Sailor Moon: Author Possession Challenge!

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

Baghdad, Iraq

It was odd, the color of the city at night. American cities always seemed to be gray and black and even a little blue at night, evidence of the extensive skyscrapers of glass and steel. Here, everything was tan and light gold, colored by the desert dust.

Talon looked out into the night of the city, a small smirk on his face. He leaned against the balcony of the hotel room, and watched the golden hue of the city paint the events below in an almost fanciful light.

öFreedom, freedom is the riiight, the riiight of all sentient beings~,ö sang President Saddam Hussein, doing jazzhands along with most of his government, his brothers allowing various women and girls to kick them in the balls to high-pitched squeaks they themselves made.

Overall, he had to say this latest effort was inspiring. A masterpiece, really. IraqÆs president had ôconvenientlyö left behind instructions for the nation to seek UN aid in rebuilding their government after he died, which, given the current rate of energy he was producing, would be in an hour or so.

Just enough time for ice-capades, thanks to the recently built ice rink.

And after thatà?

Talon sighed and looked up at the night sky, glum gaze upon the collection of stars not blot out by the city lights.

ôKlytus, IÆm bored.ö

Slim arms wrapped around his waist, a feminine torso pressing tightly against his back. A hint of his companionÆs scent hit his nose.

ôTitus,ö he acknowledged. The youma sighed and nuzzled the back of his neck.

ôMaster,ö she murmured. ôYou feel troubled.ö

There was no point in denying it. Blocking TitusÆs ability to sense his emotions was childÆs play, but there were a number of times heÆd found in the last month toà Let his guard down.

WasnÆt like she could hide anything from him.

ôSimply pensive,ö he said. He frowned. ôIÆm not sure what to do after thisàö He sighed and looked down. He willed the petty dictator to perform a number of backflips down two columns of his troops, crescendo-ing up to a climax of the number.

ôWe could topple another fascist country?ö Titus suggested.

ôWeÆve done that a couple of times alreadyàö

ôCommunist?ö

ôSame.ö

ôHmmmàö Titus thought about it as Talon sighed.

ôI donÆt want to get into a rut,ö he said. ôAfter all, for the last month itÆs been topple dictatorship, free nation, have celebratory sex with you, topple dictatorship, free nation, have celebratory sex with you-ô

ôIs sex with me gettingà Repetitive?ö She asked softly, tightening her grip around him.

He turned in her grasp and held her tightly, pleased to note she was completely naked. Just how I left herà

ôNo, the other things are getting repetitive,ö he answered, lowering his hands to grasp her ass. She snuggled up against him with a purr.

ôSoà You do not desire alternatives, so much asà Shuffling the sequence?ö She asked.

Talon nodded. ôPretty much.ö

ôHmmmà We could conquer a country?ö Titus suggested. At TalonÆs raised eyebrow, she nodded. ôGood point.ö

ôHmmà Ravage the Dark Kingdom, then screw you in BerylÆs throne?ö Talon thought aloud. Titus smiled.

ôTemptingà But too soon.ö

ôYouÆre right,ö Talon said. ôBesides, the Mini-Skirt Brigade can handle that.ö

ôSpeaking ofà We could do something to them,ö she said.

ôLike what?ö

ôAnnoy them tremendously,ö Titus suggested.

ôAgain, tempting, but not right now. ItÆs all in the timing for these things and we are not yet ready to meet again. You save that sort of thing for the climax of an act,ö Talon mused. Titus was silent, pressing her face against his chest, before she slowly looked back up.

ôWe could have sex until we come up with a better idea?ö

Talon gathered his henchwench into his arms with a broad grin, and carried her back into the apartment.

ôThatÆs what I call a planàö

- - - - - - - - - -

Tokyo, Japan

ItÆs about an hour before everyone wakes up. Before my family wakes up.

ItÆs strange how easily thinking that has become over the past few weeks. I peek into Mr. and Mrs. TsukinoÆs room and I have memories of curling up in bed between them when I had a nightmare. Just like with my parents.

I silently close the door and sneak over to ShingoÆs roomà My brother. That part, wellà ItÆs not hard to think that. My own brother is an annoying, bratty know it all. ShingoÆs little different, though I must admit, he looks almost adorable splayed out on his bed, covers everywhere, drooling. ItÆs a prime blackmail moment, and Usagi would be tempted to get a camera and grab a shot.

I pull back and close the door, walking silently downstairs. The mostly-Western style of the house dictates a lot of photos arranged on the mantelpiece, and I look over each one of the photos. Usagi with her parents, holding baby Shingo, being doted on by her father and his two co-workersà Who look frighteningly similar to characters in a Sailor Moon hentai doujin I once read.

I grimace-The female hormones of myà UsagiÆs body react in a confusing bit of lust and horror. Greatà It seems Sailor Moon Abridged strikes true yet again.

Getting my mind off that disturbing tangent, I focus on a more recent picture-A family photo taken in celebration of UsagiÆs father getting a promotion at work. Weà They were crowed around the kitchen table, Mom and myselfà UsagiÆs mother and Usagi on either side of him, kissing his cheeks while Shingo held up a victory sign.

We all looked happyà So happyà I can remember that moment, the joy we all heldà

ôDamnit,ö I muttered, looking away from the mantle and out at the windows.

This wasnÆt my family. This wasnÆt my home. This wasnÆt my mother, my father, my little brother, my anything.
I just wanted it to be that. I just wanted this so much.

When I was eight, my mother died of cancer. Probably the one thing that messed me up the most throughout my life from that was blaming myself, however irrationally, for her death. All because the last time I saw her alive, I didnÆt say goodbye.

It was this that turned me into an awkward loner. It was this that turned my brother into such a closed-off, overachieving prick. And it was this that made my dad turn so inward, and seem so frail in the present.

It was also this that got me into fandom.

I hated thisà I always thought I had squared with my past. That I had gotten past the pain. But being in this body, being in this worldà

ôStop it,ö I muttered. It seemed like I was constantly cycling through Emo mode. IÆd get depressed, IÆd worry, IÆd fret, and then IÆd get past it, only for something to trigger the emotions again.

I donÆt know what it was. Maybe the true shock, true weirdness of my situation was finally hitting me. A delayed reaction, aà A spittake drawn out to a month.

I leaned my back against the wall and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Rei was adjusting to her situation with ease. That figured-sheà Heà Was always less uptight than me, more easy-going. Tuxedo Kamen? Well, him I had no idea. He was keeping his distance for some reason, making it hard to talk to him. Makoto, I had a fairly good idea wasnÆt who she seemed, but I hadnÆt just come out and confronted her yet. We hadnÆt had a lot of time this month. Youma attacks were increasing, and all sorts of weird shit was coming out of the woodwork, to say nothing of the situation overseas.

The Taliban dance and sang themselves to death. All of them. Afghanistan was receiving massive United Nations support to recover.

Cuba was now truly democratic. Castro had done a dramatic swandive off his pedestal while giving a speech.

Numerous African and European countries were seeing large deaths from ôhostileö and ôradicalö elements within their populations.

Corrupt politicians in the Americas, Russia, and many other countries all let loose a musical number admitting their numerous crimes before turning themselves in.

It was bizarre, as though the whole world had gone insane. Just how big a reach did Evil!Me have?

The worst part wasà I couldnÆt do anything about it. Not really. My funds were limited, I had schooling, and the youma population of Tokyo and the surrounding areas has gotten completely out of control. An alliance with the Deathbusters, and training from Tsuruko has allowed us to keep the edge, but we havenÆt seen Jadeite, Kunzite, Nephlite or Zoicite around. Not a hide or hair of the Dark Kingdom.

They were waiting for something. Preparing for something big. I hadnÆt the slightest clue what, but Rei and I had kept an eye out for anyone matching the description of one of the Seven Rainbow Crystal bearers. I didnÆt know how to reveal it to the others without blowing the whole game, so I decided to bide my time. Wait for the right moment.

I looked at the mantle clock. It was soon going to be time to wake up. Fortunately it was the weekend, so I could sleep in a little. I went back upstairs, hesitated at the doors to ômyö familyÆs roomsà

I shook my head and walked past, sliding back into my bed with a sigh. Senshi meeting today. I had better get as much sleep as I could before thenà

BEGIN CRYSTAL SWORD ARC

EDIT: (Here's the new comment thread. Please do not post in this thread unless you're one of the writers.)

 

[Shaderic]

And so, it begins...
Also, it appears Alter-Talon (What else should I call him?) is pretty ... philanthropic. Maybe not quite the right word, but still.
Iiinteresting.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

And so, it begins...
Also, it appears Alter-Talon (What else should I call him?) is pretty ... philanthropic. Maybe not quite the right word, but still.
Iiinteresting.

Demon!Talon also works.

 

[Epsilon]

For the record, you should have split this up into a comment thread and a story thread so that things would be easier to follow.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

For the record, you should have split this up into a comment thread and a story thread so that things would be easier to follow.

(Here's the new comment thread. Please do not post in this thread unless you're one of the writers.)

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

30 days have passed. 30 days of majesty and terror, since I was torn from my safe, dull existance as David Alan Abramczyk, and jammed sideways into first Motoki Furuhata, and then hornswoggled into Mamoru Chiba, aka Tuxedo Mask, aka Moonlight Knight, aka Prince Endymon. Now my days consisted of University Studies, fighting evil monsters, and, as I was doing now, musing. I'd always had a philosophical bent, but until coming here I'd always been too absent-minded to follow any of my trains of thought to their destinations.

I was sitting in the kitchen of my apartment with a cup of Twinings' Earl Grey tea in my hand and a bowl of cornflakes in front of me. The sound they made were the only things that filled the room, other than the sound of my breathing. "How long will this last?" I asked myself, not for the first time. "Am I fated to be Endymon forever, and never return to being David Abramczyk again?" On the whole, I was ambivelent about that: Despite all the risks inherent to being Tuxedo Kamen, he'd gotten a far better deal out of life than David Alan Abramczyk ever had.

"You're brooding again, David, don't do that." I said to myself, shaking my head vigourously to rid myself of my dark thoughts. "If you turn into Shinji Ikari, I'll have to stab you.... Which reminds me, Hideki Anno's going to be having a breakdown soon which will lead to that series..."

Which set me thinking onto another thing. Titus. Whenever I'd read Sailor Moon fanfiction, that Youma had always stood out amongst the Dark Kingdom's forces, as one of the only baddies who seemed to have any intelligence. Not to mention the recent battle we'd had. Fleeing in a panic from her waterspouts as I had been, it wasn't until later, that I remembered something. She'd actually blushed, if only faintly, when I called her pretty. I had thought on that for a while, and I had a vague inkling now that this might have been like when Ukyo showed up in Ranma ?, and Ranma called her cute. I just prayed that it wouldn't end up in a classic 'Harem Comedy' situation. If it did, I'd find Rumiko Takahashi and hit her with a stick...

 

[Deleted member 5249]

His name is Moonlight Knight DAA
Edit: Oops Sorry didn't see AJT's post

 

[Oni_kawaii]

Crappy omake moved to comments thread

 

[Epsilon]

The past bit had been one big blur for me so the only way I was able to get myself calmed down was by playing some romance visual novel that Dr. Tomoe had recently bought for himself called Dokyusei. I had just cleared an event with Misa-chan when I heard someone knocking on the door to my office. "Enter."

It was Kaolinite, who was now back in her revealing red dress. "May I have a word with you, Doctor?"

I quickly shut down the game and switched my monitor back to a project related screen. "You're concerned about our recent alliance with the Senshi?"

"Indeed. The others are not feeling comfortable with this as well... even Mimete."

That surprised me. "Why would she care?"

"Because she's worried about how all her dreamy boy bands will start writing love songs inspired by the fuku-clad Warriors of Justice," replied Kaolinite in a flat tone before she observed me performing a facepalm.

"...... that was something I probably didn't need to know."

"Just what benefit could we have by allying ourselves with the ones most likely to interfere with our plans?"

I got up from my chair so I could stretch my legs around while I explained things. "Are you familiar with the concept of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

"Somewhat..."

My lecture mode went on instantly. "To put it simply, we know that there is another group who has an interest in this world that conflicts with ours since there are youma attacks. Sailor Moon and her allies will be focused on battling that group which means we don't have to drain our own resources towards fighting that war. Next is the possibilities of the Moon Kingdom technology that she mentioned. I doubt she would be willing to provide full schematics off the bat but it should be enough to help Viluy and Eudial advance their own work. In exchange, we'll offer them anti-youma weapons based on Viluy's older prototypes."

"Second hand technology... I see you want to keep a trump card up your sleeve," murmured the redhead as things started connecting for her.

"Bingo, my dear! Maybe we can capture one of these youma ourselves for experiments and to test out new prototype weapons on it. This alliance may pay off plenty of dividends in the end. If we gain their trust now, it would be easier to pick them off when our time to search for pure heart crystals arrives."

"Brilliant as always, Doctor."

"Well, it was Hotaru-chan's idea to have us work together to fight evil demons. And you know how I just can't say no to my sweet little girl!" Just as I switched from brainiac mad scientist mode to awesome papa mode, I missed the sour look that came on Kaolinite's face.

 

[akun50]

The air was heavy with smoke, pissing her off as she entered the disgusting hovel that the members of the Dark Syndicate dared to call a "base". Were she more sensitive to the cheap cigarette smoke, she probably would have been coughing and on the verge of tears.

But she was hardly sensitive to such things. She nearly smacked her head again, but she managed to duck in time, cursing once again the short stature of this particular group, and their tendency to make doors as short as they were. She brushed a few stray red hairs out of her eyes and continued into the base.

Honestly, would it have killed them to take their much taller companions into account? She was hardly that tall, and she knew a few of her master's other favorites were much taller.

Whatever the case, she'd been assigned to this pathetic task, and she would fulfill her duty so long as she remained weaker than her masters.

She thought the task was below her in every conceivable way.

Still, considering how much of a frenzy Beryl had kicked up looking for Excalibur, they had to check out all of the discoveries that the various branches of the Syndicate made.

After all, the dimwits had already shown an utter lack of knowledge when it came to locating magical items. Then again, to be fair, it wasn't that shocking, given that they lacked the years of experience in identifying magical signatures.

She snorted. Most of the youma in Dark Kingdom lacked the intelligence to bother learning such things. Most of the renegades were just stupid.

However, as she started to enter the room where they'd stashed the "possible" artifacts, she began to feel a swell in magic. Her blue eyes locked onto the suspected objects. From a mundane point of view, the three items in question didn't look all that spectacular. In fact, it was a bit of a shock that these twits had even discovered them.

But there was no denying that at least two of the items were powerful, and would be of great value... The last one might have some value as well.

The Dark Syndicate members were pleased when their guest had paused and stared at the items for a while. If none of the items had been magical, she probably would have kicked all of their asses for wasting her time.

For a moment, one thought she was smiling.

And then they were all on the ground, dying, and mentally cursing their choice to accept the offers of the Dark Kingdom as their guest exited.

"b-biiit-" the leader managed to croak before the room and the entire hideout exploded.

Their guest was long gone.

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

I picked up a newspaper when I caught a bus to the University, and began to read it as it threaded through the bustling streets of Tokyo. "Hmmmmm..." I mused, reading it. "I see Andrew's been a busy boy." Hostile governments all over the world were going crazy, as their leaders seemed to go Musically Mad. Saddam Hussein slipping and breaking his neck during an Ice-Capade; North Korea doing a nationwide Military Two-step, and Castro bodysurfing to death. If I was honest, I was slightly ambivelent about the last one; I'd always liked Castro a bit, Communist Dictatorship notwithstanding. No one could work a beard quite as well as Fidel.

