I'm Here to Help
by Mark Doherty(mdoherty@uq.net.au)

Chapter 6a

Okay, here's my Explanation(tm): I wrote the conclusion to I'm Here to Help
months ago, and I even posted it(there were problems on my end, which is
why it didn't come through). Unfortunately, before I got around to reposting,
I misplaced my copies(yes, copies as in plural. Oh well.) I spent a great
deal of time looking for them, before I gave up and started a rewrite. Now,
150K into an approx 200K rewrite, people are really starting to get antsy
about the length of time it's taking(thinking that I've forgotten the
series, etc), so I felt it best to reassure people by actually releasing
something.

This is unfortunate in a way, since '6a' is far, far more sedate than '6b',
I really wanted to release the entire giganto chapter as one unit, but now I
just don't think I can finish the rewrite without getting the first part
off my chest. So, my apologies for this. I'll probably bundle 6a and 6b
together when 6b is finished. (It's also unfortunate since I lost a couple
of good Senshi journals that I couldn't rewrite as well as they worked
first time. Things never gel as well second time round, do they?)

It's really getting to be a long time since I've seen the show, or read the
manga: what was the name of Moon's crescent weapon that had the ginzuisho
attached to it? For the moment, I just called it a moon wand. It'll do
for now.

Previous parts of this are at the Sailor Romance site, and at my
web page(http://www.tass.org/~mdoherty/index.html). Jumping in to the 
story at this stage would be a _really_ bad idea; starting from the 
start's for the best, for this one.

Sailor Moon and associated characters/background were created by 
Naoko Takeuchi. No disrespect is intended in their use. 

Don't hesitate to comment, for good or bad, but please try to be polite. 

In a change of direction in this chapter, <===> will denote Crystal Tokyo
scenes, be it live or Senshi journals. Normal Emerald journals will be shown
as usual( * * * )

+++++++++++++++++
                                * * *

There's only one thing worse than centuries of enduring hate.

And that's a single moment of shared concern. 

Crystal Tokyo had sunk into a somnambic peace. The last conqueror that I
knew of had come and gone over one hundred and fifty years ago. My own
forays into the city since then had mostly been minor scout missions: I
didn't even get into a fight with the Senshi on the last two.

Obviously, it was only a matter of time before the metaphorical dam broke.

The fight between Mars and I was _phenomenal_. Our mutual frustration 
finally overcame us, and we pulled out all stops for a victory; after 
all, we had been clashing on and off for six hundred years and we were 
_sick_ of it. All of our best insults were long since used up, we'd slept
through each other's speeches and justifications a hundred times before, 
neither of us was in the mood for the usual dance, and so we FOUGHT.

Firestorms, energy clouds, mystical attacks and defences, the air literally 
crackled with mana. I don't know why, but no other Senshi interfered, nor
the Royal Guard. I forgot about going after Serenity, and the need for
conserving myself, she forgot about the fact that it was _her_ city we were
quite inadvertently destroying. For once we fought to our potential.

And we had a lot of potential.

At last, we faced each other across a too-clean street, after almost an 
half-hour's worth of dodging, swearing, fighting, and hurting.

Along with a broken wrist and some fractured ribs, Mars had also suffered 
energy burns on her right side, from torso to thigh. Her suit had burned 
half away, the harsh blisters an ugly sight against her semi-pale skin. 

I had been forced to throw off my supposedly fireproof cloak and my shirt, 
leaving me in a set of charred trousers. At least a third of me was covered 
in the worst of burns. My goggles had melted onto my face, and I had to rely 
on my mystic senses over my hampered eyesight. Perhaps that was fortunate, 
because it meant that I couldn't look at the charred ruin that was my left 
arm. 

We could heal from these wounds; as horrible as they would sound to a normal
person, we _are_ immortal. That means more than a long life span, it also 
indicates a will to live that goes beyond the normal, and it meant that we 
had means to repair our damaged bodies. If we disengaged, given time, the 
next encounter we had would find us as we always were.

_If_ we disengaged. Something was different; the centuries had finally 
pushed our patience beyond the breaking point. For once, I would not 
retreat, and for once, it appeared that there would be no backup for Mars. 

When we were young and inexperienced, we required gestures and phrases - 
_incantations_ to gather the mana for our attacks. 'Mars Hot Pants', 'Light 
of a Thousand Candles', or whatever silly things it was she said as a teen; 
those sorts of things. But we got better. We got a lot better, and we grew 
beyond that. Attacks that used to take seconds to release now hurtled from 
you within a blink of an eye. If you didn't pay attention to your attacker, 
you _would_ die. Inattention was death, and so we stared at each other, 
preparing ourselves for whatever came next.

Her next attack, a white hot lance of plasma, was deflected by a beam of my
own energy, and we continued to stare, shutting out all else, our lives
depending on reading what our opponent was going to do next. We didn't even
waste energy on taunts; all there was in our worlds, at that moment, was the
other.

One scream broke through it all.

The child shouldn't have been there. Even the cattle in Crystal Tokyo knew 
better than to remain near one of these sort of fights - hells, from what
I'd overseen, it was part of their education system: 'Sailor Safety says
seek sanctuary!'

But he WAS there, spying on us, underneath a building that had just been 
hit by our combined energy. And even the strongest crystal grown by the 
ginzuisho couldn't stand up to that sort of intertwined magic. 

Mars ran forward; it had to be her, I had no shadows to teleport with, 
and she was always slightly faster than me, slight enough to make a
difference. She never hesitated, never seemed worried that I would blast
her in the back. I could have killed her in that moment. 

I could have...

But for a moment, just that moment, there was reason enough to forget about 
the hate. I can't explain it, I really can't: somehow, all the knowledge 
we had of each other, our battle-experiences, the awareness of the other 
that brought us through our fights, our _shared_ enmity clicked, and we 
acted as one.

I gave her the extra seconds she needed. For that moment, they weren't a 
Crystal Tokyo zombie and my most enthusiastic enemy. For that moment, as
trite as it sounds now, they were just a boy and the woman who was trying 
to save him. I cast a shield over the child and Mars, long enough for the 
Senshi to grab him out of harm's way. 

Was it heroic? Certainly, in the same way that, say, bandaging a man 
you'd just beaten unconscious could be considered humanitarian. To be 
honest, when I think back on it, it was all oh-so very cliche. And we 
were, after all, the ones to put the boy's life in danger - although 
the silly little anklebiter _shouldn't_ have been there.

Still, it was a child's life. And for that one strange instant, all I know
is that Mars and I had a bond that was more than just hate. Just for an
instant.

When I looked at Mars through my damaged goggles, as she held the child to 
her, I found that I couldn't read her at all. A woman who, like Jupiter, was 
always content to wear her anger and most other emotions openly, and I had 
no idea what she was feeling. And then she spoke, in a tone so calm that for 
a brief second I wondered if it was Mars at all. "It has to end."

I left without a word.

I would never have expected her to say that. And yet... she was right. It
did have to end. It couldn't go on like this, meaningless fight after 
meaningless fight, with the only casualties being onlookers and the 'hired 
help' such as the Royal Guard. Survival was not enough, not any more. It had 
to end.

But it would never end. I couldn't just give up; there was no-one else left
to stand up to the Senshi. Most of the conquerors didn't count, the majority
of them were as selfish in their grand plans as the Senshi were. If I gave
up, then it would be as if I was saying 'Yes, you were right, I was wrong'.
And Serenity was wrong. She might have done it for what she thought were all
the right reasons, but she _was_ wrong.

Who knows? Maybe so am I. But as long as Serenity was wrong, did it matter?
Because at times, that is all I can see that seems to be left to me: to be 
an eternal reminder to Serenity, to always be there to show her, to never, 
ever let her forget... she had blood on her hands, and dirt on her soul. 
And that while she had saved her people, she was _not_ a saviour.

If only it would end, but it can't. For I would not surrender, I REFUSED to 
die until Serenity did, or until the mistake that was Crystal Tokyo was 
erased.

And therein, I suppose, lies the entire problem. We immortals are too set in 
our ways, too disparate in opinions for a compromise to ever work. I
couldn't trust Serenity as far as I could throw her city, and I know I'm
viewed no differently.

If only there was a way to set things right, to erase the mistakes, to write 
the log anew, a way to stop it all from happening in the first place...

A way to reset the clock, so to speak...

    - First entry in a small diary that was found by scavengers near 
      Crystal Tokyo, in the year 2911 AD. When this entry was written,
      and by whom remains unknown.

      -- What do you mean unknown? It's obvious!
       
         --- Remember, you said you wanted these footnotes to be impartial.
             After all, it could have been someone else who wrote the
             entries down, from conversations with him.
   
             ---- All right. Fine, fine Ami, do it your way then.

                                * * *
+++++++++++++++++

Sunlight sifted through crystal spires, casting a faceted glow over Crystal
Tokyo.

"I'm telling you it's been too long."

"Mars..."

"Well, it has!"

"You're obsessing again, aren't you?"

"It's not an obsession! And I... hey, wait a minute! Me? Obsessing? What
about you, Miss 'I'm going to go do some scientific research, call me in
ten years'?"

"That's not obsessing, that's a search for knowledge."

"Mercury...!"

"All right; how long has it been since you've last had a report on his
location?"

"Forty-two years."

"You're right, it's been far too long."

"Is that your scientific opinion?"

"If you're going to be like that, I'm going to go back to my project." 

Mars looked over at the 'project', which sat in one corner of the spacious
lab. 'Thing', that's all you could truly call it, it was such a menagerie of
cables, metal and crystals that it was too hard to pin it down with a better
name. "What exactly is that supposed to do anyway?"

Mercury looked at the hideously complex amalgam of Crystal Tokyo, Silver
Millennium, and other technologies gleaned from some of the would-be 
conquerors. "Do you have a year free for me to tell you?" she asked.

"It's starting to look like I'll have several, unless another alien invasion
happens before the Nemesis clan return."

"You do realise that sometimes it seems like that man can't walk across a 
room without making enemies of everyone present. Most of the youma fear and 
hate him more than anyone in this city ever could. Perhaps he just ran into 
something he couldn't kill, talk or run his way out of. Or perhaps whatever 
method that crystal of his uses to keep him young finally failed." 

"What about that entry we got our hands on recently? The one that made 
allusions to him trying time travel?"

"If there was any danger of him creating time pollution, wouldn't Pluto have
warned us?"

There was a very, very short pause. "I have to speak to Pluto."

"Good idea."

+++++++++++++++++

It was a bleak, featureless dimension. Light grey skies stretched so far in
every direction that they seemed to distort the landscape - which was only
slightly different in colour to the sky, and was just as boring. Large,
morose grey clouds hung in the sky, casting dull shadows over the ground.

It was dull. Gods, the place was really, truly dull.

There were no god-like energy beings here, no race of sadistic monsters, no
delusional rulers bent on conquest. No plants, no hills or valleys, no life; 
as far as interesting went, this place wasn't.

He sat there, crosslegged, his small crystal floating before him. His eyes 
were closed, his hands cupped on his lap. Self-neglect had left the fair
beginnings of a beard, and dust covered what skin the clothes and hair did
not.

The rage had consumed him; had he not left Mars when he had, she would have
been dead by his hand. Of that, her skills withstanding, he had no doubt. 
He'd come so close; so close to killing everyone, killing anything in his
path. He hadn't been so angry, so furious, so trembling with rage since...
since...

