When All The Good Angels Sleep

by Blue Jeans

Life had never been better for the Sailor Senshi team. They had defeated their enemies, are finishing high school and looking forward to a new future. But what awaits them there may be more devistating than anything they have ever imagined. Post SS/AR

6. The Sixth Sheep Named War

A Note to the Readers: All contents in this story is under an artistic license. Fact and
fiction will be clomped together into one huge blob. In other words, don't bother me
about debating whether some conversations in this fanfic is truly based on fact... as
Naoko Takeuchi has done many times. Truth, after all, is an elusive thing! ^-~. Enjoy!

When All the Good Angels Sleep
******************************
.blue.
blueweber@hotmail.com


"No te engano la primavera "Did spring never deceive you
con besos que no florecieron?" with kisses that didn't blossom?"

--Pablo Neruda
("The Book Of Questions")


"And I looked, and behold a pale horse:
and his name that sat on him was Death."

--Bible: New Testament
(Revelation 6:8)


The Sixth Sheep Named War
-------------------------

"Your blood was not as red as mine,
(Was it red at all?)
So I crushed your body with my fist
And watched your ashes fall."
--blue
("Blind")

"All the gods are dead except the god of war."

--Eldridge Cleaver
("Four Vignettes: 'The Christ' and His Teachings")


"In all my times of travel, I had found that the
people that is most inclined to hate, prejudice
and betrayal, are those that believes the most
and at one time, hoped the most. Thus, at the
very beginning of my guardianship, I had learned
to watch for the unobtrusive but deeply religious
believers of any religion, politics, and whatever
beliefs that such a person may follow or believe in.
Because I knew, that when the time comes, they will
be the hardest to destroy for they are not doing
this for power, but for a distorted lie that they
had convinced themselves to give their lives, and
the lives of others, for. I had learned the hard
way that those are the people to kill, for when it
comes to the end, those are the ones you will find
yourself facing and pondering over the words to
'either kill or be killed'. For no matter how noble
they once were or how gentle, they are now living
only for that lie and whatever it takes to make it
the only truth. In this they are more cruel than all
your enemies put together, because in truth, you
fear them more, doubt them more, for I know you best.
And I know, when you look into the eyes of your
greatest enemy, you will see yourself."

--Sailor Senshi Pluto
("Letters to the Queen")


Before she knew it, she was looking down. Down at the city she called home, the
city known as Tokyo, once known for its lights and nightclubs and busy markets. All but
fire and ashes now... Forward she saw the beast of darkness advancing toward her, its
form illuminated by the distant great fires. The fear grabbed onto her heart and refused
to let go. The blood in her veins throbbed as if it was on a maddening train. The light
burned now, and her hands and the air all around her burned. Light hotter than the Sun's,
the Sun that had disappeared behind the ugly sky. She felt as if she was burning into the
heart of the Sun. Then she saw him, god-like in paleness that seemed like sleep. Cradled
at her feet, before the steel skeleton of the tower, a jagged, broken steel bone of the
Tower protruded from his chest as he hung limply upon it, his face raised to meet hers.
Her mouth opened and silently whispered a name before she knew what it was she meant to
say, "Endymion." That name... so familiar, and yet, so unlike the man she had promised to
marry but a few days ago for this was the man she had met back in the days of the Silver
Moon. Yet, still she loved him with all of her heart.

Thump.

Love.

Thump, thump.

I was so in love.


* * *


He clutched the small box in his hand, amazed at how such a little thing can change
his life forever. So much had happened since he met his destiny that it did not come as
such a shock as it would have years ago. "Usako," he whispered her name to the air with a
smile as he glanced up at the sky.

He pocketed the box before reaching behind him for the helmet. He placed it onto
his head, and after securing it in place he turned the engine of the machine on, letting
it roar into life. He pushed off of the sidewalk, riding toward the next step in his
destined life.

It didn't take him long to reach her house. And luckily for him, and Usagi's speed
-- though as a result of her usual tardiness -- it saved him from Tuskino Kenji's wrath
this time around. She rushed down the steps of her house like an angel in flight, her
white dress billowed around her creamy legs, just as an autumn air swirled passed in
dance. She tugged her coat warmly around her as she reached his bike even before her
father had time to get up from his seat. Putting on her own helmet, they zoomed off
toward the setting sun just as Kenji bellowed out more than a few threats to their
retreating backs from the doorsteps of his house.

She was unusually silent through the ride, which worried him. When they finally
arrived at the beach though, the fresh air and the warmth of her arms around him made him
forget it temporarily. They walked down to the restaurant that he had discovered through
one of his colleagues. When he saw it he knew it was the perfect place to ask her. He led
her to the beautifully decorated little restaurant, and its sense of intimate romance
swept them away to a world so unlike the reality they were escaping from. The call of the
ocean lapping against the surf was blended into the sorrowful call of the violin. The
candlelight sparkled on each of the white-linen covered tables. "Chiba." He told the
receptionist.

The man behind the stand looked up and smiled politely, with a hint of warmth.
"Right on time Chiba-san." He called out to a waiter to lead them to their tables. "For
two?" The receptionist asked as he glanced behind Mamoru to Usagi.

"Hai, for two." Mamoru nodded.

"May I take your coats, sir?" The waiter asked when he arrived. It didn't take
long for them to be seated, though Mamoru did pause for a moment at the stunning vision
before him. The soft glow of the candlelight illuminated her face with a golden glow.
She had on a simple white dress that flowed over her form, thin straps clinging to her
shoulders, leaving the rest bare to the warm air within the restaurant. The candlelight
brought a new glow to her sky-blue eyes, and if he leaned in close enough, he might catch
a few specks of silver that would sparkle in her eyes when she smiled.

"Mamo-chan?" She questioned when he kept on staring at her. Not that she minded
but even her Mamo-chan never stayed this quiet for this long. Well, at least she never
allowed him to stay this quiet for this long!

"Un, Usako?" Mamoru tilted his head slightly as his dark-blue eyes questioned her
own lighter ones.

Her heart skipped a beat as a strand of silky black hair fell over his eyes. Mamo-
chan looked absolutely adorable in the black tuxedo that he wore. She had to keep herself
from giggling when she saw it. Her Tuxedo-Kamen, her hero! Usagi smiled at the thought
and brushed away the wavered strand. "Daisuki!" She answered cheerfully. Tilting her
head as well when she said those words of love.

Her blond hair slid like liquid gold across her skin as she grinned at him. Mamoru
reached for her hand, interlacing their fingers together. "Ne, Usako?" He looked over to
her with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Un, Mamo-chan?" She answered innocently.

"You must love me!" He grinned as he brought her hand to his lips.

Her startled face looked to him confused, "Na ni yo, Mamo-chan?" She frowned at his
choice of words.

"In fact, I didn't realize how much till this very moment!" He had a teasing grin
on his face as he tapped her on the nose lightly, almost playful. This was not the Mamoru
she was used to! Distracted, she realized that he was pointing to the spot in front of
her. "I guess I'm so handsome that you didn't even realize that you had the menu in front
of you!" Her eyes widened when she realized what he was getting at.

"Mamo-chan!" She cried out in indignation. Snatching her hand from his as she
glared at him. "I do not always think about my stomach!" She told him haughtily as she
raised her pert nose into the air.

He laughed at her reaction, sliding into his chair as his laugh turned into a warm
smile. "I know Usako." He said, easing her somewhat bruised ego. His voice returned to
the usual somber tones that she was comfortable with, that same deep voice that sent her
heart leaping the first time she realized that Chiba Mamoru and Tuxedo-Kamen were one and
the same.

"Well, I guess we can order then!" She cheered as Mamoru chuckled at her reply.

"Hai, hai." Mamoru stopped himself from commenting any more on Usagi's eating
habits.

By the time they finished, the moon was already high up in the sky. The violin
floated the notes past them as Usagi polished off her desert. Apparently, her eating
habits hadn't improved that much, but Mamoru had been saving for sometime for this night,
so he didn't flinch 'that' much when the bill came after they were done. "That was
wonderful!" Usagi commented as they stepped out of the restaurant.

The air was salty sweet outside, and it was somehow warmer now than before. Walking
a little way down the beach, he could see the stars stretch forth in the sky. This was
the perfect time! He thought as they walked a little further down the deserted beach.
"Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked in surprise when he looked back and took her hand into his,
leading her down to the beautiful spot on the lonely stretch of endless sand. Standing
there, he turned to the starlit sky before finally glancing back to his beautiful
princess, his angel and savior.

Reaching out, he drew her into his embrace and kissed her passionately, parting only
for them to catch their breath. Somehow, even in the dark, she saw his dark-blue eyes
that always threatened to drown her, smoldering with his silent passion. He had come to a
decision, she was sure of that. But what did he decide on?

Still a bit breathless he smiled as he caught her hand again in his and placed
something within it. He caught her into an embrace, spinning her around so that her back
was to him with his lips close to her ear. Trembling she looked down to the small box in
her hand that was wrapped in velvet. She looked over her shoulder at him questioningly,
but he said nothing but look back with an intensity that swallowed her whole. "Mamo-
chan?" She asked as his large hands and slim fingers wrapped around her own and brought
the box up for her inspection.

"Open it." He commanded as she looked down to the box and backed to him again.
Uncertain, excited, and totally surprised, she was unsure if her hands would allow her to
do it without dropping the box. His hands though, steadied her own as she carefully
opened the lid. The moonlight stroked the ring, as she looked down to the sparkling
heart-shaped stone in silent shock. "Usako, marry me." He whispered in her ear, brushing
his hot breath against her sensitive skin.

The ocean lapped against the sand as the full moon shone, her round reflection was
backed by a black sky and a blacker ocean. All Usagi could do was gasp, but the wind
stole the sound with its soft breath, whisking it away to a whisper that was drowned by
the crashing waves upon the sand. "Mamo-chan?" Usagi widened her eyes as she slowly
turned those beautiful crystal-blue eyes to him, pulling away slightly in shock. It was
too dark for her to make out his expression now, for the shadows hid his face well, as he
let his dark hair fall and cover what he wished to hide. She could feel the intensity of
his presence engulfing her. She could feel her eyes stinging as she tried to hold back
the tears of joy. How long had she waited for this? Too long. "Y-Yes!" She said
shakily. "Oh, yes!" She cried out when she found her voice again. Twirling around she
hugged him fiercely, pulling him closer.

Let him drown me! Her heart cried out joyously. Let him surround me so that I'm
never alone again! For today is the first day of my happiness. She squeezed her eyes
tightly, wishing that it was not a dream. Mamoru was so solid that he couldn't be an
illusion, could he? He was asking her to marry him! Asking 'her' to marry 'him'!

To Usagi, he would always be the one man whom she would always love without
reservation or hesitation. She had admired him and adored him for as long as she could
remember being a Sailor Senshi, as long as she could remember being a princess with a
fairytale prince by her side. Even after eternity had run out of time to spare, she would
still fall into his deep blue eyes like the first time she had seen him on the hologram
screen upon the moon. She knew she would never tire of the way his presence made her
heart skip a beat, nor could she forget the way his hair felt running through her fingers
while he 'tried' to study. Ever since his picture enchanted her when she was but an
unknown princess in an enchanted kingdom, he had captivated her. Even when he had been
cruel in his teasing, she had loved him. She knew from experience that no matter how much
he betrayed her or hurt her, he would love her in return as well, because she believed in
their love with all her heart and soul. In return, their love had saved her from her
doubts, her defeats, and herself. She believed in him, no matter what!

"Do you know when I realized that I loved you?" She asked him teasingly.

"When Usako?" He questioned. Amused but slightly distracted as she traced his lips
with the tip of her finger.

A wicked grin fell upon her lips as she pulled his face closer to hers, eyes still
shining with joy as she stood before him on tiptoes. "The first time you called me
odango-atama." She told him in a serious voice, as his face registered surprise at her
answer. But before he could utter a sound past his own lips, she closed the distance
between them and silenced him with a kiss. After all, she was determined that this time
that she would be the one to kiss him into breathlessness!

The stars twinkled, almost shining brighter as the two forces of powers joined and
bonded stronger than ever. "Usako..." his lips moved against hers seductively, whispering
her name.

"Mamo-chan." She sighed against his lips in return. At that moment, they both
wished that the time for them to part would not come, and when they finally did, their
eyes locked onto each other as the troubles of the future disappeared and the hunger of
the past melted away, leaving only today, only the moments to come and go.

The moon glistened and the stars sighed, as if in answer to the unspoken wish. The
lunar light caressed the sea and the earth, silently covering the lovers below her in her
blankets of silvery beams of lights. Gently she kidnapped them from the dangerous world,
where disease was rampant and death is certain. For a few moments in destiny, they hoped
to escape fate, living only in the moment, a moment of eternity. Everything would be
different now. Everything!

The stars shone above, the only witnesses to their silent promises.


* * *


The knock on the door startled her into consciousness. Surprised and disoriented,
it took her a moment to realize what had woken her. Ami didn't even realize that she had
been sleeping. It had taken her some time to absorb the information that Core had sent to
her the night before and she had trouble concentrating on it all, especially since she
kept wondering about Rei. All she could think of was the look of angry passion in the
miko's eyes; that possessed look burning up a familiar soul. She paused but the knock
came again, forcing her to stand and go to the door. She didn't even realize that she had
been sleeping and when she looked back one last time to her room, she saw her computer had
been turned off, Core must have realized that she had fallen asleep, it was... kind of
him. She walked down the hallway and the quietness of the apartment told her that her
mother was off to work. Glad that school was not to come until tomorrow, she trudged down
the hall and opened the door.

