Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Gaijin ❯ Chapter 28

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Gaijin

Part 28

Origins.

+++++++++++++++++++++

"Well?" Kunzite smirked as he stood in front of Zoicite.

The blonde man merely smirked as he sat on the bottom of a small stairwell somewhere near the back of the castle. "What do we do with this information?"

"We act of course. What better opportunity will we have to rid ourselves of them?"

"Why bother? They've been so busy lately that we haven't had to bother with avoiding them."

"They are still our greatest threat," replied Kunzite sharply.

"That may be, but it may be best to let sleeping dogs lie for now. Our operations have been going well. Uranus should be our biggest concern."

"You're afraid of them aren't you?"

The blonde merely snorted as he flashed his companion an angry glare. "Beryl would have us dive in headfirst and get ourselves killed."

"They must be eliminated," replied the white haired man calmly. "I'll take care of it myself if need be."

"How?"

"I'll surprise them, one at a time of course. Should be easy to do."

"Possibly," replied Zoicite calmly. "We should form some sort of plan though. I'm not sure just showing up and attacking will be enough. Beryl is growing impatient, despite the fact that we are nearing our goal."

"She wants that damned crystal. It should be much easier to find without the senshi."

"One of them is still a mystery. Sailor Moon..."

"Sailor Moon hasn't been seen in months. She's no threat at the moment."

"She may become one. Perhaps we should first discover her identity before we kill the others?"

Kunzite frowned. It did make sense, having the senshi of the moon show up at an inopportune time would be very likely. She'd still die of course, but it would probably be a bit more than a passing annoyance. "Very well. How do you propose we do that? Ask them?"

"Capturing one and torturing her should be enough. They are still just young girls, their loyalties will only be so deep."

Kunzite smirked. "I'll let you deal with it then. Torture is messy work."

Zoicite merely nodded. "All right. There is that other matter to speak of."

"Yes, those creatures that have shown up. What are they? Where did they come from? I do not think Beryl is aware of them yet."

"They could be a problem."

"We should eliminate them then. There's no room for such things in our plans."

The white haired man frowned slightly. "A pity, that one from the hospital shows a lot of promise."


"The other one would be easier to control I think. I'll let you deal with it. After all, I'm going to be rather busy myself."

"It won't be easy, Uranus is still in Tokyo. She is the biggest danger, the way she travels around she could appear anywhere at any time."

"Metallia will have to deal with her. She's much to powerful for us to fight at the moment."

"I am not certain of that just yet."

"You could get burned."

"We'll see. I'm not fool enough to go looking for her though. I don't think that will be much of a problem once things start to heat up a bit."

Zoicite stood up and started walking down the hall. "I suppose that you are right. We'll return to Tokyo soon, until then, we have a lot of planing to do."

Kunzite merely stood where he was and said nothing. "What of that boy? What part does he play in this?" he thought to himself.

Finally, he started up the stairs. "I suppose I'll find out soon enough."

+++++++++++++++++++

Carrot was standing on a rooftop near the edge of town with his prisoner sitting in front of him. "Well. I suppose I'll have to call in a favor and find you a place to stay."

The scientist looked rather nervous at his current position. "What are you going to do with me?"

"If you tell me what I want to know, I'll probably let you go when this is over. You're not going anywhere until we've found a way to clean up the mess you made." The man tried to stand up but the boy shoved him back onto the ground. "Stay put." The boy was looking over his shoulder at the city. They were about a mile inside town.

"It isn't going to be easy to stop it. Once we get it off of her, we need to catch it before it finds someone else."

"I am aware of that, you're going to help me with a way to contain that thing if I can't destroy it."

"That will be expensive," warned Yoshi.

"Naturally," grumbled Carrot sourly. "I've got to make a call. Stay put and don't move. I only need you to be able to speak to find out what I want. Anything else is optional if you catch my drift."

The man looked like he was about to wet himself and nodded hard enough to lose his glasses. He fumbled for a moment to get them back on. When his vision cleared again the boy was nowhere to be seen. "So. I guess I'll just sit here then? I hope he doesn't take too long."

++++++++++++++++++++

Carrot was standing on a street corner at a payphone. He had the receiver held up to his ear and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Dr. Mizura's office," said Spike's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey. I was hoping you'd pick up. How's Gia?"

"Terrible."

"Great."

"You workin on dat ting for her?"

"Yeah. I'm not getting a whole lot of info right now though. I do need your help with something else right now though."

"What's dat?"

"I've got someone with me. I need to make sure he stays put for a while if you catch my drift. There will be people looking for him, and he's got information I'll need."

"I tink I can help ya," said the voice cheerfully.

"Tell me where to meet you. I'd rather not discuss this over the phone here."

"Bring him to dat bar you went to wit Michiru. I'll let Jiro know yer comin."

"Right, give me an hour or...damn," replied the boy.

"What's up?"

"Might be a little while before I get there. Someone is tailing me."

"I'll be here."

"Good. See you later then." He hung up the phone and glanced over his shoulder into an alley opposite the street. "Two of them." As pedestrians passed by him, he seemed to vanish into the crowd in an instant.

++++++++++++++++++++

"Are you sure that's him?" asked the male shinobi as he turned to face the female.

"Of course I'm sure," she snapped angrily.

"We should follow him then."

"Damn. I lost him," growled the female as she peered out of the alley.

"I guess that was him. Not bad," replied the male as he noticed their target was gone.

"Think he spotted us?" she asked him calmly.

"Doubtful. From what I've heard, he moves around like that normally."

"Man, how paranoid can you get?"

"Well, we've got our orders. You go back and report in. I'll stay here and see if I can find him again. I'll send word if I do."

She nodded and jumped back further into the shadows.

"I was expecting more," snorted the male as he did the same.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

The female ninja pulled herself up a fire escape ladder and strolled onto the rooftop to get her bearings straight. She didn't come to this side of town often, and it would take a little thought to remember how to get back. Spotting a few landmarks was easy though and she quickly found her direction again.

Unfortunately, the blade that appeared in front of her throat pretty much cut off that train of thought rather abruptly.

"Hello."

"Shit," she gasped as her body tensed up. "What do you want?"

"Hmmm. If it isn't little Mai."

"Kei," growled the girl as she remained perfectly still.

"That boy is mine."

"I don't care. I'm not here for him."

"Why follow him at all then?" asked Kei as she pulled the shinobi a little closer and pressed the knife against her neck a little more.

"Hakage wishes to speak with him."

"Is that so?" snorted the assassin.

"I'm under orders Kei. I can't touch him."

"Really? Well, I do hope he's gentle with Aman."

"What?" said the girl as she went ridged suddenly.

"Didn't you know? He spotted you in that alleyway. I imagine he went after Aman because he kept looking."

"No. He..."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" said Kei as she stepped back away from the girl.

Mai spun around with an angry snarl on her face. Kei was looking at her coolly a few feet away. The girl stepped back slowly.

"Go to Hakage. If he intends to kill Aman, there is nothing you can do to stop it now." Kei turned and walked away from her and away.

"What about you?"

"Me? Well, I'll kill that boy soon enough."

"How do you know..."

"That you haven't been ordered to kill me on sight?" finished the assassin calmly. "It wouldn't matter."

Mai turned away from her and rushed off.

"What are you up too, Uncle?" said Kei as she watched the girl rush off. She flipped her knife around her wrist and put it away as she turned to move off as well.

+++++++++++++++++

Aman was growing frustrated. The boy had left no trace behind. He was simply gone. He found himself standing in front of a wall in an alleyway simply glaring at the bricks. "Damn." The kid was younger than he was, not by much, but still. "How the hell did he just..."

His thoughts were left unfinished as something slammed into his back. He was pinned to the ground and struggled whatever it was that was spreading across his back and pinning him to the pavement. His struggles stopped abruptly as he found himself looking at a pair of black slacks with shined shoes.

Carrot was standing in front of him with a frown on his face. "Why are you following me?"

