The sky over Vulcan's City was black and the air was 
thin and cold.  Lights sparkled on the plains, but they were 
the fires of burning villages, a few scattered still functioning 
canal lights, or beasts that glowed with their own light.  Once, 
Mars had sparkled like a faceted gem at night, but now 
all the facets had grown dull but one.  Vulcan's City was 
the last stronghold of mankind on the entire world.  All 
else had fallen in three years of war.  

      	There was no one to come to their aid.  The Star 
Kingdom had fallen close to two decades ago.  The Moon 
Kingdom was laid waste five years ago.  The outworld 
colonies had all burned and been destroyed in a single 
month four years ago.  The dwarves of Mercury and the 
elves of Venus had vanished, shrouding their worlds and 
refusing outside contact.  Atlantis had sunk beneath the 
waves, and the rest of the Earth was in utter chaos, at 
best.  Even the Great Shield had withdrawn, now 
protecting only the Earth and the wreckage of the Moon.  
The Silver Compact was shattered.  

        The King and Queen were dead.  The royal family was 
gone.  The wreckage of the nobility squabbled over who 
would rule.  The people looked to the one person who 
stood above the conflict, the Elder Sailor Mars, who had 
been on Mars when the Moon Kingdom fell.  She was the 
last of the Sailor Senshi, both Elder and Younger.  

        Their faces haunted her.  The elder Neptune and 
Uranus had fallen somewhere in the outer planets.  Over 
half the Senshi had perished with the Moon Kingdom.  Both 
Jupiters and Mercuries had fallen, along with the younger 
Mars and Venus.  The Elder Venus had gone to Venus for help, 
and never returned.  Pluto had vanished, and the younger 
Uranus and Neptune...Mars had heard their final cries in her 
soul.  The hand of Saturn could be seen on the blasted wasteland 
that was once the Moon Kingdom, but she slept once more, Elder Mars 
believed.  

	Serenity had sent Elder Mars to ask for aid from Mars 
when attack from Atlantis seemed imminent, but she had 
arrived too late, and the help was too slow.  Too much 
of the fleet had been lost a dozen years earlier, and the
royal family had focused on other projects instead of 
replacing it.  Before the battle with the beast that 
destroyed the Star Kingdom, it had been little used anyway, 
so they had focused on merchant ships instead.  They had only
been able to destroy the last tattered remnants of Atlantis' 
etherfleet, the few pitiful survivors of Serenity's final 
stroke, from whom they confirmed that Serenity had destroyed 
Atlantis.  

        The Earth was cast into chaos, as floods, 
earthquakes, and unnatural winter descended upon the 
land.  They might have been able to help the people of 
Earth rebuild, but then the Things had returned.  Their 
vengeance was horrible.

	Mars stood upon the thousand-year old walls, walls 
which had until recently had only been a monument to an 
earlier age when the new colony on Mars had needed its 
defense against the Things that had hidden beneath the red 
sands when the Great Shield had been erected.  Now the walls' 
time had come again, but they were old and crumbling now, 
decaying with the rot of things that live past their time. 
They had repelled  the last five assaults, each one weaker 
than the one before.  It was a tiny sliver of hope, and she 
clung to it.  

        Three huge metal humans stood near her.  One was made of 
iron, one of gold, and one of silver.  There had been nine 
of them once.  Two were lost.  One was now on Earth.  
Two had been sacrificed in her recent battle upon the 
plain.  One had been possessed by a Thing and had to be 
destroyed.  They were the Golems, the great warrior 
automatons forged by Vulcan a thousand years ago.  Nine 
great warriors and craftsmen had merged with them, 
giving them a mind and a soul.  Iron was female, while 
Gold and Silver were male.  Gold was the leader now, for 
Marble had fallen in battle.  His sacrifice had not been in 
vain.  

        The Things had been led by one of the Great Old 
Ones, Lilliandror, the Spider-Queen.  She was dead now.  
Even she had not been able to stand before the power of 
the King and Queen of Mars, the great Hammer of Vulcan, 
the Armor of Mars, Mars herself, and six Golems.  She had 
corrupted one, poor Copper, who had to be destroyed, and 
Marble and Sandstone and the King and Queen had given 
their lives to destroy her.  With the Spider Queen's death,
her hordes had lost their leadership.  They roamed mindlessly, 
and many turned upon each other.

        All that remained now was to wait until Earth and 
Mars came into conjunction.  There were still too many 
Things to kill them all, but they could evacuate.  Flee 
with the remaining ships to Earth and begin anew.  The 
Great Shield would protect them.  

        During the last conjunction, a few ships had fled 
successfully.  the King and Queen's youngest daughter, 
Ninhursag, had been evacuated, and the young boy who 
would one day marry her, Duke Hammer's son, Enlil, and 
his twin brother Enki.  One of the last of the long-sight 
crystals had gone with them, and little bits of news 
dribbled back and forth.  They had found a new home, in a 
place where two rivers met and became one.  The land 
was warm like home.  The floods were a problem, but it made 
the land fertile.

      	At least we will be remembered, Mars thought.  She 
yawned.  "Keep watch and get me if another attack seems 
imminent.  I must sleep."  She yawned again.  "Farewell, 
brave ones."

        Gold smiled.  "Farewell, Brigit."

        The Elder Mars started.  "No one has called me that 
in years."

        "I remember the day they brought you to the palace, the
shock they all felt when for the first time in centuries, a
commoner became the Senshi of Mars.  We do not forget. Golems 
endure, and so do our memories."  His smile was peaceful, and Mars 
envied him.  How can they be so calm?  Nothing seemed to 
ruffle them, and even the death of the King and Queen had 
only affected them for a short while.  "I could recite 
conversations I had with Vulcan himself, but there would 
be little point to it."  He cocked his head for a moment.  
"Hmm.  Well, perhaps one conversation."  

   	Iron turned her head.  She was the tallest of the 
surviving golems, bearing a great iron wand, elaborately 
carved.  It was clear that Vulcan had a sense of humor, if 
a strange one, for he had made her to resemble a faerie 
queen, clad in an elaborate gown and a crown.  Nowhere 
else would you find iron cunningly forged to resemble 
lace.  "Upon the Crowning of his son.  Yes, I remember." 
She turned to Silver.  "If you will."

        Silver spoke with an ancient voice, one that Mars had 
never heard except in a single recording crystal that had 
cracked when played.  "You ask if this makes me sad, 
Gold?"

       	Gold said, playing the part of himself from long ago, 
"I do not understand why you must leave.  Your son  will make 
a good ruler, but you have many years left in you."

       	Silver replied with Vulcan's voice.  "Serenity is dead.  
Astra is gone.  Endymion has passed on as well.  Metallia 
will outlive us all, outlive even you my friends, but I 
shall never see her again, touch her face, feel her 
embrace, run from the lash of her tongue.  My friends 
have gone, and so must I."  The voice was sad, but calm.

        A look of pain shadowed Gold's face.  "So you seek 
death?"

        "It is not death I seek.  Not yet.  There is still much 
I want to do, but I need not be a king to do them.  I never 
wanted a throne.  To make, to build, to create, that is my 
pleasure, my food.  A king has little time to build.  There 
is much I must do while I still can.  And...I would not hold 
onto power too long.  Let Haephestus have the throne 
while he is still young, so that he will not grow bitter 
from waiting for it.  If we cling to something when it is 
time to move on, then it turns to bitterness for both 
ourselves and others."  Silver stretched his arms, then 
rubbed his back as if it hurt, though Golems feel no 
physical pain.

        Iron spoke now.  "We shall guard what you have 
made.  It shall endure forever, and we will never forget 
you."

        Silver's voice turned a little sharp.  "It will all be 
destroyed one day.  All my labors will be dust.  They will 
become only memory, and even memory will gutter and go 
out."

        Iron said, her voice tight, "No!  We won't forget you!"

        "Even you, my friends, will be destroyed one day.  No 
man, no woman, can make something immune to time.  If 
we believe our works are eternal, then we will always be 
disappointed.  But winter, the end of things, always gives 
way to spring.  There will be new creations.  New 
makings.  The old can be melted down to create the new.  
When times grow dark, my friends, remember that 
darkness never lasts forever.  I go now to my forge to 
make all the things of which I have dreamed these long 
years.  Perhaps Death will need a new scythe as well."  
He laughed.  "Good-bye, my friends, until we meet again."  
Silver fell silent, and changed in demeanor, becoming 
himself again.  

      	Iron said quietly, "I wonder sometimes, if he had 
some way of seeing the future.  He told us much, and it 
always came true."

     	Mars smiled.  "Thank you."  A massive yawn nearly 
knocked her off her feat.  "I think I must sleep before I 
return to this forge."

     	"Goodnight,"  Iron said.  That night, the last 
fortnight of Vulcan's City began.


*******************************
Naru:	I'm tired of always running
	I've grown tired of the night
	I wish I had some cunning,
	Had some power, had some might.

	We see a collage of Naru running from monsters, 
	grabbed by monsters, trapped inside big moss balls 
	by monsters, etc.

Sailors:	You don't need to keep on running.
		You don't need to fear the night.
		We can save you with our cunning,
		With our power, with our might.

		We see a collage of images of Usagi and the other 
		Sailors saving Naru and many other people from monster 
		attacks.

Naru:	I don't want someone to save me;
	I'd just like to save myself
	I don't want to be a helpless doll
	That must sit upon the shelf.

	We see Naru sitting at her window, looking out on 
	the starry night sky of the city.  One by one, lines 
	trace the constellations.

Pluto:	If you want to have the power
	You must reach into your heart
	Look inside to find your strength
	For that's where power starts

	We see Pluto holding out an eight-pointed star, 
	which hovers just above her hand.

*************

Sailor Moon Z:

Series Concept by Jeff Hosmer and John Biles
Primary Writer this Episode:  John Biles

Based on the Series Sailor Moon, copyrighted by a whole 
lot of people who aren't us.


Episode 17:  Rei Hino, Princess of Mars
             Who shall rule in Vulcan's City?

*******************

	Minako paused in mid-homework, thinking about other things.  Am I
acting more flakey than usual?  she wondered.  She'd had a lot on her mind
too much since this Elf business had happened.  Not to mention, every guy
in the school had suddenly decided to ask her out.  Why couldn't this have
been happening a year ago, she asked herself.  She was borrowing Usagi's
disguise pen so she could at least look normal, but she didn't want to
keep using it forever.

	The phone rang, so she grabbed it.  "Minako and Himeko's Secret
Base.  Dr. Aino, future world conqueror, speaking."

	"Hey, this is Ken.  Wanna go see a movie with me?"

	"Sure...ly not.  I've been dating someone for six months!"  I
almost said yes, Minako thought.  What is WITH me?  

	"You have?"

	"YES!  Thank you for calling, good bye!"  She hung up.  Steven's
gonna KILL me, she thought.

	There was a knock on the door.

	"GO AWAY!  I ALREADY HAVE A BOYFRIEND!" she shouted.

	There was a brief silence, then Derith said through the door, "I
think Hotaru would kill me if I asked you out.  But anyway, I came to
talk to you about your...problem."

	What's Derith doing here?  She opened the door a crack.  "Here to
cast more magic I didn't ask for on me?"

	He shook his head.  "No.  That wasn't MY idea."  He sighed.  "I
take it the glamour has already kicked in."

	She opened the door, then sat down on her bed and pointed to her
desk, where he sat down.  "Everyone sure seems to think I'm glamorous.
It's kind of flattering, but I...my brain feels funny."

	"You keep getting wild thoughts?"

	"Something like that."

	"The first thing you have to learn is how to look like a normal
human.  That will help, and it's easy to learn.  The disguise pen won't
stop your glamour at all...this won't entirely stop it, but it will help
some.  It's the first step in controlling it."

	Hotaru stuck her head in the door.  "Hey, you didn't wait for me!"

	"Well, it looked like you and Usagi were going to gab all day, and
since Sensa-san WILL wake up eventually..."

	"You put Sensa-san to sleep?"  Minako asked.

	"Yes.  It's a simple spell."

	"TEACH ME THAT ONE FIRST!"  Minako shouted.  "She...she's been my
Nemesis!"

	"Let's get you looking like you used to first; that's the most
pressing problem."

	Hotaru came over and perched on Himeko's desk.  "Make her look
like Sharon Stone!"

	Minako laughed.  "Okay, how do I do this?"

	"First, you have to clearly visualize your own face and what you
want to look like.  Then you just think about moving what you want to look
like over your face.  Generally, I sort of reach out and physically move
my hand as if I was putting a mask on, as a sort of concentration aid."
He demonstrated, bringing his hand around, and suddenly, he looked like
Mamoru.  "Ta da!"

	"Do Mel Gibson!" Hotaru said.  "Please?"

	Minako nodded, trying to ignore Hotaru's begging of Derith.  It
was easy to imagine her old self, but she wasn't entire clear on her new
self's appearance, and now she kept getting mental flashes of Mel Gibson.
Finally, she finished.  "How do I look?"

	Hotaru began to cackle.  Derith smiled.  "Not quite what you
planned, I think.  I suggest you try it with the mirror."  

	She went over and looked in the mirror, and realized she looked
like Mel Gibson wearing a long blonde wig.  "AAAAAAAA!!!!!"

	"Practice makes perfect.  Let's just try again," he said.

	Minako nodded and tried again.  And again.  And again.

	Far away, Mel Gibson began to wonder if he was coming down with a
cold.

***********

	Ami, Ryo, Noriko, Manami, and Yuki crowded around Yuki's TV along
with a good dozen other boys and girls from their dorm.  Channel 10 was
showing an 'Investigative Report:  The Sailor Senshi' special, just before
the TV premiere of the second Sailor V movie.  Minako would have been with
them, but she was watching it with Steven and Himeko and Daichi in
Daichi's room; Daichi's dad had just given Daichi a new TV.  A fair number
of the others were watching it at Makoto's apartment...that group was
pretty much Sailors and Auxilaries only.  Ami would have been with them,
but Noriko and Yuki had grabbed her and dragged her here before she could
join them.  

	"This is your On the Scene Investigative Reporter Masamichi
Kyoyama."  He was tall and handsome, with neat black hair and soft hazel
eyes, dressed in a nice suit and standing in front of the ruins of Mugen
Gakuen.  "This school was destroyed months ago in what the authorities
claim to have been a terrorist attack.  Or possibly a gas leak.  Or swamp
gas interacting with the planet Venus, depending on who you talk to."

     	"UFOs did it!" one of the people in the room shouted, and everyone
laughed.

	"But the locals tell another story, a story of demons erupting
from the school and a battle between them and the legendary Sailor
Soldiers, a much-debated urban myth whose existence is officially--and
repeatedly--denied by government sources."  He began to walk through the
ruins, which was being levelled and turned into a park.

	"Because they're idiots!"  Yuki shouted.  "Everyone knows they're
real!"

    	"SSSSHHH!!!!"

*******************

	Makoto ran back and forth refilling popcorn bowls.  She had quite
a crowd at her apartment.  All the Sailors except for Ami, Minako, and
Himeko were there.  Hotaru's boyfriend, the elf guy...Derith, was there,
along with most of the other boyfriends and hangers on (or as Steven had
begun to refer to them, the Senshi Male Auxillaries). It rather
reinforced the point that she and Rei were the ONLY senshi without a
boyfriend or girlfriend, and Rei only didn't have one because she was a
stubborn idiot.  If she doesn't get together with Yuuichiro soon, I'm
going to have to spank her, Makoto thought.  Or something.

	"While everyone claims to know someone who has been attacked by a
monster and saved by the Sailor Senshi, efforts to actually trace such
people seem to remain futile."  

  	Everyone turned and looked at Setsuna, who simply smiled and took
another handful of popcorn.

	"Cameras malfunction, film mysteriously disappears, witnesses move
without leaving an address...but now, today, I have the honor of revealing
proof that the Sailor Senshi DO exist and are not just a publicity stunt
by the creators of the Sailor V series."  

   	Setsuna winced for no discernable reason.  

	Haruka said, "So who did they get on film and when?"

	Everyone shrugged and many dunnos filled the air.  

        "Thanks to an enterprising young future journalist, one Hibino
Hikaru, I have the pleasure of bringing you footage of the Sailor Senshi.
In fact, not just of the Sailor Senshi, but evidence that two of them are,
in fact, as rumors have claimed, lesbian."

     	"Well, that answers THAT question,"  Makoto said.

        Michiru began to sweat, but no one noticed.  Yet.

	Haruka scratched her head.  "When would Hikaru have gotten footage
of the two of us?"

 	Rei's eyes suddenly widened, and she began to grip her seat to
keep from leaping to her feet and running screaming out of the room.

 	"Without further ado..."

	The film was in color and slightly fuzzy, though the view was
steady, and the camera technique showed some talent.  The first image was
of Neptune, gazing in adoration at someone who could not be seen on the
screen.  She was murmuring something, but the tape was mostly silent
except for a voice over by Hikaru.  "This is Sailor Neptune."

	"Gee, I thought it was Sailor Elvis!"  Haruka said, laughing.

	"Naah, it's Sailor Trixie gazing at Sailor Speed Racer!"  Makoto
said, finally finishing serving everyone and sitting down.

	"And this is Sailor Mars."  The camera swung over to Sailor Mars,
the view moving back to make it clear she and Neptune were gazing at each
other.  Mars was clearly enraptured by Neptune, unable to look away.

      	Michiru and Rei twitched as one, then Rei bent over and buried
her face in her hands, not looking up. "Noooo..." she whispered.

        Usagi reached over and patted Rei's shoulder.  "It's not your
fault you got shot with a love arrow."

	Haruka laughed.  "I'm glad I wasn't around...I probably would have
ended up in love with my car."

	The camera zoomed in on Neptune again, just as Sailor Mars ALSO
zoomed in on Neptune, hurling her arms around the aqua-haired Senshi of
the sea.  Their lips met and they plunged into the most passionate kiss
Hotaru had ever seen, and one of the most passionate any of the others had
ever seen.

	Haruka's eyes bulged, and her jaw dropped.  Makoto boggled.  Usagi
said, "Wow.  I wonder if we look like that, Mamo-chan."  Mamoru, wisely,
said nothing.  A few seconds later, Usagi realized she really shouldn't
have said that.

        Derith said, "Now that's a serious kiss."  Hotaru nodded.

        Rei curled up into a little ball and prayed for a mountain to fall
on her immediately if not sooner.  Michiru began to crush the arm of the
sofa she was sitting on.

	The kiss was broken off several times, and they clearly spoke to
each other.  Hikaru's voiceover said, "Unfortunately, we can't hear them
speak because some idiot tried to pretend my boom mike was a
transformation wand at the last TDDC meeting."

	Haruka continued to stare in shock, jumping visibly when Neptune
squeezed one of Mars' buttocks.  "Hey, you did that..."  Shock was
starting to turn into irritation.  Clearly, this wasn't so funny any more
to her.

	Usagi was starting at Rei.  "I...I didn't think you..."

	Neptune then began to run her fingers through Mars' hair.  The
only sound was a faint hiss and periodic mechanical scrapings.  Mars was
clearly enjoying it, and one of her hands was steadily coming up to touch
Neptune's left breast.

     	Tomoe-sensei and Derith both put a hand over Hotaru's eyes.  She
said, "HEY!"

	Rei didn't respond to Usagi, she just kept staring at the fabric
pattern on the chair, trying to blank out the universe.  How could I have
done that?  The love arrow was no excuse in her mind.  Not for betraying
those she loved.  

	I should have told Haruka before, Michiru thought.  But she had
been afraid of how her lover would react to knowing Michiru had kissed
another woman, choice or not.  And now from looking at her...  I'm going
to be sleeping on the couch, Michiru thought.

 	The two Senshi suddenly jumped away from each other as if they had
been bitten, both clearly crying out and then staring in horror at each
other.

  	Derith visibly started and lost his 'grip' on Hotaru's eyes, not
that there was much to be seen besides two horrified Senshi.  

 	Michiru glanced over at Haruka, who was clearly not a happy
camper.  "Minako dies,"  Haruka muttered.  Michiru feared Minako wouldn't
be the only corpse.

*****************

     	Himeko bigsweated.  "I can't BELIEVE she did this!"

     	Pokota nodded.  "Yeah, Neptune just isn't Mars' type."

	"I'm talking about Hikaru!  How incredibly...so...I mean...Putting
them kissing on PUBLIC TV!"  Himeko growled and got up.  "I'm going to go
break her camera into little bitty bits."

	Daichi grabbed her arm.  "Calm down.  I'm sure Mars and Neptune
will do enough damage to Hikaru without you adding to it.  Especially when
you don't have a reason to beat her up that won't make her suspicious."

	"She just...it's not even TRUE!"

   	"Yeah!  Let's go kick her ass!"  Minako announced, jumping up, but
Steven grabbed her.

	"The Dorm Mother already chewed you out for 'wearing Vulcan ears'
in violation of the Dress Code, Minako.  You want to get in MORE trouble?"
It wasn't just the ears either, Steven thought. When Minako forgot her
disguise--which happened a lot more often than either of them liked, given
the elvish tendency to scatter-brainedness--it was obvious that her face
had changed.  Her face was a little more angular, her eyes more almond
shaped.  It was beautiful, and he liked it, but now she was getting
attention that they didn't want.  Especially that he didn't want. Four
different guys had asked her out today when he was with her, clearly doing
the boyfriend thing.  He didn't like this at all.  He couldn't figure out
what was doing it either; only he could see through the glamour to tell
what she really looked like, he was sure.  But they seemed to find
SOMETHING different about her, which attracted them.

	Himeko and Minako sat down, both pouting.  Artemis said, "I'm
gonna hide under Daichi's bed for a few days until the smoke clears from
them killing you, Minako.  I hope you don't mind."

	"I was just...I mean..."  Minako pouted.  "It's not MY fault that
Hikaru got it on film!"

	"But it's your fault that it HAPPENED,"  Daichi said flatly.
"Take responsibility for the results of your actions.  No one made you go
on a shooting rampage.  And the Vice Principal had to save you."

     	"I'd like to have seen YOU do better!"

	"Given the Vice Principal had to save you, I probably COULD have
done better," Daichi said hotly.

        They soon had a proper screaming match in progress.

*******************

	"There we have it."  They had cut back to the reporter.
"Conclusive proof that two of the Sailor Senshi EXIST and are lesbians.
This leads, of course, to a variety of speculations.  More on this after
a few words from our sponsors."  The show cut to an ad for 'Kimco Pocky',
which seemed to consist of people running around in their pajamas,
attacking each other with brooms.

	Yuki shook her head.  "What a crock.  Mars and Neptune ARE not
lovers.  Those idiots didn't even mention all the love arrows getting
fired around campus by Sailor Venus, which is why it HAPPENED!"

	Noriko said, "Me and 'mi-chan missed the whole thing."  She
smiled, and Ami felt an incredible pang of nervousness.  She still
couldn't remember ANYTHING which had happened after Noriko had shown up.
And Athena was dead silent.  Normally, she would have been pleased by
this, but it seemed like a bad omen.

	"So why do you think Sailor Venus DID that?"  Manami asked.
Everyone turned to Yuki, as they all knew she was the dorm's 'Sailor
expert'.  In fact, several people suspected she WAS one of the Sailor
Senshi.  How else could she know so much about them?

	"She was possessed.  I saw her Bow change into this HUGE snake
that was so tough none of her attacks worked on it!  Then Vice Principal
Yamamoto attacked it with his sword and drove it off!"  Everyone who had
not witnessed the fight looked at her dubiously.  "It's true!  I guess
he must have some serious spiritual power," Yuki said.

     	Many of the other students laughed at that.  Then the TV finished
the commercials and the report came back on.  "Indeed, this footage will
likely further a variety of rumors about the Sailor Senshi which have had
some circulation for some time now, such as the rumor that Tuxedo Kamen is
actually a crossdressing woman."

        Yuki stared mindlessly, her brain cells clearly blown.  "WHAT?"

       	Ami began to laugh.  Mamoru is going to die at that, she thought.

	"Indeed, they may ALL be lesbians, which would support the
crossdressing Tuxedo Kamen theory.  It's clear that 'he' is romantically
attached to Sailor Moon by all accounts, but it may be that we're really
dealing with a CONCEALED lesbian relationship here."

	Yuki began to pull her hair.  "This is the biggest pile of hooey
since they opened Tokugawa's tomb!"  Manami restrained her before she
could render herself bald.

 	"You know, I bet the Sailor Senshi are pulling their hair out too,
'mi-chan,"  Noriko said.

   	"I think you're right,"  Ami said as the man on the TV wandered
further into completely unfounded but titillating speculation.

*******************

	Usagi put a hand on Rei's shoulder.  "It's not your fault, Rei.
You couldn't help yourself.  We know that."

	Rei flinched, jumped to her feet, and simply ran out the door.
A second later, Usagi was on her feet.  "Come on, Mamo-chan!  We have to
stop her before she does something stupid!"  She dragged Mamoru out the
door before he even quite knew what was going on.

	Rei had vanished into the hallways of Makoto's apartment building
by the time Usagi and Mamoru reached the hallway.  Usagi looked around
frantically.  "You go left, I'll go right!" she shouted, and ran off,
trying to follow the sound of Rei's footsteps.  Mamoru ran off the other
direction.

  	With effort, mostly due to the speed acquired in years of
running across town to save Usagi, he managed to keep up with the
footsteps, which led him up a staircase several stories to the roof, 
where he found Rei hugging herself in the chill night air and staring 
out across the city.  

	She didn't notice his approach, probably too busy crying.  When he
put a hand on her shoulder, she nearly fell over the edge, but he caught
her.  "Rei-chan, what are you doing?  We all know it wasn't your fault you
kissed Michiru.  I'm sure Haruka won't be too happy, but..."

	"I shouldn't have done it!"  Rei shouted.  "It was WRONG!"

	"It was Minako's arrow that made you do it."  He wondered briefly
which of several possible ways of interpreting her second sentence was
what she had meant.  "No one is angry with you, Rei-chan."

      	"Don't call me that," she hissed, pulling away from him.  "I
don't...I don't deserve that."

	"Rei-chan, you haven't done anything wrong.  Why are you so..." he
wasn't sure what the right word was.

	"I almost...And now everyone's going to think..."  She shuddered,
and tried to run past him, but he cut her off.

        "Rei-chan, stop running away.  No one is angry with you.  I know
it's humiliating, but we're your friends.  Usako is very worried about
you, running off like that."

	She stared at the ground.  "My love was too weak," she whispered.

	"I saw what happened.  You stopped yourself.  I don't think ANYONE
else overcame the arrows by themselves, but you two did.  Your love was
strong."  He wanted to do something for her, but he didn't know what.
They had dated once, and though her feelings for him had been stronger
than his feelings for her, he cared about her and didn't like to see her
hurting.  "Your true feelings were stronger than magic."  He took her hand
and squeezed it reassuringly.  "Come on.  We've got to find Usako before
she falls off a fire escape or something."

      	"You really think...that my love was..."

    	"Your love is a fire within you," he said.  "You're not the Senshi
of Fire for nothing."

	"Thank you, Mamoru," she said quietly.  "Let's go find Usagi
before she..."

	A resounding 'WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH' cut through the night air.

	"Too late."  

        After they fished Usagi out of the trash chute--they never did get
a satisfactory explanation as to how she got caught in it--they returned
to Makoto's apartment.

        "Hey, is everything... okay?" Makoto asked as they came in.
Getting a brief nod from Mamoru, she quickly changed the subject.  "Hey,
Mamoru, you just missed it... they were claiming that Tuxedo Kamen is a
crossdressing lesbian."

        Mamoru stared at her in shock.  "What--?"

	Usagi, of course, overreacted.  "WAAAAAH!  My Mamo-chan's a
lesbian!"

        "Usako, it's not true!"

        "But they said it on TV!"

        Rei sighed and turned on her princess.  "You meatball head!
You've seen him in a swimsuit!  How could he be a lesbian?"

        "Oh... right... but you didn't have to yell at me, Rei-chan!  And
don't call me meatball head!"

        "I'll call you what you deserve to be called--!"

        "WAAAAAAAH!"

        Everyone watched as another tongue war began.

*******************

	Hotaru stopped by Michiru, who was settling down to sleep on the
couch.  "Is Haruka really going to make you sleep out here?"

 	"She's not very happy right now,"  Michiru said.  "Best to let her
cool down."

	"But it wasn't your fault!"  Hotaru said.  "It wasn't fair."

	"Love isn't about fairness,"  Michiru said.  "Sometimes it's
hideously unfair.  But after the ragging I gave her about Noriko...I
suppose I deserve this."  She settled down into her nest of blankets.
"Good night, Hotaru-chan."

	"Can I ask you just one more thing?"

	"Sure."

	"What was happening while Pappa and Derith-san had their hands
over my eyes?"

	Michiru began to sweat.

*******************

	Tethys stirred in her "cage".  She felt something.  
Something powerful.  It was coming towards Tokyo.  Not that 
she could do anything about it. She was trapped in a rather 
boring laboratory.  The worst part of it was that the man 
holding her didn't even have any powers, unless you counted 
inventing weird things that frequently malfunctioned as a power.

        One of his machines began to ping.  Maybe he can 
sense what's coming too, she thought.  I can't tell WHAT 
it is, but...something is coming.  "Hey, old man, what's 
that pinging?"

        "Ahh, my toast is ready.  Thank you, Tethys."  Sensei 
Udaigaku, an old man in a labcoat whose mind was keener 
than he looked, walked over to the computer controlled 
toaster and extracted his toast, adding butter and jelly 
himself, as the automatic butterer had proven more 
trouble than it was worth.  "Would you like some?"

        "Sure."  She didn't NEED food, but eating was at least 
SOMETHING she could do.  And much as she hated to admit 
it, some of the old man's foodmaking machines produced 
a lot better food than she had expected.  "So are you going 
to hold me in here forever?"

