Typical Header Stuff:  

     Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within
this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation,
Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting.
I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would
be futile as I have nothing.  Any characters that are not copyrighted
by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted
by myself...  which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you 
decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide 
that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission.

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome...  Starrngr@aol.com
However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past,
I have blocked off mail from some domains.  Sorry if your one of 
them.  And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but 
Flames!

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic....


The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode TWO: Plans in Motion

     Cabelite looked at Tinkerer with a mixture of admiration
and disgust.  "Are you sure that this...  amusement park...  is the
place to begin our plans?  Surely these sailor scouts you fear would
keep a close eye on such a valuable collection of energy."

     "What I am sure of is that if you try and drain a lot of energy
from a human, one or few, the scouts show up and destroy the drainer.
However, what I propose is to drain just a bit off of several 
thousand people.  It should be subtle enough to avoid however it is 
that the scouts detect youma, and the amount of energy we can 
obtain..."

     Cabelite interrupted "But the amount of energy is so small,
how can it be of any use?"

     The look that Tinkerer gave the Negaverse general was the 
blackest Cabelite had seen yet.  "Simple, general.  Take that amount
of energy and add five zeros after it.  That's how much energy we can
get.  _PER DAY_, until the scouts interfere.  And I am hoping that
is a conservative estimate."

     Cabelite nodded satisfactorily.  "So, then, how do we go about
this?"

     Tinkerer gave Cabelite the sort of grin he hadn't seen since
he had left the 'company' of his former generals.  "You rig the 
following rides with energy collectors; the two coasters, the 'sky
drop' and the 'Tunnel of Love'".

     "I do not understand why you wish to rig the last.  It does not
seem to generate the same excitement that the first three do."

     "No, general, it doesn't.  But it will harvest the most energy
of them all."

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Patricia Haruna gave Micheal Thunders the strangest look.  "Why
did you bring us here?  Aren't we a little old for amusement parks?"
This was not what she had expected when she had agreed to his offer
of a date.

     Micheal just gave her a goofy grin as she proceeded through
the entrance turnstiles.  "Couple of reasons.  First, who do we 
teach?"

     "Teenagers.  Thirteen to sixteen or so, depending on your 
classes."

     "That is exactly why we are here.  Its my first rule of 
teaching;  always remember what it was like to be a student their
age.  Granted, you must still retain a position of respect, but I 
find remembering what was like to be them helps establish a bond with
them."  Micheal looked at Patricia and decided that he hadn't made
his point.  "OK, try it from this point of view.  When you were 
attending the university, getting your teaching credentials,
who did you feel most comfortable with, the older teachers, or the 
young ones who were just getting started?"

     "The younger ones.  They seemed to remember better what it was
like to be a student.  They didn't always let it affect them, but 
they did seem..."

     "And that, Patricia, applies to us, as well," Micheal pointed
out, driving his idea home.

     "But what about student discipline?  Doesn't having to enforce
order make it harder to be close?"

     "Yes, but sometimes discipline, as enforced here in Japan, isn't
the answer either.  Take Ms. Tusinko, for example."

     The grimace on Patricia Haruna's face said even more than her 
words.  "Do I have to?  I thought you were teaching me to have fun 
again."

     "Your the one who brought the subject up. Consider this, though,
Patricia.  All those times you've given her detention, or worse.
Have they really done that much good?"

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Tinkerer could hardly conceal his glee.  The energy drain was 
barely detectable, according to the sensors he had had placed near
the amusement park.  And yet the amount of energy they were siphoning
off the park goers was twice the amount he had hoped for.  In one day
they had so far gathered enough energy to replace everything
expended since he had 'recruited' Cabelite.  And they could continue
to do this until the enemy discovered it.  'Which may well be never!'
he chortled to himself.  If they could keep this rate of drain, in a 
month Cabelite's warriors would be invincible.  'Don't exactly want
that.  I want him strong enough to defeat those 'scout' girls, but 
not so strong I can't eliminate him once he has served his purpose.'
Quietly he reached over and tripled the amounts of energy the 
collectors were gathering from the Tunnel of Love.

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Micheal smiled and whooped as the train pulled into the station.
He had finally talked Patricia into riding the parks main attraction,
a coaster filled with several loops and drops.  He looked at his left
hand as the safety bar released, noting with concern that it had 
transformed.  Quickly he helped Patricia up with one hand while 
shoving his suddenly metal left hand into the pocket of his 
great-coat and out of sight.  'I'm transforming?!?!  WHY???  What 
threat can there be _here_???'  The two of them walked down the exit
ramp of the ride and found a bench.