And what was with all those nations asking for aid from the UN, or NATO and the US, apparently at the behest of their late leaders to boot? What sort of goals did Talon have, if these were his means? Why did he seem to be copying the Major from Hellsing? Why was he helping out one group of nations while crippling others? And why was I monologuing all this like a Private Investigator in a film noir? I shook my head to clear it.

'Jeeze, at this rate I'm gonna go completely and utterly sparko before we even get to the Doom Tree arc...' I thought, as my hand began to unconciously tap my thigh like a drumbeat. Unaware of doing so, I began to hum something that sounded suspiciously a lot like the Sailor Moon theme. I wasn't even aware of it until the guy sitting next to me nudged me. "Oh, ah... Sorry. My bad." I said, changing it over to the iconic music from the Command and Conquer game, Act on Instinct by Frank Klepacki.

If I ever found out who was responsible for all this, I'd teach 'em. No one makes a fool out of David Alan Abramczyk and gets away with it!

 

[drakensis]

Makoto

I think I've mentioned that I don't like coffee, so I'm really not bothered that Katz kept visiting me with no more goal than to mooch another cup. The fact that he talked to it, on the other hand...

"There there, don't worry my precious," he all but crooned to the coffee tin. "I'll always love you."

"I'm not sure it appreciates your sentiments," I called to him.

"You just don't understand the beautiful relationship between a man and his coffee!" he protested.

"Techically, it's my coffee. And would you at least wait until I'm out of the shower!" I shouted from the bathroom, towelling off. Having this much wet hair was turning into a bit of a struggle.

Any further discussion of the merits of coffee were drowned out when the other woman in Katz' life barged into my apartment. "Makoto!" Haruka shouted angrily. "Have you seen Katz?"

"He's making love to my coffee," I replied at almost the same instant that Katz called. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it?"

"Good," she told him hotly. "Because you're on TV smashing Tokyo up block by block."

I blinked. "Gojira movie?"

"No, the national news."

I wrapped a towel around myself and left the bathroom in time to see Katz vanish out the door, heading towards Haruka's apartment and her TV. Deciding that whatever was going on was worth the potential embarassment, I followed without getting dressed.

"...alright, I can see a passing resemblence," Katz admitted with some reluctance, looking at the centre of the... well, magical temper tantrum, displayed on the screen. The grey uniform and jackboots would have screamed Dark Kingdom General - or possibly World War Two Germany - if I hadn't recognised the face and camp mannerisms as Zoisite.

Haruka looked from the TV to her roommate and then back. "Passing?"

He looked vaguely offended at that. "Point of contention being that, were I to ever go on a rampage, I'd at least wear a cool looking coat and hat. You didn't seriously think..."

"Never mind that," I interrupted, drawing their gazes (I take it as a sign of the seriousness of the situation that they made no smart remarks at the time about what was passing for my clothing). "Since when did you have an evil twin brother, Katz and what is he doing in Juuban?"

"I don't," he told me with a deadpan expression on his face. "It's not something I'd forget in a hurry, believe you me, and I speak from the perspective of a person who's really really tried to forget some things in a hurry."

"Uh, Makoto," Haruka asked.

"Yes, I'm wearing a towel. Get over it."

"Not quite what I meant," she said. "You're a miko at the Hikawa Shrine, right."

"Yes," I admitted. She pointed at the screen, where the Shrine was clearly visible. Zoisite was practically outside it!

I could feel my face pale. I wasn't exactly an expert on the wards that were supposed to protect the temple against malign spirits, but I doubted they'd prove to be more than a minor impediment to Zoisite. "I need to get there, now."

Haruka and Katz exchanged a long look - your guess is as good as mine as to what was being communicated - and then Haruka pulled her car keys out of her pocket. "Go get dressed," she suggested as she headed for the door. "I'll be at the front door in two minutes."

I crashed out of my apartment, almost ran down one of the other residents and darted into my own before the woman could even voice a protest, slamming the door behind me. I could hear her bitching as Haruka and Katz made their own exit, and him ignoring her as he wrestled with the lock (you'd have to meet him to know how audible he'd be about ignoring someone).

"Jupiter Power Make Up," I muttered and hoped that no one would notice the light show. There was no way I was going to openly transform in front of the other two just yet, quite aside from the fact I'd be flashing an aggressive lesbian and a pretty definitely heterosexual young man. Then I grabbed the kimono shirt I wore as a miko and started covering up my fuku. Between that and my hakama, the only giveaway I was a Sailor Senshi would be my tiara and books, but that was tough: I wasn't trying to fight in traditional sandals and I wasn't sure I could manage Supreme Thunder without the tiara's lightning rod.

Katz knocked on the door. "Are you ready?"

"I'll meet you down there," I said, and jumped out of the window.

Zoisite

The brief pulse of power I feel through the door almost takes me by surprise. Believe it or not, but I've somehow managed to disassociate Kino Makoto and Sailor Jupiter in my mind.

Sailor Jupiter was the devil hunter who sometimes appeared in snapshots on the news and in tabloids.

Kino Makoto was the neighbor I mooched coffee from, who occasionally invited us over for dinner, and who sometimes seemed about to almost hit right back on Haruka. Beyond that, she had good days, bad days, grouchy days ...

Where Jupiter was more of an idea and cautionary note in the back of my mind, Makoto was a real and actual person.

Which is what makes this experience so very, very surreal.

Then again, I just saw myself acting like a cheesy anime villain on national television.

Alright, technically, I am an anime villain. It doesn't make seeing the face I see in the mirror every morning laughing gleefully as its owner tosses around fire and flame at targets of opportunity any less creepy.

Or any less infuriating.

I run for the stairwell, and take the whole flight of stairs in one leap, coming down on the landing, turning around ... rinse, repeat.

I've been getting used to roofhopping lately, so this isn't nearly as big a feat as it would have been once upon a time.

Makoto, or should I say Jupiter, still beats me downstairs.

Haruka, sitting at the wheel of her idling convertible, stares at the miko-robes clad brunette, clearly impressed. I admit to being surprised at that. No, not the being impressed bit. The fact that Jupiter - and I can feel she is, clear as the sun is in the sky, from this distance - isn't wearing the standard issue Senshi-attire. Alright, a little disappointed too.

Then I notice the tiara and boots, and realize what she's done.

I guess that she must have simply foregone any attempts at subtlety in favor of expedience, and jumped off the apartment balcony.

"Extreme parkour?"

"Just establishing my credentials."

I call shotgun as Makoto hops into the the back.

"Strap in, try not to fall out, and don't mind the smell," Haruka throws over one shoulder while revving the engine. I roll my eyes, and note that she's looking more bulky than usual under that denim jacket. A clear sign that she's taken precautions of her own.

Click. Click. Go the seatbelts.

"She means that," I add. It's a valid concern when you consider how aggressively my flatmate drives. "And don't ask. Anyway, it's a convertible, and I already got the smell out."

"I'm pretty much past asking and into speculation at this point. Reality would be a letdown." Says Makoto.

Haruka leans over and pops the glove compartment.

I retrieve the item and zero it.

"Well, miss Ten'ou. Looks like the little hand's pointing to rock and roll again."

We share a grin.

I click the old-fashioned, analog chronograph.

"Punch that shit!"

She throws the 1968 2000GT into first and the hand of god shoves me into the bucket seat as we take off, tires screaming.

Makoto

I was well aware of Haruka's approach to driving - in addition to the hints I recalled from other sources, Katz had quite literally warned me. Now, clinging to the seat belts of a backseat that would have been on the compact side for a normal japanese girl, much less my own, I was receiving a veritable education.

Ten'ou Haruka drove at only two speeds: close enough to the speed limit that she could argue over any speeding tickets... and riding the ragged edge of shaking the car apart.

Given that I had indicated urgency, she had chosen the latter and paying very little attention to any traffic laws. Or the mirrors, instruments and passengers of the convertible, for that matter. She was staring ahead, focused on wringing every erg of speed and agility from the car, and yet there was no edge of recklessness to it. She knew exactly what she and the car could do, and pushed that limit with ruthless calculation.

It was terrifying.

It also carried us across Juuban faster than I would have believed possible and the blur of buildings and landmarks grew more and more familiar with every second.

"Get me to the foot of the shrine steps if you can," I said, torn between a need to project my voice above the roar of the engine and a fear that by speaking I might critically distract Haruka from her driving. "But don't stop in line of sight of Katz' evil twin - judging by what we saw on the telly, even a near miss from him could wreck the car, and us with it."

There was just the slightest flicker of movement from her - from what I could see in the rearview mirror, her eyes never stopped flickering around her field of vision, but her chin jerked downwards slightly. "Can do," Katz translated for me. "I'll give you a three count to hop out - you'd better unstrap now."

I hesitated and then forced myself to obey. Whatever safety the straps offered right now was an illusion - if we hit anything, it was unlikely that they would be more protection than my Senshi transformation, and a second's delay could be enough to kill all three of us. As the car screamed around the last corner before the shrine, I scrambled up onto the back seat, crouching with my legs tensed to leap.

Katz turned his head to me and to my astonishment, gave me a wild, contagious grin. "Ready?" he shouted, voice almost shaking with adrenaline.

Involuntarily I felt my own lips curl up. "I was born ready!" I lied.

"Good!" he shouted over the wind. "Three!"

The sound of the engine cut out suddenly.

"Two!"

Haruka threw the wheel over, hurling the Toyota into a skid. I had to cling to the headrests not to lose my balance, my fingers digging in with such force I could feel the leather beginning to tear under the pressure.

"One!"

Letting go of the headrests I straightened my legs sharply, hurling myself up and over the side of the speeding car as momentum dragged me ahead of it. Ahead of me, I could see Zoiscite, his eyes widening in anger. He was raising one hand towards me, but he was slow, too slow... I pinwheeled my legs as my arc began to descend and prayed for the luck not to stumble, I was still moving fast enough for a wipeout to break bones...

I hit the ground running, just barely under enough control to dodge the ball of fire that Zoisite hurled at me. As the engine roared to life behind me, I could barely hear an excited yell of - "I meant after one, crazy girl!"

Zoisite

We zip past the blazing heat and ozone being exchanged between the two combatants.

"So, she's a ..."

"Senshi," I comment absently. Haruka's sharp, and up close, the boots and tiara were dead giveaways.

I'm distracted. I can literally feel the ... dark energy? Youki? Whatever you'd call it, it's rolling over the area in really, really hard to miss waves. "And I think she may be running into an ambush."

"No, really, what was your first clue?" Haruka snaps at me. "The most effective way to counter an ambush ..."

"Is to ambush them right back."

I thumb the seatbelt release.

"Go, already. I've got this. We set them up, you knock them down!"

Damn but she's focused.

Point, though. This past month showed us several things, one of those being that some of the effects from our first contact with the youma menace ... stuck. It was no Senshi level enhancement, and I was afraid that it was mucking up something very very fundamental about her, but there were times when I could feel flickers of youki on the edges of Haruka's aura.

I focus, and pull a sword-shard much like the ones we used to spar and the one she did so well with on that night a month ago out of the ether.

"Don't hold back any on my account."

"Wasn't planning on it!"

The Toyota is thrown into another skid, fishtails, and is brought around in a nearly-picture perfect hairpin.

And I ditch, leaving the shard there.

We both know it's a trap. Hell, Makoto probably knows this as well. It's far too obvious, too blatant, and pretty much a waste of energy for little to no real results other than spreading directionless fear and destruction.

The difference being, I know it's a trap for me.

I know what to expect.

Zoisite knows what to expect.

I use the bare minimum to slow and control my descent, landing in a crouch and sprinting for cover, half-dashing, half-floating.

Go around. Find whatever I can almost taste is hiding there.

And wait for it.

All about the timing.

Makoto

"Who the hell are you?" Zoisite demanded irritably. "You're not showing enough skin to be one of the Sailor Sluts."

Charming. And after I'd gone to the lengths that I had to provide myself with a skirt that wasn't indecent. Mind you, I was out of uniform right now. I threw a punch that he dodged, letting me hurtle past him since I hadn't slowed down. That was fine with me, I was generating electricity before I even threw the punch and in the instant that I was behind him, before he could fully turn to face me, I slammed a wordless Supreme Thunder into the small of his back.

It wasn't enough to stop him - without the words or little dance, it wasn't very supreme as thunder goes - but I'd say it got his attention quite nicely, and kept him from striking back while I recovered my balance and turned around to face him.

"You insolent wretch!" he sneered, brushing at his tunic. "Poking your nose into what is none of your concern..."

I shrugged. "You're the one who came here and started throwing his..." I cast and obvious look at his waist (which was actually quite trim, to be fair) "...considerable weight around. If you stayed home for your little tantrum I wouldn't have to shut you up."

"How dare y-" he shrieked in quite feminine tones. I had to wonder if something had got cut off at some point. Then his eyes narrowed with sudden recognition. "So... you are one of those Sailor Sluts!" So much for my cunning disguise. "And those clothes... so, that shrine up there is your home is it?" he cackled and jumped backwards to the foot of the steps.

"Don't you dare," I hissed and raced after him, cursing myself out for being so cliche. "Supreme Thunder!"

Zoisite ducked to one side and a gouge was taken out of the stairs behind him. "Dear me, you don't care for the place well," he jeered and spread his hands wide, pointing them at the pillars of the torii. An instant later, both of the wooden supports were punched through by blasts of fire and as it toppled forward onto the street, flames began to spread up the wood on either side.

I ran faster, moving under the torii before it hit the ground and smashed a right hook up into his face. I hadn't mustered the concentration to charge up an attack but the punch was enough to knock him sprawling back onto the stairs.

"It'll take more than that to defeat me!" he laughed, shrugging off the impact and brought his hands together as if about to throw a... ohshit.

I was hurled back by a cone of fire that erupted from his hands, this time hurtling backwards over the torii to land, rolling on the floor. My robes were half torn to cinders and I had to tear the others off, before the flames that had taken hold on them could do me any harm. Fortunately, Zoisite wasn't following up the attack. Instead he had taken to his heels and was running further up the hill.

"Oh hell no you don't!" I roared and ran for the slope, not bothering with the stairs in my haste to close the distance.

Haruka

There it was! At first, she'd thought she was seeing things. Then the shifting in the air came again. Moving. Advancing towards the running battle that was slowly but surely heading up the steps which led to the shrine.

Every shiver of the frame. Every vibration transferred to it from the engine.

Echoed.

She knew it as well as she did her own heartbeat. The gas, clutch and break were her sinews, the gears her muscles.

Her heart roared.

Some things, you couldn't practice for. And some things, you just knew would not work.

She wasn't fast enough ... oh, she was plenty fast on foot when compared to almost anyone and anything mundane with the same limitations. Faster even, especially now.

But at this distance, in the open like this, it just wasn't fast enough.

This was.

And she was going with what she knew worked, and worked well.

Even if it was crazy.

Ten'ou Haruka said a brief prayer to anyone who'd care to lend an ear, and gunned it. The GT shot forward, wheels not even spinning in place once as she put her concentration to getting as much momentum going as possible on this limited stretch of road.

The car actually bounced when the front wheels hit the curb, one after the other, and went airborne for the briefest of moments, turning slightly sideways in the air.

The impact was enough to tell her just how much bodywork would be necessary later on, and the one thing she'd never wanted to experience, ever, when she was behind the wheel.

