Sailor Moon: AR
                       Alternate Reality
                         **************
           Part 2: "In apprehension, how like a God."
                                
                                
                    Written by Strike Fiss, 
                     Ninja Crowbotics, 1996
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                            Prologue
                                
     A simple looking man in a long, flowing white lab-coat sat in his chair, feet reclined on
his desk.  He waited patiently as the door to his office opened and another man, dressed in a
similar way, came up to him and handed him a crystal.  "What's this?" he asked.
     The second man sighed.  "The Director wants to know why you insist on allocating three
of our Tokyo servers on your little Sailor Scout friends."
     The first man put down his feet and examined the data crystal.  "I know she's not
pleased.  What I asked was what's on this crystal."
     "We detected another feed-back loop on our server number twelve.  As you know, that
particular post is located in the Fujistzima Computers Tech institute...a private company that has
no affiliation with the Web." 
     The man raised his eyebrow.  "So?  Have you confirmed it?"
     The second man nodded.  "Someone else is watching."
     He smiled.  "Well then, I was right.  Tell ALL the Tokyo servers to go online and focus
on the Sailor Scouts." he paused.  "I don't care what the Director has to say about it, just do it."
     "I'll try to get authorization..."
     "No." he interrupted his aid.  "This is too important.  I want you to do it now, and I mean
NOW."
     The aid nodded.
     "Also," he took a deep breath "set up a fifty-three point hex-grid with the double tri-axil
monitor scans.  All worms except numbers zero-zero-three and one-through-eight.  Also, see if
R&D finished the new powder balls.  Set up the main monitor to display everything in a
trigonal-penta-grid with three IP settings and a four-D three second uplink, and I want it by the
time I finish lunch...got it?"
     The aid looked slightly distressed at the large list of orders to carry out, but nodded
quickly and left.
     The man sighed.  "We're too close to the Omega Point to fuck up the Earth now." 
     The Sailor Scouts were going to need some help, or that's exactly what would happen.






                           Chapter 1
                                
     Chris sat at his desk in  Advanced Computer Class' with a bored look on his face.  He
watched as the teacher explained how to turn on the computer with the power button.  "Why
me?" he said under his breath.  
     The teacher looked at him briefly, probably hearing his remark, but continued his lesson
to the other students.  
     His thoughts drifted back to his new identity, Prince of Saturn, or Strike Fiss.  "I wish I
could nuke this bastard with my sword, right about now." he thought.  
     "Chris Stover?" a voice asked suddenly.
     Chris looked up.  Everyone was looking at him.  He got nervous.  "Uh?"
     The teacher smiled.  "Since you seem so bored, that means you must know this stuff
already."
     Chris blinked.
     "If you're so smart, please show us the last lesson.  I believe it's how to get onto the
Internet."
     "Is that all?" Chris said, surprised at his blunt answer.  He began punching away at the
keyboard.
     The teacher and students all watched in amazement as the homepage for the White-House came 
up on the screen.  "How'd you..." the teacher gasped.  "I-I locked it out!  You can't do that!"
     Chris nodded.  "You were already connected.  You just have to know what to rename."
he paused.  "And yes, I can do that."
     "Uh...thank you, uh, Chris...continue." 
     Some of the other students began laughing.  Chris shot them a weird look and they shut-up.
Chris turned back to his computer with a smile.  "Losers..." he thought.  
     The bell rang, and all the students shuffled out the door.  Chris packed up his own laptop,
which he had been using to hack past the little block the teacher had put in the system to
humiliate students that weren't paying attention.  The teacher walked up to him.  "Chris?"
     Chris looked up from his bag.  "Yes?"
     "I just wanted to say congratulations for doing so well in the course this past few
months." he said happily.
     Chris shrugged.  "It was nothing.  I love computers, and they're no different in Japan."
     The teacher smiled.  "I bet you're looking forward to Spring break."
     "You bet." Chris smiled back.  "I'm going to kick back and vedginate."
     "Oh...then I guess you wouldn't be interested then..."
     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "In what?"
     The teacher sat down on the desk next to him.  "Well, my friend, Mr Omma is running an
advanced computer cram school on that week.  It's a lot more intelligent than this class...even
I'll admit that, and you can use a passing grade on your resume."
     "Sounds cool!" Chris said.  "Do you have the info?"
     He handed Chris a paper.  "Oh, and all the schools are invited.  You'll probably see your
girlfriend there."
     Chris blinked.  "What?" Rei wasn't THAT into computers, why would she be at a super-advanced 
computer cram course?
     The instructor blinked.  "You know, Ami?  Ami Anderson?"
     Chris blinked.  "Ami?  Oh, you must have got it wrong.  She's not my girlfriend."
     "Oh...Oh well, it's not important.  See you at the course...I'm going to!" he smiled, then
turned serious.  "I have to figure out a block you can't hack into."
     Chris smiled, getting up.  "Can't be done." he left.
     He walked out of the school, pocketing his paper.  Rei stood up against a nearby tree. 
"Hey, good lookin'." she smiled.  "Going my way?"
     Chris smiled, walking up to her.  "Always." he remembered the paper.  "I'm going to that
advanced computer tingy over the break.  You wanna come?"
     Rei shook her head.  "Naw, besides, I'd be tempted to crawl under your desk and start
unzipping your pants..." she smiled sexily, pulling him in close.
     Chris swallowed hard.  "Really?"
     Rei nodded, giving him a passionate kiss.  "Besides...I already checked...you have to be
invited."
     "Well, I could always let you in after hours..." Chris smiled, hugging her waist.  "Then I
could sit you on the desk..." he kissed her on the nose, "then I could always help you out of your
panties..."
     Rei moaned softly.  "Oh, I don't know if I could take another night like that one..."
     Chris smiled.  "You weren't complaining after you nearly passed out.  You wussy..." he
teased.
     Rei frowned.  "Oh yeah?" she pushed him down into a bush.

     Grandpa tapped his foot impatiently as he looked out the window.  "Where IS that Rei!?! 
She's late for the tenth time this month!"
     Chad leaned against the wall.  "Well, Grandpa, Chris is late too.  I'll bet they're..."
     Suddenly, Rei came up the steps.  Grandpa sighed.  "Honestly, Chad.  You think
EVERYONE's humping around.  There she is now!  And I don't see Chris with her."
     Rei walked in.  "Hi, Gramps.  Sorry, but the principal was just checking with me over
some details on the festival we had last spring."
     Grandpa punched Chad in the stomach.  "See?" he grabbed him by the ear.  "You're
going to help me clean out the fire-pits today, pervert!"
     "NO!  I'm allergic to soot!" Chad whined as he was dragged off.
     Chris came up the steps with a wide smile on his face.  Rei opened the door for him.  "I
told you I'd win." she smiled.
     Suddenly, Grandpa came back.  "Oh!  Chris!  Where were you?"
     Chris blinked. "Uh...hi!  Sorry.  There was a summer computer course meeting.  I had to
attend it, it looks like a good job-reference." 
     Suddenly, all at once, Maury, Lita, Serena, Ami, Mina and the two cats came flying
through the door at the same time.  "AHHHH!" they all screamed as they bowled over Chris into
Grandpa, which led everyone except Rei in a moaning pile against a wall.
     Lita picked herself up.  "Sorry, we just came over to see if you all wanted to go out for a
night on the town!  Schools out!"
     Grandpa sighed and left.  "I'll go get dinner ready.  I assume you're ALL staying for
food...again..."
     Serena smiled despite the fact Ami's elbow was in her eye.  "Thank you, Grandpa!" she
called after him.
     Chris and Artemis desperately tried to free themselves from the pile-up.  Luna was
enjoying her white-furred companion's comical squirming.  Artemis growled.  "Do you mind?"
     Lita blushed.  "Oh, sorry..." she picked up Ami, Serena, Maury and Mina off of them.
     Maury smiled.  "Is she great or what."
     Ami brushed herself off.  "So, did any of you get that advanced computers thing?" she
asked eagerly.
     Serena began coughing.  "You CAN'T be serious!  That class is in the middle of Spring
Break!  I don't attend any more school than I HAVE to!"
     Mina sighed.  "You should really learn to relax, Ami."
     "I'm going." Chris said, pulling out a sheet of paper.  "It's only for three days."
     Maury smiled.  "Alright.  Three days alone with you, Lita..." he kissed her passionately.
     Lita regained her balance.  "Sounds good to me..."
     Chris shook his head.  "Cool down, horny-toad.  It's just a few hours a day."
     Rei smiled.  "As long as you don't get TOO involved with class this week...I made plans
for us." she leapt up on him and planted a very wet kiss on his lips.  
     Serena sighed.  "I still can't believe she didn't end up with Chad.  I thought it was a
match made in heaven!"
     Luna almost burst out laughing.  "You're joking, right?" she attempted to look like
Serena by imitating meatballs with her ears.  "'Oh, yeah!  I can totally see Rei going out with a
rock-star!'  What were you on, Serena?  Chad's not a rockstar."
     Mina shrugged.  "I thought he was a street-bum."
     Serena started wailing.  "You NEVER let me do any matchmaking!"
     Chris and Rei stopped kissing and looked over to Serena.  Everyone else watched as she
started rolling around, wailing like a one-year-old.  "The future of this planet is going to be ruled
by a whiny little ditz?  There is no god." Rei sighed.  
     Luna eventually had to smack Serena upside the head to get her to stop.  "Anyway, back
to business."
     Artemis nodded.  "Central told us that there's still unidentified traces of energy around
the area.  Just like Chris' energy.  That may mean we're getting some more help."
     Luna nodded.  "Or, it could go either way.  They might be evil."
     "Yeah, but five bucks says they're like Chris and are Sailor Scouts." Artemis grinned.
     "WHAT DO YOU NEED WITH MONEY, ANYWAY?!?!" Luna yelled.  "YOU'RE A
BLOODY CAT!"
     Artemis smiled.  "You in or out?"
     Luna frowned.  
     "Well?"
     She paused for a moment.  "Okay, I'm in...five on each energy signature we find."
     Mina blinked.  "Where do you guys get money from anyway?"
     Artemis decided not to mention the fact he used some of her money on the stock-market. 
"Uh, we find it in gutters and stuff."
     Luna nodded, also not mentioning the fact that she  borrowed' some of Serena's
allowance.  "Yeah. Gutters and stuff."
     Chris reached into his pocket.  "Speaking of money, Rei..." he pulled out two movie
passes.  "Care to join me?" he said nonchalantly.  "My treat!"
     Rei smiled.  "Oh, a dark theater, alone with you?  I don't know..."
     "I PROMISE I won't make clicking noises." Chris complained. "So? You going?"
     "Sure, if we hurry, we can make the seven-o-clock show." Rei said.  "You guys are
welcome to stay for dinner.  Grandpa really doesn't mind.  He loves having 'chicks' over for
dinner."
     Ami sighed as the two left.  Mina walked over to her as the others went into the kitchen. 
"What's wrong, Ami?" she asked.  "You don't sense Nega-vibes, or anything, do you?"
     "No...It's nothing...come on." she said, walking past Mina.
     Mina shrugged.

     "We have sensors pinned on the largest group, my lord.  We're tracking them at the
South East corner again.  I wouldn't doubt if it's a meeting place for the Sailor Scouts." Yamoto
Soo said, eyes glued to his computer screen.
     Chako Serebe cocked an eyebrow.  "Really?  How intriguing.  If this area IS a meeting
place, we avoid it until absolutely necessary."
     "But, master!  With them all together, it would be a prime ambush!  With enough men,
we could overpower the entire group, all at once!"
     "You seem very sure of yourself, Soo.  But you forget they have survived this long
against their many nemesises...we are but a spider on the wall." Serebe said, taking a sip of saki.
     "I-I do not understand..." Soo said.
     Serebe sighed.  "If this is truly a meeting place, they would have had defenses and
weapons set up to protect it.  We stand against much better odds if we attack them individually,
without outside help."  She smiled evilly.  "Then, they will find this spider has venom."
     Soo bowed.  "A wise choice, my lord.  I will not question your judgement again." he
returned to his computer.
     "I shall hope not." she said coldly.
     The other monitoring stations returned to their duties.  Serebe smiled.  Soon, the
Watchers would retake the Solar System back from the Sailor Scouts...and she would be their
god.






                           Chapter 2
                                
     "Uh, I've got to stop ordering that damn Japanese popcorn..." Chris held his stomach.  
     Rei smiled.  "You wussy."
     The two walked down the street in each others arms.  It was getting fairly dark, but the
moon was casting a nice glow on everything.  "You look wonderful tonight, Miss Hino..." Chris
said, kissing her hand.
     Rei sighed.  "You say that every night."
     "It's true." Chris replied.  "The way the moonlight hits your eyes...it looks like an
amoeba splitting into two gelatinous forms."
     Rei smiled.  "Somehow, just when I wonder why I love you, I remember...you make me
laugh."
     "Then I'll take that as a compliment." Chris said happily.
     Rei paused.  "NEVER go to City Hall."
     Chris blinked.  "Uh, whatever you say..." he shrugged.
     "I mean this." Rei said firmly.  "Even if the rest of the Scouts and I are dead, and there's
no other choice...I want you to leave the city."
     Chris swallowed hard.  "Rei, you're scaring me.  What's wrong?"
     Rei took a deep breath, remembering her dream.  She had dreams like it before, and they
never came true.  "Maybe you're right.  Forget about it."
     Chris nodded.  "Okay, if you say so..."
     She smiled and gave him a kiss.  "Let's go.  I have to make sure Serena didn't steal any
comics."
     Chris nodded and they began walking off.  Suddenly, a low humming sound filled the air. 
Chris turned.  "You hear that?"
     Rei also turned.  "Yes...what is it?"
     Chris looked over to where the hum was coming from.  A large bush nearby.  He slowly
walked over to it.  "What if it's another Negabomb?"
     "Transform?" Rei asked.
     Chris looked around.  The street was empty, but it was still only midnight.  "I'll
transform.  My costume isn't as attention getting as yours."
     Rei nodded, pulling out a scroll.  "Got it."
     Chris pulled out his disk.  "Saturn Power..."  His sword appeared over his head and
preceded to spin around him, weaving a ball of light.  The ball then exploded inwards, forming
his suit and sunglasses.  His sword then attached to his side.  His glasses automatically adjusted
to the darkness, giving him an almost night-vision view of the bush as he parted it's leaves open
with his sword.
     "Find anything?" Rei asked.
     Chris motioned for her to come closer.  "Look at this!"
     Rei walked up to him and peered over his shoulder.  
     A Negabomb?  No!
     An explosive?  NO!
     A Negaverse Monster?  NO!!
     A small, white ball hovered between two branches of the hedge.  "What the hell is that?"
     Chris reached forward, slowly, and picked it up.  "It has a little lens on it.  It looks like a
camera!"
     Rei frowned.  "What?"
     Chris turned it around.  On the opposite side of the black, focusing lens, was two letters,
printed in a clean, official-looking text.  'O.W.'  Chris blinked.  "Oww? Why does it say 'oww'? 
Is it hurt?"
     Rei sighed.  "No!  They must be initials or something."
     Chris looked into the tiny lens.  "What should we do with it?"
     "It was following us...I say we toast it." she said.  "I hate having my privacy intruded on.
     Chris nodded.  He threw it up in the air, took out his katana with a silent swish, and
connected with the ball.  It exploded into a cloud of white powder.  "Hey!" Chris coughed. 
"Where's the electronics?"
     Rei coughed.  "You didn't have to completely vaporize it, you know..."
     "But, I didn't!" Chris complained.  "It was made out of powder!" he sheathed his sword
and reverted back to his normal clothes.  
     Rei blinked.  "Then we better tell the others.  Looks like someone knows we're Sailor
Scouts."

     Andrea sat on Cherri Hill, overlooking the street below.  The twinkling of the city lights
was an awe-inspiring sight, but she sat there with a less-than-thrilled attitude.  She wasn't one to
hold a grudge or anything, but right now, she was jealous.  Extremely jealous of Chris and his
new friends.  Even Maury at least had a new girlfriend.  So far, Andrea had gotten a trip to
Tokyo, and a boring month of school.
     Something else was eating away at her, as well.  She was, for the first time she could
remember, longing for a sister.  That was impossible, at least ever since her dad got his tubes cut
in a vasectomy, but she still had this nagging feeling at the base of her brain that she needed a
sister to talk to.
     Suddenly, Rei and Chris came running up the stairs in record time.  Rei grabbed
Andrea's shoulders.  "You'll never guess what!  We found these weird cameras!  And they know
we're Scouts...and..."
     Andrea pushed her away.  "I'm going to bed."
     Chris ran up a second later.  "Andrea!  Come on, we need your input at the meeting."
     Andrea frowned.  "You don't need me!  You have all the super-powers and gadgets and
gizmos you need!  And forget about calling Maury, because I bet he's feeling like me...left out!"
     Chris looked at her.  "Come on...you're part of the team.  Let's go."
     Andrea rolled back her eyes and followed.  "Sure.  Right.  Oh yeah...I'm just a huge part
of the future of life on Earth..."

     Serena was snoring loudly, tangled up in her covers as the call came over her wrist
communicator.  "Bleah?  Wah?  Nannamo!?" she mumbled incoherently as she tried to wake up.
     Luna smacked her across her face.  "Sailor Moon!  Get UP!"
     She finally sat up, knocking Luna off her chest.  "Just a second, Luna!  I'm on it!  Hello?"
     Rei's voice came over the muffled speaker.  "Serena!  Emergency meeting at the temple! 
I'm calling the others!  Try and get Darien there too!  Mars out!"
     Serena blinked, then wailed.  "Waa!  It's too early!...Wait!  Darien!  Yeah!  I guess I can
go if he's going to come too!"
     Luna rolled back her eyes.

     Serena had rung the doorbell quite a few times before she heard rustling.  The door
opened and she was welcomed by a half-asleep Darien wearing blue pj's, a clock in one hand
and a Sailor Moon plush doll snuggled under his other arm.  "Bleah?"
     Serena smiled, "Yeah, that's what I said.  Anyway, there's an emergency meeting at
Rei's temple at this very moment, so we better hurry!"
     Darien looked at her with a dazed expression, "You never used to invite me to your little
gatherings before, so what made you decide to this time?"
     Serena blinked.
     "Yeah, yeah.  I'm coming...." he grabbed his housecoat and slipped on his shoes and let
Serena guide him down the hallway to the elevator.

     The group of Scouts had finally gathered, however, while Chris and Rei checked the
premises for any more exploding camera-balls, they all fell asleep.  Chris walked in.  "My my,
aren't we all sleepy..."
     Rei sighed.  "Serena's laziness must be catching."  She nudged Mina to no avail.  She
shrugged and looked at Chris desperately.
     Chris smiled.  "Okay." he said loudly "First order of business is to have a free-for-all
ORGY!"
     Everyone woke up.  Ami started blushing.  Lita almost laughed.  
     "Thank you, Chris." Rei smiled.
     Darien coughed.  "Okay, so what exactly did this 'camera' look like?"
     "It looked like a white tennis-ball, only with a lens on it." Rei replied.
     Chris nodded.  "And it had 'O.W.' on the back."
     "Oww?  Why would it be hurt?" Darien asked.
     "That's what I said!" Chris said happily.
     Rei gave them both a mean look.  "They were initials."
     Lita smiled.  "Well!  That's easy!  If one of them was a 'W' then that narrows down what
it could stand for!"
     Mina nodded sleepily.  "Yeah.  How many 'W' words are there?"
     Ami cleared her throat.  "Unfortunately, a couple hundred...in English dialects alone."
     Mina frowned.  "Hey...I'm half asleep here.  What do you expect?"
     Rei growled under her breath.  "Would you all WAKE UP?!?  Someone out there
KNOWS WHO WE ARE!"
     Lita nodded.  "Rei's right.  What if they get all our friends and families involved?"
     Chris pulled out his disk and eyed it carefully.  "Then we'll get medieval on their asses."
     Serena pouted, "Well, Ami, figure it out!  That's always been your job!"
     "I'm afraid it's not so simple." Darien said, finally waking up, "If these people can make
cameras practically out of paper mache, why would it be easy to figure out where they are?"
     "I don't know, I just zap the bad guys, remember?  Let the smart ones do the thinking!"
     Darien scratched his head, "Oh, brother."
     "I wish Central had more on this..." Luna sighed to herself.
     Chris leaned back.  "One question, Artemis...who's this Central I keep hearing about?"
     Artemis shrugged.  "Come to think about it, I'm not sure."
     Chris looked at him.  "You're kidding, right?"
     Artemis blinked.  "What do you mean?"
     "Well, you receive information from something you don't understand.  That's pretty
risky."
     "Central has always given us good information.  Who cares who runs it!" Luna defended.
     Rei sighed.  "Okay, why don't you go down there and check it out.  Maybe someone
found out Central, and that's how they found us."
     "We still don't even know if this camera was intentionally watching them." Lita added. 
"It could be some weird sick-o who likes spying on people."
     Rei frowned.  "Oh yeah.  A camera with no electronics inside is made my some weird
loner who wants to spy on people leaving a movie theater."
     Ami nodded.  "Okay, it's settled then.  Me and Chris will go see what makes Central
tick.  You guys hold down the fort here."
     Mina smiled.  "Sounds good to me.  The only computer programming I know is setting
the VCR to not display 12:00."
     





                           Chapter 3
                                
     "How are we going to get in?" Ami asked, looking at the heavy chain lock.
     She and Chris were now standing in front of the arcade.  It was three in the morning, but
Chris seemed to be excited to do some late-night undercover shit.  "Well, we can always pick the
lock..." he took out his sword "but then that wouldn't be any fun."
     Chris quickly cut the chain and lifted the huge metal mesh guarding the front entrance. 
Ami followed under the mesh as Chris held it up.  She quickly scanned the building for alarms. 
"We're clear." she said, turning off her VR visor. 
     Chris dropped the mesh quietly behind them and walked over to the "Sailor V Video
Challenge" game console.  "Is this the game?"
     Ami nodded.  "Luna said it activates to a touch."
     Chris nodded, touching the screen.  "Welcome to the Sailor V Video Challenge." the
game said in a calm, male voice.
     Chris pulled his laptop out from a back-pocket on his jacket that seemed perfect for the
task of holding small computers.  Instead of pressing the fire button to continue, Chris hooked
up his computer to the game with a cable.  "Welcome to Burger World, may I help you?" Chris
said to himself, happily hacking through a standard password.  "Keep a look out, Mercury.  This
may take a while."
     Ami smiled as she watched Chris start typing in codes and commands.  She knew what
was happening to her.  She hadn't felt anything close to this, except when she met Greg.  She
remembered Rei and him had gotten rather close, but didn't care.  Chris was her perfect
match...at least in her opinion.  
     "Hishka-bibble!" Chris yelled.
     Ami jumped back at the sudden exclamation.  "What?"
     Chris turned to her.  "We're into the program.  Watch." he began typing.  The screen on
his laptop took-over the one on the video-game.  "Here's a really huge program.  I'll try running
it.  It may configure something."
     The two watched as a symbol came up on the screen.  It read OW.  
     Ami gasped.  "That camera was central's?"
     Chris frowned.  "No.  This program is separate from the Central program." he began
checking a few figures on his laptop.  "You can see here, Central is basically an old computer on
the moon.  There's a bunch of LAN-type connections to a transmitter that's aimed at the..."
     Suddenly, the power went out.  Sailor V shut down.  Ami looked around quickly. 
"Fuse?" she asked hopefully.
     Chris shook his head.  "No...the police!"
     No sooner did he say that, then a siren pierced the dark night outside.  The two Sailor
warriors gasped.  Chris ripped his computer away from the game, almost tearing out the cord. 
"The back!" Ami yelled.
     Chris shook his head.  "We gotta make a run for it.  To the front!" he pulled out his
katana, cutting the security mesh like it was butter.  
     They leapt out the hole and ran as they saw a police cruiser coming down the street for
them.  Chris gasped.  "Ami!  They'll recognize your suit!  Get down!"
      Ami dove out of the way as Chris held out his sword to face the police car.  Chris was
hardly front-page knowledge to Tokyo, so he looked like a burglar to the officer.  Chris knew
this.  "The things I do to save the world..." he sighed, running over to a lamp post and cutting it
down in one slash.  
     The post hit the ground, blocking the car's advance.  It tried to swerve around the
obstruction, but ran over the light, causing shattering glass to destroy the car's tire.  Chris and
Ami ran off down an alley as the officer got out and began shouting swears at the car.

