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, except ones I made up.  You
know who they are!  They're the ones that run around doing bad 
things to the original cast.  ^_^  Well, most of them, anyway.

Warning - Some of the violence in this is a little extreme.  It also
has language, and I'm not talking Kazakhstani here.  Well, you have
been warned.

Ah, the strains of non-linear storytelling.


Part Fourteen
Out of the Blue I



	HOMEWORLD, VALLES DE TESSUP - THE PRESENT

	"Does it still hurt, my lady Galaxia?"  Sentinel watched as
his mistress wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hide the 
expression on her face from him.

	"The pain is tolerable.  Bear it no heed."  She replied.
She slowly unfolded her arms and turned to him.  "There are times
when it seems to get worse.  Although this is probably my 
imagination at work."

	Sentinel stood in the doorway to Galaxia's private compartment
within the transport.  A room with large clear-diamond windows 
lining either side, with carpeted floors and exquisite seating that 
looked more like beds.  The vessel itself was powered by her, and
could carry up to one hundred people.  Today it carried just five.
There were very few people left on the Homeworld to act as Galaxia's
court.

	He had entered the compartment to check on her state.  Galaxia
was an extremely imposing figure....  Although not particularly 
tall, the powers she contained radiated an aura of authority that
was without comparison.  It was only a few who truly knew the price
she paid for containing them.

	"And how are the others, Sentinel?  Are they comfortable?"
	"Indeed, my lady.  They are a bit upset at having to leave the
guard duty of their princess so rapidly, however."
	"As one would expect of them.  Senshi of their world are
vociferously loyal beasts."  She smiled.  "Reminds me of my old
personal guard.  Did you ever have the opportunity of meeting any of
them?"
	"No, my lady."
	"Pity.  I do believe one or two of them were reborn as Senshi
and Miko on other worlds.  After the Great Collapse, of course."
	"Was that before or after the Sailor Wars?"
	"What, the Great Collapse?  No.  The Sailor Wars reached their
peak long before the Collapse."  Galaxia stepped over to one of the
windows and stared out.  Now, the Sun of Night ruled.  The sky was
dark and the landscape glowed an iridescent blue.  "Do you know what
its like, seeing so many of your own kind fighting and killing each 
other?"
	"No, my lady.  There have been no intersenshi conflicts during
this current lifetime."
	"It was ridiculous, you know.  Petty little squabbles turning
into feudal conflicts.  It got to a point where you could start a
war just by looking at someone the wrong way."  She turned back to
Sentinel and grinned mischievously.  "They never did with me, 
though.  I wonder why."

	Sentinel smiled.  It was good to see his lady's spirits were
still reasonably high, all things considering.  It had been he who
had found Galaxia, wandering the eastern plains of the Ishtmael
Peninsula.  Although he'd recognised her immediately, she had not
been in a good state of mind, and thus her appearance was 
dishevelled.  She was malnourished and dehydrated.  From what he'd
been able to get out of her, she'd wandered the plains for weeks,
having experienced some form of revelation.

	And that had been all she would tell him.  Of course, she 
said, it was destiny that he, of all people, should have found her.
He had been born a senshi, even though he didn't know at the time.
His contact with her brought out his identity....  As Sailor 
Sentinel, the High Apprest of the Palace Guard.

	He watched as she turned back to the window, staring at the
dim blueness.

	"I have never been good during the hours when the Sun of Night
reigns.  Do you know why?"
	"No my lady."  Sentinel raised an eyebrow to the question,
slowly stepping over to her side.
	"It has to do with the formation of the Homeworld Kingdom.
With there being two suns came the necessity for two Queens."
	"Two Queens?"  Sentinel's mouth dropped.  But...  Only you
have ever ruled from this world."
	"A visible Empress.  As visible as the land during the Sun of
Day that guides my being.  The other....  She is as intangible and
strange as this world becomes under the gaze of the Sun of Night."

	Sentinel stared out at the blue landscape.  The light only
seemed to make the darkness all that much brighter....  The shadows
that could hide a million terrors, or be the eyes of a being equal
in power to Galaxia.  He shivered at the thought.

	"Where is she now, this... other Empress."
	"Who knows.  Ever since the day of the ceremony, she has 
refused the constraints of a body.  Most of the time."  She turned,
looking in the direction the transport was heading.  "Ah, we're
nearly there."

	Sentinel followed her gaze, and opened his eyes wide.  "Its...
Incredible.  It must be twice the size of the Palace!"
	"You underestimate, Sentinel.  It is THREE times the size of
the Palace."

	Sentinel shook his head.  Illuminated in the ghostly light was
a monolith the size of a small moon....  A vast collection of towers
and castles, linked together within high battallions and walls.

	"The Keep of the Cauldron."  Galaxia said simply.  "Here we
shall find the army we require to take on the Grey Queen."



	MINAKO - THE MIND

	Minako had never really thought long and hard about the
concept of death.  She had always accepted it as something that
happened at the end of one's life.  It never occurred to her that it 
may actually happen to her one day.

	And then it did.  Rather suddenly, in fact.

	Not that she remembered very much about the experience.  A lot
had been erased from her memory due to the wish by Usagi to become a
normal girl after the defeat of Metallia.  Time was momentarily sent
spiralling backwards, to a point where she never became Sailorvenus.
Only she WAS Sailorvenus....  Or, at the very least, the world
seemed to remember the Sailorsenshi and Sailorvenus along with them,
only she didn't know that she was, until her memories returned.  Of
course, had the Sailorsenshi never existed in the first place, how
did the world remember them....

	She hated insoluable time paradoxes.  She'd meant to ask 
Setsuna about it, but decided against it.  The elder senshi would
probably confuse the issue even further by launching into a tirade
of mindless temporal technobabble.  Either that or give her an 
enigmatic expression and flare her nostrils.  Minako found the way
Setsuna's nostrils flared to be particularly scary.


	And then she died again.  This time simply ceasing to exist
after having her star seed taken by Galaxia.  Or was it Chaos?  And
was she really dead if her star seed was such an important aspect of
her existence?  If her star seed existed, then she must have still
been around....

	Whatever the case may be, both experiences were less than she
had anticipated.  Her initial expectations for the afterlife were
somewhat grandiose....  As only Minako could make them.  She even
had visions of starting up a Sailor V line of fashions for the
dearly departed....  Well, you had to do something in the long
expanse of eternity.

	That was the key word in it all.  Eternity.  She'd once read
about the 'Death of Forever', how the human concept of things
going on without end was self-deception....  For some reason, the
idea sent chills through her.  She wanted to go on forever.
Everyone wanted to go on forever.  As a Sailorsenshi, with a history
of reincarnation, it seemed a distinct possibility.  To be born over
and over again....  Well, she could only remember the two lives, and
not very much of the last one....  But the idea, of reincarnation
without end, had settled comfortably in her mind.  The idea that it
may not be so frightened her.

	But then, she was Minako.  She never thought too deeply about
things.  Wasn't that what people had come to expect from her?  Light
in the hair and light in the head.  The philosophical deep thinking
was best left to Rei, Ami, Setsuna etcetera....

	So why did she think about such things so much?  Why was she
always hiding her fears behind a mask of silly playfulness and
shallow thinking?  The answer was clear.

	She was afraid to die.  

	REALLY die.  Total cessation of existence.  When she was
brought face to face with the vision of her death at the hands of
Usagi....  Being beaten to a bloody pulp, then held from the top of
a building by her throat until her neck snapped, her corpse dropped
to smash into a shattered pile of flesh, blood and bone....

	The visions trawled through her mind for those fears, drawing
them out, feeding them, allowing them to grow and flower.  In the
space of six months, Minako's feelings of friendship towards Usagi
took a battering.  And, eventually, she agreed with the others that
the rules concerning the succession of the Princess should be called
into play.  In short, kill Usagi before she killed them.