He couldn't remember since when. Probably not since right after the Ice, at
the moment that he had seen Serenity worshiped... _if even then_. The fury 
had bubbled in him like... well, like nothing, really. Comparisons were 
useless - boiling water, sulfur, lava, they were not adequate descriptions. 
His fury had seethed, yes, just seethed, that was the best way to put it.

Worse, he had killed sentient beings, seven youma, in an attempt to exorcise 
the anger-lust. He had killed like a petty, mewling child! Like a spoilt 
child, breaking things in some attention-seeking tantrum! No remorse, no 
forgiveness, NO REGRETS, he had killed for NO better reason than to try and 
break free of the fury!

And it hadn't worked. The anger had only welled after that, seething through
him like ice-hot energy. Hate had given him a power rush greater than even 
his most enervated moments throughout the centuries.

But that was not his way. He was the calm one. Grim. Silent. Soulless. CALM.
...Cold. These were the words used to describe him in the annals of Crystal 
Tokyo's libraries. 'Hate rode at his left hand, Anger at his right, while 
Death sat on his shoulder, riding him all the way to hell'.

...Who had said that of him? It can't have been the Crystal Tokyoites, there
was no way they would use such aggressive words. The Senshi? Probably not,
it was a bit too flowery for them. Perhaps one of the conquerors, or one of 
the smarter youma he had faced? Well, someone had probably said it once, 
somewhere, somewhen; somehow he remembered the quote still.

What mattered was that anger had been his constant companion for centuries; 
no one could imagine the levels of hate and fury reached for them to so 
overwhelm him. Except, perhaps ironically, the ones such as those he had 
killed in his rage - ones such as the youma. They might have understood. 

Such levels of hate were literally self-destroying. He had seen fools come
and go, so wrapped in petty anger that they could not see the Senshi for
the opponents that they were. Their anger blinded them, their hate clouded
their judgement, their mistakes killed or 'purified' them in the end. He 
had spent too long _not_ dying from such stupid mistakes to start now.

Besides, if Serenity was to die at his hands, then it would be at the hands 
of someone of reason, of thought, not at the hands of some berserker animal 
that was living off some sort of blood lust. To die like an animal was to be 
killed by one; his respect for life might not be the greatest, but there 
were WAYS. And there were ways not to kill.

In the end, there had been little choice. Being around anyone, even youma, 
would have only prolonged the rage. He had needed to regain his centre of 
being, his will that had carried him through centuries. So he had enacted
a backup plan - to survive centuries of opposition to the Senshi, he always 
had to have a backup plan - and came here.

A boring little dimension that had nothing going for it except nothing at 
all. No distractions, nothing to focus the hate on except himself. And best 
of all, it took superhuman concentration and a stone-calm application of 
knowledge to get out. Here, for however long it had been, he had sat with 
no choice but to regain his emotional centre.

His eyes snapped open, the differing shades of green in the orbs shifting as
his pupils dilated against the muted light.

He was calm. He was in control. He was ready. And he knew what to do. The
time for observing was over. It was time to get out of this dimension, and
be a little... proactive.

He paused, halfway through the act of standing, as he searched through his
time-misted mind. How _did_ you get out of this dimension?

"Damnation."

+++++++++++++++++
                                <===>

Diary Entry, Lady Jupiter. 20:16 05 September, 2499. Encrypted for personal 
use only.

I'm terrified.

I watched as they buried Kenji today. He was supposed to have an easy job;
lookout at the city's edge. He didn't worry about a cloaked man approaching
him, didn't think twice about the danger of challenging the stranger. He was
too trusting, even for this town, and now he's dead. The fiftieth of my
Royal Guard to be killed at Emerald's hands, and I'm scared.

I'm scared, terrified of what I might become. I can feel the anger bubbling
inside of me, I just want to lash out. I want to hunt Emerald down to the
ends of the Earth, and I want to hit him, pound him, pour my power through
him until even that vampire screams for no more. I want to kill him.

The man can't be tracked with scrying, Mercury _still_ hasn't found a way
to overcome his hiding abilities with science - pure or magically aided.
One minute he's in Europe, the next it's the Americas. It's so damn
frustrating - he's a man who can hide in an empty room, and he's got an
entire world to sneak around in. It's been, what, two hundred years since
the...

Two hundred years? My god, has it been two hundred years since the Ice
already? I can't believe I...

...Anyway,  the Senshi are just about the only ones left who remember
Emerald from before. He was abrasive, arrogant, and all too ready to 
put others down, but damn he was handy to have on your side. Even back 
then, people weren't calling him by his 'superhero name'... what was it? 
The Crystal Huntsman, yeah, that was it.

Everyone else, good and bad, called him the Wraith. Gave me the willies
the first time I saw him melt out of the shadows - I came this close to
mistaking him for a youma, and electrocuting him. Huh, if only I had. 
He's the worst thing we could hope for - an assassin who can't be soul-
healed, who sure doesn't die easy, who's as immortal as us... 

That's the problem. Pluto warned us when we were setting up the city, she
said that immortals needed to find purpose, needed to find something to
obsess over. She was right, I can see it in the others. Ami's taken the
pursuit of science to stupid levels, Mina hasn't stopped to rest since we
got out of the Ice, and Rei...

I don't know what the hell Rei does, but I know she does something.

I want to give into the anger. I really want to. But if I did, I'd be
just like him. Always hunting and plotting and dreaming of someone's
death... chasing a wraith in the shadows of the world.

Hell no, I can't stomach that idea. If this city can discard anger, then
so can I.

But I'm not going to mourn any more of my own either.

Computer: New standing orders for the Guard. No-one is to approach the
energy vampire known either as the Outsider or Emerald, without express
command from myself, Neo-Queen Serenity, or one of the other Senshi. Avoid
at all costs, except in cases where human life is at stake. From now on
people, he's in Lady Mars's jurisdiction. All new data on the man should be
turned over to her as soon as possible. End new standing orders.

Well, you wanted him Rei, and he's all yours. Although why you'd want that--

Oh wait, damn... stupid recording. Computer, end diary log.

                                <===>
+++++++++++++++++

He walked between the empty Eternal Sleep crystals, his eyes scanning the 
dusted remains of the insane he had 'freed'. Occasionally, he would reach 
down and pull something from a pile. Here, a set of boots. There, some
pants. More than a few of the trapped had been humanics, ones who felt the
need for clothes for modesty or survival reasons.

It was funny, but he'd always found it easier to loot a dustpile than a 
corpse. He wondered how much of a hypocrite that made him; after all, 
whether it took minutes or months for a body to decay, it was still all
sentient life. Theft from a dead youma should be no different than theft 
from a dead human. It was just one of the psychological quirks involved with
grave robbing, he guessed.

Idly, he dusted his hands against his grimy shirt. He had to ascertain that 
Moon was Serenity, and if she was not, then he would still need the pseudo-
trust he received from the Senshi to find the real girl. Waiting for another
'appearance' from Serenity would be unwise; he couldn't afford to let her
gain mastery of the ginzuisho. So he needed a disguise for the inevitable 
confrontation. 

Glamours and disguise magic were out; he had a fairly diverse range of 
skills, but such spells simply fell outside his abilities. No-one, not even 
Serenity, could do everything after all.

So it was all in the clothes; in the nine hundred and fifty years he'd known
the Senshi, he remembered each cycling through maybe three or four different 
costumes - each only a slight variation on the same theme. While that 
probably made deciding what to wear in the morning an easy chore, it also 
hinted at the mindset of his enemies, a mindset that was probably already 
developing within them. Quite likely, all he needed was a radical enough 
change in clothing and general appearance, and they'd never recognise him.

He turned his nascent plan around in his mind, his eyes narrowing as he
considered the rags he had gathered. There was still something missing.

The man held his right hand before his gaze. His eyes glinted, and the air
around his fingers shimmered with viridian light. Slowly the light built up,
mote by mote, the glow seeming to gain physical mass. Finally the energy 
dimmed to nothing, leaving everything on his hand but the finger joints 
encased in green crystalline armour. He smiled as he flexed his fingers; 
he'd almost thought that he had forgotten that old trick. 

His smile faded, his will allowing the crystal gauntlet to disintegrate. Now, 
if he could only do something about his eyes.

+++++++++++++++++

A handful of youma hid behind a sleep crystal, looking at their saviour as 
he tried on a set of trousers. It was hard to know what to do; he'd freed 
them from the Eternal Sleep. He'd given release - of one sort or another - 
to them.

In all, nine had survived with sanity intact; or intact enough to pretend, 
anyway. Nine out of just under five hundred.

You had to admire Queen Beryl. She really went to that extra little bit
of effort for her people.

It was a mixed blessing. Free they might be, but they were outcasts in
their own society. Each and every youma owed its power to Metallia -
literally. Since having youma draining each other in a cannibalistic search
for energy would have meant a decimated invasion army, Metallia had ensured
that when she created her subjects, they could not drain each other. Or, to
be more exact, while they could drain their fellows, they could not _feed_
on that energy.

What energy they did not take from the humans, and from the natural mana of 
life, came from her presence in their world. She was truly their god; if
she perished, those who relied on her would die.

To be outcast meant to be powerless, lower than low. No power, and no hope
in this dimension of gathering any. And if any of their fellow youma saw 
them, then they'd probably experience the joy of being guinea-pigs in 
Beryl's experiments to find a punishment _worse_ than the Eternal Sleep.

The Sleep had left them drained of energy, weak of body, and with emotional
scars which would, quite literally, leave the average youma screaming. In
their state, they couldn't fight off a child - a human one at that. Food, 
not anywhere near as important for youma as for humans, was actually 
becoming a pressing concern as well, a real indication of how desperate
their situation was becoming.

The two forays they had made to get supplies had failed, and almost got
them caught. In the end, they'd had no real choice but to remain here, at
the very site of their torture, simply because it was the one place in the
Dark Kingdom that youma avoided.

The green-eyed man may have saved them, only to leave them to a slow death,
starving of food and energy in the place they hated more than any other.
Really, what sort of saviour was that?

+++++++++++++++++

"Those girls had it easy," he muttered as he struggled to pull a boot on.
"A quick twirl of a magic stick, an activation phrase the braindead could
remember, and voila, instant clothing and aura change. What do I have? Too
tight boots, far too grimy pants, and a jacket a dead man was wearing not
that long ago."

Finally, after five minutes of hopping around, he managed to get the
boot on. He glanced over at the second boot, which was still sitting in
a dustpile, and softly cursed. 

A soft, agonised growl sounded from behind one of the more distant crystals.
Emerald's head turned, his eyes narrowed. There were faint, very faint auras
over there. Surely some of this dimension's native beasts, its equivalents 
to birds or whatever?

It was best to be sure. He walked over to the area, tensed for attack, his 
eyes scanning the area the growl came from as he kept his other senses
alert for dangers from other areas. Finally, he saw what had made the
growl, and he cursed again, but this time he cursed himself.

He looked at the emaciated youma as they looked at him. Oh hells; he'd 
forgotten about them. Finding out that you've been tricked for the past 
six hundred and fifty years tended to make your mind gloss over everything 
else. 