     Chris and Ami hadn't slowed down since.  They reached Cherri Hill after twenty minutes
of all-out sprinting.  Rei and the others gasped as they literally launched through the door, falling
over and skidding to a stop on their faces.  
     Rei rushed up to them.  "What happened?"
     Chris gasped.  "I didn't know I could run like that!"
     Ami stopped puffing.  "We found out that there's a secret link in Central that leads to a
screen with a big OW on it.  It might be the same as the cameras.  It called the cops on us and we
had to book it!"
     Chris nodded.  "However, I DID download the file!  You see, Central IS a moon-based
computer, but THIS program looks like it has been giving you info instead.  It's based on Earth."
     Luna and Artemis.  "EARTH?" they both said.
     Mina gasped.  "But, that means...someone has been feeding us info, and they're not from
the moon kingdom!"
     Lita growled.  "It's a huge conspiracy against the Sailor Scouts!"
     Artemis sighed.  "Okay, wait a second, here.  We don't want to jump to any conclusions. 
Whoever they are, they've been helping, remember?"
     Rei crossed her arms.  "Sure, they give us a little help to gain our trust, then lead us into a
trap!"
     Chris nodded.  "I downloaded the code, though.  We'll be able to track them down in no
time flat!"
     Everyone smiled.  "Can my Chris hack or what?" Rei said proudly.  
     Chris suddenly gasped.  Everyone looked at his laptop.  The entire program was...erasing
itself... 
     Lita looked REALLY pissed off.  "Great."
     Chris tried desperately to recover the program, but it was gone.  "Whoever this is," he
paused for a brief second "is REALLY smart..."
     A sudden groan alerted them to Serena waking up.  She looked around at everyone with
sleepy eyes.  "Uh?  What did I miss?"
     
     Chris sat in his room, ignoring Twemo as he played game-boy.  He was worried this
 OW' organization was definitely out to get them...and what was worse was that they had a
VERY advanced computer, whoever they were.  
     He picked up the Great Mambo Chicken and started on chapter 8: ringworlds and Dyson
Spheres.  Not only that, Andrea seemed to be very pissed off at him, and also, the cops might be
on the look out now.  
     Suddenly, the extra weight of a person was on the side of his bed.  Chris put down the
book.  "Ami?  Uh, hi...what do you want?"
     Ami smiled.  "Oh, I was just wondering if you could maybe help me in the advanced
computers class."
     Chris nodded.  "Yup, Sid will be defragged and de-bugged in time."
     "That will be nice.  Not only will your computer be okay again, I'll have someone I can
visit with during the course." Ami hung her head a bit, "Normally no one ever wants to talk with
me, and its hard knowing you don't have many friends, you know."
     Chris nodded.  "If you need any help, no problem.  The instructors here are pretty low-class."
     Ami smiled and got up.  "See you tomorrow, Chris.  Oh, thanks for the cover with the
arcade thingy..." she said, looking at Trevor.
     Chris nodded.  He then returned to his book.  "Hey, Twemo..."
     Trevor sneered.  "What do you want?"
     "Your batteries are low.  You've been playing for twenty hours, straight.  You don't
wanna squint your eyes too much!"
     "You're not my mother!"
     Chris smiled evilly.  "If I was like your mother, I'd be twelve times fatter."
     Suddenly, the Game boy started stuttering, then shut down.
     "See?  Always listen to your mother...or at least one twelfth."


     The man in the lab-coat sat in his command chair.  "Well?"
     One of his aids nodded.  "The police scared them off, sir.  The file included the self-delete 
command as well.  They can't find us."
     His frown didn't fade.  "Okay, crisis one averted.  What about the energy reading near Uranus?"
     "It's a ship, sir."
     "Damn."

       





	                           Chapter 4
                                
     Darien watched with some amusement as Andrew paced back and forth.  "I don't believe
it!  The store *I* work in was robbed!"
     "Really?  What did they take?" Darien asked, sipping a cup of tea.
     Andrew sighed.  "Nothing, as far as THEY can tell." The police were everywhere.
Nothing seemed to be missing, but a strange computer interface cord was found hooked up to the
Sailor V game.  Andrew sighed.  "Maybe they wanted to copy the game and sell it on the black-market.  
It IS pretty popular..." he added.
     Darien rolled back his eyes.  "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but you seem kinda busy,
and I have to go to work soon." he said, dumping his tea out onto the grass.  
     Andrew smiled.  "Well, see you later."
     Darien nodded.  "Right, sure..." he said under his breath.  Just before he left, though, he
snuck behind a group of police officers and pocketed the interface cable.  
     
     He walked down the street to Metro Studios.  He had to work in a half-an-hour anyway,
so he figured a being a little early would help him get that pay-raise.  As he walked through the
main door, he couldn't help but think of little cameras, watching him.  "This is spooky.  At least
with the Negaverse, they didn't hide in bushes and shadows." he said to himself.
     Darien smiled as he passed by a couple of his co-workers.  As he was just about to go
into the bathroom for a whiz, he heard an argument coming from a nearby office.  "That's the
boss' office." he said out loud.  
     One of his fellow workers nodded.  "Yeah," he said, now conversing in Japanese.  "The
boss hired a new woman for that executive finance planner opening."
     Darien gasped.  "*I* wanted that job!"
     His friend smiled.  "Well, don't worry.  She's been arguing with him ever since she came
in this morning.  I wouldn't be surprised if she got fired right now."
     Darien glanced over to the office.  The shadow of a tall woman hunched over his boss'
desk hit the frosted glass.  SHE looked like she was winning whatever they were arguing about,
though.  "Thanks Tetsuo, see you at lunch break." Darien said politely.  
     Why would his boss hire a brand-new person instead of going for one with experience
like himself?  He was just about to dismiss it as equal-opportunity stuff, when he heard
something.  Something like "The Watchers will not be pleased."
     Darien was just about to get closer to eavesdrop, but the door opened abruptly and the
new woman stormed out.  Before he could make sense of everything, the clock on the wall hit
9AM, and he decided he had better get to work.  
     
     Rei sighed as Chris handed her another dish.  "Man, I could go for a break."
     The two had been washing dishes for the last hour now.  The Temple had a lot of china,
and most of it got used every time ALL the girls stayed over for dinner.  Of course, Serena was
the first to leave so she'd never get stuck with the chores.  Chris washed off another plate. 
"Come on, there's only a few more to go."
     She nodded wearily and dried her dish.  "How come YOU'RE so full of energy today?"
     Chris smiled happily.  "Because.  This  camera ball' thing is the first bit of action I've
seen since we toasted Zoicite!"
     Rei smiled.  "Well, don't get too excited.  Remember, we're not exactly playing around
with dummy-targets like Grandpa's bamboo poles."
     "I know."  He sighed.  "It's just great to save the world, you get a warm fuzzy
feeling...kinda like when you stick your tongue in a light-socket!"
     Rei smiled evilly.  "I did that once.  It was kinda fun."
     Chris handed her the last dish.  "I know a cool way of drying these..."
     Rei blinked, looking at the serving-plate.  "How?"
     "Got a toaster?" he asked with an evil grin.

     Later that evening, while Rei and Chris were fixing the blown fuses, Andrea and Maury
were sitting out on the bench overlooking the pond.  Maury was happily sharpening his knife. 
Andrea watched him for a good twenty minutes, then finally got sick of him rubbing his stone
against his knife.  "Isn't it sharp enough?"
     Maury pressed his finger along the blade.  No blood was drawn.  "Nope," he smiled, then
continued.
     Andrea slumped back in her seat.  At first, coming to Japan was a dream-come-true for
her.  Now, it was starting to get boring.  Same-old, same-old...A glimmer of hope entered her
brain as she saw Darien walking up the steps.  
     "Hey!  Darien!" she got up and ran over to him.
     He didn't look too impressed.  "Andrea, can I talk to you later?  I'm kinda in a bad mood
right now, and I just want a good night's sleep."
     Andrea was downright surprised.  He'd always been in a good mood anytime she had
been around him.  This was the first time he seemed down.  "What's wrong?" she asked.
     Darien sighed and sat down on the grass.  Andrea sat with him.  "Well, if it looks like
I'm walking funny, it's because I have ten-thousand jerks up my ass."
     Andrea almost smiled.  "Why?  What happened?"
     "For starters, Andrew was acting like a goof today.  He kept going on and on about how
his precious store got broken into, even though nothing was stolen.  Then, before that, Serena's
dad called me up and started asking where I took her last night, even though she told him we
were all over at the temple, and he's been harassing me lately.  Last but not least, some asshole
bitch took the job I wanted at Metro, and now she thinks she owns the whole building!"
     Andrea sighed.  "That's nothing compared to my problems."
     Darien rolled back his eyes.  "Thanks for being such a good listener..."
     "Sorry, it's just that..." she sighed.  "Never mind..." she got up and walked away.
     Darien caught up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.  "Hey, Andrea?"
     Andrea looked up at him.  
     "I'm sure you're problems will work out okay..." he leaned down and gave her a quick
kiss on the cheek.  
     As Darien walked off, Andrea had a rather goofy grin on her face.  "He's right..." she
said suddenly, running off.

     Rei tapped her foot impatiently.  "Well?"
     Chris rooted through his stuff, looking for a fuse.  "Hey, Mo.  You got a fuse?"
     Maury sighed, "Did he try to dry dishes in the toaster again?"
     Rei smiled.  "Well, I helped..."
     Maury got up.  "I'll fix it.  Just show me where the fuse-box is."
     Rei and him went down the hallway.  Chris sighed and flopped down on his bed.  "Well,
at least Grandpa won't ask me to do dishes again!"
     Andrea came in. "Hi, Fiss."
     Chris smiled.  "Hey, Hooze."  He paused, remembering she was still pissed off at him
and his super-powers.  "Whassup?"
     Andrea sighed.  "Listen, I'm sorry I've been acting all pissy.  It's just that..."
     Chris shrugged.  "Don't worry about it." he smiled.  "Besides, You're pretty lucky too."
     Andrea blinked.  "What do you mean?"
     Chris shrugged.  "How many other people can say they've been kidnaped by a floating
bitch in Nazi-boots, have a brother who fights the forces of evil, and has a nick-name of
 hooze'?"
     





                           Chapter 5
            
     At three in the morning, it finally hit Darien.  Rather like a lightning bolt.  He fell to the
ground after a failed attempt of jumping out of bed, and ran over to his phone.  Luckily, instead
of calling the Temple straight off, he looked at the clock first.  He looked on the wall to see he
jotted down Chris' number, which was on a separate phone, and dialed.  "Come on, please be
awake!"
     Sure enough, Chris answered.  "This is Chris.  It is three A.M.  Do you know where your
amoebas are?"
     Darien skipped the formalities.  "Chris, meet me down at Metro Studios in ten minutes. 
If anyone else is awake, take them too.  I gotta go."
     "Uh, sure...I'm on my way..." Chris said, yawning.
     Darien paused for a moment.  "Why are you still awake anyway?"   
     Chris snickered on the other end.  "Late night web-surfing.  I'll see what I can do."
     The phone hung up.  Darien did the same.  As he got dressed, he remembered WHY he
woke up in the first place.  That new girl, arguing with his boss.  She had said something about
the  Watchers.'  That was a  w' word.  And that's exactly what the O.W. camera was
doing...watching.

     Chris jumped out of bed, putting on his housecoat quickly.  Maury noticed the sudden
rustling and woke up.  "Chris?" she whispered.
     "I gotta go.  You know..." he showed him his disk briefly and pocketed it.
     Maury sat up.  "Cool!  Can I come?!?"
     Chris sighed.  "Sorry.  It could be dangerous."
     Maury pouted.  "Aw, come on.  I can cut up the bad-guys a little!"
     Chris frowned.  "This is serious.  We're not goofing around here, we're saving the
planet."
     Maury sighed.  "Okay...just tell me if I can help."
     Chris nodded and jumped out the window onto the grass outside, still in his housecoat. 
Only a quick "Strike Fiss!" and a blue flash of light signified his transformation.
     Maury sat in his bed for a while.  "Man I'm bored..."

     Darien was already at the Metro building when Chris came running down the street. 
Cherri Hill was only a few blocks away, so it wasn't a long wait.  Darien too had transformed,
and the two looked like rejects from a high-class opera.  "So, why am I here?" Chris asked
finally as Darien lead him through the security gate.  
     Darien looked really concerned.  "I think something's happening tonight at Metro.  The
studio doesn't close until two thirty.  That means, whatever will happen will happen soon.  It's
already three twenty."
     "WHAT will happen?" Chris asked, adjusting his sunglasses.  
     Darien smiled.  "I have no idea."
     Chris leaned up against a lamp post.  "Great.  My weird sleeping habits are rubbing off
on YOU now."
     Darien shrugged.  "Hey.  I have to keep saving Sailor Moon in the middle of the night. 
Who says I'm NOT used to this?!?"
     Chris was about to sit down and wait, when a sharp sound of shattering glass filled the
air.  "Show-time."
     Darien nodded, and the two ran of in the direction of the sound.  "Right on schedule."
     
     Chisten walked casually down the hallway of the deserted Anime section of Metro
Studios.  It was coming on three thirty, but she was walking as casually as when she wasn't
breaking and entering.
     Soon, she got to the head office.  She let herself in with a professional set of army lock-
picks, and quietly shut the door behind herself.  "Okay, I'm in." she spoke into her watch.
     She snuck over to the filing cabinet, picking it's weaker lock with ease.  It open with a
quiet squeak.  She shuffled through the papers and folders until she found Darien's file and
pulled it out of the cabinet.  "Excellent.  I have the item."
     Suddenly, a rose shot across the room from the far window, pinning the document to the
wall.  "I don't think that this is your office." Tuxedo Mask said in a low voice.
     Strike Fiss then appeared next to him, "Let me guess.  You got lost while looking for the
little girl's room." he took out his sword dramatically and pointed it toward Chisten's face.  
     Chisten knew she could not leave empty handed, for she would be severely punished. 
Acting on instinct, she pulled the pin of a laughing gas grenade and freed the papers from the
lovely, floral wallpaper just as the bomb burst into a large cloud of smoke.
     Chris took a step back, "What the...?"
     "I'll take over from here!" Darien shouted, twirling his staff in front of them as an effort
to thin the fog.  As it cleared, all they could see was a nice little hole in the wall, a grenade
canister, and an open window...and no Chisten.  "DAMN!  That was my file!  She must be on to
me!"
     "Oh, great." Chris said, snickering a bit from left over laughing gas.
     Darien began to chuckle as well, "We'd better get out of here before we end up being
reduced to giggling idiots."
     Chris sighed.  "Well, at least she had no idea who I was."
     Darien smiled and patted him on the shoulder.  "Don't worry.  Soon, ALL the bad-guys
will be trying to kill you."
     Chris smiled.  "Promises, promises..."

     "Thank you, Chisten." Chako Serebe congratulated.  "Your efforts will be remembered."
she said, comparing a snapshot taken of Tuxedo Mask to Darien's file photo.  "Very similar;
same height, estimated weight and overall structure.  It's gotta be him..."  Serebe stood up.  "We
needed more proof before we made a move.  Now," she grinned "we are certain.  Well done,
Chisten."
     "Excuse me, my lord, but he isn't our only problem." Chisten added.
     Chako jerked her head up, "Why?  What do you mean?"
     "There was another male warrior with him...I'm not aware of his name or alias, but he
was working side by side with Tuxedo Mask."
     Chako became enraged, "WHAT?!  You mean to tell me that they saw you taking that
document, and you didn't TELL ME?!"
     Mantis coward before her, "I..."
     "We cannot have them knowing what one of my followers looks like." she withdrew a
large, katana from her scabbard.  "And you are too well trained to make such a critical error. 
Was alerting the Sailor Scouts your plan all along?" 
     Chisten gasped.  "What?  NO!  I'd never betray the Watchers!"
     Serebe wasn't convinced.  "You were to become ruler of Jupiter.  Why would you pass
up such an honor?"
     Chisten kept a nervous eye on her master's sword.  "I never meant for them to find me! 
They must have...maybe our contact in Metro Studios leaked info to Darien!"
     "Trying to shift the blame?  Hardly honorable last words..." Serebe lopped off her
servant's head with a swift, powerful swing.  A sliver of blood splattered on the ground in a wide
arc at her feet.  Chisten's body and head fell limp to the ground in a bloody puddle.
     All of the others were shocked into silence.
     "Let this be a warning..." she announced, wiping the blood from her blade with a cloth, "I
will not have carelessness in an operation so important...ever again.  If anyone fails again, I will
execute them, and their family.  I expect nothing less than 150 percent of your best work.  Is that
clear?"
     They all bowed in a respective agreement.
     "I see there is an opening for the ruler of Jupiter.  Anyone who has not claimed a planet
may now fight for the honor." Serebe said, sitting back in her command chair.
     Ten of her warriors all stood up and bowed.  "We have come before you to claim Jupiter
and all of her moons." they all said in practiced ritual.
     "Begin." she replied.  "The last person standing claims Jupiter as theirs to rule."






                           Chapter 6
                                
     Lita woke up everyone with the sweet smell of tenshin wafting from the kitchen.  Ami
came in first.  "Lita?  Why are you up so early?" she asked, looking at a nearby clock, stating it
was only 6:45 AM.  
     Lita smiled.  "I couldn't get much sleep last night, so I did some cooking." she paused. 
"So, when's the computer class?"
     Ami gasped.  "Geeze!  That's right!  It's today!"
     "Well, do you want some breakfast?" Lita offered.
     Ami shook her head.  "Thanks, but I gotta get ready.  It starts at seven!"
     Lita sighed as Ami ran off.  Mina and the cats came in next.  Artemis smiled as he saw
food.  "Aw, Lita.  You shouldn't have!" he jumped up on the table and started heaping tenshin
omelets on his plate.  
     "You're right.  I shouldn't have..." Lita sighed.  "I made you some cat-food, you know..."
     Artemis nodded.  "I know."
     Luna coughed.  Artemis looked around to see everyone looking at him.  "Oh, sorry..." he
put the food back and leapt back to the floor.  
     Mina sighed.  "First they make bets about weather or not we'll die tomorrow, and now
they're helping themselves to buffets."  She smiled.  "They're turning into humans."
     Luna's eyes narrowed.  "Artemis?  A human?  We're all doomed."
     Artemis replied with  accidentally' whipping his tail in her face.  "Oops."
     The smell of food finally got to Serena, and she literally floated into the kitchen on the
vapors.  "Ooooooooooooooh!  Breakfast!"  
     Luna smiled.  "That's what we need.  A cook to get lazybones here motivated to fight
crime."
     Mina nodded.  "The Negaverse wouldn't stand a chance."
     
     Chris launched out of bed with his computer blasting out ZZ Top.  Maury also sprung
out, while Trevor and Damien tried desperately to cover their ears with their pillows.  "Well, I
see the thing went well last night." Maury said under the loud music.
     Chris nodded and turned it down.  "Well, I gotta go.  Freaking computer class..."
     Maury nodded.  "Well, I smell cooking, so Lita's up.  I might as well wake up too."
     Chris got dressed in his favorite shirt.  "University of Mars" and walked over to Rei's
room.  He knocked, but there was no answer. 
     He quietly slid the door open to see Rei, still asleep.  He smiled evilly and walked over to
her.  "When you wake up..." he whispered in her ear "you will be a pumpkin.  A really big,
orange pumpkin."
     Rei opened her eye.  "What?!?"
     Chris smiled.  "Never mind."
     She sat up sleepily.  "Going to the computer class?"
     Chris nodded.  "Also, me and Darien checked out Metro Studios last night.  Someone
broke in and stole his file.  I think they're on to him too."
     Rei went wide-eyed.  "You went without me!?!  You should have woke me up!"
     "Aw, you know I can't wake you up.  You look so cute when you're sleeping." Chris
grinned and gave her a quick kiss.
     "Well, I'll go check it out while you're at class." Rei sighed.  "Oh, and I'll pick up some
candles later."
     "Candles?" Chris blinked.
     Rei tapped him on the nose.  "A pumpkin's gotta look her best."
     Suddenly, Ami burst in.  "Chris!  Hurry!  We'll be late!"
     Chris glanced over to Ami.  "Do you mind?"
     Rei blushed considerably.  The scene of her in rather minimal underwear and Chris
hovering over her in bed DID look a bit intimate.  "Uh, we'll just be a second."
     Ami gasped and shut the door.  "Sorry..." she said from just outside.
     Chris sighed.  "Ain't that our luck?"
     Rei growled.  "She keeps doing that!  Always walking in on us!  Doesn't she know how
to knock?"
     Chris stood up.  "Well, I better go.  Ami will have a heart-attack if I'm late."
     Rei smiled as Chris waved and left.  Ami closed the door behind him, and had a strange
look on her face Rei couldn't quite peg down.  "Mmm, must be nervous.  New cram-school."

     "Report." The man in the white lab coat ordered.
     One of his assistants pulled up a graph on the huge, overhanging Command screen.  "As
suspected, there IS a bug in server 12.  The bug, however, doesn't know it's on our computers."
he smiled.  "It thinks it's on a REGULAR computer."
     He smiled.  "Well, I shall have to congratulate R and D for that idea.  How about the
Point Calculator?"
     The assistant sighed.  "We can get limited response from it, but we have no idea how
accurate it is."
     "Well..." he paused.  "We'll use it, but we will plan like normally.  Any possible futures
it displays are NOT authorized to be acted upon.  Is that clear?"
     Everyone in the command room nodded.  "What about the bug?" the aide asked.
     The man sat down.  "See who it belongs too.  Then, try and find a way of warning the
Sailor Scouts." he paused.  "A very subtle way."