	They were a crazy few weeks, where they had planned the 
execution.  They seemed unreal, somehow trying to convince the 
normally suspicious Usagi that nothing was going on....  To convince
themselves that they were doing the right thing....  They were going
to kill Usagi.  They were going to kill someone, in cold blood, 
period!  It was against everything they had stood for, and yet she
felt a strange sense of thrill, of excitement....  She wasn't going
to die!

	Of course, things were never as simple as they seemed.



	TOKYO - THE PRESENT

	Minako looked down from the top of the building upon which she
had landed.  The fall from the dimensional breach had rendered her 
unconcious.  By the time she came to, she was lying on top of this 
building, feeling extremely ill.  For some reason, she was still in 
the form of Venus.

	She stared up at the breach in awe, and at the chaos it had
caused below in disbelief.  There were whole segments of Tokyo on
fire.  She could hear gunshots as security forces tried to regain
order.  Amazing how easy it was for people to go into mass panic.
It was certainly one hell of a homecoming.

	After having been snatched away into the alternate dimension
with Hotaru, Artemis and Luna, she had found herself forced into a
situation where she had to fight a group of Usagi clones who called
themselves the "Usagi Liberation Front".  They had kidnapped Hotaru
in the hope of forcing a showdown between both Venus and themselves.

	It almost succeeded, too.  After arriving at the scene of the
battle, an Usagi Production Plant within the middle of the Eternal
City that spanned the length and bredth of the dimension, run by the
original Mamoru, no less, she found herself being pounded into
submission by their superior fighting skills.  Their dream of
showing their power and, therefore, their superiority over Venus and
Saturn almost came to pass.

	She was saved, however, by another Usagi clone whose fighting
skills were above par and whose capacity to make long-winded and
moving speeches was unmatched.  Strange though, thought Usagi, the
manner and dress of that Usagi clone reminded her of someone....  A
character she'd seen in an anime...

	That was it!  Himura Kenshin!  That wandering samurai guy who
used to be an assassin....  That Usagi clone had to be one sick 
chicken to want to emulate an anime and manga character like that.
Then Minako sighed....  So many of the Usagi's seemed to be trying
to copy characters from anime and manga....  Using the original
Usagi's love of such to create individual identities for themselves.
In a way, it was terribly sad.  Having been rejected because they
didn't match up to their "Mamo-chan's" expectations of what 
constituted the one true Usagi, they chose to live out fantasy 
existences instead.  It was either that or the humdrum life of
someone who couldn't live up to the humble expectations of Tsukino
Usagi....

	And then, just as things were coming to a head between Usashin
and the Usagi Liberation Front, big black thingies that floated in
the sky appeared and started blowing the crappers out of everything.

	And Hotaru went psycho, using her most powerful attack, the
Death Reborn Revolution, to destroy them.  Everything had exploded
into multicolour ribbons of energy which faded into a uniform white,
and Minako thought that was it.  The DRR was a spoilsport attack,
designed to wipe EVERYTHING out if things had reached a point where
the senshi were unable to stop their enemy.  It made sure that there
would be nothing left for what enemy remained to inherit.

	Right now, Minako should have been a cloud of atomic 
particles.  The fact that she was now standing atop a building in
Tokyo, looking up at a dimensional breach meant something had gone
wrong.

	Just as she was gawking over the side of the building, there 
was a flash behind her, and she turned as an energy tunnel appeared.  
With it came a figure.  The figure of Usagi.

	She wasn't all that surprised by the appearance.  What was yet
another Usagi on a day like this?  But she soon realised that this 
one was different as it stepped from the tunnel, the energy
dissipating and disappearing behind her.

	The Usagi looked at least a year or so older than Minako 
remembered the others being.  Even her expression was more measured,
signs of a greater self-control, mixed in with a slightly manic edge 
not seen in the original.

	She looked around at her surroundings for a few moments, like
some hiker entering a valley she'd never before traversed.  Indeed,
the Usagi was dressed as if going on a long hike, in khaki-green
shorts and shirt, heavy boots and a large, full backpack over her
shoulder.  She sniffed, wiping her nose as she stared at the sky.

	"Hmm, impressive little tear, just like Hotaru said it was."
	"Ano..."  Minako croaked, and the Usagi looked at her, 
smiling.

	"Aha, how convenient."  The Usagi unslung the backpack from 
her shoulders and dropped it on the ground.  "It seems I can get to 
work straight away."

	"Who....  Who the hell are you?"  Minako shouted.  "You're not
one of the others...."
	"One of the others?"  The Usagi frowned, then smiled,
understanding what Minako meant.  "Indeed not."  She smiled.  "I am 
the ORIGINAL Tsukino Usagi, bitch, and I have a few bones to pick 
with you."

	"What....  But you...  You CAN'T be."

	"Thought you'd killed me, eh?"  The Youma lifted up a hand and
a ball of energy appeared.  "You should know better than to take 
anything on face value, Mina.... CHAN."  The Youma spat the last 
word like it was poison.

	"But....  You...  Its not possible.  How...?"

	Minako looked around her....  Usagi...  On top of a building.
Where she was supposed to die....

	A sense of dread filled Minako, like no other she had 
experienced in her life.



	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	and again
	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	They sing, they play, they dance for you,
	from out of the blue



	"What's wrong, Mina?  You look pale."

	For a few moments, Minako just stood there, staring and
shivering.  The Youma shook her head.  Such a pathetic wretch, she
thought.  It was an incredible shame she had to kill the girl.  She
found a peculiar attraction to people who were gone in the head, or
about to go.

	She felt her right hand tremble.  Not yet, she thought, soon,
you'll have what you want, what you desire.

	"You....  You always had to be the centre of attention, didn't
you?"  Minako shivered, a sudden sense of impotence overwhelming 
her.  "Always having to make the dramatic entrances."  The Youma
sneered at her.
	"Yes, always.  I AM the Princess, remember?  It's your job to
guard me.  You know, stop anyone trying to kill me and all that?"

	"And a fat lot of good we did.  We always ended up dying for 
you.  Do you remember that?"  Minako didn't know why she was saying
this....  She was shivering uncontrollably, a cold sweat running
over her body.  She knew, instinctively, that this was the real 
Usagi.  She could sense the power, not just of the Princess, but of
the Ginzuishou.  And of something else she couldn't easily define.
The edges of the three powers were mixed....  No real point of
definition, and they were getting more and more tainted all the 
time.

	The Youma bowed in mock thanks.  "Well, I guess it was a
mistake to have brought you back.  What do you think?"
	"I think you're a selfish little cow.  Now you know what it
feels like....  To die, I mean, for real."

	The Youma stared at her, the sphere of energy slowly beginning
to fade.  "Do you think I did not empathise with what you went 
through?  Did you think I had to experience what you experienced for
us to be truly equal?"

	Minako burst into nervous rage.

	"I AM THE LEADER OF THE SAILORSENSHI!  WHAT I SAY GOES WHEN IT
COMES TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE KINGDOM!  THAT INCLUDES THE 
RIGHTS OF SUCCESSION!"  Minako didn't know why she shouted that.  
She was breathing shallowly now, panting.  For a few moments it 
looked as if the Youma had been stunned into submission.  It didn't 
last.

	"I'm sorry, Mina-chan.  You killed me.  I don't know your 
reasons for committing this act of treason against I, the true 
inheritor of the spirit and powers of Serenity, but sooner or later,
the pair of us are going to try to kill each other."  The Youma
paused for effect.  "So lets do it.  Lets try and kill each other.
Of course, I should add one proviso....  My body is pretty much
immune to physical attacks."  She knocked on her left shoulder with
her right hand.  "Soul by Tsukino, body by Jadeite."

