Author's Notes:
I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank Princess Ren for all the reviews she has submitted over the past couple of weeks. I'm glad that you're enjoying this story so much and hope you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

I *still* don't own any of the things on page 1 nor do I own CNN or CowoyBebop, System Of A Down and the Foo Fighters belong to themselves and Bill Gates, please don't sue me over Artemis' one-liner about Windows. What computer nerd hasn't taken at least one swipe at Windows? Anyway, here goes...

Chapter VI: University Challenge.

Int. Apartment 211, Hiwaka view apartments - September 23rd 2002, 6:00 am.

Mark felt suprisingly fresh that morning despite worrying about Raye and Chad for a fair portion of the night. In the background he could hear some heavy rock music playing."
"Heh. Chad must've beaten Sarah to the CD player." he thought to himself as he dragged himself out of bed and grabbed a towel before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. In the lounge Sarah felt slightly annoyed at the fact that Chad was playing his System Of A Down album, leaving her unable to play her Dance Hits CD. Jack was toasting a few onion bagles which had been sent to him by his family. The scene in the apartment that morning was frantic as everyone rushed around preparing for their first day of University like sugar-powered flies. Jack was studying journalism and English Language in the hope of getting a good job as a reporter at a major newspaper. Sarah was studying drama. She had already starred in several small productions in her hometown of Sydney, but was hoping that a degree would lead her onto bigger and better things.
"So, how are we gonna get there?" asked Sarah as she downed a bowl of museli.
"I think the 25 bus, like, comes down this way at half eight and, like, goes past the Uni." Chad was scoffing down some cerial.
"Ugh. I hate busses." Sarah stood up to take her now empty bowl to the kitchen. Mark emerged from the bathroom and headed towards his room to dry himself off.

Int. Aino Family Residence - September 23rd 2002, 6:20 am.

Luna had been out all night at the arcade trying to find out as much information from central about England's senshi of fire as she could, but to little avail. Central that night was having major difficulties after much of its information network crashed leaving them unable to access files about each of the four sets of Earth senshi. There was no evidence of a hacker either. It was as if their computer network had just had enough and was rebelling. However, she did get snippits of information about the Mars senshi. She carefully slipped into the kitchen through the cat flap taking care as to check whether Mina's parents were up. All was quiet as she prowled up the stairs towards Mina's room. When she stepped inside, sure enough curled up on the end of the bed was Artemis. She jumped up onto Mina's bed and nudged Artemis.
"Wake up Artemis. I got your info on that guy." As she contined to tap him on the head he eventually came round.
"Luna..." yawned Artemis. It was the first time in a long while he had been woken up so early. "what time is it?"
"Never mind what time it is. I've been up all night at the arcade looking for your precious information. Do you want the good news or the bad news?" She looked scornfully at Artemis.
"Okay, okay. Let's hear the bad news first." He was still curled up.
"Central's server crashed mysteriously and they can't access the scout profiles. Plus communications with London has been lost."
"I warned them not to install Windows on that network. Never trust any operating system made by an Earthling." Luna was angered further by Artemis' lack of seriousness.
"They didn't! They stuck with the old system. Anyway, that's beside the point." She cleared her throat.
"That system's even worse!" Luna couldn't be bothered to rise to his remarks.
"And to think I'm destined to be with him. Makes me appreciate how Darien must feel sometimes." she thought to herself, not amused by Artemis' antics.

"I found absolutely no information about the civilian form, but I got a fair bit of information about London's Mars senshi." Artemis looked slightly annoyed at Central's mishap. He would have to wait further to find out whether his hunch was true.
"So, what powers does this thing have then?" He looked over at Mina, who was still fast asleep.
"Mainly Sailor Mars', but there is a hint of Mercury to him as well. The transformation key for the English knights is a coloured jewel on a golden pendant. They thought pendants on necklaces would be the best option since they thought that wands looked a little silly and so that they looked okay on both the guys and the girls." Artemis nodded. "Even though the name suggests they are like the knights of the round table, their dress code is anything but that, if you exclude their ultimate transformation that is. They mainly don black with their colour striped down the side of their tops and trousers or skirts. Their powers reflect that of the Sailor Scouts, even though their attacks are for the most part completely different.

The main difference between the Scouts and the Knights is that there's no Tuxedo Mask or any equivalent, despite the Moonlight Knight being female. The other main difference is that the Mars knight is the scanner of the group, rumoured to have an upgraded version of Sailor Mercury's computer which he often uses in his civilian form." Artemis instantly remembered that Mark was doing something with a palmtop computer in Raye's kitchin a few days ago.
"Have you got a description of his computer?" Artemis smirked even more. At this point he was certain he was right.
"Nope. They don't even know if the Mars knight uses a standard issue MoonOS scanner." Artemis jumped up.
"Damn. That guy was using a computer that looked like Amy's a few days ago. The only difference was the colour."
"So, should I try again some other time? I still think you're wasting your and my time." Artemis looked very frustrated at not knowing whether his hunch was right or not.
"Yes. We need all the info we can get on this guy. If no-one know his destiny, any number of things could happen to Crystal Tokyo in the future. For all we know, this may end up with Endymon and Serenity not becoming King and Queen in the end." Artemis sat down again on the end of the bed as they waited for Mina to wake herself up.