Hitting something soft and hard at the same time, with an almost muted thump that was barely audible over the din of the roaring wind and engine, and the crackles of fire and lightning being exchanged above. At the same time, for that one briefest of instants, it was the only thing she was aware of.

Then wheels met pavement and sidewalk again, and the GT screeched to a painful sounding halt near the foot of the shrine steps. There was a splash of red on one side of the front fender, and something splattered with the color shimmered into clear view, prone and still reeling as it tried to get up.

Last time, she'd been near exhaustion.

Last time, it had been the only option.

Last time, she hadn't used her car.

Her face grim, Haruka grabbed the sword-shard, wrapping her hand around the hilt-end, and hopped from the car to finish the job.

Makoto

Whatever I'd expected when I got to the shrine, it hadn't been to play King of the Hill with Zoisite. The little creep was surprisingly good at it, as well. Although... I recalled him being a fairly lethal, crystal slinging swordsman. This... well, I wasn't complaining that the fire-motif attacks weren't doing much more than knock me around, but it was odd.

I managed to catch him with a flying kick to one side just as he reached the top of the steps, slamming him through a tree trunk and into another. Hopefully, no one at the shrine would recognise me, because not all the damage on the way up had been Zoisite's work.

Honestly, I'd never seen what happened to a tree struck by lightning before.

I took a deep breath and looked around for more youma. It was fairly obvious that this was intended as a trap for someone, which was my major reason for not using my communicator to co-ordinate a response with the other Senshi. Given how obvious Zoisite was being, they had to be on their way. And since I didn't know exactly how the trap was laid, the best way to disarm it was to spring it before the others were in it. That would hopefully leave Zoisite caught between me and them.

Of course, it could also mean that by the time they arrived, I could be dead. But that wasn't a possibility that I had time to worry about or it would become all too real.

"Supreme Thunder!" I shouted and unleashed my - thus far - only Senshi attack towards Zoisite, who somehow managed to avoid it and push himself up and onto the gravel around the shrine. Another tree exploded.

"You're not exactly what I was hoping to find here," he chuckled derisively. "But nonetheless, welcome, Sailor Jupiter. I'm sure Queen Beryl will be more than happy to hear that one of you has been dealt with, forever."

"You'll have to do better than run away then," I snorted.

Zoisite

There's enough power being thrown back and forth here to make my youki sense go nearly haywire.

Good.

Up the side of the hill, into the trees.

I hear tires squealing in the distance, and I know it's starting.

And nearly haywire isn't the same as haywire. I take a moment to stop, going to one knee, and focus on what I'm feeling rather than what I'm seeing or hearing or smelling.

I don't look for presence. I look for absence. Lulls in the energies flowing around this place where there should be none.

Past the beacons of Jupiter and the faux me, past what is left of the original protections of the shrine grounds, and past a sudden, intense spike of a being's youki suddenly spiking and being released in its death throes. 'Ruka got one.

I grin in savage satisfaction at the fact.

There.

Close enough that I would have missed it if I hadn't stopped, maybe even if the two battling signatures weren't messing with my reception.

So to speak.

As quietly as possible, I call a pair of shards to my hands...

Makoto

"I'm not the one who needs to run away," he laughed and then, with almost no warning, writhing tentacles of something almost plant-like ripped through one of the shrine walls. I say, almost no warning, because there was a quiver of some instinct I could barely define that gave me just enough of a headstart on my dive that I wasn't caught by them. Either I was suddenly developing a spider sense or the miko training was providing some benefits. And since I hadn't been bitten by any spiders, radioactive or otherwise, lately, I felt I owed myself a pat on the back at the next opportunity.

Also, what the fuck? Plants? Zoisite wasn't exactly the green-fingered type, so far as I could recall.

Another bundle of tentacles burst from the ground beneath where I'd been standing an instant before. I had to give him credit, albeit reluctantly. At least momentarily, he had put me on the run.

"Taking up gardening?" I shouted at him.

"Everyone needs a hobby," he shouted back. "Although this one of mine seems to have a pesky bug I need to get rid of." Fire crackled close enough around me that I could almost feel my hair smouldering.

"Personally, I think you need a better set of shears!" I shouted. Shit! Two more tentacles lashed out, one of them ripping the bell up and hurling it aside as it chased me. One of the tentacles already extended lashed around towards me, limiting my options. "Supreme Thunder!" A bolt of thunder and lightning tore into the tentacle as I tried to break past it. To my dismay, the plant only shivered slightly before continuing to seek me out. One tentacle snared on my leg and I hopped awkwardly to get away before it could secure a grip.

Focused on that one, I was too slow in reacting to yet another. How the devil was Zoisite controlling the things, I wondered wildly as I was smashed from my feet by the impact. I landed in the cavity formed where one of the tentacles had torn its way out of the ground and almost instantly it started to retract into the floor, rubbing past me as it tried to bring its smaller, more agile tendrils into reach of me. I could feel the other tendrils snaking towards me.

Desperately, I scrambled for secure footing to evade them. If this was the trap, then it was a doozy. Total fucking cliche as well! No way was I losing to some idiot with a tentacle fetish! With a yell, I managed to jump out of the hole and started to sprint away, only to be yanked painfully backwards by my hair.

Snared, dammit!

"No more witty quips, Sailor Jupiter?" asked Zoisite sarcastically. From somewhere, he had found two allies - brightly coloured and clearly female, their costumes would have fit in perfectly in a swimsuit contest - or a stripper bar. I had the nasty suspicion that another was approaching from behind, to judge by the tickle of youki I could feel from that direction. "No last, defiant words for me to remember you by?"

"Mind if I cut in?" came a familiar voice and I felt the grip on my hair fall away. Along with the last couple of inches of hair, but it was a small price to pay.

"You!" Zoisite - if it was he, and I was beginning to have doubts - exclaimed, and then frowned. "Who are you!?"

"Just a friendly neighbourhood hairdresser," Ten'ou Haruka said, moving up to stand next to me, holding a sword that frankly looked more like something I would have expected to see Zoisite wielding. "I saw some split ends I just had to get rid of."

"We'll split your ends," shouted one of the youma and raised her hand, putting the tentacles into motion again.

Haruka slashed out at the nearest, half-severing it. "We can exchange stories later, Sailor Jupiter, or whatever your name is."

"I like your style," I agreed. "And you've given me an idea how to put a stop to these things." I raised my hand skywards, summoning the lightning as if for a Supreme Thunder. But now, I needed something different. Just as Zoisite's flames didn't penetrate my fuku's protection, a simple Supreme Thunder didn't have the punch to seriously damage the tentacles. I needed something with more penetration. As Haruka had demonstrated, I needed an edge. "Thunder Break!"

Lightning roared from the sky and took shape in my hands. A long shaft, just about as long as I was tall. And a curving, crackling blade as long as my arm. I could feel the energies writhing within it. Eager to be free... or desperate to cut.

I let it, whirling the naginata in a long, sweeping slice that severed two of the tentacles completely.

"Not bad," Haruka agreed as the tentacles hit the ground and fell apart into dust. "I've got your back."

 

[akun50]

Post moved below. Doesn't look good in the middle of Drakensis' stuff.

 

[drakensis]

Zoisite

I'm watching, but I'm no longer waiting.

The time is now.

I know what and who I'm dealing with.

Seeing as my double gloating over there feels the same his two female, pastel-skinned, bug-winged associates do, I feel it safe to consider their side of this trap sprung.

Youma are, everything else aside, predators at their core. These three are no different. Once they've chosen their prey, then tend to focus on it.

Haruka and Jupiter, back to back, one swinging around the shard I left with her, the other doing similarly with a polearm made up of crackling electricity.

This is what fills their senses now.

Not to the exclusion of all else, no. That would have had the species go extinct fairly quickly.

But unless they're very, very good actors, their attention is no longer on the surrounds.

They'd notice obvious, yes, and so I make myself as unobvious and unobtrusive as I can.

It's a trick to fool the mind.

My own.

I don't know if it would count as meditation, or as self-hypnosis, and I don't particularly care.

I relax. Unwind. At this time, in this place, I belong perfectly.

First order of business, the remaining rational parts of my brain whisper to the rest softly, take out the main threat.

These are the DD girls. In a straight fight, they're tough. They're strong. But their main advantage, I recall from both sets of memories, lies in weaving illusions. The fire the one pretending to be me is throwing around is one, but affecting reality severely enough to make the heat real.

That's my target.

Casually, leisurely, moving along with the ebb and flow of energy around me, I stroll forward.

Stop behind 'me'.

"Senbonzakura."

And make with the blossoms.

"CHIRE!"

'He' manages to turn halfway before I release them. That's it.

The scattering cloud of razor sharp bits of crystalline petals swirls around him, tearing into flesh where the eyes say there should be none, and shattering the illusion.

Aquamarine skin, a blue 'swimsuit', and long blond hair. Insect wings. And, set into a tiara that I 'remember' is actually part of her body, the gem that made casting those illusions possible in the first place.

I don't give her a chance to collect herself, don't give her a chance to recover even slightly. That's he whole point of an ambush, as she and her sisters would have aptly demonstrated once upon a timeline in Antarctica.

Talking is not a free action.

I scatter the petals to both sides, curving them to swirl around my body again, and step inside her guard.

Reach forward.

Wrap one hand around the tiara-like growth, while bracing the other against a bloodied shoulder, and pull.

Hard.

She screams before I put her out of her misery and have my Senbonzakura petals finish what they started, turning her body into so much ground meat.

Makoto

I'd have to say that after Haruka's arrival, I wasn't too surprised that Katz was also around. I have to give him a little credit for an impressive entrance, ripping the hell out of Zoisite - or the one who had been pretending to be him at any rate. Okay, flattering as it had to think I was handling one of Beryls Generals singlehandedly, finding out that it had just been one of the B team made more sense.

"So, the DD Girls," Katz said mildly. "I was expecting certain things to be larger. So much for truth in advertising."

The youma seemed stunned by his sudden appearance. "What... Zoisite...? You...?" Then they braced themselves. "Of course, using these two as your pawns to spring our trap. Very clever, General. But you're still no match for the DD girls!"

"All five of you?" asked... Zoisite? Katz? Impossible! "Perhaps," he admitted and shook the gore off of the tiaria he'd torn off from their leader. "Against two?"

It didn't matter. I reversed Thunder Break suddenly and then thrust overarm into the one on the left. Thunder tore through her, tore her apart. Perhaps unfortunately, it did the same to the building behind her. "Against one?"

"Against none!" shouted Haruka and drove her crystal sword through the last survivor, penetrating the last DD girl's chest just below her... ribs and doubling the youma over before her body broke apart.

As we paused, gathering our breath and watching for more enemies, the last standing building that made up the shrine tilted suddenly as it's foundations collapsed, no doubt weakened by all those underground tentacles suddenly dusting. The ridge beam broke with a snapping sound.

"Oops," I flinched, releasing my hold on the lightnings I held, letting them dissipate. "R- uh, Sailor Mars is gonna be pissed."

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" came an angry scream from behind me and I turned in time to see Sailor Mars hurtling forwards, leading with her knee. At about groin height. Girl fights dirty. She also has damn nice legs, I noticed. Frankly, if she'd been aiming at me, I'd have been crushed. Too distracted to defend myself.

Fortunately for me, she was aiming at Katz. Zoisite. Whoever he was.

Fortunately for him, he could fly - or at least hover - and therefore avoided Rei's attack by drifting up and backwards.

"Aren't you supposed to recite a cheesy speech first?" he asked wryly, turning slightly to keep Rei's landing spot in view. "The one about punishing me in high heels would be a good one."

"For destroying my home and... my God... my Revenge of Chronos tapes... DIE!" she shrieked. "Fire Soul!"

Her target dodged. "You keep trying that, I keep moving away."

I looked over at Haruka. "Are you going to do anything?"

"Are you kidding?" she asked. "This is awesome! Why don't you have a skirt that short?"

A rose zipped past us and might have skewered Katz if I hadn't reflexively vaporised it with a bolt of lightning. "Stop shooting at my neighbour!" I shouted to the newly arrived and surprised looking Tuxedo Mask. "The fight's over."

"But..." He pointed at Rei, who was still trying to flambe Katz.

"He's not an enemy, he's a rogue youma hunter."

The formally-dressed comic relief blinked. "What's a rogue youma?"

"Great, I've officially become the Wesley," grumbled Katz. "Stop that!" he shouted at a still flaming mad Sailor Mars as she succeeded in setting one of the few remaining trees on fire with a near miss.

"You're gonna pay for my house being destroyed!" she screamed.

"Haven't you ever heard of insurance?" Haruka muttered.

There was a shrill whistle from the top of the stairs, where Tsuruko had arrived at some point - probably with Rei, given that they seemed to hang out together. "News crew on its way up here," she warned.

"Aw nuts." I rubbed my face with the heels of my hands. "Okay. Haruka, Katz. Go help Aoyama-san talk to them like normal people. I'll call Moon and Mercury, see what's keeping them. Tux-boy, you calm down Sailor Mars."

"Uh... I've got a better idea," he suggested, looking nervously at the fuming Senshi of Fire. "Why don't you calm her down and I call the other Sailor Scouts?"

"Do you have a Sailor Scout communicator?" I asked, brandishing my pink and glitter cellphone of doom.

His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Uh... that is... no, but..."

"I'm in a mood," I warned him. "Now go play fire-extinguisher for me."

"I do have a name, you know," he mumbled as he walked off, muttering about not getting any respect.

"Then stop acting like you're the one stuck in a cheerleader outfit," I riposted under my breath and flipped the communicator open a la Captain Kirk, thumbing the button to call Sailor Moon. Our fearless leader should be be the first contacted after all.

Zoisite

Normal people?

I give Jupiter what I think is a look of frank disbelief.

Was it or was it not my face that had been plastered across nationwide news broadcasts as that of the perpetrator of this little shebang?

Alright, so maybe there's some merit in attempting to run at least a bit of spin-control on this whole mess.

I float out of the way, taking care to stay beyond the reach of an angry Sailor Mars, before settling back down on the ground.

Looking around ... yes, alright, I can see why she'd be in a right state because of this. Some of the trees on the edges of the property are still smoking, or even burning from where the DD girls' illusions of flame had actually set them on fire. The shrine itself, though, is currently little more than the scorched stone walls lining the property, and misshappened bits of kindling.

"What's a 'Wesley'," Haruka asks as she comes up beside me.

"It's a past-life thing."

Well, it is. It's also not an immediate concern, no matter how paranoid my brain is.

"Dark Kingdom?"

"No, before that. Old popular culture reference."

Which brings us across the few meters, and in front of a scowling miko.

Or, she's dressed as one. The shirasaya at her side suggests she's more than that, though, and the name tickles at the back of my mind something fierce.

What had Jupiter called her? Aoyama? Why does that sound like a name I should recognize ...

Huh.

Impressive glare.

Oh, right, miko. I reign in as much of my youki as I can.

Or try to. At this point, it's as futile as trying to turn back the high tide with a tablespoon.

"Demon."

I'm twisted. Or just strange. I actually feel ... content hearing that one-word definition. I find it flattering.

"Dark sorcerer, if you want to be accurate."

The seesaw of emotions has me feeling calm and disconnected again.

"Dress it up however you will, fiend," coal black eyes and coal black hair and skin of finest alabaster. I fail to dodge Haruka's not-so-slight elbow nudge. "But know that you will be watched."

"I'm flattered."

I'm reasonably sure she doesn't know what to make of me saying that, and I know I can hear Haruka snicker.

