<<<The Heroes We Love Trilogy; Special Widescreen, Single Post Edition>>>

	"This is Catherine Paulsey, INT-TV reporter here in Germany where a rash
of sudden unexplained murders has been taking place.  The local officials
are puzzled as to the manner of the crimes, the victims all being either
cut or punctured in the neck near the jugular area.  Police Detective
Meinger who has been investigating the crime from start has been making
several irrational and unusual theories about the crimes..."

	"Jonathan McLaughen here in San Diego California where, supposedly a group
of people responsible for the Jackie Ripper crimes has been found.  After a
anonymous tip to the local police authorities, the brand new Hotel KK was
searched from top to bottom.  After the police found six bodies in the top
floor, the staff at the hotel all promptly turned themselves in as
collaborators to the Jackie Ripper crimes.  A few quotes were able to be
taken before the entire hotel staff was carried off, while most were
unintelligible, the more mentally stable individuals spoke of a lone
vigilante who came into the building wearing a grey cape and carrying an
olden looking longsword, and killed the six owners of the hotel. These
statements are consistent with the deep cuts found in the bodies of the six
people found on the top floor..." 

	"Its spring here in Tokyo, and the Cherry Blossoms are blooming.  As
university students throughout Japan are finishing their final exams, we
expect to find an increase in employment within the next few weeks.  As we
look into recent employment rates in the last few year we have been seeing
a correlation between the rise in employment and the drop in crime.  As of
next Monday, it will have been four years since the last significant act
against the lawful order maintained within Tokyo.  Current speculation
among a vast majority of the pubic is the knowledge of the city's own
Sailor Scouts has reached almost world-wide potential.  The local officials
maintain that it is their developments in law enforcement that have been
scaring would be criminals away.  As for the Sailor Scouts themselves, they
have been unseen in public in the last two years.  One can only speculate
what they have been doing ever since..."

	"Its starting," said a voice in the abyss.

******

[Insert 'Candle in the Wind' By Elton John]
******The Heroes We Love
By: Adam "Tempest" Leigh
Part 1: The Gathering
***
June 14, 2004
******

	Amy puffed a big breath out.  She had been running for a long time now. 
They all were, but she was tiring quick.  She couldn't say anything about
it or else they might leave her behind.  She couldn't expect people like
Lita or Mina to understand, they were filled with energy.  All that chasing
after boys must keep them in top physical form.  Amy grinned to herself.

	They were all about to partake in their most horrible act ever.  Commit a
crime.  When Amy heard this plan she couldn't believe it at all.  They were
crime fighters, not criminals themselves.  But she realized that any plan
that they were all following she would undoubtedly follow herself.  She was
in with them till the end, whenever that may be, through any fight or crime
they would commit.

	As they explained it to Amy she listened carefully but not totally, she
thought this might just be some joke they were playing on her.  But
nonetheless they were not joking.  They had thought the plan through, the
consequences and rewards and had decided it was worth it to go.  Even Luna
and Artemus, their guardian cats, were along with it.  Amy couldn't say no
under those circumstances.

	The Tokyo center of science was to receive a package tonight, containing a
sealed capsule brought back from one of the Americans recent expeditions to
the Moon.  It was in all the news when they returned from the Moon.  They
were exploring the uncharted, dark side of the moon when they happened to
stumble on to Queen Serenity's castle.  Of course they didn't know that,
they just knew that they had found evidence that the Moon had once been
inhabited.  So they sent it out over every broadcast wave that, they had,
personally of course, discovered in ruin the remains of a major
civilization on the moon.

	How major it really was would give them heart attacks.  If they only knew
that that one castle held the most important person in the Solar System,
Queen Serenity.  But that information was really for the Sailor Scouts
only, never to be reveled to the public.  Only to keep hidden in their
minds forever.

	The only thing that didn't make it into the news was that they retrieved a
sealed pod, or capsule, from the castle that they couldn't open.  It had
traveled all over the world starting from America and heading east, trying
to be opened by their top scientists.  It's next stop was here, in Tokyo.

	They would have been totally oblivious to this fact if it wasn't for
Andrew.  He had learned from Rita, now in Africa, that it had just left
there and was heading for Japan.  Andrew told Serena about it and Serena
told everyone else.  Not surprisingly, Amy was the last to find out the
juicy gossip.  They had begun working on a plan immediately to get it back.

	That was three days ago, and today the capsule was coming.  Not only
today, but now.

	Amy was almost going to collapse when they finally got to their
destination, just outside the fence surrounding the back end of the Science
Building.  Amy put her hand on a nearby tree to take a breather.  However
tonight, she wouldn't get the chance.  Just as she took her first breath
she heard very familiar words coming from Serena's mouth.

	"Moon Crystal Power!"  The others just followed suit.

	"Mars Star Power!"

	"Venus Star Power!"

	"Jupiter Star Power!"

	In a flash of light, each of their bodies fizzled away into a cloud then
re-materialized in their Sailor Outfits.  Amy had to catch her breath just
to be able to mutter the words.

	"Mercury Star Pow..."

				*	*	*	*	*

	"Oowwaahhhh!"  She sat up suddenly in her bed.  The air just wouldn't
enter her lungs, she took big gaping breaths.  Her heart felt like it was
pounding through her chest.  Amy looked around to get her bearings to find
that she was in her room.  It must be the middle of the night because it
was black as coal out.  She reached out to turn on her light, almost
knocking it off her night table.

	Light flooded the room, as it was programmed to do when she turned on that
particular light.  As she retracted her hand she noticed that she was
sweating.  Pulling her long, slender legs out of bed she reached to
straighten her shirt to find it wet in the back.  Her whole body was
clammy, with a very disorienting feeling about it.  A glance at the clock
told her that it was almost three in the morning.

	She reached for the door and pulled it open with a quick flick of the
wrist.  In her main living area she found a mirror and looked at herself. 
She was a mess.  Her slightly long hair was sticking up at top, and stuck
to her neck at back from her sweating.  She was wearing only a long shirt
that fell almost to her knees, on which across was written "Munich Medical
Academy Graduate."

	On the table in the kitchen was a cold cup of coffee.  She stuck it into
the microwave to warm it and set the timer for 1:30 and hit start.  She
always likes fresh coffee, but right now she was hardly in the mood to make
a whole pot.  She sat down at the kitchen table to wait for her coffee.

	On the table was a bouquet of flowers with a card sticking out of it.  Amy
smiled, she took out the card to read it again.  "Dear Amy, Happy Birthday!
Love, your friends," followed by a slew of illegible signatures.  The only
one she was remotely able to pick out was Darien's.  Amy was the doctor and
she had the best writing of them all.  Again she smiled and put the card
back.

	The leaves on the flowers were still fresh, giving out a tranquil smell of
a peaceful greenhouse.  The noise of the microwave finishing broke her out
of the feeling.  She got up, got the coffee, took a big sniff and began to
walk around drinking it.

	Even in the night she could see people walking down the street in front of
her building.  People of all sorts, probably for various reasons too.  The
city never ceased to amaze her.  I wouldn't be long now when she would pack
up all her stuff and leave.  It had been seven years since she had been in
Tokyo, and it was time to return.  To her home, to her parents, and most of
all, to her friends, the Sailor Scouts.

	The reason why she had awoken just so long ago had fled her mind.  She
guessed it must have been some dream, or nightmare, because of the way she
felt just recently.  She couldn't ever remember having such an intense
dream that would make her so scared.  She had been a Sailor Scout for more
than nine years, and had seen many horrors.  What could make her be so
scared?

	Perhaps she was just nervous about today and didn't really have that bad a
dream.  She put down her cup of coffee and headed back to her room.  The
lights still were on their brightest intensity and they strained her eyes. 
As she entered she began shutting down individual lights that weren't
connected directly to the whole system of lights.  As she shut down each
light it became darker and darker until only the light she had meant to
turn on was left.

	The glow from the small lamp gave a warm feel to the room.  She slipped
back into her covers and rested her head against her pillow.  She looked at
the ceiling as the last few minutes slipped from her mind and she began to
lose consciousness.  The last thing she did was shut off the last light,
and drift into blissful sleep.


Chapter 2

	Daylight felt so good against her face.  It shown through with the
brightest intensity but to Serena it might as well as to have been the
middle of the night.  She soaked in the warmth and continued to sleep. 
Darien had other thoughts.  The sunlight wasn't his favorite thing to have
in his eyes, he preferred the animosity of night.  But this was Serena, and
there was little she wasn't able to do.  He had learned that in the last
six years since he started... being with her.

	She was five or so years his minor but that didn't matter to her, and if
it didn't matter to her it didn't matter to him.  He loved her, not just
because of some unchangeable past or inevitable future, he had found peace
with her.  So many times he avoided having relationships because of the
danger he had the tendency of bringing to them.  He really was a magnet for
danger.

	But that was when he didn't know he was a super hero of the Earth.  Back
then, he was just a brave kid that misfortune followed.  His strong will
managed to endure everything fate threw at him, but inside, his weak heart
felt sorry for every girl he met.  Someday his misfortune would befall
them, but would it be during a time that he would be unable to help them.

	Serena was almost a blessing.  She was also besieged with luck like his
own.  When they first met he felt something about her, something different
from the others.  Their constant arguments though, kept his feelings in
check, almost untended.  The day he learned everything, the day he found
out about her, about himself, about the others, made all the feelings flow
again.

	The next year was tough for him.  He even stopped seeing her because of
some weird dream he was having about the future.  His feelings for her when
he met her were colliding with his feelings for her now and the feelings he
once had when he was on the moon.  He imagined she went through it also,
they all had at least 14 years living on the moon, then the same 14 years
again on earth.  With bodies only 14 years old they had acquired 28 years
worth of memories.  It had to have been havoc on all of them, but Serena
and him had deep feelings.

	He hadn't told her, but he had hated himself even since he made the
unfortunate mistake of breaking up with her.  It wasn't really his fault,
or that was what everyone was telling him.  But he knew, he had no basis to
follow that dream, nightmares happen to everyone and reoccurring dreams
aren't that uncommon.  He wanted to be away from her, and he hates himself
for being so.

	Serena groaned in the bed beside him.  She turned and whipped her arm
around to rest on the bed.  Darien quickly reached up and grabbed her arm
before it could impale him in the head.  She groaned again and he put her
arm on the bed beside her.  Darien mustered out a tight grin.  At least
being with Serena had improved his alertness.  Her clumsy tendencies often
resulted in Darien getting hit somewhere.

	Darien looked down at Serena, she was still sound asleep.  He walked over
to the window, outside the busy town of Tokyo bustled with life.  The sun
cast a small shadow on everything giving the city a dynamic look that even
the amazing city of New York couldn't match.  He reached up and pulled on
the shade causing the room to grow slightly dark.  Small streams of light
peeked through the sides of the shade, but none on Serena's face.  She
didn't even move.

	He walked to the door, stepped out, and quietly closed it.


Chapter 3

	The old oak door creaked as Amy pushed on it.  She poked her head inside
and looked around.  The lab was a mess, she expected nothing else but this
time it looked as if it had been rampaged.  "Professor?" she said in
perfect German.  He foot broke a graduated cylinder lying on the floor into
hundreds of tiny pieces.  She quickly lifted her foot but it was too late
for the cylinder.

	"Who's there?" replied a voice.  It echoed across the whole room so Amy
couldn't pinpoint the origin.  She entered the room completely and closed
the door behind her.  She still couldn't see where the voice came from.

	"Uh, It's me, Amy Anderson," she called into the room.  "Professor Leber?
Where are you?"  She looked frantically around the lab for the professor. 
The voice was from this room but she saw nothing.  She walked around each
of the lab tables expecting to see him behind each one.  After she was sure
that he can't be in the room the voice responded to her calls.

	"Give up yet?" the voice came back in a humorous tone.  "I don't think you
looked hard enough."  A energetic laugh followed, not sarcastic or mean, it
was more of a joking tone.

	"Where are you?  Show yourself Professor."  That nutty professor never
gave up joking with her, everyday was a new prank or a new invention.  From
the look of things, it was a new invention.

	"Okay, okay," suddenly the echoes faded away to one voice.  "Look up my
dear!"  Reluctantly, she looked at the ceiling of the room.  Suspended in
mid air was the most ridiculous looking man.  He was wearing a pair of
clunky boots, silver body armor, and a black helmet.  Along the fringes of
the body armor, a lab coat could be seen.

	"Professor?" was all that Amy could say.  As she did, the figure began to
descend until he was about a foot above the ground.  Upon closer
examination the "body armor" as she called it, turned out to be a series of
tubes, pumps, and wires.  A vest of chemicals flowing from one part of his
body to another.  The boots looked to be like ski boots with a few
modifications that made them even more bulky.  Metallic objects jutted out
of either side of the weird boots.

	Still floating just above the floor, the man removed what appeared to be
an old football helmet with a visor attached to it.  It reveled his short,
wavy brown hair, all messed up from being in the helmet.  He tossed it to
the floor with a loud crack.  It rolled about until it hit a wall then
became still.  Beneath him, the crushed glass particles moved away from
around his feet.  In a sudden rush of air, his feet came crashing to the
floor. 

	"Impressive, no?"  He was wearing a big grin.  Amy could do nothing but
smile back.  She was still a little flustered about what had just happened
here.

	"Uh, yes," she replied.  "But, what happened here and what is that?" she
looked at him quizzically.  She took another glance at the carnage that the
room had become.  An earthquake wouldn't leave so much damage.

	"Well, this," he pointed to his whole outfit.  "Is my anti-grav suit. 
Well, that's what I am calling it now, it is not really an anti-grav suit
because it relies on forced air to maintain lift, where as a real anti-grav
suit would create a bubble of low planetary pull to reduce weight.  This is
more fun though.  It has a skating like feel to it, but as you can see," he
motioned to room. "It takes a little getting used to."

	"You did all this?" she exclaimed.  But she knew the answer.  This young
professor had caused much damage to his little lab than most professors do
in their lifetimes.  Although he did have the tendency to destroy most of
the university's equipment, he was the most productive of the campus, and
pretty much the country.  Amy had learned that the University's campus
heads are constantly debating on whether or not it was better to have a
lack in good professors or in good funds.  The professor has won, for now.

	"Science tends to be a little messy, you of all people should know that,
you know being a doctor and all."  He always tried to make his job seem
better than hers.

	"Hey, I've only been a doctor for a week now.  But yes, the medical
industry tends to be messy." 
Again she smiled.  But she had been here for a reason, not just to see his
flying circus show.  But he said it before she could.

	"So I hear you plan to make a mess somewhere else now." No smile this
time, just a serious look.  Amy felt bad for telling the truth, but why
should she?  Because he is her friend that's why, she still felt bad.

	"Yeah," she said softly but firmly.  "I have spent enough time here, its
time to move on.  Or move back in my case."

	"So where are you heading anyway?"  He lost the serious look, it just
wasn't in his nature to be anything other than enjoyable. 

	"Back to Tokyo, I haven't seen my friends in a while and..." she trailed
off.  She had another reason but it wasn't of his concern.  Even though
they were friends, she couldn't trust him with her, dual identity.  "Well,
my family's there too,"  She added.

	"Seeing the folks, huh? I'm lucky my family lives close by, I don't need
to travel half way around the world to see them.  When are you leaving?" 
He was direct.

	"Ummm, well, actually I'm leaving later today." She looked down at the
floor as if she took great pain in saying those words.

	"Amy," he said, caringly. "I heard that too." He smiled big again.  "It's
okay, I was almost convinced to stay at home when I left for here because I
told them too far ahead of time.  The people close to you can be your worst
enemy." He let out a chuckle but Amy could tell that he was covering for an
old pain.  He changed the subject quickly. "Ahhh, so, I suppose you wanna
know about this."

	He walked over to one of the lab tables that weren't turned over and
pushed off the shattered beakers and broken measurement devices.  After he
had cleared a reasonable amount of space he opened the drawer below the
table to pull out mounds of papers and a medium sized Ziploc bag.  Inside
was a blue rod with a small, what seemed like metal, symbol inside what
looked like a star.  Amy had only given it to him for a week and she
already yearned to hold it again.