"Shit," muttered the ninja as his mask was pulled off. He appeared to be about sixteen years of age. His features were sharp and handsome and his hair was short with the exception of the bangs that hung around his face.

"Well, aren't you a bishonen looking loser?" said the boy with a chuckle as he stood back up with the mask in his hand. "Who sent you? Hisami is dead, so I doubt if you're working for him. Maybe the new guy?"

"I was only told to follow you," said the ninja angrily.

"Well, you can stop now," snorted Carrot. "Your boss give you a reason?"

"My master wishes to speak with you," said the older boy calmly. He didn't like his position, but the kid hadn't really made any threatening moves once he'd been pinned down.

"Is that so?" snorted the younger boy. "This 'master' got a name?"

"Hakage. He is the head of my clan."

"Oh. That guy again," said the younger boy with a disinterested looking frown. "Why would he send a small fry like you after me? You never even noticed me once I vanished from in front of your face."

"I was told to find you, and report back," said the older boy as he struggled against his bindings a little.

"That stuff should loosen up enough for you to get away in an hour or so."

The boy stopped struggling and glared up at his captor.

Carrot turned away and started walking.

"Wait!" called the older boy.

"What?"

"Will you meet him?"

"Eventually I'm sure," replied the boy as he continued on his way.

"Why not now then? Name your place and time. I will send word."

Carrot actually seemed amused by this for a moment. "I'm a busy man."

"It will be worth your time," said the older boy.

The boy paused and glanced back over his shoulder one last time. "I'll meet him at sunset. Tell him to meet me in the park near the Hisami building. I'll meet him if he shows up alone, and only if he's alone."

The older boy nodded at this. "Would you mind cutting me loose before you leave?"

"Yeah. I would."

+++++++++++++++++++++

"You're back," stammered Yoshi as he pushed himself up to his feet.

"Yeah. I ran into some trouble, you're lucky you didn't come along." Carrot was starting to like this guy. He didn't have a spine and hadn't even attempted to run. Pushing him around was easy, so he probably wouldn't have much trouble keeping him in line. He also had a feeling that the man was willing to help him get rid of Venom. Still, it was better to be sure about that before he went and started trusting him.

The scientist nodded and stepped back a little. "Are we leaving now? Can I walk?"

"I'm taking you somewhere you'll be safe for now. I'm afraid you're still a prisoner though."

"Okay," said the man with a heavy sigh.

Carrot grabbed him by his coat and tucked him under his arm. "You're taking this surprisingly well."

"I created that unit to help protect people; it was intended for use by the police. We were still a long way away from human testing. It needs to be stopped before it can hurt anyone else."

"I'm glad we're on the same page then," said Carrot as he jumped off the edge of the roof. Yoshi was still being a wuss and flinched, but he'd stopped screaming at least.

+++++++++++++++++

"Man. You need to relax. Maybe I can get you laid or something later. I'm sure Spike knows a girl or two who might help out."

Yoshi was kissing the ground in front of the bar. The pavement was slightly wet and he had specks of black stuck onto his lips as he stood up and wiped his sleeve across his mouth.

"You know. I puked there once."

"Thank you for telling me," grumbled the man a little sourly.

"In," said Carrot as he simply pointed at the door.

Yoshi strolled into the bar and paused inside the door long enough for Carrot to walk up next to him. They both scanned the crowd and the boy gave Spike a small nod as he noticed him.

"Dis da guy?" asked the thug as he strolled up to the pair and cracked his knuckles.

"Be gentle with him until he tries something. He's been pretty cooperative so far," said Carrot calmly.

"Oh. Dat's great," commented the giant man cheerfully.

Carrot felt his teeth grinding for some reason as he forced Yoshi to sit next to him at the bar. The owner walked up and leaned on the counter next to him.

"Something's up?"

"You could say that. This asshole here built something that tried to kill me. I'm going to need his help to catch it."

The man simply shifted an unreadable gaze towards the nervous scientist. "First round is on me."

"Thanks," said Carrot calmly as he lit a cigarette. He was incredibly annoyed, which was odd considering there was a band playing Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog'. It was about this point he realized that was the whole problem. "Jiro?"

"Hmmm?" asked the man as he gave the boy a casual glance.

"What the hell is that?"

The boy pointed towards the band. It was a group of young Japanese boys in tuxedos with slicked back hair. They had a drummer, a bass guitarist, and a lead guitarist. The drummer was singing vocals. All of them had wide stupid looking grins on their faces and were actually winking and pointing at the crowd as they played.

"Jeezus, only in Japan," muttered the stunned boy in horror.

"Something wrong?" asked the old man gruffly.

"Yeah. Your band really blows."

"Well, I had them learn a few American songs that get a lot of requests from the servicemen." He nodded towards a booth with a small group of high ranking American soldiers. The men were all plastered and didn't give much of a shit about the music.

"Those idiots are too drunk to realize where they are right now. You want to drive Americans away, keep that band."

"You really think so?" asked Jiro with a surprised looking frown.

Carrot was actually wincing. The lead vocal was squeaking girlishly in place of Robert Plant's moans. "God. I know so."

"I suppose I have to fire them then." He didn't look particularly pleased with the failure of his experiment.

"You feel bad?" asked Carrot.

"I can't really fault them. They've done a fairly good job. Unfortunately, I trust such an honest opinion. I believe it is a cultural barrier they simply cannot grasp."

"That's a good way of looking at it I suppose, but I guess it leaves you feeling guilty. You depend on servicemen a bit?"

"Their generous contributions are appreciated," replied the old man diplomatically.

"Well, if you still feel bad about it, think of it as protecting that investment."

"You've got good business sense," replied the old man. "However, I'm not sure I trust you with matters of the heart. Michiru is an old family friend, I do not wish to see her hurt."

Carrot put his glass down on the table after taking a long gulp. "Actually, I really think she would shoot me if I tried to leave her. You really don't have anything to worry about. I'm not about to rock the boat if I can help it."

"Pardon me?" asked Jiro dumbly.

"I didn't stutter," replied the boy as he took another sip of his beer.

Yoshi hadn't touched his and looked even more uncomfortable.

Jiro sighed and nodded his head. "All right. I've got a room in the back we can put him up in for a while. I'll need to know what this is all about if I'm going to help you out."

"Right," said Carrot calmly.

"Don't I get any say in this?" asked Yoshi quietly.

"No. Not really," replied the boy as he flipped on a pair of mirrored shades and started walking towards the back.

The band was giving him a headache. He strolled up in front of it and they stopped playing as he simply stood right in front of the guitarist. "Give me that god damn guitar before I beat you to death with it."

The boy stared at him and worked his jaw up and down for a moment. They were right in the middle of one of their best songs. 'Roo ah yu!' by 'The Who'. The kid standing at his feet looked like he wanted to break him in half, and he carried himself like he could.

He handed the boy the guitar and jumped out of the way. "Keep up and maybe I'll forgive you."

The pair swallowed and glanced at each other. They gripped their chosen instruments nervously.

Jiro was watching the whole thing carefully from behind the bar. "You can play?"

"Yeah. I'm not reliable enough to be of any real use to you," replied Carrot calmly.

"Yeah. Worth a shot though." The man was smirking; the boy was one arrogant kid. It probably wouldn't be too bad.

Carrot lit a cigarette and passed the pair behind him one from his pack.

They both looked at them dumbly.

He glanced at them and they put them in their mouths. He was fiddling with the guitar and adjusting the strings. He seemed to be growing impatient with it and kept giving dirty glares to the lead guitarist. Finally he puffed on his cigarette.

He had the attention of everyone in the bar and he seemed to have second thoughts about what he was doing for a moment. Spike seemed somewhat confused by his actions. He looked at the scientist and found the man cheerfully watching the show. "We'll, this definitely can't get any weirder." Michiru walked through the door and blinked in surprise as she spotted him on stage.

The boy hung his head. "Of course."

"What are you doing? Stop bullying those poor boys!" She glared at him angrily as she seemed to realize the frightened state of the nervous boy band.

