Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Unmei no Hoshi ❯ Episode 4: Kage no chouseki! Umi kara no atarashi teki ( Chapter 4 )

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Unmei no Hoshi

Destiny of Stars

by P.H. Wise

key:

< > indicates Japanese speech

" " indicates English speech

' ' indicates thought (when not used inside of " ")

Fiancé (noun) - A man who is engaged to be married

Fiancee (noun) - A woman who is engaged to be married

Thus, Ranma has fiancées, not (usually) fiancés.

This chapter is dedicated to all of you fanfic authors out there who are under the delusion that Akane, Ukyou and Shampoo are Ranma's (iancés (you know who you are).

Episode 4: Kage no chouseki! Umi kara no atarashi teki

(Tides of darkness! The new enemy from the sea)

Monsters, humiliation and challenges! And to think it seemed like such a good day when she woke up that morning...

Key: Speech surrounded by < > is intended to represent Japanese.

~~~~~~~~

In the hour when dreams speak truly, Tetsuro dreamed.

He floated some three hundred feet in the air, and before him lay the city of Boston, its lamps and street lights shining in the dark of night like stars come to earth. There was something rather odd about this dream to begin with... it seemed... wrong. He had the strangest feeling, like he was looking at it through some sort of gem. Before he could explore this line of thought, his awareness of it being a dream faded to nothing. Tetsuro smiled, then, but his smile was short lived.

It began slowly. A sense of unease, growing slowly into an oppressive thing that sapped the strength from his bones. An evil presence grew in the city of Boston, and the city began to decay. Stone crumbled, wood rotted, people aged before their time. No one seemed to notice. Hearts and souls froze. Icy shades spread to cover it all. The light failed, and the city was transformed into a ruin.

In the midst of this ruin, three figures stood. Tetsuro recognized them. Alice Grant, Tenoh Arashi, and his own sister, Shiro Kazuko. The darkness around them deepened until it was not so much an absence of light as an element in itself, filled with a *presence*. A light flared in the darkness; an object shining too brightly to see clearly. When Arashi saw the light she began to run towards it, but strands of inky blackness shot out at her, trying to hold her back from it.

The darkness coiled around Kazuko's legs and swallowed her whole. Her screams were long in fading.

Alice watched both Arashi and Kazuko with an expression of... envy? She turns and walks into the inky blackness. And then the *presence* in the darkness awakened. Two warm lights rose up from the ruins to face it, and for a moment, Tetsuro dared to allow himself to hope that the two lights might banish it. It snuffed them out almost casually. And then it turned its gaze upon Tetsuro and laughed.

He woke up screaming.

******

Arashi awakened that morning with a vague sense of expectation and a faint whisper in the back of her mind that told her that something was wrong, that the storm was almost upon her. She frowned, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to figure out what it could mean. Eventually, she decided to ask her parents about it. Unfortunately, that would involve getting up, and her bed was awfully comfortable. 'I'll just lie here for a few minutes,' she decided. A few seconds later, she was asleep again. When her alarm went off three minutes later, she sighed heavily. So much for staying in bed. With great reluctance, Arashi got out of bed and walked to the other side of the room to shut her alarm off (it worked better that way - she couldn't just shut it off from her bed and go back to sleep).

Once she was dressed, Arashi went outside to practice her morning kata. She soon lost herself in the movements of the kata. She moved like water, flowing smoothly from one form to the next. As she neared the end of her practice, she launched into a series of acrobatic flips and twists... and then spun around as she sensed someone's approach. She relaxed when she realized that it was Haruka.

Arashi smiled, giving her papa a hug. "<Good morning, papa.>"

Haruka returned the hug. "<Ohayo, Hime-chan. You're getting better every day.>"

Arashi's smile grew wider. "<Thanks, papa...>" she trailed off as she once again heard that faint whisper in the back of her mind, telling her that there was something amiss.

"<Doushita?>"

Arashi's smile faded away to almost nothing. "<.. so what do you do when there's a girl after you, but you're not interested?>"

Haruka blinked in surprise. "<Is she pretty?>"

Arashi nodded.

Haruka grinned. "<Tell her you're gay.>"

"<... Very funny, papa.>"

Haruka snickered faintly, "<Gomen ne, Hime-chan. I'll try to take this more seriously.>"

Arashi shook her head. "<Nevermind..." she frowned, "I've got this strange feeling.. like something bad is going to happen soon. It's like there's a storm coming or something.>"

Concern grew within Haruka's heart. "<Want to talk about it?>" she asked.

"<... No.>"

Haruka's concern grew only deeper at that. "<Are you sure?>"

"<Hai. I'm sure.>"

"<All right, Hime-chan. But never forget that both your mom and I are here for you. If you need help, tell us, and we'll come.>"

Arashi nodded, the faintest ghost of a smile flitting across her face for the briefest of moments. "<Shinjiteru, papa.>"

As Arashi departed, Michiru stepped into the room, raising a questioning eyebrow at Haruka.

Haruka nodded to Michiru. "All right, let's go," she said.

******

Howard Phillips High was abuzz with gossip that morning. It seemed that everyone was talking about one of three subjects. The first was the race that Senshi Uranus had won over the weekend. The second was the recent disappearances. According to rumor, several students had simply vanished without a trace over the weekend. Some people said that monsters were responsible, while others replied that if there ever had been monsters here, Queen Serenity would have already removed them, and so on. The third subject of conversation dealt with the fight that had taken place between Arashi and Kazuko on her first day. This being two weeks after the event, most people were talking about the first two subjects.