	As the professor sorted all his papers, Amy took the opportunity to take
the Ziploc bag and open it.  It felt good to be in her hand again.  She
felt the power flowing from it begging her to be used, but she could never,
at least not in front of the professor.  Living in Germany had not given
her much chance to have a reason to use it but she found every now and then
a way.  Whether it was just for some nick-knack, or it was a life and death
situation didn't matter to her, it just felt good to be a Sailor Scout.

	"This is some artifact, where did you say you got it?" asked the
professor.  Amy stumbled a bit then regained her composure.

	"I came across it during a, uh, trip to Mexico.  I thought it might have
been from a Mayan temple or something."  Well, that sounded pretty
reasonable.  It could of happened, not likely but possible.  Amy tried to
look serious.  She wondered if it was working.

	"Your lying," he bluntly said.  "Last week you told me it was from a
museum in Tokyo.  Now it has traveled half way across the world to end up
in a Mayan temple."  Amy expected him to look angry, but he had a tight
smile instead. "I wonder if I were to ask you next week you would tell me
from a melting glacier in Greenland."

	Amy looked very worried.  She scrambled her brain for the correct words to
say.  "Its all right," he said warmly.  "If you don't want me to know I
respect your privacy, and I respect your wishes regarding it."  He turned
to look at his papers.  "I conducted all the research myself, and had all
other documentation destroyed other than what you see before you."  He
turned back to Amy.  "This better not be some top-secret KGB operation
though."

	Always mixing in that last bit of humor, he never stopped.  This time he
moved on to the work at hand.  "Well, all formalities aside," he began. "I
have very little idea of what you have there.  My research all tells me
that it wasn't made with conventional methods, so its either very old, or
not of this planet."  He stopped for a second, then added.  "Of course that
could mean anything, it could have came on an asteroid or comet or just
passing debris."

	Amy stared at him.  "F-f-for the 'not of this planet' factor." He blurted
out quickly.  He must have thought about the 'not of this planet' factor a
lot to have quickly come up with all those reasons.  He really must have
been convincing himself.  "Well," he said again. "I can identify some of
the materials, but together the make up a new compound that I have never
seen before.  Rather simple though, I wonder why no one has thought of it
earlier." He rubbed his chin, Amy could see tiny hairs growing out, but not
enough to notice casually.

	"The bulk of it, meaning the long rod, is a mixture of a steel alloy with
a simple plastic compound.  This particular mixture allows it to be strong,
yet light.  Any more of either of the materials and it would become either
increasingly heavy or highly unstable.  I also found traces of a form of
unusually clear, crystal formation, that has also been added to the rod. 
However in the small doses it is in, it really doesn't do much for it other
than add on unneeded weight.

	"The top icon is composed of traces of obsidian, various crystals
including diamond and amethyst, traces of silicon, and other composite
materials that I cannot identify.  The only constants throughout the
whole... item, are the various crystals.  My best guess is they focus some
sort of photokinetic energy."  He paused for a second, as if he knew the
next words out of Amy's mouth.

	"Photokinetic?" she asked wearily.  He pulled himself high and spoke with
lots of energy.

	"Its a kind of regenerative energy, I have never seen this sort of energy
before so I named it.  It is similar to the way plants focus the energy of
the sun and turn it into glucose, so I called it photo- kinetic."

	Amy broke his chain of thought this time.  "Can you cut to the chase,
professor?" she asked.  He looked startled but only for a moment.  He
continued as if it had been his plan all along.

	"As for the physical appearance of it, I have found only one reference to.
 Sometime back in the early 1990's an American space team recovered a
small, sealed pod with this particular symbol on it,"  He pointed to the
center of the star.  "along with four others. The closest representations I
can find are of the common Zodiac signs used still today.  Unfortunately
that pod turned up missing in an apparent museum tour of the planet.  Only
surviving records are amateur sketches of the outsides of the pod along
with some distant Polaroid shots."

	"Other than that I can't find anymore on this thing, unless of course
there is anything you would..." he stopped abruptly.  "Amy?" he asked,
looking at her pale face.  "Amy, are you all right?"  She just peered
ahead, apparently unaware of her surroundings.  The professor snapped his
finger in front of her face a few times.  She suddenly pulled her head back
and blinked a few times.

	"Amy?  Do you feel okay?  You just blanked out there." He looked at her
face for some sign of recognition.  She replied instead.

	"Yes... I, uh, just thought of something related to the pod.  I think it
was nine years ago."  She turned to look into the professor's face.  "Its
funny, I never even remembered about that until you told me.  But now, it
seems as though it was hundreds of years ago."

	"Well," the professor began.  "Nine years would be about right.  It would
be sometime in 1993 or 4. You would be, what?  Fifteen?"  Amy thought hard
but even as she stood there the thought fled from her memory, as if running
from the light.  "Still, people don't normally blank out when they think of
things, maybe you should head over to the infirmary."  He was right about
that, even in her heaviest study hours she never became totally oblivious
to the world around her.  But she felt fine now, perhaps she needed to walk
around or the reverse, get some rest.

	"No, I think I'll be all right.  I just need some air." She was about to
turn to walk out the door when she realized that it could be the last time
she would.  "I, uh, will miss you professor.  Its been great knowing you. 
I, uh, hope we meet again." She stuttered every now and then but eventually
got her point across.  She hated good-byes, probably because in all
probabilities she will encounter him again, but it was always her friends
that it felt the worst leaving.

	"I'll miss you too, and I'll never forget you.  We will meet again." He
felt so sure of himself that she couldn't help laughing.  He joined her
shortly after, they would meet again, they both knew it. 

	She shook his hand, which promptly turned into a warm hug goodbye.  She
turned to walk out, still negotiating all the broken vials and beakers,
opened the door, and walked through...

	Into one of the most handsome men she ever laid eyes on.

Chapter 4

	Bored.

	That was about how she could sum up the last few days.  There had been
nothing to do for the last three days.  She hoped, as she turned every
corner, that there would be some Negaverse lackey waiting for her, to give
her some action.  But every time she turned, there was nothing but the
mundane adventures of everyday life.

	At least today she knew that one exciting thing was happening.  Amy was
going to return from her educational trip to Germany today, and they were
all going to meet her at the airport.  As usual she told them not to make a
fuss about it, and also as usual, they weren't going to listen.  Seven
years is a very long time, and she deserved a proper reunion.

	It would also get everyone to get together in one place for a change. 
They all hadn't had much chance to get together in a while, with no
supernatural enemies around it they just didn't think of it.  In so little
time, so much had happened.  Serena and Darien got married, not more than a
year ago.  It took them so long to work out their differences, they always
had something to fight about.  But inside, they always loved each other,
even from the start.

	Mina had moved back to her acting career as Sailor V.  She didn't actually
move, she just got a production company to hire her to make a few movies. 
They all sold top dollar for weeks after their debut, but Mina being the
way she is, didn't let it go to her head.  She still talked with all of
them a lot, and didn't get a massive apartment, she was fine with her close
to home ways.

	Raye still lives in the temple, although her grandfather is gone she felt
it was necessary to keep it running.  It was his life, and even though she
never would say it in public, she cared for her grandfather.  It could be a
long time until he returns anyway.  He just got up and left with a few
things one day and said it was time for him to take his ritual, trek for
inner peace.  Raye hasn't seen him since, she did get a postcard once from
him though.

	Raye also has been pretty close to Chad lately.  They worked out a few
differences in the last few years enough for them to have a real
relationship.  As far as anyone can tell, they are really getting along. 
But that of course will have to be put to the test of time.

	As for herself, Lita hasn't been coping for time very well.  She bounced
from boyfriend to boyfriend for a while, until the bunch of them got her to
a psychiatrist and she began to cope with the fact that her first
boyfriend, Freddie, will never be with her again.  She only kept going
after guys that looked like him because she never really broke up with him.
 Freddie broke up with her, but she never could let go of him.  Its been
two years since she has had a boyfriend.

	Amy will have a lot of catching up to do, she thought.

		*	*	*	*	*	*

	"Oh, hi Mina," said Lita.  She walked over to the table Mina was sitting
at.  She was sitting in a booth alone, but Lita knew why.

	"Hi Lita!" replied Mina.  "Haven't see you in a few days."  Mina got up
and offered Lita to sit down beside her.  "I was just waiting for the
others."  They both sat.

	"Yeah, its going to be a interesting day today, huh?" Lita said.  She
rested her arms on the table and turned to look at Mina.  "I was just
thinking how we're going to have to explain to Amy what has happened here
in the last few years.  A lot has gone on."

	"Yeah, I guess so.  Think she'll be able to handle it?" Mina smiled.  A
movement caught her eye near the entrance of the diner.  It was Raye and
Chad on their way in.  "Look its Raye and Chad." Mina said to Lita.  They
both got up and waved to them.  After a few seconds of waving they noticed
and headed over.

	They both looked perfect for each other.  Raye was wearing a nice dress of
brilliant reds and blues, and Chad was wearing a pair of pants and a
pinstripe, button-down shirt.  Much different, thought Lita, than the
overalls and blue jeans they used to wear.  They both have cleaned up their
act a lot in the years.  Chad was holding Raye by the waist when they got
to the table.

	"Hi guys!" Raye almost screamed in her high pitched voice.  Chad almost
instantly later said, "Hello girls, how's things?"  Mina and Lita knew that
the question was only a formality but they answered anyway.

	"Oh, great," responded Lita first.  "Everything's fine," followed Mina. 
They both looked at each other and grinned.  They all sat down around the
table.  For a few minutes they just looked at each other and didn't say
anything.  Then Raye broke the silence.

	"So, Serena's late as usual," she said in her old, nasal tone of voice. 
They all got a few laughs out of that.  "You'd think after marring Darien
she get some sense of time.  I guess those things just don't rub off."  As
she finished talking a familiar voice sprung through.

	"What'll rub off?" asked Serena.  Raye almost jumped in her seat.  Serena
laughed and pulled up a chair to sit at the head of the table, alone. 
"Well, it's good to see all of you again." She smiled but she knew what was
on their minds.

	Mina was the one to say it though. "Where's Darien, Serena?" she asked. 
They all drew in closer to hear what was going to be said next.  Serena
just smiled.

	"Come 'on Serena! What happened?" yelled Raye.

	"You guys always think the worst don't you?" Serena replied. "Well it will
soothe all of you to know that Darien is just picking up a friend of his
that just arrived today at the airport.  He wont be long."

	She could see the disappointment in their eyes when they slumped back in
their seats.  Knowing 
them they probably thought that they were going through a little
relationship problems.  Actually, Lita was probably wondering if he was
fighting some bad guy, knowing what Lita has been though lately.

	Mina again continued.  "So, who's this friend of Darien's?" she asked.

	"Oh," Serena replied. "Its someone Darien met once in the Studio once. 
They became friends as they worked together, but about twelve years ago he
left to pursue other things.  Darien once said that he was very interested
the supernatural and ancient cultures.  Darien never mentioned how good
friends they were but from what I can tell they weren't the best."

	"Hey Serena!" yelled a voice in the background.  They all spun around to
look at the entrance to the diner.  Darien was standing there with another
man that they couldn't see very well.  "Hey muffin!" replied Serena as
Darien walked forward.  Within a few steps Darien was standing next to
Serena at the head of the table.

	"Everyone,  I would like to introduce my friend, Richard."  As Darien
spoke the man behind him made himself visible. He seemed not to get into
full light until he was almost touching table.  The sunlight shone through
the window behind the table onto the man, making every detail visible.

	He stood about as tall as Darien with longer, brownish hair, pulled a
little taught in the back of his head.  He was wearing a blue denim jacket,
and a button down black shirt.  He looked thin and pretty well built
judging from his arms that stuck out just a few inches at the cuffs of his
sleeves.  He wore a smile that looked as though it were straining him to
hold.  His bushy eyebrows were just above his hazel eyes.

	Mina looked at the man then at Lita.  She was just staring at the man,
deeply as if in thought.  Mina could hear the words come out of her mouth
as if they were screamed when in fact they were whispered so soft that only
Mina could hear them.

	"What a hunk."


Chapter 5


	Gabriel jogged down the university hallway.  Each step he took was another
thought of why he was here.  Of all times, he had to find a case this
month.  Its been mundane around the castle for at least two years, why
couldn't it be that way for one month more.  Or maybe just till he had left
for the US already and too late to turn around.

	But he knew he would find a way to turn around no matter where he went. 
For the last few years Gabriel has been living the sweet life.  His past
two books were bestsellers for months, and money has just been pouring in. 
His publisher even wants him to write a full length feature movie, nothing
could be better.  Even the castle looks ten times better than what Gabriel
had came to in '91.  Of course that was with the help of an extremely large
sum of money "borrowed" from that Voodoo underground honfour.  If he hadn't
taken it though, it would have burned in the fire.

	Gracie has been a pain though, she still thinks there's something going on
between Gabriel and Gerde.  She can be tough, but inside Gabriel knows she
cares.  That's how he convinced her to go back to New Orleans with him, to
visit the old shop and see how it has been doing in the care of Mosely.

	That was before this case, and before he was pulled back to Munich to
investigate non-other than a vampire sighing.  This time it was another
farmer out in the suburbs but they swear they saw one.  Even little
curiosity has suddenly become Gabriel's ordeal.  At least he gets to meet
interesting people, even if they would rather suck your blood than shake
your hand.

			*		*		*		*

	Gabriel sighed, as he walked into the main university hallway.  He had
been here before, when he was working on that Werewolf case, but since then
it had been modified, and the young strapping man he talked to before was
gone.  In any case, Harry had managed to find another scientific contact in
the same university, God only knows how.  But Gabriel has learned to trust
Harry's contacts, just has he learned to trust Gracie's.

	His black leather books clicked as he walked upon the neatly waxed
hallway.  He could just see the door to the lab that he was supposed to
enter, it was far down the hall.  A much nicer place than the Tulane
University that he had the pleasure of seeing Professor Harthridge die in. 
While that had a more exotic, natural feel to it, this had a cut and dry,
cleansed feeling.  Gabriel was preference to neither, he would rather be
back in his own castle in Rittersburg.

	The door drew closer as he walked with greater stamina.  He had been here
yesterday, why was he nervous now?  As Gabriel became accustomed to his
Shattenjager heritage he has acquired an extra sense of when something
powerful was around.  He was very uncomfortable, especially when he was
just at the door.  As the feeling rushed throughout his body he looked at
the doorknob in front of him. Either his doom or his destiny lied behind
that door, he felt it, but he didn't have any idea what to expect.

	He didn't notice the knob turn as he was pondering his destiny and before
he knew it he was flat on the floor.  Stars twinkled in front of his eyes
as he scrambled to find out what happened.  When he saw the woman lying on
the floor in front of him he realized.  The door had opened and the woman
ran into him, he was so unaware that her very motion knocked Gabriel over. 
His first instinct was to help the very attractive woman up.

	Concentrating on keeping his balance he reached down to the woman and
grabbed her hand.  As he help her up he struggled through a few apologies
in German. "Uhm, sorry I knocked, didn't mean to, okay?" As he realized
what he had said he hit himself in the head and muttered in English "Oh,
man what a clod I am." He looked back to the woman and helped her with her
books and purse. Again he spoke in German, "Are.... you..., fine...."

	The woman quickly cut him off with a surprisingly good English accent.
"It's okay," she said with a smile.  "I can speak English as well." She
looked up at him with the most sterling blue eyes he has seen.  He could
look at them for hours, they seemed to swirl with magic around him.  But he
kept his posture and responded.

	"Oh, I wasn't sure if ya could, most people I have met here though were
able to." As he spoke he looked her over, in the most non-obvious fashion
of course.  She was petite overall but with long slender legs, and a
beautiful face.  The only thing different about her that stuck Gabriel's
curiosity was the color of her hair. He could swear that it has a tiny
shade of blue in it, but it looks as though it has been covered over time
by shades of brown.  It still shown through in some places though, giving
her hair a blue hue.

	Gabriel felt something he hadn't felt in many years, he struggled to place
it.  It had been roughly nine years since he felt it.  It had been back
before he was a Shattenjager. It was a strong feeling, but not like the
feeling he felt when he was in danger.  He thought back to that fateful day
when he devoted all to the Shattenjagers.

	It was Malia.  A woman he loved more than anyone else, and he knew it the
moment he saw her in that limousine.  And when she died, when he killed
her, he knew he would never feel that way about someone ever again.