     The class started.  Chris and Ami were seated across from each other, to Ami's delight. 
"Well, at least the class didn't start with  how to turn on your computer'" Chris whispered over
to her.  
     She smiled.  "I hope you're up for a challenge."
     Chris shrugged.  "Who?  Me?  No problem!" he smiled happily.
     Ami smiled back and went back to her computer screen.  She didn't really need to look at
Chris; she had already memorized his face.  And she liked the picture.  Chris had an average,
boyish face, but what really got to Ami was his smile.  It wasn't phony, or forced.  Chris was
generally a nice person, and he loved to smile.  They were on the same table, as the computers in
the class were arranged in  squares' of four desks each.  Ami briefly considered reaching under
the table and caressing his leg.  Then, she remembered Rei was in the picture.  She parked her
hands above the table, and sat, gazing at Chris out of the corner of her eye.
     Chris sighed.  Something was wrong.  The computer was working way too slow for it's
speed.  Something was slowing it down.  In order to find out, Chris dumped the main program
shell and went into the actual system.  It was DOS based.  "Excellent..." he smiled, and began
typing in commands.
     Two things were bugging him.  First, there wasn't any obvious problems with the
computer, and he would probably have to take out his laptop to hack it.  Second, why was the
man sitting to the right of him looking at Ami?
     Wait a second...that's not a man!  Chris immediately began to feel queezy.  He wasn't a
homophobic or anything like that...but that 'woman' looked...just like...a MAN!!!!!!  Chris
coughed out loud.  And it was looking at Ami??
     Wait...Ami was ALSO looking at her!  Chris smirked.  "This should be interesting..." he
thought.  
     Ami wasn't REALLY looking at the man/woman.  In fact, she hadn't even noticed her
yet.  To keep suspicion of her feelings down until she could tell Chris, she was faced the
opposite way, but still had him in her vision.  Ami decided to get Chris' attention.  She wasn't as
good at  hacking' but she managed to get into DOS anyway.  She found a network  send'
program.  "Perfect!" she thought to herself.
     Chris looked around the file directory for nearly five minutes before realizing there was a
hidden directory somewhere.  He took a disk from his laptop and plugged it in.  "Let's tango..."
     The hidden directory was called  OW' and Chris smiled to himself.  He quickly tried
downloaded it to the disk...making sure it had NO virus first.  He still wasn't sure if that's what
was slowing the system down. 
     He was just about to quit, when the screen read "Hi Chris!"
     Chris blinked.  "They know who I am??!!!?" his mind panicked Then the message
continued.  
     "It's Ami!  I got into DOS while the instructor wasn't looking."
     Chris rolled back his eyes.  "Bloody hell." he sighed in relief.
     Chris found the  send' program too.  "Ami, I found a hidden directory named OW in
here!"
     The screen was blank for a moment.  Then displayed "Are you sure?  That would mean
someone here is another 'watcher'"
     Chris nodded to himself.  "I downloaded the file.  Get back into the shell before someone
sees us.  For all we know, the instructed could be a 'watcher'."
     The two quickly logged back in.  Class was over an hour later.  Ami and Chris were
walking out, just as the  thing' besides him walked out.  Chris snickered.  Alex Ten'ou casually
approached Ami, then leaned against the wall, blocking her path.
     "Hello, girl.  You know, I always liked women with blue hair."
     Ami's eyes shot wide open, she immediately backed up, and, turning pale, gasped, "Are-are 
you coming on to me?!"
     The blond with a mushroom cut smiled, "Don't think I didn't notice you staring at me
with love in your eyes."  She winked.
     Ami looked insulted.  "Why, YOU!  I wasn't staring at YOU, I was staring at - uh..."  
     Alex frowned.  "Well, then.  Make sure you know what you're doing before you start
next time."
     Chris was observing Ami's comical reaction with badly hidden amusement.
     Ami became enraged.  She rolled up her sleeve and, to even Chris's surprise, leveled the
bitch with a Mortal Kombat style uppercut.  "Come on, Chris.  Ooh!  This is so humiliating!" 
She grabbed his hand and drug him behind her.
     "I gathered that." Chris said on the verge of laughter.  He waved an apologetic hand to
Alex.   "Nice to meet you, uh, miss." he laughed uncontrollably as Ami refused to slow down
and drug him off down the street. 
     As the two went out of sight, another girl with long, wavy light-blue hair approached
Alex, "What were you doing hanging all over her?!" she said in a jealous tone.
     "Hey, chill out, honey." the blond said, standing up, "She was flirting with me first, or
something.  Michelle Kaiou, you know that you're the only woman on my mind."
     The blue haired one smiled gently and then, as sickening to some people as it would be,
was embraced in a long, passionate kiss from Alex, who seemed to be the  man' out of the
couple.
     Melvin stood far away, scratching his head.  "And some how, I can't get a date!" 

     Then, he sat on the bed, thinking.   "Mmmmmm" he said to himself. 
     He decided to concentrate on the directory he downloaded.  He turned off all the lights
except for a small lamp.  There were three files.  Each a binary number.  
     He decided to take a peak inside.
     EDIT 10000000
     The screen displayed three numbers.  "That sucks."
     EDIT 10101010
     The screen was the same.
     Finally, the last file.
     Loading...
     Eighty five thousand lines of code streamed past the screen.  Chris blinked.  Then smiled. 
"Anyone wanna crash a few passenger jets?"
     At the top of the screen of gibberish only computers can read, there was a single line of
English text.

     Omega Web






                           Chapter 7

     Serena looked at Andrea disbelievingly. "You get HOW MUCH for an allowance?"
     Andrea shrugged.  "What?  Is thirty bucks a lot?"
     Serena began crying.  
     "What?" Andrea asked.
     "I only get five!" Serena whimpered.  "Hey..." her eyes brightened.  "Where did you get
that?"
     She was pointing at Andrea's little pin. It was a tiny little mask shape.  All gold.  Andrea
smiled.  "Oh, this?  I'm not too sure.  I think it's a family heirloom or something."
     Serena blinked.  "Wow!  It looks cool!  I wish I had one..."
     Before they could say any more, Trevor and Damien came walking up to them.  "Hey,
bitch.  Can't survive Calgary without your brother?" they snickered.
     Andrea clenched her fists, "No, it's just things weren't the same without you two to
insult."
     Trevor sighed.  "You just couldn't stand to be away from ME for so long." he tried to
"strike a pose."
     Andrea almost puked.
     Damien laughed.  "Oh, oh...looks like you hit a nerve!  Maybe her and Serena, the
donkey-brain, will team up and waste us!"
     Andrea and Serena looked angry.  Andrea was about to say something when Darien
popped up from behind the two morons and picked them up.
     "Were these lesbians hitting on you?" he asked in a serious tone.
     "Yes, dispose of them immediately." Serena ordered, trying to impersonate Queen Beryl.
     Darien quoted an old phrase of his, "Consider it done, my queen."  He then disappeared
behind the temple.  Two minutes later, splashing and shouting was heard.  He then came back. 
"Tell Grandpa I was at my apartment ALL day."     
     Andrea and Serena both smiled.  "What a guy..." Andrea sighed.
     
     "So?  Are the watchers really called the Omega Web?" Rei asked.
     Chris shook his head.  "I'm not sure.  Maybe the Omega Web is just Central's server
name back on the moon or something.  Or, it COULD be these watcher people Darien and I ran
into."
     Rei smiled.  "You always think of things in terms of science.  Don't you think Central
could be magic?"
     Chris smiled back.  "Nope.  All magic is just a science you don't understand.  I bet my
sword even has an explanation."
     Rei sighed.  "I prefer to think of things more romantically."
     Chris nodded.  "Me too, but I can assure you, Central isn't magic."
     "So, what's an Omega, anyway?" Rei smiled.
     "Well," he began "it's a weird little symbol, used in electronics, or it's just a fancy word. 
However..."
     "What?" Rei asked.
     Chris thought for a second.  "I was reading in one of my books about something called
the 'Omega Point'."
     "What's that?"
     "It's supposed to be the point in human development where we know everything."
     "What do you mean?  Like everyone memorizes encyclopedias?" Rei laughed.
     Chris shook his head.  "No, I mean EVERYTHING in existence!"  He paused.  "We'd be
gods."
     Rei shrugged.  "So, if you know everything, you could make spy-cameras out of paper!"
     Chris blinked.  "You're right!  But, if the watchers need to find out what the Sailor
Scouts are, than they wouldn't know everything, would they?"
     Rei frowned.  "What are you saying?"
     "There's two groups watching us."
     Suddenly, Rei gasped.  Chris grabbed her shoulder.  "What's wrong?"
     "I sense evil..." Rei shuddered.  
     Chris glanced around quickly.  "Come on, let's get out of this crowd.  Probably more
cameras or something."
     The spotted a nearby park.  Rei sat down on a bench, holding her head.  "It's not going
away.  And it's bad..."
     Chris was lost on ideas.  "Do you have a headache or something?  Can I help?"
     Rei sat back in the park bench.  "No, no...I'm okay...I just need to take a breather."
     Chris nodded and sat down next to her.  "Uhhg.  All this because we find a camera in a
bush."
     Rei nodded and smiled.  "So, what was this about at computer class today?"
     Chris sighed.  "Well, I'm not sure, but I think Ami's in love with the instructor or
something.  Plus, we sit next to this strange-looking man/chick person who actually came on to
her after class."
     Rei blinked.  "Onto Ami??"
     Chris smiled.  "It was hilarious.  I wish I had a picture of Ami's reaction."
     Rei leaned closer to him.  "I was just thinking...why don't we go on a date."
     Chris shrugged.  "Sure."
     Rei shook her head.  "We haven't been on a full-fledged date since just after we met. 
I'm not talking a movie or anything.  I mean dinner, dancing and the entire evening to
ourselves." 
     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "You know, you're right.  We've either never bothered, or have
been too busy with the Negaverse or something."  He smiled. 
     Rei smiled.  "I already made reservations at the restaurant on Saturday."
     The two leaned closer and closer, going in for a kiss, when they hear a humming.  They
both growled.  "Not again..." Chris said, finding the noise was coming from behind the park
bench.  
     "Well, at least I was right about sensing evil." Rei sighed.
     Chris found the camera ball.  He turned it around to make sure it was from the same
"OW" place.  Instead of having the initials...it read:

"Duck in 3 seconds!"

     Chris blinked.  "Shit!  Rei, DUCK!"
     The two dove to the ground as the park bench they were sitting on was hit by a barrage of
ten arrows, which would have hit their heads.  Rei looked back in horror.  "What the FUCK is
going on!?!?!"
     As if to answer her question, the bushes around them exploded as people jumped into the
grassy clearing.  Chris looked around and counted at least thirty.  They were all dressed in a type
of Ninja costume, with a small logo on their chests.  "All this because we look for words that
start with W?" he gasped.
     The lead Ninja walked up to them cautiously.  "Sailor Mars.  You are surrounded, and
outnumbered.  You will listen to our terms of your surrender."
     Rei gasped.  "WHAT?  How do you know who I am!?!"
     Chris got up.  "You assholes better be here to feed the birds."
     The leader laughed.  "You must be the one who helped Tuxedo Mask out two nights ago.
I guess I really should thank you.  Because of Chisten's failure, I was handed the planet of
Jupiter to rule over."
     "You can't be serious..." Rei smirked.   "Who the hell ARE you guys, anyway?"
     The ninjas all looked toward their leader.  He sighed.  "I see no reason to tell you.  You'll
be dead in a few minutes anyway."
     Chris blinked.  "Holy shit!  The bad-guy didn't give away his evil plot!"
     Rei gave him a weird look.  
     "What?" he grinned.
     Rei turned her attention back to their advisarys.  "Get outta my face before I get mad."
she took out her power stick.  
     Chris looked down at his hand.  The camera ball had vaporized, leaving a trace of
powder in his hand.  "Rei, I think this thing tried to warn us..."
     "We have a bit more pressing concern right now, Chris..." Rei growled.  
     The lead Ninja took out a rather fancy scroll of paper and began reading.  "You will
relinquish your claim on your planet.  Further more, you will give us any items which give you
power or ownership to your planet.  If you do not comply, we will have the right to take your
claim to Mars by force." he smiled behind his mask.  "PLEASE don't comply..."
     "These people watch too many bad movies." Chris said happily.  
     The Ninja looked unimpressed.  "Well?  We await your answer."
     Rei pulled out an ofuda.  "You want my answer?  Fuck you!" she chucked the scroll at
the Ninja's head.  It caught him off guard and he had no time to stop it.  He screamed as it
attached to his head and ignited.  His head exploded in fire, and the body fell to the ground.  The
other ninjas all gasped.  
     Chris sighed.  "They're gonna be pissed!" he held his disk out in front of him.  "Strike
Fiss!"
     Rei nodded and transformed.  "Mars Star POWER!"
     "ATTACK!" the crowd of ninjas roared, enraged at the death of their leader.  They all
pulled out swords, knives and various arrow-shooting weapons.  
     Chris and Rei both went wide-eyed as all thirty ninjas began charging at them in a huge
semi-circle.  "Oooo, this is gonna hurt..." Chris said, pulling out both of his swords.  "Get
READY TO PARTY!" he yelled, bringing his swords together, then around his head in a
sweeping arc.
     The resulting arc of energy shot forward at lightning speed, then slammed into the torso's
of five oncoming ninjas, vaporizing them.  Rei turned to the others.  "Mars Firestorm...FLASH!"
     Rei shot a huge jet of fire at the line of ninjas, which promptly incinerated seven of them
into crispy-critters.  The rest were shot back from the resulting explosion of the fire splattering
everywhere off the fallen ninjas.
     As the ninjas regrouped, Chris and Rei watched happily.  "Do you think they'll give up?"
Chris asked.
     Rei shook her head.  "Doubt it."
     Chris put away his second sword back into the bottom of his scabbard, then pointed his
katana at the ninjas.  "Looks like your were right."
     The ninjas all took out bows and quickly loaded arrows into them.  Rei gasped.  Chris
quickly took off his coat and held it in front of her.  The ninjas fired and 18 deadly arrows
streaked toward them.  Chris held out his sword.  "FISS!" he yelled, causing his energy pulse to
deflect the arrows coming toward him.  One got through, however, and nicked his shoulder. 
"Fuck!"
     Rei was protected by Chris' armored jacket, and leapt up once the arrows had stopped. 
"Mars Celestial Fire...SURROUND!"
     As her fiery disks distracted the ninjas, she grabbed Chris and ran.  Chris held his
shoulder painfully.  "Well, that was fun."
     "Why didn't you keep your coat on?" Rei growled.  
     Chris sighed.  "I thought my  Fiss' command would work.  And your skirt hardly
provides that kind of protection."
     They ran into an alley as the group of ninjas passed them, running in their last known
direction.  Rei took a look at his shoulder.  "Well, at least they didn't use any poison."
     Chris went wide-eyed.  "Oh yeah...I never though of that..."  
     Rei sighed.  "Damn.  The groceries.  Grandpa's going to freak."
     "Well, look on the bright side." Chris reached into his pocket.  "I got some of that
powdery shit on my hand from the camera.  Now, we might be able to detect them once Ami
analyzes it."
     Rei smiled.  "And you two can check out computer class tomorrow."
     Chris nodded.  "Looks like this is getting more complicated than finding out what W
stands for."
     Rei raised an eyebrow.  "Will you need backup?"
     Chris shook his head.  "No, too suspicious.  I don't think they quite know about me...yet. 
Only that I'm helping you.  And as far as I know, they haven't seen Ami transform."
     Rei frowned.  "Even so, you'll still have to watch out."
     
     Serebe sat in her chair quietly.  The report came back from the strike force.  Considering
the odds, they did badly.  She held her face in her hand and thought.  The most disturbing fact is
that somehow, they expected an attack just before her force struck.  
     There were more factors at work than she'd previously thought.

     "Good job.  Did the powder-camera self-destruct on time?" the man in the lab coat asked.
     A few technicians nodded.  "Yes, we perfected the powderer.  It's a good thing Chris has
such great ducking skills." laughed one of them.
     "What about Uranus and Neptune?  What's the expected Point?" 
     "Soon.  Probability...99.2%"






                           Chapter 8

     Chris sat at his computer, idly typing in gibberish, trying to look busy to the teacher.  He
was lost.  His laptop couldn't find the hidden directory anymore.  That meant someone must
have known he was snooping around.  Clever.  
     Ami had gotten the seat right next to Chris this time.  And she wasn't even aware her
computer existed.  She was too busy contemplating weather or not to jump Chris right in the
middle of class.  Chris was aware of a steady gaze to the left of him, and sighed.  The least Ami
could be doing was helping out a little.
     And now, thanks to the miracle of modern story-writing, we take you INTO the minds of
Ami, Chris and Alex!  Oooo!  Spooky!

     Chris: Mmm, this sucks.  I should have brought some viruses to try and fuck up the code.
     Ami: Aw, fuck the assignment.  I'm just going to daydream.
     Alex: Wow, she's really digging me!  I bet she moved across from me to get a better
view!
     Chris: Meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow-meow-meow...
     Ami: What does Rei got that I haven't got anyway?
     Alex: Hey!  Maybe I can get her in a threesome with me and Michelle!  Alex!  That's
sick!  How dare you think of that.  (Smile)
     Chris: ...and our chitty chitty bang bang loves-us-to...heah-hooh...ramalamadingdong!
     Ami: Oh oh, I'm having that dream again!  Oh well.  Who cares if I'm in public?  I'll just
stop it before the good part...
     Alex: Oh oh, she's going into that love-trance again...I didn't realize I was THAT hot!
     Chris: Oh no.  Ami's doing that THING again.  Not only that, she thinks I don't notice. 
Man.  You'd think just because I'm a super hero...Well, enough of that!  Let's see what's in the
old garbage files...
     Ami: Ooo!  He's typing again...faster...oh yeah...POUND those keys, baby!
     Alex: Is she fondling her keyboard?  
     Chris: What the HELL is she doing to her keyboard?  Mmm, I'm going to have to find the
server.  That bug must have come from a hidden network or something.  Whoever programed
that Omega Web thing is using all the tricks.  Class is almost over, I'll check it out afterwards. 
Yeah!  A little "Mission Impossible"!
     Ami: Mmmm, that would be cool, if we stayed after class...all alone...
     Alex: I'll have to stay after and find out if she's interested in a date.  Or maybe...

     Suddenly, the clock hit four and the students began shuffling out.  Chris hung near the
door, then circled back along the outer desks, carefully avoiding the teacher, who was quite
possibly a Watcher spy, by hiding behind the door.  Little did he notice the two girls in different
hiding places.
     The door clicked shut, and the jingle of keys confirmed it was locked.  Chris suddenly
got worried.  What if he got trapped in here?  He took a deep breath, and decided not to worry
about that now.
     He smiled and decided to hide under the desk until any security systems activated.  The
lights went dim, and a few laser beams lashed out along the floor, ceiling and windows.  Rei and
him were...up late...last night, and Chris began to doze off in the comfy light.  
     Ami smiled to herself.  She had seen Chris go under a nearby desk not too long ago.  "He
must be waiting for me!  He noticed me looking!" She thought.  
     Carefully, she peered up from behind her hiding place behind a potted plant.  
     Chris looked around.  It was time he started looking for the server.  Suddenly, a hand
touched his shoulder.  "Ahh!"
     Ami giggled.  "Did I scare you?"
     Chris was wide-eyed.  "Geeze!" he yelled under his breath.  "I thought you left with the
others!  I didn't want to get you involved if I tripped the security systems!"
     Ami just smiled.  "Thanks for looking out for me, but I'm a big girl..."
     Chris was trying to wedge himself past Ami, but she was blocking his escape from under
the desk.  "Uh, Ami...could I just...I need to look for the server..."
     "Oh?  I decided on something a bit better..." she leaned forward, embracing him in a kiss. 
     Chris almost launched back in shock.  "Ami??"
     She was about to lean into him for another kiss, when a voice behind them suddenly said
"WHAT THE HELL??!!??"
     The both looked back to see Alex, standing with arms crossed, glaring at Ami.  
     Ami turned, then blushed.  "What do YOU want?  Can't you see this is private?"
     Chris shook his head.  "No...really...in fact, why don't you two get a room..."
     Alex flicked her nose up  "It's not private when you're flirting with me through out the
class...then expect me to just forget about it!"
     Chris just shook his head.  "All I wanted to do was search for the server.  Do I deserve
this?"
     Ami blinked.  "What?  You mean you didn't stay after so we could be alone?"
     Alex smiled.  "Ooo!  That's an original line..."
     "Would you...please move!" Chris said, trying to crawl out from under the desk with Ami
in the way.
     Chris finally got out and brushed himself off.  "Wait to go.  Now we've probably alerted
every security system in this..."  A piece of lint from his dusting-himself-off hit a nearby laser. 
The doors and windows were instantly sealed off via 2 inch thick steel slabs, and the room was
bathed in red light.  "Uhhhh, never mind..."
     "What's going on!!??" Alex yelled, frantically looking around at ll the flashing lights.  
     Chris sighed.  "Listen.  We're about to be in serious shit.  I suggest you stay close.  Don't
worry, we'll protect you, right Ami?"
     Ami growled.  "Sure.  Yeah."
     Alex looked at the two.  "What the hell are you talking about?"
     Suddenly, the main door smashed open.  A ninja with a mean-looking sword came
through the door.  In a flash, Chris leapt forward.  He knew enough to know the ninja wasn't
ready, and he used it to his advantage.  On his way, he grabbed a chair, then used his momentum
to hurtle the chair at the ninja's head.  
     The chair launched into the ninja's head, throwing him back painfully.  
     Ami took out her data computer.  "Chris!  There's more on the way!"
     Chris looked back.  "How many?"
     Ami looked at the screen.  "I-I...the number keeps going up!  At least forty!"
     "So much for throwing chairs." Chris sighed, running over to his book bag and laptop.  
     Alex watched in amazement as eight ninja's smashed through the already broken
doorway.  "Who-who are you?!?"
     The lead ninja looked puzzled.  "Aren't you Mercury?"
     Ami frowned.  "Get out of here!"
     Alex didn't budge, though.  "You...you guys are the Watchers!"
     The ninja blinked.  "How do you know about..."
     Suddenly, Alex pulled out a weird looking object.  "URANUS, PLANET...POWER!" she
yelled.
     Chris and Ami looked at each other, then back over to Alex as she transformed into a
Sailor Scout.  "Ami!  Transform!  I'll get us an escape route!" Chris yelled, plugging his
computer into the network.  
     By this time, the ninjas started to charge at the new Scout.  "In the name of Uranus, I will
kill you and your retched organization!" Uranus growled.  She held her hand in the air.  "World
SHAKING!" 
     She brought her arm down in a quick snap, causing a dusty explosion beneath her feet.  A
ball of light, surrounded by a ring-shape, launched forward from her feet, ripping up he ground
as it sped forward.  It left the ground and hit the oncoming ninjas, plowing through them like a
knife through butter.  
     After the tenth ninja was dispatched, the ball hit the wall and dissipated.  Uranus looked
satisfied at the reduced numbers of ninja.  "I knew you assholes would try for MY planet soon..."
     Ami, still pissed off that her romantic interlude with Chris had been cut short, frowned. 
"They weren't after YOU, you idiot, they were after Mercury." she said proudly, sporting her
Sailor Scout outfit.  
     Uranus sighed.  "So.  You Inner Scouts finally decided to show yourselves."  Five more
ninjas leapt forward, aiming for Uranus.  
     Ami spotted them.  "Mercury Ice Bubbles...FREEZE!" she shot out a mist that instantly
froze their advasaries into icy chunks.  
     Suddenly, the lights went back on, and the windows reverted to their original state.  Chris
leapt up from the desk with his computer in hand.  "Let's get outta here! The security system
detected eighty more on the way!"
     Even to the Sailor Scouts, eighty was too much.  In that type of crowd, attacking a few of
them would only open their backs up for attack from the rest.  Mercury nodded and hit the wall
with another freeze-spell.  Chris and Alex ran toward the weakened area with chairs in their
hands.
     One slam, and they broke free.  Instead of running, however, Uranus stopped.  "World
SHAKING!"
     This time, her attack hit the building's foundation.  A huge explosion was heard inside,
and one entire side of the two-story office building collapsed.  
     "What the hell did you do that for?!?" Mercury gasped. 
     Uranus frowned.  "They were the enemy.  They want to destroy us, so I did it to them,
first."
     Chris grabbed her arm.  "Wait!  Is there a Sailor Saturn?"
     "What do you care?"
     Chris pulled out his transformation disk.  "Cause I'm prince of Saturn."
     Uranus smiled.  "Ah, you must be her brother.  We haven't met her yet, but Pluto told us
about her." she began walking off.  "We'll be in touch."
     Chris and Ami stood there, in the middle of Tokyo, as people ran off to report the scene. 
Chris turned to Ami.  "Now what the FUCK were you doing back there?"
     Ami blushed.  "Uhhh..."
     Chris just walked off.  "See you back at the temple..." he said coldly.
     "Yeah..." Ami replied quietly.






