Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Gaijin ❯ Chapter 22

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

Gaijin

Part 22

Flames of vengeance.

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

Rei Hino sat at the sacred flame, sweat beaded on her forehead as she struggled
to control the power within it. A vision was becoming ever clearer in her head.

Flames surrounded him; an angry snarl was present on his face.

The boy again. Dark energy poured from his form as he stood with an ornate sword
thrust into the ground below him.

Rei gasped in horror, but the vision would not let go. She didn't really
struggle against it as it moved on.

The image cleared a bit more, showing that the boy had his blade thrust through
the heart of a grotesque youma. It sort of looked like Spiderman, but it was
different. A gasp escaped her lips as a memory faded into her mind. Once thought
to be a mere dream, it was a shocking revelation. "What is this?"

She couldn't understand. Did this thing have some connection to their supposed
ally?

Rei stood up and looked down into the fire, the vision was still clear in her
head as she stepped back and muttered. It wouldn't let go. "Enough! Leave me!"
she snarled as she backed away more forcefully.

The image began to fade, but not before the skin of the monster seemed to melt
away. The first thing she saw was the eyes. A pair of very familiar eyes,
followed by a familiar nose. In the space of a second, she realized who she was
looking at.

The boy turned his head to look at her and grinned in a manner that didn't look
close to human.

"Oh god...no," she whispered as her eyes went wide.

Rei opened her mouth to scream, and collapsed to the ground out cold.

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

Usagi Tsukino stared out into the moonlight. It was something she enjoyed for
reasons she couldn't fully explain.

All she really knew was that she had failed as Sailor Moon.

She clenched her fist in front of her face and frowned at it. "Why?" She didn't
look that sad, it was more of a frustrated somberness. Usagi was angry, but she
wasn't sure what she was angry at.

"I still can't. I don't understand, what am I missing?"

The others were in danger; she knew it. They were fighting valiantly, but it
just wasn't working out for them. There was that evil boy, the Youma, and the
people trying to kill the boy. Plus there was the advent of newer, stronger, and
more powerful Youma. The Goblin creature that Spiderman managed to beat was a
prime example of this. It was far too deadly for the inexperienced young girls
to handle. They needed her, and now she had the ultimate failure to deal with.
Even after she had healed, the power did not return.

There just had to be something she could do to help. Something she could do.

Usagi Tsukino stood up firmly and stared defiantly at the moon.

"I don't need you."

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

"Kajura, what are you doing?" asked Saito as he lit a cigarette while sitting on
the man's desk.

The older man looked up at his partner with a smirk on his face. "It's here."

"Kajura, if this is another of your stupid video games..." started Saito as he
rolled his eyes.

The man merely held up the disk and smirked at his partner. "I got this today
from my friendly informant."

"The one that won't meet me?" said the man as he snorted.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, he's already having a hard time
dealing with having me around, much less two of us."

"Sounds like a likable guy, someone I could really trust," said Saito as he
frowned at the man.

"I think I can trust this one, call it a hunch."

Saito ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated gesture. "You've been
watching those American TV shows again haven't you?"

"There was a lot of information on this disk. He basically filled the disk up.
Most of it is corporate crap, I'll let the lawyers have a look to be sure, but
there are some other key items in this information as well."

"Such as?" asked the younger man as he rubbed the stubble on his face for a
moment.

"Something big is going on down there. There is a lot of money being funneled
towards something top-secret. Plus a few scientific ventures, nothing illegal,
but he seems to have taken a rather odd interest in genetics and bio firms. Not
something you'd expect your average businessman to be interested in. Especially
one that mainly operates in construction."

"That is unusual, but nothing that will bite though."

"There's more though. Seems he's given most of his duties to underlings. Meaning
he's devoting his attention to a few things and little else."

"That's a good time to make someone screw up," said Saito as he arched his
eyebrows slightly.

"It's unlikely, most of these men have worked for him almost their whole lives.
These are only the most trusted of his men. His family in some cases." Saito
paused as he stared at the screen for a moment. "And mine," he whispered under
his breath.

"What was that?" asked his partner.

"It's nothing," he muttered as he moved on. "The real jewel is this one." He
tapped the screen and grinned darkly. He pointed at the screen as it came up and
tapped the screen. "Can you tell me what this is?"

