Hello again! It's me again!

And here we go replying to C&C again! My shoulder's finally feeling better, 
so I'm back at the ol' mailbag. Since I left off on the first half of this 
yesterday, it seems like a fine place to pick up again. Let's begin:

As strange as it was to admit, Rei's grandfather seemed to be legitimately
trying to put on a decent showing for the O-Bon festival.

	Uh oh.  This is a bad sign, isn't it?  Kind of like a quiet morning in 
Nerima.

Oh, don't worry - Grandpa is still up to his old tricks. He's just hiding 
them behind a layer of respectability. The old fellow is getting sneakier in 
his dotage; this is a scheme that a) gets Maya Touno (whi is not hard on the 
eyes) to stay with him for a month; b) attracts all kinds of customers to 
the shrine so that he can milk them for cash; and c) allows him the chance 
to see all the pretty girls in Juuban dancing the bon-odori in their summer 
kimono. The best part is that it all appears perfectly legitimate, so even 
if Rei *was* around, she would likely not object to it!

He's been working on this one for a while.

Minako had carefully draped the small black cat over
her shoulder specifically so that they could talk without drawing
attention to each other:

	Heh.  So *that's* why Lunar Cats get treated as Senshi Fashion 
Accessories.

That, and I also figure that they just think it's safer to be riding 
someone's shoulder than darting around underfoot. You just *know* that 
either Minako or Usagi has stepped on somebody's tail at some point. It's 
really one of those inevitable things. ^_^

"You're... really not
much like Usagi at all, are you, Minako?"

	"Nah," Minako replied, grinning even wider. "Our similarities are
totally different. Hey, look! It's Maya!"

	...I'm sorry, I have to stop C&Cing and go have a lie-on -- I mean, a 
LIE-DOWN, now.  I've exceeded my MinaQuotient.

Welcome to the world of Minako Aino, where everything makes sense until you 
stop and think about it for a second. Our recommendation is not to think: it 
only makes things worse.

	The worst part is, that actually made SENSE.

She always does, in her own little way. That's the trick to a good 
Malapropism: they always pass for acceptable at first glance because they 
*sound* right. The realisation that they make no logical sense comes a few 
seconds later.

She was dressed in a white blouse and short grey skirt, with a thin
crimson ribbon tied around her neck like a bow tie.

	Kinda... monochrome, isn't she?

Don't blame me; that's what Maya wears as a school uniform. We get a good 
look at it in Episode 103, and personally I agree with you. Rei's uniform 
may be heavy on the grey, but at least she has a couple of different shades 
mixed in. Maya's school apparently wanted their students able to blend in 
with the sidewalk.

It looks like she had
quite a bit of a growth spurt since the last time we saw her."

	No, I'm not supressing any hentai comments.  It's too early in the AM, and 
I didn't get enough sleep last night.

So... if you're not suppressing them, that means they have free reign, 
right? ^_^

	"Yeah, looks like it was in more than one direction, too," Minako

	...okay, darn it, NOW I am.  Blame Mina.

Most people do, eventually. She's usually one of the first Senshi to mention 
things like this. My personal favourite the last time Maya showed up was how 
Minako tried to convince all the other Senshi that Rei might be a lesbian, 
because she and Maya were "obviously" on a date.

I would have thought I was looking at Makoto! Why do figures like
that always go to girls who don't need them?"

	But if they didn't, then they *would*... er... forget it.

This is Minako: any girl who is not her does not need a figure like that. 
It's only natural for a young girl to feel a little envious of someone 
else's figure, especially at that age. Minako may be pretty, but she is not 
exactly the most developed of the Senshi. In fact, if we're counting the 
Outer Senshi, Minako places a distant fifth. Maybe sixth, depending on 
whether Rei....

Argh! How did you get me on this subject? Now I'm going to spend the next 
hour researching the Senshi's measurements! Thanks a lot. :p

	Why, oh WHY am I suddenly having a "Spaced Invaders" flashback:  "But Dad, 
they're not *bad,* they're just... stupid."

That was a pretty good movie - I had forgotten all about it until you 
brought it up. I wonder if it's aged well? I haven't seen it in over a 
decade.