                           Chapter 9
                                
     Luna's eyes shot wide-open.  "Another Sailor Scout?!?"
     Artemis held out his paw.  "That's five bucks, missy."
     The black cat angerly forked over the money to her companion.  "So?  What happened? 
What planet is she from?  What..."
     "All I know is she's some sort of sick FREAK!" Ami fumed, still mad at Alex's passes
toward her.
     Chris sighed.  "I don't know about that, but she DID seem to know a lot more about the
 Watchers' as she called them, than we do."
     Rei smiled.  "At least we know what they're called now."
     Darien yawned.  "Well, what I want to know is how this Alex got in.  Weren't you
staying alone?"
     Chris glanced briefly over to Ami.  "Yeah...but she must have stayed after for
something."
     Rei nodded.  "So, how many ninjas came up against you this time?"
     "At least eighty." Chris sighed.  "That must mean they have a lot of members.  Why else
would they send so many against just three scouts?  They probably only expected Ami anyway."
     Lita nodded.  "It just doesn't seem right.  Where would all these ninja-type people be
coming from?  It's hard to hide so many people, and still be on call to attack within a minutes
notice."
     Chris smiled suddenly.
     Rei smiled too.  "What is it?"
     "Well...I was just thinking...if we trail these weird ninja-guys back to their hide-out, we'd
have an advantage finally!"
     Serena smiled too.  "Alright!  We'll be able to moon-dust them before dinner!"
     Darien crossed his arms.  "And just how do you intend we follow these ninjas back to
their hideout?"
     Chris pointed to Artemis.  "Artemis.  Get something to cover that crescent moon of
yours."
     Rei smiled evilly.  "Hey!  Yeah!  You cats would be the perfect spies!  Artemis here
could trail the ninjas back to their base without even being detected!"
     Artemis gasped.  "ME?!?!  NO way!"
     Mina picked up Artemis by his front legs.  "You always said you wanted to help out."
     "I did?"
     "Well, I'm sure that's what you always wanted to say!" Mina giggled.
     Luna sighed.  "We're all doomed.  What if he doesn't get back?"
     Chris pulled out his laptop.  "That's covered too.  All Artemis has to do is be a target for
a camera to follow."
     "Can't Luna go?" Artemis whined.  "She's black!  Yeah!  More stealthy!"
     "Sorry, Artemis.  I need a white target to get a good fix." Chris shrugged.
     Lita blinked.  "What camera are you going to use?"

     Darien zoomed up to the fallen Fujistzima Computers Tech institute building on his
motorbike.  He had Artemis on his shoulder.  "Okay.  Ami scanned the debris, so there's at least
three ninja still alive in there.  They'll work their way out, and you follow.  We'll do the rest."
     Artemis sighed.  "Well, I've had a good life.  It's been nice knowing you, Darien..." he
hopped down to the ground and walked off towards the building.  
     Darien smiled and zoomed off before any Watchers saw him.
     Artemis sighed and hid behind a large rock.  The police had long since came and gone. 
Because the building  mysteriously collapsed' off hours, nobody was believed to be inside, so no
search-and-rescue was attempted.  The Watchers inside were safe from being found out.  Now,
only a line of police-tape guarded the building.  
     It was coming on twilight.  Chris said that was the best time, so Artemis would stand out
better against the ground.
     Artemis saw movement in the pile of debris, only five minutes after Darien had dropped
him off.  "Well, Scouts.  I hope you're watching!" 
     He walked quietly over to a large rock.  It moved suddenly, and rolled away to reveal a
ninja, badly hurt, but alive nonetheless.  He limped out into the open, then began walking down
an alley.  Artemis followed.

     The Sailor Scouts all huddled around Chris as he began typing.  Andrea and Maury were
even allowed in on the meeting.  Chris began tapping into a spy satellite.  "Remember.  This
never happened." he smiled.
     Suddenly, an overhead image of downtown Tokyo appeared on the tiny laptop screen.  
     Chris zoomed in with a touch of a key, and soon, they saw a bright white dot, walking
down an alley.  Everything else was too faded to see, but they eventually realized it was Artemis. 
Rei smiled.  "So, that's why you asked him to go.  He's the only distinguishable object the
satellite can pick up!"
     Chris nodded.  "As you can see, he's following a moving black splotch. Normally, we
could have never found that ninja unless we had his exact co-ordinates.  He looks like any other
person from orbit.  With Artemis following him like that, he acts like a little tracer beacon."
     Maury patted Chris on the back.  "Using cats as guided missiles.  What will you think of
next?"
     Andrea smiled.  "There's probably easier ways to track ninjas, but this is the most fun!"
          
     Artemis wasn't having fun.  So far, the ninja had been very careful to look behind
himself.  They had gone through three murky alleys, up a fire-escape, and now were crossing a
rickety-looking bridge that connected the fire-escape to an old abandoned warehouse.  
     Artemis crossed the bridge after the ninja got across as not to rock it and alert him to his
movements.  
     As he crossed the bridge, he saw the ninja key in a number in an electronic door-lock
located on a roof-access door.  He was too far away to read the code, but figured that was the
least of his problems.  If this building was just another diversionary way point on the ninja's trip
home, he'd have to follow him inside.  
     He leapt inside just before the door closed behind the dark-clothed figure.  
     Inside, he realized he was falling down a flight of stairs.  His leap had carried him too
far.  "MeOOOWWWW!" he screamed past the shocked ninja's head.  
     He hit head-first on a step, then bounced the rest of the way down the staircase. 
     As his eyes adjusted to the new, bright surroundings, he saw hundreds of ninja-clothed
people looking at him.  Oh shit... he thought.
     Suddenly, a woman came up to him.  "Well well!  A cat!  Isn't youze adorable!" she
cooed, picking Artemis up.
     Artemis blinked and meowed.  
     "Ah!  Mr Fitzu.  I see you're back from your mission." she said suddenly turning her
attention to the ninja Artemis had been following.  
     Mr Fitzu coughed rather loudly.  "Sorry, Serebe, but Mercury got way.  She also had help
from the one who helped Tuxedo Mask out at Metro, and a new Scout showed up."
     Serebe smiled.  "Well, aren't you lucky.  I was going to kill you for failing.  However,
you have brought me information of a new Scout?  I will spare you for this.  Good job."
     The ninja smiled weakly.  "Yeah, nothing to it..."
     "Please report to your station and write up a report." Serebe ordered.  
     Fitzu nodded and walked past the crowd of ninjas.  Serebe turned to the group.  "Okay. 
You now have a new enemy.  I think you should practice for an extra hour tonight."
     The ninjas all bowed, then began sparing.  Serebe smiled.  "So, little kitty, what's your
name?"
     Artemis just meowed.  He was glad Rei had covered up his little crescent moon with
white makeup.  There's no telling what they'd do to him if they found out he was a Scouts pet.
     Serebe took him over to her chair and sat down.  "Well, since you have no collar or ID, I
claim you as my own." she put him in her lap.  "Now, we have to find you a name."
     Artemis blinked.  "I just KNOW she's going to name me 'Fluffy' or something..." he
shivered to himself.

     The Scouts all looked at the screen intensely for the next ten minutes.  Artemis didn't
come out.  Chris finally shut the cover.  "I guess we found the Watcher base."
     Lita slammed her fists together.  "Let's rumble."






                           Chapter 10

     Rei peered around the corner of the hallway.  Everything was quiet.  Grandpa was
probably in bed early tonight.  "Go!  Go!" she waved the others past.
     All the Sailor Scouts ran out the door and into the bushes to avoid detection by Grandpa. 
They all realized they had two visitors.  Chris looked over to Maury and Andrea.  "What the
HELL are you doing?"
     Andrea frowned.  "I'm bored, and I'm not going to let you hoard all the fun for yourself."
     Maury nodded.  "We have knives.   We're smart.  It's not like we can't kick ass on a few
extra ninjas for you."
     Rei frowned, "We already went over this, remember?" she told Andrea.  "You can help
by making it look like we're back home."
     Andrea stepped back, "So I'll bring one of the training swords or something, okay?  I'll
do anything...but you have to let me come with you."  She looked over at her brother, "Chris,
please?"
     Chris blinked.  "Oh, sure.  What happens if you die?  How'm I'm going to explain THAT
to mom and dad?  You aren't even a super hero!"
     Andrea blinked, then nodded.  "Yeah, yeah... I'll stay." she mumbled.
     Maury smiled.  "Hey, if you see Sailor Uranus, Chris, don't forget to say:"
     "Huh, huh, huh...Maybe YOUR-anus!" they both  Beavised".  Chris nodded and the
Scouts ran out the door, leaping like freaks, with Chris  running behind them, laptop in hand.  
     Andrea made sure that they were out of sight.  "Okay, Maury, let's follow them."
     He blinked, "What?  You got problems?  He said to stay right here!"
     Andrea rolled her eyes back.  "Come ON, Mo.  I know that you of all people want part of
the action!"
     Maury thought a moment, then grinned, "I'll go get my knives."

     Artemis frowned slightly, stuck on Serebe's lap as she was writing down a letter to
someone.  The Scouts still hadn't arrived after one hour.  Artemis was beginning to wonder if
the satellite even tracked him correctly.  For all he knew, the Scouts would never find him again,
and he would be stuck with the name "Kittles."
     Yes.  If there was ONE name that a cat could hate more than "Fluffy", this was one of
them.  "Kittles."  Artemis shivered.
     Serebe looked down from her little notepad.  "Aw, poor Kittles.  Are you cold?"
     Artemis shook his head and meowed.  
     "Well, if you get cold, just let me know." she smiled, then returned to her notes.
     Artemis had gotten a good view of the Watcher base during the last hour.  The warehouse
was one large floor, with all windows and doors shut tight with steel plates.  The main command
center was a makeshift 'room' surrounded by half-height walls.  Serebe's chair sat in the middle
of a semi-circle of computer desks, all manned by constantly-typing assistants.  Outside of the
center room, the warehouse was split into two more areas.  One, he couldn't see because of a
strange fog emanating from within it's walls.  The other housed ninjas.  Artemis had counted at
least a thousand of them.  
     Artemis sighed.  This was going to be interesting.
     Serebe looked down at him.  "Did you just sigh?"
     Artemis went wide-eyed.  "Meow?"
     "Wait a second..." she picked him up and looked at his face closely.  Her thumb came up
around his forehead, rubbing off the white powdery cover on his moon.  "BAKA!" she yelled,
throwing Artemis to the ground.  "You're Sailor Venus' cat, Artemis!  Aren't you!?!"
     Artemis gasped.  "Oh shit..."
     Serebe pulled out her sword.  "You little flea-infested bastard!  I bet you lead the Scouts
here, didn't you!" she paused, thinking.  "RED ALERT!  Go to full battle status!" she yelled.
     The floor of the warehouse erupted in shouts of ninjas barking orders at one another,
trying to get ready for an attack.
     It came quicker than she expected.  A sword blade jammed itself into one of the window
covers and sliced it open in less than a second.  "Venus!  NOW!" Chris yelled, retrieving his
sword out of the way.
     Venus was behind him.  "Venus Love Chain...Encircle!" she shot out her attack toward
Serebe and Artemis.  
     Artemis jumped out of the way as the chain wrapped itself around Serebe's waist.  Sailor
Moon was next in line as the ninjas all ran to help their leader.  "HOLD IT!" she yelled.  "One
move and your leader gets a tiara in the head!" she pulled off her tiara and started it's glowing
spin mode.  
     All the ninjas stopped dead in their tracks.  Rei and Chris jumped through the window
and retrieved Artemis.  "Nobody move." Chris said, keeping his sword to Serebe's throat.  "We
won't kill her unless you try anything."
     It seemed to be working.  The thousand or so ninjas didn't move, and they all looked
worried for their leader.  Rei put her hand over Serebe's mouth just incase she ordered them to
attack.  
     Artemis jumped into Venus' hands.  "Thank god!  That bitch named me Kittles!!"
     Venus frowned, keeping her love-chain in tight grasp.  "You named MY cat Kittles?"
     Serebe mumbled something, then was shoved out the window.  Chris and Rei smiled at
the ninjas just before they left.   
     The all gathered outside.  "Let's GO!" Lita yelled.  Venus wrapped her chain around
Serebe tighter and they were off into the neighboring vacant lot.  
 
     Chris paced back and forth in front of the tied-up Serebe.  "Well?  What about these
cameras?"
     Serebe frowned.  "I have no idea what you're talking about."
     "SILENCE!" Chris yelled in a 'German interrogator' voice.  " Ve halve vays oof making
you talk!"
     Rei shook her head.
     "Well, she doesn't know." Chris shrugged, then sat down on the ground as Darien
smiled.
     "Well?  What should we do with her?" Darien asked evilly.
     "We could call the police." Ami shrugged.
     Mina frowned.  "Do you think that's wise?  What could they do?"
     Serebe smiled.  "It's too late.  You'll never escape the Lords.  By staying in one area,
you're only facilitating your destruction."
     The Scouts all looked at her and blinked.  Serena growled.  "I'm SICK of all you bad-
guys saying it's too late, and that we're all doomed." 
     Serebe strained against Venus' love chain across her chest.  "I had more than enough
time to send a message that we had positive confirmation of your identities." she smiled.  "That
was more than enough of a reason to stop on by.  The fact you have me as a prisoner changes
nothing."
     Chris sighed.  "Okay...for all of us who AREN'T crazy assholes who live in foo-foo land
on Saturdays...who the fuck are the 'Lords?'"
     "Oh, you'll know them when you see them." Serebe grinned.  "They'll be here in a day.  I
suggest you get a good night's sleep.  It will be your last."
     Chris looked unimpressed.  "You're full of shit, aren't you?"
     Serebe continued smiling.  "I don't care what you do to me.  You're all dead anyway."
     "Can I kill her?  Can-I?  Please?"
     Rei shook her head.  "Naw, we better keep her around for a while.  But we better not take
her back to the Temple; Grandpa will get suspicious."
     Mina growled.  "I STILL can't believe you were going to name Artemis  Kittles'!"
     Artemis smiled proudly.
     Lita sighed.  "Would you leave it ALONE?!?"
     "What?!!?!!" Mina snapped back.  "SHE NAMED MY CAT...
     Suddenly, two figures came crashing through the bushes.  "We'll save you!" Andrea and
Maury yelled, holding knives.
     That freaked the hell out of the Scouts.  Serebe used the moment of confusion to pull free
of Venus and run off into the field.  
     Chris glared at the two, then ran after her.  
     Serena and Darien were next.  "Look after these two, Mercury, we'll get Serebe."  Darien
said as they ran off.
     Andrea looked around sheepishly as Rei, Lita and Mina ran off as well.  Maury frowned. 
"I knew we should have stayed at the temple."
     Mercury crossed her arms.  "We told you two to stay.  This is dangerous.  Now we lost
our only lead to the Watchers."
     Andrea glared at her, so she shut up.  

     "This show ain't no good..." Chris said as a wall of at least two hundred ninjas, lead by
the newly freed Serebe, advanced toward the Sailor Scouts & co.
     Serebe smiled evilly, then cackled:  "Attack!"
     "Run!" Darien yelled.  The six ran back as fast as they could.  Unfortunately, some of the
ninjas must have been track-n-field buffs because they were catching up.
     Darien threw back a rose, exploding a chunk of ground in front of the ninjas.  All it did
was give them a second pause.  The ninjas regained their speed and were catching up again.
     Mars spun around to launch some fire-works, but there wasn't enough time and she had
to keep running.  "We've got to warn Mercury and the others!"
     They were coming up on a park bench.  "Quick!  Everyone on the bench!" Chris yelled,
taking out his sword.
     They all leapt on, only five or so seconds ahead of the ninjas.  Chris pointed his sword at
the ninjas and yelled: "Saturn Disk REFLECT!"
     The sword shot out a wave of energy from it's hand-guard, uprooting the bench, and
shooting it forward like a rocket.  It then crashed into a bush, and the scouts all tumbled out. 
"Keep running!" Mina reminded the stunned group.
     They had gained some distance, but they were still way outnumbered.

     Andrea dug at the ground with a stick.  "How hard can it be to find a chick who's tied
up?"
     Mercury shrugged.  "They should have been back by now."
     Suddenly, Chris, Lita and Mina sprung over a hill, running toward them.  "RUN!" they
all yelled at once.
     Rei, Serena and Darien were close behind, followed a few meters behind by a cloud of
black-suited flailing arms and ninja masks.  Mercury just stood there, wide-eyed.  "Uh?"
     Maury grabbed Andrea and ran, "Come on!"
     Darien literally picked up Ami and ran with her under his arm until she got the net and
started running too.  Suddenly, Maury tripped, taking Andrea with him.  The scouts all tumbled
to a painful stop as the ninjas pounced on the two.
     "Andrea!" Chris yelled, whipping out his sword.
     Suddenly, the lead ninjas held them up as hostages.  Serebe, huffing and puffing, finally
caught up.  "Ha...we...got... your sister!  Surrender!"
     Lita gasped.  "Let her and Maury go!  Now!"
     Chris almost leapt at Serebe right there.  "If you don't let them go, I'll kill every last one
of you!"
     Serena stepped forward, "If you don't, you meanie, you've gotta be the ditziest ditz in all
of DITZ LAND!!"  Darien looked at her funny, then drew his attention to the hostages.
     Andrea, a cloaked hand around her neck, was nearly in tears.  Maury was desperately
trying to reach his knife.
     The ninja tightened his grip around their necks, "Come on!"
     Maury, suddenly, yelled a pissed-off kind of yell, and the symbol of the Sun appeared on
his forehead.






                           Chapter 11

     Out of nowhere, a shaft of pure sunlight came from the sky, piercing the night.  It
enveloped Maury, throwing back the ninjas.  
     Andrea's forehead now showed the PL symbol of Pluto overlapping a crescent moon. 
"All RIGHT!" she yelled, watching her little mask-pin on her jacket start to glow.  "PLUTO
POWER!"  Her pin jumped onto her face and turned into a full-sized mask, covering her eyes
and nose.  She began rotating around in a shaft of green light, transparent except for her mask. 
The green light faded to reveal a kimono-type suit with a cool cape and high, lace-up boots.  She
looked herself over and smiled.
     Maury smiled too.  "SOL POWER!" Sunlight melted onto Maury, then boomed into a
blinding explosion.  Maury materialized into a completely black trenchcoat with matching pants,
glasses and hat.  His belt filled with various glowing objects that looked suspiciously like
throwing weapons.  The shaft of sunlight disappeared and the two regrouped with the other
scouts.  
     Chris smiled evilly.  "Well, welcome to the club."
     Darien smiled with the addition of two more Scouts.  "What was this about
surrendering?"
     Serebe just glared at them.
     "Attack!" Serena yelled as the group of Sailor Scouts leapt forward at the stunned ninjas.
     Andrea pushed Serena aside, "I'll handle this one, Sailor Moon."  She stepped forward in
front of all the others and followed her instincts.  Kneeling to the ground, she rose her arms and
shouted into the night, "Pluto...Ground...ZERO!!!"  
     A large ball of energy formed around her.  She moved her arms forward forcefully,
sending a shock wave of green light toward the ninja and vaporizing ninety-three...and a half.
     Serebe ran, "Retreat!  NOW!"
     The rest of the ninja ran after their leader.
     "Oh YEAH?" Maury grinned.  "Sol Stars!" he yelled quickly, throwing five of the
glowing objects from his belt at the ninjas at the back of the group.  
     Each star split into five more, colliding and melting another one third of the ninjas.  The
rest ducked into the bushes.
     Maury grinned.  "Cool."
     Darien walked up to them, "Good work, you two.  I'm quite impressed." he smiled at
Andrea a little longer.
     Andrea smiled happily
     Chris and Rei hugged.  "Memories..." Chris said.  "It's all happening again."
     "Oh yeah, I remember..."
     Rei leapt on him.  They kissed passionately on the ground for a full minute, then were
broke up by Mercury coughing.
     "Come on, we have to keep moving." she said quickly, then walked off.
     Chris and Rei got up.  "I love memories." Chris nodded happily.  "Just don't go getting
your fighting uniform all taken off," Chris smiled "we don't know if it'll disappear or not."
     Rei smiled coyly.  "Oh, I'm sure you'd just hate that happening, wouldn't you?"
     They got up and the group of newly formed heros walked off.

     "Man, I'm going to give a raise to the member who invented the point calculator.  It's
been right again." The lab coat said.
     "You did, sir."
     "Oh, yeah.  What's the update on the Lords?"
     "Twenty hours, five minutes."
     The man in the lab coat smiled.  "Well, then.  Let's get ready to rumble."






                           Chapter 12

     Chris walked into the only familiar building on the busy street.  The Samurai Shop
     He looked around for Mr Yamoto.  He heard some pounding in the back, and decided not
to interrupt.  On the walls were the racks and racks of beautiful swords.  In a way, Chris was
surprised the door wasn't alarmed or something to protect the valuable items from shoplifters.  
     Suddenly, Mr Yamato came out of the back room, covered in dust.  He blinked, smiled,
then ran out from behind the counter.  "Chris!  How's it going?"
     Chris smiled.  "Absolutely great.  Would you believe me if I told you my life has gotten
fifty times better ever since I bought that sword?"
     The old man smiled.  "Yes, I probably would."
     They shook hands.  "How's business?" Chris asked.
     "Good.  I just got a deal with some foreign antiques company to make a bunch of fifth-
generation clubs and about twenty swords.  It'll take a year to do, even with help, but it's a
multi-million dollar deal."
     Chris blinked.
     "Yeah, that's what I said too!" he chuckled.  "How's your sword holding up?"
     Chris reached behind his back and revealed his sword.  He withdrew some of the blade. 
"Excellent."
     Yamoto blinked.  "Have you used it much?  It's still in mint condition!"
     "Hell!   Use it every day.  Not just straw targets, either."
     "Wow..."
     Chris smiled.  "I just wanted to check up on you." he sheathed his sword and put it
behind him.  "I haven't talked to you in over three months."
     Yamoto opened the back door.  It was to a office this time, not his work room.  "Come
here.  I've got something to show you."
     Chris shrugged then followed.  Yamoto lit up the office with the light switch and the
walls came into view.
     Hundreds of drawings.  Of the same dream Chris had, back when he was first discovering
his power.
     "You're that new Scout...Strike Fiss, aren't you..." Yamoto asked.
     Chris blinked.  Then nodded.  "Have you been having the dream too?"
     Yamoto sat down in a chair and twirled around a pencil.  "Yes.  I guess I was your
guardian back on that moon.  What was it called?"
     "Encealous." Chris reminded him.
     "That's right," he smiled "If I remember, you were a good student of the sciences too."
     Chris looked astonished.  "You remember?"
     Yamato took a deep breath.  "What I remember comes to me in the dream.  I believe I
have to give you a message, though."
     "Yes?"
     "You're not like the others.  The inner planets are too unified, the outer too independent. 
You're like a bridge.  You fill the gap between them.  It's you're job to supervise both teams,
and make sure they work as one."
     Chris nodded.  There was something familiar about this conversation.  He most have got
advice from his mentor in the past, more than once.  "Cool, so like, I'm a bridge.  I can do that!"
     Yamoto smiled.  "Where's your little sword necklace?"
     Chris blinked, then blushed slightly.  "Oh, I, uh, gave it to Sailor Mars...we're, well, in
love."
     Yamoto raised an eyebrow.  "Just remember.  You're not part of the Silver Millennium. 
Don't favor either side, just make sure Earth doesn't go unprotected...even if you have to put
Mars as your second priority."
     Chris smiled confidently.  "We have two more, now...plus any outer planets that decide
to help us.  And Mars is quite capable of protecting herself."
     "What's her name?" he asked, curious.
     "Rei." Chris smiled happily.  
     Yamoto blinked.  "No way!  Old Hino's daughter?"
     Chris sighed.  "Just don't tell anyone."
     He shook his head.  "Wouldn't dream of it."
     Chris smiled and headed for the door.  "Well, I gotta go.  I'll probably stop by later."
     Yamoto frowned.  "There is an evil.  Very near.  You must be ready.  I wish you good
luck." he stood up "Can I help any of you?"
     Chris thought for a moment.  "Yes...do you know where a chemical supply store is?"

