Onto chapter three! Although I managed to get this chapter done quickly, don't expect following chapters to be done quite so speedy. I managed to get this done so fast largely due to Spring Break, but with school restarting this week I won't have nearly as much time. Special thanks goes out to Davner, Bremmi, Makoto-, Strikestwice, Veggitto, Ssedrey, DarkSong, WillZ, Angie and any others I forgot for their help in pre-reading this fic. Sailor Moon is the property Naoko Takeuchi, Koudansha, TV Asahi, Toei Douga, Mixx, Pioneer Entertainment and DiC, and ADV. All original characters and concepts are my own and belong to me. Sub vs Dub guide Earlier translations can be found at the start of chapter 1. Naru = Molly Yuuichirou = Chad Rei-chan = What Yuuichirou wishes Rei was to him ^_^. Again, a term of affection like explained previously, but he obviously doesn't call her this normally since they are not together. I still thought when portraying his thoughts, however, that he would think along these lines. Rei-san = When "-san" is added to a name, it's usually done so as a sign of respect. The closest English translation it has is "lord" or "lady," though it isn't as formal as "-sama." Yuuichirou uses -san here as a sign of respect to Rei. Please send all comments and criticisms to cav@wpi.edu . (Looks at chapter title.) Sweet! I've got a new admirer! Should we tell her? Tell her what? What's he like? Well... the person's tall. Ooo! And blonde... OOO!!!! And has deep green eyes. Great! I can't wait to meet him! Shouldn't we tell her about... NO!!!!! Sailor Moon - Rifts Chapter 3: The Cat and the Mouse! Minako's New Admirer! The dimly lit corridors of the underground compound were always incredibly depressing to Kuroki. His armor was gone, now wearing a simple green shirt with black pants. It was rather simplistic for his normal tastes, but he saw no reason to try for anything more colorful that would clash with the dull atmosphere of the place. As he walked down the passage, thoughts of the conversation he had just had and the battle fought just before that were echoing throughout his mind. His brain was awash with thought. So much had happened so quickly after a seamlessly endless period of nothingness. He sighed as he thought of the bright, picturesque images of the city. They were bright, colorful images that the young warrior was already missing the presence of. As he reached the end of the hall, he pressed a button on the side of the doorway and peered into his living quarters. The room before him was lit better then most of the rest of the place. It was an incredibly dull residence; ceiling, floor, and walls all of unpolished gray stone. They weren't allowed to carpet or tile the floor with the dampness of being underground. Two dressers lay in the northern part of the room. There were two beds, one each against the left and right wall. Drab Green blankets covered gray sheets. The only things that broke the monotony of the room were the colored covers of the books contained in two brown bookcases in the northern right and northern left parts of the room. On the bed to the right, a woman was lying on her stomach, reading one of the books. She had dirty blonde hair, which she wore down for a casual look. A red vest and black pants covered her trim, athletic figure. The vest was tied around her waist with a green belt. When she stood she was about five foot ten, and she complemented her outfit with a pair of golden cat earrings. "It's such an incredibly romantic story," the woman sighed, closing the book she had been reading. "I can't believe you enjoy that rubbish," Kuroki said, looking towards her with a disappointing gaze. The blonde gave him a stare with her bright green eyes. "You really have no heart." Kuroki softened his look and raised his shoulders. "I just don't think that a great writer like this William Shakespeare should've wasted his talent on a trashy romance novel." "You just don't get it, do you?" the girl asked, sitting up in the bed. As she got up, the buckle on her belt was revealed displaying the cat-like symbol of the Noble House Shishiza. "And what's so great about this story? Everything conveniently falls into place just perfectly so everything can go wrong, the characters aren't exactly original, and there isn't much of a plot to speak of." As he pointed out his criticisms, he walked over to his bed and sat down. The girl let out a snicker. "I could point out the same things about most of what you read. You just don't enjoy romance stories." Kuroki looked at her with a glare. "I happen to like romance stories when they're well written!" His remark caused the blonde to fall onto her back, bursting out laughing. "Oh please, Kuroki. I know you better than that by now." "Hyoko," he chastised her. "I know, I know," the woman teased, standing up and jumping onto the bed next to him. "Can't see yourself as Romeo?" He looked away from her and rested his head on his hand. "That isn't important." "Then what's bothering you?" she asked as she moved herself behind him. Kuroki sighed. "I don't like being stuck here." Hyoko wrapped her arms around him. "I know. Do you really think I do either? At least you have your books." The blonde man grimaced at her. "And don't you enjoy those too?" A snort came out of the girl. "You picked them all! The only reason I found one book I liked in there was because you came to the assumption after Hamlet that everything that Shikspere guy..." "Shakespeare," he corrected her. "... Wrote, for some reason, would be excellent in your eyes." "But," he said turning his head to face her. "I just assumed the man who wrote something as brilliant as Hamlet had enough taste not to write that." Hyoko looked at him with a bright smile. "You need to get out of here even more than I do." Kuroki pushed the woman off of him and stood up. "I happen to enjoy..." "Reading, painting, fighting, blah, blah, blah," the blonde woman said in a mocking tone. "You're about the most boring man on the planet; counting you know who!" "That's harsh," Kuroki put with contempt. "If I hear you give one more 'warrior speech,' even I'm going to go insane!" she said, throwing her arms in the air. "I knew you'd understand," Kuroki sarcastically spoke, and then started to storm towards the door. "Would you wait a second!" she motioned him to stop. Kuroki turned to stare into her eyes, which had a look he absolutely hated to see; she was about to interrogate him. "I know you have something on your mind. What is it?" He paused for a moment, and then breathed in deep. "I didn't find what I was looking for in my battle with Endymion." She laughed. "Of course not! You knew ahead of time he doesn't have that kind of power anymore." Kuroki sighed. "But... I saw someone who might." Hyoko rolled her eyes. "Is that