2 | New Plans

Dammit! How could it be? How? When I was so… just so damned close to my dream of eliminating that little bitch forever and having dear Endymion for myself? But… Ugh! Serenity the Sixth? Are you freaking kidding me?

The squeaking of heavily padded cushions under Beryl's weight as she shifted and sank deeper into her chair paled in comparison to the frustrated sigh the woman breathed. A tremor rattled the room, clanking metal and wood against stone in resonant fury and nearly knocking a large fountain pen from its elevated perch to the floor. Though, in her foul mood, she paid it no mind. It was merely one of several small quakes that had occurred over the past few minutes.

I could have ended this, right then and there. I should have done so, but I couldn't. They wouldn't let me.

Another sigh, followed by a derisive snort.

Figures my so-called prudence gets the better of me. Heh. Never again will I make that mistake.

Next to the precariously dangling pen sat a sheet of paper, upon which the self-proclaimed monarch had written out of existence one stumbling block to her desired success. Her gaze flicked towards that page and the rather large and ornate desk that held it.

Loyal as they are to me, I can't stomach the thought of them interfering at such a crucial time yet again.

Indeed, for the paper contained a draft of new standing orders she would give to her personal guards. That particular directive would allow her guards to heed her verbal commands so that she would not suffer a repeat of her previous indignity. Gone was the specific text within her previous order designed to prevent her from doing anything rash or unwise. If only she had disseminated her current orders far earlier, before that crucial battle.

Never mind that attacking Sailor Moon when it was crystal clear her energy blast had absolutely no effect on the senshi was the prime definition of both.

Even Beryl arrived at such a realization as she exhaled a deep breath and massaged her temples with her palms.

I mean… maybe I would have distracted those bitches long enough to pull them away, but beyond that… I was screwed. Completely fucking screwed. How she got the better of me… how they managed to invade my domain… And now Kunzite and Zoisite are gone.

Another tremble, though whether it was the room or her she didn't quite know.

Gone. Two of my prized generals, and for what? Am I really supposed to leave all my plans and my eventual happiness in the hands of that blasted demon?

Beryl had remained in the throne room long enough to see Usagi's attack slam into Kunzite and remove the general from her influence. In that regard he was as good as dead to her. Zoisite, on the other hand, actually was physically dead. The manner of his death was a mystery to her despite Sazaratha's insistence that it was a combined attack from the senshi that had led to the youngest Shitennou member's demise. She was skeptical of her remaining general's account of the events that took place after her departure, and much of that arose from her inherent distrust of the being she feared was more loyal to Metalia than to her. However, there wasn't much more she could do as Sazaratha was one of the few within her kingdom who were powerful enough to combat the senshi.

What should I do about that damned thing? Sure, it helped us to find the princess, but I'm not sure it did it for me. I'm not certain it's doing anything for me instead of for its own reasons, and what those reasons are I have no idea.

A sharp buzzing sound that resonated about the room interrupted her meditation. She shifted to her gaze to a small monitor on her desk that displayed a flashing red square enclosing the unshaven face of an older man. That face belonged to the commander of her personal guard, the only beings within her Dark Kingdom that she could fully trust at that moment. They were fiercely loyal to her even before her descent toward evil that was promoted by Metalia. The only problem was that they lacked sufficient magical skills to use telepathy, thus resigning them to the use of common technology such as the two-way video communication system that was begging for her attention. Taking one more deep breath, she trudged from her chair and to the desk where she could stop the annoying sound and speak with the man on the other side of the screen.

"What is it, Commander Marakof?"

"We found what was causing the disruptions at the north end of the complex." His tone carried a sense of urgency that was unusual for him. "It appears that the control room was demolished, thus allowing too much energy to flow to the development chambers."

I can only imagine that the senshi were behind that, she thought, pursing her lips into a slight frown at the news. They must have figured out the purpose of the room. I only hope they don't learn the full extent of my plan, but with Kunzite on their side now it's only a matter of time before he reveals everything.

"What do you want me to do now, your highness?"

