This story contains scenes of a dark nature and Lime
rated material, and thus is not suited for younger readers.
Reader discretion is advised.
 
 
 

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
 

Chapter 14: Black Rose
 
 

     They were already waiting when Kendra arrived, and all
three stood, executing bows of differing degrees of formality.
Raine, the captain of her guard, moved to take the sword she was
still carrying.  Kendra had been engaged in a gruelling training
session, which explained her garb and appearance.  Although, as
those who knew her personally could attest, she had no love for the
elaborate trappings often required by her position.  The plain white
blouse and snug pants she wore for practice suited her just fine, and
her long scarlet hair was bound into the simple, heavy plait she
favoured when not forced by ceremony to endure a fancy style.
     She sat in the ornate chair at the head of the table, crossing
her legs and turning her fiercely intelligent gaze upon the others.
"So?" she demanded curtly.  "What, by all the gods, is going on in
my city?"
     "Your Majesty," Raine replied, holding the unadorned blade
as though it were an extension of her own arm.  "The incident was
similar to yesterday's occurrence in the market."
     "But somewhat more severe," added the slender, gray-
haired man with the neat goatee.
     "Lord Greely is indulging in understatement, I fear," Raine
said, with no sign of her usual dry humour.  "Reports remain
sketchy ..."
     "My cousin does not want to hear what we don't know,"
the third person in the room said dryly, just as Kendra was opening
her mouth to say that very thing.
     "Then tell me what you do know, Gar," Kendra said, feeling
her characteristic mixture of fondness and exasperation towards her
favourite cousin.  Despite Gar's well-deserved reputation for
roguishness, his skills were indispensable to the Crown.
     "The target of the attack was Fifty-five Division," Gar said
as Greely touched the tabletop, activating the display pattern.
Kendra felt a scowl forming as she was treated to an airborne view
of the fortified police compound.  "As you can see, there was
considerable damage to the main building, as well as to surrounding
structures.  The fires are under control, but the subway tunnel that
runs under Carwin Street suffered a collapse, and crews are still
trying to reach a train that went off the rails."
     "Initial reports are still coming in," Raine told her, taking
over.  "But it looks bad, Majesty.  The police suffered heavy losses.
An SJA alert was also in force, although it will be difficult to get an
accurate accounting of how many bounty hunters are missing.
Also, although the attack was directed at the division itself, there
were civilian casualties."
     "Numbers?" Kendra asked, her expression stony.
     "Estimates are already over one hundred dead," Greely said,
his gray eyes meeting her gaze steadily.
     "I want to know who has done this."  Kendra looked from
one to the next, her eyes narrowed as she fought to keep tight reign
on her temper.  "There will be a reckoning for this travesty.  Gar?"
     "As yet, I don't know who," the big man said, giving her a
ghost of his lady-killer smile.  There was a hint of stubble on his
angular jaw and his dark reddish-gold hair fell untidily over
electric-blue eyes; ordinarily, she would have accused him of trying to
charm her, and ordinarily she knew she would have been right.  But
not even her outrageous cousin would be foolish enough to trifle with
her today.  "I do, however, know how."
     He moved to the table, and Greely stepped aside.  Greely
was a tall man, but even his head only just topped Gar's shoulder.
     "This," Gar said as an image of a glowing sphere appeared,
hanging in the air.
     "Silkaine's Siren," Kendra muttered, reading the
information that unspooled across the air above the table.  "An
artifact?"
     "Indeed," Gar nodded.  "A nasty bit of work, that.  I had a
team venture into the bowels of the main tower, where they retrieved
the troublesome little thing from the guts of a recently deceased
salamander, along with a body in very poor condition.  Apparently,
salamanders digest very quickly, since I understand she was not a
resident of the belly for very long before its demise."
     "Do go on, Gar," Kendra said, leaning forward in her chair.
"I am most anxious to learn how you knew to look in the belly of a
dead salamander in the basement of the building."
     "Well," Gar told her, crossing his arms across his broad
chest.  "It so happens that I received an anonymous tip.  It is worth
noting, however," he went on as her expression darkened, "that the
salamander became deceased courtesy of a certain group of sailor-
suited warriors."
     Kendra understood immediately, and leaned back in her
chair once more.  "So, then," she mused.  "I take it this ...
anonymous tipster did not reveal who had used the artifact, or
why?"
     "I am afraid not, Cousin," Gar shrugged.  "I can assure you,
though, that the artifact has been secured and is on its way here
even now, in the care of my operatives.  Perhaps we will be able to
learn something from it."
     "Perhaps," Kendra said, frowning.  It appeared that she
owed another favour to the enigmatic Lady Saturn and her comrades.
"Gar, I wish you to pursue this matter personally.  Anything you
can learn may be useful."
     "I live to serve," Gar replied, that crooked grin peeking out
once more.
     "Majesty, this incident has left our police units badly
overextended," Raine said, giving Gar a black look.  Kendra knew
that her captain disapproved of Gar's reckless charm and rakish
demeanor.  "And there is still the matter of the vampire.  Perhaps we
should consider deploying troops within the city for the time being?"
     "A politically tricky proposition," Greely countered
immediately.  "Lord Carn will argue that this proves his point about
shortfalls in his police budget, and the Council of Lords will
certainly not wish to grant easy passage of any bill authorizing
temporary deployment.  Not, at least, without concessions.  And
the matter of the Eastern Duchies remains before council, as you
know, Majesty.  The involved parties will feel quite justified in
holding up debate on the new garrison agreement if we pull military
resources from the east to cover our police problems."
     "They will bring up Port Augai," Raine sighed.  "We did
refuse to allow troops to cover the city last year."
     "You could press the issue, Majesty," Greely told her,
spreading his hands.  "You are Queen, after all.  But there would
certainly be repercussions if you were to act precipitously."
     Politics, Kendra thought blackly.  Mother, why couldn't you
have lived to a ripe old age and spared me this idiocy?  I am far to
young for this ...
     "Ah, Cousin," Gar said, leaning against the edge of the table.
"Such an unbecoming look for a beautiful woman."
     "Gar," she began, warning clear in her tone.
     "Be at ease, my favourite cousin," Gar said, his eyes alight
with electric blue fire.  "Troubles beset you from all sides, but I
believe I have a solution that will meet your needs nicely."
     And he smiled.

***
 

     "And you're sure you want to do this now," I said again.
     "Look, we've been over this," Minako told me as she
surveyed the scene.  I'd noticed that, despite her usual flirtatiousness,
she seemed to be aware of everything that was going on around us.
Usagi had walked over and asked her about the defensive pattern as if
it were the most natural thing in the world.  Minako had answered
easily.
     Okay, so I still tended to underestimate her from time to time.
But these girls all knew their business, that much was certain.  They
had set up this little trap of theirs with military precision.  Well, I'd
never actually seen a military operation, but I imagined it would be
this precise.  Probably wouldn't involve so many short skirts, though.
     "Yeah," I sighed.  "Look, don't get me wrong.  I'm good
with the fighting part.  It's the magick that makes me nervous."
     "That's just because you don't understand it," Minako
shrugged, twining a stray lock of deep honey-blonde hair around her
finger as she watched Ami and Rei put the finishing touches on their
part of the trap.
     "Do you?"
     "Not completely," she admitted.  "But I trust that my friends
know what they're doing."
     "Ami is helping Rei to locate her wards for maximum
efficiency," Artemis told us as he reached out to give Minako's
shoulder a friendly squeeze.
     "Right," I said, looking around the old warehouse.  "It's like
a shield."
     "Not exactly," Artemis said, turning his attention to me.  "It's
more like ... hmm, how to explain this?"
     "More like a sponge," Rei said.  She strode across the
cavernous space in a swirl of leather, Phobos and Deimos fluttering
down from pitted steel rafters to land neatly on her shoulders.  I was
already beginning to get used to seeing them there.
     "A sponge?" I asked.  "Our protection is a sponge?"
     "Relax," Rei reassured me.  "Remember the club you
followed us to that night?"
     "Of course he remembers," Minako purred.  "That's where
he first met me, after all."
     "Indeed," Rei said dryly as I felt my face grow warm.  "Well,
from that skirmish we learned that the wraiths can use Shadow
Magick to get around."
     "And our Rei is talented in that department," Minako said
sleekly, draping herself over Rei and kissing the girl's pale cheek
softly.  "Amongst others."
     I had the feeling that the topic of Shadow Magick, and Rei's
abilities with it, were a little touchy; it occurred to me then that
Minako
was not just indulging her whims, but actually trying to defuse the
tension.  And it seemed to work.
     Another point for Minako.
     "You'd better hope I'm talented," Rei told her, one hand idly
stroking the blonde's jawline.  "I'm an Adept, like many Sisters, but
the strongest magicks have been lost to even them since the art was
outlawed over a century ago."
     "Like the ability to generate a Shadow Gate," Ami said.  I hadn't
heard her come up, distracted as I was by Rei and Minako's flirting.
It was so natural, yet sensual at the same time.  Once I would have
been shocked, but I was coming to see it as a natural expression of
the affection between them.
     It was still plenty distracting, though.
     "Which I assume you can't do, Rei," Artemis said, cocking
his head.
     "No," Rei replied.  "I don't know anyone who can enter
Shadow.  Unless Ami can."
     Everyone turned to Ami at that, causing the quiet girl to
blush.
     "No," Ami told us quickly.  "I've studied the different
realms, but my ability only allows me to enter Aethyr."
     "Shadow Realm intersects Aethyr," Phobos pointed out.  "As
do all realms.  It is, by all accounts, a fearful place."
     "But not to wraiths," I muttered.
     "Exactly," Rei said.  "Our opponent must be very strong in
Shadow Magicks for her wraiths to be able to slip through Shadow
the way they do.  Thus our trap."
     She gestured, and I followed the sweep of her arm.  Ami had
plotted and etched strange patterns on the floor and walls in coloured
chalk, then she and Rei had gone around and placed wards at certain
points where the lines intersected.
     "A sponge," I said, doubt heavy in my voice.
     "You are going to lure the wraiths in," Rei said.  "They will
likely enter through the shadows within this building, once they find
that Usagi and Makoto have sealed all other access.  The way to
Shadow Realm lurks in the depths of mundane shadow, after all."
     "Rei's wards utilise Shadow Magick," Ami went on, that
explaining-things sparkle in her eye again.  "In this instance,
however, instead of invoking Shadow they will do the opposite,
drawing in all shadow in this space once the wraiths have entered.
They will not be able to escape through Shadow, and no others will
be able to enter."
     "Cool," Minako enthused.  "Then I rope one of the little
vixens with my whip, you guys take out the rest, we interrogate the
prisoner, and then escape by using one of the routes Artemis and
Luna scouted out.  Beauty plan."
     "If it works," Makoto cautioned.  She and Usagi had been
working at the far end of the building, but evidently they had finished
their work.  Luna trailed along after them, looking vaguely troubled.
     "I just don't like it," the dark-haired girl was saying.
     "You still think we should talk to the Outers first, Luna?"
Artemis asked.
     "This could be risky," Luna replied, blue eyes wide as she
turned to him.  "We can't anticipate everything that might happen."
     "Welcome to my life," Usagi grumbled.  "Look, Luna, if this
vampire has something to do with Hotaru, she won't listen to reason.
You know her.  But if we go there with hard information, then she'll
have to listen."
     And she'll have to admit that you did something she couldn't,
I thought.  That might be unfair, but it seemed to me like Usagi felt
she had something to prove to this Hotaru.
     "Plus it'll keep her from worrying about the Outsider,"
Minako pointed out.
     Silence, and all eyes on me again.
     "I know, I know," I said irritably.  "Don't say anything about
the Outsider.  Sheesh, I get it!"
     "Good," Rei murmured.  "Because if Hotaru learns that you
are the Outsider, she might try to kill you."
     Swell.
     "Well, we're ready," Makoto sighed.  "You guys set?"
     "Wards are placed and ready," Ami informed her.
     "This place is isolated enough that it'll just be us and the
wicked fang sisters," Minako grinned.
     "And we should do this as soon as possible," Rei added.
"The vampire's powers should be weakest now, at midday.  We don't
want to risk a direct confrontation with her."
     "Okay," Usagi nodded, turning to me.  "Then I guess this is
it, Ranma.  You're up.  Are you ready?"
     What could I say?  So far today I'd seen a horde of monsters
destroying a police station, been sent into the Nekoken again by a
bunch of werecats, and ended up in an abandoned warehouse setting
a trap for a bunch of wraiths.  Hell, it was my idea, after all.  What
else could I say?"
     "Let's do it."

