World Shaking: 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.
     
***

                             World Shaking

               - A Sailor Moon Fan-Fiction by Nutzoide -


    Chapter 6: The Show Must Go On.
               Re-Introducing: Dark Vampire, Aino Minako!   
    
    
    "I know that several of you have had misgivings over what I have 
asked of you, and for that I am sorry."
    
    Marya's gaze lingered on three of her daughters in particular: Yuuka, 
Lili, and Minako. They were reasonable girls, and willing, but they had 
never been eager to lie, steal, or remain hidden in the darkness. Marya 
did not know whether it was naivety behind their hesitation or sincere 
moral fibre, but whichever the case their objections were not unwanted. 
It reminded Marya that they walked along a precarious tightrope, and 
that she needed to remain honest with herself. She had let her ambition 
overtake her when Lili had been supplying such good progress in her 
experiments with the Shard, and she had hurt the girl more than she had 
intended.
    
    The men had taken to the mission with more ease. Yuuta was a 
consummate professional on the stage, and his skill was not dulled when 
off it. His wife was none the wiser to his new role in life, and he 
balanced his family and his nightly excursions with ease. As long as 
no-one else was hurt, he would be content. 
    
    Ryuuji, the office worker and sporting enthusiast, was even less 
fussy. He wanted wealth and power within the business that paid his 
handsome wage, and he was more than happy to accept the same from 
Marya's Shadow. It was a thrilling game, and he enjoyed it.
    
    Yuuta and Minako's fellow actress, Hikari, held much the same 
attitude. Tenacity had got her through drama school and over the heads 
of many others looking to take her roles from her, but Hikari knew she 
was the more talented. Possessing the Shadow merely confirmed that. She 
was special, and while the violence made her squeamish she was proud to 
have been selected as one of Marya's chosen. 
    
    And Kizugi was the loyal assistant, as ever. He rarely questioned, 
and never allowed himself to slip. If anything, Marya would have been 
happier if he had been more wilful, and less driven by their shared 
grief. She did not need servants. She needed friends to be her allies.
    
    However, Marya could not let them go on without reassuring those who 
were *not* so certain of themselves, and of what she sent them out to 
do. Her objective had not been to gather troops, but a family. 
    
    The question for Lili did not seem to be one of moral unease, but of 
confidence. She had suffered at Marya's hand, and it had made her wary. 
She needed reasons for their jewellery thefts and the kidnappings to 
swell their ranks, as if trust was still an issue between them. She had 
never disobeyed, but being entrusted with the deepest of the Shadows 
had not been enough to settle her. She required reassurances, proof of 
their progress, and promises that the darkest of their experiments was 
over.
    
    Yuuka was easier to understand. She was a young woman who was 
devoted to their family, her own having fallen apart, but she was a 
hero, not a villain. There were other, safer, legal ways to do what 
they did. They should have allied to the Senshi that she respected so 
highly, and they should be sharing their discoveries with the world. 
She did not understand how callous and manipulative the law could be, 
and how heartless the scared common man was. In time she would get what 
she wanted, but not yet. Not when the police, the military, and the 
Sailor Senshi would not hesitate to cut them all down. 
    
    Lastly there was Minako. Sailor Venus. How could *she* not have 
misgivings? Marya would have to make sure that her faith in their 
family was not misplaced.
    
    "Thanks to your efforts we have all the materials we need. And our 
park's lights have drawn all the ambient energy we need. There will be 
no more theft, and no more break-ins."
    
    "Just two more people then." Ryuuji might have been finishing her 
shopping list for her, and Marya saw both Minako and Yuuka wince. 
"They're the last two Shadows, and then the old man, yes?"
    
    "No," Marya replied, getting to the point she had intended to make. 
"We will take only one more. Between you all, you will be capable 
enough. The last Shadow we will save."
    
    "You've decided who it is then?" Lili asked.
    
    Marya nodded. "Yes. Though it may have seemed like chance, you were 
all chosen for a reason. This woman will be able to supply the energy 
we need, and will make a good sister for you all."
    
    Ryuuji huffed. "Another woman? I thought it needed to be male energy, 
for the old man's sake."
    
    "I had thought so too," Marya admitted. "But when we found we could 
define the separate aspects in Minako's energy... That made our work 
easier. We know better what to look for now, and I think we have found 
the perfect match. We will fetch her in two night's time, but bringing 
her here unnoticed will be difficult. More so than with any of you, but 
it will be worth the risk.
    
    "We will also need to distract a certain few individuals, and make 
sure they are not able to interfere. The most obvious is a man who is 
often close to her, and taking her without him noticing - even while he 
is across town - is where the difficulty lies. Minako, I would like you 
to make sure he is otherwise occupied when we go."
    
    Minako took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay. Distracting I can do. 
Who is he?"
    
    "He works in the city, and as we understand his scheduling he should 
be leaving to see her when we move. Ryuuji found out about him for us, 
so he can take you there. Keep him from answering his pager or his 
phone. The other two Yuuta and Hikari can delay. I will provide details 
when I can confirm their schedules will remain unchanged that day."
    
    The pair agreed, and Marya smiled at them all, relieved to have set 
the final mission in motion. "Good. Then that is all we need worry 
about for tonight. Go home, and rest well."
    
    While most of them were eager to do just that a couple stayed behind, 
to spend the night in their room beneath the mansion. 
    
    "Marya-sama," Lili said, once the others had taken their leave, "You 
were very specific in giving Minako her task, but no-one else. There 
was something that you did not wish to tell her."
    
    Lili was astute as she appeared. "I did not want to lie to her, if 
she had asked."
    
    "About the one we are taking? You have made sure Minako is 
distracting herself, as well as this man you worry about?"
    
    "I think Minako would feel safer if she had a friend here, as a 
sister Shadow. Someone she is close to, who thinks like she does. It 
might put her mind at ease."
    
    "Oh. Yes, I see what you mean. That might be nice for her, Marya-
sama."

***
    
    "Ami, what happens when you turn this project in, and they try to 
check up on your methods?"
    
    As ever, Haruka did not get Ami's eyes to meet her own. They were 
intent on analysing the data that scrolled past on her small 
supercomputer, and her fingers danced across the machine's keyboard in 
concert with them. For Haruka these analyses were uncomfortable at 
worst and dull at best, but they would have kept her younger lover 
absorbed for hours at a time if not for Haruka's boredom. 
    
    Thankfully Haruka was allowed to lie on one side or another these 
days. At twenty two weeks pregnant her bulge was now more prominent 
than some at her date, and was becoming difficult to hide even under 
her baggier clothes. The little girl inside was also a very notable 
weight now, so lying on her back for any length of time was not in 
Haruka's personal interests. Ami told her it was because she was still 
so thin, but Haruka suspected that her daughter was too laid back and 
intent on stretching out as much as possible in the space provided. 
    
    Haruka *certainly* wasn't thin when she looked in the mirror. Her 
hips had got fat, and she was losing her handsome jaw line. That was a 
crime, plain and simple.
    
    Though Ami did not look up from her computer at the side of the bed, 
she did reply, ever the master of multi-tasking. "It's not as though we 
*couldn't* do this on regular equipment. It would just take too much 
time. As long as I explain how I was supposed to have been doing it, 
the examiners shouldn't pry too much. Setsuna-san will back me up on 
the 'defunct research project' whose sold-off equipment it was."
    
    Haruka smiled, trying hard not to make herself more comfortable 
while Ami was scanning her abdomen. "I like your sneaky side. So how 
*is* baby?"
    
