UsAgI iS dEaD uSaGi Is DeAd HiP hIp HiP hOoRaY
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so
these characters really belong to them.  I'm just abusing them in a
manner most would describe as nothing short of scandalous.  I hope
nobody sues me for it.  Besides, this disclaimer is starting to 
look silly. :D~~~~~~~~O

Part Six
God's Eternal Waiting Room



	It has been said that a city is a living thing.  It has a
physical form.  It has biological processes that must be satisfied
on a daily level.  If anything goes wrong, then whole segments of
its body can go into shock or temporary decay.  It even has
diseases that render whole parts of its body useless and lifeless.

	This entire idea of a city as an entity hadn't even entered
Minako's mind, not even once (not that a lot ever did) when she
fell into a specimen of the genuine article.

	She seemed to be falling from a great height towards what
looked like a vast cityscape.  Everywhere she looked, in every
direction, it seemed to travel.  On the horizons... not that she
could call them horizons, merely points where the scape faded
into a line of grey-white eternity, she could see the occasional
dot of black.  Below those dots, there were occasional flashes
of colour.  For some reason, she wasn't too enthused about seeing
what produced those flashes up close.

	Although it was unlikely she ever would, considering the
great speed at which the ground was approaching.  She turned to
her left.  Artemis was following her down.  He'd passed out long
ago and was foaming at the mouth.  To her right was Hotaru, who
had seemingly recovered from her recent seizure and was holding
the sides of her head with both her hands, an expression Minako
had trouble reading on her face.  Was it a smile of fear or sheer
joy?  Hotaru looked at her and gave it away.  She was as good as
doing her best to keep her bladder under control.

	Just past Hotaru was Luna, who seemed to be reciting some
ancient prayer.  Of course, Luna had been partly obscured by
Hotaru, and Minako had only been able to see what she was doing
as they passed by the upper mirrored windows of one of the taller
skyscrapers.  For a moment, Minako dared to look down.  The ground
was frighteningly close now.  She reached over to Hotaru and took
her by the hand.

	"Been nice knowing you, Hotaru-chan."  She shouted.
	"You too."  Hotaru replied.

	Then all four plowed through the top of one of the smaller
high-rises.

	I was right, Minako thought, it does hurt like heck.  Then
darkness overcame her.


	Jadeite stood looking out of his loungeroom window at the
figure watching him from the top of the neighbouring apartment
block.  He didn't recognise the girl....  Not the way she looked
now.  At first he thought she might have been another new member
of the sailorsenshi.  Who else may be watching him?  She certainly
resonated the kind of energy a sailorsenshi would give off.  And
yet, for some reason, she felt like something of a maverick....

	The girl disappeared fairly rapidly.  Probably to avoid any
further scrutiny on his part.  He could use his powers to detect
things about people as long as they were within the range of his
vision, and he had a very long range.  Yet she was able to avoid
him with consumate ease.

	"Interesting viewing?"
	"Hmm.  You could say that."
	Jadeite turned to Setsuna, smiling.  "And to what may I
thank this visit by the self-appointed champion of time?"


	Makoto sat, rather depressed, on the step outside the door
to Rei's room at the shrine.  Naru and Chibiusa were quietly
munching on some cake, both a little rattled by Rei's recent
show of emotion over the disappearance of Ami.  Rei, for her own
part, was pacing backwards and forwards in front of her room,
containing a great load of her agitation.

	"Minako's not back yet."  Makoto said, rather needlessly.
	
	"I can see that.  It is pretty obvious."  Rei said silkily,
momentarily pausing in her wanderings to give Makoto a pained
expression.  "This could be REALLY bad.  Hotaru-chan hasn't come
back yet either."
	"One of us should have gone with her.  I hate sitting around
at times like this."  Makoto stood up, punching a fist into her
palm.  Rei shrugged.
	"But you didn't, so shutup and sit down."
	"Oi!"  Makoto took Rei by the shoudler.  Rei shook her off.
	"Are you picking a fight?"  Rei stared at her darkly.  Makoto
shook her head.
	"No, look."  She pointed towards the gate.  Puffing heavily,
and looking frazzled and exhausted, was Aoi.  She leaned against
the side of the gateway, trying to keep her balance as she gulped
great mouthfuls of air down into her lungs.  "That's the woman who
was heading up the investigation into Usagi's....  Um....  Death."
	"What the hell does SHE want?"  Rei said, with concerned
annoyance.  Makoto shrugged and began to walk over to the woman.
	"Dunno, but we better find out, eh?"
	"I dunno if I want to find out."  Rei shook her head.  She
felt strangely light-headed for some reason.


	Usagi watched as Professor Tomoe downed the glass of water,
sitting on the other side of the kitchen table, her chin rested
on her hands.  He finished gulping it and slammed the glass down 
heavily.

	"Hoo, I needed that.  My mouth went all dry just then."

	"Hmm.  You aren't the first person who has fainted when I've
made an appearance today."  Usagi smiled sweetly.

	"Indeed.  By all rights, you should be dead."

	Usagi sniffed and shrugged, seemingly bored now with the
topic, she turned towards the kitchen window nearby and stared out
for several moments, gathering her thoughts together.  It seemed
difficult now.  Something had happened with her not so long ago and
she wasn't sure what it was.  Something really bad.  Lots of people
dying....  She imwardly shrugged as the voice in her mind changed.
They probably all deserved it anyway.  She turned back to Tomoe.

	"I listened to what you said...  to Luna, about Hotaru-chan."
	"Hmm.  Maybe I went a little bit overboard there."
	"Oh no, I think you put your position very succinctly."  Usagi
took the jug of water that was sitting on the table and poured
herself a glass.  "It was most socially inappropriate for those
girls to have done what they did."

	"So you really WERE killed, after all."  Tomoe seemed
fascinated by the proposition.

	Usagi paused for a moment, then shrugged.  "Well....  Killed
is a very... uhhh....  Technical term.  I wasn't dead in the terms
of my ceasing to exist..."  Usagi thought hard about this.  "You
know, its really difficult to say what actually happened to me."
	"You said something before about... your soul, for want of a
better term, being thrown from your body at the moment that beam of
energy struck you...."  The Professor seemed more interested in the
experience than the result.