        "Given that the authorities can't hold you, most 
likely yes.  It's not strictly legal, I suppose, but given 
that they would have killed you otherwise, I don't feel 
any real guilt about holding you prisoner."  Sensei started 
eating his toast after putting in two slices on medium, 
just the way Tethys always took her toast.  "Would you 
like some fresh fruit?"

        "You confuse the hell out of me, old man.  You 
casually hold me prisoner in the basement of a high 
school, but half the time you act like I'm your daughter or 
something,"  Tethys said.  He was the first person she'd 
ever met as an adult that she simply didn't understand.  
"Yeah, an apple would be good."  

	Before she had been captured she had never eaten 
Earth food.  It was very different from the staple foods 
of the Dark Kingdom, which ran more towards barely edible 
fungi and beasts that would make a meal of you rather than 
the other way around if you weren't careful.  Still, Earth
food was surprising good, and solid food seemed more 
nourishing than just draining energy.  Maybe it had something 
to do with all the life energy Earth had, she mused.  The Dark 
Kingdom was a blasted heath in comparison.

    	"All sentient beings are worthy of some basic 
respect until proven otherwise,"  Sensei said, looking 
around.  "Horus, where is the newspaper?"

      	Horus said, "You have not brought today's newspaper 
here yet."

        He sighed.  "Bring up the CNN webpage, then.  I'll 
read that."

        One of the many monitors stopped showing a screen 
saver and showed a web reader loading up.  Tethys 
watched it, fascinated.  "So are you his familiar, Horus?"

        Horus laughed briefly, although it was a fake 
sounding laugh.  "How amusing."  He paused.  "That was a 
joke, correct?"

        "Horus is an Artificial Intelligence, Tethys."  The 
toaster pinged and Sensei went and got the toast while 
Horus brought a tray with some apples and a glass of 
milk around, using some of his servo arms.  "He is my 
second best creation, a mind simulated using a computer.  
Indeed, I'd go so far as to say he has as much of a mind as 
either of us.  Superior in some respects, inferior in 
others."  He put the toast on the tray.  "Butter?"

        "And jelly please."  Tethys said, "So how smart are 
you, Horus?"

        "It depends upon what you mean.  In seconds or 
minutes, I can call up answers to millions upon millions 
of questions whose answers are stored either in my 
databanks or in all the systems I can access through 
telecommunications and the Internet.  I can perform 
million variable mathematical sums thousands of times 
faster than any human.  On the other hand, I often have 
problems with subtleties of language and often cannot 
tell what a person really means any better than any 
human.  I have rather limited creative capabilities; I can 
create music fairly well, but I'm not much of an artist or 
storyteller.  My knowledge of what really motivates 
humans is fairly limited.  I can..."  Horus rattled on and on 
while Sensei brought Tethys her food.

        "Are you smart enough to figure out who the Sailor 
Senshi are in their civilian identities?"  Tethys asked 
curiously, then began eating one of the apples.

        "Only with help, as I lack many of the appropriate 
information gathering capabilities,"  Horus said.  
"However, with help from Sensei, I am now 90% certain 
of the identity of a majority of the Sailor Senshi, as they 
do a rather bad job of hiding their identities.  Find one, 
and you can swiftly deduce the others through simple 
observations."

     	"Like the way they spilled their identities to me on 
that beach trip,"  Tethys said.  She then mentally slapped 
herself as she had intended to keep that knowledge to 
herself.

        Sensei sat down by the CNN web page monitor and 
began to read, eat, and talk at the same time.  "I was 
wondering about that.  None of them are very discreet, 
really.  Then again, their opponents usually operate in an 
entirely dimwitted haphazard fashion.  So much power 
and so little common sense."

        Tethys fumed.  "And what would YOU have done in 
our place, oh wise one?"  She was so irritated, she bit 
her entire apple in half and nearly swallowed it without 
chewing.

       	"The real question for me is this:  once you learned 
that Sailor Moon was in Tokyo, why didn't you just go 
somewhere she wasn't to gather energy?  Especially 
since she always stumbled into all your operations here."  
Sensei punched a few keys and scanned the web page 
quickly.  "Another gargoyle sighting in New York, I see."

        "We could only reach the Earth in a few limited 
locations because only they had enough ambient magic 
for us to survive for long.  And once Beryl learned of the 
Senshi, she wanted them dealt with before they could 
find the Silver Crystal and destroy us.  And we knew the 
Silver Crystal would either be in their hands or near 
them."  She sighed.  "So what are your guesses as to who 
the Sailor Senshi are?"

	You're mostly right, she thought when he told her, 
but you're likely going to have a few embarrassing 
moments with the wrong ones.  

*******************

	"Why didn't you stop her?"  Michiru demanded of Setsuna, who was
trying to do the dishes.

	"Why do you think I am omniscient?  I know what must happen to
create Crystal Tokyo, and I know many of the major milestones along the
way.  And often, I can quickly deduce what is going on from my superior
knowledge of the forces of this world.  But I do not generally use my
powers to predict what will be shown on television.  That's what the TV
guide is for."  She put a plate in the dish rack, then got some steel wool
to use on a frying pan covered with caked on glop.  "For example, I have
absolutely NO idea what this stuff on this frying pan is."

	"But you ACT like you know everything!  And the way the guy was
talking about tapes fritzing out and everything..."

	"Most people don't really know what they're doing with regard to
videotapes.  And I have, at times, seen nexi of probability where a
videotape of us could lead to disaster so I took action to destroy it.
This videotape will lead to no lasting harm to us, other than the sort of
ludicrous speculation you see in the tabloids."  She frowned at the frying
pan; the gunk refused to come off.  "I may have to borrow some acid from
Soichiro-kun."

	"I think Haruka was trying to cook again," Michiru said.  "So it's
just fine and dandy that everyone thinks Mars is my lover?"

	"Half the people think it was faked.  It's not as if someone
couldn't easily duplicate Senshi costumes and fake the footage. And most
of the rest will forget in a month.  It's too late now, anyway. The cat is
out of the bag.  You will have to deal with it.  You're not the one who is
really going to suffer from this."

	"At least Rei doesn't have someone who is going to be mad at her
for what Minako did!"

	"Actually, I'm thinking of Hikaru Hibino."

	"Frankly, I don't CARE if she suffers,"  Michiru said, crossing
her arms under her breasts.  "She can have her legs chewed off by wild
dogs for all I care."

	Michiru clamped her mouth shut and tried to regain control of her
temper.  She was beginning to realize how harshly she had treated Haruka
over Noriko.  After just one night on the couch, without the feeling of
Haruka's arms around her, she felt very little of her usual inner peace.
She also had a crick in her neck from sleeping on it wrong that was
making her very irritable.

	"Every single person looking for us is going to have their eyes on
her,"  Setsuna said, then grunted at the stubbornly refusing to become
clean frying pan.  "Thinking she may know more than she is telling,
thinking that they can follow her to us."

	"They'll figure out she's an idiot fast enough."

	"Maybe.  Or maybe they'll decide it's an act.  Or perhaps they'll
kill her or turn her into a droid or carry her off for the sort of
interrogation session where they are so sure they already know the answers
it doesn't matter if you tell the truth."  The caked on gunk finally came
loose, and Setsuna smiled faintly for a moment.

	Michiru frowned.  "You're about to tell me I have to protect her."

	"I intend to tell Miss Hibino what she's gotten herself into
myself.  And I'm going to set people to watch her.  Not you.  You and Mars
have to go find her talisman.  And...it would be better you stay away from
her for a while."

	Michiru's eyes narrowed.  "Are you saying you don't trust me?"

	"You said yourself that you wouldn't care if wild dogs chewed her
legs off,"  Setsuna said flatly, finishing off the frying pan.  Michiru
blushed at the undeniable accusation.  "I shall recommend to Usagi that
Minako and Hotaru get the job.  Minako now has the disguise capabilities
to do the job, and Derith can help Hotaru with that."

	"So where is Mars' talisman?"

	"Mars, of course.  I suggest you start planning now."  Setsuna
turned back to the dishes.  

   	Michiru made a face at her.

	"Be careful, it might stick that way,"  Setsuna replied.  

********

        One problem with the "climb to the top on a pile of 
bodies" method of advancement that had prevailed in the 
Dark Kingdom under Beryl was that your own body tended 
to become the peak.  All four generals could have 
testified to that, if most of them hadn't been dead.  Well, 
two were dead.  One now ruled the Dark Kingdom after 
spending a period as a piece of very large jewelry.

        "So your researches have revealed nothing, 
Sapphire?"  Jadeite asked.  

        "He's quite definitely not in Hell, maybe."  Sapphire 
said.  Sapphire had blue-grey skin, dark blue hair which 
was short and snarled, brown eyes,  and constantly wore 
a jeweler's loupe as an accessory to his blue, black-
trimmed General's uniform.

        "I already knew that.  He dropped in to taunt me a 
few too many times.  So the demon told you nothing of 
use?"

        "It claims that when it came for his soul, it got 
blown apart by the Star Power, and then his soul went 
off the 'available' list."  Sapphire said.  "Since then, it 
has..."

        Jadeite raised an eyebrow.  "Blown apart by the Star 
Power?"

        "Yes, sir.  I think it was telling the truth.  Why make 
such a crazy claim otherwise?"

        "The Star Power wielded by who?"

        "A human girl.  He didn't know her name.  Some 
redhead."

        The Star Princess, Jadeite thought.  Likely blew the 
thing apart without even knowing it.  If she understood 
the full extent of her power, those fools in the Zodiac 
would be dead now.  Now he knew where that extra Sailor 
came from.  Not that Sailor Moon couldn't have made 
another one, if she only knew what she was doing.  

        He restrained himself.  She had gotten better from 
the little nitwit she had been when he had first clashed 
with her.  And the Sailors were at full numbers.  They 
would have to be picked off one by one.  "I have a new job 
for you, Sapphire."

        "Yes?"

        "I have an idea.  I want you to figure out how to 
make it."  Time to see if that information I pried out of that fool
in the Zodiac who thought she could summon and control me pays off,
he thought.

        "As you command, my lord."  Sapphire soon realized 
this would be quite a challenge, but there was nothing he 
loved more than a good puzzle.  

******************************

       	It was a bright, shiny summer afternoon.  Naturally, 
Neptune and Mars were beating each other up.  "Mars 
Fire...OOF!"  Neptune had just kicked Mars in the gut, 
knocking her down.  "Mars..."  She lost concentration again 
as Neptune dropped to one knee and boxed her ears.  
Managing to sweep Neptune's legs with her own, she 
rolled to her feet just in time for Neptune to grab her 
legs and somehow do a backflip, tossing her into a tree.  

        The tree shook, dropping acorns on her head.  She 
snarled and charged at Neptune, who moved into a ready 
stance, waiting.  Just before she got within reach of 
Neptune's arms, she focused her mind and teleported.  
Flames engulfed her, and sulfurous smoke.  Choking a bit, 
she appeared behind Neptune, kicking her in the butt and 
sending her sprawling.  However, she had to pause to 
catch her breath, and Neptune recovered, getting to her 
feet.  She paused and said, "Ready to surrender?"

        Mars shook her head.  "Only you could ask someone to 
surrender AFTER they kicked your butt."  She charged 
forward, then dropped low for a sweep.  Unfortunately, 
she wasn't very practiced at this move, and ended up 
missing Neptune's legs entirely and landing on her back, 
leaving her open to Neptune stomping on her stomach.  

	She gave a cry, then Neptune dropped to one knee 
and put a hand to her face, quickly saying, "Neptune Attack 
You Wouldn't Survive."  Mars didn't laugh, however.  Neptune
sighed and offered Mars a hand.

        Mars stared, reminded uncomfortably of their last close
encounter, then took the hand, getting up.  "You're a lot more
 vicious than my last combat teacher."  For just a moment, she'd 
had a mental image of Neptune leaning down and kissing her instead 
of faking an attack.  She stomped on the thought, then mentally 
stomped on Hikaru Hibino.  I'm going to have to do something about 
that girl, she thought.

        "Your last teacher didn't have to fight monsters, I 
suspect.  Be glad you didn't get partnered with Haruka."  
Neptune shuddered slightly.  "You wouldn't THINK someone 
could beat up a person they care about so badly, but..."  
she trailed off, remembering a lonely night on the couch.

	"I knew virtually nothing about combat before I 
became a senshi.  My parents didn't encourage their daughter 
to do battle."  She laughed a little, but her voice was sad.  
"I wonder what they would think of me."

      	Mars sat down and looked out across the hilly 
countryside they were practicing in.  "Where are your 
parents, anyway?"

        "Dead."  Neptune said flatly.  "They died the day I 
became a Senshi when the boat we were on sank.  I killed 
the creature that did it, but..."  She sighed.  "My family 
was very rich, and so I won't ever have to worry about 
money.  It's ideal for being a Senshi, really.  I have the 
money and time to travel, no relatives to take hostage..."

        "But you wish they weren't dead."

        Neptune nodded.  "What about your folks?"

        Mars started at the question and almost didn't answer it.  She
didn't like talking about her family, not even to Usagi and Mamoru.  At
the moment, she was almost glad that Grandpa had insisted she stay with
the Tsukinos while the Shrine underwent repairs--repairs that were
dragging on expensively.  She almost felt like a part of their family...
even when she fell victim to one of Shingo's practical jokes.  She
definitely had to stay somewhere so she could attend school.

        She worried about her grandfather's health, sleeping in a tent on
the Shrine property, but she knew Yuuichiro was keeping an eye on him.
The Shrine proper was almost finished.  Repairs to the house were going
to take even longer, however.

        She stopped her mind from wandering and got back to Neptune's
question.  For some reason, she wasn't angry at the aqua-haired Sailor
over the mess they were in.  It wasn't their fault, and their shared
humiliation was almost a bond between them.  Besides, Neptune had talked
about her parents, and Mars was pretty sure that no one other than
Haruka (and probably Pluto) knew about that.

        "Dad is in business, Mom does physics.  They're both 
Catholic, which is why I went to a Catholic middle 
school.  When I was in the seventh grade, they moved to 
Sapporo, but they wanted me to stay at T&A because it 
was such a good school and Sapporo didn't have a Catholic 
school.  Also, Grandpa was living here, so I could live 
with him for free, and since they were trying to mend 
their fences with him, it was a good way to...well, build 
better relations.  Mom and Grandpa don't like each other 
too much."

        "Why?  He seems like a nice old man, if a bit ecchi."  
Neptune said.  

     	"She's extremely Catholic and he's a Shinto Priest."  
Mars sighed.

        "And?"  

        Mars blinked.  "And?  In her opinion, he's a fraud at 
best.  And he thinks Mom turned Dad to the dark side so to 
speak."  She sighed.  "If they ever find out what I've been 
up to, they'll blow up."

        "Why would a Buddhist think Shinto priests are 
frauds?"  Neptune asked.  

        "She's Catholic, not Buddhist."

         "I thought Catholics were Buddhists."

         Mars stared blankly at Neptune, trying to figure 
that out.  Finally, she said very slowly, "What gave you 
that idea?  They're a Christian group."

         "They worship Santa Claus, right?  And he's one of 
the Buddhas according to...um...some person I was talking 
to."  Neptune frowned.  She paid little attention to 
religion, although if she had to choose, she would have 
seen herself as Buddhist in a very loose sense.  

         As a result, she was surprised when Mars began 
repeatedly banging her head against a tree.

*******************

      	The old man grumbled as he fished.  His son had 
finally left him, and he felt lonely.  He'd thought the boy 
would never marry, but still...it just...he'd hoped they'd 
stay, but they'd never come back from the honeymoon.  
That Kurenai girl didn't LOOK like a tramp, he thought.  
Even if she was so much younger than my boy.

        He sighed.  They'll come back eventually.  Surely.  He 
looked out across the water.  It was a beautiful evening.  
The sun was vanishing behind the mountains to the west, 
and the Pacific glimmered in the dusk off to the horizon 
in the east.  He loved the sea, for it could always soothe 
him.

        Something was disturbing the water off to the east, 
so he tossed his line that way.  It caught on something, 
so he started to reel it in.  The line went slack at first, 
then went taut.  He kept trying to reel it in, but then the 
resistance grew to be too much.  The fish was coming 
right at the boat from the way the line was moving, but 
the line stayed taut.  This bothered him.

        Then the fish passed under the boat.  He couldn't get 
his line loose and he didn't want to lose his rod and reel, 
so he wedged himself in place.  The boat whipped around  
and started to get towed to shore.

        He could hardly believe it.  His arms were beginning 
to really hurt as the a figure began to rise from the 
water.  It was a man made of some sort of porous black 
rock.  The line was snagged on a fish that had somehow 
tangled the line around the stone man's arm.  The stone 
man now noticed the fish, and snapped the line, then 
carefully removed the hook from its mouth and tossed it 
back into the water.  It turned and stared at him.

        "Uh...a man's gotta eat, you know!"

      	The figure blinked, then bent over and plucked a 
fish out of the water, tossing it into the boat.  It made an 
odd three fingered sign with its left hand, a sort of v-
sign with the pinkie and ring fingers.  It smiled, then 
turned and walked out of the water onto the beach, then 
started north.  As it walked, the 'clothing' that it was 
wearing altered to resemble the fisherman's clothing.  

        The fisherman shook his head.  I thought you had to 
have taken LSD to have an LSD flashback.

*******************

   	Rei wasn't entirely clear on how she had agreed to go 
on a date with Yuuichiro.  It was Usagi's fault.  She knew 
that much.  She suspected Usagi was trying to get her mind off
the recent disaster with the footage being shown on TV.  She 
was fairly certain Usagi had concluded it must have been 
thoughts of Yuuichiro which had enabled her to break free.

	It was a double date, really.  Usagi and Mamoru and 
herself and Yuuichiro.  It had actually not gone badly so far.  
She was enjoying the date, if not the movie they were attending, 
and Yuuichiro hadn't done anything embarrassing yet.  In fact, 
she'd found herself liking the attention she was getting from him. 
She wanted to forget the recent TV disaster, and this definitely
helped.

    	The movie, however, was definitely NOT a date 
movie.  How exactly they'd ended up at it, she wasn't 
sure.  Probably because it had the word, 'Romance' in the 
title.  However, so far she could only give 'Regency 
Sailboat Romance Troopers' one star, and that was only 
because some of the men in the movie were good looking.  
The moment she had seen the words 'based on the works 
of Georgette Heyer and Robert Heinlein' in the title 
sequence, she had concluded that she had just wasted the 
cost of one movie ticket.  

   	On the screen, a group of men in steam powered plate 
mail were being wiped out by what looked like a mob of 
angry mimes in French Revolutionary army uniforms.  
Meanwhile, it kept cutting back and forth between this 
scene and some woman in a huge dress with a skirt large 
enough to hide her own army of mimes.  She was sitting 
by the bedside of one of the major characters, William 
Pitt the Even Younger, who had been injured in a previous 
scene when he had tried to fight a duel of Proust 
quotations with a French officer during the siege of 
Amiens.  

        Mamoru was taking a nap while Usagi watched the 
screen intently, desperately trying to make some sense 
of the movie.  "Isn't that Winona Ryder?"  Usagi 
whispered to Rei.

        "She's playing Lucy Wollestonecraft, I think."

        "So she's going to be attacked by Dracula next?"

        "Probably."

        Yuuichiro whispered into Rei's ear, "I told you we 
should have gone to see 'Escape from Gotham'.  Even with 
Kurt Russell as Batman."   Rei nodded.

**************

        If you'd asked Makoto why she was wandering 
through a park at ten o'clock at night, she would have 
told you she was just bored.  She would have been lying.  
Something was calling her.  She was supposed to be here, 
but she didn't know why.  Most of her friends were off on 
dates.  

	It struck her again that she was the only 
Senshi who didn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend or at 
least a potential person to take that role.  That had 
wrecked her ability to do homework, which she had been 
doing for once, but that wasn't what drove her off into 
the park near her apartment complex.  

   	Some weird instinct was driving her.  Someone 
was in danger.  Someone she knew.  The park was mostly 
empty, except for couples making out, which aggravated her.  
Someone was rowing around on the pond.  A red-haired 
woman who looked sort of familiar and some guy.  When 
the couple came into sight, she recognized both of them.  
Miss Haruna and her English teacher, Clark Maguson.  

  	Her eyes widened.  Were they...dating?  How dare 
they be dating when she couldn't get a date!  Especially 
after I KISSED HIM!!, Makoto thought.  I must be
COMPLETELY INSANE!  That...that...YOU BASTARD! she thought.  
Running around like that!

        Ruining their date would be the petty thing to do.  
Makoto felt pretty petty.  She began following them, 
waiting for them to come near the shore.  Instead, they 
circled and circled and circled.  To make matters worse, 
they were talking so quietly that she couldn't hear 
anything at all.  

        She tried to think of something clever she could do 
to wreck the date, but her brain was drying up on her 
from wanting revenge too much.  Too bad I don't control 
water, she thought.  I doubt Ami would be willing to help 
with this.  Or Michiru.  

        She tried anyway, focusing her will on the water.  
To her surprise, it began to ripple around the boat in 
ways beyond those caused by the boat moving.  Blinking 
in surprise, she focused harder and the water rippled 
more.  Wow, she thought!  I've learned a new power!  Now 
I just have to figure out how to tell the others without 
telling them how I learned it.

        When the black and green tentacle erupted out of 
the water and wrapped around the boat, her illusion of a 
new power was shattered.  Miss Haruna screamed, and 
Maguson-sensei beat at it with one of the oars.  This 
didn't please it too much, and the tentacle retreated.  
Makoto pulled out her transformation wand.

        Then Miss Haruna spotted her.  "MAKOTO!  Run!  Call 
the Police!"

        Maguson-sensei looked up, blinking.  "Makoto?"  He 
suddenly looked embarrassed.

     	Another tentacle snaked in low and pulled him 
into the water.   Makoto ran, but not far.  Only just 
enough to transform out of sight, then ran back.  
Maguson-sensei was struggling desperately with a 
tentacle wrapped around him, while Miss Haruna now 
beat on the tentacle with an oar.  Two more now casually 
flicked over the boat, sending Miss Haruna into the water.  
She flailed about in her nice dress, trying to stay afloat.  

     	"SUPREME THU..."  she began.

        "Water conducts electricity!"  Maguson-sensei 
shouted.

        "Shit," she said.  Well, Jupiter always did enjoy a 
good brawl.  She charged forward and leaped feet first 
onto one of the tentacles, then ran along it to Miss 
Haruna, whom she picked up.  Then she took a running jump 
and deposited her on the shore.

     	"You have to save Clark!"  she gasped.

        "How can you date someone as obnoxious as him?"  
Jupiter asked, unable to stop herself.

        She laughed a little hysterically.  "We're just 
friends.  There's someone...I think he's got a crush on
someone, but he won't tell me who.  Something happened, and 
he wanted to talk about it, but he wouldn't talk about it.
If you know what I mean."  Miss Haruna staggered to her feet.  
"Not to tell you your job, but..."

     	Jupiter nodded and leaped into the water, 
swimming down to look for the thing's body.  It was a 
huge mottled squid.  What is a SQUID doing in a pond, she 
wondered.  Then she spotted the blue gem set in its 
forehead.  Three tentacles grabbed her and began to 
squeeze, but she ignored them and dragged herself along 
its body to the gem.

        Ignoring the tentacles was getting harder.  She 
needed air.  Her lungs were screaming at her.  I can 
survive in deep space, she thought.  Why can't I hold my 
breath under water?  Suddenly, the need for air 
slackened, though she felt a tiny bit weaker.  

        She lunged forward and smashed at the gem, but her 
fist bounced off it.  She knew her powers could destroy 
it, but the electricity would spread in the water and 
crisp Maguson-sensei.  Much as he deserved it, she 
wouldn't do that.  Especially not before she had a chance to
chew him out for dating Haruna-sensei.

        She looked around for a rock or a stick, or anything 
sharp.  Looking up, she could see that Maguson-sensei had 
managed to dig a Swiss Army Knife out of his pocket, and 
was now trying to open it with one hand, since his other 
arm was pinned.

         Grabbing it, she pulled it open and stabbed it into 
the sapphire.  It shattered and the squid stiffened, then 
swiftly crumbled into mottled dust.  Pushing off the 
bottom, she swum to the surface, closed the knife, and 
handed it to Maguson-sensei, who was staring at her in 
surprise.  

         Jupiter looked at herself.  She looked normal as far 
as she could tell.  "Is something wrong?"

         He glanced over at the shore, then said quietly, 
"Just a moment of...deja vu."  He pocketed his knife, then 
began to swim for shore.

         Jupiter swam after him, then shook herself dry.  
Miss Haruna said, "Thank you, Sailor Venus."

         Jupiter laughed.  "Jupiter.  Sailor Venus is blonde."

         "Whatever your name is, you saved our lives.  Thank 
you.  I wish I could...do something for you."  

         "Well, you could have graded m...um, I just did my 
duty,"  Jupiter said quietly.

         "If you ever need something graded, feel free to 
ask us,"  Maguson-sensei said, eyes twinkling.  "Or some 
science knowledge.  I teach at Tsunami."

         Jupiter nodded.  "I know."  Too well, she thought.  

         "We should go find Makoto,"  Miss Haruna said.  
"And let her know we're okay."  She looked around.  "Is 
there a phone?"

      	Jupiter started to point the way to the phone, but 
Maguson-sensei started to drag Miss Haruna off the 
wrong way.  "This way, I think."  She would have 
corrected him, but decided that letting him wander 
around lost was a fitting punishment for them being on a 
date when she wasn't.        

*******************************

     	The two couples walked under the stars.  Usagi and 
Mamoru were holding hands.  Rei could tell Yuuichiro 
wanted to hold her hand, but she wasn't sure if she 
should.  She wasn't quite ready to commit that far, but it 
was tempting.  Not that holding hands was much of a 
commitment, she told herself.  He's been a very nice date 
so far, really.  

        She had almost talked herself into taking his hand 
when her preternatural senses started to go off.  Something 
powerful was coming.  She glanced over at Mamoru.  Like her, 
he had a knack for sensing danger.  He seemed unconcerned, 
talking softly with Usagi and pointing out some constellation 
to her.  

        Maybe I'm imagining it, she thought, glancing up 
and down the street.   Other couples and some single 
people drifted by.  They were in the heart of a business 
district.  Storefronts full of goods lined the street.  
There was a wall of TVs across the street.  Dozens of 
different shows and movies were showing.  Then, one by 
one, they winked out and static filled them.  The sense of 
approaching power grew.  When static took them all, they 
suddenly each flickered into a separate picture which 
together formed the face and shoulders of Jadeite.  

        Rei froze up and tried to subtly elbow Mamoru.  She 
only succeeded in knocking him down on top of Usagi, who 
yelped.  The yelp was strangely muted, as the TVs drew 
her eyes and ears to what they presented.  He was 
reaching out to her, and she felt herself reaching out to 
him.  Usagi said something, but she couldn't hear it, and 
Yuuichiro's hand on her shoulder seemed to fade to mist, 
for she could only barely feel it.

        He wanted her.  He needed her.  Without her, he was 
incomplete.  There was a hole in her heart he knew how 
to fill.  Once, he had been a good man.  She knew that, for 
she had met him.  What had happened to him?  How had he 
been changed into the man willing to burn down Tokyo 
just to get at Sailor Moon?  Beryl had done something to 
him.  She must have.  Just like happened to Mamoru.  And 
love had been able to help him, so...

        She started to step towards the bank of TVs, but 
something was holding her back.  Her efforts to wrench 
loose were unsuccessful.  The harder she pulled, the more 
something pulled her back.  A desperate voice was saying 
something to her.  She ignored it.  He needed her.  She 
could redeem him.  She knew she could.  Her prince was 
waiting for her.  

        "Rei, stop!  What are you doing?"  The voice 
registered.  It was her princess.  Why was Usagi trying to 
stop her?  She was just going to do for her love what 
Usagi had done for hers.  Was she...jealous?  

        "I have to help him.  Like you did for Mamoru.  
My love can win him back.  I know it can.  It will
be strong enough!  Strong enough I won't fail him like...
like..."  With a great wrenching effort, she slipped loose 
and ran towards him.  "I'm coming!  Wait for me!"  The power 
was getting closer.  It had to be him.  Her love.  Her Jadeite.

     	She could see his arms opening wide to receive 
her, and then...WHAM, something hit her from behind, 
pushing her off to one side.  A massive rumbling noise 
passed behind her shortly afterwards.  Whatever had hit 
her spoke.  "Rei-san, WHAT are you DOING?"

        It was Yuuichiro.  "Let go of me!" she shouted at 
him.  "I have to go to..."

        Another car whizzed by.  It suddenly struck her 
that she had just run out into traffic without looking.  
She could have easily been squashed flat.  She'd been 
running in the street, instead of across it directly.  

        Turning her head, she could see the bank of TVs 
was just showing reruns of 'How Low Will You Go?', one 
of the most tasteless game shows on TV.  Yet, she still 
felt the presence that had helped get her into this 
situation.  Its power was more clear to her now.  Not 
Jadeite's power, but strong.

	Yuuichiro frowned at her.  Win who back?  Who could
she be talking about?

        Usagi and Mamoru were at her side a few seconds 
later.  "What's wrong, Rei?  Are you okay?  You just...I 
don't understand!"  Usagi was in a panic.  Mamoru simply 
frowned and looked thoughtful.

        Rei laughed nervously. "I thought...I saw...umm...I'll 
be more careful crossing the street."

     	Yuuichiro helped her up.  "You could have died!  What
the...What were you babbling about?"  He frowned at her, and she
knew he must have heard something, though not sure how much.

     	Usagi said, "What were you yelling about?"