how you measure people? I saw the video of the Skirt." "She was even more impressive in person." Hyoko grinned wryly. "Getting a little crush?" The blonde man's face twisted, turning beet red. "It's nothing like that!" he defended himself while waving his hands frantically. A fit of laughter erupted from the woman. "Of course not! It's not like you have a clue what to do with a woman! You'd rather just stay down here and play with your own sword!" "Thanks for the image," he frowned. Kuroki turned and got ready to leave again. She let out one more laugh, then stopped and smiled. "You really do need to learn to ease up. So what do you want to do about it? Just wait until you run into this woman again in battle and challenge her?" Closing the door, Kuroki let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know yet. I want to learn more about her first; more then what documents and computer files can teach." "Well you're not going to learn that sitting around this dump." Hyoko smiled mischievously. "I've got an idea!" Kuroki walked over to her anxiously. "What?" "Well I'll tell you about it on the way to speaking with the 'big man.'" Sighing, Kuroki reached out his hand. "Come on," he said. Taking her hand, Kuroki helped her stand. She put a hand on her hip and grinned at him. "You'd never make it without me." Kuroki knelt before the man in front of him, awaiting a response to what Hyoko had just proposed. Beside him was that very requester, similarly kneeling. "This is a rather strange request," the tall man said as he looked away from the pair, towards the giant crystal in the center of the room before him. "And are you sure there is no personal investment in the matter?" "Of course there is," Hyoko blurted out. Kuroki groaned, knowing his friend was never very good at knowing how to properly negotiate what she wanted. "But that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea anyways." The tall man turned and looked down at her with a half smile. "You were always the frank one, Lieutenant Hyoko." She smiled up at him. "I prefer it to cheap attempts to kiss the proper butt." The blonde man practically whimpered, thinking she was going to get him into trouble. He was surprised when the man before him started to laugh. "You will never make a good politician with that attitude." He turned fully around to directly face them. "Nevertheless, your proposal does make sense. It would be wise to increase scouting on the Senshi and you can do that more easily if you are in the city than here." The man switched to a more serious tone. "However, I hope that your personal interests are not getting in the way of your duty. Do remember what our true purpose is." Kuroki breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, M'lord." "And don't worry, I'll take care of him," Hyoko said as she stood up. The tall man stared at her more seriously. "Lieutenant Hyoko, do remember that, as the head of your House, the honor of your entire family name is at stake here. You are not to allow any harm to come to him. As such, you will enter combat against the Senshi in the next battle." The blonde woman nodded her head. "I look forward to it," she said, smiling in anticipation. "No killing," he reminded her. "At least, not yet. The game has merely begun, and it would be incredibly dull if you were to end it this early." Hyoko snorted in disdain. "As you wish. It's not like any of them pose a threat." A scowl came from the tall man. "Do not underestimate them. Although they may not pose a threat now, they do have the potential to. And if you choose to not realize that, you are bound to suffer the fate of their prior opponents. Although we want them alive for the time being, we cannot afford to fall prey to the same mistake others have in the past." The blonde waved her hand. "Don't worry!" Kuroki stood up and looked at her with a bit of a glare. She smiled back, trying to ease his concern. "Kuroki, I need to speak with you alone," the man said. Giving Hyoko a look, she nodded to him and walked down the corridor. When she had left, he turned to see that the tall man had once again turned towards the crystal. "I hope things are going well between you and Lady Hyoko." Kuroki looked down sadly. "Of course, M'lord." "Do not take this lightly," he said in a disciplining tone. "You know how important the children you two will bear is for our people." The blonde man hid his emotion behind a stern gaze. "I know this well." "I hope you take this opportunity to improve your relationship with her.. Do not look down upon the importance of this duty. You know from being in your position how vital this is, and you will respect that importance." The man remained calm. "I understand completely." "You are dismissed." Kuroki stood up and turned to walk down the corridor. The sadness in his face surfaced as soon as he turned from the tall man. *I know all too well.* Wiping the sweat from her brow, Rei loaded the last box of flyers into Mamoru's car. "That's the end of them," she hollered to Mamoru, who was carrying a box down the shrine steps containing hammers, staplers, tape, and boxes of nails. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he placed the container into the car and turned towards her. "You ready?" Rei nodded and started to walk around to the passenger side of the car. When she was about ready to open the door, she heard someone call her name. Turning to look at the top of the hill, she saw Yuuichirou running down the steps. "What do you want?" she shouted up to him. Yuuichirou bent over to catch his breath when he reached the bottom of the stairs. "I thought you'd need another hand putting up signs." Rei narrowed her eyes. "And you just felt the sudden urge to do extra work?" The man looked at her with a hurt expression on his face. "I'm only trying to be of help!" he protested. A half-smile came from the Shinto Priestess. "Miracles will never cease. Well I guess we could use the extra hand." Yuuichirou smiled, then got into the back of the car. As soon as everyone was in, the three sped off. Hyoko plopped onto the couch of her new apartment and stretched out. "Oh God, this was such a great idea!" she exclaimed. It had been three days since she had managed to get permission to move out of that dump, two days since they had finished moving in, and now she just felt like relaxing. "And I have to thank the good doctor for giving us a credit card to buy all the stuff we need." She reached over to the table and pressed the power button on the Playstation she had just acquired, grabbed a controller, and fell back to her previous position. Kuroki took a can of soda out of the fridge and walked into the living room. "Don't get too relaxed. We have to start scouting the Senshi soon." "Yeah, yeah," she said, not paying him any