Looking down the steps of the shrine, there's a poor beast of burden in man-clothes hauling up what looks like a camera, trailing after a guy in a khaki suit and trying not to pant.

Justifiably, as the camera is a block of black and gray nearly half as big as the person carrying it. If I'm exaggerating, it's not by much.

I can pinpoint the moment I'm spotted nearly down to the second, as the one in front stops so violently he nearly flies backwards.

"You were wanting something, I presume?"

The fact that I don't immediately turn them into charcoal registers.

"... with JNN. If you would be willing to answer a few questions?"

Newsmen. All the self-preservation instincts of a horde of rabid gerbils.

"I am sure you can see the situation is under control, reporter-san," miss Aoyama says. "But if you do not vacate the premises, we cannot be responsible for your safety."

The cameraman, or camera-woman, I now see, swivels her instrument to catch a shot of her face, then goes back to focus on ...

... well, I can't say I'm not flattered.

Given the situation, though, I'd just as soon they didn't. I never liked cameras much before, and this hasn't changed in any significant way since.

"Why are you pointing that at me?"

No, I don't try to be civil. Likely because it just never, ever, actually works.

The way the reporter's face contorts is interesting. Or is it interesting that I even notice that it contorts in the first place. It's a series of subtle twitches more than anything else. It's the sort of expression I now associate with people plowing forward despite knowing better, come hell or high water.

"Sir, what reason did you have for causing property damage in the hundreds of millions?"

I don't have to look around to know that Aoyama and Haruka both are looking at me.

The thing is, I'm also not particularly upset about the question.

More than anything, I feel ... amused?

Yes, that's it. I know I shouldn't. This is a serious matter. I can see scorched, singed and smoking pieces of property and housing stretching outwards from the foot of the hill, clearly marking the path my 'double' had taken in getting here.

I can feel the dogged determination behind those words, but I cannot bring myself to truly care.

"I find it interesting that, having just had a tangible demonstration of the existence of the supernatural, you insist on not questioning whether or not what you saw done and whom you saw doing it were fact. Think on this."

"Sir, please, if you could give our viewers at least some clarification ..."

Unless I absolutely need to, I'm not going to. I fell no obligation to, and seeing as these are reporters, what I say will invariably be mangled and misquoted anyway ...

"The matter has been resolved. The threat has been neutralized. That's all. No further comment available," says Haruka, stone-faced.

Suddenly, she's cool, calm, collected, and on top of the situation.

She's got this.

"Were the Sailor Senshi involved in resolving the matter?"

Or so I think, before the newsman continues the line of inquiry, seemingly oblivious to any kind of nonverbal discouragement.

"Do we look like Sailor Senshi to you?" Haruka snipes right back.

I almost chuckle, admiring the indirect jibe.

No, she in her denim and Second Chance ballistic vest underneath, Aoyama in her miko robes, and myself in tan slacks and cloth button-down, certainly can't pass for those.

"Then you claim to be unaffiliated devil hunters?"

It's like the energizer bunny of reporting. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Oh, to hell with it.

"I'd say it's obvious that, for at least one of my companions, this kind of thing is calling and vocation," I put forth in my best 'offended' tone of voice.

Don't blame me.

I really, really can't help it.

This is just too perfect.

I absolutely have to mess with him.

"As for myself and my other associate ... are you absolutely certain you wish to know?"

"Yes!"

"Very well, we are ..." I lean forward.

"Yes?"

Lower my voice.

"Sexy teenaged gods of war."

Makoto

There was a pause before I got a reply. "What's the crisis, Re- wait, Makoto? You never call me on these. I was beginning to think you'd lost yours."

"I don't much like fondling something that came out of Luna's butt," I sniped back (there was an offended humph in the background). "How far away are you from the shrine?"

"We're at my place," Usagi replied. "Why, what's wrong?"

I cleared my throat. "Um. Usagi, have you or Ami seen the news for the last hour or so? Or maybe picked up anything on the Mercury Computer?"

"Sailor Jupiter..." she said, her tone switching almost instantly to something much more focused. "Tell me exactly what is going on."

"A bunch of youma smashed their way across the district and pretty much levelled the Hikawa Shrine," I told her. "It's all over now b-"

A call of "Goddammit, Ami, get your clothes on, we have to get to the shrine," came through somewhat muted by distance - at a guess the one and only Sailor Moon had dropped the communicator for some reason. Getting dressed possibly. Can't imagine what they might have been up to in her bedroom without clothes... oh wait, yes I can...

There was a rattle as the communicator was picked up again and Usagi snapped: "We'll be right there," closing the communicator again before I could say anything. Well that had gone better than I expected.


Haruka

She watched them walk down the steps, trying to keep her face expressionless as she saw the reporter glance at her car.

Fortunately, she'd taken enough care to remove the plates before leaving, but it was still fairly distinctive. Especially since it would need some bodywork to get that dent out.

'On the other hand,' she thought 'I just ran headlong into a supernatural firefight and came out alive.'

That was certainly noteworthy, on several levels, not the least of which being that she hadn't been pulled along by events this time.

Yes, she'd prepared for this kind of eventuality ever since that one night. She'd invested in some top of the line body armor, ceramic plates and all. She'd spent as much of her time as she could, after regular practice on the track to keep her hand in, on finding out just how much skill and raw talent with the sword she now had.

As she'd discovered a long time ago, though, practice and practical application ... differed.

This had been the case here as well, and she was still tingling, head to toe, as adrenalin slowly worked itself out of her system. There'd been moments during the frantic minutes of swinging the sword-shard and trying to keep out of the way of whatever it was that was trying to kill her at the time, where there'd been little to no room for what pure theory said was skill.

No room for the thrust, no room for artful parries, no room for fancy footwork.

Just the hack and slash and moments of frantically not having time to worry about anything but.

She shook the thoughts off, knowing this was neither the time nor the place for them, before turning back to the tableau that had developed within what had once been shrine grounds. Had been, because right now it resembled little more than something you'd see in the wake of a particularly vicious typhoon.

Or tornado.

With thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening ... she locked that thought firmly away on reflex, just to be on the safe side.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?" She asked of Zoisite.

"Oh, come on. I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't done that."

"Meaning I'll have to deal with you acting all smug and self satisfied now," the racer grumbled, before glancing to one side where the miko, Aoyama, was looking on in what could only be ill-concealed unease and disbelief.

They must have made for an interesting study in contrasts, she realized in a flash. One in traditional garb and with equally traditional sword by her side, long dark hair trailing down her back, the other a short-haired blond with denim over the top of a ballistic vest, still holding a shard of crystal.

She cast a glance at Zoisite, who remained decked out in tan slacks and a black button-down shirt, looking for all the world like he'd just gone out on the town, and chuckled. The contrast wasn't particularly funny, per se, but it was just a relief to laugh after this mess.

The glacial look the miko sent her, possibly ... no, probably misinterpreting her reaction, was easily brushed aside.

"I think we'll need to deal with them before you need to deal with me being my usual self," Zoisite commented, his back to the steps and looking on at the one seriously pissed off red-skirted Senshi, the formal-wear clad ballroom reject, and Jupiter.

"Not like that!" He immediately corrected, as the miko beside them took several rapid steps backwards while resting her hand on the hilt of the shirasaya at her side.

It could have gone either way on the scale of possible escalation, Haruka felt, if not for the interruption.

"Katz!" A mildly alarmed looking Jupiter called out. "Mars is still feeling a youki signature around here. Didn't you say there were five of these youma around?"

"I got two," Haruka said, drawing a surprised glance from Aoyama. "One down there, one up here."

"I got one," nodded Jupiter. "He got one. Or ...?"

The renegade General shrugged.

"Killed one," he replied. "Detained the other."

"Detained? How would one go about detaining a beast capable of doing this much damage?!" Countered the miko.

How indeed, Haruka wondered. She didn't have to wonder for long.

Makoto

"So, Schroedinger Katz?" I asked as we bundled his captured DD girl into the boot of Haruka's Toyota. She wasn't protesting very much, or at all, seeing this as an improvement to being pinned down through wings, arms and legs like some grotesque parody of a butterfly in an entymologist's collection. "What's your story?"

"Honestly, I'm uncertain," he told me, making one last check of the captured youma's bonds.

"Dude..." I protested. "That's been done to death. Seriously."

Katz chuckled and slammed the boot closed. "I'm making this up as I go along, so bear with me."

"Easier said than done," called Haruka from the driver's seat.

"Quiet in the peanut gallery," he shot back as he hopped into the backseat and sprawled across it, gesturing for me to take the front seat.

Haruka turned her head to stick her tongue out at him. "You usually call shotgun," she said, turning the statement into a question.

The 'rogue youma hunter' jerked his thumb back towards the rear of the car. "I want to keep a close eye on our luggage. It'd be just too bad if she woke up and tried to claw her way out while you were driving. And shouldn't it be ladies first when it comes to explanations, Sailor Jupiter? Or would you prefer Kino Makoto?"

"Chivalry died back around the introduction of the bolt action rifle," I pointed out, slipping into the car and buckling myself in securely. "And it's obvious that you know enough to be getting along with for a few minutes."

Accepting that implicit promise, Haruka put the car into gear and headed for home - nursing the car along at a more or less legal pace in deference to the wounds her faithful charger had suffered during her rather aggressive parking disagreement with one of the DD girls.

"One minute it's business as usual," Katz told me. "Birds singing, squirrels making lots of rotten little squirrels. Sun beaming down... and then I wake up in the service of a redheaded she-bitch with a boys love fetish, and the solar system sadly bereft of any life other than..." He gestured abstractly, which I took to mean the planet we were currently in residence upon.

"And...?" I asked leadingly when he failed to continue.

He blinked. "Eh? Oh... well there's no coffee in the Dark Kingdom," he expanded. Someone who hadn't seen his damn near seduction of my java over the last month might not have followed that logic. I did. I didn't believe it - it skipped over a great deal - but it did at least even the playing field when it came to information. Ball in my court, so to speak.

"As you have cleverly deduced, I am Kino Makoto." I admitted. "I am thirteen years old and a student at Junior High. In my spare time I cook -"

"Thank you," they chorused. Bastards.

"- and I am a miko at Hikawa Shrine. Please think kindly of me."

"And the Sailor Jupiter thing?" Haruka asked bluntly.

"A black cat crossed my path and asked me to fight for love and justice. Unfortunately I'd just kicked one of his compatriots in the balls so I was in a poor position to negotiate over the wages."

Katz brightened. "Which one?"

"K- uh, the sephiroth lookalike."

"Yes!" Katz punched the air.

Haruka looked over at me. "Who's Sephiroth?"

Katz and I looked at each other. Oops.

"It's a past life thing," Katz dived him and I nodded vigorously.

"White haired pretty-boy with a god complex." And the likely anachronism is not at all suspicious to either of us. At all. Seriously.

"Ah." Haruka appeared to mentally file that away for future reference. "So, more important question: why is your skirt so much longer than Sailor Mars'?"

I glared at her. "Haruka. You know how you are occasionally a little careless of other people's personal space. Particularly when you're attracted to them? And that's my kneee, by the way, not the gearstick..."

"Sorry."

"Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars are worse."

There was a long pause.

"Inconceivable," Katz muttered.

"You're sitting there conceiving of it right now," Haruka accused rather hypocritically.

"True," he admitted shamelessly. "Is that why you didn't want to wait around for Moon and Mercury to arrive?"

"Well that and the fact that I'm not sure where they'd stand on a prisoner being useful for information purposes," I agreed. "Sailor Moon can be quite aggressive, but I'd rather not discuss whatever the youma equivalent of waterboarding is with her until I have a better idea of her position on the matter. It might be a touch awkward if she actually gave me orders on the matter."

"True," Katz agreed. "If I torture someone, it's not going to be because someone gives me orders to..." He saw the disturbed expressions on our faces. "...and that didn't quite come out right. Besides, no matter how human some youma may look, there's no guarantee that they need to breathe So that particular example may not work."

"It was merely an example," I said. "It would be counter-productive for at least one that I've come across. But we're jumping ahead of ourselves. Where do you propose we confine this one? We probably can't keep her confined for all that long unless you fancy spending most of your time guarding her, Katz. Zoisite. What should I call you, anyway?"

"Either or," Katz replied. "I don't really have a preference but the alias is useful. And not as obvious as Sigmund Zois would have been."

Haruka grinned. "Or you could just do what I do."

"What, just call him 'hey you'?" I asked. "Ten'ou-san, that would be terribly impolite of me."

She looked at me oddly - we'd been on first name terms since the first time she all but knocked my door down in search of coffee - and I winked to indicate I was joking. "I deal with the racing circuit jocks on a regular basis. Kami only know what sort of barbarian backwater he came from. Come on, we've practically been roommates for almost a month. You still think we mind?"

"I think you're out of your collective minds," I told her. "But hey, I fight evil on the orders of a cat, so who am I to speak?"

 

[akun50]

Queen Beryl summoned the next youma who'd been sent to check on the progress of their human allies. It'd been a rather trying month, with at least several of the branches being arrested, dismantled or destroyed.

A few groups had supposedly found a number of items of possible interest, even if none of them could be what she was looking for, and Beryl had practically pounced on the idea of misidentified items.

To be brutally honest, Beryl was really starting to hope for any good news to crack her sour disposition. Even if it wasn't what she was looking for, the new items could prove useful in finding her true goal.

"Reporting in, your majesty. The group I was sent to attempted to deceive me with three forgeries by using their given abilities to create false magical auras around the items, but the 'power' the items emitted was hardly those of the legendary items they claimed them to be." the female youma explained, bowing deeply.

Beryl's growl indicated that she wanted a deeper explanation, "Let me see them."

The female youma knelt down, her blue eyes flickering briefly to Beryl, producing three items and laying them before Beryl, a european longsword, a wooden spear with two feathers tied near the spearhead, and a silver cup. The youma motioned towards the blade, "They said this was Excalibur. However, it says 'Made In Taiwan' on the pommel."

The investigator brushed a few long red hairs back behind her ear before she motioned towards the spear, "They said this was Gungnir, but the feathers are those of a turkey, and it not only missed it's mark, but it was also easily knocked out of the air."

"And this is supposedly the Holy Grail, except it says 'Ren Faire 1990' on it." she continued, "They then attempted to bribe me into turning in the forgeries anyway. When I would not, they threatened me. I was forced to deal with the impudent fools."

"HOW DARE THEY!" Beryl snarled.

Beryl's scowl deepened, but she was at least pleased with the fate of the fools, "Excellent work."

Beryl turned to one of her couriers, "Instruct all of our contacts about this. We will NOT tolerate forgeries."

The courier bowed deeply, "Of course, your majesty."

A wave dismissed both of her minions, and the next investigator appeared to give their report. The red-haired youma smirked as she arrived in her bedroom. Attempting to trick Beryl with fakes was extremely dangerous, but the items that she'd gained as a result were well worth the effort.

 

[violetshadows]

Edit: Removed, until I can find a way to kill this damn block.

 

[blackkyuubi]

Pretty awesome, for some reason I really dig the way you're portraying Zoisite.

EDIT: (Here's the new comment thread. Please do not post in this thread unless you're one of the writers.)

 

[Oni_kawaii]

woops wrong thread.
We need a delete post function.

 

[SoulGriever13]

Sorry. Posted from my own batch instead of the combo, which I should have ... Now updated.

---
Zoisite

The apartment complex has underground garages.

