As We Were

by VO1

rated R for language, sexual situations, and enormous amounts of underage alcoholic consumption

11. 11

Part 11..im still going


Upon completion: Oh lord i will be the first to admit this part absolutely
sucks. I don't know what i was thinking; all i can say is that this is
total filler and i'm stuck in a creative rut...even with heavy editing
it still sucks. It's totally melodramatic in some places, unbearable shallow
in others...i apologize in advance. I just want to write the ending, dammit!
Not the precursor to the ending!
The Beryl part might be (will be) a little confusing, but bear with me here.
I do have a point, really.
Ugh, here we go: on with the total sap. Please flame me. Venusorbit1@aol.com

i do not own sailor moon.

*****************************************************************************
* * * * * * * * * * *

Darien slung one leg onto the coffee table and frantically tapped
the controller's buttons, desperately attempting to give his running
back a speed burst before he was completely pummeled. "Come on, run,
you piece of shit!" The speed burst came a second too late, and the
player went down in a burst of animated glory. Matt's Giants performed
a choreographed victory dance on the sidelines.
"Nice hustle, Chiba," Matt cracked his knuckles. "If I want a challenge
next time, I'll play Artemis. And he doesn't even have any thumbs."
"You ARE an asshole, Matt," Darien muttered. Matt held out the plastic
jug of Sunny Delight, and he accepted and took a swig. They were planted on
the couch in front of the TV, ignoring last night's incredible mess that
surrounded the island of a couch like an ocean. Approximately 400 red plastic
party cups covered the floor like new-fallen snow, and not all had been thrown
on the carpet completely empty, thus the squishy, sodden carpet. A strange,
acrid odor hung around the kitchen, youma or pot, most likely the latter,
and one's shoes stuck to the beer-and-dirt glue layered on the linoleum. Darien
had woken up smelling like a homeless alcoholic with a bad case of halitosis.
After showering, he had borrowed a change of clothes from Matt, whose wardrobe
took up the majority of the closet that he disproportionately shared with Jay,
and had used the red toothbrush, whoever's that was.
Darien's Broncos trotted off the field, heads hung in defeat. "I would
have had that in the bag if the speed burst worked."
"You're blaming the speed burst? Maybe you're just too damn slow." Matt
yawned. "What time does the game start again?"
"Two. We have a good hour or so before we have to leave."
Kevin appeared from the hallway, clad only in a pair of shorts and his tattoo.
His eyes were glassy. "What the hell happened in here?" He kicked a pile of plastic
cups out of his path to the couch.
"If you didn't drink so much you would have remembered," Matt replied, jerking
the controller sideways as he spun away from Darien's tackle. Kevin plopped heavily
next to Darien, groaning.
"I could easily sleep for another five hours." He leaned his head against the
back of the couch and picked up the Sunny D. "Don't we have any cups?"
"Sure, we got tons, just look on the floor."
"I play winner."
"That's going to be...me! Yes!" Darien smacked an incredulous Matt in the
back of the head. "Didn't see that opening, huh?"
"I did," Kevin announced. He pulled the controller out of Matt's hands.
"You're a disgrace, Matt; you let some Japanese kid who's probably never even seen
a single Super Bowl beat you at football."
Matt shook a pack of Camels on the coffee table and was satisfied with the
telltale rattle of a lone cigarette bouncing off of the cardboard interior.
"I hope he beats your hungover ass, Kev. Hey, Darien."
"Huh?"
Matt flicked his lighter and lit up. "Don't you think it's weird that all of
you are from Japan, and you're all Caucasian? Did you live in like, Little
America or something?"
He thought about it, probably for the first time in his life, and tried
to lay the pieces together. "I never really thought about it. I know that
Mina's parents are from England, because she has dual citizenship, and Lita's
parents were in the military. I think they were American, but I'm not sure;
she was born in Japan. Serena's parents were descendants of missionaries, and
I don't know about Raye and Amy. Raye's mother must have been at least part
Japanese, because her grandfather is one hundred percent Asian."
"What about you?" Kevin's 49ers were already fourteen points up, and only
four minutes had clicked by on the clock.
Unnoticed by the other two, Darien suddenly clenched the controller so
tightly that his entire hand turned white. "I don't know. I don't think anyone
did."
They were silent for a few minutes, the only sound in the room being John
Madden's voice as he provided the commentary. Matt ashed his cigarette onto the
floor. "Who's going to clean up this place? Jay would be shitting himself if
he could see this." Contrary to popular believe, Jay was the anal neat freak
of the house, despite being so laid back he was practically prone. He stored
his collection of Mr. Clean, Fantastik, and sponges in assorted shapes and
sizes under the kitchen sink. Kevin grunted.
"Why don't you just ash on the floor and make it worse?"
Matt extended his arm and exaggeratedly flicked his ashes on the floor.
"Like this?"
"Keep doing that, Matt."
"When did you start caring? It's bad enough that my mother's hounding my
ass, telling me that I'm going to die of emphysema."
Darien was silent for a few minutes. "Actually, you won't."
"Yeah, I'm sure, because Camels go down SMOOTH, and don't leave a layer
of tar on the inside of your lungs like other brands." He exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Do they even know? Should I tell them? Dammit I wish Luna were here!
She's so much better at dropping A-bombs than I am! "No, you won't, because
you're not going to die for a very long time."
"Are you kidding? With my lungs and liver, I'll be lucky to see seventy."
"No!" His voice was much more insistent, and both of his Generals gave
him a strange look. "What I mean is, well, since the...Let me put it this way.
If you have the same physiology as the Senshi, which I'm almost positive you
do, your lifespan is dramatically increased. In fact, you should stop aging
soon."
Matt paused. "So, when you say dramatically increased, you mean I'm
going to see a hundred, and look like I'm twenty?"
"I mean you're going to see five hundred and look like you're twenty."
The two guys to either side of him ceased movement and breathing,
allowing Darien the opportunity to easily score a touchdown. He was used
to the news already, but at the same time he could remember how he felt when
Luna had pronounced him practically immortal. "You could still die thought,
so don't get any ideas. When Luna told me, I was about to join the Air Force
or something, just as long as it involved risk..."
Matt held out his cigarette and smiled. "So you mean, I beat cancer?"
"Guess so."
"HAH! Screw you, nicotine, I won!" He took several victorious puffs in
succession and blew it right in Darien's face. "I beat cancer! I beat cancer!"
Kevin had stopped controlling his players, and was oblivious to the fact
that Darien was utilizing his temporary advantage to score several times in a
row, once on a 99-yard punt return. His face paled to the color of dead ashes
as his mind trekked several steps into the future, exploring the outcomes
instead of blindly celebrating the current situation, as Matt was, bouncing on
the couch like a two-year old who just drank a gallon of Jolt. "We're going
to outlive our families, aren't we?" he said hollowly. "We're going to
outlive everyone."
Darien successfully went in for the extra two. "OK, I know where this
is going, and I'm not even going to try to explain the shit that's going to
go down. I'll have Luna and Artemis give you the big 'Why You Should not
Drop out of School and Bum Around Europe just Because You Are Going to Live
to be a Thousand Speech.' They'll clear up all the shit for you; I'm still
dealing with it myself."
"A thousand? I thought you said five hundred!" Now Matt had a trace
of panic in his voice, and Darien wondered why he had opened his mouth in
the first place.
"Hey, it could be anything, not just a round number, all right? Forget
I said anything in the first place, OK? You are going to die of cancer."
"But you said-"
"You'll die in the next ten minutes if you don't shut up!"
Matt rattled a few empty packs on the table, desperate for another
smoke. "OK, we'll talk about it later. I'm just going with the presumption
that I'm going to die in the next ten years." He found a pack with three
left. "And I was going to quit, too. Oh well."
Kevin squinted at the box score in the corner, disbelieving his eyes.
"Wait, what's the score?"
"Thirty six to fourteen," Darien mumbled.
"You scored on me when I was zoned out, you asshole!"
"Like you wouldn't do the same!" Darien countered, his eyes ablaze.
Kevin's face cracked into a grin.
"You ARE an asshole, Chiba. Too bad you can't beat me on your own."
They settled back into their game, only breaking the comfortable silence
with muttered curses, mutual insults, and an excess of macho taunting.
Guy shit.

