Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Soldier's Duty ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

A Soldier's Duty

4th Labor Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER characters owned by others, mainly Naoko Takeuchi. rest of this mess by metroanime@mindspring.com. i'm trying to take the typical fic of this kind and at least put a different twist or spin in it. Let me know if i'm succeeding.

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." - Charles Kingsley

=============

The ambulance had come and gone, as with the motorist that had run over the boy present, and Usagi unable to transform to Sailor Moon, there hadn't been a lot else that could have been done. Otherwise the broken and unconscious heap could have had a Healing Escalation.

Those who knew Ami and her mother knew that Ami's mom would never have raised her voice over the phone to her daughter. Watching Ami wilt further during the phone conversation, they could only guess at what was said.

Usagi wondered that if studying and reading were Ami's usual joys, would she be punished by having to play video games?

Rei waited until Ami had returned, a quiet lump in her usual spot at the table, before relating the stories of her visions relating to this Grey actually being a reincarnated warrior named Basalt.

"Basalt?" Artemis thought for a few moments. "I remember him!"

Luna frowned. "I don't. Are you sure about this?"

Artemis nodded happily. Maybe he could "fix" one of the girls up with him. It was clear that Ami didn't want him. Besides Ami wasn't interested in guys, just studying. "We commiserated many times on... that doesn't matter." He had been about to say that they got together and talked about how miserable the women in their respective lives had made them. Which would probably not go over that well in this company. "I remember once he sent me some salmon cakes back when I was... having some difficulties. A real prince of a fellow in some ways."

"He's an ally?" Makoto slumped in place at the table. "Why did he have to be such a jerk?"

"He's always had troubles relating to women, in this life too it seems." Artemis winced, seeing the same comment in more than Luna's eyes that Artemis *did* share some qualities with Basalt. "It's also very likely he doesn't remember his Silver Millenium incarnation at all."

Ami slumped a little more. In fact it began to look as if Ami and Makoto were having a guilt contest.

Running in third place, Rei weakly smiled. "Uhm. So, Ami, is your mother..."

"Not very happy. I explained it was an accident, but..." Ami felt about twelve inches high at this point. "Concussion, hairline fracture at the jaw, another in the third right rib, broken right elbow, multiple fractures left foot, broken right collarbone..."

"...but I didn't hit him in the ribs. And his foot was run over while he was lying in the street. I didn't..." Makoto hung her head. An ally. They finally had an ally besides Tuxedo Kamen and it turned out to be a kid a whole year younger, and she had managed to put him in the hospital.

Artemis frowned, thinking. There was something else about Basalt but he couldn't remember what. His memory had proven fairly unreliable, but he thought he almost had it. Oh yes, he was a second Uncle, twice removed (or something like that) to Venus in a previous life. (Silver Millenium genealogy tended to be rather convuluted.) Which meant that he was minor nobility. Hmmm. They had some unattached princesses who were looking for a boy, and minor nobility meant that the bloodlines wouldn't be weakened by mixing with commoners. Knowing that this was one of Luna's buttons (she had been BIG on family lines back then), Artemis figured that once he explained it to Luna, the two of them could figure out who'd be a good choice to pair up with the boy.

That was, Artemis appended, if they could overcome a *really* bad set of first impressions.

Ami listened for a while to the swirling conversation around her, then got up. "I think it would be best if I visited my fiance in the hospital. I think we kind of got off on the wrong foot."

"Boy is that an understatement." Minako ignored the reactions to *her* making such a statement. "Well, don't worry too much, Ami-chan. Remember that it is always better to drop your britches before you cross them."

Rei fell over. Ami turned bright red. Usagi scratched her head.

Ami let out a deep breath. "That's 'don't burn your bridges before you cross them'." Ami stopped, realizing that she'd gotten so out of sorts that she didn't even remember how that old saying went. "I think I'd better get going."

---------

Doctor Mizuno found the boy and the room had gotten a bit crowded. Why there were so many nurses present, she wasn't sure. Sure, he wasn't Japanese, but there were other gaijin about. And why was his blanket thrown back?

"AH?! Doctor Mizuno?! I... I mean we, we were just checking his..."

Kumori Mizuno eyed the panicked nurse, the "candy stripe" assistants, and all the others showing signs of distress and embarassment. She looked puzzled and then at the still unconscious boy. Eyes twitching under his lids, slight jerking motions at the extremities, all signs of REM sleep, even his...

Ami's mother cleared her throat. "Well, you've checked his catheter placement. Now give the poor boy some privacy."

Watching with some amusement as the various nurses scurried out, Dr. Mizuno covered the boy with the blanket, her eyebrow still raised. "Well, well. Daughter, this boy might not meet your standards in some manners, but he certainly won't disappoint you in others."

----------

Elsewhere:

"URD!"

" Hey, I couldn't help it! It's been a running joke since the beginning of his Second Labor anyway. How could the Cupid of Love resist?"

"Maybe the Cupid of Love *should* resist. Yeesh."

