"Oh I have to get one of those!" Hotaru shouted as she dragged her friends towards a particular store.

      "I think you're going to have to get the whole set," Sasami replied as she pressed her nose against the glass alongside Hotaru to stare at the complete set of SD Sailor Senshi stuffed figures, "They even have me."

      "A little louder," Jeff warned, "I don't think they heard you in Nagasaki." Then his expression fell. "Oh be still my aching wallet!" Jeff lamented, "Take a look at that!"

      "Oh that's just perfect!" Hotaru said, "Mako-chan will go crazy!"

      "Yes, I'll get the regular figures, you get the wedding pairs," Sasami suggested, "I wonder if they have one that looks like Tenchi-chan!" Sasami added excitedly.

      "Made while you wait," Jeff pointed at the sign, "And that gives me an idea."

      "Breathing gives you ideas," Hotaru teased.

      "True."

      "Moon and Tuxedo Mask look so pretty. Jupiter and Jupiter's Knight look so brave. Mercury and Mercury's Knight look so elegant," Sasami said, "They're just perfect together."

      "What about the unattached?"

      "Every bride needs bridesmaids," Hotaru suggested.

      "Who do you dream of being?" Jeff asked, "The ring bearer?"

      " 'One ring to rule them all and one ring to find them'," Hotaru said ominously as they entered the store.

Sailor Jupiter II 14 - Yeah, My Blood's So Mad Feels like Coagulatin'

      The four 'Inners' stood atop a building and watched the trio enter the shop.

      "Should we wait for the Outers?" Moon asked, "And how do we know they're Outers? Is it their bellybuttons, or something else?"

      Sailor Mars rounded on Moon, "It has to do with where their planets are! Not how their belly bottons are shaped!"

      "But Saturn's one of us, and so is Jupiter, and those are Outer planets," Moon whined as she cowered from Mars' anger.

      "She has a point," Venus said, "Maybe Mercury could explain it, better." She regretted speaking a moment later.

      "Oh Princess, I knew you liked me better than Oni-chan!" Moon gushed as she hugged Venus, and stuck out her tongue at Mars, "But why'd you have to change your name when you joined? V - us, I'm not Moon-us because I'm part of the team, or maybe you're V when you're alone, and V-us, when we're all together as a team. So, if I'm alone, I'm Sailor Moe, because I'm cute. She's Sailor J and she's Sailor Ma, and Mercury would be Sailor Me, or maybe Madam Curry, like the lady who invented radiation; why'd they give her a noble prize for that, I don't think a king would want nobles having radiation, especially if he didn't, unless he wanted then to get killed by it, and - but then why would they give her the prize?" She shook her head. "It makes my head hurt."

      "You've got company," Jupiter said as she rubbed her temples.

      Mars stared at Moon. "It's amazing," Mars said.

      "What?" a horrified Venus asked, "She said all that without taking a breath, until she was done."

      "No, if you ignore the irrational premises, it actually was logical."

      "Why are you being mean to me?!" Moon wailed, copious tears followed.

      "Have you got any other stupid questions?" Mars asked.

      "Yeah, who's the lady in the trenchcoat?" Moon asked and pointed. The Inners turned, to stare at empty air. "She's gone!" Moon exclaimed.

      "Our quarry isn't," Jupiter said as she returned to staring at the shop, "We should just charge in there and put a stop to this!" She punched her hand to show how she'd deal with their foe.

      "Why don't we just level the entire store?" Mars asked sarcastically.

      "That would be mean!" Moon shouted her disapproval, "And it might hurt Saturn and Pretty Sammi! And you call me stupid!"

      "I was being sarcastic."

      "If you don't want to take pills, they have herbs for that," Moon suggested sympathetically.

      "If they did, she should quit taking them," Venus said, "She's sarcastic enough as it is."

      "I wonder if he has a girlfriend," Moon said, getting starry-eyed.

      "Who?" Jupiter asked.

      "The boy with Sammi and Saturn. Would she be tall and strong and brave like Jupiter -?"

      "Moon," Mars warned, seeing the angry look on Jupiter's face.

      "- be kawaii like . . . Venus." Moon smiled at her idol, who was staring at the approaching green, pink and white thunderhead. "He dresses like a gentleman, so he'd want to go dancing, the old dances."

      "Moon!" Mars' warning again went unheeded.

      "But that's romantic too, his arms around you, holding you close while you just look into his eyes . . ." Moon sighed happily, turned and looked into Jupiter's furious expression. "Your eyes are really bloodshot."

      "I - am - not - his - girl - friend!" Jupiter said as clearly as she could, as calmly as her temper allowed.

      "He's your boyfriend! I'm so jealous! He's so tall and dashing, I bet he'd be the kind to just dive in and race to your rescue!" Moon told Jupiter and hugged her tightly.

      Jupiter stared into space in utter bewilderment. "I could have sworn I said -"

      "I think Makoto will go crazy," Hotaru said as they exited the shop.

      "Why did you get multiple sets?" Sasami asked.

      "Because I know your household. They'll try to make them disappear. So you'll have to have plenty of replacements."

      "I think your 'friend' will be offended," Sasami replied.

      "Why? Just for doing his job? I explained what it's really for."

      "But paisley?" Hotaru asked.

      "Best color for it, Gendo Ikari showed me that, I think -"

      The wind from the explosion plucked at their clothes.

      "I knew we should have stayed away from there." Jeff pointed to the college from which the explosion had come. "I'm afraid this isn't as relaxing as I'd hoped it would be."

      "It's a break from, not being able to do something about it all," Pretty Sammi said as she tossed the parcels into the now-transformed Ryo-Oh-Ki mech.

      "What better place than a battle?" Sailor Saturn asked, "If you really want to kill us."

      "Okay, stay close. This is the standard diamond four defense, nice and tight, good support," he told them as they forced their way through the crush of retreating students and faculty.

      Ahead, there was a tight knot of fancily-garbed women facing off against an utterly shapeless cloud that poured from one of the buildings.

      "That isn't smoke," Jeff told them as they charged, "You three stay together, but stay out of the building until I personally give you the all clear."

      The shorter brunette of the other group was tossing odd Stielhandgranates into the smoke, while a dark-skinned one was surrounded by a circle of glowing runes and symbols composed of magical fire. Neither the potato-masher grenades, nor the spell circle had any effect on the cloud or its expansion. Saturn tripped one boy who seemed ready to dash into the building after Jeff.

      "My sister's in there!" the boy protested as he clambered to his feet, only to have Saturn trip him again.

      "Don't go in there," Saturn told him forcefully, "There's no one alive in there."

      Nothing alive in there, Saturn thought, And I just saw Jeff dash in there.

      Jeff stalked the halls, the dark smoke of the monster curled away from him. So you avoid me too, eh? he wanted to ask.

      "Why don't you just go back home, and save all of us a lot of trouble?"

      There's enough trouble for me, just waiting outside, he didn't add, What a mess. He advanced, trying to sense the center of the target, the place where an attack would do some good. Use all your spells and ordinance on the useless distractions, he thought of the explosions and lightning he heard outside, You couldn't do worse if you were in here. Even here it would slide and slip into places you could not reach.

      "And you wonder why I hold you in contempt?" he quietly asked those outside, "As if you really knew what you were doing, as if you really had been briefed on the nature of the universe you inhabit. As if you actually understood God's plans, rather than being as mystified as the rest of us. Hubris will get you all."

      "How about you?" he shouted in a language the creature might understand. Beyond the smoke, the paint of the building curdled, "You want to be a dead hero, or a smart, live coward? I've killed better than you, but I just want you gone. So run away, some place out of this universe where I can't find you. You can't expect fairer than that!"

      Damn monster is going to make me work for it, he complained, And You, You are having entirely too much fun at my expense. You're making me wonder if I should start worshiping You Socratically, so You'll stay away from me. 'Asuka and Jeff can handle it, let's drop them in the mess and watch how they clean it up.'

      "God is Good, God is love," Jeff whispered, then shouted, "God is also an underhanded, sneaky SOB who changes the rules whenever it suits Him! 'Any tree except that one.' Did You put rose bushes and honeylocusts all around it, with their nice, long thorns? No, that would be too easy. They call that an attractive nuisance. You wonder why the moderns hate Your guts? Because You make them think and hold them responsible for their choices, and they hate that. The world is supposed to be safe and easy. Instead, You make it unfair, You make them work for things. Don't You know? You're supposed to just hand them things on a silver platter, that's how you get popular." He turned the corner and saw the core, a matrix of energy that would have sent any of those outside into screaming conniptions, if they even survived.

      "You know, I offered you the easy way out. We know you didn't take it, you thought I should work for my victory, so be it." He drew his cane and steeled himself. "For reasons that have nothing to do with Love, Justice, or the Moon, I'm going to punish you."

      The sidewalk between the buildings is not suspicious, Pretty Sammi thought as she advanced, Sailor Saturn behind her, walking backward, guarding her back, The TV on the table at the end of the path isn't suspicious, in and of itself. The fact that the cord to the TV can't reach anything, there are no chairs to let people sit and watch it, and no school with slaves - students - would allow a path to get this weedy and overgrown. All together . . . She glanced back at where Ryo-Oh-Ki mech was peering through the windows of the building, tracing Jeff's progress towards the monster. Put them together . . .

      "Sammi!" Saturn shouted as the far end of the sidewalk rose up.

      Sammi threw herself off the sidewalk, as Saturn dashed past her and cut the 'neck' of the TV table from the rest of the sidewalk.

      "Cuddly Adorable Avalanche!" Sammi shouted and a firestorm of ball lightning and fireballs rained down on the creature, tearing it to pieces as Saturn stood ready to chop it even finer. "I need to get better names for these attacks," Sammi whispered, "These are embarrassing."

      "Hurray!" Saturn shouted as she hugged Sammi as the crispy critter disintegrated, "We did it! By ourselves!"

      Sammi grinned.

      "Let's go kill another!" Saturn declared, then laughed at Sammi's stunned expression.

      Senshi of Death and Ruin indeed, Sammi thought as they passed the gaggle of older women who'd witnessed the well-executed killing, Some of them are horrified, others appreciate the skill.

      "We're professionals," Saturn told them coldly as they walked by.

      "Myroow!" Ryo-Oh-Ki announced as she did a little dance.

      Sammi felt a weight lift from her spirit. "He did it!" she sighed, "It's over."

      "Admiral!" the lieutenant ran into the Admiral's office shouting, "The southern force reports they are under heavy attack, the Cabinet has authorized immediate combat action!"

      "Our FJM? Or several?" the Admiral demanded as he sprang to his feet and crossed to where the man stood.

      "No, sir! Something else," the lieutenant read excitedly, "A huge black dragon -"

      "With glowing yellow eyes?" the Admiral interrupted in a disappointed tone, "And two rows of short spines down its back, and blood red teeth? And all the attacks seem to explode just short of the creature?" The Admiral returned to his desk and the paperwork there.

      The man scanned the message, finding all the Admiral's comments noted. "Ah, yes sir, how did you know?"

      "Take a message, lieutenant. 'To the officer commanding southern group, when he beats you, listen to him. This is probably an exercise, if you're lucky.' Get that off immediately."

      "Sir? Aren't we going to head down there?"

      "And be humiliated with the rest of the army?" He shook his head. "Not a chance." Takarada returned to his paperwork and pitied whoever was in command of the group down by the Sagami River.

      The wing commander's own plane unloaded its payload of air-to-ground rockets, only to watch helplessly as they exploded well short of the increasingly angry monster.

      The monster's breath weapon struck his plane, and that of his wingman. The entire plane, and everything within became nauseatingly pink. The commander grimly decided that he would survive this embarrassment and rearm to attack again, when he realized he was outside his aircraft and his parachute was deploying without any action on his or the automatic system's part.

      As he floated down, he watched the tank corps's attack, as well executed, and as useless as the attack by his two air wings. All the while, the artillery kept lobbing shells on to the monster. All fire detonated just short of the creature. Its breath weapon struck the tightly packed formations of tanks, forcing them all to halt. The pilot wept with rage at the brave crews slaughtered by the monster, until hatches on every single tank opened, and their crews bailed out.

      Are they insane?! he wondered as some of the crews watched the monster step over their useless, helpless machines, while it advanced on the IFVs following. Some fired their sidearms, while others simply got to work on opening the engine covers of their charges.

      "It's going to destroy the infantry!" he shouted helplessly as the parachute wafted him over the battlefield like a spider on the wind.