    "Fit and healthy. She looks to be a proper weight now, so the larger 
diet is helping."
    
    Haruka didn't want to think about the larger diet, or what her rear 
would look like in the mirror when this was over.
    
    "The energy flow is much more of a two way process than I expected," 
Ami continued. "Baby's feeding you almost as much as you give her. I 
suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since she hasn't established a 
defined energy trace of her own, but the whole process is more 
homogeneous than I thought it would be."
    
    "You mean she's using me like a battery charger."
    
    Ami giggled. "A little like that, I guess. She is already self-
sufficient, but she hasn't established where you end and she begins 
yet."
    
    "Greedy little munchkin."
    
    Though she hoped it would not last too long, Haruka was content to 
let Ami work. There was more to look for than just the wellbeing of 
their baby, after all. Just as her mother had become something of a 
specialist in treating transformation victims by virtue of her 
proximity and experience with them, Ami's paper was following similar 
themes. How such things were possible, the types of energy that were 
required, and how human energy in general worked. Haruka's pregnancy 
was the ideal chance to see how that energy came into being in the 
first place, and how mother and child reacted on that level, as well as 
the chemical and physical one.
    
    "Incidentally, I like your underwear, Haruka."
    
    Haruka blinked in surprise. Ami's eyes hadn't moved from her screen, 
but she had coloured just slightly. It made Haruka smile, and it was 
actually something of a relief. It was rare for her to wear just that 
during their tests, but today she had chosen one of her special sets. 
It had been a bit of a disappointment when Ami had, once again, been so 
pre-occupied with her work. 
    
    Haruka did not consider her affection for underwear unusual. From 
the boxers and briefs that Setsuna so despised to extravagant lace and 
silk articles, what a person wore beneath their clothes spoke volumes 
about them, in Haruka's opinion. A suit, dress or blouse was there to 
be a person's presentable face, or to express support for whatever 
fashion or brand they might want to be seen (or hide) behind. Naked, 
they stood to be judged for their diet, lifestyle, and genes. 
    
    And that person's choice of small clothes revealed who they wanted 
to be for themselves, and their chosen person. Or persons, now, in her 
case. Haruka would change who she was for the day by what she wore 
under her suit, and experimentation intrigued her. Though her wardrobe 
was large, her collection of lingerie made up far more of it than it 
did for Michiru, or most others, she guessed. Simple, down to earth 
panties and bras, mannish and utilitarian briefs, seductive lace 
garters and corsets. Underwear for every occasion, and for every form 
of Haruka she might want. It was her own private indulgence, and it was 
long since time that she had shared it with Ami. 
    
    Even if Ami only ever wore the simplest articles. That was all she 
owned. Haruka hoped she would be able to persuade her into something 
daring on occasion. Ami would look ravishing in red lace, if only she 
was confident enough to wear it.
    
    "I hoped you'd notice."
    
    "It was hard not to." Still she typed, but she did at least allow 
her eyes to wander to the thin embroidered brassiere. In truth the 
garments were now too tight, and the under wire in particular left 
Haruka's poor breasts aching, but even now they still looked stunning. 
"Is there an occasion that I've forgotten?"
    
    Haruka shook her head lazily. "No. Though I plan to have my way with 
you after we are done."
    
    Ami laughed, blushing furiously, and her eyes returned to the 
computer screen. "You must be feeling better if you can say something 
like that."
    
    "I definitely am," Haruka agreed. And she was. Up until now Michiru 
had been the one to surprise her with sex, and Haruka had done the same 
to Ami in her lighter moments, but since the baby shower her libido had 
begun to return quite unexpectedly, and with a vengeance. "You don't 
have anywhere to be tonight, do you?"
    
    She reached out to stroke Ami's hair, and Ami smiled. "Actually, I 
do."
    
    "Oh?"
    
    Ami nodded, finally looking at Haruka properly. "I have you to keep 
occupied now."
    
    Hmm, now where did she learn a line like that? Haruka wondered. She 
took Ami's hand briefly to kiss it. Just one more reason to hope the 
scans would be finished soon.

***
    
    It was a rare thing to see the Hikawa Shrine closed for a full day. 
Though its trade was only brisk during festival and holiday times, the 
slow, constant trickle of custom through its gates kept the place 
profitable enough to remain open. Any day they were not offering advice 
and selling fortunes was a day that would eat into those small profits, 
and this winter's Monday was one such rare day. Worse, this time it was 
not even down to Senshi business, which had caused Rei to close up in 
the past while her grandfather had been away. 
    
    Usagi stood at the bottom of the stone stairway that led up through 
the trees, and stared at the hand painted wooden plaque that hung 
across the entrance, marking the shrine closed for the day. Until she 
had got there she had not been pleased with her antagonistic playmate. 
While they could only get together once or twice a week she always made 
the effort to keep in touch with her friends by phone or e-mail as 
frequently as possible, and though not all of them were as sociable in 
kind (Setsuna being the prime suspect, though Michiru was also reticent 
when it came to e-mail) it had been very unlike Rei to be so brusque 
with her recently. 
    
    Actually that wasn't true, it was exactly like Rei to be rude and 
argumentative over the phone, or any other time they got together. 
However, there was a difference between Rei making her usual fuss over 
nothing, and accusing Usagi of wasting her time when Rei had real work 
to be doing.
    
    And then Rei had hung up. No argument, no silly name-calling, no 
friendliness behind the curt jibe. It had come completely out of the 
blue, and left Usagi wondering what the hell might have got into her 
friend recently. Had she been interpreting their little fights more 
seriously than Usagi had? Certainly, as far as Usagi knew there had 
been no fight between Rei and Makoto to prompt this. 
    
    Though Makoto had mailed back to say that Rei was sensitive right 
now. No reasons, but it did at least mean that *something* was up. So, 
Usagi had come straight from university, a significant detour for her, 
to get to the bottom of it. If nothing else she could give Rei a piece 
of her mind for being so rude, and if she had done something to upset 
her friend then maybe she could put that right as well, whatever it 
actually was. But if the shrine was closed, then it had to be something 
more than just a fight that Usagi hadn't known she'd had.
    
    And, while she considered the stairway, the second concerned party 
arrived, laden down with groceries after her day's work.
    
    "Usagi-chan! What are you doing here?"
    
    Usagi would have asked the same question, but then Makoto had every 
reason to be there these days. "Well, after she yelled at me and hung 
up the phone I wanted to talk to her, but..." She motioned to the sign 
that hung across the stairway. "Is she really okay?"
    
    Makoto nodded, but she didn't look happy about it. "She's okay. 
Just... stressed. It's not like she's tried to hide it or anything, but 
she'll be mad at you if you come up though."
    
    Usagi frowned. "Let her be mad then. Just tell me what's going on!"
    
    Makoto ducked low under the rope. "Grandpa caught a cold."
    
    Usagi paused half way under the rope herself. Honestly she didn't 
know whether to giggle as the though of the vibrant old man with the 
sniffles, or shocked that it was enough to close the shrine. "But he's 
always so bouncy!"
    
    "Yup," Makoto agreed, quite serious. "Rei thought he'd be fine in a 
couple of days, but that was a week ago."
    
    "What? Really?" The thought was appalling. "Grandpa's really sick?"
    
    Makoto just shrugged. "It's just a cold, apparently. It's just hit 
him harder than she expected, and the weather hasn't helped."
    
    That Usagi could understand. It had turned properly cold, and even 
though it was bright and clear out she was in long, thick socks and her 
winter coat because of that. 
    