	"Hmm, yes well, I must have been thrown a short distance from
my body.  What happened at that point, I don't know...."

	A frown came to Usagi's brow.  She tried to remember the
moment clearly.  "I didn't see my body until well after the attack.
Perhaps a good half a minute or so.  The others were looking at me
fairly strangely at that point....  Well, I guess even if you've
planned something like this for a while, and prepared yourself for
what is to come, its a shock to see someone you've called a friend
in the past die in such a manner."

	"I'm still interested in knowing the TRUE motivation for
what they've done."
	"You KNOW the true motivation, Tomoe-sensei.  They wanted to
rid themselves of me."
	"It just strikes me as too simplistic a reason."
	"Hmm, that maybe so.  It doesn't change the fact that they did
it.  And they've involved your darling Hotaru-chan in it."  Usagi
took a swig from her glass and looked over at the Professor.  He
stared down at the table.
	"It'll kill her, Tsukino....  She won't be able to take this
kind of guilt.  And I KNOW she feels guilt.  Her reaction this
morning proved that."

	Usagi nodded.  Hotaru always did have a tendency to keep
herself distant from the decisions of the other senshi.  Either
going along with everyone else because she really didn't know (or
care) about the motivations behind the other senshis' actions,
or she simply didn't play a role in events at all.  Right from the 
start, when Hotaru had started her regrowth, everyone had treated 
her with kid gloves.  Even after the events with Galaxia....  Well, 
it had been such a tortuous beginning, from a psychological point of 
view.  That she'd been able to endure everything relatively
unscathed was nothing short of a miracle.

	Usagi felt annoyed for some reason.  Was she starting to
sympathise with the little bitch?  Of all of the senshi, she was
the most likely to stop her from claiming her revenge.  She and
Setsuna....

	Usagi felt a little twitch in her nose.  Setsuna....  What is
she doing now?  Perhaps it might be time to give the older senshi
a visit....

	Usagi stood, placing her glass aside.  Professor Tomoe looked
up at her.  "What is it, Tsukino?"
	"I'm.... going to look for Hotaru-chan.  I should be back
shortly.  The sooner we remove her from the influence of the others,
the better, do you not agree?"
	"Uh....  Yes, I suppose."
	"Excuse me, Professor...."  Usagi turned to leave, then felt a
kind of presence nearby.  A senshi's presence.  It quickly vanished
and she bit her lower lip.  Tomoe watched her.

	"Is there anything wrong, Tsukino?"
	"No, everything's alright."

	Usagi stepped out of the kitchen, and the Professor waited for
a few moments, until he heard the front door shut.

	"I think she sensed you for a moment."
	"I thought she might.  It surprised me it took her that long."
	"She's not at her best, obviously."

	A red-haired girl appeared in the air, slowly descending to
the floor.  The girl was wearing a simple one-piece dress, patterned
with a floral motif in soft pink.  She wore her hair untied,
although it was obvious to Tomoe that she wasn't used to it being
this way.

	"You were right.  The senshi were involved in her killing."
	"And she has returned.  Also as we said she would."
	"Did she mean it when she said she would look for Hotaru?"
	"Doubtful.  More likely the youma side of her personality is
being cautious.  She's most likely gone to check on Pluto."  The
girl's voice was incredibly soft.  So soft he actually had trouble
following what she was saying.  She continued.  "It would appear
that something has happened to Hotaru.  Even though she arrived at
the shrine, Ami was not there.  She then went in search for her at
the local library, where, I'm lead to believe, Minako had also been
searching."  The girl looked aside.  her face was mostly passive as
she closed her eyes and concentrated on something.  Then she opened
her eyes again and turned back to Tomoe.  "The both of them have
gone missing.  The girl, Mizuno, has been found.  Two of us are in
pursuit."
	"Do you know what might have happened to my Hotaru-chan."
	"Its possible that the Eternal City has come to claim her
earlier than we'd anticipated."
	"No...."
	"In which case, it would have taken Minako as well.  We must
now hurry.  With Saturn in its grip, things were bad enough, but
add Venus to that equation...."
	Tomoe nodded.  Despite his feelings for Hotaru, he knew that
this 'Eternal City' was not likely to give up its quest for his
daughter without being either destroyed or satiated in some way.

	"Then perhaps it is time to involve Pluto in our plan?"  He
said, finally.  The girl blinked and shrugged.
	"She should know whats going on already."
	"As things are going, that may be a bit difficult for her.
The paths to the future are being obscured."
	The girl smirked.  "And its about to get worse."


	Setsuna sneezed for a moment and wondered if someone was 
talking about her.  She tried to think who it may possibly be and 
reached out for the future, only to find it clouded.  She continued 
her inspection of Jadeite's apartment.  He watched as she wandered 
around, touching abjects.  The stereo, the bookcase, the television, 
several ornamental items that ran along a small benchtop.
	"Hmm...  A nice collection you have here."  She said finally,
pointing to some of the ornaments.  "This one here, a fifth century
sculpture from the Silver Millenium.  Never thought I'd see one
in as good a condition again."
	"What can I say?  I like to remember the good old days."
	"Days you helped to bring down."
	"They'll return."
	"Will they?"
	"I'm quite sure you'll see to it."
	"If I could have seen to it, the Silver Millenium would never
have ended.  Not that way, anyway."
	"So what stopped you stepping in?"
	Setsuna shrugged.  "I was on holiday.  So sue me."
	Jadeite chuckled and stepped over to a drink cabinet.  He took
out two glasses and a bottle of scotch.  "A drink, my dear?"
Setsuna said nothing.  Jadeite shrugged.  "I'll take that as a yes."

	Setsuna watched him as he opened the top of the bottle and
poured its contents into the two glasses.  He took one and held it
out to her.  She took it and sniffed.

