Sailor Moon: Gray

by ketsugami

Slightly on the shounen side -- Rei's hunting Yakuza, Hotaru's hanging around with the most powerful being in the universe, and Ami makes a Faustian bargain...

Prologue

                In which the author rambles on at some length.

Chapter One

                In which Resh pays a call and Rei makes a new friend.

                For a man ringed by firepower, Resh kept his cool remarkably well.

                The firepower wasn't apparent to the casual eye, of course.  Resh was merely riding upwards in a private elevator, surrounded by four nearly identical men in dark suits and sunglasses, each with his hand in his jacket pocket and his eyes focused inwards.

                Prison detail or honor guard?  He smiled wryly, hoping for the pleasure of seeing one of the four flinch; Resh knew his smile could be a bit off-putting, but none of them even twitched.  I guess we'll find out which is which in a minute.  Or maybe Iylitrio hasn't decided yet.  Probably the latter, he figured; as calmly as the boss was playing it, the suddenness of the visit had to have caught him off-guard.

                Ding.  Resh almost jumped as the elevator slid smoothly to a halt.  As soon as the doors had rattled open, the lead pair of guards was already moving down the corridor, while the back two waited for him to proceed.

                A few others were in evidence down the long hallway, walking in pairs with sub-machineguns no longer even vaguely hidden or standing stiffly in front of the occasional doors.  Downstairs and outside, Iylitrio's soldiers had to be cautious, but this was there own turf.  Still, Resh wondered what had put him so on guard.  I mean, guys walking around with visible weapons is right out of the 1930s.  The underworld was nothing if not sensitive to fashion, albeit of certain specific varieties. 

                At the end of the corridor a massive set of double doors loomed, massive black monoliths without visible ornamentation.  Resh paid more attention to the man standing in front of them, a gaunt fellow of average height dressed in a dark suit of a considerably better cut then the guards that were approaching him.  The suit, in fact, had apparently been custom-made for him, since it included loops to accommodate the daisho he wore on his left hip.  Immaculately styled dark hair was short everywhere except for a tail that just brushed his shoulders; as Resh approached, the man bowed.  He appeared not to notice when his guest did not return the gesture.

                "Greetings, my lord Resh.  Iylitrio is most flattered by your visit."

                Resh smiled despite himself.  "Just Resh.  I haven't ruled anything for quite some time now."

                "As you wish.  Please follow;  Iylitrio is anxious to speak with you."

                The guards, Resh noticed, had retreated during this exchange, leaving him alone with the sword-bearing man.  At his touch, the heavy metal door swung open, and Resh followed him into the dimly-lit space beyond.  It was huge, too big to strictly be called an office despite the fact that it had a desk in it; it was more like a throne room, and served the same purpose.  The desk itself was a giant hulk of a thing, wood coated with varnish so ancient it had turned almost black, covered with scattered papers and flanked by a pair of modern-looking computer terminals.  Behind it sat the man Resh had come to see.

                Iylitrio--so far as anyone knew, he had no family name--sagged heavily over the black leather of his chair.  He wasn't exactly fat, although he certainly weighed more then he probably should have; instead, the boss looked as though his skin was simply several sizes too large for his body, hanging in folds from his arms and giving his face a drooping, melted look.  His appearance belied his intelligence.  Eyes almost hidden under great gray eyebrows glittered icily and missed nothing, and his viciousness to those he deemed his enemies was renowned in the admittedly small circles in which he was known.  Iylitrio had risen through the ranks of the underworld through a few choice alliances; in only a few cases were his 'friends' still alive to benefit in the end, but such, Resh reflected, was always the way of things.  He was not, on the whole, the kind of man one wanted to ask for a favor.

                He smiled as Resh approached the desk, still walking calmly.  It wasn't a nice smile; more of the wolf showing its teeth.  The young man with the blades maintained his position just behind the visitor's  left shoulder, where Resh continued to ignore him while he waited for the boss to speak.

                If Iylitrio was waiting for his guest to become nervous, and was therefore disappointed, he didn't show it.  His voice was deep and graveled.  "Resh.  I don't believe we've met, though of course I've heard of you."

                "I didn't think my fame had spread quite for far."

                The other's smile faded.  "You are not a healthy person to be talking to, you know."

                "Oh?"  Nonchalance, he'd decided, was the key.

                "No, indeed.  Something about a girl, I hear.  They found her in a back alley.  So sad."

                He shrugged.  "Tragic."

                "She's not dead, you know."

                Resh froze.  That was news.  "A relief."

                "And…"  Iylitrio leaned forward.  "Her…father.  He is not pleased with you, yes?"

                Inch-long incisors glittered as Resh curled his upper lip, but he kept his peace; the boss settled back in his chair.

                "And so you come to me.  Because by such a happy accident, my little neighborhood sits where it does, and it is only here Jahara can't find you.  But it seems to me there is a danger here.  If you only have one place to hide, then he knows it is here you must be, and you are back, as they say, to square one.  And poor Iylitrio will have Jahara angry with him just for talking to you."

                "Are you that frightened of him?"

                Iylitrio chuckled.  "Of course.  Only fools are not frightened by the Unforgiven."

                Anger, carefully kept in check, welled up suddenly inside Resh.  He slammed his hand down on the desk hard enough that his fingertips left impressions in the wood; behind him, a tiny metallic sound said that his escort had a hand on his sword.

                The boss waved him away, chuckling, and shook his head.  "Manners, my dear Resh.  I am only saying what everyone knows."

                Resh struggled to keep his voice under control.  "What.  Do.  You.  Want?"

                Iylitrio clasped his hands under his chin.  "I have recently entered into a…partnership, you might call it, and my new friends suspected you might come here.  They have need of your services."

                That was more like it; Resh let his smile return.  "And in exchange?"

                "I have never seen you here.  Nor have any of my men, of course.  But maybe my informers have found you someplace far away?  This is, after all, not the only place you can hide.  And there is a long way between Juuban and Rapa Nui, or Stonehenge."

                "Rapa Nui…"  Somehow the idea of Jahara raging around that gloomy isle was halfway amusing.

                "So."  Iylitrio put his head on one side.  "We have a deal?"

                Resh hesitated.  "What exactly do you want me to do?"

                "We will let you know once everything is in place.  Rest assured it will hardly be a challenge at all for one of your unique…talents."

                "I'll need somewhere to stay."  He couldn't bring himself to say 'hide'; for a moment, anger returned.  Damn that Jahara.

                "Of course."

                "And--"

                The boss cut him off.  "Sufficient amusements will be provided to you, because I am such a generous man.  But clean up after yourself, yes?  I have enough headaches with 'heroes' without people like you waving the red flag."

                Resh waved a hand.  "As you wish."

                "Then follow Seiron."  He gestured to the black-suited figure still standing just to the rear; Resh had almost forgotten about him.  "He will take you where you need to go."

                Seiron bowed and turned without looking to see if his charge was actually behind him.  With one last glare at Iylitrio, Resh turned to go.

                Rei Hino was doing math in her head.

                One down below on the street, two in the lobby, two at the stairwell.

                She'd avoided the street, the lobby, and the stairwell entirely by the simple expedient of climbing down a line from the building next door and opening a window.  The line hadn't been particularly sturdy and had swayed alarmingly in the wind while bearing her weight, and as she'd progressed across it the movement had gotten worse and worse, so her final lunge through the window had been more of a terrified dive then a graceful jump, and her heart was still pounding.  Still, such was the price for a good entrance.  Now she peered carefully around a corner and watched two more figures in black lounging against the hotel's frankly horrible yellow-on-green wallpaper.

                Two more in the hall leading to the elevators.  Two cars, figure ten total.  That leaves three in the suite.  She smiled tightly.  No problems.  Now I just have to wait for Makoto to do her stuff…

                Another peek around the corner found the two men still undisturbed.  Rei glanced at her watch and counted, silently.

                Three…two…one…  Rei paused as another moment passed, and for an instant her stomach dropped.  What…

                Then one of the figures put a hand to his ear and said something to the other, too low to catch, and both were running for the elevator.  She breathed a quick prayer of thanks as she waited for them to get on board.

                Either their response time isn't great, or Mako got delayed somehow.  Rei felt a quick thrill of worry for her friend; she quashed it hurriedly.  Makoto knows what she's doing.  She'll be okay.

                I hope.  She shook her head as she ran down the corridor.  Sometimes I forget I kind of dragged her into this.

                It was a corner suite, with the door at the end of the hall, and she paused, flat against the wall, to consider her options.  I know the layout; one main room with two bedrooms leading off of it.  The guards are probably in the main room, watching the door.  So going straight in is right out.  That leaves some kind of distraction.

                She dug her hand into one pocket and wrapped her hand around the transformation pen, closing her eyes and silently mouthing the words.

                "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

                It took only a moment for the swirling lights to rise and fall, and Rei found herself once again in seifuku, normal clothes sent to who-knows-where.  She smiled, tightly, and turned back to the door, trying to gauge its thickness.

                Pretty flimsy…just a tap, then…  Rei sighted down the length of her arm and mentally dialed the power down.  Wouldn't want to fry anybody.

                "Mars…Flame…Sniper!"

                Fire roared and crackled into a concentrated bolt that blasted the thin wood-and-plastic portal to fragments.  Rei was right behind it, diving low into the room before the smoke cleared and rolling hard to the side to be out of the line of fire.  The couch was facing away from the door, as she'd predicted, and the guards were probably crouched behind it for cover; she stay low, running crab-wise to a nearby recliner and putting her back to it, waiting for the shooting to start.

                When it didn't, she poked her head cautiously around the left side, ready to spin back behind cover; the room, though, was empty.  Television in the far corner, with the couch facing it.  A couple of chairs, a potted plant, sideboard and minibar, and two doors into the suite's bedrooms, both closed.  No sign of Kyara or any of his men.

                Could I have been wrong?  She shook her head scornfully; the guards downstairs had been real enough.  Maybe they're all in the bedrooms; that would be pretty stupid, but it's possible.  They can't have not heard it when I blew the door in, so they've got to be ready.

                She stood up, cautiously, and made her way over to the couch.  There was, in fact, a figure on the far side of it, dressed in a dark suit like all the others; he was sprawled on the floor, unconscious, the heavy black pistol lying where it had fallen from his hand.  Rei stared, for just a moment.  Who…

                A moment too long.  A breath of air gave her a bare instant's notice before something heavy collided with the back of her head.

                A normal person would probably have been knocked unconscious, and she suspected that was what her opponent had intended; even Sailor Mars nearly blacked out, vision clouded with spots as she stumbled forward.  She managed to turn it into a spin, though, arms held up protectively in front of her as she backed away and waited for her eyes to clear.

                "Who are you?"

                Rei blinked.  The back of her neck felt like someone was driving a dozen needles into it every time she moved her head, but she could see enough to make out the man in front of her.  He was tall, probably more then a foot taller then she was, and solidly built if not overly muscular.  Short, dark hair bristled wildly, and his eyes were obscured by sunglasses, dark lenses with just a bit of green tint.  The man's attire was black-on-black, unpretentious and, she couldn't help noting, probably well-suited for combat.  This observation was backed up by the pistol holsters, of which she could see at least six between hips, legs, and back.

                He put his head on one side.  "You're not one of Kyara's guys, are you?"

                Rei saw no harm in answering, so she shook her head, wincing at the pain.  "No."

                "I should be angry at you, but since he's not here"--he waved a hand around the suite--"it doesn't matter much, does it?"

                "He's…not here?"  Since he didn't seem about to immediately attack her again, Rei lowered her hands to rub the back of her head.  The man chuckled.

                "Sorry about that.  I thought you were one of his, or maybe Iylitrio's guys come to steal my contract."  He stepped closer.  "Are you all right?"

                Rei took a step back, in turn.  "I'll be okay.  But what are you doing here?"

                "I was hoping to ask you the same question."  He grinned, hugely and suddenly, and swept off the dark glasses with one hand.  "My name is Shard."

                "Shard."  She scanned quickly through an internal list of gangsters, evil sorcerers, and youma-at-large and came up blank.

                He paused a moment.  "And you are?"

                "Sailor Mars."  Frankly, she was surprised he hadn't recognized her, or at least her uniform; the name, too, seemed to draw no response.  "But I need to know what you're doing here, and where--"

                Her communicator squawked, cutting her off in mid-sentence; Makoto's voice came after a moment of static.

                "--Mars, get out!  Kyara's down here, and there's at least ten of them.  You've got to--"

                Jupiter was drowned out by the stuttering growl of an automatic weapon, and the contact cut off.  It took Rei a moment to come out of shock, but Shard was already heading for the door.

                "Wh--Where are you going?"  It wasn't the most apt of questions, she was prepared to admit, but he stopped and looked around.

                "To get him, of course."  He smiled again.  "And stay out of the way.  Don't think I won't kill you just because you're good-looking."

                "I--"  Movement in the corridor caught her eye.  "Look out!"

                Rei was already throwing herself to one side, and Shard's reflexes were impeccable, spinning out of the line of fire of the broken door even as a spray of bullets stitched a pattern into the opposite wall.  Ignoring him for the moment, she ran across the room and waited for a break in the fire, mind racing.

                Mako's downstairs.  That occupied her, first and foremost.  She said there are more of them…

                Shard was crouched across from her, looking at her curiously.  His lips moved, silently.

                Now.  What?

                She heard the click as someone outside reloaded and leaned into the doorway, pointing to the ceiling.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                This time she gave it full power, and the blast went through the plaster overhead like cheese, bringing most of it down on the heads of her assailants.  Clouds of dust filled the corridor, but she could hear them beating a hasty retreat back to the stairs.  Even Shard looked impressed.

                "Tell you what."  He surveyed the destruction.  "I'll split the bounty with you."

                Kyara's thugs had pulled back to the regular stairwell, which left getting out of the room as something of a problem.  Rei doubted her line was secure enough to hold Shard's bulk, and in any case it sloped upwards towards the roof of the taller building next door, leaving her with a long hand-over-hand climb in full view of any rifle-wielding goons on the street below.  A glance down had left her dizzied; Sailor Senshi or no Sailor Senshi, jumping eleven floors straight down was a bit much.  That left the main stairwell, the elevators, or--her brain gave a her a kick--the small emergency stairway.

                Shard was already headed down the corridor, looking back at her over his shoulder.

                "You coming?"

                She shook her head.  "They'll be waiting for you on the stairs."

                He looked nonplussed.  "So?"

                Confidence, or suicidal insanity?  She refrained from shaking her head.  "There's an emergency exit down the corridor to the right.  I doubt they'll be watching it."

                Shard shrugged.  "If you like."  Clearly, guards or no guards was of little import to him.  Since I'd like to stay in one piece, I choose no guards.  Plus it should be faster.  Her chest tightened.  Mako…

                "So lead the way."

                Rei nodded and turn the corner cautiously.  Most of the rooms on this floor were either unoccupied or had inhabitants that were sensibly keeping their doors shut tight once the shooting had started; the door to the emergency stairway was shut tight and locked.  She swore, under her breath.  I can always melt it, but…

                "Allow me."

                Mars had the presence of mind to step back as the big man turned at the hip and kicked the door hard enough that bits of the flimsy lock sprayed out into the white-painted utility stairs.  She'd been wrong: there was a guard, a short weasely type who was already fumbling for his pistol.  As part of the same motion, Shard smoothly stepped forward and brought his fist around to the side of the man's head, hammering him to the floor.  Rei lifted an eyebrow as she stepped onto the landing, heels clanging on cheap sheet-metal.

                Shard lifted the unconscious thug's gun and flipped it, offering it to Rei, who shook her head.

                "I guess you don't need it."  He'd spoken in a normal tone, but the acoustics of the narrow stair magnified it into a swarm of clashing echoes.  She put a finger to her lips and started down the stairs, carefully, wincing at every misstep that let out a metallic ring.  Shard padded behind her.

                Who is this guy?  No more guards were in evidence on the way down, and she stole the occasional glance back at her odd companion.  He moves like a trained fighter, but he doesn't sound like one of these Yakuza types.  Maybe a contract killer?  Shard certainly didn't fit her image of an assassin.  Then again, I've  never met one.   She remembered his offer back in the suite.  "I'll split the bounty with you."  Is he a bounty hunter, then?  There was something about him, an odd sense; not a spiritual sense, as if he were a youma, but merely intuition.  Not bad, but…odd.

                The fact that he was handsome in the extreme was confusing things, too.  She'd been trying to leave that out; Rei blushed and returned her thinking to earlier lines.

                He doesn't seem fazed at all by my powers.  So he either knows about the Sailor Senshi, or deals with supernatural things fairly regularly.  Either way is odd.  I should keep an eye on him…

                She felt his hand tap her shoulder, as though summoned by her thoughts; she tried to suppress her thrill at the contact as she looked back at him.

                "What?"

                He nodded at the door ahead of them, marked with an 'L' in cheap black paint.  "We're here, unless you plan on continuing into the basement.  So what's the plan?"

                "P…plan?"  She hadn't thought he'd be ask; Shard did not seem the kind of person who let other people make plans.

                "Sure."  His face softened.  "It's your friend in there, right?  As long as we get Kyara, the method doesn't matter to me, but I assume you'd like to keep her alive."

                Rei felt oddly, absurdly grateful as she nodded.  "Okay."  It didn't seem enough.  "Thanks.  Just…follow my lead.  I'm going to try and talk to him, but if things go badly…"

                He smiled.  "Got it.  Good luck."

                She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, slipping through and pressing her back to one of the walls.  The lobby had a large open space, in front of the main desk, as well as innumerable nooks and short corridors near the back; it was one of these in which she now stood.  She could see, barely, a number of men in dark suits standing in front of the desks themselves, watching the elevators.

                Kyara will be out near the doors, not on the front lines.  She edged along the wall, gesturing Shard to move forward.  I need to find out where Mako is.  That's most important.  She'll probably be a hostage…  Her mind shied away from the other possibility, refusing to admit it.  Rei had been shot once in the course of her private war on the gangsters of Juban.  It hadn't been serious, of course, but it had driven home the idea that even her powers had limits.  Senshi were a bit stronger, a bit tougher, a bit faster, but…

                No.  Mako will be okay.  And we'll get out of here.  She grimaced.  Somehow.

                Rei raised her hands above her head and stepped around the corner, fighting an urge to close her eyes.  Some part of her mind sent up a simple prayer.  Now we just hope they won't shoot me on sight.

                "There she is."  Kyara's voice was gloating, and she let out a sigh of relief.  With a gloater, there's always a chance.  "Sailor Mars."

                She looked up.  Kyara was standing in the back of the lobby, near the massive glass double doors, as she'd expected.  He was surrounded by black suits, at least fifteen of them scattered throughout the room; four as his immediate bodyguards, a few more watching the stairs and elevators, the rest spreading out to surround her.  All were armed; the hotel staff, of course, were nowhere to be seen.  Rei had no doubt the police would never even be notified.

                Next to Kyara, one of the thugs had Makoto's arm twisted behind her back and a pistol at her temple.

                Another cold knot melted inside of Rei.  Her friend looked mostly unhurt, aside from a few bruises on her arms.  She was still dressed in street clothes, not even transformed into Sailor Jupiter, but that could be quickly remedied.  As she stepped around the corner, Makoto locked eyes with her for a moment.

                "Mister Kyara."  She kept her tone level, but lowered her hands; a number of the gunmen already had her sighted. 

                "Surprised, are you?  We're not all as stupid as Gwar."

                Gwar had been her last major success.  She'd managed to spirit him out of a heavily guarded compound and leave him neatly trussed up for the astonished police.

                "I wouldn't have guessed.  Let her go, Kyara."

                "Her?"  The crimelord shrugged.  He was a short, heavily muscled man, with heavy eyes and a drooping black mustache which Rei privately thought looked quite ridiculous.  "A friend of yours, I take it?"

                "Let her go."

                "Why should I?"  His smile was the nasty, gloating smile of those who have their opponents right where they want them.

                "If you let her go, I'll leave peacefully."  She tried to inject a note of bravado.  Most of the gangsters she'd gone up against had been frankly terrified of anyone with supernatural abilities, and tended to overestimate them.

                Kyara clearly was not of the same opinion.  "How about I just shoot both of you?  Hmm?"

                So much for that.  "What do you want?"

                "Why don't you come with us?  This girl too, of course."

                She shivered.  That probably would not be pleasant, but…  "Let her go, and I'll come with you.  You don't need her."  And if Mako gets out, she can collect Usagi and Minako and come find me.  She paused.  Did I actually just decide to rely on those two to rescue me?  Rei shivered again.

                He considered a moment, and smiled again.  "No thanks.  I think I'll kill her and take you anyway."

                "No--"  The crimelord's hand was already raised, and the black-suited thugs raced forward as a single gunshot rang out; time seemed to slow down.

                Mako!  The girl dropped to her knees, drops of blood flecking her hair and the side of her face.  Rei heard herself scream, distantly, and then--

                The thug who'd been holding was toppling backwards, a red circle neatly drilled through his forehead, and Makoto was already sweeping sideways into Kyara.  Shard stepped out from behind the corner, pistol still raised in a kind of salute.

                She swore, internally, desperately diving to the side and throwing up a hand in the second or so before the gangsters opened fire.  Shard twisted in slow motion, bringing the weapons he had in each hand to bear, and Makoto was sweeping Kyara's legs out from underneath him.

                "Burning Mandala!"

                She kept the power down, of course, but it was still enough to knock three of the black suits off their feet in a wash of flame that scorched their clothing and burned a pattern into the wallpaper behind them.

                The sense of slowed time broke after the second gunshot.  Rei's dive threw her ingloriously to the floor as bullets whined overhead; she rolled to the side, waiting for the shock of an impact.  But as quickly as it had started, the shooting was over.  She still felt dazed; the sound of footsteps hurrying over made her raise her head.

                "Mars!"

                Makoto was standing over her, holding out a hand, her expression strained under a mask of blood and smoke.  "Mars!"  She was kneeling as Rei sat up and shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs.  "Are you all right?"

                "F…Fine."  It was true, almost unbelievably.  "Are you--"

                "I'm okay."  She let out a deep breath.  "My heart may slow down sometime this year.  Can you get up?"

                "Yeah."  Rei regained her feet with only a bit of effort.  "Where's Shard?"

                "Please…"  Kyara's voice was somewhat indistinct.  "I can…I can pay you…"

                Rei stalked over to the pair of them, the big bounty hunter with his foot on the gangster boss's chest.  Shard didn't even glance at her as she approached; somehow, he hadn't even been scratched.  The lobby itself was a mess, furnishings torn and shattered in a hail of gunfire.  Aside from the one that had been holding Makoto, two more thugs were slumped near the stairwell, pools of red spreading over the stone floor. 

                "Really."  Shard sounded amused.  "I seriously doubt you can outbid Iylitrio."

                "That lying piece of…"  The bounty hunter pressed a bit harder, and Kyara broke off into a cough.

                "Shard."  Rei was desperately trying to prevent herself from hitting him; the tension showed in her voice. 

                "What?"  He scanned her quickly.  "Glad to see you're okay."

                Rei exploded.  "What the fuck was that?  You almost got me killed!  Not to mention Makoto."

                "He was going to shoot her."

                "What if you'd fucking missed!  She'd be dead like all these people…"  She looked at the body of the thug who'd held Makoto at gunpoint, lying face-up on the carpet with the blood draining out of the back of his skull.  "You killed them!"

                "Well, yeah.  That's sort of the point."

                "Please…"  The gangster squirmed under Shard's foot; they both ignored him.  Makoto put one hand on Rei's shoulder.

                "Mars…  He did probably save us."

                "He practically killed us, not to mention them!  You can't go around shooting people, not even gangsters."

                "Listen."  Shard lowered his voice.  "We'll probably have police here soon, so I'd like to get out of here.  Where can I get in touch with you?"

                "What?"

                The bounty hunter repeated himself patiently.  "Where can I leave a message for you?"

                "Get out of here."  She took a deep breath.  "If I ever see you again, I'm turning you in."

                "Be that as it may."  Shard shrugged.  "I always follow through on a promise.  So where can I find you?"

                "Shard--"

                "Please, let me--"  Kyara's pleading was cut off as Shard extended a hand and fired without looking; the body jerked and was still.  Rei felt her jaw go slack.

                "You….you just…"

                The bounty hunter rolled his eyes.  "Fine.  I'll find you the hard way.  I suggest you girls make yourselves scarce before we're hip-deep in cops."  He flipped the guns back into their holsters and pushed his deep-green glasses back on.  "Mars.  Makoto.  Glad to make your acquaintance."

                "Shard!"

                Rei found Makoto's hand restraining her; the other girl's voice was pitched at a whisper.  "Rei, he's right.  Let's get out of here."

                "But he…"  She stared at Kyara's body.  "He…"

                "He's dead, Rei, come on.  We can track this Shard guy down later."

                "But…"

                "Now, Rei!"

                She let Makoto drag her into a run, away from the approaching sirens.

Chapter Two

                In which Ami goes undercover, Rei and Minako get ready for a date, and the arrival of a giant in the sandbox causes much consternation among the ants.

                Traveling between realities, between worlds, is not nearly as easy as it looks.

                There are conditions to be met, laws just as binding as gravity and magnetism that govern the dance of the universes.  They wind around each other in a froth, like a high-dimensional tangle of spaghetti, meeting and parting and combining and separating, so the energy required to step from one to the next varies bit by bit from the prohibitive to the easily achievable.  Then there are the works of men and gods to contend with, seals and sorcery to keep things out, or in.  The prospective planewalking mage must as often as not bargain, plead and cajole his way through these greater powers before finally achieving his destination.

                About all this Jahara knew little and cared less.  He stepped into the world as easily as a man might round a corner, fading into vision in a dark, forgotten space.  Dark lightning crackled around him as potentials equalized, energy blowing off him like steam, or water puffing into a vacuum.  He took a deep breath and held it until the process had finished, and he could feel the flow of power once again.

                A thousand feet below, the supernexus pulsed gently, resonating with the lifebeat of the world.  As was often the case, the humans had built their monuments on top of the supernatural center without realizing it, drawn like moths to a flame to the places where ley lines merged.  Jahara looked around, curiously, as he walked the darkened corridor.

                He finally emerged into the light on the observation deck of Tokyo Tower.

                Humans, he reflected, have always had a singular skill for building tall objects.  As he walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, Jahara tried to reach out, mentally, and feel the city.  It was like staring at the sun, trying to find the constellations in daylight; the blaze of the supernexus drowned all lesser emanations.

                As I expected.  His lip curled.  He's hiding from me.

                The view, of course, was spectacular; the lights of Tokyo laid out like a sea of landbound stars.  Jahara stood at the window, muttering under his breath.

                "Where are you?"

                "Sir."

                Jahara turned to the security guard.  One does not guard Tokyo Tower for very long without seeing some very odd things and acquiring some very good instincts; the man stepped back, respectfully.  The interloper's appearance may have had something to do with it.  Jahara was at least seven feet tall, broad at the shoulder and heavily muscled but generally thin.  His hair was a brilliant neon green and fell raggedly to just above his shoulders; his eyes, the same color, had a darkly sarcastic glitter.

                "Sir?"  The guard hesitated, clearly wondering whether to push his luck.

                Jahara considered for a moment, then shrugged.  "Yes?"

                The guard squirmed under his stare.

                "What is it?"

                He took a deep breath.  "Sir, the observation deck is…that is…"

                Jahara waited patiently until the man collected himself.

                "I mean…"  He took another deep breath.  "We're closed, sir.  You'll have to come back tomorrow."

                The Unforgiven nodded slowly, as though this had been a message of great import.  "Of course."

                "Sorry, sir."

                "Not a problem.  You're just doing your job."  He looked around.  "Can you direct me to the elevators?"

                The guard thought briefly of inquiring how the visitor had managed to forget the way he'd come up, but thought better of it and extended a wordless finger.

                "Thank you."

                There was something about the way he moved, too.  It was too slow, too cautious, as though every muscle was under conscious control and needed to be kept very strictly in line.  There was an odd grace to it, almost like watching ballet in slow motion. 

                The guard waited for him to leave before wiping the sweat from his forehead and sinking back against the guardrail.  He voiced his thoughts aloud.

                "That's probably the strangest one this year."

                Rei felt that her story was not getting the audience it needed.

                Usagi had apparently spent the entire previous day with Mamoru--Rei privately felt a bit sorry for him--and was therefore a bit on the dreamy side, even for her.  Minako and Artemis at least listened attentively, and Makoto had of course been there, but that was all.

                Which, of course, was another slightly sore point.

                "Ami said what?"

                Minako shrugged.  "She said she was going to check on something, was taking Luna with her, and not to wait up."  She shook her head.  "I'm more worried about you two."

                Rei scowled darkly.  "We would have been okay if not for that idiot Shard."

                "Speak for yourself.  He was about to shoot me."

                She shot Makoto a glance.  "I would have figured something out."

                Artemis gave Crown a quick once-over, but what patrons there were didn't seem to be paying any attention and weren't close enough to overhear.  "This just bears out what I've been saying all along."

                Rei sighed, and the cat bristled.  "Artemis, I…"

                "You two are lucky to be alive, but it might not work out so well next time!  How long before somebody gets seriously hurt?"

                "It's not like we haven't been in danger before…"

                Minako sighed.  "I have to say I agree with him.  Youma threatening innocent people is one thing.  But these are just gangsters, Rei.  Can't the police handle them?"

                There was a pause as the four of them each spared a thought for the abilities of the Tokyo police and shook their heads.  Minako continued.

                "Still.  The city has dealt with Yakuza types for longer then we've been around.  Why risk your life for that?  And…"  She paused a moment, out of steam, but the cat picked up the thread.

                "And what if you two get killed?  Leaving aside personal reasons, what happens the next time some monster shows up?"

                "We're not going to get killed."  Rei shook her head.  "Makoto and I are careful about this…"

                "Obviously not careful enough!"

                "But I can't just sit around and do nothing!"

                And that, of course, was the crux of the matter.

                It had been two years since the defeat of Galaxia, and the Sailor Senshi had been forced to transform only a handful of times during that period.  A monster here or there; there seemed to be no avoiding that.  But nothing like the swarms of youma that had descended on the city.

                For a while, this had been a relief.  But as the silence went on, Rei had felt herself bristling more and more.

                "We have these powers because we're supposed to protect people, right?  There are people in the city suffering, and I'm supposed to ignore it because the bad guys aren't from an alternate dimension?  Or because I'm worried about getting hurt?"

                 "If you endanger yourself you endanger the future!"

                Rei and Artemis stared each other down, both growling, until a quiet cough reminded them of the presence of others in the restaurant.

                "Um…"  Motoki sounded hesitant to interrupt; Rei glanced up at him and started.  "Are you okay?"

                "Fine, fine…"  Rei laughed nervously.  "Just…you know…staring at the cat.  You have to show them who's boss!"

                The cat in question was glaring daggers, but she ignored it.  Motoki glanced at her oddly but seemed to accept this.  "Do you girls need anything else?"

                Usagi, who to all appearances hadn't been listening a bit, did not miss that question, sliding her empty glass over.  "More please!"

                After the next round of sodas and sundaes had been ordered and Motoki was safely away, the conversation resumed.

                "What about the rest of you?"

                Minako shook her head.  "Artemis is right.  We all want to help people, but we can't do everything.  Are you going to keep beating up gangsters forever?"

                Rei turned her gaze to Makoto, who shrugged.  "I'm not going to let you do this alone, Rei, but honestly…"  The tall girl shifted uncomfortably.  "It was luck more then anything that saved us yesterday.  I don't know how much longer we can keep this up."  She brushed the left side of her face, almost unconsciously, where the blood had splattered.  "If your friend had worse aim…"

                "He is not my friend."  Rei sighed.  "What about you, Usagi?"

                Everyone turned towards the blonde, waiting to see if this would provoke a response.  Usagi stared down into her drink for a moment before finally looking up.

                "I…"  She hesitated.  "I know you feel bad for everyone, and I do too, but…I don't want either of you getting hurt."

                Usagi took in Rei's scowl.  "I mean, I thought you would have been happier this way.  A more normal life…"

                It's all right for her.  Rei sat back in the booth as Motoki arrived again.  She has Mamoru, and she can forget about all the stuff that happens out there.  But…

                "Rei?"

                She looked up at Motoki, who was digging in his pocket.  "What?"

                "I forgot.  Someone dropped this off for you earlier."

                The beat-up envelope was blank on the outside.  She reached out to take it, then hesitated.

                He couldn't have…

                "Who gave it to you?"

                "Some guy I've never seen before.  He described you exactly and said that he knows you come in here."

                Minako and Usagi picked up on that instantly.  "It's a love letter!"

                "From a secret admirer!"

                Rei ground her teeth.  "Somehow I doubt it."  She snatched the envelope with bad grace and glared at Motoki, who beat a hasty retreat.

                "Well?"  Minako leaned forward.  "Open it!"

                "Now?"

                "Come on…"  Artemis rolled up his eyes, but Usagi and even Makoto were interested.

                It's from him.  She was somehow sure of it, even before she tore the paper.  Shard.  How did he find me?

                As expected, there was a note inside, folded in half.  She opened it carefully.

                The park bridge.  Eight PM, tomorrow night.

                There were raised eyebrows all around.  "Rei…"

                "Do you know who this is from?"  Minako sounded merely curious; Rei shot a significant glance at Makoto.

                "I…think so."

                "What's this?"  Another folded piece of paper had dropped out of the note when she'd opened it; Usagi picked it up curiously and opened it before Rei could stop her.

                "Hey!  Usagi--"  She stopped.  The blonde had gone white as a sheet, slip of paper falling from suddenly nerveless fingers.  "Are you okay?  Usagi?"

                "F…F…Fif…Fif…"

                "Usagi?"

                Makoto picked up the paper and read it, slowly.

                "Usagi, come on."

                "Fif…fifty…fifty…"

                "Rei."  Makoto handed the thing over with hands that shook only slightly, and Rei took it, hesitantly.  "Read that."

                "But Usagi…"

                "Read it."

                Minako peered over her shoulder, curiously.  "What is…"  She trailed off, mouth open.

                A check.  Rei's brain seemed to be processing slowly.  Made out to Rei Hino.  For…

                She felt her own jaw drop as she counted zeros.

                Fifty…million…yen?

                Rei barely heard Motoki make his way back over.  "Who's picking up the check for today?"

                Three hands pointed to her in unison.

                "She is!"

                In Hotaru's dream, the city was dark and shadowed.  Buildings loomed to each side, long rows of featureless cubes.  Anything that wasn't important didn't show up, here, so the facades blurred into one another and the sidewalks stretched on forever, uniform and featureless.  It was almost black and white, like an old movie.

                She let out a deep breath and looked around.  In the real world, she'd just closed her eyes, but here her fatigue was gone.  Instead she felt almost over-energized, as though touching anything would let out a massive spark of static.  The air felt greasy, and had the burnt-metal tang of ozone.

                Something's wrong.  As Sailor Saturn, she knew what the dream-world meant.  Something, or someone, was coming.  A threat to the world, or to the Senshi.  But…

                There's nothing here.  She turned in a slow circle, heartbeat sounding loud in the unnatural stillness.  Something pulled me in to this dream, but where is it?

                Hesitantly, she took a step forward, feeling the sidewalk flat and perfect beneath her feet.  I've never walked here before.  Usually I can only watch…

                She spun at a sound behind her, a crunch of gravel.

                "Who's there?"

                It was as though the silence had eaten the words, chopped them off as soon as they'd left her and swallowed them, in darkness.  No echoes.  Nothing.

                She walked towards where the sound had come from, trying to calm down.  It's just a vision.  They can't actually hurt me here.  Whoever 'they' are.  She reached the entrance to an alley, even darker then the rest of the city, and swallowed.  Just a vision.  Remember.  Hotaru leaned inward.

                "Hello?"

                Something brushed the back of her neck, gently, pushing her hair aside.  Goosebumps sprouted instantly as she whirled again, hand automatically patting her side for a transformation pen.  It wasn't there, of course.  Her clothes, like everything, were blurred and indistinct.

                Almost everything.  The man across from was in perfect focus.  He was easily twice her height, probably more, with brilliant green hair and matching eyes.  His clothes consisted solely of a white outfit, almost a martial-arts style tunic of thin, simple cloth. 

                He smiled, and Hotaru felt unaccountably relieved, though his green eyes still glittered dangerously.

                "Ah."  He looked her up and down, although given their comparative heights, there wasn't much but down.  "I was expecting…something like this."

                "Who are you?"  There was something about him Hotaru could feel, almost a physical sensation; the power blew off him like steam, as though he should have crackled as he moved.  Despite this, she felt more curious then afraid.

                "My name is Jahara."  He inclined his head.  "Yours?"

                "Hotaru."  It didn't occur to her to lie; not here, to him.  None of the dream-figments had ever talked to her before.

                "Hotaru."  He said it musingly.  "And you are a guardian of some kind."  It was a statement, not a question.

                "I…am.  A Senshi."

                Jahara nodded.  "And we are"--he gestured around--"here, because I have entered your world and your powers reacted.  You are attuned to threats from other planes, and I…"  He stopped for a moment, then continued.  "In any case, there is resonance."

                She shook her head.  "What are you doing here?"

                "I am here to kill someone."

                Fear returned, a little.  "You can't do that."

                "He is someone your world would be better without."

                "You still can't just kill him."

                Jahara shrugged, indicating his indifference to her opinion on the matter.  "I can, and I will.  Killing people is my only real skill, but it is something I am quite good at.  Your cooperation is not required."

                Hotaru took a deep breath.  "We'll have to stop you."

                There was a long pause.  Jahara stared at her until she started to feel uncomfortable.

                Finally he sighed.  "Listen carefully.  I came here, to the dream, for two reasons.  First, I wanted to find out what this world had in the way of defenders.  The second was for your sake, or for the people like you."  He knelt until he could stare her in the face.  "Resh is here, in this city, hiding in the supernexus.  I will find him, and I will kill him.  I will also kill any human, demon, or god who attempts to prevent me from accomplishing this goal.  Because of what I am, I have some sympathy for people in your situation, and have thus granted you this warning.  Do you understand?"

                She looked into his green eyes; not the pigmented green of human eyes, dotted by the pupil, but glowing green from edge to edge as though lit by some inner fire.  Hotaru nodded, slowly.

                "What…are you?"

                He straightened up to his full seven feet.  "Unforgiven."

                And then the dream broke, and he was gone.

                "You can not be serious!"

                "I have to go."

                "But you said it yourself!  The man is a killer."

                "It doesn't matter."

                "What if he wants to get rid of the witness?"

                "He had plenty of chances to do that at the hotel."

                "He said you were good-looking.  What if he wants to…"

                Rei paused in mid-stalk, in front of the sliding door to her closet, her face coloring.  "Minako, please.  I think I can handle one bounty hunter."

                She threw open the closet door and started hunting through outfits, one by one.  Minako came up to stand behind her.

                "Just because he sent you a note doesn't mean you have to go on a date with him!"

                "This is not a date!"  She rounded, angrily, tossing a nice pair of slacks and a shirt onto the bed.

                Minako smiled and put her head on one side.  "Then why are you picking out clothing so carefully?"

                Rei sighed, hands clenching into fists.  "Because I want to go as Sailor Mars, but I can't very well turn up in uniform.  Okay?"

                The blonde raised an eyebrow.  "Okay."

                "Minako…"

                She giggled.  "Sorry."

                "You could at least help me."

                "Can you even take the uniform off while you're transformed?  I've never tried."

                "I would imagine so."

                Rei shuffled through the remaining contents of her closet in silence for a moment before Minako spoke again.

                "Will you at least take one of us along for backup?"

                "I don't need backup.  I probably won't be there for longer then ten minutes, anyway.  I just need to give him this back"--she fished the check out of her pocket--"and leave.  That's it."

                "I can't believe you're giving it back."

                Rei sighed, again.  "Minako, we've been over this.  This is bounty money.  Blood money.  I can't accept it."

                "But…"

                "Also, don't you think it would look a little odd if I suddenly deposit fifty million yen?  Somebody might notice.  And then what am I supposed to say, that it was a gift from my secret admirer?"

                That seemed to quiet her.  "I know.  It just feels…"

                Rei looked at the folded piece of paper and felt her heart thump just a bit louder.  It is a lot of money…

                "Why don't you just tear it up?"

                She blushed again.  "I won't have him thinking I owe him for this, or something like that.  He has to know that I'm not accepting it."

                "You could send it back to him…"

                "No!"  Rei let out a deep breath.  "I'm going to meet him, and give him his money back, and that's it.  Okay?"

                Minako nodded hurriedly.  "Okay."

                "Good."  She looked at the clothes on the bed.  "Which looks better, the green or the white?"

                The other girl blinked and considered for a moment.  "The…white, I'd say."

                "Me too."  She hung the green outfit back up.  Damn it, Shard.

                "Are you entirely certain of this plan?"  The voice was cynical, presumptuous, the tone doubting; the speaker clearly not certain at all.

                "Entirely."  Iylitrio settled his bulk a little more comfortably into his chair, rolls of skin nearly covering the massive armrests.

                "I have spent many years working on this.  The timing is critical."

                "You"--he put a nasty spin on the word--"has asked me to procure some…merchandise, yes?  The tools for obtaining it are my own.  I will handle things."

                "I have some concerns about using the vampire."

                "Resh."  The crimelord leaned back, smiling.  "Wonderful, isn't he?"

                "He's dangerous."

                "Not to us, as long as he's well fed."  Iylitrio shrugged.  "The city has prostitutes enough, and homeless men willing to follow for a coin.  And for all his power, he can be handled.  I have certain arrangements it place."

                "What arrangements?"

                "No concern of yours."  He snapped the words off, then visibly composed himself.  "As I said, Resh is not so critical to this plan of ours that he cannot be discarded."

                "It is not Resh I'm concerned about."

                "Ah."  Iylitrio's smile faded.

                "Jahara is here.  In Tokyo."

                "I know this.  I am not as blind as perhaps you think."

                "Aren't you worried?  He'll want the vampire.  And don't tell me your 'arrangements' can stop him."

                "With the Unforgiven, there is no stopping.  But they are like a force of a nature, yes?  A mighty river, say.  Power it has, but the water is…direct.  Unsubtle.  It can be channeled, by men who know what they are about."

                The other's tone soured.  "So you claim."

                Iylitrio shrugged, sending ripples through the loose skin on his shoulders.  "If Jahara gets too close, we can simply give him what he wants.  As I said, the vampire is not critical.  Just a useful tool."

                "I doubt Resh will be given so easily.  And if it come to open battle between those two, they could tear the city apart."

                Iylitrio waved a finger.  "I think not.  Our nocturnal friend has a high opinion of himself, but he would not last long against Jahara."  He shrugged.  "But it doesn't matter.  The supernexus blinds them both, and with proper information Jahara can be decoyed far away from here until your master's plan is completed to his satisfaction, and I receive my payment."

                "Very well."  The other sighed.  "Shall I also assume that your efforts to obtain my merchandise are proceeding?"

                "Indeed.  First we take the measure of them, and then…"  His smile returned.  "All is well."

                Winter was coming.  Ami Mizuno let the door of her apartment slam behind her as she entered, both arms full of books; she could feel the cold draft running through the room with the bite of a late summer evenings.  Curtains billowed around the window.  Ami dropped the books on her bed and crossed over to it, savoring for a moment the cool wash on her skin.  It made her feel awake, alive, for the first time in what seemed like ages.

                Did I leave the window open?  She shrugged, internally, but waited a moment longer before shutting it to a crack, leaving only a trickle of cold as she sat down at the computer.  The machine beeped a welcome greeting and flatscreens flickered to life, the only light in the darkened room.  Ami leaned back, her chair creaking, face bathed in the unearthly liquid crystal glow.

                She clicked through her routine almost automatically.  Mail…a few discussion boards…then sleep.  I've got that test tomorrow.

                The machine beeped, and Ami sighed.  One hundred twenty three new messages.  Teach me to stop paying attention for a day or two.

                She went to work on the pile, grimly.  Establishing that she did not want to make $$$ in her spare time and wasn't interested in a hot new porn sensation cut that number by two thirds; deciding not to take any of the helpful companies up on the special offers they'd so kindly sent her did for half the remainder.  The rest were real: a few mails from old friends, but mostly semi-professional correspondence.  A couple of invitations to official university functions; a letter of thanks from an American grad student who's thesis she'd helped prove.  A couple of 'net cronies passing along interesting papers; these she gave a cursory glance and printed for later reading.  As the laser printer hummed, she scrolled down to the last few.

                That went faster then I thought.  If there's nothing interesting over at Risks or the MT forums we'll have an early night of it.  Maybe I can get some reading in before bed.

                The title of one of the messages caught her eye: a response to something she'd posted on one of the more specialized physics boards.  The forum in question was more for slightly quirky what-ifs then serious science, and the debate that had been raging covered alternate views of the basic nature of reality.  Being in somewhat of a privileged position with regard to things like time travel and alternate realities, she found herself being drawn in; her positions still drew laughter from some of the others, which bristled.

                I'm right, damn it.  I've seen it, and all they have is theories…

                That was, in fact, the crux of the whole problem.  It had been almost too much, after each battle, to watch the normal humans reassemble their 'sane' worldview in direct opposition to all the evidence.  Galaxia's machinations had torn Tokyo to shreds, and despite the Senshi's victory and subsequent panacea there were certainly some confused memories of some kind of disaster.  But do they investigate?  Of course not.  The guys on TV go on about mass hysteria and the water supply. 

                Frustrating as it was, that was nothing compared to the educational establishment.  Getting up in class and having to recite a theory you know is wrong, just because you can't present any evidence otherwise.  I've visited the future and traveled faster then light to an incoming asteroid; relativity looks good, but the universe is a lot more complicated then that.  And now this stuff…

                Ley lines were old news; she'd figured that one out more then a year ago, when she'd first started looking at it an organized way.  Rivers of nearly invisible force crisscrossed the land.  Mostly they were weak, weak enough that even Ami could only find them her computer's aid.  But not here.  Tokyo is different, you can feel it in the air.  She skimmed the message; the equations she'd suggested to govern the ley lines came first, then the reply.  As she read them she shook her head.  It doesn't work.  The power wouldn't be strong enough, even if this whole place was covered with the damn things.

                The computer had marked the first line of the reply in red, so she skipped to that.

                'Good work, but just a little off.  Your force of reality equation needs another term, right here…'

                It trailed off into an expression so complex that the spindly brackets that enclosed it looked like cages from which it was trying to escape.  For a moment the symbols blurred; Ami blinked until they cleared, reading slowly.

                Her jaw dropped, slowly.

                It…works, doesn't it?  She traced the line of an integral with one finger.  The lines bend the fabric, but their course changes as it warps. 

                Excited, she spun the chair to face her desk and pulled out a rolled-up map of Tokyo, dusty from lack of use.  Once it was spread on the table, she turned back to the screen. 

                I didn't think the lines could cross each other more then two at a time, because the chance of even three straight lines being in just the same place is too low to think about.  But if they twist as the fabric changes…  The lines would fall inward, like ball bearings on a sheet gathering in a single depression in the center.  That would warp the fabric even further, until…

                Back to the email again.  This is brilliant.  Who sent it?

                Ami scrolled down to the last line.

                'Look behind you.'

                Clap.  Clap.  Clap.  Someone's hands beat out a rhythm.

                "Do you know you're the first human ever to honestly figure it out?"

                Ami kept staring at the computer screen.  "Who are you?"

                "In the old days, they built their temples on the sites.  Giant things, to control the power.  But lately you people don't seem to care anymore.  They put up an amplifier the size of a mountain, and then when things get weird they talk about weather balloons and the water supply."  The voice was calm, erudite, with a slightly cynical tone.

                "Who are you?"

                "'This is the excellent foppery of the world; that when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviors, we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars.'"

                She couldn't help finishing.  "'As though we were villains by necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance; and all that we are evil in by a divine thrusting-on…'"  Ami paused, and cleared her throat.  "King Lear.  The Bastard's speech."

                "You know your Shakespeare, Miss Mizuno."

                Her eyes had had time to focus in the darkness.  There was a figure sitting on the edge of her bed, hands in his lap, features still hidden in shadow.

                "You…"  She hesitated, her hand halfway to the light switch that was conveniently placed next to the desk.

                "You don't need to do that."  He spread his hands.  "I'm not going to hurt you, Miss Mizuno."

                "You wrote this?"

                He nodded, a faint movement in the darkness.  "Do you like it?"

                "It might work.  I'd have to test…"

                The unseen figure breathed a sigh.  "Genius is never appreciated in its own time, Ami.  Do you know that you're the only person in Tokyo who can understand those formula?"

                "That doesn't surprise me."

                "The great Ami Mizuno.  I'm happy to finally get to meet you."

                "You're going to have to tell me who you are at some point."

                He shrugged.  "Does it matter?  Do the test.  I'll see you again."

                Enough is enough.  She stabbed the light switch; the bed was empty.

Chapter Three

                In which Rei discovers the downside of a bounty hunter's lifestyle, Ami visits the supernexus, and we learn the perils of ignoring a warning.

                7:35 pm.

                The bridge in the park was one of those gratuitously romantic constructions, a gentle arch over a stream so thin and good-natured that it could almost be jumped, and certainly waded.  It trailed through the patches of greenery, splitting and reforming around little jumbles of rock, until it came to a straight patch where the path needed to cross.  The spot was designed from the ground up as a place for lovers on long evening walks to dawdle, in the shade of the pair of willows that guarded the ends of the bridge like sentries and swept the ground with soft green curtains.

                At--a quick check--7:36 pm, there were two couples doing exactly that, walking slowly through the park and enjoying the cool air of the end of summer.  One young man stopped to talk to his partner over some trifle and end up in a long embrace; Rei looked away, down at her feet and then back at her watch.

                7:37 pm.

                She could feel her cheeks heating.  Damn you, Shard.  In the past, she'd never been able to look at the bridge without sighing at the thought of bringing someone of her own here, walking down the path and stopping under the privacy of the willow branches.  Recalling those thoughts now made her blush even more, and she twice had to stop herself from self-consciously smoothing her dress.

                One of the young men looked at her, then laughed at some comment made by his companion.  In her mind, he was impaled with a thousand swords.

                7:42.

                As soon as he shows up, I'm going to hand him the check, turn around, and walk away.  Nothing else.  She tried to imagine how that would look to the bystanders and groaned, inwardly.  Take him somewhere private, give him the check, and walk away.  Another moment's thought, and Rei colored again.  That would look even worse.

                7:49. 

Her foot would not stop tapping; she stomped the other one down on it, hard.  Where is he?

                She'd never even considered the possibility that Shard wouldn't show up.  What would be the point?  Another, slightly more practical inner voice commented, If he doesn't, can I keep the money?

                She shook her head firmly.  "No.  It isn't right.  I've got to…"

                "Got to?"  The voice was right behind her.  Rei spun around, hand raised with some vague idea of self-defense; Shard caught her fist, gently.  "Got to what?"