I imagine this was a major selling point to Haruka. I remember asking her how she managed to secure three of those, to which she'd simply replied that she bought them off the other residents. This let her keep both cars and the one motorbike on hand, and the rest of the one she kept the motorbike in she used to store some spare parts.

This was also where we'd stashed our prisoner, using several lengths of motorbike chain to secure her.

It's also where I am right now, kicking the dog. Or youma in this case.

There's also no kicking involved in the literal sense.

I have better methods at my disposal.

Worse methods.

I almost feel a little guilty, for all of an instant, before I recall she and her lot would have cheerfully dragged me back to Queen She-bitch for reconditioning, and all that would have followed.

Then I realize I'm trying to justify, and promptly throw the whole chain of reasoning out the window.

In the end, I really don't have to resort to anything extreme.

Or maybe I simply start off with doing just that. I'm not sure which frame of reference to use.

From one point of view, I don't do anything much. It certainly wouldn't count as brutality, or

From another, I systematically consume her, while starving her to the brink of death at the same time. I grab the youki that's as essential to her as life-force is to humans, and slowly drain almost all of it.

In the end, I get what I came for and a bit more, thumb the cassette recorder off, and lock the garage back up.

I leave her with enough energy to live on for another day or two, at most.

Save the platitudes, I know exactly what I did.

Information is the first line of defense, and the first method of attack, in any conflict.

And this is a conflict. Any faint hope that it may not be one, or that I could just hole up somewhere and wait until things blow over was dashed rather spectacularly just hours ago. Or should that be, any delusions of hope which I may have harbored?

I figure, if I tell myself this often enough, I may eventually believe it.


Makoto

The door to Haruka's apartment cracked open and Katz walked in, eyes fixed forwards with a thousand yard stare. He walked straight past Haruka and I - we had been sprawled on the couch, talking aimlessly and trying not to think about what he was doing to the DD Girl downstairs in Haruka's garage - to the fridge, cracked it open and pulled out a bottle of vodka, twisting the cap off with such force that he snapped off the top of the neck as well.

"Does that help?" I asked.

Katz shook his head. "No." He poured out a large glass and slugged about half of it. "Lousy Dark Kingdom health plan."

I waited until he was done with the glass before I asked: "What did you learn?"

He sighed and poured himself another drink. "Okay. Most youma can't teleport straight from the Dark Kingdom, so there's a semi-permanent portal. They move it every little while, but she and her sisters only came through a day or so ago so it's probably still there."

"Useful," I said. "Very useful. Do they know anything about other youma? We could clean up if -"

Katz shook his head. "They were here specifically to target me. They didn't have anything to do with energy gathering so she couldn't tell me much of anything." He chuckled darkly. "Apparently they scouted my palace in the Dark Kingdom before coming here. Seems I'd hardly been away a day when the other Generals tore it apart looking for me... and shinies. Between that and freelance scavenging, it was torn apart."

"Regrets?" I asked.

"Nah," he said. "Momentoes of that life, I do not need."

Haruka shook her head. "You don't take momentoes of when it's your turn to empty the bins either."

I frowned. "Wait, I'm having an idea."

"Quickly!" Haruka said, rising to grab the calendar. "Katz, through me a pen so we can immortalise the date."

"I'm too busy hiding," he said, holding up a cushion to shield himself from me. "Her ideas are dangerous."

"Yes," I told him. "This is a dangerous idea. Very dangerous. But it could be fun. Have you ever watched the Untouchables?"

"Sure," agreed Katz (which I noted as another point to look into. He'd been out of the Dark Kingdom for what, six weeks at most?). "What are you thinking of?"

"They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue," I reminded him.

"I don't like where you're going... where you're implying we should go."

"They loot your palace, you burn one of their's to the ground," Haruka suggested and I knew I'd captured her imagination.

"No no," I corrected her. "First you plunder, then you burn."

Katz still looked dubious. "It's a longshot of a chance, with only a three day opportunity," he pointed out.

"That's the beauty of it! They'd never expect it! They've been coming here. To our world. Fighting on our doorstep," I told him, recalling the devestation of the Hikawa Shrine. "We can't win a war like that. And this is a war, general."

He grimaced. "I see your point. And the appeal." He slumped back into the sofa.

"Be honest," Haruka chided him. "You were just being lazy."

"Please, I call it being concerned."

She looked at me, eyes laughing. "Yup, lazy."

"Fine. Well, soldier," he shot to me. "What's your plan, girl genius?"

I smirked at him. "Well, since they're expecting the DD Grls to drag you back..." I picked up the illusion stone he'd taken from the leader of the team of youma and threw it over to him. "Think you can get this working?"

"I hate you."

"No you don't," I said, rising to my feet. "But it's nice of you to say so. Think it over. I'll be whipping up some dinner."


Zoisite

I turn the gem between my fingers and examine it.

Initially a dark blue in tint, it shifts and changes shades as it moves, never quite settling on just one even when it stops.

Probing it with senses other than the standard five is what brings the actual surprise, though. Examined so closely, it almost feels like a youma in and of itself. There's a spark of energy somewhere within, and hunger. Almost like a youma, but not quite, as a probe of youki doesn't yield any real results or reactions.

I'm hesitant to try a more powerful one, seeing as this is where I hang my hat, and a probe like that may end up being noticed.

The brief, vague impression I get is almost akin to it being ...

I look up from my contemplation of the shiny bauble to find Haruka setting a mug of coffee in front of me.

"Bless you."

A moment of silence.

"What are you thinking?"

I look at her, over the rim of the mug. That she still has the energy to be this intense after the day we've had is impressive in and of itself.

"Bar?"

"No, seriously."

"I'm thinking she has a point, as much as I don't care to go anywhere near that place anytime in the next, oh, several centuries," I take a long swig. "But, in the words of the great philosopher Jagger, you can't always get what you want."

Yes, I used to watch that show, but that's beside the point right now.

"Think you can figure that thing out quickly enough?"

"Yes. No. Maybe," I shrug. "I remember bits and pieces, which is why I grabbed it in the first place. Yourself?"

She has on a pair of shorts, and a half-buttoned dress shirt ... her wind-down clothes, as far as I've figured out. There's a purplish looking discoloration I notice on one of her legs, but other than that, everything seems alright.

"I'm fine," she waves it off, dropping back onto the couch with her own mug of black gold in hand, and some unopened envelopes in the other. "You know as well as I do this'll be gone by tomorrow, at the latest."

She has a point.

I abstain from making any plans to sell the idea of Haruka, the Youma Slayer, to local television networks. There'll be time for that in the future.

Instead, I go back to the gem, giving it an irritated glare as I start pacing.

...

Huh?

"Hey, 'Ruka?"

"Yeah?" She asks absentmindedly. One after the other, most of the envelopes and their contents are discarded.

I could try and go test this subtly.

Aw, fuck it.

"Mphhhhh!?"

Is the reaction I get after I lean over the back of the couch, tap her on the shoulder, and ...

She tastes like copper, cinnamon and coffee, and for a moment I forget why I'm doing this.

Since she isn't introducing her fist to my head, or other bits of anatomy, I think it may not be just me.

Then the moment's gone.

"... what the hell!?"

I'd say sorry, but I'd be lying.

"Testing a theory," I reply after a moment to collect myself.

Alright, now she looks like she's going to punch me. Repeatedly.

"And I've wanted to do that again for a while now."

See? I can be honest with people other than myself sometimes.

She's distracted from offering any kind of reply, be it physical or otherwise, by the fact that my right arm is currently looking like it's twisting and deforming ever-which-way. The gem in my hand certainly doesn't feel dormant anymore.

Bingo!

"Not sure if I should be flattered or offended," Haruka says crossly, cracking her knuckles.

With a supreme effort of will, I turn my attention back to the gem and surround it with a thin shell of youki. The mirage effect around my arm disappears.

"Think of it as a contribution to science?" I offer. "Or not ... don't say it!"

She only barely stops herself, before looking uncommonly sheepish.

"...I really was going to say that, wasn't I? Damn."

If there's one thing we both found we have in common, early on, it's the intense dislike of the phrase 'we need to talk'. Nothing good ever comes of it.

"Well, disaster averted."

She eyes the opaque black shell of youki floating above my palm. "You got an idea from that?"

"I have an angle. Now I need to check if I can work that angle," I nod, before starting towards the apartment door.

Irritation, affection ... emotion. That's the key to this puzzle in my hand. Or, no. It's more like a combination safe with many combinations and many compartments. And I have less time than I'd like to crack it.

"I may be a while."

"Hey!"

I turn back around.

"Mmph?!"

Huh.

Deja vu.

"Now we're even," she says, letting go of my shirt.

Well, how's that for motivation?

***

Evening is starting to turn into night, and the bright lights and neon signs and billboards start to become eyecatching rather than simply being there. Stark and turning the black into washed out shades of gray, fluctuating with all the colors of the rainbow.

The noise of all the people down there, in the streets, easily reaches me.

I tune it out easily enough.

Focus on the other kind of noise, if one can even call it that.

It's an ocean down there. An ocean in a storm. Wave upon wave of human emotion running into one-another, painting surreal sceneries in the mind's eye of anyone who can look.

Fascinating. Confusing.

Trying to isolate anything out of that is like trying to find one particular needle in a stack made up of other needles.

Hence, it's fortunate that I don't need to try.

The youki shell in the palm of my hand is cracked, and I simply act the middle-man.

If I didn't know better, I'd say this thing is some kind of bastardized template mazoku. As it is, it's buzzing in almost-excitement as I feed it the melange of emotions.

It's a lot more efficient than simply letting it take in the ambiance.

Is it a parasite? A symbiotic life-form? Or just some freak manifestation of magical cause and effect?

A proto-youma?

Well, knowing that wouldn't really help any in this case.

It tastes the emotion outside, and bends the perception of space as a result. That's the bare-bones basics of it.

I widen the cracks in the shell, letting the gem taste more of Roppongi air.

It's a kaleidoscope.

Eyes are blinded.

Ears are deafened.

Constantly moving and shifting mirages whirl all around.

Desperately, I try to bring them under some kind of control, before vertigo can take me.

The attempt fails.

Spectacularly.

By the time I'm no longer reeling like I'd just gone through several bottles of Everclear in short order, and lock the gem in again, I can hear and feel panic below.

Isn't that just wonderful?

I relocate.

Levitation by itself isn't all that fast. The trick, then, is to simply not use it by itself.

I use it to turn already impressive leaps into ones the Hulk wouldn't be ashamed of. Sans, perhaps, the craters at beginning and end.

Circle around.

Find another lurk. One not quite so saturated with emotional bleed.

Sit there and think.

What did I do wrong?

Well, hindsight being 20-20, it was obviously an bout of momentary insanity that convinced me jumping into the deep end with this would be a good idea.

Ending up giving the Roppongi skyline a shot of nightmare fuel just sort of brought this home.

Oops.

In the end, and after several hours of trials ... fortunately without a repeat of that unfortunate accident, I am forced to revise some of my initial assumptions.

I crack the shell.

Connect a strand of youki to the gem.

Clear my mind.

I dub it a tentative success when nothing happens, especially as I'm now sitting above Kabukicho again, and metaphorically speaking dipping into another conflagration of emotions.

Slowly.

Slooooowly.

I start with the simplest thing I can imagine, and the air around me ripples, before momentarily becoming more ... purple. Yes, air. Turning around, it's like looking at the world through a pair of tinted spectacles.

I grin.

Turn the world back to normal.

This has potential.

The images before were not the gem's doing. They were my mind imprinting its impressions of the emotions it could feel through the gem.

For a moment, I wonder.

This thing filters _context_?!

I make my way down.

Stand out of sight.

Reach out with my mind and focus on a group of people, before throwing the gem a single concept.

I walk out onto the street, and people step out of my way as I make my way to a storefront.

The image reflected back at me is that of a police officer, with details to the uniform that I never would have thought of adding.

Heh.

Hehe.

Bwhahahahahahah.

This thing is so broken.
---

 

[drakensis]

I'd been hoping I'd have time for a long shower after the day I'd had. Needless to say, I was a mite annoyed when the communicator chirped just as I was about to start getting undressed. "What?" I snapped into it.

"Bit stressed, Makoto?" Usagi asked wryly.

"Just a bit," I grumbled. "Sorry to skip out before you got there, but Rei was getting on my nerves."

"She has a talent for doing that," Usagi agreed.

"Does she have somewhere to stay?" I asked. I'd be reluctant to open my flat to her, for several reasons, not all of them selfish, but I had been one of the ones trashing her home (and her video collection).

"She's staying with me at the moment," Usagi stated. Unsaid was as far away from Ami as possible.

"Oh. Good." Hopefully the two pervs would cancel each other out. "Is Luna bugging you for a... what do the Self-Defense Force call it in the movies? After-Action Report?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I gave her what I knew... I was hoping you could tell me a little more? Fill in the gaps?" Usagi paused. "Like what's with your friends? Their magical signatures were off the chart."

"Really?" Interesting bit of information. "He's a spite-fueled renegade sorcerer with a shady past. She's a sword-swinging lesbian with a coffee addiction and a speed fetish. They fight crime."

"The best part is that I know that you didn't make that up," Usagi laughed.

"I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried," I groaned. "Apparently Beryl messed him around, trying to recruit him about a month back. I'm guessing - just guessing - that he would have been Zoisite if she'd succeeded. The youma smashing things earlier was someone disguised as him to lure him out. Fortunately," I buffed my fingernails against my blouse, "He didn't go alone."

"Nicely done," Usagi enthused. "So, you think he'd like to work with us?"

"I don't think he'd be averse to the idea, particularly if Rei keeps flashing her knickers at him," I told her. "Haven't really talked about it yet and he's off on some business for a day or so."

"Let me guess... They involve mayhem and destruction?"

"Didn't ask, to be honest." I decided it might be best to change the subject for the moment. "We might want to watch ourselves though. Those youma were pretty good - if the Dark Kingdom's upping their game then we could have a problem on our hands. Was there enough left for Ami to get any readings on them?"

"She's running some sims right now, but we need more computing power," Usagi mused. "I'm seeing if Luna can give us something better..."

"Not gonna speculate about what she can pull out of her hairy little butt," I chuckled, sitting down on my bed since it didn't seem likely I'd be getting to my shower any time soon. "Which reminds me: guess who's new magical attack girl today?"

"Puni Puni Poemy?"

"...who?" I asked. A moment later I placed the name and made another mental note that this Usagi knew a few things I didn't think the real Usagi would have.

"Never mind, obscure reference," Usagi mumbled. "Who?"

"Supreme Thunder wasn't hacking it against the youma, so I got myself an upgrade," I revealed a little smugly. "A little trick I call Thunder Break. It's something like that Moon Tiara Sword of yours."

"Very nice," Usagi said.

"Yeah. In the nick of time," I admitted. "It's one of the reasons I'm worried about encountering more dangerous youma in the future... sort of like a mid-season upgrade or something from a TV show."

"We're magical girls who fight extremely girly looking magical men and tentacle demons. I think we should just give in to the fact we're going to be running into clichÚs like this," Usagi commented dryly.

"Truth in television," I muttered. "Next thing you know, Beryl'll be working from the Evil Overlord List and we'll be hopelessly screwed."

"We can only hope she's not that clever," Usagi said.

I nodded. "I'm kill for some decent intelligence on what she's -"

There was a chime and the screen split in half, shunting Usagi off to one side to reveal Ami's face. "Usagi, Makoto," she said hastily. "I'm picking something strange up from Roppongi."