	"Johnnie Walker Red Label.  It won't kill you."  Jadeite
smiled and sculled his, turning round and pouring another glass.
Setsuna eventually sipped hers, allowing the burning fluid to
run across her lips.
	"I'm more into liqueurs, myself.  Frangelico or Kahlua."  She
sniffed.  Jadeite chuckled.
	"Indeed, a woman of more refined tastes.  Pity this poor, hard 
edged man's preferences."  Jadeite walked over to one of the lounge 
chairs and sat down rather expansively.  "Well, we didn't come here 
to talk antiques and alcohol."

	"Why did you create the Youma Usagi?"
	"Oh, that's what you're here for, is it?"
	"Indeed."
	"Well, she came to me first.  Her spirit, anyway, and she
wanted a body, so I gave her one."  Jadeite chuckled.  "You know,
I was genuinely surprised with myself, actually helping her like
that.  Under normal circumstances, I probably would have told the
little bitch to suffer."  He shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Dear oh dear oh dear.  We really created something of a mess for
ourselves, haven't we?"
	"You realise what she is going to do, don't you?"
	"What, try to kill you?  Yes, I was aware of that possibility,
but in the end, you couldn't have been allowed to get away with the
callous act of her murder."
	"You can call it murder if you like.  It has always been that
way.  You can remember the history of the Kingdom, don't you?"
	"Oh, indeed, I remember it well.  One of the reasons why it
was so easy for Queen Beryl to get a hold of my mind."  He stared
at her bitterly.  "You bloody hypocrites.  I served the Kingdom
because I believed in it, only to find the kind of politics and
backstabbing that TRULY existed within the establishment.  It was 
rotten to the core, utterly corrupted."
	"Is that what you remember?"
	"That is what I know."
	"And how much of that memory is corrupted by your service to
Beryl?"  Jadeite stared daggers at Setsuna.
	"Touche'.  You were always the best in the debating teams."
	"It helps to know what your opponents are going to say."
Setsuna shrugged.  "So, are you going to show me the Spawning
Machine?"
	"Nope."
	"No?"
	"Nope.  Its buggered."
	"What?  Did it explode?"
	"Very much so."
	"I guessed it would.  Didn't think you could insert a spirit
like Serenity's into a youma body and not end up with something
going 'dokkan'."

	"Hmmm.....  Serenity's spirit, you say?"
	"Indeed."
	"And what about the spirit of Tsukino Usagi?"
	"Are they mutually exclusive?"
	"I don't know.  You tell me."
	"Why, what will you do with that information?"
	"What can be done with the information?"
	"Quite a bit, if you are intending to do something.  Are you?"
	"I'm not sure.  Would it be worth my time?"
	"It may be."
	"Then again, we could just verbally joust like this all day."
	"Thats true."

	The pair stared at each other for a long period of time, no
expression crossing their faces.  Jadeite shifted uncomfortably in
his seat.  Setsuna finally broke the silence.
	"Well, are you going to show me the wreckage, then?"
	"Of what?"
	"The Youma Spawning Machine."
	"Why should I?
	"Because I'm asking you to."
	"Make me."

	Pluto slammed her staff onto the ground, the tinkling of its
rings burning into Jadeite's head.  He threw his hands across his
ears, trying to block out the sound, and pitched forward onto the
floor.  His drink spilled across the carpet as he thrashed.
	"Enough!  Enough!  I'll show you!"
	Setsuna smiled and slammed the staff again.  the pain in his
head immediately ceasing.  He scowled at her.
	"Never ever say 'make me' in these kinds of situations.  In
terms of our powers, Jadeite, I have, and will always have, the
upper hand."

	Jadeite turned to look at the mess on the carpet.  "Ah, look
at that.  My housekeepr, Takeo-san, is going to have a fit."
	"Ignore it."  Setsuna felt impatient.
	
	There was a knock on the door as Jadeite got to his feet.
Setsuna turned to the door, then back to him.
	"Are we expecting visitors today?"
	"Obviously.  Didn't you know?  I thought you knew everything."
	"The I missed a detail."
	"Slipping up in your old age."

	Jadeite went to the door and turned back to Setsuna as she
watched him, carefully.
	"I think you'll be a little surprised by this one, Pluto, my
dear."  He chuckled at Setsuna's frown and unlocked the door,
opening it.  "Ah, Kaiou-san, Tennou-kun.  Irasshai.  We have been
waiting for you."
	"We?"  Said Haruka.  Jadeite stepped aside and gestured to
Setsuna.  The pair in the doorway stood with open mouths, staring
at the mirrored expression on Setsuna's face.


	It didn't last very long, the darkness.  The pain was a
different thing altogether.

	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

	The garbled noise ran through her head.  She tried to make
sense of what was being said, but it was merely rubbish talk.

	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

	It was annoying.  She sat up in her chair and realised she'd
been drooling.  She wiped her chin and rubbed her eyes.  She ached
all over, like she'd gone a few rounds with a steamroller in a
boxing ring.

	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

	She looked around for the source of the voice.  All she could
see were the drab gray walls of a darkened office.  No matter where 
the voice was coming from, it sounded like a chant.  For some 
reason, when thinking of it like that, it seemed to make sense.  She 
turned to one side and saw Hotaru sitting face-forward at another 
desk.  It was then that she remembered what had happened.  She had
been falling....  Towards a huge city.

	"Ughn....."  Hotaru stirred and looked up blearily.  She, too,
had been drooling, and wiped her chin.

	"Hotaru-chan...."  Minako slowly stood and sat back down again
after a dizzy spell.  Hotaru watched her for a moment, then rubbed
her arms.
	"Owie...  I'm all sore."  She began to stretch her limbs, then
rubbed her face.  "Where are we?  What happened?"

	Minako didn't quite know how to answer that question.  "Ask me
that when my brain starts to function.  Did you hear something just
as you were coming round?"
	"Hmm...  You mean a kind of chanting?"
	"Yeah, that."
	"I thought that was a dream.  Ohhh, I feel sore all over."
Slowly, Hotaru got to her feet and looked as if she was about to
fall.  Somehow, she stayed up.  For a few moments she looked down
at the desk, then at Minako, an strange expression on her face.
	"Mina-chan, can you stand up for a second?"
	Minako did so, almost pitching forward with a dizzy spell like
the first time.  Like Hotaru, she rode the spell out and stood tall.
Hotaru was now standing beside her.  Looking DOWN at her.