"Just return to your command post, and bring the others with you." Her apparent calm in the face of the news was in stark contrast to his apprehension. "There's nothing we can do about that right now. Instead we should focus on finding the princess and tracking her if at all possible. Get me an update on the status of the search."

"Aye, your highness. I will do that as soon as I can." He bowed before terminating the connection.

A pensive sigh escaped Beryl's lips as she returned to her chair and collapsed into its cushions. She had ordered the dispatch of ten youmas, specifically those creatures that could most accurately mimic humans, to scour the city for any trace of the princess. It was a risky maneuver on many levels, not the least of which concentrated on the fact that none of the youmas were able to sense the intrinsic energy of the princess but instead had to rely on visual cues. The probability of the girl traveling in such a conspicuous manner was exceedingly small. She remembered one of the last communications from Kunzite before his purification when he conveyed to her the argument he had with Sazaratha regarding the princess's identity. Apparently she had run into the girl but failed to identify her because the princess did not wear her typical hairstyle. That was when she did not have the benefit of being Sailor Moon, a situation unlikely to be repeated. No, this time the princess would be well hidden and well protected, especially given the arrival of new and completely unknown senshi.

Why am I doing all this when I know the princess most likely isn't anywhere in Tokyo? I just risk wasting time and making my efforts to locate the princess rather conspicuous when there are far larger concerns I should address—namely, what to do about Sazaratha. Should I allow it to command the youmas in gathering energy when I don't fully trust it and its loyalty clearly is elsewhere? The problem is I don't have anyone else to lead them, as Kunzite's gone, Nephrite and Zoisite are dead, and Jadeite is in eternal…

At that moment she shot up from her chair as a sudden feeling of realization claimed her. That sensation led to the wry smile that spread across her lips as she knew what she could do to solve at least one of her problems.

Of course… Jadeite is in eternal sleep, which means he's not dead. I can revive him and have him work for me again. That way I know I have someone who is loyal, if nothing else, commanding part of my future army of youmas and I don't have to risk everything on Sazaratha.

Just as soon as the sense of euphoria arrived it departed with the recognition of two important facts. The first was that Jadeite was sentenced to eternal sleep due to his constant failures. However, that was the least of her concerns. Now that she had seen the senshi in person and witnessed with her own eyes how skillfully they worked, especially in the case of Sailor Moon, his propensity to grab defeat from the proverbial jaws of victory could be understood. Besides, the few months he spent in eternal sleep should have been sufficient motivation for him to want to succeed in his mission. It was the second fact that worried her far greater than the first: that Sazaratha indubitably would become extremely suspicious upon discovering that Jadeite was rescued from his prison and was working for Beryl again. If the demon indeed was untrustworthy, then it was very likely she would sabotage Jadeite's mission, or worse, try to kill the general.

I think that's what I'm going to do. She lowered herself back into her chair. However, I'm going to keep a very close eye on Sazaratha's behavior around Jadeite. If it looks like that demon's trying to do anything to interfere with his mission, then I'll have no choice but to dispose of it.

With that problem seemingly out of the way, she allowed her mind to wander to other issues, namely what her overall strategy would be to gain enough energy to revive Metalia. At that juncture she did not have enough youmas to spare for the task of gathering energy from humans. Fifty youmas were available to her, a sufficient number at first glance but for the crucial fact that only five of them were suited for siphoning energy. The remaining youmas were specialists at reconnaissance, such as creatures she had sent out to scour the city for any sign of the princess, or were better skilled at combat. Sending any of the five youmas out to retrieve energy would have resulted in their slaughter at the hands of the senshi. It didn't matter if all five were dispatched simultaneously, given Sailor Moon's amazing strength and the fighting skills of the three new senshi. She might have had better success if she tried such a strategy earlier in their campaign, when the senshi were a much weaker fighting force. However, she was convinced those girls were not a threat to her and had faith in Jadeite's capabilities to harness the energy in a rapid manner. Her experiences over the past several months eviscerated her previous hubris and grounded her. She would not take the senshi for granted ever again. Nay, her new strategy would account for them at all stages of its planning.