"I'm not bullying them. I'm showing them what Led Zeppelin is supposed to sound like. Do you mind?" He pointed towards the bar around the area where Spike was sitting.

She glared at him, but obeyed. "This had better be good."

"Man. What crawled up her ass today?" grumbled Carrot as he strummed the strings of his guitar for a moment.

"Is that your girlfriend?" muttered the drummer quietly.

"Yeah. Scary huh?" The door to the bar opened and Mei Lin and Hibiki walked into the bar at that moment. He noticed Mei Lin pull a pair of earplugs out of her purse. She grinned at him and waved. Hibiki looked impressed, but then he noticed the backup group. Things sort of came together when he noticed the bandleader cowering nearby. A group of drunken American soldiers was sitting at a nearby booth laughing their asses off at the unfortunate lead guitarist.

"Cool place," he commented as he sat down at the bar and ordered a beer.

"I think that's about everyone who should show up," Carrot muttered. The situation seemed eerily contrived to him. He seemed to meet the same group of people a lot. That was strange considering how he moved around Tokyo. This sort of thing was far from rare for him.

++++++++++++++++++++++

"Is he ever gonna start?" muttered Jiro impatiently.

"He's just sitting there," grumbled Hibiki. "Maybe he can't play?"

"He'd better know how," grumbled Jiro irritably.

"Actually, Gia says he's pretty good," said Spike cheerfully. "He does get kind of loud though."

Jiro's eyes went wide as Carrot twisted the amplifier volume to it's maximum. He turned and made the other adjust the volume of their instruments. They seemed to understand what was going on and glanced at each other nervously. Carrot pointed at the both of them. "No singing."

They both nodded dumbly.

"If you lose me, stop playing and pick up when you can. If we start to sound like shit it will be your fault, stop playing."

"Play kid!" cried one of the drunken soldiers.

Carrot turned calmly around and started to play Black Dog again. He did it without vocals and the band basically reduced themselves to keeping a backbeat and letting him play. The song was finished after about ten minutes. The two other band members had stopped about three minutes in. Both of them were unsure just how long the boy would play for.

He turned to glare at them both. "Now. Until you can play and make it sound like that. Don't bother playing it here. Stick to that pop crap you're used too. If you continue playing those songs, eventually, a group of drunken military types will hear it. They'll probably kill you."

The Americans were cheering loudly of course, but most everyone else turned away from the boy as he grabbed his guitar and turned away with a very pensive look on his face. Americans were so...aggressive.

Carrot plopped himself on a barstool and looked around the room. Everyone seemed impressed.

"I didn't know you could play," said Michiru cheerfully.

"Well, I'm not bad I suppose. I do wonder why you hired those guys in the first place though. Man, they really blow. I'm sure you could find a better local band than those losers for a place as nice as this."

"Nice means expensive," replied Jiro diplomatically.

"I guess I understand that. Speaking of understanding, what the hell are you doing here still Spike? I thought Gia needed comforting or something."

"She said she wanted ta be alone," replied the man with a small shrug.

"Ug. Ape," growled Mei Lin.

"Wow. That's exactly what I would have done," said Carrot.

"Me too," agreed Hibiki.

Both women glared at them all. Jiro simply continued to clean a glass with a towel.

"I didn't know you were into music," said Michiru as she tried to change the subject.

"I guess. There isn't much competition around here. I've yet to hear a decent band, but then again, I don't have much time for music lately."

"Don't get so cocky kid. I've heard better," snorted Jiro.

"I figured you'd say that," replied the boy with a small shrug. "Those guys just suck. It was easy to show them up. Maybe that's why they came here?"

"Destiny?" chuckled the old man in amusement.

"Um, Carrot?" said Mei Lin as she turned him towards her by grabbing his shoulder.

"What?" he said as he frowned at her.

"You went to all the trouble of going out and kidnapping somebody. Were you going to question him some time this evening?"

"Yeah," said the boy as he sipped at his beer. "You'll notice he's drinking heavily right now. I realized this was the perfect place to interrogate someone. I'm surprised Spike was so insightful."

"Huh?" muttered the girl in confusion.

"I'd say he's about ready to pop," said Hibiki cheerfully. "This is how I asked my girlfriend out."

Mei Lin was gawking at him. "What?"

"What?" he asked her with a confused frown on his face.

"Yeah. Me too," said Spike as he nodded at the man cheerfully.

"Right here in this very chair," said Hibiki with a large grin plastered on his face.

Mei Lin frowned as she realized that there was a rather long line of empty shot glasses on the bar next to him.

"Dat's Amazing!" cried Spike as he grabbed the man in a rough and bone crunching hug. "Dat's exactly what happened ta me!"

Carrot noted that he had acquired his current girlfriend in a similar manner, but wisely decided to avoid the conversation. He did shift away from the seat a little uncomfortably though.

"Help!" gasped the smaller man. Mercifully, the thug dropped him back into his seat. He fumbled about for a moment and Spike ignored him as he continued to babble on about the chair having power over destiny or something. Carrot kind of lost him at this point.

"Come on. I've been stalling to get him drinking. Jiro's been helping me out."

"You're getting this man drunk so he'll talk?" stammered Michiru as she glanced over at the scientist.

Carrot frowned at her. "Hey. What are you doing here anyway? I only told Mei Lin about it because she'd whine if she didn't get a story out of this. I figure uncovering something like this is enough..." He turned and glared at the Chinese girl. "You called her didn't you?"

"Why would I do that?" asked the girl innocently.

"Because your only purpose in life is my misery, just like almost every other living creature on this planet?"

Spike snorted vodka out of his nose and Carrot grinned as the man fell to his knees coughing. It took a moment for him to regain himself. "Don't do dat!" he cried.

"What?" asked Carrot with his best looking innocent grin.

"What was that?" growled Michiru as she grabbed his leg and squeezed it with her nails rather hard.

"Sarcasm?" he replied with a nervous looking grin. Actually, he had meant it, but decided it was probably better if Michiru didn't know that. "Come on. Don't take everything I say so seriously," he grumbled as he scratched at his thigh.

Michiru seemed reasonably satisfied with that answer, but still glared at him angrily for a moment anyway.

Carrot sighed in relief as she looked away from him and towards the scientist. "Who's he?"

"His name is Yoshi. He's a scientist for Cybertech industries. I'm working with him and Carrot on a story!" supplied Mei Lin cheerfully. She picked up Hibiki's head and lifted it off the bar by the hair. "This is Hibiki. He's the driver." She promptly dropped his face back to where it was and he didn't react despite the fact that he was still awake, even if only slightly.

Michiru glanced back at him again. "Is he going to be all right?" He was having trouble sitting up straight. He also seemed to be challenged with keeping his head in his palm as he leaned against the bar and continued to drink whatever Jiro put in front of him. "Huh? Was someone talking to me?" he muttered as he glanced over at them. He had a grin plastered across his mug.

"Hey. I've got an idea, let's you and I have a little talk." Carrot strolled up to the man and patted him on the shoulder. "I've got this place set up in the back for us. We can discuss that thing you built. What can you tell me about it?"

The door closed on the pair and Mei Lin sat down next to Michiru.

"I don't believe this!" whispered the older girl as she stared at the bar top.

"It's better than torture I suppose," said the Chinese girl cheerfully. Hibiki was snoring on the bar top with what appeared to be a footprint on his face. Spike was hugging the chair, an experience she thought he'd repeat later on from the look of him.

"All of them are drunk," said Michiru with a heavy sigh.

"I'm not," said Mei Lin with a small shrug.

"This usually doesn't happen so early," grumbled Jiro as he glanced at Spike. One of the things he liked about Spike was that he'd work for liquor. His other 'job' gave him more than enough for a man like him to live well where he was. It didn't take much either. Carrot had already slipped him enough to pay for drinks for the rest of the evening. They wanted to leave the scientist uncertain of what he had told them, or just how much. It made him less apt to withhold information when he was sober. An old trick really.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Carrot smiled as he sat across from the man at a small table in the kitchen. It was used for breaks and had a time clock hanging on the wall in the back. There was also a full ashtray resting between them.