----------

Ami and her friends, there mainly for support, waited at the nurse's station for a few moments when the conversation going on in front of them caught their attention.

"Do you suppose *all* American boys..."

"...never seen one like that before..."

"...don't think it would fit..."

"...don't know about THAT, but can you imagine..."

"I heard the boy has a Japanese fiancee, and she and her friends beat him up and threw him into traffic for being hentai."

"With THAT, he might not have any choice about being hentai."

"Heck, he's only fifteen. Imagine when he's grown up."

"Maybe it's just swelling. He could have a crush injury." A nurse with long hair, which seemed to have a faint dark green highlight to it, said over her shoulder as she walked away.

Ami twitched. She was good at math. American + 15 year old + male + beat up by some girls. The rest of the conversation wasn't too clear to her. Just enough for more frequent flyer miles on Guilt Airlines.

"Well, *I* heard that she didn't want him and he didn't even have a chance to get hentai. She just assaulted him and tried to kill him. Some girls are like that you know, don't stain the Japanese heritage kind of thing."

Ami twitched again.

"Geez, you'd think she'd at least try it out first."

"Excuse me, what exactly are you talking about?" Usagi asked innocently, though her friends weren't quite sure either. Just that it involved hentai.

"Excuse me, but... I'm Doctor Mizuno's daughter. Is room 412 taking visitors?"

There was much staring from the nurses. Ami wilted slightly.

"He's unconscious, but there's no reason you can't see him," allowed one of the nurses. "He was given a shot for pain that pretty much knocked him flat out. Low tolerance apparently."

"Thank you," Ami said, bowing slightly. What *had* the women been talking about? Other than her apparently emerging reputation for being violent and anti-gaijin? And he'd recovered consciousness but been in such pain they'd had to knock him out again? Ami had been feeling somewhat ill since the boy had landed in the street, this was continuing to increase.

Getting to the room, Ami and Makoto both WINCED. Feeding tube in one arm, head all bandaged up except for a slit around the eyes, dark circles around those eyes, a cast covering one foot up to just below the knee, his chest covered in bandages. He was the very picture of someone who had gotten very severely messed up.

"Yeesh, he looks more like someone who tried to take on Godzilla." Minako heard Makoto whimper and patted her on the shoulder, trying to come up with something reassuring to say. "Hey hey, Mako-chan. You know what they say. 'You can't make an omiai without breaking a few legs!'"

Rei winced. "You're not helping. And that's 'you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs' Minako."

Makoto slumped further. Not only had she lost her temper and beaten up Ami's fiance, who might be an ineffectual ally but still was apparently an ally, but what was his opinion of Japanese girls going to be with *that* kind of introduction. Maybe she could spontaneously master the ninja Art Of Stealth and sink through the floor now.

The blanket had been bunched up, so, still feeling severely guilt ridden, Ami tried to straighten it.

"What's this?" Usagi asked, tugging on a tube that went under the blanket.

Ami, puzzled herself momentarily, lifted the blanket again to trace its length up to...

Ami STARED. "Oh my."

"Huh? What?" Usagi looked at Ami's reaction, traced her friends gaze. "AAAAAAA!"

"What?!" Minako asked, her own curiosity piqued. "OH MY DEAR LORD!"

"Eeeep!" Rei eeped, turning the same shade of red as her senshi uniform's skirt.

"Now THAT reminds me of my old sempai."

"HUH?!!!!" Lest anyone doubt, there was a mass facefault accompanying that.

Makoto shook her head vigorously, sending little sweatdrops everywhere. "Not that I ever played doctor with my old sempai or peeked on him in the bath. Nononono!" Makoto finished with a little laugh.

"Ohhhh?!" Almost everyone had focussed their attention on Makoto now. It was safer.

Ami still stared, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Technically she knew from studying anatomy that this wasn't unusual, it typically occurred with men during REM sleep. A glance at what was visible of her fiance's face did indeed reveal that his eyelids were twitching.

"You didn't kick him THERE did you, Mako-chan? It looks kind of swollen." Ami decided that this was a MEDICAL case and to distance herself mentally from the concept that this was her fiance.

"Nonononono!" Makoto tried to indicate this was not the case. Nope. She didn't hit guys there. Not unless they REALLY deserved it. Heck, there were Dark Kingdom Generals she wouldn't kick THERE. Very often. Well, maybe Jadeite.

"Uhn," said Grey, moving his head.

*THWAM!* This was, as you might expect, the sound of several people trying to occupy the exit at the same time. They might have been successful if Usagi hadn't tripped and sent the whole group into a sprawling pile.

Usagi muttered briefly how glad she was that Luna wasn't here to see this.

Ami noticed she was staring at a pair of shoes, then let her gaze travel up. "Oh, ah, Mother. Errr. I can explain."

Doctor Mizuno looked down at the pile of girls, ignoring Usagi's complaint that "you guys are heavy" and looked into the room at the blanket that had been left askew. Tsking lightly, the pediatrician resolved to have a little talk with her daughter.

