Thanks again for checking, and my eternal gratitude for my newest followers!

This one is slightly briefer than the last one, mostly because I cut a lot of fluff and I haven't had much time to work on it.

While the Juuban Prefecture Police Department was mostly closed so that its personnel could attend the funeral of the late Chief Superintendent, Inspector Toshio Wagaki was one of the few who stood behind to attend eventual incidents in the meantime. He was also assigned to collect the report from the cases that resulted in the death of the now-former Chief Superintendent, the disappearance and resurgence of Aguri Hanekoma, and, as of that morning, the attacks suffered by Kyuusuke Sarashina. But he read the reports over and over again, and could not make heads or tails of what happened. Something about possession, loss of memory, and some kind of humanoid beast running roughshod throughout the city did not seem logical for Wagaki, usually, a by-the-books officer that took pride in solving his assignments as he did everything else in his life, in a quick, orderly and logical manner.

Perhaps for being a bit too much of a by-the-books cop is that he lost the promotion to his former partner, Natsuna Sakurada. And it was her second promotion in two months, to boot.

The pent-up anger and frustration with the case, plus the lost promotion, reached a boiling point inside his head. "It doesn't make sense," he bellowed. "NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE!"

"Is something the matter, Inspector Wagaki?" asked a man who entered Wagaki's office as soon as he finished his blowout. The Inspector recognized him as Naitou Kakusareta, the same rank as him. If Toshio was the image of correctness, Naitou was everything but. He was something of a maverick that even kept his long hair tied in a ponytail because he refused to cut it. So long as he did his job, the higher-ups didn't mind.

"Oh, hello there, Naitou. Sorry, I got carried away. You see, I gotta investigate the cases that led to Chief Yuutarou's death."

"Yes, I gotta admit this is a tough case. So much so, nobody wanted to tackle it right away."

"Tough case is quite the understatement," Toshio complained. "Anyway, can I help you with something?"

"Just checking some files on juvenile delinquents," Naitou said as he opened some lockers in the back of the office. "Those are on the rise as well, and they're itching for fights. Bosozoku, gyaru, sukeban, you name it. Worthless creeps, the lot of them."

"Speaking of creeps, there have been sightings of a person that goes around Tokyo wearing some kind of dirty robe and a mask. Do you think there is a relation between those cases?"

"Yeah, yeah," Naitou immediately interrupted. "If we were going around chasing any crazy schmuck in the city, we'd spend most of our time on that instead of catching actual criminals."

They didn't speak for a while after Naitou got the files he wanted.

"But seriously, the reports I received... They simply make no sense. I can't stress it enough. No fucking sense!"

"It makes perfect sense when you see the whole thing is directly linked with the appearance of the Sailor Guardians. Remember those?"

Of course, how could I forget them? he thought. The mention of the Sailor Guardians sparked a brief pang of ire inside Toshio. He never liked the heroines on the grounds that they stole the purpose and thunder of first responders, especially from the police force.

"And it's been happening for quite some time already. Check this out." Naitou handed Toshio a folder full of files under the name "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon." Pictures of young women clad in sailor fukus releasing spells against nondescript creatures, causing mayhem across the city. Reports dating all the way back from 1993 speaking of odd flashes of light, strange objects from the sky, and mass-induced amnesiac bouts. A good portion of those reports came from Azabu-Juuban alone.

"Ever since these so-called heroines appeared, there has been an increase of weird cases that got our forces with knots on their minds. It's been a year since their last appearance, but it seems they're back to action full force."

Toshio then checked the few pictures taken of the scene of the attacks the day before. A girl with two buns on her hair and a sailor fuku uniform appeared in it, and it clicked she was the same person that appeared in the photos that Naitou brought him.

"Well, good Goddamn! You're onto something here!" exclaimed Toshio with a grin of relief.

"Indeed," Naitou proudly quipped. "Do you want to help me get to the bottom of this?"

"Absolutely!"