"What you want to know?" asked the man.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about the project that created this thing. Specifically, I want to know how to stop it, what it's going to take to get rid of it for good, and what the hell you were thinking?"

"It wasn't ready for human testing. We were still years away from that! It's not my fault!" He slammed his hands on the tabletop and declared this quite forcefully.

Carrot simply smirked. "You built it. That's enough for me."

The scientist didn't look happy with that answer, but didn't push it. "It was designed to be protection for special police teams. Things like riot control, special forces, that sort of thing. Not for extended use. It's basically a liquid computer, but there are other elements as well. It stimulates the brain in certain ways." The man looked like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open as he spoke.

"How?" asked the boy as he leaned in.

"Heightens adrenaline flow, enhances your vision. It also works with muscles to enhance strength and mobility...uhhh..." He paused as he tried to remember more.

"Yeah. I already know about that part."

"Really?" asked the man as he simply stared at him dumbly. "You've...fought it and lived?"

"Yeah," replied the boy coolly. His shades were still resting on his nose as he smirked at the man across from him. Yoshi didn't look entirely comfortable, but kept drinking from the cup that was filled by someone from the front passing by them occasionally. He noticed the oldest girl gave the boy careful glances when she walked by, it was usually the younger one though she seemed more interested in what was going on. The boy's girlfriend was watching Carrot very carefully for some reason.

"I know fire works. What about sound?"

"Yes, but it takes a very high frequency at extreme volume to manage it."

"What is it? I want to know where it came from. What was wrong with it?"

The man sighed. "Well..."

"You knew something was wrong. The way you were talking about human testing being so far off."

"It heightens aggression. To extreme levels, the first one we made would kill anything that went near it. We tested it quite a bit using lab mice. One of our workers lost a hand to it once. We'd isolate it, and after a while it would just kill the host."

Carrot froze. "First one? You stupid sons of bitches made more than one?"

"Don't worry. That one destroyed itself months ago," said Yoshi cheerfully. "It can only survive seventy two hours without a host of some kind outside of our containment area. Without being attached to something with enough life force in it to charge the batteries, it'll just run out of power. Regular outlets and other electrical sources won't work. It has to be in our containment area or on a living host. Once we get it off this...um...girl you keep talking about, you get seventy two hours to catch it before it finds someone else."

"What happened to the first one exactly?"

"It got outside the containment area for seventy two hours," replied the man with a small shrug. He was feeling quite relaxed now and was playing with the rim of his cup.

"So this is the second breakout so to speak?" snorted Carrot as he hung his head in frustration. His suspicions were eerily accurate.

"Yeah. It was the weirdest thing. One right after the other."

Carrot jumped across the table and grabbed the man by his collar as he lifted him up in the air. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!" roared Carrot as he tossed the man into a wall. He stormed out of the back and up to the bar. Everyone froze when he slammed his fist down on the bar and simply stared forward hatefully. "That stupid son of a bitch. I'd kill him if I didn't need him so badly."

"What's going on?" asked Mei Lin impatiently as she pulled on his shoulder and made him face her.

"I have to go see the senshi tonight. I need to talk with them."

"About what?" asked Michiru.

"Two hundred deaths doesn't sound much like the work of the Dark Kingdom. It's more like Carnage. I'm going to talk with the senshi tonight. First, I've got somewhere else to go."

"What the hell is he talking about?" muttered Mei Lin in confusion.

Michiru simply shrugged and glanced over at the cowering scientist. "Oh dear." Something seemed to click inside his brain as he sat up suddenly. "Wait. He wasn't talking about...the other one? That's impossible..."

"What are you talking about?" asked the older girl as she forced him to sit up at the bar between herself and Mei Lin. Jiro was calmly pouring the man another drink. He seemed relatively indifferent about the whole affair.

"I was working on something for the government. Sort of. We were funded on certain projects that had...value. The thing you've been calling Venom is one of them. We called it LCS 'Living Cyborg System' it's a liquid computer especially designed to interface with the human body and brain."

"That sounds like some sort of super soldier," said Jiro as he washed the inside of a glass calmly.

Yoshi glanced up at him and nodded. "Basically. The first prototype was made for the military. The programming it received differed slightly from the newer model. It had one purpose, to kill." He put his chin on the counter and peered through his glass as he said this.

The girls both glanced at each other and then forced the man to sit back up.

"The other one was for law enforcement. It was programmed with less lethal..."

"Less lethal?" asked Michiru.

"In the right situation it will kill. The only problem with them both is that they don't react to the human brain quite right yet. They were both still years away from human testing stages."

"What do you mean don't react quite right?" snapped Mei Lin as she nearly strangled him with his own tie.

"It heightens aggression. It wasn't designed for long term use. If you're exposed to it for too long you go insane."

"I've seen that thing. What kind of cop would use something like that?" snapped Mei Lin as she shook him around roughly.

"A special forces unit, dangerous riot control..." said the man somberly. "If you don't stop shaking me that way I'm going to ruin your shirt."

The girl jumped away from him and he instantly bent his waist downward and gasped for breath as he tried to control himself. He jumped off his seat and rushed towards the bathroom.

+++++++++++++++++++++

"Heh. Don't worry Hotaru dear. You're cured now..." Her father leaned against the glass tube in front of and caressed it gently. Madness was clear in his eyes. He had done all that she had asked of him. Now it was time to end it, he was free.

Inside the liquid it smiled at him darkly from beneath the breathing mask. He could see it in her eyes the dark yellow slits narrowed in glee as he pointed the gun at his head.

"Goodbye." The weapon reported and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

The glass cracked and liquid began pouring from the tube. The thing inside put its foot through the glass and pushed itself out of the hole. Glass cracked and the creature uncoiled its tail from around its waist. "Yes. This will do, for now." It spread the five clawed fingers of its left hand in front of its face and smiled. Her entire body was nothing but sections of black armor-like plates. Spikes jutted from her limbs at the joints. The tail behind her waved over her head as it curled back over her, revealing a barbed hook stinger. She calmly stepped over the man's body, giving it a sidelong glance as she passed over it.

"See how powerless you are. Just give up and die."

The man had discovered a way to alter her DNA. She simply had to create a body for herself. It had been so simple to drive him insane with his daughter's body. The augmented DNA the man had presented was from something with almost limitless potential. Yet it was still weak and vulnerable. "Easily taken care of at my leisure." She chuckled as she walked out of the home and glanced around. "There is nothing here that can compare to my power. I'll enjoy reducing this planet to ashes and driving it into complete chaos. Soon I'll regain my old strength, but there is a rather annoying stone in my path I must deal with first."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Carrot was sitting on top of a large rock in the middle of a grassy section of the park. It was dark and the canopy of the trees lent plenty of shadow to his surroundings. At the moment, he was sitting in a moonbeam waiting patiently.

"Is there a problem?"

He glanced up at the man standing before him. He had his head hung low and a thoughtful frown on his face. "Nothing. Just this funny feeling I'm about to be up to my ass in fights, assorted weirdoes, and girls in miniskirts who are trying to kill me. Why?"

The shinobi blinked in surprise. "I sent them only to find you so I could speak with you."

"I kind of figured that from the past few times we met. I probably would have just killed them otherwise."

"Yes," said the man with a small nod.

"What's this about?"

"We need your help," said the man calmly.

"Eh?" said the boy with a smirk forming on his face. "You tried to kill me and expect me to help you out now? Are you nuts?"

"I have not yet told you what I have to offer."

The boy closed his mouth and dusted off his arms as he jumped off of his seat and stood in front of the man with his arms crossed. "I'm listening."

"The Hisami family no longer controls our fate. We serve another."

"Well, tell the new boss I said 'hi' then."

"Why bother? He's standing right in front of me."

The boy simply stared at the man in the moonlight and didn't say anything.