"Ami-chan," the stranger looked familiar. She blinked back the sleepiness that
still lingered in her mind and tried to place the face she saw before her.

"Who--?" She began.

"Ami-chan, don't you remember me? I'm Urawa, Ryo Urawa. We went to junior high
together," he looked slightly hurt that she had already forgotten who he was.

She never did, but it was his face that had changed and his height, too! "Urawa-
kun?" She whispered and her hand reached forth to him, uncertain. Sleepiness still
lingering in her eyes. "I remember you Urawa-kun. I do." She smiled tiredly at him
before she quickly withdrew her hand upon realizing that he was real. "Come in and don't
stand out there so long, you're making me feel inhospitable." She stepped back as he came
into her apartment for the first time. She remembered the times he came to call on her,
but he never did have reasons to come into her apartment. Never. Until now that is.
What changed? Was it because Ami was older now and they were different people? Yet her
senses told her that this was different, things were different, and that it would be best
if both of them were sitting down when he told her why he had come to visit her after all
this time.

"I'm sorry if I came at such a bad time. I know I should've called you first before
I came knocking on your door, but I was in the neighborhood and I had to speak to you
before--" he was the one who cut himself off this time. He looked hesitant and slightly
uncertain whether or not to tell.

"What is it Urawa-kun? Did you have another vision?" Ami asked calmly.

Urawa gaped at her, though she wasn't sure why. "I-I didn't think you'd remember
that--"

"Remember what, Urawa-kun? Of your gift of being able to see the future? Or, is it
that you know my identity? That you were once possessed?" She smiled as she touched his
hand. "I remember all of that. But I trusted you then and I still do, now, Urawa-kun.
Even if your face is different, even if you've grown and your voice is deeper." It wasn't
until she had spoken of the changes that he had undergone that she realized exactly how
different he truly had become.

He looked surprised at her statements, but was smiling once more when he realized
why she had paused at the door. "Is that why you were so surprised at the door? I never
knew I had changed so much." He grinned.

"No, you haven't. I was just not expecting to see you there." She returned the
smile and stood. "Would you like some tea?" He nodded graciously and she turned toward
the kitchen. "Why don't you turn on the television for the news? I'll be back in a
second!"

She reached the kitchen in a hurry and started to prepare some green tea, but then
changed her mind. 'She' needed the green tea, but Urawa need something to sooth and relax
him. She didn't have the wonderful herbal tea that Makoto had, but she had the next best
thing, Jasmine! She carefully prepared his tea before pouring her own. In the background
she could hear the TV clicking into life and the foreign voices ringing through the house.

When it was ready, she brought out the tray and walked back into the living room.
The anchorman was speaking of some trivial local news and she tuned him out immediately.
Setting the tray down, she smiled at Urawa as she handed him his cup and sat down beside
him. "How have you been Urawa-kun?" She asked. Not yet willing to break the friendly
atmosphere with graver subjects, she reached for her own tea.

"Fine, fine. Great, actually!" He smiled as his eyes flickered from his tea to her
eyes. "I--" he looked away and blushed. "I met someone special at Kyoto, my father was
transferred there after stopping by at Osaka. She's very special to me. I... I would've
like you to meet her, but... this is a very important year for her and her exams are
pilling up so she couldn't come." He told her. His face looked flushed and Ami nodded
knowingly. He had practiced all of his excuses before he came. She was impressed that he
had prepared to lie to her before he showed up to her door. Yes, Urawa had definitely
changed from the naive boy she once knew and his powers were ebbing, usually he would've
known her reactions by now.

"You don't have to lie to me Urawa-kun. You came to tell me about your dreams and
it would have been difficult if she were here... I understand." Ami set down her cup and
looked him in the eye as he blushed again.

"Gomen ne, Ami-chan!" He apologized, obviously quite embarrassed at having been
discovered. He set his tea down onto the glass table and prepared to stand and bow in
remorse. She shook her head at his actions and so he paused and tried to amend it another
way. "I really did wish you two to meet, just not at a time like this." He admitted at
last. Yet, she saw him wince slightly at his own comment.

So, he knew after all.

"It's alright Urawa-kun. It is best we do not meet, yet. It is too dangerous a
time, anyway." Urawa paled slightly at this. "You are infected, now."

He didn't need to ask. He understood quite well what she had meant. "I know." He
confirmed her earlier suspicions with his simple answer.

"So, did you say goodbye to her Urawa-kun? You have always been so noble that I
can't think of you not doing so without her knowledge that you might not be back."

Urawa grimaced at this. "I broke up with her before I came. She probably thinks
that I am visiting an old girlfriend and hope to get back with her. I did nothing to
assuage her of her suspicions. I just let her go... It would have been unkind of me to
have her pine for a sick man who is destined to die, anyway." Urawa sighed and looked
down to his lap in shame. He appeared to be so tired now, and Ami regretted having not
given him some green tea after all to at least waken his body, that is.

"Have you seen your death, Urawa-kun?" Ami questioned him. Surprised and curious
at what he had told her.

He barked a bitter laugh that startled and scared her. Not because she feared Urawa
would harm her, but she feared that he was hurting himself with this. "I don't need to.
After today I can't go near her without making her sick with the same disease that
threatens to kill me. Any way, isn't it the golden rule that a prophet may never see his
own end, his own future? I am a prophet, at least I was, was I not Ami-chan?" He seemed
desperate now, wanting to confirm that he had made the right decision. His eyes had came
back to haunt her with their uncertainties.

"Why did you come to me at such a great risk, Urawa-kun?" She asked him softly.

He looked away. The lights from the outside shone through the darkness of her
apartment. The television filled the silence in the room. "I had to see you." He
answered simply before turning back to her. He had been gathering his courage all this
time, but she knew that this was important to him. Maybe, it was important to her as
well, but she was not yet ready to admit it, not to herself anyway. "A long time ago,
Ami-chan, you were the only one I had ever loved. You saved me from death, and saved me
from losing the only soul I have ever known to have. I owed you. I owed you of the love
you gave to me so freely, of the acceptance of who I was and of what I was, and for saving
me from death or at the very least a fate worse than death! You saved me from becoming a
monster that was inside my very soul and healed me!" He never broke his gaze from hers.
Allowing her to see the fresh tears in his eyes that spilt from his deep blue eyes. "If I
could save you Ami-chan, and repay you for what you have done for me, then I would do it,
even if it means that I have to sacrifice my love and my life for you!"

She didn't know what to say. She knew that he had loved her and she had loved him,
too. But they were different people now, and he had his own love and she had her own
life. They had chosen different lives. "Baka!" She whispered as she touched his wet
cheek, not meeting his startled eyes, for she was watching those tears of pain wash and
stain her hands accusingly. "It's my duty to protect and to love the people of this
planet. It is 'my' duty to sacrifice!" She suddenly threw her arms around him, clinging
almost desperately, and for the last time saved him from the choice that he had made.
"Baka! You should've stayed home, or told me your dreams over the phone! I would've
believed you! Didn't you know that I would've believed you? Why? You had love in your
hands and you let it go! Why?" She was crying now, because, until this very moment, she
had not realized exactly how heavy a weight her duty had upon her soul. How many lives
had she changed because she was a Sailor Senshi?

A long time ago, she had thought that by going public, she would save lives. Now,
she could see that knowledge could be dangerous. Is that why Setsuna never told them the
future unless it was part of the time continuum? Is that why she never trusted them? Ami
held onto Urawa tighter now and though he hugged her back, she knew that this man did not
belong to her. He was where he shouldn't be. He didn't belong here.

"Why are you here Urawa-kun?" She finally asked him.

"I came to warn you, that if you go public, you might not be able to control what
will happen in the future." He replied. "The darkness is nearer than you think, but you
will never find it in time. You are unprepared for what the future has to offer." He
looked confused at his own words. It seems to be the only thing that he didn't practice a
million times to himself in front of the mirror.

"I was never able to control what happens in the future Urawa-kun." She pulled back
and looked him in the eye again. "I have the powers of a senshi, yes, but my destiny is
not decided by me. My powers doomed me to be a pawn from the moment my soul was born and
I cannot alter its path." He begun to protest and she placed a finger on his lips. When
did she become so bold? When had she learned the courage to do what she was doing now?
To get close to someone she knew was not for her? Yet, with this knowledge, she could
smile and tell him what she knew he needed to hear. She blushed slightly at her thoughts
and her actions, but it was the only indication that she was still the Ami that he had
always known, the Ami that he remembered.

"The future you bring me must deal with war, with death and destruction and disease.
I cannot prevent them from coming to Tokyo; much less protect this Earth from its attacks.
I only hope that by the time of invasion, I will be strong enough to defeat it, that I
will be able to help and restore everything that has been destroyed. Yet, this is the
hardest battle we will fight and I know that strength in powers can become stronger in
numbers. If we had the backing of the country behind us, we would never forget who it is
we're fighting for." She brushed away a stray bang of brown hair and smiled at him. "Go
back to your love, Urawa-kun. You need not hurt both yourself and her for my sake. I
protect love and I defend justice. I'm fighting this for you and those that you love
dearly. It is not about a bright future that I'm willing to risk my life, for it is your
love for this girl and the children you will bear together. The darkness will come, yes.
But if this love will grow where there was once only despair, then the darkness will not
triumph. Hope will live on!"

Urawa shook his head in despair. "But I cannot risk her life..."

"It is already too late, Urawa-kun. Enjoy life where it exists for we cannot stop
the spread of disease. Love her when there is time for love and never give up." Ami
shushed him with her hand again, before resting her forehead next to his. "You don't
belong here and you know that, Urawa-kun. Go back. Go back to where you belong."

He paused and looked back to her ice-blue eyes, colors that should have chilled him.
Yet, he felt warmer than he had ever felt in a very long time. "Now, I remember why I
loved you so much! Sometimes..." he trailed off while a look of regret came into his eyes
but her hand had stopped him again and she shook her head this time at his words.

"No more reminiscing. You have a beautiful girl waiting for your return." She
smiled. The blush still lingered on her cheeks. She pulled away from him and settled
down beside him once more. They drank their tea in silence before she broke the peace one
last time. "Now, you love 'her'." She answered his previous reply with sadness in her
eyes, yet her smile still remained upon her lips. "And maybe, if we're lucky, I'll meet
her sometime soon, ne?" She asked him, turning those large blue eyes to him.

Urawa smiled and stood, having finished his tea he set away the empty cup. Standing
and bowing to her in thanks, he knew he had done what he had come to do and failed, and he
was ready to leave. Failure did not irk him this time and he was even a little glad that
she had rejected his aid. Ami had been right. He was not where he belonged. "Yes.
Maybe, sometime soon." He extended his hand to her, watching her put down her own cup and
reachingout. He held her hand for only a brief moment and then both let go.

She walked him to the door, knowing that he would want to return to his darling in
Kyoto. When he straightened after stepping into his shoes, she shyly placed an innocent
kiss on his cheek. "For a remembrance," she told him with a smile. Of my first love, she
finished in her mind.

He looked slightly startled, but did not comment anymore than with a smile. "Ja
ne!" He called out over his shoulder, accompanied by a wave when he reached the elevator.

"Sayonara," she answered softly. He was too far to hear it but she waved goodbye to
him in turn to assure him that he would see her again. They both knew that it was a lie,
but it was such a nice ending to their friendship. It would be hard to let truth and
reality take them over completely and drown the hope that was planted in their hearts that
day. He stepped into the elevator with one last wave and was gone once more from her
life. Yet, like the last time, he had stayed in her heart, he had changed her. One day,
they'd look back to this day when despair became overwhelming, ready to drown them, they
would convince themselves of a lie that could give them hope. It was better this way
after all, better to end in promises...

'And maybe, if we're lucky, I'll meet her sometime soon, ne?'

'Yes. Maybe, sometime soon.'

The front door of Apartment 1126 closed, ending another chapter in the life story of
Mizuno Ami with the goodbye from the first man she had ever loved. There wasn't time for
regret that they could not stay together longer, that it had ended in this way, but there
could only be goodbyes now. She knew that she would never see him again. Never again!

"Sayonara, Urawa-kun. Sayonara."

The apartment did not answer her sad words, nor did the man she had spoken them to.
He was never given the chance to even catch the last time she uttered his name aloud.

Goodbye, the first man who held my heart and loved me as I am. Goodbye, forever.


* * *


Minako was still gushing over Usagi's ring when they arrived at the temple. "...And
he really asked you on a beach?" The blonde asked her odango-haired friend again, blue
eyes sparkling in delight and excitement.

"Hai!" Usagi answered once more with equal enthusiasm as she gripped her bag in her
hands behind her head. Leaning her head back as she looked to the sky -- which usually
was a bad thing to do since Usagi was so prone to klutz attacks.

"Yatta! That's so romantic!" Makoto sighed and even Ami had to agree to that.