heed and guiding the small brown creature to jump over the pit. The man shook his head in frustration. He paused for a moment when he heard a strange sound. Turning, he saw a blue energy orb floating through the window, stopping in front of him. "All right, Hyoko; time to go." A rather large glower was directed towards him. "Can't you do it by yourself?" Sighing, he walked over to the table and pressed the power button on the Playstation. "Now let's..." he started to say, when he was smacked in the forehead by the game controller. "Asshole!" she shouted, hopping up from the couch. "Never turn a game off on me!" Rei sighed as she finished nailing yet another sign to a tree in the park. To the others, Usagi's friends were taking the natural route to help find a missing friend. In reality, it was nothing more then a cover. Each of them knew in their hearts this wouldn't help in the least if the new enemy that had appeared were really behind Usagi's disappearance. What troubled her most was she had yet to see any visions pertaining to what had happened to her friend. Those very lifesavers that had helped her out in the past were not forthcoming when she needed them the most. Tonight she planned on several long hours of meditation to see if anything would appear. She just had to find something. "Is that you, Rei?" a voice spoke from behind her. The raven-haired girl turned to find Usagi's friend Naru standing there. "Oh, hello, Naru," she said. "How goes it?" "Okay, I guess," the redhead answered. "Has there been any word about Usagi?" she asked. Rei shook her head sadly. "Nothing whatsoever." She and the others knew that Naru was Usagi's friend long before they came into the picture, and had a feeling she wouldn't be taking this well. Naru sighed sadly. "I thought so." Making an attempt to cheer up the girl, Rei put on a smile and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll show up soon enough. Once people see these signs it's only a matter of time." As she spoke, she handed the redhead one of the missing person posters they had been distributing. The white sheets of paper had a black and white photo of one of Usagi's more cheerful face shots, with a contact number for the Hikawa shrine. The redhead looked up at her and tried to put on a smile. "Can I help pass these out?" "Sure," Rei responded, reaching into the bag she had been carrying and handing the girl a stack of the posters. "I'm sure Usagi will appreciate it." Yuuichirou, meanwhile, was busy putting his own set of posters up. Although he didn't tell Rei, he felt the need to help her out. Usagi had always been one of the few people who believed he and Rei would one day be together, and that had meant more to him than the blonde klutz would ever know. He wanted to comfort Rei in her time of need, but she always seemed to be more annoyed by his presence then anything else. He sighed as he finished taping the sign up on the shop window. Smiling, he waved his hand at the owner, thanking him for allowing him to put the sign up and moved down the road. Three years had gone by, and Rei-chan still looked at him the same way as she always had. The toll of time was really hitting him. What more could he possibly do to gain the affections of his beloved? Looking down at the posters, a worse thought entered his head. *What if Rei-chan gets kidnapped next?!* In all his worry over Usagi, he hadn't even considered it! *It could be a serial killer who's after all of Usagi's friends!* The image of Hannibal Lector putting a screaming Rei-chan into the oven appeared in his head. *Or it could be a cult holding virgin sacrifices to their Pagan Gods!* Another image surfaced, this one of Rei in a white dress on an altar getting a knife driven through her chest by an oddly dressed priest. *What if it's a giant tentacle monster?!* The image of said giant tentacle monster, about to ravage the poor helpless Rei-chan, materialized, but was quickly beaten out of his head when a super-deformed Rei started to beat him with a tiny broom. "I have to protect her!" he shouted. Hyoko and Kuroki watched as the longhaired man ran off in the distance. "Aww, isn't that the sweetest?" Hyoko cooed, impressed by Yuuichirou's heroism. Kuroki scoffed. "That idiot couldn't protect himself, never mind another." The blonde woman stuck her tongue out at the man. "Meanie." "This does give me an idea though," Kuroki thought as he watched Yuuichirou leave. He turned towards Hyoko and smiled. "Take care of this one," he said, handing the woman the energy ball similar to the one that had formed the previous monster. "And what exactly am I supposed to do with this?" she scowled. "Well, he said to attack Sailor Mars, so just find Rei Hino and make it look like a random attack on something nearby." He handed her a small device. It had a computer screen on it, blue frame, several knobs on the sides and buttons underneath the picture window, and was held by a handle sticking out of the bottom. "You should be fine." Hyoko glared at him as he jumped off the roof of the building, down into the alley. "Let's see," she said, playing with the device. "Oh, here we go!" The screen focused on an image. "Ha, this girl gets attacked so much nobody will notice the difference!" she said with a smile, looking at the redhead who was standing near Rei on the screen. Naru started to walk away from Rei when a raven flew down the trees and landed on her shoulder. "Oh, a cute birdie!" she exclaimed as she looked at the bird. Rei turned to see the raven on Naru's shoulder. "Hey, looks like you got a friend," she smiled, walking towards Naru. The raven suddenly turned, looking directly at the Shinto Priestess. "Nevermore," the bird spoke as its eyes turned yellow. As quickly as she could, Rei dove to the right as an energy beam shot out from the raven's eyes, hitting the ground behind where she had been standing. "Damnit! I always hated Poe!" Naru screamed and dropped to her knees, causing the raven to fly off its perch on her shoulder. It flew up into the air, then turned around and dove towards her. As it hovered, its eyes began to glow again. Rei ran towards the frightened girl as quickly as she could and wrapped her arm underneath the girl's. "Come on!" she yelled, helping her to her feet, and then bolted with her away from the raven. Instead of firing where they had been, the winged menace swooped down and began flying towards the two, firing in the direction they were running. The two girls fell to the ground quickly, Rei covering her head as the bird flew over them. Hyoko smiled as she watched the display. "I knew that stuffy old book would be good for something," she complimented herself, having gotten the idea for the monster's form from one of the books in Kuroki's collection. "Now to wait for the others to