The
way she saw it, any place that was hard to get into was no place for her.

	Except for things like bank vaults, the Dark Kingdom, Mel Gibson's 
dressing room...

Minako seems to live her life guided by the wisdom of Homer Simpson: "If 
something is hard to do, it's not worth doing". The trick for her is finding 
proper motivation. As long as something holds her interest, she will focus 
on it until she excels at it. That's why Artemis had to build the Sailor V 
game at the Crown Arcade Centre: Minako didn't feel like training to be a 
Sailor Senshi, but she *did* like playing video games, so Artemis disguised 
her training simulator as a game and encouraged her to get the "top score".

Minako: "Ah! I lost!"
Artemis: "What?"

There was nothing more annoying than showing up late for a battle.
If she missed the introductory speeches, it took *forever* to figure out
what was going on.

	<sage nod>  Ah, so *that's* what the speeches are for.

It certainly does help when a villain is willing to explain his powers, 
tactics, and modus operandi right before the battle begins. And I'm sure 
Minako appreciates the way that everyone else gives her gentle reminders as 
to which side they on and what their powers are. Otherwise, she'd probably 
be telling Makoto to scan the enemy for weaknesses while Ami pins it down 
and keeps it busy. Which just couldn't help but end badly.

	"Wait a minute," Minako interjected, "what was that about a Flirt
King? Go back to the part about the Flirt King."

	...she didn't hear *any* of the rest of that, did she?

Minako: "Was there more? Sorry, must have gone selectively deaf again. I 
swear, everything else was just a bunch of elevator music to me...."

Rumour has it that he's so picky he'll only date the most
beautiful and glamourous girl in the school, so of course every girl is
just mad to go out with him so they can prove that they're better than 
everyone else."

	Seiji:  "HOW THE HECK DO THESE RUMORS GET STARTED!?!?!"

Most people figure it's his sister Yayoi doing everything in her power to 
make his life a living hell. Since she can't be around all the time, we're 
assuming that she has arranged for other people to cover for her in her 
absence.

Yayoi is a very... interesting... girl. Usually, I just try to picture her 
as a strange blend of Kodachi Kuno and Nabiki Tendo, and that works 
surprisingly well for her.

The look was only spoiled by his pointed goatee
and the dragon tattoo that coiled along his jawbone and perched atop his
right eyebrow. Nothing he had tried had been able to make either flaw go 
away, to his eternal frustration.

	What, no razors?

Razors don't help on that beard. He can't get rid of it, no matter what he 
tries, because it is a permanent mark of his true nature. The facial tattoos 
that he and Xiang Yao have are something a little similar, but those were 
neither natural nor by choice. Those are permanent brands, and they are not 
*supposed* to be concealable.

In ancient China, it was once the practice to mark people who had committed 
serious crimes, like murder, by placing a tattoo on their face. They were 
usually then exiled to another land. I believe the technical term for it was 
"ci pei".

She had been freed because he had
needed someone who would murder what he wanted, when he wanted, and not 
care about any of the paltry details.

	Yabbut, she's probably going to murder who he *doesn't* want, when it's 
not convenient for him, and *those* are details *somebody* should care 
about.

This is possible, but the only person in the whole dimension that Radanthus 
might be worried about her killing would be Fei Lian, and Fei Lian has The 
Box to use as insurance. Aside from that, the worst she will do is draw out 
the Sailor Senshi, which just means that she will be able to kill them when 
they show up. Sure, they might get Xiang Yao first, but at the very least 
she will keep them busy and maybe even manage to get one or two before they 
defeat her.

Xiang Yao is *totally* expendable to Raddy. She's a raging serial killer 
with no concept of morality or honour. You don't leave someone like that 
hanging around when you're done with them.

They didn't look particularly special in any
way. Certainly no reason for Fei Lian to look like somebody had shot him 
in the gut.

	Ohhhhh ho.  *Now* the earlier comments about Maya's new figure make 
plotilogical sense.