(xx)

The Incubus, Part 4: Hedgehog's Corollary

Since test week was already past, Ami decided to spend the rest of her Saturday in a more relaxing activity: reading an English copy of Wuthering Heights that her father had presented her. Not only was it entertaining, but she could also practice her English reading and understanding skills with it.

As the blue-haired Guardian kept on reading, seeing the doomed love of Heathcliff and Catherine unfurl, she wondered about her parents. Both had split due to unconciliatory differences, especially regarding their own work commitments and Ami's upbringing. She remembered it all too well and always felt a bit of shame whenever she did it as if it was her own fault her parents were no longer together.

Before long, night had fallen. As usual, she had the apartment all for herself, after yet another one of her mother's seemingly endless shifts at the hospital. She turned on the TV to catch on the news. It was the only program she bothered herself to watch, other than Ultraman reruns - A holdover from her mom, who was a big fan of the series as she grew up.

As soon as she turned on the tube, she saw a policewoman giving a brief press conference. She looked remarkably like her old English teacher, Haruna Sakurada, except with slick black hair. And indeed, she was identified as "Natsuna Sakurada, Newly-Appointed Chief Superintendent."

"Some are pinning the blame on the heroine Sailor Moon and her companions, but I am not one to reach such rushed conclusions. They have been the key to solve these paranormal mysteries so far, and I trust our police forces across the city can reach a good agreement with them."

She also noticed Makoto hurriedly passing behind the Chief Superintendent as she spoke. Ami correctly presumed the report had to do with the fatal attack the day before, as well as the attack at the Hikawa Shrine that morning. She hoped she wouldn't suffer the same thing that happened to Rei for any upcoming battle that may come.

As she prepared herself to sleep, putting on a lilac babydoll mini-dress and turning on the air conditioner, her contradicting memories once more took over her mind as he reminisced about her own love life - or lack thereof. She swore she wouldn't run away from love anymore, but still stepped back when she had the chance. With Ryo Urawa, once he took her place for the scholarship in Germany, they only spoke twice and then never again since the battle against Galaxia. And with Taiki Kou, the fact that she was unreachable physically and in attitude. And the fact she was a woman as well. Ami was of the kind that thought of almost every possible scenario, and the worst one was usually the most vivid. She thought: If she was ever to be wed, what if they ever hit it off, only to end up splitting as her parents did? How bad would she hurt, and how would that affect her husband as well? And worse, what if they actually have any children, how would it affect them?

(xx)

"You make do with what you have. None of us exist without a reason. Everything that you have done so far, no matter how small, will have mattered. Turn your skills into something useful, and see how it will also help you in the long run."

The words of the one named Fengari resonated well into Astar's mind, soothing his troubles somewhat. What if there really was a reason why he awakened as an incubus? Could this be the way the Fates had given him to start over again? To use his lust-driven power and whatever other skills he may have for the greater good? The possibilities were enough for the incubus to recover some of the swaggers he felt the day before.

In his ethereal state, Astar managed to fly towards the aura he felt, emanated from the fifth level of a fancy apartment block. He saw Ami emanating a pale, bluish glow that, differently from the others, felt chilly the closer he got to her, made even colder with the air conditioner.

"I wonder if she is also a Sailor Guardian?" he thought.

As he approached her, the incubus took notice of Ami's slim but well-proportioned figure. But what really caught Astar's attention was the conflict her face showed even in her sleep. I will make this right, he thought. Slowly and steadily, he positioned himself above the sleeping Guardian.

(xx)

As he entered Ami's Dreamscape, Astar hoped this time, he would begin in a safe environment. Instead, he found himself inside some kind of body of water, where he immediately held his breath and swam towards a beacon of light - the Sun, perhaps - he saw glimmering over him.

He managed to emerge and see himself in an enclosed building, the beacon being nothing more than a floodlight that hung from the ceiling. A brief body shake was enough for the incubus to dry himself, and he then entered the only door he found on that building.

In the room he entered, he found some kind of library with nigh-endless rows of bookcases and lockers that went beyond his sight when looking at every angle. Opening a random drawer and picking a file from it, he saw the statistics report of children's accident rates in the year 1989. Astar was both puzzled as to why she would have this in her memory bank and amazed at the level of details he saw on the file. Flying across the corridor, he picked another drawer at random and saw another statistics file - this time, for the all-time ratings of all the Ultraman series until Tiga, the most recent season. Now that is random, the incubus thought.