***

     "Rin."
     There was no welcome in Gareth's voice.  That meant the
wily old cat already knew what had happened.  Rin wondered
which one of the others had rushed to tell the pack leader.
     Not that it much mattered.
     "Gareth," Rin replied, showing the obeisance that was his
alpha's due.  Gareth sat shirtless on a floor mat, a rangy young lad
named Piet massaging oil into the older man's shoulders.  Gareth's
muscled body gleamed with oil, scars standing out in stark contrast
to the pale skin.  The one that slashed across where his left eye had
been was the only one that was never hidden, but Rin knew full well
where all of Gareth's scars were.  There were privileges to being
the leader of a pack, after all.
     The look on Piet's face as he brushed stray locks of blonde
hair out of his face with the back of his forearm was just short of
adoration; Gareth was strong, yes, but his cats loved him, too.  Piet
glanced up, making little secret of the fact that Rin's presence was
unwelcome.
     Too bad.  He had, after all, been summoned.  Piet would
have to wait for Gareth's undivided attention.
     "I hear it was bad," the grizzled old cat grumbled, his one
good eye seeking Rin out.  That eye was wonderful, gray-green
speckled with gold.  Gareth never spoke of who had taken his other
eye, but whoever it was had destroyed a rare treasure.  Gareth was
ruggedly handsome, but with two such eyes he might have been
beautiful.
     "Bad.  Yes, bad would be accurate," Rin said blithely.  He
had not been invited to sit.  A bad sign, that.
     "Have you any idea what it is that calls to our animal sides
and draws the monsters so strongly?"
     "None.  However, we were all able to resist its call."
     "As you should be.  We are not mere beasts, after all."
There was no rancour in that voice, and Gareth's eyes closed as
Piet continued his ministrations, long supple hands working the
scented oil into Gareth's broad shoulders.  Rin simply stood there,
waiting for the question he knew was coming.
     "The sailor girls, Rin."
     "Indeed," Rin said.  This was the crux of the matter.  Which
of them had it been?  Not Yui; she would never place him in a
situation like this.  She longed for him, after all.  That desire was
better than any oath.  "There was something of a ... disagreement."
     "Over this girl.  The one who manifests the spirit of the
cat."
     "Their princess personally extended her protection to the
girl," Rin said.  "It appears that one of hers has claimed the girl as
her own."
     "How charming," Gareth rumbled, and there it was, that
warning tone that everyone in the pack knew meant trouble.  "This
truce is starting to seem less and less like a benefit to us, Rin.
When you approached me with the idea, you made no mention of
changing the truce.  If the girl can change it at will, we may well
find ourselves hamstrung."
     Gareth's eye opened then, fixing Rin with its feral golden
light.
     "That is not acceptable to me, Rin," Gareth said, his voice
resonating deep in his barrel chest.
     "I understand," Rin said smoothly.  "But to end the truce
now is to open ourselves to conflict from the sailor girls while we
yet seek the nightfeeder."
     "Don't tell me things I already know," Gareth said quietly,
and the warning in his tone made Rin stand a little straighter even as
Piet froze.  "Tell me your fondness for this Jupiter is not colouring
your judgement."
     "My loyalty to the pack is as strong as ever," Rin informed
him, letting a trace of arrogant pride creep into his voice.
     "Is it?" Gareth asked, his voice lazy again.  Piet relaxed and
continued with his massage.  "How reassuring, Rin.  It is good to
know I can depend on my second.  I understand that the rogue wolf
interfered as well.  Did the young sailor princess forbid you to
touch him?"
     There it was, the trap.  Still, Rin knew there was only one
way to proceed here.
     "She did not," Rin acknowledged.  "In fact, it was stated
explicitly that Sakamura was not under her protection."
     "Indeed?" Gareth asked, as though he hadn't already known
that.  "Well, then.  There will be no repercussions when you seek
him out and teach the cub not to interfere in our affairs."
     "No, Gareth.  I will see to it immediately."
     "See that you do," Gareth said.  "And Rin ..."
     "Yes?"
     "Bring me back a souvenir."  Gareth's grin was feral,
hungry.  Rin just nodded.
     "As you wish," he said, and left Gareth to his relaxing.
     So.  Yoshi was to bear the brunt of Gareth's anger over this
latest frustration.  Jupiter was going to be very unhappy with Rin
when she found out.  Very unhappy.
     That was going to make seducing her all the harder.  Damn
Gareth, anyway.  This was a situation that called for subtlety.  Still,
Rin couldn't deny that sinking his claws into that meddling prettyboy
would be enjoyable.  He'd had quite enough of the wolf's meddling in
his affairs.
     No repercussions.  Rin sighed, slipping off his silk jacket
and loosening his designer tie.  Gareth was not naive.  He knew that
Yoshi had no pack affiliations, and thus there would be no problem
with the local wolves.  But he also knew that there were always
repercussions.  Still, some lessons had to be taught.
     Doubtless, when the current situation had been resolved,
Gareth would want to make that clear to the sailor girls as well.  He
didn't react well to challenges to his authority.
     Ah, Jupiter, Rin thought fondly.  You did start this, you
know.  And sooner or later Gareth is going to want me to finish
what we started in that bar.
     I am looking forward to that.

***

     It struck her like a bolt as she reclined in delightful languor,
sending her to her feet instinctively.  Night-black hair and silks
swirled, merging with shadows as she moved through the
luxuriously-appointed bedchamber, lips pulled back into a fearsome
snarl.
     That light.  THAT LIGHT.  The Warden again, that
maddening rogue factor in her master plan, the one who had
remained just out of her reach.
     That would have to change.  Sooner or later, Wynneth needed
the Warden.  But not dead; no, that would not serve her purposes.
Ignoring the burning sensation within her, she summoned some of her
loyal wraiths.  They flocked to her feet like dreadful crows, lovely
and lethal, black on black encompassing a rainbow of captive colour.
Wynneth surveyed them a moment in imperious silence before
speaking.
     "The light flickers once more," she hissed.  "You know what
to do.  I want the Warden alive.  Go."
     Robes rustled and hair flowed, then ruby eyes winked out into
shadows and were gone.  Wynneth stood still, calming herself.  Each
time the Warden escaped by a slimmer margin, of this she was
certain.  She ran one long nail along her full lower lip, nearly hard
enough to draw blood.
     The end was near, so near.  Events had been set in motion,
and none could resist the inexorable tide which had been engineered.
Not the Warden, not the White Moon girls, not even the gods
themselves.
     She would not be denied.  Not after having come so far.
     And as her wraiths sped through Shadow towards their goal,
the light continued to burn brightly, not disappearing as quickly as it
had in the past.  Excellent.  Not even its hated light could thwart her
will, and this time the Warden would not escape.
     This time, she had him.
     Smirking, she crossed to the bed and sank into its silken
depths, closing her eyes and seeking her bond with her pets.
     Show me, she thought.  Show me ...

***

     V watched from her hiding spot, tension singing along her
muscles.  The first moments would be the trickiest; the wraiths might
enter from anywhere before the trap was sprung.  They had to be
ready to move fast.
     Ranma stood in the middle of the floor, key held aloft.  Its
light glimmered steadily  in the gloom, bright yet somehow not
painful to look at.  The lithe red-head stood in the middle of the
nimbus of light, and if she felt fear it didn't show in her expression.
     V couldn't see most of the others, although she knew they
would be where they were supposed to be.  From her vantage point
she could only see Rei and the twins.  Rei had claimed that, because
she was not certain how Shadow Magick would interact with her
senshi abilities, it was better that she not transform, instead only
summoning her shadow in preparation for springing the trap.  V
wondered about that; Mars had used Shadow Magick in Aethyr, after
all.  She suspected that the senshi of fire didn't want to confront her
princess with the vision of a senshi wreathed in shadows.  Regardless
of the truth of the matter, V had watched intently as Rei called her
shadow to her flesh.  She thought the process fascinating, but
neither Usagi nor Makoto had seemed thrilled by it.
     Just more fodder for their rocky road, apparently.  But it
would be worth it if they could ferret out the vamp's hiding place.
     The gloom returned as Ranma let the key's light die after the
prearranged time.  He'd never used the key continuously for a
particularly long time in the past, and they hadn't wanted to arouse
the vamp's suspicions by changing anything now.  V concentrated on
her breathing, senses questing for any motion in the shadows.  How
long would it take for the wraiths to reach them?  There was no way
of knowing; it would depend on how far they had to travel, how
quickly the vamp responded to the key's appearance, any number of
factors ...
     There.
     Something stirred off to the left, shadow within shadow, and
as she watched a wraith emerged with inhuman grace from the
gloom.  Then another, and another.  They rose into the air, robes
fluttering as they circled like harbingers of doom, eyes locked on
Ranma.  The red-head simply stood there as the air filled with them,
scarlet-eyed huntresses who didn't bother to hide their hunger, nor
their triumph.
     This was it.  The cavernous warehouse now contained dozens
of wraiths, all concentrating on Ranma as they swooped lower and
lower.  She was the centre of their attention.
     That was about to change.
     A low chanting filled the air, and some of the wraiths at the
periphery broke away from the pack, drawn by Rei's voice or the
skittering of magick that followed it.  But they were too slow; the air
seemed to thicken, then thrum with a sound just below the threshold
of hearing.
     And then the light changed.
     V had not known what to expect exactly.  Rei's wards drew
in the magick of Shadow within this space, that much she'd
understood.  But all around her now, things looked different.  The few
working lights were only bare bulbs, yet the harsh light they had been
casting was now flat, grainy, an oddly lifeless light that coated the
interior of the warehouse like ochre paint.  Their were no more
patches
of gloom, no spots of brightness, only that weird monochrome light
everywhere.
     But, as promised, there were no shadows, and thus no way to
enter Shadow.
     "Now!" the princess's voice rang out.  As the wraiths milled
about in the air, disoriented by the sudden change, the air came alive
with power.  A stream of water smashed through the flock from one
side, a scathing arc of lightning from the other.  Then Moon's power,
brilliant even in the Shadow-locked light, struck one of the wraiths
squarely, and the enemy erupted in fury.
     So far, so good.  V slipped along the periphery of the chaos,
seeking her quarry.  It was up to her to isolate and capture one of the
wraiths.  Once that was done, the others could be eliminated.  For
now, the wraiths were being kept busy and off-balance to keep them
from figuring out that they were being manipulated.  Ranma ran
along the floor, staying low in accordance with the plan.  She drew
ten or twelve wraiths along in her path as she wove effortlessly
among the cracked concrete pillars.
     One of the wraiths hung back, rising up above the fray and
looking around, cruelly lovely features slipping into a mask of
understanding as she began to survey the area.  Just what we need, V
thought.  A smart one.  Summoning her power, V sent her whip
snaking up through the air.  It wrapped itself around the wraith's
slender, pale neck, then coiled downwards.  The tiny golden links
looked strange, seeming to still glow, yet somehow not casting any
shadow in this odd, shadowless atmosphere.  They were, however, as
effective as ever, answering their mistress's will as they ensnared the
infuriated wraith.  V planted her feet and began to reel in her catch.
     "Got one!" she crowed.  "Clean 'em up, girls!"
     The attacks intensified as the wraiths shrieked and swooped
madly, only just beginning to understand that they were now the
hunted.  Jupiter and Mercury had set up a wickedly effective
crossfire, with the princess herding the airborne wraiths into the
killing zone as Ranma picked off the stragglers.  V couldn't spare
much attention, though, trusting the others to do their part as she
continued to draw her prey closer.  The wraith was wrapped tightly in
coils of V's whip now, unable to do much more then writhe and
scream as she was drawn inexorably towards the ground.
     V felt the strain in her arms as she fought to bring the wraith
under control.  Crimson lips gaped as the creature screamed defiance,
but V was winning the battle, and she grinned fiercely.  It felt so good
to be taking the initiative after reacting for so long.  Then she saw the
wraith's gaze shift at the same time as she sensed motion.  Rei was
walking over towards her, coat swirling like liquid oil around her
body as she moved, and a sick sensation curdled in the pit of V's
stomach as she took in the one detail that Rei had neglected to mention.
The wraith screeched and pulled, swinging at the end of her tether like
a
deranged balloon as she tried to get closer to Rei.  V gritted her teeth,
though, and as the muscles along her arms and back tensed, she dug in
her heels and swung with all her might, sending the wraith crashing to
the hard concrete.  V closed the distance, shortening her whip as she
moved to place one booted foot across the captive wraith's throat.
Then she turned to Rei, her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned with
anger.
     "You should have told us," the blonde senshi snarled.
     "This?" Rei asked, gesturing.  "Unavoidable.  Anyway, I
knew you could hold her."
     V glared at the sable-maned priestess.  Rei was keeping all
shadows in the warehouse at bay with her magick ... all but the inky
tendrils of her own shadow, which still adorned her porcelain skin.  If
V had thought about it, she might have realized that Rei would need
to keep her shadow about her to manipulate the wards that way.  But
shadow was shadow, and judging from the way the wraith had tried to
lunge at the priestess, Rei's shadow would have sufficed for the needs
of
their enemy.  And what would have happened to Rei if the wraith had
tried to use her personal shadow, which lay like living inky tattoos on
her flesh, to escape?
     A good question, and one that V intended to put to her friend.
Pointedly.  But later, away from their princess.
     "That's it!" Artemis called from his hiding spot.  "That's the
last of them!"
     The others joined them, all looking quite satisfied.  And why
not?  Their plan had been an unmitigated success.  And none of them
had so much as a scratch.  After the last week, it was nice to be in the
driver's seat.
     "So? Moon asked, eyeing the struggling, supine wraith
eagerly.
     "So," V replied, shifting her weight and forcing her boot
down with more force until the wraith stopped moving.  "Now, I
think it's time for answers.  Don't you, sweetie?"