                She stared at him, blankly, unable to process for a moment.  His face was open, smiling, eyes still invisible behind dark-green glasses; he was dressed more normally then last time she'd seen him, though it was hardly a fancy outfit.  The hand that held hers was warm, and soft, but with the hint of strength behind it.

                "Um…I…"  Rei started to speak, realized he still had her hand in his, and snatched it away.  "That is…"

                Shard pulled off his sunglasses with one hand, folding them into his breast pocket.  His eyes were the blue of a quiescent ocean.  When he smiled again, she could almost see the sparkle.

                This is not how this is supposed to go!  Rei could feel her heart beating, too fast.  She put her hand in her pocket and closed it around the check, crinkling it.  She took a deep breath.

                "Take this back!"

                Shard looked down, surprised, as she thrust the square of folded paper at him.  He picked it up with two fingers.

                "Is it causing you problems?  I had assumed someone in our line of work would have ways to deal with this sort of thing, but if you like I can get you cash."

                Cash?  She shook her head violently.  "No.  It's no trouble.  I mean, I don't want it.  The money.  Not at all."

                He stared at her, uncomprehending. 

                "I don't want it."  Rei paused to collect herself.  "You killed people for that.  I can't…I mean…"

                "Quiet, please."  He glanced around theatrically, and Rei reflexively looked over her shoulder.  None of the other park-goers seemed particularly interested in the two of them, but she kept her voice down anyway.

                "Look.  I've given you your check back.  Now I'm going to leave.  I don't want to hear from you again, alright?"  She couldn't keep her voice from shaking a bit at the end of the last sentence as she turned to go, too quickly.

                "Rei."  She stopped, feeling his hand on her shoulder.  "Please.  I'm sorry we got off to a bad start.  I don't care about the money, really.  Just…"

                She could feel his warmth, again, on her skin under the thin dress.

                I can't talk to him.

                I shouldn't turn and look at him.  He's too damn handsome.  I mean…

                No.  Just start walking and don't stop till you're home.  Right, Rei?  Right!

                Right!

Right?

                Oh, fuck.

                "I just have a few more questions to ask you."

                Shard was grinning.  It was a deliberately infuriating grin, she suspected; it looked as though he'd practiced it.  He leaned against the trunk of the willow and somehow managed to make even this seem smug.  There was just an air about the man, she decided, that made him nearly intolerable.  Every time he opened his mouth she wanted to slug him.

                "Shoot."

                "This is the important one.  How did you find me?"

                It had been gnawing at her mind all afternoon.  Rei had never really worried about her secret identity being compromised.  It seemed to be taken care of, somehow, and she'd never questioned it. 

                Until now.

                Shard shrugged.  "It is my job to find people who don't want to be found."

                "And…" 

                "I can't really say more then that.  Trade secrets, you know."  His smug grin grew, if possible, even smugger.  "I wouldn't worry about it, though."

                "If you can find me, what's to stop some of Kyara's guys from doing the same thing?"

                "Kyara?"  He laughed.  "Not likely."

                "I suppose you're the best bounty hunter around here?"

                Shard dodged the intended sarcasm.  "Of course.  And you were not exactly easy to track down, so rest assured, your secret is safe with me."

                Somehow, that actually made her feel a bit better; Rei squelched the emotion with a muffled curse.

                "That is not the point, Shard."

                "What exactly is the point?"

                "The point is…"  She stopped, hand raised in mid-remonstrate, staring at him in blank disbelief.  He just doesn't get it.  How can he live this life?  He's a murderer, a hired killer.  How can he smile?  "The point is…"

                She was saved from having to finish the sentence by the crack of sudden gunfire.

                Distracted as he seemed to be, the bounty hunter's reflexes were unearthly.  There was no other word for it; he seemed to start moving almost before the first shot sounded, swinging around the trunk of the willow tree with one of his arms catching her by the waist.  Her shriek of surprise turned into a muffled 'oof' as he knocked the wind out of her, bearing both of them to the ground; dead leaves and soil flew up in tiny fountains from where they'd been standing, then knocked chips out of the relatively thin tree trunk as the shooters adjusted their aim.

                Much to her amazement, Shard was still smiling.

                "Talk about being interrupted…"  He fished in one of his side pockets as the curtain of willow branches danced and snapped as bullets winged past.  "This keeps happening to us.  Must be fate."

                Rei tried a quick look around the side of the tree and nearly lost her head for her trouble; she put her back to the trunk, breathing hard.  "Who are they?"

                "Damned if I know."  The bounty hunter snapped open his sunglasses and swept them on with a practiced motion, soft blue eyes obscured by green-black tint. 

                "But…"

                "If there are any left, we can ask them afterwards."  He leaned forward.  "You want to go left or right?"

                "Are you crazy?  We'll be killed!"

                "Maybe.  But this isn't much cover, and I'm sure they've got someone circling around…"

                He was right, and she knew it.  That doesn't make this any less crazy, though.  And underneath her calm upper thoughts something else gibbered.

                Oh god.  We're going to die…

                "You take left, then.  Give me about five seconds."

                "I…"
                "Now!"

                He pushed off from the tree sideways, sprinting for the edge of the weeping willow's curtain.  The bullets followed him, whining and kicking up dirt by his feet, but to her slightly stunned amazement none of them even came close to him.  And then the bounty hunter was reaching down to the small of his back, and pushing through the green bows.

                Five seconds, right?  She hadn't counted, but it seemed about right.  It took a major effort of will to get going, and she ran the ten feet to open ground in what seems like hours, expecting the sudden pain of an impact every second.  Behind, she could hear Shard open fire with a heavy-caliber roar; then she was away from the tree and pounding across the lawn, towards the stream.

                Rei had time for one quick glance around.  She couldn't see Shard, on the other side of the tree, but she could see his opponents: three men in dark combat gear, crouched behind the low stone wall of the bridge.  A fourth man, as the bounty hunter had predicted, was creeping slowly downstream, cradling a short, nasty-looking sub-machinegun. 

                This fourth gunman looked up in surprise as she blundered out of the willow tree, snapping his weapon around as fast as he could.  It wasn't quite quick enough, though; she barreled desperately into him, feeling the hard metal of the weapon slither away across the grass.  He went down hard, and she stepped away from him, looking for a breathing space.

                The sounds of gunfire had abated behind her, but Rei's attention was focused on the one she'd knocked sprawling.  She found his gun, a few feet away, and put her foot on it before he could regain his feet.  His gaze kept sliding from it to her, watching like a cat; she found herself wondering whether he would make a dive for it, and what she would do if he did.  Already transformed as she was, she could feel the power coiling inside her, spurred by anger and adrenaline, twitching in her fingertips.

                I could melt him where he stands.  She shook her head.  But I can't do that, he's a human.

                The man put his head on one side, considering; Rei tensed for a charge.

                Click.  Shard somehow managed to give the sound a particularly nasty air as he walked up behind her captive, holstering a second pistol with his other hand.  The gunman raised his hands, looking at her almost apologetically.

                "Good job."  The bounty hunter gestured with the barrel of his gun, and the prisoner stepped aside as he walked over to Rei, keeping the weapon trained with unconscious ease.  "You okay?"

                "Fine."  Aside from a heartbeat like a hummingbird.  "You?"

                He rolled his eyes behind the dark glasses.  "Please.  Now you"--he turned to the other man--"talk.  What kind of idiot sent only four of you after me?"

                The conceit of this statement nearly floored her, but the gunman seemed to take it seriously.  He sounded oddly calm.  "You surprised us.  We--"  He stopped with a grimace, but his eyes flickered to Rei.

                "You were after her?  Why?"

                The man, however, was no longer looking at Shard.  His gaze slid past the bounty hunter, to the stream behind, just Rei felt the metallic tang of a magical surge.

                "Shard!"  It came out as a half-shriek as she turned around; the bounty hunter jumped aside, finger squeezing the trigger instinctively.  The need to dodge had thrown off his aim, and the bullet slapped into the ground beside the gunman, who was already sprinting for the treeline.  And where Shard had been standing, a blue-white storm of ice and water lashed the ground, throwing grass into the air and reducing the turf to frozen mud.

                The creature rising from the little brook was barely visible, wreathed in puffs of steam and a swirl of glittering ice.  It wasn't large, perhaps four feet tall and hovering two feet over the water; Rei caught glimpses of a small, female form in the swirl, skin the blue-green color of old ice, and an oddly mischievous expression.  Cold radiated from the thing in waves: the stream underneath ran under a thin cover of ice for some distance, and on either side the grass was rimed by frost.  Icy ribbons hung in the air around, coiling and twisting for another strike.

                "This is new."  Shard had a pistol in each hand again.

                "Youma."  The aura was unmistakable.  Rei felt suddenly calm again as years of instinct kicked in.  "Don't let it touch you."

                His grin turned sarcastic for a moment.  "Really."

                The creature drifted onto the bank, between the two of them, apparently confused by the choice of targets.  It obscured Rei's vision of the bounty hunter for a moment; then gunfire cut through the silence again.  Bullets scythed through the icy cloud or impacted on the thing's body, spraying chips of ice but causing no other visible effect.  Shard cursed and dove again as the swirling mists focused to a point and lunged; the ice hit the ground where he'd been standing with a physical impact, pulverizing the dirt underfoot into a ice-rimed froth.

                I've had just about enough of this.  Her eyes narrowed.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                The tiny thing turned on a dime and threw up an arm, coalescing the swirling gases into some kind of shield; even so, it staggered under the heat.  Steam billowed outward, and from behind the cloud she heard more pistol shots hitting the ice.

                "Shard!"  Rei dove aside herself as another blast of ice flattened the grass and brought a section of willow branches crashing down in a shower of silver crystals.  "Go for the head!  If you can hit it hard enough…"

                "I'm having enough trouble hitting the damn thing as it is."  The bounty hunter's voice came from somewhere on the other side of the steam.  "Let me try something; get ready to blast it."

                Rei nodded and sidestepped another burst.  Shard's voice rang out again.

                "Hey icy!  Catch!"

                The youma didn't understand the words, but it apparently caught the tone, half-turning to see what the bounty hunter was up to without taking its attention too far off Rei.  It took on an expression of mild bemusement as a cylindrical metal object bounced across the ground towards it.  Rei saw the thing, cursed, and dove to the ground with her hands over her head.

                *BOOM.*

                Even with eyes closed the flash was visible, outlining every bone in her hands for a bare instant.  She could hear the youma scream, an ascending wail of rage and pain; blinking away blurry tears, Rei rolled over and took aim.

                "Flame SNIPER!"

                The scream cut off, suddenly, as the plasma beam caught the blinded creature full in the face, blowing its substance outwards in another burst of steam.  The body fell to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, sprawled on the rapidly-thawing grass.  It took a moment before her eyes could see anything but vague patterns of light and shadow; Rei stood, hesitantly.

                "That was amusing."  Shard was kneeling next to the youma's body.  It looked like a young girl, cast in ice; headless, of course, and slowly turning into a mud-puddle.

                "Hardly the word I'd use.  Where the hell did that thing come from?"

                The bounty hunter stood and shrugged.  "At a guess, it was backup for those guys."  He hooked a finger at the black-suited bodies of the gunmen, lying motionless on the bridge.  "The question is, who sent them?  And why?"

                Rei held her hand in front of her, somewhat surprised that it wasn't shaking.  The adrenaline was wearing off rapidly.

                "You shot them…"

                "And you destroyed that thing.  Nice shot there, by the way."

                "We could have been killed!"

                He sniffed.  "Hardly.  These guys are amateurs."

                "How can you say that?  They're…"

                Shard took a step closer.  "Are you okay?"

                "What?"  She looked up, inadvertently, into his face; eyes unreadable behind dark glasses and a plastic smile.  "I…I'm fine."

                "You sure?"  He put one hand on her shoulder, and she was suddenly aware of the distance between them.  Shard reached up and pulled the glasses off, carefully.  The snap of their closing seemed to fill the world.

                "Shard, you…"

                What are you doing?  Get off of me!  Get away from me!

                There was something else, though, that wanted to be shaken and scared and wrapped away…

                Are you kidding me?  This is…

                And then it was too late.

                Shard pulled away from the kiss after a mere eternity, the silence broken by the sound of sirens.

                "Rei, I must say it has been an enchanting evening.  But since I'd prefer to avoid the well-meaning guardians of the law, I think I shall bid you adieu."

                He…

                "I suggest you head out yourself.  People tend to ask questions about that sort of thing."

                He…

                "I'll see you again soon.  Okay?"

                "O…kay."

                I should slap him.  Or shout at him.  Or…

                Shard bowed.  "Goodnight, then."  And as quickly as that he was gone, bounding at a run through the underbrush, deeper into the park and away from the approaching police cruisers.  Rei's feet started taking her in the opposite direction on autopilot.  She raised one hand to her lips, unable to believe the evidence of her senses.

                Did that…really…just happen?

                Now what do I do?

                The dark-suited figure lowered his binoculars and chuckled. 

                "Interesting.  The vampire should make short work of them, if we can find a little bait."

                Then he was gone, and the tree branch he'd been standing on vibrated with the shock of his passing.  A few stray leaves drifted to the ground, tossed by the wind.

                The elevator doors chimed softly and opened onto a spectacular panorama.

                No doubt about it.  This is the place.  Ami could feel the power of it, fizzing under her skin as though her blood had been charged with carbon dioxide.  An odd sensation, certainly, but entirely a pleasant one.  It brought with it a kind of euphoria, a feeling of invincibility.  I'm not entirely sure it's wrong.  The ley lines for half of Japan cross here; the flows must be incredible.

                It was a weekday, so the crowd at the top of Tokyo Tower was mostly tourists.  The Americans stood out in little groups, talking with one another in their too-loud voices.  Ami threaded her way through until she found a spot at the window and looked down at the city below, buildings squashed by perspective.  A heavy oak bar, beside her, ran the entire length of the deck.  It was nearly empty, even at night, except for a few solitary drunks who could afford the fabulously trumped-up prices.

                So he was right.  Her computer, safely tucked away in a shoulder-bag with its instruments sampling the mana flow, was calculating away.  She knew, though, as soon as she'd gotten here.  School had been an agony of waiting; she'd blown through the calculations in a few hours the previous night and confirmed what her mysterious caller had said.  All that remained was the experimental verification.

                And now I've got that.  She looked around at the lounge.  This explains a lot, quite frankly.  But not quite enough.  The shadowed figure had been preying on her mind.  He knew me.  I didn't think I was that famous.  More to the point, he got into my apartment in the middle of the night without anyone noticing.  That's hardly normal.  Could he be a youma?  She shook her head, hands still pressed against the cooling glass.  Unlikely.  Youma have never struck me as being particularly intelligent.  And they lack style.  A youma would just bust in and start blasting things; this guy appeared right behind me.

                "You people never cease to amaze me."  The voice, dripping with sarcasm and punctuated by the faint rattle of ice in a glass.  "You take the most powerful magical focus in the world, and build a great big tower on top of it.  Fine.  I can understand that.  We all do strange things sometimes.  But then, having built this monumental edifice, this altar to nothing, what do you put at the top?"  His hand rapped the oak countertop.  "A bar.  A thousand feet in the air and you build a bar.  Is it just me, or are humans the most ridiculous creatures imaginable?"

                Ami's hands stiffened on the railing, without looking around.  "Are you following me?"

                "Only a fool hunts by chasing.  The elegant hunter knows where his prey is going to be beforehand.  In other words, he cheats."

                "I'm prey, then?"

                "A figure of speech."

                She turned, finally.  "Who are you?"

                He was seated at the bar, hunched over a glass and facing away from her.  Hair the color of crushed diamond was cropped short except at the base of his neck, where it fell almost to his shoulders; he was tall, she could tell, and dressed in white from head to toe.

                "There's no need for that tone.  I'm here to help."

                "Ah.  Just out of the goodness of your heart?"

                One hand dug into a pocket and came up with an apple, round and perfect and red as sin.  He held it up without looking at it, balancing perfectly on the palm of his hand.

                "'They say this fruit be like unto the world, so sweet.  Or like, say I, the heart of man; so red without and yet within, unclue'd, we find the worm, the rot, the flaw.  However glows his bloom, the bite proves many rotten at the core.'"  He paused, as though waiting for a response; Ami shrugged.  "No?  Ah well.  Yes, Miss Mizuno, out of the goodness of my heart.  Have an apple."

                She caught the fruit reflexively as it flipped through the air.  "What, exactly, are you going to help me with?"

                There was a long pause.  One lanky white hand reached out, slowly, and pulled a bottle inward.  The pale gold splashed quietly over ice, and he took a long sip.

                "Something to drink?"

                "No, thank you."

                "A pity."

                "I'm waiting."

                "Please, Miss Mizuno.  Forgive an old man his penchant for the dramatic."

                "You don't look like--"

                He raised a hand, one finger extended.  "Aha.  Things are not always what they seem."

                Ami, with some effort, managed to keep her voice down.  "I'm getting fed up with this."

                "And that's exactly the point."  He stood from the bar with a flourish, sweeping a coat that matched his pure white attire from a nearby rack and slipping it on easily.  He still hadn't turned toward her as he walked towards the exit.

                "Wait a minute.  Wait!"

                The crowd was suddenly abustle, and Ami found her path blocked by a pair of chattering gaijin.  She ducked around them with a muffled curse, just in time to catch a glimpse of fleeting white in the doorway.

                "Wait!!"

                Ami ducked into the corridor and took a step towards the elevators before she realized the place was empty.  A passing security guard nodded cordially as she stood for a moment, lost in thought.

                Crunch.  The apple, was, in fact, delicious; she finished it in a matter of moments and tossed the core at a wastebasket.

                I am getting really irritated with him.

                The dark silence of the alley was disturbed by a set of hurrying footsteps.

                The girl looked as though she'd been running for some time.  Her hair, plaited in black tails that came down past her shoulders, was beginning to come unraveled; her junior high-school uniform, blue on white, trimmed with just a hint of gold, was in disarray.  Her breathing was heavy and ragged, and halfway down the alley she ran out of steam, putting one hand on the cold stone.

                "Help…"  Out of breath, her voice was barely audible.  "Somebody…help…"

                Another set of footsteps, slow and deliberate.

                "You cannot escape."

                She turned around, leaning heavily on the wall for support.  "Please.  Don't hurt me.  I…"

                Jahara took a step forward, his expression quizzical.  "I don't understand."

                The girl lowered her eyes.  "Please."  Her voice was barely a whisper.

                He leaned down; the Unforgiven topped his prey by an easy two feet.  In the darkness of the alley he almost seemed to glow, and his movements as ever were too slow, too precise.  One hand reached out and took the girl by the collar as he straightened, dragging her off her feet.  The other wrapped around her throat.

                "Listen to me very carefully.  Your existence is forfeit.  All that remains is for you to make what remains of it as pleasant as possible.  So tell me."  He tightened his grip, just a little.  The girl's arms jerked.  "Where is Resh?"

                "Don't…"  It was a bare gasp.  "…kill…me…"

                The ghost of a smile crossed his face.  "You're already dead, little one."

                "Stop!"

                The moon was rising over the city, barely visible under the lights.  It nevertheless managed to frame the two uniformed figures in the alley's entrance; they stood back to back, wearing nearly identical scowls.  Jahara turned, slowly, as Sailors Uranus and Neptune broke their pose and stepped into the shadow.

                "Who are you?"

                "I'd like to ask you the same question.  But first things first."  Haruka gestured at the girl who still dangled helplessly from his fist.  "Put her down."

                "If you harm her," added Michiru, "things will go hard for you."

                Jahara's smile widened.  "Guardians.  I might have known."  He glanced at the young woman who hung from his grip.  "You need not worry about saving this one.  It is already too late for her."

                "Put her down.  Now."

                "We won't ask you again."

                The Unforgiven's smile faded, and he closed his fist with a nasty crunch.  The girl's eyes bulged wide and her hands scrabbled around his fingers to no avail; for a few moments her legs kicked wildly until the life went out of her and she dangled limp and lifeless.

                Michiru raised one hand to her mouth in horror, but Haruka was faster.

                "World…Shaking!" 

                The ball of energy plowed through the ground, leaving a red-hot path of molten concrete in its wake before it obscured Jahara in a blast of energy and smoke.  Michiru was already hurrying forward, her own hands extended and ready to fire as the smoke cleared.

                The Unforgiven was gone, as though he had never been, and the girl lay singed and still at the side the crater.  Sailor Neptune knelt by her side briefly, then looked up at Uranus and shook her head.

                "Damn him."  She ground her fist into the palm of her other hand.  "We won't let him get away with it, don't worry--"

                "What makes you think you will be given that opportunity?"

                The two Senshi turned.  Jahara stood at the entrance to the alleyway,

                "Deep Submerge!"

                Blue tendrils writhed around the bolt of power as it lanced towards him.  This time, the Unforgiven didn't move, didn't even raise a hand to defend himself.  Energy crackled and spat, having as much effect as a gentle mist.  He raised one eyebrow, quizzically. 

                Uranus glanced briefly at Neptune, then charged.

                "Deep Submerge!"

                The second energy blast washed around Jahara, obscuring his vision for a moment.  Haruka felt the power of it on her skin as she sprinted through, the energy of water redirected into raw force; she had to squint against the glare.  Then she was through, with the Unforgiven in front of her, her hand already cutting across to his throat.  He moved to block, in the same slow, precise way he always moved, and made it just in time.

                Haruka's eyes narrowed.  I can beat him.  She aimed a kick at his legs, which he barely avoided, then launched into a series of attacks.  Each time, her opponent dodged or blocked, falling back before the onslaught.

                I can beat him.  He's not fast enough…just a bit more…  The storm of blows redoubled, faster and faster, with Jahara dancing backwards through them like raindrops.  Uranus could feel each breath coming harder and harder, but his face never lost its half-smile.

                Finally she backed off, hands throbbing from the multiple impacts and panting for breath.  Jahara stepped out of his defensive stance, still staring at her.  There was a brief pause.

                "Is that quite all?"

                Haruka wiped her face with the back of her hand.  "Not nearly, you monster.  Neptune!"

                Without waiting for a reply, she launched into another attack.  This time, though, Jahara didn't dodge or block; he was just gone when her fist whistled through.  Uranus stumbled forward and turned frantically.

                "Still?"  The Unforgiven shook his head.  "It is not necessary for you to die."

                "We'll…see who dies here."  Her breath came hard as she raised her hands again.  Jahara sighed.

                "If you need a demonstration…"

                She started forward again; one of his hands gripped her wrist.  Uranus stared.  Jahara's hand was just there, as though he had gone from one position to another without occupying any of the intervening space.  She couldn't even twist her arm from a grip like a vise.  Her other hand came around in an arc that ended against his chest and left her fingers in agony, as though she'd punched a girder. 

                "You see?  This is unnecessary."

                "You…are…"

                "I am Unforgiven."  He shrugged.  "Now you are going to be calm, or I will break your arms."

                It's impossible.  He let go and turned around, and she surreptitiously tried to massage some life back into her hand.  Nothing's that fast.

                "Neptune!"

                "I believe your friend is busy with the vampire."

                Uranus looked up, startled.  "Neptune?!"

                The schoolgirl at the end of the alleyway was standing now, a limp Michiru at her side.  She rocked her head from side to side, like someone attempting to work out a neck cramp; Uranus could hear the clicks as vertebrae slid back into place.  A hand with a fingernail like a razor held itself at Neptune's throat.

                "Not a step, Jahara, or the girl dies."  The girl's voice had acquired a sibilant hiss, and her grin showed a pair of two-inch incisors.

                "Her fate does not concern me."  He took a step forward.  "Where is Resh?"

                The vampire's fingernail slipped a quarter of an inch, letting a trickle of red run down Michiru's pale skin.  The girl bent her neck and licked the blood, slowly; Haruka could see Neptune shiver.

                "Jahara…"

                "I will not ask again, vampire."

                "Wait!"  Haruka stumbled forward; both Jahara and the thing looked at her quizzically.  "What do you want?"

                "Want?"  The vampire smiled again.  "I want to see your friend here lying on the concrete, pale as death as I feast upon her life's blood.  I want both of you as my eternal slaves."  It leaned forward.  "I want--"

                That was as far as it got.  Jahara raised one hand, palm outward; a lance of green fire caught the vampire in the side of the head and smashed it against the wall of the alley, which cracked under the impact.  The beam cut off almost instantly, leaving Uranus' vision dazzled with brilliant after-images and the alley in total silence, the stillness only broken by the now-headless body of girl sliding slowly to the ground.  Neptune had collapsed to her knees, hands going to her throat; Haruka was at her side in a moment.

                "Guardian."  Jahara smiled, tightly.  "You would do better to devote your attention to these things then to me.  Vampires--" He spat the word.  "--are a plague, a pestilence.  If they are not stopped they multiply, until everything on a world that can be killed has.  Then they turn on one another until only one remains to seed another hapless planet."

                Michiru had recovered enough to ask a question.  "How…do we stop them?"

                "Find the seed.  Kill him.  But that's my job."  Bright green eyes flared at the name.  "No-one on this world can challenge Resh.  So for your planet's sake as well as your own…"  He turned back to fix them with a gigawatt stare.  "Stay out of my way."

                Jahara turned and walked out of the alley, leaving behind two Senshi too stunned to even rise.

Chapter Four

                In which Rei contemplates love, Jahara cheats, Resh and Shard have a difference of opinion, and Ami gets very, very irritated.

                Rei found herself pacing back and forth in front of the sacred fire.  She forced herself to stop, take a deep breath, and sit down carefully, staring into the dancing flames.

                Don't think.  Clear the mind of all thoughts, and wait.

                She could still feel the pressure of his hand on her shoulder, his…

                Not thinking!  I'm not thinking.  Really.  Concentrate on…

                A first kiss.  I'd always wondered who…

                She stood up again, running her fingers through her hair in irritation.

                "Arrgh!"

                Her pacing resumed unabated, the sacred fires forgotten for a moment in the face of furious self-argument.

                Look.  What is the problem here?  The guy took advantage of me in a vulnerable moment, and all that means is the next time he shows his face I'll kill him.  No big deal, right?

                So why didn't I stop him?

                He surprised me.  It happened so fast, after the youma…  Another part of her noted wryly that it hadn't seemed fast at all.

                Shut up!  What am I thinking?  I don't even like the guy.  He's so damn smug, and dangerous, and…

                …handsome…

                Damn it!  She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to picture Shard's face.  Dark green glasses, short black hair, that nasty, sarcastic grin.  There is nothing to like there.  The mental image swept off his glasses, clicked them closed.  Nothing!

                So why can't I stop this?

                She clenched her fists in irritation.  "Okay.  Just because I let him kiss me once doesn't mean I'm in love with the guy."

                "Um…Rei…"

                She spun around at the sudden voice to find Makoto, looking embarrassed at the intrusion.  Minako stood beside her, an odd gleam in her eye.

                "Mako!  When did you…"  Did they hear me…oh gods…

                "Rei…"  Makoto sounded apologetic as the blonde stepped forward.  "You'd better start talking, or Minako is going to kill you."

                It was some minutes later.

                "Why didn't you come tell us right away?"

                Rei's blush had been getting more intense by the instant.  "You know…it was late…I didn't think…"

                Minako shook her head furiously.  "He kissed you!"

                "Those guys also tried to kill you…"

                The blonde rolled her eyes.  "That happens all the time, Mako.  Youma and monsters.  This is important."  She turned back to Rei.  "So what do you know about the guy?"

                "Well…"  She thought back to the series of events.  "He tried to knock me out when I was breaking in to Kyara's place.  Then he almost got Mako and I killed.  Then he invited me to the park, and I was almost killed again…"  She trailed off, shaking her head.

                "Not what you might call an auspicious start to a relationship."

                "Still!"  Minako leaned closer.  "Is he good looking?"

                Rei's color deepened.  "Y…yeah."

                The other's eyes went all dreamy.  "Lucky Rei…"

                While Minako was staring into space, Makoto cleared her throat.  "I hate to bring this up, Rei, but we might have some problems here…"

                "You think I don't know that?"

                "Not those kind of problems.  Shard knew your real name, didn't he?  Mine too."

                "I know."  Rei rubbed her forehead.  "I'm not sure what we can do about it."

                "You said he's a bounty hunter?"

                "Yeah."

                "How do you know he's not after one of us?"

                "I don't know."  Rei shook her head.  "I don't know about any of this, Mako.  Shard is dangerous, I know that.  But I shiver ever time I see him."

                Makoto patted her hand, gently.  "Poor Rei.  You'll be all right, don't worry."

                Rei nodded grimly as Minako returned from whatever wonderland she'd been occupying.

                "When are you going to see him again?"  The blonde sounded far too interested for Rei's comfort.

                "I…I'm not sure.  He said soon, but…"

                "Let us know before you go."  Makoto was still serious. 

                "This time I don't want to miss anything."

                The taller girl rolled her eyes.  "Someone did try to kill her, Minako."

                "That too."

                Rei sighed.  He'd better show up soon, or I'll be like this all night.  Damn Shard.

                He'd better show up soon.

                "Shard."

                The bounty hunter flopped into the seat in front of Iylitrio's desk, the yakuza boss' backlighting turning his sunglasses into twin circles of light.  He raised one hand briefly in greeting.

                "Yo, boss.  You asked for me?"

                "Yes."   Iylitrio settled back in his own chair.  If Shard's attitude bothered him, it wasn't visible on his face; something in the play of muscles about the eyes, though, suggested that all this was being recorded to be replayed at leisure.  Heavy jowls jiggled as he spoke.  "You undertook that little job for me."

                "The Kyara thing.  I wrote my report for that--"

                The boss waved a hand, skin hanging in folds off the bone.  "And you've become acquainted with the girl in question."

                Shard nodded, suddenly uncomfortable.  "Yeah.  Why?"

                "Shard…"  Iylitrio paused for a moment.  "You are the best of the bounty hunters in my employ, no?"

                "Sure."

                "And thus you are privileged to know things that the others do not know."

                "Well, I'm flattered you trust me, but--"

                "Listen to me, Shard.  The girl is dangerous."

                "To us?"  He laughed.  "Be realistic.  Street trash like Kyara is one thing, but you think she'd even get close to anyone in this organization?  Not likely."

                "Not like that, Shard.  Of course not."  Iylitrio steepled his hands on the desk.  "But she is dangerous for another reason.  There is someone in the city looking for people like her.  He is offering great rewards, and we have entered a partnership.  Of sorts.  You understand, yes?"

                "So far.  But this guy must be a pretty high up if he can make deals with you, boss.  Some kind of demon?"  His expression froze as a thought struck him.  "Not a god, is he?  Tell me you haven't made a deal with a god."

                Iylitrio chuckled, a low bass rumble.  "No, Shard.  Not a god.  In some ways, though, something much worse."

                "Worse then a god?"

                "Let's take it as a given, then, that I know what I'm doing.  The girl needs to be…collected.  Do you understand?"

                "No problem.  Give me another couple of weeks, and--"

                "Now, Shard.  The contract is due now."

                Shard stared for a moment.  "Boss…"

                "I understand this will be difficult."

                "It's not that.  But if you want her here without any fuss, it takes time."

                "'Fuss' is no object in this case.  And the girl is worthwhile to me dead or alive.  Do I make myself clear?"

                Shard swallowed.  "Absolutely."

                "Because of the difficulty of this task, you will of course be duly compensated."

                "Thanks.  But--"

                "Also.  You will be…assisted."

                "Backup?"  He smiled.  "You know I don't really need it…"

                "This is an unusual request.  The people in question have been…resistant…to capture.  Therefore."  Iylitrio nodded in the direction of Seiron--the black-clad swordsman never seemed to leave his side--and the latter swung the big doors opened.

                "Shard, meet Alexander Resh."

                The bounty hunter turned.  "Charmed, I'm sure--"  He cut off, suddenly, as Resh smiled.  The vampire's grin, as has already been noted, was somewhat disconcerting.

                "I've heard a lot about you."  Resh's voice was pleasant, cultured, without a hint of sibilance.  Shard stood carefully and nodded.

                "Likewise."

                "Resh's unique talents will be of use to you.  I want you to show him every courtesy.  Now."  Iylitrio leaned forward again.  "Bring her to me, understood?  Nicely, if possible.  If not…"  He nodded at the vampire.

                "As you wish, Boss.  I should be going."

                "Let me walk with you."  Resh's smile had not subsided.  The pair of them left the crimelord's inner sanctum and Seiron closed the big doors behind them.  In the waiting room outside, two girls were waiting.  Both were in uniform, and looked to be of high school age.

                One of them was waiting, Shard corrected himself as they walked closer.  The tall, dark-haired one looked up at their approach, but the shorter one looked as though she wouldn't wait for anything ever again.  Her head lolled to one side, sightless eyes staring unfocused across the corridor; her neck was smeared with blood. 

                "Resh."  The other girl sounded disappointed.  "I think Yuri finally died on us."

                "Did she?"  Resh knelt and looked into the girl's eyes.  "You're right.  A pity.  I see you wasted no time in having a snack."

                "I was hungry."  The girl smiled, fangs stained with blood.  "And you just ate."

                "Will she be joining us tomorrow night?"

                The girl surveyed the corpse with an enquiring eye.  "Yes, I think.  There was no great strength in this one."

                "Good, good."  Resh looked back to Shard.  "Your name is Shard, yes?"

                "And you're Resh."

                The vampire inclined his head.  "At your service.  Now, I'm supposed to back you up on this."

                "Right."  And you'd better not forget it.  Resh was already making his trigger fingers itch. 

                "Now, it strikes me that we'd all get home a lot faster if we just did things…"  He drew one finger across his throat.  "My way."

                "You heard Iylitrio.  This is my show."

                "Until it goes wrong."

                Shard rolled his eyes.  "Whatever.  Meet me back here tomorrow at sundown.  I assume you'd prefer nightfall?"

                Resh nodded, still smiling slightly.  "That would be better, yes.  I'll be here."

                The bounty hunter turned on his heel and stalked down the corridor; Resh glanced at his female companion.

                "Should I send out a message to the others?"

                He chuckled.  "I always said you were the smartest.  Yes, tell them.  Time to hunt."

                She could feel him, she'd found.  The air had a faint tang of ozone to it, something more tasted then smelled.  Ami could feel adrenaline kicking in, instinctively, ancient fight-or-flight reactions screaming danger.  She suppressed the feeling with a shiver and kicked the door shut behind her, setting the laptop bag in its accustomed place on the hall table.

                Did I leave the lights on?  The question was academic, she knew, but she couldn't help wondering.  They were off now, the reddening light of the afternoon sun flickering through her room and down the wall as the wind ruffled the curtains.  She sighed, disappointed.

                "You can come out, you know."  Ami padded forward, the comforting weight of the transformation artifact in her side pocket.  The curtain flared, bathing the room in a sudden wash of red.  "This is not exactly frightening."

                The door to her room was open, and she slipped through as quietly as she could.  Everything seemed to be in place; window open just a crack, letting the cooling air into the room and occasionally buffeting the curtain to let in a rather spectacular sunset.  The place was suffused with the low hum of cooling fans and the occasional chuckle of disk drives, and the power lights gleamed like a dozen tiny green fireflies.

                "You don't have to do it like this, you know."  She reached the center of the room and turned in a slow circle.  "You could always just talk to me, like a sane person."

                Beep.  The main screen on the computer flickered to life with a suddenness that made her jump.  The red and blue patterns of the screensaver chased one another to infinity; Ami shook her head.

                "You really don't have to scare me like that."

                The room was still, and after a moment she shrugged and sat down at the computer.  He'll come out when he wants to.  Just relax.  Blood thudded in her ears, and she shook her head again.  There was a faint tickle at the back of her neck, as thought the hair hadn't fallen quite right.  She went to shake it out again, and froze as it moved; someone's fingers--I know who, don't I--traced a delicate pattern down to her shoulders, up under her chin.

                "Has it ever occurred to you, Miss Mizuno, that doing it like this is half the fun?"

                Ami was busy telling her heart that it didn't have to explode, at least not quite yet.  "Fun for you, maybe.  I get tired of looking in corners."  His fingers pressed a bit harder, in tiny spirals on the back of her shoulders.  "And could you stop that?  It's distracting."

                The voice chuckled.  "As you wish."

                There was a pause before she spoke again.  "Can I turn this chair around?"

                "If you like."

                "And you're not going to vanish?"

                "No."

                "Good.  Because I do need to talk with you."  She spun in her seat to find him sitting a few feet away, on the bed.  He was dressed just as she remembered, with dead-white clothing that matched his skin, his hair.  The only hint of another color were the glasses, mirror-black and aglow with red sunlight and glare from the screen.  His features were angular, mouth quirked in a tiny smile, with the faint suggestion that the rest of the world had yet to get the joke.

                Now he stretched and regarded her, quietly.  "You need to talk to me?"

                "Yes."  She pushed down a brief stab of nervousness.  "I am getting very irritated.  So I'm done with your games."

                "Miss Mizuno."  He sounded oddly disappointed.  "I'm sorry if I've offended you."

                "Would you just make sense for one minute?  Please?"

                He shrugged.  "As you wish."

                "Who are you?"

                "My name is Eridu."  His gaze never faltered, as though he were carefully watching her reactions.

                Eridu.  "What are you doing here?"

                "I came to talk to you, of course." 

                "Why?" 

                "Because I enjoy the pleasure of your company?"  His smile widened.    

                "Honestly."

                He put his head on one side.  "You have far too low an opinion of yourself."

                "Eridu…"

                "Okay."  He spread his hands.  "Do you really want to know?"

                "Of course I do."

                "I've come here because I need your help."

                Finally.  Ami felt the muscles in her back relax, just a bit, and she settled into her chair.  "You couldn't have just said that in the first place?"

                "That approach is alien to me, Miss Mizuno.  I think by nature I am a creature of illusion and misdirection, and to simply ask for something is far too simple.  And," he shook his head wistfully, "not nearly as amusing.  As I believe I mentioned before."

                "Okay.  You need my help.  Why me?"

                He grinned.  "'I have, alas! Philosophy, Medicine, Jurisprudence too, and to my cost Theology, with ardent labour, studied through.  And here I stand, with all my lore, poor fool, no wiser than before.'"

                The message hit home; Ami flinched and shook her head.  "Quoting again."

                "You're just annoyed you don't know it."

                "Goethe.  Faustus."

                "Very good."  He looked at her carefully, leaning a bit closer.  "Then you're annoyed that I'm right.  It palls, doesn't it?"  Eridu waved a pale, thin hand.  "All this.  Real life."

                "Not…"

                "You're one of the unlucky ones, like me."

                "Unlucky?"  Despite herself, Ami felt intrigued.

                "Those of us who are condemned to be forever asking why.  To understand the universe is an impossibility, and yet we lust for it.  We couldn't leave well enough alone, even if we wanted to."

                She nodded.  "So?"

                "So you have a choice, Miss Mizuno."  Eridu's grin widened.  "Tell me to leave this time, and I will.  And then you can spend your life arguing with physics professors and biologists about how the world is really set up.  Or…"

                Ami waited.  "Or?"

                "Well.  You get the idea."  He leaned back.  "It's up to you."

                "I have a choice?"  She chuckled.

                "Let us say…you have kind of a choice."

                There was a moment of silence, then Ami through back her head and laughed.  "You are utterly ridiculous, you know that?"

                He gave a little mock bow.  "Completely.  May I take that as an answer?"

                "It depends what you want from me."

                "Of  course."  He stood from the bed.  "Ever the cautious one.  But have no worries, Miss Mizuno."

                "I know."  She spun the chair back around to face the machine.  "You'll be back."

                "But of course."  His voice faded, whispering in her ear.  "See you soon…"

                Then the ozone tang in the air was gone, and she was alone in the apartment, scowling at the monitor.

                Fucking Cheshire Cat ripoff.  She shook her head and reached for the mouse.

                Hotaru woke in a cold sweat, bed sheets tangled around her as though she'd been fighting something.  She blinked in the darkness and put a hand to her chest, felt her heart beating hummingbird-fast.

                Something's wrong.  It didn't feel wrong, or at least not wrong, not like a premonition of danger.  Just something sitting at the corner of her mind, half-remembered.  I wonder…

                She was halfway out of the house before she realized she was even moving, throwing a jacket over the thin t-shirt she wore to bed and slipping her shoes on.  The deathly silence of the house was a bit on the unnerving side; Setsuna was already asleep, and Haruka and Michiru had yet to return from their latest patrol.  Hotaru managed to get all the way to the front door before her brain caught up with her feet.

                Where am I going?  Even standing still, she had to fight a strong urge to grab the doorknob and run into the night.  Think for a second.  Run where?

                The image came unbidden to mind, an intersection a few blocks from the house.  There were words, too, too soft to make out.  That…was my dream, I think.  But now what?

                She briefly considered waking up Setsuna, then rejected the idea.  Though I'm not sure why.  Asking for help was certainly the prudent thing to do, but Hotaru felt somehow biased against it.  She reached a decision.

                Something's out there.  Let's see what.  Making sure her transformation pen was securely in her pocket, Hotaru opened the front door as quietly as she could and made her way onto the darkened streets of Juban.  It was only a few blocks to walk, and despite her jacket it was a brisk night.  She found herself shivering a bit and picked up the pace to keep warm; after a few minutes she'd reached the appointed street corner and stood with her jacket wrapped tightly around her, eyeing the occasional passing car and the even more occasional passerby.  Hotaru tried her best not to look like an underage streetwalker.

                There's no one here.  She shook her head.  I was so sure.  I guess…

                "Hotaru, isn't it?"  It was him, the same grave, concerned voice she'd heard in her dream.  Hotaru turned around to find him sitting on one of the ubiquitous city benches behind her, head inclined at the question.  His seven-foot height was even more incongruous seated; something in his build suggested that rather then him being too large, it was the rest of the world that was slightly below scale.

                "Jahara?"  She took a step towards him, not quite sure what to think.  I knew it was him.  My dream before…and now this…

                He nodded.  "You got here remarkably quickly.  I take it my message reached you."

                "N…no.  Not really.  I just felt like I had to come here…"

                "Communication in dreams leaves much to be desired."  He shrugged.  "You're here nonetheless."

                "Yes."  She stood uncertainly, watching him.

                Jahara looked on the point of continuing for a moment, then glanced at her oddly.  "I am curious.  Why?"

                "I'm…not really sure."  Hotaru hugged her shoulders and shivered.  "I just felt…I don't know."

                He shrugged.  "Fair enough."  Jahara leaned against the bench, head rolling back to stare at the sky.  "I'm not sure I like this city of yours.  Too crowded, too many people.  People mean problems."  He looked up, suddenly, when she shivered.  "Are you cold?"

                Hotaru nodded.  "A little."

                "Forgive me.  Temperature doesn't affect me much, so I tend to forget about it."  He waved one hand in a absent but somehow precise gesture.  The bench underneath him glowed green at the edges, subtly, and sparkled with vermillion fire.  She could feel waves of heat radiating off of it; the sudden change felt wonderful.  "Sit.  I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

                "Okay."  She took the seat at the other end of the bench, reveling in the warmth.  Jahara glanced at her, and they shared a sigh.

                "Ahhh.  It does feel good, doesn't it?"  He smiled.  "I lose these things from time to time.  You know how it is.  As long as I know where I'm going, and I have something to hit…"  Another sigh.  "I'm happy.  All this comes at considerable effort, you know.  We were built to be…unsubtle."  Jahara rolled his head to one side, looking at her.  "You, too."

                "Jahara…"  The name felt odd on her tongue.  "I have to ask…"

                "Why I called you here?"

                "Yeah."

                "I figured."  He paused.  "This is hard for me, Hotaru."

                "What…"

                "Asking for help."

                "Help?"

                He leaned forward, suddenly; all Jahara's motions possessed a sudden quality, not jerky but simply slightly faster then normal unless he was really making an effort.  "He's getting away from me."

                "Who…"  Hotaru remembered her dream.  "This…Resh?"

                The Unforgiven nodded.  "He's here, in this city.  Hiding in the light of the nexus.  And I can't find him."  He turned back to her.  "But you are attuned to this plane, to the nexus.  You can find him for me, if anyone can."

                Hotaru backed away.  "I…I can't…"

                "You have to.  You have your function, as I did.  Defending the world from threats.  If Resh is not stopped, his children will multiply and spread and kill until there is nothing left on this planet but dust.  And unless you can stop someone of his power…"

                "We can stop him."  She felt suddenly uncomfortable, aware as though for the first time of the power that raged in the Unforgiven.  It was barely contained by his skin; enough leaked through to bristle the hairs on the back of her neck and give the air a metallic feel.

                "I'd be very surprised.  But even so, why risk it.  I'll tear this place into rubble if that's what it takes.  But Resh is a coward; he'll flee again before he faces me.  And if he does, your world is doomed."  Jahara sat back against the bench again, staring at the sky.  "So.  You'll help me find him?"

                "I…"  Hotaru looked down.  Beating against the forefront of her mind was the fact that she wanted to help him, regardless of reasons.  Something in her resonated every time he spoke.  But against that--

                "I'll have to talk to the others.  Setsuna at least.  She should know--"

                "Fine."  The Unforgiven stood, unfolding up to his full height.  Hotaru had to crane her head up at him.  "Let's go."

                "You mean…now?"

                He smiled again; there was an element of the predator in it.  "I may have mentioned that we're on a tight schedule."

                Swish, swish.  Rei attacked the dust on the steps to Hikawa Shrine as though it had personally offended her.

                Stupid Shard…and Minako…  Her face heated again.  When I see him, he's going to fry.

                The long red dress swished back and forth as she worked her way down the stairs with the broom.  Streetlights had come on, below, and the sun had already dipped mostly below the horizon.  Rei had spent an unproductive day talking to Minako and Makoto, cursing Shard and in her weaker moments wishing he would show himself sooner.  No information had been forthcoming from the sacred fire, and her grandfather, after accidentally interrupting one of her internal ranting sessions, had retreated to his own room and barred the door.  Rei was therefore left to her own devices after her friends had gone home, pacing around the outside of the shrine and doing anything left undone.

                She paused, momentarily, at the sound of footsteps on the stairway up.  It's not going to be him.  This had already happened three or four times.  I refuse to get excited.  It's just some late visitor, or Usagi, or Ami, or…

                "Yo."  Shard raised one hand in greeting as he climbed.  Rei's hands tightened on the broom.  "Did you miss me?"  He wore a dark outfit with a black jacket over it, leaving room for the weapons she had no doubt were concealed underneath.  No sunglasses today, she noted. 

                "You."  She laid the broom aside, carefully.  Once he finally shows up, I don't know what to say.  "What are you doing here?"

                "I told you I'd see you soon."  Shard glanced over his shoulder, as though expecting someone to have followed him.  "So here I am."

                "You're going to have to start explaining some things."

                "You and your explanations."

                "Shard…"  She tried to picture the last moment, in the park; tried to summon up to the rage.  It wouldn't come. 

                The bounty hunter took a step closer and put a hand on her shoulder.  "You know--"

                There it was.

                "Look.  I don't know exactly what you thought you were doing last night, but if you don't start acting a bit more normal the next time you try to touch me you'll pull back a stump.  Understood?"

                Shard blinked.  "Okay."

                "And another--"  Rei stopped, aware that she was not meeting with the expected resistance.  "What do you mean, 'okay?'"

                "I mean okay."  He gestured to the top of the steps.  "Do you mind if I sit down?"

                "Go…go ahead."  She shook her head, trying to restore earlier momentum.  "I may have had a…a lapse of judgment, but you shouldn't go reading anything into that."

                Shard settled himself in front of the shrine, leaning back on his elbows and facing the remains of the sunset.  The sky had faded from brilliant orange and red to faint vestiges of pink, and the first stars were showing their faces.

                "What do you want me to do?"

                "Eh?"  The question pulled her up short.

                "What is it that you would like me to do?"  Shard turned to look at her.  "If I wanted to get to know you."

                "You--"  Rei flopped down on the steps next to him, still slightly stunned.

                "You may have noticed that this sort of thing isn't exactly my strong suit."

                "Yeah."

                "So I'm asking.  What should a guy do?"

                "Well…"  Incongruously, Rei felt her blush returning.  What is it about him?  She stared down at her hands.  "You can ask a girl out…flowers…that sort of thing…"

                The bounty hunter sighed.

                "But listen.  Even…even if I was thinking like that"--she was proud of herself for barely stumbling--"I could never like someone who was a cold-blooded killer!  Those guys in the park, Kyara--you just blew them away, without even thinking."

                "If I'd agonized about it, would that make it better?"

                "No!  Why do you have to do it at all?"

                "And you don't?"

                "I've never killed anyone."

                "What about that little ice-girl?"

                "That was a youma."

                "So?"

                Rei stopped.  "Youma are--"

                "Evil.  Cruel, vicious, heartless.  Also stupid."

                "Right."

                "And this makes them different from people like Kyara how, exactly?"

                "It's different!"

                "Sure it is.  Those guys in the park would have put a bullet in your head as soon as look at you.  Mine, too; so I got them first.  What else was I supposed to do?"

                "Stop them some other way!"

                He laughed.  "There's a rosy view.  Let me tell you this, Rei: if you and your enemies are playing by two different sets of rules like that, they're going to win.  Probably sooner rather then later.  If you want to play these games--and people like you and me don't really have a choice--you have to play them to win."

                "So that's it?  That justifies taking someone's life, just because it's easier for you?"

                "Because it's less likely to get me killed."

                "Some things are worth the risk."

                "That's easy for you to say now.  In my experience, people change when the lead starts flying."

                Rei was silent a moment.  Shard shifted uneasily, then cleared his throat.

                "Look, I don't mean to be insulting.  And I don't blame you for thinking that way; it works, if nobody has a chance against you.  But this is the real deal, and you can't mess around."

                "What do you know about it?"

                "What?"

                She stood up.  "You have no idea of the things I've done.  I'm not some little girl clinging to a funny idea, Shard.  I've had to watch my friends die--hell, I've died--and I've seen worse then you can imagine.  And after holding out through all of that, you sit there and tell me I'm being naïve?"

                "Rei--"

                "I'm going inside.  Feel free to get lost."

                He stood up as she stalked towards the shrine, slamming the door aside.  "Rei!"

                She half-turned, hating herself for doing it.  "What?"

                "Be…be careful."

                "Fuck you."

                The door slammed close.

                It was a long way down the steps of Hikawa shrine in the semi-darkness.  Shard was nearing the bottom when he saw the eyes, two red ovals glowing in the darkness.  He held up one hand, preemptively.

                "I don't want to hear it."

                Resh smiled, the streetlights glinting on his fangs so that his eyes and his incisors were all that was visible.  "Very smooth, Mister Bounty Hunter.  That will encourage her to pay a visit to Iylitrio, I'm sure.  You've certainly captured her this time."

                "I said I don't want to hear it!"

                Shard reached the bottom of the steps and started down the road; Resh was still grinning in the darkness.  Behind him glinted the light of other pairs of red eyes.