      No! What is that thing doing?! he watched as it somehow singled out the senior armored brigade commander's track in amongst the IFVs and the infantry commander's a moment later, carrying both the vehicles across the field like a pair of footballs. It dug a huge hole, although tiny compared with the monster. It got the rear hatches of both IFVs' open, and shook out the crews into the hole. It set the IFVs aside, and than reached up thousands of meters, to pluck the air commander from the sky, setting him in the hole beside the other captives.

      "I am not afraid to die," the pilot told the monster to its immense face.

      "That's been brutally obvious since the beginning," the monster said angrily, "I'm certain the people you were supposed to be protecting, including your comrades here, will be only too happy to express their gratitude at your willingness to leave them unprotected, over your next few, very pink months." The immense monster suddenly shrank, into something merely large. "You with the radio, get me the commander of the artillery forces."

      As if to punctuate the request, dozens of artillery rounds slammed into the force shield over their heads, even the monster winced at the impact.

      It raised its head and bellowed, "That's nice shooting soldier." Then it looked into the pit. "I'm going to let the rest of you post this area, while I have a conference with the morons." He again focused on the radio man. "I was very clear. I could remove the radio, and use it myself, but it would be traumatic for you." The monster carefully scratched the buttons off the man's uniform with a claw the size of an artillery shell. "And digging the codes and frequencies out," it purred as it leaned close, "Well, that would just be terribly unpleasant for everybody. And if you think you can give away our position and strength." Dozens of rounds exploded over their heads. "I think he knows the first and doesn't care about the second."

      The infantry commander gave the order to comply. "I can order him to stop," he offered.

      "Why would I want that?" the creature asked, honestly perplexed, "The artillery are the only force on this battle field who know what the Hell they're doing!" With a gesture, a table and chairs appeared out of the ground. "Sit, and anyone who jokes about 'the comfy chair' gets a free flight to England, and I can guarantee reentry without a space capsule will be a real bear."

      He set a map of the area on the table. "What idiot told you to attack first without armor and artillery support?" the monster pointedly asked the pilot. "You have to give your target so many targets that it can't just swat your squadrons out of the sky."

      "You think this is just a training exercise!" the armor commander demanded, "That you can force us to sit and listen to you?!"

      "Can I just - kill him? Please? And his offspring," the creature asked, "It really is for the good of your race, evolution should not be denied."

      The radio operator broke the tension by holding up the phone. "Sir, artillery commander on the line."

      The creature looked at the comparatively tiny handset. "I appreciate the courtesy, but think soldier, think."

      The man looked that the huge creature and then put the headset to his ear. "Ready to pass your message, sir."

      "Good job man, well done, but there's always room for improvement. Now, the Americans developed a way to fire off six rounds at varying elevations and powder charges, so they all arrive on target at about the same time. You may want to practice that. I'm sure one of the soldiers here will be willing to report on your progress. By the way, good discipline to fire and scoot, very commendable. Oh, about the shells and expense, as the only force who was able to halt the creature, I doubt they'll begrudge the cost too awful much. End personal message, but keep transmitting the lecture."

      "Now, back to business. The line of tanks is impressive, and it allows the shells to hit all at once, but the artillery uses a time on target barrage to the same effect from spread out positions. Learn it, love it, live through the battle. Next, the air cover should go in not before, but immediately after the armor or artillery strike hits. The air will be clear, and the enemy will be distracted. And for the Love of God, egress aggressively! You pilots are expensive and hard to replace, the planes too, don't hang around in the sky waiting to be shot down. An infantryman with a radio and a telescope can do a better job of damage assessment, and can hide better than an airplane can. And who authorized such puny rounds? You're fighting something that looked like it ate battleships, who armed you with 250 kilo bombs and 82 mil rockets? Thousand kilo bombs and the biggest shipkillers you can get in the air should be the minimum weapons. The Hood, Yamato and . . . either Fuso or Yamashiro, fired off another salvo after they'd been cut in half. If I cut any of you in half, I doubt you could still shoot. Big things can still fight even when hit badly. I'm not an army that can be whittled down bit by bit, I'm not a plane or tank that can be killed by a single catastrophic hit. I'm a monster of magic and might, who would be immune to anything except nuclear weapons, and if my shields are up, even those won't do the job. Are you getting this solder?" he asked the radio man.

      "Yes, sir," the man replied, "Not worth my life not to, sir."

      "There's a man with a clear view of the circumstances."

      "Salvo on the way."

      "Let's watch the fireworks, then continue our little chat." He fixed on the pilot. "Did you know how pink you are?"

      Jeff walked unstably down the stairs to the main hall. "You've got feet, remember to use them," he reminded himself.

      Not much of a mental challenge, but boy was it used to not having a physical form, he thought as he continued walking down the stairs step by unsteady step, Or possessing something that already knew how to move.

      He paused when he reached the ground floor. He saw Sammi and Saturn waiting with the Ryo-Oh-Ki mech in the background. I don't see the ghostly trio, or their hangers on, he thought as he tried to focus on just moving, rather than floating away, or what else he'd learned from his latest victim, So the nihilists are getting in on the game. At least they're just humans, so the Admiral can deal with them.

      "Now, a quick escape, and we can - " He saw the girls' expressions change, and turned to face what they were reacting to. So the axe struck the side of his neck instead of the back.

      Setsuna looked at the two battered Outers, and helped Michiru carry Haruka to bed. The two ambulatory Outers left the comatose Uranus well-wrapped in bedding.

      "What happened?" she asked, and noticed Neptune's wince as she sat down, "A pack of evil Genii too much for you?"

      "A Nerima martial artist," Michiru said angrily, "She wiped the floor with us. I kept telling Haruka that if we told her who we were, she'd stop fighting us. She wouldn't hear of it."

      "Probably a good idea, she'd probably insist on joining up," Pluto told her, "And only a complete imbecile or a total madman would want to recruit one of those maniacs." Pluto smiled evilly. "Unless you know 'she' would want to play with you two."

      "Even you aren't that hard up," Michiru replied sharply, "As a young boy, she would have been presentable. As a girl . . . I like tomboys, but not that much."

      "I am NOT hard up. I don't let my hormones run away with me," Pluto replied coldly.

      Pluto's certainty did little to shake her fellow Outer's grin.

      The Admiral hated times like these. The meeting brought the best minds, regardless of rank, and still no new insights were forthcoming.

      "I wish I knew, sir," Princess Pluto told him, "I do know that nothing like that flying jellyfish monster ever bothered the Moon Kingdom, or Crystal Tokyo. If it had, we would have heard about it."

      "Any chance it was hushed up, that it masqueraded as something else?" Captain Tachibana asked.

      "No chance," Princess Jupiter explained, "The only enemies we ever faced were more humanoid."

      "What about the myths, any of the creatures we've discussed?" Asuka asked.

      "None, outside of some really you're probably more familiar with, having lived it," Princess Mercury shamefully admitted, "Like the disease the others are suffering from. I've never heard of anything like it."

      Ami patted the Princess's hand and smiled encouragingly.

      "Is that why you didn't want us to go back? You were afraid we'd catch it?" Jupiter asked.

      "Something like that," the Admiral told them, "There's more to it, but once the disease cropped up, that was the clincher."

      "Since Kodachi and the Psychic Rumble Soldiers went there, they haven't lost a single Senshi. It seems your theory about ki depletion is holding up."

      "So, you can blackmail them, like vampires?" Asuka asked.

      "No," the Admiral replied, "GrandMaster Saturn suspects the delicate balance, and I think we could negotiate with her, if she were the one in charge."

      "Can they survive the loss of the 'head man'?" Asuka asked, "Or is it all a projection of that person's thoughts and desires?" She looked at the worried expression on the three Princess' faces

      "I'm no mystic expert," Tofu replied, "All the mages are still otherwise occupied."

      "The stones, how are they connected to this?" the Admiral asked.

      "Other than occurring at the same time?" Asuka asked, "Nothing. We do need to find where they went, and either put them back, or kill whatever they were holding. This is as bad as Serenity sealing away her nemeses like someone dumping toxic waste in the ocean. 'It's someone else's problem.' I'd like to shoot people who think like that."

      "Fortunately, you'll have a cannon to put them in, Businessman Horai has already taken possession of numerous segments of the Babylon Gun from the U.S.," Admiral Takarada replied, "Those gun tubes, with appropriate cooling measures, should more than handle the stress of multiple firings."

      " 'Businessman'?" Asuka asked.

      "He used to be a general, the commander of this unit in fact," Imai told her, "He was cashiered after Beryl's attack on our headquarters."

      "Ah," Asuka said in lieu of something else.

      "All right, our next order of business is the apparent build up in the south. I have no idea why they are so certain that the attack will come from the south instead of anywhere else, but the High Command is absolutely committed to that course of action. We have to be ready to move if . . . when they are outflanked."

      "Much as it pains me to say this," Asuka said, and unrolled a map of the western Pacific, "The Americans have five heavy carrier groups close in, including the one based at Yokosuka. The Russians have Vladivostok, and they've already seen what this thing can do, and I doubt the South Koreans are immune. If they're so certain it's coming from the south, then perhaps the U.S. Marines can guard the back door. The SS troops were only really nervous about three groups, the Canadians, the Gurkhas, and the US Marines."

      "Having foreign troops doing this? South Koreans? Armed, on our soil?" Imai asked, "As if we could not defend our homeland ourselves!?"

      "The fighting is all in the south, how can any of them be defending the homeland if they're with your troops in the north?" Asuka asked, presenting a face of perfect doe-eyed innocence.

      "They'd be observers," Princess Mercury supplied, "Seeing how your magical allies and Dr. Tomoe's new shells work against the enemy? You and your troops are to protect them should the unthinkable happen, that the enemy might slip a few infiltrators past."

      "Why would they be fully armed?" Tachibana asked.

      "So they can see better?" Asuka supplied, "I'd advise letting the Bolsheviks get a little closer to the monster at sea. I don't like them, no one can trust them, not even each other, but they can fight."

      "We can put it all on the table, and let them take it off later," the Admiral said, "I wanted ideas, now I have some. What about our forces?" He directed the last at Asuka.

      "The three dragons are available, although Jeff is currently running an op with Saturn and Sammi. The Senshi, the originals, are disorganized. Ami is here, and not henshined."

      "I'm not certain I want to be," Ami admitted, "It would feel weird, a Sailor and a Princess, both Mercuries. Maybe if one of us was an Amerind, there'd be an alternative."

      "Instead of a Mercury, a Pontiac?" Asuka asked, and ignored the groans.

      "Why Asuka, that's awful," Ami replied, and smirked.

      Asuka glared at Ami, and continued, "The other seven are down in Tokyo. Also, the Scholarly Dragon found three more, so there's one for each planet, plus Vesta, Pretty Sammi, the three Princesses, as well as myself, the Psychic Rumble Soldiers and the Kunos. Only the PRS are of doubtful quality. The Senshi and the Kunos can be directed."

      "So if there's a disaster, they'll let us use our overwhelming power to bury the dead?" Jupiter complained.

      "I suspect that the enemy will outflank our mainline; and the reserves, us, will suddenly find ourselves as the frontline," the Admiral said, "In that regard, I'd like as many of the tank shells available as possible. We also should look at modifying the plasma cannons to something we can use."

      Kodachi Kuno burst into the room. "I think you might want to look into fire trucks instead. Princess Mars unexpectedly had a fit, and was surrounded by fire. In those flames, she saw all of Tokyo ablaze. I believe her vision to be the truth."

      Asuka noted all the gazes aimed at her. "I'll . . . work on it," she said, then whispered, "The whole city, put it out? Asuka der Kriegsgott, als Ebenbild Gott, that's a challenge."

      Jeff woke suddenly. My head's still attached, or has been reattached, he thought as he looked over at the white-haired figure, Those facial markings, I've seen that pattern before, but she's dead! I killed her with my own hands! And she looks like she wants to finish what she started. Jeff heard someone clear their throat.

      "I . . . apologize," the white-hair ground out, glancing at the throat-clearer, "I acted hastily and without proper thought."

      I'm not sorry I chopped your head off, Jeff translated as he turned to see the room's other occupant, I'm just sorry I choose this time to do it.

      "Nonsense, you were correct in your basic assessment and refreshingly honest in your reaction. Far more honesty that I see from most of your kind. Hello, Mars, close your mouth you're catching flies."

      "She cut your head off!" Rei stammered as he looked at her. Rei seemed to be holding a glaring contest with white-hair.

      "Yes, but it's well attached and functions now, so it's a minor set back among those who hunt and kill monsters. I hope it rolling down the stairs didn't hurt anyone."