He had known these creatures had been weakened when he freed them; if they
hadn't been, then he would have probably glutted on the incredible energy 
high of draining hundreds of youma, instead of just killing them outright.
It was his fault they were dying here like this; he had meant to come back
to make sure they survived. After all, he had only left to get away from
the grim feelings of death for a little while. Going to Sailor Mars was
supposed to have been a feel-good diversion of innuendo and insults, but
then life had turned, and he'd had to deal with the consequences.

"If you did not free us as a form of torture," a youngish, female youma 
with ursine features and yellowish fur growled, "then at least kill us 
like you did the rest. If we cannot be strong, then why live?"

He looked at them, resisting the urge to sigh. Most of the monster races 
valued strength and power above everything else. To be drained as much as 
these creatures were, to be as weak and helpless as a newborn was to them 
probably a horrible torture in itself, and that was quite probably a 
deliberate part of the Eternal Sleep punishment. His crystal had been 
vague in its reasons for hating Beryl, but if that woman was capable of 
creating a punishment like this... well, it was starting to look like he 
wouldn't need to oppose Beryl just to satisfy his crystalline friend.

He rubbed his stubbled chin as he thought. He didn't go to the effort 
of saving these creatures just to have them die a slow, horrible death. 
A quick and relatively painless death would be better, but... he looked 
over at the empty crystals that lay in the sand like empty tombs.

But there had been enough... _too much_ death here, even if it had been as
a final release to the mad. To kill the ones still sane would be a 
victory for Beryl. The gods knew that his crystal would never let him 
hear the end of it if he allowed that woman to get anything easy.

He looked down at his right hand, and this time didn't resist the urge to 
sigh. Lately, it always seemed like one step forwards, two steps back 
with his power reserves. 

He offered the hand to the youma. "I assure you, you will never get this 
offer from me again, so I certainly suggest you take me up on it... Alive,
you are a spit in the eye of the creator of such a torture as the Sleep.
Partake of my energy, and live." 

+++++++++++++++++

The enervated youma looked at the man as he hopped around, putting on the 
second boot. There was hunger in their eyes; he'd given them all energy,
and was still standing without any outward sign of the drain. If he could
do that, then what if they drained him of all his energy? How powerful
could they become?

Some of them glanced over at the sleep crystals, the others getting the
point from these looks. Fear did what common sense or honour should have,
and told them that someone who could so easily break through such a
powerful enchantment as the Sleep was to be handled very, very carefully.

"You freed us," one of the survivors, a purple insectoid-like youma of 
indeterminate sex, hissed after some hesitation. It struggled a bit with 
a concept, before it spoke again. "You saved us. We owe you. What would 
you have us do?"

The others looked at the creature, slightly shocked that it was admitting
to the weakness of owing anybody anything. There was only one thing a Dark
Kingdom youma was taught to owe, and that was payback.

Emerald looked up, having finally wrenched the matching boot on. He
blinked, and looked at them. These youma were hardly cannon fodder; they
were the ones who had survived the worst punishment their culture had to
offer, after all. With a bit of rest, some food and some more energy, they
would make for a formidable strike force.

It was actually tempting. It was very tempting.

No. No, if he had them fight, then they'd be doing it out of a sense of
obligation. The thought of having someone risk their life just because
they felt they owed you something left a bad taste in his mouth. It was
one thing to kill them, maim them, drain them of their energy. But to have
them fight his battles? Where was the justness in that?

"Do? Whatever you want to, you're quite free to decide."

Besides, he knew youma and other such creatures. He'd been friends with 
some; hells, he'd even loved one or two. But _trust_ them? Sure, he'd 
trust them; trust them to betray him with the first chance they got. While 
a few youma had high honour codes, or other such ideals, a great deal of 
them were crafty, vicious, sly backstabbers who were only out for 
themselves. Maybe that's why he could get on with them when he wanted to; 
in the future, they were more human than most of the humans.

Not to mention the fact that he wasn't really much of a team player.

Anyway, this was not the future. The Senshi had no idea just how far they
still had to go in their climb to power. Even at his low energy ebb, he'd
be able to give them the shock of their lives. There was no ice or
flamestorms here, no experienced hand to guide the ginzuisho. And he had
one of the most effective powers of all: experience. Centuries of
experience.

He didn't need an army, nor did he want one. Not in this timeline, anyway.

He swept his hair back, and looked at the youma as he considered exactly 
what to do next. "Wait, there is one thing you can help me with, if you are 
willing. I need a guide."

+++++++++++++++++

Prince Endymion paced around his spacious room, one arm set on the hilt of 
his sword to stop it from swinging. He'd never admit it out loud; not even 
to Queen Beryl, and certainly not to that fool, Kunzite, but he felt 
disquieted.

He had returned, defeated, from yet another foray to Earth. The only
problem was that no matter how he dressed it up for his queen, it shouldn't
have been a defeat. The ginzuisho could have been his, if he had just let
Kunzite's youma do its job and kill Sailor Moon. He was probably lucky that
Queen Beryl found his honourable streak 'stimulating', he doubted that she
would be so kind to Kunzite if their positions were reversed.

What was it about Sailor Moon? Why did she persist in her fantasies? Could
she really believe that he, a warrior of the Dark Kingdom, would succumb
to _love_!? 

And what were those twinges, those uncertain flashes of _something_ he
felt when he was near her? There was something more about her, more than
her being his enemy. If only he could think of what...

Without preamble, or warning, the door swung open. Endymion turned, to see
a young man there, dressed in black trousers and a grimy white shirt -
fairly unusual attire for the Kingdom. The man blinked his multi-hued green
eyes, the only outward sign Endymion could see of a youma heritage, before
he smiled somewhat mirthlessly.

"You're a hard man to find," the badly clad man noted. "Oh, I always did 
like that armour. So less pretentious, so much more practical than that 
foppish gear you usually prance around in."

"Who are you? What are you doing here, these are the Queen's personal
quarters!"

"Why Endy-chan, dear brother-in-arms, I thought it obvious. I've come to
rescue you."

"Rescue me?" 

Ah. It was going to be one of those ones. Emerald resisted the urge to let 
his smile slip into a snarl. There was an energy taint to Endymion's aura 
that gave him a sneaking suspicion on what was wrong here. 

Brainwashing. Gods, why does everyone have to use brainwashing?

It presented somewhat of a moral dilemma. He hated, he _loathed_ any sort
of mind-control. Once, just once he had even willingly allied with the
Senshi against a conqueror who had enslaved the minds and wills of his
soldiers. The alliance had lasted less than an hour and ended, quite
predictably, in disaster, but still, the thought had been there. 

On the other hand, he didn't like Prince Charmless here either. Surely,
just once, the man could have held onto his own will? He was beginning to
wonder if Endymion _wanted_ to be brainwashed by 'dark and evil forces'.
Trying out the other side of the sheets, so to speak, without any of those
niggling moral worries you got with free choice.

He bit back an almost reflexive insult, and concentrated on a mantra. 
Diplomacy. Diplomacy. Diplomacy. "Yes, rescue you. You know, take you back 
to the loving embrace of the Senshi?" Gods know they're welcome to you. 

"You're with the Senshi? And you're here, in the heart of our kingdom?"
Endymion's eyes narrowed as he drew his sword. "You were that spy that the 
youma have been after!"

"Spy? Well, I suppose it's better than being labelled an assassin," the man
noted, before he muttered, "yet again." He grimaced in an almost-smile. "I
don't know, I think I'd like to be called a saboteur, just once, for
originality's sake. Or perhaps a vandal, I can't remember ever being called
a vandal."

"You're very flippant, but I'm not finding you all that funny. If you 
think you can challenge the Dark Kingdom with impunity, than I will be 
very glad to show you how wrong you are."

"Oh, I see, so that's how it is." The man turned slightly to eye the large 
bed that dominated the room, before returning his gaze to the prince. The 
gaze was starting to lose the thin veneer of friendliness he had maintained
since walking into the room. 

"That's a rather large bed for one. Sleeping your way to the top yet again, 
hmm? I must say, this is very amusing. I'm trying to help you, and you're 
still set against me. You're going to have the cleanest brain in the 
universe, Endymion, from all these washings. Now, you _are_ coming back to 
Earth. I believe I must insist."

"I'm going nowhere with you, except straight to Queen Beryl. She will
definitely want to speak to you."

"You mean speak _at_ me. Typical ruler, it's all her, her, her."

Endymion felt the slightest cracks in his calm pose. "I have better things 
to do than to put up with this in my own room." The sword tip quivered
slightly as Endymion pointed it at the man. "You ARE coming with me, or I
will kill you and spare my Queen the effort."

The man looked down at the sword. "You know, I almost like you this way. 
So less... condescendingly righteous. But the thing we should remember here
is that I _don't_ like you. Scum, just like cream, rises to the top. You're 
a toadying worm with an inflated sense of your own self-worth, sleeping your 
way to power no matter which side you find yourself on. Let's face it, Endy,
the Senshi may deserve a modicum of respect, but you just--"

The sword flicked forward in angry response with a light, probing blow.

+++++++++++++++++

Hmm...

Well now, this was VERY interesting. Who knew that a simple aimless stroll
could bring such interesting spectacles?

Kunzite remained in the shadows, looking through the open doorway at the
two fighting men. Endymion might have the armour, a sword and the talent
to use it, but the other one still seemed to be the more dangerous of the
pair.

He blinked as the man sidestepped a sword blow, and put his fist _through_
the wall right next to Endymion's head. When the man deflected Endymion's
riposte with the other arm, which was momentarily wrapped in some sort of 
energy shield, Kunzite narrowed his eyes. Oh yes, this new man definitely 
seemed the more dangerous of the two.

He considered his options. If Endymion won with his help, it wouldn't
matter. His position was getting too tenuous; helping Endymion would be
seen as a sign of weakness, a sign of an inferior helping a superior. If
the prince won whatever this fight was about without his help, then it
would just be another point the upstart would use against him; just one
of many the annoying Earther had used.

But if the other man won - and it looked like he might very well do that - 
well, wouldn't that be just a _huge_ pity? Losing Endymion would be _so_ 
heartbreaking. He wasn't sure how he could live with the prospect.

He smiled, turned, and left to make sure he was seen by several underlings 
somewhere else. After all, he had to spend some time recovering from the 
_devastating_ prospect of Endymion dying.

His smile widened into an almost-grin as he quickly walked away.

+++++++++++++++++

Endymion wiped the sweat from his brow, careful not to impede his vision.
His dark-born arrogance was taking a beating: for a man who claimed to be
here to 'rescue' him, the green-eyed man certainly didn't mind using 
crippling attacks.

And the worst of it was, he wasn't completely sure the man wasn't holding
back. What had started out as an attempt to knock the spy out had quickly
degenerated into a fight for survival... his survival.

He fingered a black rose, his eyes narrowing slightly. He couldn't lose.
For his queen, for himself, and mostly for the snide comments Kunzite would
give him if he did, he could not lose.

+++++++++++++++++

Emerald swayed, letting the thrust of Endymion's sword pass through where 
he had been, before he dropped into a leg sweep, which the prince managed
to avoid by leaping back. 