	"Jadeite?"	
	"Yeah, I have him to thank for this bod.  Its just a high
class Youma model, but its made to last."
	"A Youma body?  You have a Youma body?"
	"You ask a lot of questions.  If you don't stop, you're dead."
The Youma Usagi began to chant an incantation, and Minako felt the
air around her begin to swirl.

	No time for indecision.
	
	Minako ran at her.  It wasn't what the Youma was expecting.
A king hit right in the chest and throat.  The force was enough to
knock the Youma clean off the top of the building.  Minako stood and
watched as the Youma's form sailed over the side like a rag doll, 
unable to believe what she had just done.

	"Don't stop now", she said to herself.  "If you do, you die."
No don't want to die, not again.  Not gonna die this time....

	No Usagi to save me this time.


	She ran and leapt from the building, following the stunned 
and delirious Youma to the ground, sneering and giggling madly.

	The Youma hit the ground with an incredible force, blowing a
hole large enough to fit a car into the concrete.  Before her rapid
healing processes could give her enough backbone to sit up, Minako
landed heavily on her chest and knelt, gripping the Youma by her
collar.

	"You... can't defeat me...  No matter what you try..."  The 
Youma croaked as Minako sneered in her face.

	"Hooooo YEAH?  EAT ME!"  And with that, Minako headbutted the
Youma heavily.  Repeatedly, smashing the Youma's skull, beating her
head further into the ground.  "You're..."  WHAM!  "Not gonna..."  
WHAM!  "Kill..."  WHAM!  "Me, you..."  WHAM!  "Freak!"  WHAM!.  
Minako's forehead bled heavily, but she was protected by the ward of 
her tiara.  It annoyed her, though, when the blood ran into her
eyes, obscuring her vision.  She wiped them clear.

	She stood, dragging the Youma from the ground with insane
strength, Youma blood running freely down her arms.  She lifted back
a fist, and pounded the Youma across the chin with the strongest 
punch she could muster, letting go of the collar with the other.  
The Youma was sent flying through several buildings, eventually 
ending up being squirted on by unsurprisingly busted water pipes 
within the washroom of a local restaurant.  The Youma cursed as she 
managed to pick herself up, finally healed enough to stand.

	"Fucking BITCH!  I'll HAVE YOU for THAT!"  She said as she
rubbed her scalp, checking to see if the skull had fixed itself up, 
too.  Being without a useful spine and skull wasn't as fun as she 
expected, not that she expected it to be fun.

	"TALLY HO HO HO, YA HO!"  Minako came charging through the 
hole and rammed the Youma.  This time, however, she was ready, and 
formed a variable energy shield.  Minako struck the shield, and was 
then knocked through the ceiling like a cannon shot as the Youma 
realigned the shield's shape to form a battering ram.  Minako let 
out a cry as she felt herself smashing through several storeys of 
concrete, wondering if it was her duty in life to test the 
construction of multi-storey buildings, then looked around her 
dazedly as the impacts stopped.  She was flying high above the city.

	Something loomed beside her and she turned.  The Youma had 
followed her up, through either some power of flight or one 
tremedously giant leap for Youmakind, grinning as blood flew from 
her wounds like a grisly vapour trail.  Minako momentarily wondered
if the bitch had an unending supply.

	The Youma lifted her hand and slammed it against Minako's
midsection.  The senshi let out a short cry as she flew at high 
speed for the ground, then managed to spin herself around and landed
tentatively on the edge of the building from which she had emerged.
Her stilettoes made this next to impossible, but with her senshi's
balance, she caught herself in time and stood, looking up.  The 
Youma was flying down at her, right fist outstretched, giggling 
madly.

	"Give me a break!"  Minako took a step back onto the roof and 
watched as the Youma buried her head and shoulders into the concrete 
where she had stood.  Minako then grabbed her legs and wrenched her 
out.

	"You fuckin' HO!  That was CHEATING!"  The Youma spat at her,
blood flying from her mouth with every word as she dangled upside-
down, swinging at and punching Minako, who gritted her teeth 
angrily.

	"All's fair in love and war, bitch."  Minako began to spin, 
and the Youma let out a dizzied expression of fear as she flew 
around and around and around.  Then Minako let go, wrenching her 
arms sideways as she did so, causing a rather sickening cracking 
noise to emerge from the Youma's ankles and calves.  The Youma 
screamed in pain as she was sent packing over the rooves of several 
more buildings.

	"No stopping!  No stopping until I've wiped away every little
cell of this freak."  Minako muttered on her breath, her eyes wide
with fear and exhiliration and she leapt from the building onto the
next, following the Youma.



	KAA, THE IKAPAA VALLEY - THE PRESENT

	The two figures stared from the ridgetop at the flat plain
that lay between the mountains, as dry and as desolate as so many
parts of this world.  It was already beginning to get on the nerves
of Siren Charybdis.

	"This air is so dry....  I'm sure I can taste the dust."  She
said, pulling the hood of her cloak further over her pale skin.
Whilst the small red sun emitted only the weakest of damaging rays,
Siren's complexion was surprisingly pale.  Not unusual for a native
of Mherr.

	But this wasn't Mherr.  This world more closely resembled the
visions of Mhrit, the Mherrian underworld.  A world where oneness
with the oceans could never again be achieved.

	Her companion, a woman with scarlet hair and fair skin,
chuckled.  "You can probably taste the dust because there are 
chemicals within the soil of Kaa that give it a flavour."  She
grinned.  "Its been said that some have even taken to eating the
dirt during times of famine."

	"I can imagine that happening quite frequently here."  Siren
shook her head as she surveyed the scene.  "Is this really the
homeworld of Crow, Arachne-sama?"

	"Indeed, it is."  Arachne looked at Siren for a few moments,
shifting her scarlet Miko robes to drag the trains from the dust.
"You sound disappointed."

	"Its just....  Crow and I were...  Close.  For quite some 
time.  I'd never thought that she would have found her origins in a
place like this."
	"She would probably say the same about Mherr.  After all, 
whilst your kind worship the oceans, her species see the sky as
their domain.  They give very little quarter for what exists below."
	"I know that.  Its just.  It is such a hellish place.  So dry
and dead.  How did ANY life evolve here?"
	"Underground."
	"Eh?"

	Arachne just smiled knowingly and turned to a small rocky 
pillar that sat nearby.  She closed her eyes and began to chant.  
Siren watched her with fascination....  A Miko of Water at work.
She found it hard to believe that a species that evolved 
predominately on land would have one....  On Mherr, all the Miko
had water-based powers.  As did the Senshi and the Shogunate.  The
elements of Earth, Air and Fire simply didn't enter into the 
equation.

	Before Siren knew what was happening, the pillar split and 
parted.  Within the split she could see a dark tunnel, leading down, 
illuminated by small flames that emanated from fonts.  Arachne 
ceased her chanting and opened her eyes, smiling at her handiwork.

	"Yes, I still have the touch."

	"Wha...  What is this?"  Siren spluttered.  "Where does it
lead to?"
	"This is a Keep, Siren."  Arachne took a few steps forward
towards the entrance.  "The Keep of Kaa.  This was where 
civilisation, as it exists, found its footing on this world."  She
turned to Siren and beckoned her forward.  "And it is where we
shall find the next member of our party."



	THE NEW KANTO PLAIN - THE FUTURE

	Tomoe Souichi stared at the dark sky, alone.  It had been some
time since he'd had to face the onset of night devoid of a bed
partner, and he didn't like the feeling one little bit.

