Aska, Japan. 300 miles north of Tokyo.
The C-4 Cargo plane, bearing the Logo of Sunboomer Autos, touched down on the airport in the small town of Aska, Japan. 300 miles north of Tokyo. It finally taxied to a deserted section of the airfield and braked to a stop.
The back door slowly lowered on hydraulics and began to disgorge it's cargo. 40 Sunboomer 8000's The hottest new Sports Car on the World Market. They resembled the much vaunted Lamborgini in shape, but the similarities ended there. Sunboomers sat 5 comfortably, had a convertible roof and were made of a super-light, super-strong, titanium-steel space age alloy.
Finally the last car rolled off the plane, but this one was privately owned, and it's owner followed it down.
David Howard, President of Sunboomer Autos Inc., Japan, stepped off the ramp and took a breath of the air. This was his first time out of America, save numerous vacations and bisnuess trips to Canada and this deserted Tarmac was his first view of the country that would be the home of him and his family for the next few years. Because Tokyo International could not handle the cargo plane, the first shipment of Sunboomer cars were shipped here to this near-deserted airfield, 300 miles north of Tokyo. From here, the cars would be shipped by truck to Tokyo and the showroom. He looked at his car. Unlike the others, this one had been made in America, for use on American roads. Hence, the Driver's side was on the left. He turned back to the hatch of the plane.
"Conrad! Come on! It's a three hundred mile drive to Tokyo!" Conrad, his firstborn, came down the ramp, using his cane to steady himself. As a child, Conrad had suffered cancer and then polio in the muscle tissue of his right calf. Chemotherapy had killed it off, but the doctors still had to remove 30% of the muscle tissue. Conrad would need the cane for the rest of his life.
At the base of the ramp, Conrad dug a rubber band out of his pocket and proceeded to tie his slightly longer then shoulder length hair back into a ponytail. Then he took a look around.
"What a dump!" David had to agree.
"We're not here to judge. Get in, and no, you can't drive."
"Aw, but Dad, I drove it everywhere back home."
"We're not in New York anymore. I'm driving." Conrad grumbled something inaudible but probably unrepeatable and tossed his duffel bag into the passenger side. At that moment, a helicopter landed not fifty yards away. Conrad made his way to the front of the car and leaned on the hood as his father ran out to meet it. He talked with the pilot for several moments then ran back to the car.
"It's from the Investors. They've sent it to take me to lunch in Tokyo. Come on." Conrad didn't move.
"No."
"What?"
"Somebody has to take the Sunboomer to the house. Might as well be me."
"You?"
"Why not?"
"The distance."
"The trip to Toronto you and I took. I drove there and back."
"The language barrier."
"I speak Japanese like a native and you know it."
"They drive differently here."
"Can't be any worse then New York Traffic." David took a look at the waiting helicopter.
"Okay," David reached into the duffel bag he carried. "Here's the Map, the address of the house, the car keys, the house keys, the cell phone, and my pager number is already stored in it's memory." Conrad took them.
"Get going. Have fun. Tell those stuffed shirts I said hello."
With one last look at his son, David ran back, climbed in and the helicopter lifted off and headed south. Conrad carried the papers around to the driver's side and got in. The map he set on the passenger floor. The Cell phone on the passenger seat. He put the house keys in his jacket's inside pocket and stuck the car keys in the ignition. The Engine roared to life. Reaching over, he stuck his Megajam Tape into the stereo and turned it on. Then the switch that lowered the roof. He touched the controls for the electric windows and lowered them all. A breeze came up carrying the salt from the nearby sea. He looked down at the gearshift. Automatic Transmission, the only way to go. He shifted into reverse and backed the car away from the plane, then he shifted again and pulled out of the airport. The wind whistled through his hair and he yanked the rubber band out to let it blow freely.
A freeway, 120 miles north of Tokyo
Rose Masterfield tightened her grip on the door handle as the yellow 89 Ford Mustang Convertible sped down the freeway at top speed. Beside her, her friend and lover Christina "Chris" Henderson gripped the wheel, an almost demonic grin on her face. In the backseat, Lita Kino looked at her seatmate. Mina Anio slumped, her arms crossed. Lita frowned. Three months ago, Mina's boyfriend, soul mate and true love had been killed.
His death had changed the normally perky and upbeat Mina. Nowadays, she dressed in black. Her room, once bright and airy, was now dark, lit by a red light bulb that made the room seem almost permeated with blood. To her friends, this was bad, very bad. After David died it was like nothing mattered to her anymore. All her clothes were black except her school uniforms.
Lita leaned over the seat to shout in Chris' ear. "This aint working!"
"You're kidding me!" She shouted back.
"No way! And this was your idea!"
Chris didn't answer, she was staring at a car in the next lane, the expression on her face one of near lust.
The car reminded Lita of a Lamborgini, but how many Lamborghinis were soft- tops? As Lita watched, the car slipped between the other cars and was gone.
"What a car," Chris sighed. "That was a Sunboomer eight thousand. Hottest car on the Market. They go on sale next month here in Japan. They're only about sixty grand too!"
The Next Month, The First day of school.
Amy Anderson hunched into her raincoat. Beside her, her best friend Serena walked quickly, cringing every time thunder clapped. Serena hated Thunder. The rain poured down hard. Ahead, Rini, Serena's so called "cousin" skipped through the puddles.
Amy pulled her head deeper into her hood. Visibility was down to near zero and she could barely see Rini's bright pink raincoat.
"Rini. Come back here." Rini came back, albeit reluctantly.
"But Amy......"
"No arguments," Amy said as she took Rini's hand. "Now stay close."
At that point, the sound of a car came up behind her, and gradually, she could see the headlights of the car. Low and lean, it looked like a sports car, one built for speed."
The car slowed until it was moving at their speed and the window rolled down.
"Amy, right?"
Amy stopped and peered in. "Conrad? Is that you?"
"Yep. You and your girlfriends there look like you could use a lift." The passenger door swung open. "Hop in."
"But the leather...."
"...Is protected against water. In."
Amy, Serena, and Rini got in.
The next afternoon, Serena dragged Mina and Lita over to Conrad's house. Mina went willingly, but she kept her nose buried in some blood and guts fantasy novel during the entire bus ride there. Lita went willingly as well, but more for something to do then anything else.
They got off at the bus stop and walked towards where Conrad had said he lived. As they neared the address he had given Serena, loud music drifted towards them, and Mina's expression actually changed from blank depression to a sort of curious dread. They followed the music to a large house built on two lots. The music, if it could be called that, was coming out of the side door of the 3 car garage. Two expensive BMW's were parked at the curb and a Sunboomer sat parked in the driveway, top up, it's dark blue finish gleaming in the afternoon sun.
Lita absently noted that the driveway was wet, meaning a car, probably the Sunboomer, had been washed within the past few hours. She followed Serena and Mina around to the side door which was open.
Inside, the lighting was dim at best. Shelves and tables piled with electronic, chemical and other such pieces of equipment were pushed against the wall. The walls were a collage of circuit diagrams, race cars, and posters of scantily clad women and one poster of a weird little animal with something in english. A Horseshoe shaped table sat in the middle of the room, also piled with stuff that even Amy would probably have a hard time figuring out.
The only occupant sat at one of the wall tables, his back to them, his fingers dancing on the keys of a computer keyboard. The Music was coming from the back wall. where a full entertainment system sat. Including a 50 inch Big Screen TV.
Serena put two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Mina winced. But her eyes were on the fourth person in the room. Half her prayed that it was who she thought it was, the other half was hoping like hell that it wasn't. The guy shut off the music and turned to face them. Lita stared at him in shock, remembering the hallucination from the trip to Cape Canaveral. She automatically glanced down, but he was wearing pants.
Mina's sanity sat down and began making out it's will and a suicide note.
She smiled, he smiled back and held out his arms, she ran over and gave him a bear hug.
"Damn. I hate to say it, but I've missed you." She turned to face Lita and Serena. "Guys, this is Conrad Howard, he's an old friend and David's cousin." She paused as her eyes fell on a three foot long half metal tube. The top was missing and she could see circuits and wires inside. "Is that what I think it is?" Conrad nodded.
"What is it?" Serena had found a lab stool and was sitting on it. "Some kind of death ray?"
Mina leaned on the horseshoe-shaped table and sighed. " I don't know. Nobody knows." She leveled a finger at Conrad. "He doesn't even know. . .and if it was spawned in his brain, you don't want to know."
The next morning. . .
Lita looked over Conrad's Shoulder. She, Conrad and Amy had chem class together and Conrad was mixing something up. It was amazing that she hadn't noticed him until meeting him.
She glanced at her watch. Two minutes since class had started and the Teacher was no where in sight. Conrad mixed Chemicals then heated the entire thing. After turning off the heat, he grabbed a notebook and began writing furiously. Lita peered at the greenish-brown mixture. "What is it?"
"Not sure. A new kind of fuel I think." Conrad tapped his pencil against his chin.
It was at that point, the teacher walked up.
"What is this?" He snapped, pointing at the beaker. " Conrad shrugged.
"A new kind of fuel I think. I'm not really sure." He handed the teacher the notebook.
"This is what you did?" Conrad nodded. The teacher stared at it for a few more seconds. "Mokoto" A student snapped to.
"Sensei?"
"Fetch the liquid propellant model rocket from the closet." The student ran off and then teacher focused his attention on Conrad. "Well now Mr. Howard, I'm told you have an IQ of one forty-five." A few students whistled at this. "Let us see if you are as inventive as your records say."
Lita pushed her hair out of her eyes. The wind blew it back in. A small crowd had gathered to watch the launch. Conrad had set up the rocket to launch at a twenty degree angle due east. He was now filling up the tank with his new experimental fuel. Finally, he picked up the beaker and walked back to the waiting crowd. He set the beaker down and picked up the remote. He held it thoughtfully for a moment.
"Yoda was not a scientist. You cannot know whether or not you can do or do not, without trying." With that, he punched the button. With a hiss, the rocket leaped off the launcher. It flew higher and disappeared into the sky. After a few minutes, the crowd split up into smaller groups.