"Hey," said Thomas, speaking to his sister and her friend, "I hear Kazuko defeated Arashi in a duel when she first arrived here two weeks ago!"

Amy blinked. "That's old news, Tom."

Thomas frowned, "But I just heard about it! Can you tell me what you know about it?"

Amy smiled and nodded, growing slightly enthusiastic as she recalled the fight to her mind. "It was amazing.. I was there. Arashi was so graceful that it almost looked like he was dancing! Of course, that was until Kazuko transformed and pounded him into the ground... the coach tried to interfere, but Kazuko drove him away."

Thomas nodded, wincing faintly in sympathy for Arashi.

Tom's sister Sara spoke up at this point, her expression growing starry-eyed. "I think it's romantic... a duel of honor! Kazuko must like him."

Amy pikupikued. "Um... Kazuko gave Arashi the beating of his life. Exactly how is that romantic?"

Sara simply stared off into space, still starry eyed.

Amy and Thomas began to back away from Sara, their eyes wide.

******

Arashi was now officially in a Bad Mood. After waking up with the feeling that something bad was going to happen today, the day had not disappointed her. First, on the way to school, an elderly woman chose exactly the moment when the Arashi was walking by to turn on the sprinklers in her front yard. Arashi was a bit too close to them at the time, and ended up soaked rather quickly.

The old woman had looked at the drenched red-head, shook her head and said, "Now when did that one arrive here..? Looks like the insurance rates are going to be going up around here.."

"Huh? Do I know you?" Arashi had asked.

"... Nevermind, dear. I thought you were someone else."

As she continued on her way to school, wet and miserable, Arashi couldn't figure out for the life of her why she was experiencing such an intense feeling of deja vu.

It didn't help her mood much that the darkly clad man she had seen on Friday was sitting in a car parked in front of the school. She tried not to look at him; he reminded her of the daughter in the Marsh family. She felt ashamed of her reaction, and of the lingering fear that the encounter at the Marsh house had produced. She knew intellectually that the girl had not been a monster, but it seemed no matter how hard she tried, Arashi couldn't convince her emotions of that. That bothered her.

It also didn't help her mood that Alice was waiting for her at the gates to the school. The girl latched onto Arashi's arm like a leech as soon as she saw her and would not let go until it was time for class. Her first period class was English, which was the one she had missed on her first day. This was the one class that she dreaded. Not because of any difficulty with the subject (she could actually speak, read and write English fluently), but because this was the one class that she shared with Alice Grant. She was able to take comfort in one fact; if things got really bad, she could count on her parents to help her.

Tetsuro was also in a bad mood that day. It was because of that nightmare he had had last night. It still sent chills up his spine when he thought about it, and he had spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what it meant with little success. He was also still a little angry at Kazuko for having canceled his date with Alice the past weekend. As the Orz might say, he was not a happy camper.*

*(obscure reference)

*******

It happened at lunch time.

Arashi was walking with Tetsuro. They had just gotten their food and were about to sit down when Alice entered the room. She spotted them and waved, calling, "Hey Tetsuro!"

Tetsuro's face lit up with a smile as Alice approached the group. "Hey Alice! Arashi, this is my girlfriend Alice. Alice, this is Arashi."

Suddenly, in one great, horrible moment of clarity, Arashi realized that she was doomed. This sinking sort of knowledge was confirmed when Alice glomped onto her arm and started talking enthusiastically. "Arashi-kuuun! Is it OK if I call you Arashi-kun? That's what I'd call you if I spoke Japanese... I didn't know you knew Tetsuro! This is soooo cool!"

Tetsuro's smile faded.

Arashi's left eye began to twitch. "..Yes.. we've met." she said. A thought occurred to her then: Alice had been Tetsuro's girlfriend. Did this mean that Alice was bi, or had she simply mistaken Arashi for a guy? Before she could pursue that line of thought, Kazuko approached the table.

At that moment, then several things happened.
Kazuko tripped, spilling her food and grabbing onto Arashi to keep from falling over. The unexpected weight caught Arashi off guard. She fell. Alice was in the way.

Down went Alice and Arashi, and down they landed.

Did I mention that the position that they landed in was a very compromising one?

"Look!" called someone from the other side of the cafeteria, "Arashi is forcing himself on Alice!"

A horrible silence filled the cafeteria as conversation ceased and every pair of eyes turned to the pair on the floor.

Arashi pikupikued, and then said something (without thinking) that made the whole situation just that much worse. She didn't mean it, really, it just sort of popped out (probably the result of being around her 'father' too much). Grinning faintly, she said, "Ne, Alice, I don't mind just this once, but I usually prefer to do this sort of thing in private."

When that statement was made, Tetsuro's expression immediately went from 'faintly amused' to 'full on glare of death.' No, he was NOT a happy camper, not at all.

Alice frowned faintly, ignoring Arashi's statement (which did NOT go unmarked by the general student population). There was something strange going on here. Something to do with Arashi's figure... Before she could figure out what it was, Arashi managed to push her off and climb to 'his' feet.

Alice shrugged and stood up. If it was important, she was sure it would come back to her later. And then she noticed how quiet it had gotten, and how everyone in the cafeteria was staring at her. She blinked, looked at the now glaring Tetsuro, then to Kazuko, Arashi, and the rest of the cafeteria. "Don't you people have something ELSE to be doing?" she asked.

