Shooting for the Moon: Chapter 6

     Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Sailor Moon or anything 
that comprises it. This is a non-profit story written solely for my 
own enjoyment and that of anyone who wishes to read it. The story and 
original characters are mine. Please don't use them without 
permission.

***

                        Shooting for the Moon

              - A Sailor Moon Fan-Fiction by Nutzoide -


    Chapter 6: Great Expositions!
               An Affirmed Love and a Heroic Cat.
    
    
    The Hikawa shrine seemed unusually quiet as Rei dragged herself 
from her bed. There was a peaceful serenity about the gentle sunlight 
that seeped into the room, and the occasional chirping of birds 
outside, punctuated only by the coarse cries of Phobos and Deimos. In 
fact, even those crows seemed content to break the calming mood only 
occasionally.
    
    If Rei had forced herself to stay in bed for another minute, the 
calmness might very well have driven her mad. She had lain there for 
the best part of an hour, staring at the ceiling and trying very hard 
to have a well-earned lie in, but it wasn't happening. Her brain had 
filled itself with nagging thoughts far too readily, and now the 
world conspired to show her just how peaceful everything but her own 
head was. That was it, she thought to herself as she pulled on her 
clothes, it was a conspiracy. Just when she needed to relax the most 
she was going to be forced to stay awake and ruminate. Well, sod that 
for a game of soldiers! She was going to get up and get on with her 
morning!
    
    She looked over at her clock, which blazed 7:23 at her a little 
too happily for her liking. She sighed. Why was she getting angry at 
inanimate objects so early in the morning? The answer was simple: it 
was something to do. After all, for all her errand running the day 
before, there hadn't been much on her mind besides Makoto, and there 
was nothing she could do about that. Michiru, for as much support as 
she had been able to give, hadn't actually been able to help her out 
of the hole she had found herself stuck in. 
    
    Rei tied her hair back with a little red bow, wanting it out of 
the way for once, and padded out into the shrine proper, and to the 
kitchen. It would have been nice if she had simply been able to shrug 
her shoulders and say she had made a decent go of it, and that was 
that, but almost immediately she began to miss the long, soft fingers 
that would intertwine with hers, eager and hesitant in equal measure. 
There was something about playing with Makoto's fingers that Rei had 
found incredibly entertaining. Her hair as well, when she let it 
down. She could have spent hours twirling those indecisive curls 
around her fingertips.
    
    "Maybe Michiru-san was right," she said to herself, trying to 
remember where she kept the coffee in their cupboards. "I think I've 
got it pretty bad."
    
    So then why the uncertainty? Why that crawling discomfort? And 
where on earth was that wretched coffee?
    
    "Grandpa!?" she called out into the shrine, knowing full well 
that he had likely got up well before she had. "Where have you left 
the coffee?!"
    
    The little priest poked his bald head around the door. "I'm not 
*that* deaf yet Rei. It's in the cupboards, where it always is."
    
    "*Which* cupboard?!" Rei asked in exasperation. "There's more 
than one! Honestly, you do this every time you have guests round."
    
    Her grandfather just smiled, unaffected by her sour mood, and 
opened the leftmost door to reveal the jar in question.
    
    Rei sighed. It was just his logic to put everything he had used 
away in the same single place. "Grandpa, coffee lives here," she said 
pointing to the first door she had looked behind, "with the rest of 
the dry drinks-things. So does the tea for that matter."
    
    She plucked them both out and put them where they 'should' have 
been, before starting to made herself her early morning caffeine fix.
    
    "And you know," she added, without the annoyance this time, "if 
you don't want me around when you have guests you could just say so. 
You didn't have to send me across half of Tokyo for the day."
    
    "You saved me the effort," her Grandfather explained, "and you 
did say you had someone to meet." His eyes twinkled impishly, 
guessing who she might have gone to see. "I trust you had a good 
time?"
    
    Rei shrugged. "I just needed to talk to her."
    
    The old priest blinked. "Just talk?"
    
    "Grandpa," Rei sighed, "it's personal."
    
    "Fair enough. But you can tell me when you want some space to 
have a guest over too."
    
    Rei had to wonder what was going through his head. "What? I don't 
think I've ever invited Michiru-san over here."
    
    Grandpa Hino blinked again, even more confused than his 
granddaughter. "Michiru-chan?"
    
    "And since when are you so familiar with her anyway?"
    
    Her grandfather sniffed, holding his nose in the air. "I happen 
to be good friends with Setsuna-san."
    
    This time it was Rei's turn to blink in surprise. "You are? When 
did that happen?"
    
    "What, an old man isn't allowed to make new friends?"
    
    "I didn't mean that Grandpa. You are old enough to be *her* 
grandfather too you know."
    
    Grandpa Hino have her a look. "Now look who's getting strange and 
unnecessary thoughts! It looks like you have some of my blood in you 
after all Rei!"
    
    Rei groaned at the thought. "Just don't... Who did you think I 
was going to meet anyway?"
    
    "Well, you have been spending more time with that attractive 
Mako-chan recently. Even though you both work... She's a good 
influence on you I think."
    
    However, it saddened him when Rei's face turned sober. "Really?" 
she asked, looking at her coffee as she poured in the milk, the 
concoction slowly turning a lighter chocolate brown. "I don't think 
most people would agree with you there."
    
    Her grandfather stood observing her for a moment. "I suppose it's 
good that I'm not most people then. Is this about... your 'trip'?"
    
    "No, not really," Rei replied. "She doesn't care about that."
    
    "Even if you do?"
    
    Rei didn't answer that, as much as she wanted to. "Grandpa, if I 
said that Makoto isn't exactly a 'traditional' girl, and that I might 
not be either, would that bother you?"
    
    "I doubt it," he replied honestly. "As long as you were discreet 
when you were here. Which, incidentally, is a hint to invite her. I 
know there are some worries that an old man like me can't help you 
overcome, and by the look of it you've had a good case of them since 
you came home."
    
    Rei looked at him, trying to see what he was thinking. "You 
knew?"
    
    "I wouldn't say that," he replied, "but you did seem to enjoy 
having her here."
    
    "Well, it doesn't matter. All our lives are kind of awkward right 
now, and anyway, Mako-chan's working all day today."
    
    Her grandfather considered that. "You girls have all been close 
for a long time, Rei. In my experience, things will only be awkward 
for as long as you let them stay that way - especially with the way 
you all know each other - so don't put it off. I'll let you skip this 
morning so you can have breakfast out."
    
    Rei just looked at him before leaning down to give him a hug. He 
had just given her the excuse she had wanted to see Makoto again. And 
after all the support he had already given her. "Thanks Gramps. I'm 
sorry I shouted. You're really the best."
    
    Grandpa Hino just grinned. "Of course! Now get going. Another 
thing I learned is never to keep an anxious lady waiting!"

***
    
    That was exactly what Maxill was going though, and not for one, 
but for four very different and very powerful ladies.
    
    Sailor Venus stood at the fore, having an authoritative 'all 
business' moment, while Sailor Pluto and Sailor Moon flanked her. 
Luna sat with quiet dignity, perched carefully on Sailor Moon's 
shoulder.
    
    Though Maxill did not know it, they had decided to keep her 
close, in the unused basement of the Meioh/Tenoh/Kaioh residence. 
From there Sailor Pluto could keep a close watch on their captive, 
and they would not have to go out of their way to provide what she 
needed.
    
    At least, that was what they had thought. Maxill had kept quiet 
ever since she had woken, but the Sailor Senshi's powers of 
bargaining were not impressing her. Especially when it came to the 
assurance that she would be provided for.
    
    "Do you think your material food will sustain me?" she said, 
breaking her silence as the words issued from her black, mouthless 
face.
    
    "Actually," Sailor Moon admitted, unknowingly providing the 'good 
cop' role, "I don't know what youma really eat."
    
    Maxill looked towards one of the open boxes in the corner of the 
room. The Senshi had trouble following that lidless gaze with no 
irises or pupils to guide them, but they saw the box in which they 
had put their scavenged loot. "Those crystals?" Sailor Moon asked.
    
    Pluto on the other hand leaped on the implication. "You subsist 
on our life energy," she said darkly.
    
    The girls could have sworn that Maxill's blank, oval head tweaked 
its non-existent lips in a smile. "Not 'life' energy. Just parts of 
it. Just a little. And not just from you. Unlike you, we do not need 
to kill to feed. Anything we take can be regained."
    
    "That's just how it is for humans," Sailor Venus admitted, her 
honesty allowing her to keep the high ground. "But you kill, even 
when you don't have to. You took our lives, and turned people into 
monsters to save your own worthless hides!"
    
    "That was war," Maxill accepted. "We were serving our Queen, and 
our Goddess!"
    
    "So what is it this time?" Sailor Moon asked, even though she 
didn't want to know the answer. No matter what it was, it would mean 
that innocent people were being hurt.
    
    "Energy raiding?" Sailor Venus asked, not bothering to pull her 
verbal punches. "Subversion? Harvesting? 
    
    Maxill clammed up again, only giving them a single word. 
"Survival."
    
    Sailor Pluto narrowed her eyes. "Then I will make sure that you 
fail in that goal, monster."
    
    "How many of you are there this time?" Venus asked, but she knew 
that it was futile now. The youma wasn't going to say anything else 
after that.
    
    From Sailor Moon's shoulder Luna realised that, with such 
opposing extremes between Sailor Moon and Sailor Pluto, these 
interrogations would end up as little more than window dressing. If 
anything Sailor Moon's concerned and caring approach would yield more 
information, but by that same token she would no doubt end up 
sympathising with their captive without a stronger hand there with 
her. Pluto would just make the creature hate them, and it didn't seem 
arrogant or wretched enough to be cowed by anything less than a 
dangerous show of force.
    
    Instead, Luna decided just to continue with her own 
investigations. At least her girls would balance out each other's 
extremes and make sure that the youma remained confused.
    