Conrad stood there, watching where the rocket disappeared. Finally, his shoulders slumped and he walked back to where the launcher sat. He set the beaker down to on the grass and then just stood there, staring at the launcher. Something inside Lita hated to see him like that and she walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You tried. That was pretty impressive, I've never seen a rocket do that before."
"I shall have to replace the rocket I suppose. It's probably at the bottom of the Atlantic by now. I hope it is anyway. . ." He let out a sigh. "Oh well." He crouched down and began to pack up the launcher. Lita dropped to her knees and began to help him. After a few minutes, a high-pitched whistle reached her ears. Then she heard shouts
"Look!"
"What the hell is it?"
"Maybe it's the rocket!"
"Impossible."
"Shit! It is the rocket!" Lita looked up as a student set the binoculars down. High in the sky, a speck was approaching fast. She nudged Conrad and pointed. He looked up and followed her finger, then he scooped up his cane and ran for the building. Lita followed, leaving the beaker of fuel with the launcher, her long legs soon carrying her past Conrad. The whistle got louder and louder and then something hit the ground and there was an earthshaking boom that made the ground heave and something crashed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes to find Conrad staring her in the face. She Smiled. He smiled. She thought of the hallucination, and for a moment, wondered. . .
Then she shook herself back to reality.
Nah She thought, that's a little too crazy.
Then they looked behind them.
Where the launcher had once stood, a fire now danced. Lita let out a low whistle.
"Interesting," Conrad said, staring at the flames, "the fire should be spreading."
"Maybe it's the dew on the grass," Lita scratched her head. "I mean, wouldn't the water keep the fire under control?"
"Not with chemicals like that, I can feel the heat from here. We should be seeing an inferno. Amazing."
Conrad and Lita sat in the Headmaster's office. The Headmaster was pacing behind them.
"Do you know what it will cost to replace the grass that was burned?" Lita didn't answer, she looked at Conrad. He had a look on his face that seemed to imply that being in the headmaster's office was nothing new to him. Conrad finally raised his eyes to meet the headmaster's.
"Sir. What happened this morning was regrettable and as it was my experiment that caused the fire, I take full responsibility and will of course see to it that the grass is replaced. But I would also like to make an appointment to speak with you about the extensive financial windfall that could be coming out of this."
"Damn right you'll replace the grass-"The headmaster sat down behind his desk. "-what financial windfall?"
"The chemicals I used to create the fuel seemed to have combined in a rather unusual way. Not only does it seem to be a super fuel of some kind, but it seems to have the ability to prevent fire from spreading."
"What do you mean?"
"Sir. At the time of the crash I was twenty feet away from the impact. I could feel the heat as though I was right next to it. Also, if the fire was as hot as it seemed, then the entire field should have been a raging inferno by the time the fire department arrived. But it wasn't. The fire stayed confined to the immediate area of the crash site. In fact, it seems to have burned only where the chemical spilled. If my theory is correct, this chemical, while highly combustible, may be the answer to fighting wildfires. My father's company, Sunboomer Autos, does own a Chemical R&D research facility back in America, if he was to send the fuel to them, and they could figure out why it does what it does, it could cause a jump in stock, and money for the investors. Naturally, as the inventor of the stuff, I would have to give credit to the school, as it was the school's equipment and chemicals I used to make it. This could lead to increased publicity and a rise in enrollment. Both good."
"But the school is not an investor in your father's company."
"No, but the company does have a program for schools to invest in stock. This also lets them give their students a hands on lesson in economics."
"I get the feeling you're telling me this to get out of trouble."
"Yes, sir."
"It worked. Have your father talk to me about this investment thing and I'll drop this whole matter. But, I never want to see you in my office in connection with any other kind of mess at this school." Conrad nodded.
"Of course."
A few days later, the headmaster woke to find a rubber mouse staring him in the face. He had no idea how it got there, nor the honey in his hair. Or, later that day, the rubber inflatable goat in his office on his desk chair. That same day, Conrad and Lita were talking over their lunches on one of the statues in front of the school library.
"Conrad, can I ask you something about David?"
"Hm?"
"Why was he so bitter all the time?"
"Mostly because of Thad, I guess."
"Thad?"
"Yeah. After the accident, David couldn't walk. Thad constantly reminded him of that. It didn't help that Uncle Jeff is a hiking and camping enthusiast, and you can't take a wheelchair up into the mountains. So Thad got to take a lot of these trips, have fun and spend time with Uncle Jeff and he made sure David knew about all the fun they had. . .
Since David spent a lot of time at home, I began to hang out with him. We played chess a lot, seeing who could come up with the fastest strategy, or read mysteries to each other and tried to see how fast we could come up with an answer."
"So that's where he got that tactical ability."
"Part of it anyway."
"You mentioned an accident, what happened?"
"One day, we were walking around New York, a car veered onto the sidewalk, the car bumper hitting his legs. It was a hit and run. Fortunately, Mina and me were around to rush him to the hospital. Actually, Mina ran for the phone."
"What happened to your legs, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Contracted Polio and Cancer at the same time. They had to cut away part of my leg."
"Oh." Neither of them said anything much after that.
That evening, the Senshi and Darien were walking through the Shopping district. Serena and Raye were arguing, as usual. Amy was reading a book, Lita was checking out guys. Mina hung back at the rear, not really taking part in any of it. She was dressed entirely in Black. Black T-shirt, Black Leather Biker Jacket, Black Jeans, Black Doc Martens. The only spots of color was her Blond Hair and blue eyes. The hair she had tied back in a French Braid. Her face was blank and lifeless, as it had been since David's death.
Lita glanced back. Mina just plodded on. Head down, hands shoved into her jacket pockets. It occurred to Lita that the Negaverse hadn't been active since David and the Black Lady went into that other dimension.
At that point the street erupted in a Vertical Plume of fire. When the plume vanished, a strange creature stood there. It looked like a cross between a Crab and a frog, blown up to the size of a medium sized whale. Standing on it's head, was none other then Malachite. There was dead silence while the people took this in. Then they all panicked.
"I thought you said you and David clobbered him seven ways from Sunday!" Raye yelled over the screams.
"We did! The Knight practically tore him in half!" Lita yelled back. "He rejuvenated and regenerated somehow!"
Raye opened her mouth to yell something back, but before she could a blur rocketed down the street and smacked the Crab-Frog under the chin. It tumbled over backwards. The Blur continued it's upwards flight, twisted around and shot back down to street level, coming to a dead stop about six feet from the street, it's red and Black armor gleaming in the light from the fires. The Lance in it's right hand shined and sharp.
"Oh God." Mina said in a choked whisper. "Oh My God......" That said it all Lita thought. That said it all.
The Crystal Knight was back in town.
For Lita, it was as though time had slowed down to a crawl. The others staring in shock, The Knight hovering there in mid-air, something she had never seen him do, then out of the corner of her eye, Mina moving forward, David's name on her lips, her hand already taking out the wand.
Something told her that if Mina got into the battle it would not be good. She spun on her heel, her hand chopping at Mina's wrist and making her drop her wand. Mina looked at her in shock. Lita's hand was already coming back up, forming into a fist and cracking Mina in the side of the head. Mina's head snapped back. Lita was already moving, her right arm slipping behind Mina's shoulder blades, pulling her down as Lita's left hand snapped out and snagged Mina's wand. Rotating on the balls of her feet, she caught Mina before she hit the ground. Time speeded back up to normal. Lita stared at Mina's face. That was the fastest she had ever moved in her life. Even as Jupiter she had never reacted with such speed. Hell, maybe time had slowed down. By now the others had noticed that Mina had crumpled.
"What happened?" Raye crouched down next to them as Amy took Mina's pulse. Lita shrugged.
"She either fainted or got hit by a flying rock." She said as she slipped Mina's wand into her overalls. Better she lie now and tell the truth later.
Malachite was also hovering, staring in utter shock. "So, you survived." The Knight said nothing. "No jibes? No comments about me? I'm disappointed." The Knight's visor glowed. Then his free hand suddenly glowed with green fire and he flung it at Malachite, hitting him smack in the middle of the chest. Malachite groaned and vanished. Lita was astonished. That was not David, and definitely not the Crystal Knight she had grown to know. That move had been precisely calculated to remove Malachite from the picture with minimum effort and time. She swore to herself under her breath. Who the hell was this guy?
The creature had managed to get to it's feet. It was now focused on it's new enemy. It raised it's claw and brought it down. The knight was no longer there. He had moved the nessacary distance not to be caught by the claw. Once the claw was stuck in the asphalt, he used the lance to chop it off. Enraged. The creature brought it's other claw down. The knight repeated his earlier maneuver and chopped it off. Then he put the lance away. The green fire formed around his hands, and he vaporized the things head. Then he flew away.
Raye swore, uttering several things in her disbelief that Chad would probably be only to happy to do to her. Lita pushed such thoughts out of her mind. She flung Mina over her shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"C'mon guys. Let's get out of here."
Lita's Loft
"...and officials still have no idea how the creature, which has marine biologists baffled, got inland without being detected. Or who the strange man who had been standing on it's head was. Officials are also baffled by the return and odd behavior of the Crystal Knight. Noted for his wisecracks and destructive tatics, he has been repeatedly condemned by city officials.
However, this time, he acted different. The Master of a dojo who was in the area for dinner out, said that the Knight had dispatched both foes with a minimum of effort. He could see no wasted movement or energy. Donna Chang, CNN, Tokyo."
"Thank you Donna." The newscaster looked at the camera. "Donna Chang in the shopping district. For those of you just joining us, the top story is the underground explosion that has left three people dead and more then a hundred injured when a strange creature erupted from the ground in Tokyo's Entertainment district. In other news today, Crystalline Laboratories began construction on their new lab. Located in the middle of Siberia, the lab will begin to probe the much used idea of parallel universes-" Lita turned off the TV. Mina lay on her couch, out cold. After returning, they had called an emergency meeting of all Senshi and their allies. Besides Nephrite and Molly, Darien, the Four sisters and Greg were also present. Only Kate, who was the enigmatic Sailor Pluto, Hotaru, Rini and the mysterious Chibi-Chibi weren't there.