	"Umm, Hotaru-chan, I'd suggest you stop taking that growth
hormone now.  Its getting a little out of hand."
	"Look at me!  Look at me!  I'm taller than Mako-chan!  And 
I've just discovered a fear of heights!"  Hotaru teetered about
on newly-long legs.  "This is BAD.  I've grown so quickly my legs
haven't compensated with bulk.  I might break the things just by
walking...."

	Suddenly Hotaru spasmed, and there was a crunching sound.  For
a moment, Minako thought Hotaru's words had come true, especially
when Hotaru followed up this sound with a chorus of "iiiitaaaaiiii".

	"Hotaru, are you okay?"
	"No, I'm not."
	"What happened?"
	"My body's muscle mass just compensated.  Spontaneously."
	"Ouch."
	"Indeed.  At least I can walk now."
	"But your bones might still be fragile.  Who knows what
happens to bone structure when one undergoes such rapid bodily
development."
	"They become sore and brittle until you take in about a
ton of calcium.  Then they think of becoming useful."  Hotaru
sniffed.  "Something I know well."

	A thought suddenly occurred to Minako.

	"Luna....  Artemis...."
	"Huh?  oh yeah, they came with us, didn't they?"
	"Where the hell are they?"
	"Where the hell are we?"

	Minako shrugged and turned towards the windows of the office,
peering between the mostly-shut Venetian blinds.  "Can't see much
out there.  Looks like an alley between two buildings.  We seem to
be several storeys up."
	"Doesn't help one little bit."  Hotaru turned to the far end
of the office and pointed.  "There's a couple of doors in that
corner.  They have to lead somewhere."  Minako turned as Hotaru
pranced over to the doors like a flamingo.  She hasn't quite
mastered the art of walking with those legs yet, thats for sure,
Minako thought with some satisfaction.  Satisfaction brought about
by the fact that Hotaru was now on the list of all those she had to
look up to.  Minako was always very concious about her size.

	Hotaru opened up one of the doors and peered out.  She then
slammed it shut and leaned against it with her back, a comical
expression of disbelief on her face.

	"What?  What is it?"  Minako frowned.  Hotaru looked aside at
the other door and wondered whether it was worth attempting.  She
steeled herself and opened up the door, peering through into the
darkness beyond.  A little sound came to her throat, and she
slammed that door with equal vigour.

	"This is not looking good."  Hotaru finally said.
	"Why?  Whats out there?"  Minako stepped around the desks and
up to the first door.  Hotaru gestured to Minako.
	"Be my guest to find out for yourself."
	Minako stared at Hotaru, then opened the door and peered out.
The next room was a dingy waiting room, filled with people.  No,
scratch that, filled with twenty versions of the same person.  All
looking up at her from their magazines, books and whatever had been
taking their attention before she made her presence known.

	USAGI.

	Minako slammed the door shut.  For a moment she seemed
flustered and speechless.  She pointed to the door and made a few
comical croaks.  Hotaru simply nodded.
	"Wh...  What the HELL is going on here?"  She finally managed
to get out.  Hotaru shrugged.
	"Thats nothing, wait until you see whats in there."  Hotaru
pointed to the other door.
	"Do I really want to know?"
	"Well, I could tell you, but the impact won't quite be the
same."  Hotaru stood back and gave Minako plenty of room.
	Tentatively, Minako stepped up to the door.  She placed her
hand on the doorknob.  She turned it.  She slowly opened the door.
She peered into the darkness.  She saw lots of bodies lying on
slabs.  Scratch that.  Lots of Usagi's bodies.  She shut the door
rapidly.

	"This is INSANE."  Minako spluttered as she turned back to
Hotaru.  "What is this, some kind of guilt fantasy?"
	"I'm not sure, but did you manage to catch the name of the
other side of the door leading to that 'waiting room'?  'Tomoe
and Aino - Professional Usagi Exterminators'."
	Minako laughed in frustration.  "Why am I second?"
	"Because you're shorter?"
	"Baka."  Minako wandered around the room, putting her hands
on her head.  "I think I'm losing it."
	"Its all our fault.  This was probably created because we
argued over killing Usagi."
	"Oh, thats just great.  What are we going to do?"
	"Kill all those Usagis out there.  Thats what they're
waiting for."
	"What makes you say that?"
	"Well, what else would they be waiting for?  Dental
appointments?  We're supposed to be Usagi Extermination Specialists,
something I think we've been excelling at, lately."
	"I don't want to argue about that, okay?  Not here, not now."
	
	There was a shuffling sound, and a muffled voice.  Minako and
Hotaru stared at each other, then looked back at the desks.  Slowly,
they stepped over to the other side of the desks and opened the top
drawers.  Luna appeared from Hotaru's, Artemis from Minako's.

	"And about time, too!"  Luna stretched, slowly climbing from
the drawer.  "How long were you going to leave me in there?"
	"I didn't know you were in there."  Hotaru groaned.  Luna
sniffed contemptuously as Artemis stepped out of his drawer and
kissed it.
	"Oh blessed ground, thou shall never again be forsaken."  He
sprawled across the desk and stretched.  "Where are we?"  he looked
up at Minako.

	"Would you like the long version or the abridged version?"
Minako said, cynically.  Artemis looked quizzically at her.  Luna
sniffed contemptuously.
	"Try the abridged version.  It usually works."
	"Okay.  We're in the office of the Tomoe and Aino Usagi
Extermination Agency, there are twenty plus Usagi's sitting outside
that door waiting to be exterminated and an unknown number of dead
Usagi bodies lying in a dark room through the other one.  I don't
know where this office is as I can't see anything but buildings
outside the window, and no, I don't recognise them."

	Luna and Artemis stared at her.  Minako and Hotaru sighed.
This was going to be a very LONG day.