As comfortable as the chair felt and as much as she resisted wanting to leave it, she knew any realistic plan for combating the senshi and gaining critical energy would have to be constructed in the planning room. That was where all of the information the Dark Kingdom possessed about the girls was located and where she could easily work with the commanders of her personal guard if she deemed it necessary. And, given the immense complexity of the plan, it likely would be essential that the input of her trusted advisors would be requested. So she stood from the chair and walked into the middle of her room where, a second later, she disappeared in a brilliant flash of red light.

—|1|2|3|4|5|—

A frustrated groan escaped Minako's lips as she pushed the covers off her body and rolled out of her warm bed. Her eyes caught the narrow, bright gold rods that conspicuously stood out against the pale white background of her alarm clock. Their positions and angle relative to one another signified within her mind that it was late in the morning. Another second of staring gave her brain sufficient time to disambiguate the seemingly random arrangement of the clock hands and assemble the information into a pair of numbers: nine and forty-five. Nine forty-five in the morning, a time that was confirmed by the brilliant sunshine that reflected off the glass of her next-door neighbor's window and poured into her bedroom through the large casement, forcing the blonde to avert her eyes. If there was any good news for her, it was Sunday, meaning she did not have to go to school that day. However, none of those mundane details mattered to her at that time.

"I so wish I could see Usagi right now, just so I can tell her how sorry I am for everything I've done," she whispered. Gazing at the reflection in her dresser mirror, her countenance revealed a pitiful expression of dejection that expressed itself most readily through her almost lifeless eyes. "I don't know when I'll be able to see her again. I just hope I didn't drive her away through my stupidity."

After a long time, she pulled herself away from the mirror and unceremoniously dropped her body into a seated position on the edge of her bed. The resulting loud thud broke through the silence that had dominated her room up to that point. Her eyes found and locked onto a blank space on her wall as she fell into an even deeper contemplative mood.

"What am I going to do to fix this mess I created?" She heaved a tired sigh. "I would go out after her, but I have no idea where she went. Not that I can blame her for not trusting me enough to tell me. I wouldn't tell anyone who tried to kill me where I was going either."

She fell backward onto her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling for several more minutes as silence once again filled the room. The worst part about the day was that she had nothing that she absolutely had to do. For normal schoolgirls of her age, it would have been an absolute joy to have the day free from schoolwork or chores. For her, she wished for anything at all to take her mind away from the intense melancholy that was her thoughts. Even worse was the fact that the only thing she wanted to do was to find her fellow blonde as quickly as possible and do everything within her power to beg for forgiveness. Clearly, that was not an option available to her.

Her gaze fell to where the snow-white cat normally would lie. "Artemis, what do you…" A sharp gasp soon pierced the room just prior to the reverberating crash that indicated her abrupt dismounting of her bed. "Artemis!"

She ducked to her knees and lifted the trailing sheets to peer beneath her bed, hoping against all logic that the feline would be hiding there. Indubitably, he was not. She then began to search her remainder of her room, starting with the closet. Why her advisor would hide from her in her closet she did not know or even care to question. In any case, it was a short-lived exploration as her mother barged into her room only a few seconds later.

"Aino Minako! Why are you making so much damned noise so early in the morning?" a visibly frustrated Akiko asked with a displeased tone.

Minako's anxiety made her oblivious to her mother's irritation. "Artemis! He's missing!"

"Serves you right. It's just like you to lose track of something so important."

That comment caused Minako to freeze in place as a wave of intense anger swept over her. "I didn't lose him."

"Well, he obviously isn't here. If you didn't lose him then he must have run off. Either way it just shows how irresponsible you are."

She bolted up from the floor to her feet. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, you have no sense of responsibility." Akiko pointed a finger at the girl, ignoring her daughter's fierce stare. "You have horrible grades because you spend so little time studying. There's no way you're going to have a decent career if you keep that up. You'll end up working some soul-deadening job just like your father, and that's if you're lucky." She paused momentarily in her invective to intensify her glower at the fuming blonde. "Furthermore, you're always sneaking out of the house to go do God-knows-what. Don't think we haven't noticed that. I hope you're not running off to see some lame boy, because I swear if you are you'll be grounded 'til you're thirty!"