Later, though. Doing it in front of her friends might embarass her. Worse than she already was, that is.

--------

"...I'm sure it's a Dark Kingdom plot... mumble mutter... get us to lower our guard... mutter mumble... THEN they'll come in and reveal their true plan... grumble gripe..."

Artemis winced a little as he heard Luna muttering. "Well, maybe the daimon have some connection to the Dark Kingdom. Basalt, on the other hand, was trusted by the Queen herself to perform delicate missions. Remember the Alien Derelict?"

Luna stopped in mid-mutter and her hackles rose. "No, but just that phrase gave me goosebumps and I'm a CAT!"

"Well, I can't remember that much myself," said Artemis, not for the first time cursing their scattered memories. Mind you 10,000 years was a bit long for suspended animation. Especially as the technique had been experimental. "I just remember it because one of our little discussions was right after he returned and the Queen hadn't classified the whole thing as Imperial Seal yet. He was pretty badly shaken as I recall."

"Really, was it that bad?" Luna wondered how 'Alien Derelict' could manage a security lock which was 'so secret you can't even tell yourself about it'. That, of course, would have piqued the curiosity of everyone who'd heard about it. The only level higher, Imperial Edict, would have required the death or permanent memory erasure of everyone who knew about it.

"I don't remember," admitted Artemis. "I think he gave me some details but you know what our memories are like. All I remember for certain is that he had the shakes. Whatever went on there really got to him, and apparently he confessed that the Queen had been sending him into more and more dangerous missions of late."

"Ah HAH!" Luna wheeled on Artemis. "Why was THAT?! She had reason to suspect him of disloyalty?"

Artemis winced again. "Well... apparently she'd been advised she was spending too.." Artemis' eyes widened and he stiffened in shock.

Luna frowned, managing to show teeth. "Too much money? Too many of the Kingdom's resources? Too much of the Crystal's resources?"

"...too much time with her Consort..." Artemis blinked, amazed at how clearly the memory had just clicked into place. "I *remember* now. He was *really* a wreck after the Queen dismissed him from the Court stating he was unsatisfactory in the long run."

Luna puzzled over that. Probably not that good in the sack or something? Well, a Queen had to have discerning tastes, it was in the job description somewhere- Luna was sure. "So, a failed Consort? Think there was one or two of those. Hmmph. She always did have trouble just dismissing her lovers normally. Love and leave 'em, I say. Queens don't have the luxury of forming relationships of the heart."

Artemis winced yet again, but noticed that Luna wasn't as hostile about his old "drinking buddy". (Even if he'd never seen Basalt drink anything harder than cider, and he'd most often gone for cream himself.)

Luna sat back on her haunches, considering. "Well then, if he was good enough to make the cut for Consort, even if Serenity felt he couldn't keep up later, and that might have just been she had her eye on someone else, then he *is* suitable for a Princess."

"We could certainly use more allies," pressed Artemis. "Since he's here about an engagement, if he fails with Ami (which looks likely) then he'd need a new reason to stay. This new enemy looks pretty tough, and Sailor Moon is currently unable to transform..."

"Hmmmm," hmmed the black mooncat as she considered who to match this Basalt up with. ~Makoto? Maybe. Have to find a way to get him to look more like her 'old sempai' otherwise he's got an uphill battle. Definitely not good for Ami though. Professional soldier & aspiring doctor? No, definitely not. Minako! Definitely! She speaks English even better than Ami. Playing matchmaker ON the 'Soldier of Love' - irresistable. It just *has* to be done.~

Artemis sighed in relief. It looked like Luna was at least thinking about it. ~Now who am I going to pair Basalt up with? Ami's not interested in guys, just studying. Makoto maybe. Though maybe some advice on how to look more like 'her old sempai' would help. Maybe Rei? Yuuichiro just seems to bug her. Hmmm. Have to try both Rei and Makoto and see where it goes.~

"...or maybe Sailor Pluto..." seemed to whisper the breeze, but both mooncats ignored it.

---------

Elsewhere/Elsewhen:

"He what?!" Jared blinked. Repeatedly.

"You heard me, he sent an e-mail with the files and schematics during his First Labor," Edema glanced at the other elf and repressed a shudder.

"Can I see them?" asked Jared, distrusting the drow. They *were* the darkness left over from the shattering of the elven races. The reason for hundreds of thousands of elven deaths. Such things were neither lightly nor easily forgotten.

Long nails traced a quick pattern in the air, and a computer clicked on to display a 3D model. "Behold," Edema said, unable to resist being a bit of a showman in this instance. "The Pheonix RuneGod."

Jared quickly flicked over the salient points. "Not robotechnology, not protoculture driven." ~Good armor and forceshields though.~

"Ah'm a mage and a confectionary specialist, not an engineer," Edema allowed. "Celeste, you're the techie of us three, what kinda jazz did he put in this?"