"That's...Hisami's personal schedule," muttered Saito under his breath.

"That's right, and this, is when he's planning on visiting his back-stabbing
underling. It's a formal occasion, a sort of warning that he's coming to kill
him."

"I'll wear a nice shirt. Awful nice of those Yakuza boys to be so polite, and
tell each other that they are going to kill them."

"Why would Hisami go himself though? That's a bold move for him. He's not
exactly famous for being strong and brave. The guy is old."

"I don't know, but it makes me not trust this information."

"It doesn't make sense. I've got a feeling that it's no smoke screen though.
Maybe he knows he'll be well protected?"

"That could be, but men like him don't take chances often."

"I know, that's why I have to follow up on this," said Kajura with a serious
frown on his face. "This could be the only chance we get for a long time."

"Well, you ask the chief. I'm not going in there with this mess on my hands."

"You're coming," said Kajura without looking up from the screen.

"What?"

"You're my partner, you have to be there remember?" said the older man as he
thought about what he'd been given, and how much he was willing to trust it. The
boy had cautioned him on what might happen if he screwed up.

"Whatever you say old man," grumbled Saito as he hung his head a little.

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

Carrot stood in front of Michiru Kaiou as she sat on his bed. They both stared
at each other for a long moment, Carrot wasn't sure what was going on, but he
felt edgy. The tingling sensation hadn't eluded him either. "What's going on?"
he asked casually.

"You haven't called," replied Michiru stonily.

Carrot watched her sit for a moment; she seemed remarkably calm. "I've been
busy."

The girl looked up at him with a small frown on her face.

"What do you want from me? I've got a hit on my head, that makes for broken
dates at times."

The girl looked away, but not before he noticed her frown deepen slightly.
"Shouldn't have said 'dates'," he muttered under his breath.

"I suppose I understand that," she seemed to relent a little reluctantly.

"So now what?" he asked her as he relaxed slightly.

"Now, we talk," she said as she looked up at him firmly.

"Huh?" he muttered dumbly. "What's to talk about now? It's obvious I can't..."

"You can't what?" she said irritably.

The boy stared at her for a moment. "Well, it's not like I can date you know.
Between dodging the yakuza and those stupid monsters, I don't have much free
time. It's not like I can take you out or anything. I have to avoid going out in
plain sight as much as possible."

The girl simply blinked in confusion.

Carrot sighed. "Look. I'm sorry about what happened. I've never been really good
at this whole romance thing."

The girl flushed slightly at that and looked down at the floor. "I..."

"What do you want from me Michiru?"

"I don't know, but this doesn't feel settled," she replied simply.

The boy slumped his shoulders down and sighed. "Look, it's impossible for me to
do more. This is the best I can do, an apology and a wish for the best of luck
in your life."

Michiru didn't look very pleased with that. "So...it meant nothing to you? I was
just some...girl?"

Carrot backed against the door with his hands held up. "No! Don't say that!" He
felt something hard press against his belly and her froze. "Oh god. I'm gonna
die." He looked down and saw the shining silver surface of the revolver that was
jammed into his gut.

"Shut up you thoughtless prick!"

"If you go out with me, you could die damn it!" he cried desperately.

Michiru seemed slightly calmed by this and narrowed her eyes as she stared him
in the face. "What?"

"Don't you think I'd like a girlfriend? Don't you think I'd like to go to high
school and be basically normal?"

Michiru was definitely not expecting this from him. He seemed somewhat irritated
instead of afraid.

"Damn it. Why can't anything ever go my way?" he muttered as he crossed his arms
over his chest.

"You'd better start explaining..." started Michiru as she stumbled back and
waved the weapon at him lightly.

"What do you think would happen if we started seeing each other Michiru?" he
said as he sat down on the floor and glared at her.

The girl simply stared at him and lowered the weapon. "I don't know. I'm not
even sure if..."

"Then put that damn thing away!" he snorted at her. "You want to talk? Fine.
I'll talk."

Michiru blushed as she sat down on the bed and laid the gun on top of the
sheets.