"What is it, Ami?" Usagi asked.

"And have you tried penicillin?" I asked.

She gave me a strange look and I shrugged. "I'm not sure," she said. "It's... very diffuse. And the police bands are talking about tourists seeing monsters."

"Looks like it's a job for the Sailor Senshi," Usagi said. "To the nearest phone booth!" she cried.

"By the power of Grayskull," I jeered as I rummaged for my transformation pen. Fortunately, nothing happened. The more conventional transformation phase did work the by-now-familiar magic however, and Sailor Jupiter bailed out of the window of my apartment a moment later.

"And you will know my name is the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon THEE!" Usagi cheered, in a disturbingly accurate impression of Samuel L. Jackson.

"Ezekiel," I noted. "That's very biblical of you. I thought Rei was the one with the catholic education." Not that I knew it from the bible originally.

"I'm Protestant myself," Usagi said.

"Okay. Although, frankly, wrath of the pissed off senshi wanting a shower and bed is more my speed than wrath of god right now. I've already battled the forces of darkness once today and it's getting frustrating."

"Hear hear!" Rei called over the communications device.

"Whatever this is," I declared. "We're going to fry it before it knows what hit it and then go home, 'kay?"

"Agreed, and then Ami and I can have some private time alone~," Rei teased.

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Usagi snarled.

Well I suppose the two of them arguing is predictable... although the subject matter was quite what I'd seen in the manga. "Remind me to buy you a taser sometime, Sailor Mercury," I said over the communicator and then altered my path as I saw two leaping figures off to my left. By the time I caught up with them, Sailor Mars had joined them.

"Why would I need a taser?" Ami asked, flushing red at the comments that the other two threw back and forth.

I sighed. "To ward off sexual predators, Ami. There are some strange people out there."

"Definitely," Usagi agreed, glaring at Rei. Sailor Mars stuck her tongue out at her, and glomped Ami.

"Aw, I'm not that bad, Ami-chwuan~," Mars said happily.

"HEY! Off!" Sailor Moon growled, smacking Rei's hands away from the blushing Mercury.

"I was thinking more of the fact we're headed into night-club central dressed like we belong on the stage-shows," I said. "But if the shoe fits..."

"Speaking of which... Ami?" Moon asked. Mercury sighed, and pulled out her computer.

"I'm working on it," the genius said.

I pointed out a skyscraper up ahead. "Let's stop there - we should have a decent view and it's central enough that we shouldn't be too far away if - when - Ami narrows this down."

"There's youma activity all over the place... It's like they're deliberately trying to cloud up my sensors!" Ami groaned.

"Okay... let's try working this from the other end," I suggested, trying to think positively. "What could they be up to here? There's plenty of energy I suppose..."

"Huge amounts ever since the Musical demon," Usagi mumbled.

"Well... It's possible they could be trying to distract us... But why? How would they know we could pick them up?" Usagi asked.

"Maybe due to the fact we can figure out where they're doing their dirty business, even when they're not on TV," Rei suggested.

"TV... radio... police band," I linked ideas together. "Ami, you said that the police band was active? Think you can pick out where they're getting youma reports from so we can zero in on one?"

Ami nodded, and quickly typed up the data on her computer. The sound of static filled the air before the speech of police dispatchers replaced it.

"Alright, now all we need is to listen out for the jargon that means youma attack and we're in business," I said gratefully.

"What is that jargon?" Rei asked.

"...I dunno," I admitted, red-faced.

Ami sighed. "It's Ten-Sixty-Four," she told us.

"Ahhh... Where's the nearest 10-60-4?" Usagi asked.

Ami looked distracted. "They've had a dozen in the last half hour," she said absently. "But no one's found anything substantial yet... wait. There's another one." She glanced at the computer and then pointed. "That way."

"Let's go!" Usagi ordered, jumping off the roof.

"Right behind you," I mumbled, jumping after her, although it was actually Rei who was closest behind her.

Ami, perhaps sensibly, remained behind to direct us, zeroing us in on a payphone outside one of Roppongi's many strip clubs. A couple of cars were off the street but none of the damage looked particularly as if it was youma-related.

"Hmmm," Usagi mused. "This doesn't look suspicious or anything..." Her dry tone was a little grating.

"There's something..." Rei muttered uncertainly, looking around. I could feel it too, the hair on the back of my neck rising.

Usagi formed her Tiara Blade. "Fangs out," she said. It was a little odd to hear her using fighter-pilot lingo, but I got the gist.

Nothing happened. "I'll take a closer look," I volunteered and hopped down onto the top of one of the veranda that shielded patrons of a seedy looking cinema from inclement weather. With the bright neon lights, I was nothing but an anonymous shadow.

A couple were huddled near the payphone. At first I thought they were making out, but they were actually shaking. I could see a police cruiser come around the corner of the block and it slowed as it approached the payphone.

"There's another 10-64 being called in," Ami whispered in my ear, almost making me jump, I'd been so focused on trying to hear what the couple said to the police.

"Where?" Usagi asked.

"Three blocks north, four east," Ami advised. "Apparently... a movie poster came to life?"

"Who are you going to call?" Usagi asked wryly. "C'mon!" She ran across the roofs.

I said nothing, did nothing, until the policewoman had finished taking a statement and then straightened my legs sharply, hurling myself up to rooftop height at all. If anyone heard me, I saw no sign of it. "Apparently something big and hairy was marching down the street," I relayed to the others. "The cars went off the road to avoid it, and then it vanished. What do you have?"

"They're illusions," Ami concluded.

"Huh?" Usagi asked.

"They're fucking what?" I spat, incredulously.

"You mean we're chasing shadows?" Rei growled. "Fucking great..."

I cudgeled my mind to think. "A diversion maybe?"

"From what?" Rei asked.

"Ami?" Usagi asked.

Her voice was frustrated. "They could have a marching band here for all I can tell. With all the false reports, it's impossible to work out if one is for real."

"Who gave Beryl a lesson in electronic warfare?" I asked rhetorically.

"Hmmm..." Usagi looked thoughtful. "EMW is done in two different ways. Active and passive. Active is just clouding the airwaves so you can't see, and passive is being undetected... So..."

"We look for someplace where the spiritual energy is being suppressed," Rei suggested.

"It's got possibilities," I agreed. "Otherwise we're going to be jumping at shadows all night."

"I'm trying... I wish Luna was here, she's been showing me the functions of the computer but there's still a lot to go through still," Ami sighed.

"You can do it, Ami-chan, I just know it!" Usagi complimented Mercury.

"Definitely," Mars agreed. "Just focus..."

I leant against the wall and watched them. Practicing being dark and broody. Difficult wearing this much white, but I felt a little like Batman right now.

"I don't see anything suppressed," Ami admitted after a few minutes. "But the... field, for want of a more precise term, in the area is diminishing. I think I can plot a timeline for it now."

"Okay," Usagi said. "Where did this start?"

"That's harder," Ami told her. "Whatever this is, it's a non-linear effect with regard to the spatial... I don't have a definite centre," she clarified. "But it started just a little before sunset. It's going to be gone completely by around four in the morning."

"Four in the morning?" I said incredulously. "That's unspeakably devious of someone - we've got school tomorrow. If we're here until the wee hours that's going to suck."

"What can you give us?" Usagi asked, in her "serious leader" mode.

Ami drummed her fingers on the Mercury computer. "I think there was something similar at the Shrine earlier. More refined, I didn't get much and it didn't seem important since they were defeated."

"There was an illusion there that made it look like it was Zoisite attacking," I told her. "So if that's similar to these illusions..."

"It's related to that attack," stated Rei.

"Can we disrupt it somehow?" I asked. "You said it was breaking up. If we can collapse it suddenly then whatever is left..."

"I don't think... well, maybe," Ami said doubtfully. "We'd be destabilizing it, which would make it worse in the short term. Is that a good idea?"

"Well, considering the terror's already going on," Usagi said.

"A little pain with the medicine?" Rei asked dryly. Usagi shrugged.

"Let's just get it over with. What do we have to do?"
Ami consulted the Mercury computer again. "Probably the simplest way is to create a focus point. Um..." She looked around. "Alright. Makoto stays here, Usagi you go over to that rooftop. When I tell you to, shoot your attacks at each other."

"What?" I asked.

"Oh! It's like making a magical EMP!" Rei said.

"You're just glad you aren't going to be subjected to friendly fire," I grumbled.

"Yes! And I get to Fire Soul any whoever's doing this," she added smugly.

"I need to get her a leash," Usagi grumbled, leaping to the next roof.

"Oi, I'm no one's sex slave," Rei called after her.

"Good! I wouldn't want you for my slave anyway!" Usagi shouted back.

"Why can't we do this from the same roof?" I asked Ami.

"Partly because I'll need the time it takes for your attacks to reach each other to set this up," She said. "And partly because there might not be much left of the roof if we did it here. This way there's plenty of empty space for any side scatter."

"There will be time for massive amounts of wanton destruction later," Usagi said.

"Yes, but other than you and Rei getting on like a house on fire, are you ready?" I asked.

"Or do you need to hear more of Makoto's lame puns?" Rei suggested with a grin.

"Maybe one more," Usagi joked. "Seriously though, throw it!" She charged her Moon Tiara Blade and threw it at me as hard as she possibly could.

I was tempted to see what a Thunder Break would do against that, but Ami hadn't seen that one yet, so she probably wasn't calculating on in. "Supreme Thunder!" I shouted and hurled the bolt of lightning at Usagi.

The two attacks met in mid-air, right above the street at I could hear surprised shouts from below at the unexpected fireworks. I wasn't paying much attention however as I was more interested in the alarming sight of Usagi's Tiara Sword slicing through my attack.

"Got it," Ami called out and the sword suddenly diverted upwards the remaining lightning trailing after it.

Usagi reached out her hand and tried to summon back the sword.

There was a sudden crack of thunder. "That wasn't me!" I said, looking up in surprise. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. When I looked down, Ami, Rei and Usagi were gone, replaced with snarling youma. Usagi's tiara sword was embedded several inches into the concrete near the youma where she had been standing.

Then the one standing where Rei had been hurled a fireball at me. I dived frantically aside and snapped a hand out. "Thunder Break," Lightning slashed into my hand and a spear of electrical energy was half-way towards the youma's throat before I worked out what might be going on. "Rei?"

Another youma summoned Usagi's Tiara Sword to her hand, and threw it at me from behind. It expanded and changed shape, before snapping around my torso, trapping my arms to my waist.

"Why don't you restrain Ms. Triggerhappy over there?" I called, lowering Thunder Break but not releasing it yet. The images of the youma were beginning to waver, looking more and more like the other senshi.

The Usagi youma seemed to listen to me, punching the Rei-Youma in the face

"Woo. Catfight," I deadpanned as the illusions broke and Rei retaliated by grabbing one of Usagi's ponytails and yanking on it

"OWWW! Fucking bitch let go! It's me!" Usagi shouted.

"You punched me in the face!" Rei growled.

"Anything hostile showing up?" I asked Ami, not taking my eyes off the other two.

"Just them," she sighed.

"Well as long as they're having fun... don't suppose the computer has a camera?"

Both of them shot me a dirty look.

"What?" I asked. "The unresolved sexual tension between you's been getting on my nerves. Now that you've moved in together, hopefully you'll get it out of your system."

"THERE ISN'T ANY UNRESOLVED SEXUAL TENSION!" Usagi screamed.

"YEAH! Ami-chan's the only one for me~!" Rei cried, reaching to glomp Ami. Usagi whacked her over the head.

"Would you keep your hormones in check for one fucking minute?!" Usagi demanded.

Rei growled at her. "You know, this isn't really helping to dispel the idea that we're in a relationship," she pointed out.

"Oh shut up," Usagi growled. "Ami? Where do we stand?"

"There isn't anything?" she said in a small voice, then cleared her throat and less tentatively: "They were all illusions and now it's broken there's nothing more than the usual background energy."

"Which means the whole thing was a false alarm or a red herring," I grumbled.

"Or somebody's idea of a practical joke," Usagi sighed.

"I'm sorry," Ami said, shrinking in on herself.

Usagi gave Ami a hug. "It's all right Ami, I know you did your best," she said.

"Don't," I said forbiddingly to Rei, and rubbed my forehead. "Just... don't. And Ami, even if it was nothing in the end, it still had to be checked out. You did the right thing. Happens that way sometimes."

"Agreed," Usagi said, to her credit letting Ami go before she got uncomfortable. She sighed and stretched. "So, don't worry about it... Personally, I think we could use a round of ice cream."

I shook my head. "Usagi, it's past eleven. I'm going home. Good night," I said with some finality and started bounding in what I hoped, in the darkness, would be more or less the right direction.

"All right... Night," she called after me.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

TIMESKIP: THE NEXT DAY

Usagi

I decided to head to the arcade after we all got home, in order to blow off some steam with video games. I would have done some blowing up with my Sailor powers, but Luna would've gotten on my case about it. Again.

What, you'd like to listen to her bitch for hours on end? Fuck that.

Mamoru

"Ye Gods, I can't stand it anymore!" I declared, throwing my hands into the air in dismay. Endymon was usually quiet in the back of my head, but Christ, he could whinge! I was only trying to indulge in my hobby of model making, but every step of the way, he complained. He complained about the fact we were going out, about the fact I had chosen to purchase a model of HMS Hood over a model of the Yamato, everything. God, I needed something to shut him up.

Usagi

Huh?! Is that Mamoru?! Where the hell has he been? And why is he here now?

I couldn't help my frown. Could it be that Beryl had gotten her hands on him and turned him evil? No, no... That wasn't likely. He was out and about in the real world, why would she let her boy toy loose?

Still, he hadn't shown up a lot... He hadn't been around... I figured that there may have been another insert inside him (that or he was even more messed up than in common), but I had no idea who it could have been.

I suppose I could just ask, I thought to myself.

Mamoru

I rubbed my face with my hand, trying to drown out the whining dead prince. "If this continues much longer, I'm buying a bottle of Bailey's." I grumbled to myself. I opened my eyes, and saw none other than Usagi Tsukino standing before. I made a choked yelp of a alarm and stumbled back a pace. "Tsu-Tsu-Tsukino-san!" I said in a flustered voice. "What a surprise, fancy meeting you here!"

Usagi

"Uh... Yeah. I'm kind of speechless myself," I mumbled back. "So, uh... Been keeping busy?" I asked mildly. Hey, I was trying to stay casual, give me a break.

Mamoru

"Trying to. Thought I might try a bit of model-making." I said, showing her the case. "See? HMS Hood, the most beautiful warship of her age." I said, blushing. "Um... hey, ah, sorry about the other day. How 'bout I buy you some ice cream to make up for it?"

Usagi

"Sure!" I replied immediately without thinking. I mentally grimaced afterwards. It didn't help that both myself and Usagi were huge fans of ice cream.

"I mean uh... Let's go!" I said, smiling cheerfully.

Mamoru

I smiled just a little and put the model kit back in the carry bag. I squared my shoulders, and for a moment thought of Jason Trenner, inside the body of Motoki Furahata. I wondered what he was up to, as Usagi and I walked together.

Usagi

"So, the Hood huh?" I asked, looking over at the model in his bag. "I heard she never fired a shot in combat until that battle with the Bismarck..."

Growing up with a US Navy officer as a dad and an historian mother left me with a large number of various facts of history. Mostly obscure, but at least they made good starter points for conversation, right?