	But now he was here, standing with a woman he didn't even know her name. 
But then again, he didn't know Maila's name when he met her...

	Gabriel quickly straightened himself, get your head out of the clouds, he
thought.  Love is something that is worked for to attain.  He formulated a
greeting in his mind, still wondering about why he feels so strongly about
this woman.

	"I'm terribly sorry, my name is Knight, Gabriel Knight."  He held out his
and to the woman, and hoped that along with the language, she knew the
culture.  Shaking hands is not used as greeting everywhere, and Gabriel
knew it.  To his relief she took his hand and shook it.

	"Hello, my name is Amy Anderson."  Anderson? Gabriel thought a bit about
that name, it sounded very American to him.  Yet she clearly shows the
signs of Asian origin.  He thought about asking her about it then decided
against it, it might not be polite to ask someone of their origin based
only on their name.  She spoke again, "Are you here to see Professor
Leber?"

	Gabriel smiled, "Why yes, yes I am, you just with him?"  He tilted his
head to show curiosity, it was a habit he picked up talking with Gracie all
the time.

	"Yes, he was showing me his newest invention, and making quite a mess in
the process." She smiled a warm smile at Gabriel, he could only smile back.
 A few noises caught his ear from inside the lab and suddenly a yell came
out from inside.

	"WATCH OUT!" yelled the voice.  Before they could react a glass vial
crashed down just behind Amy's feet, scatting  glass in all directions,
even into the hallway.  She let out a small yelp and jumped forward, right
into Gabriel.

	Seeing the form fly towards him, Gabriel quickly grabbed her before she
could knock him down and twisted to get rid of the momentum she created by
jumping at him.  Leaving Amy up against the far wall of the hallway,
against Gabriel.  She had shut her eyes in the spin and Gabriel spoke to
her, "Its okay, it was just a vial."  Slowly she opened her eyes to look
right into Gabriel's.

	Being the gentleman he is, Gabriel let go of Amy before he imposed on her.
 She took a minute to regain her posture then said, "Well, its been very
nice talking to you, I'm afraid I will have to go now." She turned to walk
down the hallway.

	Gabriel just watched as she walked down the hallway.  As she turned the
corner at the lobby towards the door, Gabriel turned to enter Leber's
laboratory.  He sighed and kicked the pieces of glass into the room and
closed the door behind him.

	To his surprise, Leber was floating in mid-air above Gabriel's head.  He
jumped back suddenly as if he was going to fall on him.  Leber let out a
loud laugh and lowered himself to the ground.  This time he spoke in
English, "Did I scare you?"  Gabriel just stared as he took off the bulky
equipment that had so recently allowed him to fly.

	"You bastard," was all that Gabriel could say.  Then he bent close to
Leber and whispered, "Hey, who was that gorgeous young lady that you almost
killed with that vial?" Leber stepped back and smiled.

	"That was Amy, she's a good friend of mine," he picked up a few papers and
looked through them. "However, she's already got her doctorate, and she's
heading back to Tokyo today." The papers stiffened as he said those words.
Then moved again as he put them in Gabriel's hand. "Anyway, I believe this
is what you wanted."

	Gabriel took the papers and placed them on one of the few upright tables. 
The papers contained maps of the surrounding area of Munich and some
pictures of seemingly normal people.  Unfortunately for Gabriel, it was in
German. "This is nice," said Gabriel sarcastically. "Could you perhaps
translate it for me?"

	"Oh," blurted Leber. "I forgot, I'm terribly sorry Gabriel." He pointed to
places on the map. "These places I have circled here have that high
atmospheric turbulence that you told me about.  These area's have been
avoided by all airborne traffic for as long as I can find."  He pushed the
paper aside and pulled up a color map of the same area. "Even with the most
sophisticated satellite technology, this area is very blurry, probably
because of that atmospheric turbulence.  But from what I can tell, there is
a blackout of all picture within this one mile radius."

	"Lemme guess," Gabriel interrupted. "There are some shaky building records
in that area also."

	"Right.  The records are about 200 years old, back when they were still
building with wood and houses were less sturdy than they are today.  Most
of the people I've talked to seem to think that the building was never
finished and eventually fell apart."

	"But no one has bothered to check it out ever?"

	"Nope."

	Gabriel hunched over the map and looked at it with intensity.  He pointed
his finger at the middle of the Blackout area.  "There she is."  Gabriel
slowly looked up at Leber. "How far from here?"

	"Less than ten minutes," replied Leber.  Neither man was very anxious, but
Leber knew what Gabriel was going to do.  "You'll need to take this road,"
he pointed at the map. "All other routes are restricted."

	Gabriel just looked at Leber. "Your not going to try to talk me out of
this? No witty comments I'd expect from Gracie?"

	"Why bother?  I know you must do this, and the killings wont stop until
you do. So go." Leber looked away, "be careful Gabriel." He said in a low
pitched voice.

	"I will, and I'll be back to tell you all about it." Gabriel shoved the
map into his pocket.  He looked at the blackout area in the satellite photo
again.  This would be tougher than any other case.  He walked away from
Leber and headed for the door.  He wasn't just facing one enemy, he was
facing a clan of Vampires.  His only hope is that they were all under the
control of the Queen, and that destroying her would destroy them all.

	Suddenly Gabriel felt how unprepared he was this action.  One man against
who knows how many creatures of the undead. Not odds he'd like to bet
against.  He had an easier time taking out the voodoo cartel.

	As he walked outside of the building, he noticed that the sun had left the
sky and a dark storm was brewing.  It would be a gloomy day, just like when
he faced Malia and the Voodoo cartel, just like when he faced Von Zell the
werewolf, and just like now.  He hated his luck.


Chapter 6


	Richard wasn't completely comfortable with sitting to eat with a bunch of
Darien's friends, but he didn't mention anything to him along the way so he
figured to just grin and bear it.  He had picked up a few of the names of
the people around the table.  Of course he knew that Darien's wife was
named Serena, because he was talking about her the entire time they drove
to the restaurant.  However, he knew that the black haired woman and the
guy she was with were Raye and Chad.  The other blonde's name is Mina, and
he thinks the brown haired woman with the ponytail was Lita.

	As he looked around the table, Richard felt very, old.  With all these
young people around, he wasn't exactly sure how he should act.  He guessed
he knew this was bound to happen, Darien was, after all, only about 30. 
Richard was... older, at least that was all he was going to ever tell
anyone.  He wasn't very conformable with his own age either, but at least
he looked like a man in his thirties.  He could really give people any age
around there he felt.

	From the conversation and from what Darien could tell him, Richard could
piece together that they were expecting a friend from afar other than
himself.  It was a woman, her name was just said but he couldn't remember
what it was.  Richard was very grateful for his friend, but he was putting
him in a very uncomfortable position.

	However, by far the most uncomfortable was that every now and then he
caught the one called Lita just staring at him.  If she was a schoolgirl,
maybe still in her teens he would say she had a crush on him.  However, she
looked like she was 24 years old, which in Richard's experience was beyond
the age of crushes.  As he caught her doing it more and more during the
meal he began to think that maybe she knew something he didn't.  That was
when he became paranoid, almost making himself go crazy, finally he just
gave up and decided to make a decision.

	Richard leaned over to Darien and whispered in his ear. "Hey Darien, I'm
kinda tired from my trip, maybe I have some jet lag, I'm going to go check
out my apartment. Okay?"  Richard wondered if that was going to be
considered rude, but thankfully Darien smiled and replied.

	"Oh sure," he stood up.  "I'm sorry, I forgot you traveled across a whole
bunch of time zones."  He paused for a second.  "We're heading up to meet
with our friend around six or seven so I'll come around to pick you up
then." He shook Richard's hand and he turned to leave, but not before
giving a general good-bye to the rest of the people around the table.

	He walked out of the diner and proceeded to walk towards the apartment he
had left his things in only a half an hour ago.  The trip took no longer
than fifteen minutes, but he would rather have used the method of
transportation he preferred, which was of course not an option here in
Tokyo.  When he finally arrived at his apartment he immediately opened his
suitcase and rummaged through it.  Beneath all the clothes and apparel was
a small, calculator sized, device.

	Although he flew often, he never could trust the airport luggage handling,
especially since he was flying across the continent.  He felt around the
device for the proper place to separate the device along its hinge.  It had
a cold, metallic feel to it even though it was primarily constructed of
plastics.  When he finally found the hinge he opened the device showing the
miniature sized keyboard and small color liquid crystal display.

	The device activated itself and Richard was relived, he had hoped it was
undamaged.  The screen prompted him for directions.  Typing on the small
keyboard was difficult but he managed to type in the objective of the small
device.  It gave an affirmative beep in response and began to work away,
collecting data from all sources it could, including a small television
feed and an uplink to an orbiting satellite.

	The small thing had cost a fortune, and mounds of red tape just to get
access to the satellites and television feed.  However, Richard figured he
would need all the help he could get tracking down the individual he was
looking for.  He had traveled across the globe to find her, and would stop
at nothing to get to her.  He had spent a great deal of time researching
her and finding out every last detail and ultimately discovering an energy
pattern seemed to appear whenever she did.  Everything else was secondary
to his objective, even his friends.

	He placed the device on a table near a window to get the best reception. 
It made wurring sound as it worked, analyzing a hundred different channels,
and a specific energy sensing satellite feed.  In the upper right hand
corner it displayed the objective that had been painstakingly entered into
the small device: "Using all video feeds and Preset Energy Sequence, find
and report back on the location or identity of, Sailor Moon."


Chapter 7


	Gabriel stood at the apex of two roads.  In front of him stood the looming
gates of a house that was considered to not exist.  He took another look at
the road map to make sure that he was at the right house, not that he could
mistake it for anything.  In the light from his headlights behind him, he
traced with his finger the path that Leber had pointed out for him.

	There was no doubt that he was in the right spot.  He folded the map up
and threw it into the car and shut the door.  A crack of lightning shot
across the sky and lit up a once darkened cloud.  Although Gabriel wasn't
afraid of lightning, it still made him jump when the loud crash finally
reached him.  After a moment of heavy breathing he reached into his shirt
and pulled out the medallion he wore beneath his clothes, the medallion of
the Shattenjager.

	The gate creaked, almost in response as Gabriel slowly approached the
large house.  He was afraid but calm at the same time.  He was certain that
whatever he would find inside would try, and possibly succeed, in killing
him, but he was also assured that the power of the Shattenjagers that had
protected him this far would continue.

	He stuck his rather large Shattenjager dagger into his jeans and pulled on
the gate as hard as he could.  It resisted for a few inches then suddenly
gave way and flung open with a crash of metal against metal.  If anyone was
uncertain that he was here, they were sure now.  He stepped slowly onto the
forsaken property beyond the gate.  He was surprised that there was no path
leading after the gate, just a grassy plain.

	His feet make sloshing noises as he walked through the muddy earth.  The
house loomed above him, more now that before.  It was frighteningly dark
inside, as if no one was home. But Gabriel knew better than to think, no,
hope for that.  He walked onto a wooden porch, and approached the door to
the old house.  The door was not especially big, but obviously intended to
keep people away with its web like structure for a window, and the black
color with white lines showing through.

	Gabriel swallowed his heart and pushed open the door, which to his
surprise and relief was noiseless.  He stepped through the threshold and
into what looked like a lobby.  The sound of the heavy rain echoed through
the house with a light pattering noise.  Gabriel wondered if he should
close the door before proceeding, then thought against it.  If it made
noise now it ruin any hope that he has, until this time, remained
unnoticed.

	He pulled out another map from his coat pocket, this one was a 200 year
old plan for the very house he was in.  According to the ancient plans, the
most probable location of the Queen Vampire would be up the stairs to his
right and in through the second door.  A simple enough task, but being in
the house where several Vampires lived didn't make it any easier.

	He slowly crept up to the staircase and looked up the stairs.  They were
made of a fine marble, which must have been an addition by the Vampires
themselves, for the plans made specific reference to oak.  Despite what the
architects wanted, a marble staircase would be much easier to be quiet on
than an oak one.  Gabriel blessed his good luck and took the first step
onto the staircase.  It was noiseless, not even a click of his heel onto
the stone.

	He slowly negotiated each stair, looking for any sign of decay and sources
of noise until he had risen to the top without a sound.  He looked quickly
around to find that he was at a "T." He pulled out the plans again and
looked at them.  Clearly there was supposed to be only one way to go from
the stairs, but in reality there was two.  Gabriel wonder what other
modifications had been made to the house, if the most probably room was
still the most probable room.

	He strained to look down both hallways, and began to walk in the direction
of the hallway that the map specified when a glimmer of light caught his
eye.  A piece of glass wedged into a doorway was reflecting a faint beam of
light into Gabriel's direction.  He took a look back in the direction he
was heading and then turned to follow the light.

	He got to the doorway that was only a few centimeters open and peered into
the room.  He could only see the side wall to the right of the door. It was
bare, with a light that kept fluctuating in intensity shining on it. 
Gabriel guessed it was from a fireplace.  He thought for several seconds
about what to do, barging in the wrong room was a quick way to reach an
early grave, or undead life as it might be.

	He looked frantically around for other options, the house presented none.
It was essentially bare, including light fixtures on the walls, which
didn't surprise Gabriel being that light was potentially harmful for a
Vampire.  He looked at the old wooden floor below his feet, covered with
dust and scrape marks.  Like something big had been dragged down the
hallway, perhaps some piece of furniture.

	Gabriel's eye was drawn back to the piece of glass in the doorway.  He
looked at in again with complexity, then drew out the dagger from his
pants.  It was just as he suspected, the blade of the dagger was shining
clean, almost like a mirror.  He slowly bent down to the ground and stuck
the dagger in the crack in the door at an angle so that the mirror edge of
the dagger would reflect to Gabriel what was in the room.  He felt like
MacGyver.

	He angled the edge to look around the room, getting more or less a picture
of what the room looked like.  Across from the door was a pretty regal
looking chair, behind which was a wall with a window with a curtain over it
and an empty shelf.  Moving left, he saw articles of furniture lying on the
floor, some broken, some just toppled over.  It looked like there had been
a fight in the room, a pretty violent one at that.

	He continued moving the dagger until he reached a bright part in the room,
which he determined was the fire that shown light in the room.  As he
traced the edge of the fire he realized that the fire was sitting  on a big
piece of sheet metal, and not in any fireplace.  It was a very dangerous
thing to do in a wooden house like this, anything could catch fire, and why
leave it burning unattended?

	The rest of the room was featureless, with no sign of life.  Suddenly
Gabriel heard a crack in the background and quickly pulled out his dagger
and prepared himself for battle.  To his relief it was only a rat.  He felt
very vulnerable and decided that crouching in a hallway isn't the best
defensive position.

	He quietly opened the door and walked into the room he had just surveyed. 
As soon as he entered he smelled the most awful smell he had ever smelled. 
It was sickening smell that permeated the whole room, he felt sick to his
stomach just smelling it.  He tried to keep himself together by not
inhaling through his nose.

	He tried to find where the smell was coming from, he walked over to the
window and peered to the storm then looked around the ceiling and walls,
and finally the floor.  He looked into the fire that was beginning to die
down, he thought they might have been burning leaves or something.  As he
continued to look into the fire he began to see the heart of the fire.  It
looked like they were burning clothes, they seemed to be casual city
clothes, no wonder they were burning them, they seemed to like more of the
older, more dignified clothes.

	As he watched some of the clothes collapsed on itself and the fuel
readjusted itself, and a piece fell half in, half out of the fire.  Gabriel
looked at the piece and realized in less than a second that it wasn't a
just a piece of cloth.  His stomach turned in on itself as the explanation
for the smell came to him.  As he realized what he was really looking at
the rest of the fuel appeared for him.  His stomach wretched as he
proceeded to regurgitate what was once his lunch onto the floor.

	In the fire, was the remains of what was once a person.  Charred beyond
recognition, the odor of burning flesh was flowing from the fire.  Laying
out of the fire, the half burnt remains of an arm.  The fire burned on,
without any regard for the mess of a person it was using to live.  The
face, horribly burned, still held the unmistakable diamond earrings hanging
from its ears.  The unmistakable diamonds that belonged to the woman who
hired Gabriel in the first place to find out about the Vampires.  Clara
Guntar.