	The roof of his fortress building, an office block that had
survived the great event known as the Cataclysm, seemed as good a
place as any to sail through his solitude.  And so he found a 
deckchair, some fine wine, crackers and a vintage brie, and 
proceeded to feel very sorry for himself.

	The disappearance of the Youma Usagi had been a surprise to
all, especially to both Hotaru and himself.  Although, he probably
should have seen it coming, the way the weirdling girl had been
talking, shortly beforehand.  The new Usagi clone, the one that
preferred to be known as Usako, didn't seem all that surprised by
the decision of the Youma.  It was as if she KNEW what was going to
happen before it did.  He knew it was going to happen, too.  It was
just.... earlier than he'd expected.  Wanted.


	Hotaru had been inconsolable for some strange reason.  The
damned girl had done nothing but avoid or abuse the Youma ever since
she found her in Kami-knows-where.  Why she should suddenly feel so
betrayed by the Youma's decision to return to the past and face her
destiny, he had no idea.  Something had gone on between Hotaru and
the Youma, and he was determined to find out what that was.

	After he got himself blind drunk a couple of times, of course.
If it was good enough for his daughter, then it was good enough for
him....

	"Tomoe-sensei..."  Said the soft voice, just to his left.  He
lifted his head and turned to look, just in time to have the
deckchair collapse underneath him.  Fortunately, his drink and food
were sitting on a table next to him and avoided the same fate.

	A large sweatdrop formed on Usako's forehead as the Professor
picked himself up from the floor, looking sheepish.

	"Damn deckchairs, don't make them like they used to."
	"Do they still make them?"
	"Yes, but they're banned in several countries as an unnatural
form of psychological torture."  He stood and stepped beside the
table, picking up a second glass he'd placed there in case anyone
cared to join him.  "A drink?"
	"No thankyou.  I'm not partial to alcohol."
	"You don't know what you're missing.  This is a very fine 
white."  He lifted up the bottle and showed her the label.  She
smiled sweetly.
	"I'm afraid I do know what I'm missing, sorry.  The last time
I touched stuff like that, I was sick for a week."

	"Oh well, its your loss."  He shrugged as he refilled his 
glass.  "You might not get another opportunity, what with the way
Hotaru guzzles her way through the alcohol store."

	"Have you ever bothered to ask her why she does?"
	"She's an alcoholic?"
	"Have you ever bothered to ask her why she is?"

	He shrugged and sipped his glass, running the liquid across
his palate appreciatively.  "She isn't likely to tell me what her
problems are.  She never does.  I'm always the last to know."

	"You're the last to know because you've never bothered to 
press her on the matter.  Tomoe-sensei, she is on self-destuct, you
can see that, can't you?"
	"Yes, of course I can see that.  He put the glass down and 
walked to the edge of the roof.  "But she never listens to me.  She
has always been an independently minded girl.  Why should I be
surprised to find her cold as well?"
	"There are always reasons for the things we do.  Hotaru has
some very good reasons for behaving the way she does.  The behaviour
may not be acceptable, but the reasons for it are understandable."
	"And how do you know these reasons?  Have you ever asked her?
You know what she does when ANYONE tries to press her about things,
even the simplest things.  The last time we had a truly raging
argument it was because I caught her with her hand in the cookie 
jar, literally.  She didn't want to admit that she hadn't eaten that 
night."

	He turned to Usako, despairingly.  "She has been like this 
ever since I found her after the Cataclysm.  No, I'm wrong....  It
was before the Cataclysm, during the affair with the original 
Usagi..."  He shook his head.  "Since then, she's just hidden one
thing after another from me.  She is a fugue, running away from all
responsibility and normal social behaviour."

	"There are greater reasons.... for this behaviour."  Usako bit
her lower lip.  "She is afraid to tell you about them because of how
she thinks you will react."
	"What are you trying to say?  That she has done something I
would find unsettling?  Don't you think I know what she's done?  The 
deaths at the resettlement camp near Seoul....  Even though those 
people deserved what they got..."

	Usako ummed and erred for a bit.  "That's not entirely what I
mean."  She shifted her feet uncomfortably.  "There is a link that
exists between us.  One that has existed since the Cataclysm.  Since
that time, we have shared our experiences through the form of 
visions, even though we have been apart."  She paused.  "I've seen,
through her eyes, the events that lead to her meeting up with the
Youma girl....  And why she made a pact with her to keep it quiet."

	"So why don't YOU tell me what happened and save us all a hell
of a lot of time."
	"Because I want you to do it yourself.  It is your duty as her
father."
	"Don't preach to me about parental responsibility.  Hotaru is
an adult now.  24 years of age, if what she tells me is correct."

	Usako shook her head.  "She is 24 in body, but half that age
in her mind."  Usako turned from him and began to walk back towards
the roof entrance.  She paused a moment and looked back.  "Now that
the Youma is gone, the pact they made is null and void.  She is free
to kill herself at anytime, and I don't know if I have the power
within me to stop her from doing it."  Usako turned and continued.  
The Professor reached forward, about to ask her what she meant, but 
she was gone, disappearing into the darkness of the open entrance.

	He pondered her words, then grabbed his glass and downed the 
last of his wine, eventually smashing the glass on the ground.



	REI - THE MIND

	Fire.
	All she could see was fire.
	With her body dancing within.

	It was a dream that followed Rei incessantly.  Ever since she
was a child, she felt a strange attraction to fire.  There had been
moments when her obsession worried others....  And with good 
reason, although Rei was the only one who truly knew these reasons.

	Certainly, nobody looked in her direction when her old school
burnt down.  Or the local library.  Or the local supermarket.

	It was only the discipline, given to her through her 
determination and power of will, and her training as a shrine 
maiden, that stopped things going very... much... further...  
Although the flame she would chant to was... very... pretty...

	Until she became Sailormars, that was.

	A Senshi with fire-based powers.  The irony of it all did not
escape her.  She managed to hide her obsessions from the others as
best as she could.  There were always pressing matters that would
distract her, anyway.  But to exercise those powers....  Sometimes
she was almost overcome by the... the... the pleasure of it all.
Those moments when she felt engulfed by the flame....  Why could she
never BECOME the flame?  Why was she limited to merely wielding it?

	On some nights, when she was alone, she'd change into 
Sailormars and dance little flames around her fingers, watching 
their graceful flickering with abandon, and unmatched fascination.  
The flames came from her, and yet were NOT her.  She wanted to be 
like them, to dance as gracefully, consuming all in her wake.

	The fact that she never could made her angry, and defensive 
around others.  It hurt to hurt them so much, but she couldn't help 
it.  She had to hide her true self, lest she eat them up in her own 
flame....


	TOKYO - THE PRESENT

	They had run for miles across the city....  First using 
VesVes's powers of transportation, then on foot when she began to
tire.  But wherever they went, IT was there.  The Resonator.

	They'd slowed down at one stage, when the dimesional breach
opened up and all those figures....  All those Usagis, fell from
the sky.  Whilst VesVes didn't seem all that surprised (indeed,
almost seemed to enjoy the moment), both Rei and Jadeite were 
awestruck by the event.  So, apparently, was the Resonator, because
it seemed to pause in its pursuit at that moment.  It didn't last
for long.


	In desperation, when the Resonator had begun to catch them 
again, VesVes attempted another transport.  They'd landed smack
bang within the middle of the Juuban District Police Branch complex,
not one of the smartest moves they could have hoped to make, 
considering the high number of people in the building at the time.
Many of those people were now part of the Resonator.


	Since then, they'd legged it.  The streets had been too
blocked to attempt grabbing a car or some such vehicle to aid in 
their escape, but now, as they approached the outerlying suburbs, 
things had gone quiet.  Too quiet.  Quieter than any of them had 
ever remembered Tokyo being, if one excluded the fact that there 
were choppers and other such vehicles flying about overhead.  That 
was when they realised they were, literally, the only people for 
miles in this part of town.

