"My Mistress."

"Report."

"Our agents have made initial contact with the Sailor Senshi. They engaged them in battle as ordered. The agents were all killed. The news reports declared that the Twins were involved in each battle."

"Indeed?" the dark princess' eyebrow rises, yet she shows no emotion. Sitting back in her throne-like chair, she sighs. So Tsuruga had succeeded in creating a force of powerful warriors after all. Pity they rebelled against the one who had saved their worthless lives. Well, she could deal with them eventually. Just keep them busy enough to study their strengths and weaknesses, then when their vulnerabilities were known, go for the kill. "Thank you. You may go."

"My Mistress," the creature bows, then departs.

She sighs, then heads to her private chambers. It had been child's play to rebuild the Dark Kingdom's homeworld, the fragments of which had drifted between dimensions since the Kingdom's demise some months ago. It now orbited Earth, cloaked from the scanners of the races approaching to become allies with this world, especially the new race calling Sagussa home. That didn't bother her. After all, what were the dreams of mortals when one had briefly touched the brilliance of Eternity Itself?

Had touched...the *te'a.*

Entering her chambers, she smiles on seeing the nude form laying on her bed. The cyborg was deactivated, powerless to stop her from taking delight in her delicious charms. Tsuruga had constructed her as a present to show his loyalty and gratitude to his new mistress. The robotics specialist was a ghoul at times, but a very good artist when it came to creating the perfect woman. She sighs as she lays down beside her. "Wake up," she orders.

The woman's brown eyes come alive, then they widen on seeing the being beside her. "Get away from me!" she hisses, moving to put some distance between them.

"Stop!"

The cyborg jolts, frozen still. "You can't run, my dear," the dark princess strips the bony armour from her body, reaching over to stroke her pet's wavy black hair. "Unlike your rebellious daughter and her friends, you don't have that annoying thing called a 'free will'...not as long as you're here."

"I hope you go to Hell!" the cyborg shudders.

The dark princess laughs. "Idiot!!" she removes the last of her clothes, then lays down beside her. "You still don't understand! There is neither a Heaven or a Hell! Just the wide expanse of Eternity, That Power that my people feared so much during the age of Gisan'cha! Soon, I'll finally be able to understand That Power, use it to my own will...and your daughter and her friends are going to help me get it!!"

"Nona-chan will kill you when she gets her hands on you!" the being who once called herself Kyooko Tsuruga snarls. "You'll never make her or the others kill the Sailor Senshi! You'll never drag her here for you to control them!! They're too smart for that...!"

"Quiet!" the dark princess snaps.

Kyooko's mouth closes automatically. "Now, my dear, I desire you to please me," the dark princess lays back. "I want to experience some more of your wonderful seduction programs. Now!"

Kyooko shudders as she feels her body respond to her mistress' commands. Her soul screams out in helpless rage as she prostrates herself before the dark princess, her senses assaulted by her musky yet repulsive odour. She tries her best to ignore her body's actions, tries to slip back into the bliss of unconsciousness as she remembers a more innocent time...

* * *

"Mother!!!"

Nona bolts up from her bed, panting heavily as her sleep program ends, that vivid nightmare replaying in her mind again and again. One disadvantage of her new body was its ability to record all her thoughts, preserve them on computer chips so she could never forget important stuff. Unfortunately, she couldn't delete that memory from her system once it was implanted unless she filled all her secondary memory chips, then it would delete automatically. How long would that take?

"Nona-chan, are you alright?"

Nona sees Chooko staring concernedly at her. Taking a deep calming breath, the Twins' leader lays down, drawing the shorter woman into her arms. Chooko had been constructed to approximate an older Hotaru Tomoe (Ami had told the Twins the real names of the other Senshi in anticipation of everyone's meeting at Hikawa Jinja later that afternoon), so the difference in stature between the lovers was rather insignificant. Besides, Ami had said that Hotaru was a fast grower, so she'd be Chooko's height before very long.

"Just had a nightmare," she kisses Chooko, then plays with the other cyborg's short black hair. "I thought I saw Mother again."

"Your mom's dead, remember?" Chooko snuggles into Nona's embrace as she tries to chase away her beloved's fear. "Your dad killed her."

"Yeah, but still..." Nona sighs, gazing at the full moon hanging over their heads through their bedroom skylight.

* * *

"Sailor Twins"
a tale of the Sailor Senshi
by Fred Herriot
fherriot@yahoo.com
**** **** ****
Edited by E.B. Kushnir
kush1@iaw.on.ca
**** **** ****
Based on "Sailor Moon," created by Naoko Takeuchi
**** **** ****

PART TWO - DREAMS AND REALITIES

"Are you nervous, Haruka-chan?" Michiru muses as she, her beloved and their "daughter" drive down the street to Rei's shrine.

