars fall was like seeing an arm being severed, a gruesome, calculated strike that would slowly bleed the rest of the team to death. In of itself, it was a sight too sore for her tender eyes. The fall of the man in blue, on the other hand, was like a blow to the back of her head, bewildering but efficient enough to render her instantly helpless without protest.

Sailor Mini-Moon knew that this man was connected to Trunks and Gohan, although at the moment she did not know how he was connected to them. The two guys had mentioned numerous names of people she did not know. She knew it wasn't the guy who was attacked at the party, and as powerful and fearsome as this man's entrance had been, he didn't seem like an android. But the blur of names she heard was too much for her to recall one. All she knew was that he was in trouble, and that they had to help him.

As soon as the light faded from the rod Sailor Moon held aloft, the light also faded from its owner, and she slid to her knees. Sailor Jupiter caught the faltering body of her leader before she could descend further, and felt the warm, shiny uniform change back into the cooler skirt and leotard that was her standard wear. At the same time, Sailor Mercury bent over Raye, whose skin was now as white and lifeless as the socks on her feet.

"How's...Raye...doing?" Sailor Moon asked in a feeble voice. Sailor Mercury did not give her an answer, but instead placed her index and middle fingers on Raye' neck. She turned her head, and saw Sailor Mini-Moon's frightened visage.

"Sailor Mini-Moon," Sailor Mercury ordered, "bring me Raye's pure heart."

The command meant nothing to her. She had never watched anyone die before this moment. Raye took a large breath, and the sound and motion filled Sailor Mini-Moon with hope. Nervousness slowly ushered all of her hope away when Raye did not exhale, her wide open mouth as motionless as her body.

"Don't just stand there!" Sailor Venus cried. "Hurry up!"

The words of her teammate stirred Sailor Mini-Moon's tiny legs into action as she ran to the spot where the Heart Snatchers once stood. There was not trace of them or Mimet, although the disappearance of the latter was a result of escape rather than annihilation. In the stead of the villains, two pink crystals floated side in perfect synchronization, both encased in a spiritual luminescence that mesmerized the little girl. She shook her head to stave off the tantalizing wonder and cradled both crystals in her hands, influencing their motion without directly touching them. She returned to Sailor Mercury, then handed her one of the crystals.

"Thanks," Sailor Mercury said, taking the crystal and placing it over Raye's chest. "Now go help the other victim."

Immediately, Sailor Mini-Moon ran toward the man in blue, but paused and looked over her shoulder. Sailor Mercury had positioned herself over Raye's body and pushed down on the bubble of light that surrounded the crystal, but it stubbornly hovered over Raye. At that moment, Sailor Mini-Moon remembered that mother had told her those who were about to die often took in one last breath. The very thought of the demise of Raye stabbed her eyes, which bled salty tears all over her face.

"Over here!"

Sailor Mini-Moon rubbed her eyes and saw a haze of green and brown in the direction of the voice, and rubbed them once more to clear her vision. Sailor Jupiter had joined Sailor Venus in her observation of the dying man, and Sailor Mini-Moon dashed to his side as well. The little girl handed the crystal to Sailor Venus, and the blonde tried to guide the heart into the man's unyielding and unconscious body, but her efforts were wasted in a struggle all too similar to that of Sailor Mercury.

"Here," Sailor Jupiter offered. Sailor Venus passed the crystal to Sailor Jupiter, who beared down on the aura surrounding the object with all her weight. Slowly but surely, it descended and closed the distance between itself and the man, and entered his chest.

As Sailor Mini-Moon watched, a deep gasp from behind her caught her by surprise. She cast her gaze over her shoulder, only to be met with the sight of an awakening Raye cradled by Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon, the latter now showing little sign of her previous frailty.

"Raye, are you okay?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I'm fine," Raye stated curtly.

"Here, let me help you," Sailor Mercury offered with both her words and her extended, gloved hand. Both were met with a stare, followed by a quick swat from Raye.

"I said, 'I'm fine.' I don't need your help!" Raye pushed herself off the ground as easily she had fallen, shoving past Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon in the process.

"Raye," Sailor Moon called to a woman who walked away from her in speechless steps.

"She'll be okay," Sailor Mercury stated. "She just needs a few minutes alone. We all know what it's like to have our hearts taken, but she's the only one who knows what it's like to happen twice."

Sailor Mini-Moon wanted to chase after Raye and make her listen, but she ignored the impulse to act like the child she was. Raye was walking and talking, yet the man lying before her was quiet and motionless. Suddenly his eyes opened, and breath returned to his lungs in a fit of heaving that quickly subsided.

"Mister, are you okay?" Sailor Mini-Moon asked.

With a grunt he leapt to his feet from the reclined position and launched himself into the air. He departed with a gust that whipped the collective hairs and bows of the Scouts and jarred them to the bone. Sailor Mini-Moon watched in amazement as the figure grew smaller in the air, an astonishment shared by all the Sailor Scouts except one.

"You're welcome!" Sailor Jupiter yelled, then released the rest of her frustration in an exhalation that was a mixture of a growl and a sigh.


Trunks entered the conference room with a heart full of discontent. As much as he would never admit it to anyone else, he was beginning to dislike the Capsule Corporation. As the days passed, the slight allure of a birthright forever denied to him began to dull, and the useless bureaucracy reminded him of his own forced idleness. Countless meetings had been held in various rooms like this about long-term goals, project updates, and reviews of company policy. At least this meeting would be more important than the regular gatherings, even if those who populated the hemispherical building never knew that the fate of the world rested within this office.

Despite his misgivings he made his way next to a standing Gohan and Krillin, all three of them rejecting the comfort of the padded chairs. Of all the warriors that protected the Earth, they were the only ones present; it was simply too risky to have everyone in one location, especially with the various threats that were facing both the planet and Goku himself.

The recovery of Goku ate at everyone daily, not least of all Trunks. He had expected the heart medication to take effect by now, but Goku's condition remained stagnant in the face of time. The hope that the strongest fighter in the world would exhibit the same fortitude against this illness withered, and the whisper of a thought sauntered through the mind of Trunks. Perhaps it was impossible for Goku to be healed, his death an inevitable stain on the tapestry of time.

Trunks swept aside the cobwebs of doubt and turned his thoughts to the other fighters who were absent. He was not as perturbed by the absence of Piccolo. The Namek had been known for his wisdom and cleverness, and had trained Gohan. He trusted the motives of his mentor's mentor.

Yet the absence of Vegeta could not be justified, as Trunks was quickly reminded when Bulma entered the room. It was clear from the multiplying lines on her face that Vegeta's absence had aged her with worry, rapidly turning her into the woman he knew as his mother. Trunks could not understand how his father could be so heartless and selfish in a time of crisis.

His internal criticism was halted by the arrival of Trista, who wore a white labcoat to this meeting. He briefly chided himself for allowing an energy signature he had encountered - even one as expertly subdued as hers now was - to go unnoticed, but in seconds his concern shifted from her sudden presence to the reason behind it. She could have easily made her presence unknown to him, yet she wanted him to see her and locked his gaze with her own. He desperately wanted to ask her more questions, yet he knew that she would elude any query she did not want to answer.

"Do you know each other?" Bulma asked.

"We have met," Trista replied, without turning her face. In the silence that followed, Bulma made her way to a chair and sat. Trunks and Trista broke off their exchange of looks and the latter strided across the room toward a white screen. "Is everyone present?"

"Everyone that's going to bother to show up," Krillin answered.

Without further words or actions, the room began to gradually dim on its own accord, and Trista walked over to a projection with a small control device in her hand.

"We have completed our analysis of the biological samples," Trista explained as she pressed a button. A list of bulletin points and short phrases that overlapped her spoken words appeared on the screen. "The organism we found is genetically engineered creature, made up of the DNA of several humanoid species and various residents of this planet. We can confirm that this creature is composed of the genetic material of you and most of your colleagues."

"Of us?" Krillin asked, interrupting the woman.

"Yes," she answered without even a grain of frustration. "We can be certain that Dr. Gero attained viable samples of your DNA over the years. He was a very determined individual."

"But how would he get that?"

"With this."

Trista pressed a button again, switching the word-filled slide with a picture of a metallic object. One end was rounded and red, with three golden triangles. The other side of the object resembled an insect, but two metal forearms with rounded pincers substituted themselves in the place of an arthropod's legs.

"It looks like a bug," Gohan said.

"It is in more than one ways than one. At its ordinary size looks like a common insect, but it's also a tracking device, and more." Another screen ushered the previous picture out of the way, one showing the internal circuitry of the object. "We found several of these in the laboratory. All he would need is a small sample of tissue, taken directly from the source and stored within these compartments. And this is the result."

She pressed the button of the remote control, and an image of the creature they had retrieved was thrown onto the screen. The green, embryonic larva was out of the tube and on a white cloth. It was simultaneously monstrous and helpless, which made the image all the more unsettling.

"The organism we had was in a developmental stage, when it was most vulnerable." Trunks noted the use of the past tense, and the edge in her voice evidenced that the creature they were seeing was now only a memory. Consecutive images of the abandoned, broken time machine appeared on the screen. "However, as these slides show, the analysis of the samples taken is not conclusive. Some of the samples indicate this organism in a less developed state, but other samples point to a more advanced version. Given that the creature was not present at the scene, we believe that the latter is more likely."

"How is that possible?" Gohan asked. "Don't we have it here?"

"It means there's more than one of these things," Krillin explained. "We might have an army of monsters to deal with."

"Not quite," Trista countered. "It's unlikely that this creature has the capacity to reproduce this early in its development, and the expense of keeping it alive leads me to believe that there are no clones. Combined with the other evidence at the scene, we can only conclude that this monster came from the future."

"How far in the future?"

"Approximately twenty years."

"Whatever this is, it didn't come from my time," Trunks said.

"Perhaps not, but it is in this present." Trista paused and took a soundless breath. "Because we have no current sample of this organism, we have to extrapolate what it would look like from the pattern of development we've seen so far."

A green hominid popped on the viewscreen. Its head wore a carapace like a helmet, while its eyes were full of pink and punctured with slits for pupils The most striking feature of this organism were the insect like wings on its back and a thick tail that was as easily as long as its body.

Yet as unfamiliar as this creature was to Trunks, there were enough consistencies with more familiar monsters that disturbed him. It looked as though it could have easily been a Heart Snatcher, except that it had a male build and lacked the telltale black star. A quick glance at Trista's burgundy eyes confirmed his suspicion.

"So this is what we are looking for?" Gohan asked.

"It may be what we are looking for," Trista warned. "This is not a final form, but a mere transitional state. Despite the engineering that was done, there are gaps in the DNA structure that prevent the organism from utilizing its full potential. As a result, it needs to feed often, and constantly, much like a caterpillar continually eats to prepare for its metamorphosis."

"Feed?" Krillin asked. "What does this thing eat? Clocks?"

"Us." As the single syllable dropped from Trista's lips, a gulp slithered down Krillin's throat.

"It has the ability to absorb biological matter," she continued, "specifically, that of hominids." She pressed the control device in her hand, cycling through slides of diagrams. "It then converts the biomass and energy into storage for its own use. This method of killing is remarkably without waste. Skin, bones, blood, and even organs such as the heart are all absorbed in this process, leaving no bodies."

"Dr. Gero specialized in cybernetic research," Bulma added, "not genetic engineering. There's no way he could have created an organism like this by himself."

"He definitely had assistance in this project," Trista said in agreement. "And any other parties who may have aided him could still be out there, carrying out whatever twisted plans he had."

"As if we didn't have enough to worry about," Krillin muttered.

"By the way, is there any news about the androids?" Trunks asked.

"There is, Trista answered. "We're still studying the plans that Krillin brought back to us, but according to the blueprints, there appears to be an explosive device embedded in the chests of each of the models."

"Explosive device?" Krillin half-asked, half yelled. "That means they're walking time bombs."

"Not quite. The device requires a very specific trigger, one that only Dr. Gero had the knowledge to invent. But now that we know of its existence, we may be able to recreate it."

"But why would he want to blow up his own creations?" Gohan asked.

"As a compliance measure," Trunks answered. "Dr. Gero was mad, but not stupid. He would have never unleashed those monsters on the world if he didn't think he had some way of controlling them."

"Once we figure out how to trigger the bombs," Bulma said, "you guys can lure the androids to a remote location and detonate them." Upon hearing those words, Krillin imagined the white ball gown of 18 exploding, leaving a dark cloud of soot that covered him. The thoughts in his mind soon gave way to reality, as the lighting was restored to its previous level in an instant.

A surge of power accompanied the change in lighting, a change that Trunks, Krillin, and Gohan felt. It was distant, but distinct, and the three quickly went to the door. The temptation to simply fly through the ceiling was strong, but they fought it.

"We'll keep in touch if anything else comes up," Bulma announced. The three male warriors began to leave the room.

"Trunks," Trista called. The young man stopped in his tracks, then turned around to face her. "The next time you see Small Lady, tell her that I said hello."

"I will," he answered, before leaving the room.


Michelle gazed upon 18 with an interest that detached her from the intertwined vapors of fried eggs and onions in the classroom. Every motion her fellow student made was preternaturally perfect, from the breaking of the eggs to the precise cutting of the onions and peppers now stewed in the mixture of coagulated yolk and cheese. Yet in the watery spirit of Michelle, this adept blonde registered as a complete blank, one whom her intuition could not decipher or detect. Michelle reasoned it would be possible for the Sovereign to cloak her presence in a similar manner, but the train of thought shut as quickly and as smoothly as 18 folded the thickening mass of egg simmering in the pan.

"Were you a chef in your former life?" Michelle asked in genial humor as she garnished the edges of the plate with decorative parsley leaves.

"This is the first time I've done anything like this," 18 replied, "and I don't plan on doing it again."

The words, spoken with an unmistakable annoyance, contrasted against the effortless efficiency of the speaker. Michelle and Amara had known that the Sovereign was someone with extraordinary abilities, and in spite of the attitude and uniform 18 wore, her remarkable essence shined through her attempts at being mediocre. Indeed, she and her brother were trying too hard to be ordinary, but Michelle's intuition did not tell her this. She lived every day as a Sailor Scout spying in the territory of the enemy, and her experiences alone communicated that their destinies were even more interlocked than she had initially believed.