Fei Lian has been worried since the second he put Touma and Makoto inside 
that box that they might find a way out. Now he sees someone who looks 
vaguely like her (keeping in mind he only ever saw Sailor Jupiter, and that 
was in the middle of a dark and stormy night). Going by how this guy's mind 
works? He's going to assume that she got out of the box, just like he 
feared. And that the Archer is somewhere nearby setting a trap for him.

	"Transformed, she may be, but no magic shall hide from me my
rival!" Fei Lian vowed, and a sudden flare of energy burst from his body.

	Now, y'see, *this* is the problem with hiring obsessed monomaniacs to do 
your dirty work.  Sure, they're easy to manipulate, cheap, and not much 
concerned with collateral damage, but they're just too easily distracted.

Yep, between Fei Lian and Nise Suiko, Radanthus is not necessarily working 
with the most easily controlled of minions, here. I'm not even going to 
start with Jadeite: he still hasn't openly sworn allegiance to anybody, and 
the only reason Radanthus brought him back was to serve as a fall guy.
Then there's Xiang Yao, who as mentioned is a pscycho, and Badamon. The less 
said about Badamon, the better.

"Ready, I am! Concealed, he cannot hope to
be! Before me, you shall bring him!"

	Well, I think their mission just went down the toilet.  Come to think of 
it, what *was* their mission?

(sighs) This one is my fault. I had a scene in the fic where FL and XY 
recieved their orders from Radanthus to go to the Hikawa Shrine and kill all 
the priests, but it got edited out because the chapter was getting too big 
and the scene was largely extraneous. I forgot, of course, that it was where 
they got their motivation from. >_<

And if you're wondering why Raddy would give an order like that: remember 
how I made a big deal earlier about how Mamoru Chiba was dressed like one of 
the shrine priests?

He would force her to reveal his enemy's location. He would use her to 
draw the Archer out of hiding!

	He will soon look like a Complete Idiot.

And not just because of his dorky hat, either. ^_^

She was no interest to him,
anyway - it was the Sailor Senshi he wanted. Gripping his spear eagerly,

	Oh, bog, the IRONY.

The important thing to remember when writing a villain is that he does not 
know everything the writer does. Or even everything the audience does. Fei 
Lian is a very powerful adversary, but he makes some critical mistakes.

Don't forget, Nephrite was originally convinced that Naru Osaka was secretly 
Sailor Moon. ^_^

She did look
a bit different, but he was all too familiar with magical disguises.

	This coming from a guy who can't *do* one.

Right - he's assuming hers will be as bad as his. ^_^

magic in the world could conceal those long legs and that statuesque
figure; there was no doubt that she had to be Sailor Jupiter.

	Makoto:  "I'm... kinda flattered, in a nauseous sort of way."

LOL! ^_^

	Hey! It's Thor and Val Hallen!
	No, wait, that'd only work if the broom was an axe.

Yuuchirou: "This... is my BROOMSTICK!" >_<

	So, we know where Yuuchiro and Motoki are.  That leaves Mamoru, and we 
know where he's *going* to be...

Mamoru: "Anywhere there be ladies, my good man. Anywhere there be ladies."

	"Yeah, so if you want to hurt Maya, you'll have to go through the
three of us first!" the other boy added, hefting his hammer and pointing 
at the youma with it.

	3?

They haven't noticed Mamoru's convenient disappearing act yet.

Motoki: "Hey, where *is* that Clark Kent fellow? I could have sworn he was 
here just a second ago..."

	"Forget him, man!" the other boy with the shaggy hair replied
angrily. "We just gotta deal with this creep ourselves! Gramps, you get
Maya somewhere safe - we'll keep the guy in the hat busy!"

	If Gramps is close enough to talk too, then wouldn't there *be* three of 
them?

Should mention Yuuchirou raising his voice, here - Gramps is actaually a bit 
farther away and behind them. In earshot, but not close enough to be seen as 
one of Fei Lian's opponents. Actually, I believe he was hiding behind some 
rubble. ^_^

	"Yuuchirou! Motoki!" he called out, looking down at the two men
still crouching on either side of him. "Get the girl and get out of here!"

	"Whatever you say, masked man!" Yuuchirou agreed, saluting

	Cue:  "1812 Overture."  (That *was* the Lone Ranger's theme music, wasn't 
it?)