The answer was a resounding 'no'.

Tetsuro scowled at Arashi. "Damnit! That's it! Tenoh Arashi, I challenge you! Tomorrow at 11:00 AM, winner gets Alice!"

Alice whirled around at that, her face going first through disbelief, then even more disbelief, and then outrage. She yelled loudly, "SINCE WHEN WAS I A PRIZE TO BE FOUGHT OVER!?"

She took a deep breath and seemed to calm down slightly.

"Stupid boy!" she said as she stormed away, looking about ready to kill something.

... OK, so maybe she hadn't calmed down.

Arashi's eye began to twitch, her temper getting the better of her. "...What? What makes you think I want Alice?"

Tetsuro frowned, "You just said as much! What, are you backing out?" he paused, taking a moment to smirk in a superior fashion before continuing. "Is it that you don't have the guts to accept my challenge? You're backing out on a man to man fight?"

"'Man to man fight?'" Arashi asked incredulously.

When Tetsuro nodded, Arashi laughed out loud. "Tetsuro, I'm not a man, and I don't want to fight. Are you blind or something!?"

Tetsuro blinked, and began looking at Arashi very closely. "... you look like a man to me..."

Arashi stared at Tetsuro in stunned disbelief. OK, that settled it. She was NOT going to wear the bindings on her chest anymore, even if it meant that she could no longer imitate her otousan's look.

Kazuko rolled her eyes. "Onii-san no baka."

"Wow, look at that!" said one boy to another, "Arashi is willing to renounce his manhood for the sake of sparring Alice the pain of having to choose between him and Tetsuro!"

"That's so romantic!" said a girl next to the two.

"Hey, don't you mean 'sparing?'" asked the second boy.

"... Shut up."

Arashi ground her teeth. 'No one listens to me.'

******

Haruka and Michiru made good on their plans to look into the Marsh family history. They had left a short time after Arashi had gone to school and arrived at the building which housed the Boston Historical Society around 9:00 AM. It was a fairly large building, though it had only one floor. A short distance away from the building was a small park. The curator welcomed them warmly. He expressed an unusual interest when they told him they were interested in the family history of the Marshes.

The information that they recovered, while detailing the family history of the Marsh family (at least as far as could be traced back), wasn't particularly helpful to the two Senshi. Robert Marsh was the son of Norman and Bridgett Marsh. Nothing particularly remarkable about the two of them, save that they died fairly early in their lives... Bridgett Marsh was the daughter of Josiah and Wilmett Marsh. Strange. Norman took his wife's family name. That was unusual in America - especially during that period in history. Josiah and Wilmett Marsh had moved to Boston from a small town at the mouth of the Manuxet in the year 1926. Apparently they had operated some sort of refinery there, and were the owners of most of the businesses in the town. Both had been members of an obscure religious cult.

"What was the name of the town?" Haruka had asked.

The curator looked at the file again, searching for the name. He found it fairly quickly, but Haruka and Michiru didn't know that. When he had found it, he kept on scanning the file as though he had yet to find the name of the town. Eventually, faced with the expectant looks of the two Senshi, he said, trying to hide his reluctance, "Innsmouth."

Both Haruka and Michiru were suspicious of the man's reaction, but had the presence of mind to conceal their suspicion for the time being.

"What can you tell us about Innsmouth?" Michiru asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid. Most of the records, along with the town itself, were destroyed in the Cataclysm. All I can say is that it was primarily a fishing town; the fish could always be found abundantly just off shore."

"I see. Is there anything else you can tell us about the history of the Marsh family?"

The man hesitated. Michiru rose an eyebrow.

"..No, there's nothing else." he said.

"Are you sure?" asked Haruka.

The curator nodded, his resolve growing stronger. "Quite sure, Lady Uranus."

Michiru nodded. "Thank you for your help." This all would have been useful if the town still existed, but apparently it had been destroyed in the cataclysm. A dead end. Michiru suspected that the curator knew more about the Marsh family than he let on, but there was nothing they could do about that at the moment.

"My pleasure, ma'am. If you need anything else, please let me know."

"We'll be sure to do that."

The two departed.

Once outside, Haruka frowned. "He's hiding something, you know."

"I know."

Inside the building, the curator frowned deeply, thinking back over the conversation. As soon as the door shut behind the two Senshi, he reached for the phone. His superiors would not be pleased with this development, but they needed to know about it all the same.

******

School was out, and Arashi was walking with Kazuko towards front gate. Tetsuro was waiting at the gate, but when he saw Arashi, his pleasant face twisted into a scowl. "Remember," he said, "Tomorrow at eleven, Tenoh."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there."

"You'd better!" Tetsuro said as he walked away. It seemed that he didn't want to walk home with his sister if Arashi was going to be there.

"<Kazuko, did your brother hit his head a lot when he was little?>" Arashi asked as soon as Tetsuro was out of earshot.

Kazuko shrugged. "<Not that I know of, but I have to wonder sometimes.. you'd better be careful, though. He may be an idiot, but he's got quite a bit of magical ability to back up his stupidity.>"

Arashi smiled faintly. "<I'm a martial artist. I'm sure I can handle it,>" she said.

Kazuko raised an eyebrow. "<I know. You're very skilled - much more than me - and I beat you anyway. He's stronger than me when he's fully powered up.>"

Arashi shrugged.