* * * * * * * * * *

The stands let out a communal "OOOH!" as the barely visible ball
sailed over the second baseman's outstretched glove by a good foot or so,
landing and bouncing in the outfield, allowing the runner who was stealing
second to go ahead to third. Bryce's team manager jumped out of the dugout,
swelling up like a water balloon stretched over a faucet, and began screaming
at the hapless catcher who had overthrown. Serena slapped her hand over
her forehead and groaned.
"Oh my God, Jay is having the worst game of his life!" She moaned
dramatically, unaware that Jay's worst game of his life occurred in his first
year of Little League when he ran the bases backwards and then cried. She
was pretty close though; Jay was having a terrible game.
"I wonder why," Raye mumbled, staring down at her hot dog and blushing
a peculiar shade of red. She turned her attention back to Jay, who was
putting his mask back on and looking particularly disgusted with himself.
Her heartstrings were not merely pulled, but nearly ripped from her body in
one long piece. Oh, he looks so sad! I wish I could go down there and
hug him or something! And he really looks cute in all that catcher
padding-gear-stuff! And the tight pants! She shook her head. When did
I start thinking like Serena?
"He's just having an off-day," Mina explaining, leaning back in her
seat and yawning. "I used to have those when I played volleyball." She
pulled on her gray DZ sweatshirt. "Why is it getting so cold?"
"Why are you so tired?" Lita was sitting on her opposite side,
curling one of her long fingers around a shiny brown curl. She was having
a particularly good hair day, if she did say so herself. Where the
hell is Matt? He said he'd be here, and want him to see my hair while
it still looks good!
"Why are you so preoccupied with your hair?"
"Why do you ask so many questions?"
"Stop it, you two." Amy's eyes were glued to the bullpen, where
Zach was warming up. Her mind felt fuzzy and disconnected, as emotion
was invading the stronghold that reason had over her brain. The previous
night was stuck in replay, no matter what she tried to distract herself
with. She thought of the warm comfort of waking up in his arms, the way
he pulled her close and kissed her, how the bed smelled like him after
he left. She had curled up on that spot and laid there for a good hour
or so, tracing the crease in the pillow that his head had left behind.
"WATCH OUT!" The shouted warning snapped Amy out of her daydream,
and a hand shot out a foot from her face and snagged the foul ball before
it had a chance to smash into her face and break her nose. The crowd
clapped politely at Lita's one handed catch, oblivious to Amy, who was
hyperventilating in shock. "Whoa, where's your mind, Amy? You should
have seen that one coming."
"I-I was..." She didn't even know what to say, and to her horror,
her face turned hot and she blushed. "I'm sorry, Lita, I really should
be paying attention."
All four of her friends were staring at her like she had suddenly
sprouted an extra head or something. "What? What's the matter?"
Mina and Serena dissolved into giggles, and Raye leaned in so far
she was practically resting her head on Amy's shoulder. "You did, didn't
you?"
"What are you talking about?"
Raye ripped open a pack of mustard with her canines and squeezed it on
her hot dog. "You know, it! The only it worth talking about!"
"Oh, that it," she said softly. "Yeah, that it."
Serena squealed. "Oh my lord Amy why didn't you tell us? How was it?"
Amy wanted to crawl under the stands and die. Oh my God what do I
say? She stammered incoherently for a few minutes before coming out
with, "Fine."
Raye snickered. "You're not supposed to say 'fine,' Ames, it's supposed
to be, 'mind-blowing.'"
Amy covered her face with both of her hands. "I can't believe you
guys! We're not supposed to talk about this!"
Lita licked her fingertips and pressed them against a lock of hair.
"Why not, Amy? It's perfectly natural and you shouldn't be embarrassed
about it! Take Raye, for example. She definitely got laid last night,
otherwise Jay wouldn't be playing so badly."
Raye's eyes widened as she choked on a mouthful of bun, and she
reached over and punched Lita in the arm. "Oh, so what about you? You're
sitting here preening like Miss America!"
Mina yawned again, nearly cracking her jaw in half. "Who wants
to go for a coffee run?" she asked over the squabbling of the two girls.
Serena burst into a grin. "AWW! This is hysterical! Amy's all
distracted, Lita's all into her appearance, Mina's all tired and Raye
messed up Jay's game. It couldn't be more perfect!" She felt a tugging
on her pant leg. "Oh, hi Luna! Hi Artemis!"
"What's all this fuss about?" Luna whispered, curling her body
around Serena's feet.
"Nothing," all five girls said in chorus, all suddenly preoccupied
with various points around the stadium.
"How's the game going?" Artemis poked up his head as much as he could
without being detected.
"Bryce is losing, thanks to Jay and his sucky performance." Lita
ran both hands through her hair and swiveled around to check the stands.
"That bad? I wonder what happened?" Luna didn't notice how red
Raye's face was.
"Couldn't tell you," she muttered, pulling several strands of black
hair out of the mustard pool on her hot dog. "Aw, gross."
Another foul ball came pinging towards the stands, to the girls'
right, and was caught by a tall, dark haired guy heading down the stands
to the front. The crowd applauded again as he threw it back onto the
field.
"Darien!" Serena chirped, standing up and waving. Artemis tried
to see around Mina's legs.
"They're late; it's already the third inning."
Lita shrugged. "It's not like they missed much. Baseball's not the
most action-packed sport there is; they don't even have a shot-clock."
She smiled at Matt as he sat behind her and kissed the top of her head.
"You look great," he mumbled low enough so his friends wouldn't
hear. She beamed. Hell yeah, he noticed my hair!
Kevin slid in next to Mina. She let her head drop onto his shoulder.
"Hi," she mumbled with her eyes closed, inhaling the scent on his neck.
He had obviously shaved; his face smelled like Edge shave gel.
"Tired?"
"Yeah," she said with her eyes closed. "You?"
"Yeah."
Darien checked the scoreboard. "Two errors already? Who's been
screwing up?"
Serena sighed heavily and smiled, like a small child giving up a
big secret. "Jay. Both are on him."
That animated the lethargic Kevin for a few seconds. "Both of them?
Oh my God, he should be hanging his head in shame." Behind his head, Matt
elbowed Darien and pointed at Raye. They both smirked.
"Oh he's way beyond hanging his head in shame," Serena supplied.
"He's moved on to 'slinking off the field with his tail between his legs
and paper bag over his face.'"
"Speaking of tail..." was all Matt got out before Lita elbowed him
in the solar plexus, knocking all available oxygen out of his lungs,
eradicating his next comment into silence.
"Hey, Luna." Luna padded behind legs to get to Darien. "I need your
help later," he whispered.
"Why, what's the matter Darien?" she said in the same hushed tone.
Darien swallowed.
"I kind of let it slip to the guys that they're going to, you know,"
he stalled. "Live forever."
Luna gasped, an automatic response these days. "Darien, you didn't!
Did you fully explain the conditions and consequences surrounding the
entire issue..."
"No, I just kind of told them to talk to you later."
"Oh dear lord," Luna huffed. How do I even put up with this? I keep
forgetting that they're just a bunch of kids and have no idea of what they
are doing. "All right, don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'm used to
doing damage control already."
Artemis had been listening in. "No wonder Jay's having such a bad game;
he has all this on his mind."
Serena interrupted loudly. "No, I think it's because he had sex with Raye
last night."
Raye had never turned so red so fast, and she cracked Serena on the
arm with enough force to make the other girl yelp. Everyone but the cats
and Kevin burst out laughing. Luna fumed while Artemis flushed, and Kevin
simply smiled. "Serena!" Raye hissed venom. "Shut...UP!"
"It's OK, Raye," Matt smirked. "Everyone has sex. I had-ouch! I'm
sorry!"
"You'd better be." Now Lita was turning red. Raye sat with her face
in her hands.
Luna cleared her throat, trying to restore order. "I think we should
have a meeting tonight, all of us, and try figure out what the Negaverse is
up to, and what they're going to do next."
"And why the hell they trashed Graduate Ave.," Lita muttered, automatically
cracking her knuckles.
"OK, be at our place tonight," Matt offered. "We'll get some food, play
some cards, drink some beer..." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, despite
the glare Lita was throwing him, and began patting his pockets for a lighter.
"And find out what the hell's going on. I don't know about you guys, but
I have a little score to settle with that Zoycite guy. The little fuck
almost took off my head last night...where the hell is my lighter? Kev,
help me out."
Kevin rewound the scene in his head. "It's on the kitchen table back
home. You never put it back in your pocket."
"Oh, G-damn," he muttered. "What am I supposed to do now, rub two
sticks together?"
"How 'bout you go two hours without a cigarette?" Lita said dryly.
Raye swiveled around in her seat to make sure no one was watching,
and then turned around and faced Matt. "Here," she said, cupping her hands
together. A small flame sprung in the pocket between them, and Matt leaned
over and lit his cigarette off of it.
"Thanks. Hey, you're even windproof." He smiled. "A human Zippo."
"Well, we'll see you later," Artemis said, rubbing his head against
Mina's legs one more time.
"You're not staying?" Serena asked. Luna raised her head and
looked out at the field.
"We're losing anyway," she pronounced, jumping down the crack and
landing underneath the stands. "See you tonight. Good bye."
"Bye," they chorused as Artemis's tail disappeared from view.
"Strike three!" the umpire called. Jay slammed his bat against
the ground in frustration.
"Oh, man, this is getting painful," Darien moaned. Raye wrung her
hands.
"Don't worry baby, just focus," she whispered.
Meanwhile, Luna and Artemis were making their way out from underneath
the stadium. "Artemis?" Luna picked her way around the garbage that the
stadium crew had obviously not gotten to in over a year.
"Over here," came the response. Artemis had stepped in a half-eaten
cotton candy, and was trying to pull the sticky pink sugar off of his paws
without it getting ground into his fur. "Ugh, this stuff is so sticky! How
can humans eat this; it's nothing more than sugar and dye."
"That's probably why they like it," Luna explained. Her voice softened.
"Artemis, did you hear what the girls said up there?"
Artemis used his mouth to pull at the confection, and ended up with
it all over his face. "About what?"
"About...it, you know." Her kitty face fell a little into a
weary, nostalgic expression, the expression a mother gets when she
sends her baby away to college. "I keep forgetting that they're not
little girls anymore; they're almost all grown up. When they graduated
from high school, I thought, there, that's it, they're going to leave
and I'll have to accept the fact that they're growing up, but we came
with them, Artemis. I've never been away from them until now, because
now they're all..."
"Falling in love?" Artemis said from around a mouthful of pink sugar.
"Yes."
Artemis rolled on his back, still attempting to pick off the
epoxy-like fluff. Rather than sigh with exasperation or chastise him,
Luna padded over and began assisting him. "Luna, how do you think I feel?
Minako-when I first found her she was only thirteen. Still in a training
bra, still collecting dolls, still losing baby teeth, even. She was so
innocent and carefree; all she cared about was dressing up and making all
those movies so that people would ask for her autograph in airports and
shopping malls. I was the one that had to break it to her that her childhood
as she knew it was over. I had to take that childhood away from her, to
make her train and fight and give up those dolls and volleyballs and boys.
And I was with her when she moved back to Japan, when she had to
look for the Moon Princess. She was at the height of her insecurity then."
"I know what that's like," Luna chuckled. "Sailor Moon used to
crumble into tears every time she faced a youma."
He swatted at more cotton candy. "I watched her grow up, Luna. I
watched her shoot up nine inches and three cup sizes, and I watched as
she grew older and more beautiful. Soon she was flying off to London and
Paris and wherever else they wanted her so they could dress her up and
take pictures of her for their own profit.
The next thing I know, my innocent little girl, the little girl
that used to sleep with me under my arm like a teddy bear, she's gone.
When she looks at him, I know what she's thinking. I know what he's
thinking; I know what he wants. He looks at her that way, and I can't
believe he's thinking THAT about my little girl." Boiled to the point
of frustration, he let out a strangled cry and started frantically
scratching at the cotton candy plastered to his face.
Luna stopped him gently before he hurt himself. Above them, a baseball
pinged off of an aluminum bat and the crowd started cheering. "Kunzite
wouldn't hurt her; he loves her," she said, trying to assuage her own
feelings by rationalizing the situation.
"I know that Luna." His voice was drowned to a whisper. "It still hurts
somehow; I mean, I couldn't expect her to be alone her entire life, but-but
I just wonder where my place is going to be, if her place is with him."
Luna bent her head down and pressed her forehead against his. "Your
place, Artemis, is with me."
They sat quietly for a few moments, rubbing their heads together
since, by simple biology, cats cannot kiss. "I love you," Luna murmured
into the white fur on the back of his neck, which promptly stood up at her
declaration. "Let's go back to Darien's; I think I've found out where he
keeps the catnip. And I can give you a bath, you're covered in sugar."
Artemis purred. He jumped up, dirt and debris sticking to the tacky
parts of his fur. "Is that a promise?"
Luna giggled in a way that was very unlike her. "Perhaps." She shook
her head to get any loose dirt out; the tags that Darien made her wear
jingling like bells. Artemis turned and trotted out into the sunlight, looking
back and laughing at the sight of his beloved shaking her head like a common
canine. He was halfway turned when he slammed into someone or something, most
likely a someone, since the path had been clear mere seconds ago.
He automatically meowed, just a normal housecat who happened to
escape the backyard.