This was no fun. He'd never really liked Endymion. The man had always
seemed like an opportunist to him; clinging to those with more power
like... like... like those things that clung to sharks. Mercury had so
much of his respect that it sent chills through him. Mars, Venus, Jupiter,
even _Serenity_, in a way, he could admire. But Endymion...? No, no he
didn't respect Endymion.

Unfortunately, he'd never really had a good shot at him; Mr Swank was 
usually hanging off Serenity's arm, and whenever he got _that_ close to 
Serenity, he had a far more important target in view than the queen's
consort. Having the chance to pummel Endymion was a rare and pleasant 
opportunity indeed. But this was no fun, there was no joy in this;
sword-boy simply didn't have the power to make this fight interesting.

That hurt, in more ways than one. He didn't like getting reminders of
how the Senshi probably viewed him, for starters. And for seconds, he
wanted to enjoy beating Endymion around a little - but truly, what joy 
was there in beating a half-wit with a brainwash-clouded mind?

He twisted, catching Endymion's swordarm, before he used his other arm to 
drive down on the prince's left shoulder armour, buckling it and sending 
the man to his knees. With a small smile, the green-eyed man spun out of 
range, ready for the next attack. 

Endymion was undeniably skilled with his weapon, true. But against someone 
with his fighting experience, the prince would have to do something more 
than wave around a fancy kitchen knife to win. Well, that wasn't completely 
fair. Endymion had tried some sort of trick with one of his black roses, 
something involving charging energy through it. That had been fairly
impressive - and it had drained a disturbing amount from his energy. Still
and all, this fight was definitely his to take.

Yes, he didn't like Endymion. He didn't like his posturing, his annoying 
speeches, even his pretentious clothes. He didn't like what he had seen of 
the man over the years, didn't like his leeching, and to tell the truth,
he didn't even like the way he had led Mars on, while doing his macho
protector thing with Moon. Even if Moon DID turn out to be Serenity, that
was only one less mark against him; so what if he didn't, in fact, betray
Sailor Moon with Serenity? It wouldn't change the fact that Emerald didn't
at all like him. In fact, he...

The sword slid into him, impaling just below the heart.

After the din of such cramped fighting, the sudden hush that enveloped the
room seemed deafening. For an almost eternal second, the silence stretched. 
Both of the fighters looked down at the blade, before they looked up into 
each other's eyes.

Endymion let go of the sword, his gaze locking down onto the buried blade. 
Emotions warred with Metallia's taint, horror at killing his opponent
warring against the dark pride of victory. A sudden urge to vomit clashed
against a rising tide of sated blood lust. His soul cried out, threatening
to tear apart from the internal war.

+++++++++++++++++

The blonde girl hunkered down, avoiding her teacher's gaze as the sensei 
asked another question. Finally, the academic danger past, the girl 
returned to her drawing - a man with a top hat, who was staring at a girl 
with twin ponytails. She started, realising that the picture had smudged 
somehow, leaving the man half-formed and blurry.

The girl blinked, puzzled, and touched her fingertip to her eyes, bringing
it away to stare at the single teardrop that lay there, glistening.

+++++++++++++++++

After a moment, his arm trembling, Emerald slowly reached down with his 
left hand, and pulled the blade out, his palm bleeding as the edges sliced 
at it. The sword made a slight shlupping sound as it exited.

They both gazed at the blood smeared blade, dripping red liquid filled with
green motes of energy, before it slipped out of his nerveless hand and 
clattered to the ground.

The green-moted blood didn't spurt, Endymion noted with detached curiosity. 
Oh, it flowed alright, but wasn't spurting how it was supposed to go when 
you pulled a sword out?

He looked back up into his enemy's eyes.

Fury smoked in the returning gaze, in an intensity that pierced through
even the prince's dark-given arrogance. The anger broke against him like
a tsunami. Compared to the hate in those eyes, he realised, Kunzite was a 
close and warm friend.

"I... will _not_... I _refuse_ to die... at _your_ hands, you wormy little
leech." Emerald clenched his fists, squinting his eyes as he fought against 
the pain. "You, 'friend', are a _lot_ better," he gritted his teeth for a 
moment, before continuing, "than you should be this... this young in life." 

He concentrated, closing the skin over his wound. It was all show; there
was still a nigh-fatal hole inside him, and the wound would probably reopen
in a few minutes, but for now it was the best way to shock Endymion into
thinking that he was unbeatable.

He wiped the blood away, to show the unblemished skin underneath, before
he looked up at his opponent, steeling his will so that he could act
unaffected. "Mindwiping really _does_ agree with you, it appears you're
tapping talents you shouldn't have developed yet. Now, I admit I could have
introduced myself better, but was stabbing me truly very nice?"

Endymion closed his mouth as he glanced at his blade to confirm that it 
really was covered in the man's blood. He looked into the man's odd eyes,
and shook his head. "You're more than you appear. That should have been a 
mortal wound!"

"I don't recall claiming to be mortal." A booted toe kicked out, and the
sword skittered underneath the bed. Emerald smiled grimly. "I do appreciate 
your lesson in the dangers of growing cocky, Endymion." 

The slightest sheen of sweat formed on his brow as he dropped back into a 
fighting stance; it was taking a real effort to pretend that his wound was 
gone, and he couldn't afford to have the fight drag on again. It was time
to treat Endymion like fighting the future's Mars or Jupiter or Venus. And
if that meant that Serenity got back a corpse for a boyfriend, well, that
would be just _too bad_. "Allow me to show you just _how much_ I appreciate
it..."

+++++++++++++++++

Queen Beryl leaned back in her throne, idly tossing thoughts of torturing
Princess Serenity around in her head. Did that _child_ think that she had
any hopes with Prince Endymion, when he had a real woman who could offer
him real power? What was a childish puppy love compared to the dark desire
of passion between two near-equals?

The voice of Queen Metallia slashed through her, jolting the queen out of 
her reverie.

^SOMETHING IS WRONG. SOMETHING IS GOING WRONG WITH ENDYMION.^

A moment later, the throne was empty.

+++++++++++++++++

Emerald leaped out of the shadows, skidding to a halt amongst the sleep 
crystals. He was breathing hard, the unconscious Endymion over his shoulder. 
There had been a spy on his fight with the prince, so it surely wouldn't be 
long before Beryl interceded. It was time to show the wiser part of valour.

One of the freed youma looked up from a sack he had his muzzle in, a
puzzled look on his face. "Bring," he pointed at Endymion, "for us?"

"No." He looked at the sack. "What's that?"

"Food," the youma replied with a grunt. "Easy to get when you not weak."
Most of the survivors of the sleep had endured through the active use of 
their intellect. However, there was always one...

Emerald snatched the sack, ignoring the youma's annoyed look. "Fine, fine." 
He then crouched, picking up a bundle of clothes he had left ready. The
green haired man stepped back to the shadows cast by some of the crystals,
and turned to face the motley group of youma. "Come on, we have to get out
of here. Link your teleport magic with mine."

"Why should we?" another of the youma waved dismissively. "With our power 
back, we don't have to--"

The fur, hair, and in some cases cartilage on the backs of their necks 
prickled. Seething over the plain came a voice that terrified the youma - 
youma that had survived the worst in terror punishment their culture had.

^WHAT IS THIS? WHO SULLIES MY DOMAIN? WHO DEFIES ME?^

Emerald winced. The youma's energy goddess, he presumed. So far he'd been 
lucky; his aura hiding abilities had probably shielded him from her gaze.
Endymion, unfortunately, was not possessed of such talents. 

It didn't take more than a moment to consider his options. He was not 
anywhere near enervated or stupid enough to take on something like that. 
The green eyed man looked at the youma, and shrugged. "Goodbye."

The youma didn't hesitate. They leapt at him, desperately linking their 
powers to his, teleporting out as he did. Even the insane courage of the
Dark Kingdom had limits, after all.

+++++++++++++++++
                                <===>

CTIS broadcast, 13 January 2409, 18:03.

Reporting for the Crystal Tokyo Information Service, this is Aino Minako.
I'm here at the Crystal Tokyo Auditorium where tonight horror stalked one
of our greatest stars.

- Greatest star? It was someone in a damn rabbit suit!

-- Shh! Jupiter! We're in the shot, they might hear us!

- Don't worry, Mars, you need those microphones or something to pick
  up conversations for the camera. See, Minako's using one.

-- I can't believe we agreed to stand here for her like glorified 
   cardboard cutouts.

Ah... yes. Yes as most of the good people of our fair city are already
aware, tonight the vile villain most know as the Outsider infiltrated 
these fine walls and ripped the hopes and joys out of the hearts of
a million people, forever blackening the name... of Mr Fluffy the
Friendly Bunny.

- She's lost it. Mina-chan's getting more eccentric than Ami.

-- It's the entertainment industry, I think she's been in it a little
   too long. And the rabbit show was her brainchild - you know how she
   was about it.

KNOWN as the lovable star of Mr Fluffy's Friendship Frolics, Mr
Fluffy was kidnapped just before he was due to play the special
Thousandth episode of his show. In his place, the dastardly Outsider
pretended to be Mr Fluffy, shocking viewers with his evil vitriol.

-- I think we have to talk to Minako after this. Her word choices are
   leaving a little something to be desired.

- Have you figured out why he did it yet?

-- Either to strike a blow against a show he thought was brainwashing 
   children into conformity, or to annoy us. Probably both.

Luckily, the two... _fine_ Senshi behind me, the Ladys Jupiter and
Mars, along with Lady Venus, capably stopped the man without injury to
the hostage audience, once and for all.

- It's a real pity about those two that were helping him. They were just
  kids!

-- So were we, once. They chose their path. Still, I saw his eyes before he
   escaped. He won't bring the defenceless to a fight ever again.

- Again? You saw the damage Venus did to him. It's just like half our other
  foes. He left to die somewhere, alone.

-- No. I saw his eyes. He won't die. He's different to the rest; his fight
   is personal, and he won't fold. 

Regretfully, Sailor Venus announced earlier that there were no plans to
continue with the Mr Fluffy series. His name, along with his lovable
companions, has been forever darkened by the evil of one man's selfishness.
Mr Fluffy... is cancelled.

- At least something good has come of this. Oh God, Fluffy's companions.
  They were obviously modelled on us.

-- At least you got 'Poko the Protective Palomino'. What did I get?
   'Rachel the Rascally Raven'!

- I'm just thankful Saturn isn't still alive to see 'Hako the Health-
  Conscious Hamster'.

-- I would have handed her the glaive myself if she was.

And so, we here at Crystal Tokyo would like to give Mr Fluffy a
heartfelt goodbye, and remember him for what he truly was...

- A man in a bunny suit?

-- Shh! She'll hear us!

_Ahem_. Remember him for what he truly was, and not what one man turned
him into. Mr Fluffy, we salute you, friendly bunny. And so, as the 
last of the unfortunate live audience are escorted from the Auditorium, 
we only have time for a few more words...

--- Mommy, what does 'eviscerate' mean?

I waited four hundred years for stardom, and this is what I get? 

-- ...Okay, Jupiter, I admit it. This time, he won.

- Yeah. But they all get to win one. Most of them don't last long enough
  to win two, though. Hey, why is the cameraman looking at us like that?

Join me next time, when I'll give a detailed report on new magic being
used in the holographic recording arena, which allows one to do away
with microphones except as a _prop_.

- Oh.

-- Ah... Don't fret citizens, this was merely a trap laid to snare 
   the Outsider.