Kazuko and Arashi continued on their way, their conversation moving along about as gradually as their pace (which is to say, fairly slowly). They talked about the weather, about boys (Kazuko had a boyfriend back in Japan, but she still said that she thought that Steven Marsh was really cute. While Arashi thought he was cute, she didn't particularly like or dislike him), and about life in general.

"<Arashi...>"

"<Mmn?>"

"<I've been meaning to ask you.. how long are you going to let Alice think that you're something that you're not?>" Kazuko asked, a very strong hint of disapproval in her voice.

Arashi remained silent, a faintly uncomfortable expression on her face.

"<.. I see.>"

Arashi frowned. "<What makes you think that she thinks I'm something I'm not?>"

Kazuko shook her head. "<It's obvious, Tenoh. What, are you interested in her?>"

Arashi shook her head. "<No, I'm not. But all the same.. I can't do it. I.. if I tell her that I don't swing that way, she'll be heart-broken. I can't do that...>"

"<So you're just going to string her along, then?>" This time there was more than just a 'hint' of disapproval in Kazuko's voice.

"<Chigaou yo! .. I'll tell her. Just.. when I can.>"

The two walked in silence for several long minutes before their conversation started up again.

"<So why are you here?>"

"<If I knew the answer to that, Tenoh, I wouldn't be wasting my time with High School. I'm no philosopher.>"

Arashi flushed red. "<Ano, I meant, why are you here in America?>"

Kazuko grinned. "<Oh, right. I'm here as part of a student exchange program. Tetsuro and I are just two of the students that were sent to schools in other countries. We're not studying abroad just to learn, though. We're also looking for people who might benefit from going to our school. You know, people who have a special ability, but maybe don't know how to use it?>"

"<Hontou ni? Ano.. it's just taking in anyone who can do magic?>"

Kazuko shook her head. "<No, not just anyone. You have to do well academically as well. It's not considered one of the top schools in the world for nothing.>"

Arashi nodded. "<Omoshiroi.*>"

*translation: interesting

"<Heh. Maybe you'd be interested in going there? That battle aura of yours is certainly not something that most people are able to do.>"

Arashi laughed. "<Sure it is. And I'm no witch.>"

Kazuko grinned. "<You don't have to be. This isn't Hogwarts, after all. Kesshou Gakuen is there to train ALL newtypes in the use of their gifts, whether they're wizards, psychics, or Sailor Senshi.>"

That brought another lull in the conversation. They walked along in silence (but not an uncomfortable silence) for a few moments until...

"<Kazuko-san," Arashi asked, "<what do you want to be when you're older?>"

Kazuko blinked, taken off guard by the question. Although this new line of conversation seemed awkward to her, she nevertheless thought about that for a long moment before answering, "<... I don't know.>"

Arashi blinked.

"<It seems as though everyone else knows what they want to be, but I... don't. I guess I'll be a Sailor Senshi.>"

Arashi smiled faintly, putting all thoughts of Alice Grant out of her mind entirely. "<Serenity-sama says that Sailor Senshi should have hopes and dreams apart from being Senshi. Obaa-chan always wanted to be an idoru. Papa wanted to be a racer.>" She shrugged. "<If you could do anything you wanted, what would you do?>"

Kazuko paused, taking the time to honestly think about that question. After a minute or so, she answered. "<I think I'd take care of plants. Flowers, trees...>" she smiled. "<I love plants. I think they like me, too. And I want to get married someday...>" Kazuko trailed off at that, looking off into the distance with a dreamy expression on her face. After a moment of silence she looked at Arashi and said, "<Ne, Arashi-san, what names do you think would go with 'Kazuko'? ... Let's see... Kazuko Marsh? Kazuko Falstick? Kazuko Ward?>" Kazuko seemed to consider those names for a moment before shaking her head. "<No, I don't like any of those... and I can't really see myself marrying someone who isn't Japanese, anyway.>"

Arashi sweatdropped. "Oro?" she asked, her embarrassment showing quite clearly in her expression.

"<'Oro?' What in the world...?>" Kazuko shook her head, "<Never mind. What about you, then? What name can you imagine taking?>"

Arashi smiled and put a hand to the back of her head. "<Ano, I'm not giving up my family name. I'm also an only child, after all. Not to mention that I've got the whole 'noble birth' thing going for me. I'm supposed to carry on the Tenoh name to the next generation.>"

Kazuko blinked a bit. "<Oh, right. The new noble houses. Queen Serenity and her court.>

Arashi gave something of a half grin as she said, "<Even if that weren't an issue... well... Tenoh Arashi. Kaioh Arashi. These are the names I can imagine myself having.>"

"<It figures.>" said Kazuko. "<OK then, going back to what we were talking about a minute ago... if you could do anything you wanted, what would do?>"

"<I would be both a concert violinist and ... well, I AM a martial artist, but I still want to be one when I'm older.>"

Kazuko nodded. "<Makes sense. You're in the orchestra, right?>"

Arashi smiled faintly. "<Yeah. I'm first violin.>"

"<So what is it that you like about playing the violin?>" Kazuko asked, thinking to herself that Arashi probably only played it because her mother did.

"<Well, first, obviously, because my mom taught me, and it's fun. You know the saying, right? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.>" Arashi's gaze grew distant. "<.. But I also like it because... with it, I can create beauty. I can show people my thoughts and fears and dreams in a way that would never be possible through speech.. I can create art. Better still, I can create Music.>"

Kazuko's expression softened somewhat and she smiled. She was about to open her mouth to ask about the martial arts, when something a bit odd happened.