* * * * * * * * * *

Darien juggled the two unwieldy paper bags as he tried to kick
open the front door of the building, obviously designed by an idiotic
architect who had it swing outward instead of inward and screwed multitudes
of grocery shoppers who returned home with their arms full of bags.
"Stupid...friggin'..." He really couldn't think of an obscenity big enough.
"I got it, don't drop those," Matt warned as he got in front of
Darien and pulled open the door. "Huh," he said as soon as they got
into the door. "Wonder why Zach or Jay didn't get the mail; they're home
already."
"Beats the hell out of me. Would you please get it instead of talking
about it? My arms are about to break."
Matt pulled his keychain out and stuck a key into the mailbox.
"Darien, will you take a shit or something? You're being all uptight and
Kunzite-ish." He pulled out the stack of mail, a thick pack of envelopes
and a magazine. "This must be from yesterday."
"Sorry," Darien apologized, even though he wasn't the least bit sorry.
He's the one who gets to carry food in a little, convenient, lightweight
bag with HANDLES.
Jay was moping on the couch when they got to the apartment. "If either
of you says one word, I swear to God I will take you outside and beat you
like a red-headed stepchild. I'm really not in the mood." And he wasn't.
"VH1" was the channel of choice on the television, and he hadn't even
bothered to change it.
Zach emerged from bathroom, scarily armed with a long, medieval-looking
sword that appeared equally scarily sharp. "Hey, look what I found!" He
began rotating it around with both hands, the blade hissing every time it
severed more air.
"Where the hell did you get that from?" Matt nearly fell over in
shock when he spotted his friend whipping around the very lethal weapon.
"He pulled it out of thin air," Jay explained lackadaisically, still
simmering in his morose. "I can too, see?" He held out his hand and turned
it over quickly, like he was dropping something. Another sword appeared,
handle first, swinging in his hand. He flicked his arm again and it disappeared.
"It's in the same place we keep our gloves. You and Kevin probably have
them too." He never took his eyes off of the screen.
Matt touched the place that existed between the world and his mind, the place
where his gloves were kept; the stupid, butler-like white gloves that would
transform him into Nephrite. Why was he only halfway surprised to find it
there? The feel of the handle in his grip, the heft of it despite it's light
appearance; it was all second nature again. I remember this. It's coming
back to me. Snippets of the Silver Millennium were leaking through again:
training for hours a day, weeks on end, year after year. Jadeite was the
switch-hitter; he could fight with either hand just like he could bat both
sides, and was likely to switch several times during a fight just to mess
you up. Kunzite was hard to fight, not only because he was good, undoubtedly
better than the rest of them, but also because he could only fight left,
screwing up your entire dynamic. Endymion was the quickest; Nephrite of Old
had a scar on his shoulder where his prince had once nicked him during
practice.
The novelty had obviously worn off for Zach; he was now more interested
in the bag of food than the thousand-year old relic that he had only recently
discovered.
"Oh cool, did you get Fresno's?" He took the bag out of Matt's free
hand and began unloading its contents onto the kitchen table. "What's in the
bag?"
"Smirnoff," Matt said absently, putting away his sword and turning
his attention to the mail. He ripped open the top envelope. "Maybe for
tonight, I'm not sure."
"Good, I seriously need a drink. Where's Kev?"
"Parking the car." No sooner were the words out of Darien's mouth
when Kevin came through the front door, a 30-pack of Coors Light effortlessly
balanced on his shoulder.
"Beer's here."
"Give me one," Jay grouched. "Where's Raye?" He was talking in
caveman-mode.
"Coming down. They had to stop at their dorm for something. Why are
you watching 'Behind the Music with Poison'?"
"Get bent."
Zach was sawing his cheesesteak in half with his sword. Kevin remained
unruffled. "Oh, you found it."
"Yep."
"I don't think that's what it was intended for."
"It's metal, sharp, and can cut cheesesteaks. That's all I care
about."
"Wait," Jay popped open his can. "How did you know they existed?
Zach and I only found ours when we got home."
"I found mine a while ago. I didn't want to say anything because,
you know, I thought that I was the only one allowed to-"
Darien saw his opportunity, and pounced. "You thought you were
the only one capable of a sword!"
"No, I-"
"Yeah you did," Zach laughed, slicing Darien's cheesesteak for
him, despite the fact that there was a very available drawer full of very
clean steak knives very nearby. "You are full of yourself, Kev."
Matt held up a blue and white envelope. "Water bill! Fork it over,
you guys."
They all groaned, Jay the loudest of all. "Spot me, won't you buddy?"
"Hell no! I paid to get the boot off of MY car that YOU illegally
parked last month, probably the last five cover charges to penny night at
Dominic's, and the food that you're currently eating."
"This sucks," Zach muttered, wandering into his room and emerging
with a handful of bills. "I was going to take Amy out, too. If only someone
would stop the cavalier flushing going on in this place..."
"Zach, if you think I'm sticking to your Nazi-like flushing regime,
you... Hey, wow, I'd like to throw her a shot..." Realization dawned, and
Matt stopped talking mid-sentence. The water bill, along with the rest of
the mail, fluttered to the floor like dead leaves.
"What is it?" Darien asked, suddenly curious. Matt's jaw popped open
and shut with no sound coming out. Jay was suddenly interested.
"Yeah what is it? You win Publisher's Clearing House or something?"
Kevin was in the kitchen while this dialogue took place, tying off the
neck of the completely filled garbage can. "Damn, we're out of bags. I'll go
see if Musto has any..." As he turned around, Matt slammed the magazine
against his chest. If he could have looked any guiltier, twelve in the box
would have convicted him before they heard a lick of evidence. Kevin's eyes
narrowed.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing?" Matt gulped. "OK, I lied, SOMETHING, but it's really not a
big deal."
"Give it to me."
"No!"
Kevin advanced; Matt flipped the publication like a Frisbee to Zach,
who deftly plucked it out of the air. His green eyes widened in shock. "Kev,
don't shoot the messenger, OK?" He threw it at Darien, who instinctively caught
it, despite the warning bells going off in his head.
He was slammed against the floor as Kevin unceremoniously tackled him
and pried the magazine out of his death grip. One look at the cover almost sent
him into cardiac arrest.
What Matt had been trying to keep from Kevin was the latest copy of Maxim.
A girl graced the cover, her blond hair falling in thick, tousled waves around
her angelic face. Her blue eyes were only half-open, heavily shadowed gray and
black, her lips lightly glossed. She wore an obscenely tight, button-down white
shirt, only one of the buttons near the bottom actually buttoned, both of her
breasts sans nipples exposed. It must have been held in place with double-sided
Scotch tape, or Elmer's glue, or some kind of adhesive since it looked as if she
took a mere breath, it would shift and she would be naked from the waist up. Her
tiny black underwear probably covered more skin than the entire shirt. Hell,
her hair probably covers more. One hand rested lightly against her naked leg,
her dreamy eyes and half-smile practically screaming a single phrase.
"FUCK ME!"
Kevin was beyond speaking, or movement, or breath, or anything else that
required a part of the brain not including the medulla oblongata.
Zach sucked in his breath, ready for the worst, and held up his sword with
both hands.
With much effort, Jay pried himself from the couch and peered around Kevin's arm.
Uh-oh. The shit is gonna hit the fan!
"Oh, come on Kevin, it's no big deal!" Matt was going in for some damage
control. "You should be proud! I mean, you're dating the Maxim girl! Do you know
how many guys want the Maxim girl?"
"Yes." His voice was ice and steel. Matt cringed. Oh crap wrong answer.
"Yeah, I mean, do you see Musto's girlfriend on the cover of any magazine
that doesn't have to do with porno?" Jay crossed his arms. "You're forgetting that
this is Mina's career, this is what she wants to do with her life, and if she
gets a break like this and is successful, good for her. You should be happy for
her instead of being all pissy that you can see everything but the pootie tang."
Kevin was silent. Darien cleared his throat. "I don't think that makes
him feel better, Jay."
"Why? He's being all bitchy about it when Mina didn't even know she was
getting the cover until the last minute."
Slowly, abysmally slowly, Kevin pried his eyes off of the glossy cover and
fixed his penetrating gaze onto his oldest and best friend. "You knew about this
beforehand?" His voice was like liquid nitrogen.
Jay saw his error and backpedaled. "NO! I mean, kind of, I just...Mina
didn't want you to know, OK? She thought you would freak out, and she was right
because you are, and she didn't want to get you upset, you see what I mean? I
wouldn't want you to know either if I knew you were going to be such a little
bitch about it.
So she's naked! Big deal! It's not like we've never seen naked girls before,
right? Hell, we get Skinamax!" A flash of a memory flew through his mind. "I saw
her naked once!"
They stood silent for a moment, remembering. "I did too," Matt admitted
weakly, fearing for his life. "But that was an accident! She was waiting for
you! Besides, it was a thousand years ago, anyway.
Come on, Kev, suck it up. It's no big deal."
"What if it was Lita?"
"I would be perfectly OK with it." Matt lied right through his flawlessly
capped front teeth. "Just deal with it. And besides, what can you realistically
do, buy every copy in the state of California?"
"Yes."
Someone pounded her fist against the door. Darien opened it. "Hey girls."
"Hello gorgeous!" Serena fell into his embrace. "Mmm, something smells
good! Who's got the food?"
"Me." Zach picked up a napkin and started wiping congealing cheese off
of his sword's blade. Amy peered at him curiously.
"Where did you get that?"
"Long story."
"Found 'em."
Kevin was waiting for someone. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"
Mina gave him a strange look. "Sure." They headed off to the bedroom;
Serena watched them leave with suspicion sprouting in her mind.
"What's going on?" She asked the room. Matt cleared his throat and handed
her the copy of the magazine. The girls crowded around and peeked over her
shoulders. The rest of the room watched as their eyes practically bulged
out of their heads and their jaws dropped.
"Oh," Serena squeaked.
"My," Amy supplied.
"God," Lita concluded. Her face clouded over. "Damn I hate that girl!
She's got such a tiny ass!"
Darien pulled a Coors out of the refrigerator and popped it open. "I
think that Kevin's less concerned about the state of her ass than the fact
that it is almost entirely on display for millions of horny servicemen and
scary recluses to enjoy."
"What are you talking about?" Amy, ever the stickler for details, opted
to clarify. "This picture is from the front, we can't even see her butt. Her
chest, however-"
"Uh, Ames," Serena said, holding the magazine open. "Scratch that." Inside,
Mina was leaning on the hood of a red car.
"OK," Lita started flipping pages. "Here she is on top of the car, and
here she is sitting on its hood, and..."
"Let me see." Jay elbowed his way in. "What?" he asked, off of the look of
Raye.
"You guys, relax, this is her job now," Raye sighed. "Did you ever see
pictures from her runway work? Sometimes you can see everything, and I mean
everything."
"We're not the ones freaking out about this, Kevin is. I guess it's different
when it's your girlfriend."
Raye crossed her arms. "And what difference does that make?"
"None, except that it proves that you know absolutely nothing about
guys."
"Whatever," Matt said. "Let's just eat some food and drink some beer, and celebrate
having our very own Maxim girl under our roof. Those two will work things out
and start grinding in no time, give them five or ten minutes." He snuck a glance
behind his back at the closed bedroom door. "I think that now that Kevin is
preoccupied with other matters, this is a prime opportunity to show the girls
the you-know tape."
Jay's expression remained blank for a minute, and then he broke into a
grin.
"Oh, you mean, YEAH! Let's do it!"
"What tape?" Serena asked innocuously, her mouth full of Kevin's
cheesesteak.
He's not here to enjoy it, so why shouldn't I?
Matt and Zach were already snickering. "Here, we'll show you," Zach
choked. Jay started rummaging through the video pile and stuffed a tape
in the dusty VCR's mouth.
"Wow, we haven't used this thing in like, forever. This all happened
last year, two nights after the football team beat USC."
"Behind the Music" blipped off and was replaced with the dim interior
of a bar. A stage was set up, with a drum set shoved towards the back, and
Kevin and another guy in front. Kevin seemed to be having one hell of a
time keeping himself standing, and was heavily supported on one side by
some guy. "That's Eddie, the tight end," Jay clarified. To the utter shock
and extreme horror of everyone present, and to the amusement of everyone
on screen, including the entire football team, Kevin was drunkenly mangling
his way through "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35."
"Oh my gosh!" Serena burst into hysterical giggles. "Look, everyone's
singing along!"
"How drunk was he?" Lita gasped through her laughter.
"This tape says it all. He could barely stand up." Jay was slowly
brightening as his horrific game retreated further and further into the
stream of time. "They were forcing everyone who was drunk enough to sing;
as soon as they dragged Kevin up I ran to this kid Brian Gordan's house
and got his camera. This is one moment in my life that I would never want
to forget."
"We were pushing for 'The Bum Bum Song,' but he wouldn't do it,"
Matt said.
Raye snorted. "This is priceless! God, I wish I was there!"
They let the carnage play on, the humiliation and amusement increasing
with every chorus. Fittingly, Zach blurted, "Speaking of stoned, why does
everyone smoke up in our place? The kitchen has been smelling like weed
for three months."