      Rei broke off glaring at white-hair to stare at Jeff.

      "We still can't get 'The Princess' out of her tree," Rei commented.

      "Most of you are out of your tree," Jeff said as he verified he was still wearing his clothes before he cast the bedding aside, "Some ice-cream should do it."

      'Ah, you're well,' Jeff heard in a voice that fulled him with dread and rage. He turned, to have his worst fears fully realized.

      "You must forgive Lind, she - "

      "I've already completely forgiven her, best it's all forgotten as well, and I do apologize for disturbing your home," he said as he stepped around to where Rei was seated. He switched to the language he and Rei shared and whispered to the Senshi, "If you love your life and the others, we have to get out of here now! If you love your soul, keep smiling and don't ask questions, I'll answer them all later."

      When he saw Rei couldn't resist, he picked her up by the scruff of her neck and told her in Japanese, "We mustn't trouble her further with our little concerns. We really should be going." As he backed to the entrance, twisting Rei's arm in a `come-along` when she showed resistance in leaving immediately, he switched back to the language they shared, "If any of the others are still here, drag them out by the hair if you have to." Once he was out of sight of the room, he released Rei, but covered her mouth. He wrote the answer to most of her questions on a card, and showed it to her. "Are we clear?" he asked the panic-stricken Senshi, "Let's rescue our friends first." He slipped the card in the pocket of Rei's skirt and left her to find the others. I've got to get Sasami and Hotaru out of here, they're my responsibility. He headed towards where he heard their voices.

      He spotted the pair with another one, a young, long-haired brunette, who cringed the instant he came in the room. So she knows what I am, too bad, he thought as he headed straight for Hotaru and Sasami.

      "Sorry," he told the girl as he picked up Sasami and Hotaru and slung them on his shoulders like two bags of meal, "We really have to be going. So much time and so little to do."

      He saw Rei searching for her fellow Senshi as he headed out into the open. Once he was clear of the buildings, he teleported away.

      Rei was in a panic. I got Sailor Vesta and Sailor Jupiter out of the kitchen and they're on their way out, all I've got left is Venus. How can someone hide in a place this small?

      She found the blonde listening intently to Urd, in her room.

      "You just sometimes have to help people along," Urd told Venus, who was nodding eagerly, "Sometimes romance needs a little kick-start."

      "Excuse me, I do beg your pardon, but I need her to help us rescue our leader. So I must break in," Rei said, bowing with each sentence.

      "I'm sure - OW! - let go of my hair! I can walk on my own!" Venus complained as Rei dragged her away.

      "Uh," Sailor Vesta said worriedly, "I think you're hurting her."

      "Vesta, thank you, can you take us back to Moon?" Mars said as she released Venus, and ignored the frightened and angry looks from her fellow Senshi, "I think she's calmed down enough to get her out of the tree."

      "But she was going to have us for dinner!" Jupiter complained.

      "You have no idea how right you are," Mars replied, smiled, "Everybody wave." Then whispered, "Vesta, get us out of here!"

      The Senshi vanished and reappeared on the campus. Rei finally relaxed.

      "I knew you were pushy," Vesta said peevishly, "But that was beyond impolite and downright rude. When did you ever care about 'Dumpling Head'?"

      "I apologize, and I will apologize to Moon as well. She was right, and I was wrong, and -" Rei paused and stared up, then hung her head, "Can we please get her out of that tree first? Before the Senshi become a complete laughing stock."

      "I'm not coming down!" Moon wailed, "I don't want to be killed!"

      "There's no one here to decaffeinate you!" Venus called up.

      "Too bad," Mars said.

      "And everyone can see up your skirt," Venus finished.

      "I don't care!" Moon wailed as Vesta positioned Jupiter below Moon. Vesta hit the tree a seemingly glancing blow, and Moon fell right into Jupiter's arms.

      "Training," Vesta said and smiled at the thoroughly shocked Senshi, "But I'm out of practice."

      "Riiiiight," Venus said.

      I'm not going to say anything, Mars thought, I know I made the right decision, but why does everyone who's most helpful, also have to be completely looney?

      "Some military people, the Kunos, and I, found some enemies pursuing and trying to kill the personification of the dreams of all Japan. That is, the aspirations." Rei looked at Moon. "Being a bride and mother, not finding a world made out of ice cream and cookies."

      Moon's expression darkened. "Steal the dream of all Japan! They must be punished!"

      "I shot one in the face, and the rest were driven off a 1000 meter cliff," Mars told them coldly, "I think that punished them sufficiently."

      Moon gulped and nodded. The other Senshi squirmed uncomfortably at the images conjured, but kept silent.

      "Their boss' name was Celestine . . . he's dead too, but with someone like him, that might not really matter. Asuka Langley and that boy we rescued, killed him a long time ago."

      "What does that have to do with the bums' rush you were giving us?" Jupiter asked, folding her arms and glaring at mars.

      Mars held up the card which read simply, 'She's Celestine's Muse.' "That's why Mr. Invincible freaked and would have dragged us all out of there by main force if he hadn't feared setting Belldandy off."

      "Shall we go back and take her out?" Jupiter asked nervously.

      "ARE YOU KIDDING?!" Mars shouted at Jupiter, "Or just not paying attention? Somebody who could survive getting his head chopped off wants to run away, what chance have we got?"

      "We will have to deal with her eventually," Vesta reminded them, "What were she and Celestine really trying to do?"

      "That's inhuman!" Sasami protested, and could feel Tsunami cringe within her.

      "That's why Kagato feels so justified about doing what he's doing. He knows that even if the universe is destroyed, you're all just part of a grand experiment."

      "But, Tenchi will stop them," Hotaru asked desperately, "Right?"

      Jeff picked up the little girl and held her. "Sorry, I don't see how he can," Jeff admitted, "Much as I despise Washu's callousness, she's the only one of the three to be able to create an entire universe exactly the same as it was. Tokemi and Tsunami just adjusted Washu's designs."

      "But now that they have their answer, Washu won't bring them back."

      "Sasami, is that a question, or a statement?" He asked as he set Hotaru down and the two of them approached Sasami.

      "A statement," she answered sadly and hugged the two people hugging her as she cried, "A statement. Why won't she?"

      "Because Washu is amoral, beyond our judgements of good or evil. And we are all just toys or pieces of laboratory equipment to her. In that way, she's even worse than most of the Great Old Ones. They won't wipe out an entire universe, just because it isn't useful to them. A planet, a race causing trouble, or ants in their sugar bowl, yes, but some take the long view that even ants may prove useful, so you don't kill all of them."

      "Just the ones in your sugar bowl," Hotaru said.

      "So your dislike is professional," Sasami teased as she wiped her eyes.

      "As well as personal," he told her and kissed her forehead.

      "What about Tsunami?" Sasami asked.

      "You can answer that better than I can."

      "Well?" Sasami demanded, then seemed transfixed by the inner dialog, until she burst into tears, "It's not right! It's not fair!" Sasami wailed as Hotaru hugged her and tried to soothe away the anguish.

      I can guess what Tsunami told Sasami, there's going to be trouble for that, Hotaru thought, Like that creature who was inside me.

      They were in the park when Rei again caught up with them. "If you wanted to come with us," Hotaru teased, "You could have asked to come on our date."

      Rei cringed, looking around for anything that might happen.

      "This isn't Nerima," Jeff reminded her, "With all of you trailing us, I'm surprised you haven't run over each other."

      Rei stared at him. "How did you know?" Then she blushed as all three started laughing.

      "Rei-chan, two gods can't spot a bunch of love-hungry teenagers?" Jeff asked.

      "They want to see if you'd be a good husband and father," Sasami told them, and laughed at Jeff and Rei's total embarrassment.

      "It's not like that!" Rei insisted.

      "Oh yeah?" Jeff asked, "I bet if I gave you a passionate kiss right now. No matter how much you appeared to be fighting it, or how much you denied it afterwards, your fellow Senshi would be staring daggers at you for weeks."

      "You wouldn't!" Rei gasped and stepped away.

      "Jan-Ken-Pon!" Hotaru and Sasami called, displaying paper and rock respectively.

      "Interesting, since Japanese women typically display scissors, was Hotaru trying to lose, or trying to counter Sasami's nontraditional status?" Jeff asked.

      Rei stared at him incredulously. "Do you over analyze everything?"

      "That's an interesting question, you see -"

      "It was rhetorical!"

      "I was trying to distract them from deciding whether I should kiss you or not," Jeff explained, "You really do need to learn to trust others' judgement. They don't see the world as you do. For instance, I don't think you've realized just what you've done," he began, "Vesta was not Hestia, despite the similarities. Not all the Roman gods were ported over from the Greek. Vesta was one of the few who didn't exactly correspond to her Greek counterpart."

      "So how does this matter?" Rei asked.

      "The Romans, especially in the city of Rome itself, were patriarchal and oppressive to women on a scale not seen even in Japan. But the servants of Vesta, were not so bound. They took a long vow of chastity -"

      "I know that."

      "But they could move freely in the city, in carriages, which was denied most other women. Vesta's real power was immortality, that was more than living forever, that was being unkillable, and that might apply to the spirit as well as the body."

      "Why didn't you say this at the time?" Rei accused.

      "Because I hadn't had time to process it. And besides, stammering half-formed conclusions would have irreparably harmed the image of infinite knowledge and wisdom I was trying to make you believe."

      Rei "Is there a reason why I shouldn't kick you clear back to Nerima?" Rei asked pointedly.

      "Three, first, you'd break your leg kicking someone that hard, and two, once you calm down you're going to laugh about it. Three, I'll leave unspoken. My point with Kasumi/Sailor Vesta is she cannot be stopped, except by her own will, and she can eventually grind down anyone or anything she comes up against. She doesn't have any special offensive powers, because she doesn't need them, beyond her family's martial arts skills. Mere implacability would make her the match of anything that exists. Great Old Ones can die, she can't, her life and her spirit will keep burning no matter what. For an enemy that's a daunting enough prospect, for an ally, it's a terrifying one, especially for someone who has been actively suppressed by others her entire life and forced to use endurance as her only weapon. Suddenly she can survive and outlast anything that will be thrown at her. 'No' means 'maybe', and 'Hell No!' means 'later' or 'not in my lifetime' at most."

      "But she won't do anything bad would she?" Hotaru asked.

      "Define bad," Jeff said sharply, "More evil is done in this world by people who think they're doing right, or God's will, than are done by people intentionally doing evil. An evil will eventually reach satiation, boredom or guilt, a hysterical reformer has no such block because they are doing it 'for good' and no appeal to gods or morality will stop them, because they believe they are on the same side."

      "And you think Kasumi will do this?" Sasami asked in horror.

      "I deal with what is, not what I wish it to be," Jeff replied, "She's been forced into a secondary role her entire life, now she knows she has powers and responsibilities greater than she's ever had. She isn't a saint, merely extremely polite. She's been forced to knuckle under and endure, no matter what came at her. Like you have Sasami, to a greater or lesser extent. Lately, she's realized she has not, nor will she ever, be rewarded by her family for her conscientiousness. The idea that there is only punishment and restriction, and no reward, will weigh on her mind."

      "What's got you so agitated?" Rei demanded.

      "The real reason for all the atrocities by the Japanese Army was not Bushido, but that the people had been removed from their usual set of rules and restrictions, and no new rules replaced them," Jeff said worriedly, "Kasumi has been put into exactly that situation. The old rules are being scrapped, and you and the others have yet to set the kinds of cultural and familial behavioral limitations that she is used to dealing with."

      "You're really shaken up about this," Rei commented.

      "Yes. I am."

      "Did she propose or something?" Rei joked, and stared at Jeff's studiously blank expression.

      "I wouldn't be 'really shaken up' by something as trivial as a marriage proposal," he explained, "I'm more worried about the reaction of her family to her new status and her new found independence. They are used to ignoring her, now they will have to consider her and they are infinitely more likely to cast her out of the family, rather than divide their attention between their two daughters, when all attention was once focused on Akane."

      "She could take care of herself," Rei said, then realized how stupid it sounded, "Except when they abandoned her to that demon. So, you're saying she'll go nuts if, when they toss her out."

      "I'm saying that when they throw her out, unless she has another path to walk, she'll take off in whatever direction catches her attention. Nothing will stop her."

      "Then what are we supposed to do? We aren't exactly a collection of moral philosophers."

      "You've got some time to figure something out. It's something you all will have to develop."

      "Wonderful," Rei complained, "I've got a headache, so I'm leaving."

      "Fine, don't thank me either!" Jeff shouted at the departing girl.

      "For what?!"

