Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 6: The Hunt

Tsukino Usagi lay across her overly large bed. Her eyes were closed peacefully and head phones were strapped securely over her ears. If you had gone back in time and looked at the old Usagi and then looked at the present Usagi, then you would have seen differences. You would have sworn that they were not the same people.You would have been right. You would have been wrong. Most believe that you can not be right and wrong at the same time, but in this case it's entirely possible.

Usagi was the same in some areas, but was different in others. She was mature and graceful. That's two things that the former Usagi definitely wasn't. Mamoru had changed her. She now was not so gullable to the evils that lurked in the cruel world. She was well aware. Of herself, her surroundings, and the people around her. One has to be aware and on guard. Especially if one was a vampire.

Some people might be gasping now and some might smirk, knowing that this was coming all along. I beg of you to not faint. How then will you be able to finish reading this story and be able to see Usagi do more than just lay around her room, listening to music? How, you may ask, will she behave now? Only time can tell these things and our little bunny has had two weeks to get used to her powers.

Most people think that vampires are just deranged, blood sucking, phychopaths. If others took the time to study these undead creatures, you'd see that those assumptions were rediculous. Vampires did not need to feed off of the blood of humans or animals. There are those who simply take pleasure in killing so that they feel a sense of superiority. That type never last for very long. Bounty hunters tracked them down and succeeded in killing them.

There were so many cases in which the bounty hunters had to kill a blood sucking vampire that, over the years, they dubbed all vampires to be evil and still hold that to be the truth. So now, Usagi not only had to worry about being killed by those 'things', she also had to worry about the vampire hunters. Particularly a group called V Bane, short for Vampire's Bane.

A knock on her door brought Usagi out of her silent musings and she sat up in her bed.

''Come in!''she called and K.B. entered, wearing her usual dark clothing. Usagi had gotten accustomed to wearing austure colors herself.

''Hey Usagi,''the girl greeted. ''Mamoru's been calling you for the last fifteen minutes!''

The blonde smirked and flopped back on the bed, ''I know.''

K.B. rolled her eyes and headed towards the door. She knew that Mamoru was on his way and that he was upset. She definitely didn't want to be in the middle of that and wished Usagi all the luck in the world before slipping out into the hallway.

Two minutes after her friend had left, Mamoru burst into the room. His eyes were dark with annoyance, his jaws clenched in anger. If looks could kill, Usagi would have been sent to Hell and back twenty times over. He slammed the door shut and walked calmly to her bed side, where Usagi was listening to her music, purposely ignoring the shadow of a figuer looming over her.

''I guess you really don't want to go out with the rest of us for patrol. . .''he growled, knowing that she could hear every word that he said.

His knowledge was confirmed when she yanked the head phones off, ran to her closet to get her jacket, and pulled him out of her room.

Sammie and K.B. were waiting for them in the living room. They jumped up quickly, when they spotted the other two, both eager to get out of the house.

''Where's Dorian?''asked Usagi, looking around the living room.

''He never goes on patrol with us,''Sammie explained. ''Says it makes him skittish.''

She shrugged and turned to Mamoru, ''Ready to go?''

''Yeah.''

''Lets kick ass tonight, people,''K.B. encouraged. ''The other night was a complete bust. . .''

''What happened the other night?'' This was Usagi's first patrol.

''You don't even want to know,''said Mamoru with a shiver and his blonde companion laughed.

Mamoru lead them all into a dark alley so that they wouldn't be spotted.

''Okay. Here's the deal,''he said. ''We stick together. One slip up and we are toast, got it?''

Not waiting for an answer, he turned his back on them and pulled the hood of his jacket up. The others did the same and followed him out into the bustling crowd, each person blending with the other. This made individuals hard to see by the untrained eye. But whoever said that the eye wasn't specificaly trained?

A gasp escaped Usagi's lips and with a small cry, she ran over to one of the jewelry shop's windows.

''That thing must cost a fortune,''K.B. commented, coming up beside her friend and admiring the large daimond as well.

''Yeah. . .''

''We've gotta keep moving,'' Sammie informed them, pushing both girls along. ''Mamoru thinks that some of the enemy's in this old cathedral on the corner of 25th.''