	Gabriel tried to raise his posture after losing what was in his stomach
onto the floor.  He couldn't even look at the fire, he ran over to the
window and grabbed the curtain off its hook, and began to try to put out
the burning hunk of flesh and cloth.  He flapped the curtain over the fire
a few times before he looked in the direction of the fire.  To his
surprise, it was already out, but a bigger surprise to him was that the
curtain, which he was certain was featureless before he used it on the
fire, suddenly had lettering on it.

	Written in what looked like blood, only darker, was a letter to Gabriel. 
In a few words, the author had managed to both enrage, and strike fear into
Gabriel. "Your Getting Too Close Shattenjager! But I've Always Wanted A
House By The Pacific Anyway."

	The Pacific, thought Gabriel.  What does the Pacific have to do with
anything?  He looked at the curtain's perplexing puzzle.  The odor was
beginning to leave the room, now that the fire was out it just began to
dissipate.  Gabriel built up his courage one more time and lifted the
curtain to look at the smoldering body.  Such animals, he thought.

	He lowered the curtain over the body to give it proper respect.  He looked
with disgust at the letter to Gabriel again.  As he looked away from the
curtain he noticed the half burnt hand lying outside of the curtain.  He
bent down to move the curtain over the hand when he realized it was
clutching something.  He would rather put his hand in the burning flame
than touch this charred hand.  He used his dagger and gently parted the
fingers of the hand with the blunt edge of the knife.

	When the hand was open he took the slightly burned piece of parchment from
its palm, being careful not to touch the actual flesh.  On the parchment
was a receipt,  for a particularly famous world wide moving corporation. 
It was only part of the receipt, the rest burned away, but it was all he
needed.  On the bottom of the parchment was scribbled and circled the
destination of the articles moved.  The specific address was burned away,
but it did have the city.

	Gabriel stared at the parchment and words dribbled out of his mouth.  "My
god."

***

	Amy sat at a gateway terminal for her arriving flight.  It was, of course,
late, but it didn't matter to her, she didn't really have any plans or time
schedules to keep.  She clutched her medical journals to her chest, it
would be her entertainment during the flight.  She found she could never
sleep during long plane trips anyway, so it would be better if she did
something constructive.  The rest of her luggage has already been taken
away to be put on the plane.

	"Attention, Attention," was loudly spoken over the gateway microphone, and
enhanced three or four times by the speakers set up all over the airport.
"We apologize for the delay, International Flight 270 is now boarding for
departure to Tokyo, Japan."

	Amy stood up from her seat and made her way to the gate.  She pulled her
ticked out from one of her journals and gave it to the man by the gate.  He
wished her a pleasant flight or something of the like, but she wasn't
listening.  She was too busy wondering what it will be like to see her old
friends again, her old neighborhood.  So many things must have changed
since she left and she couldn't wait to hear about them. Even from Serena,
one of her first friends.

	Maybe, just maybe, she'd even get to see some action.  Germany police
tends to keep things more under control than Japanese, and she was dying to
have a reason to become Sailor Mercury.  She walked down the boarding ramp
and into the plane, where the Flight Attendant showed her to her seat in
First Class.

	She breathed a sigh of relief to be on her way, and opened one of her
Medical Journals.  "I can't wait," she said to herself.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
******************
Part 2: Reunion
******************
Chapter 8	"Are you sure this is the right time, Serena?" Raye said in a
very annoyed tone.  According to Serena, Amy should arrive on a
transcontinental flight number 270 in from Munich on or about 10 o'clock.
However, it was eleven now, and still no sign of the Plane.  Of course Raye
was sure that this was the right flight, but she liked to annoy Serena. 
The gate attendant told Serena and her gang several times that the flight
before Amy's was delayed, but they couldn't take that as an answer.
	The impatient bunch continued to pace around the gate, waiting for their
friend.  Darien and Serena had picked up Richard along the way to the
Airport, they had a big party planned after Amy arrived, but that was not
bound to happen for a long time now.  Richard just sat at one of the seats
by the window and watched the flights come and go.  Every now and then
someone would strike up a conversation with Richard, but that would end
after a short while.
	Just out of sight, Lita would take passing glances at Richard, looking at
him calmly watching the midnight sky and passing lights of incoming and
leaving planes.  Lita was actually talking to Mina, but Mina shortly
realized that she had other things on her mind. During one of Lita's
glances at Richard, Mina became impatient and decide to act on her
impatience. She stepped a little closer to Lita and spoke into her ear. 
"So do you think he'll ask first or you?"
	Lita jumped at Mina being so close all of a sudden and took a few steps
away from Mina.  Then returned Mina's glare with a puzzled look. "What,"
she began. "What do you mean?"
	"Oh come on!" Mina exclaimed.  "You've been fawning over him forever!  And
don't you think for a second that I didn't hear you in the diner earlier
today."
	"Hear me?" Lita returned.  "What do you mean?"
	"Lita," Mina walked closer to Lita. "I heard you call Richard a 'Hunk' in
the diner, and you've been staring at him all day like back when we were in
Junior High." Mina turned and looked over at Richard, still staring off
into the night sky. "He is handsome, but you don't know him at all. I mean,
he's Darien's friend but that doesn't make him yours, and, well look at
him. He must be years older than Darien!"
	"Do you have any point you would like make, other than to invade on my
privacy?" Lita spoke harshly towards Mina.
	"Lita, I just don't want you to get hurt, you worked so hard to break your
affection to Freddy, and I don't want you to have to go through all that
again. I care for you." Mina looked into Lita's eyes.
	"Maybe," Lita began softly.  "You might be right about not knowing him,
I've just met him today, and he did look a little uncomfortable during
lunch at the diner.  But," Lita trailed off.  She looked over to Richard
again.  "I don't know anything about love anymore, and I feel something
from this guy.  Even if it isn't love,  I need to know why I feel like I
do." Lita just stared off at Richard again, not the same look she wore
before, but a newer, saddened look.
	Mina touched Lita on the shoulder and quietly spoke. "I understand, and
its not my business, but, be careful will ya?"  Lita looked up to Mina, and
she just smiled.  "Come on and join me, you need to have more interaction
with people other than looking at the from afar."
	The two walked up to Serena and Darien and joined their already
progressing conversation.

***

	Serena happened to glance over just as Lita and Mina were walking up, she
quickly replaced her look of scorn with a smile and gave a nod to Darien
that they would continue their discussion later.  He looked back and said
nothing, but she knew he understood because he quickly walked over to her
and placed his arms around her waist.
	Earlier in their relationship, Darien had been much taller than Serena,
being he was a collage boy and she was just starting Junior High School. 
He had gotten into the habit of holding Serena just below her neck, almost
like he was strangling her, but too low so that he would be crushing her
collarbone.  It didn't look quite as hostile as explaining it sounded, just
a couple who's heights clashed.
	However now, Darien had stopped getting taller in his early twenties and
Serena quickly caught up.  She was rivaling his height now, but he was
still taller.  They looked much more like a serious couple now, than they
did when they were younger, but their feelings to each other never changed.
	"So, what have you been talking about?" asked Mina.  She was standing with
arms folded across her chest, and wearing a big smile.  Lita was standing
just behind her, every now and then looking over her shoulder at something.
	"Oh, nothing really.  Got anything to talk about?" Serena said back then
looked over Mina's shoulder.  "Lita, is something wrong?"
	Lita quickly turned her head around to look at Serena, then replied, "Oh,
no.  Not really, just wondering when Amy's flight will arrive." She lied,
but it was better than having Serena on her case about how much older
Richard is than Lita, despite that Darien is about five years her major. 
She could even be as lucky as having Darien on her case as well, Richard
was his friend after all.
	Serena apparently bought her cover story because she shook her head and
sighed, "Yeah, it seems to be taking forever doesn't it?" She walked over
to the window with Darien in tow, she looked up at the partly covered moon.
 The sky was clear of any clouds, and the blackness of space stretched out
for eternity.
	Darien looked behind himself and gave a look to Mina and Lita as if they
were interrupting something.  They understood and walked off towards Raye
and Chad.  Darien waited until they were good and far from him and turned
back to Serena.  She was still gazing up at the sky.
	"Its been awfully quiet lately," she whispered to Darien.  "When she left,
I thought I could never manage without her.  I thought she would have to
read in the papers about the sudden death of four of the five Sailor
Scouts.  But then..." she trailed off.  She wouldn't stop looking up to the
sky, as if she was requesting answers, yet receiving none.
	She reluctantly continued, "then everything just stopped.  No more people
ending up in the gutter, no more energy sapped children."
	Darien looked down at his little Meatball Head, her expression was so
blank, it almost scared him.  He tried to help her get through whatever she
was going through.  "You were happy when that happened," he told her.  She
jumped for a second like she hadn't noticed he was standing there, holding
her.
	"Yes," she whispered again.  "Yes I was happy about that, maybe I still
am.  But its like," she struggled for the words, but soon shrugged and
continued.  "Like something's missing."  She reached into her pocket and
pulled out her broach, and held it close to her chest.  "Ever since I had
picked this thing up, I've only wanted to ditch it for a normal life.  But
now, something's changed, I'd hate to admit it but I think I was getting
used to the fighting."
	Darien struggled to see it from her point of view, his mind had been
focused solely on keeping Serena safe.  To him, the less danger around, the
better for her.  However, as he thought about it, he began to realize she
must have fought for something, as he did, maybe that something has
changed, or it was never completed?
	"I've always felt it was my job to protect people," she continued.  Case
and point, Darien thought to himself. "And I suppose that its good that
they don't need protection anymore.  But I still feel I'm not doing my job,
or not doing it right," she quickly turned around to be face to face with
Darien.  "I mean, what if they've been storing their power all this time,
taking small bits and keeping it instead of what they used to do.  They
could be doing it all behind our backs, and we wouldn't even know."
	She had broke out in a nervous frenzy, Darien grabbed her shoulders to
steady her.  He spoke as kindly as possible to her, "Its okay, I'm sure
there is no 'they.'  We've been careful, we've checked out anything that
could be related to a major threat.  You know all those times we sneaked
out behind the other girls back's, to follow some crazy lead.  You've been
doing your job, its just be slow for a while."
	He held her close and stroked her head, the beautiful golden threads
lingering between his fingers.  She rested her head on Darien's chest and
wrapped her arms around him.  Her head moved back and forth in his chest,
like a small animal burrowing up against its mother.  He just stood there
and whispered to her, not anything in particular, just to show her he's
there for her, and cares.

Chapter 9

	The five Sailor Scouts stood at the perimeter of the Museum, with a tall,
looming, chain link fence right in front of them.  Sailor Moon peered
through the fence and watched as a large truck drove by towards the loading
dock.  It was unusually weighted in the rear, so that the front wheels were
clearly visible, while the rear ones were slightly covered by the hub.
	Amy pulled out her mini-computer and her VR Visor and scanned the truck. 
There was nothing inside except for a cylindrical object somewhere between
900 and 1100 pounds.  She blinked for a moment and managed to speak to the
others.  "It weights a ton! How are we going to move it?" She waited for a
response but instead heard a familiar phrase being spoken from a fellow
Scout.
	"Mars, Fire Ignite!" Sailor Mars cried.  The tip of her fingers glowed a
bright red then glimmers of heat flowed from the top.  Suddenly a stream of
fire was pushed from her hands and turned the ominous chain link fence to
slag.  Amy was angry for her friend's short temper, and just waited for the
alarms for the Museum to go off.  Fortunately for them, they never did. 
Apparently they hadn't been turned on because of the workers still at the
Museum.
	The five Pretty Suited Fighters ran through the opening in the fence,
jumping over the glowing hot metal at the base.  When they had all safely
crossed it, they ran off down a brief slope from which the fence had been
placed on, and towards the direction of where the truck had gone.  As they
got closer to the truck they heard voices, and as they approached they
realized it was from the workers off loading the giant pod.  They got to a
section where three or four large trucks had been parked with their rears
pointing towards the building.  A quick look told them that the truck they
were looking for was parked last in the line.
	They quietly edged their way to the truck just before the one that had
just arrived.  The voices of the men were loud, like they were right next
to them, and most likely, they were.  Sailor Moon looked around the corner
of the truck and saw a bunch of strong looking guys stare into the truck as
if they were trying to plan out their next move.  Sailor Moon crawled back
to the others and told them exactly where the men were standing and what
they were doing.
	Within a few moments, and some help from Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon had
formulated a plan to get the huge object in the truck.  Mercury would cover
the whole area with her Mercury Bubbles, then Mars would start a small fire
on the other side of the truck.  That would distract the men from seeing
anything else, they should head towards the fire while Venus, Jupiter and
Sailor Moon herself would work on getting one of those forklifts and using
it to get the object out of the truck.
	After a few moments they were set, Sailor Moon looked out from behind the
truck again and saw that the men had still not chosen a method of operation
yet.  She smiled and looked back to Mercury, she nodded to her and she
nodded back.  Then Mercury stood up tall and called out for her power. 
"Mercury Bubbles... BLAST!" she yelled out.
	Huge bubbles flew from her hands and soon turned to a thick covering of
fog.  She managed to cover the entire side of the building, extending way
out behind the fence the entered from.  Mars took her cue and ran out in
front of the truck, the men couldn't see her because of the fog so she
aimed carefully where she thought her aim should be.  With the fog around
though, she couldn't be sure.  She held out her hands and called for her
power like she did for the fence.  "Mars Fire, Ignite!"
	Once again, fire sprouted from her hand and flew through the fog and hit a
pile of garbage leaning up against the museum wall.  She hit her target
despite the large amount of fog, but as she watched she realized that the
fire was quickly dispersing the fog.  She looked over to Mercury just as
she had looked at the fire herself.  When she returned Mars' glance, she
nodded affirmatively.  She understood, and Mars turned to watch Sailor Moon
and her bunch do their job.
	Venus, Jupiter, and Moon all ran into the museum when the men ran towards
the fire.  Inside its storage warehouse they searched around for a forklift
to steal.  They came across one in the far corner from where they entered. 
They didn't have much time so they didn't fuss about it.  They got in and
drove it as fast as they could towards the entrance, getting there in less
than a minute.  They noticed that the fog was still there although a little
less dense as it was before.
	They came out of the museum warehouse so fast she had to slam on the
breaks in order to stop before hitting the truck.  The forklift came to a
stop with a squeal and the trio of girls were tossed against each other. 
Sailor Moon glanced over to where the men where and made sure that they
were still working on the fire.  She then spoke to Venus and Jupiter, "Come
on, we have to get this thing outta here!"
	Jupiter and Venus stared forward into the truck, then the turned to one
another.  Jupiter was the one to speak first.  "I don't think we have to
worry about the pod," she spoke solemnly.  Sailor Moon quickly turned to
look into the truck and saw what the others were afraid of.  "What on
Earth?" she questioned.  By this time they had attracted the attention of
Mars and Mercury, because they too ran over to them and looked into the
truck.
	Mars gasped, and Mercury just stared.

***

	"Miss Anderson?" spoke a voice from the darkness.  Amy pulled herself from
her dark slumber to look for who had spoken to her.  Her eyes were a bit
blurry at first but soon focused on a young stewardess.  Amy pulled her
seat upright and wiped some of the sleep out of her eyes.
	"Yes?" she responded to the stewardess.  Amy straightened her blouse.
	"We're about to land, and the captain advises everyone to buckle up now,"
said the stewardess.  Amy was about to reply when the stewardess continued
walked down the isle warning people to wear their seat belts.  Amy quickly
grinned and pulled her belt from inside the fold of the chair and put it
on.  She gathered all her reading material into a single pile and did a
quick straightening up of her appearance.
	She felt a little hot and wiped her hand across her forehead and realized
it was wet from sweat.  She looked up at the small air conditioner above
her and made sure that she had indeed turned it on before she fell asleep. 
She had, and it still continued to blow cool air into her face as she
looked into it.
	She wondered why she felt hot, had she had a nightmare?  It must have been
a very intense one to get so worked up like it had.  When had she had a
dream so intense before?  She couldn't remember, but she knew that the
memories from dreams don't last long because the brain cannot form the
synaptic pathways immediately after sleeping.
	She pushed the thought aside and peered out the window next to her.  Below
was the city of Tokyo, it was strewn with bright lights and mazes of
streets.  Her view was unobstructed because there were no clouds that
night, but it was night and the darkness itself was limiting.  However she
managed to pick out a few things she remembered from her childhood.  The
Tokyo tower was easily visible, but she could also see a few places she'd
been to as a child.  She saw a restaurant that her parents once took her
to, she saw the big mall that she had been to with Serena once.
	The plane suddenly lurched downward as it crossed into a lower level of
the atmosphere.  Even in perfect conditions, every landing has a few bumps.
 She tried to look ahead and saw what looked like a small airfield which
was the Tokyo International Airport.  As the plane approached the airport,
is size became enormous and looked as if it would engulf the plane. That
thought was dismissed almost immediately and the plane touched down on the
ground flawlessly.
	She waited patiently as the plane slowed down and was towed to a boarding
gate.  She could hear people gathering around the exit of the plane,
probably they can't wait to get down and kiss the ground.  Amy slowly got
up and gathered her magazines and journals and walked over to the exit.  By
now it had begun letting passengers off, so Amy waited on line and when it
was her turn she walked through the exit into a long tunnel that would lead
to the boarding gate.