    Maxill on the other hand, bound to the chair so tightly even her 
malleable body could not squeeze out, just glared at them with her 
yellow, multi-faceted eyes as they left. Maybe Myoshiya was right 
after all, she thought. If these were the best of the humans, did 
such a race of creatures really deserve to live? Especially after 
what they had done to her people, and her sister.

***
    
    Like Usagi, Makoto hadn't thought much of the idea of keeping a 
prisoner. Both of them, along with Hotaru and Ami, had thought that 
it was more than a little distasteful. But, where their future 
princess had objected on purely idealistic grounds, and had been 
eventually worn down by Minako and Setsuna's mission oriented 
pragmatism, Makoto's concern had been much simpler. It was too 
underhanded for her liking. Necessary perhaps, given the 
circumstances, but with the benefit of hindsight Makoto would much 
have preferred taking the direct approach and finishing the fight 
properly.
    
    Of course, she had also been hoping that Usagi, or rather Sailor 
Moon, would have been able to 'heal' their captive, but this wasn't 
one of the once-common transformed youma monsters. This was a youma 
in the flesh. Even Sailor Moon couldn't fix someone who had been born 
a youma. If youma were even born. Maybe they came from eggs or 
something.
    
    She put those thoughts out of her mind. That fight the day before 
had got her a little worked up, and she resumed her tuneful humming 
as she brought her mind back to the job in hand. The noodle bar's 
glassware wasn't going to polish itself.
    
    "Hey, songbird," Matsubashi said after a few minutes, catching 
her attention.
    
    "Oh, sorry!" she apologised. Had she been too wrapped up in her 
own head to realise they had a customer? "Welcome! What can I..."
    
    Makoto stopped in sentence, her heart skipping a beat as she saw 
Rei sitting at the only occupied stool, resting her head on her hands 
and smiling at her with undisguised amusement. "R-Rei?"
    
    "You looked like you were having fun without me," Rei teased with 
a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "I didn't want to interrupt."
    
    Makoto didn't know if she should feel relieved or guilty, so she 
felt both at once, and promptly tried to mask both with 
professionalism. "W-what can I get you?"
    
    Rei looked a little disappointed by the response, but in truth 
she hadn't let it bother her. "Just something small, and maybe a 
little spicy?"
    
    From the other end of the bar Matsubshi shook his head. While he 
didn't understand his girl in the least, she could at least do better 
than that. "Mako-chan, I've got this order."
    
    Not that he approved either, given how easy this pair kept making 
it to see the 'closer than normal' relationship they had come back 
with. No, he didn't approve in the least. Or so he kept telling 
himself. He wasn't getting involved in anything messy like that. He 
was just looking out for Makoto's interests.
    
    "Thank you Matsubashi-san," Rei said with a broad smile, and the 
aging chef just nodded and fired up his grill.
    
    'The cunning old fox', Makoto thought. Now she had no choice but 
to talk properly to her girlfriend, and she had evidently needed the 
push. 
    
    "I'm sorry I didn't stick around yesterday," she admitted, 
feeling a little ashamed of herself for not making the effort, "but 
right then it was all a bit..."
    
    "Hectic," Rei finished for her. "It's alright. I've needed some 
time myself."
    
    Makoto nodded, but in her mind she was still clearly the one at 
fault. "I shouldn't have got mad, back then. I know I keep pushing 
you too much."
    
    "Makoto, it wasn't your fault..."
    
    "But it was!" the tall girl countered. "I know what I'm like. I'm 
clingy, and I push. That's why everyone used to run away from me, I'm 
too eager and desperate!" She looked up into Rei's eyes. "I don't 
want to drive you away too."
    
    Rei felt the heat flush into her cheeks as Makoto admitted that. 
Those big green eyes of hers were so sincere. "Stop it Mako. I didn't 
want to make you mad at me either. I should know how I feel by now." 
She smiled, trying to break the heavy air. "We're a really helpless 
pair, aren't we?"
    
    Makoto nodded, a smile of her own forcing its way onto her face. 
"Yeah... I guess we are."
    
    "And Minako told me that you were helping Haruka-san too," Rei 
added. "I think you might be doing more good meddling than before you 
started working here."
    
    From the grill Matsubashi laughed heartily. "I can believe that! 
Our Mako-chan must need to get all that selflessness out of her 
system after picking up her tips every other evening!"
    
    "Matsubashi-san!"
    
    Rei just laughed along with him. "I bet they tip pretty well for 
an attractive girl like you too!"
    
    Makoto wanted to make her exclamation at that as well, but she 
was too busy blushing. "Both of you... Stop making fun!"
    
    "An elegant face, big breasts, long legs, pretty eyes," Rei said, 
staring at Makoto to watch her reaction. "Don't give me that look 
Mako. You're beautiful, however much to want to deny it."
    
    It didn't have the effect she was hoping for though.
    
    "... Then why did all the boys I liked run away?" Makoto asked, 
her eyes downcast. "Why did my sempai turn me down? Why isn't it 
working for *us*? It can't be just my personality. I try so hard. I 
learned all the things a girl is supposed to, and I love them now! I 
try not to be selfish. I even slept with my last two boyfriends so 
that they would stay with me, and they still left!"
    
    "Makoto..." Rei could only stare in disbelief, watching as the 
tears welled in her girlfriend's eyes.
    
    "Shit, I didn't want to say all that," Makoto said, wiping her 
eyes with her palms and putting on a sheepish face. "Sorry. Heh heh, 
I guess it's just lucky I didn't end up in Haruka-san's situation, 
huh?"
    
    Rei wasn't going to have any of that though. Not after what she 
had just seen. She took Makoto's hands forcefully in her own. "What's 
with all this personal complex stuff?! If no-one's said it before 
then I'll say it! You're beautiful, and you have a wonderful 
personality! Maybe those guys were just jerks, or they were just 
having fun with you, or you just went for guys who liked the wimpy, 
vacant type. Whatever it was, it wasn't because of you. How on earth 
did you get through school thinking all that?! And after you wanted 
to play snow white because you had the breasts! Jeez."
    
    She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Seriously, has no-one 
ever told you that you are attractive?"
    
    Makoto felt ashamed of that. "Yes. Sometimes, if they wanted to 
get into my pants. Or when one of you was just being nice."
    
    "It didn't occur to you that maybe we said it because it was 
true?"
    
    Makoto had to look away from Rei's gaze. "Sorry."
    
    Rei sighed again. "What's the point of me doing all this soul 
searching if you're just going to blame yourself for everything. I 
didn't come here this morning for the food you know, Mako. Well, not 
just the food. I wanted to make up too. I'm sorry for giving you 
weird signals, and I want to try my best to fix that. Michiru-san 
said that we're very different, you and me, but that doesn't mean 
that we can't work. And I'm not going to let you push me away. I love 
you, and I'm going to make 'us' work, so you'd better help with that, 
okay?"
    
    Makoto nodded, her slowly spreading smile threatening to 
overwhelm her. "I love you too. I'll do whatever you need, just tell 
me."
    
    Then an idea stuck Rei. They were very different people indeed, 
and yet...
    
    "Makoto, do you want to come over again, after work? Grandpa says 
it's okay. He sort of found out about us, but he said I could invite 
you."
    
    "Sure," Makoto replied, still beaming. How had she ever found 
someone like Rei? Rei thought she was pretty, and was determined not 
to be driven off, and for the first time it was Makoto who was the 
one eager for sexual contact. She had to wonder how much heartache 
she could have saved herself if she had just fallen in love with Rei 
from the beginning. "I'll come over as soon as I finish. Thank you."
    
    Then, from Makoto's left hand, a small plate of Thai noodles 
appeared between them. Matsubashi just nodded at Rei. "Here, it's 
done."
    
    "Thank you," Rei replied, taking the chopsticks her offered her.
    
    "Oh, Matsubashi-san," Makoto said, suddenly realising they had 
had such an emotional and personal flare-up right next to him, in his 
own restaurant. She didn't even know if he was okay with her 
preferences. "I'm really sorry, about all of that. I promise it won't 
happen again!"
    
    The old barman just looked at her, feigning ignorance. "What are 
you talking about? Did something happen? Oh, and your break is over 
by the way, so you can start on those pans," he said pointing to the 
utensils he had just used. "This may be a slow morning, but our 
regulars will be coming back now that junk stand is gone, and you 
have to make up for running off yesterday as well! Honestly, you 
missed an amazing show. I still can't believe that woman and her 
sister were youma, but the Sailor Senshi sure lived up to their 
record! You should have seen it."
    
    Makoto and Rei just gave each other a look. "Yeah," Rei said with 
a smirk, "I bet it was something, seeing them in action like that. I 
hear Sailor Jupiter really kicked ass, and looked drop dead gorgeous 
to boot!" 
    
    "You've got that right," Matsubashi agreed as Makoto smiled 
through a blush at her girlfriend's flirtatious turn. "That was one 
seriously 'talented' heroine!"
    
    He never would figure out why Rei chose that moment to bust into 
such uproarious laughter, or why Makoto seemed quite so embarrassed 
by the girl's hysterics.

***
    
    "Say, Minako-chan," Usagi said, quiet and concerned as the pair 
of them walked slowly through their home neighbourhood, making sure 
that they weren't overheard, "I don't think she's going to tell on 
her friends, no matter how long we keep her like that."
    
    Minako nodded, also oddly serious. So much so that Usagi was 
beginning to worry about her. "Setsuna-san isn't being much help 
either, but it is her house."
    
    "Trying to make her angry won't work," Usagi agreed. "If it was 
me..."
    
    "If it was you, you'd feel sorry for whoever was doing it," 
Minako interrupted, dropping a little amusement into her voice. 
"Somehow I don't think she feels sorry for us though, no matter how 
angry we seem."
    
    That was the point that Usagi had been making all along. "But do 
we have to seem angry? This isn't right Minako-chan. We're turning 
into the bad guys now."
    
    To her friend's surprise Minako just shrugged. "What alternative 
do we have? We can't let her free, and I know you don't want to kill 
her."
    