***

     Rei watched as V buried her fingers in the wraith's dishevelled
hair and roughly hauled her to her feet.  The captive wraith bucked
and writhed, but in the end she was no match for the mystic bonds of
V's whip.  Those mesmerizing scarlet eyes darted madly, finally
settling on Rei.  It didn't take any magick to know what the wraith
was thinking as her gaze traced slowly over the inky tendrils of
darkness that lay bound to Rei's skin.  That darkness represented the
only hope of freedom for their captive.
     Rei smiled as the wraith's lips parted, the tip of its tongue
stealthily wetting its lower lip as its struggles subsided.
     "Shadow Mistress," it hissed, voice low and feral, yet
somehow compelling.
     "That's right," Rei said smoothly, aware that she and the
wraith were now the centre of attention.  V kept a firm grip on her
whip, so all the wraith could do was turn its head.
     "But not my mistress," the wraith continued, lips peeling
back in a slow motion snarl to reveal tiny ivory fangs.  "She alone
may command me."
     "Tell me about your mistress," Rei urged, holding the
creature's gaze with her own.  The creature was drawn to her,
wreathed as she was in Shadow Magick.  But Rei could sense the
wraith as well, feel it pulsing on a dark, primal level.  The one who
had
summoned this creature was powerful indeed.
     But she was not here, and Rei was.  Coupled with the fact
that the vamp's power would be at low ebb with the sun at its zenith,
Rei was confident that she could overwhelm this creature.  Its link to
its mistress would prove invaluable to them.  She took one slow,
confident step closer, then another.
     "What's wrong?" she taunted as the others tensed.  "If your
mistress is so powerful, then you have nothing to fear from me."
     "I do not fear you, girl," the wraith spat.  But Rei saw a
flicker of uncertainty in the creature's inhuman eyes.  It knew now
that it had been lured and captured, and it had to know that Shadow
Magick could plumb its secrets.
     "Indeed," Rei crooned.  "But if you will not give me the
information I seek, I will have to take it from you."
     She was close enough to touch the wraith now, but as she
brought her hands up Sailor Moon and V cried out at the same time.
     "This is a bad idea," V muttered, looking at the dark patterns
on Rei's hands.
     "I agree," the princess blurted.
     "Everyone just relax," Rei commanded.  "I can handle this.
After all, this is why we're all here, right?  The longer we delay, the
greater the chance that she will send reinforcements."
     "My mistress remembers you," the wraith hissed, eyes lidded
as a sly smile crept to its full ruby lips.  "From before.  She will enjoy
making you hers, girl.  All of you will be hers.  The most beautiful
and powerful of you will have the privilege of serving her
personally."
     "Your mistress seems pretty full of herself," Rei replied with
a hard-edged smile.  "For someone who sends flunkies to do her dirty
work."  With that, Rei framed the wraith's face with her hands,
holding it tightly between palms devoid of Shadow.  The compelling
creature's skin was cool, smooth, yet it seemed to squirm and wriggle
under Rei's hands.  The priestess knew that her prey was seeking to
make contact with the eldritch shadow that was so close in order to
draw power and break free.
     It would not have the chance.
     Eyes narrowing, Rei sent her power knifing into the creature,
feeling a familiar surge of dark pleasure as the wraith stiffened under
her assault, crying out as its defences were shattered.  Shadow was
dark and wild, and her study of that forbidden art had always called
to the untamed part of her own soul. That part of her wanted to
conquer the wraith and tame her, to take her from the other woman.
Resisting the siren call of that savage darkness was made easier by the
presence of her friends, as well as her guardians.  She wondered for a
moment if V and the princess benefited from their links with Artemis
and Luna this way.
     Rei leaned closer, gazing deeply into the captive wraith's
wide eyes.  Panic was beginning to curdle in those crimson depths as
the wraith felt her control being eroded, and her mouth opened in a
soundless scream as Rei sought to divine the location of the
creature's mistress, sought the vamp's nature, her face, everything
they needed to find and destroy the creature.
     The wraith trembled in Rei's grip as the priestess bored
deeper, sensing that she was near her goal.  There, right there, that
was it, the secret bond that lived at the creature's dark core.  Rei sent
tendrils of power down to that pulsing black heart, cold and hot at the
same time, questing, searching ...
     The wraith stopped trembling.  There was a moment of
shock, of disorientation, then Rei felt it.  Power slithered up through
her probes and into her body, sliding along her skin like the sheerest
silk.  It was a primal sensual pleasure, raw desire that wound itself
tighter and tighter around her core, riding her power and somehow
owning it.  Fey laughter filled her head as her vision was dominated
by dark, soul-drinking eyes.  Her power, which had been so dark and
wild, now purred like a kitten, stroked by something infinitely more
powerful, something that was reaching deeper within her, closer to
the place where her will resided.  In her mind's eye she saw slender
hands tipped with blood red, holding a spiked collar that danced with
glossy liquid highlights of pure blackness.  It was for her, bound for
her soul where it would be cinched tightly around her most intimate
being.
     And she couldn't stop it ...
     Something struck her, and she felt herself falling, the spell
broken as her hands were torn free from the wraith's flesh.  Arms
wrapped around her and a body cushioned her fall, then rolled her
quickly to her feet.  She blinked, gasping for breath as though she'd
forgotten to breathe for minutes on end.  Ranma was holding her,
those wary blue eyes filled with alarm.
     "Rei-sama!" Deimos cried.  Rei, though, was beginning to
regain her senses.
     "Everyone get back!" she shouted, pushing the petite red-
head behind her.  "Quickly!"
     The others complied, all but V, who retained her grip on her
whip.  Little did the blonde realize that she had an infinitely more
dangerous tiger by the tail, though.
     "V!  Watch out!"
     The wraith stood perfectly still now, but something was
different.  The planes of the face seemed to shift, becoming less
fierce, sleeker and more refined.  The long, ragged hair smoothed and
gained a liquid gloss even in the flat light.  But the eyes, they were
the worst.  They were bottomless black now, and filled with terrible
allure, hungry and hot and captivating.  The wraith's lush lips parted,
and a slow, honeyed voice flowed out to caress them all.
     "So," it murmured.  "Are you really in that much of a hurry
to meet me, my darlings?"
     "Is that ...?" the princess began, her eyes wide with shock.
Rei could only nod dumbly
     "Ah, so lovely," the throaty voice purred from the captive
wraith.  "And so cunning.  Did you really think you could trap me,
my pets?"  Those eyes sought them all out one by one, and Rei could
feel the power behind that gaze.  This should not have been possible,
but it was happening.  The vampiress was looking at them, marking
them with her hunger.
     "Lovely," the voice sighed.  "And my key, sweetness.  Are
you the one?"  Those eyes sought out Ranma, who paled under their
regard.  "I have sought you for so very long, and now you wish to
deliver yourself to me.  But have no fear, pet.  We shall meet soon.
Very soon."
     Her hair stirred as though caught in a breeze, and thick
tendrils slithered along V's cheek, causing the girl to flinch and
tighten her grip on the whip.
     "Don't try anything funny!" V blurted.  Wonderful laughter
greeted that defiant outburst.
     "Oh, my pets," the voice came, dark eyes sweeping across
Rei to settle on the princess.  "So lovely, and so proud.  I shall revel
in your debasement.  But don't make it too easy on me, all right, my
loves?  After all, the anticipation is part of the experience.  Call it ...
foreplay."
     Then that dark, enchanting laughter came again, sweeping
over them all.
     "Rei," the princess whispered.  "What do we ...?"
     Before she could finish, the wraith's eyes returned to
guttering crimson for a split second.  Then the creature seemed to
explode into a spray of blood.  Several startled shrieks split the air as
V's whip fell to the cold floor in loose coils.  Rei jerked, swiping
reflexively at the splatters of blood that seemed to burn on her skin
with unwholesome heat.  V was practically drenched in the foul stuff,
and Jupiter was holding her hands up, trying to find a clean spot with
which to wipe her face.
     Then a cool spray swirled over Rei, water sluicing along her
skin and chasing the blood away.  Rei shook the water out of her eyes
in time to see Mercury carefully tending to the others.
     "What in the hells happened?" Artemis demanded.
     "Well, something went wrong," the princess spluttered wetly, water
dripping from her ponytails to pool on the cracked concrete.
     "Yes, I should say so," Rei breathed.  "Come on, we've got to
get far away from here.  And fast."

