Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Gaijin ❯ Chapter 23

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

Gaijin

Part 23

The start of the worst day yet.

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

Haruka cracked her knuckles as she glared at the two men standing before her.
"Well, it has been a while hasn't it boys?" She was floating above the stage
calmly as the crowd roared with excitement behind her. She crossed her arms over
her chest and glanced back at the monsters that were quickly moving down the
stairs towards the field and stage.

"Kill her!" screamed Kunzite as he pulled Zoicite by his arm and away from her.

The things jumped into the air in unison towards her, five of them at once. Each
roared as it extended its claws and teeth outward.

Haruka's body became a blur of motion and the beasts were tossed aside almost
casually. "You know better than that. You two fools seem to have enough memory
to realize what I've done. You can't win."

"Damn her," growled Kunzite angrily.

Zoicite raised his palm and shot a ball of power towards the girl as he moved
behind the idol singer's hanging body.

The girl kicked her feet and squealed in fear. "Don't just sit there! Get me
down!"

Haruka raised her palm and swatted the energy ball into the air. It shot into
the night sky above them and exploded in a spectacular flash of light. "There's
no chance for you to win." The monsters were recovering and backed away in a
loose circle around her.

"Didn't you hear us fools? Destroy her!" snapped Zoicite.

One of the monsters reluctantly stepped forward.

Haruka turned into a blur of motion and appeared directly in front of the thing
with her hand raised in a backhanded strike. The creature sailed into the wall
and hit the concrete just below the stands with enough force to shatter the area
in front of the seats. It roared a final time and vanished in a flash of light.
The woman had a deep frown on her face as she vanished again and appeared above
two more of the things that were standing together, she pushed their heads into
the dirt and they also vanished with pained death screams.

Haruka slowly rose to her feet from her knees after the maneuver and glared at
the two men. "Come on, stop playing around and fight. At least die like men."

Zoicite looked worried, while Kunzite merely smirked. He turned towards the
remaining pair. "Kill as many people as you can before you die."

The things roared as they turned towards the crowd and jumped into the air.

Haruka's eyes went wide as she saw this happening. "No!"

Both men backed away slowly into the shadows of the stage as she vanished from
in front of them.

The things never reached the ground; Haruka's fists and pure speed stopped them
both in the air. They were no more than ten feet apart from each other when they
jumped and she simply punched them both out of the air and towards the ceiling.
One of them slammed into the cracked surface of the wall at the top of the
stadium, sending another pile of debris into the field, while the other simply
dug a deep gouge into the dirt.

The one who had hit the ground survived, it had what appeared to be a turtle
shell on its back, and a reptilian appearance. Haruka merely frowned at the
thing and stared at it. "So, you're a little tougher than your friends?"

The thing grunted as it moved to its feet, mindlessly staggering back towards
the crowd to follow its last orders.

Haruka merely raised her palm and frowned. "Walk this off." A ball of purple
energy formed in her hand and she screamed as it blasted forward and slammed
into the thing's back. The creature roared angrily as it was vaporized in a
small explosion.

There was a silence in the stadium as the girl simply floated above them for a
moment and looked around. She shook her head and gasped as she looked down at
the ground. "I can...fly? What happened to me?"

The crowd in the stadium cheered as she floated back towards the stage. She
stood for a moment looking around at the people; they seemed to think this was a
part of the show. She couldn't even remember where her date was sitting, and she
certainly wasn't going to try and find her like she was. She hung her head and
sighed. "Oh well."

"Hey! Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me!?" screamed
Hikari from where she hung. She was wiggling violently against the microphone
chord and looked a little upset.

Haruka floated up to her and grabbed her around the waist. "Sorry, just a
second."

The girl looked up at her dumbly. "Hey...did Kato hire you?"

"Hire me?" said Haruka as she floated up into the rafters and began to work at
the knot that held the girl. She was using one hand to untie it and floated back
to the ground to set the girl on her feet after she had finished. She simply
walked behind the girl and started to untie the chord from her back.

Once Hikari was free she turned to look at the woman in front of her. "That was
so cool!"

Haruka realized that the crowd was still cheering and that Hikari had her hands
clasped rather tightly. "Uh, thanks?"

The backup singers slowly began to move back towards the stage along with some
of the crew as they began to peek around from their hiding places back stage.
Two young girls rushed up to the pair as they stood together in the middle of
the stage.

"Wow!" cried one of them.

"She's right! That was awesome!" agreed the other.

Haruka frowned slightly as she realized that she was becoming surrounded. "I
have to go."

"What? You just got here!" cried Hikari as she grabbed her arm. "Tell me what
they paid you! I'll double it!"

"Sorry," replied Haruka softly as she shook her arm loose with surprising ease
and floated up into the air. "I've got places to be." She raised her arm into a
fist over her head and tucked her free arm at her side as she rose into the air
and into the sky. "Bye."