    "Of course not! She seems so... sad," Usagi finished. "We really 
are the bad guys to her, so can't we prove that's not the way it is? 
Even Mako-chan said that she seemed sympathetic to the girl that 
fainted."
    
    "And you'd like to redeem them, and slot them into our society, 
knowing that they will prey on us?"
    
    Usagi actually nodded. "Yes. We did it before. I don't even think 
she needs to be redeemed for anything. We just have to show her that 
we're the good guys too."
    
    "And if we can't?" Minako asked seriously.
    
     Usagi didn't reply to that. "Minako-chan... Why did you start 
thinking like that? We used to believe in ourselves, no matter what. 
I know everyone else has problems now, but I thought we could still 
think the same way together."
    
    Minako's pace slowed as she looked at her closest friend. "Have I 
really changed that much?"
    
    "No," Usagi replied, "I know you were always more mature than the 
rest of us, but we used to hope for the same ideals together. Now Rei 
holds herself back too much, Ami-chan doesn't think she can make the 
right choices any more, and..." she reached out to squeeze Minako's 
arm, taking the edge off her words, "I think you've got a bit too 
serious, like Haruka-san and Michiru-san are."
    
    Minako seemed to accept that with the same unusual quiet that had 
hung over her all morning. "Haruka-san won't be like that any more. I 
think we might have traded places a bit, because of the powers we had 
in Seiji. Haruka-san learned why not to be so unyielding, and I 
learned that it was possible for me to fight like she used to. 
Sometimes you don't have a choice."
    
    "Tell me if I go too far though, okay?" she added with a twinkle 
and a smile, shrugging off the tone in her voice. "I still want to be 
she same Minako that I was."
    
    Usagi nodded, happy that her partner in crime was still at least 
somewhat frivolous in the face of adversity. "Sure! That means you'll 
let me talk to our 'guest', right?"
    
    Minako sighed. "You aren't going to give up on that, are you..."
    
    "Not a chance," Usagi replied, taking her turn to be serious. 
"Oh, and I think we just walked past your house!"
    
    Minako tuned back into the world around them, and found that her 
friend was right. "... Let's try that again. And yes, you try and 
convert our big bad girl, however futile it is. Maybe you'll get 
lucky."
    
    "I'm always lucky!" Usagi beamed, her argument won.
    
    Minako thought about that as they walked up the path and let them 
into her house. "It would explain a few things..."
    
    Usagi gave her a playful warning look. "Oi, oi."
    
    However, as soon as they were inside Minako was accosted by her 
very worried looking mother, wringing her hands on her tea towel as 
though there was no tomorrow. "Minako! Where on earth have you been! 
Couldn't you have at least called to tell us you would be out all 
night?!"
    
    Minako swallowed hard. "I didn't call?"
    
    "No young lady, you did not! Going into show business is all well 
and good, but I don't want you growing an attitude to match!"
    
    Usagi tried to smile, embarrassed to be a spectator in yet 
another Aino family quarrel. "Aino-san," she said, looking as 
apologetic as she could, "I'm really sorry, that was kind of my 
fault."
    
    Kikon looked between the two girls a few times before shaking her 
head. "Alright, go on, but for the last time Minako, call if you are 
going to be late! There are the leftovers of last night's dinner in 
the fridge if either of you want them for lunch."
    
    "Umm, thank you Aino-san," Usagi said, but Kikon had already 
shaken her head and slipped back into the kitchen. She was far too 
used to Usagi and Minako's antics to take it any further than that.
    
    Minako on the other hand just looked put out. "Never mind her," 
she said, "come on upstairs."
    
    Usagi wanted to chastise her friend for her disrespectful 
attitude, but she knew she was just as bad with her own mother at 
times. She just followed Minako to her room, where Artemis sat 
tapping at the girl's keyboard with his paws.
    
    "Artemis! Are you impersonating Mina-chan online again?!"
    
    The white cat gave her a deadpan stare, and spoke as soon as the 
door was closed. "Yes, as it happens, and it's always for a good 
reason."
    
    "Oh?" Usagi wheedled. "Do tell."
    
    "I asked him to Usagi-chan," Minako put in, taking the seat at 
the desk. "Have you found anything?"
    
    Artemis nodded. "She hasn't been into work according to some of 
the other actresses and models. The company isn't saying anything 
though, even to direct messages from your agency account."
    
    "What?" Usagi asked, surprised yet another sudden serious turn of 
conversation. "What's happened? Who's not gone into work?"
    
    "Mikiyo-san," Minako replied, "my agent. We haven't been able to 
contact her since yesterday morning, and I think I have a bad feeling 
about why."
    
    "Shall I go to her apartment?" Artemis asked, all business.
    
    Minako accepted gratefully. "Yes please Artemis."
    
    He nodded and leapt onto her bed. "I'm sure it's nothing, but 
I'll see you in a bit girls," he said, sounding positive as he left 
through Minako's bedroom window.
    
    "So that's why you've been serious all morning," Usagi said, the 
puzzle finally completed for her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
    
    Minako just gave her a smile, shrugging her shoulders. "It's 
okay. I hope I'm wrong about this, because I don't want to have had 
the same plans as a youma." She shook her head, realising how cold 
that sounded compared to what she felt. "No, I just hope she's okay."
    
    "Me too," Usagi said. Too many people were caught up in this 
already without needing any more innocent civilians involved.

***
    
    Shivis had been a genius among youma, there could be no doubt 
about that. Even in her youth she had been considered promising, and 
had even been groomed to be the personal attendant to one of the four 
great generals of the Dark Kingdom. 
    
    But honing her scientific and magical mind had brought with it 
its own problems. She was, and always had been, reliant on those 
around her for security, and for resources. She was not strong enough 
to go out and gather energy, in case anything ever went wrong. When 
the great fall of the Dark Kingdom had come, Shivis' future had been 
pulled from under her in one swift battle. Once her people had turned 
on each other, all her brilliance had meant nothing. Only the 
protective hand of their captain, Tyranya, had kept her alive. 
    
    Tyranya also had a keen mind, Shivis knew. She was a rare thing 
among their people; a leader. She had shown Shivis the kindness and 
care that she needed, and that in turn had brought out the heart in 
Shivis herself. She lived for her experiments, but now those 
experiments, and therefore that life, had a purpose. 
    
    She shook out her orange mane of plumage, and wiped her energy-
stained hands on a nearby rag. Captain Tyranya had asked her for a 
weapon, specifically suited to the energy of these humans. Very soon 
Shivis would be able to provide it. A harmless little trinket of 
metal and magic, which even the Sailor Senshi would not be able to 
stand against. Shivis actually felt a little sorry for those human 
girls. They genuinely wouldn't stand a chance, just as Shivis herself 
would not if she ever faced the Senshi herself.
    
    The commotion outside the massive metallic shell caught her wide, 
bat-like ears once again, and she lay down her last energy crystal. 
Pulling a few mechanical levers the hatch above her corkscrewed 
clumsily upwards, before clanking to a stop outside and allowing the 
feathered youma out of her machine.
    
    "Dear Sisters, do you have to make such a racket?" She blinked, 
seeing only two of their number in their warehouse base. "Captain 
Tyranya? Aretsuki? Where are our sisters? Do you not have more energy 
for me?"
    
    Tyranya looked up at her unsympathetically. "Have you been living 
in that thing for the last two days, Sister?" The sad thing was that 
she probably had been. "It seems we have larger problems than that."
    
    Aretsuki looked up at Shivis with tear strewn eyes, her clawed 
fists balled tightly. "They found us again! They took Sister Maxill! 
They just took her! We couldn't do anything, and there were only two 
of them. They're so strong, and fast, and they keep having new 
powers!"
    
    Tyranya pulled the young fox-girl into another hug. "It's okay, 
little Sister. You're safe, so you did well."
    
    "But Maxill..! She was even worried about the humans, and the 
Sailor Senshi just..."
    
    "I am sure that she is alright," Shivis agreed, dropping down to 
the floor and joining them. "She is strong. If she has also kept her 
heart even after losing her blood-sister, then all the better. We 
know that at least some of the Sailor Senshi are reluctant to fight 
to the death, so that heart of Maxill's may have saved her."
    
    Tyranya looked at her seriously. "But Myoshiya said that her 
plans also involved taking a captive, and she has not yet returned. 
If this turns into a war of retribution..."
    
    "Then we will have to hope that Sister Kaizi is successful in her 
plan," Shivis explained. "Do not worry, Captain. We have covered all 
our bases. We can only hope that they intend to keep our Maxill alive 
long enough for us to execute our main plan. We can rescue her then, 
if she needs our assistance."
    
    Shivis knew that Tyranya would have preferred not to wait, and 
that they would need every one of them to stand and face the Senshi 
when it came to that, but they could not jeopardise their carefully 
laid plan. "I am worried as well, Sister. But, even after her loss, 
Maxill is not helpless."
    
    "I know," Tyranya replied as she stroked Aretsuki's fur, 
comforting them both. "She is a strong one. I can only hope she is 
safe."
    
    Shivis nodded. "Yes. Now, do we have any news of when our next 
batch of crystals will be ready? I am down to my last few, and the 
more I delay the siphoning the more energy I will eventually need."
    
    "I will get it from Kaizi myself, tonight," Tyranya replied, 
asserting her authority over the situation once again. Then she 
pulled Aretsuki from her embrace and knelt down to her. "Little 
Sister, can you be strong for me now? Sister Myoshiya is still 
working to find the Sailor Senshi, so we can fight them as soon as 
the time is right. Can you do your part as well? For Maxill?"
    
    Aretsuki nodded her eyes still teary but soon filled with 
determination. "I... I will. I'll be brave."
    
    Tyranya nodded. "Good girl. You know where to go," she said, 
handing the girl a newspaper that had lain open on Shivis' workbench 
since they had first moved into the warehouse.
    
    Shivis stepped closer and gave the young youma a hug of her own, 
flexing the lines of feathers that ran down her forearms so that they 
stroked against the fox-girl's cheeks. "And stay hidden, Aretsuki. 
Come home to us safely."

