Gaijin
Part 33
Preparation.
OooOOooOO
Two cats sat in the dead of night in the reception room of the clinic.
"I'm not having sex with you." Artemis grumbled as he looked towards the door with his ears back.
"Shut up!" She smacked him with her paw on the side of his muzzle and growled a little.
"Hey! That's not going to..." Artemis looked like he was annoyed and trying to be firm.
"Dolt. That's not why we're here. Pipe down, everyone else is asleep doofus." Luna didn't look impressed and turned her nose up.
"Huh?" That got the white cat's attention.
"I remember more than I let on to these people. I also remember more than I did before I left, but what I need eludes me." She looked a bit shifty eyed as she said it. It was almost comical.
Artemis had to stop himself from laughing in a nervous tic. "Really?"
"I've kept quiet, but I remember my duty." She nodded her head and frowned.
"How do we escape then?" His ears perked up and he looked around at the windows and doors.
"No. Dolt. We can leave any time, they won't stop us."
"What? Where is Usagi?" He glared at her and then turned his nose up.
"Stop being a twit. I'm not arguing with you like an uptight tart anymore." She creamed him with her paw again.
He was rubbing the side of his head behind his ear with his paw as he shifted around. She still wasn't acting like Luna, and he didn't trust her much. She'd been toying with him most of the day, being far more coy and relaxed than he'd ever known her to be.
The female moon cat ignored his discomfort and continued talking. "I've been remembering a lot. One of the reasons I haven't told him anything, is the fact that he knows more than we do about what's going on. I'm sure of it, but he doesn't like talking about it either."
"What?" The white cat was alarmed. "What's that got to do with Usagi? Your duty is t..."
"Do I really have to slap you again?" She glared at him a bit and he backed off.
He didn't look pleased about it though. "Might give you one of those..." He muttered under his breath.
"I would destroy you." She replied as she continued. "He's the best way to find Usagi. He's also the best way of dealing with it. He knows we need Sailor Moon to win, and by 'we' I mean including him."
"So you've been spying on the enemy?" He swallowed a little. Her personality change could have been caused by it.
"And when Usagi is recovered, I will continue to serve the prince. You've been reassigned."
Artemis wasn't expecting that and looked very confused. "Huh?"
"We need him Artemis. He's the only thing holding it together right now. He's been helping the Senshi. I'm not shirking my duty being here. He's the only reason they are still alive, and it's nearly killed him more than once doing it."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know if I can tell him I remember. He was being attacked by both sides, and I was urging it on. It's got a lot to do with his personality I think." She looked like she felt guilty and shuddered a little.
"What happened to you?" The male shrank back a little with his ears back.
"I think you did, you jerk." She glared at him and he backed away a bit more. "I was remembering things before, but you showing up definitely did something. I'm not sure how much though."
"Oh." He backed off a bit, more startled than afraid. "Well, I wish I could help."
"God, I wish you couldn't. I like it here, and I'm not leaving." She wasn't happy about it, but didn't seem upset or grouchy on the subject either.
"You can't shirk your duty that way and you know it!" The fur on the back of his neck stood up as he frowned at her.
"No, it's your duty now. I already told you, I'm serving the prince now. I do remember I am permitted the choosing, at my whim."
"What prince? Why would he even be here? He didn't die with everyone else, remember?" Artemis half retracted his question and lost steam as he spoke. "You're kidding? Him?"
Luna shrugged. "Go figure."
"Man, Endimyon is going to be pissed. They hated each other. He didn't like him fooling around with the princess at all." Artemis gasped a little.
"Oh, those two have already met, nothings changed." The female seemed less than interested in the subject. "I've figured out that tuxedo guy is Endimyon. He's mentioned it a few times. To be honest, this accounts for just about everyone. Saturn, and Pluto are the only Senshi he hasn't found yet."
"The outer senshi? Why would they get involved?" Artemis seemed both confused, and thoughtful.
"I can't recall much about them." Luna shrugged. "The situation with the outer senshi does seem off, but I don't think it's related to this directly. Neptune seems to have lost her powers, and Uranus is much stronger than she should be. It's not of any concern to us, they only answer to the royal family, and have little need of our guidance. In fact, I seem to recall it's best to ignore them." She seemed satisfied with that line of thought and stretched her back a bit. "We shouldn't worry about them. The inner senshi are our concern, getting the princess back is the most important thing we can worry about. He's the best option we've got for getting it done."
"Well, now what? What are we supposed to do, just sit here and wait for things to play out? Are you kidding?" Artemis looked a little angry with her and hung his head as he realized he didn't have much say in it.
Luna gave him another half hearted shrug. "Well, the Senshi are all in training, I'm not sure how he pulled that one off. Rei is..."
"Our fault. We both should have been there." Artemis hung his head.
"She has more help than we could have gotten her without the princess in her proper role. I feel terrible about it, but he lessened the blow more than you realize. He knows the senshi need to be stronger than he is to win, and that he can't do it himself."
"He's crazy!" Artemis didn't trust the boy one bit.
"He's a lot smarter than you think. I'd love to give him the answer he wants, but I still don't have it yet. I can put off the rest until then. I'm learning more from just living with him. You're sticking around for a while. I've learned the names of our enemies. Someone named Beryl is trying to summon something called Metallia. She's got two more generals left, Zoicite, and Kunzite. They've been nosing about in the local criminal element lately. We haven't heard about them in a while, he's getting worried. I know a bit about that thing Usagi is wearing as well. It's some sort of computer, and it does very bad things to people's minds. We need his help to get it off of her without killing her."
The white cat sighed. "You're sure of this?"
"Afraid so." Luna seemed pleased as Artemis seemed to give up.
"All we should do, is sit around here, and gather information by listening in?" He was perplexed.
Luna shook her head negative. "No, we should also be having sex to pass the time on occasion."
"What is wrong with you? When this is over, will you go back to normal or something?" Artemis was flustered and a bit upset by the comment.
"No, and I meant that." She sat down and looked a bit puzzled in his anger.
The male cat had no idea what to say to that and opened and closed his mouth a few times as his eyes zoned out as his brain tried too hard to function. "Huh?"
"Buddy. You're it. Remember? I've come to the realization that I have no other options." Luna looked confused, as if she didn't understand his reluctance.
"You sure know how to make a guy feel loved." He didn't look like he meant it.
"Why is that a bad thing? I don't see the need to consider anything different in my future. Did you wonder if maybe I haven't gone crazy? Perhaps I'm just a bit wiser now?" The black cat had her nose in the air and her chest puffed out. She lifted her right rear leg and peered under herself for a moment. "What? You don't think I'm attractive? I'm the only female you're going to find around here, remember? What's the hang up here? Would it help if I went out into the yard, rolled around in the grass, and yowled a bit?" She rolled onto her side and back rubbing herself on the carpet before looking up at him again.
The male had no idea what to say to that. "Look, can we just forget about it for now?"
"Fine, but we will be bringing it up later." She hopped to her feet and looked away with a bit of disappointment on her face. She walked around in a small circle a few times with her tail in the air in frustration.