* * * * * * * * * * *

"What is...?" Mina managed to get her two words out before she was
interrupted.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She looked up at his eyes; they were like
stone.
"Tell you what?" She asked innocently. How could he know that I
used his razor? I mean, could he tell the difference between guy hair and
girl hair stuck in it or something? Or maybe it was because I used his toothbrush.
But I didn't even know if it was his; it might have been Matt's. Ew. I might
have had Matt's saliva and plaque cocktail in my mouth!
He stared at her, hard, intense. "That you were naked on the cover of
Maxim."
Her mouth dropped open as her mind searched for a suitable answer that
would lower the red cape from in front of the bull. "I was not naked!"
"Pretty close to it, then."
She pulled up her entire five-nine and a half frame, which, though tall
by average girl standards, still fell pitifully short of six and a half feet.
"I was practically glued into that shirt, thank you very much, so there was
absolutely no threat of me popping out! And that shoot was mild compared to
some of the stuff I have to wear on the runway. Have you seen Gaultier's
spring collection yet? Nothing but sheer mesh and transparent..."
"Please don't continue." Thank God the only guys that go to those
shows are gay.
She crossed her arms. "Why are you so upset? I thought you'd be happy
that I got this opportunity."
"I am, you know that...I just-"
"Just what?" Why am I getting mad? I was the one hiding it from
him in the first place.
He looked at a point over her head for a few moments, and then started
over. "Do you know what Matt said when he saw it? 'I'd like to fuck her.'"
"So, he probably didn't even know it was me! All he saw was a girl on a
magazine cover!"
"So did a lot of guys. In a lot of different states."
It dawned on her. "You're jealous!"
He shrugged. "How can I not be? Thousands of hard-up prisoners are
beating off while looking at my girl."
Mina was aghast. "Why are you worried about this? It's just a picture;
it's not me for Godsake! It's not like I'm cheating on you with thousands of
guys who sneak a look at the cover for four seconds in the middle of Borders!"
"You don't see it, do you?"
"I don't see it because I don't know what it is!"
Kevin hadn't shouted yet, and the way he kept his voice low and controlled had
more of an effect on Mina than if he had screamed in her face. "You don't
see the way people look at you. The way guys look at you when you pass them
by. And not just the frat dorks on this campus, I mean, all guys. Taxi drivers.
McDonald's employees. Dr. McGowen."
"Dr. McGowen does not look at me! He's...OLD! And...OLD!" A revelation
hit Kevin square between the eyes; Mina was fighting the way she always fought:
as slippery as the smarmiest defense lawyer. By bringing up half a million
other points, pretty soon he would forget what the initial argument was even
about. You always fell for it before, you dumbass!
"That's not the point."
"So?" Heat rushed to her face. "And what, girls don't look at you the
same way?"
"No they don't."
"Yes they do? And you know what they think? They're thinking, 'Hey, look
at that really stuck up bitch with that really hot guy! She doesn't even deserve
him!' I could be toothless, have a peg leg and be your friggin' cousin and girls
would still hate me! Girls hate each other so much it isn't even funny! Even
some of my sisters hate me, and I've never even done anything to any of them
except go out with you!"
"Are you saying that's a problem?" Mina noticeably flinched at his chilling
tone. She sighed and started over.
"No, what I'm saying is that it's different for you. Guys aren't
psycho-jealous like girls are. They see us together and just think that you're
incredibly lucky; they don't wish death upon you like some of the crazy double
X's around here." She was getting somewhere, she could tell, just by the way his
posture relaxed. "Oh, and take a look at Raye. Crazy Kristen wants to literally
kill her, well, she wants to kill the both of us, but I mean, Raye's never done
anything to her besides attract the majority of the attention that Kristen thinks
she should get from guys!" She sidled up to him and turned on the charm like a
faucet: all blazing smile and flirtatious tone. "Please don't get upset over this,
if I knew this would come between us I would have never done it." HA! This
will work! He always caves when I get all apologetic.
"Sure," he replied, complete with ceiling-glance. Oh yes I knew it! He's
not mad anymore! And he didn't even suspect that I used his razor!