"Hai!" Usagi replied again, dreamily. Yet the expression soon desipated into
worry, "Do you think Rei-chan's better now?"

Minako sighed and looked toward the Hikawa Jinja sign, "I hope so," she muttered.

"Well, at least she would be well rested," Makoto provided helpfully. Her green
eyes wide and sad though she tried to hide it, there was however a spark. "If Kagemi-san
will let her." The brunetter grumbled beneath her breath.

Ami looked to the other sharply but said nothing.

Usagi shook her head, "Things are happening so fast," the odangle blonde looked to
the morning sky. "I feel like we haven't had time to prepare for any of it."

"When have we ever?" Artemis asked.

"But we've never been up against an enemy on a scale like this without some other
help or at least a power up!" Ami suddenly concluded as her eyes looked thoughtfully
forward. "It's different this time... somehow."

Luna looked worriedly to the blue-haired girl before repressing a shudder, "I should
have an answer for this," the dark cat frowned. "But there had been no word from Central
Control, nothing from the old-moon archives, and the Outers--" Luna paused and looked
worriedly at those around her.

"Yes, the Outers," Usagi voice became suddenly distant.

"The Outers," Minako echoed bitterly.

"Minako, why can't I ride on your shoulder?" Artemis asked abruptly, surprising
everyone out of their own revelries. Artemis was unsure what it was about the Outers that
set Minako into a mood like that but he wanted to stop her from going deeper into the
bitterness that seemed to settle around her before it gets any farther in front of the
others.

All the girls, except Ami, glared back at the white cat who shrunk beneath the
heated stares. "You're out of shape that's why!" Minako told him firmly after rolling
her eyes in exasperation at Artemis. It was about time that lazy cat used his paws
instead of hitching a free ride every day!

"Artemis, Luna can handle this, why can't you?" Makoto asked slyly.

"Na ni?" The white cat flicked his tail in indignation. "I never said I couldn't
handle it!"

"Oh, Artemisu!" Luna laughed. "Baka!" Everyone was grateful of the mood change as
they laughed at the white cat.

They reached the steps of Hikawa-Jinja laughing at the look of horror on Artemis'
face at the rising steps of the temple that must have loomed over the two cats. Groaning,
the white cat reluctantly followed them up the steps, grumbling the whole way up. He only
stopped when Minako threatened to stop giving him a midnight snack if he continued. Luna
smiled thinly at this but said nothing, though she did whack the white cat with her paw.
"Hey Hiketsu-kun!" Usagi called out to the blond man they saw, trying to hide her
nervousness behind a smile.

Makoto frowned slightly when she saw Hiketsu look up, her distaste showing.

"He looks too good to be real!" Ami studied the older man, for once she had to
agree with Minako's dreamy sigh.

Luna studied those around her, finding it strange that Ami had not blushed or
admonished the blonde for saying such a thing. She noted Makoto's growing agitation that
seemed to change the other into a mindless bully, not the Makoto they knew and loved.
Usagi had been quiet these days, hidding both her pains and joys behind a facade that was
not like her at all. And Minako was slowly distancing herself from everyone, her eyes
already faraway even as she spoke words that no longer carried the attachment she used to
have.

Hiketsu, on the other hand, looked angrily up at their approach. "We're here to see
Rei-chan!" Usagi told him amicably. Blue eyes wide and eager to see if her friend was in
better health than what she had been in the night before.

"She's asleep." He told them with firm disapproval. Apparently, a night's sleep
did not change his opinion of them. It didn't matter to Minako what he thought of them,
but he was in their way.

"Na ni? Rei-chan never sleeps in!" Usagi gasped in surprise.

"She's recovering from the incident." Hiketsu replied tightly. "She'll be better
later, though I wouldn't advise you to see her for a while."

"Why not?" Makoto demanded.

"Because, you'll bring unwanted things back to her memory." Hiketsu answered,
choosing his words carefully. His eyes were cold and he stood firmly in their way.

"We must see her!" Ami finally broke out worriedly.

Hiketsu looked to the blue-haired girl who suddenly became so vulnerably desperate.
His eyes softened slightly but still he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you can't."

That was when Makoto lost her temper and threw a punch at the taller, blond-haired
man. For a moment she felt herself lose control of her body, but she had meant to throw
the punch... hadn't she?


* * *


She awoke groggy and somewhat grumpy, groaning as she rolled in her beddings. How
did she become so sore? She peeked open one eye to see sunlight streaking thought her
window and panicked. After all, Hino Rei was never known to get up 'after' the sun.
Always, she'd get up at four in the morning, punctual to the dot and ready for meditation.
What day was this anyway? Was she late for classes?

This was a first indeed!

She rose from her bed and searched frantically around her room for her uniform, one
that she'd take out for school every night before a new day begun to help her prepare for
the morning. "Rei-chan, don't worry. I've already called your school today and told them
you were sick." A male voice interrupted her frantic search for her school uniform.
Glancing up from the floor to the entrance of her room, she automatically yanked the
bedding to her chin when she saw who was leaning against the doorframe. Those sleepy blue
eyes regarded her with amusement as he sipped some tea from his mug. "Ohayo, Rei-chan!"
He greeted with a nod in her direction. His voice was husky from fatigue and his golden
hair in disarray.

"Oh- Ohayo." She replied weakly. She really was feeling sick right now, though she
wasn't exactly sure why. What had happened the day before anyway? All she could remember
was the retreating shadows of Luna and Artemis, disappearing around the corner. And then
everything got so fuzzy that she couldn't place what time of day it had been when Luna and
Artemis departed, or what day today was.

"You're probably feeling disoriented. The first sign after waking from such an
ordeal." Hiketsu told her with a gentle smile as he sat down on the edge of her bed,
placing his cup on her nightstand. "Your friends were here earlier, but I told them that
you were sleeping and that you needed your rest." He didn't tell her that he practically
had to fight *and* threatened them to get them out of the shrine, and even then it was
difficult to get them to leave. He knew their secrets, but he didn't know them as people.
That made no difference though. He had his brother's gift after all. He knew people in
general and he could manipulate them just as well, listening to their thoughts once in a
while helped. These girls were difficult in that they were stronger than most and their
different characteristics strengthened them as a group, making them less susceptible to
things that many others would be sensitively weak to. But Hiketsu had more than
intuition, he was famous for his great talents as a seeker for reasons. He knew their
minds before he learned their names, so he had no trouble saying exactly what they wished
not to be said and doing exactly what they wished not to have been done. He would push
until he reached their limits before toppling them, because Rei didn't need them there
right now. It would be bad if she had a relapse before them.

Rei. Always so dignified and reserved. It would not suit her image if she broke
down and cried, though he was not sure whether she would really go into a relapse, after
all, Rei had always been so strong. Even at her own mother's funeral...

"I don't remember what happened, or even what day it is." Rei admitted in a moment
of weakness. It was a different experience for her to acknowledge her uncertainties out
loud, much less to another human being.

"It's alright. It's only Monday and you need more rest. Your school will send
someone to bring whatever work you'll miss and everything will be fine Rei-chan." He
smiled that disarming smile as he gently pushed her back onto her back. "Now, rest. It's
what you need to get over the headache." He kissed her on the forehead in a brotherly
manner that surprised her. It made her blush at the intimacy at that moment.

"Hiketsu--" He ignored her and shook his head.

"Sleep." He told her softly and left the room. Headache? What headache? That was
when she noticed that there was pounding in her head that made her eyes go momentarily
blurry. Oh, that headache! She thought, rather painfully. How did he know? But all
questions slipped from her mind as she fell back to darkness.

Hiketsu stayed outside her bedroom door. He fought back the urge to return and hold
her, to keep her safe. It was not his job, it never was. Even back when they had been
young, Rei had always sought her own path and when someone tried to protect her she fought
them off as fiercely as she would any enemy. Still, she couldn't make him leave! So he
never strayed from her door throughout her recovery, and as her ojii-san had found out
earlier, he wasn't planning to either! The older man discovered him huddled before the
wooden frames of her door earlier that morning. He didn't forget that knowing smile and
those twinkling blue eyes recording him with something akin to amusement and approval.
Presently, the old man passed him again. "Ohayo!" The old man called out as he walked
by. Apparently, it was still pretty early.

Hiketsu looked back startled at the other, for a moment he thought that Rei's ojii-
san didn't seem old at all, especially just then. The other had been extremely concerned
by the breach in the protection fields that emanated from the fire-room. Hiketsu had
gotten there earlier though, having set his more specific protection spells around the
room when he first visited the shrine. And when Rei had become unconscious, the old man
had gotten extremely worried about her state of being. "I gather she kicked you out of
her room, ne?" The old man grinned, bringing him back from his memories. He still
couldn't forget the fierce look of protectiveness and affection that resided on that calm
face but hours ago. "Rei-chan's prone to do that when someone tries to seduce her." The
old man teased. Apparently, the other decided not to worry after all.

Hiketsu blinked in surprise. "Seduce her?" He gasped before blushing at the
thought. "I never thought about such a thing--"

"Until now, ne?" The old man cut in with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry lad,
you're not the first. She's a beautiful girl and she's single!" The old man winked as he
chuckled under his breath. "If I were a young man like you, I'd be glaring at every other
male looking at her the wrong way and scheming up plans to win her hand by now! But you
teenagers nowadays! So slow in your decision makings. I'd have thought, by the way you
guys go at it, that you'd never make it into any relationship!" The old man sighed
wistfully.

"Na ni yo?" Hiketsu blinked in astonishment. "I would never treat Rei-chan in that
way!" And what did the old man mean by him being a teenager? He was twenty-six!

The old man chuckled at this, "Glad to know you're one of the more honorable ones."
Rei's ojii-san sighed again. "But you are rather slow in coming aren't you?"

Was it just him or was this guy encouraging him to court Rei? "I--"

"You realize that all your honor will just make it easier for someone else to snag
her up and leave you in the dust?" The old man continued rather righteously, pointing his
index finger to the air as if giving a lecture to a six year old. Hiketsu frowned at
those words, knowing they were true, especially since Kaidou had already done it once
before. "Ah! I see that you had personal experiences with this type of thing." The old
man nodded sagely. "So, what do you have to lose? Stop lazing and get to work! You
know, beautiful girls don't really have to wait for a prince charming to come alone, there
are so many of those around these days that they snatch up whoever comes along first. You
better hurry! No time like the present, that's what they say!" The old man winked one
last time before walking away. "Oh! And helping an old man out with the temple could
bring up your status with her!" Rei's ojii-san called back over his shoulder. Obviously
he was hinting at something else altogether now!

Hiketsu grinned at that. Seems like the other hadn't forgotten to try and take
advantage of free help if he could get it! The old man disappeared around the other side
of the temple, obviously muttering about teenagers and how lazy they were again. Left to
himself, he pondered over what the other told him. 'No time like the present, that's what
they say!' Hiketsu sighed as he slid open the door to Rei's shoji once more, as silent as
he had been when she had just woken up. The sunlight cast his shadow onto her wooden
floor board, and she was too lost in sleep to acknowledge his presence. 'So, what do you
have to lose?' He had no answers for questions like that. There were too many ways to
answer it. For now, though, he watched her from where he stood, feeling the burning rays
of the sun hitting his back and laying its scorching rays of light onto each strand of his
golden hair. A faint white-gold halo appeared around his head as his shadowed eyes
silently observed the sleeping girl that he had been watching over since he had first
stumbled upon her when they were but children. The girl he had not thought of till now,
but the memories returned with a bitter-sweetness like they had done in the past.

'Ne, Rei-chan, why do you always get all starry-eyed around Kaidou-san? You
actually act like a girl around him!'

'You watch your mouth Hiketsu or I'll make you eat mud!'

'I'll make you eat worms!'

'I'll make you eat mud and worms!'

He smiled faintly at the memories. Rei had always been a solemn little girl, until
he riled her up that is. And now, in sleep, she looked no different than she did those
years ago when he was no more than a child like her. He sighed softly at the memories.
Even then, Kaidou had ruled over her heart like the Sun over the infinite sky. Could he
ever be content with that? To be but a glimmering shadow of what his brother was to her?
She had got so far away from him when her mother died and yet, his brother had managed to
watch over her even after that...

Kaidou.

How long have I worshiped you, niisan? Isn't it enough that you have become
everything you have ever wanted to be? That you broke her heart once, already? Must your
memories curse me too and make it so that I could never win her love from you?

'You know, beautiful girls don't really have to wait for their prince charming to
come along, there are so many of those around these days that they snatch up whoever comes
along first!' Rei's ojii-san had said that to him. The old man was probably right, and
anyway, Rei was more than just beautiful in the conventional sense, she was more than just
looks...

Yet, still he watched her from the safety of her slumbering. He dared not enter her
room and wake her from her dreams. There were no answers for those questions that he had
wished to ask since he first arrived at Tokyo and saw her lying on the hospital bed. He
had felt the youthful years return, felt as if the fairytales of princesses were born
again into his heart when chivalry was what ruled the mind of Man. Upon seeing that dark
and mysterious sleeping beauty upon a bed of white cotton and steel, he had fallen in love
all over again with her in that hospital room. He hadn't even realized how much he had
missed her till then, nor did he understand how much and how profoundly she had changed,
and yet, stayed the same. She was still solemn and stubborn, still filled with a fire
that she contained in her heart like a sacred flame in itself. He understood its origins
now, that it was her destiny to carry such a bright beauty within her soul. Her friends
shared similar fates and held similar brightness within their own hearts. Yet, he was
drawn to the fire, like his foolish niisan had been. He ran a weary hand through his
ruffled hair and turned his back to the shadowed room, to the woman who haunted him, even
with his back turned to her.