Chapter 10

	Benton was impatient and nervous.  He was supposed to have waited behind
all the others back in Germany, just to tie up some loose ends, and to make
sure their little *letter* made it to its proper recipient. However he had
been witnessed to more than he wanted.
	Apparently, the recipient didn't take the hint as well as the Queen would
have wished.  Benton had witnessed first hand as the recipient dashed over
to the airport and bought the first flight available to Tokyo. 
Fortunately, the next flight wasn't for another day, and Benton had already
scheduled his own flight for that day.  He would be a day ahead of the
recipient, with more than enough time to tell the Queen what had happened.
	At first Benton was angry that there were only two flights to Tokyo per
day, he really didn't want to wait as long as he had to.  Not only were
there only two flights, but they left within an hour of each other.  A poor
management of time and resources was what he thought of it.  However the
real kicker to about it was that due to some minor turbulence in Germany,
both flights on this day left within a few minutes of each other.
	It didn't really matter, but Benton had been on the plane that left a few
minutes earlier.  A few minutes wouldn't matter, but he had picked up a few
habits from living in this time.  He'd acquired the need to try to be the
first at everything, even the minor satisfaction of leaving a few minutes
ahead of a plane was still satisfaction.
	When the exit out of the plane opened he was first to rush out.  Holding
his laptop, that contained his reports that he carefully typed out during
the plane trip, close to his chest, he dashed down the ugly Pastel hallway
that connected the plane to the boarding gate.  When he reached the end a
man opened the door for him and he ran past him into the airport's gate
areas.  He stopped when he got into the middle of the area and looked
around for his contact.
	He was supposed to meet his contact that would take them to their new
place of residence.  He looked around frantically for anyone that looked
familiar.  As he spun around looking for his contact he didn't even notice
the crowd of people coming out of the gate and heading towards him. Being
he was in the middle of the area, he was in everyone's way, and it only
took one person to make him lose his balance.
	A woman of about forty years of age, about five feet tall, and way too
heavy for her height was walking up behind Benton and didn't notice him
standing in front of herself, probably because she was talking way too loud
to a meager man walking next to her.  She made a drastic motion to
emphasize what she was saying and accidentally knocked Benton across the
back of his head.
	He was stunned for a second, but a second was enough for him to forget
about the laptop in his hands and drop it to the hard, cold, stone tiled
floor. Benton immediately realized what he had done and watched as his work
fell on its corner and proceeded to split a crack along the seam and open
up.  It spilled its internal components like blood from a deep cut.  The
screen hit the ground and began to leak the liquid crystal it had so
recently used to make pictures.
	Benton let out a yelp and quickly bent down and searched through the mess.
The disk, he thought.  If I can find the disk I'll be fine.  He pushed
through the mess and parts when flying, sliding across the stone floor.  He
had attracted a crowd of people behind him, with the woman who made him
drop the laptop directly behind him.  As Benton searched through the mess
he heard comments coming from the crowd behind him, ending with "Well, its
his fault anyway, lets go."
	The woman who caused him to drop his laptop began to walk off when Benton
suddenly heard a crack like the snapping of a bone.  His peripheral vision
saw that the woman had stopped walking suddenly.  Benton whipped his head
around to see his whole life flash before his eyes.  Under the woman's
incredibly large heels was a part of a black disk.  Benton looked down in
his hand to see the disk drive from the laptop with no disk in it.
	It had shot out of the drive and the woman had stepped on it.  The fat,
balloted, extra-large, cow of a woman had stepped on his disk.  Benton's
teeth ground together.  He would need to hand those reports the moment he
arrived in front of the Queen, but now, he didn't have the time to do it. 
She would kill him, she'd give him a punishment worse than death.  Benton
was genuinely afraid while at the same time more angrier than he had ever
been.
	The woman looked down and picked up the broken disk and held it in front
of Benton.  She spoke in a loud, cracking voice.  "Is this yours?" she
asked in an almost mocking tone.  Or maybe she said it sincerely and he
just heard it as a mocking tone.  His anger had reached a climax and he had
already decided the woman's fate. 

***

	Rionix sat in a seat across from the gate that Benton was supposed to come
in from.  He had been assigned to be Benton's contact upon his arrival in
Tokyo.  He wasn't fond of the idea of being a contact, he had also known
Benton's personality to be somewhat overbearing and short tempered. 
Fortunately, Rionix had been a more recent addition to the Queen's more
trusted servants, so Benton didn't know Rionix, and that pleased him.
	Rionix had been watching the gate for Benton's arrival, and when he came
storming out of the gate, the last thing on his mind was to run over and
greet him.  For the sake of boredom, Rionix decided to play with Benton a
bit.  Rionix just sat in his chair and watched at Benton searched the room,
looking for familiar faces.  He even brushed by Rionix in his search but
just like he figured, he didn't know him.
	Rionix watched as a large woman bumped into Benton, and got a chuckle when
his laptop his the ground, shattering.  When the laptop had settled Rionix
saw the disk drive shoot something black out and slide across the floor
right in front of the large woman.  Benton frantically searched the remains
of the laptop, and Rionix wondered why.  Surely he must have known that his
laptop was beyond repair, and the hard drive would have been the first
thing to get screwed up.
	Rionix looked back at the black thing lying on the floor.  A disk, he
thought.  He must have saved his information to a disk, but had foolishly
left it in the drive of the computer.  He watched as the woman made some
initiations to move and then, much to Rionix' delight, she stepped on the
disk.  He watched as Benton's face turned to one of horror as he looked at
the disk being held in front of him. Rionix grinned then stopped as he
watched Benton's expressions.
	He clenched his fist and his face drained of blood to look white as a
ghost.  Then his pale face took on a look of pure anger and hatred.  Rionix
could read in the man's expressions exactly what he was going to do.  He
was going to kill that woman.

***

	Richard stood up and straightened his collar and pushed some of the
wrinkles out of his shirt.  Darien's friend Amy's plane had arrived and
people had begun to flow out of the gate fluidly.  He pulled on the cuff of
his pant leg. First impressions, he kept telling himself.  God knows how
many of those he has had.  Some were good, and others were no so good, but
as long as he could keep a professional look and tight lip things ought to
go fine.
	Richard moved so that he stood behind Darien and his gang, he wanted to
look like part of the gang without actually being so.  The people were
beginning to thin out, coming out much less main stream now.  However, from
what he heard of Amy, she was the conservative one, if there was one in the
lot that would wait until the end to leave, it would be her.
	He remembered to put a smile on his face for the incoming, it had less of
a tendency to scare people that way.  He continued to watch the gate for
their friend when he suddenly realized that he had no idea who he was
looking for.  He hadn't seen this woman before, nor any pictures.  He
hadn't even pictured what she might look like, to him she was just a name.
Richard grimaced, he guessed he'd find out when she arrived.
	He took to looking around the airport terminal, seeing if anything
interesting was going on.  When he turned he back he was looking eye to eye
with Lita, one of Darien's friends.  He was shocked for a second then
regained his calm composure.  She opened her mouth about to say something
to him, or ask him something.  She then suddenly closed her mouth and
turned back around to look at the gate.
	Richard's inner conscious piqued at what she was about to say, be he
decided it might had been easier for his life if he never asked.  The
thought immediately left his mind when he heard the blood curdling scream.
	He quickly spun around on his foot and gazed off into the direction from
which the scream came from.  His eye quickly picked up on a group of people
gathered around a man and a woman who appeared to be kissing.  However, it
only took him a few seconds to realize that the man had his mouth at the
woman's neck, and she was flowing with blood.
	The woman's scream died out suddenly as he body fell limp in the mans
hands and he tossed her hunk of flesh to the floor.  The man looked up at
the crowd of people with a gaping smile and surprisingly, not a drop of
blood on him.  The man looked around at the crowd he had gathered, he had a
look on him that was for an instant looked like regret. The man scanned the
room and stopped on Richard's figure.
	The man's eyes widened and his jaw fell slack as he stared at Richard from
across the terminal.  Richard stared back, not knowing why this brutal man
was staring at him.  But as he stared a glimmer of recognition flashed
through Richard's mind.  He tried to hold onto the thought, but it soon
dispersed itself as Richard spun around to look at Darien and his friends'
reaction.  But to his surprise, when he turned around, they were gone.

***

	"Hold it right there!" screamed a voice from the rafters of the terminal. 
Benton looked frantically around until his eyes focused on the speaking
form, hidden to him by shadows.  As the blackened figure spoke, several
other forms appeared next to it, until they numbered five.  The voiced
didn't exactly strike fear into his heart, but it startled him just the
same.
	"How dare you feed on the innocent few, our future rests in their behalf!"
yelled the voice.  She wasn't exactly innocent, thought Benton.  As the
voice finished that last word, the figures jumped from the rafters, one by
one in cadence to look like a flowing shadow.  As the landed they were
shown by full light, the first and one speaking was a woman about Benton's
height, with long flowing blond hair that streamed down in two golden
ponytails, one on each side, with two semi large buns of hair atop her
head, which seemed to look like blond meatballs.
	She was wearing a tight, white sailor outfit with a short skirt at the
bottom, and long while gloves that reached to her elbows in length.  In the
center of her blouse was a bow of blue with a star broach in the center,
and her legs were adorned by long red, heeled, boots, that reached to her
knee.
	To her sides were other women, dressed similarly, however with different
predominate colors in their outfits.  There was a very tall woman with
brown hair in a singular ponytail, whose outfit seemed to be predominately
green, another blond hared woman, who wore her hair down, and whose outfit
was mostly yellow, and a shorter, black hared woman with shades of red in
her outfit.  Finally, to the right of the dual ponytailed woman, stood a
man dressed in a black tuxedo with a top hat and a fresh rose in his vest.
	The dual ponytailed woman spoke again, "The innocent deserve to be
protected, I am Sailor Moon! And in the name of the Moon," she moved to
show off her battle stance.  "I will right wrongs and triumph over evil,
and that means you!" She pointed a slender finger wrapped in white at
Benton.  He felt many things flying through his head, but one thing he was
not, was impressed.
	However, Benton was not stupid.  He knew that five against one was odds he
cared not to play against, let alone be killed under.  He needed help, or
an escape plan. Unfortunately, his general area, and lack of a contact,
have left him with little help to call upon and an escape plan would just
end up in death when he faced the Queen anyway.  The proverbial rock and a
hard place.
He gathered his thoughts, his enemy would not let him just stand there and
work out a plan, he needed to move quickly.  He racked his brain for all
information he could remember about the infamous Sailor Scouts, he was an
intelligence agent, he should know.  However, his memory failed him due to
the fact that his general area of expertise was supposed to be German
intelligence.  What each person in the German government had for breakfast
wont help him here.
	The thing that most bothered Benton was the fact that his sword of honor
was in his luggage.  The security would never have let him take it on board
the plane strapped to his waist, so he had to hide it with other things in
his normal luggage.  He regretted that decision now, now that his life
depended on it.
	"You going to stand there," yelled a black hared scout, Mars, he believed.
"or give up quietly?"
	"Five against one is hardly fair odds," Benton yelled back.  He stood
tall, as respectable as he could, as he looked around the room again,
looking for any way out.  His eyes fell on the long hared man standing by
the boarding gate again.  Richard. He mind yelled out. Alive after all this
time, I may have a chance with the Queen if I can tell her about this. As
Benton stared into the eyes of Richard, an alarming feeling rushed over
Benton.  He doesn't remember me. So much the better.
	"Negaverse scum like you doesn't deserve fair odds," the brown hared woman
said, whom Benton identified as Jupiter.  Negaverse? Better play along.
	"Well," he paused for a second. "you never know what to expect from your
adversary.  I may just prove to be merciful."  Oh boy, that was a stretch.
Considering...
	"After what you did that woman, not a chance," said Sailor Moon, as she
strode towards Benton.  Benton quickly rose his hands in defense.  As he
did, she stopped.  Benton thought back to all the defensive techniques he
had ever learned. I must escape, where on earth is that damned contact?

***

	I'll let 'em fry. Thought Rionix with a smile.  Its his fault, now he'll
have to deal with it. 
	With a shimmer and a plume of smoke, the figure that was Rionix
disappeared.

***

	What is going on in there? Thought Richard.  Are they having a talk?  He
started to move towards the event. I must get to Sailor Moon, now my
chance. Just as Richard began to move closer to the action, crowds of
people swarmed into his view.  All of them obviously interested in what was
going on, but none of them with enough courage to get really close.
	Richard sighed as he began to push his way, slower than he wished, but at
least he was getting closer.  Or so he thought, as soon as he started
getting into the crowd he began to question from which direction he just
came from.  The crowd was completely disorienting him, he needed to get
out.
	I can't just leave, I've got to get out of this crowd first.  Can't risk
making a scene.  Richard continued moving in whatever direction he could,
hoping he'd end up outside of the mob, or within it.

***

	Benton was as the verge of a either a complete mental breakdown or a five
alarm rage about his missing contact.  When Sailor Moon started moving
again, the ladder finally clicked.  Benton ripped out the most elementary
spell he could remember ever learning, a fog spell that his first teacher
taught him.  It was a limited spell that only lasted for a short amount of
time, but it would give Benton enough time to decide what to do next.
	He placed his hands together and silently recited a slew of Latin words
until his hands glowed with a pale light.  He saw the puzzled looks on the
Sailor Scouts' faces just before he released the spell into his surrounding
environs.  The fog was much denser than he intended, being able to modify
the spell was never a talent he wished to improve on, but now he regretted
it.
	He peered into the fog and tried to guess at what direction the Sailor
Scouts had been standing.  The cloud was incredibly disorienting to Benton,
but he rushed off in the direction that he thought was the opposite of
them.  He moved through the fog with his hands held out far in front of him
as he could.  Each step he took he was relived to have not run headlong
into a Sailor Scout.  He was relived until his hands stuck the chest of a
person.
	He was beyond the risk of being embarrassed as he moved his hands across
the chest of the person to find that it was a man.  He looked up into the
face of the person and watched as the fog began to fade away and the
feature of the face became clear.  Benton was better off with the fog.
	Richard's firm face peered back at Benton, who was just as surprised as he
was.  Benton fell backwards from the face, hoping that Richard had not
remembered him yet.  When he saw the quizzical look on Richard's face he
quickly took the chance to run the other way.  He ran as fast as his feet
could take him, looking back from time to time, watching Richard's form
grow smaller in the distance.
	When he looked back, the fog had suddenly cleared and a few feet in front
of him was standing a scout of midnight hair.  She opened her mouth and
issued a warning for Benton to stop, however, he took no heed of the
warning as he barreled right into the scout with his fist, knocking her to
the ground, and continued running in the direction he was facing.
	His legs ached, his lungs burned from lack of oxygen, but he continued
running faster than he ever had before.  In front of him was a glass door,
beyond which was his key to escape.  With a new found hope, he pushed his
pain aside and continued to run.  At least until the pain changed from
uncomfortable to immobilizing.  He felt his body burning, not just his
lungs, but his entire torso felt on fire, his legs decided not to respond
to his commands and dropped his body to the cold floor.  His vision
blurred, then turned red and finally black when the great god of fire
committed his body to ashes.