     Chris left the shop.  His mind was full, yet he pushed it all back to make space for one
congruent thought...What if the Lords were this horrible evil?  They were due sometimes that
night if Serebe's forecast wasn't just a bucket of  sandwiches.
     Chris spirited his sword away with a touch of his disk.  He pocketed the disk and walked
down an alley.  Suddenly, Ami was behind him.  "Hi, Chris.  What are you doing in this part of
town?"
     Chris remembered the 'little' kiss Ami had given him and shivered.  "Just getting some
advice on sword-care."
     Ami walked up beside him.  She was wearing an obvious attempt to attract his attention. 
For a moment, Chris wondered if Ami had swiped one of Rei's shirts.  "You know, you haven't
said a word to me ever since the little incident at the computer lab..."
     Chris swallowed hard.  "Well, there hasn't been much to say.  What do you want to talk
about?"
     "Well, I don't believe in hiding my feelings too long.  I'll just say what's on my mind."
     Chris nodded.  For once, he was interested.  It wasn't everyday he was in a love triangle.  
     "Well, I know you and Rei are going out and everything, but I was wondering..." she
cornered him slightly against the alley wall "is there any chance of, well..." she took a deep
breath "me getting you in my bedroom, no clothes?"
     Chris blinked, wide-eyed.  "Wh-wh-wh-what?"
     Ami wrapped her arms around his waist.  "You, me, in bed..."
     Chris shoved her off.  "Ami, I don't think you understand...Rei and I aren't just going
out..."
     Ami frowned.  "Whatever it is, I'm willing to accept..."
     Chris sighed.  "You want me to say it?  Okay, then!  We've even done the horizontal
tango!  Alright?  We love each other!  How many more people am I going to have to explain this
to?"
     Ami blinked.  "I'm-uh, sorry Chris..."
     Chris stormed off.  At the end of the alley, he stopped, as if to turn around.  Instead, he
just said "Ami, I'm sorry, but it's better I told you now than later.  I hope this doesn't mean we
can't still work together." he walked off solemnly.
     Ami watched him for a long time, then sat against the alley wall.  She buried her face in
her arms and cried silently.
     
     Andrea pouted.  She never did like seeing Darien and Serena together...especially doing
their smoochy-woochy stuff.  The sun was beginning to set in the west, and Serena kissed
Darien, explaining that she had to have supper.  She ran down the steps to catch the bus. 
Andrea's greenish-grey eyes shone as she approached Darien.
     "Yeah?" he asked friendly.
     Andrea fidgeted with her pin, "Could I talk with you?  Over by the lake?"
     He nodded and they walked around to the other side of the temple.  Andrea sat down on
the grass and turned her head away from him for a moment, taking a deep breath.  She faced him
again, slightly blushing.  She lowered her head, "Well...what I-uh...Darien, I have feelings for
you."
     Darien blinked.
     Andrea stood up, looking away, "Even when I'm beside you I feel like a mile away.  I
mean, I know you and Serena are meant to be, but I..." she looked into his eyes, "I want to know
if I'd ever...you know.  Have a chance."
     Darien scratched his head, looking sort of embarrassed.  "I really don't know what to tell
you.  I mean, you'll get over it and-"
     Andrea's eyes watered, "No I WON'T, Darien.  What do you think I've been trying to do
since I first met you?  Its not just some little crush."  He walked up to her and
put his hand on her shoulder.  She rested her head against his chest, "Oh, Darien.  I'm sorry...I'm
not trying to put you in an awkward position."
     "Actually, Andrea, it doesn't feel all that awkward." Darien said softly.
     "What do you mean?"
     He smiled gently.  Then lifted her chin with his finger, and kissed her.  His kiss flooded
Andrea with warmth.  He brushed her soft, brown hair back then snickered a bit, looking a
confused, "I don't know what's going on, but there's something about you..."  He waved to her,
and casually walked away.
     Andrea blinked, then said, "Cool."

     Rei looked around.  The field was bare.  No more leaves.  No people...either.  She
grinned evilly to herself and looked at her rake.  "Duh-duh-du-du-duh..." She sang out a 'tango'
beat and started dancing with her rake.  
     She couldn't dance with Chris, because they'd probably step on each other's feet and fall
over, killing everyone in their path and causing massive destruction.  So, instead, she just danced
with various rakes and brooms when nobody was around.  
     "Ballump-bump, bada-da!" she dipped the rake.  She then looked up and saw Ami,
staring at her.  "Ahhh!" she fell over, backwards, landing on the rake and rolling to a stop five
meters away.  "Uh..."
     Suddenly, a shoe filled her vision.  Before Rei could react, she was kicked in the head
and toppled over into the pond.  She broke the surface coughing spastically.  "What the..." she
said, hair in her eyes.
     "Well, well.  If it isn't Misses Rake Raper." Ami called out.  Rei brushed back her hair
and frowned.  
     "Oh!  Ami!  Hi, sorry...I must have tripped on my sandals." Rei blushed.  "Did I hit your
foot?"
     Ami  humphed'.  "Don't insult me.  I kicked your ass.  That's what happened."
     Rei blinked.  "Uhhh?"
     "Let me spell it out for you." Ami sounded annoyed.  "I took my foot and kicked you up
side the head.  You've been taking everything else...I thought you could take a few beats."
     Rei growled.  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she stormed out of the water,
rolling up her sleeves.  If there was one thing she hated most it was being surprise attacked.
     "Apparently, without any warning to me, you swiped Chris away from me!" Ami
glowered.
     Rei was motionless for a second.  Ami kept frowning.  Suddenly, Rei got a strange look
on her face.  Ami didn't believe it.  She's SMIRKING??
     Rei broke out in a short laughing spell.  "Oh...sorry, Ami.  I thought you were serious for
a second.  HA!!" she paused then laughed some more.
     Ami blinked.
     Rei opened her eyes still to see Ami with a pissed-off expression.  "Wait...you're not
serious...are you?..."
     Ami wound up and nearly knocked Rei over again except of a lucky dodge.  Rei dropped
and kicked her legs into Ami's, causing her to fall hard on her face.  Rei jumped up.  "What's
this all about!?!" she yelled.
     Ami looked up at her, spitting out a leaf.  "Come on, Rei.  A nice guy comes into to
town.  He's a computer expert, you know.  You don't go for people like that.  You think...mmm
let's see.  Ami likes computers, and she's available.  I think I'll tell her about Chris."
     Rei rolled back her eyes. 
     "You didn't see it that way.  Some how, you just snapped him up without consideration
for me."  Ami growled.
     Rei looked shocked.  "You gotta be kidding.  This isn't 'Days Of Our Lives.' for god's
sake.  Why the fuck are you so pissed off at me?" she asked, rubbing her cheek.  "I hate to say it,
but this was a joint venture by both of us.  I didn't  steal' him, dammit."
     Before Ami could say another word, Rei walked off.  Rei finally turned around.  "Go
home Ami.  Call Greg or something.  Let's just forget about all this."
     Ami blinked as Rei walked off into the distance.   







                           Chapter 13

     Chris lie in his fighting uniform on the bed that Grandpa had assigned him.  His laptop
lay beside him.  Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" filled the room with haunting, familiar music. 
He couldn't help thinking that the Sailor Scouts were in major trouble.  His watch beeped.  Nine
forty.
     A knock.  Chris considered if he should change back into normal attire, but Rei opened
the door.  She smiled briefly.  
     Without a word, she sat next to him.  Chris sat up and they sat there for a good minute,
just trying to think of something, anything to say.  Chris started to mumble something, but then
stopped.
     They gave each other a warm hug.  Rei smiled again.  "Well?"
     "Any minute.  Who knows, they could be another few hours away."
     "They might be early."
     "We still don't even know they exist."
     "We both know there's something out there."
     "Rei, if one of us gets nuked..." Chris sighed "you must look after Andrea if I go."
     Rei and Chris embraced in a squeeze.  "I will..." she sniffed.
     The two gazed into each others eyes for at least a minute, then embraced in a soft kiss.
     Suddenly, a flash filled the sky outside.  Rei and Chris turned to watch the light dissipate. 
A vortex of green light extended downwards from the sky, hitting the earth only five kilometers
away, in the heart of Tokyo.
     
     The Sailor Scouts gathered outside of the temple.  All who weren't already, transformed.
     A huge dust cloud was visible from where the beam hit.  
     Andrea glared at the looming cloud.  "If I ever figure out what I'm doing, these guys are
in big trouble!...Pluto POWER!"
     Maury frowned.  "Dido.  Sol POWER!"
     Lita smiled in anticipation.  "And in the name of Jupiter also, I'm gonna rock  em!
Jupiter Star...POWER!"
     Ami looked determined, yet scared.  "Mercury Star... POWER!"
     " V' is for VICTORY (and also Venus)... I will protect Earth!" Mina yelled, "Venus
Star...POWER!" 
     "Sounds good to me!" Darien grinned, transforming with a throw of his hat. 
     Rei took a deep breath "Now I'll have to get steamed!  We're missing some good
shopping hours because of this vortex thing!  Mars Star... POWER!"
     "Alright, Cubby..." Chris glared at the cloud as well "Looks like we're going to war! 
Saturn POW-ERRR!"
     "I am Sailor Moon!  Champion of justice and, Princess of the Moon and defender of the
Silver Millennium!" Serena said proudly.  "Moon...Crystal...POWER!!!!"
     Chris and Maury couldn't resist.  "You said  Moon'," the both stated chuckling.
     The group nodded at each other, and ran towards the billowing cloud of grey dust.

     "Odds?" the lab coated-man asked.
     "Still calculating.  No data yet."
     The man frowned.  "Then get ready.  I'm going out there."
                            










				    PART 2
                           Chapter 1

     Police surrounded the crater as more news vans came tearing into view.  Three news
copters circled overhead, spewing off headline news into the television.  Other than the
helicopters circling around in the air, everyone was silent.  Everyone from within twenty blocks
was now there, and the sight could have been visible from a low orbit.
     Only minutes ago, the ground rocked with a thundering crash as a metallic silver pod hit
the street, after plowing through a supermarket.  However, the pod seemed intact.  Police and
military forces surrounded the small crater, keeping the civilians and news out.  The last thing
they wanted was the situation of aliens landing to get out of control. 
     That was the official rumor going about the crowd.  Aliens.  The pod was definitely big
enough to carry several humanoids, and it looked more like a spaceship than anything.  The
metallic skin made it look like something out of Star Wars.
     News coverage was unbelievable.  And even more was on the way.  In the now half-an-hour 
it had been sitting there, every newspaper and television station...even a few people who
ran web-pages...were gathered around, all taking notes.
     Suddenly, someone "Oooo"ed.  Everyone turned full attention on the pod.  It was
opening up.
     Standing up in a type of cockpit were ten humanoids.
     Everyone gasped.  They looked basically human, but had metallic-looking skin.
     One of the police captains held up his hand for everyone to be quiet.  One of the
humanoids stepped out of the pod as it's top completely opened up and slid into it's bottom,
making a half sunflower-seed shape.
     The alien was a tall male.  Silvery skin.  He was dressed in an elaborately colored
jumpsuit.  He walked up to the police captain.  
     The captain smiled.  "Uh," he spoke in Japanese, "Welcome to the planet Earth.  We
mean you no harm, and I greet you on behalf of..."
     The alien cleared his throat.  Also in Japanese, he spoke.  "Excuse me.  But are you part
of Serenity's court?"
     The captain blinked.  "Pardon me?"
     The alien sighed in a gruff voice.  "Are you a 'Sailor Scout'?"
     "Uh...no..."
     The alien gestured to the huge crowd of people around them.  "Are ANY of these people
Sailor Scouts?"
     The police officer looked around.  There were no brightly colored schoolgirls with
talking cats.  Not even a tuxedo.  "Uh...no.  I don't see them..."
     The alien put his hand to the captain's forehead and shot out a laser-like beam through it,
and the people standing behind.  "Then get out of our way." he growled as the police captain's
body fell to the ground, gushing blood from the hole in his head. 
     The crowd started screaming.  Before the military and police forces could attempt to
defend themselves, the other nine aliens all leapt out of the pod and started cutting down people
with their hand-laser weapons.  
     
     Rei got to the top of the hill first.  "Oh shit..."
     They all looked down, a couple hundred meters away, down a hill, a huge crowd of
people were being slaughtered.  "It's the Lords!  They're in the middle!" Lita said.
     Andrea and Maury both were shocked.  Even from this distance, a visible pool of blood
was forming.  "Ohmygod..." Andrea gasped.
     Maury was simply shocked into silence.  
     Artemis started coughing.  "My GOD!  They're being cut into bite-sized chunks!"
     Luna promptly threw up.  Lita was beginning to regret having such a big dinner.  
     Chris looked up.  "Mercury!  Scan over there!"
     She complied.  "It's the air force!  They're coming in!"
     Darien shook his head.  "I don't like this..."
     Chris smiled. "Aw, come on.  They're F-15's!  Best planes in the world for fighting
against aliens!"
     Rei blinked.  "Didn't they use F-18's in 'Independence Day'?"
     "Close enough."
     As the F-15's came into view, they broke formation, and began dropping five-hundred
pound laser-guided bombs at the center of the massacre.  The Scouts got hopeful that it would do
the trick and they could all go home for a good night's sleep.  
     However, what kind of story would THAT make??!!
     As the resulting explosion of bombs and auto-cannon hitting the ground dissipated,
twenty red lasers pierced the cloud upwards and began to hit the fighter jets.  In less than three
seconds, all five planes had exploded in mid-air, not even giving the pilots enough time to eject.
     "Didn't we see this on Outlanders?" Andrea shivered.
     "Wh-what happened next on Outlanders?" Serena asked.
     Chris growled.  "This..." he leapt down the hill.
     Rei gasped.  "Wait!"
     Darien grabbed her from running after him.  "Just wait.  He has a plan.  We'll only screw
it up."

     As Chris ran down the hit towards the massacre, he tried to think of a plan.  He knew he
should have thought of one first.  Oh well.  Only one thought went through his mind.  "Man, I
gotta take a whiz..."
     The closest of the ten was on Chris' side of the crater, and had it's back turned at the
moment.  Chris ducked behind a slab of concrete as the  Lord' turned and walked his way.  He
heard footsteps at it walked toward him.  
     Chris jumped up, whipped out his sword, swung it round, and sliced through the alien's
shoulder, all the way through to it's side before either of them knew what was happening..  The
other aliens turned, wide-eyed as they saw their surprised comrade's body slice in two, falling
away to reveal Chris, holding his sword.  
     "That was cool..." Chris said simply, then looked up to see the others.  "Oh-oh..."
     The aliens looked shocked.  Finally, their leader said "Whoever you are, you're going to
pay for that..."
     Chris frowned.  "I don't think so, assholes.  If you don't get off my fucking planet
NOW...you'll join your little buddy here."
     The other Scouts ran up from behind.  Serena walked in front of Chris.  "I am Sailor
Moon!"
     "And we are the Sailor Scouts!" the female Scouts all said.
     Serena nodded.  "And in the name of the moon, we'll punish you!"
     The silver-skinned leader smiled.  "THIS is the ONLY group of Sailor Soldiers in this
system?"
     Jupiter extended her antenna with a menacing hum.  "The one and only."
     "In other parts of the galaxy, you'd be considered a comedy act!" the leader laughed.
     Darien extended his staff.  "Let's put that to the test, shall we?"
     "Tuxedo Mask!" an unfamiliar voice pierced the dust from behind.  
     Everyone turned to see three new figures advancing on them.  "Get the Sailor Scouts out
of here.  This isn't your fight."
     Sailor Pluto, Neptune and Uranus came into view.  
     The Lords looked concerned.  "I see we are a bit outnumbered." their leader smiled. 
"We will meet again..."
     The nine remaining Lords jumped back into their pod, which promptly closed and flew
down the street.
     "Come back!" Pluto yelled, running after. 
     The three outer Scouts all ran off in pursuit.  
     Rei sighed.  "I just KNOW this is going to be a bad week."






                           Chapter 2

     "Aliens Involved In 2000 Dead; Sailor Scouts Arrive Too Late"

     Lita picked up the newspaper and shredded it angrily.  "Dammit!" she shouted, throwing
down the mess.  "It's not our fault!"
     The newspaper vender decided not to mention to her that she didn't pay, and ignored the
strange, weird, tall girl.
     Maury frowned.  "They know that, Lita, but we didn't stop them..."
     "Oooo!  If I get a hold of Sailor Uranus, I'll use her for my next Sharmi Kabob!  We
coulda taken on the Lords if they didn't interrupt!" she fumed, attracting attention from others
on the street.
     Chris was walking on air.  Under the headline it read:

     "The only victory against the butcherous aliens was by one of the new members: Strike
Fiss.  No quotes are available."

     Rei smiled evilly.  "You're awfully chipper today."
     Chris shrugged.  "Hey, the Scouts can use a little good media coverage."
     "And it doesn't hurt YOUR image either..." Rei frowned.
     Chris smiled. 
     Lita kept mumbling.  "Rackin-frackin rechin, barfing, egg-a-ramma, cheese!"
     Maury smiled.  "Is she great or what?"  

     "I am not impressed, Serebe.  We had a deal." The silver-skinned Lord said, swirling a
wine glass full of some weird orange liquid.  "Our cloning for your information of the Sailor
Scouts.  Yet you did not say anything about the team now doubling in size."
     Serebe was nervous.  "I'm sorry.  These new scouts and the ones from overseas appeared
only this last week.  That one Strike Fiss only three months ago.  There wasn't enough time to
study their identities."
     "I lost one of my team." the Lord frowned.
     Serebe said nothing.
     "I do not like not knowing who my enemy is."
     "All I can say is that we will endeavor to make up for this horrible loss."
     The Lord smiled.  "Thank you, but we are more than staffed to rid you of this annoyance. 
Now, tell me.  Have any of your society reached the Uranok-redemption?"
     Serebe blinked, then looked to her advisors.  They too shrugged.  Serebe turned back to
the Lord.  "I'm afraid I don't know what that is..."
     "Then I assume the answer is no.  Anyone passing the Uranok will obviously try to take
over the world, making themselves very public by default." he smirked "this should be a simple
planet to concur.  We may not even have to call in the Death Busters."
     "Death Busters?"
     "Yes, our 'dirty-work' faction.  They do all the stuff we don't want to be troubled with. 
However, while we're here, we might as well have some fun."
     "I see." Serebe bowed.  "You may have access to all our records...and anything else you
may need can be gathered by my troops."
     "Very good, Serebe.  I like that trait in a person."
     Serebe raised a curious eyebrow.  "What trait?"
     The Lord drank the rest of his cup.  "You know when to bow in the presence of gods."
     The eight other Lords behind him nodded in order.  

     Andrea fiddled with her mask-pin.  Somehow, it didn't seem like an extraordinary object
when like this.  Then, she held it up dramatically and it regained it's 'coolness'.  Chris put 
down 
his book.  "You still playing with that?"
     "Yup." Andrea replied happily.
     Damien and Trevor's beds had been moved to the smaller building to make room for
Andrea's accommodations, so she, Chris and Maury were together again.  Maury stopped
reading a Far-Side book.  "I still can't believe we saw five F-15's shot down."
     "Well, they were aliens.  So the F-15's had an excuse." Chris added.  "I'm just glad you
guys backed me up so I wasn't vaporized or something by those freaks."
     Andrea grinned, "THAT would be a shame!"
     Chris stuck out his tongue.
     Andrea looked at the other two curiously, "Hey.  I just thought of something..."
     "I thought I smelled something funny." Maury snickered.
     "Anyway, how is it that there was a Sailor Pluto, when I'm from Pluto?  We just go by
different names, that's all."
     Chris rose an eyebrow, "Well, your symbol has a moon too, so...maybe you're from
Pluto's moon?"
     Andrea held her head confusingly, "I wish I could remember something about my past..."
Actually, she remembered *one* thing; she always had loved Darien and always would. 
Something inside of her told her that.  It must have been her heart.  The strange thing was that
Darien seemed to share some feelings with her, even though he was destined to be with Serena.  
     "It might be like me and Sailor Saturn.  I'm the reject-rebel faction gotten even, and
she's the goody-two-shoes who played the Silver Court to their sexist bias." Chris said.
     The other two blinked.  "Uh?"
     "What?  Uranus said there was a Saturn..."
     "Anyway," Maury finally said "what about me?  I'm like, the Sun.  Why not a planet?"
     Chris smiled.  "Because they were all taken.  It would get too confusing if more Sailor
Scouts appeared."
     Maury blinked.  "Ahh!  You're all wussy little planets!  I'm a STAR!!"
     Before any of them could say another thing, Trevor came in.  "Have you guys seen my Game
Boy?  I can't find it."
     Andrea smiled.  "Hey!  Trevor!  I have a present for you!"
     Trevor beemed.  "OOOOOO!  For me?  What is it?"
     Andrea tossed him a quarter.  "Here's a quarter.  Call someone who cares."
     Trevor sneared and left.
     Suddenly, Luna burst through the door.  "Hurry!  GET UP!  We tracked the Lords into the
Watcher building!"
     Andrea leapt up.  "Come on!  So much for annoying Trevor tonite..."
     "Let's rock!" Maury leapt up as well.
     "I must taste blood!" Chris pulled out his disk and transformed.  "And this time," he
looked at the other two, "don't freeze at the sight of blood."






                           Chapter 3

     The Sailor Scouts all smashed through the door, ambush-style.  Ami scanned. 
"There's...no-one here!"
     Venus raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah, we noticed."
     The expanse of the huge room in front of them only showed a bunch of tables, no aliens
or Watchers.  Mars frowned.  "They were here, not long ago, either.  My fire-reading was right."
     Chris put away his sword.  "Hey, Mo.  You good enough tracker to follow aliens and a
gang of ninjas?"
     Maury raised an eyebrow.  "I don't know.  Let's look around."
     Each of the hundreds of desks turned out to be some sort of human-sized pod.  "This
looks like a smegging cloning factory off of Star Trek or something!" Chris exclaimed as they
opened one pod to reveal some weird slime.
     Andrea coughed.  "Beam me up, Scotty."
     Jupiter smiled.  "Ami, don't you wasn't to be a doctor? IS this a cloning factory?"
     "Uh, I'm not sure..." Mercury replied, trying to get readings on the slime.
     Darien smiled, then pointed to a label on one of the desks.  "Well, it does say  Cloning
Machine 27'..."  Ami blushed, embarassed.
     Serena stuck out her tongue.  "EEEEWW!  You mean those ninjas are a bunch of freaky,
slimy clones?"
     Rei frowned.  "What I want to know is where all those ninjas WENT."
     Chris nodded.  "Okay.  We know the Lords and Watchers are working together.  But why
would super-powered aliens need a bunch of butt-munch clones?"
     Darien shrugged.  "Maybe they wanted to know us better.  The most successful killers
always research their prey's habits."
     "Speaking of killers..." Maury pointed out the door they smashed through.
     The Lord's transport-pod was lifting off nearby.  "Get them!" Serena yelled, leaping out
the building, followed by the other scouts.
     "Jupiter Thunder...CRASH!"
     "Venus Crescent Beam...SMASH!"
     The two attacks compounded into a concentrated beam, lashing out at the escaping ship. 
At first, they missed, flying just overhead.  Then, Venus aimed lower, dragging the beam into the
craft's rear.  "Yes!" Andrea yelled.
     The craft's back exploded, causing it to spiral to the ground.  A second after disappearing
below the buildings, a satisfying  thun-crack!' sounded it's landing.  "Can we get there in time?"
Darien asked.
     Chris spotted another park bench.  "Yeah!  Everyone get on!"
     Rei looked queasy.  "This time, try to land better."
     The group all sat on the bench, Chris in the middle.  Ami faced in front.  "Mercury Ice
Storm, BLAST!"  She yelled, laying a smooth path to downtown.  
     "Saturn Disk, REFLECT!" Chris positioned the glowing disk behind them and the bench
launched forward, skidding along the ice to the middle of the city as pedestrians struggled to
leap out of the way.
     "Get outta the way, freaks!" Lita yelled in her loudest voice.
     Maury and Darien grabbed Chris' shoulders so he wouldn't fly off and forward.  "Hey
Chris!" Darien yelled above the roar of skidding ice.  "How much do you charge for rides?  We
could get rich off of this!"
     Chris smiled.  "Just make sure I'm not propelling us into a building or anything..."