- Even they wouldn't believe th--

This is Aino Minako saying goodnight, and happy dreams.

                                <===>
+++++++++++++++++

In a dark, grimy alley of Tokyo, there was a gentle whuff of air as eleven
creatures materialised. Three of the youma collapsed, and another two 
disintegrated, fatally drained from the rash dimensional teleport.

"So this is Earth," one of the still-standing youma noted, trying to forget 
the religious experience of being gazed on by its goddess by looking around 
at the dirty concrete walls that surrounded them. "This is the 'beautiful' 
world spoken of in the legends!?"

"Beautiful?" Emerald queried as he casually dropped his human cargo, before 
tearing a strip of cloth from Endymion's cape, using it to staunch the 
slowly congealing blood from his reopened wound. "One day, this place will 
be beautiful. And on that day, it will never be uglier. To judge a place or 
person by 'beauty'... ha! That way lies only delusion of the worst kind."

Another youma nodded. "Beauty is for fools. Strength and energy is all we 
need to create a perfect world."

Emerald grimaced. He was in too much pain to listen to youma muscle-flexing.
"A perfect world is a dead world, in one way or another. It's the flaws that 
make life worth living." He looked around. "You all have to get out of this 
city. There are too many psychics in this part of the world capable of 
detecting your kind, you will die if you remain. In fact, if you stick 
around I'll kill you myself - you are complications I do not want hanging 
over my head."

He grunted as he picked up Endymion. "One last thing. I'm most forgetful, 
and to tell the truth, I am not the nicest person to be around. If I meet
you again, and do not remember you, then run, or I will kill you. That's
just how it is. Welcome to Earth. Here's hoping that your stay is not a 
short one."

He smiled, shrugged, and disappeared into the shadows.

The youma looked at each other. 

"What now?" one asked.

"We grow strong off the humans' energy, of course," another replied,
glancing at the collapsed youma. She paused to think about their saviour's
threat, her eyes shifting to the two dustpiles of her fallen comrades.
"...Somewhere else."

+++++++++++++++++

Queen Beryl knew how to rule, and rulers delegated. Right now, she was 
delegating blame.

"Why do I think you have something to do with this unforgivable intrusion,
Kunzite?"

"My queen? I do not--"

"You do not what!? You do not search for my prince when he has been taken!?
Is that what you do not?"

Kunzite bowed to hide his anger. Beryl was in one of those moods. Many an
unfortunate youma had gone to the Sleep thanks to one of 'those moods'. Of
course it wasn't her fault Endymion was gone. It was never her fault. "My
queen, I meant to say that I do not wish to merely stand around. Please,
allow me to search for Prince Endymion as well."

+++++++++++++++++

The energy-being known as Metallia wasn't wasting her time with meaningless
recriminations or petty blame - there'd be time for that _after_ the Earth
prince was returned to her. Endymion was important to her plans; as the
Earth's prince, he held certain connections to the planet's mana, much as 
the Senshi did to their own worlds. With him kneeling before her, his
planet was sure to follow.

Her subjects could waste their time running around like the headless
chickens they were. The kidnapper was intriguingly stealthy. But she had
given a small part of her power to shape the dark Prince Endymion. He was
her puppet, not Beryl's, and he could not be hidden from her.

It was time to take back that which was hers.

+++++++++++++++++

Hino Rei walked into her temple's grounds after another school's day. It
had been a pretty good one; that maths test hadn't been as bad as she'd
feared, and Hinachi-sensei had called in sick, so now that history
assignment wouldn't be due until tomorrow. Spending all your spare time
saving the world from vicious youma was a good thing and all that, but it
didn't work very well as an excuse for not completing your homework. 

Usagi would laugh herself silly if she found out that she close to flunking
some subjects because of senshi-ing... well, sillier anyway. With a small 
snort, Rei ducked into the temple's private quarters, sliding the door
closed behind her. She leant against the door for a few seconds, before she
realised that something was a little out of place.

Emerald looked up from the task of winding a bandage around his chest.
He'd already fixed his hand and his other wounds, and attended to Endymion.
After all, Mars would have been furious if he hadn't at least set the man's
arm. "I hope you don't mind company, Rei. We can come back if you feel like
being alone."

"What in..." Rei shook her head. It was a dream - it had to be a dream. Her
gaze drifted past Emerald to the couch. "Mamoru...?" She rushed over to
her unconscious boyf... former boyfriend, checking his wounds. "How did he 
get here? What happened to him!?"

He ducked when he should have weaved. "The Kingdom's ruler did not take 
my breaking into her dimension well, and it appears that her wrath can 
sometimes be directed towards youma and others under her command. My 
impromptu prison break proved to be most damaging to me and my illustrious 
comrade over there."

She stared at him. "Are you INSANE!? You went to the Dark Kingdom by
yourself? What, do you think you're immortal? You can't just waltz into
the enemy's stronghold without backup! What were you thinking? WERE you
thinking?"

His lips parted in a genuine smile, and his strange eyes seemed to
sparkle. It was the first time she had ever looked into his gaze
and not felt uncomfortable.

"You're welcome," he said, as his smile widened into a grin. "Never lose
that fire, Rei. It's... so much your soul." He finished tying off the 
chest bandage, carefully flexing his body to make sure it wouldn't snap
easily from his enhanced strength. 

She shook her head, fighting the flush on her face. "You should have taken 
us with you."

He blinked. "I didn't mean to steal your thunder."

"That's not it! Look at him," she pointed down to the unconscious Mamoru,
"look at you! If we had of gone together, we could have got out with
no-one hurt."

Emerald sighed. "Let's just say that I am not a team player, and leave 
it there. Never worked well in a command structure, and all that. Rei...
you wanted him back. Dwelling on the woulds, coulds, or shoulds is 
the task of an eternity. Leave it be, and be happy that he is safe."

It was her turn to sigh. "I have to call the others. This is the best
opportunity we'll have to heal Tuxedo Kamen of his dark hold." 

"Ah yes. Healing." It took all his willpower not to add a sarcastic twinge
to the word. He grimaced slightly as he tightened the bandage, before tying
it off. Luckily, she had taken long enough to get here that he had managed
to cover up all his wounds, and, more importantly, any evidence of his non-
human blood. While he had long since thought of an explanation for his
blood, and even for surviving such a wound, he didn't really want another
reason for the girl to be suspicious of him. There seemed to be enough
already.

Rei turned her communicator off, her ears aching from the shocked screech
Usagi had given off when told the news. She put it away, and turned to
her uninvited guest. "Now, maybe you can tell me... the portal you used 
to get to the Dark Kingdom. Where is it? Even with Tuxedo Kamen rescued, 
we have to be able to take the fight to them. Without a way to get there, 
we can't do anything but wait for them to attack us again and again."

"It's... not easy to explain. I didn't need to find a portal, because I
don't teleport like you do. I never have. You will have to find your own 
way there."

"There has to be something you can--"

The Dark Energy that suffused Endymion felt the calling of its mistress. A
moment later, the unconscious prince teleported out, leaving behind two
people who were suddenly experiencing one of _those_ sort of silences.

Emerald resisted the urge to slap his hand onto his forehead in a 
gesture of disbelief. How utterly typical. Somehow he wasn't surprised 
that it hadn't been _that_ easy to steal Endymion. And to think he had 
been impaled to get that idiot just for this... He blinked, realising 
he had to watch his reactions with Mars present, and changed his 
expression from seething indignation to righteous anger and worry. 

"We were so close..." Rei whispered to herself, forgetting that he was 
there. She stared at the empty bed. 

"Rei-chan..." He hesitated, trying to think of something suitably
sympathetic sounding. "This is bad, true. But there is always, _always_
another day. Today, we almost had him. And tomorrow...?" Tomorrow, Endymion
could burn in his own personal hell. After what he had gone through...
after being _run through_, he had no desire to try to rescue the pretentious
rose-thrower again. 

She looked at him, surprised at the fire in his voice. Finally, she nodded.

"You're right. We will get him back. We _will_."

He considered replying, but pain had eroded his diplomatic patience.
Finally, he nodded to her, turned to leave and find a place to heal.

"You're going out like that?" she pointed to him. 

He looked down; his blood-soaked shirt had been tossed before he even got 
here - the glow of his blood was a _little_ too attention garnering to
leave it lying where the Senshi could find. Grimy trousers and scuffed 
shoes were all that were left of his clothes. He missed his cloak; some 
helpful park attendant had probably thrown it into the rubbish long ago.

"Don't worry." He looked up at her. "I have some new clothes nearby."

+++++++++++++++++

He walked outside, reaching the temple steps before life got that little
bit worse.

A portal of dark energy opened five meters away. Two ravens, perched on a
nearby prayer gate, took flight at the sight of the unnatural opening. A
moment later, a man and a woman stepped out of the portal.

Emerald's eyes narrowed. The woman was a typical youma with a typical
human-illusion glamour - typically boring. The man was something far more 
interesting. He recognised the aura: the person who spied on his battle with
Endymion, the one who had left without interfering. He tried to remember
what the youma loremaster had told him, and hazarded a guess. "Kunzite, I
presume?"

Kunzite nodded. "And you are the person who has caused my queen a great
deal of vexation. It wasn't very wise, kidnapping one of Queen Metallia's
own, she is not one you should have ever crossed."

"Yes, well, I guess I'm not a very wise man." Avenues of attack and escape
were calculated, as he thought of ways to ensure that he wasn't hit in the
big target that was his bandaged chest. "If it worried you so, why did you
not interfere in my fight?"

Kunzite raised an eyebrow, casting a glance at his silent companion. 
Admitting to blackmailable material in front of a youma was a deadman's 
path, no matter how much he wanted to congratulate the man on his 'rescue'
of Endymion. It was almost a pity he had to kill him, from the brief
glimpse he'd caught of the prince before Beryl sent him here, the green man
had real Dark Kingdom potential.

To avoid answering, the general looked around. "A temple, isn't it? Why 
did you bring him here?"

"The dark energy taint reaches to his very soul. His corporeal wounds were 
nothing compared to the horror of mind control. At a temple, the evil within
him could be exorcised." Emerald felt a deep stab of pride at managing to 
keep a completely straight face during the decidedly hokey explanation.

"A pity," Kunzite noted. "For a moment there, after your foray into the 
Kingdom, I thought you might be different. But with a speech like that,
I realise that you're just another Senshi toady, like Endymion was."

Emerald couldn't help it. He burst out laughing at the absurdity of the 
insult. 

+++++++++++++++++

The two birds flapped their wings and cried out loudly, franticly.

Rei's eyes narrowed as she rushed over to open the glass pane.

+++++++++++++++++

Two opponents was too many. 

The green energy beam had punched through the youma before Emerald had
fully stopped laughing. Kunzite looked at the dustpile that had been his
companion, angered at how quickly it had died.

"You are a very annoying man. I can see why Zoicite didn't like you."

Emerald shrugged. "Being disliked is hardly new for me." His eyes 
darted around, the lack of white in the orbs helping to slightly mask 
his glances. Taking on Kunzite would be _stupid_, especially after the 
energy he'd wasted on Endymion and on killing that youma just now. If 
he didn't rest and let his wound heal, he would be in serious trouble. 

