At 11:15  12/04/99 +0800, you wrote:

Okay, so I'm skipping the other stories on my C&C queue but I really love

this story !! 

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

[Elsa Bibat]  
Yesyesyesyes !!!!! It's finally arrived !

Better never than late... oh wait, wrong saying.

Chapter 6a

[Elsa Bibat]  
Thank you for thinking of sending it out. BTW, when's 6b coming out ?

I learned my lesson a long, long time ago when it came to estimating fic
releases - I'm horrible at it. Suffice it to say that 6b is half-written,
and that I'll write the other half as quickly as possible.

+++++++++++++++++
                               * * *
<snip>

Elsa: One of the best journal entries I've ever seen. Must be because you

saved the

        best for last, neh ? ^_^ 

I also lost the best when I rewrote. I'm still trying to make an Ami
journal work as well as it did the first time.

<snip>

"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."

Elsa: The time ripple of Emerald's messing around in the past hasn't reached 
CT era yet, it seems or they'd have remembered. About Pluto, I have this 
sneaking suspicion that this is another one of her convoluted plans for 
making a better future. Considering your vision of CT, it's a possibility 
that I'm starting to warm up to. But since you're the author, Mark and 
considering that you've finished it already...please tell me if I'm right ? 
Please ? 						

No. ^_^

One thing people should remember is that this is part of a planned trilogy,
and that just because the end is near, doesn't mean that everything is
going to be magically explained - I don't like dictating, I like readers
deciding for themselves what's what.

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

Elsa: That little statement, considering one of Emerald's past journal

entries is

        ... quite interesting. I think Rei's immortal obsession is

Emerald... Don't look

        at me like that. It was just an opinion.  			 

Perhaps, or perhaps Mars's concerns are more general than that - protecting
the city from any harm, for example. It's up to the reader to make the
conclusions.

<snip, Snip>

"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."

Elsa: Another one of the reasons why I like this series. I love the way 
Emerald looks at things.  

As another reader said to me, some of his views are... fascinating.

"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."

Elsa: I think I'm going to love this scene. ^_^ 

People did want to see it - I tried to make it as balanced as possible. 

"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."

Elsa: Well, a vandal has to paint or deface something, I think. Besides, 
assasin and spy has that ring to it. 

Variety is the spice of life, after all, I guess he's bored with the normal
rhetoric.

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--"

Elsa: Classic Emerald. Have I told you how much I love this character ?
        Yes, I know, hundreds of times. But I just love saying it. 

Hate to love him or love to hate him...

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

Elsa: Remoras.  

Yes, I know (if for no other reason than I have the Babylon 5 pilot in my
tape collection), but it would have been a little unrealistic for him to
remember the name for them. ^_^

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?

Elsa: A lot depending on the person.

There is that, yes.

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.

Elsa: Ooooohhh. That had to hurt.

That'll leave a mark. ^_^ Or not, in this case.

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.

Elsa: Another scene that manages to carry emotion, even if it was so short.

I don't think greater length would have helped it out much, truthfully.

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!

Elsa: ooohhh. The Mr. Bunny incident if I recall. 

I couldn't resist revisiting...

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

Elsa: Why do people love characterizing Minako as crazy ? Well, she
         is, but rubbing it in is quite ....

She's not crazy, she's eccentric. ^_^ If you take the journal entries so
far, the only Senshi on an even keel in the future is Jupiter(Mars spends
way too much time on Emerald, Mercury is listed as more eccentric than
Venus, and Venus is, well, Venus). It's not madness, per se, it's just that
people do tend to pick up weird habits, and when you're immortal -
something humanity isn't exactly designed for - these little things are
sure to grow over time. In my opinion. Emerald's not exactly 'fully on the
rails' either.

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

Elsa: Yeah. Sounds a lot like a propaganda speech.

Ah, she's just getting into her role as a suitably concerned reporter.

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

Elsa: What _did_ happen to the kids ? From the following remarks, the Inners
        are starting to act like the Outers. There is something really

wrong in

         CT for them to react like this, I think.

No, people are misinterpreting that line - my fault for the wording,
obviously. The Senshi didn't really kill them, but as they say, they knew
what they were getting into when they teamed up with Emerald. Accidents
happen.

- 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'!

Elsa: Hehehehe

And that would make Mr Fluffy based on...

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

Elsa: Why does Hotaru have to be dead in almost every future fic
        I know ? 

Well, for me at least it's because I had plans for Saturn, pre and post death.

_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?

Elsa: (motherly voice) It is when a vis is ... Oh shoot ....

Any day you learn something new is a good one, I guess. ^_^

-- 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.

Elsa: HAHAHAHAHA !!!! I really love the way you ended this scene.

I almost tossed this one for being too light-hearted.

"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."

Elsa: Another damn fine quote.

Or rant, depending on how you look at it. ^_^

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. 

Elsa: Now that would be a new excuse for not doing your homework.
        But, ma'am the youma drained all my energy !!!!   

Youma ate my homework? I left it in my Senshi suit?

"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.

Elsa: Wow, really good acting. ^_^

Religious beliefs aside, I don't think many could say it without cracking
up... ^_^

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.

Elsa: Yeah. Considering how many times a park is the place where youma
show up, it's a big surprise that the authorities haven't tightened up
security or something.  

They probably realised how useless security was after the Airport incident
with Jadeite. And if you were security, wouldn't you be calling in sick if
you could... ^_^

"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.

Elsa: It's nice to see Pluto knows Emerald's in the present. I still say she 
sent Emerald to the past to "fix" Serenity.

We wish, but I don't think Pluto hates Chibi-Usa that much. (Get it? Get
it? Is this microphone on?)

"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!"

Elsa: Well, she might. Let's ask her shall we ?

Jupiter: Mrph! Mrph mrr mrphhh!

(Waits for a South Park gratuitous reference)

"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?"

Elsa: Once again, I love this guy.

Having the ability to say what you like to whoever you like is probably
something we'd all like to be able to get away with... ^_-

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.

Elsa: I think she's finally figured it out, ladies and gentlemen.

She's either got a gut-feeling, or else she shouldn't have had those beans
for dinner...

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."

Elsa: I don't know. Aspirin ?

Really good medical plan?

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."

Elsa: I see you won't be using my suggestion to make it into a John Woo-type
       power duel, right ?  

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

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

Elsa: Well, maybe in the next part. ^_^

Yes...

Elsa: Nope not many errors. Anyway, the way things are coming out there

are two choices:

        a) Emerald kills Serenity resulting in system-wide destruction 
and probably quite a few people coming after Mark's head. I wouldn't mind 
it at all. Hell, I'd cheer Mark on. ^_^

And as the galaxy imploded, there was time for one last comment.

Pluto: Oops. Sure miscalculated THAT one.

Anyway, crank 6B out as quickly and perfectly as possible Mark. The 
excitement's killing me.   	  

I'll get round to it... eventually. ^_^
------
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.