"I'm sure 'we' will." The male was looking away and growling a bit.
Luna knew the 'we' was directed at her, she stopped walking and sat down. "Seems you do know me then."
Artemis hung his head and watched her trot away back into the clinic with her head and tail held high. "What on earth did I miss?" He'd been wandering around for a long time alone. Most of what he knew was gleamed from the newspapers. He'd been unable to find any of the girls as of late. "Luna, do you know where the girls are?"
She glanced back over her shoulder and shook her head. "No. He's being very protective of that one. It's a good sign, I know we can trust him."
"A lot of good that does me." He seemed to accept it for the time being. "We can't sit here forever though."
"No. Best enjoy it while we can then, ne?" She winked at him and trotted away looking pleased with herself.
Artemis mocked her behind her back without speaking and followed after her with his head low and his tail dragging.
OooOOooOO
Rei Hino glared at the man standing in her room. There was no more equipment, and she was sitting in a wheel chair looking out a large window into the countryside. The sun was shining and green hills could be seen rolling into the distance. Her room was on the third floor, and somewhere along the way she'd acquired a room mate. A young woman with light green hair, she'd not woken up since she'd arrived. Her chest was bandaged quite a bit, but Rei had a feeling she was being kept under for some reason.
"What do you know of him?"
The brooding quiet boy who was leaning in the corner looked up at her from under his eyebrows for a moment. "Nothing. I only met him once. It was a short conversation." He didn't feel like speaking of it and made it obvious in his tone.
"Sorry, didn't know it was a soft spot." The girl didn't sound upset, and seemed quiet and calm.
"He's taken a liking to you girls for some reason. Your friends are under guard as well."
"What?" This alarmed the raven haired girl and she turned to look at him.
"You think you are a prisoner?" He almost seemed amused.
"Can I leave?" The girl crossed her arms and turned her head away from him.
"I wouldn't recommend it." The boy shrugged. "It's a long walk to anywhere civilized. The terrain makes it a difficult journey. There are other forms of transportation, but they all require the use of foot power to operate."
The girl narrowed her eyes at him and frowned as she looked down at her legs.
"Sorry to be so blunt." He was looking at the door over his shoulder. "You're luckier than you've yet realized. I am sorry for your injury, but it's been made clear something dark is going on. Something you can't back away from. They are looking for you still. You've already had one visitor so far. Why you were moved here I believe." He seemed like he was trying to sound pleasant as he said it. "I admit, I was a bit underwhelmed with my assignment. I've come to realize you're the one who needs the most guarding."
The girl turned her chair as the door opened.
Carrot walked in with a frown on his face. Behind him was the girl they had met on the day he'd almost killed Usagi. He looked down at her and put his hands into his pockets. "I can't keep you here forever, and you can't go home. I promise something dark awaits if you should try."
The girl was looking up at him with wide eyes. "Who do you think you are?" Her scowl deepened as the girl behind him arched her eyebrow at the display.
"I'm the only reason you and your friends are still alive." He didn't feel like arguing with her. He was almost healed, but hadn't quite finished yet. He wasn't pleased with being out. "I'm also able to command you. Sailor Moon is the only senshi I don't have a right to give orders to. My name was Enduron, and I was the Prince of the Moon Kingdom. You swore an oath to my mother, and my family. That includes me. I'm not pleased with your lax execution of your duty."
Rei was red and flustered as she gawked at him with an open mouth. "What?" It was a small sound, and the boy almost missed it.
"Usagi Tsukino is the Princess of the Moon. She's the one you've been looking for, ironic, isn't it?" He seemed somewhat amused at her reaction.
The girl was clutching her head and leaning over her knees. "What? That's..."
He shrugged and interrupted. "She's got the crystal you're supposed to find hidden inside her. It was sealed away within her, until her rebirth. So, we really do need Sailor Moon back. I'm going to need your help to persuade the others of these interesting facts."
"You're..." She wanted to call him a liar, she was frustrated and lonely. Her guardian wasn't much of a conversation. She backed down and looked away. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because I have all the answers, and everything you need to get the job done." The boy put his nose up to hers almost.
She wheeled herself around to the window again. "I want to see my friends."
"Yes. I thought you might say that." He turned to walk away and left her, with both shinobi following after him.
Ami, Makoto, and Minako walked in and rushed up around her. The group almost toppled her from her chair as they all grabbed her.
"What?" She blinked and couldn't stop herself from smiling. "You're..." She couldn't say anything else, and was rather surprised at what had just happened.
Ami spoke up first. "We're all so glad to see you!"
"Are you all right?" piped in Makoto.
"We were all so worried! You look really good!" Minako was almost chirping.
"What are you all doing here?" Rei was still feeling a bit flustered at seeing them all at once.
"We didn't know where we were going when we got here. They don't talk much." Makoto crossed her arms and frowned. "We all drove in together in a van. They've been teaching the others to fight. I've been getting the impression I should keep up my training as well. It's all we've been doing for almost a month now."
"R-really?" Rei was a little dumbstruck. "What's happened? I can't get my guard to say anything about it. He just sits in the corner and dodges anything I ask him."
"They're all like that." Minako shrugged. "Mine has been enjoying my training a little too much." She shuddered a little. "Why couldn't I have gotten a hunky guy like you guys?"
"Bad luck?" Ami looked a little uncomfortable saying it. "She's right though. I can see the wisdom in what he's doing. I've no idea why he's doing it though. He always sounds like he hates us when we talk to him. We were hoping you might know more? I don't think our friends know much about him either."
"He doesn't come here. This is the first time I've seen him here at all. It sounds like you've seen more of him than I have." The raven haired girl gave a small sigh and pivoted herself around to move a bit out of the sun from the window.
"So, you've been here by yourself?" Minako sounded shocked and horrified.
"I've had plenty to think about." She was starting to run out, and loneliness was starting to creep into her days more and more. There wasn't much humor in her words, but she wasn't snapping at her friend either.
"Oh." The blond blushed a little and scratched her head. "We haven't seen Luna or Artemis in ages. I'm worried about them." Minako was wise enough to change the topic.
"Still no word?" Rei looked up at them and frowned.
"None. We've lost Usagi too. That thing on her makes her nearly impossible to keep up with when we can find her." The brunette girl clenched her fist and looked frustrated with the situation for a moment.
"He said something about some sort of computer?" Rei shook her head a bit.
"Yes. Some sort of top secret military project got onto Usagi while her voice was gone. We don't think it's going to hurt her, but it does...something to her personality. We need to get it off her. I don't trust him much, but he's right about that. We should be out looking for her, and that thing that hurt Rei." Ami looked a bit more serious and firm in her conviction than Rei had seen before.
Makoto gave a rough sounding snort of frustration and ran her thumb across her nose. "When we find that jerk again, I'll fry him."
"It's still alive then?" Rei looked up at Ami.
The short haired girl nodded. "Usagi ran off looking for it. It's the same sort of thing that got onto her, but it's worse. Usagi's seems to want to help us, and protect people. The other one just kills."