***

     Mamoru wiped a slick of sweat from his forehead with the
back of his hand, waiting for Yu to come over to him.  The sight in
the ward room was sobering; white zippered bags lay in neat,
precise rows on the floor, replacing the chairs which had been
moved against the walls.
     "Why are they putting them in here?" Yu asked.  He looked
worn, tired.
     "They've sealed off the morgue," Mamoru told him,
loosening his tie.  He'd been helping to move the bodies, and sweat
prickled his skin under the straps of his holster.  "We're supposed
to be getting a sorceress in to try and get some psychic vibes off the
room.  Try and figure what got Wasa and took the bodies."
     "He here?" Yu asked.
     Mamoru just nodded at one of the bags, third from the end
in the row nearest the door.
     "I saw a couple other familiar faces, too," Mamoru told him
quietly.
     "Yeah," Yu said, letting his breath out in a rush.  "Yeah.
They're putting bodies over in the loading dock, too.  I got a rough
count off someone.  Forty-eight of ours confirmed dead so far, but
there'll be more.  Over forty other bodies, mostly bounty hunters,
some unlucky civilians, with more coming in.  That's just what
we've found, partner.  There's lots of collapsed buildings,
burned-out vehicles.  Some of them ... some of them we aren't ever
going to find."
     Because they were eaten, Mamoru finished silently.  Or
taken.  He surveyed the silent scene inside the room, oddly
removed from the chaos outside, and felt rage trying to take over.
And for what? he asked himself.  What was this all for?  Did the
Sisterhood do this?
     If they were responsible, then Mamoru knew he was going
to be taking on the responsibility for hunting them down.  No
matter what Usagi said.
     "White body bags," Yu muttered.
     "Huh?"
     "Remember?  Wasa was complaining last month because
they started issuing us these white body bags instead of the black
ones.  Because they're cheaper.  Flimsy fucking things, he couldn't
stand them.  And now he's in one."
     Mamoru put his hand into his pocket, felt the small wrapped
bundle there.  He'd gone back into the morgue before it had been
sealed off.  Technically, he'd tampered with evidence, but that was
the least of his worries.  If there was any chance, any chance at all,
that the things he'd taken could help find the ones responsible for
this, then it was worth it.
     "Listen, Mamoru," Yu said, straightening up and pulling at
his tie.  "Come with me.  I'll buy you a drink."
     It was somehow surreal to Mamoru that the drink machines
should still be working amidst all the carnage, but power had been
restored to this part of the main building.  Yu waved wearily at a
pair of uniforms that they passed in the hall.  The pair returned his
greeting, but their eyes bore a haunted look.  Mamoru knew he
would be seeing that look everywhere for a long time to come.
Maybe he would even be seeing it in his own eyes.
     The vending machine had taken a solid hit from something, and
the coin box had been split open.  Yu deftly scooped some coins off
the dusty floor and popped them back into the machine.
     "So call a cop," he sniffed at Mamoru's raised eyebrow.  He
handed a cool can to Mamoru; judging by the joyous label, the can
was where rapturous lemons went when they died.  Mamoru
popped the tab and downed half of the drink in one go.  It tasted
pretty good, and reminded him that he'd missed lunch.
     "I was down near the vehicle docks a bit ago," Yu said in a
low voice.  His expression was deliberately casual, but Mamoru
knew his partner, and right away Yu had his full attention.  "I saw
some guys coming up from the sub-levels."
     "Guys?" Mamoru asked.  "Our guys?  Firefighters?  Rescue
services?"
     "There was a fire down there, all right," Yu murmured.
"Sprinklers went off, remember?  But these guys weren't SFD.  I
know the look, partner.  These guys were RO."
     "There is no such service branch," Mamoru said blithely, "as
Royal Operations, Yu.  I know this because the nice, trustworthy
bureaucrats always say so."
     "There were suits, too," Yu went on, ignoring Mamoru's
sarcasm.  "Commander Fuyuri, for one.  Blessiruth was there, too.
I think they were removing something from, as our friends in the
media will doubtless say, 'the bowels of the main tower'."
     "Whatever was causing the monsters to go apeshit, you're
thinking?"
     "I am thinking," Yu said, shifting his gaze to Mamoru, "that
the lovely lethal sailor girls were down there, and most likely for a
reason.  And if RO knows what went down, they sure as all hells
won't be in a hurry to tell the rest of us."
     "Yeah," Mamoru muttered.  Although he intended to find
out from Usagi exactly what had gone on down there, Yu had a
point.  "They sure didn't waste any time.  I wonder how they knew
where to look?"
     "Or what they found?" Yu countered.  "Look, partner.  The
longer this goes on, the more muddled things are going to get.  I
say we track down Blessiruth.  He strikes me as a decent guy.
Maybe we can pry something out of him."
     "And then what?"
     "Mamoru, I know a thing or two about cover-ups," Yu
replied, a strange gleam in his eye.  "I've participated in a big one,
lest we forget.  I'm no crusader, but I dearly want to know who to
shoot over this.  I owe a few people that much.  Wasa, for
instance."
     "Nothing," Mamoru observed with a feral smile, "like the
personal touch."
     "My thoughts exactly."
     Mamoru thought about the objects in his pocket.  For a
moment he considered telling Yu what he was going to do, but the
moment passed and he sighed.  He was in no position to reveal such
things, not even to Yu.  But if he found a target, he would make
certain that Yu was in the loop.  His partner would not question the
information, not if it came from Mamoru.  Still, his plan might not
pan out.  In a situation like this, it couldn't hurt to play all the
angles.
     "Well, then," he said grimly.  "Let's go see what Blessiruth
has to say for himself."
     They found him standing in a small knot of people, along
with Commander Amagi and Meaghan Piakesti, staring at a
television in the ward room.
     "What's going on?" Yu asked quietly, sliding up behind
Piakesti.
     "It's hitting the fan," Piakesti told him, dark eyes gleaming.
"Her Majesty is pulling out all the stops."
     "What stops would those be, darlin'?" Yu pressed, trying to
see the television.  Blessiruth answered, half-turning so they could
see the grim expression on his face.
     "Martial law," he said.

***

     I was glad to be out of the sewer at last.  The smell had been
bad enough, but given the sorts of things that skulked around this
city, it seemed like a dangerous place to be.
     Of course, staying in the warehouse hadn't been an option,
either.  There'd been a lot of nervous glances cast back as we hurried
through the maze of tunnels, but if more wraiths had arrived after
we'd left they certainly had no way to track us.
     We'd made a clean getaway.
     Which was all well and good, but that was a far cry from
trapping a killer vampire with her own minions.
     "I know where we are," Makoto was saying as I dropped the
heavy grate back over the sewer access.  "Our wheels are back that
way."
     "No sign of pursuit," Mercury added, before changing back
into her civilian duds.  "We're away clean."
     "Away clean," Minako spat.  "Swell.  Can anyone tell me
how we went from being on top of things to running away with our
tails between our legs?"
     "Take it easy, Minako," Usagi said soothingly, putting her
hand on the other girl's shoulder.
     "She's got a point," Makoto scowled.  "What in the hells
went wrong?"
     A very good question.  Rei was the first one to answer it.
     "Something is very wrong here," the dark-haired girl said
soberly as Phobos and Deimos glided around her lazily.  "This
vampire is far more powerful than I anticipated."
     "We already knew she could summon wraiths, though,"
Minako said carefully.  Minako was watching Rei closely, but I
couldn't figure out what she was looking for.  Did she think Rei
blamed herself for what had happened?
     "True," Rei grimaced.  "But to be able to manifest her
presence through a summoned wraith?  At mid-day?  I felt her power,
guys.  Somehow, her influence reached out to me through that wraith.
And it was strong."
     "So she's strong," Makoto frowned.  "We knew that, right?
She's a bloodsucker who was a sorceress as a human.  What's the big
deal?"
     "The big deal," Rei told us, "is that what she did should not
have been possible.  Not for any run-of-the-mill vamp, so to speak.
This one, her power is in a different league from what was reported
during the Long Dark."
     "So what are we saying, here?" Artemis asked her, leaning
against a nearby wall with his battered fedora low over his eyes.
"She's not just a vampire?"
     "Vampires get more powerful over time," Rei said slowly,
beginning to pace.  Her long coat swirled around her legs as she
moved.  "Even those who don't carry over magick or abilities from
their human lives usually develop some powers after at least a
century."
     "So she's more than a hundred years old?" Usagi asked.
     Rei hesitated.  "I'm no expert," she said at last.  "But there
are still stories of the fight against the vampires' inner circle during
the Long Dark, of the abilities some of those vamps possessed.  Those
in the inner circle, their ruling council, had powers far beyond what
most of their kind manifested.  And they had those powers because
they had somehow managed to survive much longer than most
vamps.  I've heard their leader, Demetias, claimed to have witnessed
the fall of the Genrous with his own eyes."
     Silence greeted that.
     "Are we saying," Minako finally said, "that this vamp is
thousands of years old?"
     "I'm saying that's possible," Rei told her.  "And if she is, then
this is a whole new ballgame.  Any vamp capable of surviving that
long is going to be smart, experienced, and may have powers that we
can't anticipate."
     "Which is why our trap didn't work," Luna sighed.
     "Not only didn't our trap work," Ami pointed out, "but now
the vampire knows that we are after her.  And she has seen Ranma's
face."
     They all turned to look at me, and I fought the urge to
squirm.
     "She's seen Rei, too," I pointed out.
     "Her wraiths already saw my face, remember?" Rei said.
"And yours, too.  But now the vamp knows you have the key."
     "And that you're allied with the senshi," Usagi declared
morosely.  "Boy, this didn't turn out the way I wanted.  Instead of
going to Hotaru with information on the vampire, we have to tell her
that we're being hunted by the Sisterhood AND a vampire!"
     "Okay," I said.  "Fine.  But there's no use in moping about
this, right?  This vampire has killed a lot of people to get to me, and I
gotta say that I've had enough.  Maybe now she'll just come after
me."
     "Be careful what you wish for, Ranma," Minako cautioned.
     "She's right," Artemis told me.  "Elder vampires are very
hard to deal with.  Physical force may not be enough."
     "So what do we do now?" Makoto asked, looking around.  "I
don't suppose it would do us any good to try and catch another
wraith?"
     "Definitely not," Rei said flatly.  "She's not going to be
caught off-guard like that again.  No, for now I suggest we
concentrate on our problem with the Sisterhood."
     "And that means we have to get to our talk to Hotaru and the
others," Usagi sighed.  She didn't seem to be relishing the thought.
     "Yeah," Minako added, "and we're going to be late.  We'd
better get cracking."
     We set off down a nearby alleyway with Makoto in the lead.
She seemed to know this run-down part of town quite well, and
moved with confidence.  I kept an eye out for wraiths or other
beasties while we walked, mulling over the day's events.  Nothing
seemed to be going our way, that much was certain.  The Sisterhood
had wrecked a police station, the were-cats had wanted to adopt me
or something, and the vampire was even more powerful than anyone
had imagined.
     What else, I thought, could possibly go wrong?
     Yeah, I know.  I should have known better.  I really should
have.