                The vampire licked his lips.  "Now we do it my way."

Chapter Five

                In which Resh reveals his opening gambit, Jahara shows them how it's done, and Mamoru puts in a belated appearance.

                Hotaru led the way back to the house.  She took her time; Jahara didn't seem to mind, and his power wrapped around them like a blanket, shutting out the bitter chill of the wind.  A few pedestrians threw them funny looks--she giggled a bit as she realized how they must look together, since the Unforgiven topped her by three feet or so.

                He glanced down at the sound, and she shook her head.  "Just thinking."

                "I see."

                The silence that followed seemed a bit more uncomfortable for that tiny bit of conversation.  Hotaru sought for something to fill it.

                "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

                He shrugged.

                "Why do you hate Resh so much?"  It can't be just because he's a vampire.  Jahara already said he doesn't care about this place…why would he even have come here?

                The Unforgiven paused long enough that she was afraid he wouldn't answer.  A moment before she muttered an apology, he shook his head.

                "I have a…daughter, I guess you'd call her."

                Hotaru blinked.  "A daughter?"

                "Her name is Naria.  I don't keep in touch with her; she wouldn't want me to, but we run into each other every so often."

                "Is she with her mother, then?"  That sort of made sense, she figured.  Jahara did not exactly seem like much of a father figure.

                "Her mother died quite a while ago."

                "Oh."  Hotaru paused a moment.  "I'm sorry."

                He shrugged.  "She was human.  That's the way of humans.  And she lived to be…"  He thought for a moment.  "A bit more than two hundred."

                She looked up at him.  "So…how old is Naria?"

                "I don't really know.  A hundred and seventy or so.  She has our blood, so it's difficult to tell."

                And how old does that make you?  She didn't ask, and Jahara continued with his story.

                "No, Naria is on her own.  She is perfectly competent to be so, although sometimes she is a bit rash."

                "And Resh…"

                "He found her, somewhere.  I don't know exactly what happened between them; presumably they fought.  She was near death when I got to her."

                His tone was flat, cold.  Hotaru could only nod sympathetically. 

                "It has been a year since then.  It's taken me that long to corner him, finally.  And now he has nowhere left to run."

                "Is Naria going to be okay?"

                Jahara looked surprised.  "Oh, yes.  She has my blood, after all.  We are difficult to damage permanently."

                Another, slightly longer pause.  Hotaru stole a glance at Jahara; he was staring off into space, expression clouded.

                "Now I have a question."

                She started slightly, surprised.  "Go ahead."

                "You are a…guardian."

                Hotaru nodded.  "We call ourselves Senshi."

                "Senshi."  He mouthed the unfamiliar word.  "And how do you…like…your function?"

                "Function?"

                "To keep this place safe.  This world, whatever you want to call it.  It is your function."

                "I suppose."  It's an odd way of putting it, though.

                "And…"

                "Do I like it?"  He nodded, and she thought for a moment.  "I…don't think so.  When I change, things are different.  I'm different, too, I can feel it.  But…"  Hotaru sighed.  "I don't know.  It's terrifying, a lot of the time.  I'm scared for my friends, for all the other people.  I'm afraid of dying.  But it has to be done, right?  If we don't fight, we all die, or worse."  And my only other choice was destroying the world, so…

                "So?"

                "What do you mean, so?"

                Jahara sighed, clasping his hands behind his back as he strode up the road.  "I was presented with a choice.  Just once."  He shook his head.  "Never mind.  It'll never happen to you."

                Hotaru looked up at him and decided not to press the issue.  The Unforgiven's expression was distant, preoccupied.  She shook her head and looked back to the road.

                Which had suddenly become occupied.

                There were three of them, high school age boys in ripped leather and jeans, sporting nearly identical sneers and bad haircuts.  Their leader, the one in the center, stepped forward a bit with his two henchmen flanking him.  He grinned.

                Something's wrong.  Hotaru felt it almost immediately.  It wasn't a bad part of town, and random punks accosting strangers was not exactly a normal event.  Much less strangers with Jahara's size and build.  But there was something else, too.

                It feels wrong.  Those people are there, but they feel…not there.  And…blood?  Hotaru glanced up at Jahara again.  The broad-shouldered Unforgiven matched the leader's stare with his green-on-green eyes, disconcerting enough in normal circumstances.  The punk didn't seem to notice; after sizing Jahara up, he turned his gaze to Hotaru.

                "So you're it, huh?"  He shrugged.  "Cute.  Didn't know the boss liked them this young."

                "W…What?"  She was more shocked then afraid.  There was something pathetic about their posturing.

                "You're coming with me for a little ride, girlie.  Play real nice and maybe we can have some fun on the way, okay?"  His eyes flickered to Jahara.  "And tell your boyfriend that unless he wants his head broken, he'll stay out of this.  We're not going to hurt her."

                One of the cohorts sniggered.  "Much."

                Hotaru slipped the transformation pen out of her pocket.  Before she could move, though, Jahara held out a hand.

                "Since I suspect Hotaru would rather not submit to that kind of indignity, your chances of leaving with her are close to zero.  I suggest you go home and tell whoever sent you to leave her alone."

                The leader riled.  "Listen, dude.  You think you're all big and bad, but we ain't exactly what we seem here.  Stay out of this before you get hurt."

                "Jahara, I can deal--"

                He cut her off.  "They're vampires, Hotaru."

                The punks grinned, this time showing fangs.  So that's what I was feeling…

                Jahara continued.  "Resh's little friends, of course.  Apparently he hasn't bothered informing them of the stakes in this game."

                "Stakes?"  The vampire snorted.  "Right.  You die first.  C'mon, guys."

                Hotaru took a step backwards as Jahara widened his stance and spread his hands.  "Can you fight them?"

                He smiled.  "I can fight anything.  But since time is an issue here, let's make this quick."

                The vampires apparently agreed with him.  The leader lunged, hands extending for the Unforgiven's throat, with his two allies not far behind.

                And then…

                Hotaru watched wide-eyed, one of the few people to see Jahara fight and live to tell about it.

                Or, rather, not to see him fight.  That was the whole point; the Unforgiven moved so fast it almost went beyond speed.  He passed from position to position as though things like inertia and momentum were merely options, waiting until the instant before the vampire's hands closed around his throat before attacking.  Then he just moved, going right from his ready position to the end of his attack; he stood behind the leader with his hand extended sideways, palm first, into one of the other two vampires' skulls.  The luckless thrall was picked up by the impact and tossed down the road; before he'd landed, and well before the other two could do more then blink, he moved, twisting between them and almost absent-mindedly striking another creature's throat with the edge of his palm.  The vampire's head sheered clean off, spinning skywards; where blood would have rocketed from a living creature's carotid arteries, the thing's neck pumped a thick black liquid.

                The leader stumbled forward, bereft of his target.  As he turned to face the Unforgiven, the bodies of his two compatriots hit the ground, and his expression went slack.

                "What…are…you?"

                Jahara shrugged.  "Your boss didn't bother to tell you.  Why should I?"

                "You…"

                That was as far as he got.  The Unforgiven extended a hand, palm first, and the beam of green plasma caught the vampire in the chest.  Hotaru blinked as his form glowed white-hot for a moment, imprinting the image on her retina.  Then he was gone, and not even dust remained.

                Jahara lowered his hand and glanced at her.

                "You are unharmed?"

                Hotaru nodded, still a bit stunned; she slipped her pen back into her pocket.  "That was…"

                "Please."  He held up a hand.  "Our time is short, and we should be on our way."

                They started down the street again, Hotaru carefully avoiding the dark spreading bloodstains.  She shook her head as they passed the vampire's head, his expression locked in a rather ludicrous rictus of surprise.

                "How did you do that?"

                He shrugged.  "It is my function; the basis of who I am."

                "What are you?"

                Jahara smiled grimly.  "Unforgiven."

                It was a little mall, as such things went in Tokyo.  Three stories high, built around a central light-well that ended at the bottom in a garden of fake or dying plants.  Despite the lateness of the hour, there were people wandering through it, window-shopping teenagers or middle-aged men headed for the bars.  Resh looked in through the skylight at them in much the same way a small boy looks at the intricate works of an ant colony.

                He was dressed for the weather, though he barely felt the chill of the wind; a long gray coat layered over his respectable blacks.  His entourage waited a few steps behind him, a dozen young men and women still in street clothes or school uniforms.

                The tall, dark-haired girl was leaning on his shoulder, licking her lips as she stared down into the brightly lit space below.

                "And they're all for us?"

                Resh nodded.  "Iylitrio's guys are going to keep things nice and quiet."  And assuming those three assholes went and got themselves killed properly, keeping Jahara from feeling a damn thing.  Relying on the Yakuza boss' pet mages to keep the Unforgiven out of the picture was the riskiest part of the operation, but Iylitrio seemed trustworthy enough.  Not that he wouldn't throw me to the dogs if it would benefit him.  I have to be careful not to give him too much, after tonight.  Maybe keep something back, so he won't cut me loose after he has what he wants.

                "Resh…"  The girl--Resh vaguely recalled her name as Mizuki--pulled close and rubbed against him.  "We're hungry."

                "I know."  He returned his attention to the window.  "It's time."

                "Afterwards…"

                The vampire smiled, one long fang visible through his quirked lip.  "Business first."

                And here we go.  It's been too long since I got to really cut loose.

                Resh raised his hands and concentrated.

                That feels good.

                Mizuki took a cautious step back as power started to boil out of him, dark coils of energy spiraling inward to a point just above the glass.  They swirled faster and faster, the wind whipping round in sympathy; he let the power build to just the fever pitch he wanted, then dropped to one knee and slammed his palm against the roof.  The pent up dark energy punched through the sky-light like the finger of God, reducing the stairways that crossed the central space to bits of molten metal and punching into the garden below.  Dirt fountained skyward as Resh took a quick step forward and jumped through the space where the glass had been, absorbing the sixty foot crawl with a crouch.  His black cloak billowed around him most satisfactorily.  He'd stood up before most of the humans had had time to even scream.

                There.  Any guardian in Tokyo worth his salt should have felt that.  Now all I have to do is wait.

                The other vampires quickly followed, jumping after their master and landing around him.  Resh raised his hands again and spoke in a voice that bellowed throughout the shopping center.

                "Ladies and gentlemen!"  All eyes turned to him, people pausing in the act of screaming or fainting or running for the exit.  Resh smiled again.  "Welcome to the end of the world!"

                A security guard on the second floor raised his gun, hands shaking, as he shouted into his radio.  The vampire flicked a finger almost absent-mindedly and a whip of dark energy slashed through him; he toppled off the edge of the balcony with a gurgling cry, flesh reduced to dust before he hit the floor.

                "Number one.  Any other takers?"

                A woman on the edge of the crowd made a run for the main doors when the force of the vampire's gaze caught her in the back, lifting her completely off her feet and slamming her against the stone wall hard enough to crunch.  Resh turned to survey the rest of the crowd as she slid bonelessly to the ground.

                "Number two!  Very good!  Anyone else?"

                Those people who were left, perhaps thirty in all, stood still as statues.  Somewhere in back, a small child began to cry and was hurriedly quieted by its parent.  Resh looked downcast.

                "No-one.  What a bunch of spineless maggots.  Ah well."  The vampire gave them his best showman's grin.  "Ladies and gentlemen, you are all going to die.  But fear not.  After all, it's for a good cause."

                Resh kept his mad grin as his servants moved through the crowd, savoring the screams.

                Shard had made it halfway down the street when Rei blew past him, still in her miko outfit and running for all she was worth.

                "Rei!  I--"  His voice trailed off as she ran by without even glancing at him.  The bounty hunter shook his head, dejectedly.

                "Where the hell is she going in the middle of the night, anyway…"  He walked after her, slowly, until the answer tiptoed up to his consciousness and made itself known.

                "Oh, shit."

                Shard broke into a run.

                It was only a few minutes later that Rei, red-faced and puffing, stumbled into the courtyard onto which the main doors of the shopping mall opened.  The pulse of dark power still lingered in her mind, the bitter medicine aftertaste that refused to wash away.  She could feel it inside, not flaring now but quiescent, grumbling dark threats towards the sky.

                "Rei."  She'd walked most of the way across the courtyard without realizing it; a touch on her shoulder made her spin before she recognized Makoto's voice.

                "Mako."  She shook her head.  "Don't surprise me like that."

                "Sorry."  The taller girl hesitated a second.  "You planning on going in all by yourself or something?"

                "What?  No.  I was just…it felt…"

                "I know."  Makoto's voice was grim.  "This is not going to be pretty, is it?"

                Before Rei could answer, Minako and Usagi came around the corner.  The blondes looked white-faced.  I guess it even disturbs those two.  A scary thought.  Rei shook her head.

                "Where's Ami and Luna?"

                "Together.  I just talked to her."  Minako picked Artemis off of her shoulder, where he'd apparently hitched a ride, and placed him on the ground.  "She should be here shortly, but…"

                "We can't wait."  Rei turned back to the mall.  There wasn't much to be seen through the front doors, but the power still spluttered and sparked inside.  "Anyone have any idea what's in there?"

                Three girls and a cat shook their heads.

                "We'll just be careful, then.  Ready?"

                Four nods.

                "Mars Crystal Power…"

                "Venus Crystal Power…"

                "Jupiter Crystal Power…"

                "Moon Crystal Power…"

                Swirling light came, concentrated, and went.

                "…make up!"

                Resh raised his head, licking the blood from his lips.

                "They're here."

                Rei poked her head cautiously around the directory where the four of them had hidden.

                Count them.  Months of going after the Yakuza had drilled it in to her.  One in the middle, with the…people.    She shied away from looking at it.  One next to him.  That girl alongside.  So three.  Is that it?  The power washed over everything like a bath of bitter acid, deadening her senses.  We'll have to go for it.

                "Okay."  She kept her voice low.  "One guy in the middle, with a crowd of hostages.  Looks like he's…"  Rei paused a moment.  "…drinking their blood."

                Usagi's eyes went wide.  "Vampire!"

                "Shhhh!"  After Sailor Moon had quieted, she shook her head.  "It could be, but let's not leap to conclusions.  He looks like some street punk to me.  Maybe he's just a psycho."

                Makoto shot her a glance.  Psychos don't put out power like that, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are.  Jupiter nodded, as though her thoughts were running along the same lines.

                "Makoto, you take the girl on the left.  Minako, you go for the henchman.  I'll hit the big guy, and Usagi, you run and get the people to head for the door.  He probably won't stay down in one hit, so we have to get the civilians out of the way.  Got it?"

                Another round of nods.  Rei crouched at the edge of the directory sign, waiting for just a moment.

                "Go!"

                Usagi looked as though she was about to protest, but scrambled forward anyway as three attacks volleyed over her head.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                "Love and Beauty Shock!"

                "Oak Evolution!"

                Ami arrived in the courtyard with Luna hot on her heels.  She could feel the other Senshi's attacks, as well as the tainted power inside the mall; she was brought up short from immediately transforming by the presence of another man near the entrance.

                He turned at her approach, looked her over, and apparently reached a decision.  "Get out of here, quickly."

                It had been long enough since the last battle that she'd forgotten that everyone did not automatically assume her presence was justified in a supernatural war zone.  Although I'm not sure exactly what authority this guy is claiming.  He wasn't particularly official-looking, dressed in a dark coat over street clothes and a pair of dark green glasses.  Something about his attitude suggested that he wasn't merely stopping by.

                "My friends are in there."  Ami took a step forward, and the man moved to block her.

                "You'll be killed."

                "I'll be fine.  Just move!"

                He opened his mouth to argue, the shook his head, as though a thought had struck him.  She pressed past him, and he let her go.  Just in front of the big glass doors, she looked backwards; the man had gone.

                "I wonder…"  Ami shook her head.  "Now is not that time.  Eridu!  Are you around?"

                There was a moment of silence, then the dull roar of another explosion from inside.  Typical.  When you really need them…  Ami sighed and reached for the transformation artifact.

                "Mercury Crystal Power, make up!"

                The leader, a short, weasely guy in jeans and a ripped jacket, was too close to the one of the women in the crowd for Rei to target him directly.  She aimed over his head, close enough to singe but not to burn, and sprinted out into the central atrium for a better angle.  To her right, Makoto had no such problem; a web of lightning engulfed the young woman who'd been lounging against one of the store fronts, sending her flopping to the ground wreathed in sparks.  The leader's henchman, a tall bulky type who had been keeping a careful eye on the crowd, failed to see the glittering sphere of Venus' attack before it blasted into the ground in front of him, tossing him back into the remains of one of the planters.

                Two down, one to go, nobody's gotten killed yet.  This is going well.  Rei rounded a display case full of cheap watchbands and Pikachu keyrings and sighted on the leader.  The crowd wasn't reacting well to the supernatural onslaught; most of the twenty or so people had hit the floor and stayed there, despite Usagi's efforts to get them to move.  As a result, Sailor Moon was stuck right in the open.  The leader of the assailants dropped the woman he'd been holding and stepped towards her, while the big goon on the right was struggling to his feet.

                "Jupiter, you hit the big guy!  Venus, help her with the people!"  Rei focused her thoughts and shouted towards the leader.  "Hey, ugly!"

                His head snapped around just in time to get a flame blast to the face.  Not at full strength--he could still be human, so we can't just fry him--but enough to hurt.  He screamed in rage and pain, flailing about wildly; this was enough to encourage the members of the crowd closest to him that sticking around might not be a good plan.  Bit by bit, they started to get to hands and knees and scramble towards the door.

                "Oak Evolution!"

                Jupiter was having a bit worse time of it.  The large henchman had ducked into one of the shops, and her burst had shattered glass and sent bits of burning khakis in all directions but apparently not found its target.  Another web of electricity floated in through the broken windows, almost gently, and burst with a soundless spark.  Like Rei, Makoto was keeping her attacks well short of killing force.

                It seems to be working.  The leader was stumbling around, off-balance and blinded, and Jupiter was keeping the other two busy.  Usagi was helping the leaders in the crowd reach the door, while Venus took care of the stragglers.  The one woman still lay limp in the midst of the destruction, though, and Rei started making her way forward.  Another blast of fire seared the air just to the left of her opponent, driving him sideways and to his knees.  Rei reached the woman's side before he could recover, relieved to find her breathing easily; she started to pull the unconscious victim to her feet and drape her over her shoulder.

                The feeling of power was still there.  In fact, Rei realized as she struggled to her feet, it hadn't changed a bit during the whole fight.  This is too easy.  But the civilians were getting away, the whole packed mob of them heading for Usagi and the front door…

                She felt the woman in her arms stir, suddenly, her arm brushing against the exposed skin of Rei's shoulder.  Bitter-cold, instead of blood heat.  Realization hit, and she opened her mouth to scream a warning.

                "Usagi!  It's a--"

                That was all she got out before the erstwhile victim locked hands around her throat, nearly lifting her feet off the ground with inhuman strength.  Rei scrabbled desperately at them as fingernails lengthened into claws, drawing tiny pinpricks of blood from her skin.  Her breath came in a strangled gasp.

                "Oak Evolution!"

                Then the world exploded in pain as crackling electricity arced over the pair of them.  Dimly, Rei realized it wasn't that bad--the lowest power Jupiter could reasonably throw.  That didn't stop her from twitching like a landed fish, pulling in a huge gasp of air as her assailant released her grip and turned to confront this new threat.  Even as she hit the floor, still feeling the sparks pop around her, Rei smiled grimly.

                Not very bright, are they?  Her attack came out as a wheeze.

                "Flame…sniper…"

                No half-power this time.  The column of fire punched the vampire up into the bottom of the second level catwalk.  By the time her body hit the ground, it was already disintegrating into dark motes of ash.  Rei stumbled to her feet and managed a shaky nod to Makoto.

                "Thanks."  She took another deep breath and looked around.  "Where's--"

                "Shine Aqua Illusion!"

                The fifth Senshi's arrival was apparently just in time.  Minako, at the front of the crowd, had retreated towards Jupiter, but Usagi had been trapped at the other end of the corridor, near the doors.  The crowd of 'victims', now sporting claws and two-inch fangs, had been about to overwhelm her in a single rush when a wall of water had come crashing through the doors and washed them back.  Usagi looked around, dazed, until Minako shouted.

                "Sailor Moon, now!"

                The vampires were still disoriented, spread over the floor of the corridor on the slick flagstones.  The brighter ones scrambled forward as Usagi raised her wand.

                "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"

                The rays of light it threw were almost too bright to look at, chunks of the sun detached and elongated into a burst of radiance that swept across the crowd.  The first ray touched one of the men in front, a middle-aged salaryman type, and he loosed an inhuman shriek and blew into dust and ashes.  Tracking sideways, the beams blasted another vampire against the wall before he collapsed into a black smudge, another was blown into smoke, and another…

                The rays hesitated, faltered, ceased.  Usagi went to her knees, staring wide-eyed at the destruction.  The ten or so remaining vampires were still, perhaps amazed at their continued survival.

                Ami ducked in through the doorway, closest to Sailor Moon's side.  Rei could see Usagi shaking her head, frantically.

                "What happened?"  Rei looked around uneasily.  The vampires were beginning to regain their senses, and there were still quite a number of them.  "Usagi!"

                "I…I can't…"

                "They're--"

                "They're just people!"  She stared down at her wand.  "It should set them free, not…not kill them…"

                Rei's breath caught in sudden recognition.  If these aren't youma, she's right…

                "That would be because they're already dead."  The new voice was overhead, on the second story catwalk.  It had the tone of command to it, as if the sound itself could ooze an oily sheen.  The speaker, dressed all in black, was leaning on the railing of the balcony like a medieval lord overseeing his workers.  He smiled, a death's head grin that revealed a pair of fangs like twin needles, and behind his eyes something flared red.

                That's him.  The dark power she'd felt, still felt, flowed from that man like blood from a wound.  Just looking at him was almost painful.  He's the leader here, he has to be.

                Sailor Moon sighted down the length of her wand.  "Let them go.  Now."

                Minako had regained her feet and moved over to Makoto and Rei, on the other side of the vampires, while Sailor Mercury stayed over by Usagi.  Rei was forcing herself to stare the vampire down, not to give in to the temptation to look away, to not confront…

                "My name, little girls, is Resh.  And you're coming with me, alive"--he nodded at the vampires below--"or otherwise, as necessary."

                "Let them go!"

                "Even if I could, they'd just crumble like the others.  Those people are gone."  He waved a hand negligently.  "And don't point that toy at me unless you're prepared to use it."

                "I'm warning you!"  Usagi's hand was shaking.  Rei tensed.  Here it comes…

                "Drop it."  Resh's voice cracked like a whip, and Rei felt the power flare.  Sailor Moon's hand opened reflexively and her wand skittered across the tiles.  The vampire's smile widened.  "Good.  Now, the rest of you are going to behave.  If there's one thing I know about guardians, it's that they're so tiresomely dedicated to each other.  And we wouldn't want any harm to come to this one, would we?"  He gestured impatiently.  "Take her."

                A pair of lesser vampires stepped forward.  Rei caught Makoto's eye and nodded, ever so slightly, saw Minako tense.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                "Oak Evolution!"

                "Love and Beauty Shock!"

                The bolt of fire caught the left-hand creature in the small of its back, send it through the heavy glass of one of the doors, while the right-hand thing turned and snarled just before the electric pulse blasted it into oblivion.  Minako's attack flashed towards Resh himself, while Ami dived across the floor after Sailor Moon's weapon.

                "Idiots."  Resh raised a hand, and dark power pulsed outward in a wave.  The energy ball of Venus' attack was snuffed out like a candle in a sudden gale, streaming to a line and vanishing in a puff of steam.  Black lightning crawled across the tiles, creeping from side to side before suddenly focusing on where the wand lay.  Ami grabbed for it and missed, yelping a bit as power caressed her arm and tossed her backwards.  Usagi rose from her stupor, backing away, but the lightning suddenly pounced, wrapping around her in a coruscating wave.  She screamed.

                "Oak Evolution!"

                "Flame Sniper!"

                Jupiter's attack didn't do any better then Venus' had, the web of electricity wrapping around Resh in a spectacular display of sparks to no apparent effect.  Seeing this, Rei shifted her aim, and the plasma bolt cut into the balcony under him.  Stone and metal vaporized under the heat, and the whole structure groaned and shifted, sending the vampire staggering sideways.

                "Mercury, get Sailor Moon out of here!"  Before Resh could recover, Mars sent another blast into the supporting structure of the balcony.  Makoto added her own firepower, and with a shriek of twisted metal it all started to topple inward.  With a muffled curse the vampire sprang from his perch to land heavily in the center of the rubble from the shattered skylight; another wave of vampires, this time mostly street punks and schoolgirls, came boiling out of the second story shops to follow their master.

                Resh hit the ground and sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, facing down the three Senshi.  Rei kept her voice to a whisper.

                "Concentrate on the little ones and staying out of the way.  Give Mercury a chance to get Sailor Moon ready for another shot."

                Makoto and Minako nodded.  Resh put his head on one side.

                "Plotting something?"  He waved a hand airily.  "Kill them all except for the fire-thrower."

                The lead vampire tensed, pounced, and was met in mid-air by a line of beautifully controlled plasma; he was dust before he hit the ground.  Then the rest of them moved as one, and Rei was backing away.  The things were fast, with claws like razors; she zapped another pair before having to dive aside and roll out of the way, feeling a glancing glow draw blood from her side.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Minako and Makoto doing the same, backed against a wall with a half-dozen piles of grey ash around them. 

                They're fast, but we can beat them.  Another burst of flame caught a vampire that had been about to skewer her, and she danced backwards as its partner lunged.  Resh watched the battle, mocking grin slowly draining from his face; it was only a few moments longer before the only other creature remaining was the girl clinging to his arm.

                He shook his head.  "Honestly."  Resh detached his single remaining follower and shook out his hands, walking forward.  "If I have to do it myself…"

                The three Senshi circled him cautiously; the vampire barely glanced at them.

Enough of these games.  "Flame Sniper!"

Resh moved like a cat, twisting sideways to let the bolt sail harmlessly over his head.  Minako opened her mouth and pointed, but the vampire was a split-second ahead, turning the twist into roundhouse kick that picked Venus up and sent her sprawling against the wall.  Makoto backed away, hurriedly, and to give her time Rei fired another bolt into Resh's back; it seemed to do little more then annoy him, however.  The vampire turned and punched her, almost casually, and she felt the wind go out of her as she toppled to the floor.  He straightened up, ignoring another burst of electricity that expended itself uselessly against his side.

"See?  Is that so hard?  You'd think I…"

"Starlight…"

The vampire's reaction time was top-notch.  As soon as Usagi's voice rang out again he had his hand extended, black lightning slithering across the broken tiles of the floor and homing in on its target.  Ami stood in front of Sailor Moon, blocking for a moment the path of the vampire's attack; not for long enough.  Resh laughed as his power sent the two of them into the doors, raising both hands over his head for another shot.

Rei smiled, tightly.  She knew what would happen long before the zip-crack of the single rose slashed through the air and the vampire cursed and clutched his hands.

Tuxedo Kamen, dramatically silhouetted against the moonlight from one of the upper windows, posed for a moment before beginning his speech.

"Villain, how dare you--"

Makoto cut him off.  "Sailor Moon!"

Usagi raised the wand again and shouted the whole phrase in one breath.  "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"

The first beams stabbed out, and Resh threw up his arms again, dark power shielding him from the assault.  With each hit, though, the vampire was driven further and further back.  Black energy crackled and spat as the shield waned.

We got him! 

Rei's jubilation was not completely unfounded, but before his defenses fell apart completely Resh crouched and jumped, sailing upward beyond any reasonable rule of physics to land on the third floor balcony.  Sailor Moon shifted her aim upwards, but the beams stabbed out far too late; the vampire was already gone, another jump propelling him through the broken skylight and out into the night.

In the pause that followed, the only sound was Tuxedo Kamen's footfalls as he jumped lightly to the floor and hurried to Usagi's side.  Rei pulled herself to her feet, painfully.

Makoto was helping a somewhat dazed Minako stand.  "What the hell was that?"

Rei shook her head.  "I don't know.  Those guys…"  A brief flicker of movement caught her eye; someone running for the back exit.  A girl--that vampire!  A new adrenaline rush spurred tired muscles into furious pursuit.

"Mars!"

"I'll be back, hang on!"  The metal security door banged open just ahead of her, and Rei followed the creature into the night.

Chapter Six

                In which Rei and Shard have it out, Hotaru passes along a warning, and Ami shows off her skillz.

                Rei pounded along the darkened street, silently cursing with every breath whichever retarded deity had designed the Senshi uniform to include high heels.  The vampire had gotten ahead of her and, as the lights of the mall faded into the general half-lit background, chasing the thing down suddenly didn't seem like such a hot idea.

                She shook her head.  I've got to catch it.  We need one of them alive--however that state applied to vampires--to find out what this Resh character is up to.  Now think.  Where did she go?

                The creature's trail had led her down a dead-end street, the locked and grated door of a department store barring any exit from the other end.  That left the alleys down each side.  Great.  Dark, narrow, and perfect for her to hide in until she rips out my throat.  Okay, Rei, let's take this real slow.

                The first alley was on the right.  She edged towards it, as quietly as she could manage, and held her power at the ready as she peered around the corner.

                Nothing.  A few trash bags piled at the end, against a dumpster.  Nowhere big enough for a vampire to hide.  Next.

                The next two revealed the same, and Rei turned to the alleys on the left-hand side of the street.  As she approached the first, though, she paused to look around.

                Did I actually just hear a footstep?  Or is that just the acute fear kicking in?  She grimaced.  Come on.  You took out two or three of them back at the store.  This is just one more, and a cowardly one at that.  It's just another youma, or something like one.  Get a grip.  She peered around the corner, hand shaking only a little as thrill of the fight started to wear off.  Yeah, right.  So, nothing in here, that leaves…

                Two eyes opened, fields of brilliant red against the darkness.

                "Fla--"

                "Stop."  The vampire was as good as Resh had been.  The command lacked the authority the master vampire had given it, but it shared the same not-quite-speech quality, as though it was not even an order but a sort of prediction of how the future would be.  Rei was caught off-balance, staggering against the alley wall as the muscle in her throat clenched and refused to let her speak.

                "Good.  Now stay put."  The girl unfolded herself from the shadow of the alley, voice twanging like a whip over the Senshi's tired nerves.  She was tall and slender, with a school uniform that had obviously been tailored to cling more than it really should have.  Rei stared at her, unable to even twitch, willing suddenly frozen muscles to blast her, or turn and run.  Something…

                The other girl smiled.  "I figured one of you would come after me.  Resh will be so pleased when I bring him a little treat."  She ran a perfect red tongue over fangs like needles.  "Although quite frankly, I'm considering tasting you myself…"

                Rei concentrated, trying to move.  It worked, at least a little; the effect of the command was wearing off.  She sagged against the brickwork as the vampire stepped forward.

                "Master won't mind if I have a little, will he?  Just a little bite…"  One of her hands brushed Rei's hair away from her neck, gently.  The Senshi shivered.  "It only hurts at first.  And then"--her eyes ran over Rei's body--"we can have some fun…"

                The thing leaned forward.  Rei twitched her arm, took a deep breath.  Almost there.  I let her bite me, then while she's…busy, grab her by the throat and melt her head.  The vampire's tongue flicked across her bare skin.  Why does this not strike me as a good plan?  She waited for the pain.

                The clap of a single gunshot startled her out of a momentary reverie.  The force of the impact threw the vampire backwards into the alley, black liquid splashing everywhere as the bullet splattered the walls with fragments of skull.  The girl kicked a few times and was still; Rei sank down against the stone as Shard loomed out of the darkness.

                "Do you," she said as soon as she regained control of her breathing, "do you ever consider the possibility that you might miss?"  The vampire's head had been a couple of inches from her own.

                The bounty hunter shrugged.  "Not really.  Are you all right?"

                "Y…yeah."  She stood up, still shaking a bit.  Holy shit.  That was…not good.  "What are you doing here?"

                "I came to…"  He stopped, uncharacteristically, and shook his head.  "I came to help."

                "Well, you're a bit late.  Resh already headed for the hills, and unless Ami and Makoto track him somehow we won't find him.  We'll have to wait until he tries again…"

                "They were after you, Rei."

                "If he continues--"  She cut off.  "They were what?"

                "Resh doesn't care about the people in the mall.  It was a trap, for you guardians."

                She shrugged.  "That makes sense.  I didn't think he had much of plan, just busting in and--"

                "Rei!"

                "What?"

                "Are you not listening to me?  He was coming after you."

                "I heard you the first time!  It was a trap, and we beat them.  So a pretty poor trap, all things considered.  And next time--"

                "There is not going to be a next time.  Not for you.  Don't you get it?  These guys are not going to screw around any more.  Resh is nasty and now you've injured his pride.  'Next time' he won't worry so much about taking you alive and you won't get a half a step."

                "I think we pretty much proved that we can handle him, okay?  Give me some credit.  I've stayed alive this far."

                "How many times do I have to tell you that these guys are different.  Iylitrio's promised you to someone and he's sent the vampires to make good on that."

                "Iylitrio?"

                "Resh's boss, at least for the moment."

                "I've heard of him."  Iylitrio was a name that had come up now and then, among the crime-lords.  A sort of shadow among the shadows.  The Yakuza soldier types she'd occasionally hung out with to gather information derided him, mocked him as weak.  He controlled no vast armies of goons, bribed no officials, ruled no territory.  But he was there as a presence nonetheless, and underneath the mocking was the fear of the unknown.  "Why is he sending vampires after us?"

                "I don't know.  He's done some sort of deal, sold you all to someone."

                "Who?"

                Shard shook his head angrily.  "I don't know that either.  But it doesn't matter!  Either way, they want you dead or alive, and sooner or later they're going to get through.  You got lucky tonight, but now for Resh it'll be a matter of honor.  As though he had any."

                She looked at him carefully.  "What, exactly, are you suggesting I do?"

                "Isn't it obvious?"

                There was a moment's pause before she spoke.

                "You want to go after them."  It wasn't a question.  Shard nodded, slowly, as though he hadn't really thought through the implications of his own plan.

                "Yes."

                "Go after Iylitrio."

                "Yes."

                "Guns blazing?"

                "That was the general idea, yes."

                "You're insane."

                "You don't think we could do it?"

                "I don't care if we could do it.  Someone is trying to kill me, and your solution is to go and kill a bunch of them?  You just don't seem to get it, Shard!  I can't do that."

                "If you don't, you're going to die."  He hesitated.  "Or worse."

                "So you say."

                "I know, Rei.  Is your little happy world worth dying for?"

                "Fuck you."  Rei turned on her heel, started out of the alleyway.  "Fuck you and fuck Resh.  I'm not playing these games."

                The click of the safety on an automatic pistol behind her head focuses her thoughts beautifully.

                "Shard?"

                "Rei…"

                "How do you know so much about Iylitrio?"  She knew the answer before he spoke, cursed herself for not having asked the question earlier.

                "He's my boss too.  Nominally."

                "So all that about going after him…"

                "I was serious.  I still am.  But if I don't deal with this one way or another, he'll come after me."  The bounty hunter paused.  "It's you or him, Rei.  Don't make it be you."  There was a trace of something in his voice; what, she wasn't sure.  "Please."

                Rei let out a deep breath.  "So how much am I worth?"

                "Twenty million alive, half that in pieces."

                "That's a lot of money."

                "A lot."

                She turned around, slowly, to stare into the weapon's single metallic eye.  Shard had his glasses on again, expression hidden by smoked glass.  "But you'd give that up to go after him?"

                He nodded, slowly, as though expecting a trick.

                "Why?"

                It seemed to catch him by surprise.  "Why?"

                "Yeah."

                "I mean…"  He hesitated.  "You…I met you the first time in Kyara's hotel, and you just…sort of…"

                "Shard…"

                "I've never met someone who affected me like that.  Women come and go, but I feel something…I don't know…"

                "Shard."

                "Let me finish."  The aim of the pistol didn't shift, even a bit.  "What I'm saying is…"  He stopped, swallowed.  "I think I'm…I think…"

                "Shard!"

                "What?"

                "Vampire."

                The girl had climbed back to her feet, half her head still gone, the interior of her skull glistening wetly.  Her single eye glowed a malevolent red, but she moved as though her body was no longer under complete control, stumbling forward with claws outstretched.  The bounty hunter stepped adroitly out of the way of her strike and Rei raised a hand.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                The creature collapsed into a pile of gray ash.  Rei moved to turn back to Shard, then felt the cold, metallic pressure against the side of her head.

                "Ten million yen is a lot of money, Rei.  You or him.  Which is it going to be?"

                "I'm not going to kill people for you."

                "That makes it you.  I'm sorry."

                Her breath caught.  "I'm leaving, Shard.  Please don't let me see you again."

                She turned away with an effort of will, nerves in the side of her head screaming, expecting at any moment a thudding impact and darkness.  As she walked the tickle moved down her back to the base of her spine.

                He's not going to shoot, he's not going to shoot, he's not going to shoot.  Keep walking, Rei.  Come on.

                She turned the corner and walked up the street a ways before glancing back.  The bounty hunter was nowhere to be seen.  Rei let out the breath she'd been holding and sank to her knees, feeling the chill of the night air.

                What the hell do I do now?  She felt exhausted, as though all her energy had seeped away at once.  What the hell do I do…

                …did he say he was in love with me?

                "IYLITRIO!"

                The big double doors blew back on their hinges so hard they slammed against the walls.  Resh marched in, his power covering him like a cloak, fangs bared and eyes an angry red.

                Seiron barred his path, his hand dropping to the katana sheathed at his side.  His voice remained calm in the face of the angry vampire.  "Master Iylitrio does not wish to be disturbed."

                "Well, I'm disturbing him.  Get out of the way, human."  Subtle harmonics rang together in Resh's voice to produce a tone that would have driven a normal man to his knees.  Seiron remained impassive.

                "I don't think that will be possible, master Resh.  Please leave and await a better time."

                "I--"

                The crime-lord's voice came from inside the chamber.  "It's all right, Seiron.  Let him in."

                "As you wish, my lord."

                The vampire stalked forward as the black-clad servant stepped aside, somehow surprised by the lack of resistance.  Iylitrio rested his bulk in his massive chair, as usual, the folds of his skin almost hiding his eyes in shadow.  Resh wondered briefly if he ever left this room.

                "Your mission, did it meet with success?"

                "No!"  The vampire was in a rage, looking around for something to hit.  "You didn't tell me--"

                "There was some outside interference?"

                "No…"

                "Then what?"

                "You said they were guardians.  But that girl…"  His eyes narrowed.  "There's power there.  I can see why you want her.  But you should have warned me."

                "Warned you?"

                "You didn't tell me they had magic of that caliber!"

                "You didn't ask."  He settled in his chair a bit.  "I merely assumed that the great Alexander Resh could handle a gang of locals."  Tiny, piggy eyes focused on the vampire, and the boss' mouth quirked in a faint grin.  "Was I wrong?"

                "No."  The vampire shook his head, suddenly aware of the dangerous turn the conversation had taken.  "No, don't worry on that score.  No matter how powerful they are, guardians rarely have more then one trick.  They should not be too difficult to handle."

                "Good."  He sighed.  "Let me know when you're ready to try again."

                "I'll need some more support from you."

                "In what way?"

                "Cannon fodder.  The guardians will go through fresh vampires like they weren't even there, and I assume we don't have time to train some competent ones.  I need something to keep them busy."

                Iylitrio nodded.  "As you wish.  You will be provided for."

                Resh turned.  "Two nights time, then.  Have your men be ready."

                "I will."

                The vampire turned back to the door, unable to help the feeling that he had somehow lost in that whole exchange.  Iylitrio's voice stopped him at the threshold.  "Resh?"

                "What?"

                "What happened to the man I sent with you?  Shard."

                He shrugged.  "How should I know?  His disappeared before the fight.  Probably chickened out."

                "I see."

                Ami opened the door to her apartment and wearily made her way to the bedroom, too tired to even bother checking for mysterious visitors.

                "Eridu?  You here?"

                There was no answer.  She let the transformation fade with a brief effort of will, Sailor Mercury slipping away and being replaced by Ami Mizuno.  I probably should have done that earlier, in case someone saw me coming up here.  She shook her head.  Screw it.  Her street clothes, despite having been sent to never-never land before the fight, somehow contrived to be covered in sweat.  Ami flopped down and lay on the bed, spreading her arms wide and staring at the ceiling.

                Now that was fun.  She winced at a tremor in the muscles of one shoulder.  Ouch.  The vampire's black lightning hadn't hit her full-on, just caressed her arm, and it still hurt when she moved.  Usagi must be in agony.  Minako and Mamoru had helped her from the scene, and Makoto had gone to find Rei. 

                Ami flexed her right hand with an effort, feeling bolts of pain up and down her arm.  It probably wouldn't be permanent; the debilitating effects of magic tended to be short-lived.  Still, I'll take a look with the computer later.  Best to be safe.  Bath first, though.

                The little apartment had a private bath, thankfully, but Ami paused a moment before closing the door behind her.  I don't think he's around.  The air lacked the greasy, metallic feel that Eridu seemed to evoke.  It was hard to be sure, though.  She shook her head and spoke aloud.

                "If you sneak up on me while I'm in the bath, I swear…"

                There was no answer, not that she'd really expected any.  Ami started the bath running and stripped as the steam began to pervade the room, leaving her clothes in a sweat-stained pile on the floor.  After a quick rinse, she stepped gingerly in, wincing a bit at the heat and sending a wave of water across the bathroom tiles.

                "Ahhhh."  Knotted muscles in her right arm began to unkink, and Ami gratefully sank into the tub until her head was barely above the waterline.  She closed her eyes, lost in thought.

                What the hell was that, today?  Vampires?  To her knowledge the Senshi had never encountered such a creature before, though Luna had mentioned them once or twice, off-handedly.  The cat had made them out as more of a nuisance then anything else, something to be exterminated in the same way one would wipe out a colony of cockroaches.  This Resh is no cockroach.  Even in the warm water, she shivered.  The values her computer had recorded had been a bit frightening.  The vampire could eat the average youma for lunch.  Hell, he could probably take on most of those Dark Kingdom guys without breaking a sweat.

                I wonder if there's an easy way to kill a vampire?  Popular fiction seemed to think so.  Crosses are probably just Christian propaganda.  What else?  Sunlight, wooden stakes, that sort of thing I suppose.  If we had one to experiment on we might be able to figure something out.  Magic seems to work pretty well, though.  Whatever dark sorcery Resh wielded, Sailor Moon's attack had proved a match for it, at least in a head on fight.  But he's tricky, that one.  That was a decent trap we walked into.  Have to be more careful.

                Ami leaned back as she mused, soaking her hair and making her spine crack most satisfactorily.  Mere exhaustion had turned to genuine sleepiness.  It's only what, four in the morning?  I guess I'll miss morning classes tomorrow.  Again.  Ah well.  I'll meet up with Rudich-sensei in the afternoon and show him those new code breakers.  For now sleep is definitely a priority.          

                It might have been a moment later, or an hour; Ami wasn't sure if she'd actually nodded off or just closed her eyes a bit.  Either way, she was forcibly returned to consciousness by the pinging of the computer in the next room.

                She squeezed her eyes shut.  Oh, go away.  The pings meant something had come in flagged as urgent, using one of her personal codes.  She had not been as careful with those codes as she probably should have, though, which meant that there was about an even chance the mail was from some classmate desperately needing debugging assistance as anything else.  It could be from Luna, though.  Something could have gone wrong.  Ami sighed, stood up and reached for a towel.

                Seconds later, all thoughts of exhaustion were gone as she stared at the screen, unheeding of the water dripping onto the floor.

                What the hell?

                The message was from no-one she recognized.  A quick check revealed its source as a local backbone node, but she was unable to trace it further, as though the e-mail had just materialized while in transit.

                Some hacker trick.  But how did they get my codes?  Break them somehow?  That shouldn't be possible…

                "Let's see what this is.  But carefully…"  She muttered to herself as she clicked away, opening the message in a top security quarantine section.  Not that a virus would have a prayer of getting through her layered security, but one did not keep a good system secure by letting things slide.

                The message was nothing but text and a huge block of raw data.  She shook her head as the security program finished its analysis.  No labels.  Not formatted.  No header that matches anything I've ever heard of.  Is it just random?  Some kind of memory dump?  Frowning, she opened the text and read it aloud, half to herself.

                "Miss Mizuno--"  Great.  "It's about time we got started.  The data accompanying this message is encrypted text.  I need a clean copy; I trust your skills are up to the task.  It may require a good bit of computing power.  Please respond if there is any additional hardware you need."

                No identification of the sender, but she could guess well enough.  "Eridu.  I was in the bath, damn it."  Ami shook her head, irritated.  If there's any additional hardware I need.  Right.  She considered ignoring that part of the message, since it impugned the 1337ness of her b0x, but on further reflection changed her mind.  Hey, hardware is hardware.  She drafted a quick reply, asking for a pair of the new hardcore crypto machines she'd had her eye on, and sent it winging off into the aether.  Though without a valid reply address, it shouldn't have been able to reach anything.  He'll get it, I'm sure.  I think I'm getting the hang of how Eridu operates.

                A few clicks scanned the datafile again, matching it against known encryption schemes.  After a few moments the program came back negative; unable to find the telltale signs of any known form of encryption.  Either its something new that I haven't heard of, or someone is being clever.  Only marginally aware that she was still dressed only in a towel, sleep completely pushed from her mind, Ami leaned back in the seat and cracked her knuckles.  Bring it on.

Hotaru felt on the point of laughter.

                The situation was, not to put too fine a point on it, bizarre.  She had to keep stifling a laugh, until they finally stood at the door and she couldn't help giggling.

                Jahara regarded her with a quizzical expression.

                "I'm sorry."  She shook her head.  "I just feel like I'm bringing you home to meet my parents."

                The Unforgiven nodded, as though not quite sure of the meaning. 

                "Never mind."  Hotaru opened the door, quietly.  "Setsuna might still be asleep.  Try and keep quiet."

                For all his bulk, Jahara moved in near-silence.  Only the creaking of the boards in the front hall betrayed them.

                "Hotaru?"  There was a light on in the kitchen, she saw with relief.  Setsuna's voice sounded worried.  "Is that you?"

                "It's me."

                They'd stopped in the hall, unsure of how to continue.  She could hear Setsuna push her chair back from the table.

                "Where were you?  I was worried--"  She clicked the hall lights on before Hotaru could speak, and the tableau held for just a moment.

                "You."  Setsuna froze in the doorway, staring at Jahara.

                The Unforgiven smiled, just slightly, and fixed her with his green-on-green stare.  Setsuna backed away.

                "Hotaru, get away from him.  Now."

                "Setsuna, I don't--"

                "Now!"  She turned back to Jahara.  "You must leave this world at once.  None of your destruction will be allowed here."

                Jahara shrugged.  "I have a task to complete."

                "If you don't leave, we'll have to force you."

                "You're welcome to try."  Hotaru could feel power flare in Jahara, the air suddenly thick with the tang of burning metal.  She stepped between the pair of them, frantically.

                "What are you doing?"

                "Get out of the way, Hotaru."  Setsuna flashed into Sailor Pluto in a wash of purple flames.

                "I suggest you move, Hotaru."

                "No!"  She turned to face down Pluto.  "Not until you tell me what's going on here!"

                "Hotaru--"

                "You're perfectly safe, guardian."  Jahara's smile widened, just a bit.  "Until you attack me.  So take your time."

                Setsuna gritted her teeth.  "He's an Unforgiven, Hotaru.  You don't know what they're like--"

                "That's right."  Jahara's smile vanished.  "We destroy worlds on a whim, don't we, guardian?  Along with any number of other atrocities.  Get out of the way, little one.  If she's important to you, I'll try to keep her vaguely in one piece."  He fixed Sailor Pluto with a gaze.  "Shall we?"

                "Hotaru, get out of here.  Find Usagi and the others, tell them--"

                "No."  She took a deep breath.  "Stop this, all right?  Setsuna, I don't care what you think Jahara is, he hasn't done anything.  Jahara, please don't hurt anyone…"

                The Unforgiven shrugged.  "She's right, though.  I've lost count of the number of people who's blood is on my hands.  If this guardian wants to attempt vengeance, who am I to stand in her way?"

                "Not vengeance.  Justice."

                Hotaru took a step back toward the Unforgiven.

                "What are you doing?  Hotaru!"

                "I'm waiting for you to stop.  Jahara won't hurt us.  I just brought him to talk to you."

                "But--"

                "Stop!"

                There was a long pause.  Setsuna lowered her hand and let her transformation fade away.  Her glare remained fixed on Jahara.

                "What do you want with us?"

                He shrugged.  "She's the one who wanted to talk to you.  I just wanted to borrow her for a while."

                Hotaru waved her arms before Setsuna could reply.  "Wait.  Just wait a minute!"

                "What?"

                She glanced back at the Unforgiven, then over to Setsuna.  "Can I talk to you?  Alone?"

                "Certainly, but I don't think…"

                "You don't mind, do you?"

                Jahara shrugged again, but this time with a more preoccupied air.  It was difficult to tell, with his pupil-less eyes, but he seemed to be staring into the distance.  Hotaru watched him a moment, curiously, then escorted Setsuna into the kitchen.

                "Now that we've gotten you away from him, let's get out of here, Hotaru.  If we can find Haruka and Michiru, we might have a chance of--"

                "Would you stop that already?  What do you have against him, anyway?"

                "Hotaru."  Setsuna knelt, placing her face on a level with the girl's.  "He's Unforgiven.  You don't know what that means."

                "And you do?"

                The older woman looked uncomfortable.  "Not really.  Only as much as it affects my function as Sailor Pluto.  But that's enough.  They're dangerous."

                "Setsuna, it's not like I haven't been in danger before--"

                "Not like that.  They're not…"  She waved a hand vaguely, trying to think of the right word.  "…not bound by the same rules as everyone else."

                "Rules?"

                "Physics.  Fate.  They walk the world lightly, and it in turn has only the loosest grip on them.  Just by being here, your friend Jahara has probably disturbed things that were centuries in the making."

                "He says there's a threat to the world."

                "If there is we'll deal with it.  You have to convince him to leave."

                "But he's right, Setsuna!  I can feel it…there's something out there…"  Hotaru closed her eyes for a moment, questing for the fleeting sensation she'd felt, just for a moment, on waking.  It wasn't there.  Instead there was something else, a feeling of closeness, as though her head had been wrapped in cotton wool.  It was uncomfortable; more then that.  Strangely horrible.

                "Setsuna…"  Hotaru opened her eyes, but the feeling did not recede.  If anything, now that she'd noticed it, the wool got tighter, as though a vise were pressing on her head at the ears.  Her eyes throbbed, vision blurred and darkening at the edges.

                "Hotaru?"

                "…I can't…feel…"

                Hotaru sank to her knees, gripping her head as pain spiked all the way down the back of her neck.  The vise had changed to a pair of hammers, slamming into her head with an almost audible crunch.  Her breath came in short, wet gasps.