      "Distracting them again!" Jeff shouted back. Rei immediately took to her heels and ran away as fast as she could.

      "That was a dirty trick!" Hotaru said, "Now how are you supposed to kiss her?"

      "Wouldn't you rather I kiss Mako-chan . . . even if she is trying to knife me at the time?" Jeff asked with disgust.

      "From what I've heard about Tendo Akane," Sasami said, "I'm surprised she didn't try to kill you in your sleep."

      "Oh, she did. Ruined a perfectly good shirt, holes through both sides. And she had the all-fired temerity to complain when I suggested she take the shirt off before she ran me through."

      "Unforgivable," Sasami replied and shook her head as Hotaru nodded.

      "Okay, what's next?" Jeff asked.

      "Can we lose them?" Sasami asked mischievously.

      "Certainly." The trio vanished from sight.

      "Now you think you all get it, and are ready to try again?" the Scholarly Dragon asked of the assembled commanders.

      "This isn't standard war-fighting doctrine," the new overall commander of the armored force said, mindful that his two immediate superiors were naked, painted purple and tied to a tree somewhere in Okinawa, so he was somewhat unwilling to express his full misgivings and thus test his Escape and Wilderness Survival training.

      The commander of the attack helicopters was more vocal, "Do you really think after you've proven to be no threat, that they'll allow this to continue?"

      "Oh goody! You've been completely taken in by my ruse, or have you? Whoever said I was no threat?" the Scholarly Dragon asked, "Look, politicians have a sitting end, and a thinking end, since their success depends on their seat, you talk about defending voters, and how your swift and resolute defense ensured the survival of the voters and the politician's chances of reelection."

      The men smiled knowingly.

      "Good, now, let's take it from the top."

      I may have lost my connection to the Time streams and the recently destroyed Time Gate, but I still have a feel for the focus of momentous events, she thought as she transformed and watched her quarry, Those two, and their kidnapper draw me as nothing I've every felt before Crystal Tokyo and all I've waited for will rise or fall on their actions in the next few hours. I know it. But without the Gates, I still don't know how.

      "Maybe ditching the others was a bad idea," the Sailor of Ruin admitted as Sailor Pluto stepped out, and sprang her trap.

      "Dead Scream." The energy bolt collapsed the stacks of merchandise, blocking the way back.

      "And I thought the Inners were hard on the surrounding," the man commented.

      "Surrender the girls to me," Sailor Pluto leveled the Time Key, and demanded.

      "BWAHAHAHAHA!" the man bellowed, "Don't be so proud of this state of terror you've failed to construct. Your Hello Kitty church key, is insignificant, next to the power of a farce."

      Pluto bristled at the insult.

      " 'Church key'?" the Jurain Princess whispered.

      "Bottle opener," the Sailor of Ruin whispered back.

      "Beer bottle opener," the man leaned down to whisper, "And keep it down, you're spoiling my act."

      " 'ACT'!?" Pluto kept her voice and facade calm, despite her fury at being trivialized this way.

      You will prevent it all, Pluto realized, I see it now. He is the enemy.

      "Fiend, using children to do your dirty work. Step clear and face me yourself."

      "And them being innocent children would stop you from bashing their brains in, of course," the man answered sarcastically.

      Pluto frowned at the teasing tone.

      The girls exchanged looks, and nodded. "BRAINS!" They lurched toward the stunned woman.

      "Curse you Romero! I wanted Karloff!" the man shouted and shook his fists at the lightning crossed skies.

      "What have you done to them?!" she backed away as they pair shambled forward.

      "What shall I do with you? Bwahahaha. I shall make you scream and writhe and beg for a mercy I shall not grant. Bwahahaha!" Jeff intoned as he skulked towards her.

      Pluto leveled her staff, and was shocked when he easily pulled it out of her hands.

      "I don't think you'll be needing this." He set it aside.

      "No one can touch that, without being killed!" Pluto gasped in shock, as the two girls grabbed her wrists.

      "How fortunate I'm dead, just peppier, don't you want to be a peppy too?" he asked in a teasing tone, then malevolently shouted, "Now, I shall reduce you to a babbling, quivering mass, stripped of all dignity and honor!"

      Pluto struggled against the impossible holds the two girls had. I should be able to break free easily, she thought as she struggled, then kicked at the girls, to no avail, They've been trained! But how?

      "Break free, what hold does he have on you?" Pluto asked, "You don't have to follow his orders!"

      "Ice cream," the soldier of Ruin said leadenly.

      "Fishies, please, no more fishies," the other added in completely narcotized terror.

      "There's nothing you can do to me," Pluto told him regally, "I have fought and bled for my Queen for longer than you can imagine."

      "But have you laughed?" he asked, just oozing malignity. Then he poked her in the side with a finger.

      It was all the two girls could do to keep her from leaping away screaming.

      I might as well use my ability to practically trip over my nemesis while tracking Hotaru, Makoto thought as she homed in on the trio, she climbed a ladder to get to a roof above them, Vesta and Mars had to go talk. So I guess I'm it, for now. I nearly died when Ta-chan told me to get a nightie, so he could kidnap me to.

      "I'm going to enjoy watching dad kill her when she gets home," Makoto said and grinned.

      I still don't know why the others wouldn't tell me his name. Usagi and Minako I believe, the others were hiding something, even that Belldandy character. Although in her case, I do know why. She wanted to turn us against him later . . . which really confuses things, Makoto silently admitted to herself, Which really makes me confused. I would want to help her.

      "I hate him."

      But . . . at the same time . . . she thought, It's got to be a cover up, there's more to him than we've seen. There's got to be a monster there, somewhere.

      "And when he shows himself -" She clenched her fists, awaiting the moment to use them.

      The moment came. "Dammit!" she cursed as the trio confronted the woman who'd tried to steal Hotaru before, "She's a Senshi?! That's it! It really is a kidnaping he's work for . . . no he isn't."

      Who do I root for? she wondered as Hotaru and Sasami grabbed the woman's wrist and the man disarmed her, Sensei Happi would be proud. Makoto tried to ignore the odd mix of longing and anger the filled her belly as she watched. Then he started poking the other Senshi, and Makoto squirmed in sympathy. You'd think that being a Senshi would protect you from something like that, but Ta-chan and I are even more ticklish as Senshi, Makoto thought, 'Babbling, quivering mass, stripped of all dignity and honor' that about describes it. He doesn't even have to touch her now. Like Kiima's tactics, Ta-chan hates Kiima's `Zen tickling`, of letting Ta-chan laugh herself sick without touching her. I see begging for mercy doesn't work, she's lucky it's not Ta-chan, she'd be tickling her with her glaive!

      "Like a worm on a hook," Makoto whispered, growing queasy.

      What would have happened if he'd attacked me that way? If he'd tickled me while we were underwater? Or in front of Mars? Makoto blushed furiously at the thought of her writhing on the ground, or underwater, totally helpless.

      Makoto froze as the other Senshi let out a completely different sound. Is she all right?! Okay they got her off the street, she's quiet, but even Ta-chan wouldn't leave her hurt. What's he so embarrassed about? Makoto wondered, then realized, Oh boy!

      She turned and ran in the other direction, leaping off the roof she'd watched from, onto the adjacent roof, and kept running.

      Okay, there are worse ways for our fights to have turned out, and that was one of them! she thought as she realized she could transform and teleport home, That would almost be worse than dying!

      The Admiral read the reports on the battle, and the committee formed to study it, without laughing too much, although he knew the story was going through the camp already. "I just hope they learned something," he said, for public consumption.

      "Now what is this about needing our attack and SAR helicopters tonight?" the Admiral asked as he signed the authorization, "If he's worried enough about something to ask our help, I'm worried."

      Sasami and Hotaru exchanged glances, then broke into giggles, they both knew they were going to get tremendous mileage out of the incident.

      "Poor Mako-chan, they love each other, but won't admit it," Hotaru whispered to Sasami, who nodded, "And this other woman comes in and . . . "

      "Tenchi's the same way, afraid of hurting someone. And afraid of being hurt."

      Hotaru nodded, then grinned, then returned to torment mode, "I don't understand why you're embarrassed," Hotaru began, "You didn't hurt her."

      "You didn't really touch her, once you got her to know what to expect," Sasami added.

      "Yeah," Hotaru chimed in, "You just mentioned a location, said you were going to tickle her there, and she started squealing."

      "Funny, I wonder if Mako-chan would react to you tickling her that way," Hotaru mused seriously, "She never reacted that way to me tickling her." She was rewarded by Jeff hanging his head even lower.

      Both girls nodded to each other, yes this was going to be a great game.

Sailor Jupiter II 15 - I'm Sitting Here Just Contemplatin'

      Setsuna walked in, her hauteur in place like an invisible suit of armor to protect her from the world outside her skin. Nothing could protect her from what was within. Haruka and Michiru were snuggling together on the couch. She simply noted their attempt to rearrange their clothes. I can practically feel their questions, she thought of the other two's raised eyebrows.

      "Who's your stylist?" Haruka asked, "I recognize the hairdo. Michiru sometimes has that hairdo. In the morning."

      Setsuna forced herself not to cringe at the pair's laughter. She merely stared until they guiltily sobered. "I would not be rutting in the streets when there was work to do," she answered haughtily, causing both girls to shiver.

      "Of course," the pair said as she continued to her room.

      Before she was completely out of earshot, she heard both laughing again. Once she had the door closed and locked, and a chair wedged under the doorknob, she broke down and silently cried.

      The dragon's claw made ripples in the pool, obscuring the image of the sobbing woman. "It seems the boy's affinity for chaos has forced my hand," he said quietly, "So be it. Setsuna will be a good deal more separable, now that one of Pluto's major pillars has been broken."

      Kiima peeked in on Makoto, after she heard her sister take a shower, but didn't take a long soak in the tub. She came in with that stunned expression, took a shower and disappeared in here, Kiima thought as she looked at her sister, I would have expected some noise by now.

      Makoto sat in the corner of her room, still dressed in her school uniform, hugging a pillow to her chest with her arms on her knees and staring over the top of it.

      She hasn't been crying, Kiima thought as she sat in Makoto's line of sight, Her expression almost makes it look like she watched Hotaru die, then it softens and she snuggles the pillow.

      "Is the pillow a surrogate for someone in particular?" Kiima asked and fell back when Makoto jerked.

      "I didn't notice you!" her sister told her.

      "I've only been sitting here a couple minutes," Kiima replied, "Hotaru's okay, or you'd be angry. What happened, versus what you planned to have happen?" She watched Makoto blush, then recognize how she was sitting.

      Makoto quickly put the pillow back on her bed and stood up. "Nothing, Hotaru is safe, and I'm fine," Makoto said quickly, her hands moving nervously, "I saw the woman who tried to kidnap Hotaru, but Ta-chan and her friends dealt with her. She's a Senshi, or at least has our uniform and weapon."

      "All that is fine," Kiima said patiently, "But it doesn't explain why you're in here." Kiima looked pointedly at the pillow. "Something else happened, something you want to tell me about? Something -" Kiima fell silent as Makoto turned away to stare at the wall. She watched her 'invincible' sister's shoulders shake as she cried.

      "Am - I . . . cute?" Makoto asked in a little voice.

      It's going to be one of those conversations, she silently lamented, At least she isn't crying like she did when that idiot dumped her.

      "You're too tall and forthright to be cute," Kiima replied with dewy eyes, ending with an empty-headed giggle, "You're a beautiful, strong and compassionate young woman. There are lots of men who'd find that attractive, but it scares most boys."

      "Would I scare them away, is that it?" she asked in the soft voice.

      "Mako-chan, when you find someone who really cares about you, sometimes they'll do things they think are for the best, even if you don't understand them. You have to get to know them, and get them to know you."

      Okay, we had another close encounter. The Dark Prince showed up and sent little sister, in front of two imps, to romance la-la-land, Kiima realized, And she hasn't figured out how she feels about that. Terrific.

      "Mako-chan, next time he's in your grip, maybe you shouldn't let go. He doesn't know the right thing for you. You just hang on until you can tell him."

      That also prevents you from bolting, Kiima silently added.

      "But if . . . what if I find, he's the enemy?"

      "Our enemies tend to just want to kill us. If you fought him, if you were in his clutches and helpless, and you're still alive, either you killed him, or he's not an enemy. Boys like to tease, it covers up their real feelings, and their insecurities."

      Especially that one!

      "But he wouldn't hurt you intentionally, and if he did it accidentally, he'd stop, apologize, and probably leave," Kiima explained.

      Makoto turned around and nodded. "But - but - what if it wasn't me? What if it was - somebody we didn't like?"