"Somewhat," Haruka shrugs. "You know, Luna's got a point about wondering where these girls received their powers." She then shudders as one particular detail Ami passed on comes back to her. "Gods, they're all cyborgs?! We don't have the technology to create something like that...and it's way too soon for us to get anything from any other race!!"

"Personally, I can't wait to meet them," Michiru chuckles. "After all, I want to see what hair colour my double has."

Haruka nearly drives the sports car off the road, shocked at her beloved's cavalier attitude. "Can't you be serious for once, Michi-chan?! Whoever created these girls is one serious player!!"

"I am serious, Haruka-chan," Michiru gazes warmly at her. "But Usagi-chan has a point. We should welcome the Twins without reservation; it's the perfect way to garner trust. Besides, I've always wanted a sister and now I'll have that chance."

Haruka sighs. It wasn't in the race car driver's nature to trust many things. Coming to accept people like Katsura Utai would be very difficult, especially since no one asked her if she wanted a sister handed to her out of the blue like that. She then tries to calm herself. Michiru had told her to behave herself around the Twins so the newcomers would get the best impression of the Senshi. Haruka had vowed long ago she'd do anything for the woman beside her...and she would.

"What's that?!" Hotaru wonders.

The car stops, everyone looking left to see a spiral of explosive energy shooting out of the ground the next block over. "Looks like we're needed for some action!" Haruka sighs, parking the vehicle before everyone disembarks, drawing henshin sticks as they sprint into an alley.

Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn soon emerge at the other end, weapons at the ready. Sure enough, it is another daemon, a funnel of plasma energy with a monstrous face on one side, now sprouting arms and legs as it emerges from the sewers. "Hold it, creature!!" Uranus draws her sword. "I, the Senshi of the Heavens, Sailor Uranus..."

"And I, the Senshi of the Oceans, Sailor Neptune..."

"And I, the Senshi of Death and Destruction, Sailor Saturn..."

"And I, the Mistress of Passion, Sailor Aphrodite, are going to show you the new meaning of heartbreak!!"

The Senshi spin around, looking up to see a black-haired Sailor Venus in an electric pink fuku standing atop a nearby building, arms crossed. "Sailor Aphrodite...?" Neptune blinks.

With a nimble leap, Aphrodite jumps to the ground, joining her fellow Senshi. "Hi, girls!" she smiles at them, turning around to present her backside to the monster in question. "Hope I'm not too late to help out! Actually, I'm very honoured to be with you; I've been a fan of yours for oh SO long...!!"

The monster roars, nearly blowing the four Senshi down. Aphrodite turns around, staring the creature right in the eyes. "***STOP BREATHING ON MY BOWTIE, YOU ECCHI HENTAI PERVERT!!!!!!***"

The unexpected bellow from this frail girl makes the creature pause. Uranus, Neptune and Saturn exchange surprised looks. "Anyway, as I was saying..." Aphrodite turns back to them...

...then they are knocked over by a blast of energy emitting from the monster's mouth!! They collapse into an unruly pile of arms and legs some distance away. "What were you trying to say, Aphrodite?" Uranus grunts as they try to get back to their feet.

"Of course you know, this means war," Aphrodite growls, her eyebrows wiggling in feigned anger.

Rising, she strides determinedly up to the monster. "I hate arrogant monsters," she blows a black heart from her mouth, then fires it, whispering, "Heart Mirror Shock!"

The bolt, which doesn't at first seem as powerful as Venus' Love and Beauty Shock, slams into the creature, knocking it out of the sewers as it's tossed several metres down the street!! "That's better!" Aphrodite draws out the chain of hearts around her waist, then twirls it. "Okay, ugly, we're going to play a little game here! It's called 'To Tell The Truth!' I'm gonna wrap you up in my Truth Chain here and you're gonna sing like a canary," she tosses it out. "Truth Encircle!!!"

The chain wraps around the monster's midsection, freezing it in place as Aphrodite yanks the loop tight. "Ah, that's much better!" she grins. "Okay, ugly, who sent you here in the first place?! Was it the same creep who made Nona-chan's dad kill her mom?! C'mon, c'mon, speak up! I ain't got all day, you know!!"

The other Senshi are stunned silent. "This girl is confident," Uranus muses, brushing off her skirt.

"I like her," Neptune smiles.

The daemon whimpers, unable to fight off the Truth Chain but unable to respond to Aphrodite's question. The passion mistress sighs, then yanks back her chain. "Geez, I HATE dealing with dumb monsters! They're so boring!!" she blows another black heart, this one much more powerful. "***HEART MIRROR SHOCK!!!!!!***"

No more daemon! "Wow!!!" Saturn gasps as the others run up. "How'd you do that, Sailor Aphrodite?!"

"Easy," Aphrodite winks. "He never had any positive emotions in him in the first place. My first attack wasn't fatal; it just confused him by draining all his aggressive energy. But without any positive emotions, my second attack destroyed him. All his life was full of hate and anger, so without love or kindness, he had nothing left to save him."