                "Hotaru!"  Another purple flash told her, distantly, that Setsuna had transformed back into Pluto.  "What's happening?"

                I'm dying.  She realized it in a sudden flash of clarity; then all thought was obliterated in a wash of pain.  Something--it was a tangible thing, somehow--clamped down around her, squeezing, crushing.  Her vision blacked out entirely, until Hotaru was just floating alone in darkness with the pain.  She wasn't sure whether or not she'd managed a scream.  The feeling of Setsuna's hands on her shoulders was distant, unreal.  Pluto's voice faded in and out.

                "…what are…to her…"

                Then another touch on her head, firm and definite.

                The pain stopped as though someone had thrown a switch, leaving only the throbbing memory of its passage.  For some time, Hotaru remained curled into a ball, cringing as each beat of her heart sent pain surging through seared passages.  The thing, whatever it was, was still there around her, being held at bay by some other force.

                It seemed like hours before she dared open her eyes.  Light, harsh and hostile, flooded in; she became aware of a conversation going on around her.

                "…did you call it?"

                "A spell."  Jahara, speaking quickly and efficiently.  "A binding spell, one of some skill."

                "Did you…break it?"

                "No.  The spell was aimed at me, but somehow she also triggered the effect."  His voice was grim.  "Given that it was designed to hold an Unforgiven, it's not surprising that it had this effect on her."

                "So what have you done?"

                "Extended my personal protection to include her.  The magic does no more than inconvenience me."

                Setsuna's voice sounded closer when she spoke again.  "Will she be all right?"

                The Unforgiven paused.  "I do not know."

                She could feel Pluto's touch on her cheek.  "Hotaru…"

                "It depends on how far the spell had progressed."  Jahara continued.  "She may just be unconscious."

                "Or?"

                He sighed.  "Or it may have crushed her mind before I got to her."

                Hotaru wanted to sit up, to talk to them.  I'm okay!  The memory of pain had faded to a dull background, but she could still barely move, curled into a tight ball on her own kitchen floor.  I'm okay, aren't I?  She tried again and managed a gasping breath.

                Setsuna knelt, instantly.  "Hotaru?  Are you…"

                She opened her mouth with an effort.  "I'm…here…"

                "Can you hear me?"

                The girl nodded, weakly, and made an effort to uncurl herself.  With Pluto's help, she eventually managed to reach a sitting position, shaking her head and wincing at the spikes of pain behind her eyes.

                "I'm okay…"  She waved Setsuna's hand away.  "Really.  It just still hurts a bit…"

                Jahara knelt, though he still had to look down at her.  "I'm glad you were not destroyed.  But you must listen to me very carefully."

                She nodded again, and for once Setsuna was quiet.

                "Only my power keeps you safe.  Whatever you did triggered a second focus for a binding spell that was targeted at me.  So do not stray from my side until we have put a stop to this."

                "What kind of binding?"  Pluto was looking around, anxiously.  "And who?"

                "The binding appears to have been intended to blind, not directly attack.  As for who, there is an easy way to find that out."  Jahara extended a hand to one side, palm outward, and Hotaru felt power build.  She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his just in time.

                "What?"

                "You have to…"  She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath; the sudden movement had left her dizzy.  "Have to go outside.  You can't just blast through walls…"

                The Unforgiven's expression suggested that that particular restriction had never occurred to him, but he nodded nonetheless.

Chapter Seven

                In which the bloodhound finds the trail, the Senshi feel severely overworked, and Resh becomes a media sensation.

                The day had dawned crisp and clear, the wind carrying a chill with it that, after a shower and a long night's sleep, seemed bracing rather then cruel.  Aside from an ominous mass on the eastern horizon, the sky was an undifferentiated blue.  Rei felt oddly cheerful as she followed Makoto up the steps to Minako's front door.

                "Why didn't you bring her home?"

                Makoto shook her head.  "Don't you think her parents would ask questions?  We had to smuggle her in here and tell them she was staying over.  Everyone should be gone by now, though."

                "And how is she?"  For all her usual banter, Rei's voice had a hint of genuine concern.

                "As of last night, pretty well.  Assuming she's still alive after a night of Minako taking care of her…"

                Rei stifled a chuckle as Makoto knocked.  After a pause, she tried again; nothing seemed to come of it.

                "Could they both be asleep?"

                Makoto's face hardened.  "Or something's happened…"

                "Hey!"

                The voice came from above.  Both girls automatically craned their heads to see Luna leaning out of the second floor window.

                "It's…open."  The cat seemed a bit out of breath.  "I'll be right down."

                Rei and Makoto looked at each other and shrugged before entering.  Luna was coming down the main stairs one jump at a time, the last bound taking her to Rei's shoulder.

                "Sorry about that.  I had to run up to make sure you two didn't leave."  The cat rubbed contentedly against Rei's head as she absent-mindedly scratched Luna's back.  "Do you know how hard it is to work a deadbolt with paws?"

                "Where's Mamoru and Minako?"  Makoto still sounded wary.

                "Usagi seemed okay, so Mamoru went home for a bit.  Mina's asleep…I think she was up all night…"  Rei pushed open the door to Minako's bedroom, quietly, to find the occupant asleep at her writing desk.  Artemis, rather uncomfortable-looking but also asleep nonetheless, was being used as a pillow.  She couldn't help smiling.

                "Hi!"  Out of deference to her host, Usagi kept her voice down.  Rei was relieved to see her upright in bed, stacks of manga piled around her.  She waved as the two girls and the cat made their way to her side.

                "Hi, yourself."  Rei sat down on the edge of the bed.  "How are you feeling?"

                "I'm fine, really."  The erstwhile patient looked embarrassed.  "It really wasn't that bad."

                "Not that bad!"  Luna had also jumped up on the bed.  "A hour afterwards you could barely move.  We were worried you had some kind of internal injury…"

                Usagi waved her hands.  "No, no.  I'm feeling much better.  See?"  She moved her arm in a circle to demonstrate.  "Just a youma's energy attack, right?  Nothing to worry about."

                "That was no youma."  Makoto frowned.  "At least not like we've seen before…"

                "Don't worry about it.  I'm okay, you're all okay.  It all worked out."

                Except for those people in the mall.  Rei twisted her lip in thought.  Usagi's energetic façade, though certainly typical, seemed a bit forced.  I think it bothers her more then she lets on.  Her own conversation with Shard came back to her.  Hell, it would bother me.  Best not to push her on it now, though.

                "Well, I'm glad your feeling better."  Rei glanced at their sleeping friend.  "Mina been treating you okay?"

                "Pretty well.  I'm kind of hungry, though."

                "Hungry?"

                Usagi twitched one of the bedsheets aside to reveal three untouched bowls of soup, neatly stashed in a corner where discarded sheets would cover them.  "I did want to get better."

                Even Makoto almost laughed at that one.  "Should I order some pizza, then?"

                The blonde's eyes lit up.  "Yeah!"

                "I don't want to be a kill-joy here, but we have some serious business to attend to."  Luna had curled up around Usagi as Makoto went to find a phone.  "This guy…"

                "Resh."

                "He'll be back, I'm sure."

                The two girl's nodded.

                "If we don't want a repeat of last night, we're going to have to do something about him."

                "Easy enough to say."  Rei shook her head.  "How are we supposed to find him?"

                "I'm not sure.  But we need to do something, before whatever happened happens again."

                "I can ask around, I guess."  Both of the other's looked at her, and Rei blushed.  "You go after these Yakuza types for a while, you sort of get to know people…"

                Luna nodded.  "Great.  Once Artemis wakes up, I'll see if there's anything we can do to find him."

                "Assuming he's still in the city and not in some other world."

                "Right.  I'll see if I can talk to Ami, too.  She might have something that could help."

                "True."  Rei paused.  "What's going on with her, anyway?  I haven't really talked to her in a couple of weeks."

                "Me either."  The cat glared at Usagi.  "Since she's already in college and all, I assume she has more work than the rest of us…"

                "Hmm?"  The blonde was looking down, not at them.  Luna padded over and sat on top of the comic book she'd been hiding under the covers.

                "Would you pay attention?"

                "Sorry.  I just figured…"

                "When we find Resh, you're going to have to go after him.  Nobody else seemed to be able to get close, but you managed it."

                "Yeah."  Usagi's smile flickered for a second.  "I figured that, too."

                The cat didn't appear to notice.  "Good."

                "Well, things seem to be well in hand here."  Rei stretched, casually.  "I have some stuff I need to take care of today if we're going to be out all night again.  I'll be in touch.  Okay, Luna?"

                "Rei."

                "What?"

                "Promise me you won't go in without backup."

                "Don't worry about it."

                "Rei…"  The cat's voice sounded dangerous.  Rei sighed.

                "I promise, I promise."  And I mean it this time, too.  Resh scares the hell out of me.  "Can I go now?"

                "Go ahead."

                Rei got off the bed; as she stood, though, the shifting pressure toppled one of the piles of comics.  The thick books tumbled to the ground, revealing a number of slimmer volumes stacked between them.

                Usagi went crimson and dived forward, grabbing as many of the books as she could.  Rei managed to slip one out of her grasp and read the title before it was snatched away.

                "Usagi…"  Rei shook her head, trying to keep from laughing.  The blonde, face now fire-engine red, stared intently at the sheets.  "Never mind."

                I knew Usagi was a manga fiend.  Rei said goodbye to Makoto and made it out onto the street before she started chuckling aloud.  But Utena h-doujin?  I suppose there's no accounting for taste…

                Hotaru opened her eyes to find the familiar ceiling, with its dents and spider-web cracks in the paint, staring back at her.  The scene was so usual, so in-place she wondered wildly whether the events of the previous night had really happened at all.

                That better not have been a dream.  On further reflection, she realized she wasn't really sure why she was so emphatic about it; if it had been a dream, she decided, she'd have felt somehow cheated.  I almost died.  One hopes that things like that only happen in real life.

                Okay.  Time to find out.

                She sat up and looked around.  The green-haired giant seated comfortably on the sofa in one corner suggested that her memories did, in fact, correspond to reality.

                Jahara raised his eyes as she moved.  "You are awake.  Good."

                Hotaru probed her recollection, trying to remember what had happened last.  I remember the pain.  And then…  She'd recovered a bit, enough to talk to Jahara before dropping off to sleep and presumably being put to bed by Setsuna.

                "How do you feel?"  His gaze felt curious, dispassionate, but she could sense some sort of feeling in his voice, however faint.

                "Okay.  A bit sore, maybe."

                "Close your eyes for a minute and tell me what you feel."

                Hotaru obligingly shut her eyes, feeling outward in the darkness.  She didn't manage it without a slight cringe, as her body recalled what had happened the last time; this time, though, all she felt was--

                "Numb.  In places, at least.  And…thick, somehow.  A sort of cottony feeling."

                "I thought so."  Jahara's mouth twisted into a frown.

                "Is it this binding?"

                "Yes."  The Unforgiven answered as though preoccupied.  "It's a very clever trick.  If it had only one focus, we wouldn't be able to feel it at all.  With two there are points of resonance, where the effect is stronger compared to the background.  Those are the spots you feel…"

                She nodded, not even pretending to understand.  "It's still there, then."

                "It is.  This is most troubling."  His attention returned to her.  "Whatever you do, do not move to far from me.  If the foci divide, half the power of the spell would likely reform around both of us.  You would probably find this fatal."

                Hotaru swallowed.  "Okay.  Are we going to do something about it?"

                "We?"  He glanced at her and smiled.  "I suppose we are.  Someone wants me blinded, and I need to know who."

                "I thought the spell…"

                "It suppresses your perceptions.  For me it is no more then a local magical blinding, but for a human, even a guardian, the effect is less pleasant."

                "Is it…Resh?"

                He shook his head, slowly.  "No.  First of all, I doubt his skill would be up to something like this.  The binding is a particularly clever magic; to blind the subject, but keep him unaware of it.  Second, the structure of the spell is a perfect circle, and that requires more then one source.  If it is Resh's doing, he has found some allies."

                "So what do we do?"

                "We have an advantage: the casters did not expect the spell to target you.  If we work together, we may be able to track down one of the sources and put a stop to this."

                "Okay."  Hotaru tossed the cover aside; she was still in street clothes from the night before.  "I just need to change…"

                "Hotaru."

                "What?"

                "It may be dangerous.  Attempting to track down the source may have…negative consequences."

                She paused a moment, then shrugged.  "It needs to be done, right?"  It's not like I haven't done worse, anyway.  "How close to you do I need to stay?"

                "Anywhere in the house should be close enough.  If you feel pain, return at once."

                "Okay.  I'll be back."

                The morning sun had finally achieved enough altitude to peek over the apartment buildings outside the window and throw a pattern on the floor.  Ami looked at it silently, rubbing eyes numb from hours of phosphorescent glare.

                The clock read a little past ten AM.  She leaned back in her chair to stare at the ceiling.

                The two boxes she'd told Eridu to get had turned up only hours later, delivered by a confused young man who said they'd turned up in his warehouse, rush delivery orders and all.  She'd hooked them up in the corner, given that the desk was sort of crammed.  These were the kind of machines whose only visible features were a network jack, a switch, and a power cable; she'd set them to work almost immediately.

                Not that it helped.  She rubbed her eyes again.  My head hurts.

                Ami felt rather then heard Eridu enter.  The door had been locked, not that it mattered.  The air took on its greasy, ozone feel.

                "Miss Mizuno."  He padded into the room like a great cat, nearly silent.  "How are things proceeding?"

                "You."  She leaned back even further until she could see him, upside-down.  Long, white hair, sunglasses, that slight, nasty grin.  "Who exactly are you trying to hack here?"

                "A business associate of mine."

                "You have some strange associates."  She spun the chair to face him.  "And they can apparently hire some pretty smart people."

                "I imagine he can hire anyone he wants."  Eridu sat on the sofa at the back of the room, pushing aside a wad of printouts.  "It is difficult, then?"

                "Difficult.  I've never seen anything like it.  Whoever wrote this stuff…"  She shook her head.

                Eridu nodded complacently.  "Worry not, Miss Mizuno.  Time is short, but not terribly so.  If you can break the code in a matter of weeks, it should be…"

                She looked at him incredulously.  "Weeks?  You want me to break this in a few weeks?"

                "You think it will take--"

                The printer next to the main console clicked and buzzed its way through a few pages.  Ami reached back without looking, gathered them with one handle, and proffered the bundle.

                "Here."

                Eridu stood up and walked closer, curious.  "These are…"

                "The decoded documents.  They're still incomprehensible to me, but I assume you can handle it."  She spun the chair to face the console again, shaking her head, as he picked up the stack.  "Weeks."  Ami snorted.  "Who exactly does he think he's dealing with…"

                Eridu's smile was growing wider by the minute.  "Nice.  Very nice."

                "You're the mysterious all-knowing figure.  What did you expect?"

                He shrugged.  "I'm still impressed.  Very good work, Miss Mizuno."

                "Thanks."  She got up from the chair and stumbled over to the bed.  "Now can you get out of here?  I think I'm going to sleep until about midnight."  Damnit, after this I'm going to be nocturnal again.

                Eridu stood up and bowed, just slightly.  "Of course.  I'll be back, Miss Mizuno."

                "Don't forget what you owe me."

                "The truth, of course."  He smiled.  "I think we'll move up the timetable."

                Ami thought on that a moment after he left.  The timetable…what the hell is he doing…  Forget it.  Sleep first, weird conspiracy guys later.  I'll deal with Eridu tonight.

                "When did they leave?"

                Pluto sighed.  "This morning, after she woke up."

                "And you just let him--"  Haruka half-stood from the table, despite Michiru's frantic prodding.

                "You didn't see what happened to her last night.  Like it or not, he did help her.  Quite possibly saved her life.  And he says that will happen again if he leaves…"

                The younger woman snorted.  "Right."

                Setsuna shifted her attention.  "What about you, Michiru?"

                "I don't trust Jahara."  Neptune considered her words carefully.  "But I'm not entirely sure we can stop him."

                "Jahara."  Haruka's hands curled into fists as she sat back down. 

                Pluto fixed her with a glare.  "You fought him, Haruka."

                "Yes--"

                "How strong is he?  Really?"

                Uranus looked suddenly uncomfortable, staring at the tabletop.  "Strong."

                Setsuna watched her for a moment, then let the matter drop.  "So what are we going to do about it?"

                "I'll follow them."  Haruka spoke immediately.  "If anything goes…wrong, at the very least I should be able to get Hotaru out of there."

                "I'll go too."

                Pluto nodded.  "Good.  I'll try to get in touch with Usagi and the rest as soon as I can."  She paused.  "And be careful.  If things go bad, get Hotaru and yourselves out of there and contact me."

                There was a dangerous light in Haruka's eyes as she replied.  "Of course."

                The entry to the basement was locked.  Not that this posed any difficulty; Resh punched the door hard enough to crease the inch-thick steel.

                It was also, as it turned out, guarded.  This also did not prove a problem.

                "Hey!"  The watchman spilled his coffee as he jumped up from his station, reaching for the revolver at his side.  "You…you can't come in here!"  His other hand fumbled for the radio clipped to his desk.

                The vampire was not in the mood.  His eyes narrowed, and power crackled across the gap, flattening the man's feeble mind.

                "Yes, I can."

                "Yes…you can…"  He slumped back into his seat, eyes wide, and Resh stalked past him, onto the construction site.  The building's owners were fixing water rot in its foundations, a long and laborious process that involved digging a giant pit where the floor of the basement had been and filling it with concrete.  They had yet to begin the second procedure, which left a perfect hole.  Resh pulled the fist-sized glass globe from his pocket and cracked it in one hand with casual strength, tossing the remnants into the void.  It was a few seconds before the faint tinkle indicated they'd hit the bottom.

                He looked down for a moment, curious, but the darkness was nearly complete at the bottom and nothing was visible.  Resh shrugged and headed for the stairs, followed by the security guard in a zombie-like shuffle.

                As the vampire pushed the button for the elevators and headed for the top, the wall of the pit shifted, just slightly.  Deep, deep underground, a handful of green shoots twisted, got their bearings, and started growing like hell.

                The sun had moved well past it's zenith by the time Makoto trudged up the front steps of the Hikawa Shrine.  The ravens were perched on the archway, as usual, and they cocked their heads and stared at her intelligently as she passed.  She barely spared them a glance.

                Rei watched from the front porch.  She'd occasionally wondered, privately, if ravens as well as cats could talk.  In a darker moment, she'd decided that they were actually smarter then the felines; they could talk, but never told anyone about it.

                Makoto raised one hand, limply, and collapsed on one of the benches next to her friend.

                "Hey."

                "Hi."

                Rei stared into the distance a moment, lost in thought, then shook her head and turned.  "How was school?"

                "Not great."  Makoto shrugged.  "After something like that, I always feel a bit…off, somehow.  It's hard to concentrate."

                "I know what you mean."  There was a pause.  "Are you feeling okay?"
                "Me?  I'm fine.  What about you?"

                "A bit bruised.  I'll be okay."

                Another pause.  Makoto looked uncomfortable.  Rei sighed and broke the silence.

                "So what exactly happened last night?"

                "I don't really know.  Did you track down that last vampire?"

                "Y…Yes."  Rei shook her head.  "But Resh got away, and we have no idea where to find him."

                "And we didn't really stop him, did we."

                That was the central issue, Rei realized.  The vampire had come to a populated shopping mall and left it full of dust and rubble.

                "There wasn't much we could have done.  I mean--"

                "We've always managed it before."

                Rei closed her eyes and leaned back.  "You're right."

                "Do you think Usagi's going to be okay?"

                "I…think so. She seemed to be repressing it when we talked to her."

                "For her, that's probably a good sign."

                "If she talks to anyone about it, it'll be Mamoru.  I'll see if I can get him to tell me how she's doing."

                Makoto nodded.  "Great.  And while I'm here, can I show you something?"

                "Sure."

                She stood up and headed into the shrine.  Rei followed her, curious, until Makoto stopped in the TV room.

                "This has been bothering me for a while."  She clicked the set on and punched up the afternoon news; the story seemed to be something about a downtown sewer repair project ensnared in legal scandal. 

                Rei listened for a moment, then looked back at Makoto.  "So?"

                "A whole shopping mall full of people gets killed, and they don't even mention it?"

                "You're right."  Rei blinked.  "That is weird."

                "I don't mean to seem cold-hearted here, but catching Resh before he does this again is kind of our job.  And this feels like someone is covering for him."

                Iylitrio.  It has to be; Shard said the vampire was working for him.  She frowned.  Can I trust what he says, though?

                "Something wrong?"

                She shook her head.  "No.  Just a…a thought."

                "If it'll help, lets hear it."

                "I'm not sure--"

                The television interrupted as the anchor cut in over the legal consultant.  "I'm sorry, but we've had news of a developing story.  We now go live, downtown.  Ken, can you hear me?"

                The camera cut to a jerky view of a building, one of the huge glass-sided office towers.  The viewpoint seemed to be from a helicopter, hovering about even with the roof; the voiceover sounded excited.

                "We're looking at the rooftop of the Nakatomi building, where moments ago we received reports that an unknown party had set off some kind of explosive device.  From where I'm sitting, it doesn't look like there's any external damage, but we're going to go get a closer look."

                The chopper inched closer to the roof, focusing on a door that presumably led to the stairway down.  It was half-open, swinging back and forth a bit in the wind.  The setting sun half-painted the rooftop in crimson, the shadow of a larger building laying a neat line just past the stairway.

                "I still can't see any evidence of damage to the building, but eyewitnesses report a huge blast that was seen as far as two miles out into the harbor.  Can we--"

                The door slammed open completely, outlining a grainy human figure in the stairway, shrouded in darkness.  It raised a hand, and well-remembered arcs of dark lightning flashed out.  The view cut for a moment to static before some clever technician at the news show punched for one of their cover shots, showing the building from below.  Makoto and Rei stared in silence at the spreading fireball where the helicopter had been.

                They looked at each other; it was a moment before Rei spoke.  "Resh."

                "Has to be."

                "It's a trap."  She looked back at the screen.  "He wants us to come.  This is just bait."

                "We can't just ignore him!"

                "No."  Rei shook her head.  "I'll see if I can contact Ami, you go get Usagi and Minako.  Meet me at the tower in fifteen minutes."

                "Got it."

                "Got him."

                Hotaru started; for all his size, Jahara could be quiet when he wanted to.  "Where?"

                "Third building from the left."

                She took a look, trying not to be too obvious about it.  "That place is a dump."

                The Unforgiven shrugged.  "One of the sources of the binding spell is in there.  Perhaps they're using the external appearance of the building as cover."

                It had been a long, tiring day.  Hotaru's legs burned with fatigue; Jahara was pretty good at setting a pace she could keep up with, obviously the result of long practice, but he didn't seem to tire.  Or get hungry, or thirsty.  Though why I expect him to I don't know.  The circle of the spell was apparently very wide indeed, and it had taken most of the daylight hours for the pair to work their way into steadily seedier and seedier areas, closing in on the closest of the magical sources.  At this range, Hotaru could feel it too; a vast, throbbing numbness in her forehead, edges trembling on the brink of pain. 

                And now Jahara had finally pinpointed the thing.  She let out a sigh of relief.

                "So now what?"

                He shrugged.  "We walk in, find whoever's doing this, and ask some very pointed questions."  He bent a bit lower.  "How are you feeling?"

                "Not very well."

                "I was afraid of that.  As you get closer to being coplanar with the edge effect of the spell, the effect strengthens.  It must be boundary-resonant."

                Hotaru shook her head.  "In Japanese, please?"

"The closer you get to the source, the worse this is going to be.  Since you have to stay close to me, and I have to go stop them…"

"How…"  She paused.  "How bad is it going to get?"

"It depends on the strength of the source.  I don't know."

"So if I walk to close to them, I could just fall over dead again."

"Yes.  There is a limit to the protection I can extend."

"Okay."  She put a hand in her pocket and curled her fingers around the transformation artifact.  "Give me a second."

I didn't want to have to do this.  She sometimes envied the Inner Senshi, who transformed back and forth with no more effect then a different outfit and a slew of powers.  Sailor Saturn is…different.  Not a different person, exactly.  Or so I think.  I'm pretty sure I'm the same person after the transformation.  I can remember everything, but…while I'm Saturn, things are less complicated.

On the other hand, I don't have much of a choice.  I need Saturn's strength to do this.

The swirling colors took only a moment to subside; Jahara watched, impassively as Hotaru transformed into her black-frilled Senshi counterpart.  For Hotaru it was like removing a set of smoked glasses.  Everything jumped into focus, clearer and more distinct; she could see the exaggerated caution that surrounded Jahara's movements, feel the power he exuded with every heartbeat.  She could feel the binding, too, as though it were a physical object wrapped around her head.  It didn't hurt like it had before-- Saturn was more resilient then Hotaru.

The Unforgiven looked her over with hooded eyes.  "Interesting."

"Let's go."  She gestured to the house with one end of the Silence Glaive.  Action was easy, as Saturn.  Effortless.  Fatigue fell away.

Jahara straightened up and nodded.  She heard him mutter under his breath as they moved.

"You really are me."

The sun had set by the time the four girls climbed out of the subway station downtown.  The Nakatomi building loomed over its neighbors, mirrored surfaces reflecting the flashing lights from the block-wide police cordon around the base.

The little office park that surrounded the corporate monolith was littered with debris: from helicopters, cars that had parked too close, and the smoldering wreckage of some sort of armored SWAT team vehicle.  That had been a few minutes ago, and since then the police had been keeping their distance.

Makoto whistled softly as they surveyed the scene.  Rei shot her a glance, followed by a knowing look at Usagi.  The blonde looked decidedly nervous, even with Minako trying to comfort her.

"What do you think?"

Rei looked back at Makoto and kept her voice low.  "It has to be Resh."

"Of course.  But what do we do about it?"  Mako frowned.  "Where's Ami?"

                "No answer from her place, and nothing on the communicator."

                "Are you worried?"

                Rei nodded.  "A little.  But we need to do something about this.  Luna went to go get Setsuna and the Outers in case we need backup, and Mamoru is on his way."

                "We should go in first."

                "I was afraid you'd say that."  Rei took a deep breath.  "Mars Crystal power, make up!"

                The other three followed suit, and the air was briefly full of sparkling colors.  Once they'd finished, Rei address the Senshi. 

                "First problem.  How do we get in?"

                Minako looked over the barricades.  "Shouldn't be so bad.  We can jump over the cars there and just run for the trees."

                "Okay.  Second problem.  Then what?"

                "Find Resh."  Makoto looked grim.  "And stop him."

                "Sounds good to me."  Rei turned.  Third problem.  "Usagi?"

                "Hm--what?"

                "Are you sure you're up for this?"

                The blonde nodded frantically.  "Sure.  No problems."  She glanced around, apparently uncomfortably aware of the others staring at her.  "What?  We've got to waste this Resh guy, right?  If we don't, who else will?"

                There was a pause before Rei finally answered.  "Right.  Now let's move in."

Chapter Eight

                In which Ami opens her eyes and we learn why lots of tentacles is rarely a good thing.

                Ding.  The automatic doors of the entryway slid apart with a whisper and an electronic bell-tone; Rei led her friends at a speed that barely qualified as a creep past them and into the lobby.  It was lined, like the rest of the building, with mirror-glass walls; the setting sun's light was tinted gray and threw shadows nearly the length of the floor.

                Aside from being abandoned, it didn't look that odd.  Banks of elevators, flanked by stairways, provided access to the upper levels; a broad security desk protected these from the general public.  The floor was marble, inlaid with silver metal spotlessly clean.  In one corner, near the ceiling, the red eye of a security camera followed their progress with robotic attentiveness. 

                "The news report said that nearly everyone had been evacuated."  Rei kept her voice to a whisper--it was that kind of place.  "So we don't have to worry about anybody getting in the way.  Last we saw, Resh was on the roof.  So I guess we go up."

                The other three nodded.  Usagi and Minako looked decidedly white-faced, and Rei almost felt herself agreeing with them; without people, the vast space was kind of unsettling.  Heels clicked on stone as they made their way to the stairs.  Rei caught Makoto's eye outside the glass doors.

                "This would be a good place for him to jump us."

                "Agreed."  Makoto spoke up.  "Let me go first."

                Jupiter edged the door open and slipped through, checking both directions of the stairwell.  Rei breathed a sigh of relief as she waved the all-clear; she opened the door herself and stepped through. 

                "Come on--"

                At that point, the floor exploded.

                Marble chips blew outwards in little craters, zinging against the walls and shattering with the force of shrapnel.  Rei felt one of them nick her cheek; her hand slapped onto it, instinctively, and she took a step back towards the stairs down as the tentacles started to emerge from the floor.  They came up from four separate points, spreading outwards in a green, ropy mass that crept across the floor with disturbing speed.  In a moment they had blocked the doorway leading to the stairs and covered the first-floor landing, forcing Jupiter to back up the stairs.

                Oh, crap.  Mars raised a hand.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                The shoots curled and turned black under the onslaught of fire, but the burned portion was quickly buried under a tide of new growth.  One of the tentacles shot towards her with whip-like speed; Rei barely ducked in time as the thing crashed into the wall behind her hard enough to chip concrete.

                "Love and Beauty Shock!"

                Venus' attack seemed to anger the thing further, sending bits of green stuff flying in all directions.  Another second, and it had reared up to block the doorway completely.  A faint scream from the other side of the barrier was drowned out by the susurration of the tentacles' continued growth.

                "Rei!"

                Mako pointed, desperately, as the tentacle that had attacked her curved around for another try.  Rei ducked underneath it again, then threw herself aside as she heard the crackle of Jupiter's attack.  The balls of lightning sliced the protrusion clean off and left it twitching on the floor.  Rei took the opportunity to put another blast of fire into the central mass, with little effect.

                We're just not hurting it…and it's got us split up.  This is not good.  "Jupiter!  Split up and find another way to the lobby!  We've got to--"

                The tentacles formed into a single mass and pounced upwards, towards Makoto.  She scrambled up the stairway to the second floor landing as the thing crushed wrought iron and ripped the first-floor stairs away from the walls.  Rei could hear another buzzing crackle of electricity, but the sound faded as Jupiter was forced further up the stairway.

                "Jupiter!"  Apparently the creature--whatever it was--was quite capable of handling three fights at once.  Even as Rei tried to get past its stalks to climb up higher, more tentacles curved around.  She ducked under the first pair but felt the rough grip on her ankle too late.

                This is not good…

                The tendril picked her up by the ankle and tossed her towards the wall.  Rei braced for an impact, but it never came; instead, a second tentacle whipped around like a baseball bat, hitting her in the side and propelling her all the way down the stairs.  Pain flared instantly, and she barely had time to cringe before hitting the ground, twenty feet below.

                Resh tapped a key on his computer console, smiling in the glow of the security monitors.  All over the building, fluorescent lights obediently turned themselves off, red emergency systems leaving the rooms in crimson-tinted darkness.  The vampire smiled, running his tongue across his fangs.

                "Rising winds off the bay add tension to this already difficult situation.  According to the chief of police, the terrorists appear to be armed with some sort of explosive devices, possibly portable rocket launchers; police are advising all civilians within four blocks of the building to evacuate.  Special teams squad helicopters have been reported to be in the air, hoping to make it to the roof before the storm hits--"

                The television's sound and picture died with a fading whine as Eridu punched the off button on the remote.  Ami had heard him enter, for once, padding across the floor like he wanted to make some noise.  She brushed one hand through her hair, nervously, as he emerged from the other room.  Eridu looked as imperturbable as ever behind his dark glasses and slight upturned smile.

                "Anything important going on?"

                He shrugged.  "Not really.  Did you sleep well?"

                She nodded.  "Except that I'm going to be awake at nights for a week now."

                "That's what you get waking up at nine in the evening."  Eridu's grin broadened, just for a moment.  "You look a tad nervous, Miss Mizuno.  Is something wrong?"

                "Wrong?"  She rolled her eyes.  "Nothing's wrong.  It's just when crazy white-haired people I know nothing about promise to reveal the secrets of the universe, it makes me a bit antsy.  You know how that is."

                "I have nothing but the highest intentions.  Which is to say, completely self-interested ones; you've provided me a service, and I'm going to repay--"

                "You were the one quoting Faust earlier.  I worry a bit about that sort of bargain."

                "So you don't want me to show you anything?"

                "Of course I want you to show me.  I need to know.  Starting with who you are, and how you know so much."  She paused.  "I'm just a bit nervous, that's all."

                He chuckled.  "That is commendable, to be sure.  I promise that no harm will come to you this evening, at least.  Can we begin?"

                "Begin what?"

                "The ritual."

                She held up a hand.  "Stop."

                "Yes?"

                "What.  Ritual."

                Eridu let out an exasperated breath.  "What exactly do you expect me to do, sit down on the psychiatrists couch and tell the story of my life?  That could take a long time, although I suspect you would consider it rather lively."

                "So, instead…"

                "I'm going to show you.  Miss Mizuno, please be calm."  He reached out a hand for her shoulder, but Ami adroitly spun the chair to keep out of his reach.  "What are you afraid of?"

                Frankly, I'm not sure myself.  At this point, though, I have to go through with it, if only because I'd forever be wondering what would have happened.  "Just cautious."

                He smiled.  "Can we begin?"

                The tentacles had pretty much destroyed the lobby, coming up from under the floor in an explosion of marble chips, clawing their way through the ceiling tiles in a hundred places and turning the big room into some kind of hellish parody of a forest.  The brilliant crimson of the sun setting in earnest, together with the increasingly audible scream of the wind, left Minako wondering if she'd somehow wandered into some kind of disturbed fairy tale.

                Venus stood with her back to one of the green pillars, not a particularly safe move, she though, but under the circumstances no better cover had presented itself.  The tentacles seemed uninclined to move after that first violent outburst, although with the skin of her back hard against one of them she could feel a faint pulsing, like a heartbeat.

                What is this thing?  It's huge…it must take up practically the whole building…  She shook her head.  First I have to find Usagi and the others, and the get out of here.  Minako had been separated from Sailor Moon when they'd first fled into the lobby, and had been unable to find her again in the labyrinthine depths of the thing's shoots.  Mars had fallen down the stairs to the basement, of that she was reasonably sure, and Jupiter had to be somewhere up above.  It's got us right where it wants us, doesn't it?  She stopped that line of thought, frantically.  They'll get out okay.  Mamoru and the Outer Senshi are probably already on their way here.  We can handle this thing…it has to have a weakness somewhere…

                Somewhere off in the crimson darkness, a pair of red gleams ignited, then another; red eyes staring at her from the shadows.  Minako's skin crawled.

                "A bit closer…come here…"  Her hands closed into fists, slick with sweat.  The red eyes moved, just a little--

                "Love and Beauty SHOCK!"

                The ball of sparkling light tore through the green pillars as though they weren't there, sending bits of tentacle in all directions.  Shadows faded under the shockwave, and the pairs of eyes vanished in the explosion.  Minako ran sideways, direction picked at random, until she came up against another pillar.

                I have to get out of here. 

                More eyes in the darkness.  First one pair, then another, and another.  And from somewhere far off, the faint sound of laughter.

                I have to!

                "Love and Beauty Shock!  Shock!"  More balls of light flew outwards, chasing nearly invisible targets and filling the air with dust and flying debris.  The laughter only got louder; Minako fled it almost as much as whatever foes were real.  "Love and beauty…shock…"

                She came to rest by yet another pillar, breathing hard, legs like wobbly stilts.  The lobby seemed to go on forever, an endless field of pillars of green, laced with red light and long shadows.

                "Usagi!  Mars!  Jupiter!  Where are you!"  She felt a touch of hysteria in her voice, tried to fight it.  Come on.  We've been through worse then this--

                A pair of red eyes flared, right in front of her.  Minako gestured frantically, panic-tinged reactions a touch too slow; the hands that grabbed her wrists felt like they were carved from steel, not budging a millimeter despite her frantic efforts.  Minako pulled backwards frantically.

                "Love--Love and--Help! HE--"  The last cut off as Resh took a step forward, letting the red light paint his features and glint off the pair of fangs that featured so prominently.  Dark energy crackled around him in an almost tangible cloak, and the darkness where his shadow fell took a moment to fade away.

                "--help…"  Minako blinked, numbly, as he fixed her with a glowing red gaze and smiled.  Inwardly, she flinched, waiting for the lighting, or the fangs, or for him to simply reach out and snap her neck.

                Resh ran his tongue along his teeth.  "Sleep."

                Her consciousness started to fade almost instantly.  She felt a last touch of horror as his hands caught her as she folded up, effortlessly lifting her weight.  Minako heard him speak one more time.

                "That's one."

                Then she was falling into darkness.

                The lights in the building went out, leaving Shard to sit alone in darkness.  He leaned against the cool glass of the exterior, the still-flaming wreckage of helicopters and patrol cars reflected all around him.  None of the police dared to get close enough to notice his hiding spot, which was just as well.

                "Christ.  What I can't believe is that I'm sitting here."  He shook his head.  "I know this is a bad idea.  Never cross a pissed-off vampire."

                He pulled off his sunglasses and turned them over and over in his hands, dark glass reflecting the flames in miniature every time their rotation faced it.

                "It's her fault anyway."  It was more of a muttered litany then a monologue, not intended for any audience.  "I warned her.  I offered to help her.  She can hardly blame me if she underestimated the damn vampire.  Fucking Resh…"

                The bounty hunter sighed and clicked his glasses back open, sliding them on and staring up and the night sky.  The stars were rapidly being obliterated by ominous-looking thunderheads. 

                "God-damned Rei…"  His expression changed to a scowl.  "No!  I'm getting out of here.  She's cute and all, but it's not worth going up against Resh, not to mention what Iylitrio would do to me if he found out.  This whole city is getting too damned dangerous."  He stood, decisively.  "That's it.  I'm getting out while the getting's good.  Big fat bounties are no good if you're dead."

                He closed his eyes, trying not to see her face hovering just under his eyelids.  He could see her, trying to fight Resh, the vampire's black lightning crawling over her form and buzzing like a swarm of angry insects.  Rei dropped to the floor, back arched and mouth open in a silent scream, then collapsed limp.  Her head lolled to one side, eyes open and unseeing, twitching as she gasped a last breath.

                Staring at me.

                "It's not my problem!  I warned you not go up against him.  I warned you!  And now I'm leaving."  He shook his head.  "Standing here, talking to myself…I must be getting soft…"

                The picture changed one more time, as Resh stepped out of the darkness to stand over the Senshi's dying body.  Fangs glittered as he smiled.

                "Very smooth, Mister Bounty Hunter."

                Shard had his machine pistols out before he realized it, checking the clips.  One silver, one explosive.

                Forget Rei.  Nobody talks to me like that.  It was a lie, but comforting one.

                And who knows?  If I can think of a story to tell Iylitrio about why I killed his pet vampire, I might even live.

                The floor was covered with waving, questing tendrils that had broken through from the layer below.  They groped the floor like blind things, digging in wherever there was a crack or they could get a hold.  Cubicle walls were dislodged and workstations heedlessly overturned in the mad course of the thing's growth.

                There's got to be another exit around here somewhere.  An office like this isn't built with one staircase.  Come on.

                Makoto stepped carefully over the tentacles that coiled near her feet, ready to lash out if one of them so much as twitched towards her.  Thus far, though, the creature seemed unaware of her presence.  If that keeps up a bit longer, I'll be out of here.  Meet up with the others.  She was fairly certain she'd been the only one to get onto the second floor.  Rei looked like she'd fallen into the basement.  Not fallen, been thrown.  I've never seen her get hit that hard…

                She shook her head and took another step, looking around carefully until she finally saw the welcome glow of the exit sign she'd been waiting for.  An emergency stairwell, flush with the side of the building and leading off one of the little side lobbies.  A few square feet of carpet, a few potted plants and a couch; Makoto stepped out from between the rows of cubes, suspecting a trap. 

                Resh detached himself from the deeper shadows around the stairs, and her breath caught.  The vampire looked much as she'd last seen him, dressed in tight-fitting black, slick hair, and a nasty smile.  He exuded the aura of a predator, and his eyes glowed with a spark of crimson deep inside.

                Makoto took another step, then stopped and drew herself up.

                "Well?  Are you going to try and stop me?"

                The vampire shrugged.  "Sure.  Unless you'd like to go quietly?  To sleep?"

                The last word carried strange harmonics, a subtle bass rumble.  Her knees wobbled and almost buckled, eyelids dragged down in sudden exhaustion.  Only an effort of will kept her standing.  "No."

                "I didn't think so."  The vampire stretched his hands, bending long fingers back.  "Oh well.  It's just more pain for you.  Truth be told"--he smiled, showing fangs--"I like it better this way."

                Makoto dropped into a fighting stance.  Don't think about who he is, what he can do.  Don't panic.  He's just another opponent.  Just another enemy.  And that means I have to attack.

                Resh lowered his gaze, just a fraction, as though it were some kind of signal.  Makoto took off running.

                "Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

                The web of lightning flashed out to the left, while Makoto herself dove right.  The vampire adroitly sidestepped the crackling blast, but the move left him open as Jupiter touched on the wall, changed direction, and jumped for his head.  Her hands connected--it was like punching steel, and the side of her palm screamed in agony--and she felt him give, just a little bit, as she passed over his head.  Makoto twisted again, to land ready for another jump.

                A normal person, even a youma, might have been stunned.  The vampire ignored the blow and rolled sideways with the punch, grabbing for her as he did.  One hand closed around her ankle and yanked, turning a graceful landing into an awkward crash.  His grip broke as she rolled away from him towards the corner.

                There was a brief pause.  Jupiter got to her feet with an effort, breath coming hard.  Her hand throbbed; something in it had gone 'crunch' when she punched him, and now stabbed with every heartbeat.  Resh rose unconcerned, pushing himself up with one hand.  He put his head on one side. 

                "Please don't run away.  I don't feel like chasing tonight."

                Her grim smile surfaced gradually.  "Not likely."

                "Excellent."

                "Oak Evolution!"

                Assuming that Resh wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, this time she followed the attack straight in, hoping to strike to the side as he dodged.  The vampire ignored the lightning as it crackled past him, meeting her assault head on and bringing up one arm in a bone-jarring block.  Makoto ducked as he kicked over her head with the force of a sledgehammer, then jumped backwards as he turned it into a spin along the vine-covered ground.  Another blast of lightning didn't even phase him; Resh got calmly to his feet as she recovered, now up against a cubicle wall.

                "You aren't bad."  The vampire stared at her, his eyes disturbing direct and unblinking.  "It's a pity, really."

                "You won't talk like that when the others show up."  Makoto managed a shaky smile.  "You're too obvious, vampire.  Keep pulling stunts like this and your days are numbered."

                He chuckled.  "Little girls.  There's only one person on this world that I worry about, quite frankly, and none of you fit his description."  He waved a hand.  "Shall we continue?"

                Jupiter nodded, shakily.  If I let him hit me, I'm done for.  There has to be a weakness somewhere.  I have to hit him.

                She lunged forward, kicking first high, then low.  Resh danced away, but her attacks got closer with each successive strike.  Makoto pressed on, even as she came to a realization.  He's actually not very good at this, is he?  The vampire's movements lacked the fluidity of someone truly well-trained, his attacks relying on raw strength and speed.  Which, unfortunately, he has in spades.

                His eyes changed for a moment, going suddenly distant.  Jupiter took the opportunity, pivoting on one foot and slamming the other into the side of his head.  Even the vampire took note of that, reeling backward.  She stepped forward, brought her other foot around--

                Tried to bring her other foot around, and failed, throwing herself off balance and stumbling to one knee.  The vampire smiled as she tugged frantically; one of the innumerable vines on the floor had wrapped itself around her ankle.

                That look.  He was talking to it…he controls this thing…

                Resh stepped up to her, casually blocking her hand as she punched for his ribs.  His other hand caught her chin open-handed, picking her up and tossing her backwards as far as the vine's grip would stretch.  Jupiter ended up on her back, struggling to rise on her elbows and the vampire moved over and knelt at her side.

                "Sorry about that.  But I'm on a bit of a schedule."  He put one finger on her forehead and pressed her inexorably into laying flat; Makoto felt his gaze slide across her with almost palpable force.  Resh ran his tongue lovingly across his fangs.  She grabbed for his shoulder with one hand, trying to do something, but his other arm gripped her wrist.  "Sleep."

                She blinked rapidly, resisting the command inherent in the creature's tone.  Resh's expression became one of irritation. 

                "Fine.  Have it your way."

                Black lightning crackled from where his finger touched her skin.  Makoto's world went white, and she heard herself scream, distantly.

                "That's two."

                "I feel like I'm in therapy."

                Eridu sat down gingerly in the recliner at the end of the couch, as though afraid its dilapidated structure might collapse and swallow him.  Ami winced; she'd furnished the apartment on a sort of catch-as-catch-can basis, and some of the pieces were worse then others.  At the moment, she was stretched full-length on her one good couch, head craned back to keep an eye on Eridu.  He smiled at her, his usual knowing grin, and leaned back.

                "So what exactly are we doing here?"

                "Just relax.  That's the first part.  This will be easier if you're not so tense."

                "Okay."  She blew out a long breath and tried to be calm.  How I can be calm when he won't tell me what he's going to do?  Another breath.  It's okay.  It'll be worth it.  He knows the answers I've been looking for.  "Relaxed.  Now what."

                "Now strip."

                "What?"

                "The ritual requires that you be naked."  She sat bolt upright on the couch, and he spread his hands.  "Don't look at me.  It's just the way things are."

                Ami searched his face for a moment.  Eridu's eyes, as always, were invisible behind dark glasses, but the rest of his expression--

                She shook her head.  "Come on.  It doesn't require that."

                He shrugged.  "You can't blame me for trying."

                "This is not inspiring my confidence, you know."

                Eridu chuckled.  "Sorry.  Just lie back down."

                She took up her position again, keeping one eye on him.  One she'd settled again, he stood and stepped to the side of the couch, looking down.

                "Ready?"  There was a touch of…something in his voice.  She looked at him a moment longer, then nodded.  If he tries anything, I can get away from him.  I have to know…

                Eridu opened one hand, palm down, over her chest.  She felt an odd sensation, like a tugging, as though the whole room was subtly collapsing towards him.  The air filled with the burned-metal smell she'd come to associate with his presence. 

                Ami squinted as white light crawled over his palm for a moment.  There was an answering gleam in his eyes, strong enough to show a pinpoint of brilliance through smoked glass.  Then it was gone.

                Eridu bent his knees, so he was close to level with her.  "How do you feel?"

                "Fine.  A little weird."  She tried to turn her head to face him and found she couldn't, lying still as though suddenly fixed in stone.  Sudden panic flared.  "I can't move."

                "I know."

                She could only watch him out of the corner of one eye.  "What are you going to do?"

                Eridu's smile suddenly looked a lot less friendly.  "I'll have my way with you while you're helpless, and then devour your immortal soul.  What did you think I was going to do?"

                There was a moment's pause.

                His grin broadened.  "Relax, Miss Mizuno.  I'm just going to open your eyes a little."  He put out his hand again, this time over her face, thumb on one cheek and pinky on the other.  The touch of his skin felt hot, and wrong, far too smooth.  She felt the strange suction again.

                This is it.

                White light flared.  Ami stiffened and jerked as it devoured her vision.

                The light faded away, and Eridu stood from next to the couch.  He took a deep breath, more out of habit then anything else. 

                "Have fun, Miss Mizuno."
                One of her arms had dislodged itself and trailed limp down the side of the couch to the floor.  Blue eyes stared blank, unfocused at the ceiling.  The figure on the couch was still, utterly motionless.

                Eridu let the other wards he'd been holding lapse with a sigh, flinching at the sudden cacophony as the phone, computer, and communicator all went off simultaneously.  He waited until they'd worn themselves out and stopped ringing, then settled back down in the dusty recliner to wait.  His muttering was loud in the suddenly silent room.

                "Venus?"  Usagi's footsteps echoed on the marble as she wandered between the massive green pillars.  "Mars?  Jupiter?"  One hand gripped her wand, tightly enough that white showed in her knuckles.  "Where are you?"

                The green stalks were still moving slightly, tendrils questing outward.  She gave these a wide berth, wandering through the transformed lobby in search of an ally or an exit.  Most of her thoughts were focused on keeping panic at bay.

                They'll find me.  And Tuxedo Kamen is coming.  We'll get everyone out of here, and regroup, and we'll be okay.

                She turned around stalk after stalk, trying to find a way in the darkness, until she managed to get to one of the side walls.  Outside was nothing but black, the storm clouds having obliterated the night sky.  Still, having a real wall to put her back against was comforting.

                I just have to follow this one way or another to get to the front door, right?  If it's blocked I can chop a way through.  The others are probably already outside, getting ready to come get me. 

                Usagi picked a direction and started walking.  Along the floor, the green shoots were moving, zeroing in like sharks at the scent of blood; she noticed them and started to walk faster, stepping over gently twitching roots.  They started to move faster, and she started to run.

                They're chasing me.  They're chasing me!

                She was up to a full-on sprint before one of the tentacles in her path raised itself off the ground enough to become a tripwire.  Usagi caught it full on and went sprawling, fall mercifully cushioned by the spongy green material that now infested the ground.  She gave a little shriek and stood up as quickly as she could when the tendrils underneath her started to writhe. 

                Oh, god--

                The thing moved fast as a striking viper, tentacles slapping outwards with whip-like speed and pinpoint accuracy.  It went for wrists and ankles first, strong enough that her sideways jerks did little more than stretch it a little.  By the time she was lifted off the ground, it was more like a web of tiny shoots, wrapping her arms and legs in green and holding her motionless against one of the massive stalks.

                Her shout for help came out as a scream, echoing off the marble.  It faded with no result, and for a moment she hung there motionless.

                Someone will come.  I just have to be here, they'll come…

                One of the big windows above her shattered, shards of flying glass blowing out into the night.  The scream of the wind redoubled, and a elegantly-dressed figure was outlined against the glowing city skyline.

                "Tuxedo Kamen!"

                He smiled.  "Evildoers who would disturb a place of commerce!  Industry is the lifeblood of our great nation, and I will not forgive those who--"

                Just above his shoulder, a pair of glowing red eyes opened in the darkness. 

                "I've been waiting for you, cape-boy."

                Resh licked a stray fleck of blood off the back of his hand, savoring the flavor.

                "That's three."  He stalked towards the door to the basement, bushels of green tentacles obediently clearing a path.  "One more downstairs, and I can deliver them all nice and gift-wrapped as ordered.  Four guardians and a side dish of mask-wearing loony.  One more--"

                A thunderous explosion at the entrance shook the building, the vines, and the vampire.  Resh staggered a bit before regaining his feet; marble dust rained down from the ceiling.  His expression soured.

                "That'll be the damn bounty hunter.  I figured he'd get involved somehow."  Resh closed his eyes for a moment, giving orders to his silent subordinate.  Find the girl downstairs.  Wrap her tightly, hold her, wait for instructions.  As the vines shifted in response, he turned on his heel and headed towards the front door.