	There were police blocking the entrance to the morgue, even
though there was nobody within.  Nobody alive, anyway.  It was not
enough to stop a determined sailorsenshi, however, from poking her
nose into its silence.

	She'd found her way to the morgue without any difficulty.  The
staff of the hospital seemed pretty distracted by something big
happening in the outside world.  There was a kind of a preparation
for an emergency situation, and nobody seemed to bat an eyelid at
a young woman, wearing a sailorfuku with ornamental attachments,
walking into the front lobby of the hospital.  All except a drunk
who had been in for alcohol toxemia, and he thought he was having a
dose of the DT's anyway.

	She wandered through the corridors of the hospital, finding
fewer and fewer people as she went along.  She thought that it was
unusual...  Although there were likely to be fewer people about
the further one got from the public entrance, it seemed as if
something had drained them away from their complacency.  Whatever
the emergency had been, she supposed.

	She'd reached the morgue entrance and soon wondered why she had 
taken the long route.  It was near the rear entrance, with almost 
nobody hanging around except the security guard and the two officers 
guarding the morgue itself.  The discreet doorway for the messy cases, 
Ami sniffed with distaste.  Usagi would have found her way through 
that door only yesterday.

	Ami hid herself around the bend in the corridor that lead to
the morgue entrance, and watched the officers standing bored.  One
tossed a now-empty coffee cup into the waste paper bin sitting
nearby.

	It had been pathetically easy for her to distract the two.  
Throwing her voice was a trick she'd learnt in the recent past, 
mostly from Haruka.  Haruka described it as one of her best party 
tricks.  And, well, Ami felt so devoid of the usual offensive 
capacities the others had, anything would come in handy.

	Not that it had been too hard to freak the police out,
imitating a ghost near the entrance to the morgue.  They pricked
up their ears as she began the heavy breathing and sobbing,
following it up with a strangulated scream.  They ran for it.
Most unprofessional of them, Ami thought.  For a moment, she
wondered if the security guard was going to see what the commotion
was.  But he was asleep in the office by the entrance.  She
wondered if the windows to the office were soundproofed for him
not to hear the two officers scampering away in fear like they
did....

	She pitied the pair, not obviously used to the job of
guarding a crime scene full of the dead.  Even she wasn't too sure
about walking in there, herself.  She pushed herself along the
wall in the short entrance corridor.  A single fluorescent light
cast an eerie glow across the room.  There was a buzzing in the
main room that sounded like fridge, a macabre thought considering it
came from the 'cold store'.  She ignored it, but still felt a sense
of chill within the room, as if some angry spirit was going to
punish her for violating this sacred place.

	She cast that thought from her mind and moved along towards
the opening of the cold-room.  Its plastic curtain that normally
hung down the entrance was held aside by large clips.  She could
feel the coldness from within.  She had trouble keeping her
stomach in check as she creept into the raided tomb.

	The table sat where it had earlier in the day, a pool of
coagulated blood sitting in its centre.  So much so that it matched
the death wound inflicted upon Usagi.  Only, she wasn't there.

	Beside the table lay, where it had been dropped, the sheet
that had covered Usagi.  Ami studied it for a moment and took out
her computer.  After a few moments of button-pressing, she'd
confirmed that the blood on both the table and the sheet were
Usagi's.

	It almost looked like Usagi had simply got up and walked off.
Ami shivered at the thought.  Surely the powers that had been
invested in her were not so powerful that they could defy death
like this.  Then again, they had once, after the battle with Beryl.
She'd even brought them all back to life, more than once....

	Ami tried not to think of death, but it was difficult.  There
had been times in her life when she felt she would genuinely welcome
its sweet release from all the loneliness she'd had to endure.  When
she HAD finally died, it had not been quite the end she'd expected
it to be.  Why, then, was she so concerned about it this time?

	Because, perhaps, this time might truly be The End.  Not some
stopgap to the next stage in her life.

	Ami heard noise coming from outside the entrance to the
morgue, and panicked....


	Makoto sat, legs spreadeagled, arms flopped to the side,
staring into space, against the wall.

	Rei did pretty much likewise against the side of her bed.

	Naru was curled up in one corner of the room.

	Only Chibiusa seemed mildly capable of saying anything, still
sitting at the table.  "What?  So you're trying to tell us she's
come back from the dead, and is real mad, or just plain loopy, or
something like that?"  Her bluntness stung the other three.  Aoi
sniffed, having thrown off her suit jacket, leaning tiredly over the
other side of the table.

	"She killed a good two thirds of everyone who were in the
station at the time.  I don't know why, but I could see it
happening.  In my mind, so to speak.  I was also capable of reading
her mind...."

	"And thats how you know we were responsible for her death?"
Rei said quietly.  The three older girls seemed to be in something
close to a state of shock.  Aoi stared at Rei without feeling.
	"Yes."  She said simply.  "And about your 'other' identities.
It most disappointed me, to see you involved in something like this.
You'd, for so long, been thugging on people and groups who had given
us sufficient headaches in our attempts to catch them.  We were
rather grateful when a gang of semi-competent vigilantes stepped on
to the scene, even if you were young girls running around in short
skirts.  It had the lechers at the station going for a while..."
She almost laughed at that point, then looked down.  "Most of them
are dead, now."

	"What should we do?"  Naru asked softly.  Aoi and Rei turned
to her.
	"Isn't it obvious?  We have to stop her before she kills us
and half the city.  In the state of mind Aoi tells us she's in,
she could do anything."  Rei rubbed a hand over her mouth.  She
hated messy things like this.
	"That means we'll have to kill her again, doesn't it?"
	"Yes, that's a possibility."  Aoi replied to Naru's question.
	"I don't know if I can handle that.  Not going through that
again.  It was bad enough to see her die the first time."  Naru
shivered and curled up even tighter.
	"I agree.  I don't want to do that again.  I can't do that
again.  And all I did was lead her to her death...."  Makoto's
face began to quiver.  "I don't want to kill her.  But I don't
want to die.  Oh shit, I hate this."  Tears started running from
Makoto's eyes, and Rei turned on her angrily.
	"Don't start with the waterworks now.  You're the one who
called her a useless moron last night."
	"I was DRUNK.  I said things I shouldn't have...."
	"They were what you wanted to say, deep down."  Aoi turned
to Makoto, and the tall girl looked at her.  Aoi was smiling.
Makoto felt like wiping that smile from her face with a fist.