"I'm not sure how much time we have." Makoto looked at her watch.
Ami nodded in a agreement. "They didn't tell us how long we'd be staying. I'm not going to argue with them either. They know what they're doing. So far, it's all been good for us. Even if we don't like some of it. I'm not sure what to make of that boy though. It's kind of scary, I don't think he's the boy he seems to be."
Makoto blinked and looked at her. "I'm not certain of his age either, now that you mention it. It's not really important though is it? We need to find out what he wants, why he's doing this. It could go bad suddenly, and we need to know what to do."
Rei was staring at the wall. Something had just hit her, and she felt her chest grow tight as it did. Some of what the boy had said to her made a lot more sense to her. The worst part of all, was the realization that she believed everything he had just told her. "Oh, no." It sent an unfamiliar and cold chill down her back, and she felt quite a bit like she'd done something really wrong, though it wasn't clear why.
"What is it?" Ami blinked in surprise.
"Are you having an attack? Should we get a nurse?" Minako was feeling as if the conversation was a bit beyond her and had remained silent. Both of the other girls reacted with worry at the look the raven haired girl had suddenly gotten on her face.
"I don't think we're supposed to be fighting with him. In fact, I think we've been breaking some sort of oath. A really important one, that has to do with our powers." Rei looked at all of them. "Does that make sense?"
They were all looking at her with wide eyes.
"What sort of pain killers are you getting here?" Ami glanced at the sleeping girl in the room with them.
"Maybe it was one of those hypocritical oaths?" Minako offered with a confused frown. "We should be all right if it's like that, right?"
"Oh boy." Rei could feel a headache growing. "I haven't spoken to him much, but he said quite a bit when we spoke. I didn't do much talking. I'm not sure you'll believe me either."
"Well, tell us anyway. We could use anything we can get. We aren't sure how much time we have either." Ami seemed a little impatient, but didn't want to seem pushy as she said it.
OooOOooOO
Rei was looking down a hill side, it was covered in small huts. She was on a covered wooden walkway that was attached to the large traditional building she was staying in. They had all gotten into the van, and their guardians had disappeared once they'd been ushered inside the building. There were a few torches along the dirt paths between the homes.
She was wearing a Yukata, and sitting in her wheelchair watching the few ninja pass by on the paths. They looked like regular people, a mixture of traditional and modern clothes was trickling by.
The girl gasped as he spoke from right beside her. He was leaning against the wall watching the street. "You'll be staying here with your friends until this is over. Ami is going to start showing you how to operate it. I'm hoping you'll be quick to pick it up."
Rei was still recovering from the shock and glared at him. "What are you talking about?" She turned, and almost dropped the laptop off her lap. She managed to snag it and growled.
"Be nice, we're working together now." He gave a small chuckle at her reaction. He was leaning against the wall, pretty much hidden in shadows. There was a torch on the wall nearby, but he was standing just around a corner.
"Don't sneak up on me like that." She seemed to collect herself. "What is this place? Who are these people?"
"This is the home of the people I've had protecting you. My own little army. The scary thing is, I'm going to have to start using it. Things are getting out of hand." He seemed frustrated and turned his head away. He spit and turned back. "I'll be staying here as well. The people I'm staying with will be safer that way. I'll give you girls a bit of time to adjust. Your friends will be training. I've remembered I can order you around. We'll be hitting them back again soon. I've already got a few leads on our two friends from the Negaverse. We need to start disrupting their plans."
Rei was clenching her fist. "We died you know, we don't have to..."
"As long as you wield your powers. They were given to you, on condition that you would uphold your oath. Besides, you need me. I can give you back up, and as I recall, Sailor Moon did most of the killing. You need to step up, and take care of things without her. We still need her, but until we get her back..." He seemed to be taking a bit of pleasure in her reaction.
"So, you fancy yourself a prince then?" The girl turned her head away and crossed her arms.
"Now you're just being belligerent." Carrot snorted and did the same.
"No. He has risen in rank. This school is his, and we are but his subjects. To us, he is a king." Rei had not yet noticed the ninja girl leaning against the wall beside him. She leaned her head down and looked at her.
"Don't say that!" Carrot looked horrified.
Kei looked a bit surprised. "Why not?" She stepped away and put her hands on her hips as she faced him. "You just don't get it do you?" She poked her finger into his chest and narrowed her eyes a bit.
"Get what?" He looked both annoyed and confused.
"He's prince charming, literally." The ninja girl looked over at Rei and took a few steps towards her.
"What? That's disgusting!" Rei was horrified.
"Well, he's the ruler of this whole clan. They have to do anything he says. He's the reincarnation of the founding Shinobi of our clan. Our greatest hero, there's all sorts of stories about his past life. He's claimed a legendary sword, giving him his birthright. He's also quite wealthy, though he hides it well. The only thing wrong with him is his attitude. Quite a catch really." Kei looked and spoke like she was lecturing rather than praising him. "I'm still getting accustomed to the idea it's really him. Strange as that sounds."
"Yeah. Well, I also have a girlfriend who is bordering on homicidal mania. Don't get any ideas." He frowned at her and crossed his arms. "We need to get started with that mess tomorrow, speaking of that."
"What mess?" Rei realized she wasn't part of the conversation anymore.
"Nothing. You'll be safe, and together here. Don't think that means you get to relax. You'll be forced to train if you don't do it on your own. You'll be operating with your ninja friends. I've got my own problems, your job is to deal with Zoicite and Kunzite. I'll worry about getting that thing off my sis...the brat." He growled a little more and clenched his fist. "There's also that Carnage monster." He didn't like the idea of dealing with that in the proper order. He had a feeling he was going to need Usagi to stay as she was to deal with it. Then worry about getting it off her.
Rei turned away from the both of them. "I suppose I don't have a choice."
"Not really, sucks doesn't it?" The boy had a pained looking frown on his face as he continued to lean against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Aman?" The boy glared down at Rei a little behind her back as he spoke.
"You need something?" The ninja rounded the corner with his arms still crossed.
"Yeah. Get everyone together. I'm hungry, I guess we can eat while we talk. It's time to take the kid gloves off."
This caught the young shinobi by surprise and he uncrossed his arms a bit. "Yes?"
OooOOooOO
Mai growled a little under her breath as her charge continued to talk in a long stream of things that didn't matter. She was doing stomach crunches, and talking about outfits she'd seen in a magazine, a boy band, and the color of a certain piece of candy, and how much she wanted to find a lipstick of that shade, all in one breath.
"You sure are quiet." Minako relaxed her gut and put her back on the ground before glancing over at her guardian.
"I'm a ninja, that's my job." The kunoichi was doing the same thing, and found it a little annoying that she had gotten stuck with such an airhead. The talking slowed down when the girl wore herself out, but didn't stop. She was looking forward too it, but it was taking longer and longer, and the worst part was that she was making that happen.