"Well, you must certainly be a gifted student," Michelle responded cheerfully. She held up the plate and allowed 18 to place the folded, half-moon shaped egg onto the decorated dish.

"It's not hard following directions," 18 commented. "I just don't like doing it."

"That's the spirit!"

The cry came from their teacher, completely unaware of the conversation. He was a short man with half of a head of red hair crowned with baldness, and a mustache that complimented his glasses. He approached the duo from behind only to stare with unabashed awe at the omelette.

"My, my, how artistic!" he praised. He held up a fork, then pressed its thin edge into the corner of the egg. He then scooped the piece up with the same utensil, then placed it into his mouth, chewing and humming with excitement. "This morsel is perfect in composition. Excellent work, you two."

"Thank you," Michelle stated for both her and her classmate. The teacher then took a deep breath, but his eyes widened at the sounds of disharmony coming from the back of the room.

"That's not going to work," Amara cautioned.

"This is taking too long," 17 complained. "I'm not going to sit on an egg and wait for it to hatch."

"Fine. Do as you please." They both became quiet and the faint hum of a microwave oven replaced their speech. The instructor trotted over to them like a pony, past several burners with frying pans and students clumsily clanging the cooking utensils. As he arrived, he surveyed their stove, a reminder of the special assignment he had given them. Unlike their classmates, a saucepan filled with water rested upon the stove, not steaming but still. He concealed his puzzlement with a smile.

"Now, now a happy kitchen is a good kitchen," he said. "What's the matter?"

"This egg was taking too long to boil," 17 stated, "so I put it in the microwave."

"No!" the instructor yelled as he yanked the door to the microwave oven open. The whine of the appliance disappeared. The man took out the egg, cupping it with his hands close to his face. As soon as he closed the microwave door with his elbow, the slam of the door coincided with a pop. At once, his world was viewed through a yolk covered prism. The roar of giggles and guffaws that developed was silenced with his command.

"Out! Now!"


"You have failed me yet again, Mimet."

Dr. Tomoe stated the words in front of her while two women approximately her height stood behind her.

"I even risked exposing two more members of the Bureau of Bad Behavior to get pure hearts," he continued. "You've failed to yield even one."

"But I found out who one of the Sailor Scouts is!" Mimet shouted.

"Who is she?"

"Well, I didn't interrogate her or anything." Mimet twirled a strand of orange hair and hummed slightly without melody. "She has long black hair."

"And how tall is she?" Dr. Tomoe bent over to match his face with hers. "How much does she weigh? Do you even know her name?"

"I think it was the red one," Mimet answered. Her eyes and body drooped, then she clenched her face and fists in frustration. "I'm sorry. The plan would have worked if it hadn't been for that guy."

"Please." He straightened up and raised his hand as if to physically deflect her excuse. "The interference of that masked menace should have been accounted for."

"No, not him." Her breaths were short and her voice broke as she rushed through her sentences. "There was a different guy. A major hunk, but he wore white gloves and white boots...And a skin tight blue outfit that showed off his muscles. And I got his heart too..."

"Oh, really..." Dr. Tomoe replied dryly and turned back to Mimet. His lenses continued to shine brilliantly, but his hidden eyes darted back and forth behind them.

"Yes, but then Sailor Moon destroyed the Heart Snatchers. I almost had it." She gasped as Dr. Tomoe spun around, a gleefully wicked red grin manifested on his face.

"Normally, it's three strikes and you're out, but recently, I've become a fan of football..." He raised an index finger for emphasis. "American style, of course."

"Of course!" she agreed readily and automatically.

"Pretend that your team is trailing by four points, but your offensive unit is on the field. It is fourth down, the ball is on the opponent's one yard line, and there are ten seconds left on the clock. No more decoys, distractions, or dirty tricks. If you can get the football in the end zone, you win the game. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." Mimet straightened her body and gave an exaggerated salute.

"If you do not bring me even one heart by sunset..." He pointed to the metal door, triggering spasms of shuddering in Mimet. "You're dismissed."

Mimet was not certain if the words were in reference to her fate or were a signal to depart, but she quickly ran away from him. Dr. Tomoe waited until her footfalls stopped echoing in the lab before addressing the two young women who had once surrounded her.

"As for you two," he said, pushing up the glasses that threatened to slide off his face, "you performed exactly in mission parameters. I trust that you know what to do with Mimet if she fails."

"Yes, Dr. Tomoe," they said at once, bowing at the same time in allegiance.

"Now, I have other business to attend to..." He walked away from the two women, trying and failing to suppress the smile on his face.


A trio of warriors flew through the air, Trunks in front, flanked by Krillin and Gohan. It was a steady but speedy pace that reflected the urgency in their thoughts, and they parted the occasional clouds that had started to become more frequent. All three of them had felt the jolt, distant but unmistakable. A few minutes later, a similar surge hit the trio once again, which died down into a soft, almost imperceptible, but finely controlled hum. The latter sensation eased even into the background of life signs, but the gradual fade brought relief rather than worry. It meant that Vegeta was still alive, but that he didn't want to be found. Whether it was his pride or his survival instincts that caused this decline filled their hearts to the brim with unease, and their destination bothered them even more.

"Hey, Trunks!" Krillin asked into the wind. "Do you think he might have come in contact with that monster?"

"Or one of those Heart Snatchers?" Gohan asked.

Trunks hoped it was the latter of the two evils. Even if a Heart Snatcher had taken Vegeta by surprise, at least the Sailor Scouts might have been able to help him. If Vegeta hadn't decided to go off on his own in the first place, they could have warned him of the lethal technique the monsters' delicate bodies possessed. Then again, Trunks reasoned, he probably wouldn't have listened to anything they could have said. Either way they had to find Vegeta, no matter the shape he was in. His absence had evolved from a trivial concern to a pressing matter with the distant, violent flicker of his life force.

"Trunks, didn't that monster look like a Heart Snatcher to you?" Gohan asked.

"I noticed it, too," the young man answered. "There's something else going on here, but I can't put my finger on what it is."

"I dunno," Krillin interjected. "That thing took out my heart. She didn't seem all too interested in the rest of me...thankfully."

"Still, there has to be a link." An absence Trunks could feel but not name ate at him more than the chilling rush of air and ice crystals through which he flew.

"I still think if Dr. Gero had anything to do with those things, he could have just sent one after Goku. He wouldn't have bothered about building the androids or growing this monster."

"At the very least we'd better warn them," Trunks said. "They might think that creature is a Heart Snatcher."

No more words were spoken as they headed to a city that was not yet crystal, and one Trunks hoped never would be.


The day trudged forward like a man in leaden boots, as Raye sat, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. Unlike her fellow Scouts, she had not returned to her school. In fact, she had discarded her uniform as soon as she had returned home. Instead she sat in front of the fire, wearing the temple robes, chanting a mantra by rote, the void that was in her mind was not a result of meditation.

For the first time in months, her visions were gone.

The darkened sky, statues and silhouettes she had come to know were crisp memories, both recent and distant, but they were mere mental shadows instead of a source of ever-present dread. The fear and uncertainty attached to the sensations no longer existed. Yet Raye felt neither relief nor joy at this lack. Indeed, the absence would have scared her had she not immediately found herself incapable of that emotion. Instead whispers of feelings she had not experienced in years pounced upon her spiritual center like an untamed monkey, toppling over towers of discipline she had trained to build. Unease, disappointment, and anger washed through all concentration, pooling in the name of the princess and queen she had protected.

Serenity.

Raye abruptly stood up and left the room, her mind crumbling in complete chaos. She struggled to find the strength to clear her mind and tame the feral fury within. A long dormant resentment had surfaced, yet the urge lied in odds with both her memories and her soul. She should not have felt the rising flame within her, but it flared and scorched her mindscape.

She stepped out onto the shaded patio and peeked around the side of it to glare at the two crows that sat on the roof. They reacted by flapping their wings and took to the skies. Her guides had fled her burning spirit for liberty, and Raye entered the Cherry Hill Temple once more, to prepare for the guests that would come tonight and to hide the immolation of herself in her mind.


The eyes of Dr. Tomoe waved back and forth over the papers in his hands. He sat in his office at Infinity Academy, and let the warmth and scent exuded by the coffee cup on his desk drift into the current of his thoughts.

All students admitted into the academy were potential fuel for the desires of the Sovereign. The vast majority of students, of course, were better than average in aptitude for the educational system itself, which made them far more ordinary than the prestige of the school indicated. The hearts of these unworthily deemed the title "gifted" would be the first of those to be sacrificed to his Sovereign.

On occasion, though, there were students whose talents would be wasted without a heart. These were the true geniuses and savants, those set apart not by their academic excellence, but a unique spirit that overshadowed their prowess. He almost never expressed a direct desire to contact the student; a patchwork of administrators, instructors, and principals alerted him to these potential assistants. It was only after they were tested thoroughly that he would subtly point them -and their hearts- toward him and his cause. Far too often for his liking, though, this speculation resulted in failure. Contrary to what he would have suspected before he began the business of snatching hearts, the prodigious as a whole were no better in usefulness than the ordinary.

Fortunately, the young woman sitting in front of him, sporting the commonplace name Sarah Adams, was anything but replaceable. From the first day she arrived he had been bombarded by reports that heightened his interest in her. This woman was not only smart and graceful, but she was also cold, calculated, and aloof - traits that would make her a perfect member of the Bureau of Bad Behavior. However, she was tied to her family, the other Adamses who had accompanied her to his office, and they acted as weights tethered to his rising expectations. For now their bond was thicker than the viscous fluid that created a Heart Snatcher. He was determined to sever that tie and have the hearts of all three delivered to the Sovereign, and her heartless body to serve their leader. Right now, though, he had to make sure that she remained in the school long enough for that to happen.

He had bypassed his usual preliminary tests, and had arranged for his fellow professors to vacate their duties, allowing himself to become their faculty advisor. It was made easier by the fact that one of their instructors literally had egg on his face due to the actions of the black-haired teenager that stood rather than sat next to his sister. Yet this closeness came with a price, as both the brother and sister stared at him with eyes full of silent rebellion. Their ice-blue irises invited him to test them as much as his glasses staved off their unspoken challenge. Instead, he put down his papers and periodically glanced at the third Adams, the giant who was even more of an enigma than the brother and sister act beside him.

"It has come to my attention that there have been issues with your performance," Dr. Tomoe stated, firing the first volley into the void. "For your core classes, the three of you are unlike any other students that we have encountered."

He paused, dreading a reaction he clearly had baited. Many lesser students would have replied verbally, even if they had been aware of what he was doing. Instead, the teenaged boy and girl before him continued to stare at him as though he had said nothing.

"Our evaluation has shown that while all three of you have shown tremendous potential academically," he continued, "there is a concern of a misapplication of creativity. Logic, science, and mathematics are all excellent subjects, but we have electives for a reason."

"To make things even more boring," the black haired male replied. Disappointment stung Dr. Tomoe's mind. This young man wanted a fight.

"All teachers are to be treated with respect," Dr. Tomoe countered. "Creativity has its place, but not in the humiliation of superiors."

"I'll humiliate whomever I want."

Dr. Tomoe suppressed the urge to respond to the retort. A direct challenge would have escalated this situation beyond repair. He understood he had to present them with the ultimatum he had expected to save for later.

"I'd like you three to set up a weekly session with your mentors outside of class. Both Miss Tenou and Miss Kaiou are...exemplary students." He barely restrained himself from saying they were expendable. Despite their academic success and broad range of talents, their bursts of compassion and friendliness outside the classroom eliminated them from ever being anything but heart donors. They were dutiful students, though, and would be his extra set of eyes through their reports to their advisor, who would in turn report to him.

"You can go now," he said. With a shrug, the three students sprang to motion like wind-up dolls, with the males exiting the office and the girl directly behind them.

"Miss Adams," Dr. Tomoe called. The young lady halted a few seconds after he spoke rather than immediately, telling him that his hold on her was as much as she allowed.

"In this short time," he continued, "you have shown a great promise, and the mathematics division could always use an extra teacher's assistant."

"I'm not interested," the girl answered flatly, not even turning around.

"Please don't be hasty." He lifted the coffee mug to his nose and inhaled. "You're still under probation, so it would be against the rules for me to allow you to start now. Just keep it in mind for later."

She continued her walk down the hall and his eyes followed the firm legs of the blonde. As he sipped his tea, he envisioned her body wrapped in a white labcoat, and her cold, blue eyes without pupils.


Amara and Michelle looked at the trio of transfer students from afar, hiding their gazes with each other's bodies. The pair's conversation with their advisor had been far more informative beyond what he had actually said. The two were to report to him on their meetings with their fellow students, and in turn that report would be given to Dr. Tomoe. The professor would be subject to their accounts, their scrutiny, and their control.

"He's definitely taken an interest in her," Amara stated.

"Could this mean that he suspects she is the Sovereign?" Michelle asked.

"Either that, or he's trying to flush us out." As Amara spoke, Michelle's shoulders dropped.

"Maybe we should get her to transfer out of here." Michelle turned to watch the three students walk away from them, becoming smaller and harder for her to see. Yet the blonde refused to blend into the crowd and escape Michelle's gaze completely, which heightened the latter's worry. "We saw what happened at the dance."

"Are you having doubts about our mission?"

"No, I'm just worried." Michelle lowered her head and softened her voice even further. "What if the enemy gets her pure heart?"

"We won't let that happen," Amara vowed. "We'll just have to keep a closer eye on her, which is just what the doctor ordered."


Noon had been a distant memory when evening drew near, but the cloud-filtered light of the late afternoon provided Rini with a faint warmth that would soon fade as well. The transition from light to dark and from noise to silence nipped at her developing mind, and she with every step she took, she felt older, the shaping of herself producing mature feelings that as a child she did not have the vocabulary to express.

She had believed that by returning to the past as a Sailor Scout, she would no longer be a sidekick, a nuisance, or a spore, but a member of the team. Instead, she had been useless, unable to prevent the Heart Snatcher from taking Raye's heart crystal, and only able to retrieve it with much prodding. She remembered how her body responded to crises not long ago. A uncontrollable surge of energy arose from her distress and yet even these outbursts had been more effective than anything she had done recently. Without the power of the Crystal inside of her she was an ordinary girl who played dress-up. Until today, she had deluded herself into believing she was a soldier, who could be powerful like her mother. Now the truth was inescapable; she was just a kid.