And he could sense Mars's aura coming towards them - not surprising since 
they were fighting on her doorstep. If she intervened, things would just 
get complicated. Mars probably couldn't take Kunzite on by herself, not yet, 
and if she was killed... Well, he still didn't know if she was right about 
Serenity's identity. Until he was, he couldn't afford any of the Senshi
dying off.

Just teleporting away wouldn't be enough - then Mars would engage Kunzite 
before the general thought to leave. Action had to be taken, and taken now.

"If you want me, you have to catch me." His hands snapped up, palms 
outstretched as he turned his head away and screwed his eyes shut. 
There was a flash of blinding green light.

Kunzite cursed, blinking his eyes. When his eyesight had restored, the
green-eyed man was a distant speck on the road below the temple steps.
The man was either quicker than he looked, or else he'd used teleportation.
The general scowled. If the man thought that teleportation would impress a
Dark Kingdom general, he was sorely and foolishly mistaken.

"You don't escape that easily, green man."

+++++++++++++++++

Rei ran out of the temple's private quarters. That flash of light had 
turned a worried walk into a headlong dash. Her eyes widened when she saw 
Kunzite standing at the top of the temple's steps.

"You don't escape that easily, green man."

By the time the first word of her transformation phrase had passed from
brain to mouth, he was gone in the flash of a teleportation effect. She
blinked, cancelling her attack. Green man? The Dark Kingdom general must
have followed Emerald. And if that smug idiot was half as hurt as those
bandages he was wearing indicated...

She rushed forward, reaching the top of the stairs, searching for a sign of 
which way Kunzite had chased Emerald. Nothing, she had no idea which way to 
go. Her eyes trailed to a figure in the distance. The figure rapidly grew
closer, reaching and then bounding up the stairs, determination apparently 
overriding the usually clumsy movements. Rei's thoughts of chase were 
momentarily forgotten at the dread of the figure's inevitable first words.

Usagi stumbled against Rei to stop her headlong flight, gasping raggedly 
from her marathon sprint. "Where is he? Where is he!? Rei, where's Mamo-
chan?"

Great. For once, she actually had to be early! Rei cringed inside as she
faced her leader, preparing for the inevitable emotional outcry when Usagi 
heard the news.

+++++++++++++++++

Beryl stared down at Endymion, who was rejuvenating in a Dark capsule. She
was, it was safe to say, more than a little angry. Someone had hurt _her_
Endymion. The dark energy would heal him in no time, true, but the fact 
remained.

Someone had hurt her Endymion. And she would make sure to do far, far worse 
to that someone.

+++++++++++++++++

Kunzite cursed, looking around a deserted intersection. It almost made you 
appreciate the Senshi. Certainly, they were annoyingly lucky young girls
with penchants for ridiculous posturing and speeches, but at least they
stood and fought!

His face set into a mask as he summoned a portal back to the Dark Kingdom. 
There was no point in staying, the man had gotten away. If he fought half as 
well as he ran away, then perhaps that explained how the man had beaten
Endymion so handily.

One thing was certain. Beryl would not be pleased about this.

+++++++++++++++++

Emerald smiled, stepping out of the shadows into a forgotten sidestreet. 
It was endemic, it seemed, for people who chased him to bluster about
how he would never get away, how they would find him, blah, blah, blah,
ad nauseam. Really; he had six hundred years practice at running away. 
He'd always been a warrior of the shadows and when it came to avoiding
overconfident lackeys like Kunzite, there simply was no effort involved.

The onerous task of freeing Endymion, while a failure, was still over. 
Beryl and Metallia could rage at him all they wanted; they had no way to 
find him - the gods knew they'd be wasting their time trying to scry for 
him. Finally, now that all the distractions were gone, he could get to 
work. 

He brought his hand up, letting a soft greenish-white light glow, 
banishing the shadows of the small, rubbish-filled lane. Bending down, 
he reached behind an old bin to pick up the folded clothes he had left 
there before accosting Sailor Mars. With a grunt, he straightened,
leaning against the bin for a moment for support.

His smile faded as he looked at the clothes. It was time to have a little
talk with Sailor Moon.

"I hope that Mars was wrong, girl."

His eyes narrowed, looking at his hand as he clenched it to a fist. Green
light glowed around the clenched fingers. Slowly, the energy's colour 
darkened, finally setting into a nauseous shade, so green that in most
lights you'd swear it was black. There. One less thing for the Senshi 
to identify him by.

"For your sake, child, I truly do."

+++++++++++++++++

Makoto looked around at the darkening sky as Ami bowed goodbye to the
librarian. After a minute or two of mutual silence, as they walked down
the street, she turned to her blue-haired friend. "Ami, thanks for helping
me with my schoolwork." She hesitated, then added, "Are you ok? You've
seemed a little distracted since I met up with you. If you didn't want to
help me, I'm okay with--"

Ami shook her head quickly. "Oh no, Mako-chan, it's not you." She reached
into her schoolbag, and pulled out her computer. "Since we're looking for
a portal to the Dark Kingdom, I've set my computer to scan for unusual
energy patterns or incursions by youma. Today, right in the middle of
English, it warned me of several Dark Kingdom energy signatures." 

Ami managed to avoid wincing as she drew a breath to continue. Her computer
had warned her by blaring out an alarm, which hadn't gone over at all well
with her teacher. It had been very embarrassing. "I couldn't investigate it 
because of school. It's just," she paused. "I hope this isn't a new trend
by the Dark Kingdom. What if they always start appearing while we're at
school?"

"I guess we start cutting class then!" Makoto laughed at her joke.

Ami didn't. "...Yes. I suppose."

+++++++++++++++++

He looked around. A park. Yes, yes, a park was perfect. Except for the
chairs and lampposts--

He calmly wrenched the nearest lamppost from the ground, heaving it into
the distance. The nearby late night strollers, who had already been looking
at him with suspicion, took this as a cue to scream and run away. Parkgoing
in this area of town was starting to feel like a bit of a deathsport.

--Yes, except for them, the park was perfect. A wide area, with the only 
cover being trees - which, like all living things, gave off an aura. An
important point, considering how much he would be relying on his mystical
senses over the coming night.

He gritted his teeth as he lifted a bench, his wound aching at the effort.
After walking with it for a short while, he dumped it. After returning, 
knocking out a too-brave lawnskeeper on the way, he tossed all the other
lampposts and a bin or two until there were no obstructions but bushes and
trees nearby.

He nodded, looking around. Yes, perfect. Now that the grunt work was out of
the way...

He untied a black ribbon from his wrist, securing it over his eyes as a
makeshift blindfold.

He turned around a few times, getting used to the blindfold, before he
settled into a wide-legged stance. Now then, what was the tradition for a
pretentious 'villain' of these times? Ah yes, a semi-rambling dissertation
on how much energy was being collected for their master, and how the 
Senshi would 'never find me here'. Of course, that usually brought them
out of the woodwork.

He thought about it and then shrugged. He could only put up with so much
bad theatre. He'd skip the speech, and hopefully get right to the Senshi-
coming-out-of-the-woodwork bit. He smiled, flinging his arms wide out, and 
began to draw in the elemental mana as fast and hard as he could.

+++++++++++++++++

"Ami... are you beeping?"

Ami blinked, shaking herself out of a reverie. She reached into her
schoolbag, and pulled out her Mercury computer. 

"I'm reading an anomaly." She stuck her tongue against the inside of her
mouth as her fingers danced across the keys. "This isn't like anything
I've seen before from the Dark Kingdom." Two more taps on the computer's
keys, and then she turned to her taller companion. "Can you call the others
and tell them to get to the park near here? I think we may have something
important."

"Sure." Makoto nodded, her face puzzled. "But what are you going to do?"

There was just the briefest flush of embarrassment, before the blue-
haired girl pointed to a telephone booth. "I have to tell my mother 
that I'll be late for dinner."

+++++++++++++++++

Sailor Jupiter turned to Sailor Mercury.

"Okay, what is that?"

Mercury blinked, raising herself a little more from the cover the trees
provided.

In the middle of the park stood a humanoid probably clad in grey. It was 
hard to tell, since it was covered in perhaps a hundred black, ragged
ribbons tied to arms, legs, and waist. A dozen strips of the torn
cloth covered the face and eyes, leaving only a small slit for the mouth
uncovered. Small ribbons wrapped around fingers and hands to create 
makeshift, tattered gloves.

The night air around the Senshi was dead still. But around the creature, 
there must have been breeze: the thing's ribbons swayed and swirled like 
angered snakes. If that wasn't strange enough, the air seemed to be almost
distended, unnaturally warping around the raggedy-man.

It sure wasn't human, and it was sure weird, even for a youma.

Mercury looked down at her computer, then looked back up at the 
creature, before she returned her gaze to the machine. For
once, it wasn't being very helpful. The readings kept spiking and
dropping, leaving it hard to make any conclusions. About the only
thing she could tell was...

"It's draining energy..."

Jupiter cocked her head up to look around. There wasn't another soul in
sight. "Draining energy? From what?"

Mercury took a few moments to answer, as she was trying to make sense 
of her computer readings. Finally, she looked to her companion. "From
everything. The air, the ground... all the elements. It's taking it 
from everything."

"They don't need to get it from humans any more?" Jupiter shook her head.
"We're in trouble."

The creature turned its blindfolded head to stare directly at them. "You 
may be right," Ami agreed.

+++++++++++++++++

Well, these two weren't who he was hoping would turn up first. He
considered retreat, and then discarded the idea. Chances were that no
matter where he went, the leader would be fashionably late. It seemed
like you only encountered Sailor Moon first when you _didn't_ want to. Here
was as good as anywhere to stand and wait, and it wouldn't do his image as
a nasty youma any good if he ran away.

He stalked towards the Senshi, the silence of the moment broken by the
black cloth strips fluttering around him. Before he was halfway there,
they were out in the open, spouting a speech - a bad one, even by their
standards.

He started to jog.

At a quarter of his original distance, Jupiter brought forth her lightning, 
searing against his blackish green energy shield, warping and crackling 
around him. There was that moment, that smallest moment of hesitation as
the Senshi saw their first attack fail. His lips drew back from his teeth 
slightly in a snarling smile.

Yesssssss... 

He pushed himself forward, dark bandages whipping around him, as he ran.

+++++++++++++++++

"He's spotted us." 

"How? He's wearing a blindfold!"

"Perhaps the blindfold is just a ruse," Mercury suggested.

"Ruse or not," Jupiter noted as the humanoid started to walk towards them,
"we gotta stop it."

The two Senshi leaped out of their cover, landing shoulder-to-shoulder,
on an angle so that their backs were slightly touching against each other.

"For disturbing the peace of late night lovers' strolls," Jupiter began. 

Mercury picked up the speech "And for defiling the very elements of nature, 
Sailors Mercury,"

"And Jupiter,"

"Will not forgive you!" The Senshi finished the sentence together.

The youma didn't seem intimidated. In fact, as soon as the girls were 
finished, it sped up, from a walk to a slow jog, its blinded face staring 
directly at them.

"Alright," Jupiter scowled, "if that's how you want it." Her tiara crackled
with elemental magic as she called for her lightning. "Supreme Thunder!"

The electricity arced at the youma, sizzling and crackling as it washed 
against a sickly dark energy shield. The shield flickered slightly, the 
lightning's light giving it a lighter, almost green shade, before her 
attack petered out.