Hakage continued after a moment of silence between them. "The sword you carry on your back is the symbol of our clan. We are bound to follow anyone who possesses it. It has chosen you as its master, something it has never done before. No man but you can wield that blade. It is written, that a man such as you will destroy our clan, or lead us into a new age as its master. I do not wish to be destroyed."

"Wait a minute. You're making me your leader, because some legend told you to do it?" said the boy dumbly. "Are you insane?"

"No. Why do you find this so hard to believe? You have seen the power of that blade with your own eyes."

The boy stepped away from the man slightly. "Why should I trust you? This could be a trap."

"Yes it could, but, I have never attacked you before though. I have had ample opportunity to do so."

The boy frowned at him. He was right about that. "So let me get this straight. You have to obey me?"

"Yes. I am Hakage, the leader of the school."

"What's it called?"

"Five Heavenly Dragon Kings."

"Wow, how archaic and cool sounding," said Carrot with an unimpressed looking frown. Having a blade like the one he wore on his back made him feel much more secure for some reason. He glanced back at the hilt over his shoulder and back at the Shinobi. "Let's say I believe you. I don't like things that play with my mind." Kei's cursed knife came to mind immediately.

"I do not understand."

"I'm not so sure I should keep this thing around. I hadn't really noticed until you said something, but I think its been effecting my mood."

"It has not been wielded in battle in our clan's entire history. No one knows if it ever had an owner, or if it was made simply to await your coming. I cannot say how it will effect you."

"I can positively say that this sword wasn't waiting for me to show up," said the boy as he pulled it off his back and looked along the edge for a moment. He held it upright and seemed to inspect it for a moment. "What's so special about it? What does it do?"

"Its power has prevented its use. I cannot say what it can or cannot do."

"Isn't that convenient," growled Carrot irritably. "How many of you are there?"

Hakage paused as he looked the boy up and down for a moment. It was a brief hesitation but Carrot noticed it. He lowered the blade and stared at the man with an unreadable gaze.

"The school has more than three hundred students of varying skill levels. You destroyed all the Grandmaster and masters except myself. I was forbidden from facing you at the end. I had to continue the school if they all failed." His eyes gave away no emotion as he stared at the boy in front of him for a moment after he said this. "They did."

"What about Kei?" asked Carrot with a little hope in his voice. "Did she get herself killed?"

"I did not mention her, because she is no longer a member of our clan. That knife she carries has a terrible curse upon it. She must find and kill you. I will take care of her myself."

"Not if I get her first," replied the boy calmly. "Kei is remarkably good at surviving I've found. I'll probably run into her a few more times before she gets herself killed. That is, if we ever manage it."

The man stared at him in silence and said nothing.

"You were saying?" asked the boy smugly.

"Yes, the students. Kei had several competitors, rivals if you will. They would be considered the most advanced students of our clan at this point."

"Yeah. Those two losers from earlier?" Carrot now had an army of mediocre ninja. Yippie.

"Aman and Mai," said Hakage with a small nod. "They are twins. Both of them are sixteen. They are the youngest of our new clan leaders."

"You've got sixteen year olds leading other people around?" muttered Carrot as he stared at the man dumbly. "Are you insane?"

"The pair show remarkable discipline when dealing with such matters."

"This is turning into a long meeting," grumbled Carrot sourly.

"I have much to speak with you about," replied the man with a shrug. "I would like to show you these things, but not tonight. I do not thing you would follow me anyway."

"You're right. I don't trust you," replied the boy calmly as he backed away from the Shinobi a little. He hadn't realized just how close they had become while they were talking. Neither one had gotten within a sword slash's length of the other, but they were coming close.

"I'll leave you then."

Carrot coughed into his hand and the man paused. "If what you say is true..."

"I'm listening?" said Hakage simply.

"You want to prove your loyalty to me? I've got a job for you then."

"What would you ask of me?" said the man without moving. He still had his back to the boy.

"Guard duty."

"What?" said the man in confusion as he turned around finally.

"I want you to guard the Sailor Senshi. Put those students of yours to work, four of em should be enough. Make sure they're good enough though, it won't be a cakewalk. You can't tell those idiot girls I sent you either or they'll try to kill em. Just tell em 'someone who has an interest in keeping them around'. You can slap them if they ask too much about it." The boy was standing in a thinking pose as he continued to ponder his situation. "Give Rei Hino that bishonen looking dork that I stuck to the sidewalk. Oh, and Minako gets his sister."

"The others?"

"You pick the last two. Leave Sailor Moon alone, she's my problem."

The man nodded once and turned away again. "Is there anything else?"

"Nope. That should do it." He turned away and started walking. "I gotta talk with that Uranus chick. I could use her help with Venom and Carnage. I don't think I've pissed her off that much. Shouldn't be too hard to talk her into it." It was about this point that he realized that he knew her name. That was more than enough to find out her current address, especially with his connections. The boy's smirk twisted up just a little more.

Things were going so well in fact, that it was time for his life to come crashing down into hell once again. I know you're all really glad to hear that too.

"You know, you're not the one I'm looking for, but you'll do for now."

"What the?" muttered Carrot as his spidersense screamed to life in an instant. "Aw man..." That voice definitely wasn't human. It was a hissing snarling noise mixed with a dark feminine rage. Yet another strange woman was trying to kill him.

"Shit."

When whatever it was landed in the middle of the street right in front of him and he knew he was in for a world of hurt right away. It was armor plated with an organic material with an almost polished surface of pitch black. It was almost nine feet tall, twelve, if you counted the tail with the foot long barb on the end. Tiny black hairs were growing out from between the armor plates as the obviously female creature simply stared at him with her yellow eyes. Its face was barely human enough to smile darkly at him as it flashed the thousands of tiny, black, and curved razorblades inside its mouth.

"Scorpion," said Carrot irritably. "Great."

"Would you like me to show you what a scorpion can do to a spider Spiderman?"

"Not really no," he replied honestly.

"I suppose I'm the only one who would live long enough to learn anything anyway," she countered as she strolled towards him.

"Where the hell did this bitch come from?" he growled as he hopped back.

The thing in front of him swiped her tail at high speed around her body and took out a telephone pole without breaking stride. It collapsed behind her and sent a shower of sparks and live wires into the street behind her.

"Is this that earlier prototype?" muttered the boy under his breath as she continued towards him. He was already making the final hop onto a nearby rooftop.

"Heh," growled the monster below him as it bent its legs to jump.

Carrot twisted in the air as his spidersense exploded and jumped away from his line and onto a nearby wall. The monster twisted in mid air when it reached where he would have been and lashed out with its tail.

Carrot took a hard shot in the chest and sailed down towards the pavement again. He was far too close to the ground to catch himself in time and hit the pavement hard. "Shit," he growled as he clawed at the pavement and crawled forward while he tried to pick himself up.

"So simple," hissed the thing as it loomed over him from behind. It had a vicious looking grin on its face as it walked up behind him and pushed his back down with its foot. "It's best to be rid of you now, before you become any stronger."

Carrot froze as the thing's stinger planted itself in the ground right in front of his face. "Think genius! You're supposed to be Spiderman remember?" screamed his mind. He whipped his head around the area as the barb was lifted away.

"Goodbye, I should thank you for this wonderful body first though."

Carrot ignored her and pointed both his palms forward. He sent a line of fluid into a metal garbage can and pulled with all his might. The can was sent flying into the face of the thing holding him on the ground. It didn't even budge her and clattered to the ground noisily.

"Still got a little fight in you? Don't worry, I've got just the thing." The ground began to hiss as small drops of fluid started to drip out of the end of the barb on her tail.

Fortunately, the garbage can was just a distraction. The boy pulled his arm down sharply and pulled on the new line. A fire escape ladder that hung just over them slammed down into the thing's head. It grunted, but wasn't damaged by the blow. It was enough to surprise her and she released some of the pressure from her foot.

Carrot squirmed his way out before she could react and rolled back away from her and back onto his feet. "Great. What the hell did I do to piss you off?"