     The Lords opened up the cockpit.  The leader was not very happy indeed.  "I'm getting
mad." he said simply as the remaining pedestrians ran off or found hiding places.  "This planet
should be dog kibble by now..."
     Suddenly, three figures appeared on the street.  "You got past us once, but not a second
time, alien-scum." a female voice sounded.
     One of the other Lords smiled.  "Sounds like Sailor Pluto."
     The leader nodded as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto walked out of the shadow of a building
dramatically.  "That's right." Sailor Pluto answered.  "Time to die."
     "You didn't defeat us five millennia ago, what thinks you can do it now?"  The leader
Lord asked, nose high in the air.
     Uranus snorted.  "This!  World...SHAKING!!!" she bellowed, causing the ground to erupt
around the Lords, throwing them and their pod in the air, one hundred feet.
     "Nice shot, honey." Neptune smiled.  
     Pluto raised a disgusted eyebrow.  "Hey, not when we're fighting."
     Suddenly, a skidding bark bench filled with Sailor Scouts came roaring down the street. 
Maury looked in the air.  The Lords were falling back down.  "Sol Stars!" he yelled quickly,
tossing nine balls of glowing energy at them.  
     Chris put on the breaks by reversing the direction of the disk.  "Good shot, Sun!"
     "Hey, I'm not your son!" Maury joked as they got off the bench.  
     The Lords landed.  They seemed to be singed, but not hurt.  Neptune screeched.  "Get out
of our way!"
     Sailor Moon frowned.  "We're trying to help!"
     During the moment of indecision, the lead Lord raised his hand.  "Bubble!"
     A huge energy bubble formed around the Lords and shot the Sailor Scouts back at
amazing speed.  The Lords then leapt onto the top of a building and ran off.  The Scouts lay on
their butts, stunned.
     "Follow them!" Pluto said, getting up.
     Darien also stood up, swinging his fist behind him and forward, chucking roses at the
three outer planet-Scouts.  
     The roses stapled their skirts to the ground, and Pluto to a wall.  "Are you crazy?!" she
yelled in a  parent-knows-best' voice.
     Serena walked up to them.  "First of all, tell us who you are, and what do you think
you're doing."
     Pluto sighed.  "Okay, Strike Fiss and Sailor Hooze.  If you want to join, hurry up,
otherwise, STAY OUT OF OUR WAY!!"
     Andrea and Chris blinked.  "What are you talkn'?  We're the Sailor Scouts,"
     "And us princes..." Chris added.
     "Yeah, and we're all one team!" Andrea continued.
     Uranus cracked up.  "You guys don't seem to realize the enemy that Earth's up against. 
You so-called inner planets don't even have a CHANCE!"
     Darien coughed.  "Since when were we the  inner-planets?'"
     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "They think you guys aren't as powerful." he put a hand on
Rei's shoulder.  "They think that we can't be of any help."
     Rei growled.  Lita crossed her arms.  "Welllll...I guess that Queen Beryl, a crazy tree, and
an elite Negaverse team from the future don't count."
     Darien and Chris smiled.  "Yeah, and TWO Zoicites..." they both said.
     The outer planets looked unimpressed.
     Chris glanced over to Rei.  "I'll go with them, try to find out who they are, and what
they're about."
     Rei nodded.  "Okay, just be careful."
     Chris walked over to the three outer scouts.  "Sorry about these..." he pried out the roses
with his sword.  "I'll come with you."






                           Chapter 4

     Chris accepted the cup of tea handed to him.  "Thanks."
     The three outer planets were back at Pluto's apartment, trying to make small talk in front
of their guest."
     "So, anyway, I guess you're wondering who we are."  Uranus finally said.
     Chris snickered.
     "What?" Uranus asked.
     Chris got a really evil grin.  Chris...don't do it!  Ah, what the hell!
     "WHAT???"
     Chris smiled.  "Huh huh huh.  Maybe YOUR anus...!  Huh."
     Sailor Uranus frowned and slumped to her chair.  "Please don't do that..."
     Chris stopped  huh-huh' ing and sat there grinning.  Then he remembered why he was
there. "Okay, first of all, why aren't you helping the other scouts?  You seem to be avoiding
them."
     "They simply aren't any help." Pluto said calmly.
     Chris was still in his Strike Fiss gear and lowered his sunglasses.  "Are you crazy?"
     Neptune crossed her arms.  "Listen, they're much too weak to deal with the Lords.  ALL
the inner planets are.  Even Sailor Moon."
     Chris took a deep breath. "And what do you base this on?"
     "They simply aren't as powerful as us."
     Uranus snickered.  "Not even your little girlfriend, Sailor Mercury."
     Chris spit out his tea.  "What?" he paused.  "Oh, you misunderstand..."
     Pluto frowned.  "Is this why you're allied with the Inner Scouts?"
     Chris sighed.  "No.  She's not my girlfriend.  I allied with them because of you could say
they found me first." He said, making sure not to say anything about him and Rei.  "Not only
that, I don't like power-hungry ego-maniacs."
     The outer planets all glared at him.  
     "Listen.  You can't destroy the Lords, neither can we.  So the obvious solution is to work
together."
     Pluto turned her head stubbornly.  "The inner planets offer no advantage by joining us. 
They would get in the way, and I'd feel responsible for any deaths in their group."
     Chris smiled evilly.  "Well, then.  I've already accepted responsibility for the entire
group.  Me and Tuxedo Mask are overprotective little freaks, and we're proud of it.  Don't
worry.  They've saved us more times they we've saved them anyway."
     Neptune giggled.  "So I guess you can stay with the losers while the REAL Saturn comes
with us."
     Suddenly, a sword slammed into the wall, millimeters away from her face.  Chris was on
the other end of the room, arm extended.  "And a chicky-chicky-bang-bang too you too."
     The other two were suddenly around him.  "That wasn't nice...and now you're unarmed. 
Not very smart." Uranus growled.
     Chris grabbed the other end of his scabbard.  It glowed impressively.  "Really, foo?"
     He sat up, parted the rest of them out of his way, retrieved his sword, then smiled at
Neptune.  "You're lucky I suck...I was aiming for your nose."
     Pluto opened the door.  "I think you better leave now."
     Chris frowned when he realized he may have over done it.  "Listen, just let us help. 
Don't try to push us away.  Our greatest strength is teamwork, and it can only get better with you
guys helping...And if you need help, just call the Cherri Hill temple.  Ask for the weird freak
with the laptop."
     Pluto simply turned her head away, "Seriously, I doubt very much we could use any of
your help."
     Chris went for a nerve, "What about your little sister, Andrea?"
     Sharon went pale, then turned to face him again, "Look, just keep to your own business. 
I'm quite aware who she is, and I'm also aware that she's not a true Sailor Scout."
     Chris was about to say something but stopped.
     Pluto held a hand to him, motioning for him to shut up.  Her face expressed anger. 
"Serenity never allowed her to be part of the Silver Millennium, the..." she lowered her head
angrily, "for reasons I'd rather not get into.  Leave.  Perhaps we'll consider your help, but for
now we're doing fine."
     Chris decided he'd done enough for today and quietly walked down the hall.  Sharon
watched him leave with tears forming in her eyes, which then quickly disappeared.
     Uranus stood up, "What about your sister?  Why wasn't she let into the Millennium?"
     Pluto walked past her, "Keep out of my personal life, okay?  You can all go home.  I'm
bushed."  All the other outer scouts quickly made their way out of the apartment while Sharon
lied down on her bed and thought.
     
     Chris walked down the street back to the temple.  He didn't bother to change back yet
because he was in a pissy-dirt mood and the sunglasses made him feel more pissy-dirt, and he
liked it.  
     A couple of people ran when they saw him carrying a sword, but he didn't care too much. 
This sucks.  How am I going to unite two groups who think they are better off alone? 
     He didn't know how long he was walking, but he should have known his sword would
attract attention.  A news van suddenly roared up in front of him, blocking his path.  "Oh, shit."
     A crew leapt out of the van, cameras already rolling.  Chris thought about leaping onto
the rooftops but remembered he wasn't a cartoon character.  "Strike Fiss?" the anchorwoman
asked, running toward him.  "Can we have an interview?"
     Chris froze.  He had no idea what to do.  "Uh..." he said as a microphone was shoved into
his face.
     "Is it true you're not one of the original Sailor Scouts?  Where are you from?  What
planet?" the woman rattled off a bunch of questions.  She seemed to be American, and Chris got
even more nervous when he read CNN on the van's side.
     Suddenly, Sailor Pluto leapt down besides him.  "Come on, let's go...NO COMMENT!"
she added, pulling Chris along behind her as she leapt off down the street.
     
     After they lost the van, Chris thanked her.  "Sorry about that.  I just didn't know what the
media policies of the Scouts were.  Thanks a lot."
     She nodded.  "Listen, I've been thinking.  Tell Sailor Hooze I said  hi'."
     Chris blinked.  "Is that all?"
     "And that I don't hate her or anything."
     Chris shook her hand.  "No problem.  But what about the teams helping each other?"
     "Don't push your luck, Fiss." she smiled, then bounded off.
     Chris sighed.  "Close enough."







                           Chapter 5
                                
     Rei was still in her temple garb when it rolled around to three in the morning.  She sat by
the pond on the bench.  Demos and Phobos fluttered down beside her.  She smiled and pet them. 
"Hi, guys.  How's life?"
     Phobos cawed contently.  Demos spotted a worm on the ground and leapt down to eat it.
     She frowned.  "Ooo.  Where's Chris?  He still hasn't been back yet, Phobos.  Those
freaks better not be ruffing up my boyfriend..."
     Suddenly, clacky-things and a Spanish guitar hit filled the air.  Rei looked around. 
"What the?"
     Chris appeared from the shadows, holding a guitar and a clacker.  "I always wanted to do
that." he walked out of under a nearby tree.  "I talked to Darien and he said he always liked the
Spanish band music.  It made a good entrance, don't you think?"
     Rei stood up and spun around.  "Funny."
     He set down the instuments and walked over to the bench.  "What's wrong?"
     "So?  Did you find anything out about the Outer Sailor Scouts?"
     Chris blinked.  "Oh, uh, well; they're older than we are...you know, they've been around
longer.  Also, they say they're more powerful than the Inner Scouts.  They might be able to help
us, but they're reluctant."  He paused.  "Pluto seems to be the leader.  She's much more open-
minded than the others. 
     Rei walked over to him "Oh, this Pluto sounds nice."
     Chris blinked.
     Rei looked down at her feet.  "So, what were you doing with them all night?"
     Chris frowned.  "Is this about Ami?"
     Rei frowned.  "I guess.  It's just that..."
     Chris tangoed over to her, griped her side, and dipped her over in a kiss.  "I just realized,
we never did dance, did we?"
     Rei looked surprised.  "Well, we never could dance without killing people." she
snickered.
     "Yes, but there's nobody else is here!" Chris twirled her around, flinging off his
sunglasses.
     Rei kissed him back.  "I feel sorry for Ami.  I got to you first." 
     "Really?"
     "Naaa, you're mine and I like it."  She glanced over to the pond.  "Care for a swim?"
     They tangoed, tripped, then rolled into the pond laughing.

     That day was enchanting.  The sky was bright and blue.  The grass and trees were nice
and green.  Birds sang sweet songs of summer (I LOVE alliteration!).
     A nearby shopping mall lit up in a dark-purple light.  A horrible sound, like hundreds of
screams of people dying, filled the air.  The mall exploded, sending shockwaves throughout the
block.  When it was finished, only a crater remained.
     The Lords were having some fun.
     "That should get the Sailor Scouts attention." The leader snickered.
     "We'll be ready for them this time..." one of the other Lords said.
     "A Radio Shack was in that mall.  You'll pay for that, freaks!" Chris leapt down from the
top of a building.  
     The Lord spun around, then shot out a huge ice-crystal from his hand, catching Chris in
the arm, knocking him down.
     Tuxedo Mask shot out five roses, but they were all disintegrated by hand-lasers from the
others.  
     Fiss got back up to his feet, nursing a huge gash in his left forearm.  It was just him and
Tux until the others arrived.  (They were out looking for cool cars and just happened to be in the
area.)
     Tux jumped down to make sure Strike Fiss was okay.  He nodded.  "Let's just get these
punks."
     Tuxedo pulled out his staff.  "My turn to show off!"  He swung it around, extending it's
reach. 
     "Right on!" Chris whipped out both his swords.  "Let's show these punks what we can
do."
     The Lords stood there, arms crossed.  "Well?"
     Darien leapt into the air, smacking his staff into the head of one of the secondary Lords. 
Another grabbed the end and swung Darien into the ground.  Chris blinked.  "Shit."
     The lead Lord smiled.  "Backing down?  So soon?"
     Chris smiled.  "Not bloody likely."
     The Lord launched a laser from his hand.  Chris intercepted it with his sword's disk,
reflecting the beam back at the alien.  The Lords dodged, but it allowed Darien to get up and
regroup.
     The Lords lined up and ALL fired their lasers.  Darien intercepted three beams with the
roses and the rest he deflected with his staff.
     Chris deflected his beams with his sword, sending them into the ground.  "That does it!"
He gathered up all his will-power, almost igniting his swords with pure energy.  "No more
lasers!"  He swiped the swords around in a huge arc; forming a cyan oval of light behind him. 
"Fire all phasers!!"
     Darien smiled, pulling out at least a dozen roses and made them glow a deep crimson. 
"Lights out, suckers..."
     Chris and Darien let loose their attacks in a blinding display of special effects that would
make even Pink Floyd and Steven Spielberg turn slack-jawed.
     The Lord held out his hand.  "Negative POWER!"
     The entire block suddenly went dark...in mid-day.  Chris' attack disintegrated into air. 
Darien's roses went dim, then snapped down to the ground, loosing all forward momentum.
     The Lord smiled.  "Looks like you'll have to do better than that."  The other Lords
stepped forward.  "Allow us to introduce ourselves."
     "I am called Shikawa." one said, stepping forward.
     Another bowed, "Ginus; a pleasure, I'm sure."
     They continued naming themselves.
     "Mintous."
     "Reloner."
     "Plankta."
     "Yoink."
     "Nofear."
     Darien leaned over to Chris, "Like the T-shirts I wonder?"
     The eighth smiled evilly, "Lady Doom."
     "To pronounce my name, I would have to pull out your tongue."
     Chris and Darien winced.
     The leader grinned, "Just kidding.  I'm Zoicon."
     "I am Strike Fiss." Chris stepped forward "Prince of the planet Saturn; Master of Beavis:
the African Pigmy Hedgehog; Defender of Spam and Amoebas; and the weirdest Sailor Scout
the world will ever see!" he pointed his katana at Zoicon's head.  "And how dare you blow up a
mall full of chicks!"
     Darien blinked.  "Oh, I'm Tuxedo Mask...Prince of planet Earth, future king of the
Universe...uh, Master of Rose Gardens, Wearer of Snazzy Suits, Babe-Magnet and Keeper of
really cool automotive vehicles!"
     Chris smiled.  "And he's weird too.  Right on."
     "I am Sailor Mars!"
     Chris turned around to Rei behind him.  They hugged.  "I was just kidding about the
 mall full of chicks', honey." Chris smiled.
     "I'm sure you were." Rei raised an eyebrow.
     "I am Sailor Mercury!"
     "Sailor Jupiter!"
     "Sailor Venus!"
     Serena swung around her arms.  "I am Sailor Moon!  Defender of the Moon!  I will
punish you!"
     "Sailor Hooze!" Andrea yelled.
     "Prince Destiny!" Maury joined.
     The Lords looked slightly surprised.  "Mmm, this should be interesting." Zoicon said.
     "Hey!" a voice yelled out "Mercury, honey!  Did you miss me?"
     "Dear lord..." Mercury shuddered.
     "I am Sailor Uranus!"
     "Sailor Neptune!"
     "Sailor Pluto!  Let's rumble!"
     Lita smiled.  "Is this a cool team or what?"
     Andrea beamed with delight, "Yea!  We're all one, big, happy family now!"
     Pluto sighed, then smiled at her, "Hey, it's OUR universe.  We gotta protect it!"  She
leapt over beside her.
     Jupiter and Venus high-fived, "All right.  Looks like it's action time!" Lita shouted.
     "Let's rock..." Chris smiled, spinning around his sword then dropping it on is foot. 
"Ooops."
     They all looked at him.  "Thanks for the confidence, Fiss..." Tuxedo snickered.
     The Outer Scouts took action first.  
     "World Shaking!!"
     "Deep Submerge!"
     The ground the Lords were standing on erupted in an earthquake, then jets of water.  All
but three dodged the attacks, and leapt out of the way.  Maury and Chris leapt in to try and finish
the three off.
     "Yoink!  Look out!" Shikawa yelled, as Maury shot a ball of light at the injured Lord.  
     Yoink got hit bad and was knocked unconscious.  Maury in turn got grazed by a laser
from Plankta.  Chris wielded around and sliced off his hand before he could fire another laser at
Maury.  A rose came out of nowhere and finished the job by slamming into the Lord's head.
     "Thanks, guys." Maury coughed, holding his shoulder.  "I can still fight, don't worry."
     Chris and Darien nodded.  Darien smiled.  "Ha!  I got the second one!"
     Jupiter attempted to land a punch on Nofear, but ended up being grabbed by the fist and
swung across fifteen feet of asphalt.  She immediately gained footing and regrouped with Mars
and Mercury.
     "You okay?" Rei asked, "That was quite a hit."
     Lita rubbed her skinned thigh, "Fine, just a little shaken.  Sheesh, if we're supposed to be
warriors, how are we expected not to get hurt in these tiny outfits?"
     Chris skidded by on his back, thrown by Plankta.  "Hey!" he joked.  "I don't mind your
uniforms!"
     Rei shot him a icy look.  "Just get up an fight."
     "Yeah, yeah..." Chris got up and regrouped.
     Mercury decided to help Jupiter by double teaming.  "Mercury Ice Storm...BLAST!" 
     "JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!!!"  The two attacks combined, creating what
appeared to be a dragon made completely of frozen lightning.  Nofear blocked as the ice
shattered upon his flesh and the electricity jolted through his body.  Although wounded, he was
still on his feet and capable of fighting.
     Venus and Sailor Moon decided to do their part.  Venus leapt into the air at Reloner
chanting, "Venus Love Chain ENCIRCLE!"  The result was the chain wrapping around the
Lord's torso and being pulled painfully to the ground as Mina jerked it upon landing.  She
touched the chain with her finger.  "Venus Crescent Beam SMASH!"  The chain lit up in a huge
pulse of energy and proceeded to fry the struggling alien.  
     "I don't think so!" he shouted between gasps, "Dark energy...ELECTRIFY!"  A black
beam canceled out her own, going against her power and through her body.  Her eyes widened as
the pain began to register and she fell against the cold sidewalk nearly unconscious.  He walked
up to her, smiling triumphantly, "So, human.  I suppose we now know who's more powerful,
hmm?  You are stupid..." he made a little kiss at her, "...but beautiful."
     "Thanks, appreciate it." she said, propping herself up with her elbow painfully, "But the
blond myth doesn't count for ALL of us." 
     He stood over her, "Why?  What do you mean?"
     "This." she smiled, grabbing his balls, "VENUS, METEOR...SHOWER!!"  The wide-spread of 
concentrated light blew his reproductive organs apart.  His shocked and totally helpless
expression amused Mina so much that she forgot about her pain and began laughing hysterically.
     Chris, Maury and Darien all blinked and swallowed hard, thinking about how much that
would sting.
     Lita and Rei looked at each other and smiled, then looked at Mina, "Nice  touch'."
     Serena decided to take on Lady Doom without thinking twice.  She leapt at the opponent
at full speed with her arm pulled back ready for a punch.  Lady Doom simply side-stepped out of
the way and watched happily as Sailor Moon plowed herself into a lamp post.  She adjusted her
face after standing up, "That really hurt."
     "You are pathetic.  Now face my wrath... Doom BUSTER!!"  The alien widened her
eyes, opened her mouth to an unnatural-looking proportion, and out came an ear-piercing
shockwave.  Because of lots of dodging experience, the discharge hardly hit Serena, but was
enough to knock her off her feet.  As Serena kneeled, Lady Doom kicked her in the stomach with
a four-inch pump.  Sailor Moon fell flat on her stomach and coughed up a bit of saliva mixed
with a hint of blood.  The Lordette began charging toward her with a wicked smile on her face. 
      Oh great.Serena thought quickly, how do I nail Miss Doom while I can hardly sit up? 
Unless... 
     Just as Doom was in range, Serena spun around, her pigtails wrapping round Lady
Doom's legs and knocked her down.  On her way down, Sailor Moon managed to do a side-kick
to the alien's chest.  Winded and flat on her back, Doom attempted to catch her breath.  Sailor
Moon dragged herself over to her enemy and loomed over her face.
     Serena was gasping, "You want my damn crystal?" she removed her brooch and grasped
it firmly in her hand, then jammed it down Lady Doom's throat, still hanging on.  "Cosmic
Moon POWER!"  The crystal lodged inside her chest cavity lit up Doom's body inside out
and then caused her to explode in a brilliant display of light, vaporizing anything before it could
hit Serena.  She placed the magical item back in the center of her bow and spit on the burnt grass
where her opponent once lay.  "That was just the appetizer."
     Pluto was in the midst of a staring contest with Ginus in the semi-destroyed parking lot
of the mall.  She was determined to win this battle and send all the Lords back to wherever they
came from.  "Now, tell me, Ginus...think you'll be setting any records today?"
     "Yes..." he smiled, pulling out a samurai sword, "...the world's fastest kill of a Sailor
Scout."  He charged her and swung at Sharon with the blade.  She caught it with her hands in
such a way that it didn't even nick her glove.  "You could use some training from Strike Fiss."
she grinned, "You fight too much with the sword, not enough with your soul."
     "Not if I do THIS!" Ginus shouted as he threw a butterfly knife at her.  It struck deeply
into her right shoulder and caused her to stumble backwards over top a garbage can.  "Ooo,
you're gonna pay for that!"  She ripped the knife out of her flesh and hurled it back at him, but
he blocked it with his sword.  Her anger increased with every syllable of his laughter.  Ginus
smiled and raised his sword.  
     Suddenly, a silverfish-blue slash passed through Ginus' sword, snapping it in two.  Chris
was there, sword down.  He nodded at Pluto.  "Thanks for helping.  Just returning the favor."
     Chris leapt off to let Pluto finish her fight.  
     "My sword!" Ginus screamed, "My beautiful sword!"
     Pluto smiled, "A screaming contest now, is it?" She abruptly cleared her throat, "Pluto
Dead Scream!"  She whispered, then brought her staff around to discharge her attack.  The
pressure caused a large hole to form in his torso, and he dropped to his knees struggling to stay
alive.  She casually walked over to him and, with one forceful kick, knocked his head clear off
his shoulders and against a nearby car.  "Music to my ears..."
     Andrea ran over and hugged her, "Way ta' go!"
     Pluto hugged Hooze back, "Thanks, kid."
     
     "Ahhh, but the battle has just begun..." Zoicon laughed from his vantage point on the
mall-crater.
     The Scouts all turned.  This was going to be one hell of a week.