In response, the youma began to run, aiming itself right at her.

Jupiter hesitated, trying to decide whether she had time for another power 
attack, before settling with a defensive stance.

Mercury hesitated, her arms halfway through the opening stance for calling 
her fog. Was the youma blind, and using other senses to navigate? Perhaps 
smell or hearing? If it was, would her attack do any good?

Time ran out, the creature's fast gait destroying the distance between it 
and its opponent. The youma rose its hand, palm forward. Jupiter's eyes 
drifted to it, her muscles bunched as she started to leap out of the way of 
what would probably be some sort of magical attack. 

Horribly bright light flashed from the palm, a searing white that held the 
faintest lime corona. For a moment the darkened park, ill-lit due to the 
removed lampposts, glowed brighter than day.

Jupiter gasped, stumbling, her vision reduced to dancing black spots
against white. She blindly stumbled to one side, trying to get out of the
way of whatever follow-up the creature might have. Although she could not
see it, the creature hesitated too, shaking its head as it kept its dark
shield up for protection- obviously its blindfold had not completely saved
it from damage.

"Sailor Jupiter!" Mercury desperately gathered her powers; the youma was 
affected by its own blinding power: that meant it really could see with
that blindfold on. Still, their assailant had protected its eyes with its
cloth, it would surely recover its eyesight, or whatever it had, before
Jupiter did. "Shabon Spray!" 

There, two could play at that game. Now, it would be blind as well. 

+++++++++++++++++

Stars danced in his eyes, disrupting his special sight. He stood there, his
shield protecting him, as one-by-one the stars supernovaed, dying out to 
leave him with the comfort of darkness.

The cold tendrils of Mercury's attack poured over him, pawing at him, 
sending an involuntary shudder through his frame. For now, just for now, 
he ignored it, as he tore ribbons from along his waist and legs. 

+++++++++++++++++

Mercury looked at the beast with confusion, as she started to sneak her 
way towards the blinded Jupiter. Why had it ripped at its clothes like
that? Was it some sort of sign of frustration?

Her stomach sank slightly as the youma turned its head, unerringly zeroing 
in on her companion. It could see. It could see through her fog.

"Sailor Jupiter, look out!"

+++++++++++++++++

He dashed forward, the ribbons in his hands swirling patterns through the 
dead air of Mercury's mist.

Jupiter's first attack was clumsy, useless, truly blind desperation. The
second, made while still off-balanced from the first, came closer but did no
better. The third was never completed, as black cloth wrapped tightly around
her wrists and legs and mouth like steel-twined rope.

Mars could have burnt off the bindings. Venus had her lasers. Mercury could
have frozen them until they were brittle. But Jupiter - the only one who 
could consistently beat him in hand-to-hand combat - Jupiter could not power 
through these bonds so easily.

As she overbalanced, her tightly wrapped arms and legs trying desperately to
break free and flail, he stepped back, ducking into a balanced crouch. There 
was a breathless second, and then the ponytailed brunette fell to the grass, 
her slowly-clearing eyes narrowed in rage and embarrassment.

She'd break free, of course. Only a fool would be smug enough to think a
downed Senshi was to be no longer considered in the fight. But for now,
she was sufficiently... inconvenienced.

+++++++++++++++++

The youma, or whatever it was, stood, shivering slightly in the cold fog.
It turned its head slowly, too slowly, until its cloth-covered eyes were
staring right at her. Then, it slowly rose its right hand and pointed at
her. Just pointed, it didn't make any threatening move or other gesture.
But when the ribbons around its wrist stopped fluttering around, and started
pointing at her too, she couldn't help but feel a small shiver up her spine.

No enemy, let alone one that covered its eyes like it was blind, had ever 
been able to see through her fog before. And it had already incapacitated 
Sailor Jupiter, a far better fighter than her. She might be in some trouble.

"I wouldn't be adverse to some aid right about now," she whispered, backing 
away so that she could keep some distance between her and the creature.

The creature cocked its head, and grimly smiled. 

+++++++++++++++++

Emerald grimly smiled, doing his best to keep from shaking. Mercury! It just
had to be Mercury, didn't it!? Things couldn't be easy, Moon couldn't be 
among the first group to turn up. No! That would have been something _good_, 
and nothing _good_ ever happened to him!

Argh. He knew that the girl he faced wasn't quite the Senshi of Ice yet. He 
knew that this quite chilly, if relatively ineffective fog was her only 
offensive magical attack. He knew that he could break her in half without 
even breaking a sweat. Logically, he knew he had little to fear from her.

But all his instincts knew, was that this was Mercury. 

It was all he could do to keep his pointing finger steady.

For all the gods' sakes, why couldn't Sailor Moon hurry the hell up and
get here!?

+++++++++++++++++

Sailor Jupiter furiously strained against her bonds. If nothing else, she
hoped that her struggles would take the man, the youma's, whatever the hell
it was's attention away from Sailor Mercury. 

She let out a muffled shout which, unfortunately, the creature completely
ignored. Mercury, bless her, was still calm. But Ami's only attack had 
already proven useless, and if the others didn't come soon...

She turned a scream of frustration into another attempt to distract the 
ribboned creature. This was so humiliating. It was one thing to be blasted 
by some youma or another; but to get trussed up like a helpless pig was, 
well, just plain embarrassing.

She just hoped none of the others laughed when they turned up.

+++++++++++++++++

Mercury cautiously took one step back. The youma took one step forward to
compensate. She edged a little to the right, to get a little closer to the
cover of a tree. In reply, the youma shook its pointing finger in a no
gesture, before it turned and pointed at the furiously struggling Sailor
Jupiter.

Mercury frowned slightly. So that was the way it was going to be. The body
language had been unmistakable; Mako-chan's life was forfeit if she tried 
to use the cover to get a better position. It didn't use its eyes to see, so
her fog was useless. And he'd already beaten Jupiter, so a direct physical
confrontation would be unwise. There had to be something else she could do.

Slowly, she raised her hand and activated her battle computer, the blue tint
of the glasses covering her eyes in an instant.

The creature cocked its head, seemingly content to keep the impasse, as 
she fought with her computers to give her something, anything that 
could be used against it. But again, the data contradicted and fluctuated,
leaving the readings useless.

After a few seconds, the creature moved its head again, staring into the
distance, before it turned to her and started to walk forward. Her
time was up, she realised as the youma balled its hands into fists, 
preparing to strike her down.

"Hold it right there!"

+++++++++++++++++

There was something wonderfully instinctive about those dramatic 
moments in fights, where someone new would enter the fray, announcing
themselves in as self-glorifying a way as possible. You had to all
stop and look at their entrance. You just had to.

But when you felt their presence before they entered the park, it
took all the fun out of the playful 'oh-my-goodness, who-threw-
THAT-to-stop-my-devastating-attack?' type questions. The future's
Mars could still do the sneaky entrances to him - hells, he had the 
sneaking suspicion that she enjoyed it. But as for this...

He quietly sighed. How banal. 

Oh well. Best to play along. 

+++++++++++++++++

The youma turned to face the new arrivals.

As if on cue, Mercury's fog dissipated, allowing a single moonbeam to shine 
dramatically on the last three Sailor girls, who stood flanking each other -
Moon in the middle, Mars on her right, and Venus on the left.

"Tying up innocent young girls is plain wrong(not to mention, Kunzite did
it once too, so it's getting a little old!) For the Moon, I--"

"Why?" the youma interrupted, in a hissing, rumbling voice.

Sailor Moon blinked, losing her rhythm. The youma weren't supposed to
interrupt the speeches. "Uh... what do you mean 'why'?"

"Why is it wrong?" The youma folded its left arm across its chest, resting
its right elbow against it, the hand supporting its chin. "Do you claim
that, for example, if a consenting female chose to willingly engage in
bondage, that her partner is not to be forgiven?"

+++++++++++++++++

A millennium and a mile away, a green-haired woman sighed, resisting the 
urge to bury her head in her hands. Here we go. He couldn't resist it, 
could he? He just couldn't let one speech slip by without a commentary.

+++++++++++++++++

The Senshi collectively blinked, feeling the situation slipping from their
control. Mercury, surprised by the youma's sudden gregariousness, blinked 
as the shock diverted her mind from analysing their opponent for a moment, 
allowing her to realise something about its costume.

"Er..." Moon began, before she shook her head. "Wait a minute. Sailor
Jupiter isn't going to just go around playing kinky stuff with someone with
your fashion sense. I bet she wasn't consenting at all!"

"Granted," the creature agreed, settling its arms by its sides. "Even so, it 
seems somewhat cold to me, to kill someone because they broke one of your 
petty moral hangups. Do you go breaking the legs of your milkman if he gives 
you cream instead of yoghurt? Were you not hugged enough as a child?"

"I would never break someone's legs," Moon protested, baffled by the youma's
tactics. "Why are you saying these things about me!?" Tears shimmered in her
eyes as she tried to hide the hurt.

"Don't listen to him, Sailor Moon!" Mercury urged. "See there, under those
cloth strips - that's the same uniform that Jadeite and the other leaders
were wearing!"

"He's one of the Dark Kingdom's leaders," Venus realised, looking at the
ribbon-obscured jacket. 

"Typical youma," Mars noted, pulling out an ofuda, "when it's outmatched,
it tries to insult its way out of trouble. Well, we're not going to sit
here and let one of our own be treated like this."

"Ah," the youma noted, raising its hand again as it settled into an attack
posture, "time for general unpleasantness."

"Everybody, be careful and keep your distance!" Mercury shouted to her 
companions. "It's very dangerous in close quarters, but I don't think it
has any long-range attacks!"

The youma moved its pointing hand slightly to the right, turning the palm
of its tatter-gloved hand forward. A moment later, a sickly dark beam shot
out, exploding through the unfortunate tree that Mercury had previously
eyed for cover.

As bark and tree chips rained down on her, Mercury cleared her throat. "I
guess it might have long-range attacks too," she admitted ruefully.

"Well, so do we," Venus noted. "Crescent Beam!"

The creature flung itself backwards, barely falling its way out of being 
hit by the attack. As soon as its shoulders hit the grassed ground, it used
the momentum and its hands to flip itself into the dark cover of the unlit 
trees.

"Well handled," its voice whispered out, echoing off the trees so much that
it was hard to pinpoint the creature's position. "No hesitation. Will you
hesitate now, to follow me here?"

"It's a trap. It's got to be." Venus looked to the others. Mercury nodded, 
agreeing.

Mars shrugged, trying to squash a tiny, nagging voice in her head. The 
way the youma spoke, beneath the harsh tones of its voice was a timbre
that seemed familiar. "What are we supposed to do though? We can't just 
leave him in there." She pointed a thumb at the dark copse as she looked
at the others.

Mercury tapped her visor, before she sighed. "I can't get a fix on the
youma."

"I could burn the trees down..."

"No!" Sailor Moon shook her head. "We can't do that, we can't destroy this
beautiful park. We'll just have to go in, and be extra careful."

They looked at her, and nodded, before they turned as one and entered 
the grove.

"Can you see him?" Mars asked, her muscles taut as her eyes scanned the 
darkness.