I believe it was "The William Tell Overture" that was the Lone Ranger's 
theme (and Captain Tylor's, too). The "1812 Overture" is the one that uses 
heavy artillery for a percussion section. ^_^

As they began to hurry back towards the temple, he gave Tuxedo Kamen a 
suspicious look, then shook his head and ducked indoors

	Uh oh.  Motoki smells a rat.

Motoki: "Yeah, it's dressed in a tuxedo and knows me by my first name...."

They clashed in mid-air and thunder rumbled from the
clear afternoon sky. A thick bank of clouds rolled in from nowhere,
casting the entire temple into darkness.

	Hmm.  Fei Lian's powers at work?  Or something else?

Fei Lian's powers at work. One of the fun things about some of these guys is 
that their powers sometimes affects the world around them. It's like they 
carry their own pathetic fallacy with them wherever they go. ^_^

**********

	Seiji looked up at the rapidly darkening sky and groaned. Every
time any of them tried to go anywhere....

	"Sky gets dark: Evil Attack in Progress.  Sun goes down:  Evil Attack in 
Progress.  Surprise Tax Audit:  Okay, different kind of evil."

Like I said earlier: Seiji suspects *any* change in the status quo as being 
part of an evil Dynasty plot. He's a very suspicious and cautious 
individual, which might explain why he is one of the harder of the Samurai 
Troopers to fool for any length of time.

<snip!>

every time he tried to throw one of his roses, Fei
Lian would just deflect it back at him with a gust of wind,

	Huh.  Normally, Mamoru's roses slice *through* most magical energies.  
FL's winds must be more elemental.

Yeah, Fei Lian is commanding actual winds here to blow the roses off-course. 
Powerful as they may be, Tuxedo Kamen's main armament is still a physical 
object, and projectiles that get caught in a hurriane-force gale pushing 
them in a different direction just do not fly straight.

Fei Lian is used to fighting The Archer. He is *very* good at deflecting 
projectiles, even magical ones.

Fei Lian struck, and Mamoru barely
weaved out of the way in time to tangle the youma's weapon in his cape.

	"Ole`!"

Glad to see you got the imagery right. That's prety much exactly what I had 
in mind. ^_^

There was a small explosion as the
rose hit one of the temple walls and vaporised, taking a large portion of 
the wall with it.

	No lightweight, our Tux.  His abilities are tilted in favor of agility, 
precision, and speed, but he's no pushover.

	Unfortunately, this looks like a situation that calls for a little more 
plain ol' brute force.

Yeah, the best way to deal with Fei Lian is to hit him as hard as possible 
and then repeat as necessary. He's just too fast and mobile to handle with 
finesse. Trying to match him in speed and precision just places the ball in 
his court and lets him control the flow of the battle. Fei Lian may not tire 
easily, but he's also not exceptionally tough. Hit him hard enough, and he 
will go down.

There was a loud crack as the walking stick met the youma's wrist, and
Fei Lian cursed loudly. Hopping back, the youma gingerly rubbed his arm
and hissed in pain.

	Tux is making a good fight of it, but he just doesn't quite have the 
firepower.  So what's taking his backup so long?

Minako has a very strong sense of dramatic timing. ^_^

That, and she was waiting for a chance to snipe the bastard. Right now he 
and Mamoru are in too close and moving around too much for her to get a 
clear shot with her Crescent Beam from up on that pillar she's crouched on. 
She only interjected when they had gotten some space between them and Tuxedo 
Kamen was clearly in trouble.

	...you know, if Tux could do that stick-extension thing that Goku used to 
in the older Dragonball episodes, this would be the *perfect* time for it.

Actually, Tuxedo Kamen *can* do that stick-extension thing. Most noticeably, 
he used it to help defeat the tennis youma in Episode 14. That episode is 
also known for being the first episode to feature Nephrite as the main 
opponent instead of Jadeite.

Oh, and he *does* use it against Fei Lian, but not until a little further 
down. ^_^

	A single light split the darkness, shining directly into their

	A SPOTlight, perhaps?  That what it sounds like.