"It's a combination of three types of technology, crafted of living metal," Celeste indicated. "Like a Valkyrie or similar mecha, it can transform. The bird shape is surrounded by a plasma flame. The soldier configuration concentrates the plasma into a sword shape. You'll notice the changes made recently? Marionette technology, allowing for speed and reflexes surpassing that of most pilots. The engine driving it is a tachyon chamber. The main gun, located in the central chest there, is a..."

"Buster style weapon," finished Jared. "Soldier configuration would have 1/4 the power of the cannon compared to Pheonix configuration. A combination of elements from Magic Knight Rayearth, Star Blazers, Five Star Stories, and Gatchaman. He was still trying to be useful, apparently. What's that second cockpit?"

"Another recent addition," Celeste said. Tech stuff *was* her provence after all. "Direct interface with a marionette or combat cyborg frees up some capabilities from internal computers and through the magical elements has a possibility of increasing the marionette's abilities to the scale of the mecha."

Jared briefly grinned, picturing a 60ft tall mecha using a to-scale World Shaking or Moon Healing Activation. "So Grey was planning on building *that* in an attempt to be useful?"

"There were some problems, namely time," indicated Edema. "He *was* trained by Hephaestus, after all. Interfacing magic with machines is something he's rather good at."

Jared's eyes flicked back to the drow. "So why show me this? What's your angle?"

"My angle, as you so quaintly put it, is simple." Edema's golden eyes regarded Jared impassively. "I want to know why you haven't dispelled the Arrow Of Obsession that Shan hit Sakyo with."

Information for information? Jared nodded. A fair trade, and the dark elf *might* have a legitimate reason for wanting to know.

---------

Ami sat in the chair provided for her as her mother hustled her friends off. Having seen Makoto with her cigarettes, and as there was a patient being treated for lung cancer scheduled for a blockage removal - knowing her mother's recent anti-smoking mania they'd be getting shown around for awhile.

Likely Makoto would get an up close and personal view of what blackened, fluid filled, scabrous, lung tissue looked like. Yup. This might take a while.

Ami fidgeted and tried to figure out what was expected of her.

She felt guilty, after all - it had been HER fault that her fiance had wandered the streets and gotten rained on. She felt sympathy for the fellow, as he'd been lost and most people would be a *little* irritable in such a situation. Then a little admiration, he'd not done that bad for not speaking the language and getting lost. And not many normal people would have tried to come to Rei's rescue like that. That was a good quality, and Ami felt a little pride that her fiance was at least brave. Not necessarily an intelligent move, but a brave one, and perhaps his heart was in the right place. Of course he could have been a LOT more effective, but Ami was inclined to be generous. Then came around to guilt again because her friends had possibly crippled him for life.

"Okay," said Ami aloud, trying to organize her thoughts. Naturally, being mathematically inclined, she put together a plus and minus column.

PLUSES: He had some courage. According to Rei, he'd been someone named Basalt - a soldier in the Silver Millenium. Therefore he wasn't likely to come apart upon learning of their senshi identities - he was already involved. Based on the suitcase they'd gone through looking for his passport, he wasn't unintelligent either. Books on customs and language, notebooks and newspaper clippings on Juuban had been present. Also a paystub from some company called Waldenbooks. A boy who worked at a bookstore and could get her a discount, well, that was definitely something for Ami's plus column.

MINUSES: He wasn't particularly handsome. Rather average looking for a gaijin. He *was* a gaijin as well. If Luna was right about Crystal Tokyo, then this needn't be a permanent problem, but until then it was sticking point. Gaijin often went through periods where they were tolerated, and an Americajin would be confronted every time relations between the US and Japan was strained - such as during the Gulf War. He might be intelligent, but he was prone to act without thinking, or he'd have not attacked that "daimon" threatening Rei. Brave but not terribly smart. He was also a year younger! Scandalous! Well, at least if it was the girl who were older. He was just slightly taller than herself, and she'd prefer someone... like Mamoru-kun actually.

Ami ducked her head at THAT thought. It had been discussed several times since the Queen Beryl days, NEVER when Usagi was around. Each and every one of the Senshi felt they had more in common with Mamoru Chiba than Usagi Tsukino. They were a Fated Couple, though, so Mamoru was off limits. Unless, as Minako had jokingly suggested, they were to end up "sharing" him. Once it had come out into the open, and several months later, another private meeting had determined that it almost seemed Fated as well. Though if they mentioned ANY of this in front of Usagi, she'd likely come unglued. While Usagi might want more than one guy, she was not going to want to share the one she had.

Deciding she'd study and hold her fiance's hand (guessing that this was what she was *supposed* to do), Ami reached over to grab that errant hand. She felt a spark at the contact and...

-----

Ami looked up at the polychrome sparkle that marked the dome that kept the air inside. Cold air, blown from a shaft nearby, caused her sailorsuit's skirt to flap. An errant memory told her this led to a Dimensional Gate, which abounded a land of icy seas. The bitter cold served to make living on the planet Mercury possible.

"You wanted to see me, Princess?"