"Vicious," Neptune muses, smiling at their new friend. "You are indeed a heartbreaker, Sailor Aphrodite."

"Thank you, Sailor Neptune," Aphrodite winks. "Now, what say we split off to our friend's home so we can do the meet-and-greet?"

The four head back into the alley, transforming to their civilian clothes as they emerge to get into Haruka's car. Ayako Maida wears a designer pair of dark pink slacks and a ruffled shirt that flatters her shapely form. "Nice wheels!" Ayako whistles as they sit down. "Shit, Katsura-chan really liked it when she found out who you were, Haruka-chan. She's always been a big fan of yours. Katsura-chan was disappointed when you decided to retire; she made a killing betting on your races."

"Thanks," Haruka blushes, gazing warmly at Michiru. "But I have other things on my mind right now."

"Oh?!" Ayako's eyes widen knowingly. "Ah, pleasing such a lovely lady as Michiru-chan is indeed a wonderful occupation!"

The Senshi couple turn beet red. "H-hey, we're n-not th-that close...!" Haruka laughs embarrassingly.

Ayako sighs. "I hate it when people don't acknowledge their lovers in public," she rolls her eyes, then smiles. "Aphrodite Passion Eclipse Power, Make Up!"

Everyone jolts in surprise as her clothes melt back into her Senshi fuku. The passion mistress puts fingers to mouth, then produces a bright pink heart. "Wh-what're y-you g-going t-to do...?!" Haruka stammers as she and Michiru try to put some distance between them and Aphrodite.

Aphrodite winks. "Heart Courage Kiss!!" she fires.

The bolt slams into Haruka and Michiru, bathing them in a shower of bright sparkles. Both shudder as they gaze hungrily at each other, the desire in their eyes blazing like a nova. "Haruka-chan...!" Michiru snarls lustily. "I want you! Now!!"

Hotaru gasps in stunned disbelief as Michiru swamps Haruka with a very wet kiss, knocking the latter into the driver's seat as the former starts tearing at her shirt. Aphrodite reverts to Ayako, then hops out of the back seat. "Okay, love birds, if you're gonna do the passion dance, hop in the back! I'll drive!"

"Thank you!!" both gasp as they leap into the back seat, Hotaru barely getting clear of them just in time.

Ayako sits down, then turns the engine over as Hotaru gets into the shotgun seat. "Do you do that all the time, Ayako-san?!"

Ayako licks her lips seductively as she guides the car back into the roadway. "A day without someone making love close to Ayako-chan makes her a naughty girl, Hotaru-chan! Remember that!!"

Hotaru shudders. "Hey!!!" Haruka bolts up from the back, her shirt gone. "Who gave you permission to drive my car?!!"

"Haruka-chan, I'm very warm right now...!" Michiru's hands snake around her lover's neck, dragging her back down with relentless force!

"Back to business, Haruka-chan," Ayako stares at them in the mirror, then turns back to driving. "Gods, I'm such a stinker, aren't I?!"

Hotaru shudders in a "why me?" gesture...

* * *

"It's about time!" Minako smiles as Ayako and Hotaru climb the steps to Hikawa Jinja. "Nice to meet you, sis! I'm Minako."

"Hi, Minako-chan," Ayako embraces her, then takes the time to walk around her twin. "Whoo, I can see why Junko-chan had such a delicious dream about you last night! I don't blame her one bit!!"

Minako turns beet red. "J-junko...?!" she stammers, pointing inside to where Junko was happily chatting away with Makoto.

"Oh, yeah, you should've heard her," Ayako sighs, then modulates her voice in a perfect imitation of a very passionate Junko. "Oh, Mina-chan, Mina-chan, you gorgeous woman, wherefore art thou, Mina-chan...!!"

WHAM!!!! Junko slams Ayako with a couch. "Idiot, I don't need you spilling my intimate dreams!!!" she bellows. "Gods, you are something else!!! And where're Haruka-chan and Michiru-chan?!!"

Ayako pays her fellow Twin no mind. "Hmm...last I looked, Haruka-chan was down to her panties and Michiru-chan to her pantyhose and G-strings! I left them in Haruka-chan's car under a tree down the block."

The Senshi and the Twins jolt, eyes wide with shock. "Ayako-chan, you didn't...!" Junko cries out.

Ayako makes a "woe is me" gesture. "Oh, I cannot tell a lie! I did, I did! I just can't stand it when two nice lovers like Haruka-chan and Michiru-chan won't be honest about their relationship in public!"

Usagi stares at Nona. "Is she normally like that?!"

"She's tame today," Nona shakes her head.

"Nice girl," Mamoru shudders.

Ayako blinks, her eyes locking on the closeness between Mamoru and Usagi. "Oh, this I cannot pass up!" she licks her lips as her clothes melt back into her Senshi fuku, then a pink heart slams into Usagi!

