Sailor Moon
                          Alternate Reality
                          *****************

               Part 4: "Parting is such sweet sorrow..."
                                
                                
                       Written by Strike Fiss, 
                       Ninja Crowbotics, 1997
                                
                                
                  









              
                                
                                
                                                            
     Chris smiled happily as he walked up the huge flight of steps leading up to 
Tenth-Street's own Cherri Hill temple.  In one had, he held his sword case.  He 
was finally back from his knowledge-quest with Henry Yamato, and he hoped the 
others had fared well without him.  
     As he got to the final step, he could see that something wasn't right.  The 
lights in the temple were flickering, and there was a cloud of dusty smoke 
rising from the back wall.  "Oh my..." Chris said simply, quickly unlatching his 
case and taking out his sword.  "REI?" he yelled out.
     A second passed.  Finally, Rei's voice came through.  "Chris?  Hey!  Come 
here!  I have something to show you!"
     Chris paused.  What on earth would she have to show him?  He didn't like 
it...the cloud had dissipated.  Maybe she and the others were having a bonfire 
picnic...
     "Coming!" Chris answered, sheathing his sword and putting it away.  Just in 
case, though, he pocketed his disk.  
     He walked along side the temple and rounded the corner to the back wall 
where he had heard Rei call from.  Rei and the others stood away from the 
wall...in their Scout uniforms.  Chris gasped as he realized...

...there was another Chris with them.

     The Scouts all smiled at his reaction.  "Mars" took a step towards him.  
"Hi Chris...sorry we can't stay and chat, but I'm afraid we'll have to kill you 
now."
     Chris glanced at the temple wall.  It had been blown apart by a bomb or 
something.  The real Sailor Scouts lay inside, passed out on the rubble.  Serena 
was also there...as was a Sailor Moon with the second group.  "What the hell's 
going on?!?" Chris yelled, taking out his disk slowly.
     His counterpart smiled.  "A little slow today, aren't you?" it took out 
it's sword...an exact match of Chris'.  "Shall we?"
     Transforming would waste too much time.  Chris simply took out his sword 
from it's case and slid back on the hand-guard disk.  "Let me guess...you're 
what leapt out of those eggs while we were unconscious."
     "We just stopped by to get our leader." Jupiter said.  "She was a bit late 
in coming out of the cloning process."  
     Chris tightened his grip on his sword.  "Just because you look like my 
friends doesn't mean I won't kill all of you without a second thought."
     The cloned Sailor Moon moaned slightly.  She was being held up by Mercury's 
clone.  She must still be weak from the process as well.  Venus frowned.  "Let's 
go.  Our leader is still recovering." she whispered to Jupiter and Mercury.
     "But, there's only one of them left!  We can get rid of them all so easily 
now!  I won't allow them to have a second chance." Mercury replied firmly.  
     Chris was getting edgy.  They were talking amongst themselves for a good 
twenty seconds now.  "Rei?  You okay?" he shouted over to the debris.
     Rei shook off the dust on her head and looked up from the rubble.  
"Wh...what happened?"
     Tuxedo Mask's double noticed Rei's coming too.  "If we're going to act, it 
better be now.  They're getting back up."
     Chris edged himself between the two Scout-teams.  "You come one step 
closer, and I'll make sure I at least take out Sailor Moon." he growled.  
     Venus frowned.  "Come on.  We can't finish this tonight.  Not now."
     Chris nodded in encouragement.  
     His double exchanged his exact frown.  "Next time, we won't back down."  It
sheathed it's sword and nodded.  "Until then, I guess the world IS big enough 
for both of us."
     Chris breathed a sigh of relief as the "doubles" gathered in a circle and 
teleported away.
     Rei, finally out of the rubble, put her hand on his shoulder.  "Well well 
well...this just keeps getting stranger and stranger."
     Chris shrugged.  "Not as strange as Mongolian flipper-babies."
     Rei raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah...sure."














                                Chapter 1






     Chris and Mina walked down the hallway, hoping that Artemis wasn't crushed 
by the explosion.  "I hope they weren't cloned as well." Chris mentioned.
     Mina nodded, clearly worried that her Guardian was missing.  Both the cats 
were missing, in fact, and Chris was beginning to wonder if the gel was deadly 
to them.  "Artemis would have answered by now if he were conscious..." Mina 
mentioned quietly.  
     "Don't start talking like that." Chris replied.  "He's probably huddled 
against a heat-source or something."
     Mina sighed and opened the door to yet another room.  "Artemis??"  There 
was no response, so she moved on. 
     Suddenly...a loud scream filled the air.  Mina and Chris realized it was 
outside, and ran toward it's  source.  "It's coming from the second temple!" 
Chris said, pointing.  
     They both whipped open the door and ran inside, hands already reaching for 
their power-items.  Mina gasped as Artemis was flung across the hallway in front 
of them, and hit the opposite wall.  "Artemis!!!"
     Chris looked toward where the cat's flight had originated.  "Trevor and 
Damien..." he growled, poking his head inside.
     Sure enough, Trevor was there, gasping at his bed which was covered in 
slime.  Damien had grabbed Luna by the neck, and looked ready to toss her out of 
the room as well.  He looked up just in time to stop himself.  "Chris?"
     Chris, in a furry of anger over seeing his friend get launched into a wall, 
pointed to Mina and Artemis behind him, and in a low, spooky voice, asked..."Did 
you just throw her cat?"
     Damien swallowed hard, looking at Luna in his hand.  "Uh...um..."
     Chris lunged forward and snatched Luna from Damien's hand.  Luna purred 
weakly.  Chris made sure that she was all right, then returned his glare to the 
two.  "You have three seconds to explain why you threw Artemis across your 
room...and were about to..."
     Trevor, feeling brave, decided he could explain.  "Your little cat-buddies 
just pissed all over our beds!  What?  Did you expect we'd enjoy that and give 
them a treat?"
     Chris frowned.  "I told you.  These aren't normal cats.  They're smart 
enough to know not to piss on your fucking beds.  If they did, that means 
they're sick.  Throwing them against walls doesn't usually cure a cold, now does 
it?"
     Trevor and Damien sneered back.  "God, I'll be happy to leave this fucking 
cat-piss infested place!  Four more days, and we're gone." Damien mumbled, 
returning to his business.
     Chris sighed and turned to Mina.  "Is Artemis okay?"
     Mina nodded happily.  She was currently giving Artemis the biggest hug in 
the world, and was in tears of joy.  "Oh, Artemis...thank god you're alright!"
     Artemis...suffocating due to Mina's hug...meowed weakly. 
     Mina looked down.  "Oh...sorry, Artemis..." she loosened her grip.  "Here, 
I'll take Luna too." she extended her arm.
     Chris gave Luna to Mina and returned his attention to Trevor and Damien.  
"Four days...I suggest you just stay out of our way.  Then, you'll be home with 
your fast-food-grease and deep-fat-fryers." he turned and left.
     Trevor and Damien looked at each other for a long while.  "What's with 
him?" Damien snickered.
     "More like what's with that Mina girl." Trevor smirked.  "It's like that 
cat's her kid or something."







     "Yes, I'm fine, 'mother'..." Artemis said sarcastically as Mina wrapped yet 
another blanket around him.  
     "Are you sure?  You were probably sleeping in that puddle of slime all 
night." Mina said, reaching for another blanket.
     They had all gathered in the fire-reading room to try and make a plan.  Rei 
was tending to the fire quietly. 
     "So, Luna!" Serena asked happily.  "Why weren't you two cloned?"
     Luna shrugged.  "I don't know...maybe it doesn't work on cats." she said, 
still weak from the experience.
     Ami was on her computer.  "I think the gel works by bonding to water 
molecules in the blood and body...then migrates to the surface of the skin and 
hardens into another clone." she closed her computer.  "Theoretically, with the 
type of technology we have witnessed from the Lords, the cloning of our minds 
would be the easy part."
     Andrea sighed.  "Yeah, but they couldn't clone us exactly...after all, if 
we had doubles...I mean...EXACT doubles...then they'd want to help us fight evil 
and all that stuff."
     Serena looked at everyone and then turned to Darien.  "I'm confused.  Hold 
me."

     Darien rolled back his eyes and held Serena.  

     Chris smiled.  "Anyway, the cats probably didn't have enough water in their 
bodies for the gel to work.  I saw the stuff on Trevor's bed."
     "Was it white and all sticky?" Maury snickered.
     Chris sneered at the mental picture.  "NO!  It was yellow.  Remember back 
when we went to the Watcher's lab?  The special gel they used was green.  Pretty 
simple, actually.  The new chemical that cloned us just copied our brains.  
Then, the standard yellow gel did the rest."
     Darien nodded.  "Okay, but why should we care?"
     Chris blinked.  "Oh, good point."
     Ami shrugged.  "I don't know...if we can get a hold of come more of the un-
used gel, we might be able to find a weakness in the other Scout's body 
chemistry that we can exploit."
     Maury smiled.  "Wow, a plan.  I never had one before!" he snickered.  "I'll 
go to the Watcher place and see what I can find."
     "I'll go with you." Darien said, standing up.  "They might be expecting us 
to go back there."
     Lita nodded.  "You're right.  I'll go too.  The rest of you stay here in 
case they attack the temple again."
     Rei sighed to herself.  "Well, I guess while we're all here, we should 
rebuild the wall."
     The others, including Sharon, who had been quiet until then, all began 
muttering some excuses.  "Uh, I think I should take Artemis home...he's still 
weak." Mina smiled and took off...nearly forgetting Artemis.
     Serena realized she had a cat too, and could do the same thing.  "See ya, 
Rei!  I better get home and check in on my parents too..." She grabbed Luna by 
the paw and drug her off down the hall.  
     "Serena!  Watch out for that lamp!" Luna yelled too late as Serena dragged 
her over a lamp and out the door.
     Rei sighed, looking at the remaining people.  "Well?"
     Chris pondered the task with a smile.  "I bet we could get Trevor and 
Damien to haul around stuff like donkeys."
     The others raised their eyebrows and grinned.
     Sharon sighed.  "You guys don't take much seriously, do you?"
     "Is that a problem?" Fiss blinked.


