***

     The streets were uncharacteristically empty today, even this
far from the centre of the devastation.  The citizens of Saeni were
used to monster attacks, but the events of the past two days went
beyond even what they had become accustomed to.
     Of course, Saekianna had an advantage over the wary few
who scuttled along the narrow sidewalks.  She knew what had caused
the creatures to flock as they had.  What she didn't know was who
had taken the Genosphere, or why the police station had been targeted.
     Another source of aggravation for a woman who had more
than enough on her plate as it was.
     Yurina reclined against the glossy black fender of Saekianna's
Hisea Scorpion, pale hands splayed against the cool metal.  The girl
was a vision in her low-cut black dress, tailored to hug the petite
beauty's curves.  Her midnight-black mane was bound up in a
complex swirl and pinned with long, lacquered pins, leaving her slender
throat bared enticingly.  Even those who hurried to the perceived safety
of their homes lingered for a second glance at the Black Rose,
haughtily indifferent to the admiring gazes she evoked.  Yurina met the
Nightmistress's eyes, pushing off the car as the other woman drew
near.
     "From the expression on your face," Yurina said softly, "I
take it the negotiation was less than fruitful."
     "The priesthood of Dios appreciates our historic bonds of
mutual support," Saekianna replied in a low voice.  "But they are,
sadly, unable to spare any resources during these uncertain times."
     "In other words," Yurina sniffed, "they do not see any
advantage in this for them."
     "I could not very well reveal that we are working to free our
Lady," Saekianna sighed.  "As far as they are concerned, we are not
in a position to return any favour, no matter how small, nor shall we
be in the foreseeable future.  Under the circumstances, I am not
surprised by the response."
     She skirted the low-slung car, lowering herself into the deeply
contoured driver's seat as Yurina slid in beside her.
     "Their relations with Griitna were quite warm," Yurina
opined.  "Even if they were unaware of her deceptions, some of the
quests we performed were no doubt at the behest of, or to the
advantage of, His order."
     "True," Saekianna nodded, drumming her long red nails on
the leather steering wheel cover.  "But now is not the time for
accusations.  Once our Lady is revived, all accounts will be called
due.  But without someone to hunt the White Moon girls for us, we
risk their interference in the ceremony.  And now an unknown player
has taken the Genosphere.  The Lady Fortuna bedevils us, Yurina."
     Yurina remained silent as Saekianna started the car, listening
to the powerful thrum of the engine.  She had a fine collection of
expensive cars, but the Ferengetti had been her favourite.  It galled
her that the White Moon girl had destroyed it so easily.  That girl was
far more troublesome than Saekianna had anticipated.  Direct
conflict was out of the question, and the more subtle approaches
took time, which was in short supply.  But she had to do something.
She had guided the Sisterhood so close to their cherished goal.  To fail
now was unthinkable.
     A low chirping broke her reverie, and she glanced over as
Yurina reached inside the centre console to retrieve a slim phone.
     "Yes?  Yes, she's right here."  She held out the phone to
Saekianna, mouthing the words, It's Vi.
     "Yes, Vi," Saekianna murmured.  The girl had only been
released by their healer that morning, and was accompanying the two
Maidens Yurina had detailed to check out the area of the attack.  As
the Sister spoke, Saekianna's heart began to race.
     "Very good," she said crisply when the girl had given her brief
report.  "Keep him in sight, but do not try to apprehend him yourself.
We will be there shortly."
     She handed the phone back to Yurina, then accelerated away
from the curb, sending the Scorpion rocketing down the half-empty
street.
     "Nightmistress?" Yurina asked.  "Good news?"
     "Indeed, my Black Rose," Saekianna said with a predatory
smile.  "I believe we have finally had a bit of good luck."

***

     "You made it easy for me to find you, pup," Rin said
smoothly.
     "I'm not one for hiding, puss," Yoshi replied, pushing off the
fender of his Griffon with his hips.  Yoshi knew that Rin's people had
eyes around town, and he had been sure to drive by several places he
knew his presence would be noted.  After what had happened on that
rooftop, Yoshi knew that blood was going to be shed.  It was
inevitable.  Which was fine by him; Yoshi had never been one for
avoiding conflict.
     "You see," Yoshi went on, looking the stylish werecat in the
eye brashly, "I'm having a bad week, and I'd like nothing better than to
get uncivilized with you."
     "How disappointing," Rin smiled back, icy green eyes flashing.  "I
had an entire speech prepared, with several vicious verbal barbs
designed specifically to provoke you.  All that effort for nothing."
     "Sucks to be you, pretty-boy," Yoshi sniffed, shrugging his
shoulders.  "That's a nice suit, by the way."
     "Yes, it is," Rin agreed.  "Carnian silk.  Very expensive."
     "You must wreck a lot of suits, changing on the fly," Yoshi
continued, slowly advancing on the other man's position.  "But I
guess you can afford it.  How much did you get for your balls,
exactly?"
     "Keep talking, boy," Rin breathed, tossing his hair back from
the sharp angles of his face.  "Jupiter isn't here to protect you now."
     "If you knew her the way I do, you'd know that fancy suits
and expensive toys won't impress her," Yoshi pressed.  It wasn't very
smart of Rin to bring her up.  "Face it, you're just Gareth's errand
boy."
     "Very droll.  Can we get on with the main event now?"  Rin's
stance was deceptively relaxed, but Yoshi wasn't fooled.
     "Down here," Yoshi said with a feral grin, gesturing at the nearby
alley.  "Cops are on edge today.  Don't want to get bullet holes in that
pretty suit just 'cause some rookie saw fangs and teeth, right?"
     "By all means," Rin said with a courtly bow.  "Let us take to
the back alleys.  An appropriate setting for what I will be leaving
behind."
     Yoshi ignored that.  He didn't like what had been going on between
Rin and Jupiter, not this bounty disagreement and not this whole
precarious truce situation.  And on a personal level, now that he knew
Makoto was Jupiter, his dislike of Rin had intensified greatly.  There
was no way he was going to let that smug lady-killer play with that
girl's heart.  She might not see him for what he was, but Yoshi had
never been fooled.
     Jupiter would disapprove, but this was a matter that had to be
settled between men.  It was time to express his displeasure to Rin.
     Personally.

***

     I got out of the car and stretched.  It was back, that feeling I
sometimes got.  It was like an itch under the skin, an itch that you
couldn't scratch.  I knew what was causing it, but getting rid of it was
another matter altogether.
     "You should relax," Artemis advised me.  He sat behind the
wheel of Minako's car, slumped down with his hat pulled low over
his guileless eyes.  With his battered leather jacket and long hair, he
looked like a slightly disreputable musician or actor, someone who'd
adopted a bad boy persona but really didn't mean it.
     "Relax?" I grumbled.  "So far today monsters overran a police
station, I got sent into the Nekoken, our plan to trap the vampire
failed, and now the girls have gone into a cemetery to talk to this
Hotaru, who apparently would gladly chop me into bits if she knew
that I was the Outsider.  Not feeling the urge to relax here."
     "It'll be fine," Artemis sighed, shifting his weight.
     "Will it?" Luna asked, turning to him, legs curled up under her.
"Things are tense enough between the two groups.  Usagi was really
counting on having some hard information on the vampire to present
to the Outers."
     "Usagi doesn't have to mollify Hotaru," Artemis said.  "If
anything, it should be the other way around."
     "This Hotaru sounds like a pain in the ass," Deimos snapped.
"And why do we have to wait here, anyway?"
     "I agree," Phobos said softly, sitting in the back seat while her
twin spun crazily around the car.  "We should be with Rei-sama."
     "We agreed," Luna reminded them, sounding a bit impatient.
"The senshi would meet alone."  It struck me that she might be
scolding the twins, but she really wanted to be on the other side of that
big stone wall with her princess.
     "I didn't agree," Deimos sulked.  Luna looked liked she wanted to
start an argument, and I knew if I had to listen to more bitching I was
just going to snap.
     "Okay, that's it," I said.
     "Hey!  Where are you going?" Artemis asked, sounding vaguely
alarmed as I began to walk away from the car.
     "There's a little café just around the corner up there," I told
him.  "We passed it on the way here.  I'm going to get a bite to eat
and some hot water.  Time to be a boy again."  That wouldn't cure
the itching need for activity that burrowed under my skin, but it
might distract me for a few minutes.  And right now, any distraction
was welcome.
     "Right on!" Deimos crowed, flying over the car's roof to perch
on my shoulder.  "Let's rock, gorgeous!"
     "Wait a minute!" Artemis objected.
     "I'm just going up to the corner," I said as patiently as I could.
"I'll only be five minutes.  Don't worry, I'm not going to run off."
     "Yeah, I'll keep him out of trouble," Deimos grinned with a
saucy wink.  "If anything happens, I'll let Phobos know, and you can
ride to the rescue, Artie!"
     Artemis muttered something under his breath as I walked off,
but I ignored him.  He was a good enough guy for someone who was
really a cat, but I'd had enough of being cooped up.  I had travelled
between worlds.  A walk down the street wasn't anything I couldn't
handle.
     "You know, even in this city you're going to attract some
attention," I told Deimos as I walked.
     "What attention?" she asked, folding her black bat-wings up
neatly.  "Nobody's out on the street around here.  That little monster
freak-out this morning's got everyone spooked.  And this close to a
big-ass old graveyard like that," she added, pointing off to my right
where a high stone wall ran for blocks in either direction, "gawkers
are going to be a rare breed on a day like today.  So take it easy."
     She had a point.  I strolled along the sidewalk without seeing
another pedestrian, and only the odd car travelling along the wide
street ahead.  This little side street was nearly deserted.
     I was startled out of my reverie by the feather-light brush of
hair and lips along my cheek.  I turned my head to see Deimos
smiling at me impishly.
     "What was that for?" I asked, trying not to sound too
flustered.
     "You were looking pretty serious there for a minute," the tiny
girl replied.  Then she leaned forward again, pressing her perfect tiny
lips against my mouth in a lingering kiss.  I was taken off-guard
again; it just hadn't occurred to me that she might do that.  In some
ways, Deimos was like a mini-Minako.
     "And that," she said softly, clinging to a stray lock of my hair
as she gazed intently into my eyes, "was for earlier.  When you broke
the contact between our Rei-sama and the wraith."
     "Oh, that," I mumbled, my face flushed.  Even little fairy
girls were too much for me to handle.  This was getting ridiculous.
"That was nothing."
     "Phobos and me, we think it was something," Deimos told
me, her dark eyes sparkling.  "And don't think Rei-sama didn't take
notice.  I'm sure she'll want to show you her gratitude later."
     "Er," I said cleverly.
     "She finds you quite comely, you know," Deimos went on
with a sultry toss of her head.  "In this body, at least.  I've always
liked red-heads too, although Phobos favours your boy form."
     "Ah," I replied.  The small spot on my mouth where Deimos
has kissed me still burned as if from the imprint of her mouth, and I
tried not to think too much about what she was saying.  What if Rei,
as an ex-sex priestess, wanted to show her gratitude, well, THAT
way?
What if she was offended when I refused?
     What if I didn't refuse?
     I shook my head at that.  What the hell was I thinking?  Of
course I'd refuse!  Because ... because ... well, because it would be
wrong.  That is, it was the right thing to do.  To not do it, that is.  Or
...
     "You okay, sweetie?" Deimos asked, gripping the collar of
my coat with one tiny hand.  "You look like you need to pee or
something."
     "Do you just say whatever comes into your head?" I snapped,
embarrassed all over again.
     "Sure," Deimos said easily.  "I'm not afraid to say what's on
my mind.  Or to admit what I want."
     I figured that was directed at me, but I had no response.  Hell,
she had a point.  Everyone around me seemed to know what they
wanted, and made no bones about going after it.  Even if they failed,
at least they'd know they had tried.  Me, I didn't know what I
wanted.  Or maybe I did know, and was afraid to admit it, which was
probably worse.
     Damn, I wanted to hit something.
     "Uh-oh," Deimos said as we reached the café.  "Closed."
     "Well, there's something just down at that corner," I sighed, craning
my head to look up and down the street.  "Maybe I'll have better luck
there."
     "Artemis wants you to come back," Deimos told me.  "He's
pestering Phobos."
     "Better her than me," I shrugged.  "Tell her to pass along that
he's a nag."
     "Done!" Deimos chirped, apparently amused at the goings
on.  This street was wider than the one we'd parked on, two lanes
each way with streetcar tracks and lots of signs to tell people where
not to park or stand or turn.  Traffic wasn't going to be a problem
today, though.  There were hardly any cars out here at all, and the
ones I did see seemed in a hurry to be somewhere else.  Apparently,
we were still too close to the scene of the monster attack for comfort.
     Me, I'd have welcomed a fight.  I fairly itched for one.  Any
monsters showing their ugly faces around me would regret it, that
much was sure.  Unfortunately, everything was quiet, and I moved
along the sidewalk in total peace.
     After a few blocks I finally found a place that was open, but
when I went inside I found it deserted.  It was a small place that
reminded me, for some stupid reason, of the Nekohanten.  The flash
of memory was so strong that, for a moment, I was certain that
Shampoo would come bounding out and throw her arms around me.
     I shook it off irritably.  Would memories like that ever stop
ambushing me?  Maybe not.  Maybe those ghosts would always
haunt me, no matter where I went.
     And maybe they should.  After all, I was the last one.  The
Nekohanten, like the Tendou Dojo and Furinkan and all those other
places, only existed as phantoms of my memory, restless phantoms.
As long as I lived, a little piece of them would too.
     Damn.  My mood was turning black again, that restless itch
trying to claw its way out through my skin.  I stomped into the back
of the small eatery, which in truth didn't really resemble the
Nekohanten much after all.  I ran the water in a big stainless steel sink
until it was hot enough, then filled a bowl and doused myself.  Deimos
had left my shoulder and was poking around the shelves; it seemed to
me somehow that she had sensed my mood, and wisely decided to
leave
me be for the moment.
     "Does it hurt?" she asked suddenly.
     "What?" I asked, my voice lower now. I shook the water
from my long coat.
     "The change," she said.  "I've heard that shapeshifting is
painful."
     "My curse isn't," I shrugged.  "Tingles a bit, that's all."
     "Huh," she said, holding something out to me.  "Bacon bit?"
     She had found some bins full of different toppings, maybe for
okonomiyaki or pizza or something.  We helped ourselves for a
minute, sampling the contents of the different containers.
     "Not bad," I mused.  "I wonder where the staff went?"
     "They probably just took off in such a hurry that they forgot
to lock up," Deimos shrugged.  "Look, the door to the back alley is
still open."
     So it was, standing ajar down at the end of a short, cramped
hallway.  In fact, it seemed to me I could hear voices as I stood there,
angry voices.  I moved closer, and it quickly became clear that
somewhere not too far away an argument was getting out of hand.
     "Trouble," Deimos remarked.  I grinned.
     "Yeah," I said softly.  "Trouble.  Just what the doctor
ordered.  Come on.  Let's get us some of what's going around."