"Wait! Who are you?" called Hikari into the air after her.

Haruka glanced back at her for a moment. "Uranus." She shot into the sky and
vanished into the night.

Hikari pouted cutely as she glared at the ground in frustration. "Dang. She was
a babe too."

Her two backup singers looked at each other nervously. "Not as cute as us
though, right?"

"What are you kidding?" asked the girl as she stared at them for a moment.

The pair burst into tears. Fortunately for Hikari's image, the crowd's cheer was
far to loud for the conversation to be heard.

"Aw, man," grumbled the girl as she sighed and tossed the remains of the dead
microphone onto the stage. "I guess we should go back to the hotel then. Not
much we can do to top that."

The two girls pepped up immediately. "Yay! Room service!"

Hikari merely looked up at the sky for a moment and sighed. "Oh well...maybe I
can contact her agent or something?"

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

In the shadows above the crowd, hidden in the shadows of one of the exits, a
tall figure stood watching the scene. It was a woman, with a long staff in her
hand. She merely stood silently as she watched the scene unfold before her.

Finally, after the young idol singer walked off the stage she spoke softly.
"Uranus...do you know what have you done?"

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

Haruka stood on the edge of a tall rooftop, dark brown tiles tilted away from
her in every direction as she overlooked the city before her. "Now what?" she
muttered as she stared at her hands for a long moment.

"Maybe back to Tokyo now?" she mused silently as she clenched her fist. "There's
something going on here though..."

She sighed and shook her head, willing the power away from her body. She stood
for a long moment as the energy burned around her. The costume remained as it
was.

She looked down at herself and paused for a moment. There was no thought for a
long moment, and finally she realized what was wrong. "I can't change back?"

"No, you cannot."

Haruka turned around with her fists raised as she faced the voice. "Who?"

"An ally," replied the woman who was cloaked in a long brown cape and hood. "One
that you are not yet ready to meet."

Haruka's face contorted as her mind struggled for a moment. "Pluto?"

The woman's lips turned slightly, but Haruka could still not see her face.
"Yes."

"But...how? I was..."

"Alone?" asked the woman calmly. Her light smirk never faded away. "No, you were
not. The others were merely sleeping still..."

"But..."

"Now, you must fight alone. Final protocol is only to be used after the Queen's
death, and only when a single of our number remains alive. Fortunately for you,
the Queen has been dead for some time, and the reawakening of the others has not
yet occurred. You hold the power of three of the most powerful senate."

"You mean..." stammered Haruka as she fell to her knees.

"I am afraid so, the power will remain with you until your eventual death.
Although, no one is quite sure how long that will be. It could be in a few
years, the energies eating away at your very being, or it could be an eternity,
the sheer power within you will not allow you to die."

The girl stared forward with her jaw clenched tight. "No..."

"You have chosen your own path, and now you must face it."

"Why didn't you stop me? Why didn't you say something?!" snarled the angry
Haruka as she jumped to her feet and pointed at the woman before her.

"Because, I have not yet awakened. I am the senshi of time, not its master. It
is my task to guard the gates, and keep others from using its power. Only the
queen herself may command me to meddle in the affairs of the past, and always
against my own strictest warnings to do so."

"Queen? There's no..." Haruka's eyes went wide as she stepped away from her.
"You're not..."

Pluto's smirk grew ever so slightly. "Are you surprised?"

"I suppose I shouldn't be," grumbled Haruka as she sighed and hung her head.

When she looked up, the woman was gone once again.

"Damn." She sighed and looked down at herself for a moment. The dress would come
off, so it wasn't like she was stuck in the costume. She decided to return back
to her hotel room for now, a good night's sleep would have to do for now. She
had a lot of thinking to do anyway.

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

Carrot sat up and tossed his sheets off of his body. He was sleeping in a small
cot, in one of the extra rooms in the clinic. Gia and Mei Lin shared the main
bedroom of course, leaving him with a room designed for patients who had to stay
overnight. Gia never really used it, and it was used more for emergencies than
anything else. Most patients that bad were sent to a hospital. To him, it was a
safe place to pass out, for the most part.

"Ouch," he grumbled as he shielded his eyes from the sunlight outside. He stood
up and closed the curtain before he slipped on a pair of pants and slippers. He
staggered out of the room with his eyes half shut and frowned at the trio that
sat before him at the table. "Hi."

"Good morning!" said Mei Lin cheerfully.

"You certainly seem cheerful," agreed Gia.

Luna stared at him for a moment and turned to look at her. "No he doesn't."

"It's a figure of speech," replied Gia with a small sigh.

"You remember anything yet?" asked Carrot as he sat down in front of the animal
and shoved her aside in favor of the cup of coffee he'd just poured himself.