*** 
    
    Maxill herself would have wished she could live up to her 
sisters' thoughts of her, had she been able to hear them. The Sailor 
Senshi had left the light on for her in that box-strewn basement, but 
that was as far as their hospitality had gone.
    
    Her joints ached from having the malleable flesh squeezed out of 
them for so long. The ropes that bound her to the old chair were so 
tight that only her flattened, jet-black skin stood between them and 
the wooden chair legs and back. It wouldn't cause her any permanent 
damage, but it was very uncomfortable. The knots were so numerous and 
well tied that she had no leverage at all, unless she wanted to tip 
herself over completely.
    
    She didn't relish the thought of lying on her side in that 
position though, so she had taken the path of least resistance and 
decided to simply wait until her captors returned.
    
    It wasn't her captors who would visit her though. At last as far 
as she knew.
    
    "That can't be pleasant," Haruka said as she emerged from the 
darkened stairway, clad in a simple white shirt and slacks. She 
motioned to Maxill's feet, which bulged a little where they met the 
rope, somewhat like a plastic bag that had been tied too tightly at 
the top.
    
    Maxill just looked at her new and unexpected visitor. "You're not 
one of the Sailor Senshi..."
    
    Haruka's eyes rose to meet Maxill's. "... No," she said, slow and 
deliberate. "... I'm not."
    
    If fact, Maxill recognised her. "You're the racer, the one who 
went missing so you could cheat on your girlfriend."
    
    Haruka's gaze hardened even more. "I would stop there, if I were 
you." She reached into the box beside her and pulled out an old and 
dusty golf club. "I'm not the one tied to the chair."
    
    Maxill didn't care one bit. "Go ahead. You're just one more type 
of human who deserves your fate."
    
    Haruka cocked an eyebrow, took two steps forward, and swung. 
Maxill couldn't close her multi-faceted eyes, and watched out of the 
corner of her eyes as the driving iron sped towards her head... and 
stopped only inches from it, wavering in the air. Her head had never 
moved, but she breathed an internal sigh of relief. "You can't do 
it?"
    
    "Believe me," Haruka replied, lowering the club, "I want to. If 
you freaks had popped up only three months ago, I'd have beaten you 
into a pulp. Be glad I've been taught otherwise since then."
    
    "It wouldn't have solved anything either way," Maxill retorted. 
"You humans can't kill us so easily."
    
    "It would have made me feel better."
    
    Maxill tilted her head, offering it. "So do it. Your Sailor 
Senshi friends won't lose anything."
    
    "Would have," Haruka replied, sitting heavily on the edge of 
another box. "Past tense."
    
    She gave Maxill a limp smile. "It hurts to be powerless, doesn't 
it," she observed with simple dejection.
    
    Maxill sat there in silent surprise for a moment. "... Yes. It 
does. You envy your heroines?"
    
    Haruka looked resolute. "Do you?"
    
    Maxill was surprised by that reply. "Of course. Their power 
destroyed my world! With that we could take your world in the blink 
of an eye. I could bring back my sister! Your Sailor Senshi would 
never have dared commit the genocide they perpetrated!"
    
    "Genocide?" Haruka asked. "So that's what this is about? An eye 
for an eye? I know the story. You came to prey on us. Sailor Moon 
defended us the only way she could."
    
    Maxill realised then that she had said too much. "... Why do you 
not envy their power? You could do anything."
    
    Haruka huffed. "The only things I want can't be won by beating 
them into submission. I just want the chance to protect them."
    
    "You care for them," Maxill realised. "They are apart from you, 
but you feel for them. You, and those girls you pretend to copulate 
with, and the Sailor Senshi, you are all intertwined."
    
    This time it was Haruka who knew she had said too much. "As if 
you could understand, monster."
    
    "I have never killed a human," Maxill justified. "Have you ever 
killed one of us?"
    
    "Have you ever died for the ones you loved?" Haruka threw back.
    
    "You have?" Maxill asked dismissively. 
    
    Haruka just nodded. She looked strangely happy about it.
    
    "I would, if I could turn back time," Maxill finally replied, not 
believing her hostess for a second but determined to prove her moral 
superiority. "Because of what your 'heroines' did, I lost my only 
blood-sister. If she could be here instead of me, I would make that 
sacrifice."
    
    As much as she didn't want to, Haruka could respect that. "I 
wonder."
    
    "Believe what you wish," Maxill said.
    
    Then, from the stairway, Hotaru's voice broke the tension in the 
air. "Haruka-papa? W-what are you doing down there?"
    
    Haruka got up and strode to the doorway just as Hotaru emerged. 
"Hotaru, it's okay, don't come down here."
    
    Maxill just watched, intrigued. "So... you play the role of 
'father', despite carrying a child of your own."
    
    "Shut up!" Haruka snapped, but Maxill was not about to remain 
quiet just yet.
    
    "I wonder how you managed it," Maxill asked rhetorically. "Human 
reproduction would not seem to allow sisterly offspring."
    
    Haruka was ready to storm out, but was stopped when Hotaru 
stepped forward to take a stand. "It was a gift," she said, her weak 
voice given strength by her conviction. "It doesn't matter how it 
happened, or who the parents are, or how strange it seems. That baby 
happened because Haruka-papa is loved, and it is going to be my 
little brother or sister. Somehow our family worked out, so it will 
work out for Haruka-papa's baby too!"
    
    Both Maxill and Haruka stayed silent, letting that speech sink 
in. 
    
    "You know," Maxill finally said, "among youma, your polyamoury 
and reproduction would not be abnormal. We can arrange it."
    
    Haruka glared. "Thanks, but I like us just the way we are."
    
    Even without a mouth of her own, Maxill seemed to smile. "Is that 
not your problem?" 
    
    Neither Haruka nor Hotaru replied as they took each other's hands 
and left the basement. In that one respect, they knew the youma was 
right. 
    
    And the youma, despite her predicament, found herself adding them 
to her mental list. Those two, for all their faults, would make fine 
youma sisters.

***
    
    Night had fallen again by the time Usagi had finally finished 
preparing dinner that night. It wasn't, however, strictly her fault 
this time, as she was both trying to cook and defend herself at the 
same time. No matter how gently Mamoru did it, Usagi never liked 
being told off.
    
    "I'm sorry," she said for the seventeenth time, watching as he 
stirred the rice for her so that it wouldn't stick. "I just didn't 
want you to get into trouble again."
    
    Mamoru shook his head. Even after five years her logic could 
still mystify him. "Usako, if my phone goes off like that I'm going 
to be leaving work regardless. It didn't matter whether Minako-chan 
and Makoto-chan had the situation covered or not. It is much harder 
to explain how a sudden family emergency can be 'cancelled' than it 
is just to leave for the afternoon."
    
    "But you said they are starting to look down on you for all the 
times we call you away."
    
    Mamoru just shrugged. "I have better things to worry about than 
what my bosses think of me." He smiled at her, and wrapped an arm 
around her waist as she added the last ingredients to the rice to 
finish off. "Just the way you don't have time to worry about what 
your teachers think."
    
    Usagi nodded, finally understanding where he was coming from. "I 
guess so."
    
    "And next time," Mamoru added, "I'm coming with you to visit our 
'prisoner' too. I would have liked the chance to speak with a youma 
face to face."
    
    Usagi chose that moment to lighten up, and she poked him in the 
side, letting out a giggle. "I suppose after spending so much time as 
one you'd know better than anyone how to deal with prisoners!"
    
    He raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? I remember being your black & 
white knight often enough as well."
    
    "...Who then had to be saved in return," Usagi added with a 
cheeky smile. "My cute boyfriend-in-distress."
    
    "Well, at least you didn't cut me out of the paging notice this 
time," Mamoru mused. "So, will you also save our meat from a fate 
worse than grilling, my fair and pretty damsel in shining armour?"
    
    "Ohhhh, you sweet talker...What? Eeep!"
    
    Mamoru smirked as Usagi raced to retrieve the rest of their food 
from under the heat. "I guess that makes us even."
    
    "You just wait, Mamo-chan. Pretty Knight-ess Usako will have her 
revenge!" Then Usagi blushed as her stomach rumbled. "After we eat."

***
    
    Rei was running alone again. Her friends never appeared there in 
the blackness, to run beside her. Had they stayed behind to fight 
what she was running from? Had they been forced to protect her, now 
that she could not fight death? Had that great shining fortress 
swallowed them because she had been too afraid to face it?
    
    Rei could feel herself tiring. No matter how hard she gasped she 
could not get enough air to keep her going. Her muscles burned and 
her joints felt as though they wanted to scream, but still she tried 
to run. Because if she stopped running, she would be forced to fight. 
She would fight her. She would become it. 
    
    Then she felt the hand fall lightly on her shoulder, and in that 
instant her very skin was set afire. She wanted to scream, but no 
sound came from her lips. All she could do was shudder as the dream 
failed to shatter around her, and her holy fire filled her veins. Her 
faith, her past, her fear; they had caught up to her, and they gave 
her what she needed. Even if she didn't want it. Even though it would 
cost her dearly. 
    
    Sailor Mars stopped running. She had the power. She was made 
exalted by the flames. She raised her hands, said the words, and let 
the fire consume her soul.
    
    In a single jolt Rei awoke, a soundless cry escaping from her 
lips. She gasped for air as she collapsed bonelessly in the futon. 
That same dream had returned to her, yet again. A little different, 
just as the last had been. These nightmare were become a nuisance, 
she thought, as her wits slowly returned to her. She didn't need this 
now. 
    
    She turned over to see Makoto's sleeping face resting against 
their pillow. 
    
    Especially not now.
    
    She saw Makoto shift, curling up slightly, and one of the 
sleeping beauty's hands felt its way back to its place across Rei's 
side, grasping gently at Rei's pyjamas.
    
    Rei felt herself going red all over again. "Honestly Makoto... 
You can't even wake up to comfort me after that?" she asked, but 
without the slightest trace of annoyance. It was nice to be so 
wanted, even in Makoto's dreams.
    