    "I could help out today," Makoto said, as if excusing herself for 
her absence, "and Rei had to be at uni today or end up like me, so... 
She would have given anything to have Yuuichiro back right now."
    
    "Grandpa's been alone in bed all day?!" Usagi asked in disbelief.
    
    Makoto nodded. "We had one of the neighbours from down the street 
call in and make lunch, but no-one else was available to stay and 
help."
    
    "I would have!" Usagi exclaimed, appalled that no-one had told her, 
but Makoto just shrugged again.
    
    "I would have said, but Rei would have kicked my ass for making you 
skip school."
    
    "But this is Grandpa! We can't just leave him alone like this!"
    
    "I know!" Makoto snapped, before she looked shocked at herself and 
apologised just as suddenly. "Sorry. Believe me, I know. But the old 
housewife down the road was happy to help, and Rei's been a bit worried, 
okay? Rei and I have been looking after him so far, and she thought 
he'd be up and about by now."
    
    Usagi's pace slowed as they reached the top of the steps. "You mean 
he's not getting better?"
    
    "Oh, no, I'm sure he will," Makoto replied, her sudden, confident 
smile making Usagi feel better. "He's too frolicsome to let a cold beat 
him."
    
    Inside they found Grandpa Hino awake, but safely tucked in bed with 
the remains of his lunch on the tray at his side. It seemed too out of 
character that he hadn't tried to get out and take to the living room 
at least, even though it probably would have done him no good at all.
    
    "Makoto-chan, and Usagi-chan. What luck." A large, toothy smile 
spread across the old man's round, wrinkled face as he saw them. "And 
as pretty as ever. You haven't come to cater to little old me, have 
you?"
    
    "You know we have, Gramps," Makoto said, as if nothing was wrong. "I 
hope Watanabe-san looked after you well."
    
    "Oh, yes, another lovely girl, she is. Quite a darling, though not 
as pretty as you both."
    
    "Grandpa, please!" Usagi blushed theatrically, while Makoto just 
rolled her eyes and reached for the empty bowls.
    
    "You behave yourself, Gramps. Rei should be back any minute, so I'll 
go and put some supper on for you. I thought you'd be bored of chicken, 
so I'll make some chilli pork ramen. How does that sound?"
    
    "You're a treat for this old man," Grandpa Hino replied. His usual 
lack of subtlety was apparent as always, but the glint in his eye was 
far more subdued. 
    
    "You're not old, Grandpa," Usagi said, eager to play up to his 
flattery while Makoto took away the lunch bowls.
    
    "My bald head seems to disagree with you, Usagi-chan," the old man 
replied reaching up from beneath the covers to prod at his lack of hair.
    
    "Bah! That doesn't mean anything. My Dad was going bald even before 
I was born - I've seen the photos! - and he's not old yet. But don't 
tell him that!"
    
    "Ah, poor Genji-kun. Yes, do you know that he and your mother come 
and visit me? You are lucky to have such good parents."
    
    "Good parents? *My* parents? But they're so mean! Mum would always 
get cross when I scored low on my school tests, she even shut me out of 
the house, and Daddy scared my Mamo-chan away before he even gave him a 
chance. *Maybe* they had their good points," she conceded, "like the 
cool birthday presents, and cakes, but that's it!"
    
    A she had hoped Grandpa Hino chuckled. "Ah, maybe I am being too 
soft on Rei then. It was obviously worth being a little mean if it 
turned you into such a wonderful young woman!"
    
    This time Usagi's blush was genuine much to the older man's 
amusement, and it was the sound of the sliding door outside that let 
her off the hook.
    
    "Ah, that will be my granddaughter. You should go and say hello, 
Usagi-chan, before she catches you with me!"
    
    Usagi would have poo-pooed the idea, but for the memory of just how 
angry Rei had sounded last time the spoke. If she was going to be like 
that again, it would be better if it didn't happen in front of her 
grandfather. 
    
    "Okay Grandpa. I'll be back in a bit, so behave yourself, okay?"
    
    The old man just smiled, and nodded slightly, leaving the girl to 
slip out, and almost collide with Rei as they both met in the hallway.
    
    "What? What are you doing here, dumpling-head!?"
    
    "I came so see Grandpa." It wasn't exactly a lie. If she had known 
about his cold she *would* have come to se him. "You didn't say he was 
sick."
    
    "What? That's because..." Rei stood there fuming for a moment, 
completely off guard. "I don't believe you!!"
    
    "I'd have come and looked after him if you'd said," Usagi added, 
completely unmindful of Rei's sudden outburst. 
    
    "I don't need your help," Rei retorted, soldiering on regardless. 
"It's just a cold! He'll be fine!"
    
    "I know," Usagi replied. Whether that was the case or not, Usagi 
would believe it until proven otherwise. "But I still would have looked 
after him, if you had to be at school. I don't have classes tomorrow 
morning either, if you want me to help with the Shrine."
    
    Rei looked apoplectic, her fists balled at her sides, until Usagi 
saw the tears that had been forming in her eyes. "God damn it, Usagi! 
Why do you have to butt in?!"
    
    Usagi answered honestly, as came naturally. "Because you're my 
friend. Why didn't you tell anyone? Everyone would want to seem him, if 
they knew."
    
    Makoto was watching from the kitchen doorway now, and they both knew 
it, but she said nothing at let Rei speak for herself. "Because..."
    
    Didn't Rei even have a reason?
    
    "Because it's just a cold," was her final, wavering answer. "Why 
isn't he better already? We've got cold medicine."
    
    Usagi took Rei into her arms and hugged her, and Rei didn't bother 
to resist. She obviously needed the comfort, and Usagi as more than 
happy to try and easy her friend's mind. "It's okay. *I* know what he's 
like, and he'll be fine. Right Mako-chan?"
    
    Makoto nodded, stirring whatever was in the measuring jug she held. 
"Yeah. The doctor said we've just got to wait it out, right?"
    
    Rei sighed, and pried herself out of Usagi's arms. "Yeah. I guess. 
But what... I'm just worried, okay?"
    
    "Of course, he's your Grandpa," Usagi said. It was obvious. "So, do 
you want me to help tomorrow?"
    
    Rei sighed, and Usagi had to wonder how hard it was to decide 
whether she needed he help of not. "Sure. Why look a gift horse in the 
mouth?"
    
    "Who are you calling a horse?"
    
    "I wonder. Just don't skip out on anything for it, okay?"
    
    Usagi beamed. "Sure. I get to wear one of those shrine outfits, 
right?"
    
    "Of course you do."
    
    "Great! And I can tell the others, so they can come and say 'hi'? 
I'm sure they'd bring fruit too. And chocolate."
    
    Rei hesitated over that, but nodded, "I'll tell them, okay? Just 
don't make a fuss about it or anything. He needs rest."
    
    "Sure!"
    
    "Come on then. If you're staying for a bit you can give him his 
medicine. He'll probably like that."

***
    
    As ever it was late when Mizuno Katsura returned home, but rarely 
had she ever got in to be met with a ringing telephone. To most 11.30pm 
was too unsociable an hour to be calling anyone, and those who knew her 
well knew how futile it was to call her house phone when her pager was 
always on her, and her cellular not far away.
    
    The Tsukinos were not 'most people' though, as it was little Usagi's 
mother who spoke when Katsura picked up, just before her answering 
machine did so for her.
    
    "Ah, Mizuno-sensei. I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time. I 
know it is late."
    