Minako desperately wanted to say something that she knew she would later regret, but smartly decided to remain silent while maintaining her brooding glare at the woman.

"Anyway, are you going to come down for breakfast or should I just make enough for your father and me?"

"It doesn't matter," Minako said in a brusque whisper, overruling the complaints of her stomach.

"Suit yourself." Akiko turned and walked out of Minako's bedroom. Before she turned to walk down the hall she abruptly stopped and turned her head over her shoulder. "If you'd just take my advice for what it is, things would be so much easier," she said with a tone bordering on pity.

"Whatever," Minako spat as she stomped to the door and slammed it shut, practically right in her mother's face. She then trudged to her bed and fell face down across it. Her body trembled in anger while tears of frustration and sadness flowed from her eyes and down her reddened cheeks.

Why does she always treat me like that? Does she have no idea how much it hurts me when she says all those things? It's not like I can help having to leave at night to fight so that she can turn around and act like I'm a baby and a complete idiot. On top of all that, she didn't even bother trying to offer her help in finding Artemis, as if she expects me to fail at that the same way she practically expects me to fail at everything now.

She grabbed the pillow next to her and pulled it into her chest, hugging it so tightly that, if it possessed any life, it long ago would have been extinguished by her grasp. That was her state for several minutes as she let the frustration and resentment slowly die down so that she could somehow function well enough to perform her primary mission of the morning. That is, her mission beyond locating and supplicating Usagi to forgive her and accept her friendship once again. Once she no longer sensed the intense rage and depression that had immobilized her, she trudged from the bed and to her closet for some clothes prior to going out. She didn't much care to look for anything fancy to wear, as she wasn't doing much more than combing the streets for the cat she unceremoniously discarded the previous morning. How Artemis ended up in his predicament was a fact that did not escape her mind.

As much as I hate to think that, maybe she was somewhat right. It was my fault that Artemis is out there after all. I was the one who threw him out while I was blinded by my rage at Usagi.

She frowned as she reminisced about her abandonment of and the eventual assault upon her princess. In particular, she remembered the hateful words she spouted at the shocked cat as she evicted Artemis from the shrine and from the senshi. Her sullen expression was broken by the awkward and ironic chuckle that escaped her lips.

"He was right," she whispered. "I did end up making a huge mistake after all. And we all ended up suffering because of it."

She grabbed the large red bow that had become a staple of her fashion for many years and tied it into her long blond hair. It was customary for her to affix a bow to her hair, as she always felt naked in the absence of one, and although she didn't always wear red, the number of times she wore a different color over the past year could be counted on one hand. Whether the red bow really matched her other clothing was irrelevant to her so long as she had it and could feel it tugging ever so slightly on her hair.

Okay, Artemis, I'm going to find you, and I'm going to make up to you all the pain I put you through. I promise.

She grasped her purse and ran out of her room. She didn't bother telling her parents that she was going away, instead letting the heavy slam of the front door do the talking for her.

—|1|2|3|4|5|—

I wonder what they think happened in there. There's no sensible explanation I can create to explain away that kind of damage.

Those were Rei's thoughts as she walked toward the destroyed living room. It was an understatement to say the least. Beyond telling them the truth of her secret identity and of her capture by Kunzite and that strange woman, nothing she could say would surpass any reasonable skepticism. Even for people accustomed to sensing and manipulating enhanced spiritual energy, the idea they would believe she was one of the mythical senshi and wielded magical attacks seemed farfetched in her mind. Ironically, the Dark Kingdom—the beings from who she wanted to conceal her identity more than anyone else—already knew she was the senshi of fire. So, she felt that, if she were under sufficient pressure to provide an explanation, she would reveal the secret she held for so long.