      Now I am confused, Kiima thought, I almost think she's jealous.

      "What happened?"

      "I don't want to talk about it."

      Ta-chan is right, I think we capture the pair of them, strip them naked, chain them together and lock them in a vault together, Kiima thought in frustration, Explaining it to dad would be easier than going through this, again.

      Sasami and Hotaru were trying to be sympathetic. I guess I should feel sorry for Jeff's victim, Hotaru thought, But after what she said about me, my father and Ami-chan's mother, I can't really feel she didn't deserve what happened, Hotaru thought as she fought back a smirk, Worse that Jeff didn't physically harm her, and she didn't realize what was happening either, until it happened, almost makes it poetic justice. I can feel bad that Jeff didn't expect it either. I shouldn't find it funny, but that he so completely lost control of the situation, it is funny.

      "Don't worry," Sasami said, "I'm sure she doesn't know what happened. The Senshi never . . . well, only once, but other than that - " Sasami started giggling at Jeff's stricken expression.

      "You -aren't - helping!" Jeff insisted, causing both girls to start laughing, "I've never - " He sighed and fell silent.

      I almost expected this, Kasumi thought as she spotted Akane and Soun awaiting her. She took a moment to make sure her coat and house dress were secure after she'd detransformed more than a block away from the house, before she ran straight to Akane.

      "Oh, I couldn't find you anywhere, you're back, I was so worried!" she exclaimed, hugging Akane tightly, "Father was so worried about you!" She listened to Akane make confused, unintelligible noises.

      Soun cleared his throat. "Kasumi dear, we need to talk about you going out and fighting monsters as a Senshi."

      Kasumi released Akane and stared at Soun. "But if I do that, father, who will cook the meals and clean the house while I'm gone?" Kasumi asked as she stepped into the yard and walked to the house.

      While Soun seemed confused by this, Akane plunged ahead. "We saw you transform and fly out of here, this morning!"

      "Akane, have you been improving the miso soup again?" Kasumi asked as she paused in the genkin to change into her inside shoes. She giggled. "Imagine, me a Shishen."

      "Senshi," Akane said.

      "I thought the newsmen called them Shishens."

      "They are Senshi!" Akane insisted.

      "You seem very sensitive about that Akane-chan," Kasumi said sympathetically as she walked into the house.

      "What do you have to say for . . . yourself . . . ?" Soun asked as he looked around the spotless house.

      He didn't remember it being spotless when he left to confront me, Kasumi thought as she entered the kitchen.

      Kasumi came out with an ice pack. "Akane," she said sternly, "I understand you having to hide your adventures as a Sheshin."

      "Senshi," Akane corrected, "I'm not the Senshi! You are!"

      Akane and Soun were dumbfounded when Kasumi began to laugh. "I should be very cross about you teasing father and I that way, Akane-chan, but it's just so cute." She put the icebag on her father's head. "But confusing father this way, and making him worry, without at least warning me, is very inconsiderate."

      Akane and Soun stared at her.

      "I understand your need to keep your secret identity secret, and without Nabiki here, you have to misdirect your enemies, but wouldn't Shampoo have been a better choice? If your enemies attack her, she'll be more able to defend herself."

      "But you're the Senshi!" Akane shouted, "We saw Rei give you a transformation pen! We saw Sailor Vesta!"

      "That's a pretty name, Akane," Kasumi said, "If you can say that, why are you having trouble in Miss Hinako's English class?"

      "Rei gave you a transformation pen, we all saw it!" Akane told her doggedly.

      "Oh, Akane-chan," Kasumi gasped, "You used your powers on yourself? Is that safe? What if you slipped and forgot mother, or your own name? Or that you are the heir to the Anything Goes School?" Kasumi laid her hands on Akane's shoulders. "You must promise me never to use your memory-altering powers on yourself, ever again! Promise me!"

      "I - promise," Akane stammered as she stared unbelievingly at her sister.

      "Can you imagine, me, a Sheshen. Who'd believe that? Leaping over rooftops in a miniskirt. Firing energy beams from my eyes - I hope they'd come out of my eyes. I saw one of Master Happosai's funny little books the heroine fired her energy beams from her . . . " Kasumi tugged her coat tighter around her and blushed. "Oh, Akane, playing a trick like that on your poor father and sister." Kasumi giggled, then grew serious. "Where is your cute animal advisor?" Kasumi looked around. "It wasn't P-chan, was it? No, of course not," Kasumi hastily amended as Akane grew angry, "Of course." She clapped her hands. "Panda-san! It's just too perfect, considering everything."

      Akane stared at her, her jaw hanging open. "But we saw you!?" Akane sounded like she was beginning to doubt the facts herself.

      "Wouldn't a Shishin have disguise magic?" Kasumi asked.

      Akane shook her head sharply, then grabbed Kasumi's purse and went rummaging around in it. Finally, she pulled out the henshin pen. "HA! What do you say to this!" She brandished the pen triumphantly.

      Kasumi applauded. "Can you pull a coin out of my ear next? Or maybe a card trick? I've always wanted to see a card trick up close!"

      "You are a Senshi!" Akane shouted.

      "So, you want me to be your sidekick?" Kasumi looked around nervously, then whispered to Akane, "You know that tradition demands I be either a cute animal, or a hunky guy. I have to admit, Akane-chan, I don't want to be either of those. I'm sorry, I just have to refuse."

      "This is yours!" Akane insisted, thrusting the pen into Kasumi's hands.

      Kasumi looked from Akane, to Soun, and back. She covered her mouth with her hands and gasped, "Oh, forgive me, I didn't realize!" Kasumi stood up tall and faced Soun. She took a bad parody of a Senshi pose. "Yes, I Kasumi Tendo am a Soldier Shenshen."

      "Senshi!"

      "Not Akane Tendo," Kasumi continued, "I will be horribly wounded and killed fighting monsters, not Akane. I will be hated and feared by those I've sworn to protect, not Akane. I , not Akane, will be forced to forsake my home and family, my duties and obligations to be a Shishen Sailor."

      "Oh Akane-chan!" Soun shouted and burst into tears, "You won't abandon the School and all our hopes to go off and be a Sailor Senshi?!" he sobbed as he hugged her.

      "Senshi," Akane murmured almost by reflex.

      "Oh, Akane, I know that you - I will be so brave and beautiful, fighting for the safety of the children of Japan!"

      Soun sobbed harder now.

      With a crash like a steel barrel full of cymbals falling off a truck, Gosunkugi and his armor arrived. "Oh, brave Akane, I your true knight make my appearance."

      "Oh!" Kasumi shouted in alarm and dashed towards the boy, "You don't understand. I'm the Sailor Scout."

      "Senshi," Gosunkugi corrected.

      "Do you understand? I am the Scout," Kasumi told him urgently, "Father couldn't handle Akane being a Sailor Scout, so I am, understand?"

      "Sailor Senshi!" Akane insisted.

      The boy stared at Kasumi, then at Akane supporting their sobbing father. He saluted Kasumi smartly. "Of course, I understand completely Sailor . . . "

      "Vespa," Kasumi supplied.

      "Vesta!" Akane amended.

      "Oh, yes, I am Scout Vespa - Vesta!" Kasumi said, then whispered to Gosunkugi, "You don't turn into a cute animal too, do you? I'm well-studied in veterinary medicine, for when you get all mangled up."

      Gosunkugi blanched at that possibility.

      "Oh, Akane!? How could you keep secrets like this from your poor father?" Soun wailed.

      Setsuna sat in the establishment, while they served drinks and no food, it was hardly a bar. It was a place where people of a certain social status and discretion came to consume alcoholic beverages, alone. Setsuna had the money and manners to be a member here, and was currently enjoying a bottle of very smooth 30-year-old scotch. The ice bucket that had held the bottle of chilled sake occasionally clinked, as the last of the ice melted. I don't feel like a Senshi right now, she admitted in her vague horror, I was completely at their mercy. I was humiliated and helpless, and they didn't intentionally harm me, even seemed disconcerted and chagrined when they - when I . . . when he . . . she couldn't finish the thought. 'Cold, unapproachable, inhuman Pluto' just had her first . . . experience, in her long lifetime, she felt her heart breaking as she thought, And it was completely by accident!

      Another sip of the smooth liquid that warmed her going down, rather than burning, Not like the rotgut I've smelled on the breath of those two. As if they could fool me. No, the only one who can fool 'all-knowing Pluto', is herself. I am the fool. Serenity and Fortitude never called me that, but they gave me tasks to keep out of their hair. My advice was ignored, my . . . needs were ignored. I serve, that is all. That always was enough. She sipped again, enjoying the faint muzzy feeling that was beginning.

      "Am I pretty even?" she asked quietly, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I let Serenity's dream, then the Moon Kingdom, then the Gates of Time consume so much of my time, so much of me."

      The Inners are just silly little girls, not soldiers, but I bet they wouldn't be as shocked as I am, or feel as helpless. There was no malice in what he ended up doing. He just wanted to see me giggling like a mad woman. I had hurt his friends, he just wanted to prove he could beat me whenever he wanted, without really hurting me. He didn't even touch me anywhere inappropriate. If I'd been wearing a bikini, he wouldn't have come close to the covered parts. Most of the time, he didn't even actually touch me, he just wiggled his fingers close and told me where they were. So, why did I . . . enjoy myself that way? Setsuna hugged herself to try to contain the emotions raging within. This is worse than the fool Inners and their desperation for a boyfriend! Am I so desperate for human contact that I'll . . . If the contact is aggressive, and male? Am I really like that?

      "So, drinking alone?" the male voice asked, "You know what that says about you, don't you?!"

      She turned to face her tormentor, and fell onto her back as she stared into the pupilless, yellow eyes.

      "If you are expecting me to rape or eat you," the gravelly voice continued, "I have the stomach for neither. If you wished to drink yourself insensate, several bottles of fortified wine would serve better, and be far cheaper."

      "I am - "

      "Helpless without the henshin pen you left at your home," the dragon replied, "Helpless because you've addled your senses and judgement. Are you so certain that you're unlovable, that even an accident makes you feel unclean and unworthy?"

      "Why you - !" Setsuna sat up and shouted, only to double over and vomit up all she'd drunk.

      "I need you sober, Rini needs you even more. If you wish to wallow in your uncertainties, do so when your job is less pressing, when the need is not so great."

      "Bastard!" Setsuna growled as she wiped her mouth clean. Suddenly, she was flat on her back again, a black finger the size of a telephone pole pinning her down.

      The yellow eyes stared into her's, filling her with fear. "I could do whatever I wish with your body and your mind, and there is nothing that you or Sailor Pluto, could do to stop me. What I chose to do, is sober you up, and task you with a job."

      "I serve Queen Serenity!"

      "Who is a millennium dead, and mourned by only three of the entire Universe. A poor legacy to be sure. Ramses the Second elicits more sympathy and interest. All she `created` was sterile and barren: her grand plan, her kingdom, and her daughter, need I go on? The Moon Kingdom, a good place for her sterile perfection, with glittering jewels of rampant narcissism to orbit around her and reflect back her glory. Why do you think she exiled you to the coldest, most barren planet? Gave you the eternal job of guarding what could have been sealed with a journeyman's magic and bag of concrete?"

      "The job was important, no one should be permitted - "

      "HA!" the voice boomed, silencing Pluto's rage at the insult to her and Serenity. "No one with the power to command the gates to serve them, couldn't also travel through time by a host of other means." He placed a claw tip on her belly, just hard enough to dimple the skin, as long as she didn't inhale. "You were sent, banished, because you of the original three could produce new life, and your queen had to force you into the crone's role, so she could usurp the role of mother." The claw and threat of evisceration were removed, and Pluto could breathe again. "Did you ever wonder why you never had trouble getting servants? On Pluto? On Charon? You were far from the court, you were far from the excitement of the storms of Jupiter, or Saturn, far from the solar disk and it's endless fascinations, you despised the luxuries and fripperies of the court and the other Principalities. And yet, people flocked, not to the barrenness of Pluto, but to the warmth of the home you created there."

      "I never played house with any of those people!" Pluto insisted.

      If I had my henshin, I could show this monster what for! she thought angrily. The henshin, her henshin, dropped on her stomach.

      "You were saying? I said 'home', not boudoir," the creature corrected, "Those two Outers could live in dour debauchery anywhere, why are they under your roof, living by your rules? You perverted your gifts and goals on Triton, delved with a pick axe where a gentle hand would have gathered them in, and you should have left well enough alone. I suspect as punishment, you alone have been forced to live through the long ages, knowing the fall and failure."