"You're nothing but an obstacle," replied the Scorpion woman calmly as she whipped her tail about and forced him to jump away from her. She dashed forward suddenly and raked his chest with her claws. He fell to the ground clutching the wound and fumbled back away from her a little more.

"Shit!" She was faster and stronger than he was and she had him trapped in an alleyway. This was not a good situation for him.

"Pathetic weakling. You're no match for me."

The boy put his hand on a nearby wall and stood up while glaring at her. "Don't count me out yet." He quickly pulled the blade from his back and backed away from her with it held defensively in front of his body.

"I'll admit I was hoping you'd put up a bit of a fight," said the thing as it leered at him.

He ducked under a few more swipes from the thing's tail and stabbed forward with the sword. The woman simply slipped around the strike and chopped him between his shoulder blades. He hit the ground hard and quickly flipped onto his back in time to raise his legs to avoid being impaled on the pavement. He grabbed the sword again and slashed upwards and forced her to jump back. It was quite obvious from the grin on her face that she was just playing with him. "I've got to get away from this thing!" He spun around and ran up the wall while slashing behind them and then straight down as he flipped over her head and came down with the blade hacking at her tail.

She snarled at him angrily, a small scratch was now present on the armor plate covering her forehead. The tail whipped around the blade and coiled around his waist hefting him in the air. She spun around and slammed his body into a wall cracking the bricks and leaving a small impact crater in the process. "I'm getting tired of playing with you."

"You should probably find some new friends then," he replied through his pain as she started to crush his waist. He still had his sword in his hand and stabbed straight down through her tail.

The thing screamed as what appeared to be electrical energy coursed through her body. Large blue bolts of energy shot from both of them and crackled across every surface near to them.

The scorpion woman screamed in rage as she spun around and threw him into the side of a dumpster. The metal buckled under the impact and he slumped to the ground. Slowly he pushed himself too his feet and growled as he picked up the sword from the ground again.

"That hurt," snarled the monster angrily. She whipped him across the face with her tail and he flew back into the remains of the dumpster again. "I'll inject the poison slowly and watch you suffer."

He twisted away as her tail stabbed into the twisted and bent metal behind him. An angry hissing noise sounded from inside the dumpster as a vaporous cloud began to seep from the slowly growing holes that now dotted the side. He jumped onto her tail and kicked off her face and into the air. With a quick flick of his wrist he was shooting across the rooftops once again.

"Holy shit! What the hell is that thing?" his mind screamed as he worked his arms as fast as he could to keep himself moving.

"Where do you think you're going?" snarled the monster's voice, as his spidersense seemed to blast his senses. He twisted in mid air and barely missed the monster's claws as she reached out for him and fell back towards the rooftops. "Aw, man," he muttered as he realized that she was keeping up with him on foot by jumping across the tops of the buildings. He kept going and she made another jump for him.

This time the boy was prepared and spun around in mid air with his sword in his hand. She shifted her body back and grinned at him as he missed. "How long can you keep this up?" she cackled as she fell back towards the ground.

Carrot made a bee line for one of the taller buildings and simply threw himself upwards towards the wall. He twisted and landed on the side about halfway to the top. The scorpion woman landed ten stories below him and was ripping chunks of concrete out of the wall as she simply ripped her way up towards him.

"At least she's slower at climbing than I am," he muttered as he started towards the top. He doubted if a drop from this height would kill her, but it was worth a shot. He might be able to catch his breath for a moment while she caught up, but he knew he wouldn't have enough time to escape. He flipped over the edge of the roof and looked around. It was roughly thirty stories tall and he had a good view of the city around him. That was when he noticed the open door that lead to the inside of the building, and the tall black figure that was waiting with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Heh. I was wondering how long it would take you to get here."

"This is what I get for having a good day," he muttered as he backed away from her towards the edge again.

She chuckled, think you can get away from me in free fall?" The armor plates on her body shifted slightly and seemed to meld together into a smooth surface that almost covered her completely. She returned herself to normal and simply strolled towards him. "You can't escape me."

"Well, you can't fault me for trying!" He turned and dove off of the edge.

"Pathetic," she said as she followed suit and dove off the edge after him.

He was quite relieved to see the thing shoot past him with her plates closed up as he hung just under the edge of the roof upside down. "Great. This just keeps getting better doesn't it?" His wounds had almost stopped bleeding, but he was still in a lot of pain. "Time to run," he said cheerfully as he climbed back onto the rooftop. He rushed towards the other side and jumped off the side swinging away from the scene.

+++++++++++++++++++++

She hissed angrily as she realized what had happened. It didn't take her more than a split second to realize she'd been fooled when she didn't see him below her. There wasn't anything to swing from this high up for him to use. She unfolded her plates and shifted towards the wall. Rather than plant herself on the concrete to stop her decent she simply ripped the side of the building open and viciously rushed forward, tearing through anything that got in her way. Walls and desks were simply torn in half as she passed. "That little fool, doesn't he know I'll destroy him sooner or later?" She burst through a window on the opposite side of the building and smiled as she saw him swing away just above her into the heart of the city.

She jumped off of her perch and cleared a two hundred-foot gap to the next rooftop. The surface under her feet buckled as she landed and started sprinting after him.

"Now what?" muttered the boy as his spidersense warned him of danger once again. He turned himself over and back flipped over another swipe of the monster's claws. "You again?!"

"You're smart, I'll give you that much. I'm afraid you're in over your head boy!" She hissed angrily as she fell back to the rooftops after the strike.

"No kidding," he grumbled as he curved through the air and just missed the edge of a building in the process. He could see people inside the windows gawking at him face to face.

Minako, Makoto, Ami, and Artemis were all staring him dead in the face as he let go of his line and crashed through the window. He rolled to his feet instinctively and jumped to his feet. He glanced back behind him nervously and turned towards the shocked girls. "Shit." It took a minute to realize where he was. Rei Hino was on life support in a nearby room. He could see her through a large pane of glass in the wall. "Damn it." The senshi's surprise was wearing off and they didn't look happy.

"You!" snarled Makoto. "What are you doing here?"

"Fuck," he replied as he heard the dull thump behind him. He slowly turned to face the leering creature as it hissed at him and waited.

"Don't get involved. This thing is way out of your league. I'll try to lead it out of here again." He tensed his body and pulled the sword from his back once again. This time it flared with power all along it's length, some of it ran up his arm as well. He gripped it firmly with both hands and frowned. "Jeezus. I'm gonna feel this in the morning."

"You won't live that long!" roared the Scorpion woman as she charged forward with her fangs bared and her tail waving wildly about.

Carrot steeled himself and prepared to turn and run. She looked more than pissed enough to follow him out of there.

However his incredibly cunning and brave plan was thwarted. A rather delicate looking hand had planted itself firmly around the creature's neck. The boy blinked as he dusted off his jacket and simply watched Uranus appear in front of him and stop the monster dead in its tracks. She simply grabbed her throat with one hand and her tail with the other. "Cool."

"Thanks," replied the woman with a smirk forming on her face as she turned her full attention on the monster. "Who the hell are you ugly?"

"I am called Nine," replied the thing coldly she was smiling despite her position. "You're just the woman I was looking for actually. Keeping all that power bottled up and away from its true owners."

"What?" gasped Uranus as her eyes went wide.

The creature grabbed her arm and pried her grip away forcefully. Uranus's skin was undamaged by the claws poking into her forearm, but it was still clearly painful as she jumped away from it almost instantly. "I've got a way to ruin that delicate complexion of yours." Her tail began to leak fluid from it that ate through the floor below. Screams started below as people scrambled to avoid the toxins as they ate their way downward.

"Holy shit Uranus. How the hell are you gonna get out of this one?" commented Carrot.

"You shut the hell up! What were you thinking leading that here?"

"Look at that thing? You think I was looking where I was going?"

"Well you should have been!" she snapped as she glared at the thing hatefully. "I'll deal with this! You guys stay here!" She shot forward and planted her fists into the thing's chest shooting through the window.