show." "Split up!" Rei commanded Naru, who nodded quickly in response. As the pair of girls broke away from each other, Naru ran left, while Rei took the right. The black- haired girl ducked behind a tree and opened up her communicator to contact the others. Minako's face appeared a few moments later. "What is it, Rei?" she asked. "We've got a monster in the park! It attacked Naru!" she hollered as she tried to remain hidden from the bird. She looked out from behind the tree to see if she could spot it. "Why the hell do they always attack Naru?!" the blonde yelled through the communicator. "Maybe she's the long lost Sailor Proxima?" Ami chirped in. Maybe she has a 'kick me' sign on her back in some monster language?" Minako joked. The two began to giggle in the background. "Would you two quit it?! Don't you know there's no actual explanation for that mystery?! Now contact Mako-chan and get down here as quickly as you can!" "Well Mako-chan's at her apartment, so she won't be able to get there for a while," Ami stated. "But Minako and I can be there in five to ten minutes." "Fine, fine!" Rei barked at them. "Just move it!" With that, she closed the communicator and prepared to take out her transformation wand. "Rei-san!" she heard someone yell, causing her to panic and quickly shove the wand away. She turned to see Yuuichirou running towards her and groaned. "Get down!" she yelled at him. Yuuichirou dived towards her, just barely avoiding the raven, which had been flying directly towards him, and crashed into Rei. The two of them both went crashing into the tree. "Ow," he moaned, shaking his head. "Rei, are you..." he started to ask, when he gasped at Rei, who had hit her head on the back of the tree. Her eyes looked to be spinning. "Rei! Oh god! My poor Rei! I've killed her!" "You idiot!" she yelled, punching him as she got to her knees. "What the hell are you trying to do to me?!" "I'm sorry!" he cried, holding his hands defensively in front of his face. "Well, be more careful. That thing's liable to..." she started to say, when Yuuichirou jumped forward, tackling her. She was about ready to kill him, when she saw the raven fly over their heads. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her. His face was only a few inches from hers. Rei started to blush. "I'm... fine," she said with a startled expression. Shaking off the effect, she smiled at him. "Thanks." Yuuichirou stood up, and then helped Rei to her feet. "What the hell is that thing?" "I don't know," the girl said innocently, trying to act ignorant. "We have to find Naru and..." "Help!" a scream came from the left of where Yuuichirou and Rei stood. Their jaws dropped when they turned and saw the raven, which was now about twenty feet long from wingtip to wingtip, picking up Naru with its claws and starting to carry her up in the air. Yuuichirou picked a rock off of the ground and looked at the avian. "I'll take care of this." "Yuuichirou, get back down!" she ordered him. The man was completely oblivious to her words, and ran forward to a good throwing position. "Take thyself from off my chamber door and bother us here no more!" he commanded the giant bird. Rei sighed and took the opportunity to duck behind a tree. "Quoth the raven..." "Nevermore!" the giant bird squawked, firing a beam at Yuuichirou. The man managed to throw the rock, and then tried to jump back to avoid the beam. He was half- successful. Instead of hitting him directly, it hit the ground near him. The impact threw him backwards to the ground, knocking him senseless. Meanwhile, the rock managed to hit the bird in the face, startling it and causing the winged menace to drop Naru to the ground. The Shinto Priestess blinked as she saw the redhead fall to the ground, and then run as quickly as she could away from the battleground. "He actually did something useful?" she questioned nobody in particular. She was even more surprised when she caught herself smiling, almost giddily. "Stop that!" she chastised herself, then took out her transformation pen. "Mars crystal power, make up!" she cried out, swirling herself around in a blaze of fire, replacing her clothing with the battle fuku of Sailor Mars. Sailor Mars ran out from behind the tree and looked up at the bird, which was getting ready to finish off Yuuichirou. "Halt! Pretty Soldier Sailor Mars will not forgive those who disrupt the peaceful afternoon of innocents! In the name of Mars, I chastise you!" The bird turned its eyes towards her and let out an energy discharge. Mars dived to the right, landing on the ground and bolting back up. "Burning Mandala!" she shouted, swinging her arm around in a circular motion to summon the fireballs around her and releasing the projectiles at the bird. The raven quickly elevated itself, flying above the incoming assault and started to dive towards the girl on the ground. Rei blinked. *It's incredibly quick!* she thought to herself, getting ready to dodge. When the raven was about twenty feet away from her, she quickly jumped to her left and managed to get out of the way of the monster. Rei planted her feet in the ground as she finished rolling, then turned around to see the bird getting ready to change course. She took the opportunity to brace herself, then shouted "Mars Flame Sniper!," pulling her hand back and letting loose the fire arrow. The bird quickly dodged to the right, and started to lunge towards her again. *This is bad!* Rei panicked, and once again got ready to dodge. "Venus Love Me Chain!" she heard to her right, turning to see Sailor Venus standing there, launching her golden chain outwards at the bird. The raven flapped its wings and flew backwards, managing to avoid the chain. "Venus!" Mars yelled out to her in relief. Minako ran towards her comrade and helped her stand. "Damnit, that thing won't stay still," the blonde sulked. Rei nodded. "Where's Mercury?" "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" came a cry from behind the bird. Mars and Venus turned to see their comrade's harp hurling ice shards at the giant creature. The raven, unprepared, was hit in the back by the ice lances. "Good work!" Mars praised her partner. Mercury smiled shyly and blushed from the compliments. She only had a moment to savor the feeling, when the bird turned towards her and squawked. "It barely even phased that thing!" Venus cried out in terror. "Watch out Mercury!" Rei warned her. But as Ami retreated, she tripped over a stone and fell backwards. Mars and Venus started to dash towards her, but the bird was almost ready to strike. Mercury held her hands over her face, expecting the worst, when she heard the raven shriek in pain. She looked up to see a rose sticking out of its left wing. She looked upward to see the masked man standing on a branch in the tree. "Tuxedo Kamen!" Mars yelled