Her irrelevance was only punctuated by the absence of her fellow Scouts, as their ordinary lives grew nearly as hectic as their heroic ones with mandated exams and affairs of the heart. They were not the only ones who had distanced themselves from her. Darien had been engulfed by both work and studies. Even Sailor Pluto - she could never truly think of her protector as "Trista" - had left her alone. It was only her newer friends who did not think of her first as a future daughter, princess, or Sailor Scout. As she spotted the white mansion that was Hotaru's residence, she grasped that their friendship would always be deeper because of her secret, not in spite of it.

With a newfound comfort, Rini skipped through the open gate and toward the front door. At the doorstep she stretched her arm as far as she could, reaching the doorbell with the tip of her fingers. The muffled chime was followed by mutters mixed with loud, rapid thumps that Rini barely recognized as footsteps. The wooden portal opened, revealing Kaori Knight. To Rini, the woman was like a skyscraper, and her disdainful eyes cast unspoken maledictions on the little girl.

"Hello," Rini greeted. "May I come in?"

"Hotaru has an doctor's appointment," Kaori Knight answered stridently. "She's not here, and she won't be back for a while."

"Oh." Rini's head and eyes sunk, then rose again. "Can you tell her I stopped by?"

Kaori Knight's face coiled with pleasure, which caused Rini to smile in return. In an abrupt motion, the red-headed woman flung the door shut with a slam so loud that it echoed for blocks. Rini's merriment faded into a mask of shock, and her face quickly sunk into disappointment. She backed away and reversed her course, passing along the same route she had come.

As she trudged along, the roar of vehicles and the fumes they spewed overwhelmed her. But she didn't pick up her pace as she was not returning to a home, but to Serena's house and a family she had to brainwash to accept her. This world she had already gotten used to had seemed so alien again, and for an instant, she wondered if her training was even worth it, and if there was any point in making friends if they simply got taken away.

"Hey, Rini!"

Rini's eyes brightened, and the youth that should have been in them quickly returned upon hearing the voice. She lifted her head and watched the speaker, Gohan, alight along with Trunks and Krillin.

"Hi, guys," she replied.

"Is everything okay?" Gohan asked.

"I'm fine," she lied, hoping that if she believed her reply enough, it would come true. "So what's up?"

"We wanted to know if there another attack today."

"Uh-huh. But...I couldn't do anything." Rini's face scrunched up like a used paper towel, and her breaths turned into to sobs. Trunks bent down and rested his hand on her shoulder. It reminded her of her father's firm, but gentle touch.

"Rini, it's okay," Trunks said. "Maybe if you tell us what happened, we can help."

"We were fighting two Heart Snatchers," Rini replied softly. "Then one of them took Raye's heart. Then this mean guy appeared and the other Heart Snatcher took his heart."

"Did you recover the hearts?"

"Yeah, but I just kept standing there. I never felt like that before, but when I saw Raye lying on the ground like that, it was like I couldn't move..."

"But you put the hearts back," Gohan reminded her. "Everyone's okay now, right""

Rini responded by nodding her head, but a twinge of doubt began to spread through her mind. She had come so close to losing Raye, and her collapse and revival replayed in Rini's mind. She had been through worse, yet the events of today haunted her.

"We need to know something," Trunks said, severing her worries. "Was the man you saw wearing a blue and white outfit?"

"Yeah," she answered. "I thought he might have been one of the people you told me about, but he took off as soon as he woke up."

"Yep, that sounds like Vegeta all right," Krillin remarked.

"Vegeta?" she asked, then turned to Trunks. "You mean that's your dad? Oh..." Her reddened cheeks glowed deeper out of embarrassment. "I didn't mean to call him mean."

"He's been called worse," Krillin remarked.

"If he managed to get away," Trunks said, "he's all right. Thanks for helping him out."

"You're welcome," she whispered.

"But we also came here to warn you." His voice became as stern as that of a king. "There's a green monster that looks like a Heart Snatcher. Whatever you do, don't try to fight it."

"Why not?" Rini asked.

"Because it's very dangerous. If you and the others come across it, get away as fast as you can. It's more powerful than it looks."

"I see..." Her lip jutted out from the rest of her face, and Trunks remembered how he felt at her age, gifted with power but still too young and inexperienced to make a difference.

"If you want to help," he offered, "you can let us know if you hear of any reports of strange disappearances."

"How would that help?"

"This monster doesn't just take hearts, or energy. It eats people whole. If people come up missing all of a sudden, then it might mean the monster is nearby."

"Okay," Rini replied, accepting the explanation. "I'll tell Serena when she gets home from her study session."

"One more thing." Trunks paused slightly, uncomfortable with the words he wanted to say. "Trista told me to tell you she said, 'hi.'"

"She did? Thanks!" Strands of sadness dissipated into joy, which clung to Rini long beyond the goodbyes and solitude that followed these words. She was not alone; she would never be alone.


Four girls with bloodshot eyes far too young for bags carried slightly sagging skin on their faces. They sat with books open on the wooden floor and the wooden table of the Cherry Hill Temple, but their minds were lost in a cloud of facts and formulas. They sat, nominally as the guests of Raye, but the raven-haired girl had refused to join them, and sat in front of the fire in another room. Her absence had bogged down the air itself, and a haze covered the minds of the quartet of girls.

"I'm ready to call it a night," Mina said in the middle of a yawn.

"Yeah," Lita agreed, "let's wrap it up and save the rest for tomorrow."

"But Amy has to go to computer class tomorrow," Serena stated, then turned to Amy. "You know, we could ditch it entirely. I mean, without you and Raye it just wouldn't be the same."

"Then that will make us even further behind," Amy noted. "We already missed some of our classes today. We can't afford to lost any more study time for these exams!"

"We're facing Heart Snatchers left and right and all she can think about is getting a good grade," Mina remarked.

"Hey," Serena suggested, "we can just have the session after Amy gets out of class." Her voice lessened into a softer volume. "Maybe we can get some answers out of Raye then." The other three girls nodded and made noises of agreement through their pressed lips.


18 cradled the wireless receiver between her ear and her palm, listening to the other voice on the phone. She glanced at 17, who leaned slightly against a wall, while ignoring 16 while he stood as motionless as the unused pieces of furniture in the apartment.

"Four o'clock will be acceptable," she said, then listened as the other speaker gave her a valediction. "Goodbye." 18 pressed a button on the phone, ending the conversation. She slipped the phone onto the charger, then turned to 17, and her stolid face belied the annoyed tone in her voice.

"Thanks to your stunt, now we have to play houseguest," 18 admonished.

"I was just trying to liven things up," 17 replied.

"You almost got us kicked out of school."

"What are you going to do, warden? Revoke my phone privileges."

The reply was intertwined with the synthetic tintinnabulation of the telephone's summons. 18 picked up the phone's receiver, quieting its alarm.

"Adams residence," 18 stated.

"Oh, hi," Mina's voice greeted. She was so loud that 17 jumped from his nonchalant stance upon hearing her. "Is your brother around?"

17 launched himself toward the receiver, but 18 thrust her arm out, blocking his path. A playful skirmish broke out between the two, one that would have been mistaken for an ordinary sibling scuffle if not for adroit alacrity with which both participants moved. After a second, 18 managed to pin 17 to the floor, one arm on the telephone and her other arm across his mouth, muffling his cries. He could have easily broken her hold had he been motivated enough, but instead he ceased struggling, recovering a restraint long forgotten, an unwritten rule of the rivalry that had gone dormant.

"Well, he's in the middle of something right now," 18 answered. "I can pass along a message."

"I wanted to know if Lita and I could come over tomorrow," Mina said.

"At what time?"

"Right after school. We'll get there around four."

"That would be perfect."

"Okay. See you, then."

"Goodbye." She ended the call with the press of a button, then placed the phone back on its charger, arising from 17 in the process. 16 noted the incident with neither conversation nor motion, instead logging the information in accordance to his directives.


Darkness conferred exhaustion onto Gohan, making him lie down, despite his restless thoughts. Seconds after Gohan put his head to his pillow, a hand he both knew and loved jostled his shoulder in an attempt to rouse him.

"Gohan," Goku urged. "Wake up."

The boy opened his eyes and his spirits were lifted upon the sight of his father. His dad was healthy again, and Gohan was in his room in his home. He felt no shift in reality. In fact, this was where he was supposed to be.

At first, he did not notice a sensation he had long ago lost hope of ever feeling. With the covers over him, he felt whole, not the phantom, crushing pain the emitted from a limb that was no longer present, In a start, he threw off the covers to find his body covered with hand-sewn pajama, but his eyes were drawn to the tail that should not have been there but was. Unlike the other changes, this one, was both welcome and worrisome. He felt the swinging weight of the appendage, and it reacted to his thoughts. The muscles of his abdomen tightened in both fear and to control the tail. His gaze instinctively tracked toward the window, but quickly he shut his eyes, and his desires to protect those he loved were now mingled with the desires of enjoying the reunion.

"Look, there's nothing to worry about, see?" Goku assured.

Gohan opened his eyes in a blind, foolish trust and was rewarded with relief. Only half of the moon was white and to the left. At once all anxiety died within him, and a familiar ease overwhelmed him. Even if he had to part with this limb in the morning, he would at least get a night where he was complete in both body and mind.

"Dinner's ready!" Chi-Chi's voice pierced the shut door.

Gohan wondered for a second why his mother would make dinner after he had gone to bed, but he dismissed the disorder and exited the room with his father. He was suddenly very hungry and the thought of food led him to believe that he would not stop eating. He left his bed, opened his door, and entered the kitchen. He saw his mother at the sink and she was facing him.

"Sweetie," she said, "you have a guest."

She then bent her head to Rini who stood beside Chi-Chi and curtsied. But she wasn't in a school uniform, or even the attire she wore as a Sailor Scout. Instead, she wore a white empire gown, and the crescent mark on her forehead glistened in gilded glory. She was stunningly beautiful, and the sight filled him with sensations that made him forget his hunger.

He wanted to avert his eyes, but they were locked onto her, and an excruciating pain and pressure filled his entire being. He felt himself grow in size and in weight, fur seething through his skin. His eyes were covered in a glowing scarlet, while his feet grew into monkey paws and the sound of his own growls drowned out both the cries of those he loved and the destruction of his own house.

And he could feel his consciousness go into a black, uncontrollable rage.

In a snap of willpower, he opened his eyes and found his now human-shaped head on a pillow, attached to a body of a recumbent boy. He was still blind but the darkness that encased him was the back room at the Kame house. He reached around his back to feel for the furry appendage that mere seconds ago was there, but his hands felt nothing but his own clothing and skin. Half-disappointed and half-relieved, he allowed his mind to settle into the quiet arms of sleep, which fed him a more peaceful, forgettable dream.


A large bed filled most of the space of a small bedroom in a small house on a small island. From above, the island was a mere spot of dryness in the sea, but Vegeta lowered himself toward the island to where he could see not only the house that sat upon it, but the bed through the window of that house. In the bed slept in Kakarot's, and each breath he took.

His wife had sat next to him in a chair, her head nodding in a losing fight against unconsciousness. He saw a small leg - that of Gohan - twitching in the throes of a fitful dream. Vegeta decided to descend no further, letting the slice of life satisfy the strange feeling within him. It was not curiosity that had brought him here; he already knew a thousand miles away the state of Kakarot's health. It was a deeper emotion, one that should have made him vomit at the thought of it.

Concern.

He doused the flame of sentiment within, yet the embers still burned a sore spot inside of him. Kakarot even now, in his weakness, was someone to envy and almost admire. Vegeta would never speak these words, yet before this moment, he would have never let the thought cross his conscious mind. Yet the infirm and ill Kakarot was surrounded by friends and family, and the sight awakened his own feelings. He had abandoned those who were closest to him, and kept them at a a distance. Given the power of the androids, it was foolish for him to take them for granted as the possibility of never seeing them again took root in his mind.

His head swam with conflicting thoughts, and in response is senses took in the enormity of the breeze, the calm but active sea. Perhaps not all of this miserable planet was a stifling as the city he had visited earlier today. Earth itself had adopted Kakarot as son, and for a split second a hint of that belonging tugged at the emotional center within him. Had this planet been destroyed as was intended, Vegeta realized, not only would he have been deprived his greatest challenge and thus his greatest power. He would have never experienced this moment, and the machines that they faced threatened to undo not merely his nemesis, but the land itself.

A snap punctured his mind, and the sentimentality rising within spilled into the background. He had been defeated by women and rescued by women. Was he thinking like a woman now? He cast one last glance at the family in slumber, then rose in the sky before changing his vector to be parallel to the sea.

He looked, not just at his destination, but at the endless skies and ocean that made up this world.


Sailor Mini-Moon clenched the stick in her hand like a wrench, and crouched behind an obsidian column in a darkened hall. She was abandoned, cold, and scared and wanted nothing more than to hear the voice of someone to assure her that she was not alone in this palace of eternal night.

"Face it, kid," a woman said. "You messed up now, just like you messed up before."

The voice startled her and Sailor Mini-Moon regretted her wish. The speaker neared her as the voice continued, its disapproving tones blended with the tapping of high heels.

"They think you're pathetic. And this time, they would be right."

Sailor Mini-Moon ducked and closed her eyes, but a fingernail pricked her shoulder, catching the girl's attention. She looked up to see tall woman in a a black dress, with slits that spat out pale, long legs. With the pink cones atop her head that led into to matching twin tales, her red eyes stared into Sailor Mini-Moon's own. She was looking at herself, fully grown, or what she had looked like as Wicked Lady. The Luna Sphere rested in midair, the symbol of the Negamoon on the forehead of the woman and the device.

"There's no one to unleash your potential," the woman taunted. "No one to turn that hate and hurt into something useful."

"I don't hate them," Sailor Mini-Moon responded as she stood up.

"Ah...but they'll hate you once they discovered what you did."

"But I didn't do anything!"

"You little spore!" Sailor Moon shouted from behind.