	VesVes stopped as they made their path down a wide roadway,
doubling over, holding her chest and breathing heavily.  Rei and
Jadeite paused, looking back at her.

	"What the hell is wrong with you now?"  Rei, who also looked
similarly stressed, managed to pant out.

	"I've got the stitch."

	"We can't stop!  That monster freak isn't going to give up.  
As I think I've said before, once a Resonator gets a sniff of its
quarry, it never ever gives up."  Jadeite looked around nervously.  
He could smell smoke, hanging in the air.  Vast columns of the stuff 
rose from all over the city now as the first few beams of sunlight 
crept over the horizon.  An eerie orange-red glow.

	VesVes looked up at him.  "Well, I was thinking, why don't we
split up?"  Both her companions stared at her as if she was mad.

	"What do you mean, split up?"  Rei croaked.

	"It'd confuse it, not knowing which one of us to go after."

	"It'd go after us, one after the other.  Were you deaf when
laughing boy here said the thing never gives up?  On top of that,
splitting up will cut our use of each others' powers if it comes
down to that."

	"Its not like both Jadeite and myself have a lot left to give.
Transportation is not one of my specialties, and it drained a lot
from me to use it.  And what with the thing draining his...."

	"Well excuse me for being patently useless."  Jadeite sneered.

	"You're excused."  VesVes smirked stressfully.  He ignored 
her.

	"So why don't we grab a vehicle of some kind?  The streets are
clear enough now."  Jadeite pointed to various cars parked in the
street.  Rei sighed.
	"Do we have enough time to break into one and hotwire it?  And
besides, all the roads out of town are probably blocked."  Rei put a
hand to her chest, feeling a tight sensation.  She tried to put it
out of her mind.

	That was about all they could say to one another.

	The Resonator landed before them.  This was something of a 
unexpected development, not too surprisingly.  There had been no 
sign of the kind of devastation it had wreaked earlier, anywhere 
near their current location.  And it was now quite BIG.  Big enough 
to crush a couple of houses.  Before any of them could react, a leg 
slashed through the air, bowling them sideways.  VesVes flew through 
the window of a house, whilst Jadeite and Rei landed on the road.

	"Heeheehee, I kill you DIE.  You not escape, ever escape, no 
escape.  Seek the superior flesh you have for me."  The Resonator
chittered as it strode rapidly forward, letting off beams of energy
at the two sprawled figures.

	Rei was the first to react, standing and putting up an energy
shield, feeling dizzy as blood ran from a cut underneath her 
hairline.  The energy beams struck the shield with immense force, 
and Rei let out a cry as the searing heat enveloped her.  That heat 
stirred something frightening within her.  The desire for the flame.  
The flame the flame the flame....  She felt herself being grabbed 
from behind and spun to see Jadeite, a huge bruise across one of his
eyes and cheekbone, gritting his teeth.

	"Are you suicidal or something?  RUN!"
	"Where?  Its got us dead!"  Rei stammered angrily, holding
the shield as best as she could.

	Jadeite quivered, unable to think of anything more.  Rei 
sneered at him.  "Big tough Jadeite!  Where is your fighting spirit
now?"  She turned as the Resonator continued its charge.  "It wants 
to test my powers?  Then let it eat my WORST!"

	Rei gestured with her hands and screamed at the top of her
voice.  "NUCLEAR FUSION INCINERATION!"  Jadeite's eyes nearly popped
out of his head when he heard that, and landed on the ground, 
mouthing a prayer.

	The Resonator was surprised to find itself struck with 
something the equivalent of a concentrated supernova.  Much of it 
was incinerated in a fraction of a second, along with half the 
neighbourhood.  It was a good thing there was nobody there anymore, 
thought Rei....  The cathartic element of blowing away a portion of 
Tokyo was made all the better by the fact that she wouldn't be 
facing the chair for nothing short of attempted genocide.

	She landed on her knees as little pieces of human bodies fell
all around them.  The bits and pieces of the Resonator's victims
that it had used to expand its own body.  Rei watched the grisly
rain, stunned that a creature of such nature could be defeated so
easily....  Especially after all the problems they had trying to get
away from it.  She had been afraid to use that spell....  Mostly
because of the people around.  Now, with everyone running for the
hills after the dimensional rift opened up, she was clear to fire
away to her heart's content.

	Jadeite sat up and looked around, smiling with a kind of 
insane happiness.  "Ah, now THAT'S the Mars I remember."
	"Nice to see I haven't disappointed you."  She puffed heavily,
feeling light-headed.  The expenditure of energy taking a heavy toll
on her.  "Hope I don't have to do that again, anytime soon.  It'll
near kill me."
	"Ano...."  Jadeite pointed down the road at a small pile of
pink that was sitting where the Resonator had stood when Rei's 
attack had struck it.  "I think that may be on the cards."
	"What the hell?"  She stared as she watched the fleshy pile
slowly reform.  "It CAN'T still be alive.  Not after THAT."  She
let out a breath and looked up into the sky, watching with 
distracted fascination as the tendrils of the Eternal City descended
upon Tokyo....  And with it a number of flying black objects.

	"Oh poop."  She said to herself.  "They're going to be 
trouble, I can see it now.  Trouble comes in threes."  She pointed
to the Resonator, the City and the black objects, counting them off.
"One, two, three."


	KABLAM!

	Rei and Jadeite turned to the sound of the nearby explosion as
the wind picked up.  There was a sickly sweet smell on the breeze,
and Rei could feel, within that breeze, its origin.  She momentarily
looked up into the sky once more.  There was somebody there, trying
to call to anybody who was listening.  A voice.  From the sky.  From
the tendrils that hung from that world up there.

	"What in the name of...."  She heard Jadeite mutter, followed
by a rapidly approaching cry of fear, from the mouth of someone she
recognised.  She turned just in time to be walloped by a flying 
Minako.  The two senshi sprawled over the road as Jadeite stepped
aside, glad that he could, at the very least, keep his attention on
the matter at hand.

	"Hoo, doki doki waku waku!"  Came a voice from the air.  "I
never knew you two felt that way about each other."  The Youma
Usagi, he clothes torn to shreds and splattered with blood, hovered
and descended, landing nearby.

	"You...  Sailormoon!"  Jadeite frowned.  "You ARE the 
original?"  She sighed and rolled her eyes.
	"Yes, I am the bloody original.  You're the second person to
ask me that today, Jadeite.  Its nice to see you again, by the way.
I like the body you gave me.  Nice and durable."
	"Uh...  That's fine."  He turned to Rei and Minako.  The two
senshi were lying entangled with each other, senseless.  "You...  
Uh...  You wouldn't be trying to kill Sailorvenus, would you?"
	"Yup, that's what I'm a doin'"  She smiled sweetly.  An 
utterly unpleasant expression considering her face and hair were as
blood splattered as her clothes.  He looked back at the two senshi.
The both of them were badly injured.

	"I suppose that means you're going to kill Mars as well?"
	"You betcha."
	"And me?"

	The Youma smiled and put out her hands, expansively.  "Oh now,
come come.  Why would I want to hurt my darling Jade-chan?"  She
giggled.  Jadeite felt a moment's confusion, a few moral abstracts
running through his mind.
	"Look, can this wait?  We're just a bit distracted here...."

	"What?"  The Youma pointed up to the sky.  "You mean that?"  
She looked up.  "I see the Eternal City and the Destroyers are 
beginning their descent now.  Shouldn't be long until Judgement 
Day."  She shrugged and looked back at him.  "Yeah, I suppose that
might be a good reason to stop.  But I'm not gonna."