out with relief. The well-dressed man looked at the bird. "Nature does not..." he started to say, when something hit him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground, causing him to land face first and get knocked silly. The others began to sweatdrop. "That's... never happened before," Venus spoke nervously. A woman appeared where Kamen had been standing. "Damn pretty boy. Would you just shut up and come off it?" she said, wiping her hands in satisfaction. The woman wore black silk clothing in a one-piece, skintight outfit. A red sash was tied around her waist, and a red cat-like symbol was on the chest of the shirt-portion of the outfit. She had black gloves, light metal armbands and shin guards, and a black cat-like mask covered her face. The only part of her that could be clearly made out was the blonde hair, which was curled up into loops on each side that curled into pigtails. Mamoru picked himself up off the ground and turned towards her furiously. "Pretty boy?!" "Um... Tuxedo Kamen..." Rei tried to interject. "Do you honestly think I want to listen to ANOTHER of your boring speeches?" Although half of it was hidden behind the mask, the normally calm Mamoru Chiba's face was growing quite ugly, as he became angrier. Reaching into his cape and grabbing his cane, he leaped up towards the tree and swatted at the girl. The woman smiled mischievously and dropped herself downward, grabbing the branch of the tree as she went. She came around and kicked Tuxedo Kamen in the small of his back as he landed on the branch, causing him to fall forward and once again land face first on the ground. She gracefully landed on the branch as she came around, smiling. Mercury looked at him nervously. "Um... Tuxedo Kamen..." Kamen began to push himself back to his feet, laughing almost insanely. "Tuxedo Kamen?" Rei asked worriedly. "I'm going to kill her!" he yelled; picking up his cane and turning towards the branch, readying himself to strike. However, to his dismay, the woman wasn't there. "Come and get me!" came a mocking cry from a tree about a hundred yards from where Mamoru was standing. He looked at the woman with rage, and then started to chase after her. Sailor Mars groaned. "Why does he have to act like this now?" "I'm going with him," Venus said, dashing in the direction the two had left. "Be careful!" Mars cautioned her, but didn't have much time to make her statement as she saw the bird coming towards her. She dropped to the ground and covered her head as the raven swept over her. A lone drop of water fell to the ground as Ami began to spin around. "Shine Aqua Illusion!" she cried, launching a deluge of water towards the monster. The raven flapped its wings and managed to fly above the water, causing it to shoot right past it. "This isn't working, Mercury" Rei said to her friend. Mercury nodded nervously. "There has to be some way of beating this thing." Increasing her pace, Minako slowly closed the gap between her and the man in front. Jumping to the left to move out of the way of a tree, she breathed heavily from running so fast. The woman they were chasing was incredibly fast, leading them through the park towards some unknown destination. Putting on as much speed as she could, the blonde managed to catch up to the masked man. "I hope you're not planning on doing something stupid!" she shouted to Tuxedo Kamen. "I've calmed down," the man retorted, portraying the dead seriousness of the role he always tried to act. "Really?" Minako questioned him suspiciously. Mamoru smirked. "Well... no. I want to hurt her. Badly." Sailor Venus smiled. "This cat's got you all worked up. This is a first." The girl jumped athletically off the ground, onto a branch in a tree up ahead, then turned to face the two. "That should be far enough," she said, smiling down at them. Venus stopped in her tracks and tried to catch her breath. "Who are you?" The woman laughed. "Can't you think up more interesting questions than that?" Mamoru took out his cane and glared at the woman. "What would you suggest?" Crossing her arms, she looked smugly down at her prey. "How about 'why did you lure us away from the battle?' Oh wait, if you were already stupid enough to abandon your friends to chase after me you're probably not smart enough to think that one up!" Minako growled at her. "Mars and Mercury can handle themselves!" "Excuses, excuses," she said with a yawn. "Now, how about a little bit of exercise." Crossing her arms over her chest, the woman concentrated. A yellow glow formed over her hands, growing brighter then dissipating, materializing slowly into two objects. When fully formed, two claws were attached to the woman's wrists. The blades on them looked to be about a foot in length and incredibly sharp. Jumping off the branch, the woman landed twenty feet in front of Mamoru. Dashing towards him, she reached out with her left hand towards his chest. Mamoru brought his cane up to block the punch, but when he did she lowered the right half of her body and brought it underneath his block, bringing her fist up in an uppercut. Kamen deflected the left fist quickly and fell to the back left to avoid the swipe. "Venus Love Me..." Minako started to recite. "It's not polite to interrupt!" the woman yelled, throwing something out of her right hand towards the blonde. Venus dropped to the ground, abandoning her chant, to avoid the incoming attack. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned to look at the tree. The sight of a trio of throwing stars embedded in the bark caused her eyes to go wide. Tuxedo Kamen took the opportunity to throw a rose at his female opponent, aiming towards the hand that had thrown the stars. The woman slashed at it with her left claw, and then ran towards him. She dropped down, swinging around and attempting to sweep his feet out. Kamen jumped over her legs, and barely managed to duck under the other foot, which had quickly come around the other way, trying to kick him in the side of the head. Using the extension abilities of his cane, the end shot out towards the woman, who swiftly dodged to the side and jumped at him with her right claw extended, aiming for his head. Retracting the length of the cane, the masked man quickly ducked and brought his cane around to hit her in the side as she came flying downward, knocking her to the side. The blonde woman grinned as she hit the ground, getting to one knee. "Well, you're not all talk after all," she smiled. "You're not so bad yourself," Mamoru complimented her, getting back into a fighting stance. "All right, then let's see how good you really are!" The woman dashed towards him. Planting his feet in the ground, Mamoru prepared himself for another attack. Bringing her left arm downward, she swiped upward with the claw, which Mamoru managed to