Mamoru looked over to Sammie with an offended look.

''Think? I know that they're there. Hiding, of coarse.''

''Whatever!''

Usagi sighed, throwing her hands up in exasperation, ''Boys!''

''You're alright with me, girl,''K.B. laughed and pulled Usagi up to the rest of the group. ''Alright.''

They took a few short cuts through more alleys and cut through an abandoned wear house or two. With in the our, they made it to the cathedral. Ever since they had found the preacher dead in the lavatory, the members had stopped showing up. It was said that the place was haunted; that was just a rumor. It was also said that the preacher had been murdered; that was an even worse rumor.

Mamoru thought that he had a pretty good idea of what had happened, as he lead his group up the stone steps and into the musty building. Inside, everything was the same as it had been before. The red carpet and the rows of wooden pews were dusty. Up ahead of them was a large, stained glass portrait of the virgin Mary holding baby Jesus and just below that was a tall pulpit.

Sammie gasped a bit, looking up at the stained glass and started to reach for the knives at his side.

''What?''questioned Usagi and followed his gaze with her own.

The portrait was definitely not what Sammie was looking at, but rather the thing that was standing beneath it with a pack of others. Thus, Usagi got her first real look at the creatures that had killed her family and came up with the only name that she could think of for the hiddeous monsters. Goblin.

The shape of their torso and head was that of a human, but their powerful legs and feet were like a canine's hind legs. Arms were muscular and fingers were long, knuckles twisted. Eighteen pairs of large, red eyes stared back at the small band of vampires and narrowed in hate. The eyes did nothing for it's green, murky, complextion and their thin lips were pulled back to show large rows of sharp, yellow teeth. The Goblins studied them and noted that this species could stop them from gaining the rule of the world and must be stopped. . . at all costs.

Mamoru tossed Usagi two nine millimeter guns and gave her a reasuring smile.

''I hope you know how to use those,''he said, never taking his eyes off of the Goblins. ''Their just like us when you have to kill them. Aim for the head and the heart. Anything else, you might as well lay down and stay down.''

She knodded, putting each gun in a hand as K.B. pulled out a metal crossbow and loaded it, a quiver full of the arrows attached to her back.

''Stay together!''Mamoru ordered a last time, pulling his steel sword from his side by the golden hilt.

The leader of the the pack of Goblins gave a loud roar, signaling the beginning of the fight and his followers rushed forward. K.B let her arrow sing through the air and it struck true, right into the heart of a female and she gave a shrill shriek before dissolving into dust. Mamoru was cutting down the creatures, right and left, with the help of Sammie so Usagi was left to fend for her own self. She found that guns could be both distructive and interesting. It was interesting until the leader of the pack had decided that she was an actual threat and punched her across the room.

She crashed, headlong, into a statue of an angel and broke it to pieces. Usagi picked herself up quickly and kicked the goblin in the chest to push it away and buy herself more time to find her discarded weapons.

''Usagi!''Mamoru yelled from her left and threw her one of his knives.

She caught it with ease and just as the goblin leaped at her, she decapitated him with one, long swipe. Its body landed in a heap at her feet and turned to dust instantly. That had been the last one.

''Well. . .''K.B. began with a smile, whiping blood off of her leather jacket. ''We got some action tonight, guys.''

''Ya know. . .that was kinda fun!''Usagi admitted, tossing Mamoru his knife and guns.

''Keep the guns,''he told her, tossing them back, ''you deserved them.''

''Welcome to the team, kid,''Sammie said and gave her a friendly slap on the back. ''You were pretty good.''

''Thanks.''

The sirens of police vehicles could be heard in the distance now and Mamoru knodded towards the back exit. The others followed his advice and made a quick, quiet get away before the cops arrived, ten minutes later.

''Shit!''one of them swore, taking in the bloody mess that the cathedral was in. ''What happened here?''

Although she was tired, a bit shaken, and incredibly hungry, Usagi had never been happier. She had friends, their trust, and she most importantly had a way to avenge her family. For the first time in his life, Mamoru actually let his guard down and joked around with the rest of his friends. He had no idea that his new change in attitude was because of the contageous happiness of his blonde associate that currently walked beside him.

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