Just then they passed 226 Neptune street. That wasn't odd in itself, unless the fact that Alice Grant lived there made it odd. In any case, as soon as they passed the house, Arashi shuddered and began to take slow steps backwards, a look of pure and unadulterated horror on her face. There it was, right in front of her, was one of THEM. Her awareness of everything else seemed to fade; it was all she could see, and it was close. Too close. Less than three feet away, and closing in steadily. Her breath started coming fast and shallow, and she became intensely aware of her own heartbeat as she watched its skittering approach. This was it. Fight or flight.

Kazuko blinked and quickly looked around, trying to see what could have terrified her friend like that; her henshin wand was already in her hands. She saw nothing. "Er... Arashi, what's wrong?"

The Thing skittered closer.

Arashi yelped in terror and scrambled backwards away from it, moving off the sidewalk and into the street.

It stopped then, rubbing its viscous, venom-coated fangs together in gleeful anticipation of the feast of flesh that was to be its reward.

Arashi, however, was not defeated so easily. Carefully, she began to circle the beast, each revolution taking her a little bit closer, until...

*STOMP*

Kazuko squashed the spider beneath her shoe before giving Arashi a look that said, 'you've gotta be kidding me.'

With her hated foe destroyed, Arashi breathed a sigh of relief. "<That was close. Arigatou, Kazuko-san.>"

Kazuko sweatdropped heavily, returning her henshin wand to subspace. "<You're not joking, are you? ... Do I even WANT to know what that was all about?>"

Arashi shook her head. "No," she said, quickly casting her gaze about to make sure that there weren't any more spiders nearby. When she found no sign of any other arachnids, Arashi smiled and continued on her way, leaving a totally nonplused Kazuko in her wake.

"... right." said Kazuko, following behind the red-head and looking at her as if she were completely crazy.

A clang followed by several loud screams ended the conversation. Not that it wasn't already over... well, it was more like a lull, and the conversation was waiting to be brought back to life, but anyway, the screams killed any chances of that happening.

Kazuko and Arashi both turned and looked in the direction that the screams had come from. 'Great', thought Arashi, 'guess it really WAS an omen.'

There, just a little ways down the street, a monster had leapt out of a manhole. The manhole cover itself lay discarded nearby. The screams had come from the people nearby, among whom was Alice Grant.

Arashi shuddered as she took in the scene. The creature had green-gray, shiny and slippery skin, and a scaly ridge down its back. Its form suggested an anthropoid with a very fish-like head with prodigious, bulging eyes that never closed, and palpating gills on the side of its neck. It reminded Arashi entirely too much of the thing she had encountered upstairs at the Marsh's house, though here, in the bright sunlight, its power to spark fear in those who gazed upon it was greatly reduced.

With a horrible croaking laugh, it struck down one of the men nearby. The man hit the ground with a resounding crack, and Arashi had little doubt that several of his bones had been broken.
The attack on the man broke Arashi and Kazuko out of the state of horrified fascination that the sight of the monster had put them in. They exchanged glances, and then Arashi moved forward to draw the monster away from the people as Kazuko transformed.

"Terra Star Power! Make Up!"

The monster now loomed over the terrified Alice Grant, its arm reared back as it prepared to strike her down as it had the man a moment before.

"Hey ugly!"

The flopping thing barely had time to turn around before Arashi's kick connected with its face.

The blow knocked out several of the monster's teeth, and its shriek was one of both pain and rage. Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), this was a mistake on its part. Arashi was able to get in several more blows while the monster was distracted with its pained shrieking, though none was quite so effective as the first.

It was not slow to counterattack, and soon Arashi found herself defending for all she was worth against the monster's inhumanly strong punches. On the plus side, the monster really didn't know how to fight. On the negative, it didn't seem to notice most of Arashi's blows, and if it were to connect even once, it would do some serious damage to her.

"Alice! Call the police! Call my parents! Don't just sit there gawking!"

Alice sat there gawking.

Sailor Terra had not been idle. While Arashi distracted the creature, she rushed in and, not really knowing any better, moved the injured man to a safe distance. It turned out to have been for the best, however: while it did aggravate his injuries, it also probably saved his life. A scant few seconds after he had been moved, one of the monster's missed attacks on Arashi struck the pavement where the man had just been with a resounding crack. Not the sound of bones cracking, but rather, of concrete. When the Thing pulled its paw away, there was a small indentation in the pavement, run through with cracks and bits of rubble. Admittedly, this was a fairly old street, and the pavement here had not been redone in several years, but still, it was likely enough to crush bones.

As Sailor Terra turned and prepared to launch her attack, the monster finally did manage to hit Arashi. Fortunately, Arashi saw the blow coming and was able to roll with it and minimize the damage. Nevertheless, the blow still knocked the wind out of her, and would likely leave a very nasty bruise.

"OAK!" yelled Terra as she held both of her hands over head, then spun around once while pulling her hands down to chest level. "CYCLONE!" She thrust her hands forward, and a spray of brown energy-shards flew out from her hands towards the monster. It leaped over the spray and came down almost on top of Terra, who frantically leaped to the side and only just avoided the blow, which struck the street with about the force of a sledgehammer blow (assuming that the sledgehammer is wielded by someone with the strength of Hibiki Ryouga) and shattered the pavement in a one foot circle around the point of impact.

Kazuko turned slightly green as she backed away from the creature. 'Looks like I can't afford to let it hit me...' she thought as she launched another Oak Cyclone at it. This time the spray of brown energy slivers hit the creature dead on and sent it sprawling.