Hito and the Mizuno girl walked into the room. They were staying in a large palace like building that Carrot seemed to be in charge of. Each of the girls had their own room, and could wander about at will. Each one had their personal guardian shinobi glued to their shoulder. Ami's guardian looked very serious with short cut dark hair, his lips cracked into a grin as he looked down at the pair. He was taller and thinner than his fellow team members. Aman had been pretty much on his own up until that point. It had helped everyone's mood once they had all gotten back together. The girls had reacted much the same, and they'd not been apart long since their arrival.
"Ugh, I hate those." Ami scrunched her face up as she noticed what her friend was doing.
"You just don't like working out period." Hito gave a small snort and glanced back at her.
The short haired girl blushed and looked away, shifting her foot about in an uncomfortable way with both hands behind her back.
"Ami! What's up?" Minako was on her feet the moment she had an excuse to stop working. Mai didn't bother with chiding her and moved up beside her in silence.
"We're meeting him for dinner. I guess." Ami didn't look all that comfortable saying it.
Minako noticed and nodded. "I know, it's a bit weird isn't it?"
Her fellow senshi nodded and gave a small sigh as she hung her head and looked down at the tops of her shoes. "I dunno. I'm a bit nervous, and I'm not sure what to do."
Kenshi walked in behind Makoto and gave a nod to the rest of his team. He was a head shorter than Hito, but much more filled out. His arms were almost as big around as one of the girl's legs. The brunette girl with him looked back and fourth at her friends. "That other ninja guy is coming with Rei. We're supposed to meet them in a few minutes. We can wash up after we eat I guess."
OooOOooOO
Carrot was drinking from a cup with everyone sitting around him at the head of a large square table. "I said I'm putting you through more intensive training. You are to be trained as students of the school are. Your friends have been restricted up until now. I'm taking the restraints off. You're soldiers now, in a war you can't run from. They will follow you, find you, and destroy you and everyone else on this planet." He looked quite calm as he put his drink back down and looked around at the blank stares.
Kei was sitting on the boy's left, with a somewhat stunned expression. "What? You can't just..."
"Why not?" Carrot turned to look at her. "It's not like we've got a lot of choices. I mean, this is magic on a cosmic level we're talking about. They're all quite powerful, but have little knowledge on what to do with all that power. Besides, didn't you tell me I was running things?"
"Hakage might take offense..." Aman gave the other members of his team nervous glances.
"I already told him about it. Once I mentioned the planetary threat, and the fact that I can personally do little to nothing about it..." He started chewing on rice as he spoke. He was acting like he was discussing normal everyday things while having a meal. No one else had even picked up their chopsticks and was looking rather shocked. "We need Sailor Moon, but you're going to have to do until we can figure that out." He took another drink to wash down his food before shoving a bit of rice into his mouth. He looked around and noticed everyone was still frozen. "What? You're not hungry? Trust me, you're going to need it tomorrow. You'll all be up early."
Rei slammed her palm on the table and seemed to almost forget she couldn't stand up for a moment. "You've got no right too..."
"Yeah. I do." He turned and gave her a cocky looking grin.
She sat back in her chair with wide eyes and looking a bit like a fish as she worked her mouth. None of her friends spoke up, and all of them were poking at their plates and taking small bites. They were giving the boy angry looking glances as they sat in silence.
"At any rate. Your job is to disrupt whatever they are planning. Unfortunately, that usually meant stumbling across a plot while you were out. That's not really an option anymore. That's where we come in." Carrot seemed more interested in his food than speaking with them. He continued to eat while he spoke and didn't bother to look up at their reaction. "In case you haven't noticed. I'm the only friend you've got."
"You're not our friend." Makoto growled at him and clutched at her napkin. She glanced over at Rei's pale features and curled her lip. "Who the hell are you?"
"I don't like the Negaverse, that means helping you. I'm sure you've still not figured anything out. You all had past lives, and I'm still your boss. You were all killed by something called Metallia. Queen Serenity, Usagi's former mother, defeated it at the cost of her own life, and used the Silver Imperium Crystal to send you all to rebirth now. There was something of a romantic tragedy involving Meatball Head and that dork in a tuxedo Endimyon. At any rate, Serenity sent, me, her only son to Earth before everyone died. Something about defending the last stronghold and continuing the line." He looked up and gave a small frown at the wide eyed blank stares he was getting from all of them. A few flecks of rice fell from Minako's lips and back into her bowl. "Beryl, the one who betrayed you before, has come back as well. She's trying to revive Metallia again. The Queen's former Generals have fallen under her control. You've killed two of them. Zoicite and Kunzite are all that's left. They're lovers, and completely under Beryl's power." He wiped his chin and looked around. "Your job is to use that magic of yours to defeat them. I'll be working on Usagi and that Carnage monster, my assistant knows what to do with her time, the clan finds out what they are up to and sees to your training, and you deal with it. Any questions?"
"What?" Makoto had turned red and slammed her fist down on the table top on either side of her plate as she jumped to her feet. "How dare you?!"
"That's enough." Rei's voice was a little strained as she glared up at the brunette for a moment. She was wringing the tablecloth between her hands a little.
"He's right." Ami's head was hanging, and her voice quiet.
Carrot looked surprised when Minako smiled at him. He looked a little uncomfortable and turned to speak with the angry girls. "Look. It's the same thing you were doing before. Just without the personal life. Losing it sucks, but you're not the only one."
The blond girl stood up. "He really is our friend. I believe him."
Everyone, Kei and Carrot included, turned to look at her as if it was the first thing she'd ever said to anyone.
"Are you crazy?" Makoto was pointing her finger at him.
Kei spoke up. "No. She's showing more intelligence than you are. We're giving you a safe place to operate from, room and board, training, and the support of an entire clan of shinobi. I should also add that we're doing it for free."
"Yeah. Luna and Artemis will be here this evening. I'm having Gia deliver them later." Carrot shoved a bit more rice into his mouth.
"The woman from that clinic?" Kei only seemed a bit interested. "I do hope she can keep her mouth shut."
"Last time I was out with one of those cats was how half this mess started. It's either her or the reporter." He gave a dissatisfied sounding grunt and frowned at her for a moment.
"I suppose I see your point." Kei shrugged, she was eating as well, but in a much more reserved way.
"I suppose I do as well." Rei was giving them both a rather calm gaze.
Makoto looked uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. It was obvious she still didn't care for the boy, but she didn't look like she wanted to discuss it either.
"You kidnapped Luna?" Ami looked horrified.
"No. She won't leave." The boy sneered at her and poked at his rice bowl a bit more. "Stupid hairball. She lost her memory, we got attacked while we were talking. It almost killed both of us. Now she won't leave. I'm not so sure it would be a good idea to let Usagi have her back right now anyway. That thing she's wearing is more dangerous than you think. Her temper is much shorter now."
"We'd noticed." Makoto didn't sound like she wanted to add more than that. She looked sullen and was giving Carrot glances that were halfway between anger and discomfort.
"Yeah. Well, I didn't build it." He looked irate with them.
"So, now what?" Makoto looked much more agreeable than anyone else.