***

	Sailor Moon was walking about in circles as Jupiter, Venus, and Mars were
grouped together trying to look through the fog.  Tuxedo Mask running
towards Sailor Moon, even though he couldn't see her, he knew where she
was.  The other people in the terminal were all rushing around like chicken
with their heads cut off.  A lovely figure watched the madness from one of
the entry gates, dressed like the Sailor Scouts, except for a blue visor
covering her eyes.
	The visor made her look different, but it allowed her to see through the
fog.  Someone else had been using her power against her friends, a crime
that she just wouldn't stand for.  She leapt up over the crowd and landed
in relative proximity of Sailor Moon.  Sailor Mercury raised her hand and
the fog dissipated into the surroundings.
	When it cleared, a surprised Sailor Moon spun around and looked into the
eyes of an old friend she hadn't seen in many years.  The Sailor Moon that
Mercury left would have attacked her with greetings and showings of
friendship, but this Sailor Moon simply nodded to Mercury then looked
behind her to see the figure of Benton rushing towards Sailor Mars.
	The duo, joined shortly by Tuxedo Mask, ran after the fleeing figure. 
When they reached Mars, she was lying on the floor due to Benton's right
hook to the chest.  Mercury grabbed her hand and brought her to her feet. 
Sailor Moon continued looking ahead and quickly spoke to the group, "If he
gets to that door we'll lose him."
	"He wont," Mars quickly blurted.  She clasped her hands together and
pointed them towards Benton.  Her words were spoken softly but the sounded
as if spoken by a god itself.  "Mars... Celestial... Fire... SURROUND!" 
Gleaming fire leapt from her hands and shot out towards Benton.  It wasn't
her strongest attack, surely she could have used much more powerful
attacks, but she wanted him alive.
	She was totally unprepared when his body began to burn.  Black char marks
seared through his body, his clothing turning to a carbon black then
disintegrated into fine ash.  The body collapsed onto the floor and turned
black.  Finally the fire died away and a gust off wind took the ashes off
into the wind, and into oblivion.
	The very sight of the nearly human body burning before her was too much,
she felt dizzy and placed a hand to her forehead before she, Sailor Mars,
fainted before the rest of the Scouts.

Chapter 11

	Impressive, they murdered him, thought Rionix, standing in the rafters of
the building.  He may have left the place of the crime, but he still
watched, far out of sight by any mortal.  He watched as the black hared
Scout fainted into the arms of the blue hared one.  Rionix could only grin
at the scene before him.  The group of scouts quickly looked around before
running off and disappearing into the crowd, carrying the fallen scout
along.
	Rionix turned to leave the airport when another sight caught his eye.  A
man of somewhere of the age of 40 ran out where the battle had just taken
place, he looked around with a sense of urgency and the ran off in the
direction that the Scouts had just left.
	As the man ran Rionix caught a glimpse of the man's face.  He had never
seen the man before, but the face looked familiar.  As if he had had the
image burned into his mind when he was young.  As he continued to look at
the face, the name slowly surfaced into his consciousness. Richard Vedas.
The name came as a shock to him.  A face he was never supposed to see, a
face that he had been taught to remember for no reason he could ever
decide... until now.
	"The Queen must hear of this," he said to himself.  He left the airport,
this time opening a skylight in the roof and crawling out.
	 
***

	"Damn!" screamed a young man.  He picked up a stack of papers and ran down
a nondescript hallway with six or seven doors leading off of it.  As he
ran, he counted the doors that he passed, when he got to three he looked
up.  Above the door was a plaque that said Jonathan Patrick, CEO.  The man
grabbed the door knob just as the door opened inward by itself.  The young
man fell through the door way dropping his papers.
	The young man, covered in his papers, looked up to see three suited
individuals and Patrick standing over him.  The young man couldn't see the
three suits' faces very and couldn't determine who they were, but he didn't
really care.  He looked to Patrick and spoke, "He's moved."
	Patrick looked quizzically at the young man and bent over to pick up the
papers covering the mans head.  He looked into the face of the man and
realized what he was talking about.  He stood back up and gave several
good-bye's to the suited individuals and quickly ushered them out the door.
Locking it when they were gone.
	The young man had gathered his papers by now and was sitting across from
Patrick's desk.  Patrick walked over to the desk and sat in his well
cushioned chair.  "Subject Alpha 1 has moved," Patrick repeated for
verification.  The young man nodded. "Where has he gone?"
	The man rifled through the papers while he spoke.  At this time, Patrick
realized some of the papers were blown up photographs.  "Tokyo, Japan." 
Patrick sighed, it would have to be there. Half way across the world in the
most highly active city in the eastern hemisphere.
	"Our agents within the Genom corporation have been monitoring the activity
of several beings of enormous power.  Last night, they saw him in the
news." The young man pulled out a series of photographs with various
Japanese logos on the bottom.  The pictures were of an unknown person
biting the neck of an enormously large woman, a fight between this
individual and the Class 12 subjects known as the Sailor Scouts, and a
picture of subject Alpha 1 standing in the aftermath of the fight.
	"There he is, in black and white," said Patrick as he looked at the final
set of pictures.  He leaned back in his chair and opened the drawer in
front of him.  Inside were a bunch of stamps with various symbols on them,
and a red ink pad.  He pulled one out that said Project Sigma, Classified.
He dabbed it into the red ink pad and slammed it into the upper right hand
corner of all the pictures except the ones with subject Alpha 1 in them.
	He picked up the pictures with Alpha 1 in them and put them into a folder
with several stamps on it.  He stopped a second, then looked up at the
young man.  "How long have you been watching subject Alpha 1?"
	The young man raised an eyebrow, and replied, "Three years."
	"Do you find it interesting? Satisfying?"
	The young man was curious as to why Patrick was asking these questions. 
"Do you intend to replace me?" he asked, with a worried tone of voice.
Patrick just smiled.
	"Oh, no.  In fact I was planning on extending your privileges." The young
man was very worried by this statement, most likely the result of watching
too much television where the villain always says that to the people he
kills.  Patrick looked down at the folder in his hands, then held it our to
the young man. "I hope you like sashimi."
	The young man took the folder, and let out a deep grin.
	"You have twenty hours. Form a team, take the company jet, and get over
there." Patrick turned his chair around to look out a window into the city
of San Diego.  The young man stood up and walked out the door.

***

	Gabriel pushed a bunch of his clothing into a duffel bag and zipped it
shut.  He picked up his talisman and, after staring at for a while, hung it
around his neck.  He could feel its energy wrap around his body, while it
was visibly unseen, he could feel its tiny waves of energy flow through
him.  He picked up the bag and brought it down a flight of stairs and
placed it by the door.
	When he turned around Gerde was standing next to him. "Are you going?" she
asked.  Gabriel nodded, and walked to the coat rack.  "You must be careful,
Shattenjager. A false move could cost you dearly."  Gabriel picked up his
brown coat and pulled it over himself.
	"Is that any different than the last cases I've taken?  Its a very
dangerous job, but I must do it." He grinned to Gerde, "Besides, it'll give
me material for a new book."  He picked up the duffel bag and slung it over
his shoulder.  "If Gracie comes back, which I know she will, play nice with
her."  He saw Gerde tuck in a smile.  "Good bye, Gerde."
	The door creaked when he opened it, letting in a rush of cold air. 
Outside was a taxicab, waiting for Gabriel. He stood there for a second,
have a final last thought, then rushed down to the cab and climbed in.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

******
The Heroes We Love
By: Adam "Tempest" Leigh
Part 3: Phantom Pain
***
June 15, 2004
******
Chapter 12

	"Hey, Rookie!" yelled a deep husky voice with hundreds of years of age
behind it.  Rionix's eyes followed the voice to a clean shaven man who
appeared to be in his forties, but Rionix knew better.  The man's face held
over 800 years of experience, one of the few to live that long.  He was
dressed in garments of dark brown and red, and a tunic across his
shoulders.  Most predominantly was the aged sword he had slung to his hip.

	Rionix wasn't pleased.  He had just returned from his meeting with the
Queen, one that couldn't have been worse.  Other than finding out the hard
way that Benton was one of her friends, she was also very�distraught about
the reappearance of Richard Vedas.  In short, he was not in the mood to
deal with this of all men.

"Don't," he snapped back, "call me Rookie." The man just stood there, with
an expression that was forever etched into his face.  Rionix could only
sigh in disgust.  "I see you still have that blasted thing strapped to your
waist.  What is it again? A sword of incompetence?"

	The man raised an eyebrow in defiance.  "That's Allegiance, and if you
ever expect to get a sword yourself I'd suggest you be more proper with
your Watcher."  Rionix spit out a breath of air and continued walking on
his way.  The man followed.

	"Sword's are overrated," Rionix declared to the man. "They're just a
product of a society who has yet to adapt to the world." Rionix patted the
gun he had beneath his dark cloak. "This, is a much more powerful weapon. 
And much more effective at a distance."

	"Ha," the man blurted.  "That, my friend, is a product of a world that
places more value on the kill than the honor of the dead."  The two
continued walking, at various intervals unarmed people would come up to the
man and bow to him.  The man ignored it like it was common place. 
"Besides, where's the art?"

	Rionix looked at the man, "So you can dance a jig with a sword around me. 
Big deal when your dead."  He turns to look where he's walking.  "I really
don't care if I get a sword or not."  The man stops and when he sees Rionix
continue walking, he grabs his arm and pulls it.

	"What do you mean you don't care?  You got lucky, son.  The Queen found
promise in you before you earned your sword.  But that weapon you carry
won't win a fight against another Vampire. If you think for a second you
have what it takes to fight me, go right ahead and do it, but I am your
Watcher.  If I think you don't deserve a sword you don't get one.  And you
can carry the guilt of your family for another eon."

	"Now wait," Rionix shot back. "What does my family have to do this?  My
family, my house, has always been on the edge of things.  We adapted much
faster than you old bastards.  If anything is to be done is to have your
sword taken away from you, you think you understand the power in the
weapons of this world?  You do not!" Rionix stared into the man's eyes. 
"And while I'm here, tell me, what use is a sword anymore?  We've destroyed
all of the vampires that are not of the Queen's command, and the stupid
humans have lost all ability to use their magic.  So tell me, what use is a
sword?"

	The man stared back into Rionix's eyes, not impressed about his little
speech.  He turns back to the direction that they came from and speaks
before leaving.  "The fact that you don't know, means you are not ready to
have one."  Rionix watched the figure walk away, down one of the seemingly
endless hallways.

	Rionix slammed his fist into his hand, "I know more than I let on,
Horoski."  He turned and continued the direction he was initially heading.

***

	Richard walked out of the Tokyo Police Department at around six in the
morning.  He rubbed his neck to soften out the kinks.  He was convinced
that this has not been one of his most exciting nights, nor his most
productive.  Now if had just disappeared after the fight took place, he
wouldn't have been up all night being asked hundreds of stupid questions by
the police.  But no, he had to stick around and get caught in a hundred
photos and surveillance cameras.

	Of course, being robbed of his nights sleep didn't make his disposition
any better.  He walked down a set of stairs to the sidewalk and stopped. 
Cars drove by in front of him as neon lights began to light up at the start
of a new day.  As he looked around he spoke to himself.  "Where am I?"  He
hit himself for not paying any attention of where he was going last night. 
The police were driving very fast last night, he probably wouldn't have
been able to remember it all anyway.

	"Need a lift, stranger?" spoke a voice nearby.  He slowly turned to look
at a woman of about twenty-five years of age, with brown hair in a ponytail
behind her head, and beautiful green eyes.  She waved a set of keys in
front of herself with a smile.

	"Lita," he stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

	She lowered her hand and held her keys behind her back.  "Oh, I figured
you'd be done about now.  I'm an early riser myself, figured you might need
a ride."  She blushed.  "Or perhaps some breakfast?"

	Richard tilted his head for a second then regained his posture.  "Yes,
that would be nice," he replied.  She turned towards he car, parked around
the corner from the police station.  Richard followed behind her.

***

	Lita and Richard walked into the diner that they all met in the previous
day.  It was empty except for a few people siting at the bar drinking
coffee and the like.  Lita and Richard took a table by the window and were
soon approached by a waitress.  After ordering their food, there were a few
moments of silence.  Lita started to say a few things, but stopped, unsure
how to continue.

	As she watched him, she realized that he had been trying the same thing,
being equally as unsuccessful.  As the moments stretched into minutes,
their food soon arrived and Lita took the distraction as a tool to talk. 
"Is something bothering you?" she quietly asked.

	He looked to her face and spoke with a monotone voice, "What happened to
you all when that guy appeared?"  Lita was taken aback.  She didn't expect
him to ask her this, but she quickly regained her posture and searched her
brain for answers.

	"Uhh, what� uh, what do you mean?" she would slap herself if it didn't
make her look more conspicuous than she already sounded.

	Richard leaned forward and his voice changed to sound a bit annoyed.  "I
mean, *where* did you go?  I turned around and everyone of you was gone." 
Lita looked away as Richard continued talking.  "The police must have
hauled in a hundred people last night, why weren't you among them. Why
wasn't ANY of you among them?"

	Lita looked back at Richard and opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't
come out.  She quickly shut her mouth and looked away again.  When Richard
was done talking he felt worse than he had before.  He moved over to look
into Lita's face.  "Look," he said softly.  "I'm� I'm sorry.  I didn't mean
to accuse you of anything.  I� I guess I'm a bit upset being pulled into
that police station." Lita looked back at him.

	"I guess you've had a long night," she said calmly.  "Come' on." She
gestured with her hand. "I'll take you home.  You can get some rest then." 
She picked up her coat that she had rested on the seat beside her and put
it on.  Richard took a sip out of his coffee and stood up.  They walked out
of the diner and drove off.

	A few minutes later they arrived at Richard's apartment complex.  Richard
looked over to Lita, who was still staring out of the windshield.  "Thank
you," he said to her.  She looked over to Richard and nodded.  Richard
reached for the handle of the door and stopped. "I really didn't mean to
offend you."

	"You didn't," she replied with a smile.  "I was just thinking about
someone." She looked forward through the windshield again. "I'm sure Darien
will be around later, he was very worried about you."

	"I'll be sure to expect him," replied Richard.  "Good bye, Lita."

	"Good bye."  She watches Richard walk from the car and yawn as he enters
the building.  When he's finally out of sight, she sighs a breath of
relief.  She slumps in her seat, and picks up a picture she keeps on the
dashboard.  Its a picture of a young Lita standing next to a boy.

	She reaches out and touches the picture, sliding the pads of her fingers
across the boy's face.

	"Your too much for me!" yelled the boy.  A young Lita stares at him. 
"You're too overbearing, you're not normal enough.  I'm through with you!"
The boy grabs his umbrella and runs out from underneath the gazebo, into
the pouring rain, never to be seen by Lita again.  She stands a few feet
out from the gazebo, the rain drenching her hair and clothes.  The figure
in the distance gets blurry and finally is gone.

	The rain continues but Lita realizes that she isn't getting wet anymore. 
She looks over to Ken, holding an umbrella above her head.  He looks at her
with compassion, and understanding.  She moves closer to him and hugs his
body. He returns the hug with one hand.  She cries in his shirt for what
seems like forever. 

	Lita jerked her head up from the picture; her eyes producing tiny tears
that streak down her face.  She throws the picture into the back seat, puts
the car into gear and drives off.

***

	Richard rubbed his neck again as he walked up a flight of stairs to his
apartment.  When he reached the fourth floor he pushed open the door and
walked down the hallway.  He stopped only a few feet from his door.  His
body tensed up, his heart skipped a beat.  He looked down in front of the
door to see the lock in pieces on the floor.  The door was still closed, so
he approached the pieces of lock and examined them.

	The lock had been cut, quite cleanly, into three pieces.  The edges of the
cut were smooth, too clean to be done by typical lock cutters.  He shoved
the pieces of lock into his pocket and pushed open the door.  Inside, the
room had been wrecked.  Things were thrown about, clothing, furniture, all
facets of his things.  His hand slid down the door and rubbed across a
large cut that had been made going lengthwise on the door.

	He walked into the room and closed the door behind him.  He picked up some
of the clothes that had been scattered and tossed them on his bed.  After a
few minutes of picking up things he sat on the bed and sighed.  "What could
they been looking for?" he muttered.