                                 Chapter 2






     A familiar figure walked into the store.  Something was different about 
it's stride though.  More careful...more calculated.  "Helloooooo!" Chris called 
out.
     "Chris?" Yamato called out from the back room.  "Chris?  Is that you?" he 
asked happily.
     Chris smiled as Yamato came out of the back room, wiping his hands with an 
oily rag.  "Hey, how's life?"
     "Oh, not bad.  Finally finished that movie deal.  Been thinking of an early 
retirement!" he smiled happily.  "Maybe I won't need those tickets to the museum 
after all."
     Chris frowned.  "Museum?"
     Yamato frowned back.  "Yeah...you remember?  You still haven't given me the 
passes to the Smithsonian you promised."
     The man adjusted his jacket nervously.  "Uhm...oh...sorry. I forgot about 
it."
     Yamato looked him over.  "Oh, no problem.  Don't worry about it...no big 
deal." his smile returned.  "Anyway, I was hoping you'd stop by before you left 
for Canada.  You never even gave me your phone number."
     "Oh, didn't I tell you?" Chris smiled.  "I'm not leaving."

     Yamato blinked in surprise.  "What?"

     Chris' smile widened to sinister smirk.  "Wow, it really DOES work!  You 
actually thought I was Chris."
     Yamato took a step backwards.  "What the hell...?"
     He hadn't really noticed before, as Chris had come in numerous times 
with his sword in hand...but now, he had it at his side, on his belt, and he was 
now withdrawing the blade.  "Who the hell are you..." Yamato demanded, looking 
along his walls for a good sword he could use.
     "Chris" sighed.  "Well, I guess I'm just a stereotypical evil-clone...sad 
really, that the plot common to hundreds of episodes of Saturday Morning 
Cartoons would be the downfall of the famous Sailor Scouts." he smiled, pulling 
out the full length of his sword.  "And their mentors."
     And eerie silence swept over the store.  Yamato saw a good sword less than 
a metre away.  "Why are you after me?  It's not like I could interfere with 
whatever the hell you're doing."
     'Chris' paused.  "Mmmm, yes....I must admit, I've thought about that at 
great length."
     Yamato edged closer to the sword on the wall.
     "Yes...great length." the doppelganger repeated, lowering his sword for a 
moment.
     Yamato used the motion as time to swing his arm over to the wall, snatching 
the blade from it's stand.  The Chris-double responded by raising his sword 
again.
     "So, if you've thought about this, then you must know it's wrong." Yamato 
said quietly.
     'Chris' giggled.  "Perhaps that's what most people would say.  But, my dear 
old friend, you must realize that it's possible I'm quite insane.  That's the 
fuck of it."

     Yamato blinked.

     Then, he raised his own sword.  "I'm not your friend." he swung around the 
blade with the experience of a grand master, but Chris countered easily with his 
own blade.  
     "Let's begin, shall we?"

     "YOSH!" Yamato jumped into the air with the speed of a man half his age.  
It was enough to catch the impostor Fiss off guard, and their blades met again, 
this time with enough force to drive them down against the floor with their 
blades only inches from the other's face and neck.  
     They slid for a moment before tumbling and rolling their separate ways.  
Yamato, however, knew the shop inside and out, while 'Chris' got tossed into a 
rack of swords.  
     The impact jarred one loose from the wall, and it fell without it's 
scabbard, against 'Chris'' leg.  He cringed, looking up at the old man as he 
knocked the blade away, showing a thin line of red on it's surface.  "Nice 
trick, old man."
     "That's one thing you never did learn." Yamato frowned.  "There are other 
ways to fight than with a sword."
     "Maybe." he stood, testing out his leg and smiling that the pain was only 
superficial.  "But winning depends on the best blade."
     "We'll see." Yamato nodded, then spun his sword at his side, loosening his 
muscles.  
     "HAAAAAA!" This time 'Chris' led the attack, slicing down at a hard angle.
     Yamato blocked and led the thrust away so his own sword wouldn't shatter.  
Then, he pushed forward the tip, hitting the air where his enemy's head had just 
been barely able to move away from in time.  Both tried again with a slash to 
the belly, but missed as they both jumped away in time.  

     "He might not know Fiss' power..." Yamato thought to himself as he glared 
across his sword to his enemy.  "I can still win..."

     Unfortunately, this was no friendly duel between teacher and student.  And 
the student was beginning to show he had been practicing.  

     Yamato charged, but was expected.  Chris' clone spun and blocked, but with 
enough force that his blade touched against Yamato's shoulder.  Even that tiny 
bit was enough to hit bone and scrape into it.  The flash of pain nearly ended 
the fight for the older man right there, but he stumbled free before another 
attempt was made, ducking in behind the counter.
     "Not bad, old man." he heard.  Both of their breaths were ragged now.  The 
pain in Fiss' leg and the numbing throb that had begun to echo in Yamato's mind 
were starting to take their toll on the fight.  He cursed himself for getting 
overconfident.  

     "Come on, Grandpa!" the clone chuckled.  "We might as well get this over 
with."

     Yamato nodded to himself.  "Indeed..." he whispered, clutching his sword 
tighter.  








     Chris and Maury walked down the street.  In Chris' hand was a list of 
supplies they needed for the temple renovation.  Some metal would be required, 
and Grandpa had suggested they go to Yamato's shop.  He knew the industrial area 
pretty well, and he kept a lot of tools around anyway. "So, what's funnier..." 
Chris began.  "Trevor getting ran over by a medieval catapult....or the word 
'Bork'?"
     "Definitely 'Bork'." Maury smiled.  "But the catapult would be something 
I'd pay good money to see happen."
     Chris nodded.  "Man, after a year in Japan...I'm running out of  'what's 
weirder' lines."
     Maury tapped his shoulder.  "Wait a second...what the hell is that?"
     Maury was pointing to Yamato's shop in the distance.  Chris squinted a bit 
to avoid the red glare of the afternoon sun, but finally made out a figure 
standing in front of the shop, holding out two swords.  "Wait...a...second..." 
Chris gasped.  "That's...ME!?!"
     They both started running for the shop, Maury transforming on the way, and 
Chris pulling out his disk.  "Shit!  What's going on?!?"
     The figure raised both his swords, causing a red flash of light to fill the 
air.  Chris finally transformed, and pulled out his own swords.  "NOO!"
     It was the second Strike Fiss, and he was about to nuke the Samurai Shop.
     The double brought down his swords in a similar fashion to Chris' 
attack...however, this time, it caused a beam of bright crimson light to lash 
out from the blades.  Chris and Maury watched helplessly, from half a block 
away, as the beam slammed deep into the  store.  

     A moment later, the explosion came.

     Chris had known what his swords could do for a year now...but even he was 
unprepared for the size of the blast.  A giant fireball exploded from the roof 
of the building, tearing the shop apart from the inside out.  The walls 
shattered like glass, then were sucked back into the explosion.  Gas lines and 
water erupted and sprayed their contents onto the blaze at the same time, 
turning the fire murky black with smoke, but also fuelling it even hotter.

     From that distant red flash, hell on earth had been ignited. 

     "Duck!" Maury yelled.
     Chris looked up and saw a huge chunk of rock coming straight at them.  He 
swung out his sword and deflected it with his energy pulse.  "Quick!  Get him 
before he can get away!" Chris yelled.
     Maury growled and leapt forward.  Chris covered him from falling rubble.  
"Sol Stars!" In a twist of his arm, he sent a dozen glowing blades flying 
towards the other Strike Fiss.
     The double turned just in time to see the stars, and ducked out of the way.  
However, he fell painfully on his knee.  "He's hurt!  GET HIM!" Chris roared 
amidst the now blazing fire of the store.  
     Chris' double got up and began running.  He was hurt somewhere on his leg, 
but it wasn't slowing him down too much.  "See ya in hell!" he called back.
     Maury was about to launch another fleet of Sol Stars when a large wall-
chunk slammed into the ground a metre ahead of them.  Maury slammed into it, 
unable to stop.  "Ack!"
     Chris dodged, but stopped.  He wasn't about to lose another friend today.  
"Mo!  Are you okay?" he asked, pointing his sword up in case any more debris 
fell.  Sure enough, another twisted metal pipe nearly slammed into them, but was 
knocked away thanks to Chris' sword.
     Maury shook off his daze and got up.  He grabbed Chris by the collar.  "You 
let him get away!"
     "Don't you think I KNOW THAT?" Chris yelled back, knocking Maury off him.  
He then turned to face where his double had ran to.  It was an alleyway.  
"Shit."
     "Fuck!" Maury agreed.
     They slammed their fists into the rock in front of them.  "SHIT-FUCK!" they 
echoed.
     Maury looked around.  It looked like a bomb had gone off inside the shop.  
Nothing could have survived...nothing within ten metres of the shop could have 
survived.  "Oh man...I'm sorry..." he sighed, taking off his sunglasses.  
     Chris had not stopped glaring at his clone's escape route.  He suddenly 
whipped around, retrieved his sword from the ground, and walked off.  
"Thanks..." he finally replied.
     A siren blared in the background.  Maury sighed and followed.  "Well, Rei's 
going to be pissed that we're going to have to wait for the wall..."