"No," said Luna irritably. "Why would I want too?"

Carrot ignored this and simply stared forward.

"I've got to get to work soon. Mr. Yamada hasn't been there in like two days, so
I'm swamped. He says he's following up on that murder story of his."

"Murder?" asked Gia as she turned to face the young Chinese girl.

"Yeah, real scary stuff. People are getting cut to pieces, so far there's only
been two attacks. It's on the other side of town though." She nodded her head
seriously as she spoke. "The police say they've got leads though, and that he'll
be caught soon."

"Wonder how long that'll last?" grumbled Carrot irritably.

"A serial killer in Japan? That seems like something we'd have heard about by
now," commented Gia.

"Yeah right. The government probably doesn't think broadcasting something like
that is a good idea," commented Carrot. He veered away from the conversation
when Gia gave him a rather dirty look. "Yamada? That's the guy they stuck you
with isn't it?"

"Yeah, he seems upset. You keep getting the front page instead of his murder
story. He thinks it's much more important. The boss says the story is too bad
for us to run like that."

"Yamada is probably right," replied Carrot as he sipped at his coffee lazily.
"Still, this country has a way of sweeping really nasty things under the rug."

"Hey! I work hard to get those pictures of you!" snapped the girl.

"Whatever," grumbled the boy as he stood up and walked towards the shower.

"That's a good idea," said Gia. "After all, you've got a date tonight."

Carrot froze where he was standing and slowly turned to look at her. "Um? Today
is Friday?"

Gia smiled cheerfully and nodded.

The boy smiled at her nervously and walked into the bathroom. "Excuse me."

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

Four hours later...

"Carrot! Carrot! Come out of there!" snapped Gia as she pounded on the door.

"I don't wanna!" cried a weak sounding voice from inside the bathroom.

"He's been in there all morning!" growled Gia as she turned to look at Spike.

"Gee, I never thunk he'd be dis shy," said the man as he stared at the door.

"I've tried the lock, I've tried forcing it open, he's got it barricaded with
something."

Spike scratched his head and sighed. "I dunno. I guess I can break it down for
ya."

"I'll kick your ass if you do!" cried Carrot from inside. "I ain't goin out
today! I'm stayin in here!"

"You jerk! I have to go to the bathroom!" growled Gia as she pounded on the
door.

"So go across the street! They've got toilets there!"

"You little son of a bitch!"

Spike started to back away from the scene, but Gia whirled around and grabbed
him by his ear. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Uh, I was jus..."

"I'm staying here!" cried Carrot from inside the bathroom.

"Stop being such a wuss all you have to do is go to dinner or something!" cried
Gia.

The door cracked every so slightly and Gia gasped as she saw Carrot stick his
head out of the bathroom. "You think this is going to be that simple?"

She stared at him, he actually looked terrified. "Who cares about Michiru!?
She's the least of my worries. I've got a date tonight and I'm a superhero.
Every asshole I've ever pissed off will probably run into me tonight, I probably
won't even make it to her house!"

Gia stared at him for a moment as he popped his head into the door again and
closed it. "Did he just call himself a superhero?"

Spike nodded slowly. "I tink."

The woman's frustrated frown grew stronger and stronger. "What the hell is wrong
with..."

Carrot slipped his hand back inside the door as Gia was silenced by a warm
sticky fluid that covered her mouth.

The woman growled in rage and stared at the door as she rolled up her sleeves.
She turned to look at Spike and pointed at the door.

The man hung his head and turned to face it. "Sorry bout dis kid."

"Aw man..." grumbled Carrot from the other side. He was thrown against the
ground with the door slammed on top of him as Spike barreled into the room with
his shoulder held low. The large man stumbled on top of the door, flattening the
boy further.

Carrot blinked as he shifted around under the door, flailing his arms
helplessly. "Get off you big oaf!" He froze and slowly turned his head as his
extra senses picked up danger suddenly. "Uh oh."

Gia was standing over him glaring down with her heel tapping against the floor.
She didn't look happy, and couldn't speak to him. It was the one good thing
about his position at the moment.

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

Hikari Negashi sat in her hotel room with a frown on her face. She was wearing a
bathrobe and had a towel tied around her head. The room was huge, and she was
reading over a newspaper. She hadn't gotten the front page, but there was an
entertainment section, and she'd made the cover of that.

The two backup singers sat nearby in two other chairs that sat around the small
coffee table. They each had their own copy of the paper, although Hikari doubted
they actually read anything more than headlines.

"There's some really weird stuff going on in Tokyo," commented one of them.

"Yeah. Look at this guy," agreed the other as she held a large photo of
Spiderman up to Hikari's face.

The girl frowned at it. "You're supposed to be looking for reviews of last
night's concert."

"Well, I couldn't help but notice. I mean, he's got a really tight butt."