Alice had yet to leave the area, and was now screaming at the top of her lungs. Arashi tried to calm her down and to get her to leave, but only succeeded in drawing Alice's attention, and soon after was on the receiving end of the glomp of a terrified anime school girl.

Meanwhile, Terra continued to fight against the monster, sending Oak Cyclones at it every time she got the chance, but she was also taking hits herself, and unlike Arashi, she didn't know how to take a hit. Or a fall. A punch from the monster blasted her backwards into a nearby hovercar. She hit the side door to the hovercar with a tremendous crack, and her head hit the window with such force that it shattered, sending glass flying everywhere. She lost consciousness a few seconds later.

After a few moments, Arashi was able to separate herself from Alice. When she saw Kazuko go down she let out a cry of alarm and ran back into the fray. It was then that she realized that the creature had regenerated all of the damage that she had done earlier with her blows, and was now in the process of regenerating the damage that Terra had done. 'Shimatta', she thought. She struck it a few times rather ineffectively, barely avoiding its counter stroke.

'Looks like knocking it out isn't going to work... I can't give it time to regenerate...' With that thought, Arashi's expression took on a determined cast, and she began to fight to kill, rather than just to win the 'match'. Her battle aura began to glow brightly as she focused her ki... and then burst into motion. She blurred forward, sending a devastating combo at the creature, kicking at what she HOPED was its kidneys, then punching it in what, again, she hoped was its solar plexus (although the monster was humanoid, it was rather... inhuman, so she couldn't be sure), and then finishing the combo with an open-palmed strike to the creature's nose.

The first blow sent the monster to its knees. The second caused its oversized fish-like eyes to roll back up in its head, and the final blow both knocked it down and crushed its nose. On the way down, the back of the creature's head smacked into the curb, and it lay very still, its now empty eyes open wide, gazing at nothing.

Once she was certain that the monster was indeed dead, Arashi rushed over to the smashed phone-booth to check on Terra. She wasn't in good shape. She had minor cuts all over, one particularly nasty one going just beneath her left eye. An inch higher, and she'd have lost the eye. Judging from the angle at which they were bent, it looked like both her legs were broken, and there was a rather nasty wound on her side, which was bleeding freely. "Alice!" Arashi called, "Come and help me!"

This time, Alice didn't just stand there gawking. With the monster dead, she was able to take an active part in what was happening, though she did shudder every time she looked in its direction. She had felt so... helpless. She hated that feeling. 'Arashi-kun was so brave, rushing in to defend me against that monster.. and Kazuko, too.' She liked the fact that Arashi rushed to my defense, but she hated being a victim. "What should I do, Arashi-kun?" she asked.

Arashi tore off the sleeves of her shirt and handed them to Alice. "Press these down right there as hard as you can," she said, pointing to the wound on Terra's side, "while I call for an ambulance."

Alice did as she was told, and fairly soon Arashi was back, having called the local EMS to ask for an ambulance, and then her parents to tell her them that there had been a monster attack and to ask them to meet her at the hospital.

As the adrenaline rush wore off, the fact of what she had just done began to sink in for Arashi. She had killed it. Admittedly, it was a monster and would have killed her if she hadn't killed it first, but still... the knowledge that she had ended the life of what was quite possibly a sentient creature disturbed Arashi somewhat, and she found that she wasn't entirely sure of how to feel about it.

'It may not have been an ideal solution, but it was necessary.' she decided. 'If I had not killed that Thing, it likely would have killed Kazuko, Alice, and Kami-sama only knows how many others. Even as it was, Kazuko was grievously injured and might very well die from her wounds. Some sacrifices are necessary, but having the blood of a monster on my hands is no sacrifice at all.' Her thoughts brought two emotions to her; great sadness at her friend's injury (and at the possibility that Kazuko might die), and an intense desire for revenge against whoever or whatever had sent the monster.

The wait for the ambulance was not a long one, but to those who were waiting, it seemed like an eternity. It wasn't until they reached the hospital that Arashi finally allowed herself to cry, and even then, they were tears of anger.

*** Later ***

When Haruka arrived in Kazuko's hospital room, Arashi and Alice were both sitting in chairs next to Kazuko's bed, watching her sleeping form anxiously. Her breathing was incredibly faint - the only real sign that the girl was alive at all was the steady beep from the heart monitor. The door shut behind Haruka with a soft click, and at that sound, Arashi glanced in the direction of the door. Haruka felt a surge of anger when she saw Arashi's tear-streaked face (and completely missed the angry expression that she wore); someone had made her little girl cry, and by her reckoning, that meant that there was a severe ass-kicking in store for whoever was responsible.

Seeing her Otousan standing there, Arashi immediately ran to her and embraced her.

Haruka's expression softened as she returned the hug. "What happened, Hime-chan?" she asked, her tone a gentle one.

Alice looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice... and stared. "Lady Uranus!" she gasped. She had almost not believed Arashi when she had said that Uranus and Neptune were her parents, but this pretty much swept away all of her remaining doubts. Never in her life had she thought that she would be in the same room as one of the Sailor Senshi. The only thing that prevented her from being completely overjoyed by this turn of fate was the circumstances that led up to the encounter (namely, her old boyfriend's sister having been hospitalized).