One day he might get burned. He smiled at the idea and closed the door again,
leaning against the paper screen. He looked at the blue sky that pierced his eyes and made
him involuntarily narrow them at the onslaught of the brightness of the light. Who are
you Rei? Are you the legendary Sailor Senshi Mars? Or are you still the little girl who
hid her pain and refused to cry, even at your mother's own funeral? Is it my destiny to
watch you from the shadows of your shining light and the light you believe my niisan to
cast so easily?

So many foolish questions that he had never thought he'd ask. So, where does that
leave him now? He closed his eyes to the brightness all around him, to the sun that
continued to shine like an undying beacon. Yet, the sun will eventually set and the night
will take over, perhaps there will be moonlight tonight to bask beneath... and it was then
that he prayed that perhaps, one day, a star would have half the chance to shine as
gloriously as the ruling Sun. As niisan still did in Rei's world of light.

Before the blond-haired Hiketsu, two crows landed silently onto the wooden floor,
using it as a perch to watch over the young man that guarded their mistress's door. They
turned to each other before looking back to him once more with an intelligence that was
startling. Too lost in his own thoughts, Hiketsu did not see them tilt their heads in
silent comprehension before the fluttering of wings carried them away, leaving behind two
feathers of raven black in their wake as the only evidence of their presence, splayed
across a small card.

A card of fortune as a warning and a gift.

The time has come.

Death stared up at the sky like an upside-down puppet.

Change has arrived.


* * *


Makoto was in a rage!

It happened that if Rei was good at martial arts, then Hiketsu was 'great' at it!
Even with her strength and experience in fighting, Makoto couldn't touch him! And 'that'
infuriated her more than anything else. Unable to unleash her anguish, all she could do
was pace back and forth, trying to ease herself out of her frustrations.

Usagi and Minako watched her uneasily as the tall brunette paced across the
courtyard. Ami was ignoring all of them by now and was hovering over her mini-computer,
typing away at speeds faster than you could blink! It was probably the blue-haired girl's
way of forgetting what had happened that morning. "How dare he treat us like that?"
Makoto demanded angrily. Minako was sure that she could almost see the lightening
sparking in arches of graceful energy at the tips of Makoto's fingertips, threatening to
be unleashed if anyone dared to interrupt her during her ranting.

"Oh, Mako-chan! Hiketsu-kun was only concerned about Rei-chan. He's being
protective and we can't blame him for feeling that way!" Usagi sighed. A brave soul, the
odango-blonde was! Apparently, the rest of the school had stayed away from them with
prudency, since they had all seen that Makoto was in a rage -- not that she tried to hide
it -- and so far, only her friends dared to even talk to her! Though, despite it all,
Usagi was right. Minako just couldn't understand why Makoto was so mad or why their Mako-
chan started the fight in the first place.

It had scared Minako a little at how uncontrolled the brunette's rage had been.
Though Makoto did not comment on Usagi's sensible words, "He has no right--!" Makoto
began but then stopped and turned away. "He has no right!" The brunette muttered at
last. The tall brunette's shoulder shook as she fought to regain her control over her
unruly temper, or was it because the other was crying? Minako couldn't be sure, she
couldn't tell from where she stood.

Minako was surprised at the change of mood before a cheery voice interrupted them.
"Usagi-chan! Min'na! Why are you four huddled over here all by yourselves for? The
whole school seemed to be edgy around you guys today!" A red headed girl approached, her
eyes revealed her anxiousness but her smile hid it well. Apparently, she was another
brave soul that dared to venture into the territory surrounding the angry Makoto. She
looked at the tall brunette with a slight apprehension but turned to Usagi with another
knowing look. "Mako-chan's been at it again, hasn't she?" The other whispered into the
ear of the blushing blonde.

"Naru-chan!" Usagi said with a widening of her eyes and a grin on her lips, as if
she couldn't help herself. Covering her mouth with her left hand, Usagi kept on grinning,
her cheeks red with embarrasment. "You didn't have to say it out loud!"

Whether or not Makoto heard this, Minako couldn't tell because the other was still
facing away from all of them. "Well, back to being normal!" Minako sighed in a
melodramatic way to enhance her disappointed look. She wasn't sad about being a senshi,
but she was really becoming uncomfortable with the fact that today was the day they had
decided to go public. They've already arranged it, already arranged everything! A tell-
all to the news. And if Ami had already sent out that article on the web about knowing
who the Sailor Senshi truly were, their fates would be sealed and there would be no
turning back after today!

It would be a hit! Minako knew that, and she also knew that her own career choice
as a star might pick up now that she would become an instant celebrity, but the
consequences still weighted heavily upon her. It was too late now, since the whole school
seemed to be whispering about it since lunch time, even with Makoto being so far gone in
her own passionate anger. "I just wanted to be the first to inform you that the Sailor
Senshi are going to announce who they are!" Naru continued and broke Minako out of her
turbulent thoughts. "Isn't it exciting, Usagi-chan? Umino couldn't stop talking about it
since he found out this morning! I can't believe you guys haven't heard about it yet!"

Usagi seemed a little pale but nodded with a forced smile. "Great! I can't wait to
find out who they are!" The odango-blonde lied and badly at that, too. Minako must teach
her little princess a thing or two about lying, especially if this girl was going to be a
Queen someday!

"Usagi-chan?" Naru looked at her once best friend with suspicious eyes. Sometimes
it still hurt to think about it, but Naru was a strong girl and though she felt jealous of
the little circle that Usagi was now a part of, she couldn't complain. Well, not much
anyway. It wouldn't change how things had turned out, though back at the beginning of
junior high, Naru would never have dreamed that she and Usagi would have drifted this far
apart! No, she couldn't lie. Sometimes, Naru still felt betrayed. "Daijoubu-yo? You
seem to know something I don't..." those blue-green eyes seemed distant for a moment.
"Tell me after school, I'll be waiting at the gates." Naru said and then turned from them
before Usagi could protest. "Umino's waiting for me, so I better go back." She waved
over her shoulders at them. "Stop being such a gloomy group!" She called out. "Ja ne,
Usagi-chan! And remember, at the gates!"

Usagi sighed. There would be no excuses this time! Especially since she had been
so worried about Rei that for the first time in Usagi's life she woke up and arrived at
school on time! After Hiketsu had shooed them all away that is. Her teacher nearly had a
hemorrhage before realizing that she was 'indeed' in the classroom before sensei was. She
was a little irked when the teacher started to pinch himself and poked at her a few times
to make sure that he wasn't dreaming and that she wasn't a ghost. Makoto, on the other
hand, had been angry ever since the scene this morning with Hiketsu, and Usagi found it
hard to concentrate on her work when one of her friends was sick and the other was in a
very foul mood. Even sensei seemed to be walking on eggshells around Makoto this morning!
She felt guilty that she might have been the cause for it all. What happened yesterday
was just...

Usagi shuddered as her thoughts trailed off, unwilling to remember any further.
'The princess has chosen.' Rei's voice rang eerily in her mind. 'Betrayer...!' That
word kept repeating over and over again as well, yet still she was unsure of its true
meaning, or perhaps, she was unwilling to face the consequences of consciously admitting
her suspicions.

"...the media should be ready for us by six this afternoon. We'll be the biggest
talk till then and we'll need to transform before any of us show up at the studio. It
would be better if we show up -- all of us -- together." Ami finally spoke after a long
silence. It surprised them all that she had been this quiet, even for Ami! Yet, though
Usagi had been lost in her own thoughts, she had caught the last part and she knew that
Ami was right.

"Life won't be the same after today, will it?" Makoto asked softly. There was
sadness in her eyes that replaced the earlier rage and worry.

"No, I guess not." Ami sighed.

"Well, if worst come to worst, we'll be celebrities!" Minako cheered, trying to
lighten the mood.

"Don't you ever think seriously for once, Minako-chan?" Luna scowled. Up until
now, the dark cat had been observing Ami's work and had kept to herself as well, they had
all but forgotten her presence. Her statement startled them back into reality.

Artemis rolled his eyes then, "I've tried Luna, and I tell you, it's hopeless!" The
white cat added. It took a moment for them to stop staring at their own cats.

"Well, I disagree!" Usagi stuck her tongue out at Luna and Artemis, being one of
the first to recover. Minako, on the other hand, started to mutter about the lack of a
tuna dinner and probably a week of milk-deprivation for both cats! Apparently, a night at
Makoto's had helped her mood. Not wanting to face her parents, she left a message on
their answering machine, telling them that she was alright and then left it at that. She
was embarrassed and hurt, unwilling to talk to either of them about their earlire
confrontation.

Minako mentally shook herself. She'll have to face her parents sooner or later, and
she best get it over with. What's wrong with her? She could face demons from the dark
dimension, save the day, and she can't even face her own parents? Today, she thought,
I'll go home today. I'll tell Makoto that I'm going tonight. Tonight, I'll go home.

"Keep doing that and the whole school will think you're nuts by the end of today."
Artemis purred before Minako threw her shoe at him and knocked him painfully on the head,
causing the white cat to rub the sore spot tenderly. With a scowl, he glared at the
grinning blonde who winked at him.

"Keep purring kitten and you'll regret it!" Minako threatened with an easy smile,
more herself than she had been in the last few days.

"I could report you for animal abuse!" Artemis threatened back.

"As if they'd believe you Artemisu." Luna drily replied. That set the whole group
laughing again. Of course, the rest of the school couldn't figure out why they were
talking to cats, much less grasp that it was a cat's comment that had made the whole group
burst into laughter. Makoto even joined in, forgetting her earlier anger, no, her fear
of what had happened this morning. For she had lost control of herself again, and she was
anxious to hide her lack of control over herself. Yet now, for just a moment, it was
almost like the world was okay again and that life was normal, like it used to be. For a
moment, they forgot that a quarter of the school was at home, sick with the mysterious
'flu', nor did they recall that the youma was invading their world in hordes like none
they had ever seen, and that chaos seemed to fill their days and nights with emotional
traumas and depressions like none they had ever experienced. In those small creeping
minutes that ended all too quickly, they were just a bunch of ordinary teenage girls,
laughing and bantering without a care in the world.

The future began to look just a little brighter from this moment of peace,
happiness, and friendship.


* * *


Training. That was what they lived for and breathed for. They dreamed of it and
when they woke, they worked at it. When they ate, they ate with the memory of what they
had learned and what else they had to learn. When they took a break, it was only to
absorb what they were taught. So, it was the life of being a soldier and a member of the
team that Alyssa Smith had build from scratch. She scrambled them and then divided them
into four platoons, each with dual leaders, splitting the platoons to two squads and then,
when one goes down deeper, into pairs of partners that were in two different squads of
their platoons.

It was flexible and it was independent. She needed that because what she lacked in
magical powers, she more than made up for with strength, agility, and brains. Her high-
tech equipment made sure they would be prepared for this, but it was her strategy
teachings that she fed them day and night. It was her personal training sessions that
prepared them for hand-to-hand battles, and it was in the pairing rooms, the squadron
rooms, and finally, the platoon rooms that she taught them to work as individuals, as
pairs, as a team, and then, at last, as a unit. They would be ready for this battle to
the death. She would make sure of it!

So she drilled them and she taught them to think on their feet; to strategize before
going to battles; to learn when to retreat and when to grasp an advantage. She beat the
pride out of them after months of grueling work, and then beaten the timidity out of them
too. They would be bold when they had to be and act weak when they needed to. 'It's
survival that will sustain you, not glory and pride.' Then she made sure that they would
not fear death and pain. She put them through the grind, got them comfortable and taught
them how to endure pain. She didn't pick these people for their weaknesses, but for their
strengths in both mind and body.

Some were better than others and they became the leaders of the squads. Some were
excellent and they became the leaders of the platoons as well. Now, she had come to the
point of seeing how to beat the fear out of them. All psychology now and this was the one
part she hated most, but knew also that it was the most important thing she would ever
teach them. "So, you're going to scare the pants off of us, no?" A male voice
interrupted her thoughts.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know who had spoken. "Who said?" She asked
non-coherently.

He was smiling. She could almost hear his smile in his voice. "Does it matter?
It's just a rumor." He was obviously not buying what she was telling him, though
strangely enough, he trusted her. It didn't make sense in the contradictory way he always
acted and there were times when he seriously got on her nerves.

"I was just wondering exactly who would have said such a silly thing as that."
Alyssa smiled and crossed her legs. They were encased in shiny-black material that was
seemingly flimsy, but could stop more than a few bullets from entering. The black hair
that was held back, flowed down in wisps, while her piercing blue eyes hid themselves from
him today. "I wouldn't scare the 'pants off' of anyone," she sighed. "Maybe a few years,
but that's what I do anyway. I make everyone feel so very old." She smiled at this, for
many of the others would never be able to guess exactly how old Alyssa Smith really was.
She 'looked' to be in her early or mid-twenties, but that didn't explain how she knew so
much about everything and they all knew she wasn't 'fully' human. Her right eye was made
of steel and circuits after all, and it would be no surprise if the rest of her was like
that too. "Only the perverse would say such a thing about your next level of training."
Alyssa trailed off and though her smile never changed, she was clearly unamused by the
rumor that had been going around. Still, she would humor those who did not take it so
seriously, those who she found 'engaging'. Some poor bastard was going to get it, and
Alyssa would 'always' find out exactly who it was that had been spreading these rumors
that she so despised.