Hikari snorted in disgust at the picture. "What would I care about that."

"Well, I guess I can understand it, even if I don't agree with her," replied the
other girl cheerfully.

Hikari ignored her and frowned at the page in front of her. "Super woman shows
up for Hikari concert. Great stage production...What?" She slammed the page down
on the table, sending the pair flailing back fearfully. "What's this?" said
Hikari as she smirked at the page in front of her. It was the second page of the
entertainment section. A young blonde girl's photo was shown on the page. "A
quote from the article," announced Hikari. "He seemed like a nice guy, and he
took me to the show. I had no idea that she was a part of the show. Her disguise
was quite convincing too..."

"Um?"

"What?"

"Seems our super woman brought a date to the show with her..." said Hikari as
she held up the paper.

"Hey, she's kinda cute..." responded the first girl.

"Yeah, that super chick has good taste," agreed the other.

Hikari merely chuckled at this as she tossed the page aside. "A woman like
that...is the only thing that can satisfy me."

"Aw man," grumbled the first girl.

"This again? Jeez Hikari, you make us feel so unloved sometimes."

"Can it. I know the both of you sleep around on me regularly."

"You're mean!" whined the pair in unison.

Hikari stood up and started to untie her robe as she walked towards the
bathroom. "Sometimes I wonder why I put up with all this cuteness crap all the
time." She paused and glanced around the room. With a heavy sigh she opened the
bathroom door and walked inside. "Oh right. The money, gotta remember the
money."

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

Zoicite and Kunzite writhed on the ground in agony, dark power surged through
their bodies as Beryl watched from in front of her crystal. Her face was
contorted into a mask of rage and she raised her hand again, sending yet another
ball of dark power into the pair. "Fools! Imbeciles! I should destroy you both,
and I would if I didn't need you so badly now!"

"Forgive..." started Zoicite.

"There will be no forgiveness this time fool! Do you realize what your bungling
has unleashed upon us?!" She put up both her hands and the two men on the ground
screamed as the pain that coursed through their bodies intensified. "An Outer
Senshi that has invoked the final protocol? You should have retreated the moment
she arrived! Do you realize how strong the outer senshi are?"

"We..." started Zoicite.

"Find the others, destroy them! If we kill her now, the other unawakened Senshi
will return at full power, rather than the weakened form you fought before she
called fourth all that power! Now we must destroy them, before we deal with
her."

The two men could not move from where they were sprawled across the ground.

"Once you two recover, you're going back to Tokyo. Once there, you will seek out
and kill the remaining Outer Senshi. Those brats will probably try to stop you
if they find out, so make sure they do not. You will also bring me the Silver
Imperium Crystal, once we have it, we can awaken Metallia, and then not even the
Final Protocol will be able to save them."

Zoicite staggered to his knees finally, and Kuzite quickly followed. "What of
Uranus? We cannot ignore her."

"Find ways to keep her busy. If you fight her now, you will be destroyed."

The pair growled under their breath as they bowed their heads.

"Have you killed that boy yet?"

"You know we haven't," responded Kunzite quietly.

"Once you recover, see that you do," responded Beryl as she raised her hands and
formed the dark energy in her palms once again.

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

"He has left us in quite a bind."

Hakage turned and frowned at Kei as she walked up beside him. "What do you
mean?" They were standing in Hisami's office. Both of them looking at the blade
that hung from the wall quietly.

"The old man..." replied Kei calmly as she looked up at the sword.

"What of him?" snorted the larger man as he turned away.

"Don't play stupid with me. You've been staring at that wall for two hours now,
you've never given it a second glance before now."

"It has a rich history, even I can become nostalgic from time to time."

"That blade is our darkest curse."

"No, the one you wield is your darkest curse. This sword, is a symbol of power."

"Power," snorted Kei through a rough laugh. She reached for the blade slowly. An
angry energy crackled, brushing the tips of her fingers lightly as she held them
back just out of range. She could feel the tingling sting on the skin of her
hand and closed her eyes. "It is a useless power."

"You know that it will destroy us one day."

"Or bring us into a new age? That is the legend, is it not? Will we fade into
shadows, destroyed by the darkness, or will we simply continue on forever?"

Hakage pulled her hand down, tired of watching her burn her skin needlessly.
"Nothing lasts forever young Kei. This blade could mean our end, or it could
simply be a new rebirth, until our true end comes to pass."

The girl snorted and turned away. "Since when are you so philosophical?"

"Times call for such things."

"Meaningless."

"Perhaps. Yet you come to look at this blade at times as well."

Kei didn't argue, but slowly pulled the knife from her side. "I too deal with my
own curse. You know that."

"Kill the ones you love, or die in agony?" responded Hakage.

"Don't mock me," replied Kei.

"The sword belongs to him. It has chosen its master."