     It took a moment before Patricia was able to speak.  "That was
rather   intense.  It's strange though; a moment ago I was soo 
excited, but now I feel almost drained."

     'Strange, so do I.  Something is defiantly wrong here.  I wonder
if FRED is detecting anything.  Can't hurt to ask.'  Micheal cast his
eyes around and saw the perfect excuse.  "I'll be right back.  I need
to use the little sensei's room."

     "Ride to much for you, Mr. cast iron stomach?  I thought you 
were boasting about how tough you were."

     "That's not why I'm going."

     "Must be all that liquid then.  I don't see how you can drink
all that sugar and caffeine and still get to sleep at night.  I think
you drink more soda than even Serena Tsukino!" giggled Patricia
to Micheal's retreating back.

     Inside the restroom Micheal was glad to find that the stalls
had doors.  He needed the privacy, something that was a premium
in this crowded city.  <<WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???>> He all but
mentally screamed at his other half.

     >>Danger detected.  Preparing to engage defense mode.<<

     <<Look you metallic moron!  I don't care what you detected,
we CAN'T transform in public.  Creates even more danger, remember?>>

     >>Energy levels dropped 3%.  Danger of energy loss greater
than danger of detection.<<

     <<Its called adrenaline letdown.  It's _NORMAL_ for organics
you metallic menace!>>

     >>Negative.  Energy removed from system.  Not system producing
less energy.  Survival imperative  will be invoked if situation
remains unchanged.<<

     <<OK, OK, I'll look into it.  But ONLY if you back off.>>

     >>Agreed.<<  With that, Micheal felt his skin crawl as metal
became flesh again.  He reached into one of the inner pockets of his
coat and withdrew what looked like a common cellular phone and turned
it on.

     "FRED, Have you been detecting anything unusual?"

     "Only readings that totally defy baselines defined to date.  WHY
THE _BLEEP_ did you shut the link off???  Something is not right 
here.  In fact, a moment ago I detected some sort of power surge from
the Tunnel of Love.  But can I get a hold of you??  
Noooooooooooo......."

     "Can the sarcasm, FRED.  I'll go check it out right now."

     "I don't suppose that.."

     "No, FRED.  Low profile, remember?"

     "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Patricia smothered a yawn as they waited in line for the Tunnel
of Love.  'Great.  I've been around Serena so long she is rubbing
off on me!'  She had immediately agreed with the idea for riding
the Tunnel of Love.  Somehow, sitting down for a bit in a nice slow
boat seemed just the thing to do.  'Can't fall asleep though, or 
Micheal will think I'm just like that baka Serena.'

     "Thinking about Ms. Tusinko, I see," grinned Micheal as he 
looked at her.

     "How could you tell?"

     "You looked like someone just hit you over the head with a 
mallet.  Same expression that you had when that front office clerk
told you no one else wanted her."

     "I didn't think it was that obvious."

     "If you know what to look for.  And I wanted to talk to you 
about her, anyway," continued Micheal.  "Have you noticed anything
peculiar about the way she answers questions on tests?"

     "Just that no matter how many times I cover a topic, she never
gets it right."

     "More than that.  Have you  noticed she seems to get the general
idea behind something, but she tends to have the specifics all 
garbled?"

     "It's because she doesn't study enough.  I'm surprised that we 
haven't seen her here.  This is the sort of thing she prefers to 
homework."

     Micheal grinned.  "I happened to have run into her on my way out
the door to pick you up.  Apparently her boyfriend is my next door
neighbor.  I rather strongly hinted that if she had enough time to go
out on a date, she had enough time to have her homework done."

     "It won't help.  Even when she does do the homework, she doesn't
get it right."

     "Which is why I wanted to talk to you.  This pattern seems 
familiar to me.  I want to try and have her take a couple of tests
for me.  Special tests, to see if my suspicions are correct."
Micheal Paused for a moment.  "I think she has a learning disability.
But I won't know for certain without those tests.  Would she agree?"

     Patricia thought about that for a moment.  "Maybe, but I would
want to talk to one of her friends about it first.  If anyone can 
convince her to do it, it would be her."

     "Great.  Who is she?"

     "Only the best student in the school.  She is in that advanced
physics class you teach in the mornings.  Amy Mizuno."