She strolled into the living room and immediately froze when her eyes witnessed the enormity of the scene. For the first time she could see just how horribly the fight had damaged the place and the extent of hard work that was required to make the room livable again. Yuuichirou was busy pushing the shattered remnants of the large central table against one wall. It was a rather heavy and sturdy piece of furniture by all accounts, and woefully expensive at that. Yet it was utterly destroyed by the energy blasts from Kunzite and his terrifying female partner. The same could be said about the other furniture that was haphazardly strewn about the room. None of the chairs had all of their legs attached, and one had its back completely sheared off as though it was deliberately and expertly removed with a saw. Almost everything was scorched, the blatant sign of fire damage, although there was no smoke damage or water damage from any attempt to extinguish flames. She spotted her grandfather sweeping the pale white debris from the cratered wall into a sizable pile in a different corner of the room. That damage clearly was created when Minako and she were blasted into the wall at the very beginning of the woefully one-sided battle.

Yuuichirou's eyes widened when he noticed the shrine maiden enter the room. "Ah, Rei-san! You're up!"

"It's this bad, isn't it?" Her dismal tone barely revealed the true depth of her sorrow.

He slowly walked toward her. "It's much better now than it was when we first saw the room this morning."

"It almost looks like you girls had a party that went way out of control," her grandfather said as humorously as he could manage, although his scowl told a different tale.

Her face, if not her entire body, screamed utter remorse when she turned toward the older man. "I'm sorry. This damage is all my fault and you guys shouldn't have to clean up behind me."

"There's no way you could fix all of this yourself," Yuuichirou said gently. "Besides, I'm more than willing to help you."

Her cheeks faintly reddened and progressively darkened to a deep crimson as she gazed at the priest-in-training. A similar blush was present on his face from the moment he saw her enter the room. They stood in silence and just stared at one another for a few moments before they were brought to reality by the hard rap of a broom handle against the floor.

"Anyway… so what actually happened in here?" His tone, though gruff, reflected curiosity more than irritation despite the expensive devastation.

The color faded from Rei's visage upon hearing the question. She hesitated in answering for a few moments, turning her sullen eyes away from her grandfather and at the wall beside her. When she finally did speak, it was in a voice no louder than a whisper.

"I… I strongly doubt you'd believe me if I told you."

He heaved a frustrated sigh and slowly walked up to his granddaughter. "I'm not angry at you. I just want to know what's going on."

"I know. I…"

Her violet eyes slowly shifted from the elder man to Yuuichirou and back as she pondered what she should say. She was reluctant to give the confession she truly wanted to reveal, but it did not take her long to realize there was no point in holding the secret much longer. She held a deep breath for a second to calm her intense anxiety before slowly exhaling and looking at her the two men with eyes that revealed a new sense of determination.

"What I'm about to say may sound crazy, but I swear every word of it is true." Her hand slowly slipped into her pocket where the transformation pen was stored.

"Go on," her grandfather urged with a sharp nod of his head. Yuuichirou prompted her to continue by giving a similar nod.

"The reason the room is a mess is because there was a large fight in here." Her resolve slowly grew, even if the volume of her voice did not. "A battle, actually… one that involved the senshi."

"The Sailor Senshi?" Yuuichirou's initial emotions of awe and disbelief soon shifted to concern as he remembered, vaguely, the last time there was a strange occurrence at the shrine. "Are you okay? What happened? Did anything try to hurt you? Because, if so, they're as good as dead if I ever see them."

Hearing his enthusiastic expression of concern caused the ferocious blush to return to Rei's cheeks. "For the most part I'm fine, Yuuichirou-san. I wouldn't recommend hunting them down as you probably wouldn't be able to find them. Revenge is also out of the question. As thoughtful and brave as you are, I don't think you'll have any better luck fighting them as I had."

"Wait, you tried to fight against those monsters?" her grandfather asked in dismay. "Why would you do that if the senshi were around?"

Rei took one last glance at her esteemed grandfather before she pulled the transformation pen from her pocket and held it over her head.

"Mars power, make up!"