"I'll tell you what would happen. First, the Yakuza would notice, then they'd
either kidnap you, or kill you. I'm thinking it'd probably be the former at
first. They'd keep trying to use you as bait to catch me, maybe send a few
snipers to follow you around or hang around your house. Then, heh, here's the
kicker. The evil monsters that keep attacking would figure out we were an item
sooner or later, and then they'd put their two cents in. You think you've had
problems with them so far, you ain't seen nothin."

Michiru was simply staring at the floor. "But..."

"I can't protect you Michiru. I've had enough trouble just keeping myself
alive."

The girl was more confused than ever and she stared up at him.

He didn't exactly look happy, but he wasn't real broken up about it either.

Michiru was definitely unsure about what she could do. It seemed she had no
options, she could forget about him, or...or what? Act like it never happened?
Could she do that? She'd given him everything that night, and now...he couldn't
follow through. He wouldn't follow through with it. "Now what?"

Carrot turned to stare at her for a moment. "Go on with your life of course,
sooner or later, our paths will cross again." Carrot was hoping he'd live that
long, then again, Sailor Uranus had shown up pretty early.

"Do you think they will?" asked the girl halfheartedly. She seemed to be mulling
over what he'd told her still.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure," he responded dryly. Die? Like he could get off that
easy. He'd probably be driven insane by his personal life before then.

"What about those two?" asked the girl as she nodded towards the door.

"I never see them anywhere but here," he replied with a shrug.

"That girl is a reporter," said Michiru as she looked at him dumbly.

"Yeah," he said without comprehending.

"I saw you with her the day that thing attacked the festival," she said as she
narrowed her eyes at him and started to reach for her weapon slowly.

"She was working, and so was I. Our paths cross sometimes. I've heard I make for
a pretty good news story sometimes. As long as we aren't personally linked,
she'll be fine."

"I...I don't care," she replied as she shook her head and grasped the handle of
the weapon tightly with one hand.

Carrot had his back to the wall again, but he didn't look frightened this time.
He was watching her closely.

She frowned at him firmly. "I can take care of myself."

"Then why do you need me?" he replied simply. "Michiru, face the facts, this is
more than you can handle."

Anger burned in her eyes as she stared him down. She wasn't sure what to say or
do. She raised her weapon up and fired two shots.

A voice called out from the next room as they heard the shots. He wasn't sure if
it was just one of them or all of them screaming his name. He simply stared
forward while gasping for breath as his eyes almost bugged out of his skull.

"You're not going to leave me behind like that," she said firmly as she narrowed
her eyes at him. He had barely even seen the movement, it was incredibly fast.
Two holes in the wall behind him now smoked on either side of his head. He
swallowed hard and nodded. He turned his head and saw the door was cracked
slightly. Three human heads and one small set of ears could be seen peering into
the room.

"Do you mind? I'm talking to my boyfriend," said Michiru as she narrowed her
eyes at them. They vanished in an instant.

"Oh god," muttered Carrot in horror.

"Eight o'clock, Friday night, you'd better be there."

Carrot nodded violently.

The girl tipped her head lightly and smiled cheerfully. "Good."

Carrot remained frozen against the wall as he stared forward. He completely
ignored her leaving and gasped for breath. "Oh man. Why me?" He was almost in
tears at this point.

Spike poked his head into the room and grinned at him. "At least she's cute!"

"You shut up!" he snapped as he hit the man in the face with an empty plastic
bottle from the ground next to him.

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

Haruka stood with her bag slung over her shoulder in front of the seedy motel.
It was on the edge of the bad side of town. She hated to stay in a place like
that, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Almost every hotel in the
Kyoto had no vacancies left. Thanks to some concert that was going to be
happening in town the next night. She walked inside and found no one there save
for an old man behind the counter. She walked up and simply nodded to him. There
were no more than seven keys left on the wall anyway.

All and all it had been an unpleasant drive. She'd just dropped her life and
left Tokyo. "Why did I do that?" she muttered angrily. Half with herself, and
half for the pair she'd left behind. "Let him have her." She clenched her fist
and growled as she took the key from the elderly man at the office counter.

As she turned to go to her room and finally get some rest, she finally realized
what she had done. "Now what?" She stopped long enough to stare at the key in
her hand. She had no idea what she would do with her so called 'new life'. It
didn't feel any newer; it seemed to suck more than ever in fact.

"What the hell. It can only get better, right?"

Apparently, no one had ever told her about saying that.