Ami turned to see... Shard-san? No, this was him but a decade older and with a harder look to him. This was the same boy, but one that had gone through a lot. Including quite a bit of exercise. He seemed to examine her briefly, then saluted and waited.

Ami felt her mouth moving without her wanting to say anything, like she was just a passenger. "Yes, Lieutenant, the Derelict. I'm told you were one of the survivors of that little... adventure."

The soldier gave a tired sounding sigh and shook his head. "That's classified, Princess. By order of the Queen. You know that."

"Still, you could tell me the declassified part," Ami heard herself say.

"Princess, it's under Seal. To quote an old compatriot, 'it's so classified i can't even dream about it'."

-------

Ami broke the contact. Was THAT the sort of thing Rei had been talking about? How could...

Pluto. The Guardian of Time. Her involvement somehow was producing these little glimpses into the past but why?

Viewed THAT way, the reason was obvious. She wanted them to know, for whatever reason, that this Basalt was safe to pursue - unlike that Nebula fellow. Though Nebula hadn't struck her as being particularly villainous...

Ami's eyes widened. Take the Musketeer clothes and exchange them with this odd set of fatigues that she'd seen, and there was one conclusion. Nebula WAS Basalt. The boy that Pluto had warned Makoto not to pursue.

But why? How?

Ami's hand reached out uncertainly for Grey's, and she felt the little electric crackle again. This time she didn't pull back, wanting to see the images clearly.

It was a palace, vaguely Greco-Roman with its many pillars and polished marble. The dance floor was crowded with people mingling, though the music was pleasant there wasn't anyone dancing. Something seemed to tell Ami that this was an earlier scene from the first one, and she tried to relax and watch it occur.

Princess Mercury heard a hiss and noticed her friend, the Princess of Venus, waving at her. Uncomfortable with the stilted courtly manners in the first place, Mercury quickly used the excuse to seperate from the latest in a long series of boring courtesans that had been arranged to escort her.

"That's him," indicated Venus with a nod of her head. "My Uncle, though the relationships are a bit more tenuous and complicated. You know how it is."

Mercury rolled her eyes. She certainly did. Geneaology was all some people, way too many by her estimation, could talk about. Then she focussed on Venus' Uncle. Shorter than most of those around him, the courtiers and politicians didn't even seem to notice his presence. He was dressed in a fairly simple uniform, without many of the frills and laces and ribbons that bedecked the others. The symbols on his collar denoted a minor noble, house of Jasper of Venus - though that was a guess. The symbol on his sleeve denoted that he was a Lieutenant. Though that, as the nobility markings, was something that Princess Mercury was mainly guessing at. She didn't have more than a marginal familiarity with either. He was clearly as out of his element as Mercury was here.

"There was an exception made for tonight, he's here in an official capacity. Otherwise he's banned from Court," confided Venus.

"Yes, I know already. Queen Serenity tired of another Consort and banned him from the Court," Mercury didn't admit to having heard the gossip. It was so... mundane. And often inaccurate.

"That's not all," continued Venus, still in a hushed voice. "He's the father of little Serenity. I know him, that's gotta be hurting him pretty bad."

Mercury nodded. Even from here she could see the sad, pained, look about him. She feigned disinterest, though she privately thought he looked much more interesting than the usual court hangers-on. "So what makes this Basalt special, other than he's fathered the Princess?"

"Well, I told you that he's been a Space Marine, he fought in that Ceres Uprising a few years back," Venus was thinking aloud, "he's gone after the usual pirates and such. Oh, and when that alien derelict entered our system, he was one of the survivors of the boarding party. He's also the Knight Of Duty..."

Mercury's interest, though hidden, increased. Maybe she could talk to him later, there were sure to be things not precisely classified about the Derelict that he could talk about, and a Knight put him on a social ranking that wasn't unseemly for her to associate with. "Are you sure? This isn't more Court gossip, is it?"

"Scout's honor," Venus held up a white gloved hand. "It's commonly known around the Court, after all, the Queen wouldn't have accepted someone of such a minor house as Consort."

"I see," said Mercury. Maybe she could corner the fellow later. It would be better than talking to that two-dimensional fop she'd entered with.

Ami Mizuno put down the boy's hand, letting the vision fade. So Princess Mercury and "Nebula" had known each other? Luna and Artemis couldn't be right, could they?

Ami blinked. If the main reason he was a threat was that he'd been banned from court. And the reason he'd been banned was that the Queen had tired of him as a Consort...

Then Artemis and Luna wanted to kill him because the Queen got bored of him?! That would explain why Pluto had warned Makoto not to pursue, he was the sort who had trouble dealing with rejection. How could she tell them they were wrong without letting them know she knew who he was?

"ahem."

And how long had her mother been watching?

Doctor Mizuno had entered the room and noticed her daughter hurriedly putting down her fiance's hand. Well now, this *was* promising. She had waited while her daughter had continued in some deep thought about something before clearing her throat. "Ami-chan?"

"I, err, that is..." Ami just *knew* her mother was misunderstanding the whole thing.