"That wasn't David," She said.
"How can you be sure?" Asked Serena around a mouthful of cookies.
"Yeah," Raye chimed in." What makes you so sure?" Lita walked to the window and looked out, her arms crossed. Hugging herself.
"Because I've been a Senshi a long time and I've seen some pretty weird shit." She turned, and took a few moments to phrase her next statement carefully. "That Knight was stone cold. He took out both Malachite and that....thing, whatever it was in less time then it would take us. Furthermore, based on what we do know about the Crystal Knight Armor, there's only two personalities. Whoever uses it, and it's own."
"What if the two merged?"
"Possible, But it doesn't add up. What we saw today, was someone doing their job with no wasted time or effort. Even by the most wild stretch of the imagination, I cannot see a merge between David and the Knight producing a third personality like that."
"So what does it mean?" Asked Rose. Lita took a deep breath.
"It means someone else has the armor and most likely the duplicate Silver Imperium Crystal." Said Nephrite before Lita could reply. Amy nodded agreement.
"I can see no other explanation. There is still so little we know about the Crystal and our own powers for that matter."
"So where does that leave us?" Asked Chris. "That attack tonight was targeted at you guys, I'm sure of it. Except the Knight appeared before you could make the change."
"So what does it all mean?" Asked Serena. But it was Rose who answered.
"'Come all ye who are willing and able. To swing a sword or plant a tree. No challenge is easy, no road worth traveling be soft. But for those with courage, the world is theirs.' My Grandfather wrote that. He told me to remember it when I couldn't figure something out or life was hard . . ."
No one spoke much after that. The quiet gave Lita some time to think. She was not by nature an introspective person. But there had just been so much to take in lately. Now someone else had the Crystal Knight's armor and the most powerful Crystal on the planet.
At least, she consoled herself, her life wouldn't be boring.
The news was even grimmer the next morning. The death toll from the attack had risen to five and a hundred and fifty injured. The city had lost millions in revenue because of the damage. Cleanup could take weeks and that was delayed for who knew how long because government scientists were trying to track down the creature's point of origin.
Lita poured herself some cereal and sat down with the paper. She skipped past the headlines and went directly to the funnies. She enjoyed Sundays. She always took the morning to relax. Her hair hung loose. She wore a rumpled sweatshirt and even more rumpled sweatpants.
After Breakfast, she wandered up to the roof and began going through her katas.
Across town, Darien breakfasted on the balcony of his Apartment, pondering this new Knight.
Raye mediated in front of the fire, seeking the meaning of this new Crystal Knight. Was he friend or foe?
Amy read the front page article, and all pertinent articles in the paper that she could find, and sat, lost in thought, for over an hour at the table.
Mina, after reading the article in silence, walked into her room and lit a candle, the one in front of David's picture in the small shrine she had made. After turning off the red light in her room, she stared into the flame, her eyes seeming to see into a world of shadows. Artemis watched her from his basket in the corner of the room, his expression solemn and his eyes revealing nothing of what was within.
Rose and Chris read the paper together over a breakfast of eclairs and disgustingly strong coffee, their eyes scanning the paper rapidly as they read. When finished, Chris set the paper down and leaned back, looking at her love.
Rose softly quoted from one of her favorite books, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." Chris nodded in quiet agreement.
Serena, sleeping in as usual, missed the paper entirely, and only just managed to make it to the scout meeting on time.
When she got there it touched off another one of her and Raye's shouting matches. The others had long ago learned to let these run their courses. Mina and Amy got out books, Lita starting knitting, Chris and Rose took a walk.
Serena and Raye's voices were getting hoarse when Chad came in carrying a dinner plate sized stone disc.
"Hey dudettes! Check this out!"
"What is it?" Lita and Amy got up to take a look. Runes ran around the edge of one side. In the middle was three indentations each about the size of Chad's thumb in a triangle formation. Raye and Serena both came over, their curiosity more powerful then their disagreement.
"Where did you get it?" Asked Raye, taking it out of Chad's hands.
"Your Grandpa and I dug it up when we were putting the foundation for the gazebo."
Raye looked back at the disc.
"I'm getting some bad vibes off this guys." Lita looked at Amy, who had her Senshi computer out and was concealing it with her body while scanning the disc. After a moment, she looked up and shook her head.
Artimes shook his head.
"We need help." He said quietly to Luna. Mina looked at them.
"Yeah, but aside from Amy, who's got the ability to translate it?" She said, scooting closer.
"Well......what about your friend Conrad?" Asked Luna. Mina's jaw dropped.
"No!" She hissed. "He'll want to know details! We slip up even the tiniest bit, and he could latch on to the fact that we're the Senshi!"
"Oh Come on," Luna shot back. "Nobody can latch on to the fact that you're the Senshi with that little information." Mina sighed, she didn't like it, but she knew they were right.
"You don't know Conrad." She stood up. "Come on guys," she said, reluctance in her voice, "I know someone who can help.
Conrad was sitting on the driveway building a geometric design with legos when they arrived. A Santa hat sat lopsided on his head and he had on Spock ears. He was staring at it with intense concentration. Upon finishing, he stood up and held it out, then drop-kicked it into the bed of a passing truck.
"What was that all about?" asked Lita.
"Huh?"
"That thing you just kicked into the truck."
"What thing?" He asked, blinking. Mina sighed.
"Don't bother Lita. If you push, he might remember and explain it to you."
Lita looked at Conrad, he was staring after the truck, a completely absorbed look on his face. Then he looked at her and she was captivated by his eyes. He blinked, and the absorbed look was gone, as though a mental gear had shifted.
"What can I do for you?" Mina held out the disc to him.
"Raye's Grandfather's apprentice found this. We're wondering what you could make of it." Conrad peered at the disc.
"Interesting, these indentations would seem to be some kind of receptacle and the runes are probably incantations or spells for some purpose." He picked up his cane and headed for the side door of the garage.
Inside, he placed the disc on what looked like an overhead projector. Next to it was what looked like a hot plate. Taking what seemed to be a shrunken TV tray, he placed it over the platform that the disc sat on.
"What is that?" Asked Serena.
"It's a special kind of scanner. It creates a spectro-electromagnetic field that allows objects within the field to be suspended in mid-air. Thus allowing a better scan to be performed." Lita looked at Amy, wondering just what a spectro-electromagnetic field was. Amy only shrugged, she didn't know either.
"What kind of scan?" Asked Rose, genuinely curious. Two things fascinated Rose: technology and conspiracy theories. If the two happened to intertwine, so much the better.
Conrad sat down in front of his computer.
"Any kind. First, let's see what that thing is made of." He tapped keys, the hot plate's surface began to glow and the disc rose into the air, stood on it's side, and began slowly spinning clockwise. Then, a three color image of the disc appeared in the air over the hot plate.
Within moments, the results came on screen.
"Hmm, based on the results, this is a piece of carved and polished moon rock," Conrad said distractedly as he studied the hologram. "Most fascinating, I wonder how it arrived on Earth." He went back to the computer and began typing again. Within moments, the screen went black except for a blue rectangle which was red at one end. "Now we wait. The computer will scan the Internet and see if it can find a some symbols that look similar, and, if possible, use them to translate the runes." He sat down on a couch near the side door.
"What's this?" Asked Rose, holding up a piece of paper upon which a design was scrawled.
"It's a food growth accelerator that uses flat Diet Cola for fuel."
"Wow!" Rose exclaimed excitedly. The end of the world hunger problem was one of her pet causes, "that's great!"
"No it isn't," Conrad replied.
"What? Why not?"
"Diet Cola tastes awful."
Five Hours later.......
The Senshi gathered around the computer. After a few moments, Conrad turned.
"No translation." There was a general sigh of disappointment. "But," He said raising a finger. "It did come up with a starting point. The runes are indigenous to the written language of the area in and surrounding the central himalayan mountain range used a thousand years ago. Now, the actual dialect of the Runes can be traced to the mountain village of Hinotusniko, which many maintain to this day was the way station for travelers entering and leaving Shangri-La."
"But there's no translation?"
"No." Conrad shrugged. "If you let me have the disc for a while, I might be able to coax something else out of it."
Raye shook her head and reached into the field to grab the disc. "Sorry Conrad." She said. "But this is pretty important to us. You understand."
"Of course." Conrad walked with them to the door. "I understand completely."
When the girls were gone, Conrad returned to his workstation and began shutting down the scanner. Then he looked up at the sound of a slight swishing.
"I thought you were upstairs." Then he smiled. "Yes, I agree it is quite strange." A beep sounded and the screen revealed data. "DNA scan." Conrad read aloud. "No known match of foreign genetic code." He considered this and then called up another program, which demanded he enter a password. He did so and then inputted the data from the scan. This time, he got a perfect match. "Well, well, it seems David didn't have his brains fried. What's that? True. I already have seen proof he wasn't lying." He paused and listened for a while to various noises. "On the contrary, it makes things all the more interesting." With that, Conrad finished shutting down, saved his work and exited the garage to go have dinner.
"I'm telling you, he knows!" Mina, dressed in a black one piece, sat on the edge of the pool that resided atop Lita's apartment building. Over in the corner, Darien and Serena cooed in each other's arms, Lita was in the pool doing laps, and Amy was in a chaise lounge reading. Raye rolled her eyes.
"Come on, you're being paranoid. Next you're gonna be telling me he's a space alien in disguise." Mina glared at her, a reminder of their own not so earthly status. "Right." Raye held up a hand. "I shouldn't talk. But still, you're being awfully silly about this."
"I suppose you're right," Mina swung her legs back and forth in the water. "but still, you don't know what he's like."
"So tell me then." So Mina told a story involving cheese whiz, an inflatable sheep, some glue and a mouse. When she finished, Raye was pale.
"That can't be true by any means."
"It is true." Mina assured her. "I bought the mouse myself."
"Well at least I can understand your fears now."
"Besides Mina," Said Artemis from his spot nearby, "If he's really a space alien, you can ask him for directions to Deep Space Nine!" A dark look crossed Mina's face, and she splashed him, soaking him completely.