	There was a polite tap at the doorframe, and they all turned.
Mamoru was standing in the doorway, a blank expression on his face.

	"It seems rather noisy in here, does it not?"  His voice was
an almost unnatural sing-song, and Aoi's expression went dark.  Rei
stood and walked over to him, gesturing for him to come in.
	"We have something rather important to tell you, Mamo-chan.
I'm afraid its not good news."  Mamoru stepped in and looked at the
expressions on everyone's faces, then zeroed in on Aoi.
	"Who's this?"  He asked.  Aoi stood as Rei gestured to her.
	"This is Captain Kikotsuka Aoi, the woman who was assigned to
head up the investigation team into Usagi's death."
	"Ah, I see."  Mamoru said flatly.  "Well, its a shame we meet
under such unpleasant circumstances."  Mamoru held out his hand.
Aoi looked at it for several moments, then, smiling very slightly,
she took Mamoru's hand.

	There was an explosion of great dimension.  The entire Hikawa
shrine was enveloped in an iridescent pink ball of flame.


	Orderlies began to wheel in body after body into the morgue.
Rikai, the DCI for the neighbouring police district, stood and
watched as the bodies of his colleagues filled up the otherwise tiny
room.  Many of them were so mangled as to be beyond recognition.
It had taken an awfully long time to collect this many bodies from
the scene of the devastation at the local Police HQ.  A terrorist
attack, some were calling it, by a young blond chick named Tsukino
Usagi, who just so happened to be the same girl who'd gone missing
from the morgue only half an hour before.

	Yes, a very interesting case.  He hoped nobody put him on it.
He had enough problems with his marriage already.

	The two officers that had been assigned to watch over the
morgue were standing behinf him, rather sheepishly.  He'd bawled
them out about their pathetic superstitions as the bodies began
their production line inside.  The sight was more than enough for
the pair, so he'd decided to go easy on them.

	It took a good half an hour to finish piling all the bodies
in.  And pile was literally something they had to do, as all the
freezing cabinets were full.  Many ended up in the coldroom beyond.
It was going to be a big night for the coroner, thought Rikai.

	"Hey, who forgot to take the clothes off this one?"  Said one
of the orderlies, pointing to a body lying in one of the freezers.
His senior, an young intern, snapped at him.
	"If there is a body in there, then leave it alone.  Don't ask
me why they left the clothes on.  Modesty, perhaps.  We don't have
the time to worry about that kind of crap now, not with what's going
on out the front."  He gestured to his charges to move out.  The
oderly standing behind the freezer with the clothed body shook his
head and pushed the tray in, half closing the door before running
around the trays of bodies and out of the room.  Rikai stopped the
intern as he made his way out.

	"How long will it be before you manage to get anything done
with this lot?  I mean, you can't just leave them in here like 
this."  The intern sniffed.
	"The room will be sufficiently cool enough to keep them all
fresh for you guys.  We have people checking out the other nearby
hospitals in the hope we find somewhere to take up the numbers.
Right now, we have the living to worry about, and there are enough 
of them to make it easy to forget about this lot."  The intern
pointed to the bodies and walked on.  Rikai sighed and stared at
the forest of corpses, rubbing a hand over his eyes.  he was
getting too old for this.

	Rikai snapped his fingers at the two officers.
	"Stay.  And this time, do your job properly."  They saluted
and he walked off.

	It was only two minutes later that they heard the noise again.
The soft, sobbing moans of a young woman.  They turned to the morgue
and watched in horrified fascination as one of the freezer doors
swung open.  Slowly, the tray began to slide out, revealing the body
of the girl.  She sat up stiffly, and turned to them in a zombie-
like fashion.

	They scarpered.

	Ami got down from the shelf, shivering.  She hadn't realised
how cold the freezers actually were, even with the door partially
open.  It wasn't the best idea she'd had to hide, but she really
couldn't think up anything better at the time.  What made it even
worse is that she had to detransform fro Mercury to achieve this
task.  She could, at least, have gotten away with things if she
had her normal clothes on.  Her senshi fuku, however, was a
different story.

	She made a short, sharp transformation back into Mercury and
began to weave her way through the bodies.

	Something grabbed her arm.  She turned.  One of the bodies
was sitting up.  Its charred flesh holding her arm tightly....
	"Help....  Me...."  It croaked as it leaned forward.  Ami,
to her horror, found that the person was not, in fact, dead.  "H...
Help me...."  It continued to croak.  Ami pulled her hand away as
the body began to fall back, crashing against the tray and sliding
off.  Ami stared at the victim in horrified fascination as he
clambered weakly on the floor, then went still.  Ami looked around
at the multitude of bodies....  They were all speaking, now, as if
alive.  They were all reaching out for her...  Wanting her to join
them...  Knowing that she would join them.  Her life smashed like
an insect in Usagi's twisted fury.  Ami shook her head, madly.  No,
she didn't want to die.  Not like that, she didn't want to die.  She
put a hand to her chest...  The chest Usagi would blow clean out
with her power.  She shook her head wildly and turned, madly
scampering past bodies, banging into trays.  Tears of fear and
madness flying from her eyes as she skidded into the outside
corridor, banging hard against the opposite wall.  She made for the
rear exit, running past the newly-asleep security guard, and fled
the confines of the hospital.


	Usagi had been quite happy to use the clothing stored in the
shower-room, until she discovered that each item had a name tag
attached to it.  A name tag with a deceased tag on it.  The clothes
belonged to those who had died.

	Overcoming her initial distaste, Usagi had done her best to
disguise herself, allowing her hair to fall back naturally rather
that have it tied up like she normally would, she put on a jacket,
dark glasses and a large, wide-brimmed hat.  Upon the first
inspection in the mirror, she decided that she looked like someone
trying to conceal their identity.  She really didn't know what else
to do so stepped out as is.