Arashi spoke quietly and with great intensity as she explained what had happened to her 'father'. "We were passing Alice's house on the way to school. A monster came out of a manhole and started attacking people. It hurt Kazuko, so I killed it."

Arashi looked up into Haruka's eyes. "It wasn't like the ones you told me about in your stories about Hotaru-ne-chan or Galaxia-sama.. it didn't seem to want anything.. not heart crystals, not true star seeds." She shuddered before finishing in a near whisper, "It just wanted to hurt people." Arashi clenched her fist, desiring nothing more than to find whoever had sent this monster and beat them into the ground. It was perhaps not entirely coincidental that her 'father' was thinking the same thing.

Haruka glanced at the still form of Kazuko, and then looked back to Arashi, more or less ignoring Alice. "Don't worry, Hime-chan. I spoke with the doctor, and he said that Kazuko will be fine in a few weeks. And your mother and I will make sure that there are no more attacks."

Arashi nodded, drawing comfort from Haruka's words. She wiped her eye. "Oh, Otousan," she said as she directed Haruka's attention towards Alice, "this is Alice... she's that girl I told you about."

Alice's face lit up at that. Arashi-kun had been talking to his parents about her? This could be a good thing... or at least, she hoped it was.

Haruka looked at Alice for a moment, a critical look in her eyes. Japanese, blonde, very pretty. Kind of reminded her of Minako. Well, this person might do for her daughter.. provided her daughter was interested. Haruka smiled faintly and said, "So you're the one that's been chasing my Hime-chan?"

Alice nodded enthusiastically and then dropped her voice to a whisper so that Arashi wouldn't hear. Or rather, wouldn't have heard if she had been on the other side of the room... as it was, Arashi heard every word. "Your son is definitely the cutest guy I've ever seen!" It was somewhat unfortunate that Alice didn't know Japanese. Otherwise she would have known that 'Hime' is generally not something that you call boys.

Arashi's face fell slightly. "Ano... Alice...." she began.

"Hmm?" Alice asked, her eyes shining.

Before Arashi could say anything else, Haruka nudged her in the ribs and said, "She's a good catch, Hime-chan."

Alice beamed, and Arashi blushed.

"Papa!" Arashi whispered fiercely, resolving to set all of this straight at school tomorrow.

Haruka grinned faintly, her laughter restrained only by the mood of the room.

At that point, two things happened; first, Kazuko regained consciousness, and second, Michiru walked into the room.

Kazuko tried to sit up, but found herself unable to because of both a sudden wave of nausea, and because of the cast around her torso. "I'm hungry." she said.

Arashi and Alice rushed to her side, with relieved expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, Haruka had seen Michiru enter, and moved back to greet her. An embrace and a short kiss later, Michiru asked, quietly, "How is she?" There was no need for her to clarify which 'she' she meant. Their daughter came first.

Haruka glanced towards Arashi, who was now talking to the newly awakened Kazuko. Her eyes showed concern for her friend, and sadness, but they also held a faint 'haunted' look, which was becoming more and more faint as the moments passed.

"She's fine." said Haruka. "She reminds me of us back in those days." She was not particularly pleased by that fact but was resigned to it nonetheless. "I can see it written in her eyes."

"I see," said Michiru, her expression unreadable. "And her friend?"

"Shiro Kazuko is expected to recover within a few weeks."

Michiru had heard that name before... oh, right. The fight Arashi had told her about on her first day of school. "Ara, so this is the girl who claims to be Sailor Terra?"

Haruka nodded. "Looks like it."

Alice gasped, finally having noticed Michiru's presence. "Senshi Neptune!"

Arashi turned and rushed over to hug her mother. "Okaasan!" she said.

And so it went. They talked for a little while, but it was not long before Haruka and Michiru needed to leave, and when they left, so did Arashi.

******

- Channel 5 News -

"... Sara Felton is live at the scene of the attack with the head of the Church of Serenity in Boston, Edward Ramirez. Sara?"

Sara, a somewhat tired looking young woman with short blonde hair, smiled faintly. "That's right, Bob, we're here just in front of 226 Neptune street, where at 3:00 this afternoon, some sort of monster emerged from the sewer and began an attack on the local populace. According to eye-witnesses, the monster was defeated through the combined efforts of Tenoh Arashi and a previously unknown Senshi who calls herself 'Sailor Terra'. Mr. Ramirez, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

The camera shifted slightly to include both Robert and Sara in its field of view. Robert is a somewhat unkempt, slightly overweight middle-aged man in desperate need of a shave. "This is truly a wonder," he said, "For even as the darkness rose up in this city, the great Serenity has sent forth her divine agents to counter it! This is a sign to all; in times of trouble, if you put your trust in Serenity, her divine light will see you through."

Sara nodded faintly. "What is the church's official position on the appearance of this apparently new Senshi?"

"It comes as no surprise to us. We have long thought that there must be a Senshi representing the Earth. It only makes sense; every other planet in the solar system has its representative. Why not Earth?"

Sara smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Ramirez. Back to you, Bob."

The view once more became that of the news room, where Bob, a balding young man with a long nose and glasses, sat in front of a desk made entirely out of plastic. "Thanks Sara. Now, according to the reports we've received, both Tenoh Arashi and this 'Sailor Terra' were injured in the battle, though Terra's wounds were much more severe than Ms. Tenoh's. They are now being treated at Boston General Hospital. David Bozwell is on the scene. Dave, are you with us?"