      	"Let's go home, Usagi.  I need some sleep."  She couldn't
quite make herself look at Yuuichiro.

**************

        Makoto was searching the park for clues, any kind 
of clue, when Naru arrived, quite out of breath from 
running.  "Are you okay, Makoto?  I got your communicator 
message, so I came running." She leaned against a tree.

      	"I'm fine.  The fight was over about ten minutes 
ago, and I just got Haruna-Sensei and Maguson-sensei out 
of here."  She frowned.  "I think I just fought a droid."

        "A what?"

        Makoto quickly went over their war with the Black 
Moon Family.  When she got to the end, she said, "This one 
had a blue gem instead of a red one, though."

        "First Youma, now this."  Naru sighed.  "Did you get 
the gem?"

     	Makoto sighed.  "Time to go diving, I guess."

************

        Rei sat in front of the mirror, brushing her hair.  It 
was silly to brush it before sleeping; she'd just tangle it 
again.  Still, it was soothing.  The presence still lurked 
on the edge of her consciousness, but she hadn't said 
anything.  She wasn't trusting her preternatural senses.  
It had just nearly gotten her killed.  Had it been a trap by 
Jadeite?  

	Surely he wouldn't have tried to kill...no, 
Jadeite as he was now didn't care about her.  Whatever 
Beryl had done to him was stronger than what happened 
to Endymion.  Or maybe her love had been weaker than...no.  
That wasn't possible.  The more she thought about 
Jadeite, the more she knew how strongly Aurora had 
loved him.  If her love wasn't enough...but maybe she 
hadn't really had the chance.

     	Aurora's last memories of life burned before Rei's 
eyes.  They were of Jadeite killing her, his face frozen in 
cold rage.  It was like he was some other person entirely 
than the man she knew from her trip to the past and from 
brief flutters of memory.  Maybe that was it.  Maybe 
Beryl had replaced him with a clone.  Yes, that was...no.  

	The generals weren't duplicates, just the friends and 
lovers of the Senshi twisted and bent.  Corrupted and left 
to stew in their juices for a score and five millennia.  
She could see little flashes of the men they had been in 
the men they had become.  And yet...Nephrite had been 
redeemed.  Surely, somehow...she could save Jadeite.  She 
had to.  But how?  Was there anything left of the love he 
had felt for her?  Did he even know she was the same 
woman he had once loved?  

        Her tears were interrupted by two arms enfolding 
her and a gentle voice.  "Please tell me what's wrong, 
Rei-chan."  It was Usagi, her voice a mirror of the worry 
and love in her heart.

        Rei would have told her, if she could have only 
stopped crying long enough to do so.

************

        Ami said to Makoto and Naru, "It's a sapphire."  She 
had come out to Makoto's apartment so they could get the 
privacy they'd need for Sailor business.  

        Naru said, "I already knew that.  I did grow up in a 
jewelry store, you know.  We hoped you could figure out 
something with your computer."

        Ami transformed and took a look at the gem with 
her visor.  "Hmm.  Traces of typical youma energies.  A 
different pattern than the ones the droid gems used, but 
there are similarities.  It's cruder than the droid gems."  
She shrugged.  "That's as much as I can tell."

        Makoto thought for a minute.  "Maybe the Black Moon 
People copied this process.  In the future.  So Jadeite's 
people invent it, and then later, they found the secret or 
something and improved on it."

        Ami blinked.  Makoto wasn't noted for thinking 
things through like that.  "Good thinking.  It could just be 
parallel inventions, but...who knows.  Anyway, I dunno 
what to do with it now."

        "Maybe Usagi could purify it and use it for 
something."  Naru said.  

        "We need a big trophy room like Batman has,"  
Makoto said.  

        Naru laughed.  "What, the Sailor Cave?"

        "I'm sure we'll have one in the palace of Crystal 
Tokyo, one day,"  Ami said.  "Well, not a CAVE, but a 
trophy room.  And museum and library and stuff."

        The conversation turned to talk of dreams of the 
future to come.

************

        Rei knelt before the sacred fire and tried to clear 
her mind, which wasn't easy.  Images flitted in the fire, 
ranging from some game show she couldn't remember the 
name of to a ruined city.  Slowly, as her mind cleared, all 
the images vanished except for the ruined city.  It 
seemed to be sitting inside some sort of weird valley or 
maybe a really huge pit with black basalt rising up all 
around it in a circle.  

        It was crumbling and ancient, but unlike most 
ruins, it had no plants growing over it.  In fact, she 
couldn't see any plants at all except for a handful of 
scrubby bushes.  Just reddish and black sand everywhere.  
The ground was riven with cracks, a few of which had 
become large enough to swallow buildings.  The huge wall 
of basalt around the city had a vast crack in it in the 
south face.  

        Slowly, her vision moved towards the huge palace 
of black basalt in the heart of the city.  It had great 
colored crystal windows and its top was shattered so 
that light shone down in great beams through the 
windows after coming down through the non-existent 
roof.  

     	The building loomed ever larger, and then suddenly, 
her sight passed right through its walls, through a maze 
of marble and bronze tunnels and into a throne room, 
with a huge throne of reddish stone, upon which sat a 
young blonde woman, perhaps around twenty-five years 
of age, idly twirling a copper sceptre tipped with a huge 
black opal which matched the copper bracelet she wore.  
She looked bored as she talked to the air.  

	Or perhaps she was talking to the tall, heavily 
built woman kneeling on the floor next to her like a dog.  
Where the sitting woman was pretty, but looked useless, 
the kneeling woman looked like she had been battered by life, 
but had battered life back in return.  Her hair was long, red, 
and unkempt and she looked middle aged.  It was not her face 
that attracted Rei's attention.  It was the fact that the 
kneeling woman, except for the large copper bracelet 
around her left wrist, was dressed as one of the Sailor 
Senshi.  And not just any senshi.  Rei recognized the 
uniform because it was her own.  

    	Rei gasped and the image suddenly broke up.  "Bring 
it back!  Bring it back!"

        The sacred fire simply roared and crackled, then 
showed her an image of a huge obsidian man, walking 
down a Japanese country road, right past a startled 
okonomiyaki seller.  The statue paused, looked at the 
okonomiyaki seller, and suddenly was dressed in 
equivalent clothing made of obsidian.  

        Rei laughed slightly; the statue had been dressed as 
a fisherman before.  I wonder if it imitates everyone it 
meets.  The image flickered, and then there was only fire.  
Rei stared a while longer, but the fire had nothing more 
to say.

        She stood up.  I'd best ask Pluto about this.

        "Hey, Rei.  Wanna go to Colonel Chicken for dinner?"  
It was Yuuichiro.  "I came by to see how the repairs were 
going."  He looked around.  "I guess we'll be able to reopen 
the shrine soon, even though the house is gonna take a while
to be finished."

        "Sure, if you pay.  I don't have much money on me,"  
Rei said.

        "Really?  That would be great!"

**************

	Ami was afraid to go back to her room.  Noriko hadn't tried
anything hentai or done anything or acted any different, but...something
had happened.  It had to have happened.  Unless some cosmic force had
stolen Ami's clothing and put Noriko in a bathrobe, somehow they had both
lost their clothing.  And she didn't need Athena in her head to know how
that likely had happened.  But...Noriko acted as if NOTHING had happened.

	Her whole loss of control horrified her.  She was glad Athena had
run off to hide, but she was starting to spend every moment wondering when
Athena was going to come jumping out and say 'boo'.  The not knowing was
worse than what she remembered.  The business with the elf woman she could
at least blame on glamour...maybe.  Athena had been raring to go, glamour
or no glamour.  

     	She nearly jumped out of her skin when Ryo put a hand on her
shoulder.  "Ami, why are you standing in the hallway staring at the
doorknob of your room?"

	"Because...I...uh..."

	"I was gonna ask if you wanted to come hang out with me for a
while.  My roommate got sick and went home to stay with his folks for a
few days, so we'd have it all to ourselves.  I already finished my
homework, so..."

	"Sure!"  Anything but her room.  Especially with Ryo.  Although
she was somewhat dreading REALLY telling him what had happened.  He knew
vaguely she'd had some problems, but she hadn't really gotten into it
before.  She took his hand.  "Lead on."

**************

    	Rei stared off into space as she ate her chicken.  
Yuuichiro was prattling on about something.  Finally, he 
got through to her.  "Rei, hello?  Earth to Rei?"

        Rei started.  "I'm sorry, Yuuichiro.  I'm just 
distracted."

        "If you go running into traffic again..."

        She laughed a little.  "You may spank me if I do that 
again."  Shaking her head, she said, "I can't believe I was 
that stupid."

        "Did you have a vision in the Sacred Fire?"  
Yuuichiro asked.  "I finally had one the other day."

     	Rei started.  Despite his long efforts, Yuuichiro 
usually had about as much spiritual power as a rampaging 
mongoose.  Probably less.  "What did you see?"

        Yuuichiro fell silent, staring at his biscuit, then 
said, "I was probably just worried about you getting in 
another accident."

      	Frowning, Rei said, "What did you see?"

        "Some blonde guy killing me trying to..."  He stared 
at his biscuit, apparently trying to extract the secrets of 
the universe from it.  "You don't know any psycho blonde 
guys, do you?  Who might have a...umm..."  He sighed.  
"Maybe it was just a flashback to that fight I had with 
your friend, Haruka."  Rattling his fingers nervously on 
the table, he said, "That was one of my dumber moves."

        Rei laughed a little, remembering that incident.  
"I'll keep an eye out for psycho blond guys."

        "The weird thing was that...I dunno.  I felt like I'd 
met him before or something.  But I couldn't recognize 
him.  I just... Something about the guy."  Yuuichiro turned 
to his chicken and assaulted it, dropping the topic.  

**************

 	Ryo tried to figure out why Ami was so jumpy.  She wouldn't come
much closer to him than about five feet, and she kept looking around like
she thought evil elves were watching her.

	Then again, after what had happened to Makoto, it wasn't too
implausible to worry about that.  And she had had some trouble with an elf
herself, although she hadn't been very talkative about it.  That had to be
what was bothering her.  

	"Ami, what's eating you?  That elf woman didn't do
something, did she?   What happened?"

        "I can't remember," she said faintly.  "And I can't hear Athena
anymore.  And I don't know why."

        He got up, walked across the room and sat down by her; she was
sitting on his roommate's bed.  "You can't remember anything at all?"  He
was worried now; people sometimes blanked out really traumatic
experiences.

     	"I don't know."  She stared at her hands.  "I just know...I came
out of it...I was naked, and Noriko was in her bathrobe, fixing her
computer..."

       	I could see Noriko doing that after sex, he thought, then mentally
slapped himself.  "It was broken?"

      	"I was on the verge...of Athena taking over completely, when
Noriko showed up.  Then everything goes black, and then...like I said."
She was shaking physically, and he put an arm around her, which soothed
her.

    	"We should talk to Pluto.  That sounds pretty bad," he said.  I'd
be scared out of my mind if my past lives started taking me over, he
thought.  Especially my most recent one.  For a moment, he remembered
being transformed into one of the Seven Shadows.  He wasn't sure if it was
a past life or just imprisoned inside him, but it scared him.  "I know
what it's like to have someone else make you...turn into something you're
not," he said quietly.  "Like when I became one of the Seven Shadows."

     	Ami turned her head to face him.  "Thank you, Ryo.  You
won't...you're not mad at me, are you?"

       	"Well, I'd rather you have woken up naked with me, but..."  he
blinked.  He hadn't quite meant to say that.

	Ami blushed.  "I'd rather have woken up...like that...with you
too.  I just...If Athena...do you think she would have..."

	"She wouldn't even try to seduce me once understood what our
relationship was like."

	"I think the elf was an old...girlfriend of Athena's,"  Ami said
quietly.  Am I going to start...wanting to sleep with everything that
moves? she wondered.  

	He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Well, she showed up too
late, because I'm not going to let you go.  And if she comes back,
I'll...I'll...I'll tell her to try hitting on Haruka.  Then watch her
die."

	Ami laughed.  "Really, though, if Athena comes back as strongly as
she did last time..."

   	"I'll seduce you,"  Ryo said.  "She'll never resist me."  He
laughed.  "Hmm.  I wonder if Athena sprung out of her father's forehead."

       	Ami stared at him, then it hit her, and she began to laugh.
"Thanks, Ryo-chan.  I needed that."  They smiled at each other, then
kissed, gently at first, then a little more fiercely.  Ami wrapped her
arms around him and pressed herself against him, expecting some comment
from Athena, but there was nothing but silence.  Maybe Athena WAS gone.
Maybe the woman had somehow taken Athena with her.

     	She felt Ryo's hands roaming up and down her back, and it felt
good.  Moving one hand up his back to gently knead his shoulders, she
broke off the kiss for a moment, needing air, then went to it again.
Slowly, she began to fall back, instinctively rather than deliberately,
moving his body around so he was over her.

	Finally, he broke off the kiss and smiled at her.  "I love you,
Ami."

        "I love you too, Ryo."  She reached up to pull him down for
another kiss.

	"Your communicator is going to go off in about ten seconds."

	Ami frowned.  "Drat."   *BZZZZZT!*  She turned it on.  "Hello?"

	"Hey, Ami, have you done the Earth Science homework yet?"  Usagi
asked.

	She thought for a moment.  "Yes.  See you later!"  Click.  She
sighed.  "I shouldn't have done that."

	"Yes you should have."  Ryo said.  "She needs to learn psychic
powers so she can see the answers in advance like I did."

	Ami laughed.  "You sound like they turned you into an Elf too."

	"Maybe they did," he said, laughing.  "And I just got quick ear
surgery."

         She reached up and tugged his ears.  "They did a good job.  Kiss
me like you are an elf."  I can't believe I said that, she thought.

	Pretty soon, they were at it again.  And pretty soon after that...
*BZZZZT!*

  	Ami broke off the kiss reluctantly.  "Yes?" she said into the
communicator.

	"What's the answer to number five?" Usagi asked.

	"Nineveh."

	Scribble, scribble.  "How about number eight?"

	"Donuts."
	
	Ryo began to laugh.

	Scribble, scribble.  "How about number twelve?"

	"I am a yellow pen."

	Ami put a hand over Ryo's mouth; Usagi wouldn't be able to hear
her if he wasn't quieter.

	Scribble, scribble.  "And number sixteen?"

	"Queen to Queen's Bishop's Five."

	Ryo fell off the bed, he was laughing so hard.  Ami was starting
to have a hard time not laughing herself.

	Scribble, scribble.  "And number eighteen?  That's the last one I
couldn't get."

	"God is in his heaven and all is right in the world."

	Scribble, scribble.  "Thanks, Ami!  Bye!"  She hung up.  

	Ami exploded in laughter as Ryo clambered back up on the bed.  Ryo
was laughing too.  "Ami, you are EVIL!" he proclaimed.

	"I just...Her timing...She really needs to learn to do her own
homework.  It was for her own good, really."

	"Liar."

	Ami giggled.  "Okay, maybe just this ONCE I was a little
aggravated."

         He leaned down and kissed her again.  "Remind me to never ask you
for help with homework."

	"Not when we could be doing this."  She pulled him down into an
embrace again, surprised with herself; she felt faintly giddy, they had
almost never made out this much.  

	What came next was a blur, though a pleasant one.  Eventually, her
growing arousal brought her to the point where she realized she either
would need to stop soon, or she was going to rip his clothing off.  In
fact, her blouse had come out of her skirt, and he had slid an arm up
inside it; his touch on her back felt very good.  

	They both stopped and stared at each other, not sure what to do
and half expecting someone would walk in if they did anything.  He gulped,
then said, "My roommate won't be back.  Would you like to...stay with me
tonight?"

         Her eyes widened.  She wanted to.  "Yes, I do."

	He reached over to her wrist, took off her communicator, and put
it in his roommate's microfridge, which was technically illegal in the
dorm, but rather common.  "They'll have to do without Sailor Mercury for a
while then," he said, then went and locked the door.

   	She laughed.  "I'm sure Usagi can flunk on her own."  I just have
to remember to take it back out when we're done, she thought, then
shivered with excitement.  My first time, she thought.  I hope.  If my
first time was with...she didn't want to think about.  She wasn't going to
think about it.  

         He then went over to the phone and took it off the hook.
"Nothing to disturb us."

  	Scared out of her mind, she began to unbutton her blouse.  A
million images flooded her head, memories of the last time they had come
close to doing this, memories of that ecchi Sailor Mercury manga, memories
of an incredibly BAD porno they had somehow ended up watching at Makoto's
sixteenth birthday party, supposedly because the star 'reminded her of her
old boyfriend'.  Ami had run off and hid through most of it.  Everyone had
teased her afterwards, but it had given her a strange feeling of deja vu
which terrified her.  Thinking about Athena, she understood why now.

	His shirt came off easily, easier than hers, since he had changed
to a t-shirt after class was over.  His chest was not very impressive.
While Ryo wasn't fat, he wouldn't be appearing in a muscle mag any time
soon, either. Ami didn't love him for his body, although she enjoyed
seeing him like this, which scared her; she wasn't used to feeling like
this.  For a moment, she was afraid Athena was doing something to her,
but she was sure she would have heard Athena by now.

	He was shivering a little as he sat down by her and wrapped his
arms loosely around her while she finished taking off her blouse.  It was
reassuring to know he was scared too.  The last button finally fumbled its
way out of its little button hole, and she wriggled out of the blouse,
then turned to Ryo.  "So what do you foresee for us?"

	"Haruka breaks down the door and begs us to seduce her."
	
	Ami's eyes widened.  "WHAT?"

	"Got you!"  He laughed.

	"Now I'm going to GET YOU!" she shouted, throwing herself at him.
He got gotten while the getting was good, so to speak.

	Much later, after they were done, they lay together, softly
kissing each other and smiling more than usual.  Suddenly, Ryo's
expression darkened.  "Well, I've got good news and bad news," he said.

   	"What's the good news?"
	
	"I'm pretty sure nothing happened with you and the elf woman, or
at least nothing entered your body very far."

	She nodded, remembering the sensation she'd felt.  He was right,
although it didn't rule out all the possible things she and the elf might
have done.  "And the bad news?"

    	"We just deposited some of the proof on my roommate's bedsheets."
He pointed to a blood stain on the sheet they were lying on.

	"..."

	"Luckily, we have time to wash them, but..."

	She blushed.  "I didn't even think about..."

	They could hear the faint muffled buzz of Ami's communicator.  "It
never rains but it pours," Urawa said.

         Ami scrambled over and took it out of the fridge, sighing.  "What
is it?"

	"I forgot to do the Earth Science homework,"  Minako said.  "Did
you do it?"

	"Ask Usagi.  I gave her the answers."

	"Okay!  Thanks!  I guess you're getting ready for bed?"

	"Uh...yeah.  How could you tell?"

	"You're naked."

`	Ryo tossed Ami her bra, which she quickly put on.  "Oh yeah."  Ami
blushed beet red.

	"Hey, wait a minute...who threw that bra to you?"

	"It was...uh..."

	"So you and Ryo FINALLY did something?  I was starting to think
I'd have to use my bow on you!"

	"I think you already did enough damage for one century,"  Ami
said, still blushing.

	Ryo came over, leaning so only his head would show.  "Go shoot
your boyfriend."

	"Oh, is that an invitation for a foursome?"  Minako asked,
laughing.

	Ami turned beet red.  "MINA!"

	"Just like in the old days!"  

	Now Ryo turned red too.  "You and her and..."

	"Hey, it worked for Inanna and Athena and Kunzite and Zoicite!"
Minako giggled.

	Faintly, they heard Steven yell, "MINAKO!"

	Memories stirred vaguely, along with one clear one of being in the
bed with Minako and Kunzite and Zoicite.  Then the image shifted to the
two of them with her current boyfriends.  Ami got about as red as she
could get without someone spilling paint on her.  "I...Minako...are you
serious?"

 	Steven's head popped onto the tiny viewscreen.  "She's going to be
orbiting Sirius if she doesn't stop...iya."  She was pretty sure he could
see her chest, although she did have the bra on, which was as decent as
the average bathing suit.

	"Changed your mind now that you've had a look?"  Minako asked
teasingly.

	Steven blushed, and Ami wondered for a moment if he could see
through bras.  Surely not, she thought.  Or he'd be blushing all the time.
"Let's leave them alone."

	"But I wanna hear all the details!  Was he as good as Zoicite,
Ami?"

	"Better," she said, hoping it would get Minako to shut up and go
away.

	Her eyes widened.  "Oh wow, you can remember?  I have this really
dim memory of me and Kunzite on the roof of the palace one time, but..."

	Ami could see Steven and Minako were wrestling now.  "I think
that's ENOUGH," Steven said.

	"Oh, I'm sure I'm much better than Kunzite," Ryo said.  "Don't you
agree, Ami?"  he winked at her.

	She stared mindlessly for a moment, then understood.  "Oh, much
better than Kunzite ever was.  Kunzite just couldn't go the distance like
Ryo-kun can."  She had to resist the urge to giggle.  The only way to deal
with Minako when she went over the top was to go MORE over the top.  "I
didn't think it was possible to...five times in one night."  I'm just
silly myself tonight, she thought.

	"FIVE TIMES?"  Minako boggled.  "Steven, why can't you do that?"

  	"It's not humanly possible for a male to do that without magic or
something!"  

	"We were going to go for six when you called," Ryo said,
struggling not to collapse laughing.

	Minako's jaw dropped.  "SIX?  You've GOT to teach Steve-kun!"  Her
eyes lit up.

	"Come on down.  It'll be just like the old days," Ryo said.  

	"We're on our way!"  *Click!*

   	Ami stared at Ryo.  "WHAT?"

	"You know Steven won't go for it," Ryo said, "But it got Minako to
go away."

	"I hate to burst your bubble, but she's even gotten him to dress
up in a girl's uniform one time.  I don't think him protesting will stop
her once she gets an idea in her head."

	He tinysweated.  "Should we call back and say it's a joke?"

	"She won't listen."  Ami sighed.  Minako would get her feelings
hurt if they said no now, but...that was no reason to...do something like
that.  Although Steven was cute.  What am I THINKING?  She shook her head,
trying to make the thought fall out.

    	"The door's locked."  He paused.  "You think she'd blast it with
her powers?"

	"Maybe we can make a rope ladder with the sheets and climb out the
window," Ami said, thinking.  "Maybe if you suit up in that armor the
Dwarves gave you...Minako would get so frustrated trying to get it off
you, she'd have to give up."

	Ryo laughed.  "It would be the first time it had any use to it.
It is in the closet..."

	Ami got up.  "We'd better get dressed, in case they DO show up."

	They quickly threw on some clothing, then pulled the sheets off
the roommate's bed and tossed them in the laundry hamper.  Minako and
Steven hadn't arrived yet.  They weren't sure if the pair was coming.
"Any visions?"  she asked Ryo.

	"Nope.  Call Himeko and ask if she left the room."

	"Good idea!"  Ami got her communicator and called Himeko.  "Hey,
Hime-chan, is Minako there?"

	"I'm over at Daichi's, trying to figure out this stupid Earth
Science.  Have you finished it?"

	Ami sighed.  "Call Yuki.  I helped her work them out earlier
tonight."

	"Thanks.  What do you need Minako for?  Want me to tell her
something when you see her?"

	"Hmm.  Is Pokota with you or in your room?"

	Hime-chan blinked.  "He's with me."

	"I guess I'll have to just guess if Minako's going to show up."

	"Having a late night study session with her?"

	"Something like that.  See you!"

   	"Bye!"  *Click!*  Ami stared at her wrist.  "So, will Rei or will
Mako-chan call me next?"

	Ryo came over and sat on the floor by her.  "My powers tell me it
will be someone wanting help with their homework."

	"Or to sleep with us."  She shivered.  Athena would have said yes
in a second.  And it was a little tempting.  Steven was handsome and a
nice guy and...she shook her head.  I don't do things like that, she
thought firmly.  Just one guy for me is enough.

	"Ahah!" he said.  "You could find her with your computer!  Then
we'd know if they were coming!"

      	Ami laughed.  Luna would just die.  "Right."  She pulled the
computer out of wherever it was when she wasn't using it.  It was very
easy to do a search for Minako.  Minako was coming down the staircase with
Steven, and they had just reached Ryo's floor.  

	"She's coming, 100 meters.  90 meters.  80 meters."  

	Ryo laughed.  "'We should be able to see them by now!'"

  	Ami blinked, then laughed.  "Minako the Hive Queen.  I can see
that."

	Ryo pointed to a briefcase in his closet.  "And there's the
exoskeleton."

	"30 meters.  20 meters."  It was like a countdown of doom.  "10
meters.  Wait...she stopped."

	They could hear a faint banging on a door down the hallway.  Ryo
thought a moment, then laughed.  "The nametags on our doors only have
first names, because they got lazy by this point.  And I don't think
Minako's ever been to my room."

	"So she's banging on the wrong door?"

	"Ryo Moroboshi, notorious lech, lives there, I think."

	"Should we save her?"

	Ryo laughed.  "I think the Senshi of Love can take care of
herself, especially with her boyfriend with her."

	They could hear an 'Oh Baby!' and a Minako howl from the hallway.

	"We're just EVIL tonight," Ami said.  "Twenty meters.
Thirty...Forty..."

    	No one bothered them for the rest of the night.

************

	The next morning, Minako came up to Ami and Ryo on their way to
class.  "I'm going to have to destroy you both," she said.

	Ryo laughed.  "It's not MY fault you went to the wrong room.  You
could have asked."

	"The dorm mother threatened to make me live on the roof if I ever
ran screaming through the hallways during quiet hours again."

	"Did Steven get in trouble?"

	"I don't think she really noticed him."  She sighed.  "And I
dressed up sexy too.  A little too sexy, I think."  She blushed.

	{Thou couldst never be too sexy,} Athena said in Ami's head.
	
	[You're back!] Ami replied nervously.  

	Minako said, "Ami, are you okay?  You're staring off into space."

	{Do you know if Dia is still around?}

	[She left, but...]

	{A pity.  To see her again after so long, then to be parted so
soon.}

	[You nearly got me in a LOT of trouble!  I don't even know if
we...]

	{If anything happened, I slept through it, myself.}

	"Earth to Ami.  Come in, Ami," Ryo said, sounding concerned.  "Is
it Athena?" he whispered.

	{Hello, Ryo-kun,} she said. 

	"She says hello,"  Ami whispered, then sighed.  [I suppose you're
disappointed Ryo and I didn't have a foursome with Minako and Steven.]

	{If I had slept through it, I would have been disappointed.  But
as it is...I need to help you train him first so he can perform up to the
standard Inanna deserves.}

	Despite the chill of the air conditioning, Ami began to sweat.

**************

    	Rei sat in Setsuna's office.  "So what can you tell 
me about Mars' talisman?  And also...I thought I saw..."

        "A ruined city?"  Setsuna asked.  "Probably Mons 
Olympus, an extinct volcano in which rested Vulcan's Forge,
the capital of the Kingdom of Mars."  

        Shifting in her chair, Rei wondered if Setsuna had 
deliberately picked uncomfortable chairs for her office.  
From the way Setsuna kept shifting, she suspected Pluto 
might not have had a choice in the matter.  The weird 
fungus in the aquarium kept shifting about as well, 
although it had no chair.  "I sort of recognized it, but 
there was a blonde woman and this red haired 
woman...she...She's the Elder Mars, isn't she."  Rei's 
instincts and some of her memories of her life as Aurora 
were insisting on this.  "So who is the blonde?"

        "I wish I could tell you,"  Setsuna said, frowning.  
She stopped fidgeting and stared off at the rather tacky 
picture of ducks bathing in a sink that someone had stuck 
on the wall of her office.  Perhaps it had some secret 
occult significance.  Probably not.

        "What, more oaths?"

        "I have no idea who the blonde is, but your verdict 
of the woman being the Elder Mars...it is possible.  I was 
never able to learn for sure if she died.  Although why 
she would still be on Mars...If she has the strength to live 
this long, she would have the strength to teleport to 
Earth, although it would not be easy."  Setsuna got out a 
piece of paper and began doodling on it, drawing what 
looked like a map of the solar system and making arcane 
calculations.

        Rei boggled.  "You...don't know?"

      	"I am not all knowing.  My future sight has its 
limits and I have not been to every place and time to 
observe all events.  I do not know what you had for 
breakfast; I do not know for sure who the blonde is.  
Possibly a Zodiac member.  Possibly a surviving Martian 
noblewoman; a fair number of them were blonde, although 
it wasn't a common color on Mars.  I believe Aurora had a 
blonde aunt.  If I saw her, I might recognize her; I only 
met the most important nobles.  There were tens of 
thousands of them."

        Rei leaned forward.  "I think she's enslaved the 
Elder Mars in some way.  It looked like she was keeping 
her as a pet."

        Setsuna blinked.  "Probably some horror with a 
human-like form, then.  Enslaving a senshi, especially one 
of Brigit's experience, to one's will, is difficult.  VERY 
difficult."  She frowned, crumpled her doodle, and tossed 
it at the garbage can.  It rattled around the rim, nearly 
fell on the ground, but finally toppled in.  "This could 
make getting your talisman very hard or very easy."

        "Why?"

        "If she is the Elder Mars, she will either have it, or 
know where it is to be found.  If she has it and is 
enslaved to the will of another, defeating her in battle 
will be incredibly difficult.  The Armor of Mars was 
perhaps Vulcan's most cunning invention, although the 
Royal Icons have more raw power."  

     	Setsuna got out a piece of paper and started trying 
to sketch something that was probably supposed to resemble 
a senshi of Mars, but could have easily passed as Senshi Skullhead.  
"Basically, it adapts to its wearer and grows stronger by 
learning to play to her strengths and compensate for her 
weaknesses.  The third Senshi of Mars, for example, was 
horribly clumsy, so it focused much of its power into 
keeping her balanced and compensating for that, eventually 
making her more nimble than most of the other Senshi.  
While she wore it, anyway."