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Oh, there's your head!" Amy said, pointing. Matt's head bobbed along
the bottom of the television.
"Yeah, that's me. I think I get up, like, four more times to go to the
bathroom, too."
"Try eight, Matt, you were pissing like a little bitch." Jay dodged the
empty beer can flung at him. Zach pried himself from the floor.
"Anyone want anything while I'm up?"
Darien shook his can. "Yeah, another Sprite."
"Could you get me a napkin?" Lita crumpled her last used one.
"How 'bout bringing me the ketchup?"
"Zach? Could you get me a fork?"
"Find my lighter, would you?"
Zach sighed as he fanned away the invisible pot cloud in the kitchen.
"I was expecting more like a communal 'No, Zach, why don't you take it easy?'
but I'm a fool to even think...hey we got messages." He punched the button on
the answering machine with a greasy finger.
"Who is it?"
"I don't know Jay, can I play it first? Who do I look like, Miss Cleo?"
The first message rolled out.
"Zachary, this is your grandmother-" Zach punched the fast forward button
quicker than a rattlesnake strikes.
"OK, that's enough of that!"
"Oh I don't think so!" Matt leapt up and ran into the kitchen. He
effortlessly checked Zach against the sink and pounded on the small black box.
The message resumed while Matt and Zach scuffled back and forth.
"I want you to call me back when you get home from your game to make sure
you're all right-"
"You dick, let go of me!"
"-and I want to make sure you're not drinking with those friends of yours! I
may be old but I'm far from stupit-"
Darien painfully stifled his laughter.
"-you're not old enuff, you know this! You should be studying, not
killing your brain with that poison-"
It went on for another five, fully agonizing minutes, the last three of them
agonizing over Zach's health, grades, emotional well-being and nutritional
intake. Finally, Nana ended with, "-and we have to talk about...family
izzues...so I'll expect to hear from you tonight. Goodbye."
Zach had taken the entire episode with a healthy dose of good nature,
but Nana's last sentence made his face pale. Raye stopped the verbal jab she
was about to make before it even hit the front of her throat. Only Jay opened
his mouth.
"Damn, I'm glad my apron strings are cut," he muttered. The machine
beeped and a new message started.
"Jason, this is your mother-" That was all it took for everyone to
explode into laughter.
"-it's been eight and a half years now and that dog of yours is still
chewing up my table legs! You promised to take care of it when you were home
and I don't see-"
"Please cut through this. I'm sick of my mother bitching about Ripken."
Matt hit the skip button. "If this is my mother now, I'm going to tweak."
Mrs. Haberman on the other end would have gladly been welcomed over the
voice that came through. A soft laugh, and then...
"Greetings, Generals." Amy gasped and clapped both hands over her mouth.
Lita dropped her full beer can and let it chug out onto the carpet. Darien
felt his entire esophagus from stomach to mouth squeeze together until his
breathing felt tight and restricted. Matt had a strange look on his face.
"Who is that?"
Raye sputtered. "What do you mean, who is that? It's Beryl, you tool!"
"What?" His jaw dropped. "You're kidding! How did she get our number?"
"The Negaverse Yellow Pages? I don't know!"
Beryl's voice continued. "Or should I say, Jason Melman? Kevin Belles?
How about Zachary Straub? Matthew Haberman? What a surprise it should be for
you four to hear my voice, hmm? I'm afraid Sailor Mercury forgot one little
piece of evidence to bury."
Amy's eyes widened as color ran from her face. Serena put an arm around
her and squeezed.
"And it was so easy to find where you lived. All it took was one abysmally
stupid little girl who would do anything for Jedite...even give up her pathetic
little life."
Jay sat back, stunned. "Oh no. Kristen."
"I was very lucky to find someone so obsessed with you, Jason. I believe
that she could have made a very willing companion, judging by the way she gave
herself to Jedite.
But that's another manner, really. What I'm here for is a bit more...
personal." The screen on the TV changed; Kevin and his intoxicated karaoke cut
to two very familiar cats, huddled together and shivering against a black stone
wall.
"No fucking way!" Serena supplied the screamed declaration, rare in her
swearing-mode.
"No harm will come to them, for know at least. I've decided to be a
little generous, and I'm giving you until tomorrow by sundown to deliver Sailor
Moon's crystal, and no harm will come to them. After that, I really can't make
any promises.
Oh, and if you do decided that life is tolerable without your little
guardians, and you decide not to take me up on my offer, then you leave me
no choice but to systematically burn down every dormitory and apartment
building on your campus, while the occupants are asleep, and unfortunately
while all the exits are sealed." The screen flickered again, and the scene
switched to a beige brick building, six floors high, with toxic black smoke
pouring out of every crack and leak, including several shattered windows.
"As you can see, I've given myself a little head start, just a few minutes
ago."
"Oh," Amy breathed, fumbling in her purse for her Palm Pilot.
"That's Krieger Hall!" Serena squeaked, transfixed by the swirling red
and blue lights from the fire trucks that virtually screamed emergency. "She
burned down Krieger Hall! I have friends there!"
The voice on the answering machine continued. "And after I'm finished
razing the university, I'm moving on to-let me see-42 Crescent Court in
Seattle, Washington? Then 639 Spring Street and 1011 Brader Drive, both in
Junta California. And then 54-8729 N. Cape St. in San Francisco. Zachary, I
understand your grandmother lives alone."
Zach's fists tightened into hammers; but there was nothing in front of
him that he wanted to or physically could hurt.
"And Kevin, I understand you have two little sisters, and Jason, you
have two older ones. They would make perfect gifts for my minions."
Jay stood up, infuriated, veins popping out in his forehead in neck,
trembling with unspeakable rage. "Touch them and I'll kill you, bitch!" Everyone
had forgotten that Beryl couldn't really hear any of them, and they were
screaming at an inanimate object, which was quite literally unproductive.
"That is my offer, gentlemen, take it or leave it. And, given the
circumstances, I doubt that you'll leave it." The machine beeped.
"End of message," it said, it's mechanical voice almost as chilling as
the recording it carried.
No one moved a muscle; no one breathed an ounce. Finally Darien inhaled.
"Matt, go get them." Matt jumped up and ran into the hallway without protest.
Jay slid forward, hit STOP on the VCR, and quickly flipped to a local channel.
Matt focused for a second, and the door wavered and shimmered away,
giving him a backstage pass to the action inside. Or rather, the inaction. He
burst in without knocking.
Mina and Kevin jumped slightly at his unannounced intrusion. "Matt, could
you give us a second-"
"Not now, Mina. We need you guys in here." The urgency in his voice
compelled them to follow without argument.
Zach was on the phone in the kitchen. "Please, Nana, don't argue with
me, please! Just tell Uncle Abe you have to stay with him tonight because
your heat or hot water or WHATEVER is on the fritz. Make something up then,
he's not going to care! No, I'm dead serious, Nana..."
"What's going on?" Kevin demanded. Raye was flitting to every window
like a honeybee collecting pollen, slapping slips of paper on the panes of
glass and mumbling under her breath. Amy wiped tears from her eyes as she
typed frenetically into her computer. Matt's hand shook as he tried to light
his cigarette.
"This is." Darien punched the answering machine with a little too much
rage; the black box almost upended with the force of his stab.
Mina's heart almost fell to the pit of her stomach as the recorded threat
was repeated. "How did she find us?" She hadn't meant to bark like a field
general, and Amy's eyes teared up again.
"I--I don't understand it! I replaced your student files with deceased
student files, blocked access to your real student files, switched the DMV
files-"
"It's a non-issue anyway, Mina." Raye stopped her activity and turned to
face her friend. "They got them somehow, and now they know who half of us are.
It's time for damage control."
In a move that "totally uncharacteristic" wouldn't even begin to describe,
Mina stormed over and got right in Raye's face. "Well Raye, somewhere along
the line someone screwed up, and NOW the Dark Kingdom has Luna and Artemis,
and NOW our asses are in a sling. The ball's in their court now, and I would
like to know just exactly when and where we lost possession."
Raye gave it right back. "Who gives a fuck! What good is it to sit around
and bitch when two of our friends, our GUARDIANS, are in serious trouble and
we have a whole twenty four hours to draw up a plan of attack and save them?"
"They don't even want them, don't you see that! They could give two
shits about the Guardians; what they want it the goddamn crystal! And if we
go into the Dark Kingdom bare-assed, we're not coming out of there!"
Raye's mouth flopped open. "Are you suggesting that we stand around
and LET them kill Luna and Artemis? Because if that's what your saying, O
fearless leader, I'm not having any of it."
Serena's mind opened like an ancient cavern. Fearless leader! I
know now!
"I'm not saying that, Raye. I'm saying they want to lure us in to
get the crystal-"
"So what if they get the crystal, Mina? So fucking what! If we stay
her and twiddle our thumbs and say, 'Oh well, we're keeping the crystal
safe, so everything's peachy keen,' they'll kill them! They'll kill their
families!" She pointed at the guys. "Why should we wait around and let them
ambush us?"
"Well what do you want me to do, huh? If Metallia has the crystal,
everyone's dead, do you understand this? Everyone! Everyone in the whole
goddamn world! Raye, we can't go into the Dark Kingdom unprepared, they're
waiting for us..."
Raye was quaking with rage. "If you think I'm staying here and
letting Luna and Artemis die because you're too overly cautious, you're
dead wrong. I'll go to get them myself."
Their bodies were pressed together, their faces inches apart, both
wearing an expression of unwavering resolution. "You will do no such
thing," Mina said softly, in another woman's voice. This conversation
has happened before; I know it...
Raye tilted her head; her eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you pulling
rank on me?" Her voice was more accusing than incredulous. The room held
its breath.
Mina's eyes widened momentarily, then relaxed as she made her
decision. "Yes."
Raye slapped her across the face, hard.
Lita and Matt were up in a second, showing themselves between the
two girls. Lita pinned Raye's arms to her sides, but she couldn't stop
the black-haired girl from spitting verbal fire. "I can't believe you, you
cold-hearted bitch! What the hell is wrong with you? Lita, let fucking go
of me!" She struggled in against Lita's forced bear hug.
Mina vainly tried to maneuver around Matt's body. "I'm taking that
as insubordination, Mars."
"Yeah, well take it and shove it up your goddamn ass! I can't
believe you're going to just STAND here and let them kill Artemis! For
the love of God he's your goddamn mentor, Mina! Nice way to fucking repay
him after all he's done for you!"
Raye's handprint was pasted across Mina's face in a red fan. She
stomped on Matt's foot, effectively breaking his hold on her elbows, and
whirled around, disappearing out of the front door, slamming it behind her.
Raye shouted after her.
"Come over here and-"
"STOP IT!" Serena had risen from her seat, and she screamed the command
with tears in her eyes in throat. The room stilled. "STOP it STOP fighting!"
They streamed freely down her face now, and she neither bothered to wipe
them off or stop their flow. "Can't you see this is what she wants: dissention
among ranks? We're in trouble this time, guys, and we need to pull together! We
can't fight like this or we're going to lose everything, and believe me, we
have everything to lose!"
"She's right," Darien said softly, not usually one to get in the middle
of chickfights lest he lose an eye or something. "We have to put our heads
together and come up with a plan, otherwise, we're getting nowhere.
We all want to save Luna and Artemis, we just have to think of a way
how. We can't give up the crystal, that would be suicide, but we can't let
them perish, either."
Kevin started towards the door, but Serena held out one shaking arm and
stopped him. "No, let me first. I have to talk to her." He nodded.
Raye shrugged out of Lita's hold. "God, Lita, why don't you just get me
in a headlock next time? You nearly broke my arms."
"Because you were about to go after Mina; you were going to break her
arms." Lita straightened out her shirt. "Don't get upset with her Raye, she's
just doing her job. Someone has to make the tough decisions and think of the
big picture, because you're obviously not."
"Big picture my ass," Raye mumbled, momentously and silently admitting
defeat. She slumped on the couch, stewing.
Darien noticed that Jay had been sitting in near silence during the
entire episode, a distraught look plastered across his normally sanguine mug.
He sat down next to him. "Hey, man, chill. We won't let them hurt your families.
They'll have to get through me and my endless supply of wussy roses first."
Jay smiled wanly at Darien's attempt to cheer him up. "I know, I'm not
worried about that-well, I am worried about that, but..." He swallowed. "Darien,
I didn't want her to die! I mean; I wanted her to quit bothering me and
following me around like a dog on a leash, but I-I didn't mean for her to die.
She wasn't evil, or a criminal or anything. She's still a person, and she
didn't deserve this. And it's because-" He had a hard time forming the words.
"It's because of me. She thought it was me."
"No," Darien said, shaking his head. "Jay, it's not your fault. You
didn't have anything to do with her getting killed."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"No I'm not!" Jay jumped, and Darien realized that he had inadvertently
shouted, just as Mina had unintentionally raised her voice with Amy. "You're
not responsible in any way for what happened to her. Don't forget whom we're
dealing with; the Dark Kingdom is notorious for playing dirty, and if it
wasn't her, they would have found someone else and extracted the information
from them. Kristen was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was an
accident."
Jay weakly smiled, trying to recapture a shred of his previous optimism.
"Did you have to say 'extracted' like that? Ex-TRACTED. They ex-TRACTED
information." He settled back, his eyes focused on nothing, his mind racing
with "what if's."
Darien watched him mope; finally the concept of consequence had been driven
into Jay's brain with a Craftsman power drill, and it would sit and hurt for
a while, of that he had no doubt. But the sting would lessen, little by little,
day by day, until only a scar remained.