    The making up that morning had given Rei an idea. After all the 
little things Michiru, and indeed Makoto herself had said, compounded 
with Rei's uncertainties, a common thread had come to the surface. 
One that Rei had been trying so hard to forget since returning to 
Tokyo.
    
    Publicly Rei knew she had always been the pro-active one in their 
relationship. Makoto herself had said as much, being far more worried 
about making a scene than Rei ever had been. Rei enjoyed playing with 
Makoto, because her girlfriend was happy to enjoy it, and Makoto 
looked so adorable when she was happily embarrassed by the attention. 
As Michiru had pointed out, Rei was an outgoing and confident person, 
while Makoto was a far more personal, adoring romantic.
    
    Which made her intense. Michiru had said Makoto's crushes had 
always been obsessive, and she was right. When they were alone, it 
was Makoto who lavished attention and affection on Rei, so much so 
that Rei felt swept away by it. She loved it, she could surrender all 
her self-possession, trusting Makoto with all her control...
    
    Except that Rei cold no longer give up that control. All the 
pain, and grief, and conflict that she had suffered in Seiji had been 
because she had lost her control to Desir. That demonette had held 
her happiness, and even the lives of her closest friends, in the palm 
of her hand, and Rei had not been able to do anything to change that. 
She had been helpless.
    
    Together with Makoto she had re-learned control. A control that 
meant safety for herself and everything that she held dear. 
    
    A control that she could no longer bear to give up, even to the 
woman she loved. It was so incredibly irrational, and yet now that 
she had realised it she could try and do something about it. She 
would have to re-learn that she could trust Makoto to sweep her away. 
How, she didn't know, but this evening had been a start. Rei had, for 
the first time since returning, taken the initiative when they were 
alone. Just as she had that night in Seiji, where they had slept 
naked beneath the same covers.
    
    She had not let Makoto lead, and some small part of her felt 
saddened that she had to do that, but she had seduced the girl 
properly.
    
    And Makoto had let her.
    
    Rei smiled as she gazed at Makoto's sleeping face. She slipped 
Makoto's hand further over herself beneath the futon, and nestled in 
close against her girlfriend's body. Their legs laced together, and 
Makoto stirred as Rei rested her head against the taller girl's 
chest.
    
    "Wh.. Where..? R-Rei..?" Makoto asked, her eyes blurry but her 
body warm as Rei held her.
    
    "It's okay Makoto," Rei replied, smiling up at her. "Sleep."
    
    Makoto smiled back down hazily. "Love you," she said, before 
pulling her closer and tilting her head upwards. "Sorry."
    
    Rei closed her eyes as she was kissed, and she reciprocated 
gently, just enough so that she would still stay safe in her own 
heart. "What for?" she asked as their lips parted, but Makoto's 
eyelids were already drooping.
    
    Rei smiled and shifted back down on her Makoto pillow, leaving a 
kiss on her collarbones as she went. "I'm sorry for waking you, Mako. 
Sleep well." 

***
    
    When morning came Maxill only realised it by the hunger that 
gnawed at the pit of her stomach. She had slept fitfully and her 
semi-solid flesh felt as thought it had been left to sag inside her 
skin for too long. 
    
    She missed Aretsuki as well. The little fox girl was innocent and 
naive, but she had been good company during their quest for energy. 
Some of that child-like insight and hopefulness would have been 
welcome right then. Even that human woman and her daughter would have 
been better than the darkness that surrounded her. 
    
    "Its morning, right?" she called out towards where she thought 
the stairs were. "You could at least turn the light on now! I'm going 
to have to eat soon too, unless you're just going to leave me to rot 
down here."
    
    Silence was her only response, as it would be for some while. She 
began to call out more often and with greater urgency as the morning 
wore on. Anger, and even a little desperation, had long since crept 
into her voice when she began struggling in the chair again, but to 
no avail. All it did was stretch her skin and make her flesh ache 
more painfully.
    
    She was not the only one agonised by the situation though. Sailor 
Pluto stood guard at the top of the stairs that led to the basement, 
but by 11 o'clock not a single one of her companions was willing to 
sit and hear the cries any longer.
    
    "Pluto," Sailor Neptune said, the last one to finally break her 
silence, "for God's sake. Surely that's enough. If you won't let 
Sailor Moon attend to it then at least let's kill the creature and be 
done with it."
    
    Beside her, holding her hand for emotional support, Sailor Saturn 
nodded. "This is unnatural, keeping the youma in limbo," she said, 
her strange form of speech affected by Hotaru's own feeling. "Do you 
intend to torture her into submission?"
    
    Sailor Pluto shook her head, her face as sternly set as it had 
been an hour ago. "We brought it here to gain information," she said. 
"A desperate and frustrated captive is more likely to speak openly."
    
    "And you've frustrated her enough!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. 
"Please, this is cruel!"
    
    Pluto knew she could not postpone the inevitable forever. "Tuxedo 
Kamen..?"
    
    "Open the door Pluto," he said quietly but with as firm a 
conviction as Sailor Moon. "You have done enough to soften her up. 
Let's not portray ourselves as too villainous. There are already 
people questioning our returned members' moral judgement over taking 
a youma captive."
    
    From the back Haruka huffed. "There would be. Some people are 
ready to believe anything."
    
    Sailor Pluto on the other hand just nodded. Tuxedo Kamen was 
right, she had done enough to ensure at least a little forthrightness 
from their captive. "Very well. Go on Sailor Moon, work your magic. I 
will stay here and await news."
    
    The rest of them made their way down until Pluto barred the door 
again, stopping Haruka in her tracks.
    
    "What?"
    
    Sailor Pluto gave her a level look. "It was foolhardy to go down 
there, Haruka."
    
    "This is my house too," Haruka glared back. "Just because... Just 
because I can't fight, I won't let you stick me in a cage."
    
    "I am only thinking of your health Haruka."
    
    Haruka nodded reluctantly. "But what about my sanity? This is 
hard enough already, okay?"
    
    Pluto nodded in return and dropped her arm. "Very well. Just 
exercise caution, please."
    
    Haruka agreed, and by the time she got down the stairs the Senshi 
had already put the lights on, and were receiving a tongue lashing 
from the youma. It was obvious that the lot of them had waited, 
otherwise they would not have come down in such a group. 
    
    Haruka found it strange, seeing that almost featureless alien 
face with only slight indicators that she was even cross, despite the 
anger in her voice. Equally strange was Sailor Moon's ability to put 
it past her, as their princess reached into the open storage box and 
pulled out the energy crystal inside. It was glowing only faintly 
now, Maxill having had several meals from it already.
    
    "Here," Sailor Moon said, offering the crystal to where Maxill's 
lips would have been. "You said you were hungry."
    
    Maxill glared at her, but her vitriolic tirade ceased.
    
    "I'm sorry," Sailor Moon added sincerely. "We shouldn't have kept 
you waiting, but we..."
    
    "We had a lot to discuss, considering the situation," Tuxedo 
Kamen finished for her. "No doubt you would have the same problems."
    
    Maxill didn't reply, but she leaned forward and the front of her 
jaw stretched outward, enveloping the point of the crystal as she 
slowly began to drink.
    
    "If this is all you are after," Sailor Neptune said as the youma 
fed from Sailor Moon's hand, "then why risk coming here? You call 
this survival, but surely you knew that if you preyed on us then we 
would retaliate. It is common survival sense. Given how outmatched 
you are, it seems far too risky just to steal 'food'."
    
    Sailor Saturn agreed with that statement. "You would have to be 
here in great numbers," she added. "And if you are, then you pose a 
large enough threat to put down with proper force. Are the lives of 
your people worth that?"
    
    Maxill wanted to ignore them, but she was far too riled at their 
treatment of her before, and put off guard by their sudden act of 
generosity. "Either we eat or we die," she spat out. "And we have you 
to blame for that!"
    
    "How?" Sailor Moon asked. "We... I re-set everything. I brought 
everybody back, and stopped you invading us. What could I have done 
to leave you with no choice but to prey on us now?"
    
     "Your silver crystal gave you one single wish, and you used it,"   
Maxill finally said, looking up at the circle of stunned faces around 
her. "Don't look so shocked. Shivis, our genius sister, understood 
what happened. You wished to turn back time, to before you all died 
on your crusade, and you wished that Metalia and Queen Beryl had 
never existed, but what about the rest of us?
    
    "You cut us out of the universe!" she exclaimed with righteous 
wrath. "You made sure history couldn't repeat itself even without our 
Queen and our Goddess. But you didn't know anything about our 
Kingdom, did you?! You just cast us out in our own little reality 
bubble, without even thinking of what would happen to us! We had no-
one to lead us, and nothing to survive on."
    
    "What?" Tuxedo Mask asked. "Your own world couldn't provide for 
you?"
    
    Maxill glared at him. "Why else would we have waged war on you 
since the age of Silver? We wanted your worlds for what they *had*! 
Our people had always had to subsist on what we could take from 
others, a little here and a little there, since the beginning of time 
itself. Of course there would be brothers and sisters who wanted to 
conquer! If we had succeeded we would have never had to worry for 
food or power again!"
    
    "And so eventually you just got used to preparing for invasion," 
Neptune observed.
    
    "It was Metalia's will," Maxill retorted. "But what happened when 
you trapped us in that bubble of reality? We could not drain our 
Kingdom's flora for energy, it was immune!"
    
    She stared Sailor Moon straight in the eyes. "So we had to turn 
on each other. We were forced to become cannibals, because of you!"
    
    Sailor Moon could barely believe her ears. "No..."
    
    "The strong trampled the weak, and drained them dry," Maxill 
continued darkly. "Spawnlings were easy targets, and those of us who 
weren't fighters only survived because we banded together with our 
sisters, sharing the energy of the ones who tried to hunt us."
    
    "Then Shivis found you," she explained. "She discovered the 
energy trail as you broke through reality, and created a machine to 
force it open for us as well. Once it was complete we just had to 
fuel it and wait for you to do it again." Her voice turned sad. "By 
the time you did there were only a few of us left. We were the last 
sisterhood, escaping the few powerful tyrants who had risen to the 
top, and even then we did not have enough energy for all of us to 
make it."
    