      "What are you offering, redemption? A chance to undo my past mistakes?" Pluto demanded.

      "Of course not, to be reborn, you have to die first," the creature told her, and laughed at her fear, "I offer you a place to go and a person to be, after you've died." The creature's mocking laughter was all that remained after a few moments.

      How did something that big fit in just this room? she thought as she looked around, Where is what I -? She barely got the ice bucket under her before she actually spewed forth what she had been drinking.

      "Okay, an illusion," she said, then rinsed her mouth with a swig of the scotch, and spit it into the ice bucket when the thought of swallowing it made her stomach churn.

      The knowledge of where she would have to be, later tonight, slammed into her mind with such force, it ignited a hangover of epic proportions.

      "You wanted to feel sorry for yourself, now, anyone and everyone who understands your pain will feel sorry for you," the voice taunted, "Amazing how real agony drives out existential concerns and angst over trivialities."

      I should curse him, Setsuna thought about it, But I'd have to make a noise to do that. No, no noise.

      "That was the boy's real problem," the voice teased, sending agony through Setsuna's mind, "You Senshi types like it rough."

      Pluto sat up and shouted, "You rot - " Setsuna collapsed to the floor in a little ball of agony.

      "You really should pay attention to Sailor Pluto, she runs away and leaves you the mess. 'Brave, Sacrificing Pluto' indeed, you are her sacrifice Meioh Setsuna," the voice whispered at a merely painful level, "I'LL SEE YOU LATER TONIGHT! AND YOU CAN HIT ME THEN!" shook the rafters.

      Setsuna whimpered, afraid of what else might be coming.

      "Admiral," Captain Tachibana asked as they stood outside near the edge of the camp, "What if we need those choppers?"

      "Captain, sometimes, you must have faith in the people under you. At a certain rank, you learn you cannot fight the battle, you have to manage the battle. If he didn't need all of them, he wouldn't have asked for all of them." The admiral smiled. "Besides, I like the idea of him owing us a favor, and that he is neither omnipotent, nor omniscient."

      "Or he wants us to believe that," the Captain replied.

      "Even that is a comfort," the Admiral replied as the lights of the chopper force disappeared in the direction of Tokyo. "Now, Captain, we have to manage the battle. And we have to hope that the lessons taught to our colleagues at the Sagami River, are not lessons we too must master."

      Rini watched the street race towards her, she clutched Luna-P and screamed. Then, she landed. The old truck she'd landed on had been flattened by the impact. Why aren't I hurt? she wondered, Why didn't I have Luna-P become a parachute or something? We fell for long enough.

      She hugged Luna-P. "He said we had two friends on their way, and that I should wait for them." She looked around the deserted street worriedly. "But they have to know where and when I arrived. I can't stay here, or the Black Moon will find me."

      She scrambled out of the ruins of the truck, and headed to a more lighted area.

      Sailor Saturn moved easily through the night. "How hard could it be to find a pink-haired girl?" Hotaru asked into her communicator.

      "She moved from where she landed, and I'm picking up other temporal distortions," Kitty's gravelly voice told her, "So the short answer is 'very hard'. I've got additional help and eyes searching. Don't worry, Pretty Sammi and the military are having as hard a time as you are."

      "Good enough," Hotaru said.

      I just wish the troops were the Admiral's, instead of those Kitty taught a lesson to earlier, she thought as she moved, I trust them, I'm not sure I can trust people I don't know.

      "So what's causing these temporal distortions?" came Sammi's voice over the communicator, "Are they decoys or more troops?"

      "Yes."

      Neither I nor the dragon are happy with that, Hotaru thought as she continued searching.

      "All units report," the Admiral commanded, as he looked over the map and the operators assembled around it. He listened to the three small squadrons of choppers reporting their readiness and highly dispersed positions.

      "Admiral," Captain Tachibana reported, "No contacts."

      "That's impossible," Asuka interrupted, "They have the location of at least two confirmed targets. They have to be able to find them!"

      "Unless - "

      "They're being jammed!" Asuka finished, "Pull them out of there!"

      "Pull up and take evasive action!" the Admiral ordered, "It's a trap. Be aware of ground fire and air attack." He turned to his staff. "How did they know?"

      Even Asuka didn't have an immediate answer.

      "Admiral, Gray 5 reports an enemy ship over Yokohama, approaching fast."

      "They aren't the only ones who can spring a trap," the Admiral said angrily, but nodded to Lieutenant Imai.

      "Your Highness, your target is over Yokohama, any assistance you can offer -"

      "I'm on my way," came the haughty reply, "If they threaten Jurain royal blood, they will die."

      "Can't ask for better than that," Imai replied.

      "Admiral, southern command has two squadrons, one of F-1's and the other F-15DJ's, they can keep her Highness clear of gnats."

      "Coordinate with her Highness," the Admiral replied, "Any further threat to our choppers?"

      "Not from the air, sir," Tachibana replied, "we don't know about ground attack."

      "Wonderful. Which is the diversion, and which is the real attack?"

      The Ryu-Oh raced in at the large ship that had appeared over the skies of Japan. Ayeka's grip tightened on the arms of her chair. "If they think I'd sit by and let someone threaten Sasami," she growled, ignoring the terrified members of her crew. "DIE!"

      The fusillade reduced the other ship to a flaming wreck.

      "We mustn't let that debris hit the ground!" Ayeka commanded, as she continued firing, "HA! HA! HA!"

      "Of course not," Tenchi agreed from behind a stack of tables.

      "Very commendable," Washu agreed as she cowered.

      "Are the little ones with the Japan flag on our side?" Mihoshi asked.

      I can feel it, feel them, Rini thought as she ran, trying to dodge traffic and other people, I thought I could get away, now I know I can't. She nearly ran down a soldier in uniform, but missed him and kept running.

      She saw the odd light high overhead. "NO!" Rini screamed in terror at the abomination she knew would pursue her until she or it was destroyed. "He said there would be people to help! He lied! He lied!" She ran with tears streaming down her face.

      "Two blocks up, three left, you'll see a barricade, flash your lights three times, they'll let you through," came through the car's radio as Setsuna drove through the city streets. Overhead, choppers and fighters crisscrossed the city.

      "You'd think they'd spotted Godzilla or something," she complained as she approached the barricade, but flashed her lights, and the soldiers opened the barricade for her, saluting as she passed.

      What is going on here? she wanted to scream.

      "Sir, we have the target," Tachibana reported, "Switching."

      "If you have any of your specials, send them," the soldier shouted, "I don't know what it this, but we've got nothing that can handle it!"

      "We're vectoring Strike Wave in and Death Star is approaching," Asuka reported, "Dark King is heading in for extraction, expect aggressive egress if under fire."

      "Are weapons free?" Tachibana asked.

      "Do not fire, until fired upon," the Admiral said. "I hate lawyers righting our rules of engagement."

      "I just hate lawyers. SAR chopper has visual," Imai reported, "It is closing on the Package. No ground fire reported, so far." The image on the screen caused the soldiers to gasp.

      "Vector White Star, and all available air support," the Admiral ordered.

      "If they don't shoot at us, what can we do?" Tachibana asked.

      "We can watch. Rules of engagement."

      Hotaru watched the huge, winged mech fly over the streets. "That's a big bird! AH!" She caught sight of a flash of pink. "Got it!" Hotaru transformed as she ran.

      Maybe I can hold that thing off until help gets here . . . but who could deal with that? She looked up at the two armed helicopters that buzzed the target, but were ignored. Why aren't they shooting at each other?

      "Rini!" she shouted to the fleeing girl. The girl turned to the sound, Hotaru winced as the girl's hope turned to stark terror.

      "Mistress Saturn!" the little girl breathed in dread.

      "Mistress . . . ? We have to get out of here, now!" Saturn told her and tugged at the petrified girl who had tears running down her face.

      "He lied, he lied, he lied," she kept staring at Saturn and repeating.

      I'm going to have to carry her out of here, Hotaru thought, and was thrown from her feet as the huge mech landed.

      "He lied, he lied!" the pink-haired girl whimpered.

      "Too bad Princess, all we need is your broken body. Wiseman will get what he needs."

      "We have enough problems with Kagato!" Saturn shouted at the mech as she put herself between it and the girl, "We don't need imports!"

      "So be it! Die with her!" The mech aimed not at them, but the building next to them. A can bounced off the mech, and began spewing green smoke. The mech's shot pulverized the building.

      "Silence Sphere!" Saturn shouted as she held the girl close and felt the debris raining down on her shield.

      "Death Star and Package are west of smoke, repeat west of smoke, other friendlies north of smoke," Stirogli heard.

      "Attacking from west," he told them, "I see green smoke. Engaging!"

      As if I had a choice, Stirogli breathed at the huge machine as he closed, He'd kill me if I didn't rescue the girl.

      Layers of frost became sheets of ice. And Stirogli was past. "Damage? Confirm condition of friendlies."

      "Negative on friendlies, Negative on hostile, no effect."

      "Damn!"

      "White Star, take evasive action, you have inbounds!" he heard as he evaded.

      "Order the Wild Weasels to protect White Star," Tachibana ordered, "Chaff and flares."

      "Cabinet is now meeting," a comm officer reported, "They are debating weapons free."

      The Admiral didn't frown. Instead, he nodded to Asuka.

      "Spectre," Asuka said quietly, "Close support, friendlies within 30 meters, engage."

      Xian Pu ran into Raccoon and Mu Tsu's room. She spotted Raccoon bent over a large silvery sphere. "Raccoon, there big fight on television!" she told him, "You must see!"

      "I didn't think Ukyo's balance was that good," Raccoon replied in a distracted tone, making gestures over the sphere, never taking his eyes off it, "She isn't fighting Mu Tsu, is she?"

      "No, fight downtown, pictures of fight on . . . oh, you watching fight right here," Xian Pu realized.

      "Nope, I'm doing what Rei is supposed to be doing right now," Raccoon replied as he made another gesture.

      "What that?" Xian Pu asked as she leaned down to look into the sphere, before turning away from the nauseating images.

      "Looking for a spider," Raccoon replied.

      Rini knew she'd been abandoned even by God, as she looked at the massive armored form that had deflected most of the debris away from them as the building fell. I can't even be given a clean death, she thought as she twisted and turned to get out of the renegade Senshi's grip, Free! She nearly ran into the hand of the Jurain warmech.

      "That's Ryo-Ok-Ki!" she stammered, not even trying to run away now.

      That's what they built to prevent mother, and the other Senshi from 'interdicting' trade with the traitors! Rini thought of the clean lines and faux humorous form that disguised the brute power of the empire's ultimate war machine. She let herself collapse and be captured again. Nightmare on nightmare, she silently wailed, I won't survive, at least the Black Moon would just kill me.

      "I want to go home," she whispered as she clutched Luna-P and closed her eyes.

      Ryo-Oh-Ki shook the debris clear of those girls first, and I won't let them get hit again! Sammi silently vowed as she shed the last of the building material.

      "Ryo-Oh-Ki! Attack!" Pretty Sammi commanded from the cockpit.

      "Mrwol!" the cabbit turned warmech shouted as it charged. Her opponent was shattering the ice blocks that had encased it.

      "Aa - AGGH!" Sammi's shout changed as her opponent executed a perfect hip throw and sent pilot and mech flying into and through a building. Before she could pull herself clear, it grabbed Ryo-Oh-Ki's arm and flipped her again, this time straight at the pair she'd sworn to protect. Only by twisting painfully, did Sammi and Ryo-Oh-Ki manage not to land directly atop them.

      "Reow, reow, reow," the images of Ryo-Oh-Ki's face exclaimed as they spun on every screen.

      "Ooo, I know how she feels," Sammi said as she tried to figure out if she was up or down. Doors in the enemy mech opened by the dozens, revealing missile launchers. "Ryo-Oh-Ki wake up and move!" As dozens of small projectiles flew their corkscrew paths towards them, frost, then ice formed on all of them. Most lost tracking and slammed into the ground, or the buildings and exploded. The frost, then ice reformed on the mech, setting off some explosions from the launchers, tearing off antennas and small sensor heads.

      But the explosions didn't get to the magazines, Sammi thought as she watched the enemy advance, while on a smaller screen, the pink-haired girl broke away from Saturn and hugged the white and blue dragon's leg. Well, up and at them! Piloting a Mech is harder than I thought. I should have let Raccoon or Langley teach me first. Ryo-Oh-Ki would be better without me, and I'd almost be better without her. We have to learn to be better, together.

      "Don't just charge in," she told the groggy cabbit-mech, "Fire and move."