The Senshi leader jolts, then she turns lustfully on Mamoru. "Mamo-chan...!" she purrs, leaning into him. "What say we blow this popsicle stand and go find a nice cherry tree to hop into so we can get to know each other all over again?!" she meows.

"U-u-usako...!" Mamoru stammers.

"C'mere, lover!!!" Usagi leaps at him.

He screams, backing away as Usagi lands hard on the floor, then scrambles out of the shrine, his fiancee right on his tail. "Usako, calm down!! We don't have time for this!!! Usako!!"

"Oh, Muffin, don't play hard to get!!" Usagi croons.

The others shudder as Aphrodite reverts to Ayako. "Um...how long does that normally last?" Minako wonders.

"About three hours," Ayako tosses aside her long raven bangs as she heads in to meet the others.

Minako and Junko sweat. "Um...sorry about that," the latter laughs embarrassingly. "Ayako-chan's a confessed aphrodisiholic!"

"'Aphrodisiholic?!'" Luna blinks confusedly.

"Yeah!" Junko shrugs. "She gets drunk on passion."

Everyone shudders, perspiration popping. Minako then blinks as she remembers what Ayako told her about Makoto's twin. "You really had a wet dream about me last night?" she gazes at Junko.

The taller cyborg jolts, then bows low, nearly prostrating herself before Ayako's sister. "I am SO sorry, Minako-chan!! I have no excuse for feeling this way about you..."

"Are you free tonight?"

Junko stops, staring at her. "Eh?!"

"I asked 'are you free tonight?'" Minako smiles.

Junko blinks, then smiles. "Capitol Theatre's got 'Empire Strikes Back.' Wanna go?"

"Six-thirty?"

"I'll be there."

Both laugh. Everyone else blinks. "I never thought Junko-chan could work THAT fast on someone," Tsuyako muses.

"I never thought Minako-chan was the type," Ami hums...

* * *

"That's awful!" Luna hoarsely exclaims.

There isn't a dry eye in the house, not even with Mamoru, as Nona completes her tale. "Tell me about it," the Twins' leader shakes her head. "All the others wanted was the chance to live the lives they desired...and Dad turned around and he...!"

Nona shakes her head, feeling Chooko's hand on her shoulder. Usagi looks down, then turns to Ami. "Do you have any idea where the technology that saved Nona-chan and the others comes from?"

"I've never seen anything like this before," Ami shakes her head. "It's far more advanced than anything that existed in the Silver Millennium, or with any aliens we've encountered to date."

"And you've no idea who it is that wanted you to kill us, right?" Haruka looks at Katsura.

"Nada," the raven-haired Twin shakes her head. "We never even entered another dimension; all the work was done in the professor's lab in Kyoto. I still don't understand how we were able to overturn the programming that would've made us come after you."

"I do," a voice utters.

Space warps open as Sailor Hades and Sailor Pluto arrive. "Hey, strangers, we missed you," Haruka grins as the two transform back into Yuki and Setsuna.

"Sorry we're late," the time guardian sits down. "But we've been trying to backtrack our latest opponent's history, figure out where she came from and all that."

"Near as we could tell, she rebuilt the planetoid Beryl used as her home base, then put it into orbit over Earth after warping it from Metallia's dimension," the guardian of Eternity continues. "Some of the daemons now working for her were stragglers from the Dark Kingdom that were never caught by the Seifukusu Dominion when you had your big blow-up with them some months ago. Others were created by her just for the occasion."

Everyone sighs. Many suspected deep down that Setsuna and Yuki knew much more than they said, but because of their binding loyalties to Those Forces they were guardians/servants of, they couldn't reveal more. "Pity we don't have a ship so we could go after them now," Minako hums. "I'm sick and tired of waiting for daemons to attack me. Why don't we do the attacking instead?"

"Without proper intelligence, without a full idea as to what we're up against?" Rei's crimson-haired twin Matsuri Dokai blinks. "It's a swift way for people to get killed, Minako-chan."

"I agree," Nona sighs. "Right now, we're on the defensive."

The others nod, then Rei tenses. "Wait!" she runs over to the sacred flame, intoning a prayer as she tries to perceive images. "We're about to be attacked."

"Here?!" Usagi points down.

"Somewhere in Juuban," Rei bites her lips. "Very soon..."

Echoing her words, a distant explosion quakes the shrine's windows and walls. Everyone runs to the door to gaze outside, seeing a miasmic cloud billow from the downtown shopping mall. "That's near my mom's store!!!" Naru screams.

"What are we waiting for?!" Usagi hisses. "Let's go!!!"

Everyone races off...

* * *

"You beasts!!!" Mrs. Tsukino screams as several daemons rip through Mrs. Osaka's jewellery store. "Why do you keep coming here?! Go away!!! This is our planet, not yours!!!"

"SILENCE, WHELP!!!!" one of them sends a blast her way.

From out of nowhere, Gurio tackles Usagi's mother at the waist, barely clearing the attack just in time. "Watch yourself!" he gasps as both tumble into a pile of arms and legs nearby.