	It had been a short walk from the changing room to the front
lobby.  She'd managed to get through as best as she could, and
felt fortunate that something major was going on, so that most were
distratced anyway.  That was, until she started passing through the
groups of patients in the lobby.  She felt a hand on her shoulder.

	"Hoi, you."  Said a voice she didn't recognise.  She turned
aside to the large man, his other arm tied up in a sling.  "Y...
YOU!"  He said loudly, gathering the attention of everyone in the
lobby.

	"Me?"  Usagi croaked.
	"You!"  He replied.
	"What about me?"  She continued to croak."
	"Tsukino Usagi, you BITCH!"  He tried to take her by the arm,
but she dodged him and made for the front doors.

	"STOP HER!  THAT'S THE GIRL!  THE ONE WHO CAUSED THIS!"  The
man continued shouting.  Several guards and police blocked Usagi's 
path before she got to the doors.  Suddenly she stopped and pointed
outside.
	"LOOK!  IT'S HAYASHIBARA MEGUMI, DOING A STRIP!"  She shouted.
The guards and police spun around.
	"Where?  Where?"  Said one.
	"I don't see her."  Said another.

	In the meantime, much to the frustration of Akunatsuka, Usagi
slipped between two guards and made her way out of the building
grounds.

	"Ano BAKA!"  He said, putting his solely useful hand to his
face.  It had been a pretty bad day all round for him.  He still
hadn't been able to find Kikotsuka, and now THIS.  He watched
mutely as the guards took off after Usagi, but it was too late.  She
was quick on her feet for someone who was supposed to be dead, he
thought.

	Another pair of maddened eyes were watching this scene from
the top of the hospital.  She quickly went in pursuit of Usagi.


	Usagi must have run some good distance, because, despite its
height, she couldn't see the hospital when she stopped.  She had
found a small garden area in which to hide as she heard sirens
emanating from the hospital.  This was NOT looking good, she
thought.  Setsuna had given her NO plan of action per how to get
out of hospital, and what to do once she did.  She leaned against a
tree as a police van went flying past the garden.

	It was her biggest mistake.  She hadn't noticed the figure
crawling through the canopy of the trees above her.  The girl landed
on top of her, knocking her to the ground.  Automatically, Usagi
gripped the figure and pitched her forward.  The girl came crashing
down on her back but was fairly quickly on all fours, gritting her
teeth, muderous intent in her eyes.

	"A....  Ami-chan?"  Usagi croaked.
	"Bitch!  I'll kill you for what you did!"
	"What..."
	"All those people at the police station.  All those innocent
people...  I'll never forgive you."  Ami charged forward.  Usagi
managed to step aside at the last moment and trip up the blue-haired
girl.  She fell face-forward, but was again to her feet rapidly.
She was almost salivating with mad anger.  By the expression on her
face, Usagi could see that Ami was not going to listen to any
protestations.  Usagi couldn't understand why she was being blamed
for something that happened at a police station....

	That man, to one who tried to grab her.  He knew her by sight.
And the emergency that was going on at the hospital....  What
happened at this station....  whatever it was, she was sure she
didn't want to know.  She felt it may be wise to transform herself
into Sailormoon.  That was, she'd at least be able to withstand
Ami's attacks, and get to the bottom of this problem.

	Only it didn't happen.  She'd said the transformation speech
and nothing happened.  Even without the avatar of one of the items
she used, she was still capable of transforming when she felt the
need to do so....  So why not now?

	She didn't have time to ponder this situation.  Mercury
charged her, swinging an arm that collected her throat.  Usagi let
out a short cry as Mercury dragged and drove her into a tree.
Usagi fell face-forward, disoriented.  Mercury spun and lifted a
speared hand above Usagi's back.  She drove the hand forward, but
Usagi dodged it in time, running aimlessly away as Ami struggled
to pull her hand from the ground, jammed in a good foot or so.

	Usagi jumped from the retaining wall of the park onto the
footpath and made a break for it.  All things considered, she
thought, she had been VERY lucky to get this far.


	"How COULD you associate yourselves with this man?"  Setsuna
shook her head in disbelief and Haruka snorted with contempt.
	"We do what we like, Setsuna.  we don't have to live by the
moral guidelines that you set up for us."  Haruka looked like she
was ready to deck Setsuna, even though she understood why she was
so angry.  Michiru held Haruka's arm, trying to keep her under
control.  Jadeite watched the proceedings with some mild amusement.

	"This man used to be our ENEMY.  We're not sure if we can
trust him now, especially after what he has done."
	"How were WE supposed to know he would use the Youma Spawning
Machine to create a new Usagi, utilising her spirit.  I mean, is
that even possible?"  Haruka turned to Jadeite.  "I know our spirits
are strong, but still, once we're dead, we have barely enough energy
to affect the events of this world, let alone run around like you
said she was supposed to have."

	Jadeite shrugged.  "I can't say no when a young girl's spirit
asks me to help her.  I am a chivalrous individual, despite what you
think of me.  I had a method of giving her a body, and so she
received one."

	"Yes, but with the Youma Spawning Machine?  Who knows what
you'd get combining her spirit with the kind of spiritual influence
one had with a Youma's body."

	Setsuna shook her head.  "Still doesn't answer the question of
why the pair of you were associating with this man."

	It was Michiru who answered.  "We thought it best to make
connections with individuals who had the power and capacity to be
good sources of information in reference to any attacks upon our
good selves.  Is there anything wrong with that>"

	"No, but...  Jadeite?  Why Jadeite?  Why HIM of all people."
	"Technically, you can say that I came to them, not the other
way around."  Jadeite shrugged.  "I felt some need to help you in
your great cause.  After all, I used to be a member of the Kingdom,
regardless of how our time ended."