Mina wiped her nose wetly against her sleeve as she sniffed, tears
running together in salty rills on her cheeks. Thank God I didn't wear
any makeup, it would be all over the place. She heaved a sigh and stared
back up at the sky, which was just starting to dim into a grayish watery blue,
punctuated with the chalky moon, a white crayon circle pressed onto ancient
grade-school construction paper. The breeze blew her hair out from her temples;
she could smell a hint burnt-dorm smoke in the air.
She was surprised that Raye hadn't spit in her face in her rage; she
wouldn't put it past the loaded gun that was her best friend. Raye was right;
how could she even think of leaving Artemis to fend for himself in the Dark
Kingdom? Beryl had looked for a trump card, and she had found it, big time.
We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't. She was right too,
of course. It would be suicide to barge in unprepared; Mina had seen that first.
All Beryl, well, Metallia wanted was the crystal, she couldn't give two flying
fucks about a bunch of girls and their cats. She had thought of the world first,
of 6 billion people that would die or be enslaved, and not of her guardian, her
mentor, the person (or cat) that had been like a third parent to her. He had
listened to more of her problems and more of her complaints than all of the
Senshi put together.
And she hadn't even given him a second thought until Raye threw it in her
face.
The door creaked open behind her, stiff and old with rust, and Serena
joined her on the roof. "Hi," she said, settling next to Mina, her elbows
barely reaching the top of the wall.
Mina said nothing. For a long moment, they stared out at the horizon,
at the sun giving its final bow before retiring to the other side of the
earth. The stars held their breath, waiting to emerge.
Serena sighed and tried again. "Please don't be mad at Raye, you know
how she is..."
"I know," the taller blonde said mechanically. "I'm not mad at her,
I'm mad at me."
"Why?" Serena's voice remained gentle. Mina sniffed as fresh tears
rained down.
"Because she's right, Serena." She gasped, sobbing now. "The first
thing I thought of when I heard Beryl's voice was of how I would die before
I let her get the crystal, before I let her hurt you. I was willing to go to
any extreme, even sacrificing someone I loved, just to keep this world safe.
I thought of this town, and of this country, and of this whole damn world.
I put six billion strangers before Luna and Artemis.
And the whole time Raye was yelling at me, I...I knew she was right.
What kind of person thinks that way? All I could think of was you, Serena,
and how it's my duty to protect you. What if they had you instead of the
guardians? You are the one I swore to protect, even if it meant laying down
my miserable fucking life. Would I let them kill you if it meant saving the
world?
What's the right answer, Serena?"
Serena hurriedly blinked away her own tears. Oh, Mother... "There
is no right answer; there is no answer. I know you have a duty towards me,
Mina, and I am eternally grateful for that. And I am grateful that you would
let me go to save billions of innocents. I am grateful that you think of many
and not just one, and am grateful that you don't follow orders blindly." She
vigorously rubbed her eyes. "Mina, I know that I'm not a very good leader,
because in truth, I am not a leader at all. You are."
"I know. I think I knew all along, but I didn't want to usurp your
authority."
Serena smiled. "I'm new at it, Mina. There was never a Sailor Moon
until now, and I'm still learning the ropes. And there won't be a Sailor
Moon in the future."
"It all comes back to me."
"You bet," she giggled a little. "I remember you during the final
battle.
I wished I were as strong and as brave as you and the other Senshi.
You four were larger than life, you were powerful; watching you fight was
like watching a movie and believing what you saw on the screen. All I did
was cry a lot and get killed."
Mina cringed. Serena patted her on the arm. "Don't feel bad, please,
we could have had a nuclear warhead and we still would have lost that battle."
A thin breath escaped from her lips. "Serena, I know you're trying to
make me feel better-"
"No, Mina, I'm telling you the truth." She grabbed her friend and
forced her around. "We need you right now, we need your authority. We need
you to think with your head. Raye's the one who thinks with her heart; that's
why she blew up at you. She is our emotion, you are our reason."
Mina smiled a little. "And that is why she is second in command."
"Darn right. And that's why you're first. You and Kevin make a good
couple."
She let her head drop against the wall as she groaned. "Oh, God that's
another thing. He's disgusted with me; he couldn't believe that I would
degrade myself like that on a national publication..."
Serena rubbed her friend's back. "Oh, girl, would you relax? He's not
disgusted with you; he's just jealous. It means he really loves you."
"You're a fruitcake if you think that."
"No, I remember! Remember all those painting and statues of you back
in the day? The naked ones?"
"Yes. Why must you bring those up?"
"BEE-cause, Kunzite got all weirded out over those too, and they were
religious icons! He's just being himself."
"You do realize you are comparing the printed equivalent of 'The
Man Show' with priceless works of art?"
"It's all the same," Serena said dismissively. "He's just being
typically male and insecure." She smiled. "Feel better?"
"Yeah," Mina sniffed and wiped away residual tears. "You must think
I'm some leader, huh? Bawling away when there's some serious leading to be
done."
Serena stretched out her arms and hugged her. "No, I think you're
human. I think you're a soldier and a humanitarian at the same time. I
think you're just as fallible as the rest of us."
She squeezed her princess tighter. "Thank you, Serena. I'd die before
I let her harm you."
"I know." She paused. "Which one, the psycho bitch or the evil blob
of Smuckers?"
"Both," Mina admitted. "But I have a thousand year old grudge to
settle with Beryl. After I waste her, then I'll make shoe polish out of
the evil blob of Smuckers."


Guilt had not totally escaped the Senshi of Fire. She had been glowering
on the couch, absently watching the news report of the dorm fire with her
arms crossed defensively across her chest, when she suddenly burst into tears.
Jay, who had been submerged in his own personal funk, reached out and
drew her into his arms. "Raye? What's the matter, hon?"
Through strangled gasping, the two closest in proximity to her, Jay and
Darien, heard only, "I suck."
"You don't suck!" Jay assured her, rubbing the back of her head in what
he thought was a reassuring manner. Truth be told, he was actually tangling up
the black silk into a giant knot on her crown.
She buried her face in her hands and sobbed through them. "Yes I do! I
yelled at Mina just because she was right!"
Amy handed her computer over to Zach and slid in next to Raye. "Raye,
Mina knows that you didn't mean it, you were just upset over Luna and Artemis."
"No, I-(hic) was just a bitch. She was right and I knew it and, and,
and I just screamed at her! I-I even hit her! And she's my best friend!"
Jay was completely floored; he had never seen Raye squirt even one tear,
not even when drunk or depressed or when watching "Terms of Endearment." "So
what? You were just worked up over the situation, and with all this shit going
down, none of us are ourselves right now. All of our nerves are overworked."
"You got that right," Matt said from the kitchen, chain-smoking his sixth
Camel.
"Raye," Jay's voice was low and serious. "Raye, look at me. Don't beat
yourself up. You just got a little worked up because you're worried and upset
and scared. Mina knows you didn't mean it. I mean, do you know how many times
Kevin and I have hit each other over the years? If we made a big deal every time
we threw a punch at each other, we wouldn't have been friends past junior high.
We put it all behind us."
"Except for the time you tried to hit me with a shovel."
"That's because you-never mind! Raye, please stop crying. We'll beat this
bitch, believe me, and then we can live normally again."
Raye rubbed at her face and hiccupped, and let herself fall into Jay's
embrace. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry everyone. I made such an ass out of myself."
"No, making an ass of yourself is singing Bob Dylan drunk in a bar."
Kevin's eyes widened. "You showed it to them, didn't you?" He cracked his
knuckles and advanced towards the couch.
Jay gulped. "Hey, babe, remember when I told you about how Kevin and I would
fight? You're about to experience it firsthand."
She smiled and stood up. "I have to talk to her. I'll be back."
"Hey guys, look!" Lita said, fumbling for the remote control and raising the
volume on the television. The skinny newscaster had pulled aside an unshaven,
hulking, unibrowed ATO thug, and was in the process of interviewing.
"YEAH! Yeah, and then, like, this weird thing just appeared after the
fire was set, and I was like, 'No friggin' way!' Anyway, my brothers and I, we
chased it down the block and we started like, hitting it with pieces of wood and
stuff, and it started to like, die and stuff, so we went and ripped it arms off!
We kicked its ass, man! WOO! YEAH! ATO BABY!!" The newscaster tried to retain
some of his dignity while the newly ordained youma killer hollered in celebration.
The camera moved and focused on what was obviously a dismembered youma, its arms
and legs ripped off and its body on fire. Several ATOs were urinating on its
corpse. "Look! I'm pissing on its ashes!"
Lita's face fell. "No way! We were not just outdone by a couple of frat
boys with two by fours!"
Kevin shook his head. "Way to fucking go, Omegas."
Jay chuckled. "Yeah, who knew those guys were good for something besides
overturning cars and impregnating minors?"
Raye rubbed her swollen eyes. "How many casualties?"
"Don't know yet, hon," Lita frowned. "Let's just hope the number's low."
Serena reappeared in the doorway. "What's going on?"
"We've been going at this 'kill the baddies' the whole wrong way, Serena,"
Matt explained, a cloud of gray smoke surrounding him in the kitchen. "Screw
magic, what we need are boards with nails in them."