     Chris just kept staring at the fire, even as the fire-trucks came.  







     Chris' clone sat against a storm drain, breathing heavily.  "Shit that was 
close..." he took out his katana, and reverted his transformation into civilian 
clothes. 
     He then opened up his coat.  Three slash marks burned against his chest.  
Yamato had proved to be more of a challenge than he thought.  He frowned 
briefly.  If that was so, then that means Chris was probably a better swordsman 
than he was.  
     He sighed, stood up carefully, and began limping to the Base.  He'd have to 
play dirty if he was going to beat the original.  A smile crept onto his lips.  
He had just the thing.
     He stopped suddenly.  "Oh yeah!  Gotta remember that one..." he looked at 
his disk.  He then pointed it at his own chest.  "Reconstruct!" he yelled.
     A warm green energy pulse slammed into his wounds...a second later...they 
were healed.  "Mmm," he paused before doing the same to his leg.  "I wonder what 
I should call myself? Seems kinda stupid to use the old name..."  


















                                  Chapter 3






     Rei looked out her bedroom window at the darkening sky.  A long breath 
escaped her lips.  She had been so lucky that Chad and Grandpa were out during 
the Clone attack.  Not only could they have been killed, but if they lived, she 
would have to explain why evil monsters always seemed to show up around the 
temple.  
     Grandpa had just dismissed it as coincidence, so far...but if he ever sat 
down and did a fire-reading, he could easily find out that she was Sailor Mars, 
not to mention the others.  
     Chris and Maury had come back a few minutes ago, but Chris seemed pretty 
shaky so she didn't bother to ask what was wrong.  Maury also seemed pretty 
distracted.  He had simply said "Don't ask.  The doubles attacked." and walked 
away as well.
     Demos fluttered to her perch on Rei's window.  The bird cawed.  Rei smiled 
and gave it a pat on the head.  
     Outside, she saw Darien walking up to the temple.  They must have came back 
with the gel sample.  She sighed and got to her feet.  Somehow, she knew it 
wasn't going to be as easy as finding their chemical weaknesses.






     Chris' double burst through the penthouse doors and slid to a stop before 
shutting them behind him.  "Well, that was fun." he huffed.
     A figure on the couch raised her head to look at the newcomer.  "I hope you 
weren't stupid enough to get followed...were you?" she patronized.  
     He sneered back.  "Oh shut up.  At least the real Mars has some redeeming
qualities...you're just a bitch." he paused.  "And no...I wasn't followed."
     Rei's double smirked.  "Nice to see you too."
     "Next time, Mars, I hope you'll..."
     Mars interrupted him.  "Ah, use the names.  If we don't use them, well 
never get used to the new ones."
     "Fine...Lacy." 'Chris' replied.  "Why'd you choose a stupid name like that 
is beyond me, but to each his own..." he walked off.
     "I still haven't heard your new one..." Lacy said, stretching and getting 
up from the couch. 
     Chris smiled.  "Bermuda. It's the name of Weird Al Yankovic's drummer."
     Lacy put her hands on her hips.  "You can't be serious."
     Bermuda shrugged.  "Better than YOUR butt-munch name."
     Lacy threw a ward at him, barely missing his face before igniting in a 
fireball.  "You don't change your attitude, and the next one will be homing."
     Saturn growled and swiped his sword up to her neck before she could react.  
"What makes you think you'll HAVE a next time?!?"
     Lacy smiled.  "Because you know more than any of us, Chris had the most 
sense of chivalry.  Some must have rubbed off onto you.  You're a wuss around 
me."  Despite her words, a trickle of sweat ran down her hairline.
     Bermuda swore under his breath and sheathed his sword.   "Yeah?  Keep it 
up, and we'll see..." he looked around, wanting to change the subject.  "Where 
is everyone, anyway?"
     Another dark form on the couch examined her nails for grit.  "While you 
were out playing 'I'm the best sword in the west' with your old buddy, the 
others have been getting a few plans figured out.  Supplies, and the blueprints, 
of course."
     Bermuda slammed his fist on the table.  "That was supposed to be with my 
supervision as well!  Kamen can't do any break-n-enter without me!"
     "Oh, do stop your whining.  They'll do fine without you." Lacy stood up in 
annoyance.
     "We must destroy those Sailors, and I've been working on an idea that would 
bring them to their knees." the figure continued, "In the name of the Moon, and 
on behalf of the Lords, I swear it."
     "Of course..." Lacy agreed with the evil Sailor Moon, "...Karma."
     Bermuda hung his head.  "If I were you, I'd be more interested in killing 
the person who writes your lines." he walked off.
     Lacy and Karma frowned.  "He's too much of a loose cannon." Moon whispered.  
"Make sure he stays in line."
     Lacy nodded.  "No problem."






     Chris sat with his back to Andrea and Maury, looking out the window.  Sure 
enough, the chemical analysis was basically useless.  They were now back to 
square one...they had no clue who the new Scouts were, or if they could defeat 
them.  Their confidence had been shattered by the surprise attack they staged on 
the temple, and right now, the news of Mr Yamato's demise wasn't helping.
     The three sat silently for a long time, contemplating on what to do.
     Maury sighed suddenly.  "Well, I'm getting sick of waiting.  What do you 
all want to do?"
     Chris shrugged weakly.  "Dunno.  Maybe check E-Mail later..."
     "No, I mean about the other Scouts." Maury said, taking out one of his 
knives and tossing it into the air a few times.  "I'd rather go kick their ass 
on their own turf then have to wait for them to do the same to us."
     Andrea nodded.  "There must be some way we can track them down..."
     The two boys looked at her in case she had a plan.
     "Any ideas?" she shrugged.
     Chris lay down on his bed.  "I dunno...the satellite thing we used with 
Artemis would be pretty useless..."
     "Well..." Maury shrugged.  "They have to be staying somewhere...maybe we 
can do a check on parties of...mmm...let's see..." he counted up the number of 
Scouts "...nine teenagers checking into a hotel anywhere...maybe ten if Pluto 
got cloned as well."
     Andrea shook her head.  "No. Sharon wasn't cloned.  Remember?  When they 
attacked, she wasn't among them."
     Maury shrugged.  "You never know.  Stranger things have happened to us."
     "I'm more worried about our own doubles." Chris said.  "We have to be back 
in Calgary in a few days...what if they wait till we're gone?  Then they'll have 
a number advantage."
     Andrea slammed her fists together.  "And with the other Scouts out of the 
way, all nine of them could come after us next!"
     Maury shrugged.  "So then it's settled...we gotta find them before we 
leave." he smiled. "And still have an extra day to spend with Lita."
     Chris nodded.  Either way, the outlook was bad.  If they lost...they'd be 
dead...or slaves to Lords for the rest of their lives.  If they won...they'd be 
a continent away in a day, and wouldn't see the others for at least a few 
months...if not years.  Chris was close to proposing to Rei, and he was really 
pissed that the trip was ending so soon.  Maury and Lita would no longer be able 
to enjoy their evening walks, and the consequences afterwards.  Andrea, although
relatively empty-handed, would lose eight of her best friends, including Darien 
and a newfound sister.  Either way, the outcome would suck.  The sense of 
foreboding finality was getting to be annoying.
     Chris, Maury and Andrea all breathed a deep sigh, and went to bed.






     Bermuda sat alone in the darkest room of the penthouse suite.  He could 
feel an urge to do something...to kill his alter ego.  He didn't give a shit 
about what Karma, Kamen, or even Lacy had planned.  He was going to face his 
double, and he was going to kill him.  No matter how many dirty tricks he had to 
pull, he would win.  
     Maury's double, Bob, came in the room.  "Hi Bermuda...whatcha thinking 
about?"
     Despite the cloning process, Bermuda and Bob were still friends.  "Nothing 
much...I just want this to be over with.  Maybe once we complete this stupid 
programming in us, we'll be free."
     "Ugh?" Bob replied.
     "I just want to be myself again..." Bermuda sighed.  "And if that means 
killing myself, then I'll do it." he stood up and walked out the door.  "Tell 
Karma I'm out for a killing spree."
