A brilliant red light emanated from her body and enveloped her figure, forcing the pair to shield their eyes from its blinding intensity. Seconds later, the radiance diminished to the point where they could peek over their arms and witness the result of the magnificent transformation. Silence enveloped both men for the several moments they stared with gaping eyes at the figure that formerly was to one a precious young granddaughter and to the other the singular love of his life. Rei Hino no longer was there, as far as they could sense. In her place was the remarkable senshi of flame and passion, Sailor Mars. Yet, she was about to remind them that, despite her alternate identity as one of the enigmatic senshi, she very much was the girl they held so highly in their hearts. The only difference between their previous perception and her reality was the massive weight of the secrets she so painfully harbored.

"I'm sorry that I didn't let you know about this earlier, grandpa." Her tone was as low and morose as the gaze she levelled at the floor.

The aged man wrapped his arms around Rei and pulled her into a tender hug. "I'm glad that you finally decided to remove the tremendous burden from your soul of keeping such a large secret. I knew there was something special about you ever since your father dropped you off here. I consulted the great fire many times wondering about what made you so extraordinary, but I wasn't sure what the answer I continuously received meant."

"W-what did you see in the fire?"

"I was a symbol that I later discovered to be the sign of the planet Mars. The whole thing was a mystery to me before today. I didn't even contemplate the possibility that the fire was telling me you were Sailor Mars." He began to chuckle. "However, now that I look at you, it makes perfect sense. I'm surprised I couldn't figure it out sooner. There's no way that utterly beautiful senshi-in-red could have been anyone other than my lovely granddaughter."

Rei briefly smiled and began to giggle, but her moment of levity ended woefully too soon when she reflected on her life as a senshi.

"There's so much I need to tell both of you," she whispered. The tears she desperately tried to hide from their sympathetic gazes fell unabatedly. "So much about what I had gone through as a senshi. So much about the horrible mistakes I've made. I just don't know if I'm strong enough to do so right now."

There was no doubting his soothing tone when he wrapped his arms around his granddaughter yet again. "I won't force you to say anything more until you're ready."

She carefully pushed herself away from the hold of one man she deeply loved so that she could approach the other man who held similar consideration within her heart. For so long she was too afraid to express her true feelings. In one part of her mind it was the fear that he would reject her that prevented her from acting. Another part warned her of the possibility of incredible heartache if her identity as Sailor Mars inadvertently led to their separation or, worse, his death at the hands of a vengeful enemy. However, there was no more practical reason to delay what she knew she had to do, and no worse sadness than that which she currently was experiencing.

"There's more that I want to tell you to, Yuuichirou-san," she said as she fell into his chest. He placed one arm around her waist and the other over her shoulders, ostensibly to steady her. However, he was pulled into a tight embrace when Rei wrapped her arms around his back. She contemplated saying the three words she knew she wanted to vocalize, but she opted to let her actions and expressions speak for her. Somehow it appeared that the often dense Yuuichirou immediately understood precisely what she meant but failed to say as he pulled her into a tighter yet unmistakably gentle and affectionate hug.

"I know," he whispered with a brief pause elapsing before he added, "And I'll be here when you're ready to tell me."

Rei nodded as she slowly released her hold of the tall man. She had every intention of fulfilling the unspoken promise made that morning to confess to him, and sooner rather than later. The only thing that prevented her—besides her nosy grandfather's presence—was the overwhelming sensation that it was only proper for her to first inform a certain pigtailed blonde about her sincere feelings of sorrow, regret, loyalty, and, yes, love.

—|1|2|3|4|5|—

Maeda Yuko skipped purposefully down the street, her mid back-length strawberry red hair bouncing with every step. The sixteen-year-old girl's wide crystalline blue eyes and large smile broadcasted a sense of serenity and joviality. Being in such happy mood, she gave a friendly wave and warm greeting to practically every random neighbors she encountered. For her, such gregariousness was business as usual. On the other hand, the cat with gorgeous white fur she gently cradled within her arms as she proceeded along her path was completely new. She had a fondness for all animals, but she strongly preferred dogs to cats, and everyone familiar with her knew it. So, she attracted some inquisitive glances by holding the cat, but nobody really gave the thought any more attention.