    Ikuko knew full well that Katsura was never at home until it was 
late anyway, and Katsura politely brushed aside the pleasantry to get 
to the point with all the politeness she could. "Not at all, Ikuko-san. 
How can I help you at this hour?"
    
    Not that she wasn't above pointing that out, even when on first name 
terms.
    
    Either way Ikuko was happy to oblige. "You haven't heard about Hino-
san, have you, Katsura-sensei? Usagi dropped by to tell us this evening, 
on her way home, but he's sick!"
    
    Instantly Katsura felt her professional side taking over again. "No, 
I hadn't heard. Do you know what he is ill with?"
    
    "Just a cold, Usagi said. But he's been in bed for a week, and I 
thought you might want to visit him. Dear Rei-chan and Makoto-chan have 
been keeping the shrine open as best they can, apparently, but I'm 
going to visit him for the day tomorrow, so that Rei and my daughter 
can work the shrine."
    
    Would that Katsura had the time to do something similar. "Yes, I'll 
have to visit when I can. Maybe Thursday morning. I suppose Rei-chan 
didn't think to let us know, but do Ami or the other girls know yet?"
    
    "No, Usagi only found out today. It seems Rei-chan didn't want to 
worry anyone besides herself."
    
    Makoto-chan, you shouldn't be so soft on her, Katsura thought to 
herself, but knowing how uncomfortable Ikuko could be about that 
arrangement she didn't voice it. "I suppose you've spoken to the 
Ainos?"
    
    "Yes, I called them earlier this evening. I don't know if they'll go, 
they've been so unsociable recently, but I thought I ought to tell them. 
I think that Rei-chan would appreciate it if you went though Katsura-
sensei. You're a doctor. I'm sure it would make her feel better if you 
went to see him."
    
    "I will. Do you know if Makoto-chan is going to be there with them 
tomorrow as well?"
    
    Katsura had expected the pause that followed, before Ikuko replied. 
"... I don't think so. I assumed that she would be working or at school, 
if Usagi was going to help out."
    
    "Well, give them my regards in any case, and when she does turn up 
tell Makoto-chan that I will visit when I can. Thank you for the call 
Ikuko-san."
    
    "Yes. Not at all, Katsura-sensei. Good night."
    
    Poor Ikuko, Katsura thought as she put the phone back on its 
receiver. A day out of the house, with her daughter and Rei for company? 
Surely she hadn't forgotten what a handful that pair could be? Katsura 
certainly hadn't. Hopefully between the three of them they could make 
sure that the shrine was run properly and that Grandpa Hino was cared 
for. 
    
    At least until Makoto arrived. She doubted the steadfast chef would 
be away from the shrine for longer than she had to be right now. It 
was... unusual, after watching them grow up with her daughter, if at a 
distance, but there was something heart-warming about the way they 
spoke of each other, and behaved in each others' presence. It gave her 
a little more hope for her own daughter's happiness, and her likewise... 
unusual circumstances.

***
    
    The sun had already surrendered for the day when the appointed hour 
came around, and Tokyo's businessmen slowly began to file out of their 
office buildings on their way home. Though she had no need of the dusk 
shadows it seemed somehow apt to Minako that she should do her hunting 
once the sun had gone down.
    
    Hunting, that made it sound so much more exciting. In reality she 
was perched on a windowsill fifteen stories up, visible only as an 
optical illusion in the corner of someone's eye from inside, watching 
the world go by beneath her. The Shadow kept her hidden even sitting 
there clear as day, just as it would give her the strength and 
precision to leap down from sill to sill when it came time to reach the 
ground.
    
    The same was true of Ryuuji, crouched like a gargoyle several floors 
down. He did not have Minako's talent for vertical height, but he had 
no need of speed or agility when it came down to the wire. His Shadow 
was of a sturdier bent.
    
    As it had on past ventures having to accost an unknown member of the 
public did not sit well with Minako. True, she was not performing any 
abduction this time, but to keep this man who she had never even met 
away from the woman he would be returning to see. Minako felt sorry for 
him. He would not even know she was gone until long after the fact, and 
even after their deceptions had been dispensed with he would no longer 
be quite the same as her. Such was the case with Yuuta's wife, and 
Hikari's housemates. Even Minako's own friends and family. Knowing that 
she was now something other than they were, civilian and Senshi both, 
fed an insecurity that she could contain only for the sake of Marya and 
her fellow Shadow vessels.
    
    But how would Usagi feel, once the truth was known? What would her 
mother or father say? She had quite literally given up her life for the 
sake of another, and in doing so bound herself to people who had 
committed crimes in order to save those they had 'died' for. Whether it 
had been voluntary or not was beside the point now. She had accepted 
what had been done, but she was conscious that, weeks on now, she still 
did so less vocally than most of her siblings. Was that a sign of 
weakness, or strength? She no longer knew.
    
    Not that it worried her now. Though dull, waiting for their man to 
appear, there was a sense of fun to be had sitting half way up a 
skyscraper like a raptor waiting for her mouse, or a spy on stakeout.
    
    Below her, and with excellent eyesight it would seem, Ryuuji spotted 
the one they were to waylay and pushed himself from the windowsill. 
"There he is."
    
    Minako followed his outstretched arm, thankful that whatever Shadow 
power masked them from sight did not apply to one another, and she 
leaped lightly down two floors, her toes alighting on the sill that met 
them before falling another three, dancing down to the busy ground 
level.
    
    Ryuuji was less concerned with nimbleness, and fell the full 
thirteen floors to land unharmed on bended knee, a sudden gust of wind 
the only notice any of the pedestrians could take of his entrance until 
he chose to become one of them.
    
    And when he did so he appeared not as spectral bogymen, but merely 
as himself. H and Minako caused no alarm because they had, after all, 
been strolling quite peaceably towards their man and just hadn't been 
noticed until that point.
    
    There was also a wisdom in sending Minako on this task specifically, 
she had realised. Being so well recognised, both from the stage and 
advertising, but most obviously for appearing on camera with Sailor 
Uranus, it was unusual for her to walk far before being recognised. 
Surely this Jin would be more willing to humour Aino Minako for a half-
hour than he would most other strange girls who accosted him in the 
street.
    
    "Karasuro-san?" she called, once they were close enough to seem 
natural. "Hi! Can I have a minute?"
    
    Jin picked her out instantly, and as expected he recognised her 
almost as quickly. "Ah, Aino-san?"
    
    And then he did the unthinkable. He revealed just how she should 
have known him, if only by his words and not him name. "Certainly, I 
have a moment. Shall we walk together? Seeing as you are friends with 
Haruka-san and Michiru-san, may I ask how they are? I was hoping to 
visit them, and see if Haruka-san had given any further thought to an 
interview in person. I gave that nice Mizuno-san my details, but sad to 
say I've still not heard back."
    
    Minako's smiling face froze, her eyes wide and her mind racing. She 
looked up to Ryuuji, but he remained impassive behind his friendly 
smile. "I cannot presume to say, but Aino-san and myself might be able 
to help. Over coffee, perhaps? Right, Aino-san?"

***
    
    It was not often that Michiru still collected Hotaru from school, 
but it had become a pleasant habit on those days when the art club kept 
her daughter late. Hotaru was more than capable of catching the bus 
herself, but the drive was one of the few times that they had to bond 
without Haruka around to poke her curious nose in, and no doubt 
distract one or other of them away from their quality time together.
    