                                 Chapter 4






     Chris had decided to take a break from the temple, and stood in front of a 
subway newsstand.   "Um...let's see...do you have any P.C. Magazine?"
     The man obviously didn't speak English and shrugged.  Chris sighed and 
thanked him anyway.  "I guess I really should have learned some Japanese while I 
was here..."
     He walked over to the line-up for the subway and began rummaging in his 
pockets for his ticket.  
     "Oh wow!  Mac-World!"
     Chris turned at his own voice.  There was Bermuda, at the newsstand, 
looking at a copy of 'Mac-World' magazine.  "I don't believe this...He has a Mac 
too?" Chris growled.  "I HATE Macs..."
     Bermuda smiled at the clerk.  "This magazine is free, right?"
     The man frowned.  He motioned for him to put it down.  Bermuda shrugged.  
"Fine." he whipped out his sword and stabbed the man in the heart.  "NOW, it's 
free."
     A woman screamed as she noticed the murder.  The subway packed full of 
commuters erupted in a stampede of yells and cries for help.
     Chris stood his ground, and in the confusion, pulled out his transformation 
disk.  "Well I'll be a hedgehog's uncle...  STRIKE FISS!!"
     Bermuda turned as he heard Chris transform.  "Well, well, welllllll!" he 
retrieved his sword from the newsman's body.
     The commuters stopped running as they realized there were now two of this 
strange young teenager.  Everyone got out of the way as Chris whipped out his 
own sword and began advancing onto Bermuda.  "You killed Yamato, you asshole...
how could you?  He was your friend too!"
     "Oh, spare me the melodrama." Bermuda yawned.  "I'm programmed to kill you.   
Once I do that, I can get on with my life.  You're not going to stop me from 
regaining my freedom."
     Chris frowned.  "Sounds like you've had a lot of time to think about this.  
However, you forget that you're just a clone, and never had any freedom to begin 
with."
     "Oh, I've been thinking about that, too.  You're wrong.  We're much more 
than clones...we're you." Bermuda lifted his sword into a defensive position. 
     Chris shrugged.  "Well then...I never did like me very much." he smiled and 
clashed his sword into his double's. "Say, I never did catch your name..."
     Bermuda smiled.  "Bermuda."
     "Like Weird Al's drummer?" Chris smiled back, striking again.
     Bermuda leapt back, then swept forward with his own blade.  Chris jumped 
over the attack and pointed his sword at Bermuda's chest.  "FISS!"
     The blast tossed Bermuda back into the crowd.  For a second, Chris was 
worried he'd take a hostage...but he just shoved people out of the way to get 
back into the fight.  "Oooh, pulling out all the stops, I see."
     Chris just raised his blade to eye level.  "Come on....gimme your best 
shot, ass-goblin..."
     Bermuda became all business.  "Here's a little something Yamato was kind 
enough to teach me...just before I burned him into the ground."  He jumped up 
into the air, and instead of using his sword, kicked Chris into a support pillar 
behind him.  Chris ducked as a blade finally did come at his head.  Bermuda 
sliced through the pillar, causing a low rumble to fill the subway terminal.  
     "Are you all fucking NUTS!?!" Chris yelled, pointing to the exit.  "RUN 
people!" he yelled as Bermuda tried again, this time, connecting with Chris' 
sword in a spark.
     The crowd got the drift and ran for the exits.  Bermuda smirked.  "Playing 
the hero again?"
     Chris shrugged, taking the moment to breathe.  "And why shouldn't I?"
     Bermuda smiled.  "You forget...I'm you."
     Chris frowned, "So?"
     "You pretend to enjoy saving lives, when it's really the killing and danger 
that you love." Bermuda said, leaping at his opponent again.
     Fiss just growled as he was forced to slash upwards to deflect the blow. 
"Fuck you!"
     Bermuda smiled at Chris' reaction. "What's the matter?  Poor Strike Fishy 
not the hero he thought he was?"  He swung around again.
     Chris blocked his hit, and then again as he swung to the other side.  
     "The only reason..." Bermuda continued "you're even here is because you 
fell for Rei.  You're just a fool in love."
     Chris growled and finally made an offensive strike.  "NNYAAA!"  He struck 
against Bermuda's sword again and again.  "You think you're me?" he huffed as 
Bermuda was forced to take a few steps back.  "You think you know me?" Chris 
repeated, pounding against Bermuda faster now.  Their two swords now moving in a 
blur.  "Don't be so fucking stupid."
     Bermuda frowned and tried to hold his ground.  "Oh, I know you...and it 
bugs you that there's someone out there who knows you so well inside!"
     "The only version of me YOU know is one that has been twisted by the 
Lords." Chris said, ducking under a swipe, then striking upwards.  Bermuda 
almost lost grip on his sword, and was forced to jump back a bit.  Chris smiled.  
"And no...I do like saving people's lives.  I don't like always fighting, and 
I'd do this even without Rei's influence." Chris pointed his sword at his
opponent.  

     "But for you, I'll make an exception and enjoy it."

     Bermuda leapt out of the way as Chris' force-beam licked across the air.  
He got to his feet and began to run.  Chris saw he was heading for the subway 
tracks.  The only other exit. "Fine, be the hero...meanwhile, I'm going to cut 
out Rei's heart and feed it to her while she's still alive!"
     Chris growled and ran after, sword extended at his side ready to strike.  
Bermuda quickly slid under the guard rail onto the last metre of walkway before 
the track.  "Ha!  That'll be the day!" Chris called after.
     Bermuda smiled as Chris sliced through the rail and ran after his double.  
In the back of his mind, a train whistle blew.  "Perfect." he skidded to a stop 
and turned, pointing his sword at Chris.  "FISS!"
     Chris, expecting an energy wave, jumped to the track to avoid it.  He 
tripped on the way down, landing painfully on his front.  "Fuck!" he cursed, 
hacking up a bit of blood from his fall.  
     "Still having fun being the hero?" Bermuda called after him.
     Chris sat up and cleared his head.  "I'm gonna come up there and..."  
Suddenly, a train whistle blew.  Chris glanced down the tunnel.  Sure enough, a 
subway train was making it's way towards him.  "Oh...clams..."
     "'Clams'?  Is that what you want written on your tombstone?" Bermuda 
smiled. 
     He was about to try and climb up on the walkway when Bermuda's sword 
slammed into the ground an inch from his fingers.  "No, I don't think so." he 
continued.  "I'm rather looking forward to seeing you get smeared by a train."
     Chris looked around for his sword and found it.  "If I die...I'm going to 
take you with me.  That's one less double Rei and the others have to worry 
about."
     Bermuda shrugged.  "Fine.  Go ahead and try.  I'll just dodge, and then 
you'll get smeared."
     Chris was about to make good his threat when an idea came to him.  "Funk 
you!" he said, then propped himself against the track and took off his jacket.
     "What the hell?" Bermuda mused.  
     Chris quickly tied his coat's arms around his neck, making a head and back 
guard for himself.  He then began running AT the train.
     Bermuda could do nothing but watch.  "What the hell are you doing?" he 
called after his original.  Chris was now far into the tunnel, so it would be 
useless for him to try and jump back onto the platform.  Bermuda ran down to the 
last bit of the platform, just in case.  "There's no escape!" he called after 
Chris.
     Chris ignored him and took a running jump. "CHIWAWA!" He propped his sword 
in front of him as he hit the train's windshield.  He smashed through the glass, 
protected by his coat, flew past the terrified conductor, and continued through 
the cabin to the passenger area.  Chris hit the floor with a roll and bounce as 
the train slowed to the terminal.    
     Bermuda watched in shock as the train slowed and stopped in front of him.  
A bright slash, and the door was down...Chris on the other side with a grin.  
"No escape my ass!"
     Bermuda was completely unprepared when Chris spun around and slammed 
together their blades.  His sword flew from his hand and embedded itself in a 
nearby wall.  Bermuda ducked Chris' next attack and ran over to his sword.  
However, Chris now had the upper hand. "How the hell did you do that?!?" he 
demanded.
     Chris shrugged.  "Since when could glass withstand a sword with a body 
behind it?"
     The passengers all watched from the train as the two Strike Fisses began to 
battle.  Chris jumped at Bermuda and finally got through his defences, slashing 
his knee.  Bermuda yelped and slid out of the was as Chris came down on top of 
him, blade first.  
     Bermuda growled.  "This isn't going to end here, Strike Fiss...Not like 
this..." he ignored the pain in his knee and jumped towards Chris.  
     Chris easily deflected the attack, forcing Bermuda to fall on his rebound.  
"This is for Yamato!" Chris yelled, stabbing Bermuda's foot with his sword.  
"FISS!"
     Chris's sword once again fired it's force spell.  This time, though, it 
slammed all of it's energy into Bermuda's foot.  In a disgusting "splat", his 
foot was gone.
     Bermuda screamed and scurried off on his arms and remaining foot.  "FUCK 
YOU!" he gasped.  "SHIT!" he propped up against a support pillar.  "Do you have 
any idea how much that HURT?"
     Chris retrieved his sword from the ground.  "No.  But if it's any 
conciliation, it won't hurt much longer." he smiled, jerking his sword to clean 
it of the blood.  
     Bermuda frowned.  "Fine.  You wanna party?" he swung around his sword and 
cut the pillar behind him in half.  It fell away easily, and a low rumble echoed 
throughout the subway.  
     "What the hell are you DOING?" Fiss looked up, having to block a piece of 
plaster that fell at him.
     Bermuda collapsed to the ground.  "Oh shut-up.  All you have to do is use 
your reflect command and you'll live."
     Chris smiled.  "And poor Bermuda don't have one?"
     "No..." his double said...then smiled.  "I have something better."
     Chris shrugged.  "What, you gonna run for the exit?" he pointed to 
Bermuda's stump as plaster began to crumble from the roof.  "It's been nice 
knowing you!" 
     Bermuda pointed his sword at his foot.  "Dark Disk RECONSTRUCT!"
     Chris gasped as Bermuda's foot began to HEAL itself!  By the time he 
realized Bermuda could now escape, a large chunk of rock slammed into the ground 
a metre away.  Chris looked up to see another chunk breaking loose right above 
him.  "Shit!  FISS!" he yelled, sword upwards.
     Bermuda was now running for the exit.  "See ya!  I look forward to next 
time, sucker!"
     Chris growled, forced to stay put as more rocks bounced off his force 
spell.  "I'm gonna KILL him!  ARRGH!"
     





     Bermuda stumbled out of the subway, still adjusting to his healed foot.  
"Damn, how the hell did he do that subway train thing!" he shrugged to himself.  
"I'll be ready next ti..."
     He stopped.  Dead in his tracks.  "Oh no..."
     Across the street, a figure lay, half propped up against a brick wall.  It 
was Blade...Mercury's clone.  
     Bermuda walked across the street slowly, already aware of what he'd find.  
"Blade?" he called out, withdrawing his sword in case the Sailor Scouts were 
still around.  
     Blade coughed weakly.  "Bermuda?"
     He ran over.  "What happened?" he said, then saw she was bleeding from her 
stomach.  A rose stuck out from the wound.  "Tuxedo Mask..." he growled, leaning 
over.  "Just a second, Blade, we'll have you up and about in no time."
    