Carrot blinked and pointed at her with his chopsticks. "Yer kidding right? I just explained everything."
"Oh." The girl looked confused.
"You could have told us to begin with." Ami looked a little annoyed.
"Excuse me for not having a perfect memory of my past life right away. I can remember who you were sleeping with back then. Can you?" He narrowed his eyes and jabbed his chopsticks towards her as he leaned towards her over the table.
The girl went red and opened her mouth to speak before stopping. She seemed to start thinking about something and put her finger up to the corner of her lip. "I don't remember any men."
"Yeah. Funny that." The boy looked over at Kei and slapped her shoulder. "Come on. I guess we should get started. She won't be out forever." The pair stood up and turned away leaving the senshi and ninja sitting alone at the table as they walked out of the room.
The four shinobi at the end of the table had remained silent. They had four plates of untouched food in front of them. There was a long uncomfortable silence across the whole table.
A slow chuckle started that grew into full blown laughter. Mai, Minako's guardian shinobi, was on her feet and pointing at the girl. "Your ass is mine now! Enjoy your last meal, because starting tomorrow, you're going to learn the art of silence and pain!"
Aman frowned up at her. "Cut it out, sis."
"Why? I get the feeling our new boss might have started laughing with her." Hito gave a small distasteful snort. "It seems you've got yourself a student, Kenshi."
"I can't!" he growled. He'd bent the cast iron chopsticks he was using in his grip. "It's forbidden!"
"I don't think he cares." Aman hung his head a little and sighed. "Well ladies?"
The senshi all looked at them and nodded in a slow manner. They all looked distracted, worried, and wary of the group sitting next to them.
OooOOooOO
Carrot and Kei looked down at a messy scene. Four bodies surrounded a sweaty frightened looking man. He was holding a hand gun and pointing it into the shadows. He had a metal suitcase held against his chest with two bullet strikes denting the side. It fell open and a large sum of cash and bags of white powder fell into the pools of blood at his feet.
"That was easier than expected." Carrot was dressed in his spiderman outfit. Kei was covered from head to toe in traditional ninja garb. He could see her eyes and part of the bridge of her nose.
"Drug dealers tend to be easy to excite." Kei gave a small shrug. "They're also suspicious by nature. Tricking them wasn't hard."
Carrot had another suitcase full of high mark bills in his grip as he smiled down at the mess. They had planted and removed drugs and a large sum of cash. They had both sneaked in and easily slipped past two armed gangsters and removed a large bag of product and a considerable sum of cash. They had also planted some of each in the personal belongings of their targets. The boy had dumped the drugs out into the storm drains on the roof they were standing on. The money was gripped in his hand, a few more yen wouldn't hurt him. They hadn't taken everything, and left a knife belonging to one of the gangsters near a small spill of powder. They had added a few hundred thousand extra Yen with bill wrappers around them in another thug's pocket.
"I wasn't expecting to get all of them in one night." Kei sounded pleased with the idea of not returning.
"This is where Michiru's father was working. The order came from the jerk who died first?" He was an older balding man, the only real yakuza in the operation. His brain was splattered against a book case behind his head. The drug industry was a good place to find disposable assassins for the bosses.
"No loose ends." Kei gave a short nod.
"I hope not. She'll take any one she can find." The boy's voice sounded a bit tense.
"What is it you're so afraid of?" The kunoichi was confused. "I don't understand."
"Punishment." The police had arrived on the scene below. The ninja were invisible to the world below, hidden away in dark shadows on the rooftop overlooking a window in the warehouse. The boy's lips turned up a bit as Kajura stood up front with his sidearm pointed forward surrounded by men with automatic weapons trained on the lone man at the center of the bodies.
The unfortunate man was on his knees in the blood of his former coworkers. Tears were running down his face as he put both his arms on top of his head. He screamed and grabbed his gun from the floor at his side, bringing it up to the side of his head.
The inspector took one shot and took out the man's shoulder. His gun clattered back across the floor behind the man as he rolled on the ground clutching his wound.
"Come on. Time to go." Carrot turned away as he noticed Kajura looking up through the skylight towards them. He kept scanning the rooftops and flipped open a phone as the men took custody of the unfortunate gangster.
The boy stopped walking and growled a little. He put his phone against his ear and grumbled. "Yeah?"
"Fuck you kid. I'll be up to my ass in this shit for a month."
"Your welcome. I suppose that means you won't have time to ride my ass." He flipped it shut and shook his head a little as he put it back on his belt under his shirt.
"A friend of yours?" Kei seemed to realize his mood had lifted a little.
"No. I'm enjoying someone else's discomfort." He did feel better. "I've got a call to make tomorrow. We'll get those pictures developed tomorrow. I'll be showing them to her before I burn them. It's time for her to wake up."
OooOOooOO
Carrot was sitting across from Kajura with a cup of tea in front of both of them. They were at a small street side cafe in a quiet neighborhood just off the main streets of Tokyo. The boy arched his eyebrow as a long haired dirty blond man with a coat hanging over his arm sat down next to him. He was smiling at both of them and had rough stubble on his face. "Hello."
"Oh. Two of you today." The boy didn't seem worried.
"Yeah. Your tip panned out, I'm getting a fucking medal for the damn bust. I hate medals, it means I have to behave and act like a show pony for a few days." Kajura wasn't smiling and was glancing over his shoulder.
"Think you might have been followed?" The boy seemed calmer than he'd ever been before. "What do you want?"
"Information." The man who Carrot already knew to be Kajura's partner spoke up. "Thanks for the tip by the way."
"Don't thank him. He had more to do with that mess than you think." The older man grabbed his partner's shoulder and glared at him.
The younger man seemed more amused by his partner than anything. "Whatever. The common word on the street is that Hisami's second in command had taken over operation of his businesses."
"Yeah. So?" The boy crossed his arms and turned his head away.
The man leaned in as if he was telling the boy a funny secret. "We've got a couple sources that say something about that doesn't smell right. There's a rumor that someone else might be pulling the strings behind the scenes. You and I know better, but some people claim to have seen someone else talking with him in the office. It's making some of the under bosses nervous, that makes it worth looking into."
"For you maybe? What's in this for me?" The kid sipped at his tea and leaned in with a calm and bored expression on his face.
"We get to overlook your involvement with..." Kajura clenched his fist and focused two bloodshot eyes on the punk in front of him.
"What involvement? I don't know what you're talking about." Carrot wasn't stupid, and he knew damn well these two didn't have anything to link him to the events.
The older cop jumped up a little and slapped both his palms down just hard enough to shake the table a little. "You little sociopath..."
"Cut it out." Saito slapped his shoulder and the older man slumped down into his seat. "Look, I know you two are practically in love. I understand, really. You'll owe us a favor."
Carrot glared at him, frowned, and then turned his head. "I'll look into it. I don't suppose there's any harm in asking around. I'm not about to start poking them with a stick though. They seem to have forgotten about me. I'd like it to continue."