Actually, it was a flashlight. Luna was hiding in the bushes with one and 
some red tissue paper for the cool colour-change effect later. It was the 
best they could manage on short notice. :)

A crimson ribbon
held her hair back, and the lenses in her mask glinted softly as she 
looked down at both men.

	Oh, that's what took her so long.  Couldn't decide which transformation to 
use.

Nah, she's still in full Venus gear - I think I remembered to mention that 
her fuku was orange and white. Sailor V wore a white top with short sleeves 
and red bars down the sides with a blue pleated skirt. Also, it is 
interesting to note that on Sailor V, the top and skirt of the fuku are two 
distinct pieces, as opposed to the one-piece leotard design that the other 
Senshi have.

Venus is just wearing her old V mask for dramatic impact.

I am the soldier of love, the pretty sailor-suited
warrior Salor Venus! The divine archer Shen Yi and his lover Chang O may

	<boggle>  Say WHA?!?  Did Minako hear his ranting about the Archer, or is 
something more significant going on?

Minako heard him ranting about The Archer (he was screaming about it when 
she was ducking into the trees), and she also heard him give his name, Fei 
Lian. Being Minako, and having access to all sorts of useless trivial 
information, she actually knows who Shen Yi, Chang O, and Fei Lian are. Of 
course, being Minako, she would rather use that information to show off in 
her introduction than actually gain some kind of tactical advantage. ^_^

light on her changed colour to become an angry crimson. "Dark and
cannister man, have at thee!"

	"Ano, I think you mean 'sinsiter,' Minako-chan..."
	(I've been watching too much Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome lately)

Of course, the *correct* quote would be "Dark and sinister man, have at 
thee!", the famous battle-cry used by Peter Pan in his battle with Captain 
Hook. But Minako rarely gets her quotes quite right.

In the original novel of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie mentions that Peter had to 
check with Wendy ahead of time before his battle with Hook to make sure that 
he wanted to say "sinister". He was convinced that the correct word was 
"cannister", and he was afraid he might look stupid if he said it wrong. The 
fact that Peter *himself* was almost guilty of it made it a Minakoism I just 
couldn't resist. ^_^

	"Not really," Tuxedo Kamen admitted. "He seems a bit cranky. You
go high, I go low?"

	"Sounds like a plan," she agreed, and the pair charged forward

	It's easy to forget they reall *are* professionals.

Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Venus more so than any of the others. These are the 
*old* guard, here - Minako has been dusting youma since she was thirteen, 
and Mamoru was the first partner Sailor Moon ever had. Of all Usagi's 
allies, these two are the most experienced and professional.

I know that Uranus and Neptune are *older*, but I seriously doubt they 
became Senshi almost two years before Usagi the way that Minako did. Most 
people place their asumption of power somewhere near the latter half of the 
"R" season. If nothing else, it helps explain why the Outer Senshi (who are 
specifically in charge of protecting Earth from *threats that come from 
outer space*), did not so much as bat an eye when Ail, Ann, and a big 
honking Doom Tree crash-landed in their backyard. I would have expected them 
to kind of notice Rubeus and his GIANT UFO MOTHERSHIP OF DOOM, too.

Senshi gripped her weapon firmly in both hands and leaned back,
pulling as hard as she could. The frame began to creak and sway, badly
weakened by the gales and damage it had suffered through already.

	"Argh!  Mina, not the--"

Too late, Mamoru. Minako has been trained by videogames: all destructable 
scenery is to be destructed. No exceptions. ^_^

Minako: "Don't worry, Tuxedo Kamen! I'm pretty sure there's a power-up in 
these crates!"

heroes fell, tumbling to the ground with Sailor Venus landing
on top of Mamoru, who wrapped his arms around her instinctively.

	<FLASH!>  One for the archives.

Archives? Man, Tuxedo Kamen was standing *behind* her, and she was facing 
*away* from him when they fell. Depending where exactly his hands went, you 
may be holding onto prime blackmail material. ^_^

	Just as Mamoru had feared, the pile of rubble was already starting
to quiver and make ominous rumbling noises as he and Sailor Venus took up
their positions on opposite sides of the collapsed platform.

	Not *directly* opposite sides, I hope -- that's just asking for a 
blue-fire incident.