	Jadeite shook his head.  "Its not just that, look."  He 
pointed over to the pile of pink that was the regenerating 
Resonator.  The Youma shrugged again.
	"That's the Resonator, then, I take it?  Easy to deal with
that."  She snapped her fingers, and the gooey pink mess disappeared
in a flash of light.  Jadeite stared in disbelief.
	"Heehee.  Be a while before it finds us again.  Just dropped
it in the middle of Tokyo Bay."  She chuckled.
	"Where did you get powers like that?  I thought only Queen 
Ber..."  He paused for a moment.  "Only Queen Beryl could do that."
	"Yes, Jadeite?"  The Youma blinked.

	"B... Beryl?"  He croaked.
	"You want something, Jadeite?"

	"Oh KAMI!"  He thought.  He knew he put a little more into the
Youma body than merely the soul of Sailormoon.  There was a little
bit of both Serenity and Metallia in there as well.  But if Beryl 
was in there, that only increased the Youma's range of powers.

	Enough to make her....

	The Grey Queen?

	"Now, should we get back to matters at hand?"  She strode 
forward, arrogantly.  "This bitch has given me the run of the city.
I think its time to give back in kind, after all, its better to give
than to receive."  She stepped up to the prone forms of Mars and 
Venus.  "But first...."

	Jadeite watched with a sinking feeling as the Youma reached 
down and grabbed Rei by the wrist, lifting her up bodily.

	"This one.  More than all the others, she revelled in my 
death.  The one to whom I was closest.  I think I'll do her first."

	"DON'T!"  Jadeite shivered as the Youma turned to him, 
surprised.  "Please....  Don't kill Mars."
	"Well, what should I do, give her a good talking to?  How 
about a spanking?"  She put on a mock voice.  "You've been a naughty
little girl, Rei-chan."  The Youma giggled.  "Woo, kinky.  I kinda
like the idea."

	"No....  Give...  Give her to me, I shall....  I will make
sure she never bothers you again."

	There were a few moments of silence between the two.  Slowly,
the Youma shook her head.  "I'm sorry, Jade-chan.  I want her blood.
Her soul, her star seed.  I want to crush them in my own hands, so
I can be satisfied."  her right hand was twitching.  Jadeite shook
his head.

	"I want her.  SHE BELONGS TO ME!"  He felt nauseous.  "At 
least, let me punish her for what she has done.  I shall impose upon
her the most humiliating of existences...."
	"Whoo, Jadeite no ecchi."  The Youma snorted and shook Rei 
like a rag doll.  "What do you think, bag of meat?  Would you like
to be Jadeite's sex slave for the rest of your existence, or would
you prefer to die?"  She grabbed Rei by the jaw and made her mouth
move.  "Kill me!  Kill me, please, I beg of you."  The Youma laughed
and slapped Rei a couple of times across the chops.  "Okay, I will."

	Jadeite became angry.  "I said she belongs to ME!"  He charged
forward, but the Youma waved her free hand in his direction, and he
found himself flat on the road, held by some force.

	"Sorry, Jade-chan.  I'll deal with you later."  She licked her
lips.  "I always did like you more than the other Generals.  Could
never see what Naru saw in Nephrite...."

	She turned back to Rei, and gripped her throat with her right
hand, letting go of the wrist with the other.  Slowly, she began to
squeeze.  Rei made rattled gasping sounds as the hand grew tighter
and tighter.

	Then the Youma fell to the ground, letting go of Rei who 
collapsed into a gagging heap.  The Youma looked down at her feet to
see Minako, hanging on desperately.

	"Leave Rei-chan alone."  Minako croaked.  The Youma gritted 
her teeth angrily.

	"Bitch!  BITCH!  NEVER, EVER INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M BUSY!"
And with that, the Youma leapt forward, grabbed Minako by the hair, 
pushing her head back so she was sitting up on her knees, and thrust 
her right hand into Minako's midsection.  Minako hacked and spat out 
blood as the hand tore through her.  The Youma retrieved the hand, 
letting go of Minako, who fell back to the ground, gurgling.

	"Eeewww....  Senshi giblets."  The Youma flicked goo from her
right hand, then turned back to Rei, who was trying to crawl away.
"Where are you going?"  She said, smiling.  Rei turned to her, 
seeing but not seeing, then turned back and continued her fruitless
crawl.  The Youma shook her head and snapped her fingers.

	Fluid, slightly coloured, fell from nowhere and splattered
across Rei.  The fluid made her wounds sting, and its odour made her
fall to the ground dizzily as the Youma stood and stepped over to 
her.  "Might as well get this over and done with."  She reached into
her last remaining pocket as Jadeite watched on, only then realising
what the Youma was going to do.

	"NOOOO!  STOP!"  He cried as the Youma pulled out a box of
matches.  She turned to him and smiled.
	"Just giving her what she wants, Jade-chan.  Just lie back and
wait.  I shan't be long with this pair....  Then we can entertain
ourselves."  She licked her lips in his direction again, and pulled
out a match, striking it against the side of the box.

	She dropped it on Rei.

	And the petrol she'd summoned to splash over the senshi caught
alight....

	And the only thing that went through Rei's mind was that she 
was on fire.  The pain was immediate and immense.  Her flesh seared
and burnt.  She felt her eyes fried from their sockets and could no 
longer see.  All she could hear was her screams, the Youma's 
laughing, and the roar of the flames.

	The flame.  The flame the flame the flame the flame.

	Be one with the flame....


	The Youma turned from Rei's burning body when the senshi 
stopped screaming, and ignored Jadeite's babbled expressions of
grief.  Minako stared at her, holding her badly-wounded midsection,
blood running from her mouth.  Horror entered the blond-girl's eyes
as the Youma closed in on her.

	"Don't wanna die...."  She thought.  "Oh please...."  Then she
noticed something behind the Youma.  The flames emanating from where
Rei had been were rising, as if standing.

	The Youma saw Minako's eyes widen in shock, staring past her.  
She turned, just in time to be enveloped in fire.

	The Youma was sent flying through the air, alight, like a 
flaming arrow.  Oops, she thought, forgot Rei was a senshi of fire.
She crashed through several houses, everything around her catching 
alight immediately.

	Jadeite felt the force holding him to the ground receding, and
sat up.  Both he and Minako were witness to an astounding sight.  A
figure of fire, charging after the Youma like a spirit possessed.

	Jadeite stepped over to Minako, kneeling beside her and 
lifting her head into his lap.

	"Well..."  He said.  "That was a most surprising development."
She tried to speak, but instead began to cough, and he shook his 
head.  "Don't, you'll only make things worse."

	"Ow.  Owie!"  Came a voice from behind him as a bedraggled
Asteroid Senshi collapsed from the front of the house where she had
been knocked, rubbing her head.  She surveyed the destruction of the
scene around her.  "Hey, anything happen whilst I was gone?"

	Jadeite felt like sending his best energy blast in her 
direction at that moment, if he'd had enough energy to send one.  
"So pleased to see you, too."  He muttered under his breath.  She
came trotting over, almost skipping.

	"Ah, I see Sailor V is almost snuffled."  She chuckled.  
"That's what you get for living a hedonistic lifestyle.  You really
should take better care of yourself."

	"V...VesVe..."  Minako croaked.  "Get... fffucked!"



	A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

	Naru sat on the floor of the gym, dressed in her school sports
uniform, wondering how it was she'd gotten there.  She looked around
for a few moments.  There certainly didn't seem to be anybody else
about.  It was also quite dark.

	Slowly, she got to her feet.  "Hello?"  She said, almost in a
whisper.  "Anybody about?"

	There was a soft, feminine chuckle, and she turned to the far
end of the gym, searching for the source.