        Given that the Elder Mars would have had thousands 
of years to adapt the armor to her own requirements, 
this was starting to scare Rei.  "Shouldn't it compensate 
for her being mind-controlled, then?"

        Setsuna thought a moment.  "Likely she isn't using 
it, then.  Eventually, it should have compensated, given 
the amount of time she's had to adjust.  Although I'm not 
sure how she could even be alive, unless she's been in 
stasis most of this time."

        "You're alive."

        "I'm a special case.  Anyway, you and Neptune will 
have your hands full, I see."

        Rei swallowed nervously.  "Shouldn't we all go?"

        "You must earn your talisman as Ami and Minako 
did."  She paused.  "Hopefully better than Minako did.  
If it proves more than you can bear, then we can 
come to your aid."  She paused again.  "Ask Usagi.  It is her 
decision, ultimately.  It is not my...place to tell you what 
to do in this case.  Especially not when I do not know all 
the facts for sure."  She fell silent, although Rei could 
tell she wanted to say more.

        Rei stared at Setsuna's desk.  It didn't feel right 
for  Setsuna to actually NOT know something for once.  I 
wonder how often she's bluffing as to how much she knows, 
Rei thought.  "Yuuichiro had a vision of Jadeite.  Of Jadeite 
trying to kill him."

        "If Jadeite wanted him dead, he would be dead.  Or 
at least we would have witnessed an attempt,"  Setsuna 
said.  "I suspect he saw the future, rather than a vision of 
present intent." 

        Rei's eyes widened again.  "Him?  He has the 
spiritual power of...of...cheese-wiz."

        "You see him as he was when you met him.  He has 
grown some, but you have been too busy to notice, Rei.  
He has far to go, but he is not quite the shallow fool he 
was when first you met him."  Setsuna said.  "Like all of 
you, he has grown."

        "Do you think Jadeite will really try to kill him?"  
How can I keep an eye on him AND do all my other duties?  
Rei was irritated.  How do you get yourself into these 
things, Yuuichiro?

        "Perhaps.  He probably doesn't even know Yuuichiro 
exists.  That may change."  The bell rang.  "You'd best get 
to class."

        I wonder if she planned that, Rei thought as she got 
up and sprinted off to class.

************

	"Hey, Mako-chan, you're not gonna BELIEVE this,"  Yuki said as she
sat down by Makoto, Ami, Ryo, Minako, and all the rest of Makoto's gang of
friends at lunch.  They were eating outside since the weather was nice.  

	"What?"

	"I meant to tell you before, but I got so caught up writing a
nasty letter to Hibino Hikaru about that stuff she sold to the TV station
that I forgot!  I met this guy at Kenichi-kun's social club who knows
you!"

	Makoto blinked.  "You did?"  She tried to think of any college
students she knew.  "Motoki?"

	"No, his name was Gendo Toriyama!  He was really seriously cute,
and pretty charming.  Kenichi had to stop him flirting with me."  Yuki
laughed as she sat down and opened her bento.

	Makoto's eyes widened.  "Gendo Toriyama?  Tall with short black
hair and really dreamy green eyes?"

	"Yeah.  He said he had met you when he was in high school.  He's a
freshman now, like Kenichi-kun."

	Usagi said, "Lemme guess.  Some guy who..."

	"Gets a little fresh when he's drunk, but then sends flowers as an
apology?"

	Yuki nodded.  "You do know him!  I got the flowers today which
reminded me."

	"Oh man," Makoto said.  "I never thought I'd ever hear of him
again after his family moved to Osaka.  He called from Osaka and dumped
me!"

	"Wait, he's..."  Usagi began.

	"Oh wow!  I was the first one to meet Mako-chan's legendary
boyfriend!"   Yuki boggled.  "We all thought he was a myth like the
abominable snowman."

	"He called from Osaka and dumped you?"  Naru asked.

	"Yeah.  He hadn't even told me he was moving.   But I never went
to his house because his parents didn't like me, so I didn't realize they
were moving.  Two weeks later, I transferred to Juuban."

	"Oooh, I wanna meet him!"  Usagi said.  "I wanna see how he can
look like every guy on Earth!"

	"Actually, he does look sort of like Mamoru,"  Yuki said.
"Anyway, he asked how you were doing, Mako-chan, so I told him about how
you were going here and how great an athlete you were.  And how pretty
you'd become."

	Makoto blushed.  "I'm not that pretty."

	"I wish I was as pretty as you,"  Yuki said.  "You want his phone
number?"

	"You got his PHONE NUMBER?"

	"I thought you might want to call him."

	Makoto wasn't sure if she did want to.

************

	She had taken the phone number; if she did decide she wanted it,
she could use it.  A few months ago, she would likely have called him,
possibly thrown herself at him.  They'd only broken up because he
moved...she'd fantasized at times about them getting back together, but
now...when she thought about him, another image interposed itself.

	Clark Maguson.  He was nothing like her old love, except for being
male.  He was an obnoxious jerk who threw erasers at people in class.  He
ran around dating other women after they had kissed!  Not that she any
idea why she had kissed that obnoxious jerk! He had yelled at HER for
helping to save him from that deranged elven would be...He had risked his
life to save her from an Elf, despite not having any powers.  And she had
chewed him out for it.  He could have died if the Elf had done to him what
he did to her.  And Clark didn't have any magic powers to help him break
free.

    	I never thanked him, she realized, and felt an intense pang of
guilt.  He was outmatched, but he was willing to sacrifice himself so I
would get away.  Crazy man!  He could have died!  Why had he been willing
to do it?  Yamamoto probably would have been crazy enough to do that for
one of his students...was that it?  Was he just being a good teacher?  No,
they had kissed afterwards, but...

	Crazy man.  He fights for me, then lets me kiss him (why did I
kiss him?), then DATES MISS HARUNA!  AAARGH!!!!  Why can't I have a nice
normal man JUST ONCE?  Well, Gendo had been fairly normal...until he
dumped her over the phone!  Bastard!

        She stuck the phone number to her bulletin board by the
refrigerator.  Maybe eventually, once she got her brain sorted out, she
might call him.  But not today.  Not until she figured out what to do
about Clark Maguson.

**************

	Clark Maguson stood in the hallway outside Yamamoto's office,
feeling like a child waiting for a spanking.  Getting a summons from
Yamamoto usually meant one of two things:  a long, boring 'inspirational'
speech, or a chewing out.  He had no doubt it was the second.  He had
assumed no one else had noticed what had happened with him and Makoto in
all the chaos, but someone must have.

	The door opened, and he stepped inside.  "I'm here."

	Yamamoto smiled.  "I'm glad to see you."

	Clark blinked.  He is?  "What did you want to see me about?"

	"Sit down."  He pointed at a chair and began to pour a glass of
tea.  "I understand you had to defend one of your students from a maniac
with a sword."

	"Yes sir."  He still wasn't quite sure WHAT the assailant had
been.  The man was probably the best fighter Clark had ever faced in his
life and certainly the only one really intent on killing him.  And he had
done...something to Makoto.  Makoto wouldn't have frozen up from terror;
he knew that.  

	She'd also saved his life.  He knew that too, although they'd
ended up fighting with each other, he knew he owed her thanks he hadn't
given her.  If she hadn't intervened, he would have lost his life.  And
they had...If Yamamoto knew about this, he must have known about the other
thing.

	"I'm authorized to grant bonuses for meritorious actions by
teachers.  You'll be getting one in your next check."  He handed Clark a
glass of tea.  Clark fumbled with it and almost spilled it all over
himself in shock.  It was one of his favorite blends, he noticed as
tried to think of something to say to the Vice-Principal.

 	"Thank you, sir.  Just doing my duty."  

	"More than your duty.  Several witnesses indicated you nearly
died.  I should have come to your assistance, but I was distracted with
other matters."  He frowned.  "I had discounted these rumors, but I must
regretfully conclude that Sensei is right.  There are creatures roaming
around Tokyo.  I suppose that riot should have been enough to convince me,
but now this...A new age is coming, I think.  We must prepare our students
for it."

	"A new age, sir?"  He sipped more of the tea and began to relax.

	"I wish I knew myself.  But I'm sure that with teachers like you,
we'll be able to prepare our students for it.  I would appreciate it if
you would come and practice with me sometimes.  I need to build my sword
skills back up."

	"Certainly," he said quietly.  

	"Very good.  Well, you can stay or go as soon as you finish your
tea.  I just wanted to inform you of this."

	Maybe no one noticed, he thought, relieved.  He quickly finished
his tea.  "Thank you, sir."

	Yamamoto watched Clark go.  Best not to bring up about the student
kissing him, he thought.  It happened all the time when people were
rescued from danger.  He'd been kissed himself like that once.  If they'd
been kissing in some other situation, he would have had to discipline the
man, but he was quite certain it wouldn't happen again.  And given the
risk he had taken...for once Yamamoto would give someone some leeway.
Just this once.

************

	"Here you go, 'mi-chan,"  Noriko said, handing a wrapped package
to Ami.

	Ami blinked.  "Huh?"  She looked up from her desk, where she was
doing homework.

	"Your clothing got burnt some after my computer exploded while I
was fighting the elf woman,"  Noriko said.  "I hung a horseshoe upside
down over the door, so she won't be back, I think."  She went over to her
computer and sat down to check her email.  "Three hundred messages!  ACK!"

	"Did she..."  Ami was hesitant to ask.

	"Naah, neither of us really got hurt, but I wouldn't relish
another tussle with her.  And don't worry about paying me back; your
clothing wouldn't have gotten charred if I had done a better job dealing
with her."  She glanced over at the horseshoe, which Ami now noticed was
nailed over the door.  "I hope that thing works."

	"Me too," Ami said quietly. She got up.  "I think I'm going to
take a walk, and get some fresh air."

	"Okay! See you later, 'mi-chan!"

************

     	Rei had an idea.  "Hey, Ami, this is gonna sound 
weird, but...can you do a solar system wide search with 
your computer?"

        Ami, who was sitting under a tree reading, blinked.  
"I could, but it would take an awfully long time."

        Rei came over and sat down.  "Actually, I just need 
you to search Mars.  For the Elder Mars."

        "The what?"

        "I think Elder Senshi Mars is alive."

        Ami stared at her.  "What, after all this time?  But 
how?"

        "Can you check?  I need to know."

        "I'll get right on it."

***********

        Ryo looked up from the pile of books that 
surrounded him in the library.  "No, I haven't had any 
visions about Yuuichiro.  Well, except for one minor one."

        Rei pushed books out of the way, sending them 
flying, and leaned forward, listening intently.  "What?"

        "You kissing him."  Ryo smiled.  "Then Usagi shows 
up and you get mad at her."

        "I wouldn't..." she started.  "No other visions?  
Nothing at all?"

        "Not about Yuuichiro."

        "What about?"

        Ryo looked uncomfortable.  "Myself screaming 
after I had a vision.  But I couldn't tell what the vision 
was."

        "..."

        "I think it had something to do with Ami's friend, 
Yuki, but I'm not sure what.  I yelled something 
incoherent about her in the vision."

        Rei frowned.  Probably she's going to be kidnapped 
by someone who thinks she knows more about the Sailors 
than she really knows.  I should warn her.  Somehow.  
Hmm.

***********

        Ami started to open the door to her room, only to 
freeze in place when she clearly heard the words "VENUS 
POWER, MAKEUP!" from inside the room.  They sounded a 
little weird, oddly distorted, but Ami didn't have time to 
think about that.  She flung the door open, reaching for 
her transformation pen.  

        Instead of seeing Sailor Venus ready for action, 
what she saw was Noriko, Kimiko, and Yuki huddled 
around Noriko's computer.  Noriko and Kimiko were 
holding joysticks and directing Sailor Venus and Sailor 
Mercury, who were squaring off with each other on the 
screen.  It looked like a fighting game, however, unlike 
the Sailor V fighting game, it had the REAL sailors 
instead of the fictional ones of the TV show.  They used 
their real moves.  Ami laughed as Sailor Mercury froze 
Venus in a block of ice with Shine Aqua Illusion in the 
first three seconds.  "New game you bought?"

        They all jumped, then Noriko said, "Hi, 'mi-chan!  
Nice to see you!  'ki-chan and I have been making our own 
Sailor fighting game!"

        Ami blinked and walked over.  "You did all of this?"

        "I took the code from another fighting game and 
modified it, then 'ki-chan helped me design each of the 
Sailors and the bad guys.  She has a lot of pictures and 
films and stuff of the sailors and we even got some 
usable sound files!"  Noriko smiled.  "I think she cheated 
in Mercury's favor, though, cause Yuki keeps beating both 
of us as Mercury."

        Ami laughed and sat down on her bed.  "Can I play?"

        "Sure."  Kimiko handed the joystick to Ami and 
explained the controls.  

        Ami listened carefully and selected Sailor Uranus.  
Yuki selected Mercury again.  She looked over at Ami's 
choice.  "Why'd you pick Uranus?"

        Smiling, Ami said, "Long story."

***********

        Haruka frowned.  Why do I keep feeling like someone's 
about to attack me?  She walked across campus, heading for her 
bike, having finished a bit of research at the library.  A huge, 
fat cat was perched on it, glaring at her with defiance.  

	She laughed.  Maybe I had a premonition of this cat, she thought.
"You wanna go for a ride, cat?"

	It tried to look imposing, but mainly succeeded in demonstrating
it was flabby.  She chased it off, and it lumbered away, trying to act as
if it had meant to leave all along.  She laughed, dismissed the ominous
feeling, and rode off.

***********

        Usagi was pretending to do homework and actually 
reading Vogue when Rei came up behind her.  "Usagi."

        Vogue went out the window and Usagi began hastily 
scribbling down mathematical equations on her paper.  
Given she was supposed to be reading for Earth Science, 
this was going to lead to problems later.  "I'm studying, 
don't worry, I just needed to rest my eyes and..."

        Rei put a hand on Usagi's shoulder.  "I had a vision, 
Usagi."

        "I'll study more; I didn't mean to...what?"

        "Mind if I sit down?"

        Usagi hopped over to the bed from her desk.  "You 
can have my chair."  She sprawled out.

        "I think the Elder Mars may be alive and living on 
Mars."  Rei told Usagi everything.

        Usagi listened gravely, nodding and tapping one 
finger against her cheek.  "So you want to know if we 
should all go."

        Rei nodded.  "I just...I'm starting to think Pluto is 
right, but at the same time...I mean...The Elder Mars.  I 
remember...I remember when I was learning about my 
powers.  I mean, when Aurora was..."

*************

        Aurora wiped the sweat off her brow.  She'd known 
abstractly what humidity was before coming to the Moon, 
but she'd never experienced it except for in saunas, 
which weren't natural.  The whole planet felt like a huge 
sauna to her.  And all the trees and green stuff.  It was 
creepy.  It was like the entire planet was a garden.  A 
garden sauna.

        At least the ground under her feet was somewhat 
familiar.  She had come out to the special training 
grounds that the first Senshi Mars had built, a small 
arena built of hard-to-melt basalt.  It was frighteningly 
smooth, and falling down on it hurt like hell, but it was 
one of the few places they could practice their powers 
without risking setting the Palace and gardens on fire.  

        The Elder Mars was not what Aurora expected.  She 
had fiery red hair and a sense of mischief that was 
completely undignified.  Not quite as bad as the Elder 
Venus, who Aurora was quite sure would have been 
imprisoned for life after the goldfish incident if it had 
happened on Mars.  Athena fit right in with the group 
of lunatics known as the Elder Senshi, but Aurora didn't 
quite approve of any of them.  

	The Elder Jupiter came the closest to what Aurora 
expected of the Queen's bodyguards, but her pupil was the 
most uncouth of all the Younger Senshi.  She would have 
worried about the woman, whatever her name was, being a 
bad influence on Athena, but she had to admit that no one 
could be a worse influence on Athena than Athena was on 
herself.  She was quite sure that Athena had already 
seduced some lord's son the first night she was here.  

     	The elder Mars was quite short, with hair almost 
down to her knees, rising up in huge arched bangs in front 
and covering her ears with a cascading sheet of locks on 
the side.  She had violet eyes that almost glowed, and 
enough freckles for five people.  Brigit was from Mars, 
but she didn't look it; in fact, she looked like she might 
have had an Elven ancestor somewhere along the line.  
Generally good-natured, Aurora had heard that she had 
quite a temper, but hadn't seen any examples of it except 
for an accident when a table collapsed on her, which 
Aurora could quite understand making someone mad.  

    	They had started Aurora's training several days 
ago.  It wasn't going well; Aurora wasn't sure why.  
Probably it was because of the fact that the magic of the 
Senshi bore no resemblance to the technomagic of Mars.  
Aurora was quite fluent in technomagic; she knew the 
properties of crystals, the laws of ethereal motion, 
mathemagic, Enki's laws of linguistics and sonics, and 
the chart of elemental substances.  She could pilot an 
Ethership in an emergency, although she had never done a 
successful landing.  All this shouting and posing the 
Senshi did, on the other hand, seemed ludicrous beyond 
belief.  It was like turning on the lights in a room by 
clapping your hands or something.

       	Suddenly, she became aware that the Elder Mars was 
looking at her and clearly expecting something.  "Yes?"

       	"Did you hear ANYTHING I said?"

       	"Of course I did!"  Aurora couldn't stand to admit 
she'd drifted off.

        "Then DO it!"

        "Where?"  Probably she wants me to try shouting 
that ludicrous phrase again, Aurora thought.

        Brigit looked around.  She pointed at a pillar.  
"There."

        "Fire Soul!"  She pointed at the pillar.  Nothing 
happened.  "Dammit!"

   	Brigit laughed.  "You might want to TRANSFORM 
first."

        "You're not transformed.  Why the hell do we have to 
go through this stupid transformation rigmarole to do 
this?  I mean, if I want to use a crystal voice set, I don't 
have to dance around and shout out command phrases 
first."  

        Brigit began juggling balls of flame.  "Do you teach 
someone to ride a horse by starting them out bareback on 
a stallion?"

        "I wouldn't know; I've never ridden one."  Aurora 
frowned.  She never understood Brigit's metaphors.

        "Would you expect a five year old to disassemble 
and reassemble a crystal voice set by themselves with 
no instructions and no tools?  Would you turn them loose 
in an alchemy lab with no safety equipment?"  Brigit's 
voice was more serious.  "One day, like me, you will BE 
the fire, and then you will not need to transform.  
Because you will be able to sustain your higher state all 
the time.  But for now, you need these tools, because you 
neither understand nor accept your power.  As long as you 
don't believe that you can call up and control the Fire, 
that the Fire is part of you, always has been, and always 
will be, you will need things to let you believe."  

        "I'd rather stick to technomagick.  I frankly can't 
see how setting things on fire is going to do anything but 
make a big mess.  And with a decent fire extinguisher, I 
could stop you from even doing that."  Normally, Aurora 
would have had more sense to smart off to one of the 
Elder Senshi.  But she was on a roll.  "I mean, if I want 
fire, I can just use the Nicomancian formula and make 
some Vulcan Fire that will burn longer and even burn in 
water.  Or I could..."

        Brigit smiled.  "Then go.  You have a week.  Longer 
if you need it to gather the materials you need.  If you 
can defeat me with your technomagick, then I will leave 
you to do as you wish.  If you lose, then you will study 
THIS way of doing things, as is your duty.  Agreed?"

        "Agreed!"  Aurora stomped off and started making 
plans.  It was a busy week for her, spent in the 
laboratories of the palace, banging on metal, mixing 
powders and hunting for rare ingredients.  She went to 
bed every night exhausted, but it was a satisfying 
exhaustion.  It was a sign she was getting things done.  

        Several people came to talk to her.  The first was 
Marduk.  He was the younger Uranus.  Aurora had heard of 
him, but never met him, since he was usually out 
patrolling the outer reaches of the Solar System with the 
younger Neptune, who was said to be his lover.  Indeed, it 
was said that he had dueled the elder Uranus and won, in 
order to become the new Uranus, so that he would not be 
separated from her.  "So you're the new Mars?"  he asked 
idly.  He was quite handsome, with short blond hair and a 
pleasant smile.  His figure was slender, and he was 
dressed in casual but elegant clothing in shades of 
orange and green, which she quite approved of.  

        "Yes.  So how did you beat the Elder Uranus?"  
Aurora decided to get to the point.  "I assume you heard I 
have a duel with the Elder Mars."

        "I was curious about that.  Did she refuse to teach 
you too unless you beat her?"  His voice was casual, but 
his stare was quite intense.  It made Aurora a little 
uncomfortable.

        "No, I'm trying to beat her so I don't have to learn 
this hokey dance and pose and shout claptrap."  Aurora 
said, searching through one of the supply cabinets.  "Who 
organized this mess?  Why are there beholder eyes next 
to powdered bronze?"

        "Don't ask me.  I never come here.  So you don't 
WANT to learn to be a Senshi?"  He looked past her at the 
cabinets, then smiled to himself.

        Aurora stood up.  "Why did you want to?   I 
mean...you... umm.."  She had heard he turned into a girl 
when he transformed.  Aurora knew she would be on a 
ship back to Mars if being a senshi meant being a boy.

        "For each of us, there's something that only we 
can do.  We have to find that thing and do it.  I was born 
to be Uranus.  If I have to turn into a girl sometimes to 
be with Ishtar, then so be it.  I love her, and I'd happily 
turn into a cow if I had to."  He sat down on a work bench.  
"So what makes you so suicidal you're willing to try to 
fight the Elder Mars to get out of this?"

        "I'm not suicidal!  I can do far better than a few 
hokey fire tricks with technomagic, even at my age."  
Finally, she found the alkali extracts she needed.  
"Besides, it can't be that hard.  I mean, you beat the Elder 
Uranus and she's supposed to be one of the toughest ones, 
right?  And I know you're from Earth, so you didn't have 
any technomagic, either."

        Marduk laughed.  "You think this is going to be easy?  
I nearly died.  I only won because the Elder Uranus kept 
underestimating me and because I knew I HAD to win, or 
life wouldn't be worth living.  I don't think you have 
enough drive."

        Aurora frowned.  "And how would YOU know 
anything about me?"

        He got up.  "You can't even figure out the cabinets 
are organized in alphabetical order.  And you expect to 
beat someone who has been fighting battles for decades?  
Who can teleport interplanetary distances with a 
thought?  What kind of flowers would you like at your 
funeral?"

        "GET OUT!"  He got out.

        After that, little doubts ate away at Aurora's 
confidence, but she shoved them aside.  She was going to 
win.  She was going to show these people the power of 
technomagic.  Brigit had probably sent Marduk to just 
demoralize her.  

        The week passed faster than Aurora had expected.  
Still, she wasn't too scared.  Until she entered the arena 
and realized most of the inhabitants of the palace were 
seated in hastily constructed stands behind a crystal 
shield around the arena.  Including all of the Elder Senshi 
except for Pluto and Saturn (and Saturn was in suspended 
animation, which made her unlikely to attend this sort of 
thing) and all the junior senshi as well.  

    	Her uncle, Lord Arch, the ambassador from Mars, was 
there as well.  He gave her a thumbs up and she smiled.  He 
had always supported her in everything she did; she was glad 
that someone was rooting for her.  Athena sat by him, arm in 
arm with some boy Aurora had seen around the palace.  
She gave Aurora a thumbs up as well and so did the boy.  
Aurora smiled and returned the gesture, then strode out 
to face the Elder Mars, who was lying on a large stone 
table, apparently taking a nap.

     	Aurora wished the outfit she had designed was 
somewhat less ungainly, but since she lacked the 
resources and skill to build a suit of proper battle armor, 
she had had to settle for this suit of vulcanim cloth that 
made her look like a peasant, but had lots of pockets, a 
backpack, and places to attach the various things she 
would need.  Her biggest question was whether the fire 
extinguisher would work right; she had the chemicals 
right, but she had lacked all the proper parts she had 
wanted and the valves tended to get stuck.  At least the 
sun was out with no clouds so her Icthela lens would 
work right.  "You planning to sleep through this?"  

        A large chunk of the audience roared with laughter.  
They fell silent as the Elder Mars sat up.  "Just being 
bored in advance.  You ready?"

        "Yes.  Go ahead and transform or whatever."

        "I already have."  Her clothing vanished, revealing 
her uniform.  "Hit me with your best shot, Aurora."

        Aurora held up her Icthela lens, which was a long 
conical tube with a series of lenses of special crystal 
that would focus ambient light into an intense beam.  She 
flicked off the cap on the wide end and aimed it at the 
Elder Mars.  It would take a while to get up to full force, 
but it would distract her long enough to let her get in 
close and use the Powder of Astrela that she had 
prepared for the coup d' grace.  

        "Fire shield."  A circle of flames formed in front 
of the Elder Mars, blocking the ray of focused light, even 
as it grew in intensity.  "Next?"

        Time for plan two.  Yumi and Takeen crystals 
sparked, making a HUGE flash when struck together, as 
Aurora had been taught when she was eight.  Aurora 
quickly lowered her smoked-glass visor; she couldn't 
wear it all the time, it worked too well and she would 
have only been able to barely see, even in full sunlight.  
Then she struck two of the crystals together.

        The results were gratifying.  The Elder Mars 
clearly hadn't expected that, and she staggered 
backwards, rubbing her eyes.  Aurora closed in, pulling 
out the canister of powder, unscrewing the top, and 
shoving the plunger.  She hadn't had time to build a better 
delivery system.  

        This worked even better than she had hoped.  A 
huge gout of the powder landed all over Brigit's head and 
shoulders.  She began to stagger, coughing and gasping, 
her eyes watering.  Also, she started sneezing violently.  

        All was silent except for Brigit coughing and 
hacking.  Aurora glanced up at the stands.  Everyone 
seemed strangely still, fixed on watching Brigit.  Too 
still.  Aurora frowned.  Has something happened to them?

        Brigit then burst into flames.  A rising spiral of 
flame erupted around her, combusting every speck of 
powder and burning it away.  Her voice cried out words 
that hung in the air, yet Aurora couldn't grasp them to 
understand them.  The remains of the powder and the 
canister itself burst into flames and burned away.  She 
hastily dropped it and backpedaled.

    	Brigit smiled.  "Thank you, Aurora.  We all need a 
reminder that we're not all powerful sometimes.  I 
underestimated you."

        "Are we done?"

        Brigit grinned ferally.  "I let you hit me with your 
best.  Now I'm going to show you mine.  Fire is 
everywhere, in everything.  There is nothing that cannot 
burn."

        Aurora's clothing began to smoke.  Her eyes 
widened.  Vulcanium was non-flammable unless you 
threw it in a volcano or a star.  That's why many Martian 
technomancers used it for making work uniforms.  Or 
combat ones.  Also, it held dyes well.  If she could ...no, 
she must be bluffing me.  She hosed herself down with 
her fire extinguisher, and the smoke went out.  "And no 
fire I can't put out."

        "We'll see."  A gout of flame hurled itself straight 
at Aurora, who doused it with her extinguisher.  Then a 
second one.  And a third.  And a fourth.  Soon, her 
extinguisher ran out of fuel; she hadn't expected this 
much use for it.  How many times could Mars DO this 
attack before she had to...umm...recharge?

        Aurora reached for a flashbomb.  I've got to get her 
off balance.  As she reached for her smoked glass visor, 
the flashbomb went off in her hand.  Hey, it's not 
supposed to do that!  She staggered, blinded.  When her 
vision cleared, a wall of flame surrounded her.  

        The heat felt like the heart of a forge.  Words came 
into her mind.  Mars Power, Makeup.  She ignored them.  
She didn't need such claptrap.  Her resolve began to slip 
as the fires crept closer.  When she saw the basalt itself 
was melting, the first tear dripped from her left eye.  
"You're going to kill me!"

        "If you don't learn to embrace and use the Fire 
inside you, you'd be better off dead, because you'll fail 
those who are counting on you."  Brigit's voice was harsh.  
"If you don't want to be a Senshi, you can go home.  But if 
you are one, you will learn to do it right, or not do it at 
all.  You're not a princess here, Aurora.  You can't get your 
way by pouting.  If you want to be Senshi Mars, then 
you're going to have to learn how to be a Senshi, what the 
Senshi really are."  The flames were less than an arm's 
length away.  There was nothing around Aurora now but 
flames, Brigit's voice, and the ever shrinking circle of 
black basalt beneath her feet.  Her battle garb was 
beginning to smoke.

        "You're going to burn me alive!  STOP!"

        "You won't...die,"  Brigit said.  "I am the Fire.  
It will do exactly what I want, nothing more, nothing less.  
And by the time I finish training you, you'll have this much 
control.  Now, I strongly suggest you assume your Senshi 
form."

        "No!"  Aurora hadn't meant to protest.  It had 
simply popped out instinctively.

        "I once used my powers to shave my husband.  Let 
me demonstrate."  Not only were the flames still 
creeping in, she could feel flames burning around her 
collar, missing her flesh by only an immeasurable 
margin.  Her uniform began to burn away.  

        Terror seized her.  She fell to her knees, crying.  
"Stop, please stop, I'm going to die, stop, stop, stop!"

        The fire, all the fire, winked out.  Brigit rushed 
over, looking worried now, falling to her knees.  "I didn't 
burn you, did I?"

        Aurora checked.  Her flesh wasn't even tender.  It 
didn't even feel hot around her collar.  "I..you..."  She 
looked up at the audience.  Humiliated in front of 
everyone.  Their silence was a condemnation.

        Brigit looked over.  "I knew I forgot about 
something."  She gestured and the entire audience winked 
out of existence.  "You did say no holds barred."

        "..."  Aurora was stunned.  The entire audience had 
been an ILLUSION?