 
     Chris coughed as a gloved hand lifted a large rock off of him.  "Rei!" he 
smiled happily.
     She and Darien were standing on the fallen roof.  "What the hell happened?" 
Darien asked.
     "I was doing a fire-reading and I saw you two fighting." Rei said, helping 
him out of the rubble.  "You okay?"
     Chris nodded.  "Well, I can't say that was a boring afternoon..." he got 
up.  "Come on...he just left.  We should be able to..."
     "We found Mercury's double." Darien said suddenly.  "She tried to pass by 
as Ami."
     "Where?" Chris asked, rummaging around for his sword.
     "Across the street." Rei pointed.  "She won't be getting up." she said 
solemnly.  "It's kind of strange to kill another Sailor Scout."
     





     Bermuda took out his disk.  "Just a second...hold on, okay?"
     Blade's eyes began to trail off in their sockets, "I've...always...loved 
you, Saturn..." More blood pooled in her mouth, and poured down to the ground.  
It was too late.

     "Oh..."

     "Shit..."

     Bermuda was silent a moment, then burst into rage, "DAMN THOSE SCOUTS!!"  
He stood up as Blade's body began to glow, slowly decomposing into the slime it 
came from. "They will all suffer before they can lay a hand on Lacy, this I 
swear upon my katana!!"
     He would have his revenge...it was all a matter of time...
     "You-hoooo!  Hey!  Mac-daddy!" Chris called out from the subway, finally 
out from underneath the rubble.  He already had his sword out and was charging 
for his counterpart before the fact even registered to Bermuda.
     Bermuda looked down at the corpse, looked back at Chris and growled.  
"Shit..." he ran off.
     Rei shot a scroll after, but it missed and Bermuda scurried down an alley.
     Chris skidded to a halt.  "Fuck." he slammed his sword in the pavement, 
making it crack the sidewalk.  "What the...?" he noticed Blade's disappearing 
corpse.
     Darien sighed.  "My motorcycle is parked a block away, I'll get it."
     Chris pointed towards the direction Bermuda ran off.  "Don't bother.  He's 
long gone, and he's not like the others."
     "What do you mean?" Tux asked, puzzled, as Venus and Mars waved in the 
distance and came to see why he had stopped.
     Chris pulled out his sword.  "He's not as good as sword fighter, but he's 
smart.  I think all the cool evil villains on Die Hard and Highlander I watch 
have gotten their ideas in him."  he paused.  "And I watch a lot of movies...so 
he's gotta be more than what he's showing."
     Tuxedo Mask nodded.  "So when you're watching movies, you think how 
effective those tactics are...that's what I do."  He paused.  "Man, and I work 
at a movie studio!"
     



















                                  Chapter 5






     Karma glanced over to the doors as they opened slowly.  "Who's there?" she
commanded. 
     Bermuda walked slowly through the door, having a vacant look in his eyes.  
"Why did you sent Blade after me?  Was she trailing me?" he frowned.  "Was she 
going to assassinate me for not being your definition of 'loyal?'" his voice had 
the sharpest edge she had ever heard.
     Karma gave an innocent smile.  "Now-now, why would you ever think that?"
     Bermuda's frown deepened.
     She sighed.  "No.  If you must know, she felt 'obligated to check on your 
safety'.  That was her reason, anyway."  She paused for a moment, "Why?"
     Bermuda chucked his sword down on the floor.  "She's dead." he yelled.  
"She's FUCKING DEAD!!" 
     Karma gasped.  "Did you...?"
     He shook his head.  "No, no, no...the Sailor Scouts came while I was busy 
with my goody-two-shoes double in the subway on ninth street."  He closed his 
eyes.  "She vaporized right in front of me, for crying-out-loud, and all you 
think about is if I'm a traitor."
     Karma took a deep breath.  "She's been with me since the beginning...it's 
hard to imagine her gone..."
     The Chris-clone growled.  "Oh SHUT-UP! The beginning for us was popping out 
of giant eggs!  Stop pretending that we're not some sort of last-ditch attempt 
doomsday weapon!  And STOP pretending that we're the 'rightful' Scouts!  You 
fucking idiot!"
     Karma kept a steady eye on him as he picked up his sword and went to his 
room, slicing up the walls as he went and drawing crude stick-figures into them.  
Lacy appeared out from the shadows.  "Well, at least we know he's on our side."
     Karma nodded.  "He's a definite asset.  But perhaps he's right.  We should 
meet our destiny to replace the Sailor Scouts.  Not fight with each other over 
loyalty as it is obviously built into our very minds."
     Lacy snickered.
     "What?"
     "The evil Sailor Moon got all the brains!" she smiled.  "'Ditz' must be a 
power of good!"







     Serena promptly tripped over Artemis and Luna, wailing as she fell on 
Luna's tail, causing the cat to scream loudly and claw her way out from under 
her.  "Serena!  You goof-ball!"  she exclaimed in an extra-accent voice, holding 
her throbbing tail with her paws.  "Watch where you're stepping!"
     Rei shook her head.  "Why me?"
     Lita smiled.  "It's all because you didn't take her on that 'Sunset' cruise 
with the tickets you won."
     Artemis held his head in his paw.  "I'm getting a migraine..."
     Andrea coughed.  "If you guys are finished, we might want to start the 
meeting??!!??"
     Serena got up and sat down, still wailing from the fall.
     Pluto just observed the situation with growing amusement.  "I REALLY can't 
believe you people defeated Queen Beryl."
     Maury grinned.  "Hey, don't look at us!"
     Chris took out his laptop.  "Okay.  We are going to catalogue our evil 
sides, and everyone better come clean."
     Rei looked concerned.  "Why are you so serious all of a sudden?"
     "That asshole killed my mentor...He was like a grandpa to me.  You can see 
how I'm kinda upset."
     Maury nodded.  "Okay, let's get started, then."
     Ami smiled.  "Well, you all don't have to worry about my double!  I'm going 
to go study.  School's just a few weeks away, and High-School entrance exams are 
not far after that."
     Everyone groaned.  Chris leaned over to Rei.  "And she wonders why I picked 
you?"
     Rei slapped him on the back.  "Oh, I get it...you like dumb, easy women!" 
she joked.
     Chris frowned.  "ANY-way...my double's basically all the evil villains on 
TV rolled into one.  However, he's more into the Highlander-type villains.  That 
means he'll fight honourably, but he'll fight tricky."
     Maury nodded.  "Mine too.  One weakness could be for Lita's double..." he 
smiled as Lita grinned back at him.
     "Also, me and Maury's doubles will probably want to finish this quick." 
Chris continued.  "Bermuda said that he is basically me, except with the Lord's 
programming." he frowned.  "I don't doubt he knows what we know."
     "That means don't talk to them." Mina suggested.  "We can't let them get 
inside our heads."
     Darien hugged Serena.  "Okay, my double will be basically out to protect 
Serena's clone."
     "Another thing we might want to consider is that the clones will act a lot 
like we did during the mall incidents." Rei pointed out.
     Lita nodded.  "Okay, well, confession time."
     Everyone gathered around her.  
     "I like guns." she blushed.  "Big, powerful guns..." she blushed deeper.
     Maury raised an eyebrow. 
     Lita shook out of it.  "What I mean to say is, that my double will probably 
want to stock up on some firepower."







     Friction smiled at the young man behind the counter.  "Hello, ma'am.  Can I 
help you today?" he asked in Japanese.
     The dark-Lita nodded.  "Why yes," she replied also in Japanese "I have my 
eye on that lovely Uzi over there."
     The man eyed her over.  "I'll have to see some ID, miss.  I hope you don't 
mind."
     She shook her head.  "Not at all," she smiled, reaching into her pocket and 
pulling out a knife.
     Before the tiller realized what was happening, she had slit his throat, 
jumped over the counter, and smashed the display case to grab her weapon.  She 
held the knife up to the other teller.  "Where are the bullets?" she asked 
sweetly.
     The man pointed, shaking desperately.
     Friction picked up a box of Uzi-compatible shells and popped one in.  
"Thank you!" she said happily, shooting the guy in the head.
     Everyone ran out screaming as Friction plugged in a cartridge and began 
shooting.







     Rei took a deep breath.  "Well, I'm not too sure..."
     Lita raised an eyebrow.  "Well, you did sort of want to be leader."
     Rei shrugged.  "I just don't see how that could be translated into evil.  I 
just didn't want the Scouts to have to rely on Serena as a leader." she smiled.






     Rei and Serena's doubles sat on a bench in the park, straight across from 
the Imperial Palace.  Lacy grinned.  "I got the plans from the black market.  
Bob said he can easily rig up the explosives in time, even without Bermuda's 
help." she frowned slightly.  "He hasn't been himself after seeing Blade die."
     Karma nodded.  "I trust you can talk to him?"
     "Well, I can try..."
     "That's all I ask." Karma said.  "But he would be useful in rigging the 
explosives."
     Lacy glanced over to the old temple.  "I must admit, it will be quite a 
sight to see that building vaporized."
     Karma laughed.  "I still don't know why Prince of the Sun changed his name 
to 'Bob'..."
     Lacy shrugged.  "Who cares, as long as he can make explosives?"