Chapter Nine

                In which defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory, Hotaru releases some pent-up aggression, and Rei puts basic biology to work.

                Her eyelids felt like they'd been dipped in glue.  Returning to awareness was a desperate struggle, like a drowning man clawing for air, trying to force a way past the shimmering surface.  The pain returned in the space of breath, flaring as she moved and threatening to drown her once again.

                Rei lifted her head, gingerly, and ran a brief mental self-inventory.  Her side hurt the worst, a dull, numbing ache that shifted as she turned over.  Aside from that, her arms and legs felt bruised; she had a vague memory of raising them in defense as the basement floor approached.  Almost unbelievably, that was it.  She tested her hands, carefully.  Nothing feels broken.  I must have landed on something…soft…

                The rough floor underneath shifted slightly.  Her eyes were rapidly adjusting to the almost-total darkness; a wan emergency bulb burned somewhere nearby, around a corner, throwing long, menacing shadows.  What she'd taken for the floor of the basement was a deep mat of green, a thousand thousand tendrils interwoven into a kind of spongy mass that, judging from its height against the walls, was at least a few feet deep.  She could feel the things moving around underneath her, tiny tentacles squirming and rustling around her legs, her arm, wherever they met an obstruction.  Rei closed her eyes again.

                I'm not going to scream.  I'm not going to scream.

                It was also hot, uncomfortably so.  Sweat started to blossom as she slowly turned over, put her back against a wall, and pulled herself up to a sitting position.  A couple of curious tendrils followed, but she batted them away gingerly and they did not seem inclined to return.

                Ow.  Every motion made her head throb, her side ache.  I wonder if my ribs are cracked.

                Another few moments passed as she sat in silent reverie; then Rei blinked, shook her head, and squeezed her eyes.  Concentrate.  I can ache after we win.  Now, where am I?

                The light, such as it was, did not reveal much about the room, and its being half-covered in green shoots didn't help.  A couple of massive round objects squatted in one corner, covered in a thick layer of grime and sprouting pipes that burrowed up into the ceiling.  A workstation next to them, marginally cleaner, was covered with dials and gauges.  As she listened, she became aware of a rhythmic thumping sound, accompanied by a sort of continual whir.

                Pipes, and pumping.  And heat.  This is the boiler room, then.  So where are the stairs?

                She stood up, unsteadily, and picked her way across the surface of the green stuff.  It was creepy to walk on, but not actually all that difficult.  Only a few shoots near her feet moved as she stepped, and by progressing quickly she stayed on steady ground.  The boiler room had two exits; picking the one to the left arbitrarily, Rei grabbed the doorframe as soon as she could and peered around the corner. 

                The next room was better lit, and dominated by a massive pit in its center.  All the furniture had gathered at the walls, pushed aside by the massive tide of green that had flowed out along the floor.  Several tentacles, each about the twice the thickness of a telephone pole, swept up out of the hole and up the stairwell; another pair burrowed their way into the ceiling.  The staircase was nowhere to be seen.

                That thing looks like it climbed out of that pit.  Did Resh find it in here, I wonder?  She shook her head again.  Find the others first.  The plant seems to have lost interest in me for the moment.

                She picked her way back across the boiler room to the other door and was relieved to see the gunmetal-gray staircase, covered in a thick coat of green shoots.  Walking that is going to be difficult, but if it doesn't move…  Rei stepped out, carefully.  

                From the first few steps she realized something was wrong.  As she approached the stairs, a couple of the big tentacles stirred and shifted in her direction.  Before she'd gone more than a dozen steps, they were in the air, snapping forward with eye-blurring speed.  She dove aside just in time, sighting upwards against the tendril.

                "Mars Flame Sniper!"

                The bolt blew the thing apart in a spray of juices, but more of the big ones were moving.  Rei backed up to the doorframe as they approached, unwilling to go any farther; the thought of all those tiny shoots covering her body was too disgusting to contemplate.  Another blast of flame smashed one, but the vines were weaving into a sold barrier even as they struck at her.  Without much of another option, Rei jumped up to the unstable green floor of the boiler room, silently willing her legs not to sink into the mass.

                They didn't, and she scrambled backwards as the large tentacles came through the doorway.  Rei braced for another attack, but it didn't come--the thing moved from side to side, searching, and finally withdrew through the doorway as though it had missed what it was looking for.  She stared after it, thinking furiously.

                It didn't hit me.  Why?  The thing had certainly tried to strike her when she'd gone for the stairwell.  So it wants to keep me down here?  That doesn't make any sense, it could have just had the little ones tie me up while I was out.  Plus it doesn't seem smart enough for something like that.

                So why?

                The answer came as the boiler pumps pulsed again.  Because it can't find me.  No eyes.  The damn thing is hunting by heat.

                Does that help me get out?

                She glanced up at the staircase, now filled top to bottom with a sold web of tentacles.  Not going to happen, huh?  I could bust through the ceiling, but that might bring the whole place down on top of me.  What else?

                Another nagging thought came to her.  It's green, it moves by growing tentacles, no visible features.  It seems to be filled with sap; this is clearly a plant.  So what?

                Despite the heat and the continuing pain, Rei smiled.  I have an idea.

                The building shook, faintly, and she could hear an echoing boom.

                Another block of tentacles, all woven together, whipped forward with the speed of a striking snake.  Shard sidestepped casually, aiming at the point where the stalk connected to the floor and firing a long burst.  Detonations rocked the floor as the explosive rounds tore up marble and plant indiscriminately, leaving a ten foot trench and a severed stalk, leaking juices.  The mass of tendrils dropped to the floor, twitching reflexively.  Shard drew his left-hand gun to match his right and shouted into the dust-filled darkness.

                "Resh!  Get your ass out here!"

                "Shard."  The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.  "How nice of you to join my little operation."

                "Resh!"

                Vines rustled again, and the bounty hunter leveled his gun without thinking before he recognized human forms cradled in the branches.  Three young girls hung suspended from a web of tendrils, tentacles wrapped their wrist and ankles and around their faces in a kind of gag.  Two of them were unmoving, unconscious or dead; the brown-haired one was covered with char and burns.  The one in the center, the blonde, was awake.  Frightened eyes found Shard's immediately.

                "As you can see, my friend, I have the situation well in hand.  Your services are not necessary."

                Shard's aim didn't waver, though his eyes wandered, searching for a hint of the vampire's presence.  "Where is she?"

                "'She?'  You mean the last one?"  A dry chuckle floated across the darkened lobby.  "I'm afraid my little friend got a bit rough with her.  Once I get these delivered, I'll go pick up the bits."

                Another sledge-hammer weight tentacle had been creeping quietly along the floor; now it sprung forward.  Shard shifted his weight and fired, the explosive shells tearing through its mass and sending bits in all directions as it disintegrated.  Resh laughed again.

                "Shard, this is not exactly what I'd call backing me up.  Might I enquire what you're up to?"

                "You know what I want.  Just give me the girl and you can keep the rest of them."

                "I think my friends vaunted ice-cold façade has cracked a little!  Fallen in love with a guardian, at that.  What fun.  Or was she just so good in bed you can't bear to give her up?"  The voice faded, then returned in a whisper, right behind his ear.  "What do you say, Shard?  Shall I give you her heart?  Or perhaps an arm, or a leg?  Or maybe I should have a snack first.  I don't know if you've ever slept with a vampire, but believe me, you don't have to be warm to have fun…"

                The bounty hunter whirled, aiming his explosive rounds; Resh latched onto his wrist, jerking the pistol's aim upwards.  At the same time, though, Shard's other hand swung the second gun towards the vampire and squeezed the trigger, unleashing a hail of silver-tipped death.  Resh saw it coming a second too soon, twisting sideways so fast he blurred and letting go of Shard's hand.  The bounty hunter scrambled back, firing from cover; the blasts stitched a pattern in the floor as Resh vaulted backwards, still laughing.  Tentacles all over the room swung inwards, and Shard cursed and dove aside as another pair of massive stalks slashed towards him.  More were coming, and he dodged again, trying to get to the doorway.

                The vampire had regained his feet, over by the captive guardians.  He patted the center one on the shoulder possessively, running one hand up and down her neck and brushing her hair to the side.  "You're not getting out that easily.  We're going to see what Iylitrio has to say about your change of mission priorities.  I hate to admit it, but whatever I can do probably pales in comparison to what he can dream up.  Humans are so imaginative."

                More vines wound round, and one of Shard's dodges ended badly.  He hit the floor in a roll that ended against one of the big tentacles.  Before he could regain his feet, tiny shoots sprang out and ensnared him, twisting around his wrists until he dropped his pistols in agony. 

                "This is over, Shard."  The vampire used his smile to good effect.

                The bounty hunter licked a trickle of blood from his split lip.  "You're pathetic, Resh."

                "Oh?"

                "If Iylitrio hadn't given you the seed for the infinity vine, you'd be nothing.  You'd never have gotten this far.  You can't fight me without it."

                Resh paused a moment, then his smile broadened.  "Trying to bait me?  I think we're both beyond that.  You know as well as I that in a situation like this"--he waved vaguely--"one uses whatever comes to hand."

                The building was an old apartment.  It had probably been the height of fashion the day it was built, and possibly for as long as a week afterwards, meant to shore up a sagging neighborhood from a slide into slumdom.  It hadn't worked, and now the empty building towered over its crumbling neighbors like a destitute king and his beggar retinue.  Holes gaped where the windows had been, left open or shored up with timber by some long-ago squatter.  The front door still stood, though, a massive oak-and-iron thing with half-a-dozen ancient scars. 

                Saturn paused as she led Jahara up the steps.  Somewhere inside, Hotaru struggled to keep her balance on the flow of monumental arrogance, the power of the Senshi's persona.  She chose her words carefully.

                "Now what?  Are they going to be expecting us?"

                "Probably not.  The spell should blind their senses as well."

                "But there'll be guards."

                Jahara shrugged, the presence or absence of guards obviously a matter of no import.  Saturn nodded.

                "Would you like to knock, or should I?"

                "Please go ahead."

                She turned back to the door.  Jahara made no obvious move to get ready, but she felt his presence increase as he gathered power.  Her grip shifted on the Silence Glaive, and the metal barely whispered as it slashed, a faint sound like 'tzing.'

                The oak door, a good four inches deep, was quartered by a sudden glowing cross.  After a moment it fell to bits, hinges hanging forlornly from one side, and gave them a view of the corridor beyond.  Saturn felt rather then saw Jahara nod approvingly. 

                "Still feeling okay?"

                The numb sensation was still there, like a weight on her mind, but it was more than tolerable.  "I'm fine."

                "The source is down there, at the end of the corridor.  I'll go first--"

                "Let me do it."

                The Unforgiven paused a moment at her tone, then shrugged again.  "As you wish."

                Saturn stepped through the doorway.  The hall floor was covered in the rotted ruin of pile carpet, but whatever other furnishings it had possessed had already been sold or converted to firewood.  A pair of doorways stood about halfway to the end, where it stopped in another solid-looking portal.  Her eyes fixed themselves on the doors as she moved carefully, and Saturn tried to reach out, mentally.  That was a failure; she snapped her attention back the physical as numb pressure threatened to overwhelm her.

                It's getting worse.  I feel like I'm blind.  It was like a sound that isn't audible until it stops.  She hadn't realized how much her magical sense colored her view of the world; being without it was as though she'd suddenly lost the ability to tell the difference between red and green.  Let's shut it down quickly, then.

                "Hotaru?"  Jahara pulled up behind her as she paused.

                "Saturn.  And I think there's something behind those doorways."

                "Allow me."

                The Unforgiven extended his hand to the left, and there was a pulse of green light.  The plaster crumbled and puffed into dust all at once in a wide circle that sent most of the interior wall crashing to the ground.  Two men, who'd obviously been standing behind the wall and waiting for someone to cross the open space, staggered backwards while choking on the sudden spray of grit.  They were all in black, and almost immediately went for weapons holstered at their sides.

                "These are mine.  Handle the others."  Jahara eclipsed her view of them just as the shooting started; Saturn saw green fire flare and tasted the ozone tang on the air as she turned around.

                Others?

                The second doorway was suddenly full as well, the occupant of the other room having to duck in order to fit through the doorway.  He was taller then Jahara, but not by much, and seemed to be all teeth and claws.  She caught a vague glimpse of another form behind the monstrous one before she was forced to back down the corridor, glaive spinning and sweeping to deflect the claws of the thing as it raged forward.

                Pathetic.  The thought surprised Hotaru; that attitude was pure Saturn.  The creature could barely move in the hallway, and she easily dodged to the side of one massive swipe and brought the Silence Glaive around.  Scaled or not, the thing's skin parted easily for the unstoppable blade, and it gave a gurgling scream as blood sprayed across the floor.  Saturn stepped back neatly as the second guard, a young woman with a long knife in each hand, jumped over the monster's corpse to stay in front of her.

                She…  Hotaru barely had time for the thought before the girl was sweeping forward, weapons held in a wicked underhanded grip along her arms.  She parried the first set of strikes on pure instinct, hampered by the lack of room to really swing her own weapon.  Saturn started to back away more quickly, and the guard followed her, sensing weakness.

                Foolish.  They'd backed up until Saturn stepped out of the main door, jumping lightly backwards, meeting the girl's rush head on, Silence Glaive spinning in a circle of wood and steel that turned every attack.  Her opponent was no fool--she realized her mistake quickly and started giving ground herself, but Saturn had no intention of letting her regain favorable terrain.  As the girl took a step back, slightly off-balance, she altered her defensive stance and let the shaft end of the glaive strike like a quarterstaff, slapping hard across the other's wrist.  The girl's blade went flying, and she cried out and stumbled long enough for Saturn to turn the strike around, bringing the same blunt end back across to sweep out her opponents legs.  The girl ended up on the ground, both her weapons lying in the dirt a few feet away; Saturn took a step forward and thrust.

                Wait just a minute!  Hotaru almost cried out, the ultra-sharp edge of the Silence Glaive hovering inches from the girl's chest.  Her eyes were fixed on the steel, holding her breath as Saturn struggled with herself.

                She's a human.  I can't just kill somebody.

                The response came from a far older voice.  She works with those who would destroy our world.  She raised a weapon against us.  Her life is forfeit.

                That's not right! 

                It is the choice a warrior makes.

                No!

                The girl blinked, and Hotaru could see tears in her eyes.  The end of the Glaive vibrated with tension. 

                "P…please?"

                Saturn let out a deep breath and lowered the Glaive, shivering.  "Get out of here."

                The girl moved, hand slapping across the dirt onto the hilt of her weapon, rolling into a kick that cut Saturn's legs out.  As she fell, the girl's other hand grabbed the haft of the Glaive, twisting it away from her and tossing it aside before bringing the knife down towards Saturn's throat.  The Senshi's white-gloved hands met the guard's wrists, holding the blade in check for a moment.  Then she twitched her head aside and let the blow fall, rolling aside herself.  The girl reacted beautifully, yanking the knife from where it had impaled the dirt and surging forward, but Saturn was just a bit too fast.  One of her hands reached backed, closed around the hilt of the other long blade, and met the charge head-on. 

                The tableau held for a moment, Saturn stretched full-length on the ground, one arm held straight out.  The girl arched over her, supported by the blade driven into chest.  A second later, the guard's hand opened, her knife clattering to the ground from nerveless fingers, and she collapsed on top of the Senshi.

                Hotaru surfaced, staring into the girl's face a few inches from her own.  Her opponent didn't look much older the Usagi or Makoto, her black hair tied back, dark brown eyes slowly losing focus.  Hotaru wanted to scream.

                Instead, she whispered.  "I…let you go."

                The girl smiled, weakly, a trickle of blood running from her mouth.  "If I didn't stop you…Iylitrio…would have…done worse."

                Before the Senshi could reply, she felt the girl jerk and then relax.  It took her a moment to gather enough strength to push the body off onto the sidewalk.  Her uniform was stained a deep red where the girl had lain on top of her.  Saturn stumbled over to where the Glaive lay and reclaimed in, using it like a staff to hold herself up.

                "Are you injured?"

                Jahara looked out from the doorway; Saturn shook her head.  "It's hers, not mine."

                "Good.  I have dealt with those left inside."

                She followed him inside, her mind feeling numb in a way that had nothing to do with the spell.  I killed her. 

                She deserved it.

                A person!  I killed a person!

                We cannot show mercy to those who oppose us.

                What?  Where does that come from?

                They passed the new hole in the wall, behind which two black-suited figures lay motionless, and stepped over the body of the reptilian thing.

                Hotaru suppressed a sob.  "Get this over with quickly."

                The Unforgiven nodded and stood in front of the door at the end of the hall.  He put up his hand, palm first, and bits of oak sprayed outwards in a flash of green.  The room was just a rotted out space, wooden floorboards showing bits of the concrete beneath; in the center of it stood a humanoid figure, swathed in cloth and surrounded by a shifting glow.  The pressure in Saturn's head redoubled as the figure turned to them.  She could feel the spell shift as he moved, sawing wildly for a moment before settling down again.

                The figure raised a hand, whether to implore them to stop or to do some magic she couldn't tell.  Jahara moved faster, a pencil-thin beam of liquid green fire blowing through the thing's head in a shower of sparks.  It hovered a moment longer, and then crumpled, burning as it fell so that by the time it hit the floor there was no more then a pile of ash.

                Saturn stared, the pressure in her mind suddenly gone.  The sensation was spectacular, as though some huge weight had been removed; the world suddenly twisted into focus.  Jahara apparently felt the same way, letting out a deep breath.

                Saturn reigned a moment longer.  "What was that thing?"

                "A demon of some kind.  Probably summoned and bound to keep up this enchantment, without much other power to its credit."

                "Good."  She took a deep breath.  "I'm going to change…back, now."

                You don't have to.  We can deal with this--

                Go away!

                She felt more separate from being Saturn then she had in years.  The Senshi's power and arrogance burned like a flame, sometimes binding close to her will, sometimes leaving her aside.  Now Hotaru pushed them away and watched the sparkling lights reverse her transformation.  Her street clothes had returned, pristine and unbloodied, and she knew from past experience her uniform would be perfect the next time.  Hotaru stared down at where the stain had been, Saturn's conceit and detachment suddenly gone.  Her eyes filled with tears.

                I killed her.

                Jahara knelt down, his expression uncomprehending, as Hotaru practically collapsed against his side.  She lay quietly with her head pressed against him as she cried.  The Unforgiven's skin was cool, not clammy but not blood-hot; his body, up close, had a kind of vibration to it, as though it were never completely still.  Jahara continued kneeling, awkwardly, his hands at his sides as though unsure of what else to do with them.

                "Are you hurt?"

                She shook her head without looking up.  "No."

                "Then what is wrong?"

                She wanted to lie against him sobbing forever, to have him put an arm around her shoulders and hold her there.  Instead, she sniffed and wiped her eyes, pulling away to see his features expressing polite lack of understanding.

                Hotaru shook her head.  "Nothing.  I…I'm fine."  She watched his eyes, trying to divine some feeling in glowing green-on-green.  For a moment, she thought she saw something that understood, an expression of emotion so old and deep it was almost frightening.  Then the Unforgiven's blank mask returned, quickly enough for her to doubt whether the lapse had ever occurred.  Jahara nodded solemnly.

                "Excellent."  He stood up.  "The spell is broken, and I can return to my search.  And perhaps destroy whoever planned this diversion."

                "The girl…"  She stopped and swallowed.  "The girl outside.  She said something about someone named Iylitrio."

                "Iylitrio."  He rolled the word around.  "It means nothing to me, but I suppose we can find him.  In either case, Hotaru, it is clearly time for you to return home.  I originally recruited you to aid me in finding Resh, but the example of this spell makes it clear that this is unfairly dangerous to you.  If the enemy is employing this caliber of magic to try and stop me, you could easily lose your life in some side effect."

                That's it.  Just go home?  "I thought you said you need my help."

                "I do.  Without you my task is more difficult, perhaps impossible.  But I underestimated the capability of Resh's allies and thus the danger to you; I cannot allow you to subject yourself to that kind of harm."

                A far cry from going after Resh and killing anything in your way.  She studied his face again.  There's something in there.

                "I want to help you--"

                Her communicator flashed, interrupting.  Hotaru flipped it open as Jahara turned away, to look around the room.

                "I'm here."

                "I just got word--Usagi and the others went to the Nakatomi building.  Some youma's making trouble."  Setsuna sounded worried.  "Now I can't get through to any of them.  Something gone badly wrong, Hotaru.  Uranus and Neptune are already on their way there--they were supposed to be keeping an eye on you when this started up.  Get back here quickly, we might need you."

                "I--"  She looked up as Jahara stared, his gaze focused through the wall.  "I'll be there as soon as I can."  Before Setsuna could reply, she clicked the device closed.  "What is it?"

                The Unforgiven smiled, and his power crackled around him in waves.  "Resh."

                Rei stared for a moment at the half-dozen big tendrils, running down into the pit like a cluster of fat green snakes.  They'd started to erode the walls of the hole with typical vegetable strength, and cracks spiderwebbed the concrete.  The room was dark save for the faint glow of an emergency bulb around the corner.

                Her eyes, though, were not on the plant itself but the furnishings of the room.  A desk was pushed into one corner, nearly crushed by the weight of vines on top of it, and a couple of chairs in the other.  And running up and down one wall--

                Jackpot.  A half-dozen pipes of various sizes, probably serving the first couple of floors of the building.  Big office building like this has its own cafeteria.  That means power, water, drainage--and gas.  She sent up a silent prayer.  Let's hope its not cracked already, and that my hunch is right.

                First.

                She leaned out of the doorway from the boiler room, watched the tentacles stir as they sensed the change in heat sources.  I'll give you some heat.

                "Mars Flame Sniper!"

                She kept the power down, lighting the table aflame instead of blowing it to bits, and leaned back into the doorway.  The tentacles that had been coming towards her stopped, then swung their tips to point at the desk that was now burning merrily.  She took aim at the chairs next.

                "Flame Sniper!"

                Another fire started momentarily.  The tentacles split their attention between the two, poking through the burning furniture.  Rei took aim at the pipes, licking lips dried out from the heat.

                "Flame"--I really, really hope I'm not about to blow myself to bits--"Sniper!"

                The result was everything she could have hoped for.  Fire sliced through all the pipes, and one of them detonated outwards in burst of ceramic shards.  One end of it kept burning merrily, gas pressure keeping the flame from pushing down the pipe and instead spilling flame out into the room in waves.  The plant reacted instantly, tentacles striking all through the flame with such force that they drove into the concrete beyond.   Waves of heat pulsed through the room, even hotter then the boiler behind her.

                Now or never.  We'll see if this works.  Rei sprinted forwards, tentacles ignoring one more tiny heat source among the commotion.  She vaulted the big green stalks and peered over the lip of the pit.

                It's a plant.  Plants have roots, and this is the only way down…  Something glowed in there, green and wet, moisture flashing to steam in the suddenly superheated environment.  Ignoring the crackle in her hair and the red on her skin, Rei sighted carefully and returned to full power.

                "Mars Flame SNIPER!"

                The double thump from underground caught everyone by surprise.  Resh's smile faded in an instant as the vines and tentacles twisted in vegetable agony, tossing their prisoners sprawling across the floor.

                The bounty hunter was up in an instant, scrambling across the floor for his guns.  Usagi's reaction was a bit slower; the vampire ignored Shard for the moment in favor of the greater threat and stalked over to her as she raised her wand, hands shaking.

                "Drop it."  Power pulsed in his voice, and his dark eyes ripped into hers.  Sailor Moon's grip twitched, reflexively, and she dropped to her knees in front of the vampire.

                "Drop it!"  The wand clattered to the floor, and Resh was again smiling.  "Now back to sleep.  Or better yet, die."

                The last syllable rang out in the suddenly silent lobby, the infinity vines tendrils lying quiescent or twitching in its death throes.  He spun around at the click of Shard's boot on the marble, black lightning picking up the bounty hunter and tossing him against one of the dying stalks.  Behind him, Usagi clutched at her throat, struggling to breath.

                "Can't beat you?  You have too high an estimation of yourself for someone who's just a human with a few techno-tricks."  Shard's glasses had been broken or lost, and smoke rose from his clothing where Resh's lightning had struck.  Nonetheless, he struggled into a sitting position, groping for a weapon.  The vampire watched benevolently, hand raised.

                "You're nothing.  All of you!  I--"

                Resh's expression changed as a new light appeared on his mental map of the city, a point of green brilliance powerful enough shine through the magical static of the supernexus.  He faltered in mid-word, but one does not get to be five hundred years old without being able to jump to conclusions.

                If I can see him, he can see me. 

                "Jahara."  He spat that word as though it were a curse, letting his power fade away.  The uniformed girl behind him gasped in a breath as his grip was relaxed.  As though sensing weakness, the bounty hunter reached sideways, hand closing around the hilt of a pistol; Resh dove sideways a second too late, the multiple thuds of explosive rounds picking him up and tossing him against the wall of the building.

                "Fuck!"  Shard hunted furiously through the debris for his clip of silver rounds.  "It's the wrong damn one--"

                There was another explosion, this time from where the vampire had been.  Through the clearing dust it became apparent that the Nakatomi building had a new exit.

Chapter Ten

                In which much backstory is revealed and one can cut the foreboding with a knife.

                Cut loose from her moorings, Ami felt herself floating.  There was a sensation of speed, of distance passing under the control of some outside force.  When it cleared, she found herself floating high above a city.

                It wasn't a city she recognized, wasn't any city on earth.  It vaguely resembled the city she'd seen while visiting the future, the palace of Queen Serenity--all crystal domes and towering spires.  There was something to it that that place had lacked, though, a suggestion of danger.  The glass baubles had spikes that came to needle points, and the edges of the prisms looked sharp as razors.  There were people moving down there, bustling though transparent tunnels or gathered in little groups in the cylindrical rotundas.

                "Do you like it?"

                It was Eridu, or at least it sounded like him.  She couldn't see him.  Couldn't, in fact, turn her head, as though everything was a movie, viewed from a fixed perspective.

                "It's…pretty.  What is it?"

                "My city.  Where I come from."

                "Where?"

                "The world it was on no longer exists.  This is just a memory, my memory, that I've gifted to you."

                "I see."  She didn't, not really, but he seemed to take it at face value.

                "You wanted to know what I know, Ami Mizuno, so I am going to give you the greatest of gifts.  You shall see everything it has taken me a thousand lifetimes to gather, know the secrets I have stolen from a thousand minds.  In short, I'm going to teach you a few tricks, so listen up.  I thought this a fitting place to begin."

                She blinked, or would have blinked if she could have.  "Can I ask a question first?"

                "Of course."

                "What did I do to deserve this?"

                There was a long silence.  "Let's just say that I recognize a kindred spirit.  I realized a long time ago, Miss Mizuno, that merely gathering knowledge without being able to show it to anyone gets stale fairly quickly."

                "In other words, you want to show off."

                "Exactly."

                "How old are you, Eridu?"

                "Five thousand years, give or take a few."

                That was met with silence.  After a moment, he continued. 

                "What you see, the world that you know, floats on top of the world of energy like the scum that bubbles to the top of a pot of stew.  You wanted to know how to do magic, and the answer is that it's the easiest thing in the world.  Just a matter of dipping into the current and twisting it until it does what you want.  In a sense, it's what you already do, as a guardian.  People like you are thrown up by the flow of a particular world as an evolved self-defense mechanism, a kind of immune system of the universe.  The flow gives you your power, your strength, and in turn you defend it.  A symbiotic relationship of sorts."

                Ami nodded--tried to nod--as though she'd known this all along.  In a way she had.  The idea felt natural, correct, perfect.  But something was still missing.

                "I follow you so far.  But what I really need to know is the how."  This was the question that had plagued her, followed her, hounded her.  "How do you 'twist a current'?  I can think about what you mean, but I can't feel it.  It's like I lack some sense or something--"

                "You think too much.  Learning magic is like acquiring an ear for music, or an eye for painting, or just about anything.  You just have to keep trying."

                Ami felt vaguely disappointed.  Eridu's epiphany had turned out to be anything but.  What did you expect?  The meaning of life?

                "That would be the hard way," he continued.  She could almost see the wicked grin on his face.  "Let me show you the easy way."

                She gasped as the city disappeared and the scene exploded into color.

                In the wreckage of the lobby, Shard saw that the blonde was the first one on her feet, staring dully at the devastation before glancing to her friends, lying on either side of her.  After a moment, she squeaked and ran to another section of debris, where a black-suited figure had just started to move feebly.

                "Tuxedo Kamen!"

                 Shard ignored her.  As soon as the immediate adrenalin backwash had faded, enough to let him move, he headed for the stairs to the basement.  The web of tentacles that had blocked the way was now inert, hanging like a curtain that he pushed easily aside, and the stairs themselves were covered with dead vines.  The color of the whole scene was gradually fading from green to a kind of gray-brown; the bounty hunter picked his way carefully past them until he spotted a white-uniformed form stumbling up from the bottom of the stairs.

                Rei was covered in soot and drying sap, the frills on her uniform singed and crisped from the heat.  Shard hurried to her side, and she didn't raise her head until he was almost on top of her.

                "Shard?"

                "Yeah.  Come on, we have to get you away from the basement."  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders in support, though it didn't help that he was hardly steady himself.  The pair of them lurched up the vine-laden stairway and through the curtain before collapsing against one of the dead stalks that crisscrossed the lobby.

                Rei pulled herself to a sitting position, next to him, and almost immediately doubled over coughing.  It was a moment before Shard could haul himself upright.

                "Are you okay?"

                She shook her head, eyes streaming.  "Smoke."  Another cough.  "Give it a second."

                He nodded, one hand one her shoulder; she didn't appear to notice.  Finally Rei drew one shaky, clean breath and sighed.

                "Is--"  She hesitated.  "Is everyone alive?"

                "I think so.  Something happened to the infinity vine, and I got the drop on Resh."

                "Infinity vine."  She smiled grimly.  "I killed it."

                "Good job."  Shard leaned back against the pillar, idly massaging his wrists.  They still ached where the vine's tendrils had grabbed him.  Rei sat in silence, apparently content just to rest.  "Resh got away."

                "I figured."  She sighed again.  "They usually do."

                "He'll be back."

                "I'm sure."  He met her gaze and shook his head.

                "Rei, all I want to do it help you.  How long do you think you can keep this up?"

                She coughed again.  "As long as it takes."

                "You're going to get yourself killed."

                "Maybe."  She closed her eyes.  "Right now I'm exhausted, in pain, and half-cooked.  I frankly don't need you sitting here saying 'I told you so.'  Thanks for whatever part you had in this."            

                "You don't get it."  The bounty hunter stood up, reaching into a jacket pocket and pulling out a fresh pair of sunglasses.  The click as they opened sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness.  "Iylitrio isn't going to stand for this.  He's going to make those bounties dead-or-alive, and most likely put one on my head as well.  And I've got pretty much one way to get back into his good graces."

                She stared at him, dully.  "Shard…"

                "If you're not with me, I'm afraid you're against me."

                "I'll watch my back."

                He sighed.  "I'm hiding out for a couple of days.  If you change your mind, I'm in room 111 at the Happiness Hotel.  If not…"  He hesitated.  "Goodbye."

                Rei blinked.  "That sounds like a love hotel, Shard."

                "I said I was hiding out, didn't I?"

                He felt her eyes on him as he walked slowly to the front door, waiting for some word or cry to call him back.  It didn't come, and the bounty hunter stepped out into the darkness, hands sitting on the grips of his pistols.

                Rei leaned back in the kitchen chair, letting her head loll over the back and staring at the ceiling.  Her skin still tingled, and multiple small cuts on her arms burned with disinfectant under the bandages.  Setsuna had pronounced her side intact, which was frankly amazing.

                "Resh…"  Setsuna sighed.  She, Haruka, and Michiru were sitting around the other end of the table.  Not for the first time, Rei wished one of the others was still awake to help her talk to the Outer Senshi.  Minako was still unconscious, and Usagi had collapsed into a bed soon after Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus had shown up at the Nakatomi building and dragged them out a few steps ahead of the police.  Mamoru was resting on the couch with a cut on the head and a bruised ego, and Makoto, though she'd woken up, was staying in bed for the moment.

                Everyone's going to be okay.  It's more then I would have expected.

                "You're sure he's a vampire."

                Rei nodded.  "Pretty sure.  Fangs, glowing red eyes, drinks blood."

                The older woman frowned.  "I don't know a lot about vampires, but from what I've learned they shouldn't give you this much trouble.  In the Silver Millennium they were treated more like a disease then anything else, like an outbreak that needed to be contained.  They certainly never fought a Senshi in single combat and won."

                "Resh seems to have some kind of power beyond just being a vampire.  The first time we fought, at the mall, he had a bunch of other vampires with him.  They weren't so tough."

                Setsuna shook her head disapprovingly.  "You should have told me about that earlier."

                "We were going to, once we found out a bit more.  None of us expected Resh to make his next move so soon."

                Haruka interrupted.  "The important thing is what we do now.  We need to find where this Resh guy is hiding out and finish him."

                "I'm not sure it's that easy."

                "You fought him off this time.  Once everyone is back on their feet, with us helping you, we can take him."

                Rei shook her head.  "That's the thing.  We didn't fight him off.  Shard said that after I killed that vine thing, Usagi and the others were still pretty much out of it.  And then he just…ran.  Something else must have interfered."

                "Shard?"  Setsuna sounded suspicious.  Oops.  I forgot she doesn't know about him.

                "He's an acquaintance of mine.  He was…of some help."

                "I see."  The Outer Senshi eyed her curiously, but didn't push the subject.  "So what do you think made him flee?"

                "I have no idea.  I was still downstairs at the time, and not in the best of mental states."

                "What if he has some sort of weakness," Michiru mused.  "Something Usagi or your friend Shard stumbled on without realizing it.  If we could figure that out, we might have an easy way to beat him."

                "If we can find him."  Haruka seemed angry, for some reason.  Probably because the fight ended before she got there.  "I still say the most important thing is tracking him down--"

                "The most important thing is making sure that everyone is healthy.  Resh can wait."  Setsuna turned to Rei.  "If he attacks again, wait for us before going in.  We're going to need all the power we can get here."

                Rei nodded.  "Speaking of which, I haven't seen Hotaru around."

                Setsuna looked uncomfortable.  "Hotaru…"

                "She met up with us briefly downtown, said she was staying with that Jahara guy.  I don't like this, Setsuna.  Not at all."  Haruka stood up from the table and started pacing around the kitchen.  "Some ludicrously powerful alien shows up, basically kidnaps Hotaru, and next time we see her she's volunteering to follow him around the city in the middle of the night.  At the same time, a vampire shows up in the city and starts setting ambushes for the Senshi."

                "Ami."  Rei's skin suddenly went cold.

                "What?"  Haruka stopped in mid-stride.

                "Ami didn't show up to the building.  We couldn't reach her."

                Setsuna nodded.  "That's not that unusual, though.  Ami's busy with her work--"

                "Usually the communicator gets through."

                "She could have been asleep."

                "Maybe…"  Rei shook her head.  "I'm worried.  Someone should go over there.  If someone is actually setting up traps for us, they may be trying to pick us off one at a time."

                "I'll head over there."  Haruka was already moving, grabbing her jacket from the back of a chair.  Michiru quickly stood to accompany her.

                "Just check it out."  Setsuna glared, particularly at Haruka.  "If there's anything wrong, call us before going in.  Got it?"

                "Yeah.  I'll contact you in an hour."

                Once the two Outer Senshi had hurried out, Rei also stood from the table.  "If it's okay with you, I'm going to go get some sleep."

                "Go."  She waved a hand.  "You must be exhausted."

                That I am.  Rei walked unsteadily to one of the guest bedrooms, falling face-first into one of the twin beds across from Minako.  The blonde mumbled something and turned over in her sleep; Rei smiled into the pillow.  Everyone's okay.  We did it again.  She let out a deep breath.  Resh and…Jahara, was it?  And Ami, and Shard.  Is there a connection somewhere?

                I know there's a connection.  Iylitrio.  He wants the Senshi, who knows why, and he's sent this vampire goon to get us.  And Shard.  So what about Jahara?  Another one of his minions?  From Haruka and Michiru's descriptions, it didn't seem likely.  They said he'd fought the vampires.  Maybe we works for another boss?  Some kind of gang war?  Other then Iylitrio, she didn't know of a yakuza boss magically adept enough to have someone of Jahara's apparent caliber on his payroll, but it was always possible.  Why go after us, though?  What does he want from us?

                Shard's face swam in front of her.

                "Iylitrio's promised you to someone…"

                 So he's just sold us to someone?  Who?  There was a blank spot at the top of the chain; the motivation was missing.

                Sleep first.  Answers later.  Rei closed her eyes, too tired to undress.  Shard's face loomed again.

                "I'm…"

                In love with me?

                Don't be an idiot, Rei.  He's a killer.

                And he said he take on his boss and his whole gang.  For me.

                He admitted he works for Iylitrio.  It's probably just a trick to take me captive.

                Probably…

                "You were not supposed to come directly back here."  Iylitrio kept his chair turned around, facing the window.  "You can be tracked, yes?  If the wrath of the Unforgiven is to come down on my humble household, I will be blaming you."

                "Where in hell else am I supposed to go!"

                "Maybe that is not my concern any longer."

                Resh froze.  "What?"

                "I gave you a job, vampire.  Capture or kill five little girls.  You said it would be simple, and I repeated that promise to my associate.  Now you come back empty-handed, and I have to go to this associate and explain why I do not have merchandise to deliver.  Understand?  You are making me look bad."

                "It's not my fault--"

                "I do not recall employing you to tell me whose fault it was.  I want you to bring me those girls, in small pieces if necessary."

                Resh bared his teeth.  "Listen, human.  Your mages let the binding spell lapse.  And your damn bounty hunter is running around like a loose cannon, screwing things up."

                "Shard?"  Iylitrio sounded genuinely surprised.  "He is most reliable."

                "Not this time."  The vampire snorted.  "I think he's fallen for one of them.  Don't ask me why."

                "Interesting."  The boss sighed.  "I want results, Resh, not excuses.  Protecting you from Jahara is proving to be very expensive."

                "Can you set up another binding spell?"

                "Not so soon.  The Unforgiven would suspect; he obviously has some method of breaking such magic.  No, I'm afraid you are on your own for the moment."  He leaned backwards until his chair nearly touched the desk.  "You'll have to rely on more subtle methods than taking over an office building and blowing helicopters out of the sky, yes?"

                Resh snarled.  "So how am I supposed to capture them?"

                "Capture if you can.  Kill them if you must."

                There was a long pause.  Finally, the vampire nodded.

                "I'll need to borrow some of your men and equipment."

                "Of course."

                "And I need access to your databases."

                "As you wish."

                Resh turned and stalked out of the office, fuming.  Subtle, hell.  I'll show them subtle.

                Jahara stopped in front of the hotel and turned.

                "Is this place suitable?"

                "Sure."

                The mismatched pair walked up the front steps and into the deserted lobby of the third-rate motel.  Hotaru had ruled out any of the fancier places on the grounds that she didn't have enough cash; Jahara, she judged, was not the kind of person who carried a lot of money around.  And I'd rather not have to run away from the cops after he vaporizes hotel security.  Instead she'd guided him to a reasonably clean but run-down place a ways out of downtown.  Her legs throbbed with every step from the day's walking.  At least he realizes we need to stop.  By himself he'd probably just keep going all night.

                The night clerk was distracted by the glare of a TV set hidden underneath the desk.  He barely looked up as they approached, until Jahara brought his hand down decisively on the bell.  It let out a sad little clonk, and the attendant looked up, then further up.  The Unforgiven waited a moment before speaking.

                "We wish accommodations."

                "F…For how long?"  The man was suddenly scrambling to be helpful, hauling out the register and a pen.  Jahara glanced down at Hotaru.

                "Just tonight."  The clerk looked at her in surprise; she doubted he'd even noticed her before that point.  Obvious questions rose in his face, but he suppressed them and merely nodded. 

                "That…that'll be…"

                "We will pay you in the morning."  Jahara took the key from his nerveless hand and started for the stairs behind the desk.  Hotaru followed, not entirely sure how the hotel would react to this new policy.  The clerk started to raise a protest, but the Unforgiven silenced him with a glare, and they made their way to the room unmolested.  It was pretty typical as such things went, being the home of a marginally functional television, a heating system that put out a perpetual death rattle, and a single bed whose linens had probably been laundered at least once in the last week.

                "Not so bad."  Hotaru sighed as she flopped onto the bed.  Getting off her feet felt good enough that she forgave the place its problems. 

                Jahara walked to the window, gave the scene a cursory glance, and twitched the curtain shut.  "Indeed.  I've seen worse."

                "We'll be getting an early start in the morning, I assume."

                "I would like to.  Resh is a powerful enough vampire that he can survive even direct exposure to the sun, but daylight will hamper his activities.  If we can corner him before sunset, his options will be curtailed."

                "Makes sense."  She yawned and crawled to the head of the bed, packing one of the pillows against the headrest.  A sudden thought came to her; Hotaru's cheeks colored.  "There's just the one bed, but…I mean, I don't mind, if you're tired…"

                He chuckled.  "The bed is yours."

                "But where…"

                "I don't sleep."

                I should have guessed.  Hotaru wormed her way under the covers and curled up on her side.  Whatever its drawbacks, the bed was warm and soft; she closed her eyes.

                Her life is forfeit.

                "P…please?"

                Her eyes snapped open again, staring at the stains and markings on the off-white walls.  Jahara stood against the window, perfectly still, his shadow faint from the light that bled through the curtain.

                Some time passed, how much she couldn't say.  The Unforgiven didn't move, didn't scratch or shift position.  Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the girl dying.  My fault.  I let myself do that.  The fact that she had undoubtedly done much worse in her previous incarnation did not console her.  I was done with that.  And now…  She felt close to tears.  What do I do now?

                "I can hear that you are not asleep."  Jahara spoke without moving.  "Is something wrong?"

                She paused a moment.  "How many people have you…killed, Jahara?"

                "Humans?"

                "Yeah."

                "I have lost count.  Certainly in the tens of thousands."

                Tens of thousands.  For all his odd gentleness towards her, Jahara was occasionally still frightening.  "Does it ever bother you?"

                "No."

                "Why not?"

                "Guilt is no longer a part of my life.  I accept who I am, as I accept my function.  I am a warrior, and it is the choice a warrior makes."

                "But you of all people don't have to.  I mean, a normal person might kill someone if…if their life was threatened, or their family, or their town, or something.  But how could someone with your power ever be threatened?"

                Another pause.  Jahara put his head on one side.  "It is true that serious threats to me are few and far between."

                "So why kill, if not to protect yourself?"

                "Because it doesn't matter one way or the other."

                "Doesn't matter?  It certainly matters to them!"

                "Humans are mortal.  Everyone dies eventually."

                "That doesn't change the fact that you cut their lives short."

                He shifted again.  "From the point of view of infinity, all finite timespans are zero."

                Hotaru let out a long breath and shook her head.  "You're immortal, aren't you."

                "I suspect so."

                "Suspect?"

                "My body does not appear to change with the passage of time, and I haven't died yet."

                "And this excuses murder?"

                "Think on it this way.  Would you hesitate before destroying one of the lesser creatures of your world?  An insect, or a worm?"

                "I…"  She shook her head.  "I see where that's going.  Maybe it works for you."  But it doesn't help me sleep.

                "You have your function, as well."

                "So you keep saying."

                "You should take comfort in it."

                Hotaru curled up a bit tighter and squeezed her eyes shut to banish the images.  The choice a warrior makes.  It's such crap.  He thinks he's absolved of all responsibility, just because he's got so much power…

                In the war between fatigue and guilt, fatigue is the inevitable victor.  She dropped off to sleep, slowly, trying to keep the scene from replaying behind her eyes.

                His function…

                The storm broke over Tokyo in the small hours of the morning.  It started out light, pacing itself; no theatrical thunder and lightning, just a gushing downpour of a caliber that threatened to drown upward-staring pedestrians.  Those still on the streets because they needed to work muttered and cursed and unfolded umbrellas that did little to protect them against the biting winds that drove the water in an almost horizontal splatter; those out for fun scattered for more hospitable climes.  Even the cars thinned out.

                When dawn came, no one noticed.  The storm clouds clustered around the city like vultures hovering over a dying elephant, circling slowly and pouring rain down as though someone had opened the faucet of God.  The greatest concentration hovered over the great spike itself, connected to Tokyo tower by bonds of crackling electricity.

                The authorities took it all in stride.  They closed the tower, battened down the windows, fired the meteorologists.  It was just rain.

                Ami's computer had evolved beyond the beep, the not-so-hilarious quack, even the slightly disapproving ding.  This was by dint of much effort on her part, in fact, and the upshot was that she could usually tell when the computer was doing something unusual just by the change in the background noise, the sound of hard drives spinning up or down and the shifting whirrs of the cooling fans.  It was the electronic equivalent of the gently cleared throat of the best of butlers.

                Eridu, staring out the window at the rainstorm in a kind of reverie, didn't notice the change in sound over the thrash of the rainstorm.  And Ami herself still lay on the couch, eyes staring upwards, unfocused and filmed over, one arm limply brushing the floor.  So the computer's plea for help went unheard, and after a while it went ahead and did the best it could.  Incoming messages were parsed, found to be in code, and matched against a list of possible encryptions.  The boxes in the corner hummed to life, and more fans came on as more power was required.  Luckily for the machine, the algorithm had already been found and added to the list just a day or so earlier; after only five minutes, an eternity of computer time, the mail was decrypted and added to the growing stack.

                One of the screens flickered to life, again requesting attention; again, there was no one to see it.  A list of names and addresses glowed briefly on the monitor before the machine decided no one was paying attention and shut it down again.  Satisfied that it had completed its duties, it returned to watchfulness.

                Eridu shifted to look at the insensate girl on the couch.  His smile had begun to fade.

Chapter Eleven

                In which Resh stops playing around and Ami, version up!

                "Waffles?"

                Usagi nodded, mouth full, and Rei handed the dripping plate across the table.  The blonde was making a pig of herself, as usual, but even Rei had to admit that Setsuna's breakfast-making skills were top-notch.  Unless Haruka or Michiru cooked all this after they got back.  Either way, the table was full and the pair of them were wasting no time.

                "Usagi!"  Rei shook her head as she noticed her friend attempting to unhinge her jaw like a snake and fit a dozen waffles into her mouth at once.  "Leave some for the others."

                "Sohwy." 

                "'Morning."  Minako pushed the kitchen door aside and let it swing closed behind her, rubbing at her eyes with back of one hand. 

                "Hi, Mina.  How are you feeling?"

                She pulled up a seat and started filling up her plate.  "Not bad.  A bit woozy.  You?"

                "Sore.  And my side still hurts.  Where's Makoto?"

                "Still sleeping, I think.  She was hurting pretty badly last night."

                "Setsuna said she'd be all right, though."

                Minako nodded.  "Yup."

                Rei sighed.  "And that leaves one."

                The mood at the table darkened.  Minako tried to be cheerful.  "It could be nothing.  Maybe her parents called her suddenly and she went out of town without telling anyone…"

                "Without leaving a message or a note or something?"

                "People forget things when they're in a hurry."

                "Minako, this is Ami."

                "Right."  She shook her head.  "I guess not.  But we can't just assume something bad happened."

                "I still think Haruka should have forced the door."  The two Outers had returned from Ami's apartment reporting everything dark inside and no answer, and Setsuna had told them to wait before breaking in.

                "Why?  If she was in there, she would have answered.  She didn't answer, so she has to be somewhere else."  The blonde looked very satisfied with this chain of logic.

                "Unless she's…"  Rei looked down at the table as the two other girls stared at her.  She finished the sentence in a mumble.  "Hurt, or something."

                "Honestly, Rei, what could have happened?"  Minako looked away after a moment and started pouring syrup.  "Resh was with us, remember?"

                "I'm not going to forget that in a hurry.  But I hadn't talked to Ami all day.  He could have--"

                "That was the day.  He's a vampire, remember?  He can't go walking around in the sunshine."

                Rei rolled her eyes.  "He looks like a vampire.  We have no idea what his real strengths or weaknesses are.  Plus, it's not just today.  I haven't seen much of Ami for a week now, and every time I talk to her she seems distracted."

                "She could be working on some project for school."

                "All I'm saying"--Rei gritted her teeth--"is that I'm a bit worried."

                "And I'm saying you're jumping to conclusions."  She took a bite, and closed her eyes for a moment in silent ecstasy.  Rei surveyed her friend's mountain of syrup, chocolate, and whip cream dismally. 

                "Isn't that kind of bad for your figure?"

                "I make an exception when we're nearly killed."  She took another bite and licked her lips.

                "That's starting to seem less and less the exception."  Rei looked up as the door opened again.  "Mako!  How are you doing?"

                Makoto looked disheveled, her long brown hair in frizzy disarray and thrown over one shoulder.  One of her hands was wrapped in a thick bandage, and she moved with a slight limp.  For all that, though, she sounded cheerful.

                "Pretty good, actually."  She made it to another chair and took her seat.  "Usagi was right about that lightning.  It hurts a lot for a while, but goes away pretty quick."

                "What about the hand?"

                She flexed it under the bandage and winced.  "Still a bit cracked.  It should heal okay, though.  Give me a few days."

                "Luckily Senshi are difficult to damage permanently."  Rei returned her attention to the food and took a bite from her own neglected plate.  Behind her, Usagi reached for thirds, and Minako sat up as though a new thought had just occurred to her. 

                "Rei…"  Her voice had a slight crafty tone that Rei had learned to dread.

                "What?"

                "Usagi told me that Shard rescued us last night."

                If by that you mean I rescued him.  "Not exactly."

                "But he did save you from the fire downstairs, right?"  She leaned closer.  "I think you should tell him how you feel."

                "How you feel?"  Usagi's jaw dropped.  "What exactly does that mean, Rei?"

                Rei blushed.  "Nothing!"  The odd looks on the faces of the other three made her realize she'd almost shouted the word, and her blush spread.  "First of all, he did not rescue me.  I was on my way out anyway, and I'd already killed that…thing, whatever it was.  Second of all, there is absolutely nothing between me and that gun-toting hair-trigger lunatic!"

                Usagi and Minako exchanged knowing glances, and Rei felt her fingers curl on the tabletop.  "Would you two quit it!"

                Even Makoto smiled a little.  "You've got to admit he's good-looking, Rei."

                "I admit that!  So what?  That's hardly the major qualification you look for in a guy!"

                Minako blinked.  "Where exactly have you been looking for guys?"

                Rei stood up and let out a screech of frustration, to the general laughter of the table.  "I'm going for a walk."  Her voice was a growl.

                Makoto stood up behind her.  "No, you're not."

                "No?"

                "Have you looked outside lately?"