duck. With her right hand, she did the same, pushing the cane upward. Mamoru managed to block the two claws, but was unprepared when she quickly kneed him in the gut. He fell backward in pain. Thrown off guard, the woman took the opportunity to hit him in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick, sending the man flying to the ground. Mamoru rolled to his side as the woman flung herself at him, left claw aiming at his throat. As she landed, Mamoru extended his cane to hit her at the knees, but she managed to jump over it. A glow formed in her hands, materializing another set of throwing stars, which she threw towards where he was on the ground. Kamen rolled to the side again. As he was turning over, he tossed a rose at the woman. She tried to dodge, but shrieked in pain when it hit her in her knee. The woman reached down and broke the stem of the rose, taking it out of her knee except for a small part of the tip still stuck in her skin. She growled and started to limp forward, looking ferociously at the man who had thrown it. "That hurt, you bastard!" Tuxedo Kamen got to his feet and smiled. "Most women appreciate a handsome man giving them roses." "Too bad, I'm not most women," the woman said, setting herself up for another attack. She smiled, then suddenly darted around and launched a blast of energy with her right hand, followed by series of shurikens with her left. The target had been the blonde woman, who had been sneaking up from behind, and preparing to attack. "Venus!" Mamoru shouted in warning, but was too late. Minako was caught completely unprepared, thrown backwards by the energy blast into a tree that was behind her. The four throwing stars connected at her gloves and bottom of her skirt on the right and left side, pinning her to the bark. Minako pulled with her arms and legs, trying to move from the tree. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself from where she was pinned. Tuxedo Kamen looked at his opponent with a new sense of worry. "I told you to stay out of it!" the woman yelled at the trapped blonde. She smiled evilly at Mamoru. "Well pretty boy; aren't you going to save the helpless blonde? Isn't that your purpose on that little team?" Kamen stared at her with fury, preparing to strike with his cane. Running, he slumped himself forward and attempted to bring the cane in an upward motion at the target. The woman jumped up in the air, over his head, and aimed a kick right at his face. Mamoru brought up his cane to block, but when he did the woman brought her left foot underneath to catch the cane and fell backwards, causing the cane to be flung from Mamoru's hands and send him tumbling forward. Landing on her back, she braced her legs and flipped the man over her head that was stuck in the forward motion. Landing on his back, Kamen swung around and prepared to defend himself, but was greeted by a boot to the face as he did sending him tumbling backwards. The man groaned in pain as she watched the woman hobbling towards him. He couldn't believe that someone who was showing such an injury had just pulled a series of moves like that. The woman smiled at him, and then brought her foot down in his gut. Mamoru grimaced in pain and grabbed his stomach, turning half over onto his side. She smirked at him, and then started to walk towards the blonde stuck to the tree. Venus struggled against the shurikens as she saw the woman approach her. She quickened her breath, panicking as she realized she couldn't free herself. The woman stopped right before her, a smile on her face that could be seen through the mask. Minako looked down as she saw the claws disappear from the woman's hands. Bringing a hand up to raise her mask, the pig-tailed girl lifted it, revealing the gentle features of her face. Minako looked at her fearfully, gazing into the woman's smiling face. Her bright green eyes stared into hers, causing her to squirm fearfully. The woman finally reached forward with her right hand and placed itself under Minako's chin, lifting it up to cause the blonde to have to look at her. The woman's eyes penetrated Minako's, gazing deeply into her. "The name's Hyoko," she purred. The action that followed was something that Minako never saw coming. Her eyes shot open as the woman's head moved closer. She proceeded to put her lips around Minako's and shoved her tongue down her throat, locking them in an extremely passionate kiss! Venus found herself just staring blankly at the woman, completely shocked at what was happening. After a few moments, Hyoko released the kiss and just stared at Venus, grinning from ear to ear. "And THAT is so you won't forget it." Venus's expression didn't change from the same stupor it was in as she watched the woman turn around and run off. When her brain finally started responding again, the single prominent thought that had been going through her head flowed out of her lips. "WHAT THE HELL?!" "Shabon Spray!" Mercury yelled. The bubbles flew into the path of the raven, catching it and momentarily halting its motion. Taking her chance, Sailor Mars positioned herself. "Mars Flame Sniper!" she cried out, letting lose another fire arrow at the overgrown bird. The arrow hit directly in the raven's chest, causing it to scream in pain and hobble a bit as it flew away from the spray. Mercury sulked. "We're only damaging it. Killing it at this pace just isn't going to happen." Mars nodded. "Well, when Jupiter gets here she can finish it off with that new attack of her's." Ami looked at Rei nervously. "Yeah... but I think we should figure out a way to beat this thing by ourselves." The raven-haired woman turned her head slowly towards Ami's and looked at her with intent to harm. "Mercury... Jupiter is coming... right?" Sweatdrops formed on the back of Mercury's head. Rubbing the back of her head with her hand, Ami nervously spoke, "Well... actually... no." "You idiot!" Rei screamed, ready to cause bodily harm to her comrade. Mercury began to back up slowly. "We have to beat the bird now. Can I defend myself later?" Sailor Mars growled. "You better have a damn good explanation for this. So what do we do?" Ami looked up at the bird, which was staggering in its flight. "I guess we keep hitting it." "That isn't going to work," Rei scowled. "It'll outlast us in a battle of stamina." "Well... you could always try beating it up like Jupiter did to the last one," Ami suggested. Sailor Mars groaned. "Oh, that's right; I'm suddenly a brilliant martial artist!" she snapped at her friend. The blue haired girl looked at the raven. "Well if one of us can't do it alone, maybe the two of us can combine strength to beat it." Rei looked at her in thought. "It's worth a try." Positioning herself, the pair lined themselves up to attack the bird. "Ready?" she asked. Ami nodded back. "Burning