Kei simply stood with her back to him, her face hidden in shadows. "Perhaps it
has. I've seen nothing that proves this."

"You and I are all that remains to carry on the name of our clan. Is that not
enough?"

"It doesn't matter. I will kill him, or I will die. The fate of our clan rest
with you, should I fail."

"You will be destroyed, he is far stronger than he was before."

"So am I."

"Hikyu is insane, a shadow of his former self, but you...you continue, despite
what the Grandmaster has told us. Why?"

Kei did not move from where she was standing. "You know why."

"Do I?" asked Hakage stonily as he continued to look at the blade.

Kei looked at her knife and slid it back into place slowly. "Yes. I too have a
curse to deal with. My own heart has betrayed me."

"You love him?" Hakage did not sound surprised, or really very interested in the
answer. When he turned his head to look, Kei was gone.

He merely turned to stare at the sword again in silence.

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

Wo Hin Shu stood calmly on the docks overlooking the massive shipping interest
of Tokyo. He was dressed in an expensive dark blue silk suit and had a cellular
phone held up to his ear as he walked. He was a Chinese man in his early
thirties, he had a long braid of solid black hair hanging down his back. "He's
coming."

"So?" asked the well-dressed man who stood beside him. He had on a brown suit
and tie of his own. He was a Japanese man who was wearing a pair of dark
sunglasses over his eyes.

"We need to be ready for his arrival. Our operation has been noticed."

"A fight?" asked the other man calmly as he walked beside the Chinese man.

"Possibly. He'll be diplomatic at first. He's far too old and weak to risk
otherwise. He'll also be well protected."

"I've heard stories of his elite guards. They say he has a clan of shinobi
protecting him."

"You of all people should know the truth behind that."

"If I do, what makes you think I can just tell you?" responded the man calmly.

Wo Hin smiled lightly. "Perhaps it is a good day to die then?"

"Perhaps, but I have no desire to cut my life short needlessly. I'll be going
shortly. I've got business of my own to deal with today."

"Hisami is a businessman, if our operation is tight enough, he will turn a blind
eye towards us."

"If he feels you are not moving against him, perhaps. This is a dangerous trade.
It is a bit more than the police are willing to overlook."

The Chinese man frowned at the man beside him. "I am aware of that, dealing with
the Yakuza is not much different than my own Triad roots. There are strange
things going on in Japan lately, I feel a great disturbance in the mystic
energies of this place. I am simply making a profit off of the uneasy feelings
of the citizens. I make them feel safer."

"I think that kind of thinking might be a mistake," responded the Japanese man
calmly. "Do not underestimate the damage you are causing Wo Hin."

A man wearing a hardhat walked over to the pair and bowed deeply. "The third
shipment is running ten minutes behind schedule."

The Chinese man turned to frown at him. "Then do something about it. We can't
afford any screw ups today." He then turned towards his companion. "I think that
Hisami will be impressed."

"If he hasn't decided he wants you dead already," responded Yoshida calmly.
"Perhaps you'll be able to eat with me tonight. If not, I shall call a toast to
your spirit with Hisami."

"What more can a man ask?" replied the Chinese man coolly as he turned to look
at the docks.

The Japanese man slipped into the back of a parked limousine and closed the
door. He sank into the leather and poured himself a glass of bourbon. "To those
about to die." He downed it and motioned at his driver. "Go. This place stinks
of death."

"Maybe it's just the fish market?" replied the man as he nodded outside the
window.

"No. There is a darkness that comes here that even I would not tamper with."

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

Carrot stood outside the clinic with a frown on his face. He looked a little
scratched up and had on a long black coat over his clothes. "Damn. Now where can
I go to hide out?" He glanced around up and down the street. With a heavy sigh,
he started down the sidewalk. It was still early yet, and he had several more
hours to go before he had to meet with Michiru at her house.

Unfortunately, in his mind, that wasn't a good thing. He also had no idea where
he was going to go now. Gia pretty much ruled out the clinic for a while, she
was royally pissed.

So, he simply started walking down the street, looking at store windows and
whatever else caught his eye. He avoided electronics stores, having remembered
the fateful newscast that had lead to him fighting Goblin in the middle of a
festival. He also stayed within the crowds, mingling into the crowds as best he
could. Well, as well as a tall American boy in a big black coat can mix into a
crowd of Japanese. "Great. I stick out like a sore thumb."

"Indeed you do, dark creature."

"Damn. I knew it." He slowly turned and found the tip of a spiked mace pointed
at his face. The crowd was instantly absent from anywhere around him.

It was a large Chinese woman, a really large Chinese woman. "Damn. How the hell
did I miss you coming?"

The woman's smirk fell slightly. "You dare mock me in such a position?"

"Lady, I don't even know who you are."