	He cocked his head to the side and ran to the window.  Light was streaming
down from the window, shining on an overturned table.  He quickly reached
down and tossed the table aside, making a lot of noise.  He looked down
where the table had been overturned, there was a shirt, a pencil, and a
crushed device.  He bent over and picked up the black thing, turned it over
in his hands.

	The device was externally flattened a bit, the hinged top was in
misalignment with the bottom.  He opened the device to see that the screen
itself had not been damaged, but the tiny keys had been crushed.  Some were
hanging by a small wire, others falling out when he opened it.  He felt the
side of the device, looking for the power switch, only to find that it was
already in the on position.

	"Shit!" he yelled as he slammed the device onto the windowsill.  He looked
out the window into the city.  His mind kept asking questions that he only
wished he knew the answer to. Why? Who? The words kept ringing in his head.
 He kicked some things away from the spot where he found the crushed
device, stuff went clattering across the floor however he didn't care.  He
reached over to the table he had recently moved, turned it upright and
placed it where it normally had been.

	His eyes scanned the room, looking through all the clutter that was now
his apartment.  His eyes focused on a small leather satchel.  He jumped
across the floor and picked it up, then walked over to the table again.  He
dropped the satchel on the table and picked up a chair lying on the ground
next to the table.  He sat at the table, putting the opened device in front
of him.  As he sighed, he opened the satchel and dumped the contents onto
the table. There was tiny tools, and spare parts for various electronic
devices.

	"This," he blurted. "Is going to take a lot of time." He picked up a
screwdriver and began to take apart the device, piece by piece.

Chapter 13

	Raye twisted and turned in her sleep, the image of that guy's body burning
before her replaying itself over and over in her head.  The sight of his
flesh melting, his innards boiling and popping, his soundless scream, the
smell of it all.  Her own stomach turning in on itself, he body retching at
the sight of it, finally falling into darkness. Only to have her own mind
turn on her and play the image over and over again in her sleep.

	Raye's eyes slowly open, being ripped from her endless nightmare into
reality.  A reality she could control, at least, she thought she could. 
She put her hand to her forehead, trying to wipe away the bad dreams, the
horrible memories.  She looked to the window and out into the sky. It was
morning, the sun was just rising, a new day was starting.

	"Raye?" whispered a voice.  It was a worried voice, kind and soft, and
very familiar.  Amy stepped out from the doorway into Raye's room, she was
wearing a wrinkled dress of blues and whites, he hair was down to her
shoulders, much longer than the last time Raye had seen it.  She was
carrying a damp cloth in her hand when she cautiously entered.

	"Amy," Raye's voice crackled when she spoke.  She coughed to clear her
throat, "its been a long time," she said with a smile.

	"Too long," Amy replied.  "I," she struggled with her words. "I was there
last night, I, saw what happened."

	"Stop," Raye said as she rose her hand.  "I don't need to remember that, I
see it ever time I close my eyes anyway." She looked down at the bed.  "I
had no idea�" she shrugged it off.

	"I know, it happens to us all at one point." She realized she was
continuing a painful topic and decided to change the matter of discussion. 
"So what's been happening these last few years?" she cheerfully asked.

	"Depends," Raye said, shrugging.  "We've all been keeping busy, if that's
what you mean.  As for the amounts of supernatural danger, its been at an
all time low.  That is," she amended. "If you don't count last night."

	"I see," Amy replied.  "In that case, tell me what you've been doing."

	"Well," she sighed adjusting herself on the bed.  "After you left, I
started dating Chad, he really wasn't that bad when I actually looked at
him.  I knew he always had a crush on me, but there were, things, I had to
resolve before I could get into a relationship.  As it turned out, Serena
and I got married within a few months of each other, that was back in '99."

	"I remember the card you sent me," Amy interrupted.

	"Yes, yes I did send you a letter about it. I forgot, sometimes I think
I'm turning into Serena.  Anyway, during this time, I tried out a few jobs
in acting and tried to sell a few songs.  The acting never agreed with me,
and only two of my songs ever sold.  I figured that it wasn't for me, so
when I was in collage I pursued other matters.  Eventually turning to
Zoology. 

	"I got a degree in animal behaviors, and a minor in marine biology.  I got
a few offers from various Zoo's in the area, but they couldn't offer more
than tour guide stuff and I didn't wanna do that." Raye sighed as she
pushed back her hair. "Eventually I found an institute that was willing to
give me a grant to do some research on inter-species communication.  I've
been working on that ever since."

	She shrugged, "I suppose its not as interesting as being a doctor, but I'm
sure you'd say the opposite.  All I really can say is that I'm happy at
what I do.  Well, that is, until last night�"

	Amy got a grim look on her face, "Come on," she put a hand on Raye's
shoulder.  "I've got a lot of other things to remember, and a lot of things
you need to forget."

***

	"What do you mean my ratings are down?"  Mina yelled over the phone.  Her
hair dripping water on the floor.  "I'm bigger than, uh.." she struggled
for the comparison. "Umm, Godzilla!"  She heard an uncomfortable silence on
the other end of the line.  Mina took it that she made a mistake, she
sighed and continued.  "What do you want me to do?"

	"The public relations people think you should schedule a bunch of public
meetings," the voice on the phone told her.  Mina felt strangely
uncomfortable, she knew that the PR people could never be taken for their
word.

	"You mean you want me to go out in public and put on a cheesy replica of
one of our episodes?"  Mina walked over to the sink and squeezed some of
the water out of her hair.  She didn't like getting interrupted during her
shower, and this was pushing her over the edge.

	"Well, that might not be necessary yet.  The PR people say just a press
meeting and maybe just a public appearance or two�"

	"In my costume?" she screamed.

	He laughed, "It would make the press meeting very interesting, definitely
memorable." The voice chucked a few more times.  "You don't have to wear
the costume at the press meeting, but the public appearances you'll have
to.  It only makes sense that way."

	"This is a last resort right?" she asked, wearily.

	"Yes.  Well then, the PR people will be calling you about it later on
today," noise came from the line that sounded like he was about to hand up
then stopped.  "Oh one more thing, you'll have to appear with Brody."

	"Brody?" she almost screamed. "Why is he coming along?"

	"This isn't your show, Mina, and since he is almost your partner in the
show he should be touring with you."

	"Tour?! This is a tour now?  I wanna find out where it says this in my
contract," she made the motions of looking through papers.

	"Its in there somewhere, under the part where it says you have to be my
slave and do whatever I say," he laughed a few more times. "Don't worry
about this Mina, it'll be fine. I'll see you on Monday."

	"Goodbye Taki," she said as she hung up the phone.  She didn't like being
put into these situations, she really had no problem wearing her costume in
public, it was really what she was doing every time she became Sailor
Venus.  The part she didn't like was going in front of kids and say her
cheesy lines and pose for hundreds of pictures.

	The Sailor V costume they made for the television show was on budget, and
was lacking in a few areas, such as air.  By the end of a day of shooting
or posing for pictures, the costume had become a skin tight prison.  They
try to keep the studio cool, even under the lights, but the costume refuses
to let any of her body heat escape.  She was lucky that she wears a skirt.

	And Alan Brody.  Working with him is like working alone, Mina has tried to
find personality in Brody for the longest time.  He just seems to do what
he's supposed to do and moves on.  He seems to be talented, but it's like
he never used his talents.

	"One thing after another," she sighed and headed back to her room to
change into clothes and dry off her wet hair.

***

	Gabriel walked off the boarding platform in the Tokyo International
Airport into sheer chaos. The moment he stepped off, he was almost standing
next to the police tape that had sectioned off a part of the airport.  He
tried his best to peer into the clump of police officers and investigators
to see what was beyond the censorship, but the only thing he could catch a
glimpse of was some char marks on the floor.

	 Now, following Vampires around for the last month or so had taught
Gabriel a few things, and one of them was never dismiss any crime that may
have occurred in the Vampire's path.  Divine intervention was unnecessary
for Gabriel to spend time investigating this apparently sudden event.

	Placing his duffel bag against the wall by the gate he was standing by, he
moved towards the police line, casually pushing some of the bystanders out
of the way of his goal.  Looking past the police tape he saw that the crime
scene had been left relatively alone, judging from the amount of officers
and the lack of sleep they all appeared to have.  An officer standing
beside the tape to Gabriel's left yawned deeply and apologized to a man he
was accidentally yawning into.

	The first thing Gabriel saw in the circle of police tape and suits, was
the black laptop that he saw one of the Vampires carry.  It had, apparently
been smashed into a few hundred pieces of various size and shape, mostly
with jagged edges, which led Gabriel to believe that, the pieces had
snapped and not come apart.

	Gabriel tapped on the shoulder of the yawning officer officer to get his
attention.  Through his yawn, the officer said something in Japanese that
Gabriel could not, for the life of him make out.  Shrugging, Gabriel
questioningly asked, "You speak English?"

	Rolling his eyes, the officer delved deep into the back of his mind and
plucked out a phrase he had learned in High School. "Small amount."  At
which point in time Gabriel realized this was going to be as hard for him
as it would be for the officer.

	Gabriel, in a desperate move to speak in the simplest terms possible,
asked, "What crime happened here?"  Deciding to remove all pronouns and
tense only confused the officer further who decided it would be more
productive to go back to looking tired.

	Gabriel sighed and glanced around the area of the airport for any other
sources of information.  His eyes closed in on a small man who was moving
about trying to see what was happening from behind the counter of a rather
miniature looking souvenir shop.  Fortune smiled, or so Gabriel thought, on
him as he moved over to the shop, reminding himself to pick up his duffel
bag first.

	Gabriel stood in the shop for a moment, looking over the various materials
of cheap plastic that were on display, as he worked out a plan of attack. 
Picking up one of the pens scribbled with Kanji, he walked over to the
counter and placed the pen down in front of the man, who startlingly
wrenched his head towards Gabriel.

	Placing a few yen on the counter, which Harry the family lawyer was good
enough to give to Gabriel instead of American or German currency, Gabriel
looked up to the man and pointed towards the chaos.  "What happen?" Gabriel
asked again, hoping not to confuse the man.

	The man, observing the strained manner in which Gabriel spoke, smiled and
replied in English, "A woman got killed last night by a man who was later
destroyed by the Sailor Senshi." 

	Gabriel nodded but internally he was yearning for more.  "Were you here
when it happened?" he asked.

	"Yes," the man replied.  "Was standing here the entire time."

	"Could you tell me?" Gabriel further inquired.

	The man smiled again and leaned back against one of the racks behind him. 
"There isn't much to talk about, and most of what I say, the police will
deny.  But what I saw was this; a man broke his laptop coming out of the
gate--"

	"The man," Gabriel interrupted. "What did he look like?"

	"Oh, he was about your height, a little more stocky built, brown hair, a
green trench coat, and a laptop like I said before.  He didn't seem to have
any other carry-on luggage."

	Gabriel nodded again, while the description was vague and could fit any
number of people, it is what the Vampire that was on the plane looked like.
 "Go on," he said.

	"Well," the man continued.  "Some woman bumped into him or stepped on
something so the man opened his mouth and bit her neck." The man moved
closer to Gabriel, placing his hands, palm down, on the counter.  "But the
blood that came out of her neck was astounding.  It seemed to trickle down
her neck and pool at the floor, spraying a bit of it around.  But when the
man stepped away from her and let her body drop to the floor, he hadn't a
single drop of the red stuff on his clothing.  It was like he had sucked it
right up!"

	Gabriel could only silently nod.  The scope of what the man saw was
definitely beyond any ability for Gabriel to explain or comfort, he only
let the man continue.

	"So the man stepped away and then the Sailor Senshi arrived!" The man
decided to accent his story by pulling out one of the Sailor Scouts post
cards he had in the rack behind him.  "After their NSBS, the guy shot
something at them and then a heavy fog enveloped the area--"

	"Woah," Gabriel stopped the man.  "NSBS, what's that?"

	"NSBS! You know, every time the Sailor Senshi arrives they give that Not
So Brilliant Speech about something distantly related to the task at hand."

	"Right, okay. I was just unfamiliar with the term.  So the fog came and
you didn't see anything else, right?"

	"Well, I did see one last thing," the man shuddered at the thought of it. 
"When the fog cleared, the man was burning up, literally!  His body was
glowing red with fire from Sailor Mars' attack.  It was sick the way it
looked and smelled. I'm afraid I'll never get the smell out of those
clothes."

	"Really," Gabriel said rather than asked.  The parts fit, the woman must
have done something to anger the Vampire and he struck back causing him to
kill her by the only means at hand since he was without his sword.  After
that, someone would have to clean up after--

	The sword, Gabriel thought.  He didn't have his sword with him, and
Vampires never go anywhere without their sword.  He must have had it packed
in his bag for the flight, in some x-ray proof box or something.  I must
get that sword.

	Gabriel picked up his change for the pen and the bag the man had stuck it
in.  Just as he was beginning to leave the man added one thing, "Answer me
one question, sir."

	Gabriel stopped and turned around for manners sake.  "Yes?" he asked.
	"Tell me," the man began.  "What makes this important to Gabriel Knight? 
Will I end up in one of your books?"

	Gabriel grimaced when he realized that his reputation had preceded him. 
He looked back at the man with a look of both shock and frustration and
decided that the best way to keep people alive, is to keep them out.  "I'm
sorry," Gabriel painfully said.  "But you've confused me with someone
else."

	The man kept smiling and nodded as Gabriel continued walking away. 
Gabriel didn't look back once, changing his task at hand to obtaining the
sword.

	This task, Gabriel thought to himself, will have to be done at night, but
first I need to get some information.


***

	The young man stood in the south hangar of Los Angeles International
Airport, waiting for his plane to gas up and for his three passengers.  He
stood off to the side of the hangar, looking through a clipboard that
listed all the items he needed for this trip.  The hangar was less than
quiet, but he didn't let it interfere with his list.

	He was wearing a straw hat on top of a dusty brown head of well kept hair
with some blond accents.  He had a brownish vest on top of a black shirt
with a few stains here and there, including on his blue jeans.  Clipped to
his vest was a small tag that identified him as Jeremy Seyton.

	It was standard policy for the 'Organization' always to look much less
important that you really are.  Jeremy was taking this rule to the point
with the sloppy clothes he was wearing, but he figured that any attention
he would gather would think that he was part of a South American or African
mission, not searching for Alpha's in the middle of Tokyo.

	Jeremy tucked his clipboard under his arm and walked alongside the plane. 
The top half of the meager sized plane was white, as was traditional, but
the bottom half was blue, with a thin red pinstripe separating them. 
Jeremy always though it make it look more like a car than a plane, but he
didn't really have any say in the color of his transportation.  Other than
the color, however, the plane was featureless, with no identifying symbols
or marks and no extra lights or anything.

	As he walked back towards the front of the plane, Jeremy heard someone
call his name.  He turned around to face the pilot of the plane, some new
guy they just hired by the name of Adam.  He was about six feet two inches,
muscularly built, and had brown hair, eyes, and a brown gruff that circled
his mouth.  He had a clipboard in his hand as well, which he pulled out and
looked at the top line.

	"There is a phone call for you, sir," Adam said.  "They say they are
calling from 'The Branch' in Tokyo.  Do you know anything about this?"

	"Yes, I'll take it in your office," Jeremy replied as he jogged off to the
edge of the hangar.  He really didn't' expect to get a call from GENOM, but
he figured it was bound to happen eventually.  As he entered the office, he
spotted the phone lying off the hook of an out of day rotary phone.

	He cleared his throat, picked up the receiver, and spoke to the person on
the phone.  "Seyton here," he said shortly.

	"You have been sent new orders for your flight profile," the deep voice
said.  "And will land just outside of Tokyo where you will be met by a
group of our operatives.  Do not fight with them, do what they say and they
will bring you to GENOM.  Understood?" 

	Jeremy pulled the receiver away from his head and looked at it like he was
just slapped by it.  Regaining himself, he pulled the phone closer to his
head and started, "Listen you, I won't be order--"

	Jeremy's speech was cut short by sound of the dial tone.  He slowly placed
the phone back down and looked out of the window in the office.  It peered
out into the plane and showed Adam standing around, then suddenly being
given a new clipboard by some unknown individual, who, just as soon as he
arrived, left.

	"I don't like this at all," Jeremy said to himself.