Mandala!" "Shine Aqua Illusion!" The fire and water attacks launched towards the bird, striking it directly in the chest. Screaming out in pain, the shear force of the combined projectiles sent the raven flying backwards into a tree. Falling to the ground in a heap, there was no movement in the bird for a number of seconds. Mars and Mercury hoped it would be enough, but watched in disappointment as it came back to life, squawking in anger and flapping its wings, levitating itself back into the air. "It's no good," Ami whimpered. "It's just like we're hitting it with two attacks, at the same time. The force we would need to beat it with would require something more powerful." Mars looked at her confused. "Meaning?" "Combined power," she said. Mars looked at the raven, which was getting ready to strike again. "The only combination attack we've ever used is Sailor Planet Attack and we're three members short for that." Ami looked at her hopelessly. "You see the problem." Rei turned to stare at the bird, getting ready to dodge, when she noticed something strange. The eyes of the bird were glowing, not the bright yellow they had before, but with white light. "What's going on?" she asked her companion. "I don't..." Ami started to reply, when the white light shot out from the bird's eyes towards the pair. Mesmerized by the brilliant glow, neither moved from the path of the blast and were consumed in the energy. Mars didn't understand why, but she felt incredible warmth in the energy surrounding her. *Is this what Mako-chan described?* she said, thinking back to what her friend had said about her previous battle. The light began to dissipate, leaving the two-startled Senshi standing there. "Are you all right?" Ami asked nervously. Rei nodded back at her. A thought formed in the back of her head. "I know what to do. "Wait, Mars!" Ami protested, but felt something in the back of her mind tell her it was all right. Sailor Mars stared at the giant bird, which was barely able to even keep itself in the air now. She began to spin around, flames swirling in her wake. "Mars..." she started to recite, the flames following her and moving to her hand to form a fireball. "Flaming..." she continued, reaching up to her tiara and pulling it from her head. She spun around one final time, watching the tiara absorb the power from the fireball in her hand and transforming into a circular, flaming object. "Chakra!" she finished the chant, letting loose the holed disc at the raven. Flapping its wings, the raven attempted with all its remaining might to dodge the projectile. Before it could even levitate an inch higher, the chakra slammed into its right wing. The raven screeched as it tried to support itself with one wing now, unable to effectively use the wing that was hit. Rei caught the chakra, which transformed back into her tiara, and put it back on her head. "You're up next," she motioned to Ami. Sailor Mercury walked up a position besides Rei. Relaxing herself, she reached down with both hands, her right going down to her chest and her left down to her waist. "Ice..." she started to chant, feeling arctic winds swirling in front of her. "Bolt..." The wind collected in her hands, forming a crossbow made entirely of ice. Bringing the crossbow back and aiming it at the raven, she felt a lone water drop fall into the bow's chamber, charging it. "Bombardment!" Pulling back the trigger on the bow, a dozen ice bolts were flung from the device towards the raven. It attempted to elevate itself above the salvo, but the shear number of projectiles was impossible to totally avoid. Its left wing went limp as seven of the bolts connected with it, sending it to the ground. "We got it!" Rei yelled triumphantly. "I don't think..." Ami started to warn her friend, when an energy beam flew between the two of them. They turned to see the raven attempting to get up again. "I don't believe this!" Mars screamed in frustration. "Just die already, will you!" Mercury sulked. "The animal rights activists would have a field day with us if they heard you say that." Rei growled at her, then looked at the thing slowly hovering in midair. "Well it's almost dead. How do we finish it?" Ami pondered the question. "We need to hit it with a combined blast at the right moment." An idea popped into Mars' head. She thought back to how Yuuichirou had managed to strike the raven with the rock when it had been occupied firing at him. "We need to time it for right when it fires." "That's rather dangerous," the blue-headed girl said worriedly. "It'll be all right," Mars tried to reassure her. As she positioned herself for the attack, an image formed in the back of her head. Turning towards Mercury, she saw that the girl was also rotating to look at her. "Did you just see that?" Mercury nodded. "I guess it's worth a shot." The shorter girl fell to one knee. Rei walked behind her, reaching her arms out in front of her partner. "Shimmering..." the two girls chanted together. A blast of arctic wind formed in Ami's hands, while fire formed in Rei's. "Steam..." The ice crossbow materialized in Mercury's hands, and the flame longbow in Rei's. But instead of being two separate weapons, they were interconnected at the middle of the two bows. Rei pulled back with her hand, forming the fire arrow in her bow, while water dropped into the ice bow forming the ice bolts. The energies in the bows began to mix, growing more powerful. Blue danced with red, forming a swirling energy storm. "Wait for it..." Ami cautioned her friend. The raven's eyes began to glow again, readying to attack. Rei sweated, nervously waiting for the exact moment to fire. Energy circled in the eyes of the raven, about ready to dart out. "Now!" Ami shouted. Rei glared at the raven. "Nevermore!" she shouted. "ILLUSION!" the two girls cried, completing the chant. Energy exploded out of the combined bows, flying towards the raven. The white-hot energy of the raven's eye blast similarly fired out towards the two Senshi. The two energy streams collided in midair, pushing against each other in a fierce battle. "Come on..." Rei said, putting all her energy into the attack. "A little bit more," Ami struggled to say, reaching into herself to tap every last reserve of energy she had left. Blue, red, and yellow mixed at the epicenter of the energy waves, forming a strangely beautiful sight. Two great forces pressed against each other, forcing all three combatants to reinforce their attacks. The raven squawked, feeling its blast starting to be pushed back by the tremendous attack of the Senshi. Ami bit back pain from straining herself. She winced, putting everything she had behind the attack. The raven let out a scream, finally feeling its attack failing against the incredible force and watching the blue-red energy fly towards