                Rei ducked into the next room and peeked past the shades, only to find that she could see basically nothing.  At--she checked her watch--close to eleven o'clock, the sky was still as black as full dark.  The rain was pounding down so hard the street was covered in a kind of mist of ankle height from ricochets, and both gutters had moved beyond streams and were rapidly qualifying for river status. 

                She stared, mesmerized, then let the curtain fall.  "Oh."

                "Right."  Makoto put a hand on her shoulder.  "Sit down and eat your breakfast.  We'll stop, I promise."

                "I don't promise!"  Minako piped up from the other room.  "I want to know!"  Rei rolled her eyes.

                "I take it nobody's going in to school today."

                "Doesn't look like it."  Makoto walked back to the kitchen with her.  "My parents are getting curious about all the absences.  My dad thinks I've gotten into something unsavory like prostitution or doujinshi or something."

                Rei chuckled.  "Maybe you should take up prostitution to spite him."

                "Or writing doujinshi."  Makoto smiled.

                "Or fan fiction."

                "Yuck."  She made a face.  "Let's not go too far."

                Rei shook her head.  "So what are we going to do today?  I'm still worried about Ami."

                The pair took their seats around the table again, and breakfast resumed.  After eating for a bit, Usagi ventured a suggestion.  "We could go down to her college and ask around, see if anyone's seen her."

                "Not a bad idea."  Rei glanced at the window again.  "I really don't want to go walking around in that, though."

                "It's not far to the bus stop."

                "Still…"

                "Setsuna has enough umbrellas for all of us, I think."  Makoto gestured to the hall closet.  "It shouldn't be too bad."

                Rei nodded, and eating resumed.  After a minute or so of silence, Makoto spoke up again.  "Do you think Resh will come back tonight?"

                Minako flinched at little, and Rei had to admit that the question had been preying on her mind.  "He might.  I think he got beat up pretty good last night, though."

                "We got beat up pretty good last night, too."

                "True."  She shifted a bit, then sighed.  "If he does, we know what to do.  Get Setsuna and the others, stick together.  We know his tricks now."

                "I hope so."  Makoto set her fork down on the now-empty plate and stretched her arms.  "That was good.  Where is Setsuna, anyway?"

                "She was going to see if she could find something out about this Resh stuff."

                "How?"

                Rei shrugged.  "Like she tells me how she finds stuff out."

                "Right."  Makoto finished the last of her drink and started cleaning up.  Usagi hovered over her own plate protectively when she made a grab for it, so Makoto left her alone.  "You want to head down to the college when she's done?"

                "Sounds good."

                Ami became aware only gradually that she was still alive.

                It was like waking up, except that she was already awake, watching it happen.  Her body lay where she'd left it on the couch, now covered by the metaphorical cobwebs of disuse.  It had been hours, after all.

                She settled back in with the air of someone returning to a bed they'd long been absent from, twisting and turning to find that effortlessly comfortable spot she remembered.  Her heart started again, and sensation started to return; her arms and legs felt like cold, dead weights.  Ami took her first breath and smiled internally as liquid fire coursed through her lungs.  Her eyes slid closed like rusty bolts sliding home.

                Give it a minute.  It was painful, certainly, but since the pain was a reminder that her body still worked at all, it was welcome.  Still hurts.  She didn't try to move, to do anything but breathe.  Ow.

                This had better not have been some kind of elaborate hallucination.  She kept her eyes closed, just in case.  When I open them, I'll have to find out.  Either I'll be in the hospital because I had a stroke or something, or I'll be in my room, with Eridu.  And then…

                Once the pain had subsided a bit she risked pulling her arm back onto the couch, the muscles burning with fatigue for even such a small effort.  Her joints ached--everything ached, but breathing was getting easier by the minute and her heart no longer felt like it would burst with each beat.  Ami took a long breath, then blew it out and opened her eyes.

                Her vision was blurred, and the objects she saw barely distinguishable.  She gave it time, though, and gradually they started to distinguish themselves, her sight returning at least to the point where she could tell things apart.  The ceiling of the apartment looked like it always did, cracked and peeling where the last tenants had left it and she'd never bothered to fix.  She turned her head, and the blank eye of the television stared at her from across the room.  Ami managed to smile through cracked lips.

                I guess I'm not insane after all.  Another deep breath.  Now let's see if this works in real life.

                She looked down into the plane of magic.  To be honest, I'm not sure what it is that I actually do.  A change of perspective, or something.  It was like a focusing trick or an optical illusion, where you stare at a meaningless scene for minutes before it suddenly resolves, like magic, into something that makes sense.  There was the same feeling that the elements of the new had always been there, as part of the old, like the old woman who is also the young girl; a flick of the eye, and it was like having a new sense.

                Oh.  Wow.

                The room burned with colored fire.  Or liquid smoke, or something.  The sensation was impossible to describe, but Ami resolved the confusion of inputs effortlessly.  Underlayer.  Reality.  Overlayer.  Terms and meanings clicked into place as though she'd used them all her life.

                And how did I never notice that before?

                That was the regular pulsing wave of magic that flowed through the room like a heartbeat, the rhythm of the supernexus.  It dominated the world of magic in approximately the same way the sun dominates the sky, coming very close to drowning everything else in its awful brilliance.  Like the sun, it was difficult to look at directly before the eye recoiled and blinked or turned away.  Even with her eyes shut, she could feel it, thudding away at the back of her mind like some massive pump throwing out subsonics, as regular and immutable as the tides.

                Ami raised her hand and stared at the colored trails that ran through, crackling and sparking and crossing and recombining.  Something inside her felt giddy, euphoric, wanting to run through the suddenly colorful apartment with arms outstretched and laugh at the world.  Another part wanted to test it--reach out and prod the streams.  She glared at one of the trails that crisscrossed the room and nearly jumped when it twitched in response.

                Eridu's voice sounded right by her ear.

                "How do you feel, Miss Mizuno?"

                Ami couldn't help smiling even wider.

                "I know kung fu."

                It was a few minutes later, and Ami was sitting up on the couch, wrapped in a heavy down blanket in an effort to dispel a little bit of the chill from her limbs.  Eridu sat across from her, grinning like a predatory jack-o-lantern that had had an unfortunate accident with a barrel of bleach.  Even behind his impenetrable black glasses, she could tell he was excited.  And that makes me a bit uncomfortable.

                Still, the euphoria had hardly faded.  She kept flipping back and forth, staring in awe into the realm of auras and sparkling powers, then returning briefly to the mundane world to find out what she was really looking at.  Some things glowed more brightly then others.  She was surprised to find her computer, for example, looked like a kaleidoscope, spraying brilliant colors in an ever-changing matrix in all directions.  She said as much to Eridu, who nodded gravely.

                "Some things attract magic by their nature, but anything really complex picks up more then its fair share.  Machines like that are natural manasinks."

                "That explains a lot."

                He smiled.  "But are you sure you feel all right, Miss Mizuno?"

                It took Ami a moment to come down from her cloud and return to reality.  "Hmm?  I feel pretty good.  Kind of stiff and cold, I guess."

                "I'm not surprised.  You were under a long time."

                "All night, I guess.  Assuming this is just tomorrow and not next week?"

                "It is.  Do you remember what happened?"

                She sat for a moment, quietly.  "A little.  I remember looking at a city, and…light.  And I remember a lot of other things I have no right to remember."

                "Things?"

                "Words.  Facts.  All about this sort of thing."

                "It is difficult to extricate the raw experience of working with sorcery from the associated framework.  I'm afraid I gave you rather a lot."

                "What exactly did you do?"

                "I altered your memory and your reflex states."

                She sighed.  "You didn't give me enough vocabulary, apparently."  Ami probed her new memories as though probing a broken tooth with her tongue, gingerly.  It was a sensation vaguely akin to déjà vu, the feeling of remembering something without being able to actually place it.  "Still…"  She sat back on the couch.  "Wow."  A thought struck her.  "This isn't temporary, is it?"

                "No.  The transfer of memory is permanent, although it will fade a bit like any memory with disuse."

                "Wow."

                "I take it you're satisfied."

                She chuckled, then turned serious.  "Eridu, I--"

                "Let me show you something."

                "Okay."

                "I want you to close your eyes and look down at yourself."

                She complied, staring at the colored lights that bloomed even in the dark of shut eyelids.  Her body was a weltering confusion of colors, jumping and dancing and combining with one another.  Certain regular rhythms were evident: breathing, heartbeat.  Eridu continued.

                "Look for a single thread that doesn't change, a kind of centerpiece.  It runs through all the others, affecting them but not altered in return, and it keeps going and going…"

                Ami scanned and found the thread he was talking about, a brilliant cobalt blue so bright it was difficult to focus on.  It ran into her, getting close enough that it was impossible to focus on, and it also twisted the other way, going somehow deeper in a way that wasn't any of the cardinal directions.

                "I see it."

                "Follow it."

                "How?"

                "Just start following it with your eyes and keep going.  You'll get there."

                She nodded, eyes still closed tightly, and tried to follow the blue thread to its destination.  After passing through the loops and whorls of her physical form, it twisted out and down, intermingling the huge mass of gray threads that comprised most of the physical world.  A little farther, and it dove underneath them to the underlayer, and then a little farther--

                "Do you see it?"

                Ami's mouth was dry.  "I see it."

                The blue thread joined with a river of blue, pulsing and beating, flowing underneath the fabric of the physical world.  It was brilliant, but not in the same blinding way as the supernexus; more like heat, where a touch felt good and too much burned.  Ami stared at it in awe. 

                "What is it?

                "One of the guardians.  Yours, in fact."

                "What?"

                "It's the source from which you draw your powers.  Before you could only access whatever you could draw down that thread, but now that you are more aware, it's all yours."

                "This is…"

                "It's the natural progression of guardian forces.  As they became stronger, they often become able to see their own driving force.  You can dip into it, take the power you need.  You can do anything."

                He was right--she could feel it.  The power of that river was awe-inspiring, but she could feel it react just from being looked at.  It was power that resonated with her, within her.  I would never have found it without him guiding me, but it's just a matter of reaching out…

                "Take it."

                She opened her eyes, just a crack.  Eridu was hunched forward in his chair, staring, his expression eager.  "Take it!"

                "I…"

                He's right!  I can just reach for it.  I can…

                "I can't."

                "Just--"

                "I can't reach it.  I feel like there's something in the way."  She let the vision drop and opened her eyes back to normal space, surprised to find her hands shaking with the effort.  Eridu sat forward a moment, staring at her with something that might be construed as suspicion, then settled back in his chair.  His expression was if anything disappointed.

                "Of course."  Eridu sighed.  "I've been most impolite.  I'm afraid the implications of great magic often get the better of me; I can be a bit…excitable."

                Ami leaned back against the sofa.  "Sorry.  I'm just a bit overwhelmed by all this."

                "Understandably.  We can try again, later.  There's a little trick to it that I can show you."  He smiled, thinly.  "Then I think my service will be just about complete."

                She closed her eyes for a moment, letting tired muscles relax.  Her new senses felt him leave, almost imperceptibly.  Ami contemplated going back to sleep, but despite the ache in her muscles her body was still fizzing with energy.  I need something to do.  Her thoughts shied away from Eridu and his gifts, almost on instinct; as she settled back into the familiar computer chair, she flipped into her other vision for a moment, just to make sure that she still could.  Magic burned bright and unfamiliar, and Ami wriggled into the leather with a feeling of contentment she hadn't had in a long time.

                It was a gamble, I guess, but it worked out.  Eridu delivered as promised.  The deal still made her a bit uncomfortable.  A little bit of hacking in exchange for something like this?  It doesn't seem normal.  Maybe for him, this isn't such a big deal.  Just a little adjustment…

                She sighed.  Speculation is getting me nowhere.  I can play with new toys later.  First things first: time to catch up on the world.

                Screens clicked into life as she touched the mouse, the main one covered with blinking alerts.

                What the hell?

                She found the offending message, a mail that had come in during the night.  I don't see what's so bad about it…  The address seemed vaguely familiar, but it didn't immediately click, and the code for the cipher was odd.  That's a local code, so it's one of the routines I wrote myself…wait a minute…

                This is one of Eridu's messages.  He must have left what channel he was using to intercept them open.  But that doesn't…  She scanned the contents of the message.  That doesn't make any sense.

                Oh, shit.  Ami jumped up from the table and started running.

                The view out the window had if possible understated the nastiness of the weather.  The rain turned the air into soup and covered the sidewalks with mud, so that at every step you were in danger of losing a shoe and every breath came with an effort, like living in a sauna. 

Usagi was complaining bitterly, not an unexpected development.

"This was a waste of time."  She leaned against Mamoru's shoulder.  "Mostly."

                Rei rolled her eyes.  Running into Mamoru had been a fortuitous accident and helped keep Usagi quiet, but there was only so much sugar one could handle.  If she keeps up this lovey-dovey stuff I'm going to be sick.

                The rain had dampened everyone's mood, even Minako's.  Makoto forged ahead bravely in front as the little party fought their way from Ami's school to the nearest bus stop, which unfortunately was at the top of a hill.  As the rain continued, dodging the streams of water coming down from the top had become a serious issue.  Rei fell back to talk to Minako as Mamoru patted Usagi vaguely on the head and hunched down under their shared umbrella.

                Minako threw Rei a glance and shook her head.  "Still worried?"

                "Yeah.  This is Ami we're talking about.  If she hasn't been to school in days, something fishy is going on."

                The blonde sighed.  "It's looking that way.  You think it's Resh?"

                "I don't know what else to think."  Rei tried not to sound grim.  "I'm sure Ami can handle herself, though.  She did okay against Resh the first time."

                "As well as any of us, I guess."

                "She'll be fine."  Rei patted Minako on the shoulder.  Me trying to cheer her up.  How often does that happen?  "We just need to find her."

                "Yeah."  Minako twirled her umbrella a little, letting a steady stream of rain drip off the back and patter onto the ground just behind her stride.  Rei's own umbrella was starting to sag on one side under the onslaught, and she looked up at it worriedly.  I hope that thing holds up until we get on the bus at least.  There was a warm bath waiting for her a home, and the very thought made her skin rise into goosebumps.  That is going to feel so good.  Rei shook her head.  What a nasty day to be outside.

                "First Resh, now Ami.  I hate worrying."  Minako smiled a little.  "This job isn't as fun as it used to be."

                Rei snorted.  "Would this fun you speak of be the time we all got killed up in the frozen wastes, or the time Galaxia trapped our souls into little crystals?"

                "Well, there's that too."  She laughed.  "You have a bleak outlook, don't you?"

                "Sometimes.  You're the one complaining you're not having any fun."

                "It's the rain."   She gestured at the gray, waterlogged world.  "It kind of gets me down, you know?"

                "Rei."  Makoto's quiet voice nonetheless cut over the roar of the storm.  "Look up ahead."

                Rei glanced up, past the oblivious Mamoru and his girlfriend.  The intersection where the bus stopped was up ahead, the street on either side lined with apartments.  Between the time of day and the storm, there wasn't much traffic; in fact, the only car in the intersection seemed to be practically stopped there.

                She blinked.  It is stopped there.  The big black sedan was idling in the middle of road, blocking the street at the top of the hill.  Something about it screamed a warning, even aside from its odd behavior, and Rei found herself frantically waiting around for somewhere to hide.  Too many people around.  Even with the rain, there were a few pedestrians hurrying on their way and policeman standing on one corner.  We can't transform here, they might see us even with the rain.  The buildings on either side of the street were apartments, packed tight against each other with locked doors.  Nowhere to run but back down the hill--this is a trap.

                This process of reasoning took perhaps half a second, with Makoto looking at her anxiously and Minako, Usagi, and Mamoru still blithely walking towards the hilltop and the black car.  Rei started to shout a warning just as the car door opened.

                Resh.  Part of her just didn't believe it when the vampire stepped out of the passenger-side door.  In broad daylight.  Well--she glanced at the towering stormclouds--maybe not broad daylight, but in public.  Three other men stepped out of the car, the rain instantly ruining cheap black suits.  The vampire smiled.

                Another realization hit her, too late.  He knows who we are…

                "I tried to do this the easy way."  Resh leaned back against the car behind him, ignoring the rain that splattered off the metal and ran down his face in streams.  The red gleams behind his eyes had been reduced to a tiny, smoldering light.  "How hard could it be to gather up a gang of little girls?"  The vampire rolled his eyes.  "Hard.  Fucking guardians.  Why couldn't you just roll over and die?  Now it's too late, and I have to hide like a fucking cockroach."  His hands tensed into fists.  "No magic, no happy little spells to get you to come quietly, nothing at all or Jahara descends on me like the wrath of fucking God."

                Resh wiped the rain off of his face and shook his head at his prey, who could only stare back.  Rei slipped one hand into her pocket and moved closer to Usagi and the others, watched Makoto doing the same.  If he starts in with the lightning again, we're going to have to transform, policeman or not.  The cop, for his part, looked extremely perplexed and had started over to the vampire, flashlight raised.

                "I hate this fucking planet."  The red in his eyes flared.  "I hate guardians, I hate Iylitrio, I hate hiding in the gutter.  So this is goodbye, my little friends.  I'm done playing games with you.  When you get to hell, wait up for me; I'm sure there's a line forming by now."

                The policeman had been close enough to hear the end of this speech, and his free hand dropped to the automatic at his side.  Resh reached behind his back for a weapon of his own, drawing and firing with inhuman speed, his hands a blur.  Without missing a beat, he opened the car door again and ducked in before the policeman had hit the floor.

                "Just fucking kill them all."

                Rei was running before the car's engine roared to life, before the black-suited goons reached under their jackets.  The problem is that there was nowhere to run--the street was devoid of anything that could potentially offer cover.  No parked cars or open doorways--not even a damn mailbox when you need one.  Transformation time.

                "Mars Crystal Power Make Up!"

                She heard the others shout as she barreled past them, towards the gunmen.  Lights crackled and sparked around her as she called out.

                "Mako, get them out of the way!"  She drew a bead on the car as the lights of the transformation faded, diving desperately.  It's not going to be in time.  Behind her, more transformation lights lit up the driving rain.

                "Venus Crystal Power--"

                "Jupiter Crystal--"

                Rei aimed.  "Mars Flame--"

                The world erupted in a roar of flame and noise, the growl of the sub-machineguns drowning the rain and their flashes filling her vision.  The three men had taken a moment to drop to cover behind their vehicle and the opened fire, and the concrete sparked and crack and spat.  Rei finished the attack, desperately.

                "Sniper!"  She aimed the blast right at the car, towards the center gunman.  It struck the metal and superheated rain flashed outward instantly in a blast of steam, rocking the car backwards.  The gunfire continued with barely a break, and Rei hit the ground cursing herself.

                Full power!  Full power would have punched a hole in the car, the gunman, and probably the street behind him.  I was shooting at a human, so I automatically--

                "Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

                Three crackling balls of electrical power stabbed outwards.  The men in black reacted appropriately, dropping behind the still-steaming car, but putting a block of wet metal between themselves and the lightning bolt helped not at all.  The blast from the impact lit up the gloomy, cloud-covered street and a few more bullets fired as guns skittered across the wet asphalt.  Then the roar of the rain, temporarily banished, returned in force as though resenting the other sounds.  This time it was backed by thunder, and a blast of lightning slashed the sky in answer to Jupiter's.

                Rei lay absolutely still for a moment, unable to even think.  Her eyes were focused on an inch-long score in the road, about six inches to the left of her head.  Bits of asphalt clung to her hair as she slowly pushed herself up on shaking arms.

                Luck.  She couldn't stop staring at the bullet hole.  God damned luck.

                "Mars!"  Makoto's voice jogged her out of her state of shock, and Rei sat back onto her knees and raised a hand weakly.  Jupiter stumbled up to her and a put one hand on her shoulder, leaning close and whispering.  "Rei, are you all right?  Are you hurt?  Rei?"

                She shook her head.  "I'm okay.  Not a scratch."  Rei turned around so she could look at Jupiter, who was kneeling in the rain with a pained expression.  The right side of her white-and-green uniform was stained a deep, arterial red, and Rei's eyes widened.  "Mako--"

                "Not me."  Jupiter pointed down the hill a bit, and Rei stumbled to her feet and broke into a clumsy run.  The other three figures were huddled together at the side of the road, nearly invisible under the mist of the rain.  Rei skidded to a halt next to them, heedless of the damage to her knees, with Makoto close behind her.

                Mamoru, now in the black suit and mask of Tuxedo Kamen, leaned against the wall.  One hand was clasped to his bicep, and a slow trickle of blood seeped from between his fingers.  He nodded grim-faced towards the other two.

                Usagi looked up at her as Rei knelt, tears on her face wiped out by the streaming rain.  Her uniform was splattered with blood, and her gloves were soaked with the stuff; the blonde pressed her palms desperately against Minako's chest.

                Rei sank to her knees again, Usagi's tearful pleas barely registering.  Minako was sprawled across the sidewalk, her head lifted slightly into Usagi's lap, her eyes closed.  She was still in street clothes, her transformation wand lying where it had fallen, a few inches from her hand.  Usagi was bent over her, screaming something lost in the rain and the wail of the approaching sirens.  Rei sat back on her heels and stared dully, watching the thick stream of bright red trail onto the sidewalk, pooling and thinning in the water and washing downstream.  She sat there, unable to move, as more cars screeched up to the intersection and booted feet once again drowned out the storm.

                Luck.

Chapter Twelve

                In which Rei comes to certain conclusions.  

                "Anything?"

                It felt odd to have Jahara's hand on her shoulder.  His grip was like that of a statue's, not shifting in the slightest if she twisted a little.  His skin was warm, warmer then it had any right to be.

                In her current state, Hotaru was intensely aware of the power of her companion, burning behind her like an actinic green torch.  She had her eyes closed tightly, mind questing out over the city in search of another power.  Her sensing power had rarely come when bidden, but this time it had posed no problems.  She wondered idly if it was the Unforgiven's presence.

                Something's different.  I feel like I'm thinking clearly for the first time in days.  She cast back and forth over, ignoring the pounding rain and trying to see through the ever-present background glare.  After a minute or so, Hotaru shook her head in defeat.

                "No."  She shrugged his hand off and turned around.  "Sorry.  That glare gets in the way.  I can barely see anything."

                "Unsurprising.  The power of the supernexus tends to drown everything else in the vicinity."

                "Do you mind explaining that a bit?"

                He smiled.  "The supernexus is a natural conflux of magical power.  There are usually only two or three on a world, even a world as magically charged as this one.  It tends to attract…things, magic among them."  The Unforgiven's smile faded.  "It also puts out a field strong enough to swamp Resh's natural aura, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid.  Which is of course why he's here."

                She sighed.  "So, in other words, we can't find him."

                "Not unless he uses a lot of power."

                "Is he likely to do that?"

                "I'm not sure."  He looked pensive.  "He knows I'm here, so logic would dictate that he stay quiet.  But Resh has always been overconfident.  There is a chance…"  Jahara shrugged.

                Hotaru turned around again and looked out over the city.  They had picked the roof of a relatively tall apartment complex to scout from, and so she could see a fairly long way; the rain made everything look odd, though, moving across the city in sheets and temporarily hiding other buildings in the fog.  The whole scene had an unreal quality, like Tokyo had vanished and all that remained were shifting ghosts.

                "Now what?"

                "I will admit I do not know.  I doubt Resh picked this world on purpose, but he has certainly gotten lucky.  There are few places where the magic is strong enough to hide a being of his power."

                "Can he still turn people into vampires, or does that take enough power that you'd feel it?"

"He can.  No doubt he already has."

"Then we can't just let him wander around loose."  She looked up at him.  "Maybe we should get the others in on this."

"No."  It was emphatic.  "Besides, what could they accomplish?  If you and I are unable to find Resh, they won't be able to either.  And I can fight him myself, if it comes to that."

                "So what do we do?"  Staying focused on the task at hand had become her priority.  Thinking too much would be a bad thing right about now.

                "Nothing."  The Unforgiven looked out into the rain.  "We wait."

                "You seem awfully content with that."

                "I'm good at waiting."

                Hotaru shook her head and sat down.  The roof of the apartment was bone-dry, she noted with relief.  Above them, rain poured down and the stopped as though it had hit a glass wall, sizzling into steam and hissing away.  Convenient.  Though I doubt he would have bothered if not for my sake.

                A few moments passed before she spoke again.  Jahara seemed to just freeze, again like a statue. 

                "So what do you do while you're waiting?"

                He looked back at her.  "Usually nothing."

                "Don't you get bored?"

                "Yes."  He turned back to the view.  "It's something I've learned to deal with."

                Another pause.  Hotaru stood up and leaned against the rail at the edge of the building, staring thirty stories down, briefly, before vertigo threatened to overwhelm her.

                "So what else do you do?"

                He turned to her again, questioning.  "Do?"

                "Besides this, besides following vampires around.  What do you do when you have free time?"

                The question seemed to take him by surprise.  "Not…"  He paused.  "I've been chasing Resh for a long time now."

                "What did you do before that?"

                "I was fighting a race of mechanical insects when Naria met Resh."

                "Oh."  She shook her head.  "What about before that?"

                "Dealing with the followers of a maniacal godhead."

                "I see."  Hotaru smiled, slightly.  "Has anyone ever told you you have a bit of a one track mind?"

                "Yes."  His expression turned thoughtful.  "Quite often, actually."

                There was another long pause before he turned back to her.  "I am curious.  What about you?"

                "Me?"  She was startled.  It's not the kind of expression you expect from a guy like him.  "I don't know--normal things."  She remembered who she was talking to and decided to explain.  "I go to school, meet with my friends, go to movies.  Things like that."  Sort of.  It's been a while since my life could really be described as normal.

                "I see."  He stopped for a second, as though casting about for something else to say, and finally hit on something.  "I have a ship."

                "A ship?  I assume you don't mean a boat-type ship."

                "A starship.  It's called the Aegis."

                "Cool.  Where is it?"

                "I left it in orbit around the last world Resh fled from.  After briefly surveying this one I did not wish to attract undue attention, or precipitate a thermonuclear war."

                "Oh."  She chuckled.  "It's not a little starship, then."

                He shook his head.  "Aegis is approximately four kilometers from end to end.  I've had it expanded and rebuilt quite a few times over the years."

                "Sounds impressive."

                "Indeed."  Jahara straightened up, as though suddenly reaching a decision, and Hotaru stood with him. 

                "Are we moving?"

                "Yes.  I have been thinking on something an old acquaintance of mine once told me.  It was your comment about having a one-track mind that reminded me; he often told me that as well."

                "And?"

                "' Only a fool hunts by chasing.  The elegant hunter knows where his prey is going to be beforehand.'"  He smiled grimly.  "Resh's biggest flaw is a penchant for the dramatic.  He's the kind of person who likes to pose in front of a backlit window, to stand up at the top of the stairs and make dramatic pronouncements punctuated by a roll of thunder."

                "So you know where he's going?"

                Jahara stared out across the city.  Tokyo tower poked its way into the absolute center of the storm, so that the clouds rotated around it like a spinning top, and its skeletal bulk was almost constantly outlined by the forking sprays of lightning.  Under the mere physical world, the power of the supernexus flared like a nova, sending its steady pulses of magic out into the city.

                "I think I can hazard a guess."

                The waiting room had the feel of all such waiting rooms, everywhere.  The walls were painted in mind-numbing industrial light blue, and a couple of rows of chairs clustered around a potted plant in the center of the place as though eager to stay close to the real color.  No windows, of course--the rainstorms torrent was reduced to a distant mocking cackle, and the flat fluorescent lighting seemed to go in through the eyes and reduce the brain to mush.

                Or maybe it's just me.

                Rei sat in one of the semi-comfortable chairs, chin in her hands, staring at a pattern of random dots on the wall.  It had been two hours since she'd moved, and finally she had to lean back in the chair and stretch tired joints with a sigh.  The clock across from the big double doors said it was nearly seven, which meant they'd been there for six hours in total.  Rei was starting to feel like it had been forever, that there was no life outside the plaster walls and away from the endless buzz.

                The police had come, asked questions in a perfunctory way, and gone again.  She'd barely paid them any heed.

                The double doors swung open, and Rei felt her heart catch in her chest.  Instead of a doctor, though, Makoto came up, her movements displaying a supreme weariness as she took the seat next to Rei.  For a moment, Rei didn't want to start the conversation, the same one they'd had roughly every hour.

                Finally she sighed.  "Well?"

                "Not good."  Makoto squeezed her eyes shut.  "The doctor said--"

                "Spare me the details, please."

                "Fifty-fifty at best."

                Rei looked around carefully, but none of the hospital staff were within earshot.  "They don't know she's a Senshi, though."

                "Right."  The other's brief smile faded quickly.  "I don't know, Rei.  There was so much blood when they got her in there, and she looks so pale.  And Luna looks worried."

                "Luna always looks worried."  Usagi and the black cat were still in the observation room.  The blonde hadn't left her friend's side since they'd arrived.

                Makoto leaned back in the chair.  "Maybe.  Maybe."

                There was a long pause.  "How's Mamoru?"

                Makoto shrugged.  "Fine.  He only had a scratch, really."

                "That's good."

                "Yeah."

                Again the conversation dried up, and the two girls were left sitting next to each other in awkward silence.  Rei could feel the subject Makoto wanted to bring up, desperately, but couldn't.  I don't want her to.  I really, really don't.

                "Rei…"

                "What?"

                "Those guys with Resh."

                Rei nodded, unable to look at Makoto.

                "They looked like Yakuza types."

                "I know."  She closed her eyes.  "Resh works for a boss named Iylitrio."

                "You knew?"

                "That vampire let it slip."  The lie rolled easily off the tongue, now.

                "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

                "Would it have mattered?"

                "Maybe."

                Rei put her head in her hands.  "I must have pissed him off, or something.  I thought…"  She swallowed.  "It doesn't matter what I thought."

                "Rei…"

                The double doors slammed open again, revealing Usagi.  She'd looked better--her hair was a mess, slowly escaping from its dumpling-braids, and her eyes were red and sore.  She'd obviously been listening for the last few moments, and now she advanced on Rei, tight-lipped.  Rei opened her eyes and looked up, not sure what to expect.

                Whatever it was she did expect, it wasn't to get slapped.  Usagi's hand came around with a sound like the crack of doom, the blonde staring at her hand afterwards as though she didn't believe her own actions.  Rei raised one hand to her cheek, carefully, and felt the bloom of heat.

                "I…"  I deserve that.

                Usagi cut her off.  "You couldn't leave it alone.  You couldn't!"

                Makoto put a hand on Usagi's shoulder, but the blonde shook her off and continued, on the verge of more tears.  "All we wanted was a normal life.  Normal things.  I mean, we saved the world like six times.  Isn't that enough?"  She shook her head, and Rei couldn't help staring at her.  "Apparently not.  It wasn't enough for you, being normal.  You had to do something more, had to be a fucking hero.  And now…"  The tears finally escaped, running unhindered down her cheeks.

                "Usagi."  Rei couldn't help reaching, but her friend slapped her hand away.

                "Don't touch me!  It's your fucking fault.  All of this.  You and your crusade.  We warned you…I warned you…"  She took a deep breath.  "Except you didn't get hurt, she did.  All Minako wanted was a normal life, and now she's going to bleed to death in some hospital bed because you couldn't leave well enough alone."  Usagi fell to her knees, looking at the ground. 

                It's worth it.  That's what I have to believe, right?  Helping people is worth my life, her life, all of our lives.  It has to be.  But looking down at Usagi, she couldn't say it.

                "Rei…"  The blonde had lost her self-righteous tone.  Now her voice was small, lost, afraid, almost a whisper.  "She's really going to die, Rei.  For real, this time.  We're going to wake up tomorrow and she's just not going to be there."

                "Usagi."  This time the blonde let Makoto put an arm around her shoulder.  "You don't know that.  The doctors here are very good, and there's a good chance."

                "She's going to die."  Usagi shook her head.  "I can feel it."

                "Usagi…"

                Rei stood up from her chair, suddenly, one hand still fingering her stinging cheek.  The other two looked up at her, Usagi with her eyes full of tears.

                "Rei--"

                "You're right."  Rei let out a deep breath.  "About everything."

                "Rei, I didn't mean--"

                Rei turned on her heel and headed for the exit door.  Usagi hastily scrambled to her feet, with Makoto following. 

                "Rei, come back.  I didn't mean it--"

                Rei pushed the door open without looking back.

                "I'm sorry!  Rei--"

                "Ami!"

                The blue-haired girl was leaning against the wall in the corridor, breathing hard.  Rei put her head on one side.  "Ami, are you okay?"

                "Fine."  She nodded, gulping air.  "I ran practically…all the way…here."

                "We were worried about you, Ami--"

                "Listen…for a second."  She took a deep breath.  "Whoever Eridu is spying on knows everything about us.  I intercepted a message, decrypted it.  Our real names, addresses, family, everything."

                Rei shrugged.  "I don't know who Eridu is, but that sounds like Iylitrio."

                "How can you be so calm?  We could be in more danger.  They could come back…"

                She shook her head.  "Don't worry about it."

                "But--"

                "I said don't worry about it."

                Ami seemed to realize for the first time that Rei had been heading out of the hospital and quickly jumped to a conclusion.  "Oh."

                Rei nodded, grimly, and there was a brief pause.  Ami finally broke the silence.

                "How's she doing?"

                "Not very well."

                "How about Usagi?"

                "Also not very well."

                Ami nodded, her expression distracted, as though thinking about something else.  "Rei…"

                "Don't try to stop me."

                "I wouldn't bother.  Just be careful."

                Rei felt an overwhelming sense of relief.  "Thank you, Ami."

                The blue-haired girl shrugged and smiled; Rei wrapped her in a hug that seemed to surprise both of them.  When she stood back, it was like a weight had been lifted.  Or half a weight, maybe.

                "Can you do me a favor?"

                "Anything."

                "Don't let Mako or Usagi come after me."

                "Mako's not going with you?"

                "No."

                "You can't go alone, Rei!  Let me come with you, at least."

                "No."  She chuckled slightly.  "I don't think you're quite suited."

                "You'd be surprised.  And you can't go alone."

                Rei's smiled faded.  "I'm not going alone, don't worry."

                Ami stared uncomprehending, but finally nodded.  "I'll keep them here."

                "Thanks.  I don't need another thing to worry about."

                "Good luck."  Her eyes brightened, as though an idea had just occurred to her.  "I may be able to help a little, later."

                "Just don't put yourself in danger."

                "Don't worry about it."

                Rei nodded.  "I'll see you tomorrow."  Maybe.

                "Tomorrow."

                Rei continued her quick walk down the hallway towards the elevators, while Ami, deep in thought, made her way towards the waiting room.  She waved a hand, absent-mindedly, and hospital doors slammed back on their hinges and opened before her.

                No one stopped her on the way out of the hospital.  As she stood in the storm-darkened street, watching the cascades of rain from the overhang that protected the hospital entrance, she realized she'd been hoping someone would.

                Where the hell are Pluto and the others, anyway? 

                Her umbrella had been left at the crime scene, and she looked up at the sky with distaste.  Nothing for it but to get wet, I guess.  My clothes are already basically ruined.  With a deep breath, Rei stepped out from under the overhang and felt the rain soak her instantly, her hair hanging in bedraggled clumps.  The wind cut through the slim protection of her jacket without any real effort, and she was shivering before she'd turned the first corner.

                Good thing for my sake that it's not that far.

                Thunder growled overhead, and off to her left lightning slashed and stabbed at the barely-visible form of Tokyo Tower.  Rei continued to walk, staring at the ground, trying to clear her mind of all thought and failing.

                No miracles this time.  There's nothing left.

                "Rei."

                She stopped and looked around for the speaker, but didn't see anything at first until Artemis' voice guided her.

                "Down here."

                The white cat looked miserable, crouched under a public planter that held rapidly drowning flowers, its soil gone past mud to a kind of dirty soup.  His fur was stained brown in places, and completely matted to his sides.

                "Artemis."  Rei knelt and reached down to pick him up, but the cat shook his head.

                "Luna called me."

                "So you know--"

                "I could feel it.  Rei…"  He appeared to be on the point of breaking down.  Rei reached out again, and this time he suffered to be petted a little, further disarraying his already wet fur.  "I was on my way to the hospital, but I figured I'd find you here."

                "Don't try to stop me."

                "It's not your fault, Rei."

                "Artemis…"  Her tone was warning; Rei got back to her feet, slowly.

                The cat sighed.  "I'm not going to stop you."

                "Good."  She turned to leave.  "Keep an eye on everyone for me.  Don't let them do anything silly."

                "Not like you, you mean?"

                "You know what I mean."  Rei started down the street, but stopped after a step as he called from behind her.

                "Rei!"

                She half-turned.  "What?"

                "Listen…"  He paused, unsure of whether or not to continue.  "I can give you something that might help.  If you want it."

                "What?"

                He sighed.  "You Senshi are approaching the power of your Silver Millennium counterparts.  But you're still so young.  We were going to wait until you grew up a little bit."

                Rei could feel herself losing patience.  "What is it, Artemis?"

                He closed his eyes and looked down.  "You have another attack, another power.  'Mars Plasma Lance' should invoke it."

                Lightning slashed overhead, as though in punctuation.  "Mars…Plasma…Lance?"

                The cat nodded.  "But--"

                "What's the catch?  Why didn't you tell me this before?"

                "It's a killing attack, worse then anything else you have."

                "Flame Sniper can damage people pretty badly."

                "Not like this.  We didn't want you to have to face the choice of using it until you were ready.  But now…"  He shrugged.  "If you fire it, just make sure whoever you point it at is someone the world would be better without."

                Someone the world would be better without.  I can think of a few.

                "I'm not sure whether to thank you or not."

                "Just come back alive."

                "I'll do my best."  She paused.  "Artemis.  If I…don't, can you--"

                "I'm not doing you any favors.  If you're that concerned, don't go.  We can all work this out together."

                Rei shook her head.  "I can't let the rest of them risk themselves like that.  This is my problem.  Just tell Usagi and Minako, w…when"--if--"she wakes up.  Tell them I'm sorry."

                "Rei…"  Artemis looked as though he were about to continue his protest, then dropped his head.  "Fine.  But you are coming back."

                She nodded.  "I am."

                Iylitrio turned his chair to face one of the dark corners of his study.  He could feel the presence there, quite apart from knowing what was coming; the burned-metal tang in the air slowly made itself known as his visitor's power bled into the room.

                "My friend."  The crimelord gave his guest his widest smile, setting his heavy jowls jiggling.  "Your concerns are unnecessary.  My men--"

                "Your men are now the custody of the police."

                "They will not say a word.  I have certain arrangements--"

                "I do not trust your arrangements.  I've reduced the station to a patch of molten stone and burning metal, is that arrangement enough for you?"

                "That was unnecessary."  Iylitrio sighed.  "My men are highly trained, and I am loath to waste them."

                "Your vampire has gotten out of control.  Shooting people in broad daylight, grabbing his food right off the street.  It's only a matter of time before her gets tracked down."

                "His usefulness to me is almost at an end.  The Unforgiven has obtained the help of one of these…guardians, and is proving more trouble then we expected."

                "Ah."  The voice from the shadow paused.  "So you'll throw him to the dogs?"

                "Figuratively speaking."

                "What about the rest of the guardians?  And that bounty hunter?"

                "The guardians will be too shocked by the death of one of their own to take action for the moment.  And Shard has gone to ground, rightly fearing my displeasure.  He's had long experience in matters like this; I doubt we'll see him again."

                There was a long pause.  "You had better be right."  The figure in the shadows leaned forward, his head sliding out of the darkness.  What light there was glinted on dark shades, his skin and hair the color of parchment.  Eridu smiled, behind his glasses.  "Matters are coming to a head.  She's almost ready, and I want the rest of them not to interfere.  Understand?"

                Iylitrio smiled again.  "Of course.  And you understand that my payment--"

                "You will be paid in full, fear not."

                "Of course."  The Yakuza boss waited until his visitor had vanished, leaving as imperceptibly as he'd arrived.  Only then did he take a towel from under his desk and wipe away a few trailing drops of sweat. 

                The Happiness Hotel looked like the kind of building that loved the rain.  The neon sign at the entrance proclaimed it the Ha--i-e-s Hotel, actually, and the left half of the heart that remained looked vaguely snake-like and menacing.  The other letters sparked every now and then as the water poured down.

                It was built as a square building around a parking lot, with an office on one side and the doors to rooms on the other three, facing inward.  The lot had a gentle slope to it, towards the center, so by the time Rei arrived it had become a giant cesspool.  Empty beer cans floated aimlessly, bobbing and twisting under the driving rain like living things trying to escape.  Little torn-plastic wrappers and less savory things floated in the murk, flashing their faded colors for a moment and then disappearing under the muddy surface, driven down by the rain.

                Rei found her path more and more difficult as she approached, and after passing through the archway into the parking lot she skirted the pool and the few vehicles present and made it up onto the concrete walkway that fronted the rooms before stopping.

                Can I really do this?  She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, the chill of the rain running in little rivers down her hair and the back of her neck, trying to muster the white-hot determination she'd felt at the hospital.  Usagi was right.  And if I don't take care of this, we're all going to end up dead someday.

                "Lost?"

                She opened her eyes with a start to find the clerk--or at least someone wearing a uniform with a grubby "Happiness Hotel" logo on it--openly leering at her from the cover of the office doorway.  He had to be younger then she was, all gawky limbs, pimples, and openly admiring gaze.  Rei was suddenly aware of the way her sodden clothes clung to the skin; she suppressed an urge to reduce the teenager and his whole sordid operation to flaming dust.

                "Sort of."

                "Why don't you come into the office?  I've got a heater we could dry your clothes on…"  He wagged his eyebrows in what he probably thought was a suggestive fashion.  "You don't want to show up for a client looking like that."

                Rei counted to herself, silently.  It's not his fault, he doesn't deserve to end up spread all over the landscape.  "Just tell me where room one-eleven is."

                "Him?  Listen, little girl, you don't want to go in there.  He's a bit of a weird one.  Much safer to stay here with me.  In this storm, who could blame you for not showing up?"  He waved a hand in the air as though to indicate the reasonableness of this plan.

                It was probably the 'little girl' that pushed her a bit too far.  Rei was on top of him in two steps, one hand under his collar as she pinned him against the cheap aluminum siding of the office.  She kept her tone conversational.  "Tell me where the room is, or we'll see who's safe."  Her cheerful smile only seemed to enhance the effect, and the kid pointed shakily.

                "O…O…Over there."

                "Thank you."  She let him drop, still smiling.  "Now get lost.  If I find you slinking around tonight…"  She let the threat hang unfinished, which seemed to be effective; he ran for it.  Rei turned in the direction he'd indicated and made her way to the door.  Three yellow plastic ones adorned it, the last one leaning drunkenly towards the other two.  She shook her head and let out a long breath.

                Here we go.  Rei felt uncomfortably aware of her thoughts.  I could easily be about to die.  But here we go…

                She raised a hand to knock, and the door swung inward of its own accord.  Beyond was a short hallway opening out into a bedroom, lit only by the fitful glare of the lightning through the windows.

                "Shard?"  Rei took a tentative step forward.  The love hotel smelled like cheap disinfectant and cheaper perfume, and the shadows flickered and changed with every slashing bolt.  She took another step, forcefully quelling her shaking knees.  "Are you there?"  If he's not here…  She'd never even considered the possibility that the bounty hunter might not keep his word.  He's dishonest, untrustworthy, violent.  Why should he?  Another thought flickered.  Maybe he's been taken.  Iylitrio's men found us, they could find him.  "Shard…"

                The door creaked and it swung shut behind her, and Rei spun around, hand going to the pocket holding her transformation wand, heart racing.  She realized her mistake almost immediately and turned around again to find a dark shape in front of her.  Rei opened her mouth to shout and stopped, feeling the cold metal pressing against her forehead.

                Lightning flashed again, lighting the motel room and gleaming off the bounty hunter's dark green glasses.  Her eyes struggled to focus on the barrel of the pistol, pressed against her skin; his thumb reached out slowly to click the safety off.

                "So that's how it is."  Rei closed her eyes.  A trap.  "Go ahead."

                There was a pause, another roll of thunder.  Twin green circles were all that was visible of his face, eyes impassive and hidden behind opaque glass.  Rei could feel tears welling up, and she was powerless to stop them.

                "Do it!"  She was shouting now, unable to help herself.  "Fucking shoot me!  That's what you've wanted all along, isn't it?  You wanted to get to my friends, and now you've got them.  Now you've got me too."  She brought a hand up to wipe her eyes, and Shard's finger trembled on the trigger.  "Come on.  What do you want me to do?  Just do it!"  I deserve it.  Minako--it should have been me.  "Pull the god-damn trigger!"  They locked eyes, Rei's big and filled with tears, Shard's invisible behind his glasses.  "Shard!"

                The bounty hunter--

                --pulled the trigger with a quick jerk, looking away.  The love motel door, painted a cheery pink, suddenly ran crimson with a spray of blood as her body jerked backwards.  Rei took a single tottering step back, staggering against the door.  She sank slowly to the ground as he watched, impassive, eyes open and staring, fading as life fled.  Finally her head lolled back into the corner, and--

                --clicked the safety back on and lowered the weapon, shaking his head.  Rei blinked and trembled violently, sagging against one of the walls.  The gruesome image her mind had created for an instant still clung at the corners of her vision.

                "Do you have any idea how much money I just turned down?"  Shard holstered his gun, still shaking his head, and pulled off his green glasses.  "Honestly, Rei…"

                Rei was unable to reply for a moment, her attention focused on remaining upright and breathing.  Shard swept off his glasses, suddenly filled with concern as he took in her soaked condition and her tears.

                "Rei?  Are you all right?"

                She mustered the energy to speak, softly.  "Shard."

                "What?"

                "You're going to put an arm around my waist and help me to that bed.  And if you make one sarcastic quip or have one perverted thought, I swear all that's left will be your boots and a little curl of smoke coming out.  Got it?"

                Shard nodded mutely and did as he was told, holding her carefully until they made it to the central piece of furniture in the room.  The bed was of course large and soft, and Rei sat down with a sigh, sinking a few inches in.  After a moment, the bounty hunter sat down next to her, a safe distance away.

                There was a long pause.  Then Rei shook her head and pulled him a bit closer, resting her head against him.  Shard seemed more surprised then anything else, keeping his arms at his sides as though he didn't know what to do with them.

                "Rei?"  He spoke hesitantly, after a moment's pause.  "You want to tell me what happened?"

                "Resh."  Her voice was muffled.  "We were walking down the goddamned street, and Resh pulls up.  Him and his goons…"  She stopped. 

                "Are you okay?"

                "I'm fucking fine."  Rei reached an arm up and held her thumb and forefinger apart.  "Missed me by that much.  Right next to my head."  She grabbed one of Shard's hands and pulled his arm around her shoulders.  "They shot Minako."

                Shard left his arm where she'd put it, shaking his head.  "Christ.  Is she…okay?"

                "I don't know.  Probably not.  She was in the hospital when I left.  She didn't even do anything.  She just happened to be walking next to me.  And now she's going to…to fucking die for that?"

                "Rei…"  The bounty hunter looked at a loss for something to say, which was just as well.  Rei continued.

                "It's my fault, Shard.  I went to hunt down the gangsters like I was some kind of fucking anime hero.  And I got her killed, and now I'm still alive.  How is that fair?  She didn't do anything…"

                He shook his head.  "Listen, Rei.  Iylitrio sold you and your friends to somebody from another dimension.  He couldn't care less what you did to people like Kyara, trust me."

                "So you say."  She pulled her head back to look up at him.  "It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway."

                The bounty hunter shook his head.  "It's not your fault, Rei."

                "Whatever."  Rei pulled away from him entirely, hugging her knees.  "She's still going to die."

                "Rei…"  Shard reached out, gently, and turned her head towards him.  He leaned forward, eyes only a few inches from hers; she could feel his hand brush her wet, bedraggled hair carefully back behind her ear.  It was one of those moments that stretched like taffy.  Rei watched almost dispassionately, wondering absently if he was going to kiss her again.  He can do what he likes.  It'll only make him a bit more likely to help.  This is a love hotel, after all.  It doesn't matter.  She's still dead.

                He blinked, and Rei tensed, ready for him to reach towards her.  It seemed to break the moment, though, and he let his hand fall to the side.  Rei felt strangely disappointed; Shard's expression was unreadable.

                "Rei."

                "What."  She spat the word, letting her head once again come to rest on top of her knees.

                "What are you doing here?"

                This is it.  The moment she'd been dreading all this time.  "I'm waiting for you to say 'I told you so.'"

                He shook his head, and she let out a long sigh.

                "Then I'm ready.  Let's do it your way."

Chapter Thirteen

                Salva Nos.

                The mansion clung to the darkened hilltop like some kind of massive insect, afraid of being uprooted by the wind.  It was the kind of building that looks like it needs a rock to crouch underneath, three stories hunched along a ridge and surrounded by a wrought-iron fence at least ten feet high.  With spikes.

                Rei shivered as the wind picked up, driving the rain almost horizontally.  Shard seemed almost unaffected, surveying the place with a mixture of professionalism and an odd excitement.

                "You know the way, right?"  Rei was doing her best to focus on the moment.  Kind of necessary if I plan on living through this.

                "Sort of."

                "Sort of?"

                "I've been escorted up to Iylitrio's room often enough.  I don't know the rest of the place, though."

                "And we don't know where Resh is hiding."

                "That too."

                She shook her head.  "So what's the plan?"

                The bounty hunter grinned like a wolf.  "We're a bit short on time, so I think we'll skip straight to plan B."

                "Which is…"

                He shrugged.  "Charge in the front gate and shoot everybody."

                Rei sighed.  "Is there ever a plan A?"

                "I find that plan B is usually sufficient."

                "Great."

                "Come on.  They'll never expect it."

                "That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."  But whatever.  She stared at the manor and gritted her teeth.  This time I'm coming for you, Resh.

                Shard shrugged out of his coat and started a last-minute check on his weapons.  "You need a gun?"

                "I wouldn't know how to use one."

                "Time to do your thing, then."

                Rei took a deep breath.  "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

                The swirling light quickly rose and subsided.  Shard watched appreciatively. 

                "Did you know that while you're doing that, all your clothes kind of turn to mist and you're--"

                "Don't make me cook you."  Rei found, oddly, that she almost appreciated the bounty hunter's banter.  The knot in her chest had hardened, somehow, and left her cold and determined.  If I'm going to do this, I'm not going to do it halfway.

                "So how do we get in?"

                "You want to climb over that thing?"

                "Not really."

                "Then you can do the honors."  He stood back, watching, and Rei shook her head again.  Stupidest plan I ever heard…

                "Mars Burning Mandala!"

                The force of the wash of flame was too much for the section of fence it was aimed at.  Wrought iron screamed, then gave at the points, and the whole section toppled inward.  Lights started to go on at the manor.

                "We'd better move quickly."  Shard pulled his sunglasses out of a pocket and snapped them open with one hand.