      Ryo-Oh-Ki sent beams of power at her target while she weaved drunkenly side-to-side as they advanced. The effect was neither scored many hits, but the enemy gave ground.

      At least once we close to hand-to-hand, I know how to fight that way, then she realized, But Ryo-Oh-Ki doesn't!

      The instructions were flawless, Setsuna thought as she headed towards what was clearly a battlezone, And the signals meant nobody stopped me. Why am I following those instructions? If the Princess was involved, I would have heard. So why am I driving the way Haruka only wishes she could? Why do I need to get here? She glanced at the seat beside her, at her purse, My hands just itch to get around my henshin, and transform. She considered how she, Setsuna, had dodged through traffic and the barriers, with a calm, skill and reflexes she hadn't possessed before, I bet if I transform, I'll lose my driving skills. I also suspect I'll be terrified of nearly trading paint and passing police on my way out.

      She stopped the car, took her purse, and ran towards the sound of the guns.

      "I'm getting the hang of this!" Sammi cried out joyfully as she managed to reverse the throw the other warmech tried on her. She ignored the dubious look on all the screens showing Ryo-Oh-Ki's face. As her opponent stood, it opened several large body panels, like a parody of a daisy.

      "MOVE!" Sammi shouted, and Ryo-Oh-Ki did, easily. "Can't hit - NO!" she screamed as she realized she wasn't the target.

      Saturn was still having trouble with the girl, and the dragon and girls were directly in the path of the beam. Sammi felt Ryo-Oh-Ki move and leap into the path of the still-firing beam weapon that tore through shield after shield that Saturn brought up. Sammi and Ryo-Oh-Ki screamed together as the beam tore through armor and shields, and into the vitals of the Ryo-Oh-Ki mech, filling the cockpit with exploding equipment, sparks and smoke.

      Stirogli managed to shake off the girl while he fired a beam of such intense cold that frost on the target mech was only a side effect. He leapt the distance and landed on the mech and dug his claws into the mech's shoulders. His claw ripped through the cold-embrittled armor, while his back claws came level with the mech's chest, and he ripped straight down, like a cat gutting its prey. The claws ripping through armor, tearing of the firing panels, and shattering the energy beam's central crystal.

      Before Stirogli could rake again, the mech fired another fusillade of missiles that raced out and curved back in. The dragon and the battered mech took hit after hit. The battered dragon slid to the ground, unconscious, while the mech staggered back, to assess its damage and chance for success.

      Saturn watched as Sammi's mech, then the white dragon toppled in front of them. Even wounded, they still kept trying to protect us. Why isn't the Japanese Army doing the same? Saturn thought as she tugged at the girl, I should have just thrown her over my shoulder and run for it. She nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Who am I kidding? I can barely walk myself. That thing is going to just lurch over here and stomp us.

      "Why did she do that?" the pink hair asked.

      "We're heros," Saturn exclaimed, "We save people."

      Not that we couldn't use a few heros of our own right now, Saturn didn't add, Is she finally getting it? Can I finally drag her away and get her to safety, so I can really clobber this monster!? Over the fallen body of the Ryo-Oh-Ki Mech, Saturn saw the other Mech approaching. "Too late," Saturn said as she released the girl and stepped clear, leveling her glaive, "I would have liked more time to train." She tried to make her hands quit trembling from fear and fatigue.

      The siren that filled the air would have been struck fear in any Allied soldier of the 40's from the Caucasus to the Bay of Biscay. The low shriek that rose in pitch and volume echoed among the buildings until it was impossible to pinpoint the source.

      "Kitty!" Sammi announced woozily from the mech's speakers, while her opponent tried to scan the skies, and brace for the attack.

      Saturn watched the soldiers bounce another can of smoke off the creature, and then run away. The mech turned as if to strike them. Before they could fire, a bolt of black so dark it stood out stark against the night sky struck the mech, driving it back. Saturn and Rini watched as the covers on the missile launchers and the jagged and torn sections of armor melted away like candy in boiling water. Then the rest of the armored skin, and the composite bones melted as they were exposed, then burned away.

      The source of the screech and the bolt flew over the city streets to survey the carnage. Black, ancient and malevolent beyond words, it settled on all fours amid the carnage. Folding its wings and glowering with distaste at the pitiful beings around it.

      "KITTY!" two girls exclaimed and ran towards the monster.

      "Another entrance ruined," he commented as each girl tried to wrap her arms around his wrist, "Maleficent will drum me out of the corps at this rate."

      Setsuna transformed into Sailor Pluto. I arrived just in time to - she thought and threw herself flat as the huge warmachine was effectively evaporated by an even larger dragon. She looked up and saw Saturn and another girl step into view. More to this than meets the eye. She lifted the Key of Time and advanced at a fast walk.

      The near tackle knocked her back and almost knocked her down.

      "PUU!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed, nearly squeezing the life out of her. "I knew he'd send help! I knew it!" The face that looked up into Setsuna's was as full of joy as she had ever seen. The tears streaming down her little face only highlighted it.

      I've never seen anyone so happy to see - me, ever, Setsuna thought as she hugged the girl tightly to her.

      "Yes, I'm here," she said and lifted the girl up so she could wrap her arms around her neck.

      As if by magic, the girl's happiness somehow actually increased.

      Setsuna looked at Saturn carefully helping another pink-haired girl out of the fallen machine, while the black dragon helped the white and blue dragon unsteadily to his feet. Setsuna walked towards the group, the little girl rubbing her cheek against Setsuna's neck. I detransformed, she realized, I've never done that by accident either, or, not for a long time.

      "I told you I'd bring your mother," the black dragon rumbled.

      Setsuna looked at the two girls and the small animal they were healing. Where'd the mech go? Is one of them her mother?

      The girl looked up at the dragon, not releasing her hold on Setsuna. "But Mistress Saturn? And the Queen of the Jurai?!" she protested.

      "How better to demonstrate that things are different here?" the terrible monster teased "Your sire and dame are elsewhere, but your mother is here," it added more seriously, pointing at Setsuna.

      I don't know which of us is more thunderstruck, came as her first rational thought after that.

      "I . . . I . . . " she stammered, only calming when the little girl stared at her.

      "Puu isn't my mommy, but I always wished she was," she said quietly, before laying her head on Setsuna's shoulder, "She was the one I wanted to be." A moment later the hold became a ferocious hug. "Now she can be!" the girl whooped.

      "For a little while," the monster amended, almost tenderly.

      "Kitty, you're right," the girl exclaimed happily, "But you're nuts!"

      "Kitty?" Setsuna asked of the huge creature.

      "Relax, Winifred, the dormouse will be serving tea later, just watch out for the Hatter, he likes to pinch."

      Setsuna groaned, she had abandoned her attempts to preserve her hauteur, and now was just trying to remain standing. "Can we go somewhere away from prying . . . eyes?" She looked around at the cave they had appeared in, even her car and the smaller dragon.

      "Away enough?" the malevolent creature asked as Sailor Saturn led the girl and her pet away, casting angry glances over her shoulder at Setsuna until they were out of sight. "Your eagerness, nay fanaticism is now revealed, at least its hidden service," the creature rumbled, then seemed to chuckle at the scene. "One soul, one terribly lonely soul battered its way into your loneliness. Reason enough, perhaps not, but perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back."

      Setsuna frowned at what he was accusing Pluto, and by inference her of. I have not been following the progress of Crystal Tokyo, just so Rini will be born and seek me out! she wanted to angrily shout, At least he isn't saying it so Rini can understand. But that smirk means he knows that I know what he's talking about.

      "I think you're reading too much into the situation," she countered, " 'Sire and Dame'?"

      I know who he's taking about, but what does he mean by this? she wanted to ask, then she noted Rini had fallen asleep in her arms.

      "More elegant that egg and sperm donor, but no less accurate," he said quietly, as if not to wake the girl.

      I should be terrified, Setsuna thought, Instead I'm angry at his teasing. Somehow, I think that's the point.

      "Indeed?"

      The creature chuckled again.

      A surprisingly warm sound, Setsuna realized, Now that I realize I'm one of his playing pieces, and won't be exterminated at any moment.

      "You humans are too lost in the visual and procedural world," he said, in an almost amused and friendly tone, "I know what you are thinking, feeling, and planning. You may school your face as well as a Noh player, but you cannot hide the chemical telltales, pheromones, and hormone breakdown residues you fill the air around you with." He chuckled again. "Have no fear, you cannot fool her either, she knows the you-who-may-be far too well. The masks you wear are merely for show, against either of us. The Caron's Poivre you wear occasionally, that she stole a drop of, before she left. She's smart enough to realize if she smelled more like you, she might be more acceptable. Odd, you would spend such an extravagant sum on such an indulgence, and a scent whose name means 'Pepper'? Intriguing indeed."

      "What would you know about me, or her?" Setsuna demanded.

      "Far north, a fallen example of what you struggle for, now strives against itself, and dies of that jihad when submission would bring about a victory beyond any they dreamed of, as well as another chance to achieve what they claim to want."

      "I've fought them," Pluto retorted, "They must have a plan."

      "Not to educate your bunny. You hope too much," he said easily, "We: you, I, your bunny, even our princesses are not people, just things either in the way, or to be converted to something useful. A very . . . draconian attitude, and it explains why dragons do not rule, and we certainly don't reign. They could be more than the target of more powerful forces. The bunny's fascination with 'Love' and 'Justice' amuses me, but I'd rather have one of her power and enthusiasm hold to such illusions, rather than one where they 'make it better for everyone.' One size fits all doesn't work with underwear, why do so many assume it works in governance? Relax, Happosai does not know you are here."

      "I was not considering Happosai, but another underwear thief," Pluto responded as she got her nervousness under control. "Why are you so interested? If all we are is amusements to you."

      "Everyone wants their team to win. Besides, your side can be stopped with words and a good show of contrition. Your enemies would insist on spilt blood. There's more, I frankly prefer to avoid shedding blood on trivialities. While there is nothing magical about blood, taking it out with anything other than explicit permission, and clinical detachment, always escalates things."

      Pluto smirked, but nodded. "So what do you want of me?" The creature's long pause and weighing gaze made her skin crawl.

      "Interesting symphony of scents, it implies . . . many things. First your assumptions, your body's reaction to them, and then your mind's interpretation and your body's reaction to them. Instinct and logical thought, all displayed to one with a nose as a novel would be to you. I will not speculate on where you'd purchase such a novel, however." The chuckle this time was throatier.

      Pluto blanched and squirmed under that amusement. "So what do you want me to do?"

      "I could demand you cease lying to yourself," the monster said grimly, "But I already know that is futile. Too many of Serenity's worshipers refuse to see any flaw in her person or actions."

      "Serenity is - " Setsuna stopped the tirade, as she saw the trap, and Rini shifted unhappily at the yelling, "I won't be drawn into that argument. You could never understand."

      "You are correct, I don't, and never could. My free will and freedom to act are precious to me. I cannot imagine anyone besides God Almighty Himself who could make me surrender them. So I'll demand something you can deliver. A home for a wayward waif. You had plans to take Hotaru, so you must have had the support structure needed by a young girl. This one is merely younger, and you will face a reduced level of resistance. I can arrange the necessary papers. I am owed some rather substantial favors. I believe I should call them in, before they grow stale."

      "Then I'll owe you, is that it?" Setsuna asked as she marshaled her defiance. His laughter was unexpected.

      "You expect me to demand the payment of legend?" the dragon asked incredulously, "Don't say you didn't! I smell it on you!" The monster laughed, a terrifying yet joyous sound. "You certainly qualify, despite what happened earlier."

      Setsuna wanted to scream at that reminder.

      "But that never was a requirement."

      "Are you - how could - I have - I just haven't - "

      "You are," the dragon cut through Pluto's sputtering, "There was a time it would be something to take pride in. It prevented the spread of fatal, insanity-causing diseases to the next generation, among other things, when wonder drugs weren't available as a cure. Also having orgasms wasn't the be-all and end-all of all human existence."

      I don't know if I could blush worse than I already am! Setsuna thought as she stared at the dragon, Why am I stunned he doesn't want to . . . ravish me? I guess it would be like getting turned down by a tentacle demon. I'm not used to this.

      "So what is the price for your help?" Setsuna asked.

      "Raising a responsible adult will be payment enough," he replied quietly.

      The verbal sparring kept me from following those two girls! Pluto realized. Went she took a step, a wing descended in front of her.

      "Ah. You haven't earned the right, yet."

      "And how could I earn the right?"