        "I can't animate something that large unless I lie 
down and concentrate,"  Brigit said.  "But it made a good 
psychological warfare tactic, eh?"

        "You..."  Aurora shuddered.  So much power.  She had 
never understood until that day how much power the 
Senshi actually wielded.  She had heard stories, seen the 
wonders that the Ruling Wizards had wrought.  She had 
talked to the Golems, met some of the Guardians, and 
heard stories about the Zodiac.  But she'd never seen any 
of them REALLY unleash their powers.  "You did that all 
yourself?"

        "Well, it would have been easy for you to do the 
same thing with a recording crystal and a projector if 
you had thought of it and had the resources,"  Brigit said.  
"Don't get me wrong; I know technomagic can work 
wonders that I cannot.  But that is not your destiny.  Not 
your power.  Flame is the essence of Mars.  You are the 
flame.  I know it burns in you, for I have seen it.  You 
have passion, determination, and strength.  Now, will you 
apply that to learning what you must learn, or do you 
want to go back to Mars?"

     	"I will learn,"  Aurora said.  "Though I still...it still 
seems silly."

        Brigit offered her a hand up.  "It seemed silly to me 
when I arrived as well, although I had grown up as a 
moisture farmer in Northern Udun, so I didn't have half 
the practical training in technomagic you've had, except 
for fixing moisture collectors."

        Aurora blinked.  "You grew up as..."

        Brigit grinned.  "If I wasn't the Elder Senshi Mars, I 
wouldn't be allowed in your parents' palace if I could set 
the whole planet on fire.  I bet you've never even BEEN to 
Northern Udun."

        Aurora wasn't even sure if she knew where on Mars 
Northern Udun WAS.

**************

    	"She's strong.  Incredibly strong.  And if she's had 
all this time to grow stronger..."  Rei shuddered and 
buried her face in her arms as she rested them on the 
back of the seat, which she was sitting in backwards.  "I 
never...Aurora never beat her once in all the times they 
fought.  Although she did beat her in tennis repeatedly.  
Brigit really was a lousy...um, anyway."

      	Usagi got up, came over, and quietly hugged Rei.  
"We'll go with you, Rei.  If she's really that powerful, 
then I think we'll need everyone."

      	"I just...I have this feeling like it's supposed to be 
MY quest to deal with this.  I mean, Ami and Minako didn't 
take everyone on their mission to get their talisman.  
But..."  It ground Rei's gears to admit she was afraid.  But 
her memories of the Elder Mars drove her on.  The woman 
seemed invulnerable, at least in those memories of 
Aurora that Rei could reach.  And if someone had 
somehow enslaved her...they had to be stronger yet.

        Usagi thought for a moment.  "Take Michiru with 
you.  After all, Ami took Haruka.  And...um...we'll stay 
in really close contact, so if it is really too much, we 
can Sailor Teleport to you, okay?"  She lifted Rei's head 
so Rei wasn't staring into her arms at point-blank range 
anymore.  "How does that sound?"

      	Rei nodded quietly.  "I...I think you should talk to 
Pluto about it."

        "I'll do that tomorrow after school, then."  Usagi 
said, sitting back down on the bed.  "I wonder if we 
should send Yuuichiro with you like Ryo went with Ami.  
Of course, that would mean..."

        Rei was grateful for the reminder.  "He had a 
dream about Jadeite trying to kill him."

        Usagi plopped back down on her bed.  "Maybe he's 
the White Knight."

        Laughing, Rei stood up.  "Yuuichiro couldn't save a 
pecan from a squirrel."

        "He could be!  Remember, Pluto said it was like 
when Mamo-chan was making the Moonlight Knight, sort 
of.  And that he didn't remember being the White Knight 
when he finished helping us."  Usagi rolled over on her 
stomach.  "It's gotta be either him or Umino or Steven.  I 
mean, who else could it be?"

        Rei rolled her eyes.  "It could be Udaigaku-sensei  
for all we know.  It could be anyone in Tokyo."

        Usagi propped her head up with her hands.  "You're 
wrong."

        Frowning, Rei walked over and sat down on the bed.  
"And how do you know?  Been getting transmissions from 
space through your odangoes?"

        "He showed up at the Hot Springs!  Which means he 
HAD to have been there, so if we could get their guest 
list for that day, we'd have a MUCH narrower list to work 
from.  I'm betting it's Steven, or Umino or Yuuichiro.  We 
already know what's funky about Ryo."  Usagi began 
ticking through people on her fingers.  "They were all at 
the Hot Springs.  Oooh...and Yuuichiro was the only one we 
didn't see while the White Knight showed up!  I bet it 
WAS him!"

        Rei shook her head.  "One, the White Knight always 
tries to protect Naru the most.  Secondly, if Yuuichiro 
could do this, why didn't he ever do it any of the times 
that monsters attacked before?  It's got to be Umino."

        "Umino?  No way,"  Usagi said.  "He's been monster 
fodder more times than that.  And if he DID produce 
someone like that, it would be Tuxedo Umino Kamen."

        They both laughed at that.  "That leaves Steven.  IF 
it's someone we know.  I still say it could be anyone in 
Tokyo.  We weren't the only people at that hot springs, 
you know.  Heck, it could be that English teacher Makoto 
whines about all the time."

        "The Spark guy?"

        "Whatever his name is.  Makoto was grumbling 
'cause he went on a date with Haruna-Sensei."  Rei 
sighed.  "Well, the White Knight's on our side, we know 
that, but..."

        Usagi thought hard, scrunching up her eyebrows.  
"Hmm.  Maybe we could stage a fake attack and see who 
turns into him.  Or summons him, or whatever."

        Rei decided to try and head this idea off at the pass 
before it fully developed.  "Maybe we could try a 
personals ad."

        "Great idea!"

        Groan.

*************
           
        After being beaten by Yuki three times, even when 
she played Sailor Pluto, Ami wasn't sure whether to be 
gratified at Yuki's ability to show that Sailor Mercury 
could fight well, or to be embarrassed that Yuki was 
beating her up with herself.  "Are you really Sailor 
Mercury, Yuki?"  she asked teasingly.  "Because you 
certainly know how to fight with her."  Maybe she just 
understands the fight engine.

        "Everyone has weaknesses.  Find them and you can 
take any of them down,"  Yuki said.  "You wanna try being 
Mercury?"

        Nervously, Ami selected Mercury.  Yuki selected 
Chibi-Moon.   If I lose this time, I'm gonna die of 
embarrassment, Ami thought.  She glanced over at Noriko, 
who was poring over a massive print out of lines and 
lines and lines of code.  "Wish me luck, Noriko-chan."

        "You're in trouble now, 'Ki-chan!  'Mi-chan's just 
been warming up!  Now she's gonna crush you!"  Noriko leapt 
to her feet triumphantly, sending pages of code everywhere.  
"Ack."

        Yuki grinned.  "Bring it on."  The game started.

        Ami wished Chibi-Moon had been mind controlled 
by Yuki during her stay in Tokyo.  After watching Yuki-
controlled Chibi-Moon dodge a Shiny Aqua Illusion, shrug 
off Shabon Spray, Freezing, and then batter Mercury 
unconscious with Pink Sugar Heart Attack repeated about 
three thousand times, she was quite certain Yuki would 
have done a good job as Chibi-Moon.  "I think you made the 
Pink Sugar Heart Attack a little too effective."

        "Well, it only removes a tenth of a health-point.  
But it also makes it harder to attack while it's going on.  
And you started panicking after she survived the freezing 
spray,"  Yuki said.  "It doesn't have much range; next time 
jump over me or something."

        Ami was quite surprised to see Mercury grab Chibi 
in a sleeper hold and crush her until she collapsed when 
she punched a different button combo than she had meant 
to.  "What the..."

        "We found another attack we forgot to clear!"  Yuki 
said to Noriko.  "Ready for round three?"

        "Hmm.  Can Sailor Mercury transform to Super 
Mode?"  

        "Yeah."  Yuki told Ami how to do it.  "Then you can 
use her super attack, which I had to make up.  Mercury 
Eternal Vortex."

        Ami nodded.  This time, Chibi used her own super 
attack; she summoned a goofy looking Pegasus, who froze 
nicely inside a block of ice when Ami countered with 
Shiny Aqua Illusion.  Then she transformed Mercury to 
super mode and tried the Super attack.  "Mercury Eternal 
Vortex!"  a tinny voice , which bore only a faint 
resemblance to the other more accurate voices of the 
game, perhaps because it sounded suspiciously like Yuki, 
cried out.  A huge swirling vortex of water erupted out of 
the ground and flung Chibi into space, where she exploded 
in deep vacuum.  Better not let Chibi ever see this game, 
Ami thought.  

        Yuki said, "Cool!  It worked!  Good job, Ami!  You 
just needed the right senshi."

        Well, I can take down Chibi, Ami thought.  Hmm.  
This might make a good training tool.  If I could use the 
code and get my visor to simulate opponents...  "Can I 
take a look at the code for this some time, Noriko?"

        "Sure!  I could use some help; I think there's some 
redundant code, but I can't figure out where."  Noriko had 
managed to pick up all of the huge pile of computer code 
sheets.  "Oh great, it's all in the wrong order and I 
printed out page three three times!  No wonder there's 
redundant code..."

*************

	Amazonite pulled back the string of the bow and let the arrow fly.
She nailed Sailor V in the forehead, right under her tiara.  More
precisely, she nailed the picture of Sailor V in the forehead.  She had
acquired a lifesize Sailor V poster (at no small expense), and was now
using it for target practice.  

	Hematite laughed.  "The real Sailor V probably won't stand there
while you shoot at her, you know."

	She jumped.  The man was always skulking about.  Probably the fact
that he had brown hair, brown eyes, and wore brown helped him blend in.
Even in a crowd, he blended in, as he was, simply put, bland.  "We won't
beat the Sailors by draining energy from social clubs, either."

         He laughed faintly.  "We need energy, Amazonite, or we shall be
trapped here for millennia like we were before.  Your warriors won't last
very long without MY energy.  Each of us does our part.  Plus, my little
experiment at Tsunami yielded some valuable information."

	"Like what?"

	"I now have a short list of possible candidates for being one of
the Sailor Senshi.  One of the Golden Ring members was one of them.  Now I
have set people to spy on them.  I'll wiggle out their secret soon enough.
And then, when the time is right, it will be easy for your warriors to
locate and destroy them."  He smiled.  "Enjoy your target shooting."

	"Have you...have you found any clues as to where those...what
happened during my last battle with them?"  That worried her most; if
Elder Senshi were hiding in the wings, this battle would be much harder.  

	His face darkened.  "No.  Pluto guards that secret well, I think,
although she did recently slip up rather badly.  I intend to keep an eye
on this Hikaru Hibino who actually managed to film the Senshi AND
broadcast it.  Lightning often strikes twice, and I intend to trace it
back to its source."

	An uncharacteristic thought suddenly struck Amazonite.  It's a
trap.  The Senshi probably LET her film them, and now they'll watch her,
then crush anyone who strikes at her.  A lightning rod.  Should I tell
him?  She was tempted to let him be destroyed, but... "It could be a
trap."

	"Perhaps.  These 'camcorders' have become so common, however, that
it's also quite possible that she simply got lucky.  I intend to work
through proxies until I am SURE, but then...nothing ventured, nothing
gained."

	Perhaps the only thing we would ever agree on, she thought.

****************

   	Izuko frowned at the body still lying in the bed, eyes 
closed and mouth wide open.  He was breathing without 
assistance now, and physically, he looked fine.  Mentally, 
it was another story.  

       	Cancer sat by Hudson, her hands on his forehead.  Her 
height made her look like an adolescent, although she had 
the figure of an adult, and long strange red hair done up 
to look like a crab on her head.  She must spend half the 
morning doing up her hair, Izuko thought.  There is no way 
she could sleep with it like that.  Not unless she sleeps 
standing up.  Cancer frowned.  "What a mess."

       	Izuko frowned now.  "Aren't you the Ascendant One 
now?  Shouldn't this be easy?"

       	"If it was you, or most other people, yes.  The 
problem is that Hudson was already close to the edge due 
to his past experiences.  He got his start with us in the 
Star Guard."  She took her hands off his forehead.  "I'd 
best not do this and talk at the same time."

        "Yeah, I can see him as one of those whackos.  I'm 
surprised he didn't shoot a senshi before this."

        "The Star Guard are NOT whackos.  This planet would 
have been ravaged a hundred times without the services 
they perform.  I know that if I wasn't one of the Twelve, I 
couldn't find the strength to face down the Things from 
Beyond.  They do dangerous, important work."  Cancer 
frowned at Izuko.  "That's what the Zodiac is for.  We 
defend this system against the threats which lurk 
outside and want to come in."

        "Why'd you make loons like the Gemini twins part of 
the Twelve then?  The damn girl had us spying on her ex-
boyfriend's new girlfriend."

        "Because the Stars choose who joins the Twelve, 
not us.  That is the problem.  Some of us become drunk on 
power or chase after pleasure, but not I.  And some would 
seek revenge foolishly, but not I.  Unless I come up with a 
good plan, we will not cross swords with the Senshi 
again.  Not after our last disaster."  She shuddered.  "We 
should likely have taken all twelve, but...I do not 
understand how they did what they did, but unless we can 
prevent it, I will not take that kind of chance."  She 
sounded scared.  The Ascendant One was not supposed to 
ever sound scared; it made Izuko worry.

        She changed the subject.  "So how soon do you think 
he'll be up and about and making a mess?"

        "If all goes well, I should have him back to normal 
after two more sessions.  He is a tough one; how he 
survived Saturn strangling him...Then again, he was 
nailed to the wall when they found him after his unit got 
wiped out.  But he had his hands around the throat of the 
last Thing."  She shook her head and turned back to him.  
"I'm glad someone comes to see him; all his old friends 
died that day."

        "Someone has to do it,"  Izuko said quietly.  

        "Indeed."

*************

	"Hey, Yuki, got a minute?"  Minako shouted, running across the
Quad towards her.  Yuki was headed off towards the gym, carrying a bow and
clad in traditional archery garb in red and gold colors.  Hotaru tagged
along after Minako.

	"Hi, Minako,"  Yuki said.  "Who's your friend?"

	"This is Hotaru Tomoe.  Her father is..."  Minako looked around,
then grinned.  "He's Counselor Meiou's boyfriend."  She was carrying a
bow and arrows wheedled from Derith, since she couldn't practice with her
talisman in front of 'normal' people.

  	"Fiancee, really,"  Hotaru said.  "Nice to meet you!"  She had a
bow and arrows slung over her shoulder, also borrowed from Derith.
Hopefully, he wouldn't be needing to do any archery any time soon.

	"I didn't know you two did archery,"  Yuki said.

	"Hotaru's boyfriend gave us both bows and told us to learn,"
Minako said.

	"He's not my BOYFRIEND!"  Hotaru said a little louder than was
really necessary.

	"They all CLAIM that at first, and then...the ....uh...I forgot
what I was going to say,"  Minako said, then blushed.  

	"Wow, I wish my boyfriend was loaded like that.  Those look like
really high quality handmade bows!"  She held out a hand.  "Can I take a
closer look?"

	Hotaru handed over her bow.  Yuki looked at the bow carefully,
then plucked the string.  "Wow.  Real yew bow, and the string...Perfect
for traditional archery.  This is great!"

	Hotaru beamed as she took it back.  "We were hoping you could give
us some tips.  Minako's a really HORRIBLE shot."

	"Well, she couldn't possibly be worse than Sailor Venus,"  Yuki
said as they started heading to the gym.

	Minako frowned.  "I am NOT a horrible shot!"

	"I mean...fifty shots, and she never hit the target.  I wish I
knew who the guy was, but everyone I talked to never got a good look at
him.  It's a good thing those arrows didn't actually physically hurt
anyone."

	Minako wilted.  "I..."

	"I mean, there would have been corpses everywhere."  Yuki couldn't
see Minako's face as she forged on ahead.

	"I heard there was a chaos spirit in the bow," Hotaru said.  "I'm
sure she wouldn't have done it otherwise."

	"I hope you're right.  She's usually not a complete idiot like
that,"  Yuki said.  "AND she got Mars and Neptune humiliated on national
TV.  Now all these idiots think they're gay lovers, when anyone with any
sense knows better."  She sighed.  "I just hope Mars doesn't burn Hikaru
to death; she has a bit of a temper."

	Hotaru boggled.  "How do you know all this stuff?"

	They entered the gymnasium and headed for the archery range.

	"Simple observation,"  Yuki said.  "I'm good at looking at things
and making deductions like Sherlock Holmes.  The way I can tell Minako is
moping because she's a Sailor Venus fan, and I've been talking about how
Sailor Venus messed up.  Or she wouldn't be so quiet."

	"Sailor Venus didn't MEAN to cause all that trouble,"  Minako said
quietly.

	They soon reached the archery range.  Yuki said, "And I collect
pictures and stories and stuff.  I bet I know more about the Senshi than
anyone who isn't a Senshi."

	Probably more than some Senshi, Hotaru thought.  "Okay, I know the
basic idea of archery, but..."

	Yuki laughed.  "It's easy.  I've been learning ever since I was
five years old, after I dreamed of being a great archer, and decided to
make my dream real.  I haven't quite figured out how to make the other
part of it real, but..."

	"What was the other part?"  Minako asked, taking a look at the
targets and getting out an arrow.

	"Flying between the stars as a starship captain.  But since Japan
doesn't have a space program and probably won't any time soon...I'm just
working on the archery.  And my grades are too poor anyway.  What with
archery and singing and the Senshi Fan Club and everything..."  She began
to shoot, arrow after arrow in rapid succession.  Bullseye.  Second
circle.  Bullseye.  Third circle.  Bullseye.  "Oh man, third circle again!
Okay, lemme see you two shoot."

          Minako began to rapid fire into the target.  Fifth circle.
Fourth circle.  The target adjacent to hers.  Second circle.  Outer white
circle.  "Bah hembeck!"

	"You can't fire that fast when you're starting out," Yuki said.
"Just take it nice and slow.  You try, Hotaru."

	"Okay.  I've never really done archery before, though."  Second
circle.  Third circle.  Second circle.  Fourth circle.  Fifth circle.  
	
	Minako boggled.  "Hey!"

	Hotaru grinned.  "Maybe I should be Sailor Venus."

	"You can't be Sailor Venus!  That's...AAAARGH!"  Minako stomped
about overdramatically.

	"You've got some good shooting instincts,"  Yuki said to Hotaru.
"Now, let's start with a proper stance."

**********

   	"I really don't remember that much about it, Usako,"  
Mamoru said to Usagi.  They were sprawled out on the 
couch in his apartment, half-watching some animated 
show that Usagi liked and he tended to zone through.  
Mustard Man or something.  Too many teenagers running 
around angsting and having futile crushes for him.  

        Usagi looked up at him; her head was on his chest.  
"C'mon, ya gotta remember something about being the 
Moonlight Knight!  What did it feel like?"

        "Just this vague feeling like something was 
missing.  Flashes of deja vu.  Confusion at times.  I'd 
start to go somewhere and not know why.  About the 
same as when I was Tuxedo Kamen, but didn't know it."  
Mamoru's eyes flicked to the screen.  Buu and Kiki were 
having a knife fight.  Weren't they dating?, he thought, 
then resolved to pay even LESS attention to the show.  
"But there's nothing to say it's exactly the same."

        "It's gotta be Steven.  It would make more sense to 
be Umino, sort of, but there's just NO way it could be 
him,"  Usagi said, watching the show and talking at the 
same time.  It was a knack.

        "I think he and Ryo and Yumeni have a common bond, 
but unless they somehow collectively generate the White 
Knight..."

        "Oooh, I didn't think of that!"  Usagi said.  "Just like 
Science Ninja Team Gatachaman!  Oh wait, no, it 
was...umm...this comic book...with a name...Anyway, so you 
think they're collectively generating him, not just 
Steven."

        He shook his head.  "I didn't say that.  I said that I 
didn't think it was Steven, unless...anyway.  My theory is 
that Naru creates him somehow.  She's ALWAYS been 
around when he showed up."

        "Yeah, but so have I, except the first time,"
Usagi said.  "And since she HAS powers, he still shows 
up.  And she can't give him her powers and use them 
herself.  Right?  Just like you turned into just normal 
Mamo-chan when the Moonlight Knight was running around."

        "Right."

   	"Well, maybe...oohhh...maybe it's Nephrite's ghost!  
You told me he was still around, keeping the Great Shield 
going, right?"  Usagi was getting excited now.  "Yeah!  He 
shows up when she's in danger because he still loves her, 
then he has to go back to his grave!  It's soooooo 
romantic!"

        "But why did he wait until now?  I think he would 
have told me he was the White Knight."  Usako's theory 
has some merit,  Mamoru thought, but why would Nephrite 
always run off afterwards?  There was something...there 
had to be something they weren't noticing.  Some vital clue.  
On the TV, Kiki's best friend Keiko was throwing her parents 
out the window of her house, then dropping the furniture on 
them.  It's about time, he thought.

**************

	Minako and Hotaru sat exhausted in the ice cream shop, trying to
soothe their aching arm and shoulder muscles.  The ice cream wouldn't
really do their arms any good, but it was yummy.  Minako said, "Can I ask
you a question?"

	"Eh?"  Hotaru said, pausing in mid-bite, then swallowing.  "Sure."

	"Have I been acting weird?"

	"Besides you staring at Yuki's boyfriend's butt when he showed
up?"

	"Yeah."

	"Besides you cackling maniacally when you actually got all your
shots to hit the target?"

	"Yeah."

	"Besides you looking at half the men we saw on the way over here
like you were a shark?"

	Minako pulled the pointed ears no one else could see she had.
"I'm just...I keep...I can't keep these thoughts out of my head and it's
driving me nuts!  I hate this!  I'm miserable all the time because I want
to do things and I know I can't, and I keep thinking about Ami and Ryo and
they never should have put that thought in my head but I ought to be able
to get it out and..."  She was speaking faster and faster.

	"Well, maybe there's some way to undo it,"  Hotaru said.  

	Minako took a deep breath.  "I want to be faithful to my man.  I
don't WANT to go sleeping around like a..."  She almost banged her head on
the table, but spotted her bowl of ice cream in time.  "I'm going to go
stark raving nutso before this settles down.  I don't know how I'm going
to keep my sanity the next couple of months."

	Hotaru nodded.  "Well, I can poke you if you get out of line."
	
	"When you're around.  I think Steven's going to kill me if this
keeps up.  And Ami's probably afraid to come near me."  She sighed.  "The
only good thing about being this depressed is that at least I'm not
getting any stupid impulses that will just get me in trouble."

	"Well, I'll see if Derith knows anything that would help."

**************

  	"Alright, I'll ask Minako and Hotaru to keep an eye on
Hikaru.  I hope she doesn't get hurt,"  Usagi said.  After 
thinking for a moment, she asked, So do you think Rei should 
go with just Michiru or should we all go?"  They were in 
the Tomoe family living room, trying to ignore Hotaru and 
Haruka who were chasing each other around the house for 
no particular reason.  

        "I think that Rei and Michiru should go alone.  It will 
strengthen their partnership and Rei...I believe that in the 
end, Rei will have to face the Elder Mars alone, just as 
you did with Beryl.  It is part of earning her talisman.  If 
she can face the Elder Mars and win, she will be ready for 
what is to come.  As ready as anyone ever is."  Setsuna 
was idly turning her engagement ring round and round on 
her finger as she talked.  "The world is full of surprises."

        "Like you and Tomoe-Sensei?"

        Just the hint of a blush appeared on Setsuna's face.  
"Yes.  It was not something I expected."

        "But can't you foresee the future?"  Usagi asked.  

        "I see probabilities, but I can't see everywhere.  
And sometimes..."  She sighed and stared at her hand.  
"Sometimes I can blind myself to things I do not want to 
see.  Or that I'm afraid to see.  Love is a terrifying thing."

        Usagi blinked.  "Love isn't terrifying!  It's wonderful 
and it makes you happy!  It comforts you when you're sad, 
it..."

        "Have you ever watched someone you loved age and 
die?"  Setsuna said, not quite looking directly at Usagi.

        "Umm, no."

        "I have.  Several times.  And I have had to marry 
men that I did not love, but came to at least like, to care 
about, even if it was not love in its strongest sense.  I 
have borne children, I have...Love is terrifying.  I pray you 
will never understand why I think that.  But enough of me.  
Rei can win.  She can accomplish this quest, but it will 
not be easy.  She will need help."  Hotaru ran in, jumped 
on the couch, and leaped over Setsuna's lap.  Setsuna 
simply leaned back and let her go by, then did the same 
for Haruka a few seconds later.  "And they will be 
needing help if they don't STOP THAT!" she bellowed after 
them.

        Usagi laughed.  "I already know having children can 
drive you insane."

        Setsuna laughed a little as well.  "I suppose you do."

***********

	Hotaru clung onto Bob's neck.  "Where are we going?"

	Derith smiled.  "Just going out onto the ocean a little so you can
see how Tokyo looks from the sea.  And you said you wanted to talk in
private.  It doesn't get much more private than this.  Bob won't tell
anyone, right?"

	"Only if it gets Derith in trouble,"  Bob said dryly, his wings
pumping as they rose up over the city.

	Hotaru watched Tokyo drop away below them.  The city was beautiful
at night, an ocean of droplets of light.  "How come no one notices you,
Bob?"

	"A simple bit of magic so no one looks at me.  Only small children
who haven't learned to ignore things that aren't supposed to be real can
see me."  He smiled faintly.  

	Soon, Tokyo was an ocean of light against the darkness of the sea
and the streamers of light across the land which marked the roads and
railways.  Derith said, "What did you want to ask me about, Hotaru?"

	"Is there some way to turn Minako back to normal?  It's making her
miserable."

	He sighed and stared down at the ocean.  "A powerful enough mage
could do it easily, I'm sure.  I never studied polymorphing magic.  There
are mages in Avalon who could fix it, but not many who would.  'The Gift'
has but rarely been given."

	She blinked.  "The Gift?"

	"To become an elf is quite rare.  Normally, it's only supposed to
be done at the command of the Elven King.  It's intended to be an honor.
Of course, it's also usually done with consent."  He frowned.  "The best I
can do for Minako is go give her some advice and help her understand how
to control her abilities.  There is nothing I could do for the impulses.
It will ease with time, but it's like puberty."  He gazed down at the
water again.

	"What if she...this could..."  Hotaru didn't want to say it for
fear it might come true.  

	"The one thing I can say about the impulses is that sooner or
later, she will have to find a way to release some of them under
controlled conditions, or she'll end up doing something stupid.  I will
tell her that, though I have no idea what would be a good way for her to
work it off."

	"I'm sure she'll think of something,"  Hotaru said.  She thought a
moment.  "Can we buzz the Narita Airport control tower?"

	Bob laughed.  "Your wish is my command."

***********

       	Hikaru sighed as she sat in Bobson's Ice Cream and 
ate her favorite kind of ice cream, a triple scoop 
strawberry-chocolate-vanilla.  She was sighing because 
she was alone.  She'd tried to get Daichi to come to the 
ice cream shop with her to celebrate her big break, but 
he was off with Himeko. Of course.  Carefully holding her 
ice cream out of her way, she banged her head on the table 
repeatedly.  Why can't I get this boy out of my mind, she asked 
herself.  It's not like he hasn't demonstrated he likes 
Himeko more than me about 20 billion trillion times.  

         "WHY IS THE UNIVERSE SO UNFAIR!?" she bellowed.  

         "I sometimes ask myself that," a girl said nearby.  
Hikaru looked and saw Manami, one of her friends from 
the Trans-Dimensional Defense Club.  As usual, she was 
carrying some book in English and her sketchpad; reading 
foreign books and drawing were her hobbies as far as 
Hikaru could tell.  She sat down across the table.  "Mind 
if I sketch you?"  Before Hikaru answered, Manami 
started working on eating her own chocolate swirl cone.

    	Hikaru blinked.  "Go right ahead.  That would be 
kinda cool.  Should I pose?"

        "Naah, just eat and talk."  Manami started drawing 
with one hand while eating, which impressed Hikaru.  "So 
what's unfair?"

        "This really tacky girl stole the man who should be 
MY boyfriend."  Hikaru tried to avoid going into rant mode 
and failed, feeling like an idiot.  Especially after even 
the school guidance counselor had told her she was being 
a fool.  Maybe Meiou-Sensei  is right.  Maybe we would 
only make each other miserable.  No, that can't be right!  
"I can't see what Daichi sees in Himeko."

        Manami shrugged.  "I can't see why so many girls 
like Daichi.  He's nothing special."

        "He's just so cool!"  Hikaru said.  "He deserves 
better than Himeko!"  Irritated, she munched on her ice 
cream.

        "He's so cool isn't much of a reason to chase 
someone for years.  So why do you like him?"

        "Because...because..."  Hikaru was embarrassed.  It 
was...because...um... "He's a nice guy."

        "You don't know, do you."  Manami said.  "So have
the Sailor Senshi come to mangle you yet for that footage you 
sold to the networks?"

	Hikaru shook her head.  "I haven't seen hide nor hair
of them since I sold the footage.  Although..."  She frowned.  
"I keep getting this feeling someone is watching me."

	"Probably enemies of the Senshi who think you know more
than you do and hope to use you to find the Senshi."

	Hikaru's eyes widened.  "But...I just got lucky!"

	"They don't know that."

	Hikaru gulped.  "You think they might...try to 
attack me or something?"

	"I wouldn't be surprised at all," she said.  Then
she noticed a strange person with deep red skin walk in 
through the door.  He or she was wearing a trenchcoat and 
fedora, but no shoes.  The person was probably female, 
but it was hard to tell, although she did have some kind 
of weird tattoo on her forehead.  It was blue and looked 
like a gem.  