                Minako…

                Five men in black suits negotiated the hillside, lethal-looking weapons cradled in their arms.  They moved as a group, as they'd been trained to do, with the last member always looking out behind them.  It was he who caught sight of the solitary figure, apparently just waiting in the rain on the boulder-strewn hillside.

                "Hey!"

                The squad turned around and started trudging back up.  Instead of running, the figure waited for them; when they'd approached close enough, a slash of lighting lit up her features.  Rei's uniform was already sodden with rain, her hair still a mess.  She barely moved as they approached.

                "It's a girl!"  The lead thug walked over to her, curious, while his companions fanned out.  "What are you doing here?"

                Rei shrugged.  "I got lost."

                "What should we do with her?"

                The leader, after a moment's consideration, shook his head.  "Kill her.  The boss said to deal with any intruders."

                The goon shrugged and held his gun to her face.  "Sorry, kid.  Nothing personal."

                Three gunshots followed, so close together they almost sounded like one.  The three closest thugs dropped like stones, and Rei was already moving on the last pair before they could swing their guns around.

                "Burning Mandala!"

                Another wave of flame picked the two up and tossed them down the hillside.  Rei glanced after them, ruthlessly quashing a flicker of feeling.  They'll live.  Probably.

                "Rei!" 

                Right now I have other problems.  The flash of fire had pinpointed her to the gunmen on the house, and they were enthusiastically hosing down the hillside.  She started running, keeping track of the shadowy figure of Shard on her right; he'd risen from his boulder hiding place and switched to explosive rounds.  A volley of mini-fireballs shattered the battlements and made the snipers keep their heads down long enough for the two of them to charge up the slope to level ground.  Rei came over the crest of the hill shooting.

                "Mars Flame Sniper!"

                There were three black cars in the driveway, and the main doors were crowded with armed men.  Rei aimed for one of the former--full power this time--and the fire cut through the sedan and left a substantial crater in the wall of the house.  The thing burned merrily for a moment before the gas tank ignited, catapulting the flaming wreck into the air to land on top of one of the others.

                Shard came past a second later, before the gunmen could get their bearings, and fired another volley of explosive rounds into the doorways.  Shrapnel scythed through the black-suited goons, and they retreated rapidly.

                Rei paused a moment, staring at the smoldering wreckage.  Shard took a few more steps and turned.

                "Come on!  We have to get inside before they can get anyone at the windows."

                She shook her head and followed him.  "Lead the way."

                "We're headed up to the third floor."

                "How many stairways are there?"

                "Just one."

                "They'll be waiting there, then."

                "We'll think of something."

                The crystal city was under siege.

                The outside towers had already fallen under the relentless bombardment, ultra-dense material shattering like glass and raining to the ground in deadly shards.  Most of the civilians had long ago been evacuated, or fled into the wilderness and been captured by the Sa'an Empire as more fodder for their war machine.  What defenders were left had retreated to the inner sanctums or secreted themselves in hidden alcoves of the listing towers, a thousand tiny ambushes exacting their toll on the attackers.  The streets were covered in black goo, all that remained of the first wave of Imperial troops and mecha, intermixed with the wreckage of their attack drones and the thin, silver-armored bodies of the defenders.

                Ami stared mournfully out the heavily-armored window of the citadel, one of the last bastions of the city's defense.  Laser fire still flickered sporadically on the outskirts, but it was beginning to slacken off; the spherical Imperial drones, held up by the glowing purple of contragravity rings, had started going window to window and blasting the insides of already devastated buildings.  They were supported from above; even as she watched, black beams stabbed down from one of the Imperial starships that hovered over the edges of the city like a great dark moon.  The blasts impacted at street level, and one of the spindly towers began its slow, awful collapse.  Ami closed her eyes, trying not to hear the screams.

                "They've stopped sending troops into the grinder.  Now they'll just let the drones clear out what we have left."

                She turned back into the room.  Jahara stood at the map table, staring down as though he didn't already know what it held, and Zaya sat slumped in a corner, playing with one of her knives.  The others were gone, somewhere in the fortress she assumed.  Trying to bolster what was left of the troop's morale.

                "Jahara.  The snipers won't stop them for long.  Or they may decide to risk what's left of our defense guns and bring those cruisers close enough to blast this place to rubble."  What?  Ami heard herself speak, without meaning to.  But the voice--

                "I know."  The other kept his voice low.

                "We don't have enough left to withstand another assault, even if they just rush the walls.  One company of assault mecha could--"

                "I know!"

                Zaya leaned back against the wall, carefully retying her braid.  "Let them come."  She looked almost excited.  "I've always wanted to fight an Imperial assault mech."

                "You'd die."

                She shrugged.  "That's the risk one takes."

                Ami looked at Jahara, who shook his head firmly.

                All right.  What exactly the hell is going on here?

                She'd meant to say it out loud, but her body wouldn't respond to her orders.  Instead, she turned angrily and took up her position at the window again, watching the distant laser flashes and the periodic roar of an explosion.

                I can't move.  I can't do anything.  Claustrophobic fear crashed over her in a wave, and Ami struggled to remain calm.  Her eyes remained fixed on the battle.  Okay.  Think for a second.  Think.  What's going on here?

                Still moving like a puppet, Ami raised one of her hands and stared at it intently.  My hand?  That's not--

                A sudden shift in vision cut her off; the scene flipped to the magical plane, showing the elaborate tracery of brilliant lines that ran under the surface of her skin.  Not my skin.  The viewpoint dived inward, moving far more adeptly than Ami had been able to, following a single thread of white that burned so brightly it was nearly impossible to see.  Down it spiraled, under the surface of the world, until it merged into a river of brilliant power that obliterated any sense of anything else.  She reached out, slowly, into the shimmering mass.  Its power was immense, but somehow it beat in time with her heart.  It would be so easy to drink it all--

                "Eridu!"  Jahara's voice cracked like a whip, and her viewpoint hurriedly shifted back to the physical.  "Remember what you agreed to."

                "We're all going to die, Jahara.  What does it matter one way or the other?"

                "It's too dangerous."

                "More dangerous than that?"  She waved a hand at the window, and Jahara paused.

                Eridu!  That's it.  This is a dream.

                Not really a dream, though.  More like a memory.  Something he gave me…  The sense of identification was palpable.  Though the events progressed like something on a movie screen, she had to keep reminding herself that the memory didn't actually belong to her.

                Eridu--not me-- turned back to the window, shaking his head.  "It doesn't matter."

                When is this?  The city was the same one Eridu had showed her, the one he'd described as his home.  'The world it was on no longer exists.'  Is this what happened to it?  Eridu-in-the-dream certainly didn't carry the same aura of power he did now.  So a long time ago.  Realization hit.  He was a guardian, wasn't he?  That thread was the same as mine.  And he knows how to get down below, to what he called the source of the guardian's power. 

                Something's wrong here.  Who are these other people?  More guardians?  She frowned, or tried to.  More importantly, what happened to the city?  Obviously Eridu survived--

                The scene suddenly went flat and gray, then vanished entirely.  Suspended for a moment in a field of endless darkness, Ami cursed.  I need to know what happens!

                "Ami?"

                She opened her eyes, slowly, and squinted in the hospital waiting room's flickering fluorescents.  Usagi sat in the seat next to her, poking her gently in the side.

                "Ami?"

                "I'm awake."  She stretched and yawned.

                "Good."  Usagi sighed and gently stroked Luna, who was asleep on her lap.  "It's your turn, I think."

                Minako.  The news still had her kind of stunned; somehow, she couldn't really believe that it was her friend in there, behind the glass wall of the operating room.  They'd been sleeping in shifts, taking turns waiting behind the partition and watching.

                "How is she?"

                "About the same."  Usagi's eyes were red, but dry for the moment.  "The doctor said that no change is a good thing."

                "That's good, at least."

                "Yeah."  She sniffed.  "Mako went to get some food for us.  She should be back soon."

                Ami nodded, slipping off into thought again as she walked into the other room.  Minako lay still in the bed, chest barely moving under the covers, accompanied by the constant whir and ping of machinery.  A nurse was fussing around somewhere nearby, and Ami closed her eyes again, leaning against the wall.

                One of my best friends may be dying in there, and I'm thinking about stuff like this.  Does that make my callous?

                Eridu's message had everyone's real name and address.  That has to be how they tracked us down.  And that means that Eridu is involved, somehow. 

                We could still be in danger.  I have to do something.

                The guard's radio crackled urgently, and he raised it to his ear, weapon drawn.  Behind him, another trio of black-suited goons watched the third-floor corridor in both directions.

                "This is team three-A.  What the hell is going on?"

                "Some kind of attack--we don't know who.  They're packing a lot of firepower."  The voice on the other end of the radio sounded out of breath.

                "Where are they?"

                "They just broke past two-B, headed in your direction.  Be careful--"

                "Flame Sniper!"

                The voice came from one level down the switchback staircase, and the bolt of flame, aimed from the landing below, knocked a hole in the third floor and continued on into the ceiling, raining plaster down on the surprised guards.

                At the same time, Shard barreled around the edge of the stairway, spraying indiscriminate fire.  The guard leader ducked sideways, but the men behind him weren't quite as astute, and they hit the floor in rapid succession.  The bounty hunter could hear the leader shouting into his radio for reinforcements as Rei came up to join him.  He shook his head, out of breath. 

                "You know, this would be a lot of easier if you would just shoot some of them."

                Rei paused.  "I'm sorry.  I can't just--"

                "I know, I know."  He ejected the still-smoking clips from each gun and slammed a new pair home.  "Top of the staircase, there's a door directly across from us.  You clear the room, I'll jump across the hallway and see what's up there."

                "Got it."  Rei scrambled to the top of the stairs with Shard right behind her, sighting on the heavy wooden door.  This I can shoot.  "Flame Sniper!"

                The bounty hunter was moving before the fire had subsided and the broken bits of door had stopped bouncing off the walls in the other room.  The pair of technicians inside certainly hadn't expected anyone to come through the door so quickly; they barely had time to reach for their sidearms before he shot them down.  Another couple of shots into the expensive-looking communications equipment that lined the walls turned most of the blinking lights off, and he returned to the doorway to see what was further down the corridor.

                "Flame Sniper!"  Another dull roar answered Rei's call.  "Shard, there's more of them coming up the steps. 

                "See if you can collapse a section of staircase.  The throne room is just down the hall."

                "Right.  Flame Sniper!"

                A heavy crash indicated that Rei had succeeded in her goal; he could hear automatic weapons fire thudding uselessly into the underside of the stairway.  Although if they bring up something heavier, they could probably punch through the floor.  A cheery thought.  He leaned out into the corridor and ducked back quickly as bullets whined past like a sudden swarm of gnats.

                "Another squad at the end of the hall.  I'm running low on explosives, you want to handle it?"

                Rei smiled tightly and waited for the firing to stop before leaning out from the stairway entrance.  "Mars Burning Mandala!"  The roar and the shouts of the men at the end of the hall--only lightly burned, more's the pity--told Shard he had the opening he needed.  Twin machine pistols chattered through the smoke until the clips were dry; the bounty hunter loaded another pair.  These things chew ammo like there's no tomorrow.  We'd better wrap this up quickly.

                "Is it clear?"  Rei called out from across the hall.  Shard ducked out again, this time for longer; no standing figures were visible through the smoke.  He nodded.

                "Should be."  He stepped out from his hiding place, staying close to the wall on his side; Rei did the same on the other side, edging further down the corridor.  They made it almost halfway down before the big double doors at the other end opened, two small shapes blocking the doorway.

                Rei froze against the wall.  "Who are they?"

                "Damned if I know."  Shard pushed off from the wall, running across the corridor as he fired.  Bullets pock-marked the floor behind the pair, but any that hit them ricocheted away with a whine and a spark.

                Before he could react, the pair started sprinting forward through the smoke.  Rei raised a hand. 

                "Burning Mandala!"

                The wave of fire engulfed them, but to no apparent effect.  Rei backed away, hurriedly.  The things were now easily recognizable: they had the shape of young women, and the weight and color of marble.  The floorboards crunched under their feet as they ran, and both of them were covered with tiny chips and pockmarks from the bounty hunter's bullets.

                "What do we do now?"

                Rei looked at Shard incredulously.  "You're asking me?"

                "This is more your department."

                "Duck!"

                The first statue had reached them, swinging its fist around in an arc that passed just over Rei's head as she threw herself desperately to the floor.  The other edged towards Shard, feinting high and then turning into a sweeping low kick that sent him sprawling across the floor.  He rolled to the side before its fist came down, smashing a sizable hole in the floor.

                "Shard!  Do something!"

                "Give me a second!"

                The bounty hunter backed away from the statue, ducking first left, then right as it swung.  Statues, statues…going to have to just blow them to bits.  Explosive rounds are no good, they'd just detonate on the surface.  Something stronger…  He ducked low under a roundhouse swing, took a step back, and felt his heel come up against the wall.  Uh-oh.

                "Flame SNIPER!"

                Rei had evaded her statue for a moment, slipping behind Shard's and placing her hand flat on its back.  The full impact of the flame blew the thing's torso to bits; the bounty hunter had the presence of mind to close his eyes before he was pelted by fragments of flaming marble.  He lunged blindly to the side, hand dropping to the explosives at his belt.

                "Shard, use--"  The sentence cut off in muffled shriek.  Shard regained his feet immediately to find that the second statue had grabbed Rei's shoulder from behind, running her into one of the walls hard enough to crack the plaster.  She stumbled backwards, dazed, and the thing stepped behind her.

                Go for a weak spot.  One of the joints.  Shard stumbled forward, and the statue turned to face him.  Instead of going directly for it, he turned the run into a roll past its legs, pulling the device from his belt and letting it adhere neatly to the things knee.  As it turned to follow him, his hand darted into another pocket.  Let it get away from Rei.  Two steps.

                The statue took two steps, and he smiled behind his dark glasses as he clicked the switch home.  The little charge detonated, focused inward; it took off the statues leg at the knee, sending more chips of marble flying across the hall.  Unable to support its weight, the thing toppled, flailing in a vain attempt to get to him.

                Rei had regained her senses by this time, and pointed a shaking hand at the thrashing statue.  "Flame Sniper."  When the roar died down, all that were left were pieces.

                She shook her head.  "What the hell was that?"

                "Some guardian of Iylitrio's, I imagine.  I told you, he's got a lot of magic up his sleeve.  I know he has at least a couple of pet wizards."

                "Great.  So what else can we expect?"

                "Hopefully not much.  His office is just past those doors."

                Rei wiped one of her cheeks, spreading blood over it from a minor cut from when the statue had rammed her into the wall.  Shard couldn't help staring at her, slightly in awe.

                God.  She's smart, cute, self-reliant, and she throws fireballs.  Any lingering doubts he'd been entertaining about this course of action vanished.  If killing Iylitrio is what it takes to keep her safe, so be it.

                "Gentlemen."

                They looked up, almost in unison.  Another man waited just inside the open doors, standing in front of the second set that marked the boundary between the anteroom and Iylitrio's office.  He was immaculately dressed, with short dark hair and a gaunt, hungry look.  A pair of swords, one long and one short, hung at his side.

                Shard groaned, softly.  "Seiron."

                "I'm afraid Iylitrio is not receiving visitors at this time."  He took a step forward.  "You're going to have to leave."

                "I'm not here for Iylitrio."  Rei spoke up from behind the bounty hunter.  "Where's Resh?"

                "Lord Resh is with Iylitrio and cannot be disturbed."  The black-clad servant drew his katana with a silky metallic sound.  "I note that you will most likely attempt to see Iylitrio by force.  I ask you to reconsider.  This course will result in your personal injury, up to and including your deaths, and I cannot be held responsible."

                Rei glanced at Shard.  "I don't think he's going to move."

                The bounty hunter shrugged.  "I figured."

                "Ami?"

                Ami opened her eyes with a sigh at the sound of Makoto's voice.  "What?"

                The other girl seemed a bit taken aback by the harsh tone.  "I just got back from the store."  She held up a steaming plastic cup.  "Want some ramen?  You look kind of worn out."

                "I…"  The smell of the ramen worked its siren song, and Ami relented.  "Sure.  Thanks, Mako."  She took the bowl and started slurping down the noodles, speaking in between bites.  "You don't look so hot yourself."

                It was true.  Transforming back into Makoto from Sailor Jupiter had gotten rid of the bloodstains, but she still carried some less obvious marks.  Her eyes were red and ringed by dark circles, as though she hadn't slept in weeks.  She ate sparingly from her own bowl of ramen, while Usagi's lay unopened.  The blonde girl was sleeping on two chairs pushed together.

                "Still nothing?"

                Ami nodded wearily.  "No news is good news, though.  The doctors sounded more hopeful."

                "I can't believe there's nothing else we can do."  Makoto finished her noodles, drained the bowl, then crushed it in her fist.  "No magic or anything…"

                "Luna said best not to interfere.  If things look really bad, we'll do what we can, but it's dangerous."  And I'd have to be a lunatic to try something on my own.  She'd looked into the operating room with her new second sight, and what she saw repulsed her; the careful fabric of a living being shredded by a smaller, simpler object.  Repairing that by magic would be close to impossible.  "She's a Senshi, though."  Ami kept her voice low.  "So as long as she's alive, there shouldn't be any permanent damage."

                "That's something, anyway."  Makoto sighed.  "I don't even know who those guys with Resh were.  Or why he wants us dead."

                "Neither do I."

                They sat in silence for a moment before Makoto spoke again.

                "Can I ask you something, Ami?"

                "Go ahead."  She slurped the last of the ramen and, aiming carefully, shot the plastic bowl into the trash.

                "Where have you been recently?  I saw a bit of you at the shopping mall, but that was it.  We were worried sick about you.  When Resh attacked downtown, we tried to contact you, but didn't get anything."

                "When was this?"

                "Yesterday, around six.  Just before we went in against Resh.  But you were out all night."

                That must have been when Eridu put me under.  "I was…"  What can I tell her?

                Wait a minute.  Why am I lying to her?  Ami blinked, sudden aware of the alien memories sitting like a lead weight in her mind.  What have they been doing to me?

                Something suddenly bubbled to surface from inside those borrowed memories.  Eridu was a guardian on his world.  Guardian of Knowledge and Deceit.  Lying is as natural to him as breathing…

                Why did he give me this?

                "Ami?"

                Ami shook her head.  "Sorry.  Just remembered something."  I have to tell her the truth.  "I met someone."

                "You…"  Makoto looked taken aback.  "Not a guy."

                "No!  Well…he's a guy, I suppose, but it's not like that."  What he wanted to the contrary.  "He's…something.  I don't know.  Powerful."

                "Powerful?"

                "Magically powerful."

                "You didn't tell the rest of us?  What if he'd turned out to be evil?"

                "He…"  She stopped, unsure of the answer to that question.  "I'd been working on some magical theory in my spare time, but there was something about it I didn't get.  Some trick.  And then he showed up."

                "Why would he do that?"  The other sounded suspicious.

                "I did some work for him.  Computer hacking."  And found our real names in someone's data.  I still don't know what to think about that.

                "And he agreed to teach you…"

                "He did it!"  Ami held out one hand, proudly.  "I can do it now."

                "Do what?"

                "Magic."  She pointed at Usagi's ramen cup.  This is reckless.  I haven't really studied how to make this work.  Another side of her just smiled.  I've done this a thousand times.  All you have to do is beckon like this.

                The plastic bowl jumped off the end-table as though it had been kicked by some unseen force, zipping sideways to smack solidly into her hand.  Makoto's jaw dropped open, and Ami herself felt a tremendous surge of elation.  It worked!  It actually works!

                "A…Ami…"

                "Don't you get it?  This is what I've always wanted."  To see how it all works, not just stumble along shouting some activation phrase and letting it all happen.  I need to know…

                "I can understand that, but…"  She pointed at the ramen cup.  "Are you sure this is safe?"

                "Of course it's safe."

                "How do you know?"

                "I just…"  She stopped again.  I remember it.  Like everything else.  "I figured a lot of it out.  My equations were almost there, and he showed me the last little piece.  I should show them to you, Mako.  It's beautiful how it all falls into place."  That last term was a real stroke of genius.  In fact…

                Makoto looked embarrassed.  "I don't think I could follow them, so I'll take you're word for it.  But I'm still kind of amazed.  What else can you…"  She trailed off as it became clear Ami wasn't paying attention to her anymore, staring off into space with her mouth open. 

                Oh.  Oh, gods.

                She could almost see the numbers dancing behind her eyes.  That last term describes how the lines of force tend to spiral inward to form focal points.  But if that applies to all three layers…

                Memories spiraled.

Eridu was a guardian.

                'The world it was on no longer exists.'

                'It's too dangerous.'

                'More dangerous than that?'

                A chain reaction.  If the forces are perturbed past a critical point, it spreads through the force lines in a positive feedback loop.    She closed her eyes, unconsciously, watching the equations march past; everything made a kind of terrifying sense.  All the terms go to zero.

"Eridu!"

                Jahara screamed as the walls of the inner sanctum shattered under the heavy fists of the Imperial mecha.  Assault mecha--black faceplates like masks, weapons blazing from each of four arms--climbed through the gap.  Zaya led what was left of the guard to meet them, crimson energy flashing brilliantly and crashing against the protective wardings of the Imperial Dark Adepts in a shower of sparks.  Outgunned both magically and physically, the defenders fell back, leaving the floor covered with bodies.

                Ami watched the red-haired Zaya go down under a pair of assault mecha, watched Jahara rush to her side.  More defenders appeared, blue and orange energy to replace the red, but the Imperial defenses were still too strong.

                She felt herself reach out, in a way that was well-remembered.  Jahara spun, halfway to the fight.

                "Eridu!  Don't--"

                All the terms go to zero.

                Her eyes popped open to find Makoto standing over her.  "Ami!  Are you okay?  Ami?"

                "I'm fine."  She shook her head, one hand already grabbing her coat from where it hung over the back of a nearby chair.  "But we have to go, Makoto."

                "Go?  What are you talking about?"

                "I figured it out.  He did it, Mako.  Eridu did it."

                "Did what?  Who's Eridu?  Ami, what are you talking about--"

                "I'll explain on the way.  We have to get to the nexus, now."

                "We can't leave Minako.  And Usagi's still asleep."

                "Minako will be okay."  She paused.  "Probably.  And the rest of us won't."

                "Let me get Usagi up, and explain--"

                "I'll go on ahead."

                "Where?"

                The blue-haired Senshi was already halfway out the door, too distracted to note that it once again slammed open at her very approach.  "Tokyo Tower!"

                "This is your last chance to surrender peacefully.  Iylitrio can be quite merciful."

                Rei eyed Seiron's drawn katana.  The metal shimmered like liquid under the lights; the servant had slipped into a martial stance almost reflexively as he drew the thing.  I'm sure he knows how to use it.  Does he really think he can stop us, though?

                She chided herself.  Apparently. Don't get too cocky here.

                "Rei."  Shard spoke quietly enough that the swordsman at the other end of the hall couldn't hear.  "When I move, get down."

                Rei nodded, an instant picture of what was about to happen forming in her mind.  Not again…

                "I take it by your silence that you intend to resist.  At this point--"

                The bounty hunter moved so fast his weapon was a blur, leaping from his side to a firing position.  At the same time, he pulled a black sphere from his belt, thumbing a switch and tossing it towards the anteroom door.  Rei had tensed in expectation, flattening herself against the wall.

                Seiron was apparently not caught by surprise.  The black-clad swordsman ducked under the stream of bullets, dashing sideways as Shard shifted his aim.  The bounty hunter had been ready for that, though, and the grenade landed in just the right spot, practically at Seiron's feet.

                Got him!  Rei closed her eyes just before the flash and opened them when the thunder stopped.  The end of the corridor was filled by a cloud of billowing smoke.  "Shard--"

                "Down!"

                The bounty hunter hit the deck, and Rei followed a moment later.  Seiron came flying out of the dust horizontally, at about head height; his katana slashed down towards Shard, who rolled against the wall desperately.  Wood chips flew as the blade dragged a trail into the floor without apparent effort, and Seiron twisted in mid-air, absorbed the impact with the corridor wall with a bend of his legs, and landed in a roll.

                Shard came up shooting, one gun in each hand, but the swordsman zigzagged between the bullets.  Explosive rounds tore a series of holes in the floor behind him, getting closer, but before they could connect Seiron leapt into a spin that brought his sword around in a circle of flashing steel.  Shard ducked underneath it, barely, but got caught on the ear with a kick and went sprawling.  Seiron landed in a skid and turned, ready to strike again.

                "Mars Flame Sniper!"
                The swordsman hadn't even so much as glanced in her direction, but he dodged the fiery blast with fluid grace, stepping out of the way as it scored the wall behind him and spinning back through the doorway as Shard drew a bead again.  Another burst chewed into the big double doors that led to the office itself, but Seiron was already out of sight behind the anteroom walls.  Shard stepped back and reloaded, motioning Rei away from the doorway.

                "Who is that guy?"  She kept her voice to a frantic hiss.

                "Iylitrio's personal bodyguard.  Nobody knows who he really is."

                "He can't be human!  No person can move like that."

                "Since he can dodge bullets, I kind of figured."  The bounty hunter smiled grimly.  "When he comes back out, hit him with some wide-angle.  That should throw him off balance, and then--"

                "There!  Fire!"

                The shout came from behind them, accompanied by the sound of running feet.  Shard spun and dropped to one knee, gun blazing in a rapid-fire burst that sent two of the gunmen flopping to the floor and sent the rest diving for cover in the doorways.  Rei turned a bit more slowly.  This ended up saving her life; she threw herself flat at a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision, feeling the wind as Seiron's sword whistled just over her head.  Rei dodged again before it came down vertically, halving more of the floorboards in its path, and then Seiron was past her and running towards Shard.  The bounty hunter fired a final shot to keep the black suits behind him occupied, then spun and tried to draw a bead on the swordsman.  Seiron covered the gap too fast, and Shard frantically thrust his weapon into the path of oncoming razor-edged death, the clash of metal throwing sparks.  Seiron let them lock a moment before confidently twisting his sword sideways and bringing his other hand around onto Shard's wrist, forcing the bounty hunter to fire uselessly into the ceiling.  With his opponent's sword free, Shard had to let go of the gun and jump backwards to avoid losing his arm.

                Rei had just gotten back to her feet, trying to get a bead on the black-clad servant.  Seiron moved so fast he blurred, ducking as she pointed and turning the move into a sweeping kick that knocked the bounty hunter off his feet.  Rei had to back up without firing as he swung the katana in vicious horizontal arcs to keep her off balance, and she found herself retreating towards the anteroom doors.  Past Seiron, the black suits had regained their courage and were closing in, looking for a clear shot.  Rei ducked first left, the right, as Seiron pressed her back, his expression one of mild amusement.

                This is bad.  Shard almost has his gun back…  The swordsman knew it too, and feinted her to the left just as they got to the doorway, pushing her into one corner.  With nowhere left to run, Rei ducked under the next sweep, at head-height, and tried to dodge past him.  Seiron turned, stuck out a foot, and sent her sprawling across the floor as he brought his sword around in as low an arc as he could manage.  The best Rei could do was turn sideways, and she felt the blade bite--a shock more then actual pain.  Before he could reverse the stroke, she aimed right at his chest.

                "Flame SNIPER!"

                Seiron twisted as though he had no bones in his body, moving liquidly out of the path of the flame; plaster dust scattered as it bored into the ceiling.  The swordsman moved in a circle around her, lowering his blade as she tried to get up and letting the tip of his sword keep her down.  Rei tried to focus on the point of the katana as it hovered an inch or so from her face.  Seiron's smile twisted, ironically.

                "Just a guardian, I suppose."

                The click as Shard snapped the safety off one of his backup pistols seemed to fill the world; he had the barrel pressed to the side of the swordsman's head. 

"Dodge this."

Seiron's smile, if anything, widened.  The impact of the round tossed him sideways like a rag doll, crashing into one of the corridor walls with a spray of blood.  Shard started to reach down before Rei had time to shout.

                "Shard, get down!"

                The bounty hunter's reflexes were nothing if not well-trained, and he dropped on top of her with a thud that knocked the wind from her.  Bullets cracked overhead as the black-suited goons advanced again; Rei pointed over his head.

                "Mars Burning Mandala!"

                The silence that followed the wash of flame felt so good she was almost hesitant to break it.  I don't have to get up if it never ends.  She blinked, slowly.  I can just lie here…

                Shard climbed wearily to his feet, and Rei sighed, clapping one hand to her side at the sudden stab of pain.  He held out a hand, which she accepted gratefully. 

                "Thanks."  The bounty hunter looked down the corridor at the unconscious thugs, then at the body in the corner, already atop a spreading pool of blood.  "Are you okay?  You're bleeding."

                Thanks for noticing.  Rei grimaced as she pulled her hand away; both it and the side of her uniform were stained a deep crimson.  She shook her head, a bit painfully.  "It's not bad.  Just a cut."  Rei let out a long breath.  "I'll be fine."

                "Good."  Shard was already retrieving his dropped weapon.  "I sure as hell couldn't carry you out of here."

                "Shard…"

                "What?"

                "If Resh was here, shouldn't we have seen him by now?"

                "That's bothering you too?"

                She nodded, silently.

                "Iylitrio may have him stashed somewhere, I don't know.  We can ask him."  Shard smiled.  "Politely."

                "What's your hurry, Miss Mizuno?"

                Ami pounded along the street, clothes already a soaking mess.  Her feet were getting numb, chilled from a puddle she'd tried to jump without thinking and hadn't quite cleared.  Eridu's voice sounded right in her ear; she shook her head as though she could be rid of him like some kind of irritating bug.

                "I figured it out."  She forced it out through halting breaths as she paused for a moment at a traffic light, bouncing from one leg to another impatiently as the cars swished past.  "I almost fell for it, but I figured it out."

                "Of course you did."  She could almost see his smile in the darkness, perfect white teeth and opaque lenses.  "I gave you the answer practically gift-wrapped."

                "It's not going to work."

                "Enough with the bravado.  It'll work, and there's nothing you can do.  You're already part of the plan."  His voice moved in closer.  "Unless you surprise me by taking me up on the offer."

                The light changed, and Ami was running again, saving her breath.

                "Come on, Miss Mizuno.  It's not too late yet.  A lot of people have killed for a fraction of what I'm offering you."

                "You're…offering…the end of the world."  She panted it out as she rounded a corner and took the subway steps three at a time.

                "How long do you think worlds last anyway?  Not forever."

                "Long…enough."

                "On my scale, Miss Mizuno, there's infinity, and there's everything else."

                "How can I help--"  The desk clerk pulled back in surprise as she slammed down a bill on his counter without looking and kept running.  He picked it up carefully and waved after her.  "Miss, your change…"

The turnstile that guarded the subway entrance beeped of its own accord, just as she arrived, and Ami barely had to slow down.  She heard the signal ahead as the train prepared to pull away from the station, the doors sliding shut; she tried to sprint, but her legs felt like lengths of rubber.  Desperately, Ami threw out her hand, and the doors stopped as though someone had stuck a girder between them.  She barreled through and let them close behind her, sagging against one of the polls.  Breath came hard.

                Not…enough monsters…lately.  She panted.   And too many late-night coding binges.

                "Life eternal.  Don't say I never gave you anything."

                "Would you shut up!"

                She clapped her hand over her mouth and the few other passengers on the car stared in her direction.  Ami blushed furiously and took a seat as far from them as possible; after a moment they returned to their separate activities, a couple discretely edging away.

                There has to be a way out.  The supernexus, as always, pulsed just under her vision.  Waves of power flowed outward, getting stronger as she approached.  She could feel the storm, too, connected to the nexus by flaring arcs of electricity and magic, circling around it in the same helpless way as water circling around a drain.  A natural convergence point.  Anything magical homed in on the nexus unerringly, iron filings glomming on to the end of the magnet.  There has to be a way out!  Eridu's influence was almost palpable, and she could feel him gloating.  If I had power like that…

                That vision was so attractive that she pulled back from it, frightened.  Think, Ami!  Something he overlooked…

                Two sailor-uniformed figures leaned against the plate glass in front of a closed convenience store, the rain flowing off the overhang into a nearly solid curtain in front of them. 

                Neptune shivered.  Just a little, but Haruka was sensitive to her mood.

                "What's wrong?"

                "The rain."  She closed her eyes. 

                "Water is normally more your thing than mine."

                "Something's wrong."

                Haruka could feel it too.  The air had an odd feel to it, a sort of stretched feeling, and there was an occasional whiff of the scorched-metal tang of ozone.  The storm looked to be building to a climax, lightning in nearly constant display around the tower and spreading out over the city.

                "We should be up there."

                Michiru smiled.  "We will be.  This is just a diversion."

                Uranus paused.  "Are you still sure about this?"

                "Setsuna's never been wrong before."

                "She seemed…"

                "What else can we do?"

                "Nothing."  Haruka gritted her teeth.  "We're in the dark, and there's nothing we can do."

                "Trust Pluto."  Michiru slipped her hand into her partner's.  "Now.  Are you ready?"

                "Ready."  Uranus nodded. 

                The big double doors to the office weren't even locked; they swung open at Rei's touch.

                Shard was right.  This is a throne room.

                The room was almost empty, massive picture windows behind the single desk giving a spectacular view of the storm that was lighting up Tokyo's night sky.  The desk itself was heavy, baroque, ancient, and covered in neat stacks of paper.  The chair behind it creaked as its occupant resettled his massive bulk, treating his visitors to a rare smile.

                Iylitrio.

                "Sailor Mars, isn't it?"  The crime-lord waved a hand, setting the rolls of skin on his arms to jiggling.  "I'm happy to finally get a chance to meet one of the vaunted Senshi.  Though I'm less than pleased with the manner of your entrance."

                "Iylitrio--"  Shard started to speak but was cut off by his employer's raised palm.

                "Before you think of doing something rash with that weapon of yours, bounty hunter, keep in mind I have a couple of men behind me with nothing better to do then keep an eye on you.  I assure you they have very good aim."

                Lightning flashed, and Rei could see another pair of figures, kneeling to either side of Iylitrio's desk with rifles raised.  Shard saw them too, and let his hand slip away from his pistol.

                "I'll keep this short."  Rei tried to keep any quiver out of her voice.  "Where's Resh?"

                "Resh is nearby.  I think that he will not be needed."

                "Just show me to the vampire and stay out of my way."

                "I think not."  Iylitrio leaned back in his chair.  "I know who you are, Rei Hino.  I know where you live, where your friends live.  And much as I hate to make crude threats…"  He smiled.  "I think we understand each other, yes?"

                "I understand."  Grandfather and Yuuchiro should already be on their way; there's no way he can find them.  As for the rest…  "Take me to Resh, or I'm going to take my anger out on you."

                "Rei…"  Shard started to whisper, but she silenced him with a glance.  Iylitrio held her stare without blinking.

                "I see.  You don't believe me."

                "I--"

                "You know it was my men who killed your friend?  Resh has become unnecessary.  And you still don't believe me?"

                "I believe you."  Minako.  Rei raised her palm.

                "Then you don't care about your family."  Iylitrio shrugged.  "I suppose that's not out of the ordinary.  Shard, take her."

                Rei didn't even glance sideways, holding the crime-lord's gaze as his eyes flickered to the motionless bounty hunter.

                "So it's true."  Skin folded around his mouth as Iylitrio's smile widened.  "You've fallen for her.  Or is there someone out there who you think can outbid me?"

                "Keep smiling."  Shard shrugged.  "You just keep smiling."

                "And why not?"  He spread his arms.  "I've been waiting for you.  Do you really think there's anything you can do to harm me, here?  My men will drop you if you so much as take a step, and more of my forces are on their way.  You've lost, Mars.  And now you get to die on your knees, begging for mercy."

                Rei watched his eyes.  He wasn't waiting for us here.  He didn't even know Shard had turned against him, and his security certainly wasn't prepared.  Iylitrio held her gaze steadily.  Is there something between us?  Some kind of force shield, maybe? 

                Now what?

                "Iylitrio…"  She lowered her hand and shook her head, her eyes never leaving his face.  The crime-lord's expression didn't change, but something about him relaxed; the folds of skin around his jaw shifted slightly.  Just for a moment, Rei saw a bead of sweat on his forehead, running down the side of his face until it got lost in a crevice.  She smiled, inwardly.

                "Giving up already?  So sad."  Iylitrio gestured.  "Take them--"

                "Mars Plasma LANCE!"  Her shout and the gunshots were almost simultaneous.

                The beam that stabbed out had gone beyond angry crimson flame.  A spike of pure white slashed through the desk and into the wall behind it.  It didn't even burn anything, just blew it out of the way in a shower of splinters and sparks.  The fire lasted for less then a second, then vanished in a wash of heat that spread out through the room.  Rei rapidly tried to blink away the shining after-image on her retina.

                Shard held a pistol in each hand, the barrels still smoking, and the crime-lord's two guards slumped to the floor.  Of Iylitrio himself, there was nothing left but a long, greasy black smear on the ground.  The desk had been sawed in half, and the window behind it was still intact except where the beam had melted a neat hole.  A fine ash was gradually settling on top of everything.

                "Jesus."  Shard slipped his guns back into their holsters in an almost unconscious reflex.  "Try and give me a bit of warning next time you do that.  One of those guys nearly got a shot off."

                Rei hardly dared to let out her breath.  "I figured you'd think of something."  She couldn't take her eyes off the charred and sticky floor.  He's just…gone.  Just like that.  Like turning off a light.  I just killed him.

                She closed her eyes.  Good fucking riddance.

                Shard put a hand on her shoulder.  For once, it felt comfortable.

                "Are you…"

                "I'm fine."  Rei smiled, blankly.  "We're not done, though."

                "Rei…"

                "And don't tell me you only signed up for dealing with Iylitrio."  I swear, if he does that…  "We still have to find Resh, and--"

                Shard leaned down and silenced her with a kiss.  Rei started for a moment, then relaxed.

                "Relax, Rei."  The bounty hunter straightened up.  "We'll find him."

                "Resh has gone to Tokyo Tower."

                They both spun to face the corner of the office, still cloaked deep in shadow even from the near-constant lightning.  The bolts glinted off someone's face, eyes covered by black-on-black sunglasses and skin nearly chalk white in the flickering lighting.

                Shard had his gun drawn before he could even think.  "Who are you?"

                "Someone who's tired of that vampire.  Just being helpful."  The face glided back into the darkness.  "Go find him."

                "Wait--"  Rei took a step forward before lightning flared again; the figure was gone.           

Chapter Fourteen

                In which matters come to a head.

                Hotaru sat on the edge of the narrow metal walkway, swinging her legs out over the infinite void and listening to the rain drum down on the tower and hiss into steam a few feet over their heads.  Jahara was watching the entrance, far below.  The rain had culled the normal crowds of tourists down to a dedicated few, and with the late hour even these die-hards had abandoned it.

                She could feel the force of the place, what he'd called the 'supernexus', flowing and jumping in response to every flash of lightning.  Up close, the bolts were edged with odd colors, purple and orange and green fire dancing around the sides of the pure-white strokes.

                "Will you be able to see him from up here?"

                The Unforgiven shrugged.  "Possibly."

                "And you're sure he'll be here."

                "Reasonably certain.  If he doesn't come, we will have to seek him elsewhere.  But when Resh is feeling threatened, he generally runs to wherever he feels most powerful.  The supernexus will accomplish that."

                "Will you still be able to beat him?"

                "Of course."  Hotaru tried to detect the hint of a smile and failed.  She shook her head.

                "Any idea when?"

                "If I had to guess…"  He glanced up at the clouds.  "At the height of the storm.  Not long, now."

                Hotaru nodded, deep in thought and staring off into the storm.

                I have to ask.  She shivered.  He might not like it, though.  He might make me leave.

                But…

                "Jahara?"

                He turned his head towards her with a vaguely interrogative sound. 

                "Can I ask you something?"

                The Unforgiven shrugged.  Hotaru's mouth was dry.

                "Why did you bring me here?"

                There was a long pause before he spoke, without looking at her.  "You asked to come along.  Who am I to impede a guardian in the execution of her duty?"

                "But…"  She stopped and shook her head.  If he doesn't want to tell me, I can't make him.  "Okay."

                Another, even longer pause.  Jahara shifted on the metal beam and sighed.

                "I suppose there are…other reasons."

                She barely found her voice.  "Go on."

                "I might as well admit it.  Even I occasionally feel some need for company."  Jahara stretched, as though admission pained him.  "I have been chasing Resh for a long time, and fighting before that.  A long time."

                "Does anyone live with you?  Back on your ship?"

                "Not anymore.  I have a Harbinger named Third, but he is a servant and not very suitable for conversation."

                Harbinger?  Hotaru let it pass.  "So why me?"

                "I sensed you, from the moment I stepped on to this world.  Despite the interference that this place puts out."

                "How?"

                "Resonance.  We are similar, you and I."

                Similar?  He's twice my height and three times my weight, with bright green hair and power I can barely comprehend.  He's older then I can imagine, and spends his time flying around and hunting vampires.  I, on the other hand, go to school and occasionally try not to get killed by some monster.  How are we similar?

                But…

                "We are, aren't we."  Hotaru looked down at herself and shook her head.  "How?"

                Jahara was looking away, out into the storm.  "I used to be one of you."

                "A…a Senshi?"  A sudden image of the seven-foot Unforgiven in a sailor uniform was almost irresistible, and Hotaru did her best to suppress her laughter.  Jahara didn't appear to notice.

                "Approximately.  I was a guardian on another world, a long way from here.  In another universe."

                "But why me?"

                He shrugged.  "You share my function."

                Hotaru shook her head.  He's right, of course.  She could feel the Saturn persona, just below her own consciousness.  The resemblance was unmistakable: the same casual arrogance, the disregard for everything they considered unimportant.  So is that how I end up?  It had been more then a year since she'd thought of her Senshi self as a truly different personality.  Now it was hard to do anything else.  And sooner or later, it wins out.

                She had hazy memories, too, of something even farther back.  A different life, accompanied by such a colossal conceit and disdain for existence that even vague flashes of it were frightening.  It just flickered out, at the end, like a reel of film whose end was tattered and broken.

                "So what happened to you?"  The words came out as a whisper.  Hotaru hugged her arms to her chest, shivering even in the field of warmth carved out by the Unforgiven's power.  "What are you doing here?"

                "The guardians on my world were somewhat different from you.  Different from any other place I've been to, actually.  We had…"  He hesitated.  "We had a much closer identification with our archetypes.  I was--I still am--an embodiment of a function."

                "And…"

                "It caused problems."  Jahara got to his feet with a sudden, fluid motion.  "He's here."

                "Resh?"

                The Unforgiven nodded and smiled, green lightning crackling along his hands as they curled into fists.

                Ami pounded up the last of the stairs and nearly ran into the guardrail, panting desperately for breath as invisible enemies thrust burning hot spears into her stomach and her legs.  Sweat still poured from her face, melding with the omnipresent rainwater.

                "A bit of a waste of effort, isn't it?"  Eridu stepped away from the rail himself with a vague gesture.  The pair were on a kind of catwalk, an observation level raised a few dozen feet over the main deck.  All the legitimate customers of the Tower had gone by now, and Ami had seen no sign of any security guards or janitors.  Eridu probably got rid of them.  She didn't want to think about how.

                He stepped under one of the scattered light bulbs, white suit still immaculate despite the rain and the wind.  Dark glasses flashed a dull white every time lightning jumped from the clouds and hit the tower.  Ami could feel the magical surges that caused the extroverted display, great masses of disparate power drawn to the supernexus.  They spiraled around it like foam castles in a bubble bath, going faster and faster as they whirled down the drain.

                The paradox inherent in a place like this.  The magical glare of the place was immense, extending far beyond the city.  But at the same time it tended to draw in drifting power.  Both source and sink. 

                She had to pause, for a moment, trying to regain some semblance of breath.  Eridu continued, oblivious. 

                "Surely you realize I gave you the means to cross a city with the snap of your fingers?  Particularly to a place like this."  He rolled his eyes.  "But you're here at last, which is what counts, I suppose.  I had to take some pains delaying the vampire so that he wouldn't arrive too soon.  It wouldn't do to have our little show disrupted, would it?"

                "You…"

                "Did you like my little history lesson?"

                He knows.  Ami kept silent, watching his eyes.  I don't get it.  I know what he wants--I think I know what he wants.  But if he wants me to take the guardian's power, why show off the consequences?  Why give me those memories in the first place, when it would be so easy for him to keep silent?  I thought it was a mistake--that he'd given me more the he realized.  But--

                "I take it by your expression that you're not ready to accept it yet.  I'd almost hoped you would be, although it would certainly make me look like a fool.  All these elaborate plans for nothing."  He smiled.  "But so far, it's just as predicted.  So, on to the next step--"

                She stared at him, shaking her head slowly.  "You really did it, didn't you?  Even though you knew what would happen."

                "--you get to call me a monster."  He finished his earlier sentence.  "Yes, yes.  I knew exactly what I was doing."

                "You killed--"

                "Not killed.  I wouldn't say that."

                "All those people certainly aren't around any more!"  A whole god-damned world.  She remembered her first view of the crystal city, proud and serene.  But it's more than that.  The city, the planet it was on, the space they were in…  Her mind refused to expand far enough, to contemplate the enormity of it.

                "No, they aren't.  But in a sense, they never were.  That causality self-destructed, collapsed to a point.  So in a sense what's left over--namely me--is metacausal, without a clear origin."  He chuckled.  "Is that a good enough rationalization for you?  It wasn't a very big universe, if that helps any.  Just the one planet.  That might explain why the guardians were so concentrated."

                "You…how could you?"  It shouldn't have been possible.

                "They were all dead anyway.  Only a matter of time.  So is it so bad that I chose survival?"

                "They were still fighting."

                "Fighting the Sa'an has always been a losing proposition.  Did I leave you the knowledge of how their little scheme worked?  No?"  Eridu shook his head.  "They have these gates that they carry around with them, big black goopy things.  Any living creature that gets shoved through turns into another perfect Imperial soldier, complete with armor and weapons.  They don't surrender, and they don't take prisoners.  Or, rather, they do.  Just not for long."

                Ami stared, not quite sure how to answer.  Exhaustion started to worm its way in, burning along her limbs as adrenalin faded. 

                "So, Miss Mizuno.  'And what's he, then, that says I play the villain?  When this advice is free I give and honest.'  I gave you what you always wanted.  I'm helping your friend Rei track down Resh--it's about time that particular pest was dealt with.  And I've shown you the means to a power unlike anything your world has ever seen."

                "Let me finish the speech."

                Eridu nodded, amused, and she continued.

                "'Divinity of hell!  When devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows, as I do now.'"

                "'So will I turn her virtue into pitch; And out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all.'"  He shrugged.  "Iago was always a clear thinker."

                She looked at him, her limbs suddenly feeling like weights.  It felt as though her mind were fogged, somehow, uncomprehending.  "It's over, Eridu.  I'm not going to do it."

                "Of course.  And my mentioning that I could atomize you where you stand is not a determining factor."

                All that power…  She hadn't thought, up until now, about that consequence of absorbing the guardian stream.  I'll bet he could.  Not that it matters.   "No."

                "I'd be a fool to expect otherwise.  Guardians never seem to have enough of a sense of self-preservation."

                "So now what?"  She shook her head, tired.  "Are you going to blast me?"

                "I don't think so.  We're just getting started."  With his usual perfect timing, Eridu turned and held out a hand as a mismatched pair of figures loomed from the darkness.

                "Eridu."  The air around Jahara crackled green.  Hotaru was almost invisible beside him, a half-sized shadow in the glare.  Eridu met Jahara's stare head-on with such vehemence that Ami was surprised the space between them didn't burst into flames. 

                Neither even flinched at the sudden burst of gunfire from the main observation deck, or looked over at the hoarse half-shout. 

                "Mars Flame Sniper!"

                They'd been waiting, as soon as the elevator doors opened.

                The elevator wasn't supposed to work at all, and the main doors had of course been locked.  Neither had posed much of a problem for the clever little devices Shard pulled from his seemingly bottomless toolbelt.  They passed the ride up in silence, the bounty hunter carefully checking over his equipment one last time while Rei stared at the gunmetal-gray of the doors.

                How should I prepare?  Say a prayer, or something.  Somehow it didn't seem appropriate; the reason clicked after a moment.  I've prayed for my survival before, or for victory.  I've never prayed for death.

                Resh's grin flickered, fangs like two ivory needles.

'Just fucking kill them all.'

                Somehow I can't bring myself to feel any remorse.

                Ding.

                The elevator stopped with a lurch, and Rei glanced at Shard.  The bounty hunter nodded, just slightly, and raised a weapon in each hand.

                The vampires were packed almost shoulder to shoulder in the doorway, a disparate wall of humanity ranging from security guards to late-night pedestrians to a businessman who'd stepped onto the street at just the wrong time.  Resh and his minions had cut a swathe through the city and dragged the leavings with them.  Now they charged, fangs bared.  Rei felt the chill stench of their breath in the moment before Shard opened fire.

                In the confined space, the noise of the machine pistols was deafening, like twin jackhammers.  The effect was even more spectacular--where the bullets hit, the undead simply melted into nothing, shattering into motes of gray dust that scattered in the storm winds.  The wave of creatures literally vanished in an instant, a few diving to either side of the doorway rather than facing annihilation.  Most of the kept coming, and Shard kept firing until the path was clear and both pistols clicked empty.

                There was a moment of silence as he ejected the clips, interrupted by the double clink of the smoking shells on the floor.  Rei took a cautious step forward as he reloaded.

                "Rei."

                "Hmm?"  She peered around one of the corners, staring off into the darkness.

                "I only have one more silver clip, and I'm saving it for Resh."

                "My turn, then."

                Hotaru glanced up at Jahara.  The Unforgiven had gone rigid, losing his usual careful slowness and moving with a hint of his real speed.  He opened his fists and let his arms fall to his sides, flickering like a piece of bad stop-motion photography.

                The thin man in the white suit--Eridu, he called him--was much more relaxed.  He reached up and swept the dark glasses from his eyes with a grand gesture, holding out his arms as though ready to embrace an old friend.  Hotaru was taken aback by his expression, but most of all by his eyes.  Under the glasses they were white from edge to edge, not the pale fish-belly white of the blind but brilliant, glowing white that shone with its own inner fire.  The effect was disconcerting, as though his face were nothing but a mask over the interior of some sun, which shone out through the eye-holes.

                Ami stood next to him, looking wet, bedraggled, and confused.  There was something new in her as well, though, a faint tickle to Hotaru's newfound senses.  Drowned as they were by the storm and the supernexus, she could feel Eridu's presence as easily as Jahara's. 

                "Jahara.  I'm glad you could make it."  Ami gave a little gasp at the name, as though in recognition.  But how could she?  Jahara's been with me.  "And you've brought your friend along, just like I wanted."

                The Unforgiven finally spoke again, in such grating tones that Hotaru wasn't sure he'd even opened his mouth.  "Don't think I haven't been aware of you."