Sailor Mini-Moon turned to find the Sailor Scouts standing as though they had always been there. Sailor Mercury stared at Rini with speechless disapproval, while Sailor Moon's face was red with anger. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus also laid their eyes on the girl, who noticed Sailor Mars was not present. It hit her that she had caused the Raye she had known exist no longer.

"Indeed, you're not worthy to call yourself a Sailor Scout," Sailor Jupiter proclaimed.

"Here, let me take the wand," Sailor Venus mocked, extending her hand toward Sailor Mini-Moon. "I wouldn't want you to put an eye out."

Sailor Mini-Moon ran away from her fellow Scouts and toward a distant point of light. The brightness drew her like an iron filing to a magnet, and as reward she saw Hotaru, Trunks, and Gohan standing next to each other in the light. Her fear turned to ecstasy as she neared them, but her happiness dissolved into despair as her new friends also stared at her with accusing eyes.

"How could you?" he asked

All three turned their backs on her and the light around them faded into the darkness. In their stead were several pairs of hands in white gloves that reached out to her. Wicked Lady cackled incessantly, her laughter only growing louder by the second.

"No!" Sailor Mini-Moon screamed. "Get away. All of you." She backed away from the dark crystal corridors, all while the laughter of the lady chased her relentlessly. She tumbled, then fell, and felt moisture pelt her from head. She was unable to get up and move, and the dark scene grew even more obscure as a cold, black haze lapped up the remaining light.

The gloves extended from the mist toward her. The hands grabbed her from head to toe, lifting her body and stretching it like a rubber band. Unimaginable pain, matched only by the fear that dragged a series of shrieks from her lips. She screamed even after she felt them pull her no more, until she opened her eyes and found herself in the same bed with Serena.

Rini looked down at her right forearm and saw that Serena had grabbed onto the limb, more out of desire than out of revenge. From the mutterings in her slumber, Rini knew Serena was dreaming about something pleasant. Rini felt her head and confirmed that the liquid on her forehead was merely the teenager's drool.

The waning moon, half light, and half dark watched over Rini as she attempted to sleep.


Raye felt the morning creep by and overcome the night. Despite her awareness of the passage of time, the events of the previous day had incubated thoughts that now covered her as much as the karate uniform on her shoulders and legs. How dare the others think that she was so stupid that she could not hear her fellow Scouts whisper about her in the next room! She was a priestess, not a common temple visitor who marveled at the ceremony without an appreciation of its meaning. The mere notion that she had let an outsider to all of her training become her leader, only punctuated the shame of her defeat at the hands of the Heart Snatcher. This sore had only festered through the sleepless night, spurring her into her new dedication. She had no intention of wasting time to meditate on an enemy that remained unknown. She had to train to get stronger, not merely to destroy the Heart Snatchers, but to take her rightful place.

"Raye..."

An old man's voice called to her, its power drained in part by time. She did not bother to acknowledge the presence of her grandfather. Once upon a time, his love for her was only surpassed for the love she felt for him, despite his tendency to annoy and embarrass her. Now she felt a muted version of that affection, overshadowed by the icy, blue fire that engulfed her mind.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Why are you still in your pajamas?" he griped in response. "You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up."

"I'm not going to school today, old man."

"Old man?" His eyes, shrunken with age, spread wide with surprise. "Raye, what has gotten into you?"

"You decrepit fool." She bent over and met his countenance with hers. "You dare tell me what to do?"

"Raye, calm down!"

The cry had not come from her grandfather, but from Chad, who had entered the room. She had heard him, and his presence meant as much to her as the words of the short old man standing in front of her.

His voice, though, stitched her mouth shut with a silken thread. Her very words and thoughts felt as alien to her as they sounded to those in her presence, and now her wounded pride made her mute. The inferno of her soul threatened to consume the room, and she walked away from both, her bare feet causing the boards to creak with each step.

"And don't you come back until you learn some manners!" Grandpa yelled, letting out a sigh of defeat only seconds later.


Mimet dragged her feet across the floor in a listless shuffle. Her shoulders ached from the sack she carried, and the darkened laboratory felt more like a prison than her work site. Even her trenchcoat seemed like an inmate's uniform, her red scarf a scarlet emblem and her glasses an iron mask.

This sharp disapproval she endured was not characteristic of the professor. He was annoyed by failure at worst, as he possessed a confident optimism which only heightened his eccentricity and appeal. Now, desperation seemed to be behind his every breath; he had never previously threatened to expel anyone from the Bureau of Bad Behavior, even Eugeal with all of her failures. Of course, Mimet thought, if she hadn't gotten rid of the red-headed woman, Eugeal would have been in her position now, taking the punishment Mimet experienced.

Mimet took a look at the black and white photograph of Eugeal she had taped to her locker door. Mimet's eyes floated over to the machine in the corner. It sat on a wheeled cart with a frosting of dust. The reflector dish and its antenna seemed to point at her, situated above a console with a keypad and a case with knobs and controls.

Eugeal had dubbed it the Electric Warp, yet she never bothered to use it. For a fleeting second Mimet mused it would be perfect for this mission, but reality killed her hopes. It was simply too huge to carry. Her arms, already tired from the sack on her back, hurt at the idea of lifting anything else. For a moment, Mimet regretted the fact that she wasted a perfectly good car on Eugeal's death. She'd have to carry out this mission on foot.

But she didn't have to do it right now.

She placed the giant sack on the floor and tiptoed over to the device. Curiosity overwrote her concerns as she stared at the flat keys. There had been no monitor or output device aside from a few meters and lights, as the Electric Warp was designed to be used in conjunction with a large screen. Although she had studied Eugeal enter the command sequence, the machine was of little use without a power source, a display screen, or a means to carry it.

She leaned over, studying the device in hopes of a solution. Her eyes spotted a piece of paper taped on the anterior side of the top rack. She pulled the adhesive strips off from the plane, then lifted the paper into the air. Handwritten notes lined the page, and her eyes followed jerkily along Eugeal's manuscript.

The Electric Warp includes a prototype self-storage compartment system. Preliminary results indicate that the Dyno Cap model is ineffective for transporting living material of complex organisms, including hearts. However, tests have shown no degradation in inanimate objects. Implementation to be used in Fire Buster III.

Mimet chuckled at the last sentence, but the echo of her laugh caused her to tense and she resumed reading.

Warning! The Enlarging Feature stores the residual self-image of the user in a pattern buffer. If the power is shut off before the user completes the disengagement sequence, the pattern is lost forever, trapping the user inside the machine. To prevent this, a safety feature to prevent the device from collapsing if it is in use. Press the "ESC" key when the item is not in use to activate.

Mimet looked at the keyboard again. With uncertainty, Mimet dabbed the key with her pinky and in a snap, the Electric Warp disappeared, leaving behind a tiny cylinder with a plunger instead of a cap. Wasting no time, Mimet picked up the small capsule, and panned her eyes back and forth. She opened her trenchcoat ever so slightly stuffed the object in the fold of her chest. She whistled with guilt, then lifted the sack from the ground and carried it with a renewed strength and endurance. She walked out of the laboratory and closed the door, aware of neither the shadows of two women who watched her nor the contempt the ladies threw on her with their eyes.


Trunks, Gohan, and Krillin cut a swath across the sky like a triple-bladed razor reaping stubble and skin. Vegeta had returned and made no effort to conceal himself. The signal of his energy summoned them through the skies like a dinner bell. Yet his energy had a different flavor and pattern, which fueled their haste across oceans and through the skies of West City.

All three landed at the front of Capsule Corporation headquarters. The giggle of a schoolgirl catching a glimpse of her crush drifted through the air. They soon saw that the laugh was not that of a teenager, but the jocund exhalations of a woman who was old enough to become young again. Bulma entered their sights, with her infant son in her arms who matched her glee. Her skin had still retained some of the age imparted by worry, but her movements were grand as she ran out of the dome, twirling and laughing. She stopped upon seeing the three, and her little boy became quiet in surprise.

"Hi, guys," she greeted.

"Bulma, are you all right?" Krillin asked.

"I'm absolutely fantastic! I don't know what's gotten into him, but he's finally got that chip off his shoulder."

"Huh?"

"He's actually taking out the garbage, without being asked. He's even helping out with the chores...even cleaning up now!" She lifted the infant in her arms. "See, I knew your daddy had a heart in there somewhere."

"Did you let him know there's a monster on the loose?"

The tiny child began to cry at the question, prompting Bulma to hold her son more closely.

"Aww..." She rubbed her nose gently in the baby's face. "Don't worry about the monster. Your uncles and your daddy are going to take care of him."

"Where is Vegeta?"

"Oh." She then pointed to her left. "He's out on the side. You can't miss him."

The three rose like feathers upon her words, and their gazes fell on one of the many domes on the compound. They landed on the walkway that led to it, after catching sight of the warrior. He had grasped a pole and seemed to be performing an action with it that was a cross between wrestling and dancing. A pile of magazines, bound in string, sat at the edge of the walkway. Puffs of dust rose into the air from the ground, then dissolved as the particles fell, only to be knocked into the air once again by the bristles on the end of the pole Vegeta worked with. It took the three ten whole seconds for their minds to comprehend what their eyes told them.

Vegeta was sweeping.

"Trunks, Krillin, Gohan," he stated, his arms continuing to push the broom. "Hmph, what are you looking at? Can't a Saiyan sweep in peace?"

"Just as I thought," Krillin replied, "Seems like the same old grouch to me."

"I'm not doing this for my health," he complained. "The paucity of servants around here has left this place a mess. It is not fit for a warrior such as myself to train. A clean house is necessary for a clear mind, and we will need to be focused if we are going to defeat our enemies."

"We?"

Vegeta grunted.

"Have you gone deaf?" he asked rhetorically. "I said I will need to be focused if I am to beat those automatons. I did not ask for you to come here and stand around."

"Same old, same old," Krillin grumbled. "Let's go." He rose into the air. Gohan nodded, then followed him upward. Trunks lingered for a split second, then finally lifted himself off the ground.

"Trunks."

Vegeta had called him, causing all three warriors to freeze in mid-flight like insects stuck to flypaper.

"I'd like to have a word with you alone," Vegeta said. "Later."

Upon those words, the three fighters returned to their departure, yet a whisper of Trunks' emotions began to rise with his body.


The skies began to sweat, and so did Lita and Mina. The air was cool, but the humidity clung to their lungs and throats as they hastily ran down the sidewalk. Their pulse matched the rhythm and feet, which pounded the concrete in an erratic beat.

A tickle creeped along the back of Mina's throat as she ran, her windpipes burning from the stress of running beyond her conditioned pace. Despite her fitness, it was difficult for her to keep up with Lita's long strides. The last thing she needed was to get sick, and she hoped the scratches of malaise in her neck and chest were fleeting feelings rather than a premonition of what was to come.

Double doors to a white building both had visited before stirred memories from a few years ago. This was a building completely rebuilt from when they had fought the Doom Tree. These doors, though, were portals of welcome rather than gates of destruction. Their end now in sight, Mina ran faster, as did Lita. Neither of them could tell if the pricking moisture on their foreheads was from the sky or from their own efforts, and both remained oblivious to the spotted ground as their bare legs carried them through the gateway to the building.

Lita remembered the structure vividly. The stuffy lobby had a dark carpet with dead leaves that rested against a locked metal door. The floor held their gaze for less than a second, as she and Mina spied the call box listing the names of the tenants. "Adams" was the first on the list, scrawled in writing next to manufactured numbers.

"Room 816," Lita read. "That's the same room Alan and Ann lived in."

A pang of panic short through Mina's chest and caused her to tense. It was an all too familiar story for her and the other Scouts, for them to find a potential boyfriend only for him to be involved with the Negaverse or any of their other enemies. Quickly, her mind cast a pall of suspicion all her interactions with the three they had recently met. There was a detached mechanical precision behind their every movement. The fear that she was about to meet with a Heart Snatcher caused her to scream as a finger tapped her shoulder.

She turned around, only to find two all-too familiar women standing before her, both in the respective uniforms of their schools.

"Amara and Michelle?" Mina asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We were paying a visit to our classmates," Amara answered. "And you?"

"We were just going to have a study session with them," Lita answered.

"Then it's good to meet up," Michelle declared.

"For once, it seems we have a common goal," Amara added. She followed her words by pressing a button on the call box.

"Who is it?" 18 asked a few seconds later.

"It's the study-buddy brigade!" Mina shouted with glee.

The beep that signaled their permission to come in prefaced the verbal invitation.

"Come in," 18 said.

Amara opened the door, letting Michelle, Mina, and Lita enter the lobby before she did. Two elevators next to a flight of stairs invited them to the right, and without incident they entered the elevators. Within moments they were deposited on the eighth level of the building, then walked down a series of doors until they found the correct one.

As soon as they approached the door 18 opened it. All of the three of their hosts had remained in their uniforms, and disappointment stung Mina at the sight of 17. She had wished she could have seen him in more casual clothing.

"Let's get this party started," 17 remarked dryly.


Vegeta stood as the sunlight massaged his skin in with its warmth. He had been so selfish. He had abandoned his son, his fellow fighters, all because he was ashamed. He didn't dare say it. His pride was strong enough to forbid him from speaking the feelings of his heart, but he felt the division within himself weaken, and the concern climb along the walls of his heart like ivy.

He had never allowed himself to feel the full extent of regret. His pride buffered him from his emotions, but the barrier thrown by his honor had begun to collapse. However, the signal of an approaching warrior strengthened his resolve, and the sight of Trunks approach steeled him even more. Not surprisingly, the young man arrived at the desired time without Vegeta ever specifying it. The Saiyan prince could no longer deny the ties between himself and the warrior of the future, and as the youth landed, Vegeta fought to check a different sort of pride from taking root.

"Trunks," he said, "there's been a lot on my mind."

He took a slight breath as the young man looked at him. In the mind of Vegeta, he could not help but think of the elder Trunks as a boy - not in the pejorative dismissive reflexes he had trained himself to think - but merely the older version of a son with whom he had refused to bond.

"These androids," Vegeta continued, "and this new threat, have proven to be difficult." His mouth stopped short of stating that he was wrong, that his underestimation of the power their enemies possessed had made the situation worse. Instead, a short pause preceded his next question. "How will it take for Kakarot to recover?"