    And it was nice to have created that routine out of what had 
originally been a compromise, and an awkward one at that. It had been 
an uphill struggle to get Hotaru to attend the art club that Michiru 
had arranged for her, not because she disliked the subject, but because 
it had come after yet another school change in the wake of her 
accelerated growth, and she had been less than willing to socialise 
because of it. 
    
    Both Michiru and Haruka had thought it healthier if she had an 
activity after school hours where she could make friends among children 
with similar interests, even if she did not wish to do so during school 
time itself. Hotaru had hated the idea more passionately than either 
had believed possible of her, but she had attended obediently, and 
sulked the entire time. Then, if she was to be forced to attend, Hotaru 
reasoned that she should not have to walk home again as it got dark, 
and so one or other of her parents would take her back again, where 
Hotaru could display just how much she disliked being forced to attend.
    
    The argument had not lasted on either side, but Michiru considered 
that her own input into what they had arranged for their girl had 
probably been too transparent to avoid it. More often than not it was 
Michiru, with her more regular working schedule, who got to take Hotaru 
home, and likewise it was she who had pressed so vocally about art 
being such a good subject to socialise over.
    
    Hotaru had merely said that Michiru was forcing her to do what 
Michiru would have done, and to an extent that was true. Haruka's 
playfulness and leisurely good humour had captured Hotaru easily, but 
Michiru had found it more difficult to bond with her young daughter. 
They often had little to talk about beyond how school had been, or what 
either of them had done that day, and at least Hotaru's budding 
interest in painting was something in her life that Michiru felt she 
could be a part of.
    
    Now that was exactly what it had become, and as she drove Hotaru was 
happy to tell her all about how her latest painting was going, what the 
others in the club thought, and all the little arguments and debates 
they had about style and meaning. Though their own styles and 
approaches differed greatly, the pair did agree on a few key points. 
Nether saw the appeal in producing photo-realism or true impressionism 
themselves, and neither liked to ascribe too much meaning to their work. 
Whether light or dark in tone, whatever the focus, they both let their 
pictures tell their own story, with a minimum of accompanying 
exposition. If the a title alone could not put the painting in the 
correct light, if it even needed such context, then was it something 
they should have painted instead of written or photographed? Could it 
not simply be appreciated as art on its own merits?
    
    Such conversations were common on these drives, but all the more 
notable for their absence that day. It had been a curious pair that had 
accosted them outside the school, eager to speak to Michiru about her 
work, and it had left them uneasy. 
    
    Though she was certainly a celebrity in several circles, it was 
unusual for her to be accosted in the street. In a music store or 
gallery it was more common, and she was certainly *recognised* as she 
passed people day to day, but this was the first time in a long while 
that anyone had stopped her out of the blue to be talked at. 
    
    She was a homosexual after all, and it was rare that she would 
appear in the papers or on television without that little fact being 
mentioned as soon as possible. People were much less likely to stop you 
in public if they and everyone around them knew that. 
    
    This pair though, a young woman of about Michiru's age and a much 
older man, had been more than eager to hold her up and wax lyrical 
about her recently unveiled piece. And when would she next appear in 
concert, and congratulations on Haruka's conception, and wouldn't it be 
exiting for Hotaru to have a baby in the house to coddle.
    
    It wasn't hard to believe that they had been there to see the school, 
looking to send the young woman's niece there now that she was old 
enough, but to choose such a time to talk had rubbed Michiru the wrong 
way. They seemed unconcerned that either they or Michiru might have had 
a home to go to, and Hotaru had said similar after Michiru had finally 
managed to make her excuses and leave. They had been stood talking 
outside the gate for a full twenty minutes, and it was not warm out 
there!
    
    It seemed to have set the tone for the entire journey, Michiru 
thought, a little bitter, because now she felt a nagging the back of 
her mind that something had been very *wrong* about the whole thing. 
She couldn't think what, beyond the absurdity of standing out there to 
make such one sided conversation, but it spurred her to drive a little 
faster than she would have. Hotaru seemed to share her worries, though 
she did not say as much, and Michiru forced herself to make 
conversation to keep their minds off the odd encounter.
    
    It was a relief to get home, into the warm and among loved ones 
again. "We're home!"
    
    For a moment there was no reply, before Sailor Mercury strode into 
view from the hallway.
    
    Michiru's breath caught in her throat, suddenly dreading that the 
nagging worry in her mind might have been more than just her own unease. 
"Mercury?"
    
    Sailor Mercury looked at them both as if she had wanted to retreat 
back into Mizuno Ami's guise, if only for their sake, but even so she 
stood firm, her computer in hand. "Welcome back. I'm afraid Haruka is 
gone."
    
    Hotaru instantly reached for Michiru's hand, and Michiru held it 
tightly, both for her daughter and to stop the sudden trembling in her 
fingers. "G-Gone?"
    
    Sailor Mercury nodded, distraught behind her blue visor. "She was 
missing when I returned. There are no signs of forced entry or any sort 
of struggle. She would have left a note on the table, if she had gone 
out?"
    
    "Yes," Michiru bit out, worry and anger fighting for dominance 
within her. "And you would not be dressed like that if you thought she 
had gone for a drive."
    
    "The door wasn't deadlocked," Mercury confirmed. "And none of her 
shoes are missing. Her energy signature shows she left via the back, 
and then out through the garage, though her bike is still here. But, if 
she was taken, there is no trace of those that did it. Nothing at all."
    
    Michiru looked to her daughter. "Hotaru, do you have your pen?"
    
    Beside her the girl nodded, and pulled the small sphere-topped wand 
from the bottom of her school bag. Michiru did the same from her purse, 
and a moment later both Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn stood there, 
stoic and resolute.
    
    "I've called the others," Mercury said, turning aside. "I may just 
be overreacting, but what I've seen doesn't make sense. I had spoken to 
her about dinner on my way home."
    
    Then a fourth voice cut in, older, and one not heard for weeks now. 
Sailor Pluto's.
    
    "I'm afraid it makes perfect sense, Mercury. I was just hoping for 
better."

***
    
    Minako stood with her Shadowed siblings around the apparatus that 
each of them had once been fixed to at one time or another. Now, from 
the upright frame, hung Tenoh Haruka, slowly returning to consciousness. 
    
    Minako had not stayed to play her part with the journalist. Instead 
she had hurried to Haruka's home, to find the deed already done, and 
the house tidied as if nothing had ever happened. Beside her Yuuka lay 
a comforting hand on her shoulder, her soft words of reassurance 
echoing those Marya had spoken not half an hour before. "It will be 
good to have her here. You always spoke so fondly of her. How could we 
not bring her here, when her energy is all that we will need to 
complete Marya's design?"
    
    Minako had not told them that Haruka was one of the Sailor Senshi. 
Even now she did not say a word. She would not need to. Either Marya 
already knew, or it soon would come as a great surprise to everyone but 
her. Marya would not have made a mistake. Haruka's energy was exactly 
what they needed, or she would not be there. But to take *two* of the 
Senshi away from their ranks? Was that going too far?
    
    And what about Haruka's little girl?
    
    She realised she had spoken her worry only when Marya paused in her 
preparations and came to her. "Minako, would I have taken her if it 
meant her babe would come to harm?"
    
    And the answer was obvious. "No. No, you wouldn't. Would you?"
    
    Marya shook her head, kind and motherly. "The shadow can provide for 
her, just as it will your dear friend."
    
    Haruka blinked, standing awkwardly in her harness on the Shard 
machine, only now registering the crowd that stood around her. "Where..? 
Who are you people?"
    
    Then she saw, "M-Minako-chan?"
    
    Minako, for all her faith in her patron, could not meet Haruka's 
gaze. 
    