                           Chapter 6

     "Mars Fire IGNITE!" Rei launched a stream of fire at Zoicon.  He dodged, then drop-kicked 
her backwards.  
     Chris thrust his sword in to protect Rei, but Shikawa grabbed his coat and swung him
around twice before introducing him to a wall.  He fell down, winded.  Ami and Mina ran over
to help their friends only to be swiped off their feet by an energy blast from Nofear.  Zoicon
proceeded to pummel Tuxedo Mask and Pluto against a wall with a Zoicite-like shockwave.
     Lita got really pissed off.  "Jupiter Thunder CRASH!" the electricity she sent out
buffeted against Zoicon's back.  
     He merely turned around like nothing had happened and landed a punch to Lita's jaw,
almost breaking it.  Tuxedo Mask struggled to drag Venus to shelter before the Lord could
resume his attack.  
     "Pluto Ground ZERO!" Andrea yelled, causing a ball of light to expand from her hands
outwards.  
     Mintous simply shot a hand-laser at the sphere, causing it to collapse.  Andrea got a kick
to the stomach and was knocked out cold.  Maury managed to get some Sun-Stars off but they
missed.  Sailor Pluto helped drag Andrea off to cover.
     Chris grabbed Rei's hand, then leapt down into the mall's crater, slowing their decent by
his disk.  Zoicon leapt down after them.  
     "Mars Celestial Fire SURROUND!"
     "Looks like it's party...TIME!"
     Their two most powerful attacks combined to produce a dazzling ring of blue fire,
slamming into the alien's torso.  Zoicon slammed back against the crater's wall, winded.
     "That blast could'a whiped out the air force...and he took it!" Rei gasped in horror.
     "Again!" Chris yelled "Hit him with ANYTHING!!"
     Rei pulled out a scroll.  "Mars Fireballs CHARGE!"
     "Saturn Disk...REFLECT!" Chris yelled.  
     Zoicon was blasted out of the crater at terrific speeds, but was still smiling as he left.
     Chris and Rei looked at each other.  "Man, what are we going to do?"
     Rei blinked.  "I have no idea."
     Back up above, Venus fired another meteor shower at Yoink, who was already wounded. 
Despite the injuries, he dodged and spun around to nail Venus with a crushing punch.  Tuxedo
Mask quickly slammed his staff into Yoink's back with a satisfying crack.  He then realized his
staff had snapped in two.  "Fuck!"
     Yoink fired a 'sub-zero' type energy ball at Darien, freezing his arm and exploding him
back onto the ground. As he urged his arm to warm up, the Lord body-checked into his kidney. 
"You Sailor Scouts are all washed up!"
     Andrea suddenly came out of nowhere.  She picked up a rock, and chucked it squarely
into Yoink's eye.  She grabbed Darien, helped him to his feet, and ran off.  "Yoink!" she
giggled.
     Darien frowned.  "You should have stayed under that car!  You could get hurt!"
     Andrea just winked.  "You owe me one...I'll collect later."
     Plankta suddenly dropped down in between them, swinging around a mace.  "Break it up,
kiddies..."
     Darien dove into Plankta's stomach arms-first, knocking him over before he could hit
Andrea.  "Now, we're even." he smiled, then wrestled the Lord away.
     Andrea frowned.  "Oh well."
     Back in the crater, Chris pulled out two canisters of powder he had been saving.  "Can
you get the others in here?"
     Rei kissed him.  "Well, I can try, can't I?"
     "Please be careful, Rei...I don't think they liked me killing that first guy." Chris sighed.
"I'm going to see how they like half-a-pound of Composition B in their shorts.  And tell Maury
to get here at all costs."
     Rei leapt out of the crater.  Chris mixed the two powders together in a coffee can he
found in the debris and stuck in a three-second fuse of magnesium.  
     Mercury got another dropkick to her back and fell down winded.  "I won't let you kill
me!" she said weakly. 
     Nofear smiled.  "Really?  Say hello to  Mr. Twenty five thousand pounds of concrete!' 
GRAVITY CAPTURE!"
     A nearby STREET uprooted itself thanks to a mental beam of energy from the evil alien. 
Ami gasped as it lined up directly above her.  "No!"
     "Duh-duh-duh-DUH!  Uranus to the rescue!" Sailor Uranus slid under the road-slab,
nabbing the terrified Mercury before the concrete hit the ground and exploded into a shower of
rocks and pebbles.  "Miss me honey?"
     Ami got up off the ground.  "Do you mind not looking up my skirt?"
     Uranus stopped and stood up too.  "That's okay; me and Neptune are an item anyway. 
Just checking out alternatives." the blond leaned over to whisper in Mercury's ear.  "She can't
cook worth shit anyway, but I still love her."
     Ami laughed, but was interrupted as Uranus shoved her out of the way to face Nofear.  
"World...Shaking!"
     All the rocks from the crushed road-segment lifted up off the ground and smashed into
the Lord, burring him in a mountain of debris.  Rei suddenly ran out from behind the hill. 
"Everyone get to the crater!  We gotta make a last-ditch attempt!"
     Mercury and Uranus ran toward the crater as Rei went off to warn others.  Suddenly,
Nofear surfaced and landed a kick to Rei's back.  Rei spun around but was belted again before
she could shout a power.  "Fuck you!" she grabbed Nofear and kicked him away with a flip. 
That gave her enough time.  "Mars Firestorm FLASH!!"
     Nofear was completely caught off guard.  His arm was instantly vaporized.  "Ahh!  My
arm!  You fucking bitch!   GRAVITY LASSO!!"
     Rei suddenly felt like she was smacked with a giant whip.  She flew back twenty feet
before landing again.  She growled.  "You're not worth it, alien scum..." she ran off towards the
crater.
     "Fuck you, slut!" Nofear gasped, holding his cooked stump.
     
     With Rei stumbling back into the fifty-foot deep 'Ex-Mall' the team was complete.  The
Sailor Scouts were not in good shape.  Mercury and Venus could barely walk.  The rest all had
bleeding injuries of one kind or another, and Darien's staff was a useless stick.
     Chris and Maury struggled to complete the explosive before the Lords found out where
they had all grouped.  "Why don't we use Thermit?" Maury asked.
     "Because Rei can easily match it." Chris bragged.
     Rei smiled proudly, "Damn right." she paused.  "Where did you learn how to make
explosives?"
     Maury and Chris smiled.  "Internet." they both said.
     Suddenly, all six remaining Lords were on the edge of the crater.  "Time to die, Sailor
Scouts!" Zoicon yelled.
     Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter gathered around the others in the middle.  "We gotta
protect the princess!" Jupiter announced.  "Jupiter Star Power!"
     "Mars Star Power!"
     "Venus Star Power!"
     "Mercury Star Power!"
     Each Scout produced a vertical shaft of light, spanning upwards and connection with the
other four beams.  A force field encircled the group as Maury put the top of the lid on the bomb. 
"Now what?" he asked.
     Chris blinked.  "Does anyone have a lighter?  Mars is busy."
     The shield was hit by the eleven laser-beams from the Lords.  The four girls gasped in
pain but kept the shield up. 
     Suddenly, a stray laser hit the fuse.
     Chris gasped as it lit.  "Fire in the hole!" he yelled, yanking Maury and Rei off from their
feet and diving.
     Tuxedo managed to get Ami, Mina, Lita, Andrea and Serena in his cape and slammed
into the ground as well.  The Outer Scouts all ducked.
     Sure enough, the only non-military Composition B-H.M.X. explosive in current existence
detonated, sending the Sailor Scouts everywhere. 






                           Chapter 7

     Mina opened her eyes first.  "Oh my..." in front of her was a bloody leg.  Luckily, Rei
was still attached to it.
     Rei woke up and screamed when she saw her leg.  "Shit-shit-shit!"
     Chris immediately woke up and was relived to see his jacket only punctured in one place,
and not breaching his skin.  He dragged himself over to Rei to help.
     Andrea and Maury were shielded by Darien's cape, and Darien had been hit by a flying
stop sign, producing a gash in his side.
     "Man, I wish I could take a coffee break right about now..." Darien winced.
     Chris nodded.  "Unfortunately, there's no time to..."
     The Lords were on the crater's rim, apparently also stunned from the explosion.  Andrea
smiled.  "The explosion must have been focused upwards because of the crater!"
     Rei smiled.  "That'll teach them!" then winced as Chris bandaged up her leg with his
shirt's sleeve.
     Mercury gasped weakly.  "Yeah, but now what do we do?"
     Lita grinned.  "We show these mother fuckers what our team can do!"
     Serena stood up.  "Let's do it!"
     "Mercury Bubbles BLAST!"
     "Mars Celestial Fire...IGNITE!"
     "Jupiter Supreme Thunder...CRASH!"
     "Venus Meteor SHOWER!"
     The Outer Scouts joined in "Neptune Deep Submerge!"
     "Uranus World Shaking!"
     "Pluto Dead Scream!"
     The North American Sailor Scouts all went next.  "Looks like it's PARTY TIME!!"
     "Sun Spot LAUNCH!"
     "Pluto Ground ZERO!"
     Darien and Serena grabbed hold of her scepter.  Serena raised it high, pointing it towards
the Lords.  "Cosmic...Moon...POWER!!!!"
     
     More power than had ever been released by the group before launched and melded
together into a sphere of pure mental thought.  It reached the edge of the crater and enveloped
the Lords.  
     Suddenly... "Ultra Dark Field!  CRACK!" all the Lords said simultaneously.
     The energy ball was canceled out by a huge black vortex forming above the crater. 
Spectators of the sight were awed by the shear clash of powers.  Literally good and evil
nullifying each other.

     The Sailor Scouts all collapsed into a heap...exhausted.  Serena looked up.  "No..."
     The Lords were still standing.  Zoicon raised a fist.  "Let's finish this little game."
     Nofear used his gravity power once more.  The crater started rumbling.  All the Scouts
were tossed about as the floor of the hole raised and became level with the rest of the street
above.
     Chris curled up with Rei, Andrea and Maury.  "Well, mom's goinga' be pissed.  First I
didn't clean the basement...and now we're all going to die and the world is doomed."
     The Lords all came closer.  "You should've quit while you were alive, Sailor Moon."
Shikawa smiled.
     "Pardon me..."
     The Lords and Scouts all looked around.  Ami blinked.  "Who was that?"
     A man in a flowing white lab coat was standing a fifty meters away.  On the left breast
pocket was the mysterious W symbol.  Zoicon blinked.  "Who the fuck are you?"
     "Now, now..." the man said, walking closer "no need for swearing, Zoicon."
     Zoicon pointed to the man.  "Please kill him.  He's interrupting us."
     Mintous walked over happily and placed his had to the man's head.  "Good bye...sucker."
     The man looked unconcerned, and kept walking.
     Mintous was unable to use his hand-laser.  "Hey!  How'd you..." he growled.  "Never
mind..." he pulled out a knife.
     The man moved his hand in a sweeping arc.  Suddenly, Mintous flew up into the air,
three miles, and landed so hard he made yet another crater.  With the Lord out of the way, the
man in the lab-coat continued walking over to the Sailor Scouts.
     "Sailor Scouts." he finally spoke.  "You'll have a friend as long as you fight for Earth's
safety."
     Zoicon frowned.  "I don't know who you are, but get lost."  He fired a ball of dark energy
at the man.  
     It simply stopped five meters from the man, then exploded harmlessly like it bounced off
an invisible shield.   "Our directives prevent us from directly interfering...but Earth's safety his
number one priority."
     "You're from the Omega Web?" Chris asked.
     The man smiled.  "Yes.  Glad to see you found our little computer bug.  You Scouts
aren't as stupid as some people think!"
     The Scouts all frowned.
     "Excuse me, but WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!" Zoicon bellowed.
     The man smiled.  "We're what you call the Uranok-redemption."
     Zoicon gasped.  "Everyone!  GET BACK TO BASE!"
     To the surprise of the Sailor Scouts, the most powerful enemy they'd ever been up
against just ran off because of a man in a lab coat.
     The man smiled again.  "My name's not important.  All you need to know is to brace
yourselves."
     The Omega Web leader held out his hand.  Serena's crystal suddenly launched from her
broach and into his hand.  Serena changed back into her normal clothes.  "Hey!  What are you
doing?!?"
     "By the power of the Omega Point..." he concentrated.  Beams of energy started coming
from the air around them, focused into the crystal in his hand.  "Maximum Capacitor
Output...Recharge System 36..." he seemed to rattle off a computer program...then a huge energy
ball enveloped the man and the Imperium Silver Crystal.
     "One, two, three...done." he smiled as the energy dissipated.  "Here you are."  He tossed
it back to Serena, who almost fumbled the rock as it was thrown to her.
     Serena gazed into the crystal.  "Wow!  It's...recharged!"
     While Serena started into a 'wicked-cool-fit', the man walked over to the other scouts. 
"Sorry, Pluto, Uranus and Neptune...you can't be upgraded."
     "Why not?" Uranus demanded.
     "Because you each are powerful enough as it is, and you aren't compatible with my
power systems." he smiled, then turned to the rest of the Sailor Scouts and Princes.  "However,
you guys are."
     Chris smiled.  "Say hello to Strike Fiss, version 2!"
     Maury grinned.  "Yeah, that would be cool."
     The Omega Web man held his hands in the air.  "Let's get ready to save the Earth...shall
we?" 
     Each of the primary scouts was enveloped in a yellow light, lifting them off the ground. 
They snapped back into their civilian clothes, then their power items floated out of their pockets
and into the light.  
     Mina smiled.  "This feels...well, neat!"
     Lita nodded "Yeah, like a bunch of soda pop bubbles all over you."
     Chris and Maury grinned.  "Huh, you said bubbles." they both said.
     The man in the lab coat concentrated, drawing more energy from the space around them,
and delivering it into their items and bodies.  "A one, a two, a one two three four!" he shouted,
as the Sailor Scouts were enveloped in a blinding red light, visible from space.
     Then, just as suddenly as it started...it stopped.  All eight dropped from the sky, landing
on their butts.  The man smiled. "There you go.  Now, I'm afraid I have to go now.  It will take
your powers a few hours to set in, but the Lords shouldn't bother you too much..."
     Darien walked up and shook his hand.  "Thanks.  But what's so important about this
Omega Point?"
     The man blinked.  "Only that it MUST be reached.  If humanity has any hope of
surviving this galaxy, more like us will have to appear.  Then, we can secure the Solar System
against intruders and live in truly civilized society.  And if we can reach the Point?  Then life's
going to be a lot more fun."  
     Chris walked forward, holding his disk in his hand.  "What's it like?  At the Omega
Point?"
     The man smiled.  "Oh, we actually haven't reached that yet...were just the twenty
humans closest to it." he paused.  "But so far...it feels pretty keen."
     Suddenly, he turned around, walked back here he came from for a few meters, then
flashed out of view as he turned into a ball of light.

      Serena held her crystal up in the air.  "This time...it's war..."







                           Chapter 8

     "So, Serebe...is that what it's called on your planet?  The  Omega Point'?" Zoicon asked
the cringing woman.
     "I-I-I have no idea, my Lord..." she stammered.  She was obviously going to get punished
weather it was her fault or not.  
     Zoicon paced around as the other Lords nursed various wounds.  "Now, the man said he
couldn't interfere.  But what did he mean by helping?"
     Mintous shrugged.  "Maybe he told them our weaknesses or where this base is located."
     "What about boosting their power?" Plankta frowned.
     Zoicon shook his head.  "That's impossible.  We scanned Pluto and found that their
power systems aren't compatible with an  Omega Point' operative."
     "That's right.  Of course.  He must have just scared us away as part of helping...that's
still interfering, but that's probably it." Plankta assured himself.
     Zoicon nodded, then looked angrily at Serebe.  "But we still lost three of our warriors. 
That upsets me greatly.  Lady Doom and the others were valuable alias."  He slapped Serebe
hard across the face, "Lets not let it happen again.  I want no more information gaps.  Is that
clear?"
     Serebe nodded. "Yes, Zoicon."

     Darien answered the doorbell only to see Andrea standing there, a wide grin on her face. 
"Hey, big guy."
     "Hi there, Andy.  Whassup?" he motioned for her to come in.
     Andrea just about walked past him, then stopped, "Oh..right...slippers."  She put them
on, not wanting to be rude or anything.
     She walked in, then turned to him, "You know, Darien...I never really thought about the
fact that I could have, well, died out there the other day."
     He led her to the couch, "Hey, don't worry.  If you survived that, it can only get easier. 
In fact, ALL of us had to kind of realize that we are fighting for our lives, and that it may be our
last day living."  He thought a moment, "Andrea...what exactly does 'Hooze' mean?  Chris gave us an 
explanation for the 'Strike Fiss' thing...I think its only fair."
     Andrea sat down, letting out a deep breath, "Well, when I was really little, my older cousin could
NEVER remember my name.  He started to call me Anywho, which later became Anyhoozem, Hoozem, and 
finally 'Hooze'."
     He sat down beside her, "Weird family."
     Andrea blushed, "I know.  Its cool."  She was quiet a moment, then smiled, "Darien...about that 
incident by the pond?"
     Darien blinked, remembering the kiss he'd given her.  "Um, yeah?"
     "Do you REALLY like me?  I mean, you didn't just give me that kiss out of sympathy, did you?"
     Darien looked surprised, "Of COURSE not!  I don't just hand them out like candy mints or 
anything!"  
	Andrea looked up at his face, noticing the height difference, "So...is that it?  Are we just going 
to leave it at that?"  She sighed, "Great...I'm doomed to be in love with a man whose practically already
engaged."
	Darien's eyes shot open, "Love?  Did you just say you LOVED me?"
	A large sweat blob appeared on the back of her head, "Well...um... I've had these dreams...oh, 
nevermind.  You're right.  Its probably just a crush." she frowned.  "Yeah, right.  I'm sorry, Darien.  
You probably wouldn't understand."
	He leaned close to her, "But I understand that there is something between us." he said before
kissing her tenderly.  He then pulled away and hid his face in his bangs, "...But, I love Serena
too.  This is tearing me apart."
     Andrea, still admiring the after effects of his kiss, said hesitantly, "Can we just forget
about her for just a while?  Pleeeeeaaaase?"
     Darien's tense face turned to a smile and he wrapped his arms around her waist, "You
win...this time."  They kissed for a long time, and then he began unbuttoning her dress shirt.  She
pulled off his green coat and tossed it on the floor.  That was as far as they got, then both
suddenly stopped, both feeling guilty for betraying Serena.
     Andrea buttoned her shirt up, "I, uh, better go.  Bye, Darien."  She slipped on her shoes
and headed for the door.  Darien got up and saw her out.  They both seemed unsure about what
just happened as he closed the door behind her.  She ran down the hallway, a bit confused of everything.
WAS it a crush?  Andrea knew it was deeper than that, but had no desire to fuck up Darien's love-life with
Serena.  "Man, I can't BELIEVE he likes me!" she said to herself, nearing the elevator.
     Darien held his head with his hand, leaning against the door, trying to figure out what was
going on.  It was another love triangle, only a decision between a princess and an outcast.  
     He couldn't decide.

     "I can't decide..." Maury smiled.  "Cheese or eggs?"
     Chris thought for a moment.  "Oh, cheese is much funnier."
     "Yeah, I had a feeling," Maury reclined on his bed with Lita.
     Chris smiled evilly.  "You know, I could leave if you REALLY want me to..."
     Lita raised an eyebrow.  "Okay."
     Chris took his book and left the room.  "Eh, maybe I can find Demos and train him to be
an attack-crow." Chris smiled, walking down the hall. "Here crowy-crowy-crowy..."
     Lita snuggled against Maury's arm, "So... now that crow-boy's out of the picture, care to
 cuddle'?"
     Maury held her in his arms, "How could I refuse, my strong and aggressive one?"  He
kissed her thoroughly and fulfillingly, then began to remove her pantyhose.  She lay back,
allowing him to do as he pleased.  Maury then rolled over on top of her and their body's rubbed
against one another.  
     "I've got this feeling that ALL of my capabilities have been upgraded...if you know what
I'm saying." Lita teased.
     Maury kissed her neck, "Ditto."  He pulled her shirt off over her head and kissed between
her breasts.  Lita arched forward to him, put her arms around to his back, and ripped his shirt
completely in half, tossing it aside.  They continued stripping down to bare skin, kissing and
touching along the way.

     Chris held out his finger.  "Come to Butthead..." he said to the crow, looking at him like
 what?'
     Chad came up behind him, watching.
     "Here, Demos...soon you will learn to kill at the ring of a bell." Chris grinned evilly as
Demos fluttered down to perch on his arm.  "Now, Demos.  The first thing I'll have to teach you
is to recognize a target."
     "Stop bugging the birds, dork." Chad grumbled.
     Chris turned around slowly "See, Chad is a target.  He's wussy and annoying.  That's
right...focus before attacking..."
     Demos indeed seemed to be staring at Chad in a semi-homicidal way.  "Have you been
drinking or something?" Chad asked, keeping an eye on the crow.
     Chris frowned.  "No, why would you say that?"
     Demos cawed, sending Chad back a step.  "You're talking to a bird, idiot."
     Chris tossed him the empty can of Pepsi in his baggy pants.  "Yes.  Me and Demos here
have been having a keg-party.  Now, go away before I tell him to attack."
     "No!  You listen to me..."
     Demos cawed angrily and Chris pretended to grab her.  "Hurry, man!  Get away!  I can't
hold her back much longer!  She's gone CRAZY!!" he yelled,  struggling' with Demos.
     Chad just stood there, arms crossed.
     Chris and Demos relaxed.  "That's okay, buddy...you're a good actor, but Chad's just a
freak." Chris let Demos fly back to his perch on the roof with the puzzled Phobos.  
     Chad smiled.  "By the way, Rei's gone shopping with Serena and Ami...she can't save
you  now."
     Chris blinked.  "What's with you?  I thought we settled this a long time ago!  And here
you are, trying to ruff me up, almost three months later!"
     Chad kept his arms crossed.  "True love can withstand the test of time."
     "Ohhhhh..." Chris walked over.  "So you think she loves you, eh?"
     "Yes.  And the feeling's mutual."
     "Ohh, Chad's been looking in the dictionary again!" Chris snickered.  "She doesn't love
you. You probably don't even love her, and you're ruining a great friendship with her because
you got too greedy with competition around."
     He laughed. "You?  Compete against me?  Don't make me kick your ass!"
     Chris shrugged.  "I was as surprised as you were.  Now, if you don't leave me alone...I'll
be forced to dance."
     Chad frowned.  "Uh?"
     "Exactly." Chris walked away.
     Chad pushed him from behind.  "Hey, we're not through here!"
     Chris swung around and head butted him.  "Ow!  Man, you have a bony head!"
     Chad was stunned, and stumbled back a few steps.  "Bastard!"
     Head butting's cool.

     Rei leaned back against the wall.  "Uhhg, I never thought six hours of shopping would
tire me out so bad..."
     "O really fool!?"
     "Yeah!"
     Rei blinked.  "That's Chris and Chad!  Dammit!  There fighting again!  OOOO!"
     She ran down the hall and out onto the lawn.  Then, she dropped her bags of clothes and
stared at the sight.  Chris was sending Demos after Chad.
     "Hey, Rei!" Chris beamed.  "Wanna help?"
     Before Rei could say anything, a nearby wall busted open, spilling Maury and Lita
wrapped in a blanket onto the lawn.  Maury looked around.  "Oh...Hi everyone..."
     Rei smiled.  "I always miss the cool stuff."







                           Chapter 9

     Zoicon inputted the last code.  "There.  It's armed.  We'll do the job even if the planet is
destroyed."
     In front of the Lord was a huge cube.  Zoicon closed the arming pad and locked it. 
Plankta smiled.  "More like the entire Solar System.  This thing as a radius of one light year. 
The entire system will be uninhabitable for twenty millennium."
     Yoink smiled.  "How long until detonation?"
     "Ten hours.  Serebe, I suggest you gather your highest ranking troops and come with us."
He frowned.  "You may be a bitch, but you're still valuable to us."