"Damn. . ." Lita said, shaking her head. "That is wild." Raye and Lita we're hanging out in front of the mall, where they were supposed to meet the others and Raye had related the story Mina had told her at the pool.
"I know. But she says it's true, she bought the mouse herself," Raye said as she checked her watch. "This Conrad guy is really strange, I hear he turned a pool into a giant tub of Jell-O once."
"Cool, I would have liked to have seen that," Lita said, chuckling. "that must have been a riot."
"Ask Mina for the tape of the news footage" Raye said dryly. It was then that the others arrived and they all entered the mall to go shopping.
As they stalked bargains, Raye watched Mina's face. Conrad's arrival had brought Mina out of her funk a little. She still had yet to smile, but at least she was acting somewhat alive again. Raye felt her guts twist as she recalled Mina's room when they had burst in. Ick.
"Oooh!" Serena held up a gorgeous, if a bit small bikini two-piece. "What do you guys think? It's only nineteen thousand, nine hundred and nintey- five yen!" Raye shook her head.
"Uh-uh, that looks like something some prat with no social life, who spends all his free time writing sour lemon hentai fanfiction would place on a girl in a story. Probably right before several things happened." She began to tick them off on her fingers "A monster rips them off. Her boyfriend or girlfriend, or both rips them off. She rips them off in a fit of lust, or all of the above."
Serena made a face. "And just how would you know so much about sour lemon hentai Raye?"
"How would you know what a sour lemon hentai is?" Raye shot back. Lita clapped a hand on each girl's shoulder.
"Quiet down you two. We don't need one of your famous feuds in the middle of the store." She said firmly. "Now quiet down." Raye and Serena glared at each other. Amy and Lita traded looks of exasperation. Mina simply watched.
Later that evening, Lita's loft......
Lita stepped up next to the workbench mounted on one wall of her loft. Since David's departure, and even before he had ever joined them, Lita's place had been where the Senshi had stashed stuff. With Raye's Grandfather and Chad getting more and more nosy, they had also started meeting here.
Amy was hunched over the torso section of the Black Lady's armor. Her Senshi computer was hooked up to it and feeding the results into David's G3 Macintosh Computer. The genius's fingers were flying as she sorted through the data with astonishing speed.
"Hey Ames, how's it going?" Amy blinked to focus her eyes.
"Not very well I'm afraid. The on board computer is simple-minded, and the OS is written in a language I don't understand. I have to build a translation algorithm before I can even think of accessing the CPU." The G3 burbled and then began to beep once a second. Amy touched some keys. "I'm in." Lita waved Raye, Serena, and Mina over.
"So what do you have?" Mina leaned forward over Amy's shoulder.
"Not much really, Most of it's the OS. The closest language correlation is to English, not Japanese, so some of this may not be translated correctly." Then she paused and highlighted one section. Serena leaned forward. It took her a moment to remember her English.
"Personal journal," she read aloud.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Mina asked. "Does it mean we can use this against them?"
Amy turned to look at Mina, tapping her fingers idlely on the bench.
"Possibly, but we do have to keep in mind this may be nothing more then her love life. Those are things I can go through life without knowing."
"Well, only one way to find out," Lita said as she reached over Amy's shoulder and tapped the key for the first entry.
Amy looked at her watch and sighed. Hour after hour they had listened to Rini's voice recount tales of her love life. All it proved to them was that Rini was a psychopathic sadistic deviant sociopath.
Lita made a gagging noise.
"First thing tomorrow, I'm getting rid of all my hentai magazines and tapes. We've heard more about her love life then anything else." The computer beeped, heralding a new entry.
"I hate Seekay!" Rini's voice exploded out of the speaker, causing the Senshi to sit up straight. "He walks around the palace like some kind of god expecting us all to cringe before him! I'm ruler of the Negaverse! I AM! Well I'll show him! When I fight the Crystal Knight, I'll beat the crap out of him and then I'll tell them all that, that thrice be dammed Crystal Knight is wearing Sailor Moon's Armor! So what if Seekay will torture me to death. It'll be worth it to watch that prissy faced Sailor Moon try to get her Armor back!"
"That was the last entry." Said the computer in a flat voice. The Senshi stared at each other.
"Of course I'm sure I want to do this. The tires on the flagpole are practically a tradition."
Conrad leaned back, regarding his work.
"Besides, I'm sure it hasn't been done over here before, so the shock value should be fairly high."
His head tilted to the side as if listening to someone, even though the only sound were faint hisses and clicking noises.
"No, I don't think the truck is too much. I think it gives a rather . . . unique . . . touch."
A young man with black hair walked over to Conrad.
"Hey, Conrad, if you're done with the truck, can we go ahead and send the crane back?
Lita leaned against the tree and watched as Mina tended to David's grave. His family had chosen to bury him or rather, bury his wheelchair, as that was all they could find, in Japan as there was some obscure Jones family tradition that required that a family member be buried in the region where they died. Lita closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the setting sun.
Gently, Mina brushed away the dirt and dust and placed fresh flowers in the holders. Beside her Raye murmured Shinto prayers. She sat back on her knees then kissed her fingers and pressed them to the headstone.
"There's a new Crystal Knight in Tokyo David," She said quietly. "We've only seen him once and he beat Malachite in about two seconds flat. I wish you were here." She got to her feet. "I have to go now. I'll see you next week."
With that, she walked back to her friends, Raye close behind. Lita smiled warmly at her.
"Everything okay--aw no!" Lita's eyes had shifted to behind Mina and she let out an explosive and foul sounding curse.
Mina turned to see what could have caused such an outburst but there was nothing but a priest walking along the graves towards them.
"What? It's a priest." Lita sighed.
"Remember I told you about the Seven Shadows?"
"Yeah, so--" Mina's voice broke off as it hit her.
"You think that's a Negaverse 2 Shadow Warrior?" As though in answer, the priest dropped his book and began running, wings ripping out of the back of his robe. "Ask a stupid question...." Mina muttered, flinging herself backwards as a boxing glove ripped through the space she had been standing in. Automatically, Mina's hand went to the small of her back, where she typically kept the transformation pen in a knife holster under her clothes and clipped to her skirt or pants. Her groping fingers encountered only bare skin. Then she remembered her vow that Venus was dead.
"Mina!" She looked. Artemis was crouched near a gravestone her transformation locket laying on the grass before him.
"I-I can't," Mina's eyes were drawn to the battle. The Senshi were taking a pounding. She could help them but that would mean breaking her vow.
Mina's mother had raised her never to break her promises and it was a lesson Mina had taken to heart.
"Mina, you have to become Sailor Venus again!" Luna hissed as she joined them. "They need you!" "
"I can't," Mina sobbed, running her sleeve across her eyes. "I made a promise. I can't break it!"
"They need you!" Luna snapped. "You are a Senshi! You have a duty!"
"I took a vow!" She was knocked on her back as one of the Shadow's explosive gloves shattered a gravestone, raining debris on them. Mina looked at the locket and then at the Senshi who lay stunned by the shock wave. Mina looked back at the locket, then at the Shadow, who was preparing to finish the job.
"Why don't you try that on me?" Said a new voice.
"Eh?" The Shadow and Mina turned to see The Crystal Knight striding across the ruined cemetery like a bulldozer. "Bah!" The Shadow let loose with a flying glove. The Knight didn't even blink, just raised his hand and caught the glove without breaking step.
"This is your weapon? You're kidding me right?" The Knight flung the glove at the Shadow but it disappeared and reappeared on the creature's hand.
"Gonna tear you apart!" The Shadow screeched and charged. The Knight stood his ground.
"Be gentle, it's my second time." Said the Knight in a soft voice and then clotheslined him. Leaving the Shadow lying there, he continued towards the Senshi. He bent over each and then returned to the Shadow, who had returned to his priest form. Mina watched him for a moment, then stood up. He turned to face her.
"David?" She said, her voice a squeaky whisper. The massive figure tilted his head slightly but said nothing
Mina looked at the others who were beginning to stir.
"What do you plan to do with the armor?" She said, pushing away the hair that blew into her eyes as the wind came up.
"What I have to." He rose into the air and flew away, leaving Mina to stare after him.
Behind the Gravestone, Artimes and Luna looked at each other.
"What do you think Luna? Is he friend or foe?"
"I don't know Artimes....." Luna raised her head to look after the Knight. "I honestly don't know."
Mina took a bite of the cake.
"This is good Lita," then she did something she hadn't done for a long a time, she smiled. It wasn't much, a gentle tug at the corner of her lips, but it was a smile. Serena, Amy Raye and Lita returned it. They were all at Lita's place, after Mina had had a near nervous breakdown when everybody at her school had been talking about the Crystal Knight. The Doctors had given her some medication and recommended she be placed on home schooling for a while. Lita's mind drifted back to the attack at the Cemetery last week. It had been odd, fighting without Mina there and she said as much. Mina shook her head.
"Sailor Venus is dead," She said quietly. "just accept it." Lita blinked.
"Hey, that reminds me." She said, as she got up and went to her workbench. She returned carrying Mina's Transformation Pen. "You took this out of your jacket when the new Crystal Knight appeared. I've been meaning to give it back to you." Mina looked at it.
"That can't be my pen." She said. "I threw it, the com and the locket, behind my bed after coming home from David's funeral, and I know it wasn't in my jacket that night."
"I got them out," Artimes volunteered. "Then I hid them under the cushion of my bed." Luna's eyes widened.
"The day of the cemetery battle, was the locket there but not the pen?"
"Yeah. Come to think of it, it was," Mina picked up the pen and was rewarded by a tingle, That was her pen. Luna looked at the pen then at Artimes. All the Senshi had the same question on their minds.
If the pen had been under Artimes' bed, which was nowhere near the closet, and since Artimes would never slip it into Mina's Jacket, and Mina was positive that it hadn't been in her jacket, how did it get there?
Second one has achieved activation.
Venus?
She has not reactivated since termination of First One A
Send insight at time index 345785.2, original Venus power coding.