     Chris nodded.  "There's two things we have to worry about from Bermuda.  
One, he's smart, and he's not bound by normal 'evil bad guy' mentality."
     "Are you sure?" Lita asked.  "He does want to 'destroy all good' and to 
kill you, his nemesis."
     Chris looked down at his laptop.  "True, but I saw how he fought.  He 
doesn't want money or power like other evil guys.  He wants to get rid of ONLY 
his nemesis.  He is not interested in robbing Fort Knocks, or using a 
earthquake-making particle beam  satellite."
     Rei nodded.  "Okay, what's the second thing?"
     Chris shivered.  "Shit...he has the power...I mean, if he thinks of it...he 
could do it with Mo's help..."
     "What?" Maury asked.
     "An atomic bomb."
     All the Japanese personnel in the room went white as sheets.  Andrea 
nodded.  "Of course..."

     Rei blinked.  "You're kidding, right?"  In her mind, she reviewed her 
dream.  The white light...the shockwave...it was all going to happen...it WAS 
happening...and if she tried to stop it, the consequences could be even worse.

     "You okay, Rei?" Ami asked as they all got up to leave.  Dark orange poured 
in from the window, lighting the room in a cozy, evening tone.
     Rei looked around quickly.  She had fallen into a kind of meditative state 
during the discussion.  "Uh...oh...yes...Sorry...Not enough sleep, I guess."
     Chris was standing up besides her, yawning.  "It's been a rough day...I 
almost got ran over by a train, and we managed to kill Mercury's double.  Why 
don't you get some sleep?"
     Rei smiled.  "Thanks, I will."
     Ami nodded and walked off.  "I'm going to go home.  See you all in the 
morning!"
     Everyone waved.  Mina picked up the half-asleep Artemis and sat down in a 
chair.  "I'll crash with you again, if you don't mind." 
     Rei smiled.  "No problem." At the back of her thoughts, she knew this might 
be their last sleep-over.






















                                 Chapter 6
  





     Chris had seen the look in Rei's eyes that evening.  He wasn't at all 
surprised when he heard the front door shut quietly, and a second later, Rei's 
figure passing outside his window.  He sighed, looked at the time, and shrugged.  
"Since when did lack of sleep concern me?" he got out of bed quietly, putting on 
his slippers and his housecoat.
     The look he had noticed was Rei's usual worried expression.  However, he 
had noticed, from the first week he saw her, that she had two kinds of this 
expression.  One was full of confidence and hope.  Rei was often worried, but 
she faced problems with a determination and confidence that Chris loved.  
However, she hadn't been wearing that expression lately.  
     The new one, which had started just after he got his new identity, was void 
of all hope.  Whenever she had this expression in her eyes, Chris grew afraid.  
Actually physically fearful.  If something could worry Rei that much, it had to 
be catastrophic.  
     True, nothing had happened so far that they couldn't really handle, but Rei 
continued to get these looks...sometimes out of the blue as if remembering 
something.  The tension was growing, and Chris had a horrible feeling it would 
come to a climax very soon.
     He shivered at the thought and made sure he took his disk for protection.

     Rei looked around her surroundings and sighed.  The temple had been 
repaired, and life was back to normal.  Perhaps her dreams were just nightmares.  
These fake Sailor Scouts had weaknesses, and with one of them gone, the Scouts 
already outnumbered them by two people.
     Still, Rei couldn't help but acknowledge that events were leading to what 
happened in her dream.  
     She looked up at the moon for guidance, but found it's glow empty and 
haunting.  "Why can't I tell them?" she erupted in a sob.
     The moon and stars, once holding answers and hope, now held only eerie 
silence. A defiance.  Almost as if they couldn't care less what happened to her 
or the others.  As she gazed up at the sky, for the first time in her life, she 
saw only rock and balls of gas.  Gray dust, so thick you could gag on a handful.  
Stars, not full of light, but a futile ballet of gravity and combustion acting 
against each other.
     Rei Hino turned away from the stars to look at the ground.  "It's not going 
to be enough, is it?" she asked her self.  "Pluto and Chris...it's not going to 
change anything."

     "Change what?"

     Rei gasped in shock of Chris' voice behind her.  She turned.  "Nothing.  
I'm just walking around half asleep." she lied.
     Chris stepped back.  "Rei..." he whispered, seeing her hopeless expression 
once again. "You have to tell me...please..."
     Rei shrugged off his request.  "No, really, it's nothing." she said, 
quickly trying to change the subject.  "Is that the housecoat I got you for..."
     Chris grabbed her by the shoulders and held her tight.  "Rei!  Dammit!  
I've known you for almost a year now, and we've been through more shit than most 
people will ever see in a lifetime.  Now I'm asking you again to please tell me 
what's wrong." his voice trailed off as he saw a tear come to Rei's eye.
     "It's not that simple, Chris..." Rei shivered, accidentally letting another 
tear escape.  
     Chris let her go and turned in frustration.  "You already know what's going 
to happen...don't you?"
     Rei said nothing.
     Chris turned back to her with a gleam in his eye.  "You've been meditating 
for hours, you've been waking up in the middle of the night, and you've been 
doing it ever since the Lords came." he almost smiled.  "You know what's going 
to happen, and you're afraid to tell us 'cause it's bad news!"
     Rei lowered her head, letting another tear drop.  
     Chris breathed a sigh of relief.  "Wow!" he yelled out into the night.  
"Whew...that's a load off my chest."
     Rei thought about it for a long time.  She couldn't risk screwing up the 
time continuum, but she also desperately wanted to tell Chris what she 
knew...about the next few days, and what was going to happen...anything.  
"Chris, we have to be ready.  They will attack before you three leave, and I 
just know something's going to go wrong..."
     Chris sighed.  "You can't tell me, can you?"
     Rei nodded weakly.  "Sorry," she added.  
     He responded with a smile.  "Hey, since when do impossible situations 
frighten us?"
     Rei sat back down on the grass.  "I'm sure the hell frightened."
          




     Bermuda ploughed through the huge lead door with his sword, hidden behind a 
sealed radiation suit.  Eight workers and a military guard lay dead outside.  He 
went over to the huge shelf, holding the plutonium waist.  "Perfect," he 
muttered to himself, reading the label.  "Weapons-grade!"
     Bob revved up the pick-up truck as Bermuda loaded the hundred and forty 
pounds of the stuff in the back.  "Last trip?" he called back.
     Bermuda got into the cab.  "Sorry I took so long.  I got a little extra in 
case we needed it."
     Bob nodded.  "I'll say.  How big do you want this thing?"
     "Record-setting." Bermuda replied simply as the truck tore off.

     



     












                                 Chapter 7
 






     The day begun with the usual light and happy conversation.  
     "Maury, I need you to tell me exactly how much you know about making and 
detonating atomic bombs, and where you might get those materials." Chris ordered 
between sips of tea.
     "Sppadsh!" Maury spat out his coffee.  "What?"
     "There's a good possibility we're going to get nuked." Chris said.  "If 
possible, I'd like to prevent it."
     Maury and Lita blinked.  "Uh, I'll think about it." he shrugged.
     Rei made her way into the kitchen, still in her robe from last night.  "How 
long does it take to make one of these things, anyway?"
     Chris shrugged.  "If Bermuda has access to the same web-sites and resources 
I know, then he could build one according to an exact plan in about two days."
     Maury nodded.  "Less with the help of the others."
     Rei sat down.  "That means they'll be busy with the bomb until late 
tomorrow at least.  If we find them now, they'd be caught off guard for a 
counter strike."
     Serena began to cry.  "I don't wanna get nuked!!! It might huuuuuuurrt!"
     Darien sighed and put his arm around her protectively.  "Don't worry, 
meatball head.  We won't get nuked.  Remember, it's just a possibility."
     Rei, despite Darien's words of encouragement, wasn't so sure.
     "Actually..." Maury chimed in helpfully.  "So long as we're close enough to 
the nuke, it won't hurt a bit!"

     Silence.  Serena blinked, then cried.

     "Oy..." Maury sighed.  "Sorry..."
     Chris, probably sensing Rei's doubts returning, reached over the table and 
took her hand in his own.  "I'm going to get dressed and go over to Ami's house.  
If we're lucky, her computer might be able to track down Bermuda's blood trail 
from when he attacked Yamato's store."
     "I'm coming with you." Rei said.  
     "No, stay here in case the clones try again." Chris replied, getting up.
     Rei sighed.  "Okay.  Good luck."
     Chris nodded and was off.






     Lita and Maury walked hand in hand through the wooded area of the Cherri 
Hill Temple plot.  The sun hung in the sky the way an ornament hung on a 
Christmas tree.  They slowly came to a stop and sat down on a park bench.  Maury 
leaned over and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
     Lita blushed, "What was that for?"
     "For being the best girlfriend a guy could ever have." he said, smiling.
     "Well then, here."  She leaned over and planted a passionate kiss on his 
lips.
     Maury shook out of a daze, "And what was that for?"
     "For being the first guy that ever really cared for me."
     She slid over close to him and rested her head on his shoulder.  They sat, 
just staring at the calm water of the temple lake...the night seemed too 
perfect.  It seemed unreal.
     Mo broke the silence, "You know, I'll really miss you when I'm gone back 
to Canada.  And, I want you to know that you have been my one destiny since the 
minute I saw you."
     Lita giggled, "I must admit...you put the spark back in my life."  A 
serious expression crossed her face, "...And I'll miss you too."  They embraced 
in a five-minute long kiss, going for each other like it was their last minute 
on Earth together... 

     It very well could have been...and almost was.