As he finally reached the end of the corridor, he passed by the only door he found. He entered a household where he saw Ami as a child, but somehow even smaller than how she should be. Her face showed fear, her tiny body trembled and her eyes were on the verge of tears.

Peeking at what the girl was looking at, Astar saw a couple, whom he presumed to be Ami's parents, arguing with one another, and only when the word "Ami" was uttered, the phrases could be illegible.

"It's for Ami's own good!"

"Learning is more than just sticking your nose in textbooks. Ami needs to go outside and learn of life itself."

"Don't you know Ami has this condition?"

"You act as if I wasn't Ami's father."

The pressure of the place became unbearable for Astar, so he turned away to leave. As he approached the house's main door, he once again saw little Ami, as she received a tender hug from his father, who then put on a Panama hat and a trenchcoat, picked up a suitcase, and left. This time, the girl was smiling candidly as she held a foldable chess table, her father's last present for her. But then came her mother, who crouched in front of her with a consternated face.

"Your father isn't coming back," her mother said. Upon hearing that, Astar felt the house give in to some kind of gravitational pull. It was like the world was undoing itself beneath Ami's feet, which he presumed was what she felt at that moment. When things seemed to return to normal, he saw little Ami running to her room while sobbing. The incubus followed her, and he saw her crying softly over her pillow, covered with what seemed to be spines.

He left through the front door and saw himself in a variety of scenarios involving the blue-haired Guardian. As she approached people, they grew spikes of their own whenever they spoke, and afraid of its touch, Ami left them all alone with their hurtful remarks.

"She spends all day long studying. Talk about having no life!"

"She even goes to the most expensive cram school in town. Rich bitch much?"

"She must think she's hot stuff. Leave her alone."

As they said this, it was Ami's turn to grow spikes once again. In every memory Astar visited, she was always alone with a forlorn expression, hiding behind textbooks and growing spines all over her body. Astar knew that in her memories, he could not reach her. He wanted to touch those spikes of hers, to feel if they really felt harmful to the touch. In the impossibility of doing this, he decided to go after another part of her memory where she got those spikes taken care of.

As he walked down the streets in Ami's Dreamscape, he saw when she was approached by a girl and a cat. Once again, he recognized Usagi in her dreams, and when both she and her cat approached her, they seemed to be covered in spines, only for them to be shed off. She then met with her eventual friends - the same ones he had seen in the other girls' Dreamscapes. And she felt happy and confident with them. Astar started to understand what really made her unsheath and hide her spikes.

With a blink, the incubus appeared in another place. Once again, it was the interior of a palace, this time with not a hint of the sun or the moon shining through its windows. He saw Ami wearing an elegant blue dress, a sapphire tiara, and long-sleeved gloves, dancing with a man in military uniform. What's with these women and their penchant for men in military uniforms, thought Astar. The man wore his honey-blond hair in a ponytail, and his facial features were so pretty and sharp, Astar at first thought he was a woman.

"Aeneas. That is the name of a hero, is it not?" Ami asked.

"Indeed," he answered with a smooth voice. "Your hero." He leaned and kissed her lips briefly, and she responded by leaning in for a longer, more passionate kiss. There was no place for insecurity in this time, perhaps because this is a dead memory of her past life. She is definitely with a man she loves, and she let him approach him with no growth of hazards over her body.

His answer came when he left the palace structure by its large portal. He found himself in some kind of amusement park in modern times, which meant it was a memory of her current life, and she was accompanied by a young man with boyish good looks. They walked with their hands tied together, then they turned around and after a brief count of three, they shared a kiss. They separated and chuckled for a bit. Neither grew spikes against each other.

"Ryo... I loved this time we spent together. Will I ever see you again?"

"Someday. I promise."