"I don't know," Trunks admitted. "I thought he would have shown some signs of getting better by now."

"Then we have to wait." The acceptance in his words stunned Trunks, and a slight blip of Vegeta's energy surprised him even more. It was a mere flicker, but it was obvious and out of place. "He will recover. I simply cannot believe our best hope lies not in the hands of Kakarot, but that of my-" He coughed, cutting the thin layers of affection that had crept into his voice. "That silly woman."

Trunks noticed the unsaid as well as the said, which swept away his own concerns. It only perturbed him slightly that a press of a button could do what all the years he and others spent training could not. As much as he wanted to take revenge against the androids, he would get no less satisfaction out of seeing them ripped asunder by their own bodies. His mother would have saved them once again.

Trunks knew the words had to be harder for Vegeta to think, even harder for him to say. In response, Trunks hushed himself and listened to his father continue to speak.

"We trained," Vegeta said wistfully, "and the androids still beat us. I don't like waiting, but I'm going to have to get used to it anyway."

"Why?"

"Once we get out of this mess, you're going back to the future, aren't you?" Vegeta oriented toward Trunks, and the flow of the former's energy changed again. "I'll have to wait for my son to grow up before I can see your face again."

"Father..." Trunks said, now made quiet by his father's words rather than his own discipline. The words that had come to his ears, and the expressions that he had seen with his eyes overwhelmed him. An alarm rang in the back of his awareness, but he could not and would not heed it. In spite of the warning, he recognized the fundamental, heartfelt honesty in what Vegeta had said.

"One more thing," the Saiyan prince added, before slightly swallowing. "Don't you dare tell anyone I said this, but I'm proud of you. Even without my presence, you have achieved a balance in both your abilities and wisdom that surpasses even my own. You've given me a new challenge. Now, I'll have to make sure that my little boy grows up to become an even finer Saiyan than either of us."

An epoch void of vocalization passed between the two, and they looked at each other across the distance that was now only physical. Slowly, Vegeta turned his back, restoring the space between their souls.

"Now get out of here," he ordered, "before I start blathering more nonsense!"

The son departed as the father commanded. A pure flame had melted the chains of both hearts, and the molten metal manifested itself as moisture in both sets of eyes.


How dare she? Raye asked herself as she stood before the temple fire, her mind full of bitterness. It sickened her to think that they all untied behind a leader who was a crybaby and a coward.

Raye shook her head. The resentment was that of the past, feelings she had not only made peace with, but to a degree, had been channeled into other emotions and thoughts. She had grown from the bully she was two years ago, and the emotions she felt clashed with her soul.

The creak of a loose floorboard jerked her attention and her face around to the source of the sound. A bestial fury overwhelmed her at the appearance of Serena at the doorway. The balls atop her head made her look more like a mouse than a human, and her blue eyes locked onto the purple ones of Raye. The memories and thought patterns that held Raye's rage in check collapsed. Instead, the unknowing, dangerous naive face of Serena pierced the heart within her, which bled its poison all over her mind.

"Raye?" Serena asked. Raye despised the squeaky voice as soon as she heard it.

"Serenity," Raye uttered.

"Raye, are you okay?" Serena stepped closer to Raye. "Don't you recognize me?"

"You must think I am stupid." She let her arm loosen, and felt the red stick with the symbol of Mars drop into her hand.

"It's me. Your pal, Serena."

"Serenity!" Raye clenched her fists. "This battle has waited long enough. How is it that you, a crybaby, clutz are able to wield the Purity Chalice, when I, a Martian elite, am left in your shadow? I've trained as a priestess for years. I've suffered through nightmare after nightmare, and somehow you are the chosen one. That cup is my birthright."

Raye lifted her transformation stick, her violent eyes shimmering with fury.

"Mars..."

"Raye!" Serena shouted.

"...Star..."

The sound of wooden shoes clunking against the floorboards muted Raye. Chad peeked his head around the door frame, his chest seizing every breath he could muster.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

For more than a second, more than a minute, Raye wanted nothing more than to battle and defeat Serena, to prove herself the strongest of the two females. Then, her mind reminded of her Chad's presence, how this annoying man was the epitome of her own failures. In her anger, she had made herself look foolish, and she stuffed the stick back into her sleeve. She snorted at how she had let this pathetic human worm his way into her heart, then paraded past him.

"Raye!" Chad called, then followed her in hurried steps when his voice had no effect. "Raye, come back here!"

Serena stayed at the door, unsure of whether to follow her friend or to let her walk away.


Lita stared out of the balcony and into the darkening sky, peering at an endless ceiling which vacillated between overcast and partly cloudy. She had visited this apartment prior to its destruction, and the rebuilt interior mimicked that of the original in layout, but not style. Whereas the furniture of the previous tenants had been given the appearance of being gently used, every object here was in pristine condition, as if it were merely for display. No dust settled on the curtains and no odors of anything other than new carpet permeated the air. The lack of dirt and wear and tear unsettled her; aside from the mess that was made today there was nothing left to clean. She wondered if she would similarly be made useless if she were to remain in this environment.

She heard a woman approach her from behind. Amara walked past the strewn books and disheveled papers and stepped onto the balcony. Their gazes met like a thunderbolt and a squall, and neither of the two blinked.

"It was hard to look at you knowing you were willing to let me die," Lita said.

"I'm not apologizing for what we had to do," Amara stated, "I just hope you never have to make such a tough decision."

"But I already have." Her glare dispersed into a slight smile. "That's why I've chosen to forgive you."

"I don't want your forgiveness. It's easier if we all agree to stay out of each other's way, at least for now."

The final four words of Amara's statement raised Lita's hope. She had a genuine affinity toward Amara and Michelle, even if she knew they could never be the closest of friends with them. Lita didn't want to be their enemy, and she knew that despite their harsh words as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, she was certain Amara and Michelle felt the same way.

"WHAT!"

Mina's cry swept away any understanding that had grown between them. Immediately, both of them re-entered the room, and shifted their attention to the long-haired blonde. She stood in front of the refrigerator, its door open and its light spilling over into the rest of the kitchen. Her lower jaw threatened to break off from the rest of her head as the cool air whizzed past her and into the rest of the living quarters.

"Your refrigerator is empty!" she yelled. "Where's the food?"

"Food?" 17 asked.

"You know to eat with?" Mina waved her arms and scooped them toward her mouth.

"We forgot about that," 18 admitted coolly.

"Oh no!" Mina pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. "I can't study like this. My blood sugar will fall and I'll faint and forget everything I ever learned. I need something tasty to keep me awake and alive before I die of hunger!"

She reached up in an exaggerated motion expecting to find air. Instead, she felt a smooth, slightly cool, soft surface, and she looked up, 16 stood over her. He had set a banana as perfectly golden as her hair in her palm.

"Please," he stated. "Take this."

Quickly she brought her hand down with the banana in it, and eagerly peeled the yellow skin away from its soft, white interior. It was only after she that had bitten and chewed the fruit she noticed that Lita, Amara, and Michelle - all three now seated - were also consuming assorted fruits.

"This is better than what you can get at the market," Lita said. She looked toward a sliding door at the side of the room. "Do you have a garden in there or something?"

"Affirmative," 16 answered.

"Oh!" Mina exclaimed as bubbly as champagne. "Let me see."

"Mina," Michelle cautioned. "We're guests. You already barged into their refrigerator. It's impolite to go into someone else's room without permission." The younger schoolgirls responded to those words by running up to 16.

"Can we have a look?" Lita asked.

"A really tiny peek?" Mina pleaded.

"You may enter," 16 stated. 17 and 18 gave twin sighs of disbelief as Mina and Lita ran toward the door, with Amara and Michelle trailing them. 16 opened it and stepped back, allowing the guests to enter. Lita braced herself for darkness only to find cloud-filtered sunlight on her face and dirt underneath her loafers. Colorful avian creatures chirped and flew overhead, while plants both herbaceous and woody, made themselves at home in sessile splendor. Their flowery cousins populated the floor and various temporary containers for planting.

What the Doom Tree had been, this garden was its opposite. Instead of a barren, overgrown woody plant that sapped the life and attacked those who approached, this garden was a vibrant sanctuary full of bushes, bark, and blooms. Squirrels, chipmunks, and other rodents scampered, freely and unevenly through the brush, while insects such as bees, gnats flew through the air. The end result was far more than the product of an untrained horticulturalist, but was instead a mesic arboretum full of life both botanical and animal.

"Beautiful," Lita said, "It's like a forest in here."

"So this is what you do with your spare time," Michelle commented. "How creative. Why haven't you told anyone?"

"Because it's boring," 17 responded, not even giving 16 the opportunity to reply. "Flowers and trees. I don't have any use for it."

"I think it's wonderful!" Lita exclaimed as she walked over to a section of the garden that had been cultivated for the crops. A section contained bins full of tomatoes growing on stalks. She grabbed a tomato from the vine and held it gingerly.

"And best of all it's natural," Lita continued. "so that makes better ingredients for cooking. Did you three grow this all by yourselves?"

"Not really," 18 said, pointing her thumb toward 16. "This was his idea."

"I'm going to have to come over here more often." Upon Lita's words Amara coughed, and Michelle cleared her throat.

"I think we'd better get back to studying," Michelle stated.


The Kame House was too crowded for the number of visitors it housed, as the vigil over Goku continued to drag itself along. Krillin and Trunks, both remained outside of the residence. Krillin tossed a rock parallel to the water, each attempt causing a series of splashes to dot the marine expanse.

Instead of engaging in an activity, Trunks looked out to the sea, with waves churning in the horizon. Despite the apparent danger, he knew was unlikely for the island to be flooded. On the other hand, the conversation he had with his father earlier today turned uneasily in his mind. Trunks wanted to accept his new attitude, to form a bond of love he never experienced in his childhood. Yet doubt cast a shade on his mind, preventing his desire from overcoming his reason.

Gohan, the boy who Trunks had known as a man, stepped out of the house. With each passing day he grew up noticeably, the illness of Goku draining what little childhood that remained in him. Trunks grasped that the other warriors would see his own infant counterpart the same way, as a boy who would be the shadow of another figure.

"You're worried about Vegeta, aren't you?" Gohan asked.

"I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself," Trunks answered.

"There's something affecting him."

"I don't know," Krillin replied. "Maybe he finally grew a heart or something."

"No, something's off about his energy." Gohan looked up to Trunks. "You noticed it, too, right?"

"I didn't want to," Trunks admitted. "I was hoping that it was something else. Ever since I came back to the past, I didn't want to think my mother was right, that my father was cold and stubborn." He lowered his gaze. "Now I see that he doesn't have to be that way."

"But his energy is unbalanced and he won't be able to fight in this shape," Gohan insisted.

"I hate to say it, but you could be right," Krillin admitted. "And what if that thing were to go after him? We saw how he got manhandled before. If there is something wrong, he could end up like Goku or worse..."

"Could he have the same disease my dad has?" Gohan asked Trunks.

"No," Trunks answered. "He doesn't have quite the same symptoms. Maybe it has something to do with that attack yesterday."

"Then let's find out."

All three of them threw themselves into the sky, heading toward clouded skies and a clouded future.


Raindrops collided into the glass with tiny taps, then slid down the glass, leaving trails of water as a reminder of their presence. Rini took in the rain with her ears instead of her vision, which was focused on a plane of squares against a red carpeted floor. Her eyes relaxed as the eight rows of eight squares reminded her of the other eight Scouts, but the alternating squares of red and black pierced through her lazy mind, brining with it an awareness of all that was wrong.

"Rini, it's your move," Hotaru stated.

"Oh," Rini remarked without emotion. "Thanks." She pushed her red disc in a diagonal move absentmindedly. Hotaru reached for the black disc that was in the same direction, then picked it up, and carried it over the red piece. Hotaru grabbed the red disc hesitantly, then withdrew back into her normal, reserved position.

"You're letting me win, aren't you?" Hotaru asked

Rini shook her head and looked at the checkerboard. She only had three red discs left compared with Hotaru's ten black discs. Her mind soon returned to detached carelessness and simmered in regret.

"What's the matter?" Hotaru asked.

"I think I may have done something terrible," Rini confessed.

"It couldn't have been anything worse than I've ever done."

"Yes, it's worse." Shame grabbed Rini by the throat, and yanked the tears from her eyes. She sniffled and whimpered as she tried to prevent herself from crying, but the water spilled from her eyes anyway. Hotaru rested her right hand on Rini's left shoulder.

"You're such a sweet person. It can't be that bad."

"Well," explained Rini through gasps, "two people had their Heart-" She gulped. "...medicine spilled all over the ground. I scooped up the pills, but I think I put the pills in the wrong bottles."

"Did you let them know?"

"The guy flew off before I could tell him."

"Rini, you have to tell them at once! It can be dangerous if they start to take each other's medicine, even if they have the same illness."

"I know, but I don't even know where the guy is and I'm afraid that the girl will get mad at me and then I'll be all alone." The tears stopped flowing from her eyes. "I've messed up so much, they'll never forgive me and hate me forever."

"They won't hate you, Rini." Hotaru patted Rini's shoulders. "Besides, I'll be here. I know what it's like to be alone and make mistakes." Hotaru bowed her head. "I just wish I could do something to help."

"You already have." Rini nestled up to Hotaru and wrapped her arms around her. "Thanks for being a friend."

Hotaru wordlessly returned the embrace, the warmth of their bodies extending into the cooling room.


Words of gratitude and cheer passed from the lips of Lita, Mina, Amara, and Michelle as the androids escorted their guests to the lobby. The air was once again soppy, and the artificial light shining from the lamp posts to the increasingly darkening skies. Amara and Michelle separated themselves from the group, then turned to Lita and Mina.

"Would you two like a ride home?" Amara asked. "It's getting late."

"No thanks," Lita replied. "We can just walk home. We don't live too far from here."

"Are you sure you can make it in this downpour?" Michelle asked.

The glass door opened automatically and the air reeked of both rain and pollutants. Ropes of raindrops crowded the space between the sky and the ground, turning the urban jungle into a forest of wetness and wind. The moisture spread to Mina and Lita, painting their foreheads with sweat and coating their throats with a scratchy ache.

"Did you two forget to bring umbrellas?" Amara asked.