Chapter 14

	Amy arrived at the diner in the late afternoon, the sun casting a
foreboding shadow with each step she took.  Inside, however, the lights and
artificial atmosphere changed evening into midday, and the warm breeze into
a mild chill. Before she had left for Germany this diner had been hid-a-way
from the stress of real life, everyone knew about it, but there had never
too many people in it.  She was happy to see that even industrialization of
the area hadn't changed the way the diner felt on the inside.  No one had
even taken her favorite spot.  She walked slowly in and sat at 'her' spot,
a small table in front of the window, where she would sit for hours, if she
chose, doing the various activities of her life.

	At least she thought they were various activities.  The more and more she
looked back on her youth the more she realized just how isolated she had
made herself.  She couldn't imagine how she even managed with the limited
human contact she gave herself, her days were so boring.  If she were still
the same person she was when she left, she would have said it was binary,
either she was studying or she was fighting.

	But now, now it all seemed different, like looking though a glass of water
and seeing the warped view your whole life only to have it taken away and
be shown how much life was better without it. But today, vampires, unknown
nightmares and other oddities suppressed such thoughts.

	She was jolted back to reality by a semi- familiar voice.  "You get stood
up?" the voice asked in English.  Amy jumped in her chair, and by the
reaction of the man's face, she had startled him as well.  When she got her
bearings again, the features of the face recalled a memory of a man she had
met in Germany for only a brief second.

	"Mr. Knight," she finally blurted out in a wavering voice.  She paused for
a second before she realized he had asked her a question.  "Oh, no, I like
to sit here by myself in the evening."

	"Really?" he replied with a smile. "Then I wouldn't dream of disrupting
you, Amy, I'll be on my way."  Gabriel moved to walk past Amy when he heard
her voice again.

	"Wait, Mr. Knight�" she began.

	"Please," Gabriel interrupted.  "My name is Gabriel, my friends call me
Gabe.  You can use either, but Mr. Knight makes me feel like I'm in my
forties." 

	"Alright, Gabriel, I wasn't really in the mood to be by myself this
evening, I really wouldn't mind your company."  Amy motioned towards the
seat across the small table and Gabriel moved towards it.

	"Well I'm always in the mood to give my company."  Gabriel sat down in the
seat across the table.  Amy shifted herself to face Gabriel, as she did a
waitress approached with a mug holding a black substance that could only be
identified as coffee.  The waitress then pulled out a pad of paper.

	"What would you two like to have tonight?" she asked as if on cue.  Amy
and Gabriel quickly turned to each other and scanned each other for signs. 
Eventually Amy realized that Gabriel couldn't speak Japanese and answered
the lady.

	"Nothing tonight," she said to the waitress. "Except for a cup of coffee
for my friend here."

	The waitress smiled that had been used one to many times and nodded her
head.  She returned a few minutes later with the extra cup of coffee for
Gabriel, not saying a word the whole time.

	"You don't seem to have an affinity for languages, Mr. Knight."  Amy said
after the waitress left.  Gabriel looked at her for a second before Amy
quickly added, "Gabriel."

	Gabriel leaned back in his chair, "While it would be useful in my line of
work," he admitted.  "I never really stay in any one place long enough to
learn any language."  Gabriel stopped abruptly and laughed for a second. 
"Gracie is always getting me these language dictionaries for my birthday,
she probably thinks I use them or something crazy like that."  He laughed a
few more times.

	Amy shifted in her chair again and pushed her hair out of her face. 
"Gracie?"

	"Gracie's my assistant, she never leaves me alone about anything." 
Gabriel turned to look out the window.  "Course she has gotten me out of a
few situations before, I figure I owe her."

	"What is your line of work, Gabriel?  I suppose it's lucrative enough to
travel all the way from Munich to Tokyo."  Amy took a sip from her coffee
and held it in front of her face allowing the steam to float up and across
her face and the smell to percolate her nostrils.

	"I could say the same about you, Amy," he said with a grin, then proceeded
to take a sip from his coffee.  After taking a sip, he placed his cup down
on the table.  "My," he hesitated. "Work, takes me a lot of places around
the world.  I don't often think of the expense, but I can cover it, it's
not a problem."

  	"So why are you here in Tokyo?" Amy questioned.

	"Experience," he said flatly.  Amy looked at Gabriel strangely and tilted
her head.  He looked out the window, then at his wrist.  "Its getting dark,
probably best that I leave now, who knows what could happen at night." 
Gabriel pushed his cup forward and stood up, leaving a small amount of yen
on the table and then sliding a business card over to Amy.

	"Here's my card, the number on the front goes to Germany, you can reach me
locally by the number on the back," he headed out the diner again then
stopped at the door and turned around.  "I'll wait for your call," he
yelled out to her and disappeared out the door.

	Amy rose her hand, looked at the card, and read aloud.  "Gabriel Knight,
Proprietor: St. George's Books, New Orleans, French Quarter."  She lowered
her hand for a second, "New Orleans�?"  She continued reading, "Residence:
Ritter Castle, Rittersburg, Germany."  She let the card slip from her hand.

	"Ritter Castle," she repeated.  "I guess it is lucrative."  She picked the
card from the table and shoved it into her pocket.  She pulled a few yen
from her pocket and placed it on the table and walked out of the diner.

***

	Amy walked away from the diner with a renewed feeling of content.  For
reason her encounter with Mr. Knight had soothed her restless mind.  The
last person who had that effect on her was Greg. Even when she was younger
she had thought about the things she was missing out on, but when she met
Greg, it all went away. Secrets she couldn't tell people, things that kept
her away from others, he knew and could talk to her about. 

	They had not left each other pleasantly, and she had been unable to talk
with him since she left for Germany.  In the end, she was trying to
persuade him not to let his ability to see the future control him, but
afterwards they had spilt up over it.

	"Greg," she had said.  "Doesn't bother you knowing that all those people
die when you could have done something?  It isn't some Negaverse scum come
to attack a few children, we're talking about over 200 passengers on a
airliner!"  She was sitting in a restaurant similar to the diner she was
just at.

	"Amy, I can't do anything," he said for the millionth time, his hands
calmly set on the table.  He felt her cold gaze penetrate his mental
defenses.

	"The future is not set in stone!" Amy yelled at him, not attracting too
much attention.

	"I only see the future," he admitted, then sighed.  "I can't change it."

	"A version of the future." Amy insisted.  "You see what could happen in
the future, if you don't do anything about it."

	"But there are certain things that must to take place to ensure a better
future."  Greg placed his hands on the sides of his head and looked down at
the table.  "If I change that one event the future maybe effected in an
irreversible way."  He look up again, into her eyes.  "I don't have a
choice."

	"Greg, you're being impossible!" her tone of voice was getting even more
annoyed, as her facial expressions showed a dark anger.  "Every day I talk
to you, you sound less like yourself and more like� her!"

	"Amy..." Greg sighed, he knew he was fighting losing battle.

	"Okay, sometimes what you say maybe true, but it's not right to let people
die when you could have done something." Amy said trying to regain her
usually calmness. "Just because you saw it in your vision and it might have
a negative impact on the future.  Did you ever stop to think that maybe if
you saved a person you could create a future that is even better than the
one you're seeing?"

	"Yes!" he screamed, then lowered his voice quickly.  "That is the curse I 
have to live with." He frowned as if in pain. "I don't know what will
happen, I can't 
see if my actions are helping or if they are making things worse.  The more
I see, the more I'm unsure about, the only way I can be safe is if I don't
do anything at all.  If I let things happen by themselves."  He struggled
for the right words to tell her, but he knew it was not possible.  She
could never understand, unless she experienced it herself.

	Before she could give her rebuttal, she heard her communicator beep. Amy
looked at her computer to see the location of Serena.  It was close enough
so she paused a second.  "My job is to protect and save people's lives, the
only way I'm sure to keep the future safe is if I get rid of all who
threaten it, and I can't accept you allowing your visions to stop you from
doing the same." She got up to leave and quietly whispered "As far as you
and I am concerned, its over."

	"Amy," Greg urgently blurted.  She looked back at him, her face never
changing its ice cold glare.  "Never mind." He desperately wanted to tell
her something, Amy could see it in his eyes, but for some reason he
stopped.

	"Would you sacrifice the planet to save the future?" Amy asked as she
turned to walk out the door into the daylight.  Greg followed her with his
eyes until she was out of sight.

	A woman dressed in a dress suit silently came up behind Greg and
whispered.  "I would," she simply said into his ear.  Greg wasn't
surprised, one of the virtues of seeing the future meant he was never
really surprised about anything anymore, he slowly turned to face the
woman.

	"I guess that's what makes us different, you and I," he spoke with a sotto
voice.  "As much as I try, I can't be as cold about my friends as you.  If
only our roles were switched, and I was the one that could move through
time � it would be a different world."

	"Not nearly as different as you imagine," the green suited goddess coldly
responded.

***

	Amy could not remember why she was so frustrated at Greg.  That day had
been the same day that Molly had died in.  After a long while she
understood what Greg had meant by his words, but by now it was too late to
tell him.  "I wish I had the chance tell him," she spoke aloud.  She
smiled, he probably already knows, she thought.  As she came out of deep
thought she realized she was at Raye's house.  "I hope they're not mad at
me for being late," she whispered to herself.

	"Is Amy late?" Serena asked.  It was more a rhetorical question than a
serious one, they all knew it was time for the meeting.  Years ago Serena
surprised everyone by becoming punctual, however, the only annoying side
effect was that she excepted everyone to do the same.  Amy always used to
be early, so surprise was an understatement when she had not arrived yet.

	"Sorry I'm late!" Amy said breathlessly as she busted through the door. 
"I ran into a friend of mine and time got away from me."  She breathed
heavily as she moved through the room and took a seat beside Mina and Raye.

	"A friend? Is it anyone we know?" Mina asked with one eyebrow raised.  She
looked wide-eyed at Amy who immediately felt uncomfortable.  "Are you sure
he is just a friend?"  A smile spread across Mina's face when she saw Amy
blush slightly. "That much, huh?" 

	"He is just a friend." Amy coldly insisted. Although she could feel her
face betray her.

	"You know, I think you might be right, Mina," Lita piped in as she came
from the kitchen. "She has the same look on her face that she used to have
when she came back from studying with Greg."

	"Please, you two, he's just my friend!"  Amy was feeling less
uncomfortable and more annoyed now.

	"For now." Lita teased.

	"He is a friend from Germany, anyway." Amy could see Lita and Mina pass a
look to each other.  Amy could only foresee it as trouble.

	"So Amy, who is he? Did you go to school together." Raye broke in before
Mina and Lita could tease Amy anymore.  She gave the two a glare that shut
them up, and generally told them to lay off. Lita and Mina had to struggle
from laughing.

	"No we didn't go to school together, we kind of ran into each other."
Literally, Amy added mentally. "His name is Gabriel Knight."

	"That name sounds familiar.  Did you know him when I visited you a year
back?" Lita asked.  While her brief visit to Germany to attend an
international author exposition was, as she put it, "less fun than watching
the linoleum peal," she did remember a few things from her visit.

	"No..." Amy replied, but before she could continue, Serena cut in.

	"You guys, we have a meeting in progress." Serena looked around the small
group as a teacher would a misbehaving class.  Everyone but Serena giggled.

	"This is a change," Amy whispered to Raye.

	"You're telling me!" she whispered back.

	"Save gossiping for later!" Serena commanded.

	"Did you have a fight with Darien?" Raye inquired. "You're usually only
this bossy when you fight with Darien or..."

	"No, Raye." She glared back. "It just I have some important things on my
mind, as you should!"

	"Sorry..."

	"Okay...."

	Raye's expression suddenly turns grim as she begins speaking. "We all know
what happened last night."

	One by one, each nodded in agreement to Raye's statement.  "But we don't
know if this is an isolated event," Serena spoke up. "Or if there are more
to come."

	"It would have been better if that guy was still alive," said Raye,
cursing herself. "Then we could have asked him some questions."  Everyone
was silent, unaware of whether to continue or not.  Raye merely shook her
head and continued. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no
doubt of what I saw last night."

	Amy, who had been quiet the whole time, softly speaks, "Vampire."  The
rest of the group looks at her with wonder.  "I read about a bunch of
Vampire killings when I was in Munich."  She shakes her head as she speaks,
"I never thought they were a real problem, or that they would ever come
here." She stops shaking her head long enough to look up at Raye.  "I guess
I was wrong."

	"Whatever the reason they are here," Raye spoke up.  "Or what their
intentions are, we must decide on a course of action."

	"Wait a minute," Lita interrupted. "We don't even know if there are more
of them around.  This guy could have been alone; he did just get off an
international flight.  We could be in the clear."

	"But," said Mina. "If he was part of a group of vampires, they could come
looking for him.  Or he could be just the scout of a bunch of vampires that
are about to come here.  When I was in England, I'd heard of vampires, I
never really gave it much thought though.  It could have just been some old
guy who was off his rocker spreading unfounded rumors.  But what I did
hear, says that there is at least one big organization of vampires
operating out of Europe."

	"I think," Serena interjected, and everyone became quiet to listen. "Its
obvious that before we can make any action, we need to find out more
information.  So I think we need to scout around the city and see if we can
find any information, any signs that there are any more vampires around."
Serena stopped herself. "Of course we need to decide on what signs those
will be."

	The constant bickering continued for a great deal of time before they
managed to work out a plan and agreed upon what signs they should be
looking for.  When Serena was sure that everyone knew the plan, and was
ready to go, she turned to Amy and whispered to her.  "Some homecoming this
was.  I never expected this to happen."

	Amy giggled and said back, "Don't worry, this has been on my mind since I
left.  This is what I really came back for, to be a Sailor Scout, to make a
difference."

	Serena smiled, and said calmly, "You would have made quite a difference if
you stayed where you were."

	"But," she replied.  "This is where you are, this is where I want to be." 
Serena nodded to her, understanding completely.


***

	He heard her summons from miles away, and no sooner than he heard it than
he was standing before her, in her throne room.  Horoski silently kneeled
before the Queen and waited for her to make the first move.  She briefly
grinned before speaking, each word echoing through the hall. 

	Horoski heard each word as they were spoken, and never agreed more with
her orders.  When he was dismissed, he had formulated a thorough plan to
accomplish his goals and avenge the death of Benton for the Queen.  The
real action was about to start, and Horoski was going to be at the head of
it.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Author's Notes:

	When I put all three parts to this story in one document, I had the option
to go back and change the story of Parts 1 and 2 to reflect my current
writing style.  I chose not to.  For reasons other than time, I feel as
though my efforts should be focused towards the future and not the past. 
Think like Pluto and you can accomplish anything.
	In case you don't know, Pluto is my favorite character. Expect her to show
up multiple times.

	If you are concerned over the death of Benton, It had to be done.  While I
tried to be gentle, sometimes it just isn't possible.  The same will go for
any character I need to kill up from now on, sometimes it can't be helped.
Yes, GENOM will one day become the megacorporation that dominates MegaTokyo
in the future.  However for now, it is a cover for 'The Organization'.  You
don't know what the Organization is, so you'll have to keep reading to find
out.  It's in the next part.

	If you have any qualms about "A Candle In The Wind" as the theme song,
don't worry.  I'm using that song only for now because it best fits the
fanfic now, which deals with how to deal and the effects of, tragedy; and
the fact that I haven't written anything better yet.

	I'd also like to say... "Love Ya Katie! Thanks for the help!"

	Richard Vedas, Seether Vedas, Jeremy Seyton, and the Vampires are part of
'Legend Equinox,' which is owned and created by Adam Chris Leigh, and held
under Copyright 1996-7.

	Gabriel Knight is a creation of Jane Jensen of Sierra Online Inc.  He is a
character of unparalleled dynamics and intrigue, and was first brought to
life by Tim Curry, and later made his first live action debut played by
Dean Ericson.  If you are looking for more in-depth information about this
individual, go out and buy "Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers" by Jane
Jensen.  Its available in soft cover at your local book store.

	And Finally, Sailor Moon is copyright 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.  While the
characters are not mine, the usage, plot, and interactions are mine, and
are therefore Copyright 1997 by Adam Leigh.

All Rights Reserved.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam Chris Leigh  --  Omicron@sprynet.com
Who wishes to point out that Katie Staal deserves more credit than she got.