Affirmative.
The C-4 Cargo plane, bearing the Logo of Sunboomer Autos, touched down on the airport in the small town of Aska, Japan. 300 miles north of Tokyo. It finally taxied to a deserted section of the airfield and braked to a stop.
The back door slowly lowered on hydraulics and began to disgorge it's cargo. 40 Sunboomer 8000's The hottest new Sports Car on the World Market. They resembled the much vaunted Lamborgini in shape, but the similarities ended there. Sunboomers sat 5 comfortably, had a convertible roof and were made of a super-light, super-strong, titanium-steel space age alloy.
Finally the last car rolled off the plane, but this one was privately owned, and it's owner followed it down.
David Howard, President of Sunboomer Autos Inc., Japan, stepped off the ramp and took a breath of the air. This was his first time out of America, save numerous vacations and bisnuess trips to Canada and this deserted Tarmac was his first view of the country that would be the home of him and his family for the next few years. Because Tokyo International could not handle the cargo plane, the first shipment of Sunboomer cars were shipped here to this near-deserted airfield, 300 miles north of Tokyo. From here, the cars would be shipped by truck to Tokyo and the showroom. He looked at his car. Unlike the others, this one had been made in America, for use on American roads. Hence, the Driver's side was on the left. He turned back to the hatch of the plane.
"Conrad! Come on! It's a three hundred mile drive to Tokyo!" Conrad, his firstborn, came down the ramp, using his cane to steady himself. As a child, Conrad had suffered cancer and then polio in the muscle tissue of his right calf. Chemotherapy had killed it off, but the doctors still had to remove 30% of the muscle tissue. Conrad would need the cane for the rest of his life.
At the base of the ramp, Conrad dug a rubber band out of his pocket and proceeded to tie his slightly longer then shoulder length hair back into a ponytail. Then he took a look around.
"What a dump!" David had to agree.
"We're not here to judge. Get in, and no, you can't drive."
"Aw, but Dad, I drove it everywhere back home."
"We're not in New York anymore. I'm driving." Conrad grumbled something inaudible but probably unrepeatable and tossed his duffel bag into the passenger side. At that moment, a helicopter landed not fifty yards away. Conrad made his way to the front of the car and leaned on the hood as his father ran out to meet it. He talked with the pilot for several moments then ran back to the car.
"It's from the Investors. They've sent it to take me to lunch in Tokyo. Come on." Conrad didn't move.
"No."
"What?"
"Somebody has to take the Sunboomer to the house. Might as well be me."
"You?"
"Why not?"
"The distance."
"The trip to Toronto you and I took. I drove there and back."
"The language barrier."
"I speak Japanese like a native and you know it."
"They drive differently here."
"Can't be any worse then New York Traffic." David took a look at the waiting helicopter.
"Okay," David reached into the duffel bag he carried. "Here's the Map, the address of the house, the car keys, the house keys, the cell phone, and my pager number is already stored in it's memory." Conrad took them.
"Get going. Have fun. Tell those stuffed shirts I said hello."
With one last look at his son, David ran back, climbed in and the helicopter lifted off and headed south. Conrad carried the papers around to the driver's side and got in. The map he set on the passenger floor. The Cell phone on the passenger seat. He put the house keys in his jacket's inside pocket and stuck the car keys in the ignition. The Engine roared to life. Reaching over, he stuck his Megajam Tape into the stereo and turned it on. Then the switch that lowered the roof. He touched the controls for the electric windows and lowered them all. A breeze came up carrying the salt from the nearby sea. He looked down at the gearshift. Automatic Transmission, the only way to go. He shifted into reverse and backed the car away from the plane, then he shifted again and pulled out of the airport. The wind whistled through his hair and he yanked the rubber band out to let it blow freely.
A freeway, 120 miles north of Tokyo
Rose Masterfield tightened her grip on the door handle as the yellow 89 Ford Mustang Convertible sped down the freeway at top speed. Beside her, her friend and lover Christina "Chris" Henderson gripped the wheel, an almost demonic grin on her face. In the backseat, Lita Kino looked at her seatmate. Mina Anio slumped, her arms crossed. Lita frowned. Three months ago, Mina's boyfriend, soul mate and true love had been killed.
His death had changed the normally perky and upbeat Mina. Nowadays, she dressed in black. Her room, once bright and airy, was now dark, lit by a red light bulb that made the room seem almost permeated with blood. To her friends, this was bad, very bad. After David died it was like nothing mattered to her anymore. All her clothes were black except her school uniforms.
Lita leaned over the seat to shout in Chris' ear. "This aint working!"
"You're kidding me!" She shouted back.
"No way! And this was your idea!"
Chris didn't answer, she was staring at a car in the next lane, the expression on her face one of near lust.
The car reminded Lita of a Lamborgini, but how many Lamborghinis were soft- tops? As Lita watched, the car slipped between the other cars and was gone.
"What a car," Chris sighed. "That was a Sunboomer eight thousand. Hottest car on the Market. They go on sale next month here in Japan. They're only about sixty grand too!"
The Next Month, The First day of school.
Amy Anderson hunched into her raincoat. Beside her, her best friend Serena walked quickly, cringing every time thunder clapped. Serena hated Thunder. The rain poured down hard. Ahead, Rini, Serena's so called "cousin" skipped through the puddles.
Amy pulled her head deeper into her hood. Visibility was down to near zero and she could barely see Rini's bright pink raincoat.
"Rini. Come back here." Rini came back, albeit reluctantly.
"But Amy......"
"No arguments," Amy said as she took Rini's hand. "Now stay close."
At that point, the sound of a car came up behind her, and gradually, she could see the headlights of the car. Low and lean, it looked like a sports car, one built for speed."
The car slowed until it was moving at their speed and the window rolled down.
"Amy, right?"
Amy stopped and peered in. "Conrad? Is that you?"
"Yep. You and your girlfriends there look like you could use a lift." The passenger door swung open. "Hop in."
"But the leather...."
"...Is protected against water. In."
Amy, Serena, and Rini got in.
The next afternoon, Serena dragged Mina and Lita over to Conrad's house. Mina went willingly, but she kept her nose buried in some blood and guts fantasy novel during the entire bus ride there. Lita went willingly as well, but more for something to do then anything else.
They got off at the bus stop and walked towards where Conrad had said he lived. As they neared the address he had given Serena, loud music drifted towards them, and Mina's expression actually changed from blank depression to a sort of curious dread. They followed the music to a large house built on two lots. The music, if it could be called that, was coming out of the side door of the 3 car garage. Two expensive BMW's were parked at the curb and a Sunboomer sat parked in the driveway, top up, it's dark blue finish gleaming in the afternoon sun.
Lita absently noted that the driveway was wet, meaning a car, probably the Sunboomer, had been washed within the past few hours. She followed Serena and Mina around to the side door which was open.
Inside, the lighting was dim at best. Shelves and tables piled with electronic, chemical and other such pieces of equipment were pushed against the wall. The walls were a collage of circuit diagrams, race cars, and posters of scantily clad women and one poster of a weird little animal with something in english. A Horseshoe shaped table sat in the middle of the room, also piled with stuff that even Amy would probably have a hard time figuring out.
The only occupant sat at one of the wall tables, his back to them, his fingers dancing on the keys of a computer keyboard. The Music was coming from the back wall. where a full entertainment system sat. Including a 50 inch Big Screen TV.
Serena put two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Mina winced. But her eyes were on the fourth person in the room. Half her prayed that it was who she thought it was, the other half was hoping like hell that it wasn't. The guy shut off the music and turned to face them. Lita stared at him in shock, remembering the hallucination from the trip to Cape Canaveral. She automatically glanced down, but he was wearing pants.
Mina's sanity sat down and began making out it's will and a suicide note.
She smiled, he smiled back and held out his arms, she ran over and gave him a bear hug.
"Damn. I hate to say it, but I've missed you." She turned to face Lita and Serena. "Guys, this is Conrad Howard, he's an old friend and David's cousin." She paused as her eyes fell on a three foot long half metal tube. The top was missing and she could see circuits and wires inside. "Is that what I think it is?" Conrad nodded.
"What is it?" Serena had found a lab stool and was sitting on it. "Some kind of death ray?"
Mina leaned on the horseshoe-shaped table and sighed. " I don't know. Nobody knows." She leveled a finger at Conrad. "He doesn't even know. . .and if it was spawned in his brain, you don't want to know."
The next morning. . .
Lita looked over Conrad's Shoulder. She, Conrad and Amy had chem class together and Conrad was mixing something up. It was amazing that she hadn't noticed him until meeting him.
She glanced at her watch. Two minutes since class had started and the Teacher was no where in sight. Conrad mixed Chemicals then heated the entire thing. After turning off the heat, he grabbed a notebook and began writing furiously. Lita peered at the greenish-brown mixture. "What is it?"
"Not sure. A new kind of fuel I think." Conrad tapped his pencil against his chin.
It was at that point, the teacher walked up.
"What is this?" He snapped, pointing at the beaker. " Conrad shrugged.
"A new kind of fuel I think. I'm not really sure." He handed the teacher the notebook.
"This is what you did?" Conrad nodded. The teacher stared at it for a few more seconds. "Mokoto" A student snapped to.
"Sensei?"
"Fetch the liquid propellant model rocket from the closet." The student ran off and then teacher focused his attention on Conrad. "Well now Mr. Howard, I'm told you have an IQ of one forty-five." A few students whistled at this. "Let us see if you are as inventive as your records say."
Lita pushed her hair out of her eyes. The wind blew it back in. A small crowd had gathered to watch the launch. Conrad had set up the rocket to launch at a twenty degree angle due east. He was now filling up the tank with his new experimental fuel. Finally, he picked up the beaker and walked back to the waiting crowd. He set the beaker down and picked up the remote. He held it thoughtfully for a moment.
"Yoda was not a scientist. You cannot know whether or not you can do or do not, without trying." With that, he punched the button. With a hiss, the rocket leaped off the launcher. It flew higher and disappeared into the sky. After a few minutes, the crowd split up into smaller groups.