    "So here we are," she finished. "All five of us. Will you kill 
the last five of our kind?"
    
    However, she stopped when the tears began to flow freely down 
Sailor Moon's face. "I'm sorry!" the girl hero whispered hoarsely. "I 
didn't mean to do anything like that. I should have tried harder, but 
I was only fourteen! I just wanted us to be safe!"
    
    Then, to the alarm of the others, she removed her left glove and 
offered her hand to Maxill. "There wasn't much in that crystal, 
right? You can have more, if you want. I'm sorry, but I... I don't 
know what else I can do."
    
    "Sailor Moon!" The other's exclaimed, but Maxill looked up at her 
with curiosity.
    
    "I could drain you to a husk."
    
    Sailor Moon just tried to smile through the wetness that covered 
her cheeks. "Will you?"
    
    Maxill looked at the others around her, then turned her head 
away. "I've had enough. Besides, if I kill you, you would make sure 
to slaughter us."
    
    "Yes," Sailor Saturn replied. "We would."
    
    "But maybe we don't have to," Sailor Moon added. "I don't think I 
can make it right, but I'll try. If you can help us."
    
    Maxill didn't know what to think of that. "As if we could ever 
trust humans, let alone you people."
    
    Haruka got up and stepped forwards. "Maybe, but that wasn't what 
you said yesterday."
    
    Tuxedo Kamen followed her up on that. "You should think about it, 
youma-san. If you're lucky, it might save your lives."

***
    
    With lunchtime fast approaching Artemis was wishing he had made 
that detour past the old fish shop before trekking across town to 
Minako's agent's apartment block. He wasn't used to being hungry, and 
it was distracting him from an otherwise very satisfying bit of 
stalking. After all, he couldn't just walk in through the front door. 
He was only a cat.
    
    However, while Luna was happy to leap through an open first floor 
window getting into Usagi and Mamoru's place, Artemis liked a 
challenge. It satisfied the would-be hero in him, and the combination 
of window edgings, garbage chutes and unnoticed, lightning dashes 
through lazily closing doors filled him with a great sense of 
adventure.
    
    He wasn't kidding himself though. Either all this exercise would 
be for nothing, or he would have to make an equally quiet and smart 
retreat back to Minako to confirm her suspicions. Still, he would 
worry about that when he needed to. For now he simply scooted past an 
affluent old dear, making her jump as he risked the stairs again, 
just making it into the tenth floor corridor before the door caught 
his tail.
    
    "So, apartment 1012... this way."
    
    Of course, actually checking on Mikiyo would be another trick 
entirely. He couldn't just use the standard catty trick of scratching 
at the door, because he needed to make sure that nothing seemed out 
of the ordinary. He couldn't knock either, because his fur would 
muffle the noise and render the exercise pointless.
    
     So, Artemis trick number two it was. With one deft leap he made 
for the door knob and, with another quick swat at that to give him 
the extra lift he needed, he could just about reach the doorbell with 
his hind legs as he turned to land from the apex of his jump.
    
    One rung doorbell later and Artemis was feeling very satisfied 
with himself. All except that the door wasn't answered. He knew she 
was home, otherwise she would have collected her mail on her way out 
the way she always did. More to the point he wouldn't have heard 
voices inside, muffled but undeniable to his feline aural abilities.
    
    After a little wait he pulled the same trick again. Either he 
needed to see who answered the door and get a peek inside before she 
noticed him, or he would have to try to look in from the outside. 
However, the voices had died and it seemed that either she or they, 
whoever they might have been, didn't want to be at home.
    
    With that established Artemis grinned and padded over to the 
window at the edge of the corridor. "The difficult way it is then," 
he said to himself. Thankfully these windows always had a decent sill 
so he could just about perch there to open it before slipping out 
onto the ledge. Frankly the decorative sill around the outside of 
these building was less than ideal, but it gave him just enough 
purchase to work his way around to the windows.
    
    What he saw confirmed Minako's fears, and Artemis found himself 
growling. The multi-limbed youma the Senshi had first battled had 
Mikiyo tied up on the floor, and she looked more than worse for wear. 
The youma seemed paranoid, no doubt because of the noise he had made 
at the door.
    
    "And here I was worried that this was so frightfully boring," 
Myoshiya said, as much to herself as her captive. "Do you think that 
was Aino coming to your rescue? Did you assume I would just open up 
for her?" Myoshiya chuckled. "No, let's see if she's the one to 
leave, because that's all I'll need."
    
    Then Artemis realised his position. This apartment was directly 
above the entrance, and all the youma would have to do was look down 
to see who left the building in the next few minutes. And she would 
see him in the process. He started to sweat. Did these youma know 
that the Senshi had cats as allies?
    
    Myoshiya seemed to be creating a magic disguise for herself when 
she stopped, the image dissipating like smoke as she saw him. And she 
smiled, cutely. "Well look at that. Poor thing, tottering around out 
there."
    
    She walked over and undid the window latch, opening it for him. 
"In you come..." she said, but Artemis wasn't about to be handled by 
her. If she somehow sensed that his energy was different from a 
normal cat's then he was in big trouble. The problem was he didn't 
have any room to manoeuvre out on the ledge, so he had to scoot past 
her and into the apartment.
    
    "A-Artemis..?" Mikiyo said dully, staring hard at him. 
    
    He hadn't thought of that. Myoshiya didn't need to recognise him. 
Mikiyo would, and in her current state worrying about keeping a cat a 
secret was the last of her concerns.
    
    "Oh, you know him?" Myoshiya asked, losing the playfulness in her 
voice. She picked up one of the magazine she had brought with her, as 
much to keep herself occupied as anything, and turned to the only 
pertinent page. "Aino Minako... Favorite foods: Gyoza, ramen and 
curry rice. Favorite pastimes: Volleyball, dancing and spending time 
with friends. Favorite animals: Song birds, and her pet cat... 
Artemis."
    
    Myoshiya smiled, but this time with menace in her lips. "Well 
well, how fortunate."
    
    Artemis didn't waste any time with fear. He dashed straight for 
Mikiyo and grabbed the knot at her wrists, trying to bite through it 
as best he could. The rope was thick but rather weak, and his teeth 
shredded it with far more ease than simple tugging and stretching 
would have done. However, Mikiyo - hungry, dehydrated and deprived of 
sleep - was in no condition to make the most of the opening he had 
given her, and Myoshyia simply knocked the girl out against the wall, 
her lowermost left hand grabbing Artemis by the tail as he tried to 
slip past her.
    
    "You're a clever little thing, aren't you?" she asked as she held 
him up.
    
    Artemis replied with his claws, kicking at her wrists and making 
a swipe for her face, cutting a deep gash across her cheek. Myoshiya 
screamed at the pain. Even though the wound was barely even 
superficial to her it had still hurt like hell, and given her a nasty 
shock. She clutched one hand to her cheek as it bled greenly, and she 
dashed Artemis against the window.
    
    Artemis bounced off the glass with a dull thump, and it took him 
a moment to find his feet again. His only option against a real youma 
was a tactical retreat, since he knew that backup would not arrive in 
time to help him. And the only way out was the way he had come in, 
with no time for care about where he put his feet this time. Either 
he fell victim to the youma, or he took the window. 
    
    With a single meowl he jumped for the ledge and leapt, leaving 
Myoshiya staring in dumb fury after him. He would have to get to 
Minako and tell her fast, because who knew what that youma was going 
to do, especially if Mikiyo was in bad shape. 
    
    The problem was, as he righted himself out of reflex, he was now 
aware of the window he had just passed, and the other eight rushing 
up below him. He had made sure not to jump in the direction of the 
paved path, but he had still leapt out of the tenth story window of 
an apartment block. 
    
    Then there was the rather nice ornamental tree directly below him 
too. That would have been a bonus if he hadn't picked up so much 
speed on the way down.
    
    'This,' he thought, with a distinct tremor of fear, 'is really 
going to hurt.' 

***
    
    A similar thought went through Mizuno Katsura's mind at just 
about the same time, but for a very different reason.
    
    "Good afternoon, Meioh-san. What can I do for you?"
    
    Of course she knew the answer already. She just hoped the 
artistic savant had no ill intentions.
    
    "Good afternoon, Mizuno-sensei," Michiru replied pleasantly, but 
it was obvious that she was not quite at her best. She was pushing 
herself a little too hard to do this. "Is Ami-san at home?"
    
    Katsura gave her a guarded smile. "I will see if she is free."
    
    Ami, after reassuring her mother that nothing unpleasant would 
come of it, decided that she was, and she soon found herself in 
Michiru's car, being driven aimlessly around the Tokyo suburbia.
    
    "The view is very nice," Ami complemented as they rounded a hill, 
giving them a vista over the countryside that stretch out beyond the 
city.
    
    Michiru just nodded. "It is. Though I've never appreciated it as 
much as Haruka does. It seems a shame not to stop and enjoy pleasant 
scenery."
    
    Ami agreed, "But it is Haruka that you wish to talk about, 
naturally," she added, very obviously addressing their shared love 
interest more intimately than she would have normally.
    
    It got the point across. "So, you do consider yourself a 
contender for her side after all. You have a lot more resolve than I 
have given you credit for, Ami-san."
    
    Ami nodded, though she did not like the fact. "So I keep finding 
out. If it had not been for Desir, things would have been different. 
She really did make things more 'interesting'."
     
    Michiru could hear the inverted commas loud and clear, and looked 
out towards the moving scenery again. "Yes. That she did."
    
    Ami, however, found herself uneasy as the conversation stalled 
there. "So, why was it that you invited me on this drive, Michiru-
san? I do not think it was simply to learn my intentions, was it?"
     
    "No," Michiru replied, a satisfied smile on her face. Ami was 
very good at knowing people. Even people as difficult to know as her. 
"I have been wondering a lot, Ami-san, but most importantly I need to 
know what you think of your child."
    