Mamoru

"Actually, Hood's first action was sinking the Vichy French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, just one week after the French surrender in 1940. She sank the battleship Bretagne and damaged another battleship, the Strasbourg." I said. "And I must be the worlds' dullest man to know a fact like that." I added as an aside.

Usagi

I couldn't help a girlish giggle. Stupid body. "Nah, it's nice to know I'm not alone in, you know, obscure historical facts. What else can you tell me?"

I couldn't help it. I was probably as big a geek as Mamoru here (or whoever he was) when it came to learning. I loved to learn. My favourite teachers and I would talk for long hours about various subjects I was really passionate about, and sometimes about subjects (such as math) I wasn't passionate about, but the teacher made interesting anyway. What can I say, my brain is like a sponge and it wants to be filled.

Mamoru

"Hmm... How about that, during the Battle of Britain, 60% of all German aircraft; bombers, fighters, and reconnaissance aircraft; were shot down by Hawker Hurricanes, vastly outweighing the Supermarine Spitfire's contribution?"

Usagi

"Ah, now that I did know, but I don't know why that was," I replied with a grin, taking his arm. Oh damnit... Stupid girly hormones. It didn't help Usagi was a naturally physical person, and liked to touch and be touched.

Mamoru

"It's quite simple, actually: The Hurricane had the tightest turning circle of any of the fighters in the Battle. Got a 109 on your tail? A few quick turns and you're now on his. And even if you did get a bullet in your plane, all you needed to do was sew a cloth patch over the hole, like you would on your favourite pair of jeans, and you were ready to fly again."

Usagi

"I thought the Swordfish was the 'string bag'," I said with a grin. This was great! Just talking to someone into the same things I was like this...

Mamoru

Her grin was infectious. "They called the Fairey Swordfish that because she had lots and lots of little storage compartments in the fuselage, so you could store lots of stuff. Like a drawstring shopping bag. Heck, you could probably hide a body inside all the compartments and still have room for the first aid kit."

Usagi

I couldn't help the snort of laughter out of my nose at that. "So... I haven't seen you around a whole lot lately. What, you have a girlfriend or something? Not enough time in the day to see your nemesis?" I teased. It came naturally to me... Maybe a little too naturally.

Don't angst now, you idiot...

Mamoru

I sighed. "Sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind. Having to juggle so many things at once: Part-time job, University Studies, now I know how Keitaro feels..."

Usagi

"Keitaro?" I asked in feigned ignorance. Well, that pretty much sealed the deal-He was an insert. Love Hina wouldn't come out for another few years at least.

Mamoru

I blinked. "What? Would Keiichi Morisato have been a better comparison?" I asked innocently. Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap, me and my big mouth! I thought

Usagi

"Well... He did have three beautiful goddesses living with him," I mused, enjoying his discomfort. Blame Usagi's side of the equation, not mine. "Something you're not telling me, Mamoru? Are you in your very own harem anime now?" I grinned evilly.

Mamoru

I sighed wearily. "I suppose we were both overdue for this conversation, weren't we?" Leading her into the ice cream parlour, I let her order something as I sat in a private booth away from the window.

Usagi

"Probably," I said with a shrug, after placing my order with the waitress. As soon as she was out of earshot, I looked over at him with my hands folded in my lap.

"So... Mamoru... Or should I call you Tuxedo Kamen?" I asked. "Endymion? ... Darian even?" I tried. I couldn't help wanting to relieve the tension with some silly humor. The last thing I needed was for this to be more uncomfortable than it had to be.

Mamoru

"I'd prefer it if you would not mention that butchered dub, if you would be so kind." I remarked slightly snidely, as I dropped out of Japanese into my unique English speaking voice, which mixed BBC English with New Zealand English. "And how about you, Usagi? Or would you prefer Princess Serenity?"

Usagi

"Usagi please..." I said, ignoring how right it felt to say that. Enough with the internal issues, focus on what was going on around you.

"And yeah, I won't bring it up if you don't," I added, shuddering. "Yech..."

Mamoru

I nodded. "Very well. To more serious matters. It's fairly obvious to me, that neither of us are canon to this reality." I said, pausing as the waitress came back with Usagi's sundae. I ordered a plain strawberry milkshake for myself.

Usagi

I grabbed the cherry off the sundae and popped it into my mouth, happily eating it before tasting the pit. I made a face, and spat it out.

"Yeugh... Hate those things," I mumbled. I looked up at Mamoru and nodded.

"Yeah... It's kind of freaky... Truth be told I don't know if I want to know who you... 'Really are'," I admitted.

Mamoru

"I can't blame you. Jason made a right numpty of himself when he was in here." I pointed to my temple with an understanding smile. "Thank Rei for sorting that out.... Well, before she went SI on us as well."

Usagi

"Jason?" I asked, confused. My brain began connecting Tuxedo Kamen's former behaviour with the name... And I shuddered.

"Ugh... I really hope we're not thinking of the same guy, but it probably is," I groaned. "In that case... I have to say, you're definitely an improvement. No offense to him but uh..."

Mamoru

I nodded. "Indeed. Jason is... an acquired taste. He's surprisingly agreeable, as long as you know how to herd him properly." The waitress returned with my milkshake.

Usagi

I chuckled. "Yeah... It's uh... I'm not too good at it yet. Where... or who is he now?"

Mamoru

I sipped on my milkshake for a moment. "When we arrived here, he was Mamoru Chiba. I was Motoki Furuhata. Then Rei intervened. We ended up swapping heads, as it were. So now, Jason Trenner is Motoki Furuhata, and David Abramczyk is Mamoru Chiba." I said, sipping on my drink. "The future of the world, resting in the hands of an overweight, unemployed 23-year old New Zealander with bad eyesight. A joke in very poor taste, do you not agree?"

Usagi

"Well... Not that bad," I mumbled. This made at least three members of TFF self inserts into this world. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"You don't look overweight, unemployed or short-sighted now," I joked with a smile, before eating a spoonful of ice cream.

Mamoru

I chuckled a little weakly. "Thank you for your kind words. Speaking of, who am I speaking to? After all, Usagi Tsukino, especially this early in the run, never showed the level of insight that you are showing now."

Usagi

I hesitated. I was having trouble separating myself from Usagi more often now... But the problem was, for most intents and purposes I was Usagi right now. Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity... Fate's Bitch.

And there was also the little matter of some villain out and about in this world wearing my face, stirring up chaos, yet doing it to people I might like to punish or affect in similar ways. I just... I know it sounds stupid, but...

I honestly didn't know if I was still Talon, or if I was turning into a mixture of Usagi and Talon. I looked down at the ice cream in front of me, and poked at it with my spoon.

"It's... Complicated," I admitted.

Mamoru

"Oh....." I said. "The bleed-over of personalities?" I asked. "It's nasty that. For a while after I first arrived, I hardly knew which way was up and which was down."

Usagi

I couldn't help a bit of sad laughter in between bites of my ice cream. "Yeah... Rei's, well... Her insert is basically a 'worldly man'," I said in English, making quotation marks with my fingers. "So he's... She's adapted pretty quickly. This well..." I hesitated again.

"It's kind of hard when, in some ways... You're a lot like the character. I seem to have some sort of ADHD, really."

Actually, it seemed to be a recurring theme with a lot of shonen and shojo heroes-They were lamebrains in many things except for combat, as though they were finding themselves lost in the modern world and found that going "back to basics" was where they were at home. I think I felt the same thing when it came to music or martial arts-I wasn't great on the technical parts but I was great in the unconscious things, like how to move and how to inject emotion into my music.

"That, and well..." I couldn't help the flush on my cheeks. "Considering who we are and our whole... Destiny thing..."

Stupid female hormones...

"This is already really weird for me," I said, "and I guess I want it to be less weird for you. So... Maybe it's better if you just think of me as 'Usagi'." That would probably make things easier for me in my... Relationship with 'Tuxedo Kamen'. Trying to compartmentalize the aspects of my life like that. With Rei/Ero, it was a lot easier to be 'Talon' than it was to be 'Talon' with a guy I was supposed to marry and have children with in the future of this universe. No matter who he "really" was inside.

Mamoru

"Agreed. And for the sake of the others, I'll try and be Mamoru more than I'm David." I said. "Mind you, first chance I get, I'm getting a decent rifle. I'm much more of a long range marksman than I am a brawler. That's Haruka and Makoto's jobs."

Usagi

I chuckled. "Rose bullets?" It was both a funny, and strangely bad-ass image.

Mamoru

"More that I have a low tolerance of pain. And it's just my luck I'm the one who gets all the James Bondage, as they would call it on TVTropes."

Usagi

"Well, you do have that Extending Rod, right?" I asked. "Goku did a lot of awesome things with it in Dragonball, and you did use pretty effectively to counter swords. Er, well, not you but... You know what I mean," I explained.

Mamoru

"I've been meaning to try it out, but Pinky and Perky up in here have been on a non-stop whine about everything for the last few days, God knows why..."

Usagi

"Can I talk to him? I mean... I did so before... In a dream," I mumbled.

Mamoru

"Well, if you think it's a good idea." I said.

Usagi

"All right... So... How do we do this?" I asked. "Vulcan Mind-Meld? My mind to your mind? My thoughts to your thoughts? Yadda yadda?"

Mamoru

"Well, if you think that'd work." I said a little doubtfully. "Hang on, let me come around.." I moved to sit next to Usagi.

Usagi

"Argh," I mumbled. My hormones were once again inciting a blush to appear on my cheeks, and UsagiÆs side of my mind was simultaneously embarassed and indignant. I didn't think all women were like this, mind you, but Usagi was a teenaged girl. Communicating with most of them was rough-Being one? Even rougher.

I shook my head vigerously and tried to focus on the job at hand... No pun intended. Really.

"Okay," I mumbled, reaching up and placing my fingers on MamoruÆs temple, cheek and jawline. I closed my eyes, and mumbled the Vulcan mantra.

"My mind to your mind... My thoughts to your thoughts..."

I felt... Like the biggest idiot in the universe. It worked though. Astonishingly. "H-Huh?" I gasped, feeling... Something shift in Mamoru. His aura, his magical signature-Whatever it was, I could feel it change, as easily as though he had changed colors.

"... Endymion?" I inquired hesitantly.

Endymon

"Hello, Usagi Tsukino. Or would you prefer Andrew Talon?"

Usagi

"Shhhh!" I hissed. "I'm trying to keep that under wraps to preserve both our sanities!"

Endymon chuckled. "As you wish, Tsukino-san."

"So... You're out... Why don't you tell me what's going on between you and David?" I asked. "He IS better than Jason, right?"

Endymon nodded. "Slightly too milquetoast, but he's a better fit than Jason was."

"So... Why the whining? What's going on?" I asked. "Why the frustration?"

"Mostly it's because he thinks far too little of himself. He sees his situation as being having a huge pair of shoes to fill." Endymon paused. "It doesn't help that he seems to get depressed easily." he added.

"I know how that can feel," I mumbled. I shook my head. "So, you're trying to get him to be more confident, is that it? You can't expect miracles overnight, you need to get to know him more... Well, more than you might already know..." I groaned. "Sorry, I'm suggesting things when I don't know the whole story. Continue?"

Endymon nodded. "Well, on top of that, he's terrified. He doesn't know the series very well, aside from the fact that I'm always getting kidnapped and brainwashed. Add to that his natural shyness around girls, and it all piles up."
"Well, you now know enough to not turn out like that, right?" I suggested. "I mean, you're a proud warrior prince from Ancient Earth. I'm betting you know all sorts of ways around Beryl and her cronies." I paused and frowned. "Which seems to indicate she's gone senile or something in the last ten thousand years, given how she's working now..."

"That I do, but remember, this is Sailor Moon, not Tuxedo Kamen." he pointed out.

"Oh baloney," I snorted. "You've got your tools and weapons, your skills and your wits. Not to mention future knowledge. You could be like, well... Our Batman, so to speak." Endymon grinned.

"I hadn't actually looked at it that way, you know?" he said. "That's actually a good point."

I nodded and grinned back. "Besides... Nothing I've seen indicates youma are immune to conventional explosives or weapons. I mean, energy's energy, right? Also, smoke bombs and grenades would serve as good distractions if nothing else... Honestly, you have great potential besides simply throwing roses and being our cheerleader. Um, no offense..."

"None taken."

"On another note... Crystal Tokyo," I said. "We aren't going to have to commit genocide or conquer the planet to bring it back, are we?"

Endymon snorted. "Where do people get these ideas? I mean honestly...."

"Bored fans and a lot of ambiguity in the source material," I answered primly. I shrugged. "Well... So long as that's not involved in CT's recreation... Or punishing humans for 'polluting and defiling the Earth', I'm onboard and committed to it's restoration... Though maybe making it someplace that isn't already a sovereign nation would be a little easier..."

"Duely noted." Endymon said with a nod.

"Like, Antarctica... It could be our new Atlantis... Er, nevermind that," I said at his look. "Another kind of obscure reference..."

"More of your future television programming?"

"Yeah," I said with a grin. "It's more educational than you might think."

"I'll take your word for it." Endymon said

"Hopefully it'll show up sooner rather than later," I said. "So... I don't suppose you know of any hidden locations of super weapons? Starships? Anything like that?"

Endymon smiled. "Maybe later on." he said. "Once all the Senshi are together."

"Oh come on," I scowled. "Don't be a tease! I swear, if you're hiding some kind of Divine Laser Rifle, that's just not cool your Majesty."

Endymon laughed. "I have to admit I'm with David on that issue: Nothing beats a good Lee-Enfield rifle."

"Or a phaser. A Moon Phaser would be great. I know I might be sounding like Jason at this point but getting to have a phaser would justify my fangirling," I enthused.

"Hmm... I think there's still a few old Earth Kingdom armouries here and there around the world." he said

"Yeah? Yeah?" I asked eagerly. Maybe I was fangirling a bit, but tell me honestly that you wouldn't love to get your hands on actual ray guns or lightsabres powered by freaking magic.

"They aren't exactly easy to get to, though." he said.

"Well... Do you know where one could be? Anything at all?" I asked.

Endymon nodded. "I think there's one in the mountains, near what's now Sendai."

"Damn... That's pretty far," I murmured. I hummed thoughtfully. "And I don't think we could get out there and do a thorough enough search in just a weekend..." I looked back at him. "Or could we?"

"It's possible." Endymon said slowly. "It might be a problem with all these Youma and things messing around, though."

"We'll have to have a meeting with the other Senshi... And, er... Maybe with the Witches," I mumbled. "Though no way in hell am I letting them get into an Earth Kingdom armory alone," I added.

"Agreed." Endymon said. "So then, anything else to discuss?"

"Ahhh..." I thought about talking about the whole... "Getting Married and Having Babies" thing with him, but I... I just couldn't. Not there. Not now. "Nothing that I don't want to share with the other Senshi," I said quietly. Endymon nodded, and patted her shoulder comfortingly

It was at that moment a spike of "something" washed over us both. I jumped in my seat and looked out the window. It... It felt like a youma... But I wasn't in Sailor form, how was I sensing that?

Endymon frowned. "Did you sense that?"

"Yeah," I muttered. "That's... That's weird..." I pulled my hand away from his face and cleared my throat. "We uh... Should probably get going...?" Endymon nodded, and retured to inside David's mind.

"So uh..." I looked in my wallet, and grimaced. I then turned to Mamoru, unconsciously using my pleading face. "I'm kind of short, can you handle the bill?" I asked.

He nodded and tossed a handful of bills onto the counter. "Keep the change." he called, following Usagi out.