"Whew," muttered Carrot as he slumped down to the ground and sat there for a moment wiping his forehead.

"Is he all right?" muttered Ami as she scratched at her neck nervously.

"Do I look all right?" he growled as he glared up at her. He was clearly a mess and covered in bruises and cuts.

"No," she replied simply.

"Good," snorted Makoto.

Carrot wasn't frightened by the four girls standing around him, he knew he had more than enough strength to make a getaway, and bang them up a bit on the way out. "What are you all glaring at? I've had a hell of a day."

"Aren't you going to leave?" snapped Minako angrily.

"No. We have something we need to talk about."

"What?" growled Makoto angrily.

"Usagi Tsukino, that thing that's attached itself too her, and how it relates to the thing that killed more than two hundred people here."

The girls were all standing around him and they didn't look to be any happier. "What the hell? How dare you just..." snarled Makoto as she rushed forward.

"I only need Sailor Moon back," he replied as he placed his blade between them. "I'd rather be civil about this, but if you don't sit down and shut up, you're going to miss out on all the fun that's coming."

The girl stopped dead in her tracks and glared him straight in the eye. He looked almost dead as he leveled a stare back at her. She stepped back and the others surrounded her quickly as he put the blade away.

"Tell us what this is about."

"This is about three little Indians sitting all alone, once there were five, now..." He smiled as he glanced over at Rei. "I'm pretty sure that none of you find me particularly appealing. However, we have some mutual problems. If we solve them, then we can avoid each other for the rest of our lives. How does that sound to you?"

"What?" asked Ami calmly as she stepped ahead of the group.

"A truce. In order to succeed I need you, so that we can get that thing off of Usagi, catch the other one, and figure out a way to revive Sailor Moon so that Metallia doesn't just kill us all. Are you catching my drift here?" The boy lit a cigarette and started pacing around in front of them.

"You can't..." said Ami firmly as she started to step forward.

"Don't mess with me babe, I've had a rough day," he replied as he blew the smoke behind his back towards the shattered window.

She didn't look happy, but relented.

"What happened to Hino?" he asked her.

"What do you care?"

"Mizuno I don't think you quite understand your position. You need my help. That destructive little monster Usagi Tsukino has become isn't going to go away. It's going to get worse; soon she'll be no different than that thing that came through here. I'll bet some of the worst floors still aren't in use?"

Ami turned her face away from him with a burning anger flashing in her eyes. "She fell out of the building fighting that thing. Her back is broken."

Carrot was looking around the room puffing on his cigarette irritably. "Man. We're gonna have to do something about this place too then. I'll bet it's going to be really expensive this time. Damn it."

Makoto's mouth just dropped open. "You're the one..." She fell to her knees and hung her head. "But...wha?"

"What is it?" asked Minako.

Ami glanced over to her with confusion on her face. "He's the one who paid for Usagi's hospital bill?"

The boy was ignoring them as he paced back and fourth muttering to himself about how to get it done quickly. He shook his head and waved the thoughts away. "Anyway. I'll work that out later. You girls need me now. I've got information you need. I'm good at finding things out you'll find."

"Who are you?" asked Minako. She didn't look remotely close to trusting him.

"You still haven't figured that out yet?" he asked her calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Spiderman?" gasped Ami dumbly.

"How the hell else did you think I got away so much?" he replied as he glared at them all. "Shoot first ask questions later? What kind of crusade against evil are you leading here?"

The girls were all clearly stunned.

"What is going on here?" cried Minako as she clutched at her head.

"Simple. We're fighting the same war. I've got my way of doing things and you have yours. I'm not particularly interested in becoming great friends with any of you, but right now we need each other to get the job done. That thing has to come off of Usagi."

"Why? So it will leave you alone?" snapped Ami.

"No, Because if she keeps it she'll go insane. I've spoken with the man who designed those things. I kidnapped him earlier today. They're some sort of liquid computers. Both of those things are prototypes for something a tech company has been working on for military use."

"Bull!" cried Makoto angrily.

"No. He's telling the truth," said Ami as she hung her head. "Mostly anyway. Remember? Usagi couldn't tell us certain things or she'd lose her clearance?"

"What?" muttered the brunette as her head whipped around towards her friend.

"For now, we need his help."

"No!" cried Minako in shock.

"For Christ's sake," grumbled Carrot as he threw his hands in the air and started pacing again.

"Will you both wake up?" cried the shorthaired girl as she stomped her foot on the ground. "Look at us! We're all that's left! The three of us!"

"That's not true! Usagi..."

"Won't beat Metallia as Venom. I promise you that." The boy was now lounging across the waiting chairs while puffing on his cigarette and blowing smoke rings into the air over his head.

"Who is Metallia?" snapped Makoto.

"She's what Beryl is trying to resurrect. You know, the evil entity that wiped out the Moon Kingdom. Her guard dogs Kunzite and Zoicite know who you are now. Usagi is the only one missing from the list of names. You'd better start watching your backs like I do. If you don't want your families involved, I suggest you don't return home."

"What?" muttered Minako in horror.

"A change of address would be a start." He shrugged his shoulders and continued to lounge. "We have to get Usagi back to normal, and get the Silver Imperium Crystal from her. It's hidden inside her. With that, you'll be able to defeat Metallia if you're strong enough."

"This is insane!" muttered Makoto as she stared at him dumbly. She was clutching at her head with the other girls. All of them were brought down to their knees.

"Bet those memory flashes really hurt huh?" he commented as he continued to smoke. The sound of footsteps coming down the hallway caused him to look up. Security guards were rushing down the corridor in file towards them.

He sat upright and winked at the girls as he put his glasses back on. All of them were simply looking at him as they staggered back to their feet. "That's my cue ladies. I'll be going now."

"Not so fast, Spiderman," said a dangerously familiar voice.

"Son of a bitch." Carrot's cigarette hit the floor as he turned to see Venom standing behind him. "How much did you hear?"

"What are you talking about? Why are you here?" the thing narrowed its eyes at him.

"Actually I was just leaving," he replied as he pointed at the shattered window.

"Here. Let me show you out!" snarled the beast as it snagged him and threw him outside. Without wasting a moment Usagi dove after him out the window.

"Usagi! No wait!" cried Ami as she rushed after the girl.

"Let her take care of him," growled Makoto as she rubbed at her arms because of the breeze.

"Don't you get it? He's a jerk yes, but we need his help. I hate to admit it, but we're not doing very well right now. Do you think Usagi would really throw someone out a window, no matter now much she disliked them?"

The girl was confused by her friend's reaction. "I guess not."

"I don't think he was lying, and that other thing is still out there. We should help him."

"We can't even catch them," replied Minako as she slumped down into a seat. "I say if he gets it, he deserves it. Let him get out of it on his own."

"He probably will," admitted Makoto with a displeased looking frown.

Ami hung her head and simply gave up. She thought both of them did understand, but they weren't about to admit it to anyone if they could help it.

++++++++I know you've been waiting to see one of these ^_^ +++++

Uranus plowed down into the pavement full force and drove the monster into the concrete. It shattered and a deep crater formed around where they had hit.

The creature gripped her shoulders and pushed itself to its feet as it glared at her angrily. "I'll destroy you!"

"What is this thing?" she growled under her breath.

"More than enough power to destroy you. I designed my body to ensure that." Uranus screamed as she was pinned to the ground by her shoulders. She mustered enough strength to keep it from crushing her.

"You're strong," she gasped. "But that's not my only trick." Her eyes flared with light and she shoved her fist into the thing's gut. It shot into the air and came down through the side of a building, ripping down the outside wall. Uranus stood up and brushed off her shoulders as she casually strolled out of the hole. "Let's see you top that one."

"Gladly," was the creature's calm response. It shot forward and planted her fist in the woman's jaw. Uranus was lifted off her feet and the creature jumped into the air and kicked her in the chest and away.

Nine smirked as she watched her opponent pick herself up and wipe her chin as she stared at the monster with a serious look in her eyes. "So, you're at least as strong as you claim to be."