"Hmmm?" A hummed comment and a raised eyebrow was sufficient response to Ami getting more and more flustered.

"I... well I..." Ami twitched and fidgeted.

The smirk vanished from Kumori Mizuno's face. "Ami-chan? Has he been glowing like that before?"

Ami yelped as she realized that the boy had a faint glow and a symbol glittering on his forehead. It wasn't a *planetary* symbol either. Remembering Rei's talk about some guy named Basalt, could this be *his* symbol?

"Well, Ami? You appear to know something about this," Doctor Mizuno had suspected that *something* was going on with Ami of late. Instead of looking alarmed, Ami was looking guilty and evasive.

Even more alarming, and damning, was the blue mark fitfully beginning to glow on her daughter's forehead.

"Well..." Ami started looking for a cover story.

--------

"i am Grey. i am a 15 year old boy from Tempe Arizona, here in Japan to meet a girl i was engaged to through an arrangement of my grandfather and HER grandfather. i am a so-so student who has a weird ability to get impressions of what might be correct. One year of studying Tae Kwon Do, one year of fencing, and a few mechanical skills learned as a 'shadetree mechanic' and working odd jobs."

"I am Basalt. I am 248 years old, in the manner of Silver Millenium lifespans that makes me about 39 in this Millenium's terms. I was born on the Venus Colony, of the House of Jasper. I joined the Space Marines on reaching my majority, and reached First Lieutenant. I became a Special Operative for Queen Serenity at the same time I became a Consort. I spent ten years there, then was dismissed from that duty. I perished in battle against the Dark Kingdom."

"i am you?"

"Sort of. We are injured."

"i noticed."

"We are sarcastic. Part of my training as a Marine was in basic chi techniques."

"Chi?"

"Life energies. Similar to, though different from, mana techniques such as the senshi use."

"Senshi?"

"The reborn princesses. The 'weird stuff' in Juuban that occasionally made it into the news."

"Ah, that stuff. Yeah, i remember. i take it you want to use those chi techniques."

"No. We must be as one, or nearly so. As it is you who are injured, it is you who must use it. We must be Grey and Basalt and Nebula. At least in part."

"Well, I suppose. It's better than losing the foot at least."

"That it is. That it is."

---------

"Dear. I'm a doctor. And your mother. And that boy is currently floating one inch off the bed. I know darn well that something is going on, and you apparently have an idea of what it is. If you *don't* want me to call in nurses and orderlies, you're going to have to talk."

Ami winced. "Uhm. Can we do this later? Where people aren't as likely to come walking in?"

"All right, young lady, but this isn't over by a long shot." Doctor Mizuno pursed her lips. "Is there any radiation or other special dangers that we need to be aware of?"

"No, nothing like that," Ami said, beginning to resent this boy now. If he could only have just stayed at home, their secret could have been maintained until Crystal Tokyo was established. Though how nobody's parents had ever noticed *something* going on was another question.

*CRACK!* Bits of cast exploded from around the leg, causing Ami to flinch and her mother very nearly to hit the Nurse button.

The body jerked several times, the glow appearing especially bright around the areas of injury. Then the glow faded and the body dropped back onto the bed.

Kumori Mizuno was immediately at the boy's side checking injuries and muttering under her breath. "These wounds look to have healed several weeks at least. The leg, particularly the foot, several times that."

"Well... errr..." Ami wasn't sure what to tell her mother. Sailor Moon might have done that with a Healing Escalation, but who else could have done something like this? From the symbol on his forehead, now fading to the color of normal skin, she'd say that it was Basalt who healed Shard-san.

"We'll need new Xrays, need to recast this..." Mother looked at daughter. "Tonight young lady. I'll be done here by seven."

"Yes, Mother..." Ami mumbled.

The boy stirred and his eyes briefly searched around. "Princess Mercury?"

Ami's hair toinged in all directions, and she began sending little sweatdrops everywhere.

Still groggily, the boy slumped backwards and mumbled. "Lieutenant Basalt, Imperial Space Marines. Esper of the 4th Circle. Reporting by Imperial Law..."

Ami's eyes bugged and she was still emulating a sprinkler system with little sweatdrops.

"What language was that? It wasn't English," Doctor Mizuno stated, then looked to her daughter. Obviously, Ami had understood whatever language had been spoken. Yes, they were definitely going to have that talk tonight.

--------

Professor Tomoe stood back in the shadows, ready to laugh maniacally.

"Pathetic."

As the Professor could have sworn he was alone, that single word, in a *male* voice, managed to catch him flat-footed. "W-what?!"

"You heard me, I said 'pathetic' and you *are*." The old man stepped out of the wall and looked over the lab. "This whole place is pathetic. 'Eggs of Daimon'?! Pretty lame too."

Professor Tomoe was not used to this level of sarcasm and was still pretty shaken up by someone walking through the walls and apparently knowing all of his evil plans.

"Pharoah 90 is pretty lame too. Well, you don't have to concern yourself with that anymore."