Conrad stood there, watching where the rocket disappeared. Finally, his shoulders slumped and he walked back to where the launcher sat. He set the beaker down to on the grass and then just stood there, staring at the launcher. Something inside Lita hated to see him like that and she walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You tried. That was pretty impressive, I've never seen a rocket do that before."
"I shall have to replace the rocket I suppose. It's probably at the bottom of the Atlantic by now. I hope it is anyway. . ." He let out a sigh. "Oh well." He crouched down and began to pack up the launcher. Lita dropped to her knees and began to help him. After a few minutes, a high-pitched whistle reached her ears. Then she heard shouts
"Look!"
"What the hell is it?"
"Maybe it's the rocket!"
"Impossible."
"Shit! It is the rocket!" Lita looked up as a student set the binoculars down. High in the sky, a speck was approaching fast. She nudged Conrad and pointed. He looked up and followed her finger, then he scooped up his cane and ran for the building. Lita followed, leaving the beaker of fuel with the launcher, her long legs soon carrying her past Conrad. The whistle got louder and louder and then something hit the ground and there was an earthshaking boom that made the ground heave and something crashed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes to find Conrad staring her in the face. She Smiled. He smiled. She thought of the hallucination, and for a moment, wondered. . .
Then she shook herself back to reality.
Nah She thought, that's a little too crazy.
Then they looked behind them.
Where the launcher had once stood, a fire now danced. Lita let out a low whistle.
"Interesting," Conrad said, staring at the flames, "the fire should be spreading."
"Maybe it's the dew on the grass," Lita scratched her head. "I mean, wouldn't the water keep the fire under control?"
"Not with chemicals like that, I can feel the heat from here. We should be seeing an inferno. Amazing."
Conrad and Lita sat in the Headmaster's office. The Headmaster was pacing behind them.
"Do you know what it will cost to replace the grass that was burned?" Lita didn't answer, she looked at Conrad. He had a look on his face that seemed to imply that being in the headmaster's office was nothing new to him. Conrad finally raised his eyes to meet the headmaster's.
"Sir. What happened this morning was regrettable and as it was my experiment that caused the fire, I take full responsibility and will of course see to it that the grass is replaced. But I would also like to make an appointment to speak with you about the extensive financial windfall that could be coming out of this."
"Damn right you'll replace the grass-"The headmaster sat down behind his desk. "-what financial windfall?"
"The chemicals I used to create the fuel seemed to have combined in a rather unusual way. Not only does it seem to be a super fuel of some kind, but it seems to have the ability to prevent fire from spreading."
"What do you mean?"
"Sir. At the time of the crash I was twenty feet away from the impact. I could feel the heat as though I was right next to it. Also, if the fire was as hot as it seemed, then the entire field should have been a raging inferno by the time the fire department arrived. But it wasn't. The fire stayed confined to the immediate area of the crash site. In fact, it seems to have burned only where the chemical spilled. If my theory is correct, this chemical, while highly combustible, may be the answer to fighting wildfires. My father's company, Sunboomer Autos, does own a Chemical R&D research facility back in America, if he was to send the fuel to them, and they could figure out why it does what it does, it could cause a jump in stock, and money for the investors. Naturally, as the inventor of the stuff, I would have to give credit to the school, as it was the school's equipment and chemicals I used to make it. This could lead to increased publicity and a rise in enrollment. Both good."
"But the school is not an investor in your father's company."
"No, but the company does have a program for schools to invest in stock. This also lets them give their students a hands on lesson in economics."
"I get the feeling you're telling me this to get out of trouble."
"Yes, sir."
"It worked. Have your father talk to me about this investment thing and I'll drop this whole matter. But, I never want to see you in my office in connection with any other kind of mess at this school." Conrad nodded.
"Of course."
A few days later, the headmaster woke to find a rubber mouse staring him in the face. He had no idea how it got there, nor the honey in his hair. Or, later that day, the rubber inflatable goat in his office on his desk chair. That same day, Conrad and Lita were talking over their lunches on one of the statues in front of the school library.
"Conrad, can I ask you something about David?"
"Hm?"
"Why was he so bitter all the time?"
"Mostly because of Thad, I guess."
"Thad?"
"Yeah. After the accident, David couldn't walk. Thad constantly reminded him of that. It didn't help that Uncle Jeff is a hiking and camping enthusiast, and you can't take a wheelchair up into the mountains. So Thad got to take a lot of these trips, have fun and spend time with Uncle Jeff and he made sure David knew about all the fun they had. . .
Since David spent a lot of time at home, I began to hang out with him. We played chess a lot, seeing who could come up with the fastest strategy, or read mysteries to each other and tried to see how fast we could come up with an answer."
"So that's where he got that tactical ability."
"Part of it anyway."
"You mentioned an accident, what happened?"
"One day, we were walking around New York, a car veered onto the sidewalk, the car bumper hitting his legs. It was a hit and run. Fortunately, Mina and me were around to rush him to the hospital. Actually, Mina ran for the phone."
"What happened to your legs, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Contracted Polio and Cancer at the same time. They had to cut away part of my leg."
"Oh." Neither of them said anything much after that.
That evening, the Senshi and Darien were walking through the Shopping district. Serena and Raye were arguing, as usual. Amy was reading a book, Lita was checking out guys. Mina hung back at the rear, not really taking part in any of it. She was dressed entirely in Black. Black T-shirt, Black Leather Biker Jacket, Black Jeans, Black Doc Martens. The only spots of color was her Blond Hair and blue eyes. The hair she had tied back in a French Braid. Her face was blank and lifeless, as it had been since David's death.
Lita glanced back. Mina just plodded on. Head down, hands shoved into her jacket pockets. It occurred to Lita that the Negaverse hadn't been active since David and the Black Lady went into that other dimension.
At that point the street erupted in a Vertical Plume of fire. When the plume vanished, a strange creature stood there. It looked like a cross between a Crab and a frog, blown up to the size of a medium sized whale. Standing on it's head, was none other then Malachite. There was dead silence while the people took this in. Then they all panicked.
"I thought you said you and David clobbered him seven ways from Sunday!" Raye yelled over the screams.
"We did! The Knight practically tore him in half!" Lita yelled back. "He rejuvenated and regenerated somehow!"
Raye opened her mouth to yell something back, but before she could a blur rocketed down the street and smacked the Crab-Frog under the chin. It tumbled over backwards. The Blur continued it's upwards flight, twisted around and shot back down to street level, coming to a dead stop about six feet from the street, it's red and Black armor gleaming in the light from the fires. The Lance in it's right hand shined and sharp.
"Oh God." Mina said in a choked whisper. "Oh My God......" That said it all Lita thought. That said it all.
The Crystal Knight was back in town.
For Lita, it was as though time had slowed down to a crawl. The others staring in shock, The Knight hovering there in mid-air, something she had never seen him do, then out of the corner of her eye, Mina moving forward, David's name on her lips, her hand already taking out the wand.
Something told her that if Mina got into the battle it would not be good. She spun on her heel, her hand chopping at Mina's wrist and making her drop her wand. Mina looked at her in shock. Lita's hand was already coming back up, forming into a fist and cracking Mina in the side of the head. Mina's head snapped back. Lita was already moving, her right arm slipping behind Mina's shoulder blades, pulling her down as Lita's left hand snapped out and snagged Mina's wand. Rotating on the balls of her feet, she caught Mina before she hit the ground. Time speeded back up to normal. Lita stared at Mina's face. That was the fastest she had ever moved in her life. Even as Jupiter she had never reacted with such speed. Hell, maybe time had slowed down. By now the others had noticed that Mina had crumpled.
"What happened?" Raye crouched down next to them as Amy took Mina's pulse. Lita shrugged.
"She either fainted or got hit by a flying rock." She said as she slipped Mina's wand into her overalls. Better she lie now and tell the truth later.
Malachite was also hovering, staring in utter shock. "So, you survived." The Knight said nothing. "No jibes? No comments about me? I'm disappointed." The Knight's visor glowed. Then his free hand suddenly glowed with green fire and he flung it at Malachite, hitting him smack in the middle of the chest. Malachite groaned and vanished. Lita was astonished. That was not David, and definitely not the Crystal Knight she had grown to know. That move had been precisely calculated to remove Malachite from the picture with minimum effort and time. She swore to herself under her breath. Who the hell was this guy?
The creature had managed to get to it's feet. It was now focused on it's new enemy. It raised it's claw and brought it down. The knight was no longer there. He had moved the nessacary distance not to be caught by the claw. Once the claw was stuck in the asphalt, he used the lance to chop it off. Enraged. The creature brought it's other claw down. The knight repeated his earlier maneuver and chopped it off. Then he put the lance away. The green fire formed around his hands, and he vaporized the things head. Then he flew away.
Raye swore, uttering several things in her disbelief that Chad would probably be only to happy to do to her. Lita pushed such thoughts out of her mind. She flung Mina over her shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"C'mon guys. Let's get out of here."
Lita's Loft
"...and officials still have no idea how the creature, which has marine biologists baffled, got inland without being detected. Or who the strange man who had been standing on it's head was. Officials are also baffled by the return and odd behavior of the Crystal Knight. Noted for his wisecracks and destructive tatics, he has been repeatedly condemned by city officials.
However, this time, he acted different. The Master of a dojo who was in the area for dinner out, said that the Knight had dispatched both foes with a minimum of effort. He could see no wasted movement or energy. Donna Chang, CNN, Tokyo."
"Thank you Donna." The newscaster looked at the camera. "Donna Chang in the shopping district. For those of you just joining us, the top story is the underground explosion that has left three people dead and more then a hundred injured when a strange creature erupted from the ground in Tokyo's Entertainment district. In other news today, Crystalline Laboratories began construction on their new lab. Located in the middle of Siberia, the lab will begin to probe the much used idea of parallel universes-" Lita turned off the TV. Mina lay on her couch, out cold. After returning, they had called an emergency meeting of all Senshi and their allies. Besides Nephrite and Molly, Darien, the Four sisters and Greg were also present. Only Kate, who was the enigmatic Sailor Pluto, Hotaru, Rini and the mysterious Chibi-Chibi weren't there.