Roaring, the daemon turns...as a storm of energy darts lance into him. "You leave them alone, sleezoid!!!"

Gurio turns to see Sailor Diana standing between them and the wounded daemon, her javelin at port arms. Roaring, the creature bellows as he fires a storm of energy bolts her way. The javelin then becomes a baton, deflecting the blasts right back. The daemon staggers as it tries to mount a defence as Diana moves in on him. "You tell my father this when you go back to whatever hell raised you!!" she raises the javelin. "He's next!!!"

The javelin then lances through the creature's heart, a blast of energy fatally compromising its cardiovascular system as it collapses. Diana holds out her hand. The javelin flies out of the carcass to land in its mistress' palm. "Chronos!!!"

"Right!" Sailor Chronos raises her sickle-like staff, then produces a ball of energy in the inside of the hook. "***TIME SUSPENSION!!!!!!***" she fires the blast at the daemon.

Caught in a null-time field, the creature is frozen still as Chronos then twists her staff. "***TIME ACCELERATION!!!!!!***"

Before his eyes, Gurio watches the daemon shrivel up and disintegrate into dust in three seconds! "There, that should make clean up a lot easier," Diana muses. "Let's go!!"

"Hai!" Chronos nods as they race off to join the others.

"Wow!!" Gurio whistles as he helps Mrs. Tsukino to her feet. "You okay, ma'am?!"

"No...not really," she sighs, gazing at the mass of daemons now being besieged by the Sailor Senshi...

* * *

"Impressive," the dark princess smiles as she watches the Senshi and the Twins lance through her latest attack force, a mix of Dark Kingdom veterans and her own soldiers. "You really outdid yourself. A pity they rediscovered their free will too soon."

"There is a chance," Tsuruga muses.

"Oh?"

"Their power supply," the professor sighs. "In their Senshi forms, the Twins consume power at two to three times the rate they would when they were their normal selves. If this is prolonged, they will simple run out of energy."

"How interesting," she laughs. "You are macabre, Daisuke-kun. A trait I appreciate very well."

The professor shudders, then blinks. "Oh, the second one is done," he coughs.

"Oh, excellent! Bring her here."

Tsuruga walks away. A minute later, a dusky-skinned, crimson-haired woman is escorted into her former chambers. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Mage Beryl," the dark princess smiles.

"That's QUEEN Beryl to you, usurper...!!!" she snarls, the defiant fire in her red eyes blazing bright.

"Silence!!!"

Beryl blinks, feeling her mouth close up. "In this place, I control your every action, Mage," the dark princess smiles. "The wards you placed here to ensure that no one could use your power for their purposes were child's play to destroy. You've been alive for how long now? Over a thousand years? I've been alive for sixty times that, girl. The petty schemes of little dictators like you are but a flash in the pan to one such as I."

The queen-turned-cyborg shudders, exerting every effort to summon the power to resist, even just to spit defiance into this woman's face. "I am Kughra, crown princess of the Kingdom of Nyoograng'sha from the planet Sagussa," she smiles. "As to why I've restored you to life after Sailor Moon ended it some years ago, it was to show you how abysmally you failed to properly comprehend the power that annoying little twit welds. To show you how insignificant you really were when you dealt with the Sailor Senshi. Then, when I've destroyed them, you'll be allowed to live on as my servant."

Beryl blinks as she feels her throat free up. "Kill me and be done with it!!" she snarls.

"No. It amuses me more to keep you alive. Kyooko!!"

Kyooko walks into the room, now dressed in a skimpy toga. "By your command, Mistress," she bows.

"Take your sister back to the chambers and make love to her," Kughra sighs. "I wish her to fully understand how powerless she is when she confronts one who understands the Truth of Existence."

"Yes, my Mistress," Kyooko bows.

"Beryl, you will fully submit to her," Kughra adds. "I will not hear a single word from you except in pleasure. Go!"

Beryl shudders as that invisible fist clenches around her throat, her soul screaming out in helpless rage as Kyooko walks her into what was once HER bedchambers. When the door closes behind her, Kyooko begins to disrobe her. "I'm very sorry about this," she gazes apologetically at the queen before kissing her...

* * *

"Begorrah! Look at them go!!"

Nicole McTavish, once a prominent daughter of the richest clan of Scotland before her gender preference saw her emotionally expelled from her family for twenty-four years, gazes at the fight between the Senshi and the daemons dispatched by Kughra. Already, the sensors of the crystal palace surrounding her had picked up the planetoid in Lagrange orbit between Earth and the Moon. She chose to do nothing yet even though the technology that had adopted her as part of itself when she fled into the Outland gave her the power to shield Earth from Kughra's forces.