Almost as the words left his mouth, the boy dove forward, putting his shoulders into both men and pushing them to the sidewalk . A loud ripping sound filled the air as chunks of concrete exploded in every direction. Two gouges were dug into the brick wall beside their table.
The boy and both men looked on with wide open mouths as four tentacles of metal pulled an eight foot chunk of concrete into the storm drain system below the street.
The three males all crawled to their knees and craned their necks with wide eyes as they looked at the hole.
"Well? Aren't you going to check it out?" Kajura shoved Carrot's shoulder.
Saito looked at him with a bit of angry disbelief.
"Hey. You're the one with the gun. You go." Carrot didn't want to know what had done that.
The hole was clear as both men peered down into the ground. There was a haze of concrete particles in the air, but nothing else but the walls of the drain otherwise.
"What the hell was that?" Saito was pointing his firearm down the hole as he took nervous glances at his partner's face. The older man was aiming down the hole and searching it with his eyes.
"Trouble." The boy rushed around a nearby corner.
Saito tried to chase him and reached out. "Hey! Wait!" When he rounded the corner after the boy he stopped and looked surprised. "Where did?"
"Don't worry about him. We need to find out what the hell that was." Kajura was fumbling about his pocket for his radio.
"Who was it after? Us, or that kid?" The younger man was scratching his head with his firearm still in his hand.
"Not sure. Maybe both." The older inspector lit a cigarette as he pulled the radio up to his mouth. "Dispatch. I got a situation here."
OooOOooOO
Carrot was sitting in one of the rooms of the school. Michiru was on her back with her eyes open. She was on a futon in an otherwise empty traditional room.
"Where am I?" She looked at him with a somewhat blank expression.
"My place." He shrugged and gave her a small grin that faded after just a moment. "You know what happened?"
"My parents are dead." She didn't sound upset and looked up at the ceiling in an emotionless daze.
He reached down beside him and laid a set of photos on her chest. "It's been taken care of."
The girl's eyes went wide as she pushed herself onto her elbows and looked down at the face of a man with a hole in the center of his head. "What?" She gasped and sat up all the way, spilling them across her legs. "These are..." Her eyes went hard and angry.
The boy didn't look at her and nodded. "The men who killed your parents, yes. The one who gave the order as well. I was quite thorough."
She turned an angry and wild pair of eyes up to his face. "You..." Her features fell as he held up another photo. It was the carving she'd made on the back of the bar wall.
"Punishment. They've been punished. Just like you wanted."
The girl had wide eyes as she looked back and fourth between the photo and her boyfriend's face. He had a sad looking smile on his lips and wasn't looking at her.
He gave a small sigh and continued to look away. "I'm going to tell you a story. A story of a man named Frank. Frank Castle. Another person, who used this very symbol as his mark. Frank was an undercover cop, just like your father. They killed his family too."
The girl had her sheets pulled up around her neck as she backed her way on top of her pillow looking at him in horror. "What?"
"He decided they needed to be punished, started calling himself 'The Punisher'. He punished the people who took his family away."
A soft sobbing noise escaped the girl as she gasped for breath.
"Thing is, he didn't stop. He'd lost everything, and decided to spend his life punishing all the bad people. He did all right at first, took down a few very bad people. It took it's toll on him though, he lost his mind, his punishments grew more twisted. He started punishing people who didn't deserve it. It got so bad, he started shooting jay walkers." Carrot put his hand on her shoulder and gripped it gently.
"No. It was mine!" She jerked from his grip and clutched at the photos, crumpling them up in her fingers and tearing at them. "How dare you! I..."
"Frank Castle was not a happy man. He forgot what happiness was, all he did was suffer, and cause suffering. He was evil Michiru. He tried to direct his anger, do something good with it. It didn't work, not like that."
The girl was curled up into a ball. She tossed the crumpled photos at him and bawled on the sheets of her futon. "No. I...get out...leave me alone...I...I don't ever want to see you again."
"I won't stop you from leaving." He stood up, collected the photos, and walked to the door. After taking a moment to open the door, the boy turned to glance back at her.
She sat up again, sniffling. "How did he die?"
"I never found out. I imagine in a blaze of glory."
The girl nodded and stood up. "How...how did you know?" She was still wearing her hospital gown, and the emotion was gone from her face. Her cheeks were wet, and her hair was messy. She steadied herself against the wall and looked down at the floor. She fell to her knees, but it was obvious it wasn't from her weakness. She looked up at him with a firm stare, a frown etched onto her face. She didn't look angry with him, but seemed very serious. "How did you know what I was going to do? I wanted to kill them, all of them. I wanted to do it myself. I wanted..."
He looked down at her and gave a small snort. "Your duty doesn't allow for what you want, does it?"
A horrified look came across her features as she put her palms on the ground and looked at the floor. "Who are you?"
"There's nothing between us anymore, Michiru. I am sorry." He walked out, turned the corner and clenched his fist. He wasn't happy with himself. He'd taken one last look back at her as he'd walked out. She looked calm, and sad, but the anger had faded.
He wasn't expecting her to grab his shoulder from behind and spin him around to face her. "What duty? What duty do I have left?" Her voice was heated, and a few more tears fell down her cheeks. "Tell me what I have left."
The boy looked towards the wall and back at her face. It was difficult to think of anything to say. "I can't really answer that can I?"
She almost looked angry again and pulled her hands up against her chest as she took a step back.
"I won't abandon you. Take all the time you need here. I'm not the answer to your problem. I'm just another one." He waved for her to follow.
OooOOooOO
"What is this?" In the room before Michiru, was a group of three girls. Three people dressed as shinobi were standing at the front of the room, as the girls went through martial arts forms in front of them.
"The inner senshi. I'm afraid the only outer senshi I know of is Uranus. She doesn't care much for me." Carrot was looking on beside her through a pane of one way glass that was on the back wall of the training room. "You need focus, purpose, and duty? Something to live for? Something that's worth doing? Fine. Help them."
"Uranus." The girl's face went hard as she said the name. She turned her eyes towards him and nodded. "You know who I was...don't you?"
"I'm sure between the senshi and the clan, we can find room for someone who's good with guns. This isn't about punishment, it's about defending our world, and justice. Something more worth your time." The boy didn't answer her and kept his eyes on the three girls in training. They looked worn out and miserable. He felt a small twinge of pleasure at the sight of it and smirked a little. "Don't forget your duty."
"Uranus stole my power. I'll never be a Senshi again." She looked at his face from beside him, searching for a reaction.
The boy glanced at her with a small frown on his face. "You may leave any time you like. If you wish to help us, you are welcome. Just forget about punishment, there are more important things in life. I'm sure it's not what your parents would have wanted."