     Suddenly, rapid gun fire filled the air.  The two looked up quickly, then 
jumped off the bench before another round tore it up into toothpicks.  Maury got 
off his back and stood up to see an evil Jupiter, a grin on her face and an 
itchy trigger finger.
     Friction began to speak, "You were lucky to have killed Blade so quickly," 
she cocked the Uzi, preparing it for fire, "but wait 'till ya get a load of ME."
     Lita growled.  "You wanna make something of it?"
     Maury swung around his arm and chucked a throwing star at Friction.  She 
promptly shot it out of the air and obliterated it with Uzi-fire.  However, that 
gave Mo and Lita enough time to leap into the bushes.  
     "Come out, come out where ever you are!" Friction yelled, shooting a chain 
of bullets into the nearest hedge.
     Lita came out behind her and slammed her fist into her evil double's back.  
Friction fell forward, but rolled and pointed the gun at Lita.  "Bad move, 
bitch." she pulled the trigger at
Lita's stomach.  Nothing happened.
     Lita blinked in surprise and leapt at Friction.  "Outta bullets, asshole!" 
she readied a powerful kick.
     Friction smiled, and pulled out a forty-five.  "Not quite..."
     Lita gasped as Friction fired at her in mid air, the bullet slamming into 
her arm.  Maury leapt out of a tree, kicking Friction in the face before she 
could gloat.  He grabbed Lita and rolled with her into the bushes.  Friction 
stood up, holding her jaw.  Her cheek had a huge cut from Maury's boot.  "Shit."
     Maury and Lita desperately tried to be absolutely quiet as Friction shook 
off the kick and looked around.  Lita held her arm, trying not to scream.
     Friction noticed blood, but only where Lita had been shot, not any trails 
to the bushes.  Her cheek still was bleeding, so she eventually gave up.  
"You're lucky this time, mother fuckers!  I'll be back!" she leapt off through 
the woods.
     Maury and Lita were quiet for a long time.  Finally, Lita stood up and said 
"FUCK!  SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!!  This HURTS!"
     Maury smiled grimily.  "Let's get back to the temple and patch you up."





     Artemis dipped his paws in the sink.  "Luna?  Could you scrub my tail?"
     Luna sighed.  "If I have to..." she complained, getting a sponge in her 
mouth.
     Lita lay on the floor, the others watching.  "Artemis, are you sure you can 
do this?" she shivered painfully.  "I mean, I don't remember you being a surgeon 
before..."
     Artemis put on a tiny face-mask and walked over to Lita.  "No problem!  I 
always hung around the operating tables for leftovers once the doctors were 
done!  I know all about surgery!"

     Everyone gasped.

     Artemis smiled.  "Just kidding.  Relax.  I was given an emergency doctors 
licence on the Moon...sort of like a field doctor on MASH or something..." he 
got serious.  "Scalpel."
     Luna nodded and passed him one of Maury's smaller knives.  "It's the best 
we could do."
     Artemis sighed but took the knife.  "Okay, Lita.  It's lodged into a muscle 
right next to a tricky spot near the joint, so keeping you awake is safer.  Hope 
you don't mind."
     Lita nodded.  "Just get it out..."
     Luna paced around nervously as Artemis carefully cut away the damaged 
tissue.  "Now, Lita, if you feel queezy, tell me immediately, it might be 
because I'm pinching a nerve."
     Lita nodded.  "Yeah, no problem," she blinked, watching the cat operate on 
her shoulder.
     Andrea shook her head.  "You know, after everything I've been through this 
past year...somehow I never thought I'd ever see a cat operating on a flesh 
wound..."
     Maury nodded.  "That is pretty weird..."
     "So," Artemis looked up for a moment.  "What did the cat say to the 
hedgehog when he went out to get his mail?"
     "Cut the MASH crap and GET IT OUT!" Lita demanded. 
     "Oh, sorry...Here we go..."  As Artemis began to cut, the pain was 
registering to Lita's brain.  But, before she could pull away from it, Darien 
had grabbed her from behind, holding her arm as still as he could against her 
struggling.
     "What're you DOING!??!" she screamed at him.
     He continued to pin her to the floor, "Look, the more you move, the more 
it'll hurt.  There."  He let her go, Artemis had retrieved the bullet.  Darien 
had already gotten some gauze from Andrew's house and began unravelling it 
around the wound.
     Lita was helped up by a concerned Maury.  She held the tears back in her 
eyes, "Man, I hate guns...well, now, at least."
     Sharon sighed, "You guys seem to forget that the Lords don't attack at your 
convenience, and that you have to be ready at all times."
     Andrea pouted, "Well I didn't see you waiting for them to attack either, so 
don't be a hypocrite."
     She blushed slightly, "Well, maybe I'm not being fair, but it's for your 
own good.  I'm hard on you only because I want you to succeed."
     Serena crossed her arms, "It gets a little hard to do good when someone 
keeps pissing down our throats all the time."
     "Okay, okay.  I'll lay off a bit." Sharon frowned.  "Just try and be more 
careful from now on.  That means no more romance until this is all over."  She 
looked over the couples, then at Andrea a while longer.  "Is that clear?"
     Andrea moved back about two feet from Darien, "What?!  Why are you 
looking at ME?!"
     Maury sighed.  "I'm gonna kill them Lords."





















                                  Chapter 8







     Ami ran her computer over the pile of ashes.  "I still can't get any blood 
trail." she said with a sigh.  "If his leg was bleeding, no blood hit the ground 
here."
     Chris nodded, hand at his chin in a contemplative manner.  Trying to trace 
him from the subway would be useless since Chris witnessed him heal his foot 
even before he got outside.  At least at the Samurai Shop, there was a chance a 
blood trail was left over.  "Try over here." he pointed closer to the alleyway 
he saw Bermuda run down.  
     Ami walked over to the alley and began scanning.  "Nothing..."she looked 
up, closing her computer.  "I can't find a trace.  The fire department washed 
away any leftovers.  Sorry." she added.
     Chris took a deep breath.  "Well, I'm lost..."
     "So, what's the plan?"
     "Okay..." Chris sighed.  "First of all, how closely do you think the clones 
duplicate us?"
     Ami shrugged.  "Well, you've had the most experience with them...what do 
you think?"
     "I think they're exact, only with pre-programmed motives." Chris said, 
remembering Bermuda's observations.
     Ami sighed.  "So?"
     Chris smiled.  "Watch." he took off in the direction Bermuda had escaped.
     "Where are you going?" Ami called after.
     Chris ran down the alley.  "Wherever my double takes me..."
     Ami ran after him.  "What are you looking for?!?"
     Fiss pretended Maury was running after him, wanting to kill him.  "Mo 
won't find me there..". he jumped into a crawlspace, narrowing and narrowing, 
until finally, a ladder.  He smiled and crawled up as quickly as possible.  It 
lead to a rooftop...and a pool of dried blood where Bermuda had stopped to rest.
     Chris smiled.  "Damn I'm good!!"
     Ami finally caught up and looked at the blood.  "How the...?" she took out 
her computer and scanned it.  "We have a trail!  It's over towards the city's 
centre!"
     Although Bermuda had healed himself, he forgot about the blood on his 
clothes, and had tracked a small amount directly to his hide-out.
     Chris smiled.  "Really?  You know exactly where?"
     Ami nodded.  "It's fragmented, but I have a fix!  The penthouse of the 
Tokyo Suite Hotel!"   She gasped.  "And I can even get a power reading!  They 
have a Silver Crystal!"
     Fiss looked at the hotel in the distance.  "Look out, Bermuda...we're 
going to do more than deliver pizzas to your room..."  he tugged on his coat.  
"I'm personally bringing an order of crazy-bread."
    






     Darien and Sharon walked up to the lobby's counter.  They were the oldest, 
so were chosen to get the room.  Darien smiled to the tiller.  "Hi.  We'd like a 
room.  As close to the penthouse as possible."
     The lady smiled back.  "Well," she checked the computer.  "the penthouse is 
currently occupied...however, we can get you a honeymoon suite on the next floor 
down.  It still offers a great view..."
     Andrea growled from behind a pillar the rest were hanging around.  "I don't 
see why I can't be Darien's girlfriend in this situation."
     Chris rolled back his eyes.  "Well, you're under-aged.  And if Darien said 
you were his daughter, you'd be giving it away because you'd be drooling all 
over him constantly."
     Serena nodded.  "Yeah, besides, I'd be the next candidate anyway."
     Andrea frowned.  "Bite me." she said in her usual tone.
     The two started sticking out their tongues at each other.  Rei blinked.  
"This is weird...usually that's ME and Serena!"
     "Okay, I'll write you a check..." Darien's voice trailed off, looking at 
the extremely high price of the room. "They better pay me back for this..." he 
thought.
     The woman quickly placed the check into the register, then handed him two 
key-cards.  "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs Yoshi.  Enjoy your stay at the Tokyo Suite 
Hotel!"
     Sharon continued her 'newly-wed' charade, finding herself enjoying the 
scenario.  She giggled, "Well, honey, let's get our luggage!"
     Darien groaned, "But I don't want to carry all the-"
     She elbowed him in the ribs, "All the 'luggage', dear." she repeated, 
nodding outside at the others.
     "Oh!  Okay..." he walked outside, "I'll be a minute."
     Sharon relaxed rather noticeably, watching him until out of the building.  
She lowered her head, sighing.
     Darien ran over to the group and handed Serena a key card, "Okay, you guys.  
Come in after a few minutes, then you can use this to get into the suite...and 
you better pay me back for this..." he added.
     Serena smiled, "Maybe one day just us two will be up there."  He smiled 
back and kissed her briefly.
     Andrea imitated them by over exaggerating a kiss with an imaginary person, 
"Oooh!  You're so big and strong!" she added.
     Darien sighed, "Well, gotta go.  See ya on the twenty-seventh floor!"  He 
picked up a suitcase from his car and ran back inside.
     "T-twenty...seventh?" Andrea gasped, "I hate heights!"
     Serena raised a cocky eyebrow, "Soooo!  Little Miss Hormone has a 
weakness?"
     "Oh, shut up, you two!" Rei scolded, "You wouldn't believe how annoying 
that is!"
     Mina snickered, "Oh, I can recall a 'few' times you were involved in such a 
situation."
     Chris shook his head, "Moo!  Stop fighting!" he paused.  "Besides, I hate 
heights too."
     Rei smiled, "Don't worry.  I won't let you fall..." she embraced him in a 
passionate kiss.  
     He smiled.  "Okay." he said weakly.  "I could learn to live with em..."
     "All the way up there?" Andrea's voice was but a whisper.
     