Sailor Moon squinted, trying to see in the shadows. Dark hands wrapped around 
mouth and arms, inhuman strength immobilising and mutifying. For a second, 
nothing, and then the starting of something - a painful buildup of energy. 
Before it could be noticed by the others, it was gone. And so was she.

"No, I can't." Mercury answered Mars. "Sailor Moon, perhaps you can--" 
She turned to look at her leader, only to find no-one there.

"Sailor Moon!" Venus cried out, staring at the empty spot. 

"She's gone." Mercury looked at her computer, resisting the faint urge to
hit the malfunctioning machine. "The youma must have teleported her
somewhere."

"Oh great. So what do we do now?" Mars wondered.

"Mrfph mrr mrph!" Jupiter suggested loudly from the clearing, pointedly 
nodding her head at her bonds.

+++++++++++++++++
                                * * *

The paradox of Crystal Tokyo's peace is... well, one word for it would be 
intriguing. The city's internal peace is built upon a lie - the lie of pure
conformity. And its peace from external sources is just as... 'intriguing'. 

Peace through superior firepower - sometimes quite literally - seems quite 
out-of-step with the Crystal ethos. And yet, in the end, that's all it
truly amounts to. The average serf in that pretty eyesore doesn't realise
how often they've come to the edge.

Their peace-everlasting, their glorious civilisation, their wonder of the 
ages, their beauteous feudal throwback... what a joke! So insular, so
insulated, so unaware they are. I doubt that city has gone more than ten
years without at least a couple of demons trying their luck at invading it;
but the average drone would never know of it because, to be quite honest
with myself, they've got the best protectors in this and possibly any
galaxy.

The four mighty Senshi, strong pillars without whose support the city would 
crumble. One godlike queen, in more than word alone she and her power IS the 
city. The Time Guardian, her protection drawn like a stifling, invisible
cloak over the metropolis. Their Royal Guard, their army, the mortar that
stops things like me seeping through the cracks.

I'm not sure where Endymion fits into the building analogy. Perhaps that 
brainwash-bait is the outhouse or something. Ah well, he does serve as a
good distraction for the invaders who have kidnap fetishes. Just goes to
show that even a fifth wheel on a unicycle has its uses.

Together, intertwined, they are the city. Not the magic minerals that
compose its bones, nor the mindnumb subhumans that populate it. No. No,
Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Pluto, Mars, Serenity: they are the city. These
warriors are the peace.

And yet, how can people of war 'be' peace? Quite the conundrum.

Still, seeing peace, or a reasonable illusion of such, built upon the
shoulders of those of war leaves a question hanging, one that is more a
curiosity than anything else, but still nags away on quiet nights such as
this one.

If these warriors were encased with all of us, as I know they were, if
Pluto cannot interfere well enough to act the role, then who protected the
Earth during the Great Ice? Who ensured there was still an Earth there for
Serenity to enslave when she freed herself? Who?

- Journal entry, early 2600, found in the keeping of a small village of 
   youma in Western Australia. As to who protected the Earth during the Ice, 
   it seems certain that an iceball would not have been much of a prize to 
   any energy marauders.

      -- Maybe, but... well, in the end, only Pluto knows.

                                * * *
+++++++++++++++++

It was like ice-hot acid. It burned from her skin inwards, seeping through
her nerves, washing amongst her blood, lancing into her bones, seeping into
her marrow, before it all rushed outwards: bones, blood, nerves, skin,
beyond.

It hurt. It... it hurt!

She felt the arms and ribbons wrapped around her loosen, and then release,
giving her a moment to see grey skies, before the interaction between their 
powers reached critical point, and their energy exploded. Their bodies 
catapulted apart, mixed energy streaking from them like blood from the 
wounded.

Silence.

Silverish-white and darkish-green energy arced around their fallen bodies,
slowly seeping into the greyish, dead ground.

Silence.

+++++++++++++++++

"What do you mean you can't find her!?" Jupiter showed her frustration by 
tossing the balled-up rags that had tied her as far away as possible.

Mercury didn't look up from her computer. "The youma teleported out with
Sailor Moon. Since it didn't open a portal like the others of its kind seem
to when transporting more than one person, I have no real idea where to
start looking. All I can tell you is that she doesn't seem to be in the
general area." She looked up then, but still didn't meet her teammates'
eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Is she... You don't think she's in the Dark Kingdom?" Venus breathed, 
voicing all their worries.

"More like we're afraid she's in the Dark Kingdom," Jupiter muttered,
thinking the others couldn't hear her. She shook her head. "She'll be
okay, she's always okay. Right, Sailor Mars?"

Mars didn't answer for a moment as she looked to the smog-screened sky. 
There had been something horribly, horribly familiar about that youma.
The way it spoke, not so much the voice but the way it spoke down without
using contempt... She couldn't get rid of a cold fear in her soul.

"...Of course she'll be alright. She'll probably wail so much that that
youma will put himself out of his misery." 

+++++++++++++++++

His eyes snapped open.

Unsteady moments later, he stood over the unconscious Sailor Moon. Had
it been Serenity - 'his' Serenity, she would have been awake too. But
this was a fourteen year old girl, unprepared for the pain that was to
come. 

He slowly untied his blindfold, and looked down at her. In her right 
hand lay her crescent weapon, the current house of the dread crystal. 
Why it was in her hand was unimportant to him - either she had called 
it consciously before the energy flux, or it had come on its own, 
to protect its mistress from its enemy.

Either way, it was there. That was what was important.

He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again. He knelt, his 
right hand curling, the arm cocking as he narrowed his eyes.

Oh gods. This was going to hurt. This was going to really hurt.

His hand snatched the silvery-white gem, the dead air wooshing from the
speeded grab. As he brought his hand up, socking his elbow so that it looked 
like he was going to punch the ground, the ginzuisho reacted. Light
poured from between his fingers, sizzling and raging as it fought against
his own energy. Around his neck, hidden beneath black bandages, his green 
crystal thrummed, glowing brightly, erratically, in raging counterpoint to 
its mineral cousin.

He snarled, building up the dark energy in his hand, as he felt the
ginzuisho's fell-light seep beneath the cloth strips covering his fingers. 
Building his energy would make it all the worse, but he had to subsume
the ginzuisho's blinding glow, to make sure there wasn't too much silvery-
white light for him to...

His fist plunged down into his own ill-lit shadow. Not the best of shade
for such a manoeuvre, but it would do. After a moment, he pulled his
empty hand out, leaving his enemy's crystal... somewhere else.

The energy around his hand didn't disappear, however. The seething mix
fluctuated, pulsing and crackling as white and dark, dark green fought 
each other with sabres of minuscule lightning. Desperately, he spread 
the energy, letting it travel down his arm and onto his torso.

He could really do without losing a hand right now.

Finally, the flux ended, as the conflicting powers reached their mystical
critical point. And for the second time that day, his body was flung
across the landscape from the backlash. Desperately he fought the black
fingers of unconsciousness that were closing around him, his teeth grinding
at the effort. He had to stay awake, he had to stay...

+++++++++++++++++

"Do you have anything yet?" 

Mercury rolled her shoulders, trying to get rid of the itch in the small
of her back. Even with her face almost literally buried in her computer,
she could feel her teammates' stares. Finally, she turned to her friends,
and shook her head. "My scans are just not making sense," she admitted.
"They could be one hundred metres away, or one hundred dimensions." Her brow
creased slightly to add to her determined expression as she added, "I can
work it out. I just need more time."

"She might not have that time!" Jupiter threw her hands into the air in
frustration.

"Alright," Venus cut in, "we know you can do it, Sailor Mercury. The rest
of us should spread out, look around. If they are only a hundred metres
away, we'd be idiots to not at least try to find her."

+++++++++++++++++

"...ueen Sere..."

The dark faded, awareness sparking slightly, a dull glow against the black
of unconsciousness.

"Neo-qu........enity..."

Her eyes screwed up slightly, trying to entrap the moment of bliss, free
from the pain and hurt, safe from...

"...please,......queen, you .......awaken."

Her mind rebelled at the constant intrusion, desiring a return to the
wonderful numbness of sleep. Then, she remembered. She remembered the pain.

With a gasp, she opened her eyes, shooting up from her lying position. She 
stared down at herself, horror quickly dimming to confusion. Her Senshi suit
was slightly shredded, but besides that... "I don't understand; I... I
felt..."

"Pain." The word was clipped, spoken in a quiet voice.

She whirled to face the speaker, her hand tightening around the handle of her
moon wand, drawing comfort from its weight.

A knight in crystalline armour stood looking at her. The man's armour was
pale lime - almost white, in fact, and Sailor Moon couldn't help shake the
feeling that it would be glinting if only there was enough sunlight for it.
Despite wearing a solid chunk of mineral for protection, the knight still
looked fightworthy. The only thing that wasn't quite storybook about him,
besides the absence of a Great Big Sword was the two-sizes-too-big grey
cloak that hung around his shoulders.

The eyeslits of his full-face helm were too narrow and shadow-filled for
her to see his eyes, but she still picked up a sense of anticipation in
the man's stance. "You felt pain, pain unimagineable," the knight began
again. "And now you wonder why you feel fine."

"Who are you?" She frantically looked around, trying to hang onto the
threads of her composure. "Where are we?" The faintest hint of a whine
tinged her voice as she realised that this probably wasn't Earth. "What
happened to that other guuuuyyyy!?"

The man bowed at the waist, his left arm falling to rest on his back, the
other sweeping forward to rest against his stomach in a classic courtier's
pose. "A good name for me might be..." he cocked his head as he rose from
his bow, as if to think about it, before continuing, "the Green Knight. As
to where we are," he paused, looked around, and then looked straight at her
eyes, "well, I'm afraid that depends on you. I need your aid, Sailor Moon,
in vanquishing an evil being."

Sailor Moon looked around again, to make sure the bandaid guy wasn't around,
before she looked back to the Green Knight. "Vanquish? Ah... who did you
need help 'vanquishing'? Beryl? That bad fashion guy that just attacked me?"

The knight shook his head. "Oh no. And here I thought it would be obvious.
No, if you are who I believe you to be, then I am afraid that the evil I
seek to destroy," a gauntleted hand rose to point at her, "is you."

+++++++++++++++++

The ginzuisho oriented itself, glowing brightly as it channelled off the
killing energy of its foe. It floated there, nowhere in the middle of
somewhere, confused. At best its intellect was doglike, dull, only suited
to interpret the wishes of its wielder in the best way possible.

Finally, after millennia, it had been reunited with one of the blood, one
of the line it had been created to serve. It had purpose again, it could
serve. But now it was alone again, in some nameless dimension with no way
to return to its mistress.

Oh, it had the power. There was no doubting that; it most certainly had
the power. But without a hand to wield it, a steady mind to guide it, it
couldn't find her. The crystal glowed, as distressed as its pseudo-mind
could get.

It was alone. 

Ghostly fingers cradled the crystal, as a glowing face stared into its 
reflective surface. 

"Come," the spirit of Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium whispered,
"my daughter has need of you. Now more than ever."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I hope there weren't too many errors in the first half - I couldn't
face intensively error-checking it: too much time already invested in
this story, and all that.

------
Mark Doherty - mdoherty@uq.net.au
http://www.tass.org/~mdoherty/index.html

Irony is Nature's way of telling us not to take life too seriously.
...No wonder they call her a Mother.