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

Kei stood in the shadows of Hisami's office with a scowl on her face. Her only
remaining Uncle and her grandfather stood on the opposite side of the room
watching what was taking place.

Hikyu, or rather the creature that he had become, simply stood behind Hisami
with a cruel looking grin on his face. He seemed amused by the goings on more
than anything else.

"Three days from now, I will be inspecting our operations in the industrial
section of Tokyo," said the old man calmly. "It is a dangerous time, and I feel
our operation will need to be...disciplined."

Kei nodded once and stared straight at him.

"I'll be leaving in the morning, and during this time I'll be vulnerable,"
continued the man as if she had not acknowledged him at all. "My security is
resting in your hands."

"You shall not be harmed," said Kei seriously.

"I know," said the man as he stood up. "The three of you will be accompanying
me."

The girl seemed surprised by this, but not upset. "You think something is going
to happen? One of us should be enough for this."

"I am concerned," said the man as he stood up and smiled at her for a moment.
"Two of your number have fallen."

"Three," corrected Kei as she looked directly at the silent creature that stood
behind her master.

"Hikyu has failed," said the largest and oldest of the shinobi. "More than
once."

"So has Kei, and you for that matter," said the thing coolly.

"Hold your tongue," snarled the man hatefully.

Goblin stuck his tongue out at him and pulled his eyelid down.

Kei ignored this display and stared at Hisami as coolly as ever. "You're afraid
he might show up, aren't you?"

The man frowned at her. "The thought had crossed my mind."

"As skilled as he is, he's still a coward. He'll run before he fights all of
us." Kei's answer firm.

"He's smart," said the old man as he stepped forward. "Much more dangerous than
you give him credit for. Your mother was the best swordsman in generations."

Kei snorted.

The Goblin had been relatively silent, but rubbed his chin in thought over in
his corner.

"You have something to add?" asked the old man.

"No, but I'll enjoy squashing that pest once I see him again."

"Not if I kill him first," snapped Kei sharply.

"You won't," replied the creature.

"Enough of this," snapped the old man. "Hikyu is not one of us any longer. If
you bring him along, he's your problem Hisami."

"What?" said the man as he turned to face the aged master.

"I've seen that look before, he's plotting something. He no longer holds our
interests in mind. He's dangerous and a wild card, though powerful he is. He
serves a different master now, I suggest you remember that."

"I serve no master," said the thing irritably.

"My point exactly," replied the old man as calmly as ever. "You were told not to
return until your job was done."

"There were complications," snorted the thing.

"You had to come back and lick your wounds after he smashed you like a fly?"
asked Kei almost playfully.

"I came closer to killing him than any of you did," replied the creature calmly.


"I doubt that," said Kei as she fingered the knife that hung at her side.

"It doesn't matter. Your main concern here is keeping the police occupied and
away from where I'll be," said Hisami with a rough snort. "Kei will remain with
me, in case he does show up."

"He's tried to assassinate you twice already," said the large ninja coldly. "I
should protect you as well."

"Has he?" asked the oldest shinobi as he stepped into the center of the room. "I
wonder..."

"What's to wonder about?" said Hisami with a frown on his face.

"Mitsuki was keeping a secret from us. One that I think was very dangerous." The
old man narrowed his eyes as he looked at his remaining clan.

"That boy?" muttered the large ninja after a moment of thinking.

"What?" said Kei in disgusted confusion.

"Only time will reveal the truth about him," said the old man as he turned away.
"Be on guard, not just with Hisami, but with your own lives."

Kei nodded seriously and turned to look at Hisami.

He frowned at her and turned to glance at his room. "Come Kei, it is time to
retire."

"I think not," she replied simply as she moved into the shadows.

"What?" snarled the man angrily.

"I am not my mother," she replied simply. "It's time you learned the difference
between a toy and a weapon."

"I will not..." started the man angrily.

Her uncle turned to look at her emotionlessly, and her grandfather did the same.
Hikyu was neither impressed nor interested.

"You will do nothing. You need me. I'm the only one he has faced one on one that
has lived. Hakage's loyalty lies with the school, not you, and Hikyu is more
dangerous to you than helpful. Do you really want your only protection to be an
old man?"

The large man snarled at her angrily.