The young man went his own way, and Ami stood behind. The smile on her face faded into a concerned semblance, and slowly the spikes on her body crept up. She felt abandoned, Astar thought. It seems the boy did not keep his promise.

Then along came another young man, with androgynous looks not unlike those of her past life's lover, except with a long brown ponytail and wearing a schoolboy uniform. She really likes those soft, inoffensive types, he pondered once more. He also had a stern look on his face and spikes of his own. But when she saw him, Ami once more smiled and retracted her own quills. She was ready to love once more.

Alas, it was not to last. The boy approached Ami and unsheathed large spines, and Ami pushed herself back in pain.

"We cannot be together, Ami. You know who I am and why I'm here, so please understand. Goodbye."

"Taiki, wait!"

In a flash, this man was gone, leaving Ami on her own once again. And again, she frowned and grew back her spikes. She hoped for Taiki's arms to embrace her, and for Taiki's lips to kiss her, but all she got was the pain of rejection and circumstance. The sense of abandonment, even if temporary, made her feel like her peers hurt them with their own spines. And to avoid such situations herself, she also grew spines of her own. Understanding this, all Astar needed was to find her inner self and remind her that she is perfectly capable of approaching and being approachable.

And who would have thought, she was in the very same place where Astar came from. Ami was sitting by a table playing blitz chess with herself, wearing a sweater, an old-fashioned thick skirt, and a pair of glasses.

"Please, don't come any closer!" she screamed when she saw him. She turned to run away, as if what she just saw was some kind of ghoul or frightening demon. As far as Astar was concerned, he was not scary unless he wished to do so, and that was not the case.

The incubus rushed to her side before she could dive into the pool. "Why do you run, my dear?"

"I don't want to hurt you... and I don't want to hurt myself."

"None of us will get hurt," Astar calmly said as he worked his magic and approached her. "Nothing will happen when you approach the ones you love. Let me prove to you that there is nothing to fear."

Ami grew her spikes once again. Astar touched them and she briefly flinched, but she felt nothing but a pleasant caress on her skin. "Those are not spikes. Those are bristles, soft to the touch. They are like this when you are comfortable with yourself, especially with someone you love. But they become spiny and harmful if you lose your nerve. Shed them off, for you do not need them."

And suddenly, the "spikes" softened and slowly disappeared from Ami's body. She blushed heavily and touched her cheek with her right hand in her mild embarrassment.

"This is incredible. I am seeing and feeling this, and yet I am not believing."

"There is so much more I could teach you about the touch of bodies, darling young one," he said as he opened a frank smile. "Do you want me to? Just say yes."

Ami let herself the biggest smile Astar saw in all her aspects he's seen up to that moment. "Yes. Yes, I do." She then raised her arms towards him and motioned her fingers in a come hither movement. "Come to me, my dear. Teach me all you have."

The spell worked, Astar thought. With nothing else impeding him, the incubus embraced Ami, lifted her face with his index and his thumb, and gave her a heated kiss, to which she responded by pushing him towards her.

She was now learning how it was to be loved by a man, and how it is to love him back. It was so primal, and yet beyond every hypocritical reprimand she and society could ever dish out. Was she reduced to an animal whose sole will was to satisfy her primal urges? Perhaps. But for the first time, Ami did not care one bit for rational conclusions. Love could be like that when it reached its most heated points. To know that whenever she felt secure, her body was truly free and she did not feel or give out pain, it was the most marvelous piece of knowledge and feeling she could possibly have.

(xx)

Dawn was just starting to break when Ami woke up while feeling some kind of pleasing trance that made her body feel numb, especially her lower parts. The pink hue around her breasts, the slight stickiness between her legs, and the smell she could feel, could only mean one thing: She was sexually aroused, and most likely had nocturnal pollution. She read all about it, but the concepts were so strange, almost alien to the girl, since she had never felt it for herself. The only time she ever felt arousal was when she saw the reproduction chapters in her old Biology textbooks... and the one time she ever kissed a boy. She remembered it all too well, when she and Ryo kissed each other at end of their one and only date. It never occurred to her how good it was to share this kind of affection and proximity with anyone until that moment. Where could he be? She wondered in a brief reverie. Will I ever see him again? Could I ever be loved like that by someone again?