"Well...we'll just wait for the rain to subside," Mina suggested. As she spoke, drops pelted on the ground in a constant roll of splashes. She looked at 17, then scooted closer to him. In response to her movements, 17 felt a moderately hard jab in the flank, and swung his head behind him.

"Take these," 18 whispered, holding up an umbrella in her each of her hands. 16 reached down and grabbed the umbrella as 17 looked at his sister.

"I don't need this," 17 answered, and a sigh from 18 followed.

"You are so clueless." She spoke in a forced whisper. "Walk them home or they'll never leave."

"We will accompany you to your domiciles via ambulation," 16 stated.

"Touching," Lita remarked.

Upon the words, Amara stepped out the door and quickly unfastened the black umbrella and held it above her head. She turned and held the hand of Michelle, and escorted her to the yellow car. 16 and 17 mirrored the actions of Amara, and Mina and Lita copied the actions of Michelle, their end result lacking the sophistication of the cousins that preceded them. The four ventured into the cool drizzle in pairs and strolled down the soaked sidewalk.


A small yellow raincoat glistened with rain as the small wearer ran. Gohan, Trunks, and Krillin did not need to feel the girl's energy to know she was Rini. They dropped to the ground past the stinging raindrops into her path, far enough ahead of her so she did not run into them. Upon she seeing the trio she added her own sobs and tears to the rain, and her face and eyes were reddened with shame.

"It's all my fault..." she cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What's your fault?" Gohan asked.

"When I gave the hearts back, I got them mixed up."

"Hearts?"

"Raye's heart went into that Vegeta's body and she's got his heart. Now she's been acting all mean and weird and it's all my fault."

"Raye has Vegeta's heart?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah," she squealed in reply. "I don't know what to do!"

"That explains a lot..." Krillin remarked.

Trunks closed his eyes, but he could not escape the shredding of his hopes. The man whom had come to accept him as a son had only done so with the heart of another person.

"I'm sorry," Rini said.

"Then...we'll just have to fix this," Gohan declared.

"How?"

No words immediately followed the question. None of them knew how to extract the source of the errant energy, and even if they could, they certainly would not willingly subject either Raye or Vegeta to a potential demise.

"I don't know," Gohan admitted.

"I have to go tell the others," Rini insisted, backing away from the group.

"We could find-"

"No, thanks." She steadied herself. Tears seeped from her eyes but she ignored them. "I have to do this on my own!"

She ran away from the three, and in seconds her small form became less distinct amongst the urban wildlife of cars, buildings, and signs.

"Should we follow her?" Gohan asked.

"No," Trunks answered. "We have to go where my father's heart is."

The three took to the skies at once, hoping to locate a woman with a fiery spirit before the flame within consumed her.


Vegeta sat cross-legged in the quiet dome. The abandoned instruments used to create and measure the artificial gravity field were sullen and silent, and the lights remained dead and dark. He hadn't used the chambers in weeks, and now he sat within them, not for training but for reflection.

This was not the meditation of a warrior. Instead of thinking, he felt his mind go into a controlled nothingness, clearing away both the passions and desires that clung to him for years. He had to not become one with himself but to sacrifice ego and identity to draw the sensations to him like a magnet.

In response, visions bombarded him, pouring into a heart receptive to their flashes. He saw a woman with a glaive who lifted her weapon, but the vision blurred and shifted to the androids being swallowed by a giant, green insect, followed by the faces of a female in a sailor suit and a gilded cup.

Quickly he sorted the images, with a discipline afforded to him through a lifetime of fighting. He had to let the most relevant one be drawn to him instead of reaching out mentally to grab the ones he wanted. For once, the fire was that was his mind was not merely contained or controlled, but balanced and steady. He dared not act rashly or out of desire. Though a vision of the androids called to him - their attire of maroon and green uniforms begging him to look - he saw past the distraction and let the nothingness draw him in.

At least, he felt something twinge within his body as he saw a long white series of stairs. They led to a temple surrounded by trees in the midst of an urban cocoon. His heart broke the silence he had maintained and called out to the location, yet the summons was soon swallowed by a noise that pierced the walls of the training dome. The noise disturbed him, yanking his ego back into existence. Frustrated, he exited the hemisphere and cast his eyes at the organisms that had perturbed him.

Two crows pranced on top of the dome. They cawed in unison, their noises more a pattern than the erratic nature of birdsong. In another mood, he would have killed them for their uproar. Yet their cries resonated within him.

They were calling him.

With a renewed resolve, he took to the skies and headed for the city and the hearts that called out to the one that resided in his body. The crows lagged far behind him, but they never lost track of the heart they were meant to retrieve.


Mimet burrowed herself in her trenchcoat and scarf as she walked, and for once she escaped the scrutiny of those around her. As the sky dribbled on her head, her arms grew weary of the metal case and ached.

Mimet had the girl's uniform traced to the private school she attended, but despite her surveillance, she could not find any trace of the girl. She had tried the jewelry store, the arcade, and the various parks, but this girl was no where to be found. Now Mimet stood in the shopping district surrounded by clothes she could not buy, bombarded with lights and advertisements for possessions she could not afford on her meager Bureau of Bad Behavior pittance.

A yellow convertible with a black hood passed her, splashing Mimet's legs with water that had pooled in the street.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Watch where you're going, you jerk!"

Immediately the convertible turned toward the sidewalk, sliding effortlessly into an empty space. In seconds, a handsome man stepped out from car, his sandy hair still full despite the volumes of rain that collapsed onto his hair. As swift as the wind he ran around the car, umbrella in hand, and opened both the umbrella and the door. A young woman with greenish-blue hair stepped out of the vehicle. They had both sported the uniforms of those at Infinity Academy. They were two students that like so many others there, she had never encountered. She was a full-time researcher and field agent now, although the sight of the man made her wish she could change targets.

"Raye!" a male voice shouted from another direction. "Raye!"

Mimet turned her eyes and her mind from the pair and toward the source of the voice who called the unfamiliar name. The man was not handsome but a mess of soggy robes. Mimet intended to return her gaze to the pair that had previously occupied her attention, but a mop of long black hair smothered and strangled by rain set off an internal alarm. She was the one.

She blinked and look again, and her target had disappeared into the crowd. The locomotion of Mimet's feet was unhampered by the weight of the case she carried. She would find that wet woman even if it killed her.


Two couples walked under twin bumbershoots. Lita and Mina clutched their respective crushes with amorous vice grips. For a moment, the two were truly ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives.

The moment ended with the cries of a little girl.

"Lita! Mina!"

A yellow raincoat barely three feet tall had screamed their names. The four stopped walking, and the girls' hearts warmed with recognition and embarrassment as the girl encroached upon them.

"Oh," Mina greeted with a nervous grin. "Hi, Rini."

"I thought you two said you were going to be studying!" Rini scolded, folding her arms.

"Well, we are. I mean, we just did..."

"Yeah," Lita explained, "these are our study partners."

"I'm not stupid," Rini replied. "You just wanted to spend time with your boyfriends! Anyway, do either of you know where Raye is?"

"The last we heard she's still at the temple."

"Well, I need to talk to you two...girl talk."

"Girl talk?" Mina asked. "Is it that important?

"Yes!" she shouted with her hands on her hips. "It's Girl Scout talk."

"Oh yeah." Mina closed her eyes and chuckled unconvincingly, raising her right hand then letting it go limp. "We're supposed to have a meeting on how to sell those Girl Scout cookies. I guess we'll have to take a rain check on that walk home."

Mina and Lita slowly separated from their male companions, and began to step from under the protection of the umbrellas.

"Lita," 16 called. He handed the girl the umbrella, and his uniform transitioned from dry to drenched in an instant.

"Anything you can do I can better," 17 boasted. He handed the umbrella to Mina, and the sky wailed on his head and shoulder for his efforts.

"We'll give these back to you as soon as we can," Lita promised.

"Scouts honor," Mina said. The two girls ran down the street with Rini, splashing newly formed puddles with their feet.

"Chivalry," 17 remarked. "It just leaves you all wet over nothing."


The rain robbed the remaining heat from the day, but the fire in Raye's heart brightened as the skies dimmed. She had to get away from people - humans who were weak and unworthy of her presence. Yet as soon as the very thoughts crossed her mind, her spirit rejected them. These feelings were not her own, yet there was no will behind their presence. It would have been easier to steel herself against an enemy that tried to brainwash her; it was far harder to counter the desires that truly felt as though they came from her heart.

She walked through the crowd in her temple robes without an umbrella. She faced the elements as a true warrior, earning stares from foolish onlookers who had no clue about the battle within her body.

Then she spotted Chad.

She had to avoid him. She would not allow him to meet her in this state of mind. Her memories of discipline acted as a counterweight to the rage that stampeded through her mind, yet the sight of him made her sick with revulsion. Yet something beyond what she felt at the moment bound her feet to the ground and allowed him to spot and approach her.

He touched her shoulder, and she studied him as water drops crawled down his flattened hair and into the folds of his skin. Both rain and perspiration had seeped through his clothes so much that no dry spot could be found, and his already unkempt appearance become even more messy. Everything about him rattled her nerves, but despite the emotions pouring through her, she knew that she cared for him more than she hated him, and that for once, the heart inside her body was wrong.

"There you are!"

The cry jarred Raye and Chad, although the voice was all too familiar to the former. Mimet flung her trenchcoat, scarf and glasses into the air, revealing the skirt, tights, and mid-riff baring halter top she had on underneath. Quickly the rain drenched her outfit and Mimet shivered, the briefcase in her hands now heavier than ever. Raye grunted in a mocking half-laugh as Chad's heart rate rose out of surprise and confusion.

"No, wait!" Mimet yelled "I've been looking all over for you! And you have a friend. You know what they say, two hearts are better than one."

Mimet opened the briefcase, releasing pink smoke that briefly hid the forms of two Heart Snatchers before dissipating. Raye felt the memories of the previous extractions, but the fear and pain associated with them did not manifest. Instead, pleasure wormed its way around her heart at the opportunity of a fight. This confrontation would serve as penance for her prior failure.

She studied the appearance of the two figures once the smoke dispersed. Both Heart Snatchers were female and ghostly white, but that was the only similarity between the two. The creature to her left had struck a pose with her arms outstretched. Her modesty was limited to a large five-pointed golden star which covered her midsection, two red pasties, red heels with stars on them and a golden helmet on top of a head with fat sea-green pigtails. The other was far more covered in attire, with translucent blue bellbottom pants, a yellow skirt, and a red bra with cards lining her midsection. Her gold eyes contrasted against her bright green hair, which was crowned by a headband with bunny ears. Their bodies seemed unaffected by the weather, and they stared at Raye and Chad with an evil confidence.

"So you've gone from chasing boys to chasing schoolgirls," a voice scolded.

"What now?" Mimet asked rhetorically. She and her Heart Snatchers swiveled their toward the street and saw two sailor suited soldiers standing back to back.

"Chase all you'd like, but you can't outrun me," Sailor Uranus declared, "I am the swift runner of the sands."

"And I am the armed shogun of the deep," Sailor Neptune announced.

"If you want a fight," Sailor Uranus finished, "pick one with us."

Mimet outwardly scoffed at the obviousness of ploy. They were trying to distract her from the hearts she was after.

"Playgirl!" she yelled, pointing her staff toward Raye and Chad. "Superstar! Take care of those two."

Chad took Raye by the hand and the two sprinted in the direction from which they had come. The green-haired woman ran toward the dark-haired pair, while Superstar floated in the air. She then turned her body horizontally, and followed above Playgirl in mid-air. The four were soon out of sight, and Mimet smirked with in triumph.

"I know you aren't known for your brains," Sailor Uranus taunted, "but that was dumb, even for you."

"Wait, you aren't going after them?" Mimet asked. "You're supposed to help your fellow Sailor Scout."

The statement caused the eyes of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune to widen, but within a second they stifled their surprise, replacing it with a practiced, cold demeanor.

"She can take care of herself," Sailor Uranus replied. "I don't think I can say the same for you."

It took Mimet exactly three seconds for her feet to uproot from the ground and run. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune shook their heads and followed in matching sprints.


Amy stretched an umbrella outside the threshold and pressed a button on the handle. The spokes of the umbrella flipped apart over Amy's head. She walked down the steps outside of the building and onto sidewalk, only mildly cognizant of black satchel she held. The rapping of the rain against the canvas soothed her as much as the growing coolness in the air. In the midst of her regular school, tests, the special school from where she now departed and being a Sailor Scout, the simple pleasure of hearing the rain fall had escaped her.

The fleeting joy was lost once again upon the sight of a green raincoat and yellow strands of hair that failed to stay under the hood. Amy stopped and turned toward the approaching figure.

"Amy!" Serena shouted. In less than five strides she had closed the distance between herself and Amy, and in exchange for her haste she was out of breath. "Thank goodness!"

"Serena..." Amy immediately cradled Serena, who had begun to falter. "What's wrong?

"It's Raye." Serena drew in a deep breath to regain her composure. "She's been acting strange. She wanted to transform and fight me at the temple - and in front of Chad, too."

"That doesn't sound like Raye."

"Amy, there's something seriously wrong with her.."

"We'll go back to the temple."

"Raye's not there. She stormed off a while ago. Then Chad followed her. But I don't know where either of them went. How are we going to find her? She could be anywhere."

"Not anywhere," Amy countered.

Amy lifted her satchel. Serena took the umbrella from her and watched as Amy opened the bag and pulled out the small, blue mini-computer. She unfolded it and placed it in her left hand, the struck the keys with a speed that matched the patter of the raindrops.

"I can calculate where Raye likely is at the moment," Amy said, "and where she'll be headed."

"Oh, Amy!" Serena engulfed Amy with a large embrace. "You're a genius!"

The wristwatch on Amy's arm abruptly signaled her like an angelus. Amy stopped typing and rotated the wristband until the face of the watch rested above the veins on her wrist. She removed the star cover and saw the face of Mina staring at her.

"Amy!" she cried. "We've got a problem. We have to find Raye, now!"

"I'm working on it," Amy replied, then looked at the screen of her computer. An outline of the city streets appeared on the computer, along with tickets of endless numbers and letters. "There's an 88% probability she'll be downtown, in the Tenth Street shopping district."