She smirked at him casually. "Your life rests in my hands now Hisami."

The man turned towards her grandfather and snarled at him next. "You stand there
and do nothing."

"She is correct Hisami. Hakage will not die for you, and I am not the man I once
was. I can do nothing to stop this. I doubt if she would take an order from me
about this."

"Screw your secretary," she replied as she walked out of the room calmly. "You
seem satisfied with her during the day."

The man seethed with rage as he slowly sank into the chair behind his desk.

The large ninja frowned at the old man for a moment.

The small man simply looked up at him and nodded slowly once.

He clenched his fist and swung it down violently as he turned to walk out of the
room.

Hisami noticed none of this as he stared out at the city from his window with a
deep frown on his face.

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

Carrot was sitting on a high rooftop looking down at the clinic below. It was
the top of an older apartment building about a block down the road. He was
crouched on the ledge with a frown on his face.

"Well, at least I've got a girlfriend now..." He looked somewhat thoughtful as
he said this and hung his head after a moment. "Who am I kidding? How do I keep
getting into these messes?"

He paused as a light tingling began on his back. He jumped up and turned around
with his foot ready to step back off the ledge. The tingling didn't stop, but it
wasn't strong enough to alarm him quite that much yet.

"Heh. You're quite skilled to have sensed me," said a voice from the shadows.

"Yeah, I get a lot of that," he replied as his eyes searched the darkness in
front of him. The gigantic man seemed to melt out of the darkness in front of
him. He stood with his hands hanging at his sides loosely and appeared very
cautious.

Carrot crouched slightly as he recognized him. "You."

He raised his hand slowly. "I have not come to fight. I am to discuss terms with
you."

"Terms?" said Carrot as he relaxed ever so slightly.

"You have wiped out all but three of the leaders of our school."

"If they hadn't bothered me, I wouldn't have done that," he replied coolly.
"Finally! A break!" cried his mind joyously.

"It is irrelevant. We were given orders."

"Yeah, don't blame you, just the guy in charge," snorted Carrot irritably.

"Our orders have not changed," replied the large ninja.

"So what do you want then? Is this some kind of temporary truce or something?"

"Not exactly," replied the large ninja. "I cannot face you in combat. I have
been forbidden by the grandmaster of my school. I cannot die with honor, nor can
I receive the glory of destroying such an opponent."

"Well, I'm sure disappointed," grumbled Carrot.

"You should be, it would have been quite a battle," replied the ninja stonily.

"So what the hell is it then."

"My master wishes to meet you."

"Heh. I'll bet he does," snorted Carrot.

"You have my word of honor that you will not be harmed. As long as you behave
yourself that is. We will meet unarmed."

"Not possible," replied Carrot simply.

"You are refusing me."

"Actually, I was talking about that last part." He raised his arm to his side
and closed his hand. An iron pole appeared out of nowhere in his grip. "See."

The ninja took a step back. "What?"

The boy swung it over his shoulder and stared at the man calmly. "You want to
meet, fine. I'll meet one of you. Believe me when I say, I'll know if there's
more than one of you there."

"You have my word of honor. Be here in one week's time. I will be here."

"Why so long?" snorted the boy irritably.

"Consider it a busy time for us."

Carrot nodded. "I can accept that I guess."

"Beware. This does not bind Kei and Hikyu. They may still die with honor facing
you, but no other members of our clan may face you unprovoked."

"Huh? Wait a minute!" snapped Carrot.

"I could not stop Kei if I wanted too, Hikyu is no longer a member of our
school."

"Hikyu?" muttered Carrot in confusion.

"Yes, you know him as the Goblin. It was you that caused his monstrous
transformation. When you killed him the first time."

Carrot cringed ever so slightly at that. "Probably that bomb guy," he thought
irritably.

"We will not meet again until that day."

"Great, bye now!" said Carrot cheerfully as he waved at the man and fell
backward off the ledge.

The larger ninja watched him swing away. He paused suddenly as he noticed
something odd. "That is not wire he swings on..." He stepped towards the ledge
and peered at the thread that hung across the street from him on the wall.
"Cloth?" He pondered it for a moment, it was almost like some kind of rope. "He
grows more skilled with each opponent." He actually sounded somewhat impressed.
"A pity, it would have been a fine battle."