The girl brushed her aqua hair out of her face and nodded as she looked at the girls. She didn't say anything as she turned and left the room. "You've not changed." She gave a small chuckle. "This isn't the first time we've broken up. Don't worry, I'll support them. Just don't expect me to train with them that way. I can take care of myself." She left him standing alone watching the Senshi do stomach crunches. There was a time he might have found that much more interesting. Now he only noticed Ami was struggling a bit more than the others, but she also seemed the most serious and focused. Rei didn't train with the other girls for obvious reasons. She spent her time meditating in front of a fire, and learning how to operate the computer. Aman seemed a bit annoyed with him for his assignment, the ninja girl Mai as well. Hito seemed to be having a good time of it, and Kenshi didn't seem to care one way or the other.
After a long moment the boy tilted his head sideways and gave a heavy sigh. "That wasn't so bad." He put his forehead against the glass. "Who am I kidding? I hate this."
He paused a moment and groaned as he noticed Hito reach over his shoulder and scratch the back of his leg near his ankle without bending over or turning around. "Okay. That's just weird."
OooOOooOO
Uranus frowned as she floated over a scene that had grown familiar in the past weeks. "Nine!" She called down to the monster. It was standing on top of a bank leering up at her. The monster hadn't bothered robing the place, it was in flames and looked like large pieces of it were torn off. It was made of white concrete and stood about four stories tall.
"Ah, Uranus. Somehow I just knew you'd show up if I rang. Alarms draw you like a moth to flame. The humans have grown boring. I was hoping this little fort would hold a bit more challenge." The creature's tail was dripping venom that was eating away at the rooftop behind it, making small craters in the stone.
"Damn." The human girl growled through her teeth and clenched her fists. The monster was growing fond of attacking places with alarm systems. They'd met four times, destroyed seven city blocks, and an underground railroad station. Each fight had ended with little more than the monster being driven off.
"Now, get down here and die!" Nine tossed a chunk of rock at her after ripping it from the wall.
Uranus took the shot and didn't move. It shattered against her chest without even pushing her back. She uncrossed her arms and gave the monster a confident looking smirk. "I'm getting tired of hearing that. You've yet to deliver."
The monster seemed to vanish and appeared just in front of the super woman. An armored fist took her dead in the face. The girl was thrown back into the building across from her. It was a large apartment structure. She passed through the outer wall and took six others out before passing through the other side and colliding into a busy intersection. Four cars were blasted back by her impact, one of them rolling onto it's side and leaning against another parked car. She picked herself up from the center of the crater and spit a bit of blood onto the ground. "Ouch."
Uranus spun around and hooked her arm into an uppercut. Nine appeared just in time to take the shot right under her jaw. The monster's head snapped back and her arms flew out wide as she staggered back.
The girl seemed to vanish as she flew right in front of the monster and stopped to perform a hooking kick that launched her opponent into the air. She blasted towards the creature like a bullet. "Just die!" Before she reached her target she formed a ball of power in her hand before pushing it into the armored monster's chest at point blank range.
Nine screamed in rage and pain before being thrown even further back before she even landed.
Haruka snarled as she rushed to catch up. She came to a dead stop as she reached the impact zone. There was nothing but a smoking hole in the center of the street. "Shit." She knew better than to keep looking, but floated down inside the hole anyway. Her eyes searched the shadows around her for a moment. There was no way to tell where the creature had gone. There were only two directions, but each led to another path in a web like network under the city. "This is getting easier, but I can't get overconfident."
As she moved up over the street and into the sky, she glanced over her shoulder to see a few people on the street cheering for her. "You're welcome, I guess." She had to do something about that monster, but she didn't have a clue what.
OooOOooOO
Mamoru Chiba was standing on the corner of a rooftop. He'd gotten rid of his formal wear, and now sported a new costume. Loose white robes and a wooden traditional Noh mask. He was about seven stories up on the edge of an apartment building and frowning at the scene below.
"Not again."
A lone woman was screaming and holding what was probably her boyfriend. He was doubled over and holding his gut. Three tough looking punks stood around the pair. They had the unfortunate pair backed into a dead end alley.
"No one can hear you." The lead punk chuckled at the scene in front of him.
"Here...take it..." The man staggered to his feet and tossed the leader his wallet. The punk's two friends were laughing. One was swinging a length of chain about, while the other had a wooden sword resting on his shoulder. All of them were wearing leather jackets. The leader snorted and caught the wallet.
"Well, that would have worked, if you hadn't tried to fight back. Now we're gonna have to teach the both of you a lesson..."
He never got any farther, a pair of feet landed on his face as Mamoru swung down from above. He'd modified his cane, it retracted into a club, and the end was a spring loaded weight with a length of thin strong cable connecting the two ends together. He sprang off the leader's face and belted the other two upside their head as the cable pulled the weapon back together. He turned to look at the still screaming girl and tossed the man his wallet.
"Get going." All three of the punks were down, none of them even knew what had hit them. One of them was rolling around in pain, the other two were out cold. He looked back at the pair and fired his cable onto a fire escape, pulling himself back onto the skyline.
Even from six stories up on the other side of the street he could hear them make their getaway. His frown hadn't left his face and he growled in frustration. He could hear everything that was going on for blocks in every direction. People talking inside the apartments, people making love, fighting, laughing. He clenched his fist and grumbled. "A lot of good it does me. I still can't find Usagi." He was worried, alone, and becoming more frustrated with each passing day. He spent his days in his apartment, brooding.
His new life and power had come at a price. He had to sleep in the bathtub with his ears submerged in water. It didn't stop all the noise, but muted it enough that he could actually get a bit of rest. Even that had come less and less as his frustration mounted. He'd managed to beat that punk, but had gotten interrupted. It made him feel a bit better, but didn't solve his problems. "Where are you?" He looked up at the moon.
OooOOooOO
Usagi Tsukino was sitting in an alleyway, wrapped in a dirty blanket. She looked like a street urchin, but it was more to make others leave her alone. She hadn't been home since she'd left her mother and friends at the hospital.
Her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping, but she was awake. She spent her days sleeping, and her nights on the prowl. "We must find the other." She opened her eyes as three dirty homeless men stumbled by, leaning on each other. She didn't need the rag hanging off her shoulders to keep herself warm. It wasn't even a real rag, just her newest friend. It kept her warm, safe, and strong.
She could see others in the shadows, milling about in a web of back streets and alleys. Places normal people didn't go. She wasn't there to hide, or to be away from the real world. She could walk among them, hidden in plain sight.
The blond girl was there for the whispers. She could hear them speak of it, the missing among them. Ten people had vanished, she'd heard stories of people being pulled into the storm drains, dragged by nothing into the darkness below the streets from the alleys. The people without names, or lives, wouldn't go near them anymore. Even the most drunken incoherent homeless stumbled around manhole covers at a distance.
It wasn't in the papers, no one seemed to notice the missing. She knew, it was still hunting. Somewhere in the world she'd never cared about, it was waiting.
The girl went silent, a newcomer stumbled down the alley along the same path as the other three men. He was a little younger, and still had a bottle gripped in his hand. His eyes settled on her and a smirk formed on his face.
"Hey. I'm all by myself. You wanna have a drink sweetie? We'll have a bit of fun. You'll be warmer." He almost fell on top of her, grabbing at her chest in what seemed like an accident.