"That wasn't David," She said.
"How can you be sure?" Asked Serena around a mouthful of cookies.
"Yeah," Raye chimed in." What makes you so sure?" Lita walked to the window and looked out, her arms crossed. Hugging herself.
"Because I've been a Senshi a long time and I've seen some pretty weird shit." She turned, and took a few moments to phrase her next statement carefully. "That Knight was stone cold. He took out both Malachite and that....thing, whatever it was in less time then it would take us. Furthermore, based on what we do know about the Crystal Knight Armor, there's only two personalities. Whoever uses it, and it's own."
"What if the two merged?"
"Possible, But it doesn't add up. What we saw today, was someone doing their job with no wasted time or effort. Even by the most wild stretch of the imagination, I cannot see a merge between David and the Knight producing a third personality like that."
"So what does it mean?" Asked Rose. Lita took a deep breath.
"It means someone else has the armor and most likely the duplicate Silver Imperium Crystal." Said Nephrite before Lita could reply. Amy nodded agreement.
"I can see no other explanation. There is still so little we know about the Crystal and our own powers for that matter."
"So where does that leave us?" Asked Chris. "That attack tonight was targeted at you guys, I'm sure of it. Except the Knight appeared before you could make the change."
"So what does it all mean?" Asked Serena. But it was Rose who answered.
"'Come all ye who are willing and able. To swing a sword or plant a tree. No challenge is easy, no road worth traveling be soft. But for those with courage, the world is theirs.' My Grandfather wrote that. He told me to remember it when I couldn't figure something out or life was hard . . ."
No one spoke much after that. The quiet gave Lita some time to think. She was not by nature an introspective person. But there had just been so much to take in lately. Now someone else had the Crystal Knight's armor and the most powerful Crystal on the planet.
At least, she consoled herself, her life wouldn't be boring.
The news was even grimmer the next morning. The death toll from the attack had risen to five and a hundred and fifty injured. The city had lost millions in revenue because of the damage. Cleanup could take weeks and that was delayed for who knew how long because government scientists were trying to track down the creature's point of origin.
Lita poured herself some cereal and sat down with the paper. She skipped past the headlines and went directly to the funnies. She enjoyed Sundays. She always took the morning to relax. Her hair hung loose. She wore a rumpled sweatshirt and even more rumpled sweatpants.
After Breakfast, she wandered up to the roof and began going through her katas.
Across town, Darien breakfasted on the balcony of his Apartment, pondering this new Knight.
Raye mediated in front of the fire, seeking the meaning of this new Crystal Knight. Was he friend or foe?
Amy read the front page article, and all pertinent articles in the paper that she could find, and sat, lost in thought, for over an hour at the table.
Mina, after reading the article in silence, walked into her room and lit a candle, the one in front of David's picture in the small shrine she had made. After turning off the red light in her room, she stared into the flame, her eyes seeming to see into a world of shadows. Artemis watched her from his basket in the corner of the room, his expression solemn and his eyes revealing nothing of what was within.
Rose and Chris read the paper together over a breakfast of eclairs and disgustingly strong coffee, their eyes scanning the paper rapidly as they read. When finished, Chris set the paper down and leaned back, looking at her love.
Rose softly quoted from one of her favorite books, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." Chris nodded in quiet agreement.
Serena, sleeping in as usual, missed the paper entirely, and only just managed to make it to the scout meeting on time.
When she got there it touched off another one of her and Raye's shouting matches. The others had long ago learned to let these run their courses. Mina and Amy got out books, Lita starting knitting, Chris and Rose took a walk.
Serena and Raye's voices were getting hoarse when Chad came in carrying a dinner plate sized stone disc.
"Hey dudettes! Check this out!"
"What is it?" Lita and Amy got up to take a look. Runes ran around the edge of one side. In the middle was three indentations each about the size of Chad's thumb in a triangle formation. Raye and Serena both came over, their curiosity more powerful then their disagreement.
"Where did you get it?" Asked Raye, taking it out of Chad's hands.
"Your Grandpa and I dug it up when we were putting the foundation for the gazebo."
Raye looked back at the disc.
"I'm getting some bad vibes off this guys." Lita looked at Amy, who had her Senshi computer out and was concealing it with her body while scanning the disc. After a moment, she looked up and shook her head.
Artimes shook his head.
"We need help." He said quietly to Luna. Mina looked at them.
"Yeah, but aside from Amy, who's got the ability to translate it?" She said, scooting closer.
"Well......what about your friend Conrad?" Asked Luna. Mina's jaw dropped.
"No!" She hissed. "He'll want to know details! We slip up even the tiniest bit, and he could latch on to the fact that we're the Senshi!"
"Oh Come on," Luna shot back. "Nobody can latch on to the fact that you're the Senshi with that little information." Mina sighed, she didn't like it, but she knew they were right.
"You don't know Conrad." She stood up. "Come on guys," she said, reluctance in her voice, "I know someone who can help.
Conrad was sitting on the driveway building a geometric design with legos when they arrived. A Santa hat sat lopsided on his head and he had on Spock ears. He was staring at it with intense concentration. Upon finishing, he stood up and held it out, then drop-kicked it into the bed of a passing truck.
"What was that all about?" asked Lita.
"Huh?"
"That thing you just kicked into the truck."
"What thing?" He asked, blinking. Mina sighed.
"Don't bother Lita. If you push, he might remember and explain it to you."
Lita looked at Conrad, he was staring after the truck, a completely absorbed look on his face. Then he looked at her and she was captivated by his eyes. He blinked, and the absorbed look was gone, as though a mental gear had shifted.
"What can I do for you?" Mina held out the disc to him.
"Raye's Grandfather's apprentice found this. We're wondering what you could make of it." Conrad peered at the disc.
"Interesting, these indentations would seem to be some kind of receptacle and the runes are probably incantations or spells for some purpose." He picked up his cane and headed for the side door of the garage.
Inside, he placed the disc on what looked like an overhead projector. Next to it was what looked like a hot plate. Taking what seemed to be a shrunken TV tray, he placed it over the platform that the disc sat on.
"What is that?" Asked Serena.
"It's a special kind of scanner. It creates a spectro-electromagnetic field that allows objects within the field to be suspended in mid-air. Thus allowing a better scan to be performed." Lita looked at Amy, wondering just what a spectro-electromagnetic field was. Amy only shrugged, she didn't know either.
"What kind of scan?" Asked Rose, genuinely curious. Two things fascinated Rose: technology and conspiracy theories. If the two happened to intertwine, so much the better.
Conrad sat down in front of his computer.
"Any kind. First, let's see what that thing is made of." He tapped keys, the hot plate's surface began to glow and the disc rose into the air, stood on it's side, and began slowly spinning clockwise. Then, a three color image of the disc appeared in the air over the hot plate.
Within moments, the results came on screen.
"Hmm, based on the results, this is a piece of carved and polished moon rock," Conrad said distractedly as he studied the hologram. "Most fascinating, I wonder how it arrived on Earth." He went back to the computer and began typing again. Within moments, the screen went black except for a blue rectangle which was red at one end. "Now we wait. The computer will scan the Internet and see if it can find a some symbols that look similar, and, if possible, use them to translate the runes." He sat down on a couch near the side door.
"What's this?" Asked Rose, holding up a piece of paper upon which a design was scrawled.
"It's a food growth accelerator that uses flat Diet Cola for fuel."
"Wow!" Rose exclaimed excitedly. The end of the world hunger problem was one of her pet causes, "that's great!"
"No it isn't," Conrad replied.
"What? Why not?"
"Diet Cola tastes awful."
Five Hours later.......
The Senshi gathered around the computer. After a few moments, Conrad turned.
"No translation." There was a general sigh of disappointment. "But," He said raising a finger. "It did come up with a starting point. The runes are indigenous to the written language of the area in and surrounding the central himalayan mountain range used a thousand years ago. Now, the actual dialect of the Runes can be traced to the mountain village of Hinotusniko, which many maintain to this day was the way station for travelers entering and leaving Shangri-La."
"But there's no translation?"
"No." Conrad shrugged. "If you let me have the disc for a while, I might be able to coax something else out of it."
Raye shook her head and reached into the field to grab the disc. "Sorry Conrad." She said. "But this is pretty important to us. You understand."
"Of course." Conrad walked with them to the door. "I understand completely."
When the girls were gone, Conrad returned to his workstation and began shutting down the scanner. Then he looked up at the sound of a slight swishing.
"I thought you were upstairs." Then he smiled. "Yes, I agree it is quite strange." A beep sounded and the screen revealed data. "DNA scan." Conrad read aloud. "No known match of foreign genetic code." He considered this and then called up another program, which demanded he enter a password. He did so and then inputted the data from the scan. This time, he got a perfect match. "Well, well, it seems David didn't have his brains fried. What's that? True. I already have seen proof he wasn't lying." He paused and listened for a while to various noises. "On the contrary, it makes things all the more interesting." With that, Conrad finished shutting down, saved his work and exited the garage to go have dinner.
"I'm telling you, he knows!" Mina, dressed in a black one piece, sat on the edge of the pool that resided atop Lita's apartment building. Over in the corner, Darien and Serena cooed in each other's arms, Lita was in the pool doing laps, and Amy was in a chaise lounge reading. Raye rolled her eyes.
"Come on, you're being paranoid. Next you're gonna be telling me he's a space alien in disguise." Mina glared at her, a reminder of their own not so earthly status. "Right." Raye held up a hand. "I shouldn't talk. But still, you're being awfully silly about this."
"I suppose you're right," Mina swung her legs back and forth in the water. "but still, you don't know what he's like."
"So tell me then." So Mina told a story involving cheese whiz, an inflatable sheep, some glue and a mouse. When she finished, Raye was pale.
"That can't be true by any means."
"It is true." Mina assured her. "I bought the mouse myself."
"Well at least I can understand your fears now."
"Besides Mina," Said Artemis from his spot nearby, "If he's really a space alien, you can ask him for directions to Deep Space Nine!" A dark look crossed Mina's face, and she splashed him, soaking him completely.