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

Kunzite knelt before Beryl with his arm covering his chest. "Everything is going
according to plan."

She smiled down at him and narrowed her eyes. "Excellent. How goes the
operation?"

"Superbly," said Zoicite as he emerged from behind one of the nearby pillars. He
was leaning casually with his arms crossed over his chest. He stepped out and
gave the evil woman a deep bow. "We should be able to collect enough energy to
raise Metallia. Then she can deal with those bothersome senshi."

"Excellent," replied Beryl. "Those buffoons are dealing with that monster you
set loose in Tokyo still. All while our operations in Kyoto go undetected."

"It's almost been too easy," said Kunzite with a dark smile forming on his lips.
"Soon, not even the Silver Imperium Crystal will be able to stop us."

"You still have not found it?"

"Our agents have failed. Those that still search do not send back positive
reports. They speak of powerful beings, other than the senshi at work."

"That boy," said Beryl angrily.

"Yes," replied Zoicite.

"Why is he not dead?"

The man growled and clenched his fist. Beryl always seemed to shove that back in
their faces.

"He still lives, and I do not possess the crystal. Do you realize what Metallia
will do to us if we do not have it when she is resurrected? Or if he still
lives? He must be destroyed!"

"He grows stronger with each encounter," replied Kunzite calmly. "It is
difficult to create a Youma that can handle him."

"So send two!" snarled the woman angrily. "Do it yourself if you have too!"

"Why does he matter?" grumbled Kunzite.

Beryl raised her fist into the air and lifted him off his feet. He clutched at
his neck as he choked in the air. "Fool! Do you still not understand? That boy
is from another world! Another universe! Just as Metallia came to our world!
Jadeite's bungling has caused something with the potential to become as powerful
as her to enter our world! Her rule must be absolute! We have no way of knowing
how strong he can become!"

She turned away from him and he fell on the ground in a pile. His eyes were wide
with terror as he gasped for breath.

"Kill him!"

"It shall be done," replied Zoicite with a small frown forming on his face. "Can
it be? Something this strong? He is still weak though..." He turned towards
Kunzite with a deep scowl on his face. "Come, we have much to discuss."

The man staggered to his feet and glared at him for a moment. "Very well."

"We must be at Nishikyogohu Stadium tonight," said Zoicite. "The boy can wait
until that is taken care of."

The pair strolled out of the room together and the great doors to the hallway
closed behind them.

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

Haruka sat on a park bench with her shades on. She was wearing her racing jacket
and looked quite masculine at the moment. Not that it was all that unusual.

There was a boy sitting next to her with his head hung down.

"Something wrong kid?"

"I was gonna take my girlfriend to see Hikari Negashi tonight, but she dumped me
for a guy who had better seats."

Haruka stared at him dumbly. "What? What kind of bimbo would...?"

The boy sighed at this. "I guess you're right, but I thought Mika was the one ya
know?"

The girl cringed slightly at this and said nothing.

"Now what am I gonna do with these? Do you know how much they cost me?"

"Not really no," replied the girl with a small shrug. "That damn concert made it
nearly impossible to find a room in town though."

"Oh, you're from out of town?" asked the boy as he glanced at her. It was fairly
obvious from his tone that he thought she was a guy, and that suited her fine at
the moment.

"Tokyo."

"Wow," replied the boy with a slight shrug. "Sorry about unloading and all. I
know it's not polite at all, but..."

Haruka waved it off. "No big deal, everyone needs to sometimes."

"I guess you're right. Listen, I don't want these. I can't stand the music, if I
knew I was getting laid afterwards I could use em, but every available girl I
know already has a date."

Haruka blinked at him.

"Maybe you could take your girlfriend, or find a girl to go with you or
something. The seats aren't that good, but..."

"No thanks," replied Haruka.

"Really. I insist." He shoved them in her chest and started walking off.

"I thought you said these were expensive," said Haruka as she stood up with them
in her hand.

"Well, they weren't that expensive. I should have sprung for better seats. Then
I wouldn't be in this mess. Man, Mika put out too..." He walked away grumbling
to himself and Haruka sat back down.

"Man, what a jerk. What the hell am I supposed to do with these?"

"Um, excuse me...You like Hikari Negashi?"