Int. Hiwaka shrine - September 23rd 2002, 8:00 am.

"Hi. You must be Raye Hino."
Raye's part-time replacement had turned up at the shrine's front entrance dead-on-time. He was a middle-aged man with greying black hair and a short grey beard. He was wearing his white and red Shinto priest's robes, almost identical to Raye's if not a fair bit bigger. Raye was relishing the factthat school uniform no longer applied, wearing a bright red short-sleaved top, black trousers, black shoes and several golden bangles.
"You must be Mr. Yakama. Please come in." They bowed before she stepped aside to allow the cheery man into the temple's main fire room. "I trust I've told you all you needed to know over the phone."
"Yep. Kitchen, busy periods, maintainance. I'm sure I can remember it all."
"I can't thank you enough for all this. You're the reason why I'm going to University in half an hour." The man's cheerfulness masked his modesty well.
"Oh, it's nothing. University was one of the best times of my life. That's why my second profession is a novelist."
"Cool." Raye looked at her watch. "I'd best leave you now. I've got about twenty minutes to get out of here and I still haven't done my hair. Thanks again."
"Don't mention it. I'll just make myself some tea." With that, Raye dashed to the bathroom to tidy her hair whilst Mr. Yakuma slowly made his way to the kitchen.

Ext. Cherry Hill bus stop - September 23rd 2002, 8:25 am.

"Are you sure this thing'll turn up?" Jack had never trusted busses and had never found the busses in New York reliable.
"Dude, chill. I'm certain it'll be here. It's not due for, like, another five minutes anyways." Chad was dressed in his Jeans and dark red surfer's T-Shirt.
"Yeah. The busses were reliable where I come from." Mark was wearing his freshly-cleaned Everton shirt and white trousers.