"That's not too far from here. We'll meet you there."

"Right."

Mina's face blipped from the screen into darkness and Amy closed the wristwatch. She and Serena ran down the street, kicking up water as they galloped along.


The rain eased its attack on the ground, but Mimet was still soaked, the moisture in her clothes both the remains of the downpour and her own perspiration. She propelled herself through a crowd of shoppers, workers, and visitors that was as thick as the air. With each stride, Sailor Uranus and closed in on her. The two had deliberately let their teammate draw her Heart Snatchers away, she reasoned, leaving her defenseless. In fact the Heart Snatchers could have even been led into a trap by those sailor-suited nuisances. She had not asked herself the questions she should have asked, and paid for it now by scrambling awkwardly.

Her eyes and head ached as she brushed past walls of strangers. The phantom slam of the shutting metal door at the Bureau brought her focus and fortitude to push past the mental fog. She looked up at a giant electronic billboard then at a lit storefront across the street from it.

An evil idea seduced her mind. But she had to put more space between her and her pursuers. It had not helped that she grazed and bumped into people literally every second. Some had even tried to grab her. With annoyance and anxiety she stopped in her tracks, and began to spin.

"Charm Buster...Overload!"

She lifted her staff into the air, gritting her teeth as she released the star-shaped energy. Her body ached as she willed all of her power in the burst.

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune covered their ears as the sonic waves drilled into their heads. For blocks, unfortunate souls covered their ears as well, but the sound brought them to their knees. Soon, their bodies became as still and quiet as silence itself, leaving only the electronics of the area to continue in their chorus of displays and broadcasts. These people were not mere innocents who were targeted for their hearts, or even her twisted idea of entertainment. She had attacked the people solely to save her own skin, and the desperation of revealed the depth of her depravity.

"You witch!" Sailor Neptune yelled.

"Witch?" Mimet retorted. "Well, you're certainly something that rhymes with witch!"

"My ears must still be ringing," Sailor Uranus growled, her fist curled tightly. "I'm going to need to get a little closer."

Sailor Uranus lunged toward Mimet with a speed that stunned the latter. Mimet huffed and puffed as she ran into the storefront, sidestepping unconscious bodies sprawled across the street and sidewalk. She reached into her cleavage and pulled out the capsule, then pressed the plunger and threw it at the wall. The Electric Warp popped into existence upon impact, and Mimet was at the machine in less than a second. She grabbed the reflector dish, and pointed it toward the giant billboard.

Then it hit her she had yet to plug it in.

Her breaths were full of worry and her hands shook as she caught a glimpse of Sailor Uranus, who had halved the distance between the two. Her eyes were drawn to a sign in the window and quickly she spotted the socket to which its plug was connected. She ripped out the cord to the light and she plugged the cord attached to the Electric Warp into the socket. As Sailor Uranus crossed the thresh, Mimet dabbed at the keys with her fingers then disappeared, leaving the her opponent warily looking around.

"Can you hear me now?" Mimet's amplified voice asked. Sailor Uranus turned around and exited the store, and this time she was unable to conceal her astonishment. On the giant electronic billboard displayed Mimet from the torso up, and she waved playfully at her former pursuer.

"Good!" Mimet said. The reverb in her voice had yet to fade before she lifted her staff and began her trademark twirl. "Charm Buster!

A loud screech accompanied the apparition of pink neon stars, which replaced the earlier raindrops, crashing into pavement, cars, light posts, and asphalt in a sickening clamor. This was going to be a long fight.


Trunks, Gohan, and Krillin soared over the city through patches of rainfall. The aerial position would allow them to concentrate their efforts more easily by focusing their perception toward the ground. Yet the location of their target would not be easy find.

Although the girl had Vegeta's heart, her consciousness, body, and soul were still her own, and this would be reflected in the intensity of her energy. Instead, it was the character and pattern that would be changed, rather than the strength.

Like a gunshot, a spike of power pierced the air, disrupting their communal concentration. It was vaguely familiar, but far stronger and more malevolent than anything else in the area. Below them a section of the city sparkled pink, but the din of life signs in the vicinity faded in response to the light.

"What was that?" Gohan asked.

"Whatever that was, and that certainly wasn't it certainly wasn't what we're looking for," Krillin answered.

"I'll find my father's heart," Trunks said. "You should go and check it out."

"Got it!" the two said at the same time. Gohan and Krillin dropped into the forest of edifices, leaving Trunks alone and aloft.


Raye ran alongside Chad down slickened sidewalks and slippery streets. She ran, not out of fear, but out of spite. Uranus and Neptune were not going to steal her victory. She would defeat these monsters by herself. She would prove to be better than them, and better than Serenity. Her plans were interrupted when her male companion took a defensive stance and stretched his arms out like a scarecrow, and her motion in turn came to a halt.

"I'm not going to let you hurt Raye," Chad declared to their pursuers.

"Out of my way, Chad," she ordered. "Let me handle it."

"Please, Raye. Get out of here!"

"I said out of my way, fool!" She elbowed his midsection, causing him to double over. "This is my battle." She pulled a red stick from her purse and lifted it into the air.

"Mars Star Power!"

In the flash of fire, her clothes changed into a sailor-suited uniform. She was no longer a schoolgirl in body or in mind. She was a fighter, and the rain that had soaked her previously now bounced off a fiery aura around her hair and skin, the wisps of steam that rose from her like a burnt offering.

"I am Sailor Mars," she said in introduction, walking past Chad. "Will you bow before the princess of all Martians? Or will you scamper away like the weak cowards you are?"

Playgirl and Superstar slowed and shortened their steps in disbelief. They laughed, first chuckling in amusement, then raising their guffaws in a ruckus. They did not even bother to stop laughing until flames began to arc around the hands of Sailor Mars. She bent her left elbow back and placed the back of her right hand against her palm, while lifting and bending her right leg. A bright red aura rose from her like steam and she thrust both arms forward.

"Mars...Galick Sniper!"

The free flowing flame coalesced into a spinning arrow with a trail of flames. The two Heart snatchers lunged out of the way of the row of flame, grunting at their sudden movement and scowled at their target.

"You've got a stronger heart than I thought," Superstar noted, "but I know how to duck out the limelight." With those words she levitated and floated up into the air. Mars eyes followed the Heart Snatcher, but her ears picked up on the second enemy. Playgirl charged, but not toward her. Instead, she grabbed the soppy loaf of Chad then cradled his head menacingly.

"Take one more step and he's out of the game," Playgirl threatened. "Now what will you do, Sailor Scout? Are you going to stand aside, or are you going to let my new meat shield get a few nicks?"

"You really don't know who you're dealing with," Sailor Mars replied without hesitation. She spread her arms apart and legs apart as Chad had done, forming a five pointed star with her body. The red energy enveloped her and the rain around her intensified, challenging her fiery soul. She brought her arms together, stretching them out in front of her, the edges of her wrists pressed against each other. Flares leapt from all over her body to the space between her open palms and the swirling fireballs formed a sphere that grew in intensity and heat.

"Mars Firestorm Flash!"

She shot the thick pillar of fire at the center of the combined mass of Chad and Playgirl. The Heart Snatcher quickly dropped Chad and leapt out of the way, but the edges of her green hair were singed by the fiery projectile. Chad scurried away without pause or resistance, his movements reminiscent of a wet chicken.

The mind of Sailor Mars told her that she almost killed Chad, and she could not express the regret resounding within her heart, a regret that diminished with every passing second. The sliver of herself waned in size and in power and she knew that in a few minutes, she would no longer know the difference between the emotions of the heart within her, and the emotions she should have been feeling.

"Attack me you worthless coward!" she screamed at Playgirl. "Fight me!"

The monster did not move.

"Fine," Sailor Mars continued. "I'll make it easy for you"

Wordless resistance she raised the piece of paper, which straightened on its own. She heard the heavy gallops and high-heeled shoes of her fellow Sailor Scouts. Her teammates had arrived, but she was determined to finish this fight herself.

"Mars Fireballs Charge!" Sailor Mars shouted.

She placed the piece of paper on her own forehead. Immediately, its magic went through her body, paralyzing the evil that had spread within with a relentless burn. She could not move, and she did not care.

"Sailor Mars! No!"

The futile cry reached the ears of Sailor Mars as the Heart Snatchers closed in on her. Playgirl grabbed her from behind and yanked her hair, pulling the head of the warrior back. The Heart Snatcher opened her mouth, and drew the heart crystal out of her body. The pain had become too familiar to be excruciating, and when the darkness fell again, the blaze and evil within Sailor Mars had vanished, leaving only cinders of fading, cooling memories.


Sailor Uranus breathed heavily due to the twin forces of fatigue and humidity. Despite the rain that had fallen, the air was so stagnant that even the breezes of her own making failed to cut the atmosphere. She darted left and right, leaping and diving past the giant stars that mingled with the raindrops, only to overshadow the rain by cracking the ground upon impact.

"Oops!" Mimet shouted. "I missed it again."

"Don't you care about all of the innocent people you could be killing?" Sailor Neptune asked.

"Hey!" Mimet charged another volley of stars, but refused to release them, letting her staff grow brighter until it seemed to be a neon pipe itself. "My life is on the line here, too! But since you're so concerned about those one-act wonders, I'll just usher them off-stage." She lifted the magical stick and shouted, "Charm Buster...Shower!"

Her words signaled the all too familiar buzz and the oscillating hum forced both Sailor Scouts to plug their ears. Squinting, they looked up, waiting got more pink stars to avoid. Thousands of streams of stars descended in the sky at a frightening clip, a virtual plane with a donut hole. With horror both realized that the gap in the stars was headed for them. Instead the sheet of falling stars threatened to blanket limp, unconscious men, women, and children who would never know what robbed them of their lives.

And the two Sailor Scouts could do nothing but watch as the stars kicked up chunks of concrete.

A sharp wind brought relief to their faces, and their eyes shared in what their skin felt. Instantly, the masses of people had vanished, with only the two Sailor Scouts left behind on the ground. They looked around, then turned their heads to the sky. Krillin and Gohan carried a ball made of humans a piece, each unconscious person interlocked with another carefully.

"We'll get these people to safety!" Gohan shouted. "You worry about beating her."

"Thanks," Sailor Uranus said. Neither she nor Sailor Neptune had time to be wondered by the feat she had seen performed by the short figures, or to consider the implications of the sight. At the moment, descending stars around them served as reminder of the danger they were in.

"There has to be a weakness..." Sailor Neptune wondered aloud.

Sailor Uranus' sights set on the machine Mimet had used earlier. It sat under the safety of the storefront both untargeted and unaffected by the meteoric pink stars that had driven craters into the streets. As soon as Sailor Uranus had seen it, she knew what she had to do.

"I've got it covered!" she declared, forming a growing, golden-orange ball in her hand. "Uranus World Shaking!"

The orange sphere raced toward the cord of the machine, but a pink star collided with the ball, causing it to bounce away.

"Nice try," Mimet teased, "but I'm not going to let you pull the plug on my act that easily."

"It seems my attack was too slow..." Sailor Uranus remarked.

"Indeed." Mimet closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I heard that one coming from a mile away. But don't think because you've admitted defeat means that I won't finish you."

She laughed, ready another volley of stars in her wand. After the chuckle, she felt her world blip out of existence, then come back to clarity. She looked down at the ground, but only saw Sailor Neptune scolding her with a hard stare. She turned her head and looked toward the storefront where she had stored the Electric Warp. Sailor Uranus glared directly at her, the Sailor Scout's short glove on the cord.

"...I, on the other hand, am not," Sailor Uranus finished.

"No, wait," Mimet pleaded. "Don't. I don't want to die."

"Hm, what was that?" Sailor Uranus cupped her ear with her free hand. "You're mumbling again."

"Please..."

"You were saying about her being something that rhymes with witch..."

"No," she lied. "I wasn't talking about her."

"So you were talking about me?"

"Well..." Mimet stiffened with a blend of ersatz courage and mock anger. "Why yes! You're nothing more than...than..."

"Than what?"

"...an overdriven ostrich!"

Sailor Uranus threateningly tugged the cord, and Mimet's world again blipped dim. In defeat, Mimet pressed a button on her star. The screens upon which her image appeared whisked themselves into darkness, and she materialized in the real world by the Electric Warp, her knees and palms on the ground. In a swoop, Sailor Uranus lifted Mimet by the fabric of her outfit, her gloved fingertips pinching Mimet's skin.

"Please, I don't want to die," Mimet begged.

"Then you'd better give us a reason for us to spare your life," Sailor Uranus replied.

"Ummm..." she stalled. Her face abruptly sported a false concern. "Look out behind you!"

"I'm not falling for -"

Her sentence was interrupted by a strike to the back of the forehead, which knocked her off balance. The ground met her chin and sparks of pain shot through her head. Immediately, she turned toward a hazy Sailor Neptune, who also rubbed the back of her head. Sailor Uranus resisted the yearning to check on Sailor Neptune further. Instead, she turned her head forward again and saw two women carrying Mimet away between them.

"Ta-ta!" Mimet taunted from the distance.

"Damn," Sailor Uranus cursed, and the wind cast the imprecation aloft.


The city streets had become a playground of magical energy, with the two groups of opponents acting like children in a snowball fight. On the side of the Heart Snatchers, Playgirl leaped forward to dodge a wave of electricity, then readied herself and leapt backward to avoid an icy stream. In turn, Superstar, floated in the air and grabbed her helmet, firing what appeared to be black-star shaped comets at their enemies. Playgirl turned the corners of her lips in a frown at the situation, and arched her right arm back and forth.

"Sorry girls," Playgirl said as she waved. "Playtime's over!"

She turned and ran down the street at a frightening speed to the rhythm of her own heels.

"She's getting away," Sailor Venus cried.

"Oh no, you don't!" Sailor Jupiter cried, as the antenna on her tiara extended. She felt a rush of air, the wind only stirring up the violent intent within. The spiraling tempest within was subdued by a gloved hand with a familiar touch. It was only when she inspected the hand and the owner that she saw the face was not as familiar as the touch, but she recognized it all the same.

"No, let her go," Vegeta ordered.

"It's you again," Sailor Jupiter remarked, skepticism laced within her voice.

"So, you're the one with Raye's heart!" Sailor Venus exclaimed.