	Suddenly, the floorboards of the gym began to crack, and 
flowed like waves from the far end towards her.  She jumped and
somehow managed to avoid being ripped open by one as it flew past,
sharp edges flowing in her direction.

	Another wave flowed in, this time from the opposite direction.
She jumped to avoid that one, but it managed to slash her across the
leg.

	"ITAIIIII!"  She let out a cry as a third wave flowed her way.
She held her bleeding leg and stared at it helplessly, knowing she
wouldn't be able to get away from this one.

	A figure leapt in front of her and took the force of the wave.
Naru cringed as splinters flew past her, then looked up as a man
turned to her.  A man with long white hair, who looked familiar.

	"L....  Lord Astute..."  Naru gasped.  He smiled.  Her heart
went all googly, as did her eyes.

	"I see you're having a bit of bother with this evil demon, 
Naru-chan.  Allow me to get rid of her for you."

	Astute, dressed in an elaborate white cloak, pulled a hood
and mouth mask across his head and face, and charged forward.

	"Demonic beast, show yourself."  He cast a beam of light at
the far end of the gym, and the small figure of a young woman came
into view.  Naru's eyes opened wide with recognition.

	"A.....  AMI-CHAN?!?!?!?!?!?"


	Ami snarled as Astute rounded on her, the blade of a sword
hidden within his cloak flashing out, glinting in the light he
created.  Ami leapt high into the air to avoid the blade, landing
in the middle of the gym.

	"Freak of the Silver Millenium..."  Ami screeched in a voice 
Naru had never heard her use before.  "I shall have this girl's 
energy in the name of the Dark Moon Kingdom."
	"Yes?  Just you try, and see what will happen."  Astute stood
tall, a smile hidden under his mask as he leant the blade of his
sword on the floor.  Ami frowned, not understanding his actions.
Neither did Naru.

	"Human FOOL!"  Ami turned and leapt at Naru.  With her injured
leg, Naru was unable to avoid her, and was grabbed around the throat
with both hands.  Instantly, Naru could feel all her lifeforce being
drained from her.  She let out a short cry as Ami cackled madly.

	Then there was an explosion, and Ami let out a cry of surprise
before being enveloped.  The gymnasium disappeared from Naru's view,
and she fell down a vortex, disappearing into the eye.



	LIMBO - A SWIMMING POOL

	Usagi had put on the only swimsuit she could find in the 
backpack she had acquired by means unknown.  A small yellow two-
piece, but it sufficed.  Nobody but Siren was going to see her in 
the thing, anyway.  Despite her extravigant nature, at times, she
hated being too much the center of attention.

	The pool was quite large, which surprised Usagi.  When Siren
asked her if she'd like to go swimming, she didn't expect to find
the National Olympic Stadium in the back of the Bed and Breakfast
she and the Animates had chosen.

	Siren had been slowed down somewhat.  Having to detransform
from Sailor Aluminium Siren slowed her getting ready.  And Siren 
looked so excited about the prospect, too.  But then, if what Siren 
had told her was true, her world was predominantly aquatic.  Any 
opportunity to immerse herself in a large body of water would 
probably have been grabbed with both hands.


	Usagi knelt beside the pool and touched the water with her
hand.  The water was cool, but not overly so.  There was also no
chlorine smell.  From what Siren had described, the pool used magic
crystals to sterilise it.  Usagi just hoped the crystals didn't take
her as a foreign object when she entered the water.  It would have
been grimly amusing if the both of them were to jump in, only to get
zapped by the pool cleaners.

	She sat on the side of the pool and immersed her legs.  
Kicking them, she splashed water about, wondering about things 
absently.  Things like, why they had swimming pools in the 
afterlife.  What the hell was she here for, anyway?  Were she and
the Animates really dead?

	She dropped herself into the water and held her knees, staying
there for several moments before the need for air got the better of 
her.  Slowly, she rose to the surface and took a breath.  The one
downside to swimming....  Drowning.


	She heard another splash and looked around.  At the other end
of the pool there were receding ripples.  Someone else had dived in,
and she expected Siren to surface at any moment.  It was the only
person she could think of that it would be.  But nobody rose to the
surface, and no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see a 
figure underwater.

	Then she felt something brush past her leg, and she let out a
small exclamation of surprise.  Still, she could see nothing down
there.  She was beginning to get rather worried, now.

	Something rose behind her and wrapped long, pale arms around
her.  Usagi let out a cry of surprise as Siren put her face up to
hers.  "Boo."  She whispered.

	Usagi wrenched away from Siren and turned to her, pushing
herself back.  "Hey!  That scared me.  Its not funny."

	Siren smiled and dove underwater again.  Almost immediately,
her form disappeared and Usagi spun from side to side, trying to
find the Animate.  She felt Siren brush past her right, then past
her left.  The speed at which Siren was moving and turning was
incredible.  There was no doubt about it, Siren was an aquatic
beast.

	Then Usagi felt those arms around her again, and was dragged
underwater.  Here, she could see Siren.  A ghostly pale figure
highlighted by two dark eyes.  Siren smiled, holding Usagi down,
and floating over the top of her.  For a moment, Usagi thought Siren 
was trying to drown her, until she realised that she wasn't 
suffocating.

	"That's good..."  She heard Siren's voice, somehow passing
through the water.  "As long as I have hold of you like this, you
won't need to surface for air."

	"Glurble?"  Asked Usagi.

	"Why?"  Siren looked at her and Usagi nodded.  "Well, I'm
capable of making others compatible with my biosystem when 
underwater as long as they keep in contact with me."

	"Glug glug glurble glug glug."  Usagi commented.
	"That's ecchi, you silly blond-haired bint."  Siren huffed as
Usagi grinned.  "If you're not careful, I'll shut the link off."

	"Glurg glurble glug."  Usagi frowned at her.  Now Siren was
grinning.

	"Yes, I would dare, actually."  Siren took a stronger hold of
Usagi and kicked off.  "Hold on, here we go."

	Usagi had never experienced anything like it, travelling 
underwater at great speed.  She thought they were going to strike
the other wall, when suddenly they made a double left turn and were
racing back down the pool the other way.  They repeated the effort
when they reached the bottom end.

	"You know the great thing about you being down here, with me,
like this, Usagi?  Nobody can see you, either."

	"Glug?"

	"Its a defensive mechanism our species developed.  Protected
us from other beings in both the air and the water.  And as long as
I'm holding you, you've got it, too."

	"Glurg..."  Usagi was impressed.

	"By the way, you know we can talk telepathically?"

	"Why didn't you say that before?"  Usagi thought.

	"I wanted to see if you could work it out for yourself."  
Siren smiled as they began to zigzag up the pool and back.  "Guess
what?  You failed."

	"GLUG!"  Usagi cursed.

	"My my, such language."

	Usagi gurgled a huff and looked down at the tiles on the 
bottom of the pool.  It was great how her underwater vision had also
improved.  Then something occured to her....  If all she could 
really see of Siren were her eyes, then....

	She looked back up at her companion, her mouth opening wide.
"You're NAKED!"  She thought.  Siren chuckled.
	"You didn't really expect me to swim with CLOTHES on?  That's
just for pathetic non-Mherrians like you."

	Usagi gurgled a silent prayer.



	LIMBO - A HOTEL

	Madame Scorpia entered her private quarters, having managed to
excuse herself from the banquet she had been holding.  Important 
business, she said.

	Well, wasn't time to yourself important?  She reasoned.  
Mistral seemed especially happy to let her free of her commitments.
She could always rely on him to handle things.  Most of the time,
anyway.