                "Since I haven't been trying to hide, I'm not surprised.  But you sound angry.  Don't you find my game amusing?"

                "I don't care."  He snapped it off.  "I'm here to kill Resh.  That's all.  So you can do what you like."

                "The vampire's use to me is rapidly running out, but I'm afraid he has one more purpose to serve.  You'll have to wait, just a little while."

                A spark of green crackled along Jahara's arm.  "How exactly do you propose to stop me?"

                "You want to fight me?  Here?"  Eridu meticulously dusted the arms of his coat.  "You know what will happen."

                "You'll lose."

                "I'm sure.  But do you think there will be anything left of this place afterwards?  This fragile mortal city?"  He snorted.  "Not much."

                "Why should that matter to me?"

                Hotaru looked up at Jahara, reflexively.  His green-on-green eyes never wavered, and for a moment she felt the alienness of him very strongly.  He's so old.  And he's gone so far beyond any kind of fear, or doubt.  But to another facet of herself, it felt terrifyingly familiar. 

                He wouldn't destroy the city, just to get the vampire.

                Would he?

                Would I?

                Saturn stirred, sluggishly, trying to work her way to the surface.  Hotaru shook her head desperately.  He wouldn't.  I know…

                "I think it does."  Eridu was still smiling.  It wasn't a nice smile, stretched too far on his bony face, almost a grimace.  "You like them.  You like her, for example.  You persist in thinking about humans as though they were creatures of any consequence, and you couldn't participate in their wholesale destruction.  I know you too well, Jahara.  You're nothing if not consistent."

                There was a long pause.

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing.  I'm going to do precisely nothing."

"And Resh…"

                "Once I'm done, you can feel free to kill him."

                "Very well."  The Unforgiven's hands were once again tightening into fists, but he kept his voice calm.  "I'll wait."

                A chorus of snarls echoed from the floor below, and another faint repetition of the battle cry.

                "Mars Flame Sniper!  Mars--"

                It was cut off, suddenly.  Hotaru took a step towards the railing before remembering to look at Eridu, but the white-suited figure looked more amused then anything else.

                "Go help her, by all means."  Eridu seemed to have his attention focused on Ami, ignoring his erstwhile adversary.  "The more the merrier."

                Hotaru caught Ami's eye, just for a moment, and the blue-haired Senshi nodded.  She was already shouting as she hit the barrier.

                "Saturn Crystal Power Make Up!"

                Rei turned the corner, away from the bank of elevators.  The vampires hadn't mounted a serious attack since their initial rush, and she'd finished off a couple of stragglers before signaling that the coast was clear to Shard.  The bounty hunter's presence behind her was reassuringly large and threatening.  A strange comfort.

                A comfort which went out the window as she noticed the figure at the other end of the hall, silhouetted for a moment in the darkness by a flash of lightning behind him.  The light faded, just for a moment, and his eyes glowed a horrible crimson among the ringing afterimages.  Thunder growled a counterpoint as Resh walked forward, unhurried.

                She heard Shard snort derisively behind her.  "He's got everything but the John Williams soundtrack, doesn't he?  Remember, it's all part of the trick.  Don't be fooled."

                He's right.  She could feel the power that lay at the root of the master vampire's existence working on her mind and trying to inspire it to terror, to flight.  It was stronger then she remembered, strong enough that despite her active resistance the mere sight of him set her to shivering.  How can he be that strong?  Rei tried to focus on her anger, the white-hot rage that had driven her through the night.  Minako.  The terror receded, just barely.  I'm going to kill him.

                "You followed me all the way here.  I'm--"

                She cut him off with a growl.  "Let me guess.  You're impressed with our cleverness, so now you're going to have to demonstrate the true extent of your power.  After that, you give a little speech explaining how our peaceful ideology is fundamentally flawed and only the strong survive, which is pretty appropriate for a predator.  I've heard to before, so let's cut to the chase."  She took a threatening step forward.  "You shot my friend, and I'm going to kill you.  Can we fight now?"

                Even the vampire was a little taken aback; she could almost hear Shard's jaw drop.  Resh recovered quickly, though.

                "And I suppose you demand I face you myself, honorably, without any help from my…friends?"

                Rei shrugged.  "Whatever."

                The vampire's eyes glittered.  "Excellent.  Let's get started, then."

                Mars tried to keep her cool demeanor while tensing at the same time, waiting for the vampires to spring from the recesses of the platform and swarm over her in a wave of razor-fanged death.  It was something of a surprise, then, when absolutely nothing happened.

                Resh looked as surprised as anyone else when two more uniformed Senshi appeared, practically materializing from the darkness.  Michiru was limping a bit, favoring one leg, but Uranus looked more bored then anything else.  Her smile was cocky, as always.

                "We got here early and cleaned up a little bit, Rei.  I hope you don't mind."

                Relieved as she was, Rei found she was even happier to see the vampire's composure disturbed.  His face twisted as he tried to find some excuse to laugh off the newcomers, but before he could answer his attention was drawn buy yet another clicking of high-heeled boots on the metal floor.  Saturn looked miniature beside the length of the Silence Glaive, but her expression was no less cold for that.

                "Is everyone okay?"

                Rei nodded, not taking her eyes from Resh.  The vampire's eyes flickered from one Senshi to another, indecisive.  If he tries to run…

                Then he smiled again, and she could feel the dark energy around him surge.  Rei raised her hands.

                Finally.

                Ami had recovered somewhat while Eridu watched what was going on below with interest.  The newcomer Jahara was in turn watching Eridu, and Ami couldn't help but stare at him.

                Jahara was in Eridu's memories, back on his home world.  The one he…destroyed.  Could this be the same person?  Eridu's lived this long because of all the power he absorbed, but what is Jahara doing here?

                Eridu turned from his show to fix her with a superior stare.  He knows that I know.  There's some conclusion I'm supposed to draw from this.  Think for a second…

                Equations flickered in a new way, and Ami blinked.  Got it.

                "When you absorbed the guardian stream, the chain reaction merged all the other guardians with their source powers."

                "Got it in one.  I knew you wouldn't take my word for it, but Jahara was kind enough to show up and provide living proof."

                "I still don't understand.  What do Rei and the others fighting Resh have to do with...me…"  She trailed off at the end as her thoughts raced ahead along familiar trails, arriving at an inevitable conclusion.  "No."

                Eridu's brilliant white eyes flickered.  "You see?"

                "They can beat Resh."

                "Not here, they can't.  Resh is a true mage.  He sees the world like I taught you to see it, and here at the supernexus there is power to spare.  Your friends might be able to beat him normally, but--"

                "I'm not going to do it!"

                "I think you will."  His voice took on a distant, lecturing tone.  "Self-sacrifice is a strong imperative in guardians.  But sacrificing your friends?  Never."  He leaned closer.  "I'm sure you'd give up your life for the good of the world, or even just to save one of them.  Like that"--he snapped his fingers--"without ever considering the larger consequences.  But it's not so easy this way, is it?"

                He glanced at her hands, which seemed to have clenched of their own accord.  "And don't bother attacking me.  You know the end result will be the same.  In fact…"  His face lit up, as though he had just thought of something.  "Let me sweeten the deal.  Suppose you do nothing.  Once your friends are dead, I'll let Jahara kill Resh.  Then I'll kill you.  Then Jahara and I will probably fight, and no matter what happens there won't be much left of your world afterwards."  Eridu's voice dropped to a whisper.  "You know the power I've taken, so you know I can do it.  So think about the choice.  On the one hand, you have you and your friends all dead and your planet in ruins.  People dying horribly and so forth.  On the other, everything is just gone.  Poof!  Like snuffing out a candle.  Except, of course, for the guardians, who in the process gain ultimate power and eternal life."

                He straightened up.  "Now then.  You've heard the phrase, 'The lesser of two evils?'  Choose wisely, Miss Mizuno."

                Jahara cut in before she could speak.  "Do you realize what you're doing, Eridu?"

                "Of course I do.  Don't I always?"

                "This isn't some tiny sphere of space with one little planet.  This universe is too big.  There are hundreds of guardians here.  Thousands.  Do you want to unleash that many Unforgiven on the worlds?"

                "Obviously I do.  Why are you so worried about the humans?"  He turned on the spot and pointed at her with a questioning digit.  "You!  Guardian of goodness and love and so forth.  If presented with a choice between saving a child and an old man, who would you help?"

                Ami shook her head, remaining silent, but Eridu continued without her.

                "The child, of course.  He's young!  So many possibilities ahead of him.  So much life left to live, while the old man's lifespan is all but spent.  But by the same logic, look at us!"  He waved his hand in a grand gesture.  "We live forever, preserved in perfection.  So how can you compare us to humans?  It's as if you were to decide that mayflies deserved citizenship.  Ludicrous."

                "I am not going to do it."  Her mouth was dry.  "Never."

                "We'll see, Miss Mizuno.  Just watch."

                "Mars Flame Sniper!"

                Something told her playing all her cards at the beginning of the fight would be unwise, but her usual attack barely had any effect; the vampire simply held up a hand crawling with dark lightning and the burning line of flame shattered before it reached him.  Before he could respond, though, the others were already unleashing their powers.

                "Deep Submerge!"

                "World Shaking!"

                Twin spheres of energy from the Outer Senshi whipped past, slamming against the vampire's invisible barrier and splashing outwards.  Rei cringed automatically from the heat and ducked sideways, hearing Uranus and Neptune launch themselves into the air moments before Resh's counterattack.  The black beams that slashed from his hands went through the heavy metal of the floor and the support pillars like it wasn't there, leaving gaps whose edges dripped molten metal.  He swept the attacks sideways, forcing Haruka to jump away again and Rei to throw herself flat under the bolt.

                A rapid sequence of shots announced Shard's entrance, back at the elevator bank that was quickly acquiring the consistency of swiss cheese.  This time Resh deigned to move, twisting out of the way of a long burst; before he could regain his footing, Shard raised his other weapon and fired a single shot.  The silver round caught the vampire in the shoulder, carving a deep groove in his flesh and provoking a roar of pain.  The bounty hunter quickly squeezed off a burst from his silver clip, but this one didn't even get close; a wave of Resh's hand burned the projectiles in mid air.  Shard jumped aside as another volley of dark fire took out the corner he'd been hiding behind.

                He's stronger than when we fought him before.  In the office building, he was at least trying to dodge, but now he doesn't even bother.  We can't touch him...  She stood and quietly slipped to the side as another set of earth and water attacks slid off the vampire's seemingly invincible defense.  Shard stuck his head up but ducked hurriedly as a black lance nearly took it off.  Luckily for the Senshi, the support structure of the tower provided plenty of cover, and Resh, after his initial surprise, seemed to be enjoying playing with his foes, blasting away at the slightest sign of movement.  Can we even wear him down?  He looks like he's having fun.

                "Mars."

                Hearing her name whispered from such close quarters practically stopped her heart; power was already concentrating at her hands before she recognized Hotaru's diminutive silhouette.  The battle was lit only sporadically by the lightning outside and the fireball bursts of energy blasts.

                "Hotaru!"  The girl cocked her head to one side, and Rei forced herself to remember that Sailor Saturn was a bit more than the little girl in a new costume.  "What are you doing here?"

                "It's a long story, and we're short on time."  She gestured to the battle with the tip of the Silence Glaive.  "Any ideas?"

                Rei shook her head wearily.  "I don't understand where his power comes from.  If he'd had this kind of firepower the last time, you'd think he would have used it."

                "Maybe he was holding back."

                That doesn't sound like the Resh Shard described.  "Not him.  He's a grandstander."

                "Then maybe…"  Hotaru's eyes opened wide.  "The nexus."

                "What?"

                "Can't you feel the power here?  Look at the clouds.  He isn't even going to get tired, when there's energy all around just for the asking."

                "So what the hell do we do?"

                She shook her head grimly.  "I don't know.  But we should try it soon.  I think those two are running out of ideas."

                As though the girl's words had been a prophecy, the sounds of battle suddenly stopped.  Rei went cold.  Did he finally get lucky?  She poked her head up, cautiously.

                Resh turned in a circle, looking for movement, and she contrived to stay almost perfectly still.  Halfway through his arc, he spotted a flash of color at the other end of the observation deck, white cloth pinned under some fallen debris.

                Uranus?  Neptune?  Or…

                Resh stalked over, relish clear in his face and hands crackling with power.  One blast was enough to incinerate the beam blocking his way, and he raised his palm--

                To take aim at a piece of cloth, fluttering away.  The two Outer Senshi spoke as one, energy spheres bursting from nearby hiding spots.

                "Deep Submerge!"  The detonation was deafening.  "World Shaking!"

                With coordination professional athletes would have envied, Shard was right behind them, blazing away with both guns into the maelstrom of flame.  Once they both clicked empty, he stepped back, reaching down for a backup weapon.

                A nice trick, but it's not going to work.  Rei wasn't at all surprised when the smoke and flame cleared to reveal the vampire still standing, a bit singed but otherwise unharmed.  His eyes blazed a brilliant vermillion; Resh brought his hands together, deliberately, and smiled even wider.

                "That's about as good as you can do, isn't it?"  Black energy flickered and blazed into the form of a weapon, a simple bar of darkness the length of a sword.  The vampire held it easily in one hand and swung it as though it weighed nothing at all; Uranus and Neptune backed away.  "So let me tell you what I'm going to do.  I'm going to cut you two into little bits, and peg the bounty hunter to the wall with a sharp stake.  Then"--he took a step forward--"I'm going to find the little fire-throwing girl and make her into one of my friends.  And then I'm getting the fuck off this lousy planet."  With his off hand, he wiped some of the char from his cheek.  "I've had it with this place.  I'll find someplace fun and lead old green-eyes on a merry chase."  His laugh had more of an animal's snarl in it than anything else, now.

                Hotaru turned to Rei.  "I'm going to try and keep him busy.  Think of something."

                "They're doing well, aren't they?"  Eridu murmured softly, voice soft and slick.  "But not well enough, I'm afraid.  The power of the supernexus makes Resh's sorcery unstoppable."

                Ami watched the battle with conflicting feelings, trying to show nothing on her face.  Her eyes kept flickering to Jahara, who stood at the edge of the catwalk like some green-tinged statue, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for who-knows-what.

                "How long are you going to wait, Miss Mizuno?  Until the first one dies?  How many have to fall before you see sense?"

                She closed her eyes.

                I could just do it.

                She rejected the thought almost as soon as it occurred to her, pushing the traitorous feelings away.  They returned, slowly at first but increasing with every burst of dark power from below.  Ami's breath caught every time she lost sight of Rei or one of the Outer Senshi in a blaze of black lightning.

                If one of them dies…what could I possibly do afterwards?

                But what's the use of being a god with a universe full of murders on my conscience?

                "You've felt it, I'm sure.  You look out on the city, and all these little people, and you feel superior.  Privileged.  And why not?  The fabric of the universe provides you with power they can only dream of, and all you have to do is reach out and take it."

                "We get the powers for a reason."

                "Who cares why you get them?  Power is power.  What matters is what one does with it."  His serious expression became a smirk.  "I'll tell you what.  If it makes you feel better, spend a few thousand years traveling from world to world righting wrongs.  Think of what you could do with that kind of power."  He spread his hands.  "You respect logic, Miss Mizuno.  If you can do a finite amount of good in a given timespan, and you live forever, doesn't the potential for helping an infinite number of people justify any sacrifice?"

                I wish he'd shut up while I'm trying to think.

                It would be so easy. 

                Just a touch, reaching out to grab…

                She closed her eyes, shook her head.  Who am I kidding?  I can't.

                Rei…

                Even with her eyes shut she could see the battle as streams of magic warred against one another, the sink that Resh had generated drawing in power from every direction and finding it everywhere.  The Senshi were lit up like Christmas trees, connected to the tower and the clouds by invisible arcs of power as energy flowed inward to earth itself.  It was drawn to the discharges, the energy balls that burst again and again on the dark shields the vampire had erected.

                Resh has no idea what he's doing.  She could see it, even from her uneducated perspective.  Some of Eridu's cynicism had crept in.  He meets every attack with brute force, expending far more energy than necessary.  If only he didn't have so much power…

                Wait a minute.

                Ami reached outwards, ever so slightly, feeling towards the cluster of lights and sparks that she vaguely recognized as Rei.  If she…

                "That's far enough, Miss Mizuno."  Eridu's tone carried a warning.  "Let's not interfere."

                She thought desperately.  If I can reach her…

                The Outer Senshi leapt aside as the vampire's sword carved through a leaning steel beam, sending a huge section crashing to the floor.  He swiped it back and forth in the air, calling a challenge.

                "Who's first?  Hmm?"  The blade crackled just slightly as it moved, giving a desperate edge to Resh's words.  "Come on!"

                Oh no.

                Hotaru felt herself walking forward.  Her hand on the haft of the Silence Glaive was slick with sweat.

                What am I doing?

                Buying time.

                It's going to get us killed!  The vampire fixed her with a gaze and turned to meet her, raising the sword in front of him.

                Us?

                Me!  She felt like screaming.  Sailor Saturn.  Me.

                Her hands moved in a complicated twist, setting the long weapon to spinning.  The vampire grinned and approached, sword twitching from right to left.

                Too late now, Hotaru.  Time to fight.

                I…

                Resh lunged, a straightforward attack with all the vampire's strength behind it.  Hotaru caught the blade on her weapon and turned the stroke in a shower of black sparks.  Her recovery was slow, though, and Resh easily stepped out of the way of her clumsy return stroke and began to circle.

                I can't beat him.

                We can.

                Another moment passed, and Resh was surging forward again, not attempting to feint but simply hammering at her parries.  Hotaru took one step back, then another, blocking clumsily.  Her fingers went numb as the Glaive was nearly jarred from her hands.

                Saturn was waiting.  Hotaru sighed in surrender.

                If it saves the others…

                Now.  Fight.

                Feeling surged back along her arms, and Saturn spun to the side as Resh thrust again, leaving the vampire off-balance.  The butt end of the Glaive whipped around, catching him in the side and pushing him further.  He spun around, inhumanly fast, and caught her downward stroke on his sword.  She didn't press that attack.  Saturn or not, he's still stronger then I am.  Instead, she shifted gears and lashed at his sides, feinting first left, then right.  The vampire over-responded, slapping the weapon away with his own and leaving himself no time to counterattack.  Soon it was Resh who was being driven backwards, stepping out of her way of her lunge with a clumsy dodge.

                I can beat him.  I can beat him.  The Glaive whirled and flashed, and the vampire was driven back step by step, parrying desperately.  He raised a hand, calling power from the storm, but before he could act she attacked again and he was again forced to parry.

                She caught site of Rei out of the corner of her eye.  "Mars, I've got him…you guys have too…"

                The vampire's eyes blazed with sudden fury, glimmers of hidden red coming to the front.  He knocked her blade to the side in a too-wide sweep, spreading his arms wide.  His own sword shattered, dissolving back into its component energies.

                Combat instincts flared.  There's my opening.

                But…

                There was a bare moment of hesitation.

                He's a vampire.

                Hotaru thrust the Glaive home.  The blade caught Resh in the chest, parting his flesh as though it was mist and embedding itself nearly to the haft.  Hotaru kept her hands on it, not quite believing.

                I got him.

                Resh stood for a moment, transfixed by Saturn's weapon.  He put one of his own hands on the shaft, staring down as though he didn't quite believe it, then looked up at her.

                Looked up at Saturn and…grinned, even wider.

                Something clicked inside her just before Resh twisted violently, tearing the shaft from her hands; his own grip wrenched the blade out, dripping with a thick black liquid, and tossed it aside.  She barely had time to take a step back before he surged forward, bringing one fist around with the force of a jackhammer. 

Hotaru felt no pain, just a vague sensation of something giving way.  She realized, absently, that she was flying; it was only a moment more before she impacted heavily against one of the support pillars and fell into darkness.

Ami's eyes went wide.  "Hotaru."

"There, you see?"  Eridu put his hand on her shoulder.  "She may be alive a few seconds more.  There's still time…"

                Ami was no longer listening to him.  She reached, calling out.

                Rei…listen to me…

Chapter Fifteen

                In which heroes and villains resolve their differences in a peaceful fashion and everyone lives happily ever after.  Or possibly not.

                "Hotaru!"  Rei's head snapped around to follow the girl's flight, but lost her among the debris at the end of the observation deck.

Rei…listen to me…

                Resh ran his tongue carefully over his fangs, obviously satisfied with himself.  A moment's concentration brought his blade of dark energy blazing forth once again; this time it was Haruka who blocked his path, with Shard behind her.  Michiru was already running toward where Saturn had fallen.

                Rei stared at them, hardly daring to move.  "Ami?"

                I don't have long, Rei.  You can beat him.  He's using the power of the nexus to defend himself, and you can set up a negative resonance.  All you have to do is…find…find a…

                "Ami!"  Rei looked around wildly.  Her friend's voice had sounded like she was in pain.  "Where are you?"

                …the same power.  Rei, use the nexus…

                The brief contact cut off entirely with a kind of mental shriek, lost in the slash and rumble of the lightning.  Like some berserk warrior, the storm stabbed at the tower again and again, one every level, arcs of pure energy draining into the nexus and pulsing out over the city in waves.

                "World…Shaking!"  Haruka's voice was getting strained, and the fireball burst around the vampire with about as much effect as if she'd hit him with a water balloon.  Shard raised one of his backup weapons and fired to the same result; the bullets blazed with black fire and were dust before they reached him.  Resh continued to advance, slow and implacable, pushing the pair back towards the edge of the deck with utter disregard for their attacks.

                Rei concentrated.  There had been a tiny sliver of an image with Ami's last thought.  Bits of equations, all spidery brackets like cages around strange symbols, danced around some central idea. 

                The nexus…

                She shook her head, turned, and started to climb.

                Ami felt something slick and impenetrable slam into place between her and Rei.  She pressed at it for a moment, like someone scrabbling at concrete with their bare hands.

                "You are not supposed to interfere."  Eridu's white eyes burned, providing a soft illumination to counterpoint the lightning.  He advanced on her step by threatening step.  "Understand?  We civilized people sit up here while the rest of them brawl it out."

                She tried to stare him down until her eyes hurt.  It was like looking directly into the sun.  "Civilized?  You're just a thug."

                "Oh?"  This seemed to placate him, strangely.  The white-haired Unforgiven straightened up and regarded her more normally.  "How so?"

                Ami shrugged, weakly.  "You come to our world and threaten people until they do what you want.  Sounds like thuggery to me."

                "I merely took advantage of a pre-existing situation.  Without me, this fight would still be taking place, would it not?"

                "I would be down there helping them."

                "Without the power to do anything to help."  He smiled again.  "Really, Miss Mizuno, do you think that--"

                "That's not even really the point, though."  Ami was thinking quickly.  "Because this wouldn't have happened without you, would it?"  She felt a brief surge of elation as his expression changed, just a little.  "Mako filled me in, a little, on what Rei had told her.  Resh was working for some mob boss named Iylitrio, in exchange for protection from Jahara."

                The taller Unforgiven nodded at the mention of his name, the first evidence she'd had since he'd arrived that he was even listening to their conversation.  Ami continued, gathering momentum.  "But Shard had said that someone had hired Iylitrio to capture us, and he'd sent the vampire to do it.  To capture, not to kill.  Now, I don't doubt there's any number of people left around the city who'd want us.  Maybe even want us alive, the better to torture to death and so forth.  But who could make a deal with a big shot like Iylitrio?"

                "I could, you're implying."  Eridu shook his head.  "You're very clever."

                "You too.  But you weren't quite sure about me, were you?  Hence the capture order.  If I wouldn't comply, maybe one of the other Senshi would be more amenable."

                "You worked out perfectly."

                "Sure.  A little test, to spy on your allies and keep up the pretense that we were making a deal.  And then you saddle me with a bunch of your old memories, along with enough tantalizing hints to make me want to believe you.  In the meantime, you tell Iylitrio to have Resh pull out all the stops."

                "I fail to see the point of this.  Our situation is unchanged."

                "Maybe.  But it's nice to have someone to blame for all of this."

                "Go ahead and blame me."  He snapped it off too fast, and Ami's eyes narrowed.  There's something else here…let me try this.

                "Here's the one thing I'm not sure of."  She paused until she was sure she had his full attention.  "Why?"

                "What?"

                "Why bother?  What do you get out of all this?"

                He shrugged.  "More of my kind.  Isn't that enough?"  His perfect white suit rippled in the wind.  Up until now, the tower had been in a dead calm at the center of the storm; now, as the cyclone collapsed, the howl of the wind was rising.

                "I don't think so.  From what I remember…"  She smiled, trying not to let him see her sweat.  This has got to be the craziest bluff I've ever tried.  He could blow me away with a thought, and I'm taunting him. 

                Eridu regarded her silently for a moment.  "You're still an insect, Miss Mizuno.  Don't pretend to know my motivations."

                "But they're so simple."

                Both heads snapped around as Jahara spoke for the first time since Hotaru had left.  He didn't look back at them, but kept staring down at the battlefield below.  Looking for Hotaru?  What were those two doing together, anyway?

                "What do you know?"  Eridu snapped it off with a snarl.  "All you have to do is keep thinking with your fists.  So keep your mouth shut."

                Here goes nothing.  "Let's hear it."  She kept her voice sprightly.  "I'm interested, Jahara."

                The green-haired giant shrugged.  "As I said, it's simple.  The reason Eridu's actions seem so odd to you is because he's really trying to convince himself.  If he can get you to act the same way he did, it provides some measure of vindication.  The rest is just self-justification."

                Eridu snickered.  "Very nice.  A pair of amateur psychiatrists.  But it doesn't change anything."  He whirled on Ami.  "Do it.  Or I'll find someone else in this pathetic universe who will."

                "Too late."

                The Unforgiven turned around again to face the growing light.

                Resh was toying with them.

                It had become obvious as he fought Haruka, dancing around her with his superhuman speed and giving her what must have been, to him, tiny little taps.  The Outer Senshi collapsed against a ruined wall from the last of these, wiping a trail of blood from her lips and staring impotently at the towering vampire.  Shard had tried to interfere earlier and got a backhand for his troubles, sending him sprawling across the floor.

                "Well."  Resh's voice was a growl.  In the intermittent darkness, his face was defined by the glow from his eyes, shading his whole body in tones of red.  The wind screamed like an asylum escapee, and lightning flashed to the tower again and again.  "It's been fun." 

                "Resh."

                The first shout was barely audible through the near-constant growl of the thunder.  The next somehow rode the trailing wind and boomed across the deck.

                "RESH."

                The vampire looked up, and Rei summoned what energy was left to her in order to get to her feet.  She was standing on an outflung beam, a dozen feet over the edge of the deck, a windbreak thrust out into the madness of the storm.  The wind shrieked and tore at her, trying to knock her from her perch.  She didn't even have to remind herself not to look down, since the vivid mental picture of the nothingness that yawned below her was indelibly printed behind her eyes.

                Resh smiled his toothy smile and strode to meet her, leaving a gasping Haruka behind him.  Rei tried to quell the quiver in her stomach.  This is it.  This is the only way.

                "Haven't you had enough already?"  The vampire shook his head.  "You're persistent, I'll give you that much."

                "You've hurt my friends."  Her breath came with a rasp, and for a moment it was all she could do to remain upright against a cramp in her side.  "You killed Minako.  You came to our world and brought nothing but pain and suffering."  Rei took a deep breath; lightning crashed behind her, at just the right moment.  "In the name of Mars, I will punish you."

                Resh's eyes glittered.  After a moment's pause, he opened his mouth to reply; he never got the chance.

                Rei was concentrating.  The idea that Ami had sent her was only a glimmer, and she had to guess on the detail.  She focused her power, as though preparing for an attack, letting it build up without release.  Creating a sink.  The energy gathered, as much as she could hold and more, building up around her hands until she thought they were about to burst into flame of their own accord.  The rest of her felt empty, drained, and still she drew power until pain lanced through her like silver needles.  Her vision dimmed, narrowing to a blurry tunnel, and as her hands burned the rest of her body felt like ice.  Power.  My…energy…  Her breath froze in her lungs, and she felt her heart skip a frantic beat, then another.  What was left of her field of view started to sparkle.

                Not much longer now.  Another second, and I'll be dead.  Time seemed to have slowed; her body was numb, blood no longer flowing.  Another second.  The feeling in her hands had gone beyond pain, the power squirreling back and forth, straining for release.  It's everything I have, and it still wouldn't touch him.  Resh wasn't relying on his own power anymore.  He was drinking huge draughts of energy from the inexhaustible fountain of the supernexus.  But I can't work that way.  I can't reach outside myself…

                "Rei!"  Shard's voice, tiny and far off.

                It's not going to work.  Her body was a lifeless husk that her spirit was ready to abandon.  It's over.

                I'm sorry, Shard.

                And still she squeezed herself, tapped her innermost reserves, shunting away the last little bits of power.  Death was one breath away.  There was nothing left but a hole, a dark place, emptiness in the midst of awesome forces. 

                She could see Ami's smile.  A potential difference.

                The lightning bolt was a monster, brimming with the pent up energy of the clouds, power that had spiraled from all over the world to its central point.  It arced downwards into her, following the path of least resistance, and Rei suddenly found herself outlined by a corona of actinic fire.  The power headed for the supernexus flowed through her, filling the dark place inside herself that she'd created, dwarfing the power she could muster.  It passed through her on its way to the greater sink of the Tower and the supernexus, burning and destroying everything in its path, but for a moment she was riding the stream, controlling it.  It only took a moment.

                "Mars."  Rei felt herself floating, the tips of her toes lifted off the outlying beam, supported by the sheer force of the river she was trying to control.  "Plasma."  Her eyes glowed white, like twin gateways to the center of a sun.  She pointed a shaking finger at the suddenly motionless vampire.

                "LANCE!"

                Resh raised his hand desperately to block, drawing on all the power the nexus had to offer in order to deflect the titanic bolt.  But this time something was different.  Resonance.  The power the vampire called up hesitated, twisted, and drove itself inward, aligned against its will with the greater force that was approaching.  He barely had time to scream as the beam caught him in the chest, a solid line of something so bright and hot it had gone beyond matter.  It extended past him, lancing out high over the city at the speed of light and stretching into the night sky.  The whole tower crackled in sympathetic agony.

                She felt it crest, like an upward-thrown ball that suddenly runs out of forward momentum.  Then the power left her, the glow faded and she was falling.

                I got him.  Time seemed to telescope.  I got him.  I got Resh.  Minako…  She was almost past the ground floor of the deck, starting a plummet that would end many hundreds of feet below.  Thank you, Ami.  I did it.

                I…

                One of her outstretched hands was grabbed, nearly jerking her arm out of its socket and swinging her into the solid steel wall.  Shard had slid on his stomach to the very edge of the deck and brushed against her trailing fingers more by luck than any real design.  His grip felt solid, more real than the rest of her body.

                The bounty hunter smiled grimly, despite a split, bleeding lip.

                "Oh, no.  No noble self sacrifice for you, young lady.  You're not getting away from me that easily."

                She concentrated on breathing as he hauled her limp form back onto the observation deck, her limbs still haphazardly twitching from the power that had coursed through them.  Once he'd gotten her up he laid her out as best he could, elevating her head in his hands.  Her uniform was barely holding together, charred and scorched as her skin; most of her hair had been fried to a crisp.

                I could still die.  She didn't know.  I was burning life energy, and I can't just replace that with raw force.  Bleary eyes blinked and looked up at Shard.  This could be the last thing I ever see.  Am I even going to live?

                The bounty hunter brushed errant, singed hair back from her face, and smiled gently.  "You alive?"

                "Was that…"  She coughed, spattering red against her hand, and managed a slight smile of her own.  "Was that suitably pyrotechnic?"

                "No."  Eridu's face had gone suddenly cold, watching the mammoth lightning bolt strike and the obliteration of the master vampire.  "She can't…I…"

                Ami couldn't help but smirk, just a little.  Get ready for it…  "I warned you."         

                "You."  He rounded on her, the nimbus of power just beginning to form around his shoulders.  White lightning crackled.  "You told her."

                She shrugged, modestly.

                "You're DEAD!"

                He raised a hand and a white lance of energy enveloped her, a miniature imitation of what had just happened below but no less powerful for that.  The full force of a universe's worth of guardian power hit Ami full in the chest at a temperature that could have reduced steel to its component atoms.  Her vision went white, even behind closed eyelids.  Once it was over, it was a long, scary moment before it began to clear. 

                Ami blinked the aftereffects of the bolt away and shivered, the movement throwing little crackles of residual power into the air.  Eridu took a step back, pupil-less eyes wide and unbelieving.

                "That…that's impossible.  There's no way you could have enough energy…"

                She shrugged.  "As your friend Resh there taught me, there's power enough if you know where to look."

                "You can't have learned to align with the nexus so quickly!"

                "I was always smarter than you thought."

                His eyes narrowed.  "You really think you can beat me?  Even with the power of the nexus, there are a thousand ways I could rend your living soul into fragments--"

                "Enough."  Jahara turned from observing the battle.  "It's over, Eridu."

                "Don't you interfere!  I can still wreck this world."

                "I think it has been amply demonstrated that the guardians of this world are quite capable of defending it."  Jahara took a step closer.  "And more to the point.  Up till now, you have earned my mild displeasure.  Would you like to try for something worse?"

                Eridu's eyes, white-on-white, were unreadable.  The play of emotions on his face, though, was obvious.  Raw fury warred against five thousand years of guilt and fear.  The stare stretched on and on, until finally the white-haired Unforgiven broke away with a snarl.

                "Damn you, Jahara.  I'm not going to forget this."

                "I wouldn't expect you to."

                He turned again.  "And as for you, Miss Mizuno."

                Despite her confident demeanor, Ami felt her breath catch in her throat.  It must have shown; Eridu laughed.

                "You're cursed already.  So I gave you power?  Not enough.  You'll be trapped by your function, tantalized by hints of things forever beyond your reach.  And someday, no matter how long you live, you'll face the end of your span with the knowledge that it could have been forever."  He waved a hand, already regaining his jaunty manner.  "Farewell, Miss Mizuno."

                There was a white flash, and a brief sensation of speed.  When it cleared, Eridu was gone.

                Ami fell to her knees, breathing hard.  "Thank God.  Or anyone else responsible."

                Jahara was at her side almost instantaneously.  "Are you hurt?"

                She shook her head.  "No.  Just a little tired.  And scared out of my fucking mind."  She looked up at him.  "I was sure he was going to fight you."  She shivered to imagine what such a battle might have been like.  I wouldn't be around to think about it afterwards, that's for sure.  "What if he'd called your bluff?"

                "Bluff?"  Jahara shrugged.  "I like your world, Miss Mizuno, but dealing with my own comes first.  I was quite ready to defeat him, whatever the cost."  He caught her expression and his face softened.  "I did not think it would come to that, though.  Charging headlong into impossible odds is more my function than his.  Eridu, for all his knowledge, is quite predictable."

                Ami shook her head.  If he hadn't bought it…  She shuddered.  Oh, well.  How often has the world come that close to destruction?  One more narrow shave won't hurt it.  "We should…"  She struggled to her feet on legs that felt like they were made out of wet noodles.  "We should find the others.  They could be hurt…I don't even know if Rei could survive something like what she did…"

                The Unforgiven helped to her feet.  His hand on her arms was a strange sensation, cold and unyielding, as though she were being lifted by a machine.

                "Indeed, Miss Mizuno.  It is time to go home."

Epilogue

                In which certain parties take their leave.

                There was a horrible shriek, the cry of a nine-limbed demon escaping from the nether hells.

                "That's the tea."  Rei leaned back against the couch and glanced longingly at Shard, who rolled his eyes.

                "Fine, fine.  He made his way into the kitchen, muttering.  "Just because she blew herself to bits, she makes me do all the work…"

                Rei smiled to herself and turned back to Ami.  "And then he just left?"

                The blue-haired girl nodded.  "Yeah.  Just like that.  I thought he and Jahara were going to have it out, and that would certainly be the end of us.  But…"  She shook her head.  "Lucky again, I guess."

                "No kidding."  Rei yawned.  "Too bad I never got close to this Eridu guy.  If he really did everything you say he did, I would have liked to take a piece out of him too."

                "I think you did enough."  That brought on a chuckle from both of them.

                A bedroom door creaked, and the pair looked up.  Rei put up a hand in greeting.

                "Good morning.  Get enough sleep?"

                Hotaru blinked and yawned, rubbing her eyes with the back of one hand.  "Yeah, pretty much."  She made her way over to the couch and plopped down on the floor in front of the coffee table, wincing slightly as she sat.

                Ami leaned forward, concerned.  "Does it still hurt?"

                "Not badly at all!"  Hotaru waved her hands frantically.  "Considering Resh just about caved my chest in with one punch, you did a wonderful job putting me back together."

                Now it was Ami's turn to blush.  "I…it wasn't that much, really.  Just straightening bones and stuff.  Nothing like what I should be able to do…"

                "You saved her a year in the hospital, if not worse."  Rei patted Ami's shoulder.  "You should be proud."

                "Jahara helped a lot too.  Even though he's no good at healing, he knows a bit of the theory.  And he said I have an aptitude for it…"

                "Here we are."  Shard bustled in from the kitchen with a pot and a trio of cups.  He set the cups down on the coffee table before he noticed the third visitor.  "Oops.  Lemme get another one…"

                Ami snapped her fingers absent-mindedly, and another cup and saucer dropped onto the table with a clatter and a tiny thunder-clap.  Shard raised an eyebrow.

                "I'd ask for sugar, but I'm not sure the bowl would survive the trip.  Let me get it."  The bounty hunter left the girls to themselves once again.  Ami's tea carefully poured and stirred itself, the cup hovering in the air in front of her until she grabbed it to take a sip.

                "That's going to take some getting used to."  Rei couldn't help staring at the hovering crockery.

                "Not as much as that."  Ami pointed at Rei.  "I can't get used to seeing you with short hair."

                Rei raised a hand self-consciously to where her long, dark locks had once trailed past her shoulders.  She smoothed what was left, carefully.  "Most of it got burned.  I'll grow it out again as soon as I get the chance…"

                "I think you should keep it."  Shard returned once again from the kitchen.  "It makes you look more professional."

                "I guess…"  Rei still couldn't help blushing a little bit as Shard sat down next to her.  We still haven't really had the chance to talk.  On some subjects, though, no conversation was needed.

                "So."  Ami pushed her hovering saucer aside and turned to the bounty hunter.  "What are you going to do now, Shard?"

                "Not sure.  Iylitrio's dead, and his organization is in shambles.  Given my role in what happened, I doubt any of the other bosses would hire me"--he caught Rei's murderous glare and coughed--"not that I'd consider such a thing anyway.  I was thinking of going into your line of work.  Helping good, shooting evil, that sort of thing."

                Rei met his sardonic smile and shook her head.  Shard…  "It doesn't pay very well, bounty hunter."

                "I suppose that's a problem--"

                Ami cleared her throat.  "Actually…"

                The other two turned to look at her, and she smiled mysteriously. 

                "Ami."  Rei leaned forward threateningly.  "What did you do?"

                "I…uh…couldn't really sleep last night.  So I had a look around Iylitrio's computers.  Since I broke his encryption for Eridu, I had plenty of names and passwords and stuff."

                "Ami…"

                "It wasn't that much stuff, honest!"  She raised her hands defensively.  "Just a couple of files."

                "A couple of files of what?"

                "Just useful stuff.  Names of known criminals.  Public officials who've been bribed.  Stuff like that, to turn over to the authorities."

                "That's good."

                "And some Cayman Islands bank account numbers and passwords."

                Rei sputtered in her tea.  "What?!"

                Ami raised her hands again.  "Just some money Iylitrio had stashed away in case of emergencies.  There's not that much there, actually."

                "You checked?"

                "I was kind of curious.  And like I said, it wasn't much."

                "Good."

                "Not more than ten or twenty billion."

                This time the saucer did not survive.  "What?"

                "Relax, relax.  I'm making arrangements so that most of it gets turned over to various good causes."  Ami was smiling even wider now.  She planned on telling it to me this way, damn it!  "I figure there should be enough left over to 'hire' Shard indefinitely, though.  Plus a little bit."  She caught Rei's eye.  "Just for whatever comes up!  Hospital expenses, maybe.  As long as it gets spent for a good cause, right?"

                Rei glanced from her blue-haired friend to the bounty hunter and sighed.  "Only good causes, right?"

                He chuckled.  "Right."  Shard slipped one arm around her shoulder and lifted her up into a kiss that seemed to last for hours.  Rei could hear Ami pointedly clear her throat and turn to look the other way.  A door opened, somewhere, and there was the sound of footsteps, but for the moment she ignored them.  Sometimes I want to stay like this forever.

                There was a startled gasp from behind her.  "R...Rei?"

                The voice made her break away and turn to confront the blonde, still half-dressed in a plastic hospital uniform and bulky with bandages underneath.

                For a moment, there was nothing to say.  "M…M…"

                Minako, still limping a little, made her way over.  "So, this is him?"  She looked up at Shard, who doffed an imaginary cap.  "Ooh, I'm jealous.  He really is good-looking."

                Rei felt tears welling up; she threw her arms around Minako like someone clinging to a life preserver.  The blonde started in surprise before putting one arm on Rei's shoulders.

                "Mi…Mina…"  Rei felt in danger of dissolving into unintelligible sobbing.  "You're really okay.  You're…you're not…"

                "Rei…"  Minako's voice softened.  "Didn't Mako and Usagi tell you I would be getting out of the hospital?"

                I was hardly in a condition to understand anything when we got home last night.  Still, it was hard to imagine she'd been so tired she missed that whopper.  It doesn't matter.  She rubbed her tears out on the shoulder of Minako's flimsy hospital gown.  "I thought…I…"  Rei took a deep breath and pulled back so she could look into her friend's eyes.  "Don't ever do that again.  Don't ever scare me like that.  Okay?"

                The blonde nodded and spoke in a whisper.  "Okay."

                They tableau held absolutely still until Minako spoke again.

                "Hey, did you cut your hair?"

                Hotaru found herself sitting outside again as night fell.  The storm was gone as though it had never been, and the breeze carried a faint hint of salt off the water, miraculously uncorrupted by the smog of the city.  She took a deep breath and felt herself relaxing, slowly but surely.

                Pluto's graceful figure took up a seat next to her, silently.  The two sat on the grass, staring up at the stars, in silent companionship. 

                "Hi."

                Setsuna raised a hand weakly.  "Hi."

                "Is Haruka okay?  She seemed kind of mad."

                "I told her she couldn't go after Jahara."  Setsuna shook her head.  "You know Haruka.  She just needs to feel dark and brooding."

                "Yeah."  Hotaru sat back a little more, so she could look almost straight upwards.  The stars, even dimmed by the city lights, were spectacular.

                Infinite worlds…

                "What about you?"

                The little girl paused.  "I'm…okay."

                "Really?"

                "Sort of."  Saturn was still there, lurking just below the surface.  A merciless killer, totally dedicated to her goal.  And that's me.  Sort of.

                Setsuna looked at her quizzically.  "Okay."  She hesitated.  "He's here."

                "He is?"  Hotaru sat up suddenly.  "Where?"

                "Inside.  I told him I wanted to talk to you first.  Are you sure you want to see him?"

                "Of course!"

                Pluto sighed.  "I thought so.  I'll go get him."

                Hotaru, who had started to rise, sank back onto the grass.  "Okay."

                Halfway to the door, Setsuna stopped again.  "Hotaru?"

                "What?"

                "Be careful."

                Be careful?  What is that supposed to mean?

                As always, Jahara moved slowly, effortlessly, carefully.  He ducked under the doorframe and stood next to where she was lying, green eyes moving indifferently over the starscape.  I'm sure he's seen more impressive things.

                "You're still here?"

                "Yes."  He shifted his eyes down to her.  "There were a few matters I needed to work out to my satisfaction."

                "And now you're leaving?"

                "Yes.  I will return to the Aegis."

                His ship.  She nodded.  "And you've come here to, what, say goodbye?"

                "Yes."  Jahara knelt next to her.  "Without you, I'm not sure that what happened here would have worked out as well as it did.  I owe you a debt."

                "Don't worry about it."  She waved a hand.  "It was fun.  I guess I almost died a couple of times, but that's the way things go in this line of work."

                "Yes."

                Silence fell.  Hotaru could feel her eyes clouding with tears; she blinked them away, distractedly.  "Can you answer one question before you go?"

                "Of course."

                "There's me…"  She hesitated.  "There's me, and then there's Saturn.  We're different.  You say I can achieve peace by submitting to my function.  So that's Saturn, I guess.  But where does that leave me?  I mean, speaking as the part of myself that isn't Saturn, what happens to me in the end?  Do I just"--she swallowed--"vanish, eventually, until all that's left is something like her?"

                "No."

                Her voice was small.  "Then what?"

                Jahara shifted uneasily.  "It is not a question I am personally familiar with.  On my world, the guardians had no human front, no alternate identity.  I am the Guardian of Power Incarnate, and that is all.  It has taken me a long time to pick up some semblance of normalcy from you humans.  But for someone like you, things will be easier.  I imagine eventually you will achieve peace with the guardian force.  Some sort of symbiosis.  It cannot operate without you."

                She closed her eyes, feeling a tear trickle down the side of her face.  "Thank you."

                Jahara stood up and waited a moment longer in silence, then turned.  Hotaru called after him, hesitantly.  "Wait a minute."

                "Yes?"  He half-turned.

                "Why can't you just stay here?  We could use someone like you around from time to time."  I could use you around.  The peculiar rapport she felt with him, which he attributed to their sharing a function, felt too strong to simply lose.  Guardian of Power Incarnate, eh?

                He chuckled.  "I'm afraid not.  There are other things I need to be doing, in other places.  Being immortal does not save one from being busy.  I must return to the Aegis."

                "Yeah."  Hotaru sank back onto the grass, looking away from him.  "I guess so."

                Jahara's soft footsteps behind her made Hotaru curl up on her side, into a ball.  She covered her eyes with her hands.

                "What's wrong?"

                "Nothing."  She sniffed.  "Go."

                "Hotaru…"  He stopped.  "I know what you want.  But I am Unforgiven.  I have my fate, assigned to me by my function.  That is all there is."  He touched her shoulder.  "You understand."

                "I…"  Hotaru hiccupped and choked back a sob.  "I understand.  You have to leave."

                "Yes."

                "So go."

                He got his feet, slowly, and raised one hand.  A point of brilliant green in the air expanded into an impossibly thin oval, tall enough to admit the Unforgiven without him even having to duck.  The energy shifted and thinned, offering tantalizing glimpses in places of what lay beyond the portal.

                Hotaru sat up, unable to help staring, as Jahara stepped up to his gateway.

                Goodbye.  Her throat was choked closed.  I can't say it.  Goodbye.

                At the very threshold, he paused.

                "Well?"  Jahara looked back over his shoulder.  "Are you coming?"

                Be careful, she said.  I think she knew…what would happen…

                "Hotaru?"

                She practically leapt forward.

                'New incoming mail.'

                Since she was in class, Ami had sound suppressed on her laptop.  There wasn't a warning 'ping', but the new message flashed an urgent red.

                One of my urgent codes…coming in under Iylitrio's encrypt!  She looked at Professor Schiavo, who was scratching a long and tedious equation in great detail on the blackboard at the bottom of the half-bowl shaped classroom.  The place was only half full, and no one around her was watching.

                I have a bad feeling about this…  First she checked to make sure all the anti-viral countermeasures were in place, and that her security programs were running full-bore.  Then, hesitantly, she opened the mail, and her expression hardened as she read.

                'O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.  Have fun, Miss Mizuno.'

                Damn him.  Her hand curled ever so slowly into a fist.  I wish he'd never shown me…

                No I don't.  And that's the hell of it!  I can hate him, and curse him, but he did me a favor.  And now…

                She stared moodily down at the poorly lit classroom.  Ami had perched herself near the top, up by the projectors; normally she'd be down in the front row, arguing the professor point for point.  I just don't have the energy today.  And, she had to admit, it didn't seem worth it.  Minor points of physics palled when you had power in the palm of your hand.

                Maybe he finally read my paper.  For a physics teacher, Schiavo was remarkably open-minded.  He might not laugh me off the stage.  I'll talk to him after class.

                The rest of lecture passed at the speed of a retarded slug.  By the time the clock reached the appointed hour, she could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the student body.  Amid the hustle and bustle of people finding their coats and textbooks, she jumped down the aisle steps three at a time to catch the professor before he left.

                "Professor!"

                Professor Schiavo pushed his bifocals back until he could see her, then smiled broadly.  Maybe he liked it after all.  "Ami!  I've missed you at lectures recently.  I thought you didn't make this one either."

                "I was here.  Just a bit quiet today."  She set her bag down next to the podium.

                "Well, class was decidedly less interesting without you.  I hope I'll be seeing more of you in the future?"

                She winced.  Nice guy.  "Of course.  But I was wondering if you had a moment to look over that paper I sent you last week."

                He seemed to remember on the spot.  "Ah, yes.  Very interesting."  Her eyes lit up until the professor fixed her with a penetrating gaze.  "But are you sure this is the best use of your time?"

                "What?"

                "I mean…"  He waved a hand vaguely.  "I'm sure the occultists and so forth will be happy for another nugget of pseudoscience to back them up.  And the equations certainly look pretty.  But it's hardly dignified…"

                "Dignified."  Her tone was low and dangerous.  "It's hardly dignified."

                The professor seemed taken aback.  "Y…yes.  If you find yourself lacking research projects, I might consider employing you among my staff.  We have a couple of very interesting--"

                "Did you even look at the math, professor?"

                He shrugged.  "Not after reading the topic of the paper.  Ley lines and nexus points for magic in Tokyo?  You don't need a self-consistent equation to back that up.  Just put something that looks pretty, and the tabloids will eat it up."  He sighted down the glasses again.  "Just don't associate the name of this university with it, please."

                "Of course not."  Ami picked up her bag, and almost, almost turned to go.  But there had been something in the tone of that last comment…

                You know what?  Fuck this.  She shrugged her back-pack on and turned around with a bright smile.

                "You want to see something cool, professor?"

                "Cool?"  He glanced at his watch.  "I suppose.  Will it take long?"

                "Not long."  Ami snapped her fingers and a portal scythed into existence, a long oval hovering above the podium, built of crackling blue energy.  Schiavo's jaw dropped slowly, by intervals, and Ami's smiled widened.  "You might want to read that paper a bit more carefully, professor."

Who knows where it goes?  At the moment, I frankly don't care.  It has to be more interesting than here.  She thought briefly of her carefully planned life, college and med school and becoming a doctor.  It felt like a stifling blanket.  Hamlet was fucking right.  The world is a prison, if your head gets big enough.

I mean, there are good things here too.  My family, my friends.  It's not such a bad world.  But right now…

I should be able to keep track of where I'm going, so I'll be able to find the way home.

I'll be back.

Eventually.