About a minute later she arrived at the front entrance of her destination. A few loud knocks on the rather lightweight door alerted the home's occupants of an unexpected visitor, and the door slowly opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with dark-blue hair tied into a low ponytail. She smiled, which made the woman smile almost autonomously in response.

"Hello, Aino-san. How are you doing this wonderful afternoon? Is Minako-san home?" Yuko asked.

"I'm doing quite well, Maeda-san," Akiko replied. Her smile widened before suddenly faltering. "Minako's out right now. She's been gone all day since this morning, actually. I have no idea where she went, but I assume she's looking for her cat."

"Would this be the cat she's looking for?" Yuko carefully lifted the sleeping white cat out from her chest.

Akiko mumbled something inaudible while she looked over the still body of the feline. She exhaled a tiny gasp once she recognized the strange crescent moon shape on the animal's forehead.

"Yes, that's definitely her cat. Where did you find it? And how did you know it was missing in the first place?"

"I passed by her earlier this morning when I was going out shopping." Yuko grinned while lightly patting the cat's head. "I asked her what she was doing, as she looked all out of sorts crawling behind some bushes. It actually looked kinda funny now that I think about it, but please don't tell her that I said that, okay?" She gave a sly wink that elicited a humorous chuckle from Akiko. "Anyway, she told me she was looking for her pet cat and she told me all about what it looked like. I told her that if I see him I'll certainly try to bring him back to her, and I did see him just wondering around the outside of the market as I was leaving. He looked a bit hungry so I brought him home with me and gave him something to eat and some water. Once I saw he was doing better I came here to give the cat back to Minako." She then stroked Artemis's head and back before gently dropping the cat into Akiko's waiting arms.

"Thank you very much, and I'm very glad you found him. Whenever she gets back I'll let Minako know that you found him." She paused momentarily while petting the white cat. "Well, now that you're here, would you mind staying for a little tea or something?"

Yuko pouted. "I wish I could, Aino-san, but I have to hurry back home."

"That's too bad. Anyway, if you see her on your way back, could you please let her know that and tell her to come home?"

"Absolutely, Aino-san!" Yuko turned to leave, energetically waving as she walked. "I hope you have a nice evening!"

"The same for you!"

Yuko walked away from the house and proceeded a few blocks down the street until finding an alley between two buildings. With a quick check to ensure nobody was paying attention to her, she ducked into the alley. A wry smile graced her lips as her body began to emit a pale golden light. In an instant the girl disappeared, replaced by nothing more than a faint wisp of black smoke.

—|1|2|3|4|5|—

Beryl's eyes narrowed as she scanned a large political map of the country of Japan that was displayed on one of the monitors that lined the wall of the planning room. A second screen showed a detailed satellite map of Minato ward. Several red arrows gave the locations where youmas previously were sent into action, either to gather energy or to attack the senshi. With very few exceptions the arrows were clustered within Juuban district. At the time, it made perfect sense to attack within a very confined area, as their pre-conflict analysis showed that the region contained the most energy. However, there was a fatal flaw in their methodology, as their scans could only cover large areas and could not disambiguate different types of energy. What she currently knew and appreciated, and what she wished she knew before commencing her initial plans, was that the reason their scans detected extremely high amounts of energy in Juuban was because that was the home of the Sailor Senshi. Otherwise, the location was no more interesting than any other city on Earth. If she was going to have any success at gathering energy, it would have to be in a different location. Better, it would have to be in several different locations. However, two important details had to be addressed by her new plan. The first was where to deploy her youmas. The second was how to actually get them there.

I wish it was as simple as ordering a youma to a location and then having it teleport there. However, only a few of the youmas have that capability.

Indeed, in the Dark Kingdom's previous attacks the youmas were brought alongside the Shitennou.

It will be easier with Jadeite's return, but he would have to get a feel for the countryside first as he can't just teleport anywhere. That would limit any attacks to only a small radius outside of Tokyo.