She turned to face the voice with a slight frown on her face. "What if I do?"

She found herself staring at the face of a very pretty girl of about her own
age. She had short cut blonde hair, a pair of cut off jeans and a white shirt
tied over a skintight shirt.

"It's just, I never thought a guy like you would listen to her," said the girl
as she stared at Haruka's face.

"Guy like me?" she muttered as she stared at the girl.

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

Haruka stood in line with a very slight frown on her face. The girl she had met
in the park was hanging off her arm as she stood in line for the concert. "How
did I manage to talk myself into this?" She glanced down at her arm and sighed.
"Oh, right."

"What was that?" asked her date cheerfully. She was dressed in a rather casual
but nice green dress. Her hair was pulled up as well. The outfit really showed
off her figure.

"Nothing," replied Haruka calmly. She handed the tickets over and was bodily
dragged inside by her date.

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

The stadium was packed as the pair sat in their seats. A little over 20,000
people were there for the sold out show. The field was used for soccer, but a
large stage had been set up in the middle of the field.

Haruka sighed as the light's started to dim. Spotlights moved through the crowd
as the stadium roared. She was pretty annoyed already. Still, she hadn't thought
about Michiru in a long time.

"Well, up till now anyway," she muttered under her breath. The thought passed
quickly though as a girl in an insanely pink outfit rushed onto the stage
excitedly. There were three backup singers dressed in yellow, blue, and orange
right behind her. "Oh man..."

Luckily, her date was too caught up in the show to notice her date's complaints.

Hikari rushed up to the stage and bounced up and down excitedly. "Hello Kyoto!"

The crowd cheered in response.

"Welcome! We have a great show for you tonight!"

The crowd cheered in response.

"We're going to start off with a song from our first album!"

The crowd cheered in response.

"Honey Love Me!"

The crowd cheered in response.

Haruka though her head was going to explode. Hikari was cute, not that she could
see her from where she was sitting. A memory of a girl about a year younger than
her with short cut hair on the cover of an album floated into her memory.

It was about this point that she realized what almost every male in the crowd
was looking at. They were almost all watching the girls around them, a few were
even staring at their dates. Some were staring at hers. Almost all the girls
were acting insanely cute, squealing, jumping, or clutching arms excitedly.

"Oh. I get it now," said Haruka as she turned to look at her date for a moment.
She was jumping up and down excitedly. "This isn't so bad."

That was when the chorus of the song started. The girls started to sing along,
most of them badly.

Haruka hung her head. "Be brave Haruka."

She snapped to attention at the loud snapping boom that suddenly filled the air.
"What the?" She jumped to her feet and stared down at the now black stage. A
purple light had started in the middle of the stage. "What the?"

A voice sounded over the loudspeakers. "Humans, welcome to your doom." It was
male, Haruka could tell that much. It also made her uncomfortable. As if she'd
heard it before. "Who?"

"Somebody help me!" snapped an angry sounding Hikari.

"Maybe they're promoting some new anime?" offered Haruka's date. Everyone was
simply watching the stage, and no one seemed alarmed yet. Confusion was clear on
everyone's faces, but no one looked scared.

"I'm gonna go take a closer look," said Haruka as she jumped out of her seat and
moved into the isle. She started down the stairs with a frown on her face. "I
know that voice from somewhere."

Spotlights shined down on the stage finally, Zoicite stood with Hikari dangling
in the air behind him. She was kicking her feet and as she got close, she
realized that she didn't look very happy. The man had somehow wrapped her up in
her own microphone chord and hung her from the rafters. He held a large crystal
in his hand and raised it over his head. "Seal the doors. No one escapes."

Haruka gasped as she noticed several large things emerge from the entranceways.
They took positions in front of all the doors. They all looked ridiculous, like
something out of a bad sentai anime. People screamed, but it wasn't really
fearful. More like they were enjoying the show.

Haruka had seen things like this before. This was no stage show.

"No! Why?" she muttered in horror. She'd thought she'd left things like this
behind in Tokyo.

She stumbled back and fell on her rear on the stadium steps. The man on the
stage was familiar. "Zoicite." A memory faded into her mind and she clutched her
head. Another voice started laughing over the loudspeakers. She knew the laugh
as well, but hadn't sounded so cold before. "Kunzite...why?" These people were
allies in her mind. It was obvious they were enemies now though.