Across the road from them was Raye, panicking as she across the crossing. She had hardly ever taken the bus to school before and had a slight phoebia of travelling on them dating back to one of the first waves of Negaverse attacks, the day when she discovered she was Sailor Mars. With the news of an imminant return by her foes, she was especially nervous. In the distance she saw the stop with four students waiting, two of which she instantly recognised: Mark - and Chad.
"Goddamnit! Don't tell me HE's gonna be cathing the bus as well!" She was feeling too stressed at that time to feel any pity or sadness. It was time for a return to the days when she treated Chad like dirt. She slowed down to a walking pace as she was within talking-distance of them.
"Hi Mark." He turned around and looked very suprised by her presence.
"Oh. Hi Raye. You're looking very nice this morning, if I do say so myself." Raye was flattered by his comments. Chad felt extremely uneasy. He wanted nothing more than to talk to Raye, but he knew that it was best not to try and convince one of the stubbornest women in the world to take him back in front of his flatmates on a monday morning.
"Have you had a chance to listen to my CD yet?" Raye was beaming despite her ex-boyfriend being just yards away from her.
"Oh yeah. I've only really had time to listen to one track, that one you were talking about and I can honestly say I was blown away. You've got to be one of the greatest singers and ballad composers I've heard in a long time!" Raye was flattered further by Mark's praise.
"Well, most people regard 'Oh Starry Night' as one of my best songs, and as I said, I made that as the closing piece to my first concert..." She looked towards Chad sourly. "... and I based the lyrics on my feelings at the time for a certain guy I knew." Mark turned around to see a very hurt look on what could be seen of Chad's face. He had pity for the guy, but didn't want to pass judgement since he didn't know the full story.
"Guys, the bus is coming." Sarah signalled to stop the white and green bus as the five got on and found seats near the back. Raye was trying to make sure she was sitting next to Mark and not Chad, but was sandwiched between the two on the back row. Jack sat down next to Sarah on the left-hand side.
"I don't believe you've met my other two friends." Mark grabbed the attention of Jack and Sarah as the bus began to move. "Jack, Sarah, this is Raye. Raye, this is Sarah and this is Jack" Sarah and Jack took it in turns to shake the still smiling Raye's hand.
"Pleased to meet you two."
"The pleasure's all ours." replied Jack eagerly.
"So, wherebouts in the world do you two come from then?" Raye seemed genuinely interested in the cultures of foreigners. She knew that the British made their tea differently to the Japanese and that most Americans were obsessed with big things and were stereotypically portrayed as being stupid. It was Sarah who replied first this time.
"Sydney, Australia."
"Cool. I've heard that's a great place to live with all the sunshine and golden beaches."
"Yeah, it can be during the summer, but it's basically another one of your average overcrowded capital cities. It's a great spot for surfers." Chad briefly looked up upon hearing Sarah talking about the surf, but just turned the other way once more, determined to get Raye out of his mind.
"So, where're you from Jack?"
"Brooklyn, New York." Raye looked more interested. She had loved visits to America even though she absolutely despised visiting her father. "It's a bit rough, but my old apartment was right by the waterfront so we had a great view of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and the World Trade Centre until 9/11."
"Wow. Did you actually see the attack with your own eyes?" She remembered her overwhelming feeling of total mortification as she lay in her hospital bed watching the events unfold.
"Who didn't? I was workin' at the time, and when my boss said that New York was under attack I ran back to my apartment to check if my folks were fine. We all grabbed chairs and spent the next hour or so staring out the window in complete horror. My pa had CNN on so we heard about Washington and flight 93 as well. You just didn't want to be living in America that day, never mind New York." Jack tried not to sound ominous.
"Like, an old friend of one of my surfin' buddies died in the New York attack. They never even found any of his body parts in the rubble." Chad paused for thought, anticipating a disrespectful comment from Raye. "I guess that kinda set my break in California off to a majorly bogus start. I knew the guy a bit so I was, like, kinda sad, but it, like, totally wiped out my surf buddy." The five paused for a while, trying to think of a way of changing the subject without sounding disrespectful. Mark instantly thought of a hillarious music video he had seen a couple of weeks ago.
"Has anyone seen the video for that Tenacious D song? Y'know, the one where they play 'The greatest song in the world' to the devil?" giggled Mark, hoping that this would lift the mood.
"That video's the greatest! They're just so funny! I love when they burst out of the booth near the end and start singing to the old woman!" replied Jack, again laughing.
"Yeah!" Sarah was rarely bothered with music, bar her dance CDs. "They got Dave Grohl in as the devil. He's such a hunk! I love the Foo Fighters."
"I saw it once at a friend's house. I thought it was pretty stupid and quite funny. My friend was in hysterics." Raye loved to listen to all types of music except manufactured pop. However, she rarely watched the music videos because of her dispisal of television. "I have to agree with you though, Dave Grohl is so hot!" The two women giggled as the three men had confused looks on their faces.
"No!" Mark realised that the university stop was just metres away as he quickly pulled the bell cord above him to stop the bus. The five stepped off the bus before attempting to figure out where the meeting place for all the new students was. However, after several minutes of confusion and sign-following they reached the giant hall packed with a couple of hundred new students.

The auditorium was very large and very modern. Steel beams several metres above them held the thin grey metal roof. The walls were awash with white, contrasting the pine flooring. To their right a series of large, seemingly spotless windows illuminated the huge venue. The noise generated by those students was tremendous. Raye didn't bother looking for Mina and Lita. The chances were that she probably wouldn't be able to find them amongst such a large crowd.
"So, er, where d'we go?" Jack was rather puzzled by the large groups of people scattered throughout the room.
"Dude, according to this we gotta, like, collect our timetables from, like, each course we're takin'." replied Chad, desperately looking for the Music booth.
"Should we meet again by the enterance?" Mark was taller than most people in the room, so he found it easier to browse around for the Computing and Music booths.
"Yeah. See y'all in a few minutes." Raye dashed out into the sea of people eager to collect her Music timetable before Chad had a chance to speak to her.

Int. 14 Atherton Street, Knightsbridge, London - September 23rd 2002, 9:50 pm GMT.