She pressed a button on the keypad that caused the map of Minato to zoom out so that it displayed the eastern twenty-three wards of Tokyo Prefecture. A second button press caused a series of concentric circles to appear with the center immediately over Juuban. According to the map's scale, the innermost ring had a diameter of four kilometers and each successive circle was two kilometers larger in radius than the last. She intently stared at the map for a few seconds before sighing in frustration.

I guess it will take Jadeite or the teleportation-capable youmas some time to become familiar with the few wards that surround Minato, let alone this entire prefecture. I can imagine that it would take one or two weeks of intense study for them to learn their layouts well enough to find appropriate places to teleport. That means it will take a few months to learn all of the wards, and I'm not sure I have that much time.

She leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes. It was quite difficult to come up with an interim plan that would allow her to achieve some progress toward reviving Metalia while awaiting complete development of her remaining youmas. A small grin pulled at her lips when she came across one epiphany.

Maybe if we just concentrate on specific areas in those wards it would greatly reduce the amount of time early on, and then if they need to expand from there they can do so on the fly. We could use those areas as bases for transport to and from the Dark Kingdom. This way, I think it would take a week, maybe less, to become sufficiently familiar with these areas.

Once that issue was resolved in her mind, she then switched her focus to finding the regions she would initially position her five energy-gathering youmas. She recognized that was the most critical part of her plan, and she intended to make sure that whatever she created would have some reasonable chance of success against the senshi. Given the uncanny propensity for those girls to arrive and disrupt any attempt at obtaining human life force at the most inopportune times, her first course of action was to devise some mode of defense against the senshi. That meant a thorough review of the youmas she had available.

I need some way to keep those five youmas safe. I could try sending a few combat-oriented youmas to accompany each of them, but that leads to the question of how to hide their presence. Those youmas by far are the strongest of the lot but are incapable of disguising themselves as humans. The last thing I want to do is make a spectacle of things and draw even more attention to my plans.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it as that last sentence caused her to stop and think harder about potential strategies. One of her goals was to work as clandestinely as possible. Having the larger, more powerful, but immediately identifiable youmas work in the open was the antithesis to that goal.

Maybe… maybe instead of having those youmas immediately available, I could have them on stand-by and have the reconnaissance youmas accompany them. If anything goes wrong, then they could alert me, or more likely Jadeite, and he could send the other youmas in to assist in the fight. Better yet, I could create a distraction using some of the non-energy-gathering youmas that would draw the senshi away from where their main focus should be pointed.

She turned her eyes back to the map of Tokyo Prefecture displayed on the monitor. Minato had been the focus of the fight since its inception, but it was obvious she needed to shift the battlefield away from that ward. The two wards that caught her eye were Adachi and Katsushika. They were relatively distant from Minato, which meant they were not heavily visited by the senshi. That distance also meant that it would take the girls much more time to travel to the scene of any youma attack. The idea that they might not learn of the attacks if her youmas were careful briefly entered her mind but was quashed by the knowledge and realization that those annoying warriors always appeared. The only thing she could do was to mitigate the amount of damage they could do to her forces.

Kunzite saw that it only takes them a few minutes to travel across the entirety of Juuban, so it should take them at least thirty minutes to respond to any alert of a youma's presence in those wards. Given that the senshi will be under constant surveillance, that should give Jadeite and me advance warning of their arrival. Then we could remove our most important assets and either set up an ambush for the senshi or just completely disappear.

Her sharp nod expressed her satisfaction with that initial plan. Her grander goal was to use the newly acquired youmas to attack over the whole of Japan, or maybe even beyond the borders of that island nation, to gather energy as quickly as possible for Metalia. Once that ancient being was revived she could use its power to build what she considered her real kingdom. However, that was in the distant future. What she needed to do in the present was release the first of the Shitennou from his prison so that he could be available to her once again. She quickly stood from her chair and prepared to teleport to the throne room to do exactly that, feeling the first genuine sense of enthusiasm since the princess's capture and near-elimination.