"I don't..." The Professor started reaching behind his back. Perhaps if he were to throw one of the reagents?

"Try to contact Pharoah 90," urged the old man. "Stealing 'pure hearts' and all that. No. It stops here and now. No more of this lame half-assed evil."

"Excuse me?"

"Cthulhu."

"Gesundeit." The Professor could almost reach the beaker.

"No," said the old man. "Cthulhu. Now THERE is some pretty potent evil. Someone who'd chew up Pharoah 90, Metal'la, AND Sailor Galaxia and spit them out like watermelon seeds. Sailor Moon would be sitting in a padded cell with her brains leaking out of her ears before the season ended if she'd had to face Cthulhu. Oh, and if you throw that, you'll only piss me off. You don't want to see me pissed off, Professor Tomoe."

Professor Tomoe threw the beaker anyway. Which stopped halfway to the target and just hung there in midair. Then the glass rippled and began to change, until a rat squirmed where the beaker had been.

"You're pushing it, Tomoe. Or should I say Geramatou?" The old man made a gesture, more for show than anything else, and the rat exploded in a shower of gore. "I'm taking over. NOW. You can join me, or you can be an experimental subject."

"I don't..." Whatever the Professor was going to say after that was lost. He frantically started feeling at the blank space where his mouth had been.

"You obviously need to think about your decision," the old man suggested. "Kaolinite just needed me to remove her arms and legs and replace them with something... creative. This way she'll also serve as an object lesson for the others."

The Professor started gasping through his nose as panic set in.

"Try to contact Pharoah 90. As I said, some pathetic wannabe Cthulhu is hardly worth your time. I'll be back tomorrow for your decisions."

---------

"Interference in the simulation," Celeste noted from a warning flag. "Unaccounted for variable."

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Jared grumped.

Edema shrugged. "Much as it pains me, ah've got to side with the high elf on this. Unless he's split himself again, he's been looking over that scroll ah brought him."

"What's it do?" Celeste queried, knowing full well that the dark elf and the fiery elf, though they had common friends, did *not* get along. Despite Edema doing things like deliberately showing the Mage where he could play around in a timeline and actually not be technically interfering with it.

"It's something ah worked out," drawled Edema. "A little project of mine. Allows for one to draw out a dimensional aspect of a merged being. Very experimental, of course, and likely would only work in the area of Mimir's Well..."

Jared eyed the scroll uncertainly, making a little mental note that the drow had just deflected everyone's attention from blaming him for the disturbance. Accident?

---------

The clock ticking in the kitchen was briefly the only sound heard. Ami fidgeted LOTS under the steady gaze from her mother.

"Well, young lady?"

"Uhm, you see, my friends are into cosplay, and well..." Ami's voice trailed off. "I guess not, huh?"

Kumori Mizuno continued to eye her daughter, giving just the slightest shake of her head.

Ami sighed. "I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone. And I haven't had the chance to discuss this with anyone else..."

A throat clearing brought both of their attentions to the patient.

"-Look, i can't speak Japanese very well, and your Mother doesn't speak Millenial. She's wanting to know what went on earlier?-" The boy leaning in the doorway ignored the shocked looks.

Ami puzzled out the English phrases. It wasn't like she got to use her English that much and her accent tended to be a bit thick. "-Yes. Mother want know why you float. Think she suspect much.-"

"-I speak some English, Shard-san.-" Kumori reminded her daughter, though it had been tempting to just remain silent and see what would be revealed.

"-Good. i haven't promised anything to anyone regarding this,-" Grey hobbled to the table, wincing everytime he put weight on the one leg. "-Mizuno-san, according to my books, most Japanese believe in reincarnation, right?-" At the doctor's nod, Grey continued. "-My memories are rather spotty, but the Princess and i have met in a previous life.-"

Doctor Mizuno's mind started racing. ~Ah, a romance between two lovers from a previous life, reunited. The red thread of fate at work, just like in one of those shojo manga I read as a child. And he uses the term 'Princess' - obviously a petname or phrase of affection.~

"-i was a soldier in service of a kingdom,-" continued Grey, "-where i learned a few tricks like that fast healing trance.-"

Dr. Mizuno nodded. ~A romance between a soldier and my daughter in a previous age. No doubt he was summoned off to a war while she waited at home, only he didn't return. Now fate has brought them together again. How suitably tragic/romantic!~

"-Until i met the Princess here, i didn't remember my previous life at all,-" Grey said, bowing slightly towards Ami.

Dr Mizuno smiled and her gaze flicked from her daughter to the young man. ~Ah, the ties of the ancient love have awoken their previous identities. How very Shinto. Perhaps I should start scheduling the wedding? He's *only* fifteen, though, so perhaps after they graduate high school.~

"-There are many things i don't remember and many things i'm not clear on, but if i don't focus too hard, i can speak Lunarian Millenial - the language of the ancient Kingdom we were in.-" Grey grimaced and moved his legs slightly. "-Uhm, so tell me, Ms. Mizuno, what exactly is the situation?-"

Ami blinked, realizing that both Shard-san and her mother were appraising her. "Oh dear."