     Chris opened the phone booth and stepped inside.  He picked up the receiver and dialed a
familiar number, then punched in about ten dollars worth of Yen into the coin slot.  He didn't
feel like phracking the phone right now.  He had to talk to his parents.
     Who knows what kind of upgrade they got?  There were still no guarantees...even if the
 Omega Web; was on their side.  No guarantees...not even a guarantee that they would live
another day.
     He leaned up against the booth's wall, adjusting his coat as the phone finally started to
ring.
     "Hello?" came his Mom's voice.
     Chris smiled uncontrollably.  "Hey!  Mom!"
     "Chris!  Are you okay?  We heard about the aliens in Tokyo!  Are you hurt?  What's
happening over there??"
     Chris took a deep breath.  "Mom.  Me and Andrea are fine.  Maury's good too if you
want to tell his family.  But, there's something more important we have to discuss."
     A pause.  "More important than aliens landing and killing thousands?"
     Chris took an even deeper breath.  "You're right.  Never mind."
     "Is everything okay?"
     Chris smiled.  "Yeah, I guess we just miss you."
     "Is Andrea there?"
     "No, I'm out in a pay phone.  I just wanted to call and say hi..."
     Mom seemed a bit choked up.  "Well, thanks for calling.  You've only called a few times
since last year...it's hard not being around you, you know.  We'll be happy when you're all back
home."
     Chris was silent.  For a long time.  It was so easy to pretend he could stay as long as he
wanted...with the Sailor Scouts, defending the entire Sol System against evil...but he couldn't
bear give the reasons to his own mother.  He was a different person  now...what would it feel to
be back in a place where none of this crazy Sailor Scouting had ever happened?  Chris only said
"Mom?  Say hi to dad.  And...I love you.  I can't wait to see you again."
     His mom said goodbye after making sure they were okay.  Chris hung up the phone, then
slid along the wall until seated.  
     Chris stood up again.  "I won't let these freaks kill my parents...or anyone else.  That's a
promise..." he commanded himself.

     Luna and Artemis ran down the street.  Ami had done a scan of the city and detected a
strange power source.  The two cats decided to do their share and check it out.
     They dashed around the corner of a deserted building.  Luna gasped.  "What's that?"
     A green glow was coming out of the earth just ahead of them.  As they approached, it
turned out to be a crater...with a large, alien-looking cube inside, emitting a low-pitched whine
along with the glow.
     "Could that be a bomb set up by the Lords?" Luna asked.
     Artemis frowned.  "You think?" he replied sarcastically.  "Of course it is!"
     Luna glared at him.  "Well?  Come on...we have to alert the Sailor Scouts..."
     They were again, in the field beside the Watcher's warehouse.  The place of the final
battle.







                           Chapter 10

     The sun had nearly set.  All of the Scouts, including the Outer, were standing lone in
downtown Tokyo.  Luckily, it had been abandon due to evacuation regarding the alien invasion. 
Serena looked at Sharon and nodded.  They all held up power items.
     "Sol, Light...POWER!"
     "Mercury, Star...POWER!"
     "Venus, Star...POWER!"
     "Mars, Star...POWER!"
     "Jupiter, Star...POWER!"
     "Saturn, Disc...POWER!"
     "Uranus, Planet...POWER!"
     "Neptune, Planet...POWER!"
     "Pluto, Planet...POWER!"
     "Pluto, Mask...POWER!"
     "MOON, CRYSTAL...POWER!!"
     Darien sighed, and held up a rose to transform.  "You guys get to say all the really cool
lines."
     Mercury scanned the building.  Only the green glow of the strange cube was in sight. 
"They're hiding."
     Lita growled.  "Freaking cowards...Ooo, come out here and fight!"
     Maury looked around, then concentrated.  Everyone looked at him.  "What's wrong?"
Chris asked.
     "They're here...behind us!" he spun around, throwing six stars at an invisible target
behind them.
     Each star hit something, revealing all six Lords, using some sort of  Predator'
camouflage.  They all growled in pain and leapt to a rooftop,  now completely visible.  "So much
for our surprise attack." Nofear whispered to Zoicon.
     Zoicon just frowned.  
     Chris smiled to Rei.  "Did the news say the block was evacuated?"
     Rei smiled evilly.  "Yes, they did."
     "Saturn FOCUS!" Chris whipped out his swords and spread them in a horizontal disk.
     "Mars War-Laser!...FIRE!" Rei gathered a ball of fire around her in a huge pillar, then
focused it along her finger toward the Lords.
     Chris produced a blinding blue ring and shot it as well.  The two attacks joined.  The red
laser split and went through the middle of the disk like a lens, turning the beam into a focused
blue death-ray.  Then, it hit Nofear's chest.
     Chris and Rei watched in amazement as Nofear was ripped inside out by the laser, then
vaporized.
     The entire building started to crumble into a pile of dust as the other Lords leapt off for
their lives.
     "Neptune Deep Submerge!" Neptune yelled, causing Plankta to be encased in a crushing
ball of water.
     Chris went over to help, but suddenly, was hit by...another blade.  "What the fff.." he
made sure it only nicked his arm.
     Serebe was standing in front of him.  Holding a sword.  "That's for killing Nofear,
bastard!"
     "Jupiter Lightning Storm!  SWEEP!" Jupiter sent out a huge shaft of electrically charged
wind that came down from a nearby cloud, throwing back Serebe before she could strike again. 
"There you go, Fiss.  We'll finish off the Lords, you get that bitch!"
     Chris nodded.  "Thank's Jupiter!"
     Suddenly, EIGHT THOUSAND ninjas came around the corner.  Chris blinked.  "Uh."
     Andrea, Maury, Ami and Darien all joined him.  "Come on!" Andrea yelled.  "Let's
waste these freaking' clones!"
     Darien whipped out his new staff, then flung it at a nearby group of one hundred.  It
started spinning, and literally mowed them down as it boomeranged back to his hand.
     Serebe stood up.  "Come on, Sailor brats, I challenge you all!"
     All the scouts besides the outer scouts ran after her as she ran back into the crowd of
ninjas.  Pluto smiled.  "You guys go ahead and waist the ninja's!  We'll take care of these
Lords!"
     Zoicon called after them.  "Ha!  It's no use, Sailor Scouts!  The entire Solar System's
toast in twenty minutes anyway!"
     Luna and Artemis gasped.  "The cube!" they said at once, running after the Sailor Scouts.

     "You coward!" Chris yelled, fending off a ninja as Serebe smiled cockily behind her
army.  "I thought you challenged me!"
     Serebe just smiled evilly, whipping her sword with a shammy.  
     "Mercury Ice-Daggers, SPRAY!" she fired at the crowd of ninjas, freezing a line of them,
leading directly to Serebe.
     Chris pulled out his disk, shattering them out of his way in one blast.  Before Serebe
could order reenforcements, Strike Fiss and Sailor Mercury were past the ninjas, and standing in
front of her.
     Chris smiled.  "Well-well-well, bitch.  Let's..." suddenly, Artemis leaped to Chris'
shoulder. 
     "Fiss!  There's a bomb going off in nineteen minutes!  It's over there!"  He pointed with
his paw to the green glowing cube in the distance.
     "I'm kinda busy...Mercury, go disarm it!" Chris yelled, whipping out his sword as Serebe
growled and stood up from her little lawn-chair.
     Luna grabbed Mercury's foot and dragged her off.  "Wait!  I'm not good at hacking into
systems!"
     Chris and Serebe jumped down to level ground.  Serebe smiled.  "I've practiced all my
life, you don't have a chance, child."
     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah, and Sailor Mars is ugly."
     Their swords clashed.

     Maury and Darien stood back to back, whipping out roses and throwing stars like they
were going out of style.  Maury looked concerned.  "Hey, Tuxedo Mask!"
     "What?" Darien asked as he lopped off a ninja's head with his staff.
     "You know how I predicted the invisible attack thingy?"
     "Yeah?"
     "Well, I just got another vision.  It's not very good."
     Darien frowned.  "Oh?  Why?"
     "All I see is nothing...like the Earth exploded or something."
     "Thanks."
     "No problem."
     Andrea and Mina leaped over their heads.  "Don't worry, guys!" Mina smiled, pointing to
Andrea.
     Andrea took a stand in front of all the others and held out her arms at her sides, "I call
upon, uh...the Forces of Hooze!!"  Energy began crackling around her.  "Cool!  I mean...Pluto,
Soul Skeleton...STRIKE!!"  A green almost mist-like replica of her skeleton seeped out of her
body in the same position as her own, made a horrible screech, and then spread out in a wave of
pure death.  It hit every ninja in its path, causing the two thousand or so to slowly vaporize.
     All was quiet, Darien blinked.  "BITCHN'!!!"
     Mina grinned and stood beside the shocked Sailor Hooze, "Now then...that was cool."
     Andrea laughed, "These upgrades worked wonders!"
     Sailor Venus faced the ninjas again, "Now  its my turn.  Venus, Strobe...FLASH!!!"  She
held a ball of light in her hands above her head.  It then began flashing faster and brighter, until
it lit up an area so large it could easily be seen from space.  The frequency of the pulse began to
disrupt the atmosphere, and soon another five hundred had exploded into piles of meat from the
force of the energy.  She then finished the job by throwing the ball on the ground, which seemed
to spill over the cement and vaporize what was left of them.  "That kicked ass!"
     Rei decided to try out her new attack with out a focus, just to see how powerful it really
was.  "Mars War Laser...FIRE!" she focused all her energy into a continuous beam of flaming
light, sweeping it across the field of ninjas, turning them into vapor as it went along.  "Right on! 
Come on Sailor Scouts!  We gotta help the others!"
     Sailor Moon smiled, holding up her scepter.  "Moon Scepter...Elimination!" but before
anything happened, three ninja jumped on her, knocking it out of her hands.
     Darien growled.  "That DOES IT!!!  I call upon the power of Earth! TERRA SLIDE!!"
     The ground around Serena erupted in a crystalline jet of molten rock.  It shot back the
three ninjas, covering them in flames, then vaporizing them...producing a pile of rose petals.
     Maury grinned.  "Flowers?  You wussy."
     Darien stuck out his tongue, "Bite me."

     "This thing's a bomb?" Ami gasped at the huge cube looming in front of her.
     Luna nodded.  "Now, hurry up!  We only have ten minutes left!"
     They found the panel.  "Mercury Ice Storm...BLAST!" she froze the panel's locked cover
and it shattered away, leaving a complex-looking keypad and a screen.  On the screen was what
looked like a little egg timer graphic with only ten minutes left.  She activated her VR visor and
pulled out her little computer. 
     Artemis frowned.  "Great.  Now the fate of the solar system is up to a little computer that
looks like you can buy it at Radio-Shack for thirty bucks.  We're all doomed!"
     Luna smacked Artemis across the face.  "Shut up!  She's trying to concentrate!"
     "Thanks, did I need that?" Artemis collapsed unconscious.
     Luna frowned.  

     "Fiss!" Chris yelled, repelling Serebe back, then charged at her.  
     She blocked, then kicked him back.  Chris brought back his sword and slammed it into
her's with no luck.
     "I told you...I'm a top level certifiable Busido master!" She laughed.
     Chris wiped his brow and tried again.  He leapt at her, swinging his sword around. 
Serebe dodged, then swung her sword around, blade first. 
     Chris smashed into the ground, feeling a hit along his back.  Shit!  She cut my spine!
     Serebe began laughing...then stopped.  "What the fuck?"
     Chris realized he wasn't sliced in two.  He felt his back.  No blood.  "My jacket!  It's
upgraded!" he got to his feet slowly.
     Serebe growled.  "No matter, I'll just slice off your head!"
     Chris smiled.  "Huh huh huh...you said  head'." he grabbed his sword in both hands.
     Serebe spun around her blade, but Chris blocked it easily.  "I'm going to eat your heart in
front of your little pals!" she growled.
     "Go ahead, bitch."
     "If you say so..." she charged.
     Chris frowned.  "You have already lost."
     Chris lunged, grabbed Serebe's sword, and rolled off her back all in one motion.  Serebe
fell to the ground, a gash in her side from her own sword.
     Chris threw down her sword in disgust.  "That's what you get, bitch."
     "For what?" she gasped in pain.
     Chris smiled.  "For bugging me." he walked over and picked up his katana.  "And what
was this about beheading me?"
     Serebe gasped, holding her side.  "No!  You can't!  You'll need my help to disarm the
bomb!"
     "No way.  I've earned this..." he smiled.  "See ya..."

     Uranus was thrown back by Mintos.  Mintos jumped out of the way of Pluto, but was
caught by Neptune's tidal wave.  "Neptune Planet POWER!" she yelled, causing the Lord to be
crushed in a sphere of water.  As the liquid dissipated, he was dead.
     Uranus was helped to her feet by Pluto.  "Man, we still got to get the other two!"
     Yoink and Plankta were also finished off, but Zoicon and Shikawa were fighting as
strong as ever.  Plankta fired a laser at Uranus and Pluto, separating them in a huge explosion. 
Pluto was hurt bad all along her left side, and Uranus was unconscious.  
     Zoicon laughed at the Outer Scouts.  "Give it up, losers.  You may as well die while you
can still breath properly!"
     Suddenly, a stream of super charged energy came out of nowhere, hitting and knocking
down Shikawa, and blasting Zoicon to his butt as well.  Serena and the others were standing in
the distance.  Serena lowered her scepter with a smile.  "Gottcha!"
     The outer scouts got the hell out of the way before they were killed.  Rei glanced over to
Chris.  "Get Mercury!  We'll need her for the final showdown."
     Chris nodded, then ran off with Andrea and Maury.  "Just like old times, right guys?"
     Maury raised an eyebrow.  "Not exactly...."
     The three rounded the corner where Mercury and the Cats were desperately trying to
figure out the bomb's systems.  "How's it going, Ami?" Chris asked.
     Ami looked desperate.  "I can't figure it out!"
     Maury concentrated.  "I still can't get a vision for the near future...bomb's going off
soon."
     "Go and help the others.  We can handle it." Andrea said.
     Mercury shut her data computer and ran off to fight with the others.
     Chris looked at the screen.  "Shit!  Three minutes!" he sat down in front of the control
panel and started punching keys.







                           Chapter 11

     Zoicon had just kicked Rei and Mina away from his feet.  They rolled back painfully, but
quickly got up to regroup with the others.
     Lita clenched her teeth, "This isn't working...our new powers hardly even effect this
weirdo."
     "We need to use something stronger!" Serena shouted, hyperly jumping up and down.
     Suddenly Darien and Ami came running up to them.  Darien stopped and kissed Serena,
"Let's do it.  We can kill this butt-munch ass off if we harness our powers together!"
     Serena grinned, "Okay!  Time for another transformation!"
     Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon joined hands and were enveloped in a bluish glow.  When
it died down, their outfits had changed yet again, being properly pronounced as Prince Endymion
and Princess Serenity.  
     
     "Eggs are good for you and me...Chicky chicky bang bang." Chris joked, trying to keep
calm.
     Andrea paced back and forth.  "Would you two hurry??"
     Chris and Maury examined the wires behind the popped off control pad.  "Okay,
Maury...I am going to cut this green wire...did your vision change yet?"
     Maury concentrated.  "OOOOOO!  No...NOT the green wire!  Oh no..." he said quickly.
     Chris blinked.  "Right."
     Maury and Andrea looked.  "Two wires left.  Both blue." Andrea frowned.
     "I can't get any more visions on either one." Maury frowned. "You gotta guess."
     Chris blinked.  "Shit.  I always sucked at lottery games."
     Andrea and Maury gulped.  Chris took out his sword.  "Do you know which one?"
Andrea asked hopefully.
     "Four dead-ends, three safety guards, two booby traps...and a partridge in a pear tree."
Chris grinned. They all held their breath as Chris swung his sword into the two wires, severing
them both simultaneously.
     They were quiet.  The control panel was now running FASTER.  "Twenty Seconds."
Chris sighed.
     Andrea ran over to the other end of the cube.  "Do the planet-power force field thing! 
It's our only chance!"
     Maury and Chris stepped back, until they made a triangle around the huge bomb.  
     "Strike Fiss!
     "Sailor Hooze!"
     "Prince Destiny!"
     "POWER!" they all yelled, producing a vertical beam of light around the bomb.
     In the last few seconds, they were all quiet.  Maury finally spoke.  "I'm still not getting
any visions..."
     Chris nodded, concentrating on the force field.  "Well, then.  Let me just say that you
guys have been the best friends I could ever ask for, and it's been an honor."
     Andrea and Maury both nodded.  "In case it's too late for later, dido for me," Maury
smiled.
     The timer clicked down it's last second.  All three held their breath, and concentrated on
the force field.

     A rumble shook the ground.  Zoicon stopped in his tracks.  All the Sailor Scouts looked
behind them.  A huge shaft of light was emanating upwards from the bomb's position. 
Suddenly, a huge flash of light lit up all of Tokyo.  The blast of untold power was channeled
upwards, harmlessly into the sky...but the beams were no longer there.
     Serena and Darien blinked.  "Uh?" Serena finally asked.
     Mina raised an eyebrow.  "The bomb!  The others must have..."
     Zoicon blinked in surprise.  "I-I don't believe it!"
     Lita and Rei suddenly looked panicked.  "Are they...alright?  There's no beams..." Rei
gasped.
     Lita turned to Zoicon.  "THAT DOES IT, MOTHER FUCKER!!!"
     Zoicon used the moment of frustration.  "NEGATIVE POWER!"
     All the Sailor Scouts were thrown back onto their butts in a huge ball of energy.  "I got
those three!  It's only a matter of time until you ALL die!" he cackled.
     Serena stood up, holding her crystal.  "I am Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium! 
You will pay dearly for what you have done!"
     All the scouts stood up as Zoicon prepared another blast.  "I'm going to take you out
once and for all!!!" he gathered up his power and started forming an incredibly huge energy ball.
     The Sailor Scouts and Darien all put there hands on the Silver Crystal.
     "Mercury Power!"
     "Venus Power!"
     "Earth Power!" 
     "Mars Power!"
     "Jupiter Power!"
     As all their energy focused into the Crystal, Serena raised it over her head.  "Cosmic
Moon POWER!!!!"
     At the same instant, Zoicon launched his energy ball.  

     The Imperium Silver Crystal emitted a pulse of light...then another...then another, like a
revving engine until it produced a strobe light.  Then, a wave of light shot out from it, plowing
through the evil energy ball, then continuing into Zoicon's head.
     He crackled with energy as the strobe light died down again.  "Noooooo!  You haven't
seen the last of me!!"  He exploded...littering the sky in white sparks.
     Endymion smiled, "I doubt that..."

     Serena and the other Sailor Scouts collapsed to the ground, completely spent.
     Slowly, a pile of debris in front of them started moving.  "What the hell?" Darien gasped.
     Shikawa slowly emerged, holding a wicked-looking twist of metal.  He limped toward
Serena.  "You're going to die now...an there's nothing you can do about it!" he wheezed
painfully, but kept inching forward.
     All the Sailor Scouts could do was lay on the ground at watch as the last remaining Lord
came closer to their leader, brandishing his makeshift knife.  
     Rei forced herself to pull out a scroll.  "Mars Fireballs...CHARGE!"
     It flew toward the Lord, but he easily batted it down.  "Nice...try...Mars...but no goal..."
he gasped, spiting out a weird colored blood.
     Rei collapsed, and the others all were helpless.  Darien tried to shield Serena, but he was
too far away.
     Shikawa grinned.  "You should never use your ultimate weapon, unless you're sure it
will finish ALL your enemies off!" he raised his weapon over his head to crush Serena's skull.  
     "Looks like it's PARTY TIME!  YEAH!" A blue flash whipped through the sky over
Serena's head, smashing into Shikawa, slicing him in two neatly separated halves and depositing
them on the ground.
     The scouts all blinked.  Serena stopped wailing and turned to look behind her.
     Chris, Maury and Andrea came over the hill, slightly singed.  "That will teach aliens to
invade OUR planet...right guys?"
     The three did a pose and all hummed "Ta-Da!!!!"






         Epilogue

     One by one, the Sailor Scouts limped off the scene.  The Outer Scouts left to be in their
own pissy-world after getting humiliated by the Lords.
     "We'll meet again, sister." Pluto said to Andrea before swiftly leaping off.
     Maury was beaming.  "Tell them how I saved your guys butts!"
     Chris and Andrea both glared at him.  "Yeah, yeah...what he did was after the shield
broke, he fired some of his explode-o stars in front of us to repel the shock wave with their own
explosions." Chris said.
     "Yeah, and we were only slightly toasted by them, because they're so wussy." Andrea
snickered.
     They all lay out on the Temple lawn.  Rei smiled.  "If you ask me, Chris, you cut it just a
bit close."
     Chris smiled.  "Sorrreeee!"
     Darien nodded.  "Thanks for saving Serena...she'd thank you too but..."
     Serena was packing away a bunch of cookies like there was no tomorrow.  She looked up
from her plate just long enough to mumble  "Marub-ooo", apparently saying 'thank you'.
     Andrea looked over to Serena to make sure she was stuffed full of cookies.  "Oh, I just
wanted to thank you again, Darien..." she leapt on him and started kissing him wildly.
     Serena gasped, hocking up cookies.  "Hey!" she whined.
     Andrea leaned over to his ear, "Let me warn you...I plan to finish what we started in your
apartment."  She got up and ran when Serena came after her, leaving Darien humming 'I'm too
sexy.'
     
     Rei and Chris sat on their favorite park bench overlooking the pond.  "So.  All the ninjas
are toasted, the Watchers no longer exist, and the Lords are fish-food." Chris smiled.  "So whatta
you going to do next!"
     Rei smiled.  "I'm going to Disneyland."
     "Well, before we do that..." Chris started before reaching into his coat pocket.  He
handed her a small, felt box.  "Open this."
     Rei opened the box and gasped at the ring inside, "Its beautiful!  And it has my
birthstone; crystal!"
     "I wanted to get you something."
     "Why?" she asked happily, placing the ring on her right index finger.
     Chris shrugged, "For putting up with me."
     She kissed him delicately on the nose, "I wouldn't have it *any* other way...that's an
order."
     He grinned evilly, "Yes, ma'am!"  They embraced in a kiss.
     
     Far away behind them, Ami sat with the others, watching.  "I'm not giving up now."
     Mina sat down besides her.  "What was that?"
     She shook her head.  "Nothing.  Just thinking."

     Back at the Omega Web, the man in the lab coat leaned back in his chair and smiled. 
"See?  I told you they'd do it.  Now who owes me fifty bucks?"
     Some lowly assistant handed him the money.  "I guess you were right, sir."
     He raised his eyebrow.  "But of course."

                            THE END!
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
Well, not REALLY the end...  After all, I have a LOT of free time on my hands!
 Coming up next: AR #3!  What's it about?  Well...it's actually
       pretty cool.  I really wouldn't want to spoil the
               suspense!  Oh well.  It's about...
			     Well, it's kinda 
                           like when
                              the
                                
      Ooops!  Ran out of room!  I guess you'll have to wait!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that's AR #2.  I hope you enjoyed it!  If you did, or even if you didn't, E-Mail me!
EVEN if you though the story really SUCKED, and found it SOOOOOOO instanely dissapointing, that
you woke up in the middle of the night, standing naked in your driveway, holding a human
pelvis in your hands....STILL E-MAIL ME!  I enjoy reciving ANY comments, questions and death-
threats.  I reply to ALL my messageses, so there!  See you next time on AR #3!  "Senshi Rivalry!"


Check out the latest AR updates/stories/sounds/pictures at.

http://geocities.datacellar.net/Tokyo/9110

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