Mamoru: (smoking) "You were supposed to shoot in the AIR. Everybody else was 
shooting in the AIR!"

Minako: "Uh... whoops?"

Sailor Venus gently kissed her gloved fingertips and
waved her arm in a wide arc, golden light trailing behind her hand 
orbiting her waist like a small comet.

	Oh, yeah, that's a *kiss.*

Hey, if you gotta go ANYWAY....

I'm just saying it beats having a tiara bounced off your forehead, is all. 
;)

She was dressed in a slinky black dress that was cut far too high to be 
completely decent

	Sug:  "with a hem far too high".  Or maybe "Cut far too high, and far too 
low"

Good idea. Will fix! ^_^

I thought I should introduce myself. I'm going to be the person who
murders you in your sleep, Sailor Venus. You, and all the rest of your 
little Sailor Senshi friends. It's my job, you see."

	Okay, that's a different kind of threat.

Effective, though. Like she says, she wants to introduce herself now so 
they'll know who did it later. The whole point of her threat is that they 
aren't going to see her coming, like they do most of their enemies. ^_^

<snip!>

Although I do appreciate the suggestion on how to work that scene with 
Mamou. I think I'll follow your lead on that and re-write a little to pump 
up the drama a bit.

	"You'd kill him just to distract me?"

	"Why not? Having no reason to kill somebody is no reason not to
kill somebody. Besides, he was starting to get annoying." Xiang Yao

	Ouch.  The SM crew really isn't accustomed to dealing with cold-blooded, 
rational sociopaths.

They've had a few, but most of their villains do trend more towards 
megalomania. Xiang Yao is not big on ranting or raving about anything - she 
just kills people because they are there and she has nothing better to do 
with them. That is not a behaviour that the Senshi are used to dealing with.

	"This doesn't look good," Luna said quietly, her ears flattening
against her skull as her tail drooped sorrowfully. "I've never seen a 
venom this toxic before."

	Seven minutes?  I'm pretty sure there are snakes around that are more 
toxic than that.

A few. Some spiders, too, but not many.

Then again, if we assume that the venom has to overcome his magical 
defenses and his (manga-canon) healing powers, it makes more sense...

That was more of what I was getting at. Tuxedo Kamen is a very tough 
individual, and he does not go down easily. When he is transformed, he is 
well above the peak of health, and posion always takes longer to effect a 
healthy individual than one who is already weakened. The fact it dropped him 
right away says a lot about its effectiveness.

He was clad from head to toe in a sleek suit of emerald and ivory armour 
that gleamed coldly in the gloom
of the courtyard. "Sorry I'm late: looks like I missed most of the fun."

	SEIJI!  WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN!?!?

He was running here from the other side of town, man! He showed up as fast 
as he could! ^_^

	...wait... that means he didn't see the V/Venus thing.  Oh, just great.

No. No, he did not see that particular thing. ^_^

and a shaft of sunlight fell onto his
shoulders, causing his shaggy mop of blond hair to glow with a

	His hair?  So, he's just in his undergear?

Yep, he's just in the undergear - hence my reference to his "sleek suit of 
emerald and ivory armour" above. Seiji's full Korin armour may be a number 
of things, but it is not sleek. The undergear is what they wear for speed 
and agility. The full yoroi is saved for when they need to tank.

A bilous green mist began to pour from Tuxedo Kamen's
body, dissipating as it swirled towards Seiji and came in contact with his 
burning golden halo.

	Oh, we have *got* to get him and Sailor Saturn together to compare notes.

Actually, we've got a fair number of healers on the side of Good. There's 
Seiji, Hotaru, Mamoru (manga-canon, as you said), and Naaza (from the 
Masho), too. I'll bet once they all started comparing notes and working 
together, there would be very little that they could not patch up.

And the best part is, they all serve equally useful purposes in combat! 
Hooray for the Fighter/White Mage multiclass! ^_^

<snip!>

Juvenile delinquents, he had explained. Causing public disturbances in one
of the nearby wards. No decent descriptions of the children, but they had
been seen in their school uniforms. After that, people had fallen all over
themselves helping him figure out which school in Juuban used that exact
style of uniform so that he could track down the guilty children.