Her arm snapped up and wrapped around his throat. He gagged and gasped under a grip far to strong for the young teen. He looked afraid, confused, and a pungent ammonia smell filled both their senses for a moment.
Usagi's friend filtered the smell out of the air. She shoved him back by his neck, sending him across the alley and into a pile of garbage bags. "Get lost."
He fumbled about, trying to get to his feet. After a moment he managed and staggered to keep his balance. "Sorry...no need t..."
"I said scram." Something black was starting to run down the girl's face. It had covered her chest and was spreading. She looked annoyed, and a burning hatred filled her eyes.
The man staggered off a little faster than before. "What the?" When he looked back, he saw her sitting against the wall as before. He looked at the bottle in his hand and almost tossed it away. With a small whimper he took another swig and continued on his way.
"I will find the other. It must be destroyed." The girl closed her eyes again and continued to wait. Sooner or later, it would have to kill again. She knew it was near, waiting, watching it's next victim. Stalking whoever it was, just as patient as she was.
OooOOooOO
Gia frowned as she looked around at the quiet out of date looking village. A large traditional looking palace was overlooking it all from near the top of the small mountain. "You've got to be kidding."
"Hey! Watch it! You're bumping us!" The woman glanced back at the pet carrier she had on a hand cart behind her. Artemis and Luna were inside together, the male was silent, the female was complaining.
"It's a dirt road. You'll live. Quit whining, we're there already. You'll be out in a few minutes."
Spike walked up to her side and scratched his head. About ten feet behind them, a dirty poorly kept Mini was parked. "Dis is da place. Don't forget, da boss says it's important. You can't say nuthin about dis place ta nobody. If ya do..."
"It'd be no different than if I told anybody about where you work. I get it." The woman seemed a little annoyed with him.
"No. They would find you sooner or later if his friends became offended." A tall man with thick arms was standing in front of them as they turned back to look where they were walking. He was in his late thirties and looked very serious. "That wouldn't be the case with us."
"So I gathered. I'm Gia, this is Spike." The woman didn't seem as afraid as her boyfriend. The large thuggish looking man gave a small swallow and laughed in a nervous way.
"Hiya. I'd say it's nice ta meet ya, but I got a feelin we never met." Spike shoved his hands into his pockets.
The man nodded and waved them along. "This way please."
"Right." The woman gave a small sigh as she put her hand on her forehead and glanced at Spike.
OooOOooOO
Carrot opened the pet carrier and both animals came trotting out. Artemis almost looked like he wanted to stay inside. Luna had her tail held high and was looking about, inspecting her surroundings and looking up at everyone.
"Thanks for dropping them by. I hope I'm not putting you out."
"No problem." Gia gave a small shrug. One less person in her home wasn't a bad thing in her mind. "How are things?"
"Horrible. It looks like we're all going to die." No one in the room could tell if he was joking or not. He stood up with his hands on his hips looking down at the cats.
"Nice place Kid." Spike was impressed with what he'd seen.
"Thanks, I guess." The boy didn't look sure what to say. They were standing around in one of the rooms just inside the main entrance. It was early evening, and not much of interest was going on. "I'm gonna have to drop by and pick up my car. Sorry to dump Mei Lin off on you, she's safer there than she would be here."
"Yeah. Well, you'd better drop by from time to time." Gia gave him a confident looking smirk. "I've got a feeling I'll still be patching you up when you do show up."
"Gee, thanks." He looked a little annoyed, but seemed to be taking it all in stride. With a heavy sigh he scratched the back of his head. "How is she doing anyway?"
"She's pissed. Something about "I can't believe he doesn't trust me!' or something." Gia gave a small shrug.
"Naturally, she misses the entire point." Carrot nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be around. Don't worry. You've still got my car after all."
"Well, you can leave it as long as you need." The woman nodded. "It's not really in the way or anything."
"I've got to stop by and see Yoshi later." The boy popped his neck and back as he watched the cats mill about the room. "I've got to try to find those stupid things he built. I should be able to put all my attention on it now. The rest of this mess seems to have ironed itself out a bit."
"Well, don't be a stranger." Gia and Spike both bowed, the boy returned it almost as a reflex.
"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll get that bastard. He's gonna be tough to find though. That thing is good at hiding, and he can stay out of sight pretty easy if he wants. Thanks, for everything. I'll keep in touch."
"You'd better." Gia gave him a small frown. "I believe you."
"How's Michiru? Jiro was askin about her?" Spike seemed to just remember he was supposed to ask.
"She'll be fine. He's probably heard her friends have been taken care of."
"Yeah. Good job wit dat." The large man seemed to grow a little nervous. "I'll see ya around den?"
"Sure. I'll drop by the bar sometime." Carrot gave him a small grin. "I guess you two will want to see the girls then?" He looked down at the cats.
"They're here?!" Artemis perked up and was at his feet in an instant. Luna strolled up in a lazy uninterested manner.
"Oh. That's good...I guess." Luna sat down next to the male and seemed more interested in the walls of the room.
"Well, you'd better visit." Gia turned to leave with her boyfriend following.
"I will." The boy rolled his eyes a bit. "Don't worry."
OooOOooOO
"Artemis!" Minako was in tears as she clutched the white cat in her arms and almost crushed him as she lifted him off the ground in a hug.
"Hey! Easy!" cried the animal. He felt a flood of relief fill him as four of the senshi stood around him and Luna.
The female was flustered, but not unwelcoming as the girls surrounded her. They were all rubbing on her and kissing her.
"Luna! You're all right!" Makoto was on her knees in front of her.
The female cat was looking up at Ami as the girl stroked her back.
"We were worried!" agreed Rei. She was nearby, but her chair kept her from joining in.
"I'm so glad you're both all right!" Artemis was in her arms, his bottom paws hanging down just below her belly.
Carrot watched the scene from the doorway for a moment and turned away into the hall. He hadn't gone far when Kei moved up beside him.
"So, now what?" The Kunoichi had her hands behind her back and leaned in a little towards him.
"Carnage. I need to get that thing off of Usagi. I've a feeling I might need her to stop that other monster though. I'm going to go see Yoshi." He stopped and looked at her. "I need you to sit this one out. I know you can take care of yourself, but this is a bit beyond you. I've already got all the help I need. I just need to twist their arms a bit. You've met Venom, Carnage is worse. He'll just kill you."
The girl growled a little and fell back a bit. She hung her head and thought about it. "Fine."
"I'll be back soon. I'm just going to see Yoshi for now. We need to work out the details of what we're going to do about those things. It'll be boring anyway."
"What if you run into that jerk in the mask again?" Kei gave a small snort and crossed her arms as she moved up to his side again.
"Heh. I kind of hope I do run into him." Carrot gave her a dark looking grin as he turned the corner a bit ahead of her.
When she came around after him, he was gone. She looked about for a moment and growled. "Damn. That jerk."
OooOOooOO
TBC...
Next time: Action, Carrot lands in more trouble, a new enemy appears, and Yoshi gets to do some science stuff. Keen.