"He must have ruined a surprise." Another voice broke into their conversation. The
man beside her straightened and glanced over to see his partner enter the room stealthily.

"He?" Alyssa asked innocently. "Am I getting the impression that you know this
mysterious gossiper?" She asked with naive curiosity, though both knew that she was
neither naive nor curious. If Alyssa wanted to, she'd pick their thoughts right out of
their minds, but she usually didn't like so drastic a measure.

'I like stealth over strength.' She once told them with a half smile that would've
melted butter. At least, the very buttery heart that Michaels seemed to have.

The newcomer smiled and shook his head of raven-black hair. Dark golden eyes of
predatory light sparked, as tints of brown were all but swallowed by the gold. "Not a
clue Alyssa." He told her with an honest smile.

Alyssa winked. "I wouldn't trust that innocent face for a second, Dale!" But she
didn't probe which meant that she believed Dale and was only joking. Michaels smiled
pensively as he pulled away from the conversation.

"...Right, and I'm sure they'll cower if they ever discover that you found out!"
Dale laughed. Breaking Michaels momentary distraction.

"Chris?" Dale blinked startled. It was the first time he heard Alyssa utter his
partner's first name. Obviously, she was worried about the faraway look that crept upon
Michaels' face.

"I was just wondering what we would do with those who got injured during the battle.
Should we leave them behind to be slaughtered, or do we take them with us at the chance
that they will destroy us with the virus that would infest their blood and all that they
come in contact with?" Michaels maintained the sadness in his eyes, though he tried to
wave off the solemn question.

Alyssa had darkness in her presence and the cold calm crept upon her face. She said
nothing, but in a few moments Michaels shook his head in defeat. "Such a waste." The
older man muttered. Obviously, the other had received an answer from Alyssa, a silent one
that was perhaps meant only for Michaels to hear.

Dale smiled in distaste. It always came down to that, didn't it? Michaels was like
Alyssa's favorite pet... Dale paused and smiled cynically, after all, who was he to
complain? He was only next in line. He flexed his hand to try to release the tension
within him. "Dale?" Alyssa looked over to him questioningly. She was wondering about
him now.

Whoever got injured in battle was as good as dead, Dale realized when he looked into
those blue eyes that should not have reflected a soul, but did reflect a heart. How could
he condemn someone who had saved him from the jaws of death? Yet, he knew that Michaels
was right. It was a waste. A waste of lives! Yet, what could he do? He had already
lived longer than most people, especially since he had been so snug and safe in this voult
that he now called home. Okay, perhaps not home, but it was something! He was breathing
and healthy, for being in this state, he owed the woman before him immensely! "Whatever
happens, we lived longer than we should've. Death is probably already damning me for
escaping his clutches like that!" Dale grinned. "Anyway, I owe. So, it's not like I
have anything to fear when I go off to battle!"

Michaels face still looked withdrawn and solemn. "Yes." The answer was enough to
bring relief to Dale. There was no joy in this agreement, but it was enough. The three
of them stayed like that for a long while in silent thought. Lost to a sea of troubled
understanding and wonderings through the maze of sacrifices and coming death.


* * *


Fujimia Doko was unhappy about the way that the events were unfolding. The Sailor
Senshi had interrupted his search every time he sent out his youma to find the whereabouts
of his phantom master. Yes, he had suspected that they would meddle. He swept back a
strand of wavy black hair and silently contemplated his actions against them so far. He'd
have to see the effects, but he was sure it was working. Though he was able to hear that
dark and chilling voice within his mind, it was not enough to guide him to his master's
present location. The Sailor Senshi were but an annoying distraction right now and his
plans would surely counter their attacks. Locked away as the demon god was, it was no
surprise that master could not tell him where he was, which to Doko was just as bad as the
master not knowing the location in the first place! Yet, that was frustrating in itself
since the Master had become so very impatient with the progress on the surface.

'I'm buried in the darkness eluminating the night, standing tall amongst the
stars.' Doko rolled those words in his mind, trying to discover the meaning behind the
vague answer. No direct conversations between him and the Master. The magic wouldn't
permit it, but master had at least found a way to connect and communicate with him through
puzzles and ambiguous answers.

He reached for the briefcase on the desk. He had no need for such a thing, but best
to keep up appearances for these silly humans. After all, he'd need to use them later
once he discovered the location of master. It would be best that the Senshi were not
notified of his presence and his quest. They'd do anything to stop him and personally, he
didn't want to know what they could do.

He had already heard the rumors of the fall of one of his master's young relations,
Pharoh 90 -- as a high youma who called itself Mistress Nine named the entity. Of course,
it was for human's sake then too, they needed a name to associate with the fear they felt
and it worked, until those annoying Sailor Senshi showed up and destroyed the upstart of
darkness. Master had told him about the burning pain that evaded his world during the
final battle, yet it wasn't the light that destroyed the darkness of the Pharoh. 'It was
one of their own who had turned against them!' Master had told him. 'Of course, it was
the upstart's own fault for corrupting a senshi. They 'always' turn to their inner light
in the end.' There was a hint of bitterness that pierced and that conversation had ended
then since Doko had passed out from the anger of his master, even though it was not
directed at him. 'Nephrenia was no better!' His master had continued, educating his
pupil on the history of dark-leaders who failed and what not to do. 'She was a rogue to
start with and her ambition got the best of her. A silly fool, she didn't have enough
power to go against all the senshi in the first place! Especially since she had not yet
witnessed the final transformation of that stupid Sailormoon! Of course, we'll not allow
her powers to grow this time.' Master had laughed somewhat cynically at the comment.
'Her powers shall die here! And no one shall get in my way of destroying this star system
and the last planet that should've died a millennium ago! Earth shall fall and breathe
its last breaths!' The communication ended then and Doko was exhausted by the ordeal.
But Master will return, Master always returned for more news.

When he had woken from Master's last visit, he realized that he needed more energy,
but taking it would be difficult. He wouldn't be satisfied with just any human, but if he
went any longer without a feed, he was going to suffer for it. By the time he was really
hungry, he wouldn't care. 'Best choose when you have a choice!' That had always been his
motto!

Yet, the Prime Minister would have to wait. It was too soon to feed on the silly
old fool that he had met earlier. Especially when he realized that he still needed the
stupid human alive! Perhaps the Emperor would make a much more scrumptious meal. The
dark light in Doko's eyes flashed menacingly as he smiled, tapping his fingers together in
a pensive way. Already the crystalline blackness was breaking through his right arm, all
the way down to his right hand. He had discarded the gloves he had been wearing upon his
discovery that he could take the crystalline armor into himself. Its disappearance and
reappearance was ruled by his command over his hunger, that was why the thought of sucking
the life slowly out of the pompous fool of a puppet was making him uncontrollably...
needy. His left hand gracefully opened the side drawer as he took out the gloves, pulling
on the right one first and then the left, knowing that his control would be limited at a
time like this.

"Still, it would be sweet!" he thought with maniacal glee that he knew he had to
keep under tight control. Though he had no control over his hunger, his control over his
appearance was essential. It did not, however, make him stop his imagination from
savoring the coming pleasures of the next meal as his hunger roamed freely within him,
making him restless for the hunt.

It would be sweet indeed! He chuckled softly to himself. And though no one was a
witness to his laugh, it was still as chilling as the armor he now called his own. Yes!
Master would be revived and the Sailor Senshi shall fall to their doom! Then, it is then
that his hunger shall be soothed by the taste of the blood of the dying Earth!


* * *


The attack came quicker than they had expected. In fact, they had thought it would
be awhile before total chaos would break loose. Yet, it was the beginning of a war after
all, so what could they do but witness what war can do if magic was involved? The demons
came early, lured by the prism acquired by Drake, Marshal, and Klide. Sergei was
whispering to his partner Katrina in their native language, discussing something or other
that excluded the rest of the squadron. Wrek was looking discomforted, though Andrews
beside him kept a smug smile on his lips.

The Watcher was nowhere to be found and Michaels was definitely getting edgy. Dale
observed all of this through half-lidded eyes, just before his mind detected an invasion
in his field. "They're here." He told Michaels. The other was already nodding, reading
his partner's mind before the other opened his mouth. There are no secrets among those
who have bonded and only a fool would risk it for privacy. Dale was perplexed, for he had
felt the lure was attracting more demons than they could handle.

'Bring down the prism!' Michaels' sui generis mind echoed in Dale's own and every
other member in the team.

"They're not here yet, why do it now?" Wrek asked stupidly.

Dale kept his anger inside at the outward defiance. "If you wish for an army to
show up, why don't you build a prism of your own? I'm sure they won't leave you right
away after seeing the hoard you're pitting them against!" Dale answered sarcastically.
"Of course, you can always wait until they get up behind you and kill you well you're
still creating! I know it's something you'd enjoy."

Andrews smiled at his reaction amused. 'Isn't being here the point? Luring them
here would mean a battle. People die in battles.' The other man smiled nastily.

Michaels placed a restraining hand on Dale's shoulder. 'He's not worth it.'
Michaels sent the private message to his hot-tempered companion.

Dale forced himself to relax. 'If you wish to die, no one's stopping you! Just
don't take the others with you.'

Andrews face never wavered, but Dale could see the other's eyes burn with contempt.
'You're the one who brought us here.' The other tried one last time.

'I'm sorry, did you wanted to rot in the streets of America and be another
unidentified body there? Oh, I didn't realize you valued your life so much, Andrews!
Maybe you should be leading this expedition to the condition you wish your body to be
in!' Michaels shook his head at Dale's comment.

'Stop it. We don't have time for this!' Michaels commanded, but Andrews and Wrek
were too riled up by this time and Dale was too stubborn to back down now.

"Don't have time? Apparently, pretty boy found that there's enough time for this!"
Wrek started angrily. Apparently the other still was not used to mind speak even after
all this time at training. That would prove to be a fatal and stupid error on Wrek's part
later on in this ruthless battle of power and wits.

'Drop the prism and the shield now! If you three are going to bicker, I'm taking
the rest of them back. I don't want casualties at your expense.' Michaels turned to
Drake, Marshal and Klide. The prism had already been dropped. Sergei and Katrina looked
uneasily around for the indications of the enemy, broadcasting their mind over the area
around them. The others waited a little more down the way.

They would be ready for this if Michaels had to kick each of them into action!

'I think it's too late for retreat now.' Katrina televised softly. She didn't want
to get into the fight, but the demons were there. They would be in sight in a few more
minutes.

Michaels didn't blink an eye. 'Everyone get into position.' Everyone moved except
Andrews, Wrek and Dale, all three glaring at each other.

Without hesitation, Michaels grabbed his partner's arm and hauled him into hiding.
Now only Andrews and Wrek stood in the plains as the thundering suddenly shook the grounds
around them. 'Why did you leave them outside?' Sergei demanded.

'They wanted to be bait.' Michaels replied dryly. 'Volunteered even! Were trained
for this, though they tried to lure you to stay behind.' Michaels gave Dale a thorough
glare.

'What--' Dale begun.

'They asked for it. The Watcher informed me of it before we departed. Just be glad
that you're my partner and, like any good partner, I took you in even when you were such a
fool!' Michaels' face was grim. Katrina looked slightly sad at this new turn of events
and shook her head at her partner, another silent conversation between those two. Marshal
was speaking to Klide and Drake was wrapping his arms around the blonde who was carefully
wrapping the last of the white band across her left-forearm. 'I'm ready!' The blonde
nodded.

'You sure about this, Mouse?' Drake asked nervously, obviously worried about his
partner. Mouse -- though contrary to her name -- was not timid or weak. Her eyes were
fiery green now as she stared down the man that she found herself liking in the last few
weeks.

'Are you questioning my abilities as a fighter?' Mouse asked menacingly. Drake
grinned sheepishly at this and shook his head furiously in denial in the face of her
anger. 'Good.' She answered mildly and patted her arm and checked her weapons again.

'What a woman!' Dale whistled.

'Watch it sweetheart!' Mouse winked. Drake flustered jealously and Dale grinned
with a wave.

'Just kidding Drake! No need to get hostile!' The jealousy turned to embarrassment
as the other shook his head.

'I'm not--' the rest of the sentence was cut off as the ground shook. A deafening
roar washed over them.

'Damn it! They're here!' Michaels signaled.

'We *need* reinforcements now!' Wrek's voice echoed through the barrier.

'Looks like the cocky bastards are learning their lessons!' Dale commented harshly.

'Shut up before you get your head cut off!' Marshal told the younger man with a
roll of his eyes.

'Let's get going!' Michaels interrupted, not wanting another fight starting because
of his hotheaded partner.

What greeted them in the field though, was something that none of them were prepared
to see...