It wasn't because she didn't want to fight. Her ancestors would never excuse cowardice in the face of evil like this. But the McTavishes of Killiecrankie had survived for a thousand years because of a cautious approach to relations with outsiders. Never a clan of conquest, the McTavishes always remained neutral in the fratricidal feuding that haunted Scotland for centuries. If one wanted peace and trade, they got it. If they wanted war, they got that, too. Even when Scotland was split in loyalties between the deposed Stuart dynasty of Bonny Prince Charles and the Hannovers transplanted from the Holy Roman Empire to Westminster Abbey, the McTavish Clan remained neutral. After that useless farce at the Moor of Culloden, they accepted the new political order stoically, then built a business empire second-to-none in the British Empire, these days an international empire covering two dozen nations, rivalled only by a few families and conglomerates.

There was a simple rule in Nicole's family. Never show your true strength until the time is exactly right, then strike swift and hard, going always for the throat. The clan's symbol, a hunting falcon, personified this belief. If Nicole showed the immortal power she had at her very fingertips, she could destroy Kughra with ease. But if she slipped, even once, innocents could suffer...most of all, her unborn daughter now filling her abdomen. That problem also excluded her life-mate Mujanba and the Nendo-kata that had been Nicole's neighbours since she first met them in the Outland. And with Ataru and Lum busy on Sagussa, there was little Nicole could do to call in reinforcements to help the Senshi.

It was easy for her to tell the Sailor Senshi Twins were cyborgs. To even a practiced street observer, the creations of Daisuke Tsuruga were human, as life-like as alien technology could make. But Nicole saw things on dozens of separate temporal and spacial planes. She knew the Twins' had a finite power source, not like the Imperium Silver Crystal the Senshi used or the boundless energy of Earth itself that Sailor Terra drew on. What was worse, if they were pressed to those limits, the Twins would be as useless as mannequins, targets ready to be destroyed at a moment's notice.

To add spice on the cake, Nicole knew no improvements could be made on their bodies. The tragedy of Shinobu Miyaki's cyborg friend Ayara comes back. An organic mind, no matter how well shielded, wasn't built to interact with high-speed cybernetics. Ayara had been in her long life a cyborg soldier, then a pleasure android. Over two hundred years, her mind slowly disintegrated, aging to that of a seventy year old before she became human again and fled this dimension with her beloved Akisur. The Senshi Twins were pleasure androids that would be forced into high-stakes combat on a nearly daily basis if Kughra kept this up. They wouldn't last less than a month...and Nicole was being generous.

"Poor loves," she shakes her head. "You're killing yourselves as easily as if you took a knife to your own throat."

"What is happening, Nicole-chan?" a voice inquires.

Nicole smiles as Mal walks into the room. "Look for yourself, Mal," the former nods at the viewscreen.

Quickly interpreting Nicole's thoughts, Mal gazes at the image of Sailor Zeus protecting several children from a daemon as Sailors Uranus and Jupiter approached to double-team it into oblivion. "Such passion to protect the Unity," the Nendo-kata-turned-Oni sighs. "A pity the Mother Ocean judged them so harshly."

"Aye, love," Nicole nods. "If I was in better shape, I'd be a'teachin' that slug upstairs a few things about real power."

"But we cannot fight in the condition we're now in," Mal looks at her distended abdomen. Katsura Moroboshi was due in another two weeks. "If only we could contact our sisters in the Mother Ocean; they could slay this sub-creature Kughra with but a thought."

"Aye, only if...we can!!" Nicole's eyes widen excitedly.

"How?!!" Mal gazes at her. "Even if we travel through the Outland, it would take us years to return home!!"

"Lass, Setsuna Meiou could get us there in the blink of an eye!" Nicole points at the viewscreen, now showing Sailor Pluto unleashing the Dead Scream on a hapless daemon suspended in mid-air thanks to Sailor Chronos' Time Suspension.

"Can she?!" Mal blinks as she looks at the screen...

* * *

"SOULSWORD!!!!!!"

The last daemon howls as Sailor Terra's energy katana slices it in half, its parts disintegrating as a cleansing wind flows through the downtown market. Once it is gone, Terra draws the energy back into herself, then takes a deep breath, feeling Earth's power reinvigorate her with invisible strands of energy. Once she is healthy again, she turns to see the other Senshi collapsing against walls and the ground, panting heavily. The Twins were also very weak, many barely able to keep enough energy in their arms and legs to move. "Is everyone okay?!" Terra wonders.

"Y-yeah...j-just outstanding!" Moon pants as her best friend helps her back up, then she staggers over to Diana, now leaning against a wall. "Y-you okay, Sailor Diana...?"

"I'm so low on power, I can't move," Diana admits. "Can we get out of here without everyone falling over us, sis?"

"Hey!!" a voice calls out.

Everyone turns to see Gurio drive a large van up, opening the panel door and waving them inside. "You ladies need a lift?"

Moon blinks surprisedly on seeing the knowing gaze from her former classmate. First Naru, now Gurio?! Who else had guessed their secret identities? "Thanks!!" she nods.