	As the woman drew closer, Manami could see 
that it WAS a gem, imbedded in the woman's forehead.  
Her flesh got a creepy crawly feeling like spiders were 
walking on her, just like it had when she had helped the 
club fight those zombie things during the Tokyo Tower 
Riot, or like those things at the Hot Springs had made her 
feel.  This woman was trouble.  She glanced over at 
Hikaru.  "I think I may be a prophet."

	Hikaru blinked.  "What are you talking about?"

    	Manami got up.  "I suggest we run."  Magical singing 
powers won't be much good against this.  I could maybe 
entrance it, but I can't sing forever and without a Sailor 
to finish it off...

        "Huh?"

        The red woman spotted Hikaru.  "There you are!"  
She charged towards Hikaru.  "WHERE ARE THE SAILOR SENSHI!?"

        Hikaru screamed and spilled her ice cream on 
herself.  "I don't know!"  She ran and hid behind Manami, 
who then grabbed her and dragged her towards the 
bathrooms, since the monster was blocking the door.

        "The bathroom here has a window, right?"  she asked 
Hikaru.

        "I have NO idea!"  

        It turned out to be moot; both bathrooms were 
occupied and locked.  Manami sighed.  Time to blow this 
secret identity.  "I'm going to do something a bit weird.  
When I do it...RUN and get help."

        "Don't attack it!  You'll die!"

        The monster lady was closing in.  However, by the 
laws of the universe, she was forced to stop and simply 
observe when Manami whipped a microphone out of her 
purse and shouted, "IDOL ANGEL POWER!"  

        The universe faded away, leaving only Manami in a 
grayish void with streaks of black running past her in the 
background.  She spun about, her clothing coming apart 
into beams of light which would have given any passing 
hentais a good look if it had lasted longer than 
milliseconds.  Then it reassembled into the long, low cut 
blue dress with a short train that was her concert 
uniform.  Twin gold sphere earrings appeared on her ears.  
Her hair lengthened, becoming a great flowing mane with 
arched bangs, and her glasses vanished as her vision 
perfected itself along with the rest of her body.  The 
process finished itself with a bright glint of light 
reflecting off her perfectly white teeth.  The whole 
process was accompanied by a loud burst of pop music, 
possibly 'Take on Me' by Aha.

        For a moment, everyone was silent, then the 
monster said, "I see you people finally got rid of those 
ridiculous short skirts."

        "Hikaru, run and get the rest of the club!  I'll try to 
keep this thing busy!"

        Hikaru nodded, although how she was supposed to 
get past the monster, she wasn't sure.  She got her 
answer when Idol Angel Mami began to sing.  It was a 
beautiful tune about love, and soon the monster was 
mesmerized, unable to move.

        Unfortunately, so were Hikaru and everyone else in 
the entire place except for Idol Angel Mami.  I wish 
someone would show up and help, she thought.

        Her wish was answered when a huge black statue of 
a man dressed as a okonomiyaki seller walked in.  It was 
nearly seven feet tall and highly muscular, made of some 
sort of black highly polished stone.  He said something in 
a language Mami didn't know, then stared at the monster.

        The monster ignored him, continuing to sway to the 
music.

        Mami made 'bop in the head' gestures at the statue 
and the monster, hoping it would understand.  The statue 
gently bopped itself in the head.  Several more gestures 
were also unsuccessful in getting the point across.  
Finally, her patience snapped, and she shouted, "Please 
attack the MONSTER!"

        This broke her spell and the monster lunged 
forward at Hikaru, who leaped behind Mami.  Mami herself 
backpedaled, since she was fairly sure that magical 
singing skills were about all the magic she knew.  Before 
the monster could do more than fire one blast of purple 
energy that missed, the huge statue was on it, grappling 
it and squeezing it.

        Energy flared around and it howled, then suddenly 
turned to ash, leaving behind only the gem, which dimmed 
to a very dark blue.  The statue picked it up, looking at it 
curiously, then walked over and helped Mami and Hikaru 
up, then knelt before Hikaru, who blinked.

        "Do I know you?"  she asked.

        He stared at her with a look that was clearly one of 
frustration.  Turning to Mami, he gave her an expectant 
look.  She sighed.  "I'm afraid I don't know how to speak 
to you, either."  She took his hand.  "Let's go somewhere 
private."

************

	Far away, Hematite stared at the small crystal of observation he
was using and frowned thoughtfully.  What was a Golem doing here?  How had
it survived?  And this...singing magic woman.  Whatever she was, he hadn't
expected her.  Also, the Sailor Senshi had not shown up, which had been
the entire point of sending in that disposable fool.  What good was a
lightning rod which drew down falling leaves instead?

	Still, it might be worth spying on them a little while longer.
The crystal cost a lot of precious energy, but he could afford to use it a
bit longer, just in case they went somewhere worth spying on.

************

        Sneaking a nearly seven foot tall obsidian statue 
into your dorm room isn't easy.  Not even at Tsunami.  
Still, Mami was quite clever at such things.  She had 
turned back to her normal form in order to reduce the 
amount of things she'd be sneaking in.  Her room mate, 
Meiko, had gone home sick for a few days and wasn't 
expected back soon, luckily.  The flu was making its evil
rounds.

        She and Hikaru and Obsidian Okonomiyaki Man sat 
down in her room and they tried to figure out where he 
was from.  He didn't recognize any maps they showed 
him, until finally he spotted a big map of the solar 
system that Meiko had put up on the wall.  He looked 
at it and pointed to Mars.  

        "You're from MARS?"  Manami said.

        He pointed to the planet again.  "Mars?"  he said.

        She nodded.  Hikaru got up and went over to the 
map.  She pointed to her own homeworld.  "Earth."  She 
pointed to Mars.  "Mars."

        "Crisandra," he said, pointing to the Earth.  
"Malacandra," he said, pointing to Mars.  "Perelandra," he 
said, pointing to Venus.  Swiftly, he ran through the nine 
planets, giving his name for each.  Finally, he pointed to 
himself.  "Pelear".

        Manami pointed to herself.  "Manami."

        Hikaru pointed to herself.  "Hikaru."  She thought a 
moment.  "We really should contact Sensei.  He might 
know what's going on."  She paused.  "Does he know 
about..."

        "I don't think so.  I haven't told many people."  She 
started running around the room, naming objects and 
listening to the names he gave for them, then repeating 
them, usually perfectly.

        "How can you remember so many words?"

        "I've got a knack with words," she said.  "A gift.  I'll 
have Pelear speaking Japanese in no time!"

        Hikaru wasn't quite so certain of that.

************

	Hematite frowned.  Watching a language lesson, while somewhat
interesting, was not interesting enough to justify continuing to use the
crystal, and there was nowhere to hide himself in their dorm room.  Still,
it might be worth setting up a spy crystal or one of his more stealthy
youma to keep an eye on them.  The question was who to send and how soon
they could be gotten into place.

************

        Of all the possible things that Ami would have 
expected to see when she went to visit Manami and ask if 
she could borrow some more of Manami's Discworld 
books, a huge obsidian statue being taught Japanese was 
not one of them.  Hikaru Hibino, who she also wouldn't 
have expected to be around, was filming the whole thing.  
I wonder if she films her entire life, Ami thought.  

        Hikaru said, "I told you to lock the door, Manami!"

        Manami said, "..."

        When the statue ran over and kneeled down before 
her, she simply stared in shock.  The now familiar voice 
of Athena said, {Obsidian!  You're alive!}

        "Athena-Malacandra-mehe, ite shal basa rincun!  
Dorinian calara Aurora-Malacandra-mehe?   Shul iye zint 
dorfi?"  Athena translated for Ami.  <Princess Athena of 
Malacandra, I have been looking for you!  Where is 
Princess Aurora of Malacandra?  Is she alive also?>  
Obsidian sounded desperate and hopeful at the same time.

        With Athena's help, Ami replied slowly, <Faithful 
Obsidian, I am glad to see you.  Princess Aurora is living 
at Princess Serenity's house.  I will call her to come 
here.  She...she does not remember as much of our past 
lives as I do.  I don't know if she will remember you.  We 
have been reincarnated.>

        Manami stared in shock.  "You...you speak MARTIAN?"

        Ami contemplated slapping herself.  When she realized
Hikaru was filming this, she contemplated simply fleeing 
screaming.  She couldn't quite bring herself to do it, but she
did resolve to make sure THIS tape vanished.

        Hikaru simply filmed everything, having passed her 
boggle point long ago into maximum loss of skepticism 
for the day.  Manami nodded.  "Tell Pelear that we're 
grateful he saved us from the monster."

        She knows his name in the Silver Tongue?  Ami 
was surprised.  How did she find that out?  <Manami said 
to thank you for saving her and Hikaru from the 
monsters.>  

        He nodded.  <I was glad to help Princess Manami of 
Crisandra and her page girl.>  He stood up.  <I will wait 
here with her while you contact Princess Aurora.>

        Ami smiled.  "He says he was glad to help Princess 
Manami of Earth and her page girl."

        "PAGE GIRL!?"

************

        Meeting Obsidian was very exciting for Sensei, 
almost as exciting as everyone trying to avoid stumbling 
into his experiments.  They'd finally called on him, and 
he'd made some of his lab space available to them.  "A 
Golem.  Amazing.  I thought they had all been destroyed.  
Except perhaps the one that Rabbi made...anyway.  No 
animating character on this one, though."  He peered at 
Obsidian's forehead.  "Maybe it's somewhere else."

        "Obsidian is a statue with a human soul empowering 
him,"  Ami said, drawing on Athena's knowledge.  <Where 
have you been?>  

        <I was sent to Earth to help defend a group of 
refugees sent to Earth from Mars after the fall of the 
Moon Kingdom.  Unfortunately, over time, magic grew 
weaker and my powers faded.  Finally, I sank into 
slumber.  I have patchy memories of a few times I awoke 
or someone used my body while I slept.  Finally, I woke 
up a few days ago under the ocean with the feeling that I 
was needed.  I followed the feeling.>  He shrugged.  <I can 
see that much has changed.>

        Manami said, "Can you translate for us Ami?  I want 
to try and learn his language and while I pick things up 
well, I can't pick it up that quickly."

        Hikaru yawned.  "I think I gotta go to bed.  It's late, 
I'm tired and we do have class tomorrow.  Let me know 
how this turns out, okay?"

        Manami said, "Goodnight, Hikaru!"

        This has just been a crazy week, Hikaru thought as 
she left. 

***********

        Manami went home herself a little while later; Ami 
was impressed by how fast Manami was learning 
Obsidian's language.  No wonder her English is so good, 
Ami thought.  She has a knack.  

        Rei and Usagi arrived a little while later; Ami had 
waited until Manami left to call them; best to not raise 
any unnecessary suspicions.  Rei stared at Obsidian, 
memories stirring faintly at the sight of him.  "Wow."

        Usagi ran over to him.  "Wow, they had okonomiyaki 
on Mars?"

        <Princess Aurora!>  Obsidian kneeled down before 
Rei.  <I am glad you are alive!  I thought I could feel your 
presence, which is why I came here, but it is wonderful to see
you again.>

        Rei stood by him nervously, not understanding 
anything he said but Aurora.  I don't suppose I could have 
a USEFUL flashback for once, she thought.  It didn't 
happen.  "Tell him I'm glad he's alive too.  Ask him if he 
knows...if the Elder Mars is alive."

        "Ask him if he knows how to cook okonomiyaki!"  
Usagi said.  "I'm hungry!"

        Obsidian's head snapped around and he smiled at 
Usagi.  <Princess Serenity!>  Clearly, he couldn't 
decide who to kneel to more.

        Rei racked her brain, trying to remember something, 
ANYTHING in the Silver Tongue, but all she could 
remember was how to say 'I have a yellow stylus'.  

        <Obsidian, Princess Aurora wishes to know if you 
know anything of the final fate of the Elder Mars.  And 
she is happy to see you.>  Ami waited for Obsidian's 
reply.

        <The last I saw of her was long ago.  She said good-
bye to me when I left with the refugee ships.  Tell her 
that her parents acquitted themselves well in battle 
against the Spider-Queen, Lilliandror.  They died with 
honor.>  Obsidian turned to Usagi.  <How may I serve you, 
Princess Serenity of the Moon?>

      	A few bits and pieces of what he said got through 
to Usagi.  She recognized 'Serenity-Lunandra-mehe' as 
meaning Princess Serenity of the Moon, and something 
about spiders and good-bye and ships.  The one time she 
really wished her past self would talk to her, her  past 
self seemed to have run off picking daisies or something.  
Luckily, she had Ami handy to translate.

        Usagi finally asked, "How come you remember so 
much of the Silver Tongue?  I can't remember anything!"  

        Ami hesitated.  "A lot of stuff came back to me once I 
got my talisman.  And...Athena is helping." She started trying to 
think of a way everyone could talk to him.

***********

        Setsuna picked up the phone during the first ring, of 
course.  "Hello, Sensei."

        "Hello, Setsuna.  There's a Golem from Mars in my 
lab that you might want to see.  And your friends, of 
course.  Some of them are already there."

        "You mean the..."

        She could almost hear him smile.  "Tethys was 
right.  You people really do need to be more careful about 
your secret identities.  You do realize that you all 
revealed them to her during the beach trip?"

        "And she told you?"

        "No, I had deduced most of them myself.  By the 
way, at least two non-Senshi have met Obsidian.  Would 
you like their names?"

        "You showed him to..."

        "No, they found him.  He saved them from a monster 
with a gem in its forehead.  You might wish to remind 
Ami to be careful about demonstrating her proficiency in 
ancient languages in public as well."

        "I'll be right over."  She hung up the phone and started
on her way.

***********

       	Tethys couldn't sleep because Obsidian was 
apparently obsessed with some video game that Senshi 
had taught him to play in order to amuse himself while 
everyone was gone or asleep.  Apparently Obsidian didn't 
need sleep.  "Can you PLEASE turn down the brightness on 
the monitor and stop cheering yourself on every time you 
slaughter something?"

        He looked blankly at her and she repeated it in the 
Crystal Tongue.  He replied, <My apologies, Tethys.  So 
you are from the Kingdom of Atlantis?>

        <The Dark Kingdom now,> she said.  <What's left of 
it.  Shouldn't you be dead?>

        <I was sent to Earth with a group of refugees from 
Mars,> he said, talking as his hands directed the course 
of World History.  The game was rather confusing to him, 
but also interesting.  It was called 'Civilization'.  He kept 
wondering when his civilization would invent 
technomagic so he could actually build something useful.  
<And I will live until I am destroyed.>

        <How can you live like that?  Being made of stone?>  
She wasn't so prejudiced against weird bodies as some 
people, but being a living statue was too strange for her.  

        <I was born with no legs, and when I was three, a 
byakhee bit off my right ear and left permanent scars 
across my head and chest.  I remember the dark years 
when the Things from Beyond ravaged the Earth.  They 
attacked my village and disfigured each person in a 
different way, then arranged us into some sort of odd 
pattern.  While I will never really understand the Things, 
I sometimes think it was intended as a sort of artwork.>  

	He turned to face Tethys.  <You may think of yourself 
as a monster, as something different from humans, but even 
the worst Youma is far more human than the Things.  
Vulcan came with the rest of the Five Ruling Wizards and 
the army they were raising and drove off the Byakhee.  He 
built something to help each and every one of us, to try 
to help us overcome our wounds if they couldn't be 
healed, and Serenity was able to help many of us.  They 
could heal my scars and made me metal legs.  My family 
followed him, and one day, he chose to ask me to become 
one of his warriors, his golems.  I eagerly accepted, 
wanting to repay him for all he had done for us.  And...I'd 
admit that having a fully functional body, if a stone one, 
was attractive to me.>

    	Tethys frowned.  <Couldn't Serenity have fixed your 
legs with the Silver Crystal?>

        <Serenity could not be everywhere at once, all the 
time, and the Silver Crystal is VERY dangerous to use, 
especially to use frequently.  All of the Icons were like 
that.  With so many people in the village to heal, she 
didn't have the strength.  She was not so strong then as 
she would one day become.  And it was long before I saw 
her face to face again after that day.>  He frowned at the 
screen.  More barbarian hordes.  Baah.

        <Sailor Moon seems to use it like it's going out of 
style from what I've heard,>  Tethys said.

       	<Perhaps things have changed.  There is so much I do 
not know.  I have slept for centuries, perhaps millennia, 
it seems.>

        <Well, now I'm going to sleep.   PLEASE turn down 
the brightness.  And no cheering.>

        Even after he did so, Tethys had nightmares about 
Sailor Uranus going into a Youma village and disfiguring 
every youma in a unique way.  She prayed it wasn't a 
prophetic dream.

***************

	Minako stared at the ceiling, thinking, turning over what Derith
had told her in her mind.  How to let out the impulses in a controlled
way...it seemed a contradiction to her.  But there had to be some way.  Or
she would end up insane, boyfriendless, and probably pregnant too.  The
thought horrified her.  

	Inanna will likely start talking to me next, she thought.

	She waited, but no voices started talking to her.  Slowly, the
tension eased out of her and she drifted off to sleep.

***************

	Hematite frowned.  The golem had vanished by the time he had
gotten a spy into position.  So now his spy was keeping an eye on Hikaru,
but apparently several other people were as well.  She must know
something, he thought, or the enemy wouldn't bother positioning people to
watch her.  The real question is WHICH of their potential enemies had
planted the blonde and the dark haired girl who seemed to be keeping an
eye on Miss Hibino.  That, he hadn't figured out yet.

***************

	The next morning, Hikaru went to copy her new tape; this would
likely sell for a mint.  Except for the fact that instead of what she
expected, there was only static.  She popped in other tapes, thinking she
had made a mistake, but she couldn't find the footage anywhere.  If I
forgot to turn on my camcorder, I'm going to scream, she thought.

***************

	Manami woke from a beautiful dream of singing for some sort of
Queen.  She had been singing in the language that Pelear spoke in her
dream, and the tune stuck in her head.  They had been in a beautiful
palace, and it had been some sort of celebration...the prince's eighteenth
birthday or something.  

	Now that she thought about it, he looked a lot like Usagi's
boyfriend.  The prince, that is.  She slapped herself gently.  Best not to
dream about someone else's boyfriend, especially when she was after some
other guy herself.  I wonder if Seiji has any free time tonight, she
thought.  And maybe I'll go visit Pelear.

****************

	Rei woke up with a million words in her head; it was hard to think
through them as a billion half remembered conversations in the Silver
Tongue rang through her mind.  She staggered out of bed and down the
stairs to get some breakfast.  "Good morning, Rei-chan,"  Usagi's mom
said.  "How are you today?"

	<I'm fine,> Rei said, then frowned slightly.  Her voice sounded a
little odd.

	Ikuko blinked.  "What?"

	<I'm fine.  I mean...ack, I'm talking in the Silver Tongue!>  She
had to focus to get Japanese to come out.  "Sorry.  Just practicing
my...French."

	"Oh.  And what would you like for breakfast?"

***************

	Everyone had assembled to see Rei and Michiru off.  Setsuna had
explained that she had unlocked Rei and Michiru's memories of the Silver
Tongue to help them speak with Obsidian; she would do the same for the
others soon now that she was sure the process would work properly.  

        Rei had rarely been so scared in her entire life.  Not 
since she'd gotten old enough that it no longer terrified 
her when members of her family fought, anyway.  While 
her parents and relatives didn't get in fights very often, 
when they did, it tended to be explosive.  It was like 
watching people duel with chainsaws.  Flaming 
chainsaws.  She was so nervous, she didn't even think about the fact
that Pluto hadn't asked her permission to play with her memories.

        She'd never won a fight with the Elder Mars.  Not 
when the Elder Mars had actually gone all out.  She knew 
that.  Passed tests set by the Elder Mars, yes.  Beaten 
her...no.  Memories of her battle with Aries kept coming 
back to her, and she would shove them away.  She can't 
steal my fire, Rei thought.  She can't.  But the fear of a 
repeat of that experience haunted her.  

        Michiru was excited, but not scared.  The idea of 
seeing Vulcan's Forge intrigued her.  It had been a 
beautiful place in the Silver Millennium, she remembered.  
Even as a pile of ruins, it would be worth seeing, she was 
quite sure.  

        Obsidian stood nearby, quietly preparing himself to 
see the devastation of all he had once held dear.  It would 
likely be much worse than how he had imagined it, he 
was sure.  Indeed, he was surprised anything was left of 
Vulcan's Forge after thousands of years.  Certainly 
nothing had survived the fall of Hyperborea, which 
happened as far before the time of his birth as the time 
of his birth was before this time.  Still, he had volunteered
to go with them because he knew more than either of them 
could remember.
        
        Usagi hugged Rei.  "We'll be waiting for you; just 
use your communicator if you need us."

        "I will."  Rei said.  "Is everyone ready?"

        "<Yes.>  Obsidian said.  <Let us go.>"

        "Bring me some rocks from Mars!"  Umino said.  "And 
don't let the Mars Surveyor spot you."

        She laughed.  "I'll try."  

        Michiru and Rei transformed, then joined hands with 
Obsidian.  "Everyone back,"  Setsuna said.  "Let's try not to 
send any unplanned passengers."

        "If you see any Eldils or John Carter, tell them I 
said hello!"  Steven shouted, right as Mars, Neptune, and 
Obsidian vanished in a streak of light that rocketed high 
into the sky, blending into the mid-day glow and 
vanishing.  

        Umino laughed, while most of the Sailors just gave 
him a funny look.  "I meant to ask her to check on the 
canals, too."

      	Soon, everyone else was twice as confused as 
before.

*******************************

        Mars, Neptune, and Obsidian arrived on Mars on a 
great sea of black glass.  Bones stuck out of it in places, 
and in many others, it had crumbled to black powder.  It 
shattered under their weight where they stood.  

        Looking around, Mars could see a deep canal, now 
dry, off to the west, and to the north was a huge 
mountain with a crack in one side that the canal ran out 
of, Mons Olympus, the home of Vulcan's Forge.  The sea of 
glass spread out far to the east and south, studded with bones 
and far off, some sort of weird rounded object on spindly legs, 
half sunk into the glass.  It was dozens of feet across and charred.  
There were puddles of once molten metal and stone, now 
long cooled into lumps near the large thing.  Along with 
the bones, weapons littered the plain, arousing dim 
memories.  Many were metal bladed weapons, but Mars 
also spotted repeating crossbows and lightning guns, all 
now broken, corroded, and decayed.  "What happened 
here?"  Rei asked.

       	<I don't know,>  Obsidian replied.  <I was sent to 
Earth before this happened.  But I know what that was.>  
He pointed at the spider.  <Lilliandror, the Spider-Queen.  
A Great Old One.  She led the invasion.  They must have 
killed her and...>  His face would have darkened if it 
wasn't already pitch black.  <Copper, Sandstone, and 
Marble.  They must have fallen in battle with Lilliandror.> 

       	Mars put a hand on his shoulder.  "I'm sorry."

       	"I'm sure they all died fighting bravely,"  Neptune 
said quietly, looking around the ancient battlefield.  
"What made all this glass?"

       	<Fire,>  Obsidian said.  He turned and looked to the 
horizon, where the sun was setting.  <We'd best hurry.  If 
there's any surviving Things, they'll likely come out at 
night.>

        The others nodded and followed him.  "What's a 
Great Old One?"  Rei asked.

        <They lead the Things from Beyond,>  Obsidian 
explained.  <In fact, many of them give birth to their own 
followers or corrupt other beings into becoming Things.  
Only one of the great Icons can give you enough power to 
stop one, but it would likely kill its wielder in the 
process.  That's probably how they killed Lilliandror.  
Your father must have used Vulcan's Hammer.>  He turned 
and looked assessingly at her.  <We should look for it.  
You are its rightful heir.>

       	"An Icon?"  Mars asked, picking her way across the 
glass, trying to not fall as it kept crumbling when she 
stepped on it.  

        <Each of the ruling wizards had an Icon.  The Silver 
Crystal.  The Star Orb.  Metallia's Shield. Endymion's Sword.  
And the Hammer of Vulcan.  If it still exists, we must find 
it; it could do great harm in the hands of evil forces.>

        Mars nodded.  Something on the level of the Silver 
Crystal..."What powers does it have?"

        <It was used to make the Silver Crystal and the 
other Icons, for one thing.>

        Mars boggled.

        <You could make anyone a personal Talisman.  It was 
a great tool for making items of power.>

        "So with it, we could make more Talismans?"  
Neptune asked.  "That would be useful.  Less effort than 
looking for the old ones."

        <It was also a very powerful weapon, though more a 
tool of creation than destruction.  It was used to make 
me and the other Golems as well.  Well, make our bodies.  
Although only Vulcan himself was able to use it to full 
effect.>  Obsidian sighed.  <I miss him.>

        Mars looked around.  "Hmm.  You know, we should 
have brought food."

        Neptune smiled.  "Well, I did.  But you get to cook it.  
Unless you like soggy food."

        A good laugh made the long slow hot walk over glass 
a little less painful.   But not by much.

*******************************

        They reached the edge of the city as the sun set.  
There had been a wall, once, across the great crack in the 
side of the old volcano and walls along the outside of the 
volcano, but they had long ago collapsed almost entirely.  
The buildings were vast, but crumbling, huge square and 
pentagonal towering masses of basalt, obsidian, granite, 
and sandstone.  Red, black, and brown were the dominant 
colors, although many buildings had beautiful windows of 
brightly colored stained glass which formed both 
abstract patterns and well-crafted mosaics.  

        They found a fireplace in a crumbling house at the 
edge of town.  It was two stories tall, built of basalt and 
granite, dimly lit by light filtering through the colorful 
windows, with a large well furnished living 
room/kitchen, all covered with omnipresent red dust.  A 
kind of grey dust sat in the bottom of the fireplace.  Rei 
and Michiru thought it was ashes, but Obsidian said, 
<Flamedust.  It can burn hundreds of times without being 
consumed.  Made with advanced technomagical alchemy.  
Its discovery was a major breakthrough; settling Mars 
without it was hard.>

        Soon, they had a fire going and some canned 
vegetables cooking in a pot they'd found in the kitchen.  
That and sandwiches would have to do; the vegetables 
would have to cook in their own canning juices and some 
water from a sealed jug they had found; they couldn't 
spare more water.  The pot had been free of the 
omnipresent dust; all the pots were.  

	Obsidian hadn't been sure why; he hadn't needed 
to eat in thousands of years and hadn't paid attention 
to such things.  The pleasant smell of the corn and carrots 
soon had them both relaxed; Mars had ignited the fireplace 
easily with her own powers.  She was proud of it, in fact; 
it had taken a lot of fine control to get a small amount 
instead of the huge gouts she usually threw about.

     	A thought came into her mind.  "I hope the fact that 
Mars is so dry doesn't hurt your powers, Neptune."

        Neptune frowned.  "Well, you make fire without fuel, 
so I should be okay."  I hope.  "I was planning to make 
water for the soups I brought."

       	<I believe she will be fine,> Obsidian said.  <Many 
Neptunes have visited our world.  None of them had any 
trouble that I am aware of.  Except for the one who got 
attacked by a Canal Serpent when she went swimming.>

        They both laughed.  "The canals had serpents in 
them?"  Neptune asked.

        <Not too many serpents, but there were some.  
Usually not a threat to a senshi, but she panicked and had 
to be saved by a passing gondolier with a spear.  The 
canals were fairly safe, if you could swim.>

        "Any wild animals we should be afraid of?"

        <As long as no sandworms show up, we should be 
fine.  Most of the wild life probably died when the canals 
silted up and the land dried out.>  He sighed.  <All the 
water's frozen back in the Ice caps, I suppose.  Or 
something.>

        Mars checked the vegetables, stirring them with a 
long spoon.  "Minako has some saying about long spoons."  
She stared at it, but the memory wouldn't surface.

        "If you dine with the devil, sup with a long spoon,"  
Neptune said.  "I'll keep that in mind when I eat tonight."  
She smiled a little, and Mars stuck out her tongue at her.  
"Is it ready?"

       	Footsteps on the stairs disturbed them.  It was only 
at that point that they realized there were tracks in the 
dust that they hadn't made.  None of them had really 
looked at the poorly lit floor before this.  "Maybe it's the 
Elder Mars,"  Mars said.  "But surely we wouldn't stumble 
into the house she was in right off the bat."

        <The Elder Mars would be living in the Palace if 
anywhere.  Not in this little house.>

        It wasn't the Elder Mars.  It was a spectral woman 
in a long blue tunic tied at the waist with a belt.  Her 
hair was piled up on her head in a mound of black curls, 
and she looked exhausted.  She was translucent, and 
flickered at times like a damaged movie projection.  
Several times, she suddenly moved back a few feet, 
repeating the same step two or three times.  None of 
those present recognized her.  A small blue cat followed 
her; it was gaunt, and she was fairly thin herself.  An 
unhealthy kind of thinness.  She ignored the two Senshi 
and one Golem, walking past them into the kitchen.

        "Hello?"  Mars asked.

        The woman began searching through the pans.  
Finding the one she wanted, she got a small box of what 
looked like matches out of a drawer and went over to the 
fireplace, then blinked and looked confused.  

        Neptune walked over and tried touching the 
woman's shoulder.  Her hand went through her, but 
slowly, like going through molasses.  "Hello?"

        Obsidian frowned.  <A ghost.>

        "Why can she pick up the pan, but I can't touch her?"  
Neptune asked.

        <Because she used it in life?>

        "Yes,"  Mars said.  "It must be imbued with spiritual 
energy.  Somehow.  But we're not, or at least not the 
right kind, so she can't touch us.  Or something."

        Neptune frowned.  "I'm surprised we picked the only 
house with a ghost."