    "Minako-chan?! What is this?!"
    
    While Minako stared at the floor, her loyalty drenched in shame, 
Marya answered for her. "I don't know what you would call it, but a 
rebirth would be as fitting as any description, Haruka."
    
    Recognition flashed in Haruka's eyes at once. "Ono-san?" She 
struggled in her restrains, unable to get leverage in her arms. "Who 
*are* you people? What have you done to Minako-chan?!"
    
    "We kidnapped her," Marya said, gravely, "and stripped her of her 
life's energy. We... *I* recruited her, against her will, because I 
needed the energy she possessed. Thankfully she was good enough to 
listen to my reasons, and accept the exchange that I offered for the 
energy she held. She is a good girl, loyal, kind, and talented, and 
willing to perform the tasks I gave her, distasteful though they might 
have been."
    
    "You've brainwashed her?!?"
    
    "No," Minako spoke out now. "No, I could have fought. But my energy 
can save people Haruka-san. It can be used to heal, and set things 
right. If losing it means I can still live my life, and have friends, 
and a family that cares what I do..."
    
    She looked around her, to the men and women who began to smile at 
her words. "And Rei-chan and the others were right. I did change, after 
Seiji. I was afraid you didn't trust me to do the right thing."
    
    Haruka was staring at her like she was a stranger. "And this is the 
'right thing', is it?!"
    
    "It is," Marya confirmed. "It is for us." She took a bundle of cloth 
from the workbench behind her, and unwrapped it to reveal the Crystal 
Shard. Minako had never seen it glow so brightly, at least not when it 
had not been her strapped to the apparatus, the blunt tip touching her 
chest and pulling away what had seemed like everything her body had to 
offer.
    
    And the others seemed just as awed.
    
    "That shine is your power, Haruka. The power of a Sailor Senshi, 
locked within you. The power to save how many people, reserved solely 
for you?"
    
    So she had known. Haruka looked in disbelief that Marya could have 
discovered it, or that Minako might have admitted their secret.
    
    "I don't blame our Minako for not telling us just how important you 
were. Both a dear friend, and a fellow in the Sailor Senshi. But you 
will still have power to rival whatever it is the that Moon gifted you 
with, and you will finally allow me to save my father."
    
    "Your father..." Haruka said, at a loss as she tried to free herself 
once again. "But you own his company! Didn't you parents *die*?!"
    
    "Yes," the regal woman admitted, as she secured the Sharn into its 
cradle. "And yours is the final life that will help save him."
    
    "You're crazy! Minako-chan! Don't let them do this! Minako-chan!!"
    
    Minako stepped forward, feeling tears trickling down her face, but 
she only took Haruka's hand. "It's... It's okay, Haruka-kun. It hurts, 
but you'll be fine. I'll be here afterwards... okay?" It was a weak, 
hopeful voice, but one that could not give Haruka any comfort as she 
struggled.
    
    "Damn it, Minako-chan! You can't do this! You're Sailor Venus! Maybe 
you think you're doing the right thing, but you can't take people's 
lives!! What about my baby!?!"
    
    Minako could only weep, and hold Haruka's hand as best she could as 
the crystal touched her friend's chest, and the pale green energy began 
to seep painfully out of her body and into the Shard. "I'm sorry, 
Haruka-san. You'll be fine. You both will." 
    
    Please, I only hope you will forgive me when you wake up.

***
    
    With her communicator forgotten in all her worrying, buried at the 
bottom of her bag, Minako had not heard the call that came from her 
communicator half an hour before.

***
    
    Every other member of the Sailor Senshi had answered the call, but 
with Sailor Pluto's belated reappearance they converged on the house, 
making their plans there instead of following Sailor Mercury's faint 
lead on Haruka's trail. 
    
    "Where is Venus?" Sailor Moon worried, pacing back and forth as they 
waited for Jupiter to arrive arrived. "I bet she left her watch next to 
her bed again. And Luna! All that talk about responsibility and *she* 
doesn't show up?!"
    
    Though she had been the first to say it they all shared that same 
thought. If one of them could not make it to a call they at least 
answered their communicators, if only to see how critical the situation 
might be. 
    
    Pluto did have and answer for them though, misleading though it was. 
"Minako-chan is already there. She is the reason I know where they have 
taken Haruka-san."
    
    It was not uncommon for Neptune to believe there was something that 
Pluto was not telling them, but it worried her that she should feel it 
now of all times. There was time for clarification later though, as it 
was then that Jupiter appeared.
    
    "Right, I'm here! Sorry. Let's kick some butt! Hey, isn't Venus here 
yet?"
    
    Several of the shook their heads, but Neptune made sure she was the 
one to answer as she led them outside to the back garden. "Sailor Pluto 
can explain in full when we get there."
    
    Sailor Moon nodded, reaching out her hands, and one by one they all 
gathered in a circle on the lawn, each holding the hands of the Senshi 
next to them. "I can't believe the night garden was where they were 
after all," she sighed, before straightening her head and looking to 
the cloudy sky. "Sailor Teleport!"

***
    
    On the motorway leading out of Tokyo Tuxedo Mask rode at breakneck 
speed, weaving through the early evening traffic with skill a 
professional biker like Haruka would have been proud of. It was 
fortunate that whatever power allowed his tuxedo clad alter-ego to 
balance effortlessly on a lamppost conferred the same innate balance to 
him when on his motorcycle, wearing nothing but his magically gifted 
dinner jacket and masquerade piece.
    
    Though he had no communicator Usagi would be sure to keep him 
informed of their fights these days, but it had not always been so. He 
still possessed the intuition of his past, princely self, and as long 
as he heeded that intuition he would find himself exactly where he 
needed to be for her sake.
    
    He looked up to see a rainbow tailed star fly briefly overhead, and 
gunned the engine on his bike.

***
    
    Though the play had ended almost a month before the Midnight Garden 
remained open in the few days remaining before Christmas, and the place 
still managed to turn a crowd, bundled in their winter coats and gloves 
to make the most of any holiday they already had. Sailors Mars and 
Jupiter had been ready to march in through the front gates, but Sailor 
Moon had heeded the others' advice and brought them to rest behind the 
haunted house. Though they knew the place, they still did not know who, 
or what, might have wanted Haruka kidnapped.
    
    None but Sailor Pluto at any rate, and several of them suspected 
that she was not as certain of things as she wished to be, to still 
keep her cards close to her chest.
    
    "So," Neptune ventured, aiming to see her play as many of those 
cards as possible, "where is 'Minako-chan', Sailor Pluto."
    
    Pluto paused, already striding towards the much more mundane rear of 
the building, and she sighed. She had evidently not wished to mention 
it yet. "Minako-chan is with the enemy. She has been working with 
them."
    
    "What!?!" cried several of the younger heroines, their disbelief 
clear.
    
     "I do not know why she was taken," Pluto said, speaking over the 
immediate denials of the others, "or why she agreed to help them, but 
she was, and she did. This is a *blessing*, girls. Even if she has been 
brainwashed or something similar, she is still one of us, and a Sailor 
Senshi. If it was not her, someone else would have taken her place 
among them, I am sure. Be grateful we have an ally in their midst."
    
    Though furious at the thought, Neptune watched as Sailor Moon 
stepped forward, her innocent, naive eyes wet. "But why? Why would she 
do this?"
    
    Pluto's smile was as kind as it was out of place after such a 
revelation. "That is for you to ask *her*. As for the others, and there 
are others, besides Ono-san, they I cannot tell you of. They were taken 
as Haruka was, and we must hope that we are in time to prevent the same 
happening to her."
    