 

[SoulGriever13]

It's around mid-afternoon on the next day by the time I make it back.

Admittedly, after taking a detour to give the gem its acid test.

It worked like a charm, yes, but it took me until I was almost neck-deep to realize that I had no way to transport several fairly large and heavy crates through Tokyo short of physically dragging them. Which would not be good for my concentration in the long run.

And even if not, where would I stash them? Haruka had only so much garage space left.

Besides, some more ... deniable storage would be required for these.

Skip it.

I'll worry about it later. In the interim, stashing most of it underneath a building set to be demolished soon seems like a good enough stopgap measure.

Duffel bag slung over one shoulder, I step out of the elevator.

Yes, I'm feeling lazy.

I drop the bag off, then make my way across the hall.

"Finally back, then," Haruka comments from where she's taking advantage of our neighbor's culinary talents.

"You can't rush genius."

So I'm being a little full of myself. So sue me, I feel good.

"It worked?"

"Easy as pie." I grin.

"Really? You know, I got the most interesting call last night, and ended up trudging along through Roppongi for several hours, looking for monsters appearing out of thin air ..." Makoto says flatly.

Oh.

"Would you believe ... swamp gas?"

"Don't make me grab the rolling pin."

"Alright, alright, so things didn't go quite as smoothly as I may have initially claimed. It works now, though!"

 

[drakensis]

Makoto

"Is there anything else we're going to need?" I asked Katz, eyeing the list that the three of us had put together for Haruka to pick up from the nearest all-night hardware store (fifty kilometers away: she said it'd be a two hour round trip, and that's with a stop at her race team's facilities to drop off her Toyota for some off-the-books repairs and finishing the trip with one of the team vans). Breaking into the Dark Kingdom was going to be a not immoderate outlay, hopefully we could loot enough to make it worthwhile.

"Let me see the list," he asked and I handed it over, watching him scrutinse it for a long minute. "You know what we need? Some rope."

"Absolutely," I told him sarcastically. "What are you, insane?"

"No I'm not," he protested. "Charlie Bronson's always got rope."

"...what?"

"Yeah. He'd got a lot of rope strapped around him in the movies, and they always end up using it," Katz explained enthusiastically.

I shook my head. "You've lost it, haven't you?"

"No. I'm serious."

"Me too. That's just silly. You can fly. I can jump small buildings with a single bound. Name one thing we're going to need rope for."

Katz shrugged. "You don't know what you're going to need it for. They just always end up using it."

"What's this 'they' crap?" I asked him. "This isn't a ... movie."

He gave me a pointed look.

"Alright, alright." I uncapped my biro and accepted the list back to add 'rope' to the list. "Have your stupid rope then."

"Rope?" Haruka asked, coming back into the room after using the bathroom. "What do we need rope for?"

Katz opened his mouth to answer but I reached down the couch and poked him below the ribs to shut him up. "Too long and logically implausible to go into right now. Just get it so we can shut him up."

Haruka grinned. "Planning how to restrain him? I didn't know you were so kinky, Makoto."

I glared at her but said nothing as she picked up her car keys and the list before sauntering out the door. A couple of minutes later, we could hear the roar of the wounded Toyota over the typical sound of the plastic boxes on wheels that populated Juuban's streets.

"So who do we want to hit?" I asked, once the roar had receded into the distance. "Three choices and I'm guessing you wouldn't like to pay a visit to your old pal Kunzite..."

"No, I would not," Katz confirmed, shooting me a nasty look.

"...so. Jadeite?"

"No... I think Nephrite's a better target right now. He's a touch more likely to have Beryl's cutting edge magical toys around - the boy loves his toys - and he'll have a ton of raw materials, most of which are precious or semi-precious in Earth terms as I recall."

"Sounds like a winner. What sort of things are we looking for?"

"Besides anything saleable? Jade. It's a bit Exalted -"

"Let me guess, jade is a major component for those crystalline stunts the Dark Kingdom is so very fond of?" I asked.

"Yeah. And if I had to guess, I wouldn't be surprised if your transformation pen didn't have a fair bit of orichalcum in it."

Startled, I pulled it out and checked the gold cap. I'm no metallurgist, but I have seen gold a few times and he might be onto something. "Maybe. Well, I suppose that we are talking about an age before recorded history, an age of high deeds and dreams?"

"Quite," he agreed. "And Metallia's a Yozi..." He paled. "I think I'll just stop here before reality decides to oblige."

"No kidding. That would be several different flavours of bad." I sighed. Okay. If I was going to trust him at my back then it was time to get that little list of suspicious references we'd been making explained. "And cards on the table, there's no way that either of us should know this. I'm not from around here. You?"

Katz looked startled for a moment and then nodded. "Out of place and out of time. I suppose I should feel grateful it's not Evangelion."

"Oh hell no," I agreed with a shudder. "I tried writing fanfiction for that once... grimmer and darker than even 40K."

A suspicious look entered Katz's eye. "Oh aye. Being in the know isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Say what! 'In the Know' was the title of the fic I'd written with... "Griever?"

"D?" he asked, relief crossing his face. "Is that you in there?"

"No, it's the easter bunny," I told him. "Yeah, it's me."

"This is so weird," he grumbled and then slapped his hand across his face.

"What?"

"I just realised I've been checking out your ass for the past month."

I snorted. Given how... talented... Makoto was, I'd quickly got used to a certain amount of unavoidable attention. "And my chest. And Haruka's tonsils. The latter is probably more of a challenge to your sexuality if that's what you're worried about."

"In my defense..." he began and then paused. "Alright, I got nothing."

"Eh," I shrugged. "If the tables were turned... hell, come to that, I have done some hopefully discreet letching in her direction. Mention that and die, by the way. This isn't my body and I might have to explain where I've taken it someday."

"How much of the other past life do you have up here -" he tapped his temple with one finger. "- anyway?"

I grimaced at him. "It's crowded, I'll say that. I've got at least three sets of memories floating around. MIne - up to '09 - are best. Enough of Kino-san's to be functional. Very little of the Silver Millenium and it's disjointed as hell."

"Huh," Katz - or Greiver, he was picking up pseudonyms fairly fast - mumbled. "That's funny."

"Funny - haha, or funny - curious?" I asked him.

"The latter. I can't remember anything about who this used to be, but I've got what feels like thirty-plus years of Earth Kingdom General floating around. It's a mess. I think I can recall bits of '09 as well, but it's a lot like a blender set to frappe up here. All that's missing is Highlander-style flashbacks."

"The important thing you need to remember is that you owe me twenty quid," I said and raised my hands in surrender. "Just kidding. So you can't remember being one of Beryl's poolboys? Or do you mean you can't recall any life before she got hold of you in this day and age?"

Katz grimaced and headed for the fridge. "Thanks for reminding me. I'd almost managed to repress all of that. Epic amounts of booze were involved." He looked at the inside of the fridge and then closed it again in disgust. "Where's the rum gone?"

"Save it for the victory party," I suggested, having no idea where Haruka might keep her alcoholic beverages. As long as she didn't drink before driving, it wasn't my business.

"Fine, fine. What I mean is that this incarnation is like a huge blank space. I think Beryl may have erased it completely. No memories, no personality, nothing."

"Shit," I concluded. "Sounds like a 'save the last shot for yourself' opponent. I do not want to wind up as some kind of Dark Jupiter - Sailor Moon and Mars would gun me down without hesitation."

I got a shocked look at that suggestion. "...Mars, I could see doing that, but Moon? Either we're in bizzaro-world, or we're not the only ones who got the copy and paste treatment. At least I hope it was copy instead of cut."

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that something's going on with Mars, Moon and Tux-Boy. Mercury's a bit off from her canon behavious, but I'm not sure if it's because whoever it is can act worth a damn or because the other two Senshi keep hitting on her."

"Interesting..." he tailed off, his smile creeping me out.

"Hey, focus!"

"Sorry, I was in my happy place." He shook his head. "So unless we're stuck in a bizarro-land dojinshi..."

"That would explain entirely too much," I had to admit.

"I don't want to worry you," he added with a smirk, "But I may have seen a tentacle youma while I was on my 'drown Zoisite in 90proof' bender. Then again, that was Kabukicho's red-light district, and this is Japan."

"In that part of town, I'm more likely to have to rescue it," I grunted. "Or send in the explicitly lesbian duo in after it, anyway."


Haruka

'Why am I doing this again?'

She turned into the gate, through it, and pulled her Toyota inside. The converted storage hall her team had been renting was usually empty at this time of day, unless there was a pending project that needed to be completed quickly. Empty of people, that is.

Against one wall, the team's cars stood on hydraulic jacks, while the other was lined with racks upon rack of spare racing tires, as well as lockers containing the most commonly replaced parts. This was just one of several spaces they were renting, the next one over being a fully equipped heavy duty workshop that handled anything from extensive chassis remodeling to yanking, modifying, and replacing the engines.

'Oh, right, I was bored.'

Haruka turned off the engine and stepped out, sparing a narrow-eyed glance at the rear of her coupe. Alright, so sideswiping that youma had been the best way of getting it out of the picture at the time. That didn't mean she had to like this result. Bodywork was a definite must. She only counted herself lucky that, considering the impact and all, there was no need to yank and replace the rear axle.

That would have been a pain, not to mention tedious. This could be worked out in the course of a few days, if done right.

"Well, what brings you back here on this fine day, Haruka-kun? My, that looks nasty ..."

Kirishima Saiji was one of the team's founders, and at the same time its chief mechanic. In his late thirties, and having spent more than half of that buried in the guts of one machine or another, the man had forgotten more about cars than Haruka had ever known.

"It looks worse than it is," Haruka shrugged. "Handling is still the same, so if the axle got bumped around any, it wasn't all that much. I'll be by in a few days to get her back in shape. That's not really why I'm here, though."

"Yes, yes, you need to borrow one of the vans," the man gave her a shrewd look.

"A friend needs help moving, and I may need it for a few days."

Strictly speaking, all perfectly true.

"Hm ... well, you had better take mine," he spoke as he fished a set of keys out of his coveralls and tossed them at her. She snatched the silver jingles out of the air. "Just remember to top if off after you're done with it."

"I'm checked out on them," she protested for a bit, but it was mostly pro-forma. Even family connections wouldn't have gotten her a license at this age, but the team had managed to wrangle one special permit from the administration... after a wringer of tests and examinations, yes, but they had. She wasn't about to repay them by making them liable out of pride. "You alright without it for a few days, oyaji?"

"I'll just sign one of the team vans out and use that. What did this anyway?"

"You know, I'm not sure. All I know is that it had a lot more hair than anything ought to," Haruka replied. "You know what the tabloids are saying. From what I've seen, they don't know half of it. And when something jumps out at my car at night, does that, then gets back up and starts growling like a rabid dog? I wasn't going to stick around and ask it."

 

[Epsilon]

Dr. Tomoe

"I do not like the way things have been progressing, Germatoid. Not one bit," hissed the voice of Mistress 9 from Hotaru's body. She had abruptly taken over the body just as I picked up the girl from school to take her home in Eudial's minivan, which I borrowed until I bought a new car.

"While I admit that there is a risk with associating ourselves with those girls at this stage, this is a rare opportunity to observe how our potential adversaries operate and adjust our own plans accordingly," I replied smoothly while making a safe lane change.

I felt her cold eyes stare at me, as if probing for any sort of fault in my logic before she yielded to my earlier decision. "Then I shall leave it to you on how to handle the Senshi. Just make sure that they remain unaware of our true goal." That was all she said before she slumped in her seat again and allowed Hotaru's .

"E-eh...? Otou-san? I..." Realization dawned in her purple eyes. "Another seizure?"

"Don't worry about it. As soon as we get home, you can go right to bed."

"Okay..."

The drive ended in about five minutes just as I pulled into the driveway of the house. Just as I pulled out the house keys to open the front door, I was immediately greeted by Kaolinite.

"Doctor, you have a... guest waiting for you," stated the woman in a slightly disgusted tone. She led the both of us into the living room where Sailor Moon was waiting for us.

"Hiya! What's up, doc?"

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

I smiled brightly, especially at Hotaru, who looked completely exhausted. "Hey Hotaru! How was your day?"

It was hard to not like Hotaru. Despite her sheltered existence she was a sweet, fun, and likable girl to talk to. That, and she was just so cute and sad-looking that you were simultaneously moved to a broken heart, and to glomping the stuffing out of her.

Which I did, much to Dr. Tomoe's distress.

"Hey! Ease up!" He said. Hotaru blushed as I let her go. I smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Hotaru-chan, I was just happy to see you," I said.

"Th-That's okay," she murmured. "I'm going to bed, Otou-san..."

She left the room, and I looked back at Dr. Tomoe.

"Hope you don't mind, Doc, but I'd like to speak to you alone," I said. Tomoe raised his eyebrows, and then looked over at Kaolinite.

"Go ahead Kaolinite..."

"But Doctor," she protested. Tomoe shook his head and smiled.

"It's all right, really."

With a huff, she left, leaving us alone. I raised my hand to my barettes, and focused my magical power. It had taken a fair amount of practice, but I had figured out how to create a bit of a "garble zone" around me for some distance in order to keep my conversations private. Oh, they'd hear us talking all right, but not be able to make anything substantial out.

"So Doc, how's Hotaru doing," I asked, still keeping my voice bright and cheery. I really didn't know if the Witches could get around my barettes or not yet-Hence why in our meetings up to this point, I had avoided even implying I might know anything about Mistress 9 or Pharoah 90.

However, the changes in the timeline from... Well, quite possibly my meddling made it important that I try to nip this potential threat in the bud, and fast. The fewer things I had to worry about, the better.

"She's doing quite well for someone who had been abducted by a demon earlier."

"Yeah, I know," I replied, feeling a little awkward. God, was he bringing this up again?

"Anyway, the youkai have become more aggressive, hitting multiple targets all over the city," I said. "And apparently some can make illusions on a massive scale. I was wondering if you had anything that might be able to, you know, cut through illusions like that?"

"Hmmmm... first we need to know what senses the illusions try to trick. Are these visual illusions only or do they also affect your sense of hearing and smell?"

"Definitely visual, people report seeing demons all over the place, and we keep getting youkai signatures where they aren't. It's died down for now, but given the demon we faced last month," I trailed off.

"Anyway, any help you could give us would be very much appreciated... We may have found a lead into, well... Some advanced stuff."

"Can you elaborate a bit further on this 'advanced' stuff?" Tomoe asked.

"Not a whole lot," I admitted. "But... What would you think of a phaser?" I asked with a smile.

"A phaser? Are we talking phasers from the original series or the Next Generation? Or something in between?"

"Don't know just yet. Trust me though, energy weapons are most definitely on the table," I said.

"If any of you are decent sword fighters, I could try making lightsabers..." He suggested.

"I'm... Well... I know which end to hold," I said wryly.

"I think I'll stick with phasers for now. Any particular design I should use for easy wielding?" He asked.

"Just as long as it's easy to use in combat, I'll be fine," I said with a smile. "Though uh... Phaser is preferable. Hokey religions and ancient weapons and all that..."

I felt rather awkward about that. I kept finding fewer things to talk about each time I came here. And I couldn't exactly tell Dr. Tomoe that I knew about Mistress 9 and his evil plan to bring the Cthulu-wannabe out. Not with Kaolinite right there.

"Well... If there's nothing else you'd like to talk about?" He prompted. I nodded slowly, and dropped the jamming field.

"You'll be the first to know," I said, before turning and jumping out the window. I headed for home-Rei was going to love this, no doubt...