      	Mars felt her preternatural senses beginning to go 
off.  She could sense a rising evil.  Everywhere.  But 
worst of all from the direction they had come into the 
city.  Coming right towards them.  "Perhaps this isn't the 
only house.  We need to get moving; something's coming.  
Something bad."

        "There goes dinner,"  Neptune said.

***************

        The dead ruled the night in Mons Olympus.  Ghosts 
walked the crumbled walls, the streets, in and out of 
houses.  And far off, across the desert, the ghosts of 
those who had destroyed the city were marching towards 
it, towards the great hole in the volcano's dome which 
had once been protected by walls, but now was open to 
their assault.  

        The trio stood on a rooftop.  The attacking horde 
was vast.  Neptune shivered.  "I can feel them."

        Mars was sick to her stomach.  "Good thing we didn't 
eat or I'd be throwing it back up.  So much...even the 
demons that wanted to cause the Silence didn't make me 
feel like this.  Not so much evil as just...wrong.  This 
shouldn't be happening."

        Obsidian nodded.  <They have been chained, trapped 
somehow, caught in a nightmare of death.  They must 
reenact the fall of the city every night.>  He shuddered as 
well.  <I've seen things like this before, but not an entire 
city.  I just...I can't figure out what could possibly be 
sustaining it.>

        "Where's the heart of it?"  Neptune demanded of 
Mars.  "Can you tell anything with your spiritual senses?"

        She closed her eyes and prayed.  The citadel.  The 
royal palace.  That was the heart of the evil.  Or at least 
of the wrongness.  "The palace."  Her stomach grumbled.  
"We'll find our answers there."

******************

       	The streets of Mons Olympus were thick with 
wraiths, going hither and yon, playing out their ancient 
story.  They ignored two lithe and one rather clunky 
figures springing from roof to roof towards the Palace.  
It rose in the heart of the city, a minor mountain itself 
of basalt and obsidian, sandstone, marble, and metals.  

	From a distance, it was a non-Euclidean nightmare, 
a pile of ancient rock jutting at strange angles, seemingly 
assembled by giants.  Closer, one could see the remains 
of the paints which had once made it a riot of color, a 
place to inspire awe rather than fear.  Many of the 
stranger angles could be seen to be the result of the 
collapse of portions of the building.  What remained 
formed a great Celtic cross, a t in a circle, with a tower 
in the middle and a tower at each of the places where the 
'cross bars' met the 'circle'.  There were four courtyards 
inside the palace.

     	A vivid memory flashed into Mars' mind.  Each of the 
courtyards was dedicated to one of the sister kingdoms, 
as was each of the towers, with the central tower 
dedicated to Mars itself, of course.  The Crystal 
Kingdom's courtyard belied its name; an orchard and 
garden of both flowers and crops, though the crops were 
grown in largely ceremonial quantities; one could make 
at most one loaf of bread from its wheat, for example.  
The Moon Kingdom's courtyard held fine art; windchimes 
of crystal, statues, banners, and other art that could be 
displayed under the open sky.  The Star Kingdom's 
courtyard was filled with telescopes and astrolabes, 
paved with a great chart of the solar system, full of 
small displays for all the worlds that lacked their own 
kingdoms.  And finally, the Guardian Kingdom, the 
Kingdom of Atlantis, had a courtyard that belied its 
martial image.  A great pool, filled with gentle waves of 
water, a huge aquarium of fish, and a nice hot spring they 
had somehow created with their arts occupied almost all 
of their courtyard.  Only the ceremonial weapons over the 
gates hinted that they were a kingdom of warriors.  

        All destroyed by now, no doubt, she thought.  
Corrupted, cast down, destroyed.  The Star Kingdom's 
tower had fallen over, apparently inward unless someone
had stolen the rubble.  The other towers were battered, 
but had not yet collapsed.  There were many entrances 
to the palace; they were all sealed or choked with rubble.

        Neptune said, "I suggest we climb it, find a 
courtyard, and enter through it."

       	"Sounds good to me,"  Mars said.

*************

	Manami knocked on the door of Sensei's lab. Horus let her in.  She
waved hi to Sensei and Tethys, who she assumed was his assistant.  "Hi!  I
came to say hello to Obsidian!"  And to see if all the words of the Silver
Tongue she could feel floating around in her head actually worked.  

	"He's gone back to Mars,"  Sensei said.  "I can't talk about it;
sorry."

	"At least he won't keep me up playing Civilization all night
again,"  Tethys muttered.

	Manami sighed.  "Oh.  I guess I'll tell Ami he's gone.  And
Hikaru."

	"I understand you have quite a knack for languages,"  Sensei said.

	She nodded.  "Yeah.  I can pick them up really quickly.  Words
like me, I think."  

	He pointed to a chair for her to sit down at, so she did.  He came
over and sat down as well, while Tethys went to one of the computer
terminals and started playing Lemmings.  

	"Do you run into Golems often?"

	She laughed.  "Not really, although I've noticed things have
gotten a lot stranger since I've come to Tsunami."

	He laughed as well.  "For us all."

*************

       	The wall was easy to climb; it was falling apart just 
enough to aid climbers without crumbling at a touch.  
They reached the top and looked down into what had once 
been the Star Kingdom's courtyard.  It should have been 
crumbled and fallen down.  Instead, unlike the exterior, it 
was in perfect repair, dominated by a huge telescope on a 
mounted swivel with a chair in the center, by the huge 
tiled floor with the orbits of the planets marked out, and 
by the display cases which stood next to each of the tiled 
planets and moons.  Not even dust marred the courtyard's 
perfection.

        Obsidian blinked.  <It was more damaged than this 
when I left for Earth.  Someone has fixed this.>

         "It could be a trap,"  Neptune said grimly.

         Mars concentrated, reaching out with her spiritual 
senses.  "There is no evil here.  No spiritual corruption.  
Some kind of power, though weak, but no corruption."

        Neptune frowned.  "Maybe all the evil in the city is 
jamming your radar."

        "I can tell by the absence of that,"  Mars said, a 
little irritated.  "I think it's safe."

        Neptune looked over at Obsidian, who nodded.  <As 
safe as anywhere in Mons Olympus is now.>

        Neptune nodded and sprang down, landing where her 
planet was tiled on the floor.  Then her eyes widened.  "I 
can feel it."

        Mars landed nearby, while Obsidian slowly climbed 
down the wall.  "Feel what?"

        "Neptune."  She looked down at her feet.  "It's like 
this symbol is linked."  Her eyes closed, she said, "I can 
feel it.  Moving through space, slowly tumbling, wreathed 
in clouds and ice."

        Obsidian nodded.  <I would have warned you, but I 
assumed it was still broken.  When the Star Kingdom fell, 
all the magical things in this courtyard stopped working.>

        Looking around, Mars said, "But now it works."

        "The Star Princess,"  Neptune said.  "When Naru-chan 
came into her power, then it must have revived the magic 
here.  Maybe other places as well."

     	Something was tugging at Mars' spiritual senses.  
Looking around, she soon deduced what it was.  Halfway 
across the courtyard, the planet Mars was tiled into the 
floor.  It drew her, and she walked towards it.  There was 
heat coming from it, and it grew hotter, beginning to 
glow as she walked towards it.  

        Neptune's head snapped around.  "What are you 
DOING?" she demanded.

        Obsidian said, <She is both the Senshi of Mars and 
the heir to the Throne, such as it is, though there is no 
one to rule but ghosts and shadows.  There are better 
ways to link to her world than indirectly through this, 
but it calls her.  And she must answer.>
        
        Words echoed in her mind; she knew them and she 
knew them not.  Her own voice spoke them, but she 
walked silently.  An ancient litany.  She stepped onto the 
circle and vanished.

        Neptune swore and moved to rush over to the now 
dark and silent tile of 'Mars'.  Obsidian caught her 
shoulder.  <We must wait.>

       	"Wait for what?"

        <The Heart of the Flame must accept her.>

        "And if it doesn't?"

      	<There are better ways to enter the Heart than this, 
but this is as safe as any other.>

        She frowned.  "That doesn't answer my question."

        <Then we sell our lives as dearly as possible.>

        And I thought I was a fatalist, Neptune thought.

************

     	Fire engulfed Sailor Mars, but she was used to fire.  
It held no fear for her.  It was warmth, and light, and 
life.  The voice inside her mind continued to chant in the 
language she now knew to be the Silver Tongue.  As the 
chant continued, the fire began to form into things 
beyond pure flame.  Walls formed, a ceiling and a floor as 
well.  And high in the air, out of reach, floated the one 
thing not made of flame besides herself.  A huge hammer.  
The Hammer of Vulcan, the Icon of the Ruling House of 
Mars.  

        {Father,} the voice said, finally ceasing to chant.  It 
sounded sad.  {I know not if thou canst hear me, Father, 
but I will take up thine Icon and do mine best to live up 
to thy legacy.}

        [Hello?]  Mars said.

        {You.}  It didn't sound too approving.  {You probably 
don't even know what this is.}

        [...Aurora?]

        {I am.  And you are Rei Hino.  My future self.}

        [Present self.  I'm alive and you're dead.]

        A mental sigh.  {I am you, though I don't understand 
how I ever became you, which means we're both alive.  
Technically.  This is the Heart of the Flames.  We are tied 
to this place by two threads.  As Sailor Mars, we have 
dominion over fire.  As heir to the Throne of Mars, we are 
bonded to this place as well, for Mars is the Planet of 
Fire.  That is why Father hid his Icon here.}  Mars felt her 
arms reaching out without her volition towards the Icon, 
which stirred.

      	But before it came to her, a great whirlwind of flame 
began to form.  Where the flame had been warm and 
comforting before, this was a  blazing nightmare, and the 
ever growing heat from it made Sailor Mars begin to 
sweat.  {Ahh, so THIS is the test.}

     	[Thanks for the warning,]  Mars said sarcastically.  
[How do I stop this thing?]

       	{You must control it.}  There was a mental shrug.  {A 
simple exercise, but it keeps the unworthy out.}

       	[I haven't got the slightest idea how to control it.]

       	{WHAT?  You're trying to get your Talisman and you 
haven't even learned how to control fire you didn't make 
yet?}

       	The whirlwind was growing, absorbing all in its 
path; the Icon had vanished inside it.  Mars began to back 
up.  [Unlike you, I didn't have a handy Elder Senshi to 
teach me.  I had to figure it ALL out myself!]

        {Well, assuming your Super form would be a good 
start.}

        Mars broke the silence, shouting, "MARS CRYSTAL 
POWER, MAKEUP!!!!"  The transformation was faster than 
usual, marked more by the fact that the heat now 
bothered her much less than by the usual thrill of 
metamorphosis.  [Now what?]

       	{Fire is not something outside you.  It's something 
inside you.  This fire itself is inside you.  Sometimes it 
threatens to consume you.  You are inside the Heart of the 
Flame, but the Heart of the Flame is inside you.  At least 
that's what the Elder Mars and Father always told me.}

        [But what does that MEAN?]

        Mental shrug.  {Don't ask me.  I never understood half 
of what the Elder Mars said, all that spiritual and mystic 
garbage.  If I had designed this, we'd be trying to open a 
puzzle box.}  Aurora's voice was starting to sound a little 
panicked.  {You're the mystic one.}

        There wasn't much more room to back up.  [Didn't 
you say you know how to control fire outside yourself?]

        {It's all about willpower.  But you have to believe 
you can do it before you can.  I got burned a lot.}  She 
sounded a little rueful.  {I hope you learn quick.}

        Sailor Mars focused her will on the growing 
whirlwind.  Shrink and go away.  Get out of my way.  I am 
your MASTER!  It kept coming.  She was pinned against 
the wall now with the howling whirlwind of dark flames 
growing ever larger.  Aurora's increasing fear fed Rei's 
own fear, and the flames spun faster and grew larger.  

        I'm going to die, she thought.  Stop!  Stop!  No more 
fire!  Don't burn me!  It was inches from her.  Ever 
shrinking inches.  Nothing could stop it.  She was going to 
die.  It was howling at her, taunting her with her own 
inadequacy.  She wasn't good enough, and now she was 
going to die.  I never even got to say good-bye to Usagi, 
she thought.  Michiru and Obsidian are going to be 
stranded and they won't even be able to tell her what 
happened to me.  

       	{STOP WHINING!}  Aurora shouted at her.  {Don't you 
DARE lie down and die!}

       	[Oh shut up!  A fat lot of help YOU'VE been.  I don't 
see YOU doing anything!]

       	{I can't!  I'm just your memory of who you were.  It's 
up to YOU to save us.  You whining, cringing sod!  You 
make me want to vomit!  No wonder you're so weak with 
all your cringing before higher powers, begging them to 
save you instead of relying on yourself!  Praying to a 
stupid fire that would go out and die if you didn't 
constantly give it more fuel!  Worshipping something 
invented by human beings!  At least I died FIGHTING!}

        Rei's anger ignited.  [The Sacred Fire is my friend!  
The first real friend I ever had!  I'm not worshipping a 
Bic Lighter and I don't think that a bunch of machines like 
YOU worship are worth wasting my time on when there's 
important things to be done, unlike you, who breaks 
everything she sees just to see what's inside!  Unlike 
you, I don't live in a shriveled up little universe that's 
just one big machine!]  Her rage grew as she screamed at 
her past self.  [Probably this fire is being made by one of 
your goddamn machines!  I worship the powers that made 
and sustained the universe!  I have studied the truths 
they teach!  I...]  I have forgotten the lessons I was 
taught.  She fell to her knees, closed her eyes and prayed, 
calling upon the Kamis to give her strength, invoking her 
friend and ally, the Sacred Fire, offering them the fire 
within herself.  Anger became determination.  

       	The whirlwind halted in its advance, frozen in place 
as her lips moved, and faint words came out, growing 
stronger as she spoke.  Then her eyes opened and she 
stepped forward.

       {You've gone mad!  We'll be burned to a crisp!}

       	[No, I've gone sane.  You said it yourself.  The Heart 
of the Flame is inside me and I am inside the Heart of the 
Flame.  Both at once.  Controlling things from outside 
may be your way, using your machines to control things 
without being a part of them, but that is not my way.  I 
follow the way of spirit; I must become what I seek to 
control.  I become part of it, and it becomes part of me.]  

	The flames roared around her, a whirling wind, a vortex, 
that sought to tear her apart.  She opened herself to it, 
and let the fires inside her heart answer its call.  Her 
hope, her fear, her anger, her faith, her love and her hate, 
all filled her at once, a whirlwind of emotions, spinning 
round and round, matching the flames around her.  The 
fire inside her could give her strength, and it could 
destroy her.  If she rejected it, it would consume her.  
She had to embrace it, to accept it, in order to control it, 
to use it for good instead of ill, to create instead of 
simply to destroy.  "Your love is a fire within you," Mamoru 
had told her.  "You're not the Senshi of Fire for nothing."

        A thousand memories, of harsh words, of fierce 
dedication, of courage and anger and compassion filled 
her mind, and the flames burned ever brighter inside her 
heart.  She remembered the times she had goaded Usagi, 
but every time, she had been goading herself.  Trying to 
avoid being consumed by her own fire by turning it 
outward on others.  That was part of the challenge.  To 
learn when to let her fires out, and when to hold them in.  
The challenge of life, a test that never ended.  She had 
been brittle when she met Usagi, angry with her family, 
angry with her school, angry with the loneliness of her 
life.  

	And then a clumsy girl had stumbled her way into 
Rei's life and shattered all her certainties one by one.  
She was weak by every measure Rei had ever believed in-
-a klutz, bad at school, a coward in baattle, lazy, and even 
less schooled in feminine graces than herself (which 
wasn't easy).  And yet, day by day, Rei had learned her 
true mettle.  Usagi had a heart big enough to hold the 
entire world.  Multiple worlds.  She had seen through 
Rei's taunts, she had cared about Rei anyway, loved her 
as much anyone ever had.  She had fought on, without 
training, forced to watch the man she loved turned to 
serve her greatest enemy.  And in the end, Rei had died 
for her, and died gladly.  And she would have died a 
thousand times for her, for all her friends, but especially 
for her.  For she had taught Rei how to love.  To love with 
all her heart.

     	The whirlwind in her heart became a single flame.  A 
flame of love and hope and memory.  Heart of Flame 
inside her inside the Heart of the Flame.  The paradox 
collapsed in on itself, and in an instant the whirlwind 
was gone, no longer outside her, untamed, but inside her, 
hers to command once more.  She reached out, and the 
Hammer came to her, for it knew its rightful master.  
She held it for a moment, making it hers, then released 
it.  She could take it from the Heart whenever she needed 
to now, just as she took her transformation pen from it 
every day.  And then the Heart of the Flame contracted 
again, or perhaps she grew.  The paradox collapsed a 
second time, and she stood in the courtyard once more.  

        Obsidian and Neptune were arguing heatedly, but 
they ceased when she appeared.  "I have claimed the 
Hammer,"  Sailor Mars said.  {And now we must claim the 
Throne,} Aurora said, as if her fear and panic had never 
been.  Mars ignored her as best she could.  "Now we have 
to find who has enslaved the Elder Mars."  

      	"Duchess Haephestia."  The voice was unknown to 
them, but female.  All three turned and stared at the 
woman.  She was Caucasian, but had her honey-colored 
hair done up in a traditional Japanese style, and she wore 
a sky-blue kimono woven of silk and tied at the waist 
with a dark blue sash.  One of the tallest women Rei had 
ever seen, taller even than Makoto and Uranus, she was 
also one of the thinnest, although she looked graceful 
rather than gaunt.  She stood across the courtyard on the 
symbol of Odysseus, the Wandering Planet.  "She enslaved 
the Elder Mars with a particularly ingenious creation.  I 
don't suppose Vulcan ever considered that one of his 
creations might itself be turned into something else in 
time.  Destroyed, yes, but then used to..."  Her voice was 
starting to take on a lecturing tone.  

       	"What do you mean?"  Obsidian asked, knowing the 
answer in his heart.

        "She forged the remains of Copper into two 
bracelets, and used them to master the Elder Mars, and 
with her, to claim the Kingdom.  With her brother dead, 
she believed it was hers by right.  Mars hoped, on the 
other hand, that the royal heirs might one day reclaim 
their kingdom, and she would not help Haephestia claim 
the hammer and so...she chained Mars with eldritch bonds.  
But when she still could not claim the Hammer, she 
despaired and took desperate measures."  Screams of 
agony from outside the palace interrupted the speech.  

	"The spell she worked was a success.  It slew the Things.  
At the cost of the life of those within the walls.  She had 
hoped by sacrificing some, to save the rest.  Instead, 
they all died, and worse, were damned to live again and 
again and to die again and again, to act out their pageant 
of their destruction a million times."  Her voice was soft 
and compassionate.  Mars could see she was on the verge 
of crying.  

	"And all she can do is watch and slip a little 
further into madness ever day.  She is strong.  Stronger 
than you, and so is the Elder Mars.  You have but one 
advantage.  They are mad, and you are not.  There is little 
left of Haephestia but a brittle shell, and Mars...she 
wishes to die, I think.  And a second advantage.  Mars' 
talisman is locked in her closet where it was as she 
slept, sealed away by a puzzle lock whose working she 
has made herself forget.  If you can get that, you may be 
able to match her blow for blow."

        Neptune's eyes narrowed.  "You seem to know quite a 
bit.  Who are you?"

        "My task is to gather lore and analyze it.  Many kinds 
of lore.  We have tried to defeat Haephestia before. 
This..."  She shuddered.  "This is a travesty, a nightmare.  
But we lack the raw power.  There are many places like 
this, places where ancient evils, nightmares, and wrongs 
fester.  Places that we have tried to cleanse in hundreds 
of ways, but it eludes us.  None of us can grow into the 
fullness of our power as the Elder Senshi did; not with 
half the Star Power locked away where we cannot touch 
it.  Perhaps even more than half.  The Elder Mars is 
strong, and she has only gotten stronger over the years.  
There is only one person who can stop her, and that is 
you, Rei Hino."

        Sailors Mars twitched, partly with surprise, and 
partly from fear.  "But I never...could beat her when she 
was so much younger."

        "WHO are you?"  Sailor Neptune said.  "Are you one of 
the Zodiac?"

        "I am Virgo.  The difference between then and now 
is that she wants to die, Sailor Mars.  She wants to be 
free.  But there is more to it than just battle.  Five times 
we have killed her and Haephestia.  But she always comes 
back."

        <What?>  Obsidian said.

     	"She is part of the nightmare, and every time it 
repeats itself, she is reborn if she has fallen.  You must 
end the nightmare as well as defeating her.  Otherwise, 
she will return.  She is as trapped as they are."  Her voice 
was sad.  "I cannot imagine a more miserable existence."

        "But how...how can I stop this?  It's so...so..."

        "If I knew how it could be done, and if I could do it, 
I would have done it long ago.  If anyone can do this, it is 
you.  More than that, I do not know what to tell you."  She 
bowed.  "I must go now."

        I wonder if she's related to Pluto, Mars thought.  
"Why...why are you helping us?  We're..."

      	"You have something we want.  Something we 
desperately need.  The Star Princess.  Her family brought 
about the destruction of the Star Kingdom through their 
neglect and forfeited their right to wield the Star Power.  
Odysseus was destroyed because they would not act, and 
we could not act because they drove us away."

        Neptune frowned.  I bet the Royal Family would tell 
another tale.

        "For twenty five thousand years, we have guarded 
the Solar System with only half our power, for when the 
Royal Family died, they took half the Star Power with 
them.  For generations, we have fought and died so that 
ordinary people could live free from the Things from 
Beyond.  So that when mankind one day returned to the 
other planets, they would not find them filled with 
armies of Things just waiting to destroy them."  Her 
voice was stern now, her stance that of a teacher or 
perhaps an angry mother.  

	"A grand conjunction is coming, a moment of decision
when the world may be plunged into a new age of darkness like 
the one that scourged the earth for thousands of years from 
the fall of Hyperborea to the rise of the Five Wizards.  Indeed, 
the entire century that is coming will be a time of crisis whose end 
remains unclear.  We do not wish to provoke a quarrel 
with the Senshi; we know you never failed in your duties 
unlike the royal family of the Star Kingdom.  There are 
greater evils out there.  Some force is seeking to break 
through the dimensional barriers again; we do not know 
its name, but we will oppose it to our last breath.  I hope 
you will stand by us on that day, but we will do what we 
must."  She sighed.  

	"This is not the time or the place to 
argue this.  You must do what you must do, and I must 
depart.  There are those among our ranks who would not 
be pleased that I did not alert them that they might try 
to pick you off while you are isolated.  But I believe 
violence should always be the last choice."  She bowed to 
them.  "I will go now.  Give my regards to Haruka, Michiru.  
Tell her I am proud of her and that I regret I could not be 
there as she grew up."  She paused.  "Haruka does know 
she was adopted, doesn't she?"

       	"..."  Mars said.

       	"She was adopted?"  Neptune said in surprise.

       	"I wish I could talk to her, but I fear it would not be 
safe.  Good-bye and fare well.  May the Stars bless your 
endeavor."  Virgo began to glow, then became light, which 
folded itself into her sign, then winked out.  

        Sailor Mars turned to Obsidian.  "It's not...It's not 
true is it?"

        <I have no idea if she is Haruka's mother...whoever 
Haruka is.>

        Mars wanted to punch Obsidian through the wall.  
"What she said...about the Star Kingdom."

        Obsidian sighed.  <In the year 503, Astra XI founded 
the Zodiac research project.  Before that, the Star 
Kingdom had lacked a corps of specialized warriors like 
the Senshi, relying instead on the Royal Family's 
astrological skills and on the high level of magical talent 
that most inhabitants of the Wandering Planet possessed 
to deal with threats.  And there were many threats, for 
the Wandering Planet tended to be drawn to threats that 
needed to be defeated.  Still, by that point, the days of 
constant battle were gone, and true threats were long 
and far between.>

      	Mars sat down.  This was clearly going to take a 
while.  Neptune, on the other hand, remained standing, 
keeping watch.

        <The Zodiac proved very useful, but at the same 
time, there were constant disputes; it never worked as 
smoothly with the Royal Family of the Star Kingdom as 
the Senshi did with the Moon Kingdom.  I don't know why.  
There was some sort of scandal which I can't remember 
clearly anymore, in the 970s, and I believe the King 
disbanded it or exiled them or some such thing.  They 
tried to rig some sort of election, I think.  Anyway, they 
tried to warn him that some sort of disaster was going 
to happen, but he thought it was a trick.  That they were 
just making something up to get back in his good graces.  
Estrellar VIII wasn't too bright, anyway, but he was 
the eldest and the eldest, be they male or female, always 
inherited the throne.  So he didn't listen to them.>

     	Mars shuddered.  "Why didn't they go to the other 
kingdoms?"

        <They weren't trusted; the Zodiac had a long 
reputation for manipulating people into things.  Not bad 
things, necessarily, but no one likes to be tricked or 
coerced.  And we were all hideously overconfident.  There 
hadn't been a major incursion of Things for centuries.  
The Great Shield was strong.  What could possibly go 
wrong?> 

	He sighed and stared at the ground.  <And so, 
nine out of every ten inhabitants of the Star Kingdom 
died when a Great Old One hatched out their planet.  The 
Zodiac saved many of those who did survive; I don't know 
if they tried to fight the creature and failed, or if they 
had known WHAT would go wrong.  But then they vanished.  
I didn't think they still existed.  Or the Royal Family of 
the Star Kingdom.  It was my understanding that every 
last member of that family died that day or soon 
afterwards; that the Royal Family of the Star Kingdom 
was extinct.  That was the beginning of the end.  Twelve 
years later, Beryl began her war, and within a year, 
everything came apart at the seams.  The total 
destruction of civilization.>  

    	Neptune frowned.  "They know who we are."

        "They already knew,"  Sailor Mars said quietly.  
"That's how they baited Aurora into the trap she ran 
headlong into."  {I sought only to protect my princess,} 
Aurora replied.  {You would have done the same for 
yours.}  Mars had to admit she was right.

      	<I know where the Elder Mars had her quarters,"  
Obsidian said.  "I hope one of you is better at puzzle locks 
than I.>

        {I greatly enjoy them,} Aurora said.  {Take me to 
them.}

        "Let's go,"  Sailor Mars said.

***********

        Haephestia frowned.  "You MUST find her."  She had 
been beautiful once, tall and noble, slender and blonde, 
which was rare but not totally uncommon among the 
houses of Mars.  Her finery was still fine, restored and 
renewed each night, but she was starting to fade, to 
finally lose her sense of self.  The invasion was 
welcomed; it was bringing her back to herself.  And yet it 
was dangerous.  A pattern of repetitions was what 
sustained her; tear the pattern and you tore her.   
Intruders always tore the pattern.

        The Elder Mars continued to concentrate.  "I was 
never good at this use of my power; I only sensed her 
before because she touched the Heart of the Flame.  She's 
in the palace; I can tell that much."

        "You must find her and destroy her!"

        "We shall see."

***********

       	Sapphire sat at his work table, carefully polishing 
another gem.  He sensed Jadeite before he saw him.  "Yes, 
lord?"

       	"How is the experiment coming?"

       	"They're still too stupid.  The combination of 
strength and intelligence seems to be a zero sum game 
for them."

        "What?"

        "The stronger they are, the dumber they are.  The 
third one was beaten up by some teenager who simply 
rammed it with his car; it was too stupid to get out of 
the way, and yet not tough enough to take the impact.  
And the fourth one, which was very smart, still got 
beaten up by a photographer and his kids.  It couldn't 
outwrestle a thirteen year old girl."  He sighed.  "I 
wanted to cry.  But the energy expenditure is minimal; I 
think they'd make good suicide troops.  Take them 
somewhere, activate them, let them rampage.  Like 
Gibberlings, but not infectious and not as mindless.
Also, they can use the Dark Crystals to collect energy and
beam it into the network of crystals you have planted across
the city so it isn't lost when they die."

        "Could be useful, but continue to work on increasing 
the amount of combined intelligence and strength they 
can have."  Jadeite said.  

        "Yes, sir."

        Jadeite walked out quietly.  Is he as loyal as he 
seems?  Sapphire seems to not care who is in charge, as 
long as he has interesting experiments to do, but...It 
could all be a false front.  He shook his head.  Sapphire 
was the most apolitical of his Generals, even more so 
than Amazonite, who at least wanted to have an 
impressive reputation.  Sapphire would have been happy 
to be reviled by every living being if it let him keep 
making things.  Not that he ever seemed to think much 
about what his creations actually did.  A strange man you 
are, Jadeite thought.  Ruthlessness I can understand, but 
this sort of making weapons without really thinking 
about weapons are used for, except as a laboratory 
exercise...Jadeite abandoned the line of thought; he had 
other things to do than philosophize.

***********

   	Sailor Mars was not happy.  The lock on the 
wardrobe looked suspiciously like a LeMarchand 
configuration.  If Pinhead comes out of this closet, I'm 
not gonna be a happy camper, she thought.  It was an odd 
lock; it actually came off the wardrobe and you had to 
solve it, then reattach it to open the wardrobe, as 
Obsidian had explained to her.  "Are you sure this thing is 
safe?"

       	"Trapping the puzzle lock on your wardrobe is a 
little too dangerous,"  Obsidian said.  "You don't do it any 
more than you would trap the lock on the front door of 
your house."

        "Unless you're Uranus," Neptune said.

        Mars blinked.  "She WHAT?"

        Neptune laughed.  "Got you."

        Fuming, Sailor Mars started fiddling with the puzzle 
lock.  This proved to be rather like the experience of 
someone trying to calculate the 3 millionth digit of pi by 
randomly striking keys on a computer.  While the screen 
saver was locked on.  The puzzle lock responded to 
everything she did, constantly changing shape.  It even 
briefly became a metal cauliflower.  That didn't help.  
"What am I trying to get this thing to end up as, anyway?"