The screen was blank.

"Dave?"

The screen remained blank.

"Well, it looks like we're having some technical difficulties. Hopefully we'll be able to get back to Dave later." Bob smiles faintly and clears his throat before continuing. "Although the Church of Serenity is not sanctioned by either Serenity or her court, its popularity has grown tremendously in recent years. Coming up next, we'll show you just how this religion has grown, from its humble beginnings..."

*******

*** Later ***

Tetsuro stood at Kazuko's bedside, an expression of anger on his face. Haruka, Michiru and Arashi were long gone, and Alice had left a minute or two before he had arrived. "Ne-chan... he should have protected you! How dare he allow you to come to harm!?" Tetsuro clenched his fist and yelled up to the heavens (and drew stares from most of the people in that area of the hospital), "How can he call himself a man!?"

Kazuko shook her head incredulously. "Onii-san no baka," she said. When it looked as though Tetsuro was going to storm out in a rage, Kazuko sighed and asked, "Are you blind, Tetsuro?"

Tetsuro blinked. Kazuko never used his name unless she was mad at him. This must be something she considered important. Or maybe he had done something wrong without realizing it... "Um... I hope not?"

"'He' is not a man at all. Arashi-chan is a pretty girl, Tetsuro."

Tetsuro raised an eyebrow, his expression one of incredulity. "Since when?"

"Since always, onii-baka-san. So you know what that means, right?"

Tetsuro thought about this for a moment. In the space of about ten seconds, he went from shocked, to confused, to sudden clarity (mixed with intense anger). Because of his being somewhat stressed, he lapsed back into Japanese. "<Arashi is a girl... she tricked me?>

Kazuko shook her head weakly. "<No, niichan. She didn't trick you. She never claimed to be a boy to begin with. You assumed that yourself.>"

Tetsuro's expression grew thoughtful. "<So that must mean... Arashi's a lesbian?>"

Kazuko facepalmed. Although she was certain that Arashi really did not have any interest in Alice, privately Kazuko did wonder about the girl's preferences. Arashi's crush on Yaten Kou - a 'man' who was only a man because 'he' had agreed that it would be easier for three boys to find their princess than for three girls - certainly was a bit... odd, for all that Arashi so firmly identified Yaten as a boy. Pushing such thoughts aside, she said, "<Arashi has no interest in Alice, niichan.>"

Tetsuro frowned. "<So.. when I challenged him.. er, her, in the middle of school today, I made a complete fool of myself?>"

Kazuko nodded, smiling faintly. "<Bin-bon.>"

"<... Damn.>"

Kazuko nodded in agreement. "<Yep.>"

******

Had anyone been watching as Alice walked away from the hospital, they would have seen her sneeze. They also would have seen a darkly clad man approach her and speak with her for a short while. He was a strange looking fellow, with a flat nose, a queer narrow face, and skin that really didn't look right. He spoke to her for a short while.

She gave him a critical glance, and then, shook her head, rejecting his offer. He departed, and she continued on her way home.

Had our hypothetical observer still been watching, they would have seen a green haired woman step out of the shadows and check her watch before nodding to herself and walking away with the kind of expression that one usually wears when things are going exactly how one had anticipated.

*****************

Haruka leaned against the window-sill in the bedroom that she shared with Michiru, lost in thought.

Her instincts said that she and Michiru could defeat this threat on their own, and that they should not involve the Queen and her Inner Senshi. Her thinking was somewhat clouded by her rage over the fact that her daughter, Arashi, had been placed in danger. She wanted nothing more than to find whoever was responsible and grind them into the dust.

Her thoughts drifted back to the battle against the Death Busters.

"Should we tell them everything and fight together?" Michiru had asked.

Haruka had shaken her head. "The Silence is coming soon, and to prevent it, we have to sacrifice three pure hearts. Do you think that they can do that?"

Other conversations arose in her memory.

"Our mission is to get the three talismans and the holy grail. For that, some sacrifices have to be made."

"The end of the world is coming," she had told Usagi. "The only one who can save us is the messiah, who can use the holy grail. This has nothing to do with you."

She smiled ruefully. As it turned out, Sailor Moon was the messiah, and no sacrifices has been needed. Although... the fact that Usagi had dome something as stupid as giving the holy grail to Mistress 9 didn't exactly inspire Haruka's confidence.

But then, during the battle with Galaxia...

"But they're Sailor Senshi!"

"Our enemies are also Sailor Senshi."

"We have to protect our planet by ourselves. We can only believe in ourselves."

"Please understand."

They had been wrong about the Sailor Starlights. Usagi had known, had seen, but they hadn't trusted her. Haruka still didn't like Seiya, though.

"We have the same hope. Please believe in our Princess."

And then in the final battle against Galaxia... they had sacrificed everything, and it hadn't even worked. They should have trusted the Princess.

Haruka reached for the phone.

When Michiru entered the room ten minutes later, she found Haruka sitting on the bed with a look of amazement on her face.

"What did she say, Haruka?"

Haruka blinked, glancing up at Michiru. "Nani?"

"You called Usagi, ne? I knew that you would tell her about the situation here eventually. What did she say?"

"She said... 'shinjiteru'*."

*Shinjiteru: 'I believe in you'.

--=- END EPISODE 4 -=--

"Wandering parentless youth gain maturity and expand their potential through the process of enslaving small sentient beings and pit fighting their slaves in gladiatorial combat."

- Jack Koehler, giving a summary of the Pokemon anime