She clutched her head even tighter. "What can I do?"

"Transform," responded her own voice, it sounded different though. Almost as if
it was someone else speaking to her.

"No! The pen!" she gasped as she stood up and stared forward in horror. She'd
thrown it away in Tokyo.

"Don't be silly," responded the voice in her head. She raised her hand over her
head reflexively and felt the power focus between her fingers. In a flash of
light the pen was in her hand.

Those in the crowd around her turned to face her in confusion. "Uranus power
makeup!" she cried into the air.

In a spectacular flash of light she spun into the air as her clothes fades away,
only to be replaced by the white of her senshi uniform. The skirt formed around
her waist along with the gloves, boots, and jewelry. She finished her
transformation and glared down at the stadium. "I don't think so."

Needless to say the crowd roared with cheers.

Uranus also noted that she had Zoicite's full attention.

"An Outer Senshi?" he muttered as he took a step back. He looked very alarmed.
"What is he doing here?"

Kunzite stepped out of the shadows. "She's still not beyond her first
transformation. She has no chance against the both of us."

"She must be destroyed," agreed Zoicite. "She is far to dangerous to be left
running loose."

"I've heard that before," replied Kunzite calmly.

"Worry about that later! Kill her!" snarled Zoicite as he jumped forward.

Haruka ran down the remaining stairs and jumped over the guardrail that was set
up around the field's wall. She landed in the grass in front of the stage
crouched down and slowly rose to her feet.

"You two will pay for betraying Serenity," said the girl coldly as she pointed
at them both.

"She knows us?" gasped Zoicite.

"It doesn't matter, kill her!" cried Kunzite as he began to form a ball of dark
power in his hands. He thrust them forward and what looked like screaming
spirits shot through the air towards Uranus.

She stepped back at the sight of the attack, it spread out and rocketed towards
her at high speed. "Damn!" she muttered as she dodged around the things. It
wasn't very difficult, but she had to move fast to do it.

Unfortunately, Zoicite also thrust his hands forward and sent a focused ball of
energy at her. She shifted to dodge it and was slammed into the ground as the
spirits shot through her body. They tore through her causing a burning pain
where they passed through her. She fell to the ground on her hands and knees.

The crowd gasped in shock.

"Get up!" cried someone in the stands.

Haruka struggled to push herself up from the ground as the two men moved in
front of her.

"Pathetic, she's no match for us alone," said Zoicite as he chuckled.

"Serenity's bravest, a pity you cannot help your queen now," agreed Kunzite.

Haruka growled as the men pointed their palms down at her. Their hands began to
glow and she felt pressure all over her body. It pulled at her from every
direction and grew more intense. She grunted in pain as she writhed on the
ground before them.

"I think she should die slowly, slow down Zoicite," said Kunzite as he smirked
at his partner.

Haruka actually felt the pressure lessen, but not enough to stop the pain. She
could feel it building more slowly and screamed as she jerked violently.

"What can I do?" screamed her mind through the pain. It was barely able to
function. "I can't fight back, I don't have the strength! There's no one to help
me! I..."

Her lips moved as she spoke the words softly through her gasps. "No one to
help..."

"That's right, you are finished!" cried Zoicite triumphantly.

"Final Protocol."

"What?" said Kunzite in confusion.

"No! Kill her now! Quickly!" said Zoicite as the glow on his hands flared into
intense burning power.

Haruka screamed in agony as a light started to form in the center of her chest.
A pillar of light shot into the sky through the open area of the stadium. She
screamed as her entire body was lifted off the ground and spread her arms as she
hung suspended.

"What has she done?!" cried Kunzite.

"The other Outer Senshi have not awakened!" gasped Zoicite in shock.

Haruka was now floating in the air, a huge gold cape fluttered in the air behind
her. On her chest, and on the back of the cape was a crest. It was a large
shield with a red 'S' inside meant to symbolize 'Senshi'. Power burned around
her body. Her uniform has slimmed in appearance and she glared down at the pair.
"Know this, I am not the one who is about to die."

Kunzite screamed to the guards at the doors. "Ignore the humans! Kill her!"

Haruka merely cracked her knuckles and smirked.

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

Guess what? TBC... ^_^