The Senshi help the Twins into the van, then Gurio guides it through an alley to avoid the gathering crowds now heading in to survey the damage. "At least the sun's still up," Zeus pants as she collapses against Venus' side. "Time for sunbathing."

"I can't believe we fought together so well on our first try as a full team," Moon grins. "This was great!"

"I wouldn't call having a lot of our sisters conking out halfway through it 'great,' Usagi-chan," Terra sighs as she allows herself to transform back into Naru. "The only ones still on their feet at the end were Yuki-san and Sakebu-chan."

"Well, my power source is a lot stronger than the others," Hades admits as she transforms back to civilians. "And Sakebu-chan's abilities are more passive than active. She didn't have many people to heal from flying shards or energy blasts."

"I only wish I could use my powers to give energy to the others," Sailor Gaia transforms back to Sakebu Kanna.

"I wish I could use my powers to do that, too!" Aphrodite reverts to Ayako. "Damn, they were really pushing us out there."

"Probably to gauge how far we can go before they can destroy us," Diana transforms back to Nona. "This isn't good. Next time might be the one where one of us dies."

The Senshi blink, stunned that Nona could speak of this so casually. "How could you say something like that?" Moon gasps.

"We're living on borrowed time, sis," Nona sighs as the Senshi's leader reverts to her civilian identity. "When Dad built these new bodies, they were based on pleasure androids; the power cells and circuits are gauged for moderate consumption levels. I wouldn't call what we're going through 'moderate.'"

"What's worse, our minds can't take the strain of our bodies' energy demands," Chronos transforms to Chooko. "Our organic parts are aging faster than what is normal. If this keeps up, we'll be brain-dead inside a month, maybe two. We have that much time to stop Nona-chan's father and whoever's behind him."

A chill falls over the others...

* * *

"They're gonna die. They're gonna die..."

The Senshi and Gurio relax in the Twins' apartment complex, their thoughts echoing Usagi's sobs as she lays in Mamoru's lap. The Twins were now on their private roof pad, stripped down as the solar collectors in their bodies soaked up the Sun's power. Luna and Artemis lay on a coffee table as Gurio prepares tea. "So what can we do for them?" Rei shakes her head. "How can we help them?"

"I've been looking over the schematics of their internal systems," Ami gazes at her computer screen, typing furiously. "If we put a larger power cell in their bodies, unless we strengthen the energy conduits and the shields around their minds, they'll burn out a lot faster."

"But if we don't find some way to juice them up during a fight, one might buy it the next time," Haruka warns.

"I'm AWARE of that, Haruka!" Ami snaps.

Everyone jolts. "Settle down, Ami-chan, please!" Naru sighs. "We're all feeling bad enough as is!!"

Ami tenses, then sighs. "I'm sorry, Haruka."

"Hey, it's cool," Haruka nods.

With that, Ami returns to her computer. "Tea's ready," Gurio announces as he walks out of the kitchen.

"How'd you figure us out, Gurio?!" Minako wonders.

"Oh, c'mon, Minako, if one watches you long enough, he'll pick it up, too," Gurio smiles as he passes tea cups around.

"Well, if you get any ideas of becoming a part of us, please dismiss them from your mind," Luna sighs. "I've had enough of people trying to find out about us to last me five lifetimes."

"You can talk?" Gurio blinks, then shrugs as he heads back into the kitchen. "Why am I not surprised?"

Artemis chuckles as he bounds into the kitchen. "I hope it doesn't bother you with Usagi and the others being what they are," he muses, laying down by the sink.

"Not really," Gurio shrugs. "We all know they were reborn to fight on Earth's behalf, so there's no sense complaining. I'm shocked that I can accept it so easily. Then again, I have been a victim on occasion of the monster du jour, so it's nice to know that I have friends nearby ready to help when things go crazy."

Artemis smiles as Gurio passes him some chopped beef. "I'm envious, to be truthful," the latter continues. "Of Naru-chan most of all. She wished to be Sailor Terra, she became Sailor Terra."

"Do you still love her?" Artemis wonders.

"I care for her," Gurio sighs. "We just drifted apart over the past year. Besides, I've my life to live. I can wish for a whole slew of things, but lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, you know."

"Don't be too sure about that," Artemis hums, then blinks as several of the Twins descend from the roof. "Ah, the ladies are back on their feet again. Excuse me."

He bounds back into the living room. Gurio sighs, then blinks as Setsuna peeks into the kitchen. "Thanks for your help," she soundlessly mouths to not attract attention.

"Anything for you, love," he mouths back, winking.

Setsuna grins as she returns to sit beside Yuki. "Feeling better?" Luna wonders as Nona sits beside Usagi and Mamoru.

"Not a hundred percent, but we're ready for a fight if a new one starts up," Nona sighs, then rubs the bridge of her nose.

"Aren't you scared?" Usagi wonders.