"Yes. I'm afraid there's no escape for you. I'll destroy you, and then..."

"Yeah. I think you're underselling me though. I'm gonna beat you." She put up her fists and rushed forward.

The scorpion reacted with swiping at her with claws and her tail. Haruka simply blocked the tail strikes with her shins and forearms as she backed just out of reach of the thing's claws. "Damn. She's real fast!"

The scorpion woman dove forward and stabbed her tail into the ground. She flipped over it and kicked Uranus in the chest. Haruka was thrown through a wall and into a nearby building. She found herself lying in rubble and stood up a little shakily as her footing was a bit unstable. She simply floated out of the mess and landed on the street. She turned her head and spat on the ground before looking back at her opponent. "That hurt."

"This will hurt even more!" snarled the thing as it squirted a jet of its toxin at her.

Haruka shifted aside and quickly stepped back. "Shit. Screw this, that looks like it might hurt." She shot into the air and floated above the scene looking down.

"Eh?" muttered the monster as it looked up. "Thinking of running are you? I'll hunt you down, sooner or later, when your friends and family begin dying, you'll face me again."

"Running?" said Uranus as she floated directly above the woman. "Did you forget I'm a senshi? My best attacks are ranged. She pointed her palm down and a white ball of power formed below it. "Goodbye freak." The ball turned into a beam that sent cars flying in every direction for hundreds of meters when it hit. The ground nearby shook slightly as she unleashed her fury down on the disgusting creature below. "Take that."

A heavy steam cloud rose from the ground below. The pavement was damaged badly, but not gone in the wake of the attack. It looked more like it had been crushed than anything else.

Standing in the middle was what looked like a black statue. "Yes. They also take quite a bit of time to charge as well." The surface of the statue began to shift away revealing Nine, who was completely unharmed. "More than enough time for me to erect my shield. Face the facts, you are defeated. Just die and be done with it."

"If you want my life. You'll have to take it."

"Without much difficulty I imagine."

++++++++++++++++++++++

"I meet you in the strangest places."

"Hello old friend."

"Don't you dare start calling me that! I wasn't reborn from nowhere."

"Are you sure?" she asked him with unusual calm. Pluto was standing on a rooftop with Carrot suspended in mid air just over her head.

"Yes. Quit screwing with my head."

"I could return you to where you were."

"I've got a feeling I'll be going back sooner or later."

"Yes."

"What is it? I'm kind of busy. What the hell are you doing here anyway? You're not supposed to show up until..."

Pluto arched her eyebrow at him slightly and said nothing as he caught himself. "I'll have to ask you about that later on."

He simply hung his head. "I don't even know you? What do you want?"

"I have always been fascinated by this point in our history. For a brief moment, it was as if we were invaded by another world, a world that did not quite fit in with our own. No one is really certain of what caused it, except perhaps, yourself. I imagine that debate will go on until the end of time if you have your way."

"Is there a point to any of this?" he said as he looked down at her. "Wait a minute. Why are you still walking around? I thought doing stuff like this could kill you."

"Perhaps."

"You're not Pluto..."

"I never imagined you'd be so perceptive. You are growing strong." She smiled at him and floated up to his face. Her features twisted as she turned into some sort of horrifying ghoul shrouded in black power. "Stronger than I expected, but still nothing."

"What do you want?" said the boy as he found himself unable to move away from the thing.

"The death of every living thing on this planet. I will make them all suffer for imprisoning me. Yourself included."

"So, you're just going to kill me then?"

"No. You play a special part in this boy. Your time has not yet come." She grinned at him darkly. "Soon, you and this entire galaxy will be mine forever."

"What?" Carrot tensed as every ounce of confidence in his body seemed to slip through his fingers. "This is..."

"The senshi will fail, you are not strong enough to fight me, and you cannot become that powerful with so little time. I will destroy you with everyone else. Your suffering will be lessened if you join me."

"Oh yeah. That's a great recruitment speech," replied the boy lamely.

"Go to your death then," she replied as she pointed at him and vanished.

He simply moved onward as if his momentum had never stopped. "Shit!" The boy twisted and caught himself. He was in a bad situation and had no time to think about what had just happened to him. "Damn it Usagi!" He turned a corner at full speed and growled as he noticed Venom slam into one of the walls behind him and push off it after him again.

"Great. Tsukino is on the warpath. I'm gonna have to lose her." He twisted and turned through the streets over the traffic. Venom kept up close behind him, but not by much.

"Stop running!" snarled the monster as it made a grab for him. "Why can't you just die?"

"How stupid do you have to be to ask that?" he replied as he turned and fired a little webbing into her face. It was enough to distract her and he put a bit more distance between them as he passed close to the side of an apartment building. They were moving towards the slums and traffic was becoming less frequent. His eyes went wide as the giant red axe grew out of one of the windows. It was attached to the arm of what appeared to be a blood soaked man in black. There was a severed human head stuck on the spike between the twin blades.

"Son of a bitch."

"Why it's Spiderman!" The thing waved at him with someone's arm and watched him whiz by. "He's been stealing all my press! I think I'll kill him."

Carrot was stuck to the wall a few hundred yards away just staring at the monster in front of him. He wasn't in the best of condition to begin with, and now he had yet another problem to deal with. "When does it all end?" he cried as he hung his head.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rei Hino opened her eyes slowly. The world was a complete blur and her head was exploding. "Ohhh? Where?"

"Good morning Mistress Hino."

"Huh?" she muttered groggily as she tried to sit up and focus her eyes. She was only partially successful and lifted her head a little.

A young boy of about sixteen years of age was sitting on a table across from her bed. He had his hands around one knee and was looking at her emotionlessly. His clothing was black and a sword could be seen poking over his left shoulder. "I am Aman. My master has sent me to protect you."

"Wha?" she stammered as her vision cleared.

"I feel I must warn you. Today will not be a good day." He was very handsome, but incredibly cold and distant. She shivered when she looked at him. Slowly her eyes closed again.

"Sleep peacefully, no harm will come to you."

She had no idea why she found that even remotely comforting.

Aman turned his head and looked out in the waiting room; his sister and Minako populated it. The other girls had gone home for the evening. Minako had run into the two shinobi just before she left and decided to hang around a bit longer.

"You have to protect me?"

Mai looked somewhat frustrated.

"So you have to keep me in danger?"

"I will not forgive him for this," she grumbled under her breath as she glared at the ditz sitting in front of her. "Where are Hito and Kenshi?"

"Catching up to their packages. We are to remain within sight of them at all times," said Aman calmly as he walked into the waiting area.

"Packages?" Minako didn't look like she liked the term much.

"It's just a business term," replied the boy calmly. Both of them had the bottom of their faces covered with black scarves. It was a little unsettling and she moved away from the pair. "I'm going home now."

"I'll see you later then," said Mai as she nodded at her brother and turned towards the doors. "Where do you live?" she asked the teen.

"I'll be fine on my own," replied the girl as she waved her hand at the ninja.

"I don't think you quite understand. I'm going to be hanging around you until this is over. Where you go, I'll be within sight nearby, even if you can't see me. It's fairly simple."

"You mean, you're going to stalk me?" asked the girl fearfully.

"Yes. I am," she replied as she opened the door and waved her arm.

"At least you get to go somewhere," muttered Aman with a heavy sigh.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" cried Minako as Mai pushed her out the door. "I guess this means he got away huh? Darn."

"We didn't ask to be assigned to this you know. Stop complaining, we aren't even getting paid for this. What the hell are you talking about? Who got away?"

"It's nothing," whined the girl as the door closed finally.

Aman simply sighed and picked up a novel that was on the table where Rei was still sleeping. He leaned against the wood and started reading. After a moment he put it down. "If all I'm going to be doing is sitting here, why do I have such a bad feeling about this job?" He glanced over at the slumbering senshi and frowned. "I'll bet you're nothing but trouble."

+++++++++++++++++++

TBC...

Take that! ^_^