***

     Saekianna brought the Scorpion to a sharp stop near the curb
and slid from the clinging embrace of the luxurious sports car.  The
two Maidens, Bella and Jade, were already moving towards them.
     "Well?" she demanded, covering her anxiety with haughty
superiority.
     "Vi says it was definitely the wolf from the Kino girl's
place," Jade replied.  She was tall and broad-shouldered, with sharp
features and striking red hair cut short and stylish.
     "We tried to counsel caution," Bella added.  "But she
followed them down that alley."
     "Them?" Yurina frowned.
     "The wolf and another shifter," Bella replied.  The second
Maiden appeared fragile next to Jade, her pale face dominated by
large dark eyes and bee-stung lips.  A profusion of midnight curls
formed a full mane that fell to her waist, overwhelming her petite
form.
     "They did not appear to be on friendly terms," Jade said with
a sharp grin as they moved to the mouth of the alley.
     "Which is to our advantage," Saekianna nodded.  "Still, I
will have the boy this time."
     "Jade?" Yurina asked softly.
     "I am prepared," Jade replied, pulling open her tailored suit
jacket to reveal a lethal-looking pistol.
     "Only if necessary," Saekianna interrupted.  "And shoot to wound,
I want the boy alive."
     "The other, Nightmistress?" Bella asked softly, her long skirt
swirling around legs that had inspired besotted suitors to paroxysms of
reverence.
     "Expendable."
     "I understand," Jade said with a wolfish smile.  They moved
quietly down the alley, the sound of angry male voices faint but
growing louder.  They found Vi lurking behind a battered old
dumpster that was stained with rust and other, less mundane
substances.
     "Nightmistress," Vi breathed.  "They are in the courtyard.
There is only one other way out, an alley onto an adjoining street."
     "Jade," Saekianna whispered.  "You cut off their escape.
Bella, watch our backs.  I do not want any surprises.  Go."
     The two Maidens slipped away as Saekianna moved up
beside Vi and peered cautiously around the corner.  The alleyway
continued that way, widening part way down to form a tidy little
courtyard.  A nice, private little place for a showdown, apparently.
But luck was on their side; they were downwind of the pair, not that the
two shifters had any interest in anything besides themselves.
     "The blond is our wolf, Nightmistress," Vi hissed.
     "And the other is also a shifter," Saekianna mused, sensing
the man's aura even at that distance.  "But not a friend."
     Indeed, it was clear that the two were on the verge of
violence.  The blond stood toe-to-toe with a sleek, dangerous-looking
man with long russet hair and an expensive suit.  Pack politics?
Well, whatever the argument was about, Saekianna was about to
solve it.  And woe to the lovely newcomer if he decided to interfere.

***

     They moved through the grounds in silence, none of them
looking forward to the coming meeting.  Venus knew that their
princess had hoped to bring something tangible to this meeting, some
valuable information from their interrogation of the captive wraith.
Now they had nothing.  No, worse than nothing; the vampiress was
aware of their interest, and of the identity of the bearer of the key.
     Hotaru had always pushed the princess, and despite their
mentor's curt nature Usagi had always desired nothing more than to
live up to those high expectations.  Venus knew that the princess was
taking this failure particularly hard for that reason.  If this vampiress
was really the one who had attacked Hotaru's mother, Usagi would
want to be the one to deliver her.
     Venus glanced quickly at Sailor Moon, suppressing a sigh.
Despite being the one wronged, it would be typical of their princess
to want to present Hotaru with a peace offering.  But if the princess
was conciliatory in this meeting, Venus suspected that Saturn would
take that as a sign of weakness.  Her resulting displeasure would
certainly not help an already potentially explosive situation.
     Venus followed the princess and Mars, unruly grass providing a
soft cushion for her booted feet.  The cemetery was a sprawling
affair, like a garden of stone left to run wild.  They passed through a
maze of towering monuments and gaunt crypts that stretched into the
distance, bearing silent testament to the resting places of the dead.
The marker nearest to her bore a winged figure, her arms
outstretched and her cold stone face turned upwards.  The edges of
the stone were soft, worn by the elements and by time, and Venus
noticed, as she had that first time, that some of the monuments leaned
this way and that, perched precariously amongst the frozen verdant
waves of the grounds.  None had yet fallen, at least that she could see
from her vantage point, but moss and ivy clung in more than a few
places.
     Not just a graveyard, an old one.  That always helped the
spookiness quotient.  Not exactly an auspicious meeting place, but
it at least had the advantage of privacy.  It was also intimidating as
all the hells, and Venus suspected that those two reasons had played a
major role in Hotaru's decision to meet each of them there when
they'd first been recruited.
     Jupiter and Mercury brought up the rear, and Venus noticed
the two were conducting a whispered conversation.  With any luck
Mercury was reminding Jupiter to keep her temper in check.  An
explosion was all they needed, what with everybody on edge.
     They paused at the edge of a shallow dip in the ground that
extended in an irregular circle.  Down in the middle of the depression
was a huge old crypt guarded by stone gargoyles who stood eternal
watch on its flat roof.  Standing near the door were four more
guardians, these no less fierce but much lovelier.
     "Ready?" Mars murmured, catching sight of the Outers.
     "Yes," the princess replied, reaching back to squeeze the
sable-maned beauty's hand briefly.  Venus felt a twinge of jealousy;
no matter how the princess tried not to play favourites, it seemed that
she always reached for Mars first.
     Grow up, she told herself sternly.  This is not helpful.
Steeling herself, she followed the other two down the gentle slope
towards the Tomoe family crypt.  As usual, Uranus and Neptune
stood together, hip to hip, watching them come.  It just seemed so
natural that Venus wondered if they were even aware of how they
always seemed to exist in their own private space whenever they were
anywhere together.  Pluto stood off to one side, long dark hair
billowing in the breeze, with Saturn in the centre.
     Showtime.
     "You're late," Saturn said curtly as they approached.  They stopped
a short distance away, and Venus saw Uranus fairly wince at the
woman's icy tone.
     "There was trouble," Mars replied smoothly.  Jupiter's mouth
had opened, but a subtle elbow from Mercury forestalled any
outburst.
     "Yes," the princess nodded.  "Just one of the things we have
to talk about."  Venus noted with approval that the princess seemed
to be maintaining her composure so far.  Good.  The more the two
leaders could be seen to be on the same level, the better.
     "I was hoping for a better show," Uranus murmured, sober
expression belied by the mischievous glint in her sky-blue eyes.
"Although I suppose the maid outfits would have been a hard act to
follow."
     "Uranus," Saturn snapped, glowering at the taller senshi.
"That's not helping."
     Venus begged to differ.  A little of Uranus's famous
flirtatious charm went a long way towards defusing tensions.
     "But if you're really that interested, maybe a private show is
in order?" Venus inquired coquettishly.  She had, at her princess's
request, worn her senshi uniform instead of her Mistress V outfit, but
she really would have enjoyed provoking the Outers with a show of
skin, black leather, and attitude.
     "It would be worth the price of admission," Neptune said
with an enigmatic smile, "to see what sort of outrageousness is born
of your creative wellspring, Venus."
     "I've never heard it called that before ..." Venus began impishly.
     Sailor Moon coughed politely.  "This may not be the best
time," she said, containing her amusement rather well, at least in
Venus's opinion.  The princess stepped forward, meeting Saturn's
smouldering gaze evenly.  "Saturn, I think it's time we talked about
what's been going on.  There are at least two enemies that are targeting
sailor senshi right now, and you need to know about them."
     As the princess spoke, Venus noticed Mars' expression.  The
girl cocked her head, lips pursed into a frown.  She seemed to be
listening to something nobody else could hear, and it came to Venus
in a flash that Phobos and Deimos were communicating with their
mistress.  Venus could feel Artemis in her head sometimes when they
were close, and she knew that Luna and the princess shared a similar
bond, but apparently the link between the twins and Mars verged on
full-blown telepathy.  And, judging by the expression on her face,
Mars wasn't liking what she was hearing.
     "Sass," she whispered.
     "What?" Venus blurted.  Mars shook her head and looked up.
     "It's her," Mars announced, causing the princess to fall silent
as everyone shifted their attention.  "Saekianna.  She's after Yoshi
again."
     "That bitch!" Jupiter exclaimed.  "Where are they?"
     "Close," Mars said, closing her eyes.  "Rin is there too.
Things are going to get ugly.  We'd better ..."
     She broke off, her normally pale skin going deathly white.
Venus felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach as Mars
opened her eyes, dark gaze seeking out Jupiter.
     "What?" Jupiter asked with obvious trepidation as Saturn
loudly demanded to know what was going on.  "Mars, WHAT?"
     "Yoshi," Mars said, her voice breathy.  "Oh, Jupiter.  We have to
hurry.  It may not be too late."