"-You should call her 'Ami-chan', Grey-san, she *is* your fiancee.-" Doctor Mizuno crossed her legs and continued to watch her daughter. ~Ah, young love, I remember it well.~

"Well, I..." Ami blinked and perspired. "That is..."

"-In English, daughter,-" Ami's mother gently reminded. "-Though I suspect I already know everything.-"

"Gleep!" Ami managed. ~Mom knows that me and my friends are actually the Sailor Senshi? That we've been killed once already, brought back by the Silver Moon Crystal, and we go about Tokyo saving the world from Threats From Beyond regularly?~

Kumori Mizuno smirked. ~Yes, I can see it now. Their eyes met at that shrine Ami and her friends visit, and suddenly they remember their previous lives. Cue soft lighting, drifting sakura petals, as they cross to each other. Ah, and one of her friends misunderstands Grey-san running towards Ami and protects her.~

"-Just a moment, if we're to explain this to your mother, a demonstration might be in order,-" Grey said, standing up. "-Besides, i think i'll heal faster as the Knight.-"

Ami blinked, beginning to sweat. "He, that is, I..."

Grey held one hand up, which suddenly held the Chain Of Duty. The chain lengthened, swirling around the boy who changed more than just his clothing into combat fatigues. He was taller and more muscular, adding another five years at least.

"..." Somewhere inside Ami's head, Reason (normally occupying 92% of available resources) was abruptly trampled under Hormones. Reason recovered quickly however and beat the invader down.

Kumori had the sudden desire to run a full physical. Purely out of medical curiosity of course.

Ami glanced at her mother, aware that once again both were watching her. "Oh dear." With *great* reluctance, Ami pulled out her henshin pen. Then realized that this boy would see *her* nude! "Uhm, could you turn around?"

The man blinked. "-You want to try that again in Millenial or English?-"

"-Turn around please?-"

"-Why?-" The man seemed puzzled. So was Ami's mother. After a moment he did so, though he was plainly annoyed.

Ami raised the pen up. "-Mercury power. Make up!-"

"-You're expending a lot more energy than you need, Princess.-"

Kumori Mizuno noted that her daughter was one of the Sailor Senshi, and that she normally went about going through naked transformation scenes. The day's events caught up with her and she fainted.

Turning and catching the woman, Nebula couldn't resist. "-That went better than I thought it would."

---------

"The first thing is to change the modus operandi significantly," said the Wizard. "For one thing, you do *not* want to kill anyone until the Senshi have been neutralized. *Especially* any of the Senshi."

Eudial adjusted her glasses and held up a hand, waiting until the Wizard had called on her before asking her question. "Pardon me, but how do we seek the Talismans without getting those 'Pure Hearts'? And..." Eudial's voice trailed off at the look from the Wizard.

"No 'Talismans' or 'Rainbow Crystals' or 'Star Seeds' or anything of the sort." The Wizard glared at everyone in the room. "The second goal will be to sow discord and chaos. With people's lives thrown into turmoil, they will seek stability. Which will be what we can offer, unlike any of the forces of good in this world. The third goal will be to find and defuse those forces of good. Better yet if we can subvert them, but that bears its own risks."

"...and OUR role in all this is what?" Kaolinite asked, glaring at the Wizard. Bad enough to spend the night with her feet turned into tree roots and her arms into feathers. But it would take some time for her to forgive what this fellow had done to Soichiro Tomoe.

"Power. Not the pathetic stuff you've got now. REAL power. Ruling over the world, and not one drained of all life as you'd have had under Pharoah 90." The Wizard gestured and a piece of chalk started writing on the blackboard. "You will be those who Sow Chaos with the Seeds of Daimon and your powers. As you exercise those powers, they shall grow."

"What kind of Powers are we talking about?" Mimete smiled at the Wizard. He was *so* cool!

"The Senshi follow the typical pattern of sentai teams." The Wizard gestured at the blackboard, indicating each point as he continued. "Color coded superheroes with elemental powers, stronger together than apart. With their previous enemies, their tactics were 'gang up on the single monster' and it served them well. Every new enemy they adapted and evolved to meet upgraded threats. That is, their attacks have evolved. Their defenses are pathetic."

"So why don't we just kill them quickly?" Eudial waved her hands in front of her face at the Wizard's glare. "Ah-ah-sorry..."

Mimete giggled.

"Kill any of them and you awaken a sleeping beast that will go through your ranks like a sword through wet toilet paper." The Wizard indicated the blackboard again. "On to the first priority. Energy. The Dark Kingdom managed this in a rather pathetic fashion. Some can be obtained through the chaos tactics I mentioned earlier, however, more constant energy flows that are subtle can provide better empowerment to each of you. The basic spell mechanics are simple, and I shall provide the collection crystals to use. Your first assignment will be to develop the cover identities. The more energies you collect, the greater your powers. Now, see what you can come up with."


==============