    Ami took a long time to take in those words. *Her* child. Her own 
mothering instinct, however late it had been in coming to her, warmed 
in her chest. "If she wants to keep the baby, then I want to be its 
mother." She looked up at the clear sky, a faint smile of her own 
tugging at her lips. "I am not ready to become a parent like you did 
Michiru-san, but I think that is true for a lot of parents, when they 
face the reality of it."
    
    "And what if I was to be the parent? Would you allow that?"
    
    Ami lost the happiness in her smile, but she continued to stare 
at the clouds that drifted by as the drove. "If that is what Haruka 
wants, then I am not in the position to allow or deny you anything, 
Michiru-san."
    
    In truth Michiru had expected a little more fire from her, given 
that Ami still wanted to pursue Haruka, but it fitted better with her 
own thoughts about the girl. "Very selfless of you Ami-san, but don't 
worry. Haruka has not decided anything of the sort, and neither have 
I, though I would be able to live with another daughter who was not 
genetically my own. I am surprised though. You don't seem to know 
Haruka as well as you think you do."
    
    Ami conceded to that. "Given your time together I doubt I can 
hope to rival you in that regard, Michiru-san."
    
    "So," Michiru continued. "Why did you decide to make love with 
her when you know you do not know her as well as you might like? You 
have never been the type to take that sort of approach to anything."
    
    Ami wondered why Michiru would torture them both with such a 
question, when it was bound to be a subject that neither of them 
wanted to think about. But, if she was going to ask it, then Ami 
would answer whether Michiru liked it or not. "Because I needed it. I 
needed the comfort like nothing I have ever known. Every time I 
wanted to use the magic I learned there, I needed to recall my most 
painful memories. I was afraid that, when we were captured, we might 
never find a better way home than to trap ourselves in that gilded 
cage. And I was lonely. Even with everyone there, I missed home, and 
my mother, and Usagi-chan," she looked down from the clouds to 
Michiru, "and you, and everyone. I am often given encouragement, 
Michiru-san, but very few people ever comfort me, even if it is my 
own fault for hiding that need away. After all that time I just 
wanted that comfort, and Haruka gave it to me. She and I had found 
that we could talk to one another again, as equals this time, and 
when I needed it most I found out that she would give me everything I 
wanted."
    
    She looked at Michiru with that same determination in her eyes. 
"We chose to do what we did together. And I am not sorry that I could 
not let go when I should have, because something wonderful has come 
out of it. Even if it means I cannot share in it."
    
    "As I said," Michiru repeated with a quieter, more reflective 
voice, "Haruka has not made that decision. I know that she will want 
the baby. She also thinks the same way that you do about your... time 
together, though she will not say as much to me, for the sake of my 
feelings."
    
    Ami was surprised by that confession, and by those facts 
themselves. "Michiru-san..."
    
    "I fell in love with her much the same way you did, I suspect," 
Michiru continued, "I had been attracted to her since the time Elsa 
first introduced us. She was rough and seemed uninterested, but that 
challenge excited me. We slowly became able to talk to one another, 
as equals as you said, and found that we had, on occasion, things in 
common. Neither of our parents were wholly there for us the way we 
would have liked, we both had little use for our wealth beyond 
frivolous play, and we both enjoyed the arts, though Haruka would not 
admit to it at first.
    
    "Our duties as Senshi drove a wedge between us though. When we 
awakened her as Sailor Uranus she was convinced that I had been 
manipulating her from the start, and she was appalled at the way 
Setsuna and I approached our work. It was a side of her I had never 
seen. She is a rational girl, and we could explain the necessity of 
what we did, but even after that I seemed unable to win her trust 
again."
    
    Michiru felt uneasy as she spoke. She was admitting these things 
to her rival after all, but, somewhere in her mind, she had decided 
that Ami needed to know these things. If Haruka truly did feel for 
Ami as strongly as she did for Michiru herself, then both Ami and 
Haruka could be spared that.
    
    "You see, Haruka may be confident now, but she still has many 
problems with herself and her self-image. Unlike me she was not 
careful with showing her more unusual interests, in her case almost 
everything from her clothing to her cars and bikes. She did not even 
know she needed to be careful about it. Because of that, when she 
discovered that she was so different from her peers, it seemed to 
happen all at once. Everyone turned on her in what seemed to be the 
blink of an eye. 
    
    "That was what made her angry and brusque outside her own circle, 
which at the time consisted of few besides herself. That incident, 
and the way she was treated from then on, has made her focus herself 
on those things that people consider strange. Much like Mako-chan I 
think, Haruka sees very little good in her appearance, and it took me 
a lot of time to convince her otherwise. Even so, I have still not 
convinced her into a dress or swimsuit unless we are alone together. 
It took us long enough to persuade her to wear her Sailor Senshi 
fuku, even given the sense of power that comes with it."
    
    Ami remembered their little shopping trip in Seiji, and Haruka's 
resolute refusal over the clothing that Minako and Rei had suggested 
for her.
    
    "She covers for that perceived inadequacy with her charisma," 
Michiru continued, "and it does her good that her combined charms, 
and the reality that she is in fact attractive, makes her adored by 
the younger girls. But what it doesn't give her is room to be 
sensitive, needy or, for lack of a better word, feminine. Those 
things have been hidden. She is a very sensitive person, more so than 
I am, I know, but instead of focusing on what people thought she 
should improve in herself, she rebelled against them. She never once 
tried to hide or deny that she was a lesbian, and she made sure to 
focus on her boyish interests and the harder edges of her 
personality, just to act out against the people who derided them."
    
    "But," she finished, "that does not mean that the feminine girl 
inside her is gone. She has a passion for lingerie, for example, and 
no matter what she says she is no more Hotaru's 'father' than I am. 
She dotes on her, and the role of 'Haruka-papa' plays into her own 
attitudes about herself, but she has her maternal moments just as we 
all do. That is why I know she will keep the baby... and why I can 
believe that she does honestly love you. Before the problems with 
Galaxia you rarely fell into the trap of treating her as anything 
other than the person that she is, despite her jokes and her silly 
flirting."
    
    Ami had remained silent while Michiru spoke, but her mind had 
been awhirl the entire time. "Why are you telling me this?"
    
    Michiru gave her a serious glance from the wheel. "Because one of 
us is going to make her a happy woman," she replied. She was serious, 
but there was a light touch to her voice even so. "I have no 
intention of losing her to you, but I will not sabotage your victory 
either, just as I know you will not sabotage mine. We have always 
been rivals of a sort, haven't we... Ami-chan? I am afraid of the 
outcome, but I would like to be friends with my rival again."
    
    It was only then that Ami realised what she had been doing. 
Michiru's history with Haruka, and their deep understanding of one 
another, was her weapon against Ami, while Ami's was the child that 
Haruka now carried. Today they had just levelled the playing field.
    
    "I would like that Michiru-san. There should be no hard 
feelings."
    
    Michiru shook her head at that little display of idealism. "There 
will be," she said with a smirk. "But we are both intelligent enough 
to deal with them ourselves."

***
    
    Normally, when someone screams, they will attract just enough 
attention to get help if they really need it, and then only from 
those who can see what is going on or from those close to them, 
assuming these onlookers don't find the situation funny at their 
friend's expense.
    
    When a superhero's mother screams, however, and screams like she 
means it, there can only be two outcomes. Either there is going to be 
a very long lecture on how to behave from one of them, or something 
is going to get the crap kicked out of it with deadly intent.
    
    "MINAKO! ARTEMIS IS HURT! GET DOWN HERE, I'M CALLING THE VET!"
    
    Minako flew down the stairs, barely touching them, and when she 
saw him she knew this was going to be the latter. "Oh my God!" she 
cried, scooping her cat from her mother's arms, not even caring that 
the front door was still wide open.  "Artemis, what happened!?! Was 
it..?"
    
    The cat just mewled weakly, knowing that Kikon was still within 
earshot. He was a terrible mess; he was cradling his right front paw 
against his chest and his fur was faintly matted with blood down his 
side. And he felt even worse than he looked. He was pretty sure he 
had broken more than his leg falling through that tree, and he had 
still limped and stumbled all the way back without being caught by 
any well-meaning passers by, just in case they took him away for 
treatment, leaving him unable to tell Minako the truth.
    
    He looked over to see Kikon on the telephone, and let out a 
pained whisper. "Mina-chan, I'll be okay. I've had worse than this, 
probably."
    
    "Probably?!" Minako asked in tearful astonishment.
    
    "That's not important," Artemis carried on, ignoring her 
outburst. "That shiva-youma has Mikiyo, and she's in bad shape. You 
have to help her fast!"
    
    "What about you?" Minako asked, steeling herself but still too 
concerned about her battle partner and confidant to abandon him like 
this.
    
    "I said I'll be fine," Artemis growled. "Your Mum can deal with 
me fine. You have a mission Minako!"
    
    Minako swallowed hard and nodded. "Mum!"
    
    "What?! What?" Kikon replied, jumping from where she had been 
standing in the kitchen. 
    
    "Take Artemis," Minako said, with a rare tone in her voice that 
brooked no arguments. "I have to go. I'll be back soon."
    
    "What?" Kikon asked, shocked. "N-now? You can't be serio..."
    
    But Minako had already handed her injured informant over, and was 
running out of the door, grabbing her bag as she went and reaching 
straight for her pager.
    
    Kikon couldn't believe it. "Minako! Come back here this minute!"
    
    Minako was gone though, and no sooner had she sent the call to 
the others she had her communicator in her hand, and Usagi appeared 
on the small pink-bordered screen. "Minako-chan? What is it? We're 
coming already!"
    
    Minako shook her head. "Don't come to me. You know where my agent 
lives, right? Tell everyone to meet there."
    
    "Minako, wait..."
    
    The leader of the inner Senshi wasn't having a conversation 
though, and shut the girlish device. She just ran, looking for a 
convenient place to transform.
    
    Barely five minutes later she was there, the energy and agility 
of Sailor Venus' power having taken her right into the city proper, 
and she looked up at the tenth floor window. The only thing that kept 
her on the ground was knowing that, if she ran in alone, the youma 
would get away again. 
    