"You'll not fool me. You hide in the shadows and cling to the darkness like the
demon you are!"

"Great, another insane woman. Just what I need," muttered Carrot under his
breath. "Who the hell are you, and what do you want? Answer first, you can hit
me with that thing later on."

"I am Mao Lin. Grandmaster of the holy fist, and High Priestess of the Temple of
Light!"

"What?" grumbled Carrot as he stared at her. "Okay. What's that got to do with
me?" He was watching the huge weapon very carefully despite his casual stance.
He concentrated on the air around him, waiting for the familiar feeling. It did
not disappoint.

The woman cried out angrily as she slammed the mace into the ground where he
stood. He jumped back away from her and landed in a crouched position in front
of her. "Great. I knew this was gonna happen! Who the hell else is gonna show
up?"

Mao Lin hefted the weight out of the ground and shook the pavement out of the
spikes calmly as she prepared her next attack. "I am all that is needed to
destroy you!"

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that," commented Carrot as he ducked under a thrust
and hooked his foot around her wrist, she was tossed aside as he twisted his
body as he performed a handstand.

She landed on her shoulder and quickly moved to her feet just in time to see him
turn to face her again. "You're fast."

"Whatever. Are you done yet? Can I go? I kinda got a date later, and I can't
really go home to change..."

"You do not take me seriously?" snarled the woman angrily as she set her feet
into the ground.

"I'm kind of wondering what the point of this is?" said Carrot as he stepped
back slightly.

"I am honor bound to destroy any evil I find," replied the woman calmly. "I
wasn't expecting to find such a vile spirit here, but since I have, I must
follow through!" She jumped into the air and swung the massive weight down in a
wide arc.

Carrot easily sidestepped the move and bounced towards the edge of the crowd.
Those standing around him quickly moved away. "Yeah, frightened masses, thanks a
lot!" he snapped at them.

The woman pushed off of her landing and aimed the mace at his head like a spear.
He ducked back and was forced to close his eyes as a shower of dust and brick
pieces fell onto his face from the impact of the weapon on the wall.

"Ptu! What the heck are you doing!? You tryin to blind me or something?"

"Why yes," was the simple reply.

Carrot felt the tingling again, but could not yet open his eyes. He quickly
flipped into the air and landed just in time to duck and dodge another strike.
"I gotta get out of here!" he muttered as he tried to force his badly watering
eyes open. He could feel the force of the weapon passing over him as he dodged
blindly, using only his spider sense to escape being plastered to the ground.

"He is skilled!" growled Mao Lin as she took a step back to catch her breath
after the flurry of attacks.

Carrot was leaning against the wall again and rubbing at his eyes with his hand.
He managed to keep one of them open at this point and was resting against the
corner next to an alley. "You through yet?"

"Not even close," growled the woman irritably. She stood to her full height and
started to mutter something under her breath.

"Hey...I've heard that bef..."

"Into the darkness, I banish thee!" cried the woman as she thrust her hand
forward.

"Oh shit!" cried Carrot as a solid wave of burning air slammed into his body. He
was tossed back into the ally and landed hard on his back.

"Heh. No one can withstand the power of my spirit!"

Carrot groaned painfully. "Shit. Oooh, that really sucked."

"What?!" gasped the woman as she hefted her mace in front of her again. "How
can..."

The boy staggered to his feet and glared at her angrily. "What the hell are you
doing lady!? Are you trying to kill someone?"

She had already started chanting again.

"Aw man, that's it, I'm out of here!" He jumped up and caught the bottom of a
fire escape.

Mao Lin thrust her hand forward and screamed again. "Into th..." She paused as
she realized that she'd done little more than shatter several bags of garbage.
"What? He runs from me?"

She glanced around the area and the people who still remained didn't look like
they were about to say much of anything. They all looked nervous and edgy.

"Damn. Another time then."

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

"Oh come on! It's just a date! Just relax, you'll have fun!" mimicked Carrot as
he pulled his Spiderman shirt on over his chest. He was dressing on a rooftop
near to where he'd fought the Chinese woman. "Sure, I'll have a great time, if I
don't end up shot at the end of the night."

He pulled the mask over his face and shoved his clothes in a vent shaft. He'd
decided to pick them up later, closer to when he had to meet Michiru. "If I'm
not already dead that is."

He turned towards the edge of the rooftop and flicked his wrist. A line shot out
and he pushed off the edge and into the air.

Unfortunately, he never noticed the movement behind him. The shaft he'd tossed
his clothes into dented inward almost violently as something invisible moved
through the air behind him. The shrieking of metal being torn in half also went
unnoticed, as he was too far away by that point. His clothes seemed to toss
themselves into the air as something pulled them out and slowly became visible.

"Spiderman..." hissed Venom as it narrowed its eyes at the slowly shrinking
figure that swung away into the city. "Heh. What should we do? He
seems...occupied..."