     At this point they had reached the front of the line.  As they
climbed into the small boat, Micheal draped his great-coat over 
Patricia's shoulders.   'Amy is Serena's friend.  Hmmm.' As they 
settled in, he asked, "Tell me, have you ever heard of something
called Mentoring?"

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     >>SURVIAL IMPERATIVE INVOKED.  ACTIVE DEFENSES ENGAGED.  
Inquiry: Organic Status?<<

     <<Assessing.  Wait.>>

     Micheal looked about, knowing without looking that he had 
transformed into Star Ranger.  The weight of his transformed
self had sunk the boat they were sitting in, so he hopped out and 
gathered up an unconscious Patricia and set her on a ledge out of the
water, just in time to avoid the boat behind them.  Micheal noted
with concern that it's occupants were also unconscious.

     <<Organic status within parameters.  Inquiry:  Trigger of 
Survival Imperative?>>

     >>Severe system energy loss.  Defense mode immune.  Source:
undetermined  Awaiting instructions.<<

     <<Active scan mode.>>

     Star Ranger's senses widened, his vision spreading into the 
infra-red and ultra-violet.  His enhanced vision showed strange
crystals embedded along the roof of the ride.

     >>Crystals contain unknown properties.  Theory:  Crystals
cause of energy drain phenomenon.  Eliminate?<<

     <<Agreed.  Engage with chain gun and eliminate>>

     >>Targeting<<  White rectangles appeared around the strange
crystals, even as his arm came up.  The gun in his right hand began
firing, strobes of laser light flashing out, one shot to a crystal.
As each crystal was struck, it shattered with a flash of ultra-violet
light.  Leaving Patricia where she was, Star Ranger made his way to 
the unloading area of the ride, destroying crystals as he went.  As 
he emerged, he saw ride attendants picking up unconscious riders
and stacking them on the dock like cordwood.  Only his enhanced
vision showed something other than human contained in those forms.

     "I don't know what you things are, but your plans end here!"
As Star Ranger, his voice was rather flat and metallic, but the 
creatures seemed to get the message well enough.  They dropped the 
people they were carrying and charged him, shedding their apparent
human forms for something more menacing.  Apparently, whatever
they were did not consider his robotic Star Ranger form very 
menacing.

     <<Auto fire>>, Star Ranger commanded.  Laser bolts flashed
from the barrel of the hand held weapon.  He riddled his attackers
with the bolts, but they just shrugged them off and kept right on 
coming.

     <<Shockwave Launcher!>>  He felt his left arm shudder as the 
telekinetic generators pulsed.  The telekinetic wave struck the two
... whatever they were and threw them a good fifty feet.  But the 
look on the faces of the two creatures boded ill as they picked 
themselves up and charged at him again.

     >>Primary weapons ineffective.  Recommend alternate tactics.<<

     <<Duh.  Do you think so?>> "Star Shield summons", he shouted,
unconvinced it would work, since the Shield was an artifact of 
another dimension.  His fears were put to rest as the orange glow 
appeared on his left forearm and formed into the magical artifact.
He held the shield in front of his upper torso and head, waiting
for an attack which never came.  He looked, but could see no sign of
anyone but the unconscious people from the ride.  <<THREAT AXIS!!!>>,
he demanded.

     >>Negative Threats.  Targets have disengaged.<<  

     <<HOW????>>

     >>Insufficient Data.<<

     <<Some help you are.>>

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Micheal yawned as he took his morning coffee out to the balcony,
letting the rising sun wash the last vestiges of sleep from his mind.

     /Morning, neighbor!/ Came from the adjacent balcony.

     /Good morning to you to, Darien.  What's with the English?/

     /Getting in some practice.  I'm hoping for a chance to go to an
American college in a year or two./

     /Impressive goal.  Kind of expensive though.  Which school?/

     /Harvard.  I hope to study civil engineering./

     /Personally, I think its overrated.  Cal-Tech in California
is closer and cheaper./

     /Really?  I hadn't heard of it./

     /OK, I confess bias.  Its my alma matter./

     /I'll have to look into it then.  How did the date go?/

     /It gets an eight on the weird-o-meter.  I took her to the 
Astro-Land amusement park.  They suddenly closed the place though,
when people started passing out in the Tunnel of Love.  Does that 
sort of thing happen a lot around here?/