"You're crazy, Mars. Tokyo hasn't had an attack for four years." It was late on a unusually cold Monday night. Another hard day's work at London University had completely taken the wind out of Anna Motson. Clutching a photo of her eight friends with her. "What have you got to prove with destiny? The Japanese Sailor Scouts wiped out any Nega-threat a long time ago." She was a young woman, about 19 years old. She was fairly short but increadibly graceful, with long golden hair tied into a thick ponytail. Around her neck was a thin golden necklace with a quite large silver crystal attached. Inside that crystal was a golden crescent, seemingly trapped and encased in the crystal.
"Not neccessarily." A grey tabby entered her bedroom. It was fairly big and sported what appeared to be a golden crescent on its forehead. "Tokyo's electric district was attacked a few days ago, and Berlin is suffering from a wave of minor attacks." A look of shock overcame Anna's face. "Berlin's been mainly okay because of the help of Japan's Sailor Mercury, but that attack in Tokyo left several civilians dead. To top it all off, I've been unable to contact Central for two days."
"So you mean we're gonna be back in action?" She looked very anxious.
"Possibly. It all depends on how the Japanese situation goes." Anna closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.
"Great, Ganymede, just great. The Americans screw up as usual and plunge the other three divisions in the deep end. Absolutely bloody brilliant. I'm in the middle of my University course and I'm called back into action. You won't believe how much that will affect my studies."
"You're not the only one. Most of the soldiers in all four divisions are in University or college at the moment. The only exceptions are Maria Holtz for Germany, Andrew Tyler and James Anderson for the USA and Serena Tsukino, Amara Tenou and Michelle Kaiou for Japan. Japan's Hotaru Tomoe is still in High School since she's only 16." Despite the tabby's best efforts to explain the situation in a reasonable manner, Anna was clearly still fairly shocked.
"Serena Tsukino. I've heard of her. She's supposed to be our Queen in the next lifetime. I can't believe destiny would choose such a clumsy woman." The cat smirked as it shook its head.
"There's a lot more to her than her clumsy attitude. I don't think destiny would have picked her unless he knew what he was doing. I've seen the future Neo-Queen Serenity myself and she appears to be a more-than-adequet character. I think we'll be in safe hands in our next lifetime."
"I seriously hope you're right." Anna looked at the floor before pausing. A smirk appeared on her face. "I've heard that Japan's Michelle and Amara are lesbians. Is it true?"
"I don't personally see what anyone's sexual preferences has to do with the present situation. If you must know, they are. That's all I'm saying on the matter. Anyway, why are you acting so unpolitely tonight?" The smile vanished from Anna's face as she turned to stare at the Silver Crystal in her hand.
"I don't know. I'm just feeling pretty stressed. My work's taken its toll on me, Mark's left Britain and now this crisis has been dumped on us, added to the fact that it's only monday. This is probably gonna be one of those weeks. I just hope I don't have to use this thing again any time soon, Ganymede." She glared into the glistening crescent encased in the crystal.
"That's what I'm hoping for as well, but that may be the only option should I get any negative feedback from Luna in Tokyo. We can only wait at this moment."

Int. Faculty of Music Hall 1, south Tokyo University - 9:25 am local time.

"I'd like to welcome you all to hopefully your final four years of full-time education." Their professor of music introduced herself to the forty new students studying music as their first degree. She was fairly short, typical of a Japanese woman, with shoulder-length black hair with golden streaks. The hall itself was much like the auditorium they had registered at less than an hour ago. Again the halls were awash with white, bar the many music-related posters attached to the wall, with a pine floor. The seats were elevated on a curved grandstand with several rows of seats each higher than the last. Mark sat down in one of the middle rows next to the steps leading down to the main pit where the professor stood. Raye decided to sit to Mark's left, wishing all she could that Chad would not sit near her. Chad was feeling all to dejected by Raye at that moment that he decided to sit on the other side of the room rather than follow her like a lost puppy. The last thing he needed if he wanted to get back with her was if she thought that he was stalking her.
"I'm professor Yoko Kanata and I will be your teacher for the next year. You should all be aware that this course is split into three parts: Composition, listneing and performance. Let's get straight to business and introduce ourselves by performing a piece each. It may be any piece performed with any instrument, although I will allow vocal solos if you so wish." Raye laughed to herself at this decision. Her vocal talents could not be beaten by anyone this side of Cherry Hill. The question now was which song to sing. "I'll pick a random name off the register, and today's first victim is..." She closed her eyes as she placed her finger on the sheet on her desk. "... Mark Davison."

"Heh. Go gettem Mark!" Raye whispered to him as he held his hand over his face in embarrasment before standing up and striding down the steps towards the piano in the pit before sitting down on the stool.
"So, tell us about yourself and what you will be performing today." Mark took in a deep breath.
"My name is Mark Davison, and I come from Southampton, England. I'm twenty years old and I'm studying Music and Computing here. I live on Cherry Hill with three flatmates, and today I will be performing a tune from an anime that I love called "Cowboy Bebop", the ending theme "The Real Folk Blues."
The room fell silent as Mark began to play the bass chords of the tune that had become almost an anthem to Otakus worldwide. What happened next had certainly not been expected by anyone in the room at all.
"SMASH!!!"
The students ran for the exits as fast as their legs could take them. Raye dived into a storage cupboard nearby. Mark stood up at the piano confused as to what all the commotion was all about. At the emergency exit at the top of the stand stood a man in a dark, gold-laced millitary uniform with shoulder-length wavy golden hair emerging from the dust sent flying by his entrance. He was smirking.
"Excuse me. Just who the hell are you barging in like that?" Mark seemed more annoyed than frightened. He hated nothing more than being interupted during his performances.
"You look foreign. I guess you've never heard of Tokyo's little wars of the nineties. I am Zoicite and you are about to die an extremely painful death for your lack of manners towards me."
"Aww christ..."

End of Chapter 6