* * *


Chiba Mamoru was bent over a patient attentively, listening to the old man's
complaint and trying to assess what was the matter when the pain struck. The nauseous
feeling came upon him so quickly that he was left dazed and confused, unable to reason out
why he felt so horrible, so suddenly! Nor did he know whence it came till his senses
righted itself again. He could not wait anymore. He needed to talk to someone! His
powers flared as he reached forth, searching for the illness within the old man, grasping
without thought, being too sick at the moment to think clearly, he took away the darkness
with a slight push.

The man gasped. His old joints stopped swelling and he felt as young as he did when
he was but a youth in his prime! He looked over to Mamoru in awe, "A true bearer of your
name my son! I'm so grateful to you!" The old man's eyes darkened when he saw the young
man nearly collapse when he tried to rise. "Daijoubu-yo?" The old man asked frantically.
"You did not need to do that if it were at the risk of your own health, foolish young
man!"

Mamoru smiled weakly, "No, it's not you." Then painfully he rose, feeling some of
the after shocks of healing as well as the darkness that still reigned over the back of
his mind. They were attacking, whoever 'they' were.

He could feel it in the Earth anguish cries at the invasion and he tried desperately
to keep his wits about him as he hurried from the room. Stumbling slightly as he tried to
find a phone, he finally located one in an empty room and grabbed it, dialing a number
that he had come to know so well by now. A feminine voice interrupted his sickened mood
as he realized that he had made a mistake, but quickly directed the operator to whom it
was that he wished to reach. There wasn't enough time! He thought desperately as the
phone continued to ring. And this was definitely not going to be helping with his
internship by any means! Mamoru thought darkly, but then pushed away the selfishness
within him and grabbed onto his duty with both hands, determined not to let such a moment
of weakness overtake his good sense. "Usako?" He called out softly when the pain became
too overwhelming to bear silently.

He knew she heard him, she always did, no matter where or when, she always heard
him. "The enemy is here!" The phone did not stop ringing before those words left his
lips and Chiba Mamoru fell onto the floor unconscious from the waves of dark battles
suddenly building to a climax within him. He was not prepared in time to bring up any
defenses in his human form to be able to deal with the sudden invasion until it took him
by storm and swept away whatever conscious thoughts he was thinking about.

'Usako... the Earth is in danger!'

All is in darkness now.

"Moshi, moshi?"


* * *


"Captain Ajiko, the ship is falling apart!"

"We must find that damned Anamita before she reaches the gates of Gamma 142!"

"But what about--"

The communicator beeped.

The blonde tore her eyes from the screen, annoyed, as she paused the video.
"Minako-chan," the odangle-blonde whispered on the other end, eyes tearful with worry.
Her face filled the screen and immediately all thoughts of the movie drifted from Minako's
mind.

"Usagi-chan?" Minako worriedly turned off her tv and searched the face of her
friend as she rose from her couch. "Daijoubu yo?"

"I think Mamo-chan was trying to call me just now," Usagi put one hand on her head
as she closed her eyes. "I felt him, Minako-chan," Usagi whispered in a daze. "There was
so much pain..."

"What's wrong with Mamoru-san?" Minako asked worriedly. "Usagi-chan? Usagi-chan,
daijoubu?" The blonde's hand gripped her communicator with increasing alarm.

Usagi shooked her head and looked to her friend, "Minako-chan?" Usagi's voice was
quivering slightly, but the odangle-blonde shook her head as if to clear it. Her eyes
hardened in determination as she looked to her friend, "We need to go to the hospital,
now. Call the others." The screen went blank on the shocked blonde.


When Ami got the call she was on the computer, communicating with Core about the
latest finds on CHAOS and how to destroy this, almost, imaginary virus. Minako's worried
face showed upon the screen as she peered worriedly up at Ami.

"Ami-chan," the blonde commanded, startling the blue-haired girl with the depth of
control behind that voice that she had never heard before, or at least, not enough.

"Minako-chan?" Ami widened her eyes in surprise.

"Usagi-chan needs us at the hospital, now!" Minako told her fiercely, head bobbing
up and down, apparently from running.

"Mina--" the screen went blank.

Go.

The screen printed out.

The blue-haired girl sat shocked for another moment before getting up. Her movement
slowly increasing in momentum as the worries settled in on the unknowns of what had caused
Minako to be so abrupt on the communicator and how it tied in with Usagi. Whatever it
was, she hoped that it had nothing to do with CHAOS.

Please, let Usagi-chan be okay, Ami thought or, I'll never forgive myself otherwise!


* * *


They assembled at the foot of the bed, all of them except Rei and the Outers. The
prince, pale against the sheets looked up at them with haunted, midnight eyes. "Mamo-
chan?" Usagi reached forth hesitantly. "Daijoubu?"

"Deja vu," Makoto muttered under her breath in distaste. Eyes wondering around the
room with suspicion.

Ami stepped forth, agitated with worry. "What happened here, Mamoru?" Blue eyes
still observing all who presided in the room.

"Hai, what's wrong, Mamoru-san?" Minako asked, hands on her hips. Once in awhile,
the blonde would sneak a look from the prince to the princess with concern shining in her
eyes.

Usagi lunged into Mamoru arms in that moment, her fears overcoming her. Needing to
feel his form, solid and real in her hands and not too far out of reach. "I was so
scared," the odangle-blonde shooked her head in confusion. "I don't even know why, but I
felt so scared!" She finally pulled back at his insistent tugs and looked into his
worried eyes. Sniffing, she pushed back a few wavy strands of hair. "You worried me,"
she told him with a wobbly smile. "I'm glad you're okay now."

The two cats exchanged glances to each other before Artemis nodded to Luna in silent
agreement. The dark cat bounded onto the bed, "Perhaps, we should be asking, what is
happening right this moment, Mamoru-san," The dark cat sat down to search those eyes that
have seen unforgetable horrors, "Ne?" The other asked as she met the prince's haunted
gaze just as Artemis joined her on the hospital's bed.

Mamoru's eyes darkened even more at the question, his mouth thinning in worry. "The
Earth is being invaded." Mamoru told them at last with reluctance, causing Usagi to gasp.
"She's dying."


* * *


She kicked the pebble before her, silently looking down at her feet.

"Minako," the blonde looked up surprised at the men beside her. "You seem
distracted tonight." Grey-violet eyes looked into her own startled ones, "What's wrong,
Minako?"

She blinked before a sheepish smile came upon her face, as she tried to cover up her
earlier procupation. "Wrong?" She asked laughingly, nervously backing away slightly.
"Nothing's wrong, Fuma."

Fuma frowned at her, "If nothing's wrong, then why are you so nervous?"

"Nervous?" Minako waved her hands in front of her face, "Why, I'm not nervous at
all!" If Fuma ever found out that she was a Sailor Senshi, what would happen to their
relationship? And what about what Mamoru said about the Earth herself, dying? Ontop of
all of that, she still had her parents to face, school exams, and Rei to worry about.

'Minako-chan, what are you trying to pull?' Her mother's voice echoed in her ears.
No. Fuma must never know... but today was the day! Today, the world will know. Then
where would she be? Will she be alone, again?

"Minako?" His closeness and the earnestness in his eyes surprised her. "Did you
have a fight with your parents?" She looked away at that, "You didn't ask me to pick you
up at your house this time. Do they not approve of you dating me? Would it assure them
if I met up with them, to appease any anxieties? You know, maybe, you should give them
another chance--"

Her eyes hardening in anger. "Shut up! It's none of your business," she yelled at
him. "You don't know anything about anything--!"

"Minako," his hands grasped her shoulders. Shaking her slightly, she met his eyes
defiently this time. "Stop this none sense, you're acting like a spoiled child! You know
your parents are just worried about you because they love you!"

Her glare softened into tears of pain, "Leave me alone, Fuma. You know nothing--"

He bent and wrapped his arms around her, wishing for once he didn't have to trick
her mind just to comfort her, just to touch her and hold her and make her believe that it
wasn't an illusion. Or, perhaps, it was himself that he was trying to convince, wishing
that this embrace was real. "You're right, Minako, I don't know anything about your
problems. Demo," he pulled back slightly and touched his forehead to hers, "maybe you can
tell me. If you don't want me to say anything, I won't. I'll listen, if that's all you
want," he smiled. "Minako."

"Fuma," the blonde girl before him stared into his eyes. "Arigato, Fuma!" Her
smile lit up her face. "All I needed to hear, was that."

The sky was darkening into evening around them as the Earth suddenly trembled
beneath her feet. Nothing quivered in the slightest to show that such a sudden shudder
that the Earth gave off had happened, but she knew. She felt it inside her. Her blonde
head turned sharply away from her companion, searching suspiciously around her
surroundings, but finding nothing.

"Minako? What is it?" Fuma asked. He pulled back slightly to study their
enviornment before looking back to her in puzzlement, obviously not having registered what
had happened.

"Did you just feel that?" Minako asked as she met his eyes.

"Feel what?" He was curious now.

The tremor stopped momentarily before the building near them exploded and the force
sent her flying as the rubbles flew in all directions. Concrete and steel bent and
mishapened descended like shrapenle onto the streets as panicking people screamed to get
out of the way. The unfortunate ones were hit by flying debries as others, injured and
otherwise, ran for their lives. The screams of panic filled the streets as the darkness
came, gathering to destroy.

Sharp stones cut into her skin as she was assulted by passing pieces of concrete,
but Minako didn't smash onto the broken ground! Instead, something rubbery caught her in
mid air. Completely taken off guard since she had been expecting pain instead of being
gently set to her feet, she opened her blue eyes in surprise. Her mouth hung open as the
fires roared behind the silhouette of Fuma. What surprised her was that when she looked
around, surveying what had happened, she saw the wires coil around her, protecting her.
Fuma stood before her, back turned to her as he watched silently as the monster that had
smashed into the building appeared. There was no fear, no bewilderment, as the blond man
before her stood, untouched by fire or by debries. A second one soon joined the first,
and then a third. They were multiplying right before their eyes! This was definitely not
good and Minako knew she couldn't take them all on alone.

Minako immediately opened her communicator and beeped everyone. "Min'na! There are
these giant monsters in downtown Juuban, near the malls. Follow the explosion and you'll
find us!" Minako was already reaching for her transformation wand.

"Hai!" Was her only answer from the others before she dropped the small
communicator into her space pocket. She hesitated for a moment, looking to Fuma's back,
to the world around her before she closed her eyes.

'If you don't want me to say anything, I won't. I'll listen, if that's all you
want, Minako.' Her smile spread across her lips, sad and hopeful as she looked to the
henshin in her hands. 'Keep doing that and the whole school will think you're nuts by the
end of today.' Artemis' voice echoed in her mind, along with the laughter of her friends.
'Tonight, I'll go home.' She had promised herself at least that much earlier this day,
and maybe it was all a big misunderstanding between her and her parents. Maybe they
understood and she just didn't give them a chance to explain because she had been so
afraid of rejection. Yes, today, she'll return and face what she should've done from the
beginning! Blue eyes became determined as she opened them to the world, having made her
choice, her hand rose into the air as she spoke the words that she knew was her destiny.

"Venus Crystal Power, Make-UP!" Minako shouted as the gold engulfed her and soon
she could feel her strength increase. Smiling she saw that the intricate weave of the
wires were slowly fading as more and more of the wires were used during the battle between
youma and machine. Fuma was walking closer to the danger zone -- where the youma forces
were mainly focused -- and she knew she had to keep him safe!

Struggling to get out of the wired cage that protected her, she quickly set out
after her date. Along the way, she found a few survivors, whom she quickly helped get out
of the battle area, using her renewed strength of body and soul. But as Venus got closer
and closer to Fuma, she was surprised at what she became a witness to. Her eyes widened
in shock. In Fuma's hand was a ball of power gathering as his body crouched in a fighting
stance! There was no fear or hesitation in his movements or on his face. "Shin'ne!" He
hurled the ball into the nearest youma and it exploded upon impact. Wires smashed through
arms and legs and heads with a speed and accuracy that was frightening. Black blood oozed
and flowed wherever it could splatter.

What was truly disturbing was that as the youma avoided some of the black slender
wires that could twist and split and electrocute, the wires themselves changed tactics.
If their Senshi powers could change course like that, there'd be a lot less damage --
well, to the surrounding buildings that is -- though the wires didn't leave the buildings
clean of the guts. Apparently Fuma had some experience with this, she thought, somewhat
unhappily. She'd better squeeze out whatever other surprises he might have forgotten to
mention. Yet, for now, there were other, more urgent, events to pay attention to.

Her concentration snapped back into focus as she saw a dark demon strike against
Fuma, claws extended. "Fuma!" She screamed a warning, but it was too late. It was at
that exact moment when those claws made contact with Fuma's body as the youma struck the
blond-haired man and something amazing happened! For all of the years Venus had trained
as a senshi, she had never seen anything like this happening before, not even from her
worst enemies! The black claws smashed down toward the body of Kuragari Fuma who was
gathering his energy again, and the demon went right through him! Her scream rang out a
denial before it died in her throat. Fuma didn't even stagger. Instead, his form rippled
and before the youma could finish gaping at him in surprise, he sent the blast smashing
into the dark being, crushing body to parts that were unrecognizable when the smoke
finally cleared. "You're not human!" Venus gaped at the young man before her. He
glanced back at her and blinked in surprise at her present form.