"Damn. . ." Lita said, shaking her head. "That is wild." Raye and Lita we're hanging out in front of the mall, where they were supposed to meet the others and Raye had related the story Mina had told her at the pool.
"I know. But she says it's true, she bought the mouse herself," Raye said as she checked her watch. "This Conrad guy is really strange, I hear he turned a pool into a giant tub of Jell-O once."
"Cool, I would have liked to have seen that," Lita said, chuckling. "that must have been a riot."
"Ask Mina for the tape of the news footage" Raye said dryly. It was then that the others arrived and they all entered the mall to go shopping.
As they stalked bargains, Raye watched Mina's face. Conrad's arrival had brought Mina out of her funk a little. She still had yet to smile, but at least she was acting somewhat alive again. Raye felt her guts twist as she recalled Mina's room when they had burst in. Ick.
"Oooh!" Serena held up a gorgeous, if a bit small bikini two-piece. "What do you guys think? It's only nineteen thousand, nine hundred and nintey- five yen!" Raye shook her head.
"Uh-uh, that looks like something some prat with no social life, who spends all his free time writing sour lemon hentai fanfiction would place on a girl in a story. Probably right before several things happened." She began to tick them off on her fingers "A monster rips them off. Her boyfriend or girlfriend, or both rips them off. She rips them off in a fit of lust, or all of the above."
Serena made a face. "And just how would you know so much about sour lemon hentai Raye?"
"How would you know what a sour lemon hentai is?" Raye shot back. Lita clapped a hand on each girl's shoulder.
"Quiet down you two. We don't need one of your famous feuds in the middle of the store." She said firmly. "Now quiet down." Raye and Serena glared at each other. Amy and Lita traded looks of exasperation. Mina simply watched.
Later that evening, Lita's loft......
Lita stepped up next to the workbench mounted on one wall of her loft. Since David's departure, and even before he had ever joined them, Lita's place had been where the Senshi had stashed stuff. With Raye's Grandfather and Chad getting more and more nosy, they had also started meeting here.
Amy was hunched over the torso section of the Black Lady's armor. Her Senshi computer was hooked up to it and feeding the results into David's G3 Macintosh Computer. The genius's fingers were flying as she sorted through the data with astonishing speed.
"Hey Ames, how's it going?" Amy blinked to focus her eyes.
"Not very well I'm afraid. The on board computer is simple-minded, and the OS is written in a language I don't understand. I have to build a translation algorithm before I can even think of accessing the CPU." The G3 burbled and then began to beep once a second. Amy touched some keys. "I'm in." Lita waved Raye, Serena, and Mina over.
"So what do you have?" Mina leaned forward over Amy's shoulder.
"Not much really, Most of it's the OS. The closest language correlation is to English, not Japanese, so some of this may not be translated correctly." Then she paused and highlighted one section. Serena leaned forward. It took her a moment to remember her English.
"Personal journal," she read aloud.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Mina asked. "Does it mean we can use this against them?"
Amy turned to look at Mina, tapping her fingers idlely on the bench.
"Possibly, but we do have to keep in mind this may be nothing more then her love life. Those are things I can go through life without knowing."
"Well, only one way to find out," Lita said as she reached over Amy's shoulder and tapped the key for the first entry.
Amy looked at her watch and sighed. Hour after hour they had listened to Rini's voice recount tales of her love life. All it proved to them was that Rini was a psychopathic sadistic deviant sociopath.
Lita made a gagging noise.
"First thing tomorrow, I'm getting rid of all my hentai magazines and tapes. We've heard more about her love life then anything else." The computer beeped, heralding a new entry.
"I hate Seekay!" Rini's voice exploded out of the speaker, causing the Senshi to sit up straight. "He walks around the palace like some kind of god expecting us all to cringe before him! I'm ruler of the Negaverse! I AM! Well I'll show him! When I fight the Crystal Knight, I'll beat the crap out of him and then I'll tell them all that, that thrice be dammed Crystal Knight is wearing Sailor Moon's Armor! So what if Seekay will torture me to death. It'll be worth it to watch that prissy faced Sailor Moon try to get her Armor back!"
"That was the last entry." Said the computer in a flat voice. The Senshi stared at each other.
"Of course I'm sure I want to do this. The tires on the flagpole are practically a tradition."
Conrad leaned back, regarding his work.
"Besides, I'm sure it hasn't been done over here before, so the shock value should be fairly high."
His head tilted to the side as if listening to someone, even though the only sound were faint hisses and clicking noises.
"No, I don't think the truck is too much. I think it gives a rather . . . unique . . . touch."
A young man with black hair walked over to Conrad.
"Hey, Conrad, if you're done with the truck, can we go ahead and send the crane back?
Lita leaned against the tree and watched as Mina tended to David's grave. His family had chosen to bury him or rather, bury his wheelchair, as that was all they could find, in Japan as there was some obscure Jones family tradition that required that a family member be buried in the region where they died. Lita closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the setting sun.
Gently, Mina brushed away the dirt and dust and placed fresh flowers in the holders. Beside her Raye murmured Shinto prayers. She sat back on her knees then kissed her fingers and pressed them to the headstone.
"There's a new Crystal Knight in Tokyo David," She said quietly. "We've only seen him once and he beat Malachite in about two seconds flat. I wish you were here." She got to her feet. "I have to go now. I'll see you next week."
With that, she walked back to her friends, Raye close behind. Lita smiled warmly at her.
"Everything okay--aw no!" Lita's eyes had shifted to behind Mina and she let out an explosive and foul sounding curse.
Mina turned to see what could have caused such an outburst but there was nothing but a priest walking along the graves towards them.
"What? It's a priest." Lita sighed.
"Remember I told you about the Seven Shadows?"
"Yeah, so--" Mina's voice broke off as it hit her.
"You think that's a Negaverse 2 Shadow Warrior?" As though in answer, the priest dropped his book and began running, wings ripping out of the back of his robe. "Ask a stupid question...." Mina muttered, flinging herself backwards as a boxing glove ripped through the space she had been standing in. Automatically, Mina's hand went to the small of her back, where she typically kept the transformation pen in a knife holster under her clothes and clipped to her skirt or pants. Her groping fingers encountered only bare skin. Then she remembered her vow that Venus was dead.
"Mina!" She looked. Artemis was crouched near a gravestone her transformation locket laying on the grass before him.
"I-I can't," Mina's eyes were drawn to the battle. The Senshi were taking a pounding. She could help them but that would mean breaking her vow.
Mina's mother had raised her never to break her promises and it was a lesson Mina had taken to heart.
"Mina, you have to become Sailor Venus again!" Luna hissed as she joined them. "They need you!" "
"I can't," Mina sobbed, running her sleeve across her eyes. "I made a promise. I can't break it!"
"They need you!" Luna snapped. "You are a Senshi! You have a duty!"
"I took a vow!" She was knocked on her back as one of the Shadow's explosive gloves shattered a gravestone, raining debris on them. Mina looked at the locket and then at the Senshi who lay stunned by the shock wave. Mina looked back at the locket, then at the Shadow, who was preparing to finish the job.
"Why don't you try that on me?" Said a new voice.
"Eh?" The Shadow and Mina turned to see The Crystal Knight striding across the ruined cemetery like a bulldozer. "Bah!" The Shadow let loose with a flying glove. The Knight didn't even blink, just raised his hand and caught the glove without breaking step.
"This is your weapon? You're kidding me right?" The Knight flung the glove at the Shadow but it disappeared and reappeared on the creature's hand.
"Gonna tear you apart!" The Shadow screeched and charged. The Knight stood his ground.
"Be gentle, it's my second time." Said the Knight in a soft voice and then clotheslined him. Leaving the Shadow lying there, he continued towards the Senshi. He bent over each and then returned to the Shadow, who had returned to his priest form. Mina watched him for a moment, then stood up. He turned to face her.
"David?" She said, her voice a squeaky whisper. The massive figure tilted his head slightly but said nothing
Mina looked at the others who were beginning to stir.
"What do you plan to do with the armor?" She said, pushing away the hair that blew into her eyes as the wind came up.
"What I have to." He rose into the air and flew away, leaving Mina to stare after him.
Behind the Gravestone, Artimes and Luna looked at each other.
"What do you think Luna? Is he friend or foe?"
"I don't know Artimes....." Luna raised her head to look after the Knight. "I honestly don't know."
Mina took a bite of the cake.
"This is good Lita," then she did something she hadn't done for a long a time, she smiled. It wasn't much, a gentle tug at the corner of her lips, but it was a smile. Serena, Amy Raye and Lita returned it. They were all at Lita's place, after Mina had had a near nervous breakdown when everybody at her school had been talking about the Crystal Knight. The Doctors had given her some medication and recommended she be placed on home schooling for a while. Lita's mind drifted back to the attack at the Cemetery last week. It had been odd, fighting without Mina there and she said as much. Mina shook her head.
"Sailor Venus is dead," She said quietly. "just accept it." Lita blinked.
"Hey, that reminds me." She said, as she got up and went to her workbench. She returned carrying Mina's Transformation Pen. "You took this out of your jacket when the new Crystal Knight appeared. I've been meaning to give it back to you." Mina looked at it.
"That can't be my pen." She said. "I threw it, the com and the locket, behind my bed after coming home from David's funeral, and I know it wasn't in my jacket that night."
"I got them out," Artimes volunteered. "Then I hid them under the cushion of my bed." Luna's eyes widened.
"The day of the cemetery battle, was the locket there but not the pen?"
"Yeah. Come to think of it, it was," Mina picked up the pen and was rewarded by a tingle, That was her pen. Luna looked at the pen then at Artimes. All the Senshi had the same question on their minds.
If the pen had been under Artimes' bed, which was nowhere near the closet, and since Artimes would never slip it into Mina's Jacket, and Mina was positive that it hadn't been in her jacket, how did it get there?
Second one has achieved activation.
Venus?
She has not reactivated since termination of First One A
Send insight at time index 345785.2, original Venus power coding.
Affirmative.