***

     The air was thick with imminent violence, an electric heat
that roiled and simmered, barely contained.  Saekianna stepped into
that maelstrom without fear, her stiletto heels clicking on the cracked
asphalt as she strode confidently towards the two men.  After all, her
training allowed her to take intense emotions like this and twist them,
capturing her prey in bonds of darkest desire.
     The blond wolf, he would be tricky.  Vi's experience with
him showed that trying to control him with a rose was fruitless.  No
matter.  If he could be snared, there were other techniques at her
disposal.  In the end, he would submit.
     But first things first.
     The pretty one caught sight of her first, lovely green eyes
narrowing as he followed her progress.
     "Well, we have an audience," he murmured, his voice a low,
throaty growl.  "And quite a lovely one at that."
     "Sorry, gorgeous," the wolf growled with an insultingly brief
glance in her direction.  "This is a private party."
     "I am most sorry to hear that," Saekianna said softly.  Her
wrist snapped out, sending Banri snaking through the intervening
space like black lightning.  The mystic whip coiled around the wolf
before he could react, tightening and unleashing dark energies through
his body.  With a cry, he fell to his knees.  The other one moved,
beginning to advance on her.
     "Ah, ah," she warned, revealing the black rose cradled in her
other hand.  "That's far enough.  I only have use for this one, pretty-
pretty.  But of you push me, I'll take you as well."
     "I can't imagine what Sakamura might have done to gain the
enmity of the Sisterhood," the man said softly, his eyes fixed on the
rose.  "And ordinarily, I would not much care.  But I have my orders
regarding him.  Once I have punished him, you may do what you
wish."
     "You do not seem to grasp the situation," Saekianna
informed him haughtily.  "The wolf is mine.  And now, so are you."
     She knew the shifter's reflexes would be excellent; prepared
for her attack, he would be a formidable foe.  Unfortunately for him,
she was not the threat he needed to worry about.  Vi had used the
distraction provided by her Nightmistress to move into position, and
her ribbons snaked out and wrapped the startled shifter in coils strong
as steel before he knew that she was behind him.  Vi slowly began to
reel the enraged shifter in, magicked silk tightening around his throat
and arms, and Saekianna let a pitiless smile creep to her lips as the
man's face began to turn red.
     "You seem to be cutting off his air, Vi," Saekianna
admonished.  "How cruel.  I know a better way to control our new
pet."
     As the wolf struggled fruitlessly to free himself from Banri's coils,
Saekianna flung her rose straight at Vi's captive.  With the boy as bait,
she could flush out the senshi before Baniesti arrived.  She could
finally guarantee the success of the revival.  She ...
     The rose never made it.
     Saekianna blinked.  Someone had moved fast enough to catch
her rose, and now stood twirling it idly.  He was a rangy youth,
attractive and vital.  And familiar, despite having changed from his
outlander garb.
     "You," she hissed.  The boy, the one who'd snatched V from her
grasp that night near the club.  His blue eyes flashed as he took in the
scene in an instant.
     "Up to your old tricks, huh?" he asked, stance casual.  Then, in one
blindingly fast move, he spun and kicked the russet-haired shifter in
the chest, sending the man flying back into Vi.  They both tumbled to
the ground as the boy kept spinning, discarding the rose and unleashing
a bolt of energy at Banri.  Not magick, that energy.  Chi.  A martial
artist, then.  Still, Banri and her mistress were both taken off-guard, and
the whip's coils slipped off the captive wolf, who was on his feet in a
moment.
     "My thanks, stranger," the wolf gasped, his gray eyes pinning
Saekianna with predatory fury.
     "Not so much a stranger, actually," the boy began.
     At that point things began to happen very quickly.  Saekianna
saw Vi struggling to contain the other shifter as they tussled on the
ground, saw motion down the alley the boy had used.  The wolf's
gaze shifted from her to a point to her rear, and his eyes widened.  He
seemed to freeze for a moment, shock robbing his face of colour, then
he screamed, a feral cry of rage.  The outlander boy dodged a stray
rose thrown by Vi, the wolf charged towards her, she tried to
backpedal and get Banri between them ...
     And then there was a gunshot.
     And the wolf fell.

***

     She wasn't certain what was happening.  All she was getting
from Deimos was a jumble of images and sensations.  One thing she
did know, however.
     Saekianna had made another move.  And Yoshi was hurt.
     Or worse.
     "How far?" Jupiter demanded.  The girl was beside herself
with worry bordering on panic, and Mars only hoped that they would
be in time.
     "Just down that alley!" she replied.  Jupiter leapt on ahead,
long legs carrying her ahead of the others.  Mars cursed.  The girl
was going to rush headlong into danger with no thought of the
consequences.  It would be up to the rest of them to protect her.
     Of course, the rest of them included the Outers.  They had
followed from the cemetery, and Mars knew that the explanations
that had to be made would only be complicated by a confrontation
with the Sisterhood.  Her own secret would no doubt be revealed.
     But that could wait.  Right now, she had to catch Jupiter
before she got herself killed.  Or worse.
     She had been the closest, but as she entered the alleyway,
Venus drew even with her, Mercury and the princess close behind.
The Outers were closing the gap caused by their late start; perhaps they
had debated the wisdom of following their younger counterparts.  They
were not far behind, though, and Uranus was in the lead.  It was those
long, long legs.  Only Jupiter could match the blonde in a footrace.
     "Nobody move!" an imperious voice commanded.  Mars
recognized Saekianna's voice immediately, saw the situation as she
came up behind Jupiter.  Yoshi was down on the ground,
blood pooling around his prone form.  A tall woman stood over him,
lethal looking handgun pointed at his head.  Mars recognized Jade
immediately.  And Vi, who was carefully backing away from a
disgruntled Rin.  Ranma stood very still, and from Mars' vantage it
appeared he was judging his chances of getting Jade before she could
fire.  But even fast as Ranma was, Mars wouldn't have wanted to
chance it.
     A standoff.  Not good.  The rest of the senshi were arriving,
but there could be other Sisters and Maidens nearby.  In fact, she
caught sight of Yurina walking slowly up behind Saekianna.  Yurina
was now Black Rose.  That did not make her any less dangerous than
she had been when she and Rei had known each other,
just dangerous in a different way.  Yurina's dark eyes didn't meet
Mars', however; they were rivetted on Yoshi's fallen form, face even
paler than was normal.  That was odd; Mars knew Yurina was not
squeamish.
     "Well, well.  What an interesting development," Saekianna
breathed, fury coiling within her eyes as her gaze met Mars'.  "You
had best ensure that your people behave, Rei, or the boy dies."
     "Silver," Rin spat, standing rigid and glaring at Vi, whose ribbons
were twitching restlessly in the air as she faced off against the werecat.
"She's using silver bullets."
     Bad news.  Even a shifter's healing powers would not save
him from silver.
     "What do you want?" Mars asked evenly as the others began to
arrive.  Saekianna smirked, back in the driver's seat at last.
     "First, tell your ..."
     "Lily," Jupiter said softly.  Mars blinked.  Jupiter's eyes
seemed glazed, unfocussed, as they went from Yoshi's fallen form to
Saekianna.
     No.  Not Saekianna.  She was looking behind her, at ...
     "LILY!"
     Then the world exploded in light.

***

     Lightning.
     It flowed like water, thick streams of actinic blue-white
power that filled the air, snaking out towards its target.  It was filled
with insensate rage, a thing of pure primal fury, knowing only one
thing.
     It must destroy.
     Then it met an obstacle, and power struggled with power as
screams rose into the air.  Concrete and steel shattered, someone
screamed, and the streams of energy turned black.
     And then there was silence.

***

     Somewhere, far off across the cityscape, a siren wailed
forlornly.  Sailor Moon wondered for a brief moment if Mamoru was
rushing to the scene.  But only for a moment; he would have more
than a few problems of his own to deal with.
     "Everybody okay?" she asked, blinking the blue-white
afterimages out of her eyes.  The alleyway was strewn with broken
concrete from nearby walls, but there did not seem to be any imminent
danger.
     "I think so," Mercury replied cautiously.
     "Princess!"  Luna was running down the alley, hair streaming
out behind her.  "Thank the gods you're all right!"
     "What in all the hells just happened?" Artemis demanded,
skidding to a stop beside them.  "Was that Jupiter?"
     "Uh-huh," Moon replied, watching as Mercury crouched
down beside Yoshi's unmoving form.  "At least, the first part.
Mercury?"
     "He's been shot," Mercury said, scanning Yoshi.  "With a
silver bullet.  He's lucky that the bullet went right through his
shoulder and exited cleanly.  If it had fragmented and a piece
remained in him, he could have died."
     "As it is, he is in shock," a voice informed them.  "Silver
poisoning.  Not something any of our kind should trifle with, to be
certain."
     "Rin," Moon said, frowning.  The man was walking towards
them from the far end of the alley, his normally glossy hair tousled
and his suit jacket badly torn.  "Weren't you just over there?"
     "And where are the others?" Artemis added.  "I saw you all
entering the alley ahead of us ..."
     "That's a very good question," the princess muttered.
Concern was beginning to penetrate the shock that surrounded her.
The alley had been filled with people before ...
     Before what?
     "That girl is insane," someone declared flatly.  The princess
turned to see Neptune coming up the alleyway behind Rin, brushing
dirt from her skirt and looking uncharacteristically flustered.
     "Will someone please tell me what happened?" Artemis
pleaded.
     "The lovely Jupiter completely lost it," Rin said dryly,
looking down his aquiline nose at where Mercury was carefully
tearing Yoshi's t-shirt off to reveal puckered flesh edged with ugly
black lines.  "She unleashed a tremendous attack which that whip-
wielding Sister tried to block."
     "Sister?" Neptune asked sharply.
     "And then Jupiter's power reacted with Ban ... the whip,"
Moon added quickly.
     "Neptune, what happened to you?" Mercury asked without
looking up.
     "Everything went black for a moment and I felt disoriented,"
Neptune shrugged elegantly.  "Then I found myself one street over,
tripping over a trash can.  Not an everyday occurrence, I assure you."
     "Yes," Rin nodded.  "Darkness, then suddenly I was
somewhere else.  Some sort of escape spell?"
     "I think not," Saturn said coolly, landing with feline grace on
the stained asphalt in the middle of the courtyard.  She swept her
glaive behind her and surveyed the small group with a disapproving
gaze.  "I believe that we experienced some sort of backlash that threw
us
randomly from this place."
     "So the others are all nearby?" Moon said, flush with relief.
     "We can only hope," Saturn scowled.  "And what exactly
was Jupiter thinking, Princess?"
     What indeed?  Moon recalled the hoarse scream that had
erupted from Jupiter's throat, a name from her past.  Could it be
true?  Had that girl been the one who'd betrayed a younger Makoto?
     They all turned at the sound of metal clattering madly across
unyielding pavement, then Jupiter appeared, careening around the
corner and down the alley.  She ran full out until she reached them,
face flushed and eyes wild.
     "Jupiter!" the princess cried.  "Are you all right?"
     "Where is she?" Jupiter shouted.  "She can't get away from
me!  WHERE IS SHE?"
     "Gone," Rin said, watching Jupiter carefully.  "All of them, gone.
Courtesy of your rage and that magicked whip, it appears.  I must
confess, I would dearly love to know what that woman did to have
enraged you so."
     "No," Jupiter breathed, turning her infuriated gaze on him, every
line of her body singing with tension ready to be released in the most
destructive manner possible.  "You wouldn't."  She started to push
forward, and Moon saw Saturn preparing to intercept the irrational
senshi.  That could only go badly; the princess stood quickly and
interposed her body between the two, placing her hands gently but
firmly on Jupiter's shoulders.
     "Hey," she said softly.  "Jupiter?  We need you here right now.  I
need you."
     Jupiter's throat worked as she swallowed, tension arcing through her
body and into the palms of Moon's hands.  Blazing green eyes filled
with anguish met hers, and Moon felt the pain of her friend's wounds
and suffered with her.  "Princess, that girl ..."
     "I heard," Moon murmured.  "But you have to focus now.  Yoshi
is hurt, Jupiter."
     The taller girl nodded, fury still seething like a verdant storm
in her eyes after she closed them and then slowly opened them again.
"Mercury?  How is he?"
     "In shock," Mercury replied.  "I don't know much about
silver poisoning, but I think we need to get him to a hospital."
     "With a gunshot wound?" Rin asked, smiling thinly.  "There
will be questions, and undoubtedly some other ... unpleasantness."
He stooped to gather up Yoshi's torn t-shirt.
     "He's right," Jupiter said hoarsely.  Sailor Moon let her
friend go, and Jupiter moved to Yoshi's side, crouching beside him.
     "Princess ..." Neptune began.  Moon held up her hand, still
watching Jupiter.
     "I screwed up again, didn't I, Yosh?" Jupiter whispered, her
voice thick with barely repressed grief as she reached out tenderly to
brush stray locks of blond hair from the fallen shifter's pale face.  "But
I promise I won't let her win.  I won't let her do this.  Not again."
     "There is a shop in Grie Square," Rin said.  Moon turned to
face him, noting that he was watching Yoshi and Jupiter closely.
"An apothecary's named The Silver Leaf.  Give the owner my name.
He will have fae root, and instructions on how to use it.  But do not
delay.  Silver poisoning is tricky.  The sooner you treat him, the
better."
     With that, Rin spun and walked off down the alley.  Moon
watched him go, astonished.  Rin was helping Yoshi?  Or was he
doing it for Jupiter?  Regardless, help was welcome, motives be
damned.
     "Princess," Neptune repeated, her voice low and urgent.
Saturn was frowning, and for the first time Moon realized that the
woman's attention was elsewhere.
     "What?" Moon asked sweetly.  There would be questions
now, uncomfortable questions.  There would be no easing into the
matter of their quarrel with the Sisterhood; perhaps she should insist
on waiting until the others got back.  That would delay matters for a
little while anyway, giving her time to figure out what she was going
to say.
     "I can't raise Uranus on my comm," Neptune told her, mouth set in
a thin line.
     "I've been trying Pluto," Saturn added, fiddling with her left
earring.
     "Interference from what happened?" Moon asked.  Oh please, let it
be interference.
     "There's no interference," Mercury informed her, visor
appearing as she scanned.  "Try Mars and Venus."
     The princess did so, her pulse quickening as she found no
response.
     "But ... but we weren't even affected!" she blurted.  "And
Neptune and Saturn weren't thrown that far!  They have to be
somewhere!"
     "I can't locate them," Mercury told her, shaking her head as she
swept her visor from side to side.  "I have a theory, though.  Based on
my scans, it seems that Banri summoned some sort of Shadow Magick
in response to Jupiter's attack.  Rin, Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn could
have been thrown through Shadow, emerging at points nearby."
     "Shadow Magick?" Saturn asked, violet eyes narrowing.
     "But what about the others?" the princess cried.  "Mercury,
where are they?"
     "I can't say for certain," Mercury replied, expression
guarded.  "It seems likely that they were also thrown into Shadow.
But ..."  Mercury hesitated.
     "But?"
     "But they weren't thrown back out again," the girl finished.
     Shadow?  But the vampire's wraiths went there.  And other
things.  And none of them could make a gate to Shadow.
     So how were they going to reach their friends?