"Mina?" She turned around; Raye was standing in the lighted doorway to the
roof. The sky had turned from military-ish blue to a darker gray now, and the
stars speckled their light across the horizon. "Can we talk?" Raye's eyes
were red and puffy, and her hair had twisted into one gigantic tangle. Her
hands and voice shook slightly, and the urge to scream at her and tell her
off was fading as Mina saw how upset her friend was.
"OK," she agreed. Raye joined her at the wall.
They were silent for a few minutes, watching lights flick on in the
windows of buildings, the acrid aroma of char still hanging in the air like
a wet curtain. "Which one do you think will be next?" Mina asked, her voice
barely a whisper. "Bedford?"
"With our luck, Goshin," Raye smirked. "They'll start it in our room."
"On my blue arden b. dress." Mina was smiling now. "Just because it's
my favorite." They laughed quietly at the thought of the Dark Kingdom generals
ransacking the room, throwing everything with a designer label in the center
and pouring accelerant on it.
"That's the good thing; they don't know who we are. Still." Mina picked
at her cuticles.
"They will. When Beryl's lying on the ground bleeding and gasping out
her last breath, I'm going to stand over her charred ass and say, 'My name's
Raye Hino, bitch. Hope hell's hot enough for you.'"
Mina smiled again. "I have shit to settle with her, too. She knows it."
They were silent again, lost deep in thought and memory, and never heard
the footsteps that were padding up the stairs to the roof, squeaking slightly
despite every attempt to be stealth.
"Mina, listen," Raye started, choking back the tears that threatened
her eyes again. "I-I had no right to go off on you that way. I was wrong;
you were right, I know it, and it was totally not my place to even question
your authority. You probably would have had me court-martialed back in the
Silver Millennium."
Mina didn't deny it. "Yep."
"I know I was completely out of line, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lost
my temper and I'm sorry I hit you. I'll understand if you don't want to have
anything to do with me for a long, long time. All I can offer for an explanation
is that I could only think of Luna and Artemis, and I'm just so scared and so
angry that when you said that you had to think of the big picture..." Her
voice trailed off, and she swallowed. "And it scares me to think that if
anything ever happened to you, I would be stuck with the position. I couldn't
do what you do, Mina; I would have been charging into the Dark Kingdom
five minutes after I heard the answering machine and ten minutes before
I got killed. You're the only one out of all of us who keeps her head,
you know that? I was wrong to question your authority, and you had every
right to pull rank on me.
And I'm sorry I hit you." Raye dissolved into tears. "I mean, it's
bad enough, no, it's catastrophic enough to hit your commanding officer in
the face, but, you're my friend. I couldn't believe that I hit you out of
stupid anger." Tears dripped off of her chin and hit the grayish cement wall.
"I'm so sorry, Mina, you're my best friend, and I never meant to do that. If
I could take it all back I would, in a second."
Mina blinked out her own tears. "I'm not mad, Raye." Her voice quavered.
"I need you to be the emotion for us. You keep me grounded; I didn't even
think of the guardians until you brought it to my attention. I need you there
to keep me somewhat human." She choked. "You're my best friend, Raye. If
anyone understands this, it's you."
"I do," Raye sobbed. "I know. I know what you go through, and I wish I
could help instead of making everything worse."
"You don't make it worse." They turned and embraced each other, both
openly sobbing onto each other's shoulders. "You don't make it worse."
"I'm sorry, Mina," Raye snuffled. "I love you."
"I love you too, hon."
"Oh God, please, for my sake, love each other." The voice broke them out
of their hysterical crying, and they knocked each other's heads together with
shock. Jay and Kevin were standing in the doorway, and had just witnessed
the entire scene.
"You were watching us all along?" Raye thundered, incredulous. "You
ASS!"
Jay feigned complete innocence better than a wife-beater wearing
perp on "COPS". "Raye, if you feel the need to kiss your best friend,
then please, by all means, feel free to do so. I promise I won't stand
in your way, just give me a second to run down the street and borrow
Gordon's camera again."
Raye looked at him coolly, and then tried to jab him in the stomach
with her fist. He caught it and swept her into his arms. "Feeling better?"
"No! I can't believe you want my to kiss my best friend!"
"It was Kevin's idea!"
Kevin's look was of pure disbelief. "What?"
"It was so! We were walking up the stairs and I distinctly remember
you saying, 'I wonder if they'll kiss and make up.'"
"I didn't mean it literally!" Mina hugged him.
"Hey."
"Hey." Why do we always start off conversations like this?
"Everything ok?"
She snuggled against his chest. "Yeah. For now."
"What's next?"
Her eyes flew open. "We get everyone up on the roof."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Luna watched the light in Beryl's globe dim to a muted glow, and
she tried to swallow away the lump of fear that had been building in her
throat. She moved her paw to the left and touched it with Artemis's. He
looked over at her touch and shook his head, his eyes worn and sad.
Beryl sat back in her throne, disappointed that she had reached an
answering machine instead of the real thing. She had been hoping to deliver
her message firsthand, and had been anticipating the pleas of mercy and
desperate bargaining that would undoubtedly follow. Instead, she was
expected to leave a message, just like some punk kid or telephone solicitor,
like a common insignificant human and not the most powerful being in the
Dark Kingdom.
The cats had been imprisoned in an energy bubble against the wall
closest to the throne. Luna's head buzzed, her shoulders slumped, her body
still throbbing with a thousand pinpricks. Beryl had tortured them for hours
before she realized that it was useless; the Mau cats would rather be
plucked bald and roasted over an open fire before giving up the identity
of the Moon Princess. She had to settle for half-draining them of their
remaining energy and leaving an electronic ransom note.
They had no choice to listen to Beryl deliver her threat, and Luna
found herself in tears when she threatened their families. She had seen
Beryl's globe, had seen Endymion's generals' families carrying on their
daily business, unaware that they were being observed by a witch who was
using them as pawns in a fatal game.
Beryl leaned back and closed her eyes, her hands drifting up to her
forehead. Luna was surprised to see that, with her yellow eyes shut and
her teeth unbared, she looked very human. And very young.
"Artemis?" her voice was so low that no one but a cat could pick up
the slight sound waves. "How old was Beryl before she became Metallia's
servant?"
Artemis thought for a second as he dusted off his mental catalogue.
"Oh, well, I would say...about twenty? Around there?"
Luna's breath came out in a whistle. "She was young. I keep forgetting
that she was just a girl then, too."
Artemis's whisper was sharp. "Luna, this is Beryl we're talking about.
She's basically responsible for the fall of the Moon Kingdom and for millions
of lives, have you forgotten that? So don't kid yourself and feel sorry for
her!"
She threw him a look. "I'm not saying I feel sorry for her, I'm just
saying that she was very impressionable when Metallia got a hold of her. I'm
not sure she knew what she was getting into. She reminds me of that girl that
follows Jay around."
"Well, our girls were just a bit younger, and they helped run the Moon
Kingdom!"
"That's because they were raised that way, Artemis! Do we even know
where Beryl is from? Who her parents were? Where she was raised?"
"Wait, hold on." He thought, hard. "I don't remember. I know that she
lived in or around the Earth Palace, but other than that, nothing. I think
Endymion would know if we asked him."
"A bit of good that does us," Luna said, settling back down onto the
stone floor, wary of her aching head. Her eyes were halfway closed when a
glint of light caught her eye, and she jumped up, her body roaring in pain,
and knocked Artemis to the floor. He gave a grunt of protest.
"Oh," she breathed, as Beryl's tear caught the light from her globe as
it ran down her cheek. She garnered what little courage she had left and
stood. "Beryl."
Beryl's eyes flew open, flat and yellow, astonished that her prisoner
actually had the spine to address her. She stood from her throne and advanced
on the cats. "Do you have something you'd like to share, cat? The identity
of the Moon Princess, for one?"
Luna gulped as Beryl stood above her, seemingly impossibly tall and
intimidating. "No, no that's not it."
"Then do not waste my time." She turned her back on them.
"No, wait," Luna tried again, even though a voice in the back of her
head was pleading for her to hold her tongue. Not to mention Artemis swiping
at her with his paw every four seconds. Beryl turned.
"You don't want to do this, Beryl. You aren't this monster that
Metallia turned you into."
Beryl cocked her head. "Talk about the Queen that way again, cat,
and I will kill you."
"Luna, stop!" Artemis hissed. She ignored him.
"Why, Beryl? Why did you join forces with Metallia in the first
place? What did she promise you?"
Beryl's growing anger suddenly waned and her eyes grew cloudy and
distant. When she spoke, Luna knew that she wasn't talking to an evil
queen of the Dark Kingdom. Beryl the twenty-year old noble was talking
to them; a very little fish in the very big pond. Her next words registered
barely above a whisper.
"She promised me Endymion."
Luna froze, unsure of where to venture next, but Beryl kept talking.
"She promised me that once the little Moon Princess was out of the picture,
Endymion would be mine. Do you know how long I've loved him, cat? Years.
Every day of my life I would try to catch a glimpse of him, somehow, somewhere,
just so that the day wouldn't be a complete waste. I would lie awake at night,
thinking of him, wishing that one day he would look my way, acknowledge me,
give me something to look forward to, some shred of hope.
But his generals showed him how to break the travel embargo and sneak
off to the moon, and then he met HER. They really thought no one knew, but
I did. He taught her to sneak onto the Earth, and she would come down at least
once a week." She laughed to herself. "She was so...young, and so foolish,
she thought no one would notice an obviously Magic Person wandering around
the gardens in the dead of night. How could she love him?" Luna had no response.
"She didn't grow up with him like I did! She didn't love him for years,
waiting patiently for the day when he would realize that I had been in front
of him the entire time! She was only fourteen, fifteen years old! She was a
baby! She couldn't understand what love was, how it felt to care about someone
so deeply that you would sell your soul just to be near him!" She wiped away
the tears that sprang from her eyes.
"Metallia promised me his love. She said he would only love a Magic
Person, and that she would make me one. I thought I knew sorcery then, how
foolish! The only people that could perform sorcery were Magic Persons, and
they all lived on the moon! Selene kept them there so they wouldn't teach
the common people magic, so they could rule above the earth, superior to
the rest of us!"
"No!" Luna exclaimed, her memories flooding back. "You've got it all
wrong! Selene escaped with them to the moon because they were being executed
on Earth! They had nowhere else to go!"
"Only Sailor Venus was suspicious," Beryl continued, ignoring Luna's
outburst. "She was the one who would retrieve the idiot Moon Princess every
time Serenity found her missing, and she would stand there and question me
like I was afraid of her. Me, with Metallia on my side! Others worshipped
her and the others, but I did not. I tore that picture of her from the
wall and slashed it to ribbons."
"Metallia promised you Endymion, and she promised you magic," Luna
said, her voice thin and tired. "But where is it, Beryl? Endymion isn't yours
any more now then he was back then, and you're not a Magic Person. The only
way you can keep your powers is if you drain the energy of humans, and when
they run out, so do you. Metallia didn't make you a true Magic Person. Your
eyes don't even reflect."
Beryl was quiet for a minute. Her face was relaxed, and for a moment
Luna almost thought that she had broken through. "You may have your own idea
of what is fair and just, but tell me this: was it fair that others were born
with the power that I could only dream of? Out of the billions of people on
Earth, only a mere handful was born Magic Persons. And how many of them came
out of hiding and were magically active? Four. And only because they were
forced to. This is something I've waited for my...entire...life."
Her face hardened back into the inhumane mask Luna was used to seeing;
she backed away from Beryl until her back was pressed against the wall.
"Nothing will convince me otherwise," she hissed, her eyes narrowing. "I've
waited too long." And with that, she turned on her heel and left the throne
room, leaving the two cats with runaway questions clogging their heads.
Artemis lowered his head, confused. "Venus knew Beryl? I didn't even
know who she was until she attacked the Moon Kingdom."
"Venus was the only one who would retrieve the Princess," Luna explained.
"The other Senshi, well, they either didn't know how or didn't want to go.
I can't imagine Mercury breaking all those laws and wandering to Earth, not
even for Zoicite." Little did Luna know, but Mercury and the others had
journeyed to the Earth on several occasions, throwing caution and all of
the laws to the wind for the opportunity to trudge in the crunchy, newly-fallen
snow around Stonehenge. Or to run her fingertips on the piece-y patchwork
bark of an ancient redwood. Or to touch one red-dusted toe to the pool
water in front of the Taj Mahal. Or to burn her skin flame-red under the
beating sun while running into the blue ocean water.


* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Why didn't we ever have parties up here?" Matt shoved the roof's
door open. "There's lots of room, electrical outlets, and no chance of reeking
up our kitchen with mary jane."
"You forgot to factor in the ten billion exposed nails," Zach observed,
kicking the toe of his Nike against a row of vicious-looking nails poking
point-up through the worn tarpaper. The nails went on for rows, covering
at least half of the floor area of the roof. Mina was genuinely surprised
that she hadn't cut her feet to ribbons when she retreated to the roof.
Serena gingerly stepped along the narrow aisles of bare tarpaper
making her way to the edge. "Wow, Mina, we're pretty lucky that we didn't
step on any of these."
"You're telling me." She stuck her leg out to step on a clear area,
her body stretched out like she was playing Twister.
Darien groaned and kicked at the nails. "So now what are we going to
do?"
"Find the tool who designed this roof to keep people off and kick
his ass."
Darien smirked at Matt's simple explanation. "Let's think in the
present."
Zach tugged at the end of the paper. "Do you think we could pull it
all up?" The black sheet ripped in his hand. "Aw, damn."
"Wait." Amy gave them a sheepish smile as she tapped away. "I think
I have a better idea."
"As long as it doesn't involve back-breaking labor, I'm all for it."
There was no sweat to be sprouted, just Sailor Jupiter turning the
metal door into a giant electromagnet, sending hundreds of iron nails
flying through the air like mere filings and clanging against the door
with a satisfying "CLONK." The surface now cleared of anything metal and
pokey, they dealt for partners with Matt's deck of cards and transformed.
"Look at them go." Sailor Moon leaned idly against the wall as she
spoke to Mercury, waiting for her turn to spar with Nephrite, an event
that she was not particularly looking forward to. Sailor Venus and Jadeite
were dueling, Venus with the peculiar sword they had found on the moon.
She was also able to switch from her left hand to right effortlessly, and
they tangled and turned like two people dancing.
"Right," Jadeite said, deflecting several of Venus's blows before
switching hands. "Left."
She switched to compensate. "Right!" Venus was laughing despite
every intention of staying serious. Jadeite had taken to throwing his
sword up in the air and catching it with his opposite hand, all the time
with a challenging smile on his face. Not one to be outdone, she mirrored
him almost exactly until it became less of a fight than of a halftime
sideshow contest of who could switch hands the fastest and most frequently.
"Left! Come on Venus, show me what you got!"
"Right!" she yelled, and the swords sailed skyward.
"C'mon, Venus, he's nothing!" Zoicite called gleefully, impressed.
This was the best fight he had seen outside of Pay Per View and BU hockey
games.
Kunzite groaned. "This is getting out of hand."
"Leftbehindtheback!" Jadeite caught the handle with his left arm
twisted behind his back, and whipped it around in what even Venus would
admit was a cool move. She copied and then announced:
"Right behind the back!" Soon they were switching hands and tossing
swords behind their back almost in synchronization.
"I'd try left between the legs, but I'm kind of chickenshit about
that area," Jadeite said, spinning and jabbing.
In the end, it was Venus's shoes that ended the fight. Her left
heel caught under a stray sheet of tarpaper, and she collapsed forward
onto her opponent, who caught her inches before her nose slammed onto
the concrete.
"I win by knockout!" he proclaimed. Venus picked herself up,
incredulous.
"That's bullshit! My heel got caught!"
"Hey, did I tell you to wear do-me shoes?"
She tossed her sword to Sailor Moon and fixed her bow. "OK,
everyone, that was just for fun. Now let's get serious." Sailor Moon
gulped. "Yes, you're next."
"Oh, crap," she mumbled, her voice as jittery as her knees. Nephrite
pulled out his sword and started swinging it in perfect circles while
imitating Mills Lane.
"C'mon, Sailor Moon, let's get it on!"
The fights went on until a little past midnight, the stars out
in their full blinking glory as they surrounded the full moon. Jupiter
yawned loudly.
"How long have we been out here?" The stars had moved. Nephrite
rubbed one of her arms, his eyes cast to the sky. They were practically
screaming "DANGER DANGER DANGER" like the lights of a cheap roadside
diner sign, obliterating whatever message was hidden underneath. He
chewed on his lower lip and wished for a Camel.
"Couple hours. Damn it."
"What's wrong?" She touched his arm.
"Nothing. Something. They're trying to tell me something, but
I can't figure it out because the ones in front will JUST NOT SHUT UP!"
They obediently blinked off when he screamed, like a cheap electric
Christmas toy freezes when one yanks out its Duracell double A's. Nephrite
blinked several times in shock, himself being the only witness to the
unusual turn of events.
"Well, damn."
"What happened?" Kunzite asked, holding up one hand to halt the
fight with Zoicite.
Everyone's eyes were on Nephrite as he leaned back trying to
take in more of the sky than just what his human eyes could see.
"Prince Endymion?"
Tuxedo Mask was startled to hear his friend refer to him with
such formality, and was thrown for a definite loop. "Uh, yeah?"
Nephrite leaned so far back he almost fell backwards. "You have
another transformation."
"Yeah, I know. I can transform into Endymion. Where are you
going with this?"
He straightened. "Maybe you'd better do it."
Tuxedo Mask cocked his head. "Now?" Nephrite's attention was
back to the sky.
"'The key is in the Moon.' Yeah, you already told me that. What
the hell does it mean?"
It took Tuxedo Mask a few minutes to realize that Nephrite wasn't
talking to him.
"Could you be a little more specific? OK, fine, stay vague, we'll
just get our asses kicked. Whatever! You guys also said Arizona State
was going to win that last one!" He snapped his head back, disgusted.
"Yo, Tux, would you please up the ante now?"
"Sure." He closed his eyes, and touched a part of his mind that
usually remained dormant save for several special situations. Endymion
was there, even though he had died a thousand years ago; he lived on
in Darien, and waited patiently to emerge into being again.
He opened his eyes to see all four of his Generals kneeling
before him. He cringed, his face reddening.
"Oh for the love of God would you get the hell up? Life's too
short for this shit!"
Jadeite rose slowly, staring at Endymion's black and navy armor.
"Uh, yeah, why the hell did I just do that?"
"It felt right," Zoicite simply explained.
Sailor Moon squirmed uncomfortably. "Yeah, well something still
doesn't feel right. Maybe we better practice some more."
Endymion pulled out his sword, his eyes blazing like blue flame.
A familiar rush entered his body, swarming every cell to capacity. His
gaze settled on Kunzite. "Yeah, let's."
Kunzite barely smiled, but his eyes were burning too. "Let's
see if you can score on me when I'm not zoned out."
Ignoring the fight, Sailor Moon wandered to a far corner of
his roof, partially hidden behind the nail-studded door. She gazed
out at the town below, the wind picking up her blond pigtails and
tossing them around her flawless face. Mother?
Serenity smiled down at her daughter. Yes, my darling?
I'm scared, Mother. I don't know if everyone's coming back
from this. And I'm afraid that I'll mess up. She fingered the
crystal on her chest with one nervous finger.
My dear, you know what to do. I've showed you how to use the
crystal, and I'm confident you'll come through.
She giggled nervously. I'm not so confident. Mother?
Yes?
Why didn't you wish for your life back?
The question hung suspended in the air, through currents of time.
Finally, the Queen spoke. I was too weak; I expended almost all of
my energy to seal away Metallia and the rest of the Dark Kingdom. I
could have wished you and Endymion back, and myself, and the others,
but what about the rest of the Earth? What about the People of the
Moon? And what good would it have done? We would come back to a
desolate Earth, an annihilated Moon. We couldn't possibly even rebuild
the palace, much less a planet and a satellite.
Sailor Moon nodded, glancing behind her back at her friends
and her protectors. I wish I had their confidence. Their lives rest
in my hands, and all I hope is that I can come through for them.
You will, my dear. I believe in you. Unseen, she kissed
her daughter's forehead. I love you, Serenity. You've made me so
proud of you. I'm honored to have you as my daughter.
I love you too Mother. I will not disappoint you.
"Hey." She swiveled around, startled at the sound. Sailor
Jupiter stepped out of the shadows. "You OK?"
"Yes, I was just..." Her voice trailed off.
"Getting in some down time? I know. I'm all wound up too."
The taller girl rubbed her fist. "All I want to do is make them
pay, Sailor Moon. I want to hurt them the way they hurt Luna and
Artemis, the way they hurt innocents, and the way they hurt us. Do you
know how many times I skipped my eight o'clock because I couldn't drag
my bruised-up ass out of bed?
You ready? Venus and Kunzite think we're done for the night;
we're all going to turn in. You staying at Darien's?"
"Yes. I-" She looked at her friend, strong and brave and beautiful,
unwavering in her resolution of retribution. "Never mind, Jupiter. Go
be with Nephrite. Make your time together count."
She smiled. "I will, Princess."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Raye cried again that night.
Jay simply held her against his chest, stroking her hair and letting
her sob into his shoulder until her body temporarily exhausted itself
of the grief that had been holding her hostage. He said nothing.
"Oh, Goddess," she breathed into his neck.
"What can I do, Raye?" he asked softly, trailing one hand over
her shoulder blades and down over the smooth white skin of her back.
She pressed her body tighter against his, nestling in the pocket of heat
that they had created. Her hair ran over her throat and breasts like a
black river. She squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her embrace around
his neck.
"Nothing. Just be with me." She kissed his hair, his forehead, his
face, his lips. Their bodies spooned and joined together.
His voice was hoarse. "I would never leave."

* * * * * * * * * * *


Lita bit her nails compulsively, tears from nervousness and the
stinging cloud of cigarette smoke running out of her eyes. "Give me that."
"Huh?" She plucked the Camel out of his fingers and stuffed it into
an empty Coke can on the bedside table.
"You're not supposed to smoke in bed, anyway," she choked between
sobs, rubbing the end of the sheet against her swollen eyes. "You could
fall asleep and then your bed will catch fire. And then-"
"Hey." He rubbed her lower back and backside gently, and buried
his face in her downy curls. "Don't cry." He pulled her body closer to
his.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying, I'm just a little upset,
and nervous, and-" She took his hand and held it in hers against her
chest. "And I love you so much it's making me crazy."
He turned her over so she was facing him. In the dark, they could
only see the glint off of each other's eyes. "I love you. I have forever."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Zach had confiscated Amy's Palm Pilot and locked it away in his
hidden pocket; otherwise, she would still be entering lines of data,
trying to solve all of their problems with one swift keystroke. Her
PC was unplugged and the cords severed; he had promised to repair it
first thing in the morning.
They lay in bed together, their hands clasped together, every
breath and heartbeat synchronized. Neither spoke. The edges of time
blurred in the silence, their bodies melded together into one being.
Zach raised her hand to his face and kissed it, inhaling the scent
of her skin while tracing her knuckles with his lips.
She let her eyelids flutter shut.

* * * * * * * * * * *

She had lost track of how long they had been awake.
They had mulled over every plan and possibility, their minds
growing wearier and number with each passing hour, until it seemed
they had a solution to every problem in the world from overpopulation
to campaign finance reform. Now they simply lay awake together, wondering
how silence could seem so loud.
She stretched out on the bed and idly touched her face with
one hand, letting the dim light from the streetlamps flow across
her naked body like liquid heat. He stared at her, unblinking, his
memory referencing what his mind forgot. He had seen her before, on
oil on canvas and in blocks of white marble, a goddess, an icon.
He reached out and touched her to make sure she was still flesh and blood.
She smiled at his touch, and sat up halfway, reaching out to
touch his face.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Serena, standing at the window, bathed in moonlight, positively
glowed with internal radiance. Darien slid off the bed and joined her,
hugging her from behind.
"I just saw a shooting star," she whispered, her hair seeming as
light as her body. She was one continuous line of silver. "Make a wish."
He did, pouring every ounce of his being into the wish, bending
his mind with the effort. Every ion in his body raised its voice to
the skies and prayed, voices joining together in a biological choir
of hope. He jumped when she reached back and took his hand.
"I made the same wish."