	The room was as dark as the night outside.  She was glad for
small mercies.  She always had a problem with the light.  A kind of
photosensitivity.  She stretched, wondering whether she should hire
one of the boys for the night.  Not that she needed to hire any, 
they tended to ask how high when she told them to jump.

	She kicked off her high-heeled shoes, glad to be rid of the
tortuous glamour devices, then threw her fur coat onto the bed,
slowly walking towards the window.  She looked down at the street
below.  The traffic in the main street of this town never really
died off.  It was, after all, the last port of call for many 
travellers on the main roads through central Asia.  She loved the
bustle of people.  There was an element of voyeuristic thrill
about standing here and watching the world go by.  Entire soap
operas can occur on the street below, many of which have their
conclusions out of sight.  It was up to her imagination how they
finished.

	She heard a soft wolf whistle from behind her and she spun.
"Who is it?!  Who is there?"  She stared into the darkness, and
saw a figure, dressed in a 1920's style gangster suit, complete
with hat and coat.  The figure stepped forward, and she could see
long reddish-brown hair.

	"My name is not important."  Said the woman, quietly.  Scorpia
licked her lips, nervously.
	"What are you doing in my private quarters?"
	"Checking to see if what they say about your figure and 
fashion sense is correct."  The woman hmmmed appreciatively at 
Scorpia's long red evening dress, cut off at the side.  "Niiice."

	"I'm warning you, if you don't get out then you will be in for
a rough ti..."  Scorpia felt the business end of a pistol pressing
against the side of her head.
	"We're not here for that."  Said another female voice, much
squeakier than the first.  Scorpia managed to look aside at the
holder of the weapon.  Another young woman, with black hair tied
back severely, wearing a sharp but casual suit, smiled at her.  The
girl's top lip was cleft slightly, like the top lip of a cat.  Then,
suddenly, she recognised the girl.

	"YOU!  You girls...."

	"Ah, I think she recognises us at last, Crow."  Nyanko purred.
Crow chuckled and pulled a cigar from her pocket, looking at 
Scorpia.

	"Don't mind if I smoke?  Didn't think so."  Crow pulled out
a lighter and lit the cigar, breathing in the fragrant smoke for a
few moments, then releasing it into the air.  "Mmmm...  Nice cigars
you have here, Madame Scorpia.  Or should I say Arachne Esseth 
Acrinimion.  That IS your real name.  I mean, not any of the 
pseudonyms you've gone by in the last few years...."
	"So?  So what if it is my REAL name?"
	"Hmm....  We saw your face on a little flyer, sitting on the
table of the B and B we're staying at."  Nyanko smiled at her.
	"Yes, very interesting little flyer.  It said something like
'Wanted - For Crimes Against the State', or something like that."

	"A flyer?  Like that?  In this town?"  Scorpia laughed.  "They
can post around all the flyers they like.  In this part of their
little kingdom, I am the law."  Scorpia shrugged off Nyanko's pistol
and stepped towards Crow.  "What do you want?"

	"We want to show you something.  Something you either do or
don't know about.  Something that has to do with your business...."

	"And what might that be then?"

	The door to the room opened slightly, and a small face,
wearing shades and a hat, peered in.  "All's clear."  Mouse said
quietly.

	"What?  All the way down?"  Crow turned to her.
	"What do you think I am, incompetent?"  Mouse sniffed with
bruised pride.
	"It has not been unknown."  Crow turned back to Scorpia as
Mouse muttered alien obscenities.  "Come with us."
	"And what if I don't want to go with you?"
	"My associate here kills you."  Crow pointed the cigar at
Nyanko, who chuckled softly.  Arachne turned to her, then shrugged.

	"Let us go, then."



	A DREAM WITHIN THE KEEP

	Naru opened her eyes and stared across a flat black marble 
floor.  She moved her injured leg, to find itself no longer injured.
Nor was she wearing her gym uniform anymore.  Instead, she was 
swathed in the robes of Tranquility, her brown hair flowing from her 
scalp like a mane, kept in place by rings and jeweled chains.

	Slowly, she sat up, taking a look around her.  She was in a
round chamber with high walls, reaching up to a darkened dome of red
and black tiles.  All the walls were the same colour as the floor,
and had the occasional doorway leading into further darkness.

	She turned to the centre of the room, where several stairs 
lead to a small round dais.  On these steps sat a figure, in blue
and black robes, hunched over, holding a staff.  The figure appeared
to be asleep.

	Softly, Naru got to her feet, watching the figure warily.  It
looked like a woman, long hair running out from under the hood of 
the robes.  For a moment, Naru contemplated the possibility that, 
whoever it was may be dead.  It was only under close scrutiny that 
Naru could see the figure was breathing.

	Naru padded over to the figure slowly, stopping about five
feet from her.  Still, the figure made no move to acknowledge her
existence.  For a few moments, Naru contemplated prodding the 
person.  She chided herself, a simple hello would probably have
sufficed.

	The figure's head rose.  Slowly, deliberately.  Naru was
struck by two eyes of piercing blue, staring right into the heart
of her very soul.

	"Who are you?"  The figure asked.  A woman's voice, thought
Naru.  Well, at least that's one thing cleared up.

	"I...  I ah..."

	"Who are you?  You shall answer the question."

	Naru felt herself being controlled.  "I am Osaka Naru...
Tranquility Khurishnaan....  Osaa...  Tra...  Ah ah ah ah...."

	"Enough of your babbling."  The woman stood, tall and 
imposing.  "What do you want?  Why are you here?"

	Again, Naru felt the answers being forced from her throat.
"I want to go home.  I don't know how I came to be here."
	"Really?"  The woman said with manic, wide-eyed amusement.
"A plaything of Galaxia, then?  Trying to test my will and resolve?"

	"Ga...laxia?"  Naru stammered.  The woman raised an eyebrow,
pulling the hood of her robe from her face, revealing her deep blue-
black hair, tied up in a single ring.  Naru recognised her 
immediately.

	"Naiad-sama!"
	"What?"
	"Naiad-sama.  Thank KAMI you're here."

	"Who is this...  Naiad-sama?"

	Once more, Naru was forced to answer.  "YOU are."

	The woman shook her head.  "No.  You are wrong.  I am not, 
have never gone by the name of, Naiad."  She rose her head regally,
stepping forward, placing a hand under Naru's chin.  "I am MILLENIA,
Empress of the Homeworld."

	Naru shivered at the woman's touch.  Despite the gentleness, 
the sensation felt like razors, scratching for her throat.

	"You are afraid of me?  Good."  Millenia smiled.  "I like 
people to fear me.  It means I can be left ALONE."

	"But you LOOK like her."
	"Who?"
	"Naiad Keth Drutein.  A Miko of the Silver Millenium of the 
Moon Kingdom of Sol."  Millenia looked at her strangely, then 
smiled.

	"An interesting concept.  I think I'll give that life a try.
Naiad Keth Drutein, you say?  An impressive name.  I shall take it
as mine and live the life of this girl.  It has been a long time
since I have been in body."

	WTF, thought Naru.


	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	and again
	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST


END OF PART 14


Notes

And finally, this chapter is released.  It only took me a month to
write.  'Course, I was on holiday for most of that month....  ^_^

Once more, even at this late stage, the story is going off on little
tangents.  Ones that should have been expected, if you were reading
carefully.  But then, most of my writing tends to be as clear as 
mud, so don't feel bad if you missed things.  ^_^

Chapter 15 - Out of the Blue II, Naru discovers the dark history of
the Dark Empress, and just how many lives, apart from Naiad, she has
lived, and why she has decided to latch onto Setsuna as a sister.

As well, Galaxia, Sentinel and the Starlights wake up an army of
senshi...  In the millions....

DDFA ayanami@merlin.net.au
1st Feb 1998