The thing looked contemplative for a moment and grinned at itself as it thought
up an answer. "Yes, we'll just play with him...for now. Heh."

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

Kajura frowned as he stared at the docks. He had a pair of binoculars in his
grip and didn't look very pleased with what he saw.

Saito was leaning against the hood of the car with a cigarette hanging from his
lips. "See anything."

"Yeah. Wo Hin Shu was just talking to Hisami's number two man."

"Hmmm. What about?"

"Don't know, they had their backs to us the whole time."

"Think they know?"

"If there was anyone besides just the two of us here? Probably."

Saito shrugged his shoulders and shifted his coat. "I'm gonna sit in the car.
You're the one who's so interested in this."

"He's not supposed to be here for a little while yet," said Kajura as he glanced
away from his binoculars at his partner.

"I know. Still, I hope what you just saw wasn't the meeting we were waiting
for."

"I doubt it," responded Kajura.

"See any security?" Saito tilted the seat back and turned the radio onto a low
volume. He snorted in disgust as it immediately started playing a Hikari Negashi
song. "Crap..." he switched the station and found a nice regional station. It
was old stuff, but good for background noise.

"Just a few guards and dogs. I'm not storming that place on my own ya know. I'm
calling for backup as soon as our man arrives."

"Good. I don't want you getting any crazy ideas," snorted Saito. "I don't want
to end up dying with you because you get all hot under the collar about
revenge."

"I'll remember that," replied Kajura calmly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Saito as he sat up suddenly.

"Well, if I go nuts, and decide that storming that place on my own is the only
way to do this, I'll do it myself."

"Jeez, don't be such an asshole."

Kajura merely smirked and lowered the binoculars as he lit a cigarette of his
own. "You make it too easy sometimes."

"I got some Miso soup. Want a cup?" asked Saito as he pulled a thermos out of
the back seat of the small cruiser.

"Why not? It's a little chilly," replied Kajura as he put the binoculars on the
hood. "I doubt we'll miss anything. That schedule of his has been dead on so
far. Number two spent his allotted time just as planned."

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

Hisami frowned as he glared out across the city from his window.

His secretary strolled into the room wearing a low cut skirt. She was a pretty
woman in her mid twenties, her hair was tied back and a pair of glasses rested
on her nose. "Sir, it's time for your appointment to start."

He nodded slowly and lifted his considerable girth from the chair. "Yes, I know.
Have all the preparations been made?"

"Yes. Your security is already securing the route as we speak."

"Excellent. Have Kei meet me in the lobby."

"Yes sir," replied the woman. She had no idea who 'Kei' was, she'd never seen
her. The man walked by her without giving a second glance and she picked up her
phone and pressed the red button near the bottom. "Have Kei meet with Mr. Hisami
in the lobby."

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

"Kei, meet Hisami in the garage. You will ride with him," the old man hung up
the phone and turned to look at the girl sitting across from him.

"He'd better behave himself," responded the girl as she stood up and wrapped a
long red scarf around her neck. She was wearing her leather bodysuit again and
adjusted the bracers on her arms as she walked towards the door.

"She's forgetting her place," said the old man as he frowned at the door after
it closed.

"Perhaps," said Hakage as he appeared beside the old man from the shadows. "I do
not think it will be a problem. She has her own reasons for the way she acts
now."

"You know of them?" asked the old man calmly.

"Maybe I do."

"I shall accompany Hisami in his car. I had planned to ride in the front, while
Kei sat with him as a personal guard."

"That would not be wise," agreed Hakage.

"Kei grows dangerously independent."

"No, she merely prepares for what is to come. I think she will fall back in line
once she defeats that boy."

"If she defeats him," corrected the old man.

"If she does not, I do not think that there will be much of a problem."

The old man snorted at this and shook his head. "There is little I can do about
it now. I will speak with her when we return."

"Yes, you do that," replied Hakage as he turned away.

"I'll see you when we get there. Do not forget your orders Hakage."

"I have not," replied the large ninja calmly. "Hikyu?"

"We cannot rely on him."

"Understood."

"I know you once trusted your brother Hakage, do not be fooled by what he has
become. Hikyu has his own agenda now."

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

"What are you doing here?" snarled Hisami as he glared at the thing in front of
him angrily. "You're supposed to be with Hakage."

"I was told I would be accompanying you."

"That was when you were still one of my shinobi," replied the old man with a
disgusted snort.

"I was not told otherwise. I will guard your position from the air."

"You are too conspicuous. You'll accompany us on the ground as planed. You'll
ride with Hakage in the back."

"I said I would be guarding your position. I never said anything about coming
along."

Kei ignored him as she walked by Hisami and opened the front passenger door. She
paused to glance at the old man and simply took her seat next to the driver.