He grinned as he set an arm around her shoulder. "No less human than you!" He
replied good-naturedly, once he got over his own shock. Yet, there was darkness in those
eyes that she thought she saw, a sadness that apart of her immediately recognized and made
her regret her own words.

There was no time for apologies though. A shadow suddenly fell upon them, forcing
Venus to look away as she aimed, "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" Fuma's cables were
already smashing toward the monstrous form of the youma, keeping it in place while the
power of Venus destroyed it. The golden energy ripped through the dark demon's chest,
crushing through flesh and bone before the screaming dark being disintegrated to ashes.

"Nice shot!" Fuma winked. He surveyed the remaining youma and grinned ferociously.
"Now, let's finish this, Minako!" He crouched down and then leapt high overhead.

"Fuma! What are you doing?" Venus demanded as the light-haired blond ascended into
the sky. His hand rose as a large ball of white energy appeared above him. "How--" her
question died in her throat as to how he knew her real identity as he released another
attack on the demon hordes.

"Shin'ne!" He cried. Sending the white ball of energy smashing straight at the
crowd of youma soldiers.

The other senshi arrived just in time to see the energy fly from Fuma's hand and
descend with the force of a massive bomb, grinding and then engulfing the youma in a fiery
hell of powerful explosions. Venus was rocked off of her feet and sent flying, but she
flipped over just before she impacted with the wall, jumping down and then readied herself
into a battle stance once, ready to take on the next batch of shadow demons that were
already massing against them. The rest of the inner senshi were sufficiently far enough
to only get their hair ruffled, along with their fuku. The energy level must have
attracted them, and already the blonde senshi could see that it was going to get a lot
more messy than she had earlier thought. "Glad you guys could make it!" She called out
to the others who were gaping in shock at Fuma who was now floating in the air with an
arrogant smirk on his lips. "But we'll have more company soon!" Venus broke through
their shock.

Mercury was typing at her computer as Jupiter smashed one fist into her gloved hand.
"I've been waiting to get back at them for all the damage they've done last time!"
Jupiter said with a menacing smile on her lips.

"Get ready min'na, they're slow, but they're not AS stupid." Luna warned as she
looked at the shadow demons. "They've learned from our last battle!"

"Hai. They're also poisonous and are dangerous! Try not to get hurt and don't let
them puncture your skin with their claws or their teeth!" Artemis agreed, thought still
slightly out of breath. That cat definitely needed to workout more, Venus thought
disapprovingly. Well, no more free rides on my shoulder from now on, she decided with a
grin!

"Let's do it min'na!" Super Sailormoon shouted.

Venus smiled before a frown came upon her face. "Where's Mars?" She asked. The
faces of the others clouded over at the question, but there was no time for answers as the
youma unleashed their first offensive attack onto the new comers.


* * *


The hordes of demons and monsters came towards them. Claws shining like black
shards of crystals gleaming under the electric lights that were set up around them. The
moon watched over them with silent horror at what was to come as the stars blinked in
surprise at the dark mass gathering before losing interest and turning indifferent glances
away from those below. "Klide, check to see how much damage our weapons can do to them!
Andrews, hold them back! Wrek, I want you to monitor any surprise attacks from the
eastern side of the battlefield. The rest of you split into teams and go to both north
and west. Anything goes wrong, call for backup and we'll try to reach you. If it gets
too difficult, I want you to leave your post as soon as you can! Alyssa can transport us
when we are together, it will make it less burdensome for her to do so." The teams
separated.

"Here they come!" Andrews shouted over the roaring stampede of shadowy darkness
that swallowed the land. It looked like the ground was literally going black and the
skies shadowed over by the darkness below her.

"It's about time!" Dale loaded his machine gun as Klide took one small gun from his
pocket.

"Let's see if these babies works!" Klide winked as he aimed and shot one of the
nearest demons. The thing screamed as the special bullet lodged itself into the body and
then in less than a second, it expanded and set off a small explosion within the monster's
body. The mess was disgusting, but it worked perfectly at least. "Bull's-eye!" Klide
cheered.

Not waiting for another moment, Michaels locked his body into position and sent an
arch of bullets at the demon population. Some were screaming even! Like, humans...

'Snap out of it and get to work Michaels! Don't get distracted. It's their ass or
ours!' Michaels sighed at his partner's choice of language.

'Colorful.' But Michaels was already doing everything by instinct and training.
Dale ran one way and he the other, jumping over boulders and jagged rocks that were
jutting out of the rough plain. Leaping onto one of the taller rocks, Dale pulled the pin
from one of the grenades in his hands and threw it far over the heads of the demons before
leaping down and shooting at the ones close to him again. The bomb smashed down and sent
a large enough explosion to wipe out all the demons within a meter, as well as knocking
more off their feet. Michaels and Klide were able to get a few more, with Andrews tailing
and finishing those closer up before the demons changed strategy and no longer came in
clusters. The grenades were still useful, but it would be a bad idea to waste too much of
them on four to five monsters when there were still at least two hundred more advancing in
their direction! Some of the demons were faster than one could blink, and those Andrews
smashed into whatever solid thing he could locate.

Fool the eyes but not the mind, the Watcher's voice echoed through their memory.
Still, it would be a long time before they could forget the horror of the battlefield,
filled with advancing darkness and the guts of monsters.


Sergei threw the round grenades, that looked like balls, toward their enemies. They
crushed and then exploded when its users were a safer distance away. They were playing a
game of come and go, advance and then retreat. The demons were truly ugly to look upon.
The hollowed sockets and scaly skin all acquired a color of sickly yellow-black. Some
still had blood to show for it, while others remained a deeply charred color, retaining
only the scent of death and disease.

Katrina smashed whatever youma she could while she shot at the others. She knew she
couldn't keep this up forever! An hour maybe, but no more. Her training had taught her
the use of her gift, but she was still unused to the strain it put on her. A few meters
back she heard Mouse unleash another rocket and then the deafening roar of the guns and
the explosions going afar drowned the sound, making her ears ring slightly. She wasn't
going to be hearing much when this was over, Katrina thought wearily. But she was lucky,
she could mind speak after all, and the sound of those loud weapons wasn't going to deafen
her mind... she hoped. Apparently the experiment was going well so far. Stretching her
hand out, Katrina -- as if grasping invisible strands -- swung the demons to one side and
then another. Knocking down opponents to allow her partner enough time to finish them
off. Sergei didn't seemed to be disturbed by the human-like screams these things were
giving off, though the sound did make her skin crawl.

Another explosion nearly rocked her off of her feet, but Katrina refused to lose her
balance now. It was too dangerous. Some of the demons were too fast to see, so she had
to rely on her other senses entirely sometimes. "Katrina look out!" Sergei suddenly
yelled out as she looked behind her startled, just in time to see the grotesque demon come
upon her. Claws were extended, ready to slash into her flesh. She stopped it only inches
from her face before smashing its massive body against a boulder not far away. Yet, it
gave the demons enough time to advance upon her from the other side and she knew there
were too many of them for her to destroy or hold off. "Retreat!" Sergei called to the
rest of them. Dodging and slipping past claws and fangs, jumping the last few meters that
separated them, "You okay?" He asked when he finished blasting a nearby demon as they
moved back.

"Yes." She answered with a whisper of a smile that she knew he would not catch.
She'd thank him later for helping her. They moved back toward the western side of the
field, to catch up with Wrek had Marshal and a few others for backup.

"Damn bastards!" Mouse cried as she sent another rocket through and then without
wasting a minute, slung the bazooka behind her and rolled out a few grenades before racing
after them with a speed that was almost frightening.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's about as fast as those demons!" Allan,
a junior member, commented in amazement.

"Why, thanks for that compliment there!" Mouse's partner, Drake answered with a
wicked grin.

Allan gave a thumps up sign and then the shootings renewed again, only this time a
lot messier than before! "I'm just glad that kid's on our side." Sergei commented dryly.

Allan then let out a laugh filled with half insane pleasure as he unleashed the
grenades into the demons' army and then shot down the first row he saw as he retreated
with the group. "Man, I love that boy!" Mouse said with a wicked grin of her own.

"Don't get too attached to him now dear!" Drake advised. "I don't want him to
corrupt you." And that sent the rest of them laughing as they retreated down the line
toward the west.


Wrek was doing pretty good by his standards. He was glad that Marshal was there
with him and that Tinkan was also chosen. Not that he ever got along with anyone other
than Andrews, but they made a spectacular team. Marshal's power field was more on the
side of wind and he could start blowing around -- much like that of Andrews -- Wrek used
his ability to ice and the two were able to freeze half the army in fifteen minutes. The
great thing about Tinkan was that she had an itch to destroy things. So the process of
freezing and shattering began and spread like wild fire -- or ice in their case -- along
the western side of the front.

"Let's get creative with the leftovers!" Tinkan suggested when they finished off
the last of the ones they froze.

"I can't think of a better recreation!" Wrek agreed. Marshal looked perplexed but
said nothing as Wrek raised his arms above his head. Tinkan had already started to bomb
the oncoming demons as Wrek called upon his powers again. The air above him turned cold
as several large spears of ice appeared in the air. "Destroy!" Wrek cried out as he
unleashed the spears that smashed through the army. Puncturing several large holes
through the massing monsters.

Wrek laughed insanely at the sight and gloated at his triumph when he faltered at a
sudden coldness within. His eyes widened as he clutched to his chest and fell to the
ground. Marshal looked over alarmed. "Wrek! What's wrong?" There was no time to wait
for an answer though, so Marshal and Tinkan fought of the darkness as they tried
desperately to talk Wrek out of his shock.

And then the wailing of dark despair escaped Wrek's constricted throat and rolled
unendingly across the field. Shattering the momentary triumph and battle cries as its
depth of grief slammed like a sea unmerciful, drowning all who could hear it.


Klide swore when he saw the sudden mass assembling before them, unleashing three
small grenades at the large shadow demon. "Die!" The claws came toward the young man who
was lucky enough to jump out of reach just in time. That was when things started to go
wrong. Dale realized that the experimental weapons would only work when the demons did
not mass together into one hard lump, and had to call upon his powers. A sudden stiff
breeze started. Andrews, startled, looked over to see that a few demons were already
heading toward Dale who was not protected. Hating the younger man, but knowing that
revenge would have to wait, he extended his hand and smashed away a few of the monsters,
blasting whatever things were left. Andrews' distraction left himself vulnerable, and
unfortunately for him, an unnaturally fast monster noticed his distraction and raced
toward him. Claws extended, the other man didn't have enough time to widen his eyes at
the sudden dark presence before the crystal-black claws ripped through his body.

Dale snapped open his eyes at that moment, his powers unleashed to smash onto half
of the demon army as the wind crushed them to the ground, splattering guts all over the
field. Then the wailing screams began in the west. Michaels saw that there was no way
that he would be able to eliminate the rest of the army without losing more men and not
wanting that to happen, he sent a broadcast for all of them to gather at the west -- in
case Wrek was in no shape to move or obey. Michaels deliberately told Dale to lead Klide
to Wrek. 'What about you?' Dale demanded.

'I have to finish the business here, as well as make sure no one else get
backstabbed by a demon.' Michaels answered and then tossed Dale a grenade. 'Run!'
Michaels didn't wait before he crouched down and jumped into the air, leaving Dale with no
choice but to run. He got far enough before the bomb exploded and killed whatever demons
were in its reach. Then he heard the last thoughts of his partner and friend, 'Tell
Alyssa that I said hi.' Then the communication fell to silence.

Andrews twitched and Michaels looked over to the man. "You weren't always so bad
you know?" Michaels smiled. "Now, you can rest my friend."

Andrews snorted as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and the hole in his
chest. Apparently it missed his heart, but he was rapidly starting to lose consciousness.
"Bastard!" Andrews groaned, though Michaels was not sure whom the other was referring to.

Michaels' hands clutched to the special bomb in his hand. It was especially made
for him and his gift of spreading fire. He fairly flew into the air! Landing between
demons, searching for the center of their power, the center of their weakness. He found
it at last, moving faster than he ever moved to make sure he would be able to reach it as
the last act for his world. His hands crushed the bomb as he made one last leap into the
darkened sky.

He felt the fire inside explode and expand in those small micro-seconds as he's mind
dove into the bomb and then the fire woke to life just as the large claws of the demons
grabbed for his dying body. It was already too late, for the fire was already spreading
its wings, and like a hell bent serpent within the sky it bared its fangs to its enemies
with a cry of rage. It rose and raised its head, roaring as its claws and tail swirled to
the sudden wind that suddenly sprang from the dying body of the man named Andrews.

A million screams rang over the field as Dale watched from afar, hands clutched as
Klide stood beside him in shock. Then the wailing began, and this time it was Dale who
the sound originated from as Klide looked over to the young man in horror. Dale had
already fallen to his knees, clutching his head in pain. It was the first time, in a long
while, since he felt the absolute silence and total absence of his partner within his
mind. The oppressiveness of the darkness within -- in comparison to the hell bent dragon
in the sky -- drowned the younger man into an overwhelming feeling of loneliness.