it. As it struck, the blast encompassed the entirety of the bird, causing it to start glowing. White light grew brighter, temporarily blinding the two Senshi and forcing them to look away from the explosion. When the glow subsided, they turned to find nothing left of their opponent. Sailor Mercury was on both knees now, breathing heavily; sweat pouring from her body from the strain of the attack. "We... we did it." A bright smile formed on her face. "We did it!" she shouted in joy again, turning to hug her comrade. Mars, who had fallen to her knees in exhaustion, smiled at her as she embraced her friend. "God that thing was tough," she said, trying to regain her breath. The blue-haired girl let go of Rei and nodded. "Well, your strategy did work but it isn't exactly wise to go toe-to-toe in that fashion with something that powerful." "It was the only way to be sure," Mars said, getting to her feet slowly. She reached down with her hand to help Mercury up. Ami reached up and took her hand. "Thanks," she said. "Where is she?!" a scream came from the right of the girls. The two turned to see Naru standing there, fuming. "What... what are you talking about?" Ami asked nervously. "What happened to Usagi?!" Rei's eyes went wide. *Did she know?* she pondered. "Um... I don't know this Usagi..." "Don't act dumb with me!" Naru retorted. "Where was Sailor Moon? Huh?" "Well... she's busy somewhere else today..." Mars tried to fib, but didn't do a very good job of it. "Would you like an autograph, little girl?" she asked nervously, trying to change the subject. "I don't want your stupid autograph!" she snapped back. Rei squinted her eyes, angered by the girl's reaction. "Stupid autograph?! Listen here! I happen to be just as important to this team as that crybaby is! She couldn't even give you a decent autograph! Her cursive looks like the doodles of a five year old!" "Where is she?!" the girl asked again. "I told you I don't know this Usagi person!" Mars shouted back. "Stop lying to me!" the girl said, practically on the verge of tears. "I've sat by for three years, never asking her because I knew if Usagi really wanted me to know she'd tell me. But I've known for some time, in my heart, that she was Sailor Moon! She's my friend too! She was my friend long before she met whoever you are! And I want to know what happened to her!" Mars and Mercury looked at each other nervously. "Mercury... tell her what she needs to know," Mars spoke reluctantly. "But..." "Do it!" the raven-haired girl shot out. "She has a right to know. I have to go help Yuuichirou." Ami nodded, a rather shocked look on her face as she watched her friend run towards the fallen man. She turned to face the redhead, appearing nervous. "Come with me." Mamoru got to his feet, still writhing in pain from his fight with the mysterious woman. He clenched his teeth, bent over, and picked up his cane. Standing fully, he started to limp a bit as he looked for any trace of his opponent. "Where did she go?" he asked softly in pain, hoping to get some sign of her presence, but received no answer. As he rotated around, trying to find her, his eyes came upon the sight of Sailor Venus, still stuck to the tree, looking down at the ground. "Sailor Venus!" he cried, running towards her as hastily as possible. The girl refused to look up at him when he reached her. He pulled the shurikens out of the bark, freeing her and allowing her to move again. "What happened?" he asked. Minako gave no reply, only looking down at the ground. She reached up with her hand and touched her lips as she walked forward, straight past the man standing nearby. She finally halted her motion, her body shaking with anger. "Are you all right?" Tuxedo Kamen asked from behind. "I'm fine," she answered softly. The masked man was puzzled. "What happened with her?" "She ran off." Mamoru sighed in disappointment. "I'll get her next time." Slowly, he started to approach the blonde. Moving closer, he extended his hand and placed it on her shoulder. "Minako..." he started to say. "NOTHING HAPPENED!" she screamed as she reached back with her fist, punching the man in the stomach almost on reflex, sending him to the ground. As he lay on his back, his eyes were spinning as his body spasmed. Venus looked down at him with a shocked expression. "Tuxedo Kamen! I'm so sorry!" she apologized, bowing to him. She looked around nervously. "Um... I have to go!" she blurted out, scurrying away from the dazed man. "Ov course I pwasn't wooking at ter, Usako," Mamoru's dazed form spoke out, his brain not quite responding properly as he felt the effects of Venus's fist as he squirmed on the ground, appearing half-dead. To be continued... And thus we end chapter three. Please send all comments and criticisms to cav@wpi.edu Omake! The following is an alternate ending to the last season of Sailor Moon, Stars. You can probably tell how I feel about that season after taking a look at this ^_^. Be warned, there are a couple of spoilers. Enjoy! *Alternate ending for Stars season* (laughs) Now, I will kill you all! (Sends blast towards Starlights.) AHHH!!!!! (Scream as they are struck by the blast and killed.) (blinks) Um... weren't you guys supposed to jump in front of that and sacrifice your lives for them? Pfft! As if! Why the hell would we die for those S&M porn rejects?! All they did was steal our screen time! It's payback time! Get her! Wait! AHHH!!!! (Screams as the Senshi run towards her and start to beat her up!) Use your shoes! (Takes off her boots and starts to beat Galaxia with them.) (Hits Galaxia in the face with her boots.) I'll teach you to write me out of the script! Like I'd ever run away from a monster! Not the face! Not the face! (Whaps Galaxia with her heel in the side of her face.) Oh shut up! Like I'd ever like those she-males! You never let us kill anything! We weren't even allowed to be in battle half the time! WAAH!!! This isn't supposed to happen! I'm supposed to single handedly save the day! (Feels someone tapping on her shoulder and turns around to see the Outer Senshi) Remember us? Um...hey guys... (Hits Usagi with her glaive.) YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE US ALL KILLED! DIE BITCH! Wait! I'm supposed to be the star! How did this happen?! (Watches from the shadows and laughs.) That'll teach that little whore to cheat on me with a she-male! (Continues beating Galaxia's dead corpse) I... (Crack!) am... (Crack!) not... (Crack!) a... (Crack!)... walk-... (Crack!) on... (Crack!) role! Stop! Please! (Unsheathes sword.) Oh, this is just starting! We still have the entire secondary cast to go! They want to say "thanks" for having them written out of the entire season. (Hits Usagi with her staff.) (Looks back to see Yuuichirou, Naru, Motoki, and others with various weapons.) NO!!!!!!!!