    And she wasn't going to allow that.
    
    "Venus!"
    
    Sailor Moon ran up, panting heavily and looking very concerned. 
"Venus, are you okay?"
    
    Venus gave her a dark look. "They have a hostage, and they almost 
killed Artemis. Let's go."
    
    "Shouldn't we wait for the others?"
    
    Sailor Venus shook her head. "Artemis said we needed to hurry. I 
think that together we can take one youma."
    
    Sailor Moon would have liked to discuss that, but Venus knew the 
situation better than she did. "Okay, let's go!"
    
    In no time at all they were up the stairs, and Sailor Venus 
didn't waste a second, kicking the apartment door right off its 
hinges. Venus glared into the main room. The youma wasn't even trying 
to hide. Five of its hands rested on its hips, while the sixth 
pointed at them. "Sailor Senshi! So, you are more intimate with the 
Aino girl than even I expected!"
    
    Sailor Moon struck her pose. "Agents and managers are the 
backbone of an industry fulfilling girls' dreams and entertaining the 
public! For depriving us of them, and making their friends fear for 
them, in the name of the moon I will punish you!"
    
    Myoshiya just shook her head at the egotistic display. "And you, 
Orange Sailor Senshi, do you have any proud and boastful inanities to 
spout?"
    
    The next thing Myoshiya knew was fear as Sailor Venus leaped at 
her, and in one move slammed her fist onto the youma's unprepared and 
undefended stomach. "You won't get away with this!" Sailor Venus 
said, standing solidly as Myoshiya hit the wall opposite and 
staggered to her feet.
    
    "No matter," the multi-limbed youma said, two of her hands 
clutching her abdomen. "At least we know enough to be of use now! 
Queenmaker! Take care of these people!"
    
    Sailor Moon and Venus looked over to the subject of the youma's 
words, and Venus felt her heart drop. "Mikiyo-san..."
    
    Mikiyo stood there with vacuous confidence, but she was barely 
recognisable as the stubborn, hard working agent Minako knew. Her 
face was contorted into a freakish smile of cartoon friendliness, and 
her huge, unnaturally wide eyes seemed glossy and shining like a 
doll's with their single fixed and lifeless expression. Her face was 
over made-up and her hair, once beautifully simple, straight and 
black, now frazzled out from her head in caricatured orange curls. 
    
    But worst was the fawning, doe like way she held herself, wearing 
a bright red suit that showed off every overworked gesture of her now 
green tinted body.
    
    "You had better buck up your ideas if you want to be famous 
missy!" the 'Queenmaker' squeaked, dropping into a computer character 
style combat stance.
    
    It should have been funny, or ridiculous, or even just pathetic, 
but Sailor Venus found tears falling down her cheeks as she looked at 
the twisted and perverted creature that her agent and friend had 
become. "Sailor Moon, you can heal her, right?"
    
    Sailor Moon nodded. "I'll try my hardest."
    
    "Okay." Then Venus turned her teary gaze to Myoshiya. "... Venus 
Love and Beauty Shock!"
    
    Sailor Moon averted her eyes from Venus' bright attack and 
focused on the freakish monster that was dashing towards her. She 
remembered having so much trouble with these youma creations at the 
start of her career as a Sailor Senshi, but that had been years ago. 
Now she was worried about killing her, because if she did that then 
Minako's agent would die as well. Even her tiara attack, the weakest 
of her offensive powers, might be enough to kill the Queenmaker. 
Especially since these youma seemed weak even compared to some of the 
ones they had faced when they were fourteen years old.
    
    Sailor Moon leapt, easily jumping the charging caricature and 
backing up, her sceptre in hand as the Queenmaker looked around 
dumbly for her prey.
    
    "Hey," the youma-creation cried indignantly. "You have to work 
hard, or else you won't get anywhere missy!"
    
    From inside its suit the creature pulled a huge red pen. "Maybe 
we need to review your contract missy!"
    
    The Queenmaker slashed twice into the air, spraying two great 
arcs of ink towards Sailor Moon, who only just managed to avoid the 
strange liquid projectiles. Then behind her, her heard a creaking, 
and looked back to see that the ink had cut right into the walls.
    
    "Wow, that's dangerous!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, but she knew 
better than to stand there being impressed. She levelled her sceptre 
at the Queenmaker and drew her power up from within herself. "Moon 
Healing Escalation!"
    
    The torrent of light burst from her weapon, silhouetting the 
Queenmaker against the wall as it let out its cry. "Refresh!"
    
    When the light faded Mikiyo sat there slumped in a heap, 
unconscious but alive and safe. Sailor Moon turned to help Venus now, 
but what she saw stopped her in her tracks. 
    
    Sailor Venus was the only one standing, and she held her Love-Me 
Chain in her hand, pulling on it as she looked down at her victim. At 
her feet Myoshiya choked and struggled, three hands struggling 
against the chain that wrapped around her neck while the other three 
clawed as Venus's heeled boot, pressed into her chest.
    
    "V-Venus," Sailor Moon stammered, stepping forward, "what are you 
doing?!"
    
    Venus just glared down at the youma beneath her heel. "I'm 
getting away with murder."
    
    "No... you... are... not!" Myoshiya gasped out, but before Sailor 
Moon hand a chance to help the youma braced all six of her arms 
against the floor and lifted herself bodily off the ground. As soon 
as she was high enough to feel Venus trying to step down harder she 
bucked her legs, flipping them both into the air. Venus slipped 
backwards while Myoshiya turned herself on her head, before landing 
on all eights by the window. "You think too highly of yourselves 
Sailor Senshi!"
    
    However, she didn't wait to gloat as both Sailor Moon and Sailor 
Venus readied their next attacks, and Myoshiya climbed out of the 
same window Artemis had escaped from, her hand and feet groping for 
purchase as she scaled the building like a giant blue spider.
    
    The Senshi ran to the window, but they knew there was no way they 
could catch her. Venus just turned back and walked over to the 
unconscious Mikiyo, only now realising that she should have waited 
for more help after all. "Damn it."
    
    And Sailor Moon watched her unhappy friend, worrying for her all 
the more now that she had seen just how dark Minako's serious side 
had become.

***
    
    "Be a good boy now Artemis," Kikon said as she handed him over in 
his cat-box to the vet who had come to collect him. "Not that I can 
really say that to a cat, but still..."
    
    Artemis thought he saw a glimmer of uncertainty in her expression 
as she had said that, but he put it out of his mind. He was far too 
tired, and he hurt far too much. "Mreow," he agreed from the cloth 
bedding of his travelling cage.
    
    Kikon nodded, as if satisfied with that, and left the rest to the 
vet.
    
    As soon as she had closed the door, however, her hand went to her 
chest. No matter how she looked at it, this was all wrong. Even for 
Minako.
    
    She heard Artemis suddenly kick up a fuss outside, probably as 
they got to the vet's van, but she paid little attention to it. He 
always did that, and she had been surprised he had been so 
unresisting as she had put him into his box. Instead she went to the 
phone and dialled a very familiar number.
    
    "Hello, Tsukino residence."
    
    Kikon swallowed hard. "Good afternoon Ikoku-san, it's Kikon 
here."
    
    "Ahh," came Usagi's mother's cheerful reply, "Kikon-san, how are 
you?"
    
    "Honestly? I'm rather worried," Kikon said, sounding it. "Minako 
disappeared earlier, and just when her cat turned up injured. I don't 
suppose..."
    
    "Well," Ikuko replied, "I can't speak for Usagi. Since she 
doesn't live here now I can't keep tabs on her like I used to Kikon-
san, but I must admit that doesn't sound like Minako-chan at all. I 
remember that she made a real pest of herself playing nurse when 
Usagi was sick once, just so she could stay here."
    
    "The thing is," Kikon continued, "I'm sure - and I know I will 
sound like my husband here - but I am positive she was talking to 
Artemis while I was calling the vet. Talking like he was actually 
saying something meaningful to her! And I know she was too upset to 
be playing around. And the worst of it is that I can't even seem to 
entertain the possibility that my husband may be right. Surely, given 
the circumstances, I should at least be allowed to suspect!?"
    
    "So you think there might be something to Yokozuki-san's theory 
of some sort of supernatural mind block after all? Really, Kikon-
san."
    
    Kikon knew she sounded crazy, but she was scared. Because if her 
husband really was right, in spite of everything her rational mind 
was telling her, then her daughter had lived this double life of hers 
all alone for the last eight years!
    
    "But... what if they are, Ikuko-san? Even if they won't let us 
believe it, what if our children really are the Sailor Senshi after 
all?"
    
    Kikon suspected that Ikuko thought she had finally gone off the 
deep end, but she persevered until her friend agreed to another 
meeting, assuming Kikon could also convince the others to come.
    
    Kikon thanked her and hung up the phone, proceeding to call the 
Hikawa shrine next.
    
    And, from the kitchen window, two bright fox-like eyes peered in, 
memorising everything that they saw. She was very grateful that the 
stupid white cat hadn't given her away as it had caught sight of her 
in the bushes. Luckily the uniformed human carrying it hadn't given 
the cat's noise any more thought than the Aino woman had. This was 
very exciting news, Aretsuki knew, even if some of it didn't make 
much sense. Why couldn't this human believe that the Aino girl was a 
Sailor Senshi? It would explain an awful lot, Aretsuki thought, and 
it made a lot of sense. After all, the Aino girl had left just before 
the Sailor Senshi had turned up to ruin their plans.
    
    Maybe the humans just had strange brains. Aretsuki didn't mind. 
It would make finding their enemies even easier, and that would make 
Big Sister Tyranya so proud of her!
    
***

To Be Continued...

***

Please send any comments and constructive criticism to:

nutzoide@nutzoide.net

They are always greatly appreciated, and there is no better reward 
for a writer than to hear back from the readers.

Many thanks to Richard King for his proofreading assistance.

(c) Nutzoide 2007

http://www.nutzoide.net