	Setsuna stared at him, a blank expression on her face.  "So
what?  You expect us to take you back into the fold, just like
that?"
	"Hmmm....  Maybe."  he shrugged.  Setsuna was about to bawl
him out when the door to his apartment was blown in.  They all 
held their arms across their eyes as dust and splinters flew in
their direction.  They could hear coughing from the doorway and
turned to see a familiar figure standing there.

	"Aww jeez, so much for the dramatic entrance."  Usagi said
as she stepped in.  "Hi Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru."  She waved to
them, smiling sweetly.  "I see you're popular with the opposite
sex here, Jade-chan."

	Jadeite smiled.  "Well, you could say that."
	"Mind if I join you?  I have this real itch to start killing
some of them."  She didn't stop smiling.  It was the most macabre
smile Setsuna had ever seen.  Jadeite chuckled.

	"Well, maybe not in here, Usagi-chan.  Follow my spiritual
signal and I'll find a place where we can all get nicely acquainted,
okay?"
	"Okay."  Usagi put her hands nehind her back and watched as
Jadeite began an incantation.  Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru had been
too distracted by Usagi's arrival to notice what her was doing.  By
the time Setsuna registered, it was too late.

	"Wait, Jadeite....  Don't...."  All four of them disappeared
from the apartment.  Usagi watched them go, her smile not fading
from her lips.
	"He's such a considerate man."  She said.  She looked back at
the doorway.  "Must fix his door for him.  Don't want anyone
stealing his belongings."
	The door reformed back into a closed position.  Usagi lifted
up her arms and stretched.  "Ah, it feels so good to finally give
these powers a real run."  Up until now, Usagi felt like a Porsche
keeping to the speed limit.  Oh well, time to let rip.

	She vanished, making chase of the foursome.


	The other Usagi was out of breath as she reached a park by a 
canal.  After a cursory look back she stopped and leaned against a 
tree, puffing heavily, holding her chest with her other hand.  She 
hated anything that required even the smallest modicum of strenuous
physical activity, as it was usually painful to recover from.  It
was for her, anyway, and she was only into things that involved
purely hedonistic activities.  She felt hungry.

	Why didn't I transform?  She pondered over this sudden turn
of events.  I have my power, she thought, resurrecting Setsuna
proved that, and yet I wasn't able to transform...

	Maybe the loss of the Ginzuisho, whatever had happened to it,
has caused some latent effect....

	She didn't have time to think about it as Mercury came
hurtling into her from nowhere.  Usagi was sent flying into the
canal, landing in the muddy water face-forward.  Even as she got to
her hands and knees, Mercury was there, kicking her in the side of
the head.  Usagi was thrown against the sloped side of the canal,
flat on her back.  She felt bones shattering in her arms, legs and
ribcage as Mercury leapt from the water, landing on top of her.  The
look of pain and fear on Usagi's face as she grabbed her by the
collar made her pause for a moment.

	A...  Ami-chan..."  Usagi choked as tears trickled from her
eyes.  "Doushite?"
	"You...  I won't let you kill me that way.  BITCH!"  Ami's
face hardened as she struck Usagi across the chin with the full
force of her right hand.  Usagi flew out of the canal and was
buried into the facade of the nearest apartment block.  Usagi
slowly peeled out of the indentation and fell to the ground,
groaning and bleeding profusely.  Mercury's few short, vicious
attacks rendering her totally helpless.

	She felt herself being grabbed and thrown onto her back,
Mercury haunched over her, holding her by the throat.
	"You HAVE to die.  If I don't kill you, you'll kill us all.
I don't think this...  I KNOW this.  I know this to be true."  Her
grip on Usagi's throat increased, and Usagi felt her throat being
crushed.  She tried to reach up to fight against Mercury's maddened
throttling, but found her arms refusing to do as she bidded.

	Mercury squeezed, tighter and tighter, easily shaking off the
efforts of Usagi to buck and kick her way out of the situation.  She
drooled and sweated madly as Usagi began to fade.

	"You're finished, Usagi!  Finished!"  She croaked out as
Usagi's eyes glazed over.  Then she went still.

	Ami stood up, breathing heavily.  She stared at her handiwork.
The a slightly manic smile came to her face.  "I...  I did it!  All
on my own!  I killed Usagi!"  Mercury began to laugh insanely, and
ran from the scene.

	"I don't have to die!  I won't have to die after all!"  She
disappeared over the nearest buildings.

	Usagi's body lay for a couple of minutes, still bleeding even
though her heart had stopped.  Two figures jumped from the top of
the apartment block and stood beside her, staring at her without
emotion.

	"We might have stopped her."  Said the green-haired one.  Her
blue-haired partner shrugged.
	"Not our job to police the personal ineptitude of the inner
circle."  She said in her mousy tone.  She sniffed and pointed to
the body.  "Shall we take this piece of meat to Pluto.  I'm sure
she'd be thrilled to see it."
	"I'm not having her bleed on me."
	"Have it your own way."  The blue-haired one stepped around
Usagi and lifted her up underneath the arms.  "WANDERING MIND
TRANSPORTATION!"  She said, and flashed out of existence, taking
Usagi's body with her.

	The green-haired one turned back to where Mercury disappeared.
She shook her head.  "Guess I'll just have to work on Mercury,
then."  She sniffed with contempt.  Inner senshi, you just can't
rely on them.

END OF PART 6


Notes

Well, thats the real part 4 now finished.  Everything I wanted to do
with that chapter is now down and written.  Next, in chapter 7, you
shall get the opening stanza of the original chapter 5.  This is all
very confusing, I'm sure, but it shall all make sense in the end, I
promise you.  I think.

In the next chapter, Usagi lets fly, taking on three outer senshi.
Meanwhile, Aoi, Rei, Makoto, Naru and Chibiusa must fight a being
that is not quite who they expected it to be.  And Minako and Hotaru
start killing some Usagi's....  In a purely businesslike manner, of
course.

Any comments, criticism and outright abuse should go to 
ayanami@merlin.net.au

I haven't received any abuse yet.  With any luck, I won't.  Now I've
laid down the challenge, I'll probably get monster laods of it, 
especially from all the Ami fans out there.  ^_^

DDFA