	Uh oh.

Like I mentioned back in the other reply, Jadeite can be very subtle when he 
wants to be. He knows people, and he knows how people react to things. He 
got a good look at three girls in school uniforms who transformed into the 
Sailor Senshi. Now he knows which school two of those girls came from.

every file came with a photo, and Jadeite knew exactly
which faces he was looking for.

	Okay, he's only ever seen Ami, Usagi, and Rei.  And Rei goes to school 
somewhere else.

Ah, but Jadeite doesn't *need* to look for Rei. Jadeite and Rei go way back 
to Episode 10 together, remember? He used to live in her HOUSE. >_<

There was no doubt who he was really looking at: he would have
recognised that stupid hairstyle anywhere. This was his darling Rei's 
little blonde friend from the airport - Sailor Moon.

	Gah!  That's right, he already *knows* about Rei!

See? Now you remember. Good old Jed. I'll  bet Rei can't *wait* to see him 
again. They have so much to discuss... like that time he tried to run her 
over with an airplane, or that time *she* tried to run *him* over with an 
airplane....

Reaching up, he quickly adjusted his wig

	Wig?  No disguise pen, then?

Nah, just a dark wig, some makeup to darken his skin, a false moustache, and 
a fake accent. Jadeite actually never seemed to use magical disguises so 
much as subtly altered himself to blend in to the surroundings. Basically, 
he was really good at playing dress-up and knew the first trick of perfect 
disguises: People don't actually look too closely at you if you act like you 
belong there.

There was no
point maintaining the disguise: he never used the same identity twice, 
anyway.

	A field general, *and* has a decent grasp of intelligence tradecraft.  I'm 
beginning to think that his time on ice has restored some of his IQ.

The scary thing is that most of this is stuff he was always doing, even back 
in the old days. Remember, he was able to take over an entire amusement 
park, run his own radio show, start up a personal fitness centre, and 
infiltrate several different stores in the shopping district (I can think of 
a jewelry store, a pet store, and a clock shop, in particular) without 
drawing any attention to himself or arousing the suspicions of the local 
authorites. Heck, half of the time even the Senshi didn't catch on to what 
Jadeite was up to until it was almost too late.

	Rising to his feet, Jadeite extended one hand and curled his
fingers. At his mental command, a shimmering black portal appeared under 
the prone man, swirling and burbling with the formless matter of the space 
between spaces. The portal rose, quickly swallowing the man, and then 
disappeared with a soft popping sound.

	Oy.  This actually caught me by surprise.  I still have a tendency to 
equate "professionalism" with a reluctance to off innocent bystanders.

Sometimes "professionalism" means not leaving any witnesses behind to blow 
the whistle on you, too. The last thing Jadeite wants at this point is some 
well-intentioned teacher wondering why a strange man was going through their 
students' files. Or worse, figuring out which students Jadeite was checking 
on and warning their families, just in case he was some kind of perverted 
stalker or something.

Jadeite is usually pretty quick to abduct people, actually. Heck, in Episode 
10, he warped Rei right out of the Hikawa Shrine and straight into the DK 
for catching on to him. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it 
hadn't been for those damned crows....

The last thing he wanted this early in the game was for
any of the Senshi to know he was coming. Especially not when he had all of 
their friends and loved ones held so close to his heart.

	Oh, crap.  So much for being an 'honorable soldier' -- Jed's going for 
hostages... or worse.

There is nothing in the Dark Kingdom's "Big Book of War" that says it is 
dishonourable to have an advantage over your opponent. If anything, they 
encourage it. ^_^

	Killing people was easy. Hurting them? That was an art.

	...yeah, he's going for worse.

Safe bet. ^_^

Well, with that we reach the end once again, my friends. Time for me to go 
to bed and get some rest so I can get to work on my next chapter. Thanks 
again for writing, and rest assured that I will be taking most of your 
suggestions to heart. Hopefully I was able to answer at least a few of your 
questions, and hopefully the next part of my fic will answer a few more. And 
generate whole new ones to replace them, of course. ^_~

Later!

-Morgan



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