"Good morning, Ami!" called her mother from the door. Dr. Saeko Mizuno was still very good-looking in her mid-40s, and not even the constant stress from her workaholic ways and from being away from her one and only daughter undid her cheerful semblance. "It's seven in the morning already, and you haven't got up, so I came in to see if you were alright."

"Oh, good morning, mama!" Ami cheerfully answered as she got up. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I just had... a nice dream. I'll tell you more during breakfast. Want some help to prepare it?"

"Sure, I'd love to. But take your time, okay? Today is my Sunday off work, in case you forgot."

Those last words couldn't have made Ami happier. As she got up, she checked on her communicator, and surprisingly, there were two missed calls. Mental note - to answer the calls after breakfast. She would not waste any time while her mother was available.

(~~)

Diary Entry

I should not be worried about humanity's moral conundrums, but something took me over when I saw the deplorable state in which Kenzou was and his eagerness to flip over his condition that I could not help it to show some compassion towards him.

I am not entirely sure if I have done the right thing in helping poor Kenzou that way. But sometimes, you need a literal kick in your rear to realize the error of your ways. Or in his case, some invisible garroting. This sounds like the kind of lesson the Heavenly Kings of yore would come up with, the stuck-up noble bastards...

Still, if only there was a way to teach this to the entire world at once. If only they could get the lesson right away, I would not need to sully my hands with blood.

But if I live on the surface again, the way I am now, and the Fates leave me no other choice, then I will spill as much blood as necessary. This I do not mind, for it will not be my own blood anyway.

I just wish it was easier. Even without transforming, the Sailor Guardians can still fight with excellent skills and resources. And Sailor Moon herself is unaffected by the incubus' powers. I know well of what it is capable of doing with their minds with his perfidious magic. Chances are, he does not and is not aware of the true extent of his power.

(~~)

The school week began as usual for Ginki Taoka, by being picked on and tossed around by the local bullies. Bespectacled, overweight and timid, he was always easy pickings, especially for not hitting back. He took it all without so much as raising his voice, in the hopes that they would get tired and stop. But the torture never stopped.

Something happened that weekend that would change everything, or so he hoped. The patch over his right eye would not let him forget of it.

"Why, if it isn't the walking, talking punching bag," a pompadour-wearing student said as he pushed Ginki down. Soon after, other punks gathered around him and started kicking him.

"This has been a shitty weekend for all of us, and we've got plenty of pent-up anger to unleash. Hope you have a good funeral plan!"

Usagi, Makoto, Minako and Ami witnessed the scene, and the four of them decided to do something to help Ginki as he got cornered. But as they approached, Usagi felt a small but constant vibration inside her bag. It was the Silver Crystal inside her Compact, emitting its usual signal.

"There is an enemy here," Usagi warned. They understood the message and hid behind a corner while Makoto, the only one of them with experience in bully-busting, went toward the scuffle.

"Well, ain't that rich, fat boy?" the first bully kept teasing Ginki. "There's a girl here to fight your fights for you. A freaking girl!"

"Hey!" Makoto took offense over the bully's sexist remark. "I'll make you regret your words, you just wait!"

"Please... Do not make me hurt you..." Ginki then took off his eyepatch, revealing his black-and-red eye that emitted an eerie red glow. Soon after, he doubled his size and morphed into what looked like a humanoid elephant with short tusks, hands as large as its head, and a purple body.

Almost everyone who saw the scene panicked and tried to run away to safety, including the bullies. Only Makoto stood her ground in a tense manner. The demon, however, looked confused and scared itself. It moved aimlessly in slow steps that shook the ground it walked on.

"I must seek the incubus. I can feel his presence here. I must seek him... or Dis Pater, he..."

"We can't leave Makoto and the others like that, let's transform!" Minako affirmed, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Moon Eternal, Make Up!"

"Venus Planet Power, Make Up!"

"Mercury Planet Power, Make Up!"

Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus naturally appeared. Sailor Mercury did not.