***

     Pluto leaned on her staff, getting her wind back.  That had
been quite a rough ride.  She'd made it to the mouth of the alley
behind Uranus, just in time to see a veritable eruption of lightning,
presumably Jupiter's doing.  Then everything had gone black.
     There were buildings around her, edifices that somehow
looked gaunt, ancient.  The patterns reminded her of their own city,
which was hardly a surprise.  They were a phantom echo of the true
Saeni, after all.
     One look at the sky had told her where she was.  Nemesis
rode high in a sky that knew only night, gravid with crimson
corruption, and dark mist hung in the air, thick in places, tattered
gauzy streamers in others.  Somehow, she had entered Shadow Realm.
     She straightened up, scowling as the dry, withered wind blew
long strands of hair into her face.  She brushed it away impatiently,
casting about for a landmark.  Patterns from their world were
repeated in Shadow, this much she knew.  If she could get a bead on
where she was, that might help.
     Although she wasn't certain how ...
     As she suspected, her communicator was useless.  It couldn't
find a viable sub-etheral frequency in this realm.  If any of the others
had ended up here, she was going to have to find them the hard way.
     "This day," Pluto muttered blackly, "just keeps getting worse
and worse."  They hadn't gotten anything from the girls before they'd
suddenly raced out of the cemetery and past Artemis and Luna, so she
had no idea what had gone wrong or who had been in that alley.
There was nothing like being kept in the dark to make her irritable.
     And there was nothing to be learned by just standing here.
Hefting her staff easily, she set off down the deserted street, keeping
close to the hunkered buildings.  There were some very unpleasant
things that lived in Shadow, if the rumours contained any grain of
truth, and she didn't want to be far from shelter if one showed up.
     That was when she heard the scream.
     It echoed strangely off the ancient stone, but Pluto chose a
direction and sprinted across the weathered roadway.  It had seemed
to come from ahead of her and off to the right, a high, startled sound.
There was no sign of offensive magick, though, and her heart
pounded in her chest.  Had one of the others been taken by surprise?
     Her boots skidded on stone worn smooth by whatever
elements bedevilled this eldritch plane as she rounded the corner.
There.  Not one of hers, after all.  A petite woman was backing away
from her, dark eyes wide as they remained fixed on the horrifying
apparition in the middle of the street.  The girl was a vision of beauty,
but unfortunately the most lethal weapon she seemed to possess was
the ornate fan she held in one trembling hand.
     "Run!" Pluto shouted.  She could worry about how the girl
had gotten here later.  Right now, she had bigger problems to worry
about.
     Bigger, uglier problems.
     Pluto moved so that the girl would not be in her line of fire,
levelling her keystaff at the creature that had turned to face her.  Its
body was inky black, long tendrils waving along its slender length.  It
looked like some kind of giant shadowy centipede, only with glowing
red eyes and a mouth that was a vertical slash that ran nearly its
entire length.  That mouth gaped as Pluto watched, showing a
crooked array of wickedly sharp teeth as it emitted a challenge that
cut through the senshi's composure like a rusty razor through wet
tissue.
     Pluto shook off the feeling of nearly suffocating dread that the
creature's alien scream evoked, summoning a bolt of power and
unleashing it as the thing charged her, heedless of any possible
danger.  Dark energy coalesced at the tip of her staff, forming a
roiling ball which streaked out at the shadowy menace.  For one
panicky moment, Pluto had a vision of her power being rendered
somehow useless in this place.  Fortunately, this creature, denizen of
Shadow or no, proved no match for her bolt, shrieking in pain as it
was torn in two by the attack.  It fell to the ground and twitched
fitfully, if briefly.  Taking a deep breath, Pluto approached the fallen
thing, staff held at the ready.  It had shrieked its last, though, foul-
smelling ichor leaking from the rent body, and she finally
straightened and made her way towards the would-be victim.
     Up close, the girl was even more stunning, dark-lashed eyes
staring out of a delicately lovely face of palest porcelain.  The dead,
fitful wind tugged the girl's skirt, which was slit to the thigh on one
side, revealing a length of shapely leg encased in mesh hose.
     "Are you all right, miss?" Pluto asked gently.  The girl
blinked, tearing her gaze away from the fallen beast.  She snapped
her fan open, hiding her face in a demure fashion that made Pluto
think of ladies of breeding.  In fact, everything about this girl
suggested a daughter of the aristocracy, from her tasteful clothing of
the latest, most expensive fashion, to the refined grace of her bearing.
Those bottomless eyes sought Pluto out from above the fan, which she
then lowered slowly.  The tip of the girl's pink tongue slipped out to
wet her full, lush lips, but other than that nervous twitch the stranger
seemed to have recovered her poise.
     "A goddess," she breathed, her voice as exquisite as the rest
of her.  "You must be a goddess."
     "I assure you, I am not," Pluto said dryly.  "Are you hurt?"
     The girl shook her head, fan describing graceful arcs as she
toyed with it.  "No, my lady.  I ... oh, please forgive me.   This hardly
seems real!"
     The girl's breathy gasp tugged at Pluto's heart, and she
stepped closer, putting on a reassuring smile.
     "Relax," she told the girl.  "Can you tell me what happened?"
     "I am not certain," the girl replied.  "I was walking along the
street, when all of a sudden there was some sort of explosion or ... or
..."
     The girl's lips began to quiver, and before Pluto could react
the captivating young noblewoman threw herself into the startled
senshi's arms.
     "Please," the girl whispered, her arms twining around Pluto's
neck as she buried her face in the senshi's shoulder.  "Please, forgive
me.  I was so frightened ..."
     "It's all right," Pluto soothed, slipping her arms around the
trembling girl's petite body.  "You're safe now."  She breathed the
scent of the girl's glossy midnight hair, bound up in a sophisticated
style, and suddenly felt acutely aware of the heat of the other girl's
body where it was pressed against her
     Timing, she told herself ruefully.  How can you even think
about such a thing at a time like this?  Slowly, the girl's shaking
subsided, and she pulled back, tilting her head to gaze up into Pluto's
eyes.
     "I'm sorry," the girl whispered, biting her full lower lip
fetchingly.  "You must think me such a goose."
     "Not at all," Pluto replied softly, her mouth dry in spite of
herself.  This girl was quite an armful; that designer dress hid very
feminine curves.  And that perfume of hers was quite intoxicating ...
     "I just want to thank you," the beauty breathed.  "For saving
me."  The girl's chin tilted up, and Pluto found that ripe, kissable
mouth pressed against hers.  At the same time the girl's fan, which
was still in her hand, brushed against the back of Pluto's neck.  She
felt a tiny prick as she tried to gently disengage herself, and a rush of
heat filled her body.  The girl's perfume became even sweeter, filling
her senses as a nimble tongue slipped inside her mouth.  The girl had
twined the fingers of her free hand in Pluto's hair, preventing her
from breaking the kiss, but within seconds Pluto could not recall why
she had ever conceived of such a course of action.  Her knees seemed
to melt, and distantly she heard the sound of her staff as it slipped
from nerveless fingers and hit the ground.  That should have
concerned her, but that spine-melting heat consumed everything,
leaving her breathless and overwhelmed, unable to marshal her
thoughts.
     Finally the girl's mouth pulled away from hers, leaving Pluto
gasping.  Those guileless dark eyes were lidded now as the girl
stepped back, leaving Pluto to fall to her knees.  She barely caught
herself from falling by flinging her hands out, swaying on all fours,
her hair hanging down in a green-black curtain.  Shakily she raised
her head, peering up through dishevelled locks at the satisfied
beauty who regarded her with amused disdain.
     "That posture suits you, my dear," the girl smirked.  "And
since you did save me from that monstrosity, I shall not kill you.
You will come with me and protect me from the creatures in this
place.  We will find a way back to our world, and then I will make a
gift of you to the Nightmistress."
     Nightmistress?  Pluto tried to move, to stand, but that heat
had taken root at the base of her spine and was licking along her
nerve endings, making coherent thought difficult.  The girl cast a
covetous glance at Pluto's fallen keystaff, then turned her attention
back to the drugged senshi.
     "You are in a pretty cooperative state of mind right now, but
unfortunately while you have been rendered docile, that limits your
usefulness as a bodyguard," the girl said sleekly.  "But I have
something that will rectify that.  Give me your hand."
     The girl pulled something from inside her dre