Andrews, from the corner of the field, looked to the beast of fire in the sky and a
weary grin came upon his lips. His vision blurred as he reached a hand toward the beast.
'Show off!' Andrew murmured to the man who was burning within the belly of the beast as
he lent his last breath of power to the destruction of what lay before him. The dragon
roared in triumph as the fire spread and then engulfed the body of Andrews with its rage
and determination. Wrek, a mile away fell unconscious. His wailing now only within his
head as Wrek could only see his partner going up into the flames of the power of death.

"No!" Dale screamed and screamed and screamed. But still the silence in his head
was unending. 'No!' His mind echoed but it fell to silence again and again, just as the
Watcher's presence engulfed the wailing across the fields and across the minds of her
followers, taking them home.

'Later partner.' The serpent's eyes closed as the last of its fiery breath
killed the remaining army of demonic monsters, cleansing the field with its last breath of
life. The dragon then fell from its heavenly throne in the sky, descending to the ground
below and shattering into a million pieces of sputtering flames that soon died away.
Thus, only its ashes remained of the dead dragon king as it was scattered to the wind and
rose once more into the distant sky, lost to the darkening night.


* * *


Katrina narrowed her eyes angrily, believing that if she were bombarded with any
more empty darkness, she would've gone up in smoke like Michaels and Andrews. In fact, at
the moment, she wished that she did! Wrek was unconscious and Dale was in worse shape
since he wasn't. And now Alyssa has asked her to bring them back. Back from what? She
knew their pain but she had no clue how she was suppose to get rid of it! But Alyssa
insisted, and when it came to Alyssa, insisting was worse than a command because she was
being nice about it. Why did that woman have to be so damn insisting? Katrina swore in
Russian. Sergei looked to her worried, albeit, a bit amused at the ranting within her
head.

'Stay out of this!' Katrina warned her partner.

'Hey, I didn't say anything!' Sergei waved her off with a weary grin.

'You never had to!' Katrina bit back.

Sighing, Sergei patted her on the shoulder and turned to leave. 'Whatever you say
dear!' Sergei answered.

'Oh, shut up!' She swore again at how he could rile her so easily.

'It's time.' Alyssa's overwhelming presence came within her head. She was so
startled that she jumped in surprise. 'Sorry if I startled you, but your ranting was
taking us nowhere.' Apparently, Alyssa got tired of waiting.

'I don't know how to get rid of the pain!' Katrina replied in frustration.

'I didn't ask you to get rid of it,' Alyssa answered evenly. 'It's beyond you right
now, you don't have the training or the years of experience for it.' Well, *that*
explains a lot! Katrina sighed in defeat. 'I want you to open the windows and door of
their minds again. I want *you* to show them the light.'

'Why me?' Katrina demanded.

'Because, they wouldn't be able to handle me,' was Alyssa's only answer before the
other left her mind. "Get ready!" the dark-haired woman called to her from the door.
"You'll be starting in a minute." There was no turning back now, and it wasn't as if she
had a choice about it to begin with. Yet, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit
excited and proud that Alyssa had chosen her for the task of reviving the dark minds of
Dale and Wrek.

That scared her. It scared her to know that even though her heart was aching at the
knowledge that Michaels had died, a man who had been her teacher and her leader but a few
hours ago, and Wrek -- as annoying as he had been -- had worked out okay in the end, she
couldn't cry. She couldn't blot out the dark hole within her own heart either, nor could
she laugh it off like Sergei. Somehow, along the way of becoming a soldier in this war,
Alyssa had conditioned them to forget the meaning of tears.


* * *


"Well, looks like we missed the city of love!" Uranus commented wearily as she
brushed back a strand of wavy blond.

The city of love, once the beautiful capital of France, now smouldered before them.
Paris was still burning, but much of the city was now black and charred. There were no
more people around to bury the dead, and the looters -- already infected and soon to die
-- didn't care. So, the burning began! At first, it was by those who stubbornly refused
to leave their loved ones behind, but now the looters did it to stop the smell of rotting
flesh. Apparently, the fire got out of hand once the population diminished to maybe a
hundred or less. So the city burned while the looters migrated. The helicopter behind
them churned. They brought two, since Saturn had yet to earn her license and they
couldn't afford any accidents along the way. It would be safer if they were partnered,
that way someone could always look out for someone else's back if they ran into trouble.
"Not even the youma stuck around here!" Neptune commented, as she looked up from her
mirror.

"It's a city already dead." Saturn replied sadly.

Just because Saturn couldn't fly didn't mean they could ban her from becoming a
senshi again. Especially since it would be safer if she could have her glaive and fuku
ready to fight and protect herself from the dark forces, or human forces, now, as well.
Upon becoming the senshi, the innocence in her eyes disappeared and the graveness of her
manner returned. It was unsettling and it saddened all three of the Outer Senshi since
they couldn't save Saturn from this. Not from herself, that task was as impossible as it
was inevitable. "It is not here." Pluto set a hand on Saturn's shoulder. "We must leave
soon. I think we should look around to see if we can find any fuel that would be
available for use later on." They agreed and split. The communicator would allow them to
find each other no matter where the others were. Anyway, this city was deserted and no
one would interfere. Not even a youma.

Uranus and Neptune headed down toward the Eiffel Tower,which once stood tall and
proud. Now, its jagged edges protruded like Death, broken and watching the world below
while its black body shadowed the sky and covered the ground. Neptune stopped dead in her
tracks as she looked up toward the tower. Uranus was saying something but stopped as well
once the blonde realized that her partner was no longer responsive. Uranus glanced back
to her in surprise. "Neptune?" she asked tentatively.

Neptune heard her lover, but it sounded as if Uranus' voice was a million miles
away. All she could do was stare at the tower of horrors before her, for there she saw
the talismans gleaming red beneath a bloody sky. There, she saw an ethereal princess
standing before the shadows. And then the rising angels came and shrouded her from
darkness. A path of rainbow and white joined one lone senshi to the princess, she who
held a small star shining within her hands. Neptune saw the gleaming blade cut down the
star upon its tip, falling to the ground from the sky above. The falling star could not
be saved as the princess's silent tear trailed down in despair. All the while, a doll-
like man, dressed in black, lay at the princess's feet hanging, hanging, hanging...

"Michiru!" She blinked in surprise and looked, finding only darkness.

"Hai?" She asked with a slight shudder, wrapping her own arms around herself.
Suddenly, she felt so cold...

"You were looking at the Eiffel Tower as if it were cursed," Uranus commented.
Blue eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "What did you see?" Neptune's eyes could not
look away from the ghastly tower and its foreboding tale.

"I saw a sea drowning in its own tears." Neptune finally gave a deceptive answer
before turning once more to set her sad aqua eyes to focus on her love. But she could not
forget. On impulse she cast her gaze once more upon the broken tower, but the ghostly
images did not return. Only the memories lingered and the wind whispered. Uranus cocked
her head, as she listened to the secrets the wind told her. All Neptune could hear was
the weeping ocean, far off, calling in despair as its crashing waves leapt against the
shore. The coldness seeped into her as she once again remembered what she saw, remembered
the path of rainbow and white leading to the princess. A great chain of fate formed from
one innocent to the next. Remembered the falling star as the angels slowly rose, as the
doll-like man in the distance hanging beneath the princess's feet--

"We should go." Uranus said, cutting off her thoughts again. Breaking the silence
as the wind settled around them. "There are a few places that aren't so badly damaged by
the fire and they might still have a thing or two for us to take." Apparently the other
would not push for an explanation of her ambiguous words this time.

She shuddered ever so slightly, wrapping her arms around herself as she turned away
from the tower. We're no better than the looters, her mind idly commented, trying to
erase the memory of the vision inside her head. Yet, she could not escape the images
replaying within her mind, her Prince's and Princess's future. She did not answer Uranus,
only followed the other to continue her duty, knowing that there was no return from the
path she had chosen. It can't be helped, this future, our destiny, Neptune thought. And
so the future came from upon the Earth from the distant horizon, setting like the sun.
Yet, Neptune only saw the doll-like man hanging, hanging, hanging, before he too fell like
the star, and smashed into the pieces of a black oblivion.


* * *


Her face flashed upon the screen as he read her file again. This was the infamous
Sailor Senshi Mercury? To say that he was surprised was an understatement since Mizuno
Ami was not what he would've labeled as a warrior of any type except of debate, and she
couldn't possibly be one of those silly girls playing heroine and running around in mini-
skirts. He sighed. Since obtaining the files, he hadn't had time to think about Ami's
secret identity, except to use her for research purposes, he hadn't been thinking about
Ami in any way! Now that he had gone through those files three times, he had time to
ponder over exactly what he was going to do with the information he had! It was awfully
silly now that he thought about her earlier screen name of Mercury. Could she be 'that'
obvious? Yet, up until now he never made the connection, but that didn't make knowing
about it any less silly!

Her blood type seemed normal enough, but checking it could tell him something.
Intrigued that maybe her blood was different if Ami was a genuine Sailor Senshi, Core
reached into the data files and began to reconstruct the DNA of what made Mizuno Ami,
well, Mizuno Ami! What he found startled him. This human was not so normal afterall.
Not, with the sample of her last blood test anyway. He wondered if she knew that her DNA
structure had changed since the blood test she took before 1992. There must be something
special about that date.

Core scrolled through the newspaper clippings of that time, looking for a clue. He
started with Tokyo, since it might have been a local thing and discovered something he
couldn't really write off as coincidence. It was the year of their first appearance, and
what startled him was that she must have been fourteen when she started to be a senshi!
That means he had been out of the information loop for this for four years now! Where the
hell had those living connections in Tokyo been when it came to things like this? One
would think it would be something that would've caught his attention sooner than now!

He wondered what CHAOS had done to her blood so far, being that she was still alive,
even healthy! He took a sample structure of the virus and inserted the molecular
structure into her DNA structure. In normal human beings, the virus would eat straight
through the DNA, splitting the links and destroying everything within the blink of an eye!
But it was different this time, for the virus could not go through and instead attached
itself like a parasite, onto the structure of the DNA. Unable to alter it, CHAOS died,
but stains of it remained on the outer shell of the DNA. It would make Mercury a
temporary host, but that was about it.

Core gasped. He had found his answer to his unsolved riddle that CHAOS had given
him. But was he ready? And now the question remained. Are you ready to sacrifice her to
the world, so that it could have her blood? Then what would they be? If he allowed this
information out into the world, it would make human kind into monsters! Hunting after a
girl for her blood so that they could survive. He liked her too, so the decision only
came down on him harder as the numbers of dead steadily rose.

What was he trying to save?

She didn't have enough blood to save half of the people still suffering. And if she
did, he would have been the cause of making them all monsters!

Core paused and rolled the thought over in his mind. What could he do to save the
world and save this girl as well? Because if anyone found out about this and it got out
into the public, the world would become a vampiric monster, hunting to kill and suck the
blood out of helpless girls who had once been guardians protecting the lands. What would
he do now? Now that he had solved the riddle, he came to a question even harder to answer
than the one before!

What type of monster would he choose for mankind to be? A dead one or one who might
as well be dead?


.blue.
blueweber@hotmail.com


* Daisuki - means "I love you" as well. This is something I got off of the manga
Marmalade Boy. So it has backing, Plus I think it is a lighter way of saying it, less
"deep" so to speak ^_~

* Pharoh 90 is hopefully not spelt wrong because I'm sure I got this off of Alex Glover's
translation. ;p

* Yatta - Minako exclaimed this when she found out where Mamoru proposed to Usagi. It
means "Alright!"

* Na ni? - "What?"

- also note that in the manga, Mamoru, Usagi and the Senshi has a special link. Usagi can
telepathically call out to Mamoru and the senshi and they will hear her, I'm assuming it
works the other way as well in this fic.

- With "the Watcher", in case you have forgotten (which I almost did), Alyssa first
introduced herself by two titles, "the Watcher (of the world)" and "Gate Keeper" in Sheep
4 ^-^;; If you are confused the reference comes from that part of the story. Feel free to
look it up again, I had to ^-^;; (from your very sheepish and very forgetful author)

- This is by far my longest chapter, but I think Chapters 9 and 10 will beat it ^-^;;

- Special Note: Wow! You made it with me up to here! I'm impressed! Now, the later
chapters has all been rewritten, and they've never seen the light of day on the web like
these previous six that I had rushed onto the net about a year ago. I hope the ending
lives up to all your expectations! Thank you for the support, I had not known there were
still people reading my first epic story ^-^;; And thank you for those of you who started
with me last year (or was it the year before that?) and continued to follow this tale up
to this point! I'm so glad you are still tuning in on the newly editted versions of the
old chapters :) And I'd especially like to thank my editor who thought I had totally
given up on this project when I stopped writing it for awhile (once I fearfully realized I
had to rewrite about chapters 7-10 again, roughly around a hundred pages) and was actually
still there to offer her assistance when she realized that I hadn't given up! My first
editor too :) This will be my first middle of the story Author's Note, enjoy the rest of
the story! Later!


.blue.
blueweber@hotmail.com


A tribute to...
A. L. Campo (my editor),
His Lordship Chaos,
Ken Wolfe, &
Angus MacSpon.

For Don, who was one of the first to
believe in me and this project that
took a life of its own.

And everyone who had helped & encouraged
me during my trials and my errors ^_^;;

Thank you for every dream and every
inspiration...

Thank you for everything.


.blue.
blueweber@hotmail.com