     'DAMN!' swore Darien to himself.  'I thought we were done with
fighting for a while!'  /Kind of.  Public works claimed that the 
problem was solved though.  Guess they were wrong./ 'What is the 
Negaverse up to now??  Strange though, that he was there and not 
attacked like the others.  I wonder if Raye can help with this.'
/Have any plans for this morning?/

     /Not really, Why?/

     /I happen to know a Shinto priestess in training who has an open
mind.  Would you like to meet her?/

     /Does Tokyo have a bay??/

     /I'll take that as a yes.  Meet you at your car in half an 
hour?/

     /I'll be there!/

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Raye looked past Darien to where Micheal was standing, looking
at the small booth where the shrine sold various charms.  "I don't
sense anything from him.  What makes you think that he might have 
something to do with the Negaverse?"

     "I just want to make sure.  He claims he was at the amusement
park that was attacked last night, but that he wasn't affected.
That makes me a little suspicious.  And he is interested in the more
mystical aspects of Shintoism.  I would have brought him by to meet
you and your  grandpa because of that anyway."

     "OK, Darien.  Just what exactly do you want me to do?"

     "Talk to him.  Answer his questions, and try and see if you can
pick up anything else.  Maybe even try a fire reading if you can talk
him into it.  I'm going to call a meeting about what happened last
night.  Why didn't any of us know what was going on until it was all
over?"

     "OK, but I'm going to call the others first.  I want us all here
if your right about this.  Although I hope your wrong."

     "Not as much as I do, Raye."

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     "TINKERER!!  I want an explanation.  You said it would take time
for the scouts to discover what we were doing at that 'amusement
park' place.  Yet someone stumbled onto our plan the first night!"

     "Someone miscalculated the draw of the crystals your youma 
placed in the Tunnel of Love, Cabelite.  People started passing
out, and that got the attention of the park management.  I aborted
the operation before we were discovered.  Or do you WANT to loose
warriors to those 'Scout' brats?"

     Cabelite considered this for a moment.  "How are my youma 
supposed to attack the enemy if you have them run away at the first
sign of discovery?"

     "The time for attacking those do-gooders will come very soon 
Cabelite.  But its pointless to send youma who cant defend themselves
against the enemy.  Without more energy, your warriors are little
more than clay pigeons for those fuku-clad girls."

     "Since you have such a low opinion of my warriors, why don't
you try gathering energy without them," Cabelite sneered.

     "Fine.  I will."  'That's it, you arrogant bastard.  Play right
into my hands.'

          *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

     Raye eyed her friends as she entered her room.  Darien looked
at her expectantly.  "Darien, what do you know about this person?"

     "Not to much.  He moved into my Apartment building about 10 days
ago.  He said he comes from America, flew for their air force, and 
made a lot of money designing high technology before embarking
on a journey to find himself.  He has a civilian version of the 
American army personell transport loaded with electronic gadgets,
and a computer that talks like a real person."

     Raye shook her head.  "None of that helps explain what it was I 
saw in the fire.  It was the weirdest thing.  I saw him, but he was
also some sort of robotic creature.  He give of a weird vibe too, 
very subtle, you have to be searching for it detect it.  Not 
Negaverse vibes, but he doesn't feel like he belongs here either."

     "And this from the girl who thought *I* was a youma the first
time she saw me?"  quipped Serena as she looked up from the manga
she was reading.

     "Spare me, meatball head.  That was before I knew what a 
Negavibe really was.  And which one of my manga are you into now?"

     "Chill out Raye.  I borrowed this one from Chad.  He said it was
a classic."

     "Which one?"

     "Macross, why?"

     "Can I see it for a moment?"  Raye quickly flipped through
the pages and then gasped.  

     "What is it, Raye?"  inquired Amy.

     Ray laid out the manga and pointed to a drawing of a humanoid
robot, the 'Battleoid' form of the transforming mecha featured
in Macross.  "Except for the color scheme, the form I saw overlaid
on him looked JUST LIKE THIS!"

     "Would someone please tell me who we are talking about here?"
complained a very confused Mina.

     "The new teacher at Serena's school.  Micheal Thunders."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Action, intrigue, and misconceptions.  Sounds like life as usual for
the Sailor Scouts, doesn't it?  I _almost_ feel sorry for doing that
to Muck.  I know I wouldn't want to have Raye think I might be 
suspicious...  She packs a mean ofuda, dont'cha think?

Episode 3:  Friend or Foe? (Kinda Fits, ne?)