"Oh, no, not me too..." Ami lamented and started to lose her nerve.

"You've got the same problem as Rei and me", Makoto comforted Ami as she returned to their hideout. "It will be harder, but we can still do this."

Ami simply nodded as she accompanied her sisters in arms towards the school front yard.

"Look! It's Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus! We're saved!" some students cheered.

"Only them?" One student quipped. "Weren't there supposed to be five of them?"

The beast turned to where the Guardians stood. "Umm... Hello... I am Behemoth."

Despite being a fearsome beast from Hell, it still retained some of Ginki's shyness and lack of social tact. Sailor Moon took a cautious but more lenient approach with it. "Well, listen here, Behemoth. I cannot let you hurt anybody in this school."

"But... But... I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want the incubus."

The incubus talk again. The day before, Ami explained to the girls about what an incubus was and what he did to women's minds. He is why they are being attacked, and chances are that he's also why they can't transform. So far, only Minako and Usagi have not received his unwelcome visit.

"Stay right there," Sailor Moon ordered as she pointed the Eternal Tiare towards the beast, ready to release her purifying attack and turn it back into Ginki.

"You leave me no other choice..." As soon as it said this, Behemoth slapped Sailor Moon with such force, she was pushed back towards the main building's wall, making her fall on her knees and then plummet to the floor.

"F-forgive me," the beast murmured.

"SAILOR MOON!" Ami, Makoto, and Sailor Venus screamed in unison as they went to aid their friend and leader. She coughed a few blood droplets and grabbed her stomach, wincing in pain as she had never felt before.

As the lumbering beast walked towards the heroines, Sailor Venus positioned herself in front of her companions and pointed her right index finger at the creature, ready to release a Crescent Beam. "Don't come any closer!"

"Be careful, Venus," Ami stated. "The beast is still human."

At that moment, Astar passed by the school's street and saw Behemoth going towards the Guardians. He recognized Ami from the night before, Makoto from two nights before, as well as Sailor Moon, the one who purified Marbas' host, plus one Sailor Guardian he hadn't seen until that point. Seeing them in a vulnerable position and still willing to help, Astar jumped the gate and ran towards the demon.

"Stop right there!" he shouted.

And everything stopped on its tracks, literally. It was like a single moment in time, frozen in place. Nothing moved, and nothing made a sound except for him. Behemoth was just eight feet from trampling on Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Ami. And knowing the latter was also a Sailor Guardian, Astar wondered why she didn't transform to battle. The incubus tried to push Behemoth away from its path, but the creature did not budge. Everything was completely immobile save for himself, and he had no idea how to make things turn back to normal. He ran all around the school's yards, and all he saw were paralyzed students and personnel. "What am I going to do?" he asked himself as he returned to the front yard where Behemoth and the Sailor Guardians stood still. He had no idea how to reverse the spell, and the more time passed - to him, at least - the more he grew uneasy.

"What do we have here?" a deep male voice said. The strange figure of Dis Pater appeared, always draped in his yellow rags, his bandages over his limbs and his shifting mask, which slowly crept a grin as he approached the incubus.

"You... You are the man who sent for me," Astar said. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is of no importance. Especially compared to who you are."

"Who... I am..."

"Yes. There is no need to deny it anymore. It was you who stopped time, that much we know. How many incubi or succubi can stop time on its tracks with no consequences?"

"I... I don't know what you are talking about! What's going on!?" The sense of insecurity and doom hit Astar hard at that moment.

"Perhaps we could explain what's going on," a calm female voice called from behind.

When both Astar and Dis Pater turned around, they saw two Sailor Guardians that exhaled powerful auras just by being there. One was tall with long greenish-dark hair and swarthy skin and carried a staff with a red orb on its top. The other one seemed younger, had short black hair, and carried some kind of polearm that stood taller than she was. Neither seemed too pleased to be there.

"I will be damned," Dis Pater lamented. "Two Demigoddesses!"

I hope this was of your enjoyment!

See you next week with the continuation. More secrets to be revealed!

Best regards from The Hospitaller Knight