    "The same what?" Saturn asked as they hurried on, her face turning 
from orderly blankness - so unlike Hotaru's - to worry.
    
    Pluto stared straight ahead, leading the march. "Replacing their 
life energy with... something else."

***
    
    The office side of the building seemed empty to Sailor Moon, but the 
few rare technicians or administrators they did meet looked shocked 
beyond belief to see them trooping through their halls. Even worse must 
have been their collective expressions; earnest, tense, worried or 
outright furious. One man let his sheaf of papers slip from his 
suddenly numb fingertips, and Sailor Moon couldn't blame him. Even if 
they were the good guys, many of them only matching his height because 
of their outfits' heels, it must have been a little scary to see them 
all marching through their halls so gravely.
    
    Usagi would not have been able to say. She had never met a Sailor 
Senshi, all suited up and powerful, before she had been one herself. 
But, if she had somehow met an angry Sailor V before Luna had given 
Usagi her transformation pen, it probably would have been a bit scary.
    
    The thought of Sailor V only made her worry more for Minako. She had 
been the first of them to take up the mantle of a Senshi, and the most 
outspoken of them all when they had always announced their pursuit of 
'love and justice'.
    
    Also, if Minako was helping these people, then what about Artemis? 
And if something had happened to him, then was the same thing keeping 
Luna from joining them? Minako would never have allowed something to 
harm them. She loved Artemis like a... very cat-like brother.
    
    Pluto stopped them at the lift, just as its doors opened, and 
ushered them inside. "Sailor Mercury, please send us down."
    
    Mercury looked at the control panel, confused when there was no 
button for a lower floor, until she saw the keyhole. "Understood." A 
few keystrokes on her computer and a lead to the opened elevator panel 
later, and they were descending.
    
    The basement did not look like the dark, sterile laboratory or the 
haunting cavern that she might have expected from Ono Marya's lair. 
There were no theatrics, just plush red carpet and pale lavender walls, 
the same floral seeming, well lit corridors as there were above.
    
    But it sounded like a lair. Muttered voices came from the doorway 
further in, punctuated by faint flashes of pale green light, in time 
with cries that sounded like... 
    
    "Haruka-kun!"
    
    The seven of them dashed to the room in question, only halting 
inside when Sailor Moon stopped in front of them. The caged animals 
around them squeaked and cried louder now that new people had arrived 
to hear them, and eight figures, all wearing simple clothes in black, 
grey and shades of red, stood around the thrumming machine against the 
left wall. Marya stood in the middle of them, her white bat resting on 
a crimson shoulder.
    
    There were not enough of them to hide Haruka, who hung from the 
contraption limp and tired.
    
    "Haruka!" Neptune cried, stepping forward and already bringing up 
her arms to cast her magic, but in turn the two men closest to them 
stepped forward, both looking perturbed, but not in the least afraid.
    
    Sailor Moon's eyes were drawn elsewhere though, to Minako, standing 
beside the woman she recognised as the narrator of the garden's play. 
Sailor Moon raised her hand, reaching out to her.
    
    "Minako-chan."
    
    Her heart lifted when, to Marya's obvious concern, Minako did step 
forward. But only one step. "I'm... sorry, Sailor Moon. I think you 
were right about me."
    
    As if to bolster her resolve Marya stood beside her, a hand on her 
shoulder. Her bat chirruped at them, as if sensing the mood. "We aren't 
finished yet," the business magnate told her other followers. "We can't 
let them interfere."
    
    In turn Pluto stepped past Sailor Moon, turning her eyes to the 
darkly clad group before them. "Is *this* what you wanted to sell your 
lives for? Kidnapping? Theft?" Her eyes past through them, to Haruka. 
"Murder?"
    
    Then, to Sailor Moon's pity, the man in the black tailored business 
suit, Mochizuki Ryuuji, threw back his head and laughed. "Why 
*wouldn't* we? No one has *died*, woman, and what have we stolen? A few 
replaceable baubles and chemicals. And the power?"
    
    He raised his arms and instantly from the shadows came claws of 
darkness to sheath them. "Power like you wouldn't believe, Senshi Pluto! 
Power to make the world right, in the palms of our hands! You may be 
content with committees, politics and compromises, but I'm not!"
    
    A younger girl beside him, Takagi Yuuka, spoke then, but with 
without any of the man's arrogance or defiance. To Sailor Moon she 
seemed almost referential. "Please, Sailor Senshi. We don't wish to 
fight you, because we are working towards the same goals. We can use 
this power to *protect* people. To save lives."
    
    "And it would cost that woman her own life's energy to do so?" 
Mercury asked, analysing their life signs even as she spoke. "The being 
inside of you has not replaced your energy! You are at its mercy!"
    
    "And it asks nothing of us," Marya answered, her eyes now hooded and 
dark. "It never has. I am sorry that our family must cost you another 
Senshi, but for Minako's sake I know she will see that it was worth the 
sacrifice."
    
    "No, I won't."
    
    The voice was faint and pained, but both Marya and Minako turned as 
Haruka spoke.
    
    "I won't leave my girls... or my baby... not for you. This might be 
your choice, Mina-chan," she whispered, full of tired disappointment, 
"...but it's sure as hell not mine. ... Get me out of here, dumpling 
head."
    
    That was the signal, it seemed, and Minako turned away distraught as 
Marya swore on her behalf. "Damn! Keep them back! She will see sense."
    
    The Shadow children surged froward in what little room there was, 
varied shadows engulfing them to protect them or provide them weapons 
to wield, and Sailor Moon's Senshi met them there. It was too cramped a 
room to fight, and the Shadows seemed to have the advantage as they 
leaped and danced around in the confined space, bouncing over 
workbenches and making it difficult for the Senshi to aim their attacks. 
Even Marya waded into battle when Pluto made for her. The bat on her 
shoulder flew for safety as dark claws sprouted from Marya's fingers 
and her face was contorted by shadow into something drawn, fanged and 
sinister. 
    
    But Sailor Moon knew they could not lose, because her companions 
fought to save their friend, and though they fought not all the Shadows 
seemed to want to. Yuuka, the girl who had spoken with such respect, 
never even attacked as she warded Sailor Mercury away from the draining 
apparatus, trying to reason all the while until Mercury could finally 
subdue her. Ryuuji might have fought all out, enough to keep both Mars 
and Jupiter occupied, but several of the others also showed signs of 
hesitation, and with Neptune and Saturn fighting so strongly to reach 
Haruka they would not have been denied success. Even Ryuuji was given 
pause when Saturn, free from Hikari's harassment, brought her Silence 
Glaive down to slice clean through his claws, their tips fading into 
nothingness.
    
    "Marya-sama! The one with the blade, she can cut away the Shadow!"
    
    Sailor Moon did not fight though. As the cacophony of combat swirled 
about them she stood in front of Minako, merely talking. "So, you did 
choose this?"
    
    Minako nodded, teary eyed. "Not at first, but they needed me. I 
didn't feel any different, but they're like family now. I couldn't 
abandon them. I just wanted to do the right thing. And I *brought* half 
of them here! I didn't want it to go like this, Sailor Moon. It's just, 
if *my* Dad died, I'd want to bring him back too."
    
    "And the cats, are they okay?"
    
    "Yes. I... they're in our room here. They would have told you, and I 
didn't want you to see this."
    
    It was heartbreaking seeing one of her closest friends torn up over 
her own feeling like this. She knew that she might lose her, but Sailor 
Moon had to ask. "Do you want to stay?"
    