       	<That's part of the puzzle,>  Obsidian said.

       	Mars sincerely wished burning the lock to ash was 
part of the puzzle.

**********

     	"Why would they be in your old quarters?"  
Haephestia asked.  "I cleaned out everything I could open 
long ago."

        "Perhaps they wanted to take a nap,"  Elder Mars 
said, struggling to fight off the urge to answer the 
question truthfully.  The binder didn't have infinite 
powers; it could control her body and powers better than 
her speech or thoughts.  It could make her say things, but 
only things she was told to say, not to answer questions.  
It only conveyed a mild impulse to answer truthfully, not 
the overwhelming one Haephestia had hoped for, so long 
ago.

        "Well, we'll go see ourselves, we shall."

*********

        I'll never solve this thing, Sailor Mars thought.  {Let 
me do it,}  Aurora said.  {I love these things.}  [But it's so 
totally...infuriating!]  A silent grin filled her mind.  {Only 
for one who lacks education like yourself.}

        I bet Ami doesn't have to put up with someone in her 
head bragging about how smart she is, Mars thought, then 
jumped a little.  That's it.  I bet Athena has been talking 
to her.  She watched her hands move of their own 
volition, twisting, bending, and pushing puzzle pieces 
about.  The lock became a pyramid, then a twisted U, and 
then a sort of T, and then a cube again.  {Hmm.  Three 
possibilities.}

        Neptune said, "Maybe I should take a nap."  She 
sounded just a tiny bit irritated.

        <Patience.  Aurora was a master at solving these 
things, but they take time.  That's why she got caught the 
time she broke into her mother's closet to make off with 
a gown for...>

     	"I DID NOT BREAK INTO HER CLOSET!"  Sailor Mars 
started when Aurora took control of the vocal cords too.  
"'Nothing was damaged."  Her voice trailed off feebly.  "I 
was only eight!  I didn't know any better!"  She slunk back 
into the depths of the mind, still working the hands to 
manipulate the puzzle lock.

       	"She broke into a Queen's closet at age eight but she 
can't get this open?"

       	<The Queen didn't keep a talisman in her wardrobe,>  
Obsidian said, smiling.  He was about to launch into a 
long story when the door flew open.

        "YOU!"  Haephestia shouted.  "Aurora, what are you 
doing here?"

        "I've come for my talisman,"  Sailor Mars said, her 
hands still moving autonomously.  "And to put you down 
like the mad dog you've become.  I can't believe you 
betrayed Mars to the Things!"

        Haephestia's face flushed.  "I did not betray Mars!  It 
was the only way to stop the Things!  I needed the Throne!  
I needed the Hammer!  We needed unity and a strong hand 
and the Elder Mars wouldn't see that!  So I MADE her see!  
Give me the Hammer, Aurora."

       	"No."  Neptune said, interposing herself.  "I can smell 
the stench of corruption upon you.  You must be 
destroyed."

        A single tear ran down Obsidian's face.  <I am sorry, 
Haephestia.  She is right.>  He stared at the bracelets the 
Elder Mars and Haephestia wore.  <I can't believe you 
turned Copper into that.>

        "He was already dead!  I did not kill him!"  Her voice 
was pleading.  "I know the Golems were faithful.  But 
Lilliandror corrupted him.  My own brother had to kill 
him!"  Her eyes widened.  "That's it!  They must have 
corrupted you!  All of you!  Mars, KILL THEM AND BRING ME 
THE TALISMAN AND THE HAMMER!"

    	Elder Mars winced.  "I am sorry.  As long as I am 
bound, she can force me to use my powers.  MARTIAN 
WHIRLWIND!"  The air around her began to glow, then to 
ignite in streams of flame.  Haephestia stepped back into 
the hallway out of the way as the flames blurred 
together and became a gyre of flame, circling the Elder 
Mars.  

        [Faster!  You've got to solve this faster!]  {I can only 
think so fast, you know!}

        Obsidian said, <I regret this, Brigit.  Neptune, 
assist me.>

     	"DEEP SUBMERGE!"  Neptune shouted.  A huge green 
ball shaped like a ringed planet erupted from her fingers 
and slammed into the flames, dousing them for about a 
second, then the whirlwind began again.  

        Obsidian charged; his power came from his sheer 
toughness and strength; he wouldn't be throwing any 
bolts of energy.  He almost reached the Elder Mars when 
she said, "FLARE!"  The air in the room ignited, exploding 
in a flash of light for just a few seconds.  Obsidian 
staggered, blinded.  Neptune howled and rubbed her eyes.  
To her surprise, Sailor Mars was just barely effected, 
making her eyes sparkle a bit with imaginary lights.  Her 
hands kept working.  More shapes blurred by.  

        [Surely the Elder Mars didn't spend an hour unlocking 
her closet!]

        {If I knew the right combination, I could do this in 
twenty seconds.  I'm trying to intuit the right one, okay?}

        "Fire Cage."  A cage of flames surrounded Neptune.  
She tried to blast her way out, but it was like trying to 
punch through concrete with a hat pin.  

      	Obsidian staggered towards the sound of Mars' 
voice.  "Flame Bolt."  A huge gout of flames flung him 
backwards; he crashed into the old bed, crushing it to 
powder.  His sight was beginning to return.  At least she 
hasn't really hurt me, he thought.  She must be holding 
back.  

        "Stop playing around!  KILL AURORA!  KILL THEM ALL!  
BRING ME THE TALISMAN AND THE HAMMER!"

        "Fire Cage."  Obsidian was trapped now.  Sort of.  He 
began to press against the cage; Sailor Mars could see 
smoke rising from him.  His progress was incredibly 
slow, but it was clear that in a minute or two, he would 
break free.  

        The Elder Mars raised one hand.  "Don't make me do 
this.  Please."  Her voice was pleading.  "She might let 
you go if you stop.  I hope."  She didn't sound too hopeful.  
"Please, Haephestia.  Not Obsidian.  He's the last of the 
Golems."

        "He is corrupted.  He must be or he wouldn't oppose 
me!  If you kill him, I can use him to purify Aurora like I 
did for you!  Yes, that's it!  KILL HIM!"

        Neptune slapped her forehead.  "NEPTUNE 
TELEPORT!"  She appeared behind Haephestia.  I'll go right 
to the source, she thought.  "DEEP SUBMERGE!"  Haephestia 
flew down the corridor, slamming into a wall.  "DEEP 
SUBMERGE!"  Another blast, and Haephestia went limp, 
folded in half.  The wrong way.  She went still.  I feel 
weak, Neptune thought.  Those teleports take a lot out of 
you.  "It's over."

        Haephestia spoke with her voice even more crazed.  
"It's never over.  And when it is, it just happens again."  
Her body snapped into position, wobbling.  She looked like 
she had aged five years, and tiny black flecks glowed 
darkly in her eye sockets.  "I die again and again, and then 
I live again."

       	The elder Mars was hurling more flame at Obsidian, 
who had fallen to his knees.  Sailor Mars watched her 
arms moving slowly to place the puzzle lock on the 
wardrobe, which began to swing open in slow motion.  As 
it did so, Haephestia pointed at Neptune, who suddenly 
found herself wrapped in black chains, which began to 
constrict her.

        "You were smart, I give you that,"  Haephestia said.  
"Best to strike off the serpent's head than to try and 
wrestle with its body.  But you forgot the head has fangs 
too.  Now, I will take your life force and use it to renew 
me; the pain you have given me must be removed.  I will 
not live with this for eternity!  I deserve better!"  Her 
voice was harsh, and came in bursts; she was clearly in 
pain.  

        "NEPTUNE TELEPORT!"  She landed behind Haephestia 
again, but the chains came with her.  Haephestia laughed.

        Inside the closet were dozens of outfits, many of 
which had seen better days.  In the very center was a 
simple breastplate, helmet, and a sort of metal skirt; it 
looked somewhat like the armor of the ancient Greeks to 
Mars.  She hurriedly put it on as fast as she could, then 
ran out, just as Neptune collapsed unconscious and as 
Obsidian finally landed a solid punch on the elder Mars, 
who went flying back through five walls and ended up far 
away in a pile of rubble.

        {It pains me that it has come to this,} Aurora said 
quietly.  {She is the last living member of the Royal 
family of Mars.  {Take her alive if you can.}

      	[I'll do what I must,] Sailor Mars replied, then spoke 
the words that came into her mind.  "I am Princess 
Aurora of the Kingdom of Vulcan!  I am Sailor Mars!  I 
claim the Armor of Vulcan!  I claim the Hammer of 
Vulcan!"  She reached into her heart and the Hammer 
came forth.  The armor shimmered, and her sigil glowed 
redly upon the bronze chestplate.  It molded itself to her 
form, forming armguards and leg guards as well, and 
metal boots.  Soon, only her face was visible from the 
front.  "I call upon you to surrender that justice might be 
done!"

        "I am QUEEN, USURPER!  You yielded your claim when 
you went to Serenity's court!  Serenity doomed us all 
with her romantic intrigues!  She left us to die!"  A spear 
formed, and Haephestia threw it.

        The Hammer struck it, and it shattered.  "Only 
because she died FIRST!  The Dark Kingdom destroyed us!  
It was Beryl's fault!"  She charged Haephestia with the 
Hammer held high.  {I'm sorry, Aunt Haephestia,} Aurora 
said.  

        "FIRE DRAGON!"  A huge dragon of flame with 
sixteen legs and teeth the size of a human torso erupted 
through the palace from the hole Mars' flung body had 
made.  It rushed down upon Sailor Mars igniting 
everything in its path.  She rushed forward and grabbed 
Neptune, then teleported back to the courtyard.  It was 
easy with the Armor and the Hammer; she could draw 
strength through them.  And then she remembered...

       	"OBSIDIAN!"  I left him behind!  She could hear more 
explosions in the palace.  Putting Neptune down, she 
teleported to the explosions.  The Flame Dragon was 
rampaging around, and the rooms were burning.  The 
flames could not hurt her, though.  Through the smoke, 
she saw the Elder Mars slowly, robotically, picking up 
Obsidian, and Haephestia grinning through the smoke.  

       	"You want him?  Come and get him.  I'm taking him up 
to where I can put him to use."  They vanished in a poof of 
flame.  

        Sailor Mars cursed and doused all the flame with a 
snap of the fingers.  I can't believe how powerful I am 
with these things, she thought.  Not that I MIND, of 
course.  {It is dangerous power.  Especially the Hammer.  
All the Icons are dangerous.  Use an Icon too often and it 
will likely kill you or cripple you permanently.  It does 
not create power, only magnify it; use too much power 
and you will use yourself up.  And the more power you use 
at one time, the more you will want to use.}

        I have to take the risk.  She could feel the Elder 
Mars.  They had gone to the roof of the central tower.

      	With a thought, she followed them.  

**********

        Back on Earth, Usagi was fretting at high speed.  
"We haven't heard anything from them!"  She stalked back 
and forth across the living room of Makoto's apartment.

        "They'd call if they needed help,"  Ami said, 
soothingly.  "I'm sure they're fine."

        "Rei can take care of herself,"  Makoto said.  "And 
she's got Obsidian and Neptune with her.  No problem."

        Haruka frowned.  "I just have a bad feeling about 
this."

        "What I'm worried about is that Rei will forget to 
bring me some rocks from Mars,"  Umino said, then wilted 
when Usagi and Haruka glared at him in unison.  "I 
suppose this would be a bad time to ask if anyone wants 
to play Divine Right to pass the time?"

***********

        Obsidian lay at the feet of the Elder Mars and 
Haephestia when Sailor Mars appeared on the roof.  
"Should have run farther than this."

        Haephestia laughed.  "Now I can draw more power 
from the city!  GAZE UPON MY POWER!"

        There was battle in the streets, or more properly, a 
slaughter.  The wraiths of the Things were killing the 
ghosts of the Martians in a thousand different bloody 
ways.  And with every death, be it Thing or Martian, a 
little black streamer ran up to Haephestia and from her, 
through the bracelets into Mars.  "Now!  Do as you did 
before, and do again and again!  We shall turn the power 
of the Things upon them and obliterate them!  Then Mars 
will be FREE!"  She began to laugh without a single drop 
of humor, her eyes rolled back, caught in a mad, joyless 
ecstasy.  

        As the Elder Mars raised her arms, Sailor Mars 
realized what she was going to do.  And how to stop it.  
The Bracelets.  Looping the hammer by its strap on her 
belt, she spoke.  "MARS FLAME SNIPER!"  A bow formed, 
and two arrows of flame flew forth, striking the 
bracelets.  They glowed red hot, and Haephestia 
screamed.  But they did not break.

        While the Elder Mars began to gather an ever 
growing ball of flames above her head, Haephestia spoke, 
laughing.  "Do you think I could bind the Elder Mars if 
these bracelets were not proof against the Power of the 
Senshi of Mars?  Perhaps the Hammer could break them, 
but then you would surely die."

        Mars hesitated, then looked down at the city.  I 
can't let this happen again.  She pulled out the Hammer.  I 
hope I live, but... Neptune, if you survive this, tell them 
I...  Even if Neptune could have heard her, Mars wouldn't 
have been sure what to tell them.  Too much for words to 
express it.  "I'll take that chance."

        "Not if you don't have to."  Neptune stood nearby, 
shakily holding her talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror.  
"FANG OF THE RAINBOW SERPENT!"  She swung the mirror 
as if it was a tennis racket, and a long snake of 
shimmering water erupted from it right at Haephestia's 
wrist.  It bit down, swallowing the bracelet and severing 
her hand.  The bracelet broke and it vanished.  

        Haephestia screamed and black energy erupted from 
her arm, driving her to her knees as she aged visibly.  "No!  
The ritual!  I need it to live!  They have to die...for the 
good of the kingdom.  For my good...no...I want to live.  
Damn you, Neptune.  Damn you."

        {Good-bye, dear Aunt.  I wish this was not my last 
memory of you.  I wish I had remained asleep, 
remembering you as the kind woman who read me stories 
when I was little and tucked me into bed, not as...this.}  
Sailor Mars could hear Aurora crying in her head.  

        "Perhaps I am damned, but I have never done aught 
as evil as you, and if I did, at least I have never acted for 
my own benefit.  I do what I must for the good of 
mankind."

        The huge ball of flame that the Elder Mars had been 
forming now plummeted down towards one of the 
courtyards; Sailor Mars snuffed it with ease.  
Detransforming for the first time in millennia, Brigit 
fell to her knees.  Like Haephestia, she was aging years 
in seconds.  "Thank you, Aurora."

        "No!  Don't die!"  Sailor Mars shouted, running over 
to her.  

        "I did it for the good of my people!"  Haephestia 
shouted.  "I didn't know they would all die!  I thought a 
remnant would be saved!  The Things were going to kill us 
all!  It was the only way to stop them!  You would have 
done exactly the same thing!"  Her hair was white now, 
her face wrinkled, her remaining hand paralyzed by 
advancing arthritis.  The flow of black from the severed 
hand had dimmed to a trickle; as it diminished, she 
slowed.

     	Neptune was silent.

        "Do not mourn for me, Aurora.  I should have died 
long ago."  Brigit said quietly.

        "I am Rei Hino now,"  Sailor Mars said.  "I am a 
priestess of the Fire Shrine.  There has to be something I 
can do!  Maybe I can...use the Hammer."  She brought it 
around nervously.  "I mean, Umino saved Naru...uh, Naru 
saved Umino with the Silver Crystal without dying and he 
was already dead, I mean..."

        "You must save your strength.  Your people need 
you,"  Brigit said.  She didn't look much better than 
Haephestia now, although all her limbs were intact.  "I 
died twenty five thousand years ago; only this nightmare 
has kept me alive.  You must end it.  You must heal your 
people."

        Sailor Mars began to cry.  "How?  What can I do for 
them?"

        "Love is a flame inside your heart,"  Brigit choked 
out.  "And the House of Vulcan, the Senshi of Mars...they 
master flame.  They are flame.  You are flame."  Laughing 
and coughing at the same time, she said, "I almost wish 
Neptune would attack me, I'm so thirsty."

        "Do something!"  Sailor Mars said pleadingly to 
Neptune, who came over, leaving Haephestia to die.  

        Neptune concentrated and fired a short burst of water 
into Brigit's mouth, then relaxed when it was clear she had 
managed to keep it under control; Brigit was too fragile to risk
any mistakes

        Brigit relaxed a little. "Thank you."  She reached out 
a hand to stroke Obsidian's arm.  "He will live.  Tell him I 
have gone to see his old friends and mine, in the mansion prepared 
for us."  Her breath began to slow.  "And we shall prepare a room 
for him when his time comes."

        "Let me help you!  I can't let you die!"  The tears ran 
down Sailor Mars' face.  "Don't die!"

        "There is such a thing as living too long,"  Brigit 
said.  "When we cling to the past, when we hold on to 
something too long, when we refuse to answer the call to 
new adventures, all we hold dear turns to dust and ashes 
in our mouth.  I am called to new adventures, elsewhere.  
I have lived a long life, and a longer nightmare.  It is 
enough for me.  And even if I was not ready, you will need 
your strength.  Good-bye, Queen Aurora.  Good-bye, Rei 
Hino.  Perhaps one day you can tell me about your shrine."  
And with that, Brigit, the Elder Senshi of Mars, closed 
her eyes, and passed beyond the walls of this world.  

        "What are you going to do?"  Neptune said, looking 
down at the surging sea of wraiths, still locked into 
acting out their ancient slaughter.

     	Sailor Mars stared down at them, still crying, 
clutching the Hammer of Vulcan in one hand; not even the 
Armor of Vulcan could stop the pain she felt.  She could 
feel their suffering; it suffused her.  She felt sorrow for 
them, and anger at the one who had caused it, who had 
trapped them in this nightmare.  And pity.  Haephestia 
had acted from desperation, trying to save as much of her 
people as could be saved.  She had not meant to become a 
monster; but she had.  
 
     	My people, she thought.  They have suffered so much.  
No one should have to suffer like that!  No one!  Not even 
the Things deserve to relive their death a million times 
over!  Her rage, her love, her compassion, fused into one, 
and then she knew what she had to do.  It was time to 
cleanse them, to heal them by burning away their pain, to 
free them from the weight of their past that was 
trapping and torturing them.  
                                    
     	And Sailor Mars lifted her gauntleted hands to the 
heavens, holding aloft the Hammer of Vulcan, and she 
cried out to her people.  Two voices spoke as one, past 
and present joined to create the future.  "Let there be an 
ending to your suffering!  I hear your pain, and I call you 
to joy!  Come to me, people of Mons Olympus!"

        The shadow play that surrounded the palace 
faltered.  The spectres paused in their slaughter and 
turned to stare at her.  Sailor Neptune looked about 
nervously.  They were horribly outnumbered, and if the 
creatures came after them, they'd never make it out 
alive.  What is she doing? Neptune wondered.

       	A spiral of fire rose out of the ground around Sailor 
Mars.  Twin flames spun about her, blending into a double 
helix of flame, with the Hammer of Vulcan suspended in 
its heart.  White flame burned with red.  Red for her rage 
at her people's pain.  White with her love for them.  
"Come!  Come and be healed with the fires of love!  Let go 
of your pain and TRULY remember what you were!"

        For a moment, all was silent, and then the first 
spectre walked away from its slayer, as the others 
hesitated.  It leapt into the flame, and was suspended in 
it.  The blackness than ran through it began to burn away, 
and it gave a cry of joy, its soul forged new by the power 
of the Hammer, the power of its wielder, the power it 
had always held within itself.  

        With that cry, the spectres began to stream into the 
flame, an ever growing tide, killers and victims alike, 
flowing past Neptune and forming a black sea around the 
flames.  The flames grew larger, engulfing them, each 
spectre becoming a bright white or red flame.  As they 
joined the flame, Sailor Mars knew them, human and 
Thing alike, saw them as they were, and as they should 
have been, and she gave them each a piece of her heart.  
She began to cry, and every tear was a tear of joy, a 
diamond for a soul given peace.

        Sailor Neptune couldn't see Sailor Mars anymore 
admidst the flames.  Slowly, the press of the dead began 
to push her through the flames.  She was too weak from 
the battle to use her powers, too weak to do anything but 
be sucked in.  

        Red, white, and black burned together in the heart of 
Olympus Mons, spiraling into the sky, ever larger, ever 
stronger.  Finally, the sea of blackness ebbed, and 
guttered and went out.  The black burned away before the 
strength of the red and the white and a single green 
flame.  And the flames sang the funeral elegy of a nation 
and its foes, and then they let go of the world and rose 
into the sky, spiraling in the dance they had craved for 
twenty five thousand years.

*******************

        Haruka finished moving her armies on the brightly 
colored and slightly tattered board.  She liked wargames; 
she had a knack for them.  "And now The Gap Castle 
is...Under SIEGE!"  She laughed.  "Your turn, Makoto."

        "Hey!  I thought we had a deal!"  Umino said.  He was 
pretty good at Divine Right, but Haruka, while insisting 
she had never played, was kicking his butt.  And Usagi's 
butt.  Which didn't surprise him.  Even with Muetar, the 
strongest nation on the board, Usagi was getting her 
clock cleaned.  Of course, the fact that Usagi's idea of 
strategy seemed to be moving her armies around so that 
they were all in equal sized stacks didn't help.  Only the 
fact that Minako was allied with Usagi was keeping her 
alive.

       	"I decided to sell you out to the Trolls,"  Haruka said, 
grinning.  "So Mako's going to sack your capital while I 
burn this fortress you put all your armies in."

        Umino howled, just as Neptune and Rei appeared 
with an audible pop.  Rei had detransformed, and was 
unconscious in Neptune's arms.  Neptune fell down almost 
instantly, dropping Rei onto the couch, then passed out 
and detransformed herself.  

        Usagi yelped and ran over to them.  "Rei-chan!  
Michiru-san!  SAY SOMETHING!"

        Silence.

        "They're just sleeping,"  Ami said, quickly checking.  
"They're exhausted."

        "Where's Obsidian?"  Minako asked.

        Usagi shook Rei.  "What happened?  Are you okay?  
Did you get the talisman?"

        "Yes,"  Setsuna said, looking up from the book she 
was reading.  "She has the talisman.  She just needs rest.  
And Obsidian decided to stay behind to try to rebuild 
what he could.  He will come if we need him."

        "That written in your book?"  Steven asked, smiling.

        "She needs rest,"  Setsuna said.  "She'll have quite a 
story to tell you tomorrow."  She looked down at the 
game, and smiled a little.  "Want to know who wins?"

        "NO!" they shouted in unison.

        Setsuna laughed and went back to her romance 
novel, even though she knew how it ended too.  Just 
because you know your destination doesn't necessarily 
make the trip unpleasant.

*************


	Unseen by anyone human, a circle of light quietly 
appeared near a tree behind Perry Hall at Tsunami.  A 
small pack of cats quickly darted through the circle, and 
one of them waved a paw at it, causing it to vanish.  Some 
of the cats would have fit in anywhere, while others, like the 
green furred one, would have stood out anywhere.  And the 
last one through the portal stood out because he was a collie 
the size of a house cat.  He looked perfectly normal as collies 
go except for his size, but standing among a bunch of cats, 
he looked even more ridiculous than one might expect of a 
miniature collie.  

 	He sniffed the air.  "Hmm.  Mercury passed through 
here about eight hours ago."

 	One of the cats, a lean tabby, said, "I smell a bird."  
He started to follow the scent.

 	"Amazing that," a red furred cat with a long tail said 
bitingly.  "But we're not here to be advisors to any birds.  You 
can snack later."  Carefully, he sniffed the air.  "Mars hasn't 
been here lately."  He concentrated for a moment, then 
pointed with a paw.  "That way."

 	Another one of the cats, this one black furred with a 
short tail, plopped down and began to swish her tail thoughtfully. 
"What I want to know is why Hecate didn't send us directly to the 
people we're supposed to advise."

 	"Perhaps it's a test," the tabby said.  "I'd do it this way."

 	"Only if someone was insane enough to put you in charge 
of something," the red cat said sharply.  "Something besides eating."

 	He hissed at her.  "I am NOT just good for eating!"

 	"Calm down.  I'm sure he would taste bad if someone 
tried to eat him," the collie said.  "I'm sure he's right.  This is a
test."

 	"Or maybe the Queen's just gone senile," the tabby 
continued.  "I mean, if she'd send an idiot like him here, she's 
capable of anything."

 	"I am NOT an idiot!"

 	The alley was soon filled with the hissing and growling of 
cats, plus the slinking away of one embarrassed dog who wanted 
NOTHING to do with this.  The Senshi must have made Queen 
Hecate really angry to inflict these maniacs on them, he thought.  
I never understood why we don't have any cats on Mercury until this.
I should have listened to Kagyar and come by myself.  

 	"Don't run off!  COME BACK HERE!" the red cat bellowed.  "I'm in
charge here, and..."

 	"Who died and put you in charge?"  the green-furred cat 
shouted back.  

 	The hound ran while he still could.

************

Sailor Mars Says:

Sailor Mars:  [asleep]  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

Usagi:  [runs out]  Ahah!  I finally got my segment back!  
Today's moral is that....um...It's been so long since I got to 
do this segment, I can't remember how to find the moral!

Umino:  [steps out]  We've decided to have a survey of the 
readers.  Should we kill Goro?  Call 1-800-KILL-HIM to 
vote yes, 1-800-NOT-KILL to vote no, and 1-800-ERR-
WHAT? if you can't remember who I'm talking about.

Usagi:  We are NOT HAVING A PHONE SURVEY!  And we're 
not gonna kill anyone, no matter how many people vote 
for them to die!

[Cut briefly to a scene of John and Jeff sending each 
other forged  email begging for Chibi-Usa to die]
Usagi:  Not unless dramatic necessity demands it.  

Umino:  Do you think Dramatic Necessity demands that 
Goro die?  Dial...

Usagi:  OR unless you try to steal my segment referring 
to a character we haven't even seen since episode 4!

Umino:  Episode 3.

Usagi:  WHATEVER!  Oh forget it.  I'm going to go watch 
Dawson's Creek.  [storms off]

Umino:  Now as I was saying...

[Fade to Black]

**************

Closing Theme:

     "My road leads me far away."

We see Nephrite telling Juno that he must go soon for a 
great conflict is about to begin.

     "Though my heart tells me to stay,"

We see Princess Serenity clinging to a worried looking 
Endymion.

     "When my duty calls, I must go"

We see Pluto appearing in the midst of the ballroom at 
the Diamond Gala.

     "'Twixt worlds of fire and worlds of snow."

We cut to a shot of the solar system, with the nine 
planets and the moon lined up from the Sun at the left to 
Pluto at the right, with the Senshi and Prince Endymion 
standing on their planets as shadowy figures.

     "The road I travel will be long"

We see the White Knight galloping down a Tokyo street on
horseback.

     "To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see Tuxedo Mask tossing a red rose into the barrel of 
a gun, which backfires and explodes.

     "But this message will I send,"

We see Rei picking up a blue crystal, which starts to play 
back a message.

     "Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see Naru waiting for Umino outside a restaurant.

     "Do not forget the love we share"

We see Princess Serenity and Endymion tearfully bidding 
each other farewell.

     "Though I must leave, my heart will stay."

We see Naru crying as Nephrite dissolves away in her 
arms.

     "Do not think I ceased to care"

We see Beryl implanting crystals in the foreheads of the 
four Guardians and cackling maniacally.

     "When my duty took me away."

We see Steven waiting at a restaurant, then sighing as he 
checks his watch.

     "The road I travel will be long"

We see the Sailors using the Sailor Teleport to travel to 
the ruins of the Moon Kingdom.

     "To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see Umino trying to fight a monster in "Tuxedo Umino 
Kamen" mode.

     "But this message will I send,"

We see Luna trying to use a dial only phone.

     "Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see Umino leap to his feet as Naru comes running up 
the sidewalk to him with Usagi and company.

     "I have only my heart to give"

We see Haruka and Michiru sharing a quiet moment.

     "For my life is not my own."

We see the baby Saturn in a crib.

     "It is for others that I must live"

We see Pluto having a frustrating time trying to counsel 
a young girl.

     "But it is for you that I come home."

We see Mamoru following a trail of smoke to Usagi in his 
kitchen.

     "The road I travel will be long"

We see Capricorn vanishing through a portal.

     "To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see a chamber with stars for a ceiling and a 
horoscope on the floor.  A man stands in grey robes in the 
center and stares down at the horoscope.

     "But this message will I send,"

We see Usagi listening to a message on the phone, her 
eyes getting big.

     "Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see a closing tableaux of the Sailors, Umino, Naru, 
Steven, Tuxedo Mask, and twelve shadowy figures 
standing on a Zodiac wheel.

**************

Author's Afterword:

        I didn't mean this episode to be so long.  Really.  It 
just sorta snuck up on me.  Rei doesn't even get to Mars 
until page 64 of 97.  There's a few obscure cultural 
references in here.  The planet names and the Eldils 
(mentioned by Steven) are from C. S. Lewis' Outer Space 
Trilogy:  Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That 
Hideous Strength.  John Carter is the Warlord of Mars 
from the Edgar Rice Burroughs series.  "Escape from 
Gotham" is a reference to the planned 1999 Batman 
comics storyline 'No Mans' Land', which one Internet 
critic promptly named 'Escape from Gotham' for reasons 
too long to go into here.  The TV show that Usagi and 
Mamoru watch is a Marmalade Boy parody.  The Rainbow 
Serpent is a river spirit from Australian Aboriginal 
mythology.  Oh, and Divine Right is a TSR wargame from 
the late seventies.  Very cool, but I probably have the 
last functional copy in the universe :)

        Some of my roots in fantasy literature show in this 
one, and some of my efforts at 'deep thought'.  I hope you 
enjoyed it!  I know I did :)

John Biles

June 7, 1999