Her grandfather strolled up to the man and monster and looked between them.
"What do you mean?"

Hisami's face was flushed with anger as he glared at the thing in front of him.

"I will go into the city and have a little fun. The police will be so occupied
with me, they won't have a single unit to spare. You could walk into the bank
and take whatever you wanted by the time I'm through."

"If he does this, he will be away from us," said the old man as he looked up at
Hisami. "I've already told you how much I trust him. I will not be held
responsible for him any longer."

"Very well. Go and get yourself killed if you want. I won't have anything to do
with the matter any longer."

Hikyu merely grinned at him ghoulishly. "As you say."

Hisami plopped himself into the rear of his vehicle and it rolled away. There
were several other vehicles as well, mostly containing bodyguards.

"I wonder why they ever thought you might even be slightly useful sometimes,"
commented Hikyu as he turned back towards the building. The elevator opened up
in front of him and he simply stared inside as the wings flapped their way out.
"Still, this should be fun if nothing else!" With an insane sounding laughter,
he shot forward zooming between cars as he sailed out of the exit and into the
Tokyo sky.

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

"Usagi?" Mrs. Tsukino frowned as she poked her head into her daughter's room.
She opened the door and walked all the way in while glancing around. "How odd.
She should be home from school by now."

Her daughter had been staying out late after school recently. She was always
home by dinner, and it wasn't quite time for that yet though. Still, it was
rather unusual for the girl. "I guess she just has a lot to talk about with her
friends since she got her voice back. It seemed like it was gone for so long."
She smiled to herself as she walked out of the room and moved on to the chores
that still needed to be done.

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

Ami Mizuno sat with Minako, Makoto, and Rei Hino. They were all at the arcade,
and sat around a table with Artemis hidden away.

"It's nice to see us all together again," said Rei with a forced looking smile.

"Well, it's still not all of us," commented Minako.

"There's nothing we can do about that now," snapped Artemis a little sharply.

The girls went silent, each feeling badly about bringing such a hard subject up
for him. Luna was still gone, and he seemed to be getting shorter in temper.

"So what can we do now? If we get seen as the senshi again, we're all grounded."

"Maybe a costume change?" offered Makoto.

"Are you dense? Do you really think our parents won't figure it out? It might
work once or twice..."

Minako grinned cheerfully. "Besides, maybe the world doesn't need the Senshi
anymore? I mean look at this." She held up a paper with Spiderman on the front
page.

"He's not from around here though, and we have no idea if he's going to stick
around much longer or not," said Ami as she hung her head and sighed. "He might
just be here on a temporary passport. Most likely he is."

"Well, there's been rumors of something else in Kyoto. There was some sort of
sighting at a concert or something."

"Probably just an add for some sentai show," grumbled Rei. "We can't back down.
We have to assume that no one else is going to help us."

"What can we do? I don't want to get grounded again," whimpered Minako.

"Everything is falling apart," muttered Artemis. "I don't know what I can do to
help either."

"It's not like we can beat our parents up and make them let us go," grumbled Ami
as she glanced at the animal for a moment. "This isn't an easy problem. We're
just going to have to find some way to explain it to them. There's no one else
that can do it."

"That won't be easy with him plastered across the front page," muttered Rei as
she stared at Spiderman's photo. She seemed to space out for a moment, but
quickly shook it off.

"What's with you?" asked Minako.

"It's nothing, just a weird vision I had recently," replied the girl softly. It
was obvious she didn't want to talk about it. She clenched her teeth and
squeezed her eyes shut to block out the sight of those horrible eyes in her
mind. They had stared back at her, full of nothing but death and emptiness.

"Well, we've got to do something," grumbled Makoto. "I can't stand just sitting
here like this."

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

It knelt in a puddle of blood. Hacked remains of human bodies littered the
ground.

There was darkness all around it; the light that hung in the center of the room
was covered in red, giving the room. It looked human, but there was no hair on
the thing's body as it kneeled in the corner, casually making circles in the
pool of blood at its feet with its clawed finger.

It seemed almost contemplative in the bodies of the men that surrounded it. They
were all scum, yakuza men. It didn't really care who they were. An upended table
with cards scattered around the floor was in the middle of four upturned chairs.
Bullet shells littered the ground around the floor.

"Heh. This isn't enough...I need more..."

It stood up slowly facing the wall.

"More death...more..."

It raised its hand behind its back and pointed at the light that hung from the
middle of the ceiling.

"...Carnage."

The light exploded, leaving only darkness behind.

"Soon..."

It walked over to the table and picked up a newspaper. On the cover was
Spiderman swinging through the air between two buildings. "Wait till they get a
load of me." It reared its head back and laughed.

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

^_^

^_^

Guess what?

TBC...

Next Time: Carrot thought he had it bad before?