Nona gazes at her. "Of dying? We all die sooner or later, sis. Even you and the others here'll pass on one of these days. What's the use of being scared of something you can't avoid?" She then lays back. "All I care about is the way I die...and making sure my dad's gone before I die!!" she growls.

Usagi shudders. She couldn't begin to imagine hating either of her parents so much that she would want to kill them on sight. Sure, they always went after her when she wanted to have fun instead of dealing with her responsibilities, but that was just being Mom and Dad. She loved them, she would protect them and she would always stay in touch even when she and Mamoru married and began the march to create Crystal Tokyo.

But Nona's father had torn her life apart without caring one bit about what she wanted, killed her mother and tried to enslave nine other innocent women into becoming weapons to kill the Sailor Senshi. Whatever could possess someone to do THAT to their own flesh-and-blood? Was Daisuke Tsuruga THAT evil or was whoever he was working for controlling him somehow? Usagi dreaded learning the answer even though such a confrontation would come soon.

By then, Junko emerges from her bedroom, dressed in a pair of fashionable slacks and a button shirt with ascot. "Hey, Minako-chan, you all set?!"

"Eh?!" Minako blinks surprisedly.

"Six-thirty? Capitol Theatre, remember?!" Junko nods to a wall-clock now stating 5:45 PM.

"Oh, jeez!!" Minako blushes as she follows Junko to the door. "Forgot all about that! See you later, guys!!"

The door slams shut before anyone could reply. "How could they think of a date at a time like this?!" Rei wonders.

"Relax, Rei, we need the break," Usagi sighs. "Let them go have fun. After the bunch of daemons we killed today...how many was it again...?!"

"Thirty-two by my count," Matsuri muses.

"Thanks, Matsu-chan...I think whoever's after us might want to take stock of what she has left before lashing out again."

"Well, maybe we can use the chance to have fun!" Tsuyako stretches herself, then gazes at Haruka and Michiru. "Ne, would you two care to join Nareta-chan and I for a double-date?"

"We've love to!" Michiru exchanges smiles with her silver-haired sister Nareta Osoi, before looking at her life-mate. "What do you think, Haruka?"

"Sure, why not?" Haruka smiles. "There's that new Greek restaurant down in Shinjiku we've always wanted to try."

"I haven't had Greek since before I became a cyborg!" Nareta beams. "Anyone else interested?"

The others respond negatively as people begin to pair up. Gurio walks out to stand beside Setsuna. "So, Setsu-chan," he gently grasps her hand. "WHEN will we go tonight?"

"Hmmm...how about Philadelphia?!" Setsuna muses. "Say around the time of the Declaration of Independence."

"Nothing interesting happened then," Gurio shrugs. "How about the sacking of Rome by Alaric?! That sounds interesting!"

"I like his style for a raider," Setsuna hums. "Standing there making the senators sweat, vowing that he would sweep the city of gold, silver, valuables and slaves!"

"'What does that leave us?!'" Gurio imitates a Roman senator on that bleak day in 410 A.D.

"'Your lives,'" Setsuna parrots Alaric's immortal words.

Everyone gapes in disbelief at them, stunned that two people like Gurio Umino and Setsuna Meiou would be a couple. "Setsuna-chan, are you sick?!!" Michiru races over to take her friend's temperature as Haruka checks her pulse and Hotaru does reflexes.

"Cut it out!!" Setsuna yanks her arms and legs away. "Can't anyone have a little fun around here?!"

"Anyone is NOT you, Setsuna!" Haruka asserts. "Whatever happened to Miss Ultra-Responsible?!"

"Just because I'm a guardian of Time doesn't mean I can't have fun every once in a hundred years!" Setsuna snorts, then wraps an arm around Gurio's. "Besides, Gurio-kun here has such NICE dreams about me! Let's go, love!!"

"Hai, Ojou-sama!" Gurio beams as they head out.

"My sister, the Spinster of Time!" Yuki hums. "Never thought she had it in her!!"

"***I'M NOT OLD, YUKI!!!!***" Setsuna screams from outside.

"Neither did we!" Usagi muses to herself.

As the others begin to disperse, Makoto sighs, then moves to leave when she sees Katsura standing there, looking somewhat alone. "Are you okay, Katsura?" Makoto wonders.

"Well, I...I was wondering if you were busy tonight," Katsura feels her cheeks heat.

"Me?!" Makoto blinks, then shrugs. "N-no, not really! Um, what do you want to do?"

"Hit the shopping mall and see what's been fixed up, maybe do some shopping, then go eat..." Katsura shrugs.

"Sure, no problem," Makoto nods, slipping an arm around the raven-haired cyborg's, then they depart.

Soon, all that's left is Yuki and Sakebu. "Well, now that we've got the house to ourselves, what do we do?" the latter gazes at the former, a suggestive smile curling her lips.

"Well..." Yuki muses, then sighs. "Come in, Nokoko-san."

"You were expecting me?" Nokoko Moroboshi steps in from the balcony, Nicole beside her...

* * *

To be continued...