      "When a human seeks truth, especially a personal truth, why do they always look outside themselves, when truth, especially a personal truth, as opposed to facts, cannot be separated from the person?"

      "Which tells me precisely nothing," Setsuna told him, "Do you want to hear the sound of one hand slapping?"

      "It tells me you aren't as insightful as you wish people to believe. It also tells me that two behavioral templates are at war within you. The first Meioh Setsuna, who is a human who happens to be a Senshi; and Patience, an ancient ally of Serenity, who projects herself into a human frame of reference called Sailor Pluto. Sailor Pluto is Patience's plaything, but with the Gates of Time gone, the Moon Kingdom gone, and two examples of how Crystal Tokyo could go terribly awry once founded, Meioh Setsuna has become more than an appurtenance to Patience/Sailor Pluto. Don't deny it, I smelled the difference each time you changed. Setsuna wants a life of consequence as a human, perhaps a new life of her own growing in her womb. Patience fears stepping out of Serenity's shadow, for fear of seeing how small the three of you actually were, and the magnitude of your crimes. Setsuna could walk in there free and unencumbered, Patience, and therefore Sailor Pluto, would be crushed by the truths she would be forced to experience. Whether Setsuna is strong enough to take up Sailor Pluto's mantle when Patience falls . . . I prefer not to test."

      Setsuna shivered at his cold certainty. "Very well, I will know when I am allowed. Then how will you know that - you'll smell the difference, won't you?"

      "Very good, I will, but you won't die passing through, that's the real test. Now I have a question for you. The death of billions, how can that be justified by rewarding the rest with an idle paradise?"

      "Crystal Tokyo would be paradise!" Pluto retorted angrily.

      "Built on a slaughter that would beggar Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Tojo combined? You assume that the populace would care nothing for the sacrifice of innocents required for its existence, and their survival? If you are correct, that they care nothing for the fallen . . . I would rather the survivors would at least question the cost, have grand memorial festivals likening to the Mexican Day of the Dead, or some of the Roman rites to propitiate the deified ancestors. But such means of dealing with survivor guilt would get in the way of enjoying paradise and worshiping their saviors. You cannot allow the humans to be human, that would ruin everything."

      Pluto seethed at this inhuman monster's smug tone and his certainty on the behavior of something he could never be.

      " 'A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place,' Behr and Beimler. Gods want adults who do not need them, but desire a relationship anyway. Only tyrants want all to be children who depend on them for everything. Which was the Moon Kingdom? Which is/will be Crystal Tokyo? Intentions' nobility do not excuse the unintended consequences of any action." He watched Pluto fume at the slander. "You can't answer because Pluto refuses to think about it, she will only feel. But Setsuna will have to consider the cost of her support of Patience's actions. So you will have a kingdom of free thinkers, or one who reacts only with emotion? Which of those would win a contest? Emotion cannot be sustained forever. Patient planning will bring down any mountain."

      "I will not give up on Crystal Tokyo!" Pluto exclaimed, "Usagi will be the mother of a better, more noble Human Race!"

      "Celestine and Belldandy tried that once before," he said sadly, then glared and Pluto feared for her life, "Langley and the boy were weak, young and inexperienced, yet they prevailed, and they are not those things any more. And for all your bestowed power, you would find their resolve terrifying, to say nothing of their methods. Coming from something like me, that's saying something."

      "You would deny the survivors of a cataclysm paradise?" Pluto replied, "Who is being the cruel one now?"

      "I would prevent the cataclysm in the first place," the dragon replied, his cold tone against Pluto's heated one, "You and your queen are either omnipotent and omniscient, or you aren't. That you know it could happen, presumably when, where and how, and choose inaction, shows deliberation on your part. To beggar Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Leopold II, and build your paradise on a mountain of skulls." The dragon smirked. "And then claim divine right to rule because of your superior nature? That separates you from any other bloody-minded tyrant in history how? Oh, you're giving the survivors paradise. The whole web does not bear close scrutiny. What if the Senshi dissent? Rini talked of 'Mistress' Saturn, whom she feared, are the others merely a meat shield one and all for NeoSerenity? What will their function be when all is a utopia?"

      "There will be enemies," Pluto replied.

      "Of paradise?" the dragon asked sarcastically, "Oh, how could that be? Why would anyone not wish to live in paradise? And would not the citizens in their idyllic lifestyle not wish everyone to partake? I've talked with Rini. She's gotten the watered down answers from tutors as besotted by NeoSerenity as Pluto is. Evil still exists there. If it is truly evil, you kill it, not toss it somewhere and hope it goes away. The rulers of Crystal Tokyo seem intent on making exactly the same mistakes as the ruler of the Moon Kingdom. How many of Serenity's old enemies are lurking out there?" The dragon gestured at the nighttime sky. "How many in her strength she locked away, so that her reincarnated descendants, in their weakness and inexperience, would face them after a millennium of preparation and marination? They return, with the preparation and the will to engage a system-spanning Queendom, and find a pack of untrained, half-tested girls. Who developed that plan? Genma Saotome? Even Gendo Ikari knew he had a couple of trained aces to back up the newbies, and that the EVAs themselves were capable of fighting without their pilot's direct control. No answer?"

      I want to grind my teeth in frustration, Pluto thought, On his neck! But I'd wake Rini, so I'll do that later.

      "Queen Serenity knew what she was doing!" Pluto insisted.

      "That's loyalty and wishful thinking talking," the Dragon replied. His tail wrapped around Rini and plucked her off Pluto's shoulder and put her in Sasami and Hotaru's arms. "She's had a hard couple of days, she'll be sleepy, so don't let her stay up too late," he told the two girls.

      "Of course not," Hotaru reassured him, with Sasami nodding eagerly.

      " 'But 2:00 AM isn't late, it's early'," the dragon said in a high-pitched voice, then in normal tones, "Do you have the bag?"

      "Oops!" Sasami dashed away, then ran back carrying a large shopping bag. "Thanks for reminding me."

      "Give Ta-chan and Rini some," the dragon advised, "That way you can catch him in a crossfire."

      "What was that all about?" Setsuna asked, staring at the three departing girls.

      "Payback, and target acquisition," the dragon explained, when he saw Setsuna's expression, he chuckled then told her, "The Devil is a proud spirit and cannot stand to be mocked. Neither I nor the boy mock, when a quick knife between the ribs does the job."

      "That makes no sense."

      "You leave others' transgressions and Karma to them. You have your own crimes to atone for, such as thousands of years ago, three beings: Serenity, Fortitude and Temperance, arrogated to themselves the right to direct Human destiny. They took chaos from the hearts of Mankind, and Fortitude bound it all within herself. Serenity and Temperance collected the artifacts at the Galactic Cauldron and formed a band of warriors to hunt down and eliminate the remaining chaos. Serenity named Temperance Pluto, and exiled her to the Time Gates supposedly to prevent anyone from traveling back and stopping them, especially the Jurains. Her real reasons can only be speculated about. Neither ever checked up on Fortitude, who had been consumed by the chaos bound within her, until it became Chaos, an entity."

      Pluto gasped at the revelation. "You can't know that! It's impossible for you to know that! None of the Senshi knew, none of - "

      "It was written big as life on the walls of Beryl's palace," the dragon replied, "Along with other things that even Beryl probably didn't understand, but Washu and her lover's revenant Kagato would. I even read how Temperance confronted Fortitude at the very edge of the Time Gates, preventing her from undoing exactly what had driven her mad. Temperance drove her off, but you died that day. Serenity scraped up all she could find of you, and renamed the remaining resonances of Temperance: Patience, and set you again to guarding the Time Gates. That's why you're so loyal, you think she saved you, but if she hadn't played her games, if she and Fortitude had bothered to listen to you in the first place, you wouldn't have been killed in the first place. That's like falling in love with the sentencing judge, because the executioner screwed up and didn't completely kill you. Go ahead and yell, that's why I sent the girls away."

      "You rotten that's not Serenity was kind and you wouldn't understand I don't and never - " Pluto screamed at him. "What would you know about any of this! The human race was untamed and causing all kinds of trouble and discord!"

      "Which is exactly what they were supposed to do. This entire universe is a laboratory to answer a question about existence, that any human with a mind and soul could answer in two seconds. The chaos you decried so was the fundamental nature of this universe, put there on purpose, for a purpose by beings so far above you three, that you could scarce imagine their entirety."

      "What!?" Pluto managed, "The goddess of Jurain myth? That's superstition and folklore."

      "So is the belief in the flawless Serenity, but there were three of them, Washu the mad creator, Tsunami of Jurai, and Tokemi the Chaos-Sower. The Jurains managed to harness that chaos within themselves and created a golden age where inspiration for great art and new innovations ran like water. Yes, it was noisy, chaotic, and people who couldn't keep up and wouldn't get out of the way were hurt, but nothing like the way the universe is now. When that suddenly stopped, when you three suddenly stopped it, the Jurains went from good-natured pirates out of a Disney story, to xenophobic extremists. They could no longer funnel their nigh-limitless energies outward, or create with them. Instead they turned inwards, sometimes on their subject peoples, more often on each other. Resulting in the problems we have today. Do you even know how many of Serenity's enemies were of exiled Jurain houses? Beryl was, so was Neherenia, all of Beryl's generals and how many more? Even I don't know. As well as the, some would say, insane attempts to return to the halcyon days of discovery which led to a disaster you either don't know about, or fail to understand the implications of."

      "What disaster?" Setsuna asked.

      "The complete and total obliteration of this universe, what else?"

      On one hand, I feel marvelous, Happosai thought as he watched the military examine the battle site, On the other, I feel just awful. They're all going to grow into great beauties. Kiima almost recognizes me, so does Hotaru. But they haven't said anything. I've . . . behaved, and 'grandfather Happi' is greeted warmly, but I don't feel like myself. He considered his losses, compared to his gains, As long as I stay, I have all the energy I could possibly want, and I think Hotaru changed the process so I am truly immortal, but is that worth the call of the silky darlings, which I can't hear anymore? Happosai reminded himself, They're still kids. Despite their powers. So I have to protect them.

      "So why haven't I just stolen their henshin, made them stay home and leave fighting monsters to . . . monsters like me? While it's nice having respectful students, who treasure an old man's wisdom. They'd eventually get over losing their dangerous `specialness`. I could train them . . . no, I'm my own man. They had no right to `purify` me," he shouted angrily, then he sighed, "Only I started the process, myself, by accident. They just finished it, to keep me safe. I could start back on my road to recovering - " He was interrupted by a vision of Makoto's and Hotaru's disappointment, then their faith in and respect for him shattered. He bowed his head and let a single tear fall.

      A youma who'd been sneaking up on a 'tired, old, madman', got a free trip to Tokyo Bay with a flick of Happosai's pipe. "It just doesn't feel right," he complained, then smiled, "But I suppose it will be fun to watch. I'll miss Kasumi's cooking, but Makoto's is almost as good." He sighed sadly, then looked up at the figure streaking across the sky. He knew where it was headed instantly.

      Happosai leapt to his feet. I've got to defend my charges! He fell over backwards. That can't have been who I think I saw! And why didn't I ever notice her before?! It had to be a trick!

      He steeled himself, and raced toward the Tomoe home, intent on facing whatever came of it.

      Sailor Vesta landed in the Tomoe's backyard. Vesta's form, or not? she considered, then decided, The whole truth will serve me better. She brought out the plate of cookies she'd prepared, unwrapping them from the multiple layers of cloth from her `behind` bow. Amazing, it returns to the original size and shape, she thought, I do wish I knew where Akane got the Chloral Hydrate she added to the salad dressing, but Mirei and I just had our salads plain, so it wasn't a completely bad thing.

      She knocked on the back door and waited. Oh good, Makoto and Kiima, but where's Hotaru? I can begin immediately, she thought as the pair answered the door. She handed Kiima the plate and engulfed Makoto in a hug that would have done Shampoo proud.

      "Oh sister Senshi, he is troubling, but I am here to help. Kiima-chan, you spilled the cookies."

      Happosai hadn't planned on opening the door, before going through it. But it's already open, and I can feel the energy in the place, he thought as he approached Professor Tomoe stepping out.

      "There's a Senshi heading this way, not one of yours."

      The man paled as Happosai dashed past him. He bounded through the house. He spotted Kiima, who turned to run back the way she had come. Happosai easily passed her, and reached the dining room. The new Senshi had already grappled with and defeated Makoto, who was hanging unconscious in her arms. She isn't one of the Northern ones either, he realized as he charged, then froze.

      "YOU!" the Master and the Senshi cried and once. They both braced for violence as they analyzed their new opponent.

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