"Wait, does this mean Raye's mind is in that guy's body?" Sailor Moon asked. She then turned to Vegeta. "Oh, I mean hi, girlfriend..."

In response to the address, Vegeta zoomed over to Sailor Moon and put his hands on his hips.

"Do I look like a girl to you, meatballhead?" Vegeta asked angrily.

"Meatballhead?" came the collective, confused cry of Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter.

"It's more like a personality switch than a mind transfer," Sailor Mercury explained. "Certain mannerisms and emotions have been switched, but they still retain their memories and identities. Since the two of them have similar personalities, we didn't even notice at first."

"Proud, pig headed, bad tempers," Sailor Moon listed.

"And we let now that Heart Snatcher ran away with Raye's heart," Sailor Venus cried.

"No, her heart is inside me," Vegeta remarked, "and there's only one way to put it back where it belongs."

"No!" Sailor Moon shouted. "No one can survive without a heart."

"We don't have time to argue about this! Just be ready to destroy that creature once it's done with me."

"But what will happen to you?"

"I've got it figured it out." He twisted his lips into smirk of determination. "You're going to have to trust me on this one, guys."

"I don't trust you," Sailor Jupiter remarked, "but I do trust Raye."

"Let's do it," he said.

Working with others had never appealed to him; he had tolerated it as a necessity, but never truly enjoyed it. Yet now, the idea of executing a plan that involved other people seemed both familiar and welcome. He despised the insidious nature of these thoughts, but he had to be clever to win the battle within. He accepted the aid of these feelings to help him with his course of action; it was only through this transient submission he would be allowed to regain his pride forever.

He separated from the group of women, raising himself off the ground several feet to meet the Heart Snatcher at her level.

"Hey, Showgirl!" he called.

"It's Superstar" She grabbed the front point of her gold helmet and fired another black bolt of star-shaped energy. "And you'll be seeing stars soon enough."

With a practiced ease he moved out of the way of the projectile, seeming to disappear and reappear. As a counter he fired off a weak beam of energy at her head. It more a light display than an effective energy blast. A creature as weak as her should have been able to withstand it, even if she could not avoid it.

Upon impact, he realized had used too much power in the blast. It knocked off her helmet completely, which clanged on the ground. Instead of anger, though the Heart Snatcher sported a twisted grin, and his eyes turned to the blue sphere on top of her head. It was covered in black star-shaped holes.

"Watch out for shooting stars!" she cried.

She fired more energy in a chaotic flurry of black stars from the sphere, which scattered both through the air and toward the ground. He had to lure her away the Scouts even further. He raised himself in the air in a slow, but steady ascent, making certain not to escape her gaze. In turn, she abandoned her assault and followed him in flight, riding on her frontal star like a surfboard. She overtook him in seconds, and he stood face to face to his opponent, without a word to say.

"What's the matter?" Superstar asked. Star-struck?" She made herself upright then grabbed his shoulders with her hands. "Here, let me just steal that heart of yours."

She opened her mouth as he stared agape, and she took a giant, seemingly endless breath. He felt the energy within him release itself all too readily, as the crystal core quickly detached from the prison of his body. Superstar scooped it up with the suction of her lips, then swallowed it.

The body of Vegeta fell from the sky, and rejoined the ground with a thunderous crunch. Superstar watched the descent with a detached amusement, then lowered herself in the sky toward the sailor-suited heroines. She stared at the five grounded warriors with detached bemusement, ignoring noises that came from their throats.

"Venus Love Chain Encircle!"

A chain of golden hearts whipped through the air, wrapping itself around the arms and torso of Superstar.

"This won't hold me," she boasted and stretched the chain to the breaking point. Before it shattered, three more words were screamed.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

The water aimed at the sphere on top of her head, and in a flash, the star covered ball was encased in ice. Superstar's face wrinkled with annoyance as she mentally summoned more stars to appear, then growled as only black sparks came forth, and in a gasp, she fell and struck the ground with her flailing body.

"Do it now!" Sailor Mercury ordered.

"Moon Crisis Power"

Sailor Moon lifted the Chalice into the air, releasing a Pandora's box of luminescence into the world. Her uniform changed as the now iridescent material of her skirt and bow complimented the rainbow trim. She quickly lifted up a rod in her hand, and pronounced death onto the Heart Snatcher as she span.

"Rainbow Moon Heart Ache."

The stream of hearts spread from the wand, emitting a bright pink light as they swarmed the Heart Snatcher. A giant heart crashed into the female monster, causing her to scream.

"Lovely!"

Once the resplendence retreated, the monster vanished into non-existence and deposited a star projector onto the ground. Sailor Moon felt her own energy begin to wane, but in wobbly steps she made her way forward, and watched as Sailor Mini-Moon headed to the cracked pavement where the crystal had landed. The little girl's legs swung almost as fast as the speed of light, carrying the crystal over to the body of Raye.

She cast her head looked down on the man clad in blue, his body as still as death, and silently she wondered if the victory were for naught.


Playgirl ran as quickly as her red heels allowed through the deserted streets. Her mission was that of retrieval. Unlike Superstar, she had not been gifted with vast innate offensive capabilities. All she had to do was reunite with Mimet at the headquarters of the Bureau of Bad Behavior and deliver the heart. It was almost too easy.

A gust knocked her off balance, but she continued to run until she collided with a wall of human flesh. A young man with lavender hair stared intently at her. Her straight eyebrows tilted in surprise.

"Excuse me," he said, "but you have something that belongs to my father."

He rapidly thrust and retracted his arms in a flurry of motions, then punctuated his movements with pose, placing the palms of his open hands a few inches from her face. Both of his index fingers and thumbs touched, forming a diamond through which the two saw each other for the last time.

The light swallowed the area. When the light dimmed, the Heart Snatcher existed no more and left a playing card as a reminder of her presence. In the middle of where she had once stood floated the heart crystal. It shined even more brightly than the sun at first, but Trunks perceived a slight dim that quickened into a rapid fade. Wordlessly, he sped over the streets toward his father's body, his feet not touching the ground as he traveled.


Mimet stank of the perspiration that covered her armpits and the leggings of her outfit, but despite her nose being as clear and unobstructed as she could ever recall, she could not smell herself. She was lost not in a fantasy of her own making, but the reality that she was alive and well, in the headquarters of the Bureau of Bad Behavior. Her eyes filled with gratitude, she smiled at the fellow researchers who saved her and still held her in her grip.

"Thank you," Mimet said to her rescuers.

Dr. Tomoe emerged from the shadows, the glasses around his eyes shining as brightly

"Don't thank them," he said. "I had specific instructions for them to let you live. At least the remaining members of our Bureau follow through on orders."

"I -"

"Enough," he said sharply without shouting.

"Whoa! Time out!"

"You don't have a timeout. In fact, you don't even have a minute. Do you know what happens when a team doesn't score on 4th down and there's only a second left on the clock?"

"Oh, I know this!" She rose her hand and hopped in place. "The ball gets turned over to the other team."

"Yes. And the other team takes a knee..."

At that moment, Mimet felt a jolt to her abdomen that knocked both her breath and her senses out of her. She looked down at the pressure on her stomach, and saw a bent, stocking-covered leg sticking into her. The green-haired assailant lowered her leg and let Mimet fall to the ground, and shortly thereafter the pale-haired woman planted a boot into her back, exemplifying the very bad behavior their bureau was named after

"...and it's game over," Dr. Tomoe finished.

He waved his hand and the two attackers picked Mimet off the ground, who kicked and writhed like a rodeo bull. In the middle of her struggle, Mimet looked at the eyes of the professor who ordered her doom. For the first time she saw past the glass lenses. His eyes were not those of a man or revenant who had long ago sacrificed any semblance of empathy or caring. They were the eyes of a being that had never had a heart in the first place, two perfect circles of contempt and hatred.

He opened the metal door that Mimet had dreaded. She soon felt herself being propelled through the air, the resulting, swirling colors fading to pitch black as she hit the ground. The echo of the doors closing sent her already rapid breaths into hyperventilation as her stunned joints ached from the impact. After a minute, her breaths began to slow as her eyes began to take in the minimal light that was available.

"It's been a long time," a familiar voice stated.

"Eugeal?" Mimet asked. She couldn't see the woman but faced the direction of the vocalization.

"You tried to kill me." The woman's voice produced the statement in an odd, placid manner, as though the fire in her voice had been drowned.

"Well, um...yeah, but you're alive now, and that's all that matters, right?"

"Don't worry. I'm not angry. In fact, I'm glad. I almost died before I realized my true purpose. I was an empty shell, a body without a heart. A failure, just like you."

"But I'm not a failure!" Mimet pushed her upper torso off the ground. "I found out who the one of Sailor Scouts is."

"I figured out a few their identities myself, but it didn't stop acid snails from eating my brakes."

The remark prompted Mimet to begin crawl away from the voice. Something was definitely wrong. This was not Eugeal. With horror, Mimet grasped that her companion could have been a Heart Snatcher, one sent to kill her since she no longer had a pure heart to give.

"When that car plunged into the water," the other voice continued, "I was so scared. I wasn't much a swimmer, and I surely would have perished, if it weren't for my savior."

"Savior? Our Sovereign saved you?"

"No. Someone who will become even more powerful than her. He has a purpose."

Mimet felt her back bounce against a wall. Quickly she scooted to the left, but her arms and legs were drenched with weakness. Within seconds something grabbed her. Even in this darkened room saw enough of the speaker. It was so inhuman that it belonged to neither Eugeal or a Heart Snatcher.

"Now you too will become part of that purpose." Eugeal's voice shifted from female to something male, monstrous, and completely unfamiliar. "Or at least your bio extract will."

A long needle poked into the shoulder of Mimet, but her final scream failed to puncture the soundproof walls of the intra-dimensional tomb, and deflated as fast as her body.


Trunks arrived like a blue wind with the Heart Crystal, holding it steady with the care of a miniature planet. Sailor Mercury stood over Raye's form, watching the fading heart crystal levitate over the dying girl's body, while the other Scouts watched. Although Sailor Moon had been enfeebled, her body shook with worry, not exhaustion.

"How do we know for sure who has the right ones?" she asked.

"It's hard to tell since they've been out of the bodies so long," Sailor Mercury admitted.

"This is my father's heart," Trunks stated. "I can feel it."

Sailor Mercury nodded, then returned to Raye's side and pressed down on the crystal, while Trunks released the crystal in his hand just above Vegeta's chest. The two crystals floated defiantly over the bodies.

"They aren't going back in!" Sailor Venus exclaimed.

"Please..." Sailor Mini-moon begged, her cheeks wet and salty from the tears she had shed. "Don't die because of me."

As soon as she spoke, the crystals dutifully burrowed themselves into the bodies above which they had been placed. In seconds, a deep breath from Vegeta's frame caught the attention of those who were conscious, and he awakened, his face now tight with anger.

"Father!" Trunks cried.

Vegeta raised himself purposefully, but swiftly, and threw a glare full of disgust at those who surrounded him. He flung himself into the sky without any further acknowledgement, leaving only a gale in his wake. The barb of shame speared Trunks in the chest.

Another gasp and a series of coughs drew everyone toward Raye, who awakened in a fit. Anger flared in her eyes, but her ire was at her own distress, and her face softened as she recognized the faces around her. Sailor Jupiter extended a gloved hand, which Raye grabbed. At once Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon all surrounded the dark-haired girl. Raye nodded and let them lift her up, her unsteady legs strengthened by their support.

"You know what they say," Sailor Venus joked. "The third time's the charm!"

"I'm just glad isn't three strikes and you're out," Raye replied.

"We're just glad to have the real you back," Sailor Moon said.

"I'm not sure if I ever went anywhere..." Raye sighed. "I felt his heart inside me, yet at the same time, those thoughts and feelings were mine." Her heavy eyes flung open in burst of realization. "And now Chad knows who I am. I have to go and straighten things out, if I can."

She scrambled to gather her balance for a dash, but a gloved hand cuffed her wrist before she could run. The sensation paralyzed her, and her tense muscles weakened.

"Hold it!" Sailor Moon ordered. "This time we're not letting you walk away on your own."

"Yeah, we have to make sure the right heart is in the right body," Sailor Jupiter claimed.

"And the best way to do that is with a nice, hot fudge sundae," Sailor Venus stated.

"Can I have ice cream too?" Sailor Mini-Moon joked.

"You?" Sailor Moon teased. "You're the reason why this happened in the first place"

"Yeah," Sailor Mini-Moon admitted, "but I helped set things right, didn't I?"

"Of course," Raye answered with a smile. "It wouldn't be the same without you."

"Did you guys forget about our study session?" Sailor Mercury asked.

"Oh yeah," Sailor Venus replied with a forced chuckle, then groaned.

"But ice cream would make a good snack for tonight," Sailor Mercury conceded. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."

The five teenaged girls began to chatter and giggle and walk. Sailor Mini-Moon started to follow them, but paused and turned toward Trunks.

"Hey, don't you want get some ice cream with us?" she asked him as she lingered. "Raye wouldn't be better if it weren't for you."

"No, thanks," Trunks answered. "I'll see you around."

"See ya."

Sailor Mini-Moon ran and joined her fellow Scouts. The six females sported smiles of cheer, but for Raye, the face was as false as the mask of pride Vegeta had worn. The echoes of his emotions and his spirit still mingled within her, and she looked to the sky, certain that the heart that was once in her body was above her. She felt its presence, certain that her heart and his would cross paths again, this time in the right bodies.


Vegeta hovered above a noisy city that continued to stink and offend him. He dared not let himself be satisfied at the return of his stolen property; the fading sense of feelings that had run out of control filled him with more displeasure than the experience itself. That saccharine flavor of relying on others left a tempting, yet sickening aftertaste in his mouth. He hated the very memory of the girl's heart, how it disguised her powerful feelings with a frame of discipline, tricking him into loosening his firm grip of his emotions until it was almost too late to reclaim them.

The flames of his pride flared, sniffing out the sting of those memories, and reminding him of this costly lesson. With a huff, he ascended and began to head a course away from the megalopolis. At least he knew that those foolish, womanly moods and sentimentalities were hiding inside of him. It would now be all the easier to ignore them when they tried to surface.