    And, in the end, it was Minako's loyalty to that kind and 
understanding princess that finally won through. "Not if I have to 
fight you." 
    
    Minako took Sailor Moon's sceptre in her hands, and pulled it to her 
chest. "Okay?"
    
    As far as Sailor Moon was concerned, it had never been more so. 
"Okay."
    
    However, at the back of the room Marya knew exactly was she was 
doing, and cried out to her children to stop them. "She'll ruin 
everything!"
    
    None of her Shadows had the chance to obey. Striding through the 
doorway, his cape flowing in his wake, was Tuxedo Mask. With each 
potential enemy already well in hand he picked his obvious target, and 
from the breast pocket of his jacket he threw his trademark rose. From 
any other hand it would have fallen harmlessly to the floor, but his 
power sent the cut flower unerringly at the glowing crystal that rested 
in its cradle against Haruka's heart.
    
    Marya screamed in despair as the rose embedded itself right through 
the crystal, breaking it and its cradle free of their rails and sending 
them clattering to the floor. Almost immediately Haruka slumped forward, 
the pain subsiding, and the green tendrils of her energy began to leak 
out of the blunt and broken crystal's edges, back towards her.
    
    "No! W-What have you done!?!"
    
    The distraction was enough for Pluto to bring her staff down clean 
on Marya's head and send her sprawling on the floor. Marya scrambled 
over to the cracked and leaking crystal, but the energy inside was too 
dense for the broken mineral to contain. The thing exploded where 
Tuxedo Mask had punctured it, spraying Marya with vicious green 
shrapnel. Energy spewed out in all directions, searching for the bodies 
it belonged to. Marya recoiled, clutching at one bleeding eye, before 
taking the largest of the still leaking pieces and lifting it up to the 
machine's flaring electrodes. "F-Father..."
    
    To Tuxedo Mask that needed to be the end of it. "Sailor Moon! If you 
plan to heal them, now is the time!"
    
    Sailor Moon gave one last nod to Minako, who returned it hesitantly. 
    
    "Moon Healing Escalation!"
    
    Sailor Moon felt the familiar surge of power leaving her, and the 
white flash. She smiled as if faded, only to see Minako wobble in front 
of her and fall limp.
    
    "Minako-chan!" Sailor Moon cried as she caught her. She tapped her 
gently to wake her. It didn't work. Nor did the shake she gave her as 
panic began to set it. "Minako-chan!"
    
    "Over here!" Sailor Mercury ordered, already dragging Yuuka's body 
to the swirl of energy that the crystal had released. Sailor Moon's 
spell had left each of the Shadow children just as limp and lifeless as 
Minako, and Pluto directed the others to help Mercury.
    
    "Their energy is bonded to them strongly enough to revive them," 
Mercury explained, "like a heart crystal will return to its body if it 
is close enough."
    
    True enough, some of that energy was already trailing through the 
air to seep back into Haruka as Sailor Neptune unshackled her, and in 
the thick of that vital miasma Marya was already conscious again, 
though only barely.
    
    The dazed Shadow host looked up to the electrodes, and to see that 
they had carried at least some of that energy up and into the haunted 
house. And with it, flitting black shapes followed suit, leaping from 
the dark corners Sailor Moon had banished them to, crawling upwards 
with quick eagerness. "Is... is that enough?"
    
    All eyes look towards the ceiling, and silence rained for that one 
brief moment, before a crack like God's own thunder shattered the quiet 
and split the building open. Timber and masonry fell from the hole that 
opened in the ceiling, and had they not moved Haruka already she would 
have been crushed as a large wooden box fell with enough weight to 
smash Marya's apparatus apart.
    
    They all staggered back, coughing through the plaster dust, and Mars 
was the first to see what it was that had fallen. "The haunted house 
coffin? It must have been right above you."
    
    Mercury's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Oh no."
    
    She could not say any more before the coffin's lid burst apart, and 
in its dusty, smoking remains stood a tall, regal man, swathed in 
crimson suits and deep, penetrating shadows. 
    
    "Ah, better."
    
    None of them could quite believe that they saw, and Sailor Moon 
watched in awe as the man stepped out of his wrecked coffin. "Um, are 
you alright, mister..?"
    
    Jupiter recognised him at once. "The mannequin?"
    
    "No," Mercury corrected, already correctly surmising who and what he 
was. "It was never a fake."
    
    It was Marya's father, a perfectly preserved corpse, given life by 
the traces of these peoples' energy, and given a will by the nascent 
Shadows that had possessed them, now no longer suppressed by living 
human will and free to exert itself.
    
    "Ah, Marya, you have done quite well. I am at least alive."
    
    Marya smiled up weakly, unable to find the strength to get to her 
feet despite having unwillingly reclaimed so much of her own energy. 
"Father!"
    
    And then Ono Ryu's dead face twisted as the Shadow warped it, eyes 
of pitch blackness and a fanged mouth frowning down at her. "But not 
ideal. You lost so much energy that I *needed*, Marya. Not even nearly 
ideal."
    
    Marya's face fell in horror as the Shadow man's black, clawed hand 
reached down for her, and lifted her up to stand at his height. "Still, 
you can be the first to suffer for that little failing."
    
    "No!" Sailor Moon cried as the man leant forward and bit into 
Marya's neck. He was only there a few seconds, but it was time enough 
for Marya to fall limp, hanging from his left hand. The white bat that 
had escaped in the fight flew up from where it had fallen to swat 
weakly at the man's face, but he dismissed it with a backhand that sent 
it crashing into the computers on the worktop, where it fell limp.
    
    Instead of calling for him to stop as the others had done Sailor 
Saturn took the initiative now the bat had distracted him and stepped 
forward, bringing her glaive down and slicing into the man's back. It 
did not even make it past his shoulder blade before he was gone though, 
vanishing into the air and leaving trailing wisps of blackness as he 
went.
    
    Even though he had disappeared, he was not afraid to speak. "It is 
not polite to interrupt a man's meal, but keep her. I am done with 
her."
    
    They all stood tense, waiting for his sudden reappearance, but it 
never came.
    
    "Mercury?"
    
    Sailor Mercury answered the call and came to check on Marya's now 
limp body. "She's alive, but... only just. The bite doesn't seem to be 
bad, it's more that she has had her energy drained again so soon. I'll 
find a bandage for her neck."
    
    "And Minako-chan?"
    
    "She'll be fine. She'll need a lot of rest, but she'll recover, like 
the others."
    
    Pluto turned to Sailor Moon, her voice still serious. "This time we 
should likely wait for the emergency services. They should already be 
on the way."
    
    Sailor Moon wanted to say something about how Pluto had known what 
was going on there, but she was already tired and the least thing she 
wanted right now was an argument. "Alright."
    
    Sailor Mars took her arm, and Sailor Moon smiled. Mars always knew 
how to make her feel better. "Come on, Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Kamen-san. 
Let's find Luna and Artemis."
    
    The cats, it turned out, were just where Minako had said they would 
be, each in a cat box but both fed and neither the worse for wear.
    
    "Sailor Moon, I was beginning to think you'd never notice we were 
gone," Luna chastised, but very obviously grateful to be freed.
    
    Artemis was far more worried. "Mina, is Mina okay? This wasn't her 
fault. I know it wasn't!"
      
    Sailor Moon nodded, in total agreement with him despite her 
confusion. "She's fine, Artemis. She'll be fine."
    
***

To Be Continued...

***
    
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