     Maury and Chris were on ladders, being handed drills by Ami.  "Okay, we 
have to drill approximately thirty centimetres, straight up from your points."
     Chris smiled.  "Mission Impossible."
     Maury took his drill and began punching through the roof.  "Remember, we 
all have to be quiet once the hole's open."
     "Where exactly are we drilling?" Chris said, starting his own hole.
     "Well," Ami checked her computer "your hole's in the main living room.  
Maury's in the hallway."
     Everyone was quiet as plaster began falling from the roof.  The two boys 
slowed down the drills as they reached the thirty 'cm' mark.  Finally, they were 
in.  They carefully retracted the bits and were handed fibre optics Darien had 
swiped from his movie studio.
     "Now then," Mina grinned evilly, "I suggest that while we're here, we 
indulge ourselves in room service."

     Darien whimpered, "So much for my vacation pay..."

     Maury gave him a thumbs up, "Gotcha." he picked up the phone.  "Hello?  
Room Service?"
     A woman speaking Japanese started talking on the other end.  Maury hung up 
the phone quickly.  "Oops..." he smiled.
     Rei picked up the phone next, and ordered.  "Who wants fugu?  They have 
their own licensed chefs!"
     "Do they got anything with the word 'loaf' in it?" Chris inquired, sitting 
down on a nice soft leather chair and sinking into it.
     Andrea grinned.  "I'll have the Cream of Sumyung Guy!"
     Rei sighed.  "I'll just order for everyone...kay?"  







     They all sat in their room, eating sushi, steak, and assorted Japanese 
cuisines.  They chatted about strategies and how much of a chance they really 
thought they had...
     "It would be nice to know what else they know." Mina yawned as she helped 
herself to more wasabi.  
     Andrea put down a chicken ball, "You know, I think I'd give just about 
anything to find out what I was like back in the Silver Millennia.  Might even 
give me an idea of what's going on in my double's head."
     Sharon paled.
     "I know what you mean." Maury added.  "Like, was I so crazy about Lita in 
my previous life?"  Lita was noticeably blushing from where she sat.
     "Actually, you were." Sharon spoke up.
     Darien cocked a curious eyebrow, nearly choking on some pork, "How do you 
know this?  Were you given special memories when you were reincarnated?"
     "To tell you the truth, I never was reincarnated."

     Silence.

     Sharon sighed as she became the centre of attention.  "Look, it isn't 
something to be proud of, or that I like sharing with everyone."  She leaned 
back in her chair, "But I suppose it is high time you learned the truth.  
Especially if you don't make it through this fight."
     Chris raised his hand like a little school boy.  "Ohh!  Ohh!! Ohh!"
     Sharon sighed, grinning to the comical sight.  "What?"
     "Me first!  I remember something about my life on Saturn, but I can't 
remember the moon kingdom."
     "If I remember, you first came to visit Artemis.  You two were friends from 
pre-school."
















                                Chapter 9
 




     Serenity leaned forward slightly to prevent spilling her tea.  "What 
the..." she asked herself.  "What's he doing here?"
     The great Queen Serenity was enjoying the morning on her office balcony 
overlooking the greater part of the city.  It was the moon's equivalent of 
winter, but the cold was locked outside the great glass window.  She put down 
her tea to get a better view.  "Was that that kid who's been hanging around 
Artemis?"
     One of her assistants, a small brown cat, leapt onto her desk for a better 
look.  "If you mean Prince Saturn, I believe you are correct." it said in a 
strong Australian accent.  
     "I thought he was still on Saturn." Serenity sighed, then took another gulp 
of her tea. "Find out why he's here."
     "Actually, he filed a document saying he was here to visit Artemis." the 
brown cat said. "I guess he also heard about the Inner Planets joining, and 
wanted to join the party."
     Serenity nodded.  "Well...okay, as long as he stays out of trouble.  I've 
heard some...rumours...about him."
     "I could get him to check his weapon...if you want me to call security, I'm 
sure it..."
     "That's okay, Tureti.  Just keep an eye on him."






     Strike Fiss, then only fourteen, walked quietly down the street, sword 
slung across his back.  "Man, you'd think these people never saw a kid packing 
around a sword before." he muttered to himself.  
     It wasn't too out of the ordinary.  Citizens from Mars, Pluto, and much of 
the moon's own police force carried bladed weapons of one kind or another, but 
never that young.  
     "Hey!  Saturn boy!  Over here!" a familiar voice came through the air.  
     Chris looked around in time to see Artemis leaping at him.  "AAHH!" he fell 
over, catching the cat all in one motion.  "Dammit!  Never sneak up on me like 
that!"
     Artemis stuck out his tongue.  "You Scouts think you're hot stuff till a 
cat can sneak up on ya and rip out your eyes!" he laughed, pretending to claw at 
Chris' face. 
     Chris smiled and got to his feet.  "So, Artemis!  Still collecting fleas or 
what?"
     "Humph."  Artemis replied.  "So what brings you to the moon?"
     Chris smiled.  "You have great sandwiches."
     Artemis nodded.  "Yes, we do...but I doubt you traveled half way across the 
Solar System for a sandwich."
     "I just needed to get away from that hellhole on Saturn." Chris confessed 
after a second.  "Yamato and I have even set up a small base on our moon to get 
away from all the shit."
     "It's that bad?" Artemis asked.  "I'm sorry.  If I'd known this would have 
happened, I would have tried harder earlier on." the white feline apologized, 
jumping to the ground.  "Now, with the final signings within three years, the 
best we can hope for is a fifty-fifty chance you'll be accepted instead of your 
sister."
     Chris sighed.  "As long as there's a chance." he smiled "Besides, that's 
old news.  I've been on that moon for five years now.  Cold, but quiet."
     The two friends continued walking.  






     A block behind, two men in white suits watched Prince Saturn and Artemis 
walk off.  "I don't like it.  He's got a pretty credible witness." one said.
     "You mean the cat?" The other replied.  "Who cares.  They said they want it 
done, so we're going to do it." 
     "I know, but she said she wanted it to look like he did it." the first 
speculated.  
     "Come on...the Queen hates him already, she'll expect it."
     "But...we're talking about killing two Sailor Senshi..." the man said, a 
bead of sweat falling off his brow.  
     "If you're not up to this, then you tell me now and I'll kill you too." The 
second growled, picking up a suitcase.  "Now I said come on."

     "I know, Mina, but you can't just go around thrashing people cause they 
don't respect you." Ami said, flipping through a page in her book.
     Princess Mina, who was pacing around the room, held her hand painfully.  "I 
don't care.  The next asshole who looks at my boobs is getting FLATTENED!"
     Ami blushed slightly.  "I'm sure he was just looking in the general 
direction.  You didn't have to break his nose."
     Mina slammed herself into a chair and pouted.  "I don't care.  That'll 
teach em never to even THINK about it!" she smiled evilly.
     Ami sighed and returned to her book.  "I really wish you would stop taking 
after Rei and Lita...we have to set a good example.  The Queen entrusted us with 
a lot of power, and we shouldn't go around abusing our..."
     "I know, I know..." Mina interrupted, shrugging off the conversation with a 
wave of her hand.
     Ami smiled, knowing that was her way of accepting her logic.  "So, what's 
the plans for tonight?"
     "I dunno." Mina sighed.  "Want to go skating?  Lita will come no questions 
asked, and maybe we can get to know the princess a little better.  I hear she's 
quite a skater too."
     "Sounds great." Ami said, half interested, still engrossed in the pages of 
her novel.  
     Mina sighed.  "Okay, I'll send for the others..."

     She was cut off by the sound of glass breaking.  The two glanced to the 
window...only to find it was the source of the noise.  Before either of them 
could react, a small object had smashed the window, and landed on the floor in 
front of Ami.  

     Ami's eyes went wide as it began to emit a high-pitch scream.  "Ohmygosh!  
It's a BOMB!"
     It started to scream louder.  Mina quickly put her hand on Ami's mouth.  
"Quiet!" she mouthed.
     The bomb sat there...the scream going down to a quieter pitch.  It was 
responding to sound.  Every time they breathed, the bomb would change pitch.  
Ami was visibly shaken.  "What are we going to do?" she mouthed to Mina.  
     Mina shrugged slowly.  If someone were to knock on a door, or if someone 
outside were to scream or yell...it could explode.  "This is not good..." Mina 
thought to herself.
     And so, Mina and Ami were absolutely quiet for the next part of the hour.





     Chris stopped in his tracks, causing Artemis to stumble into his feet.  
"What's up?" the cat asked.
     "Over there...those guys are wearing Saturn clothes." Chris pointed to two 
men running down the street.
     Artemis nodded.  "I wasn't informed of any more visitors from Saturn..."
     Chris growled.  "I bet that bitch sent those two to kill me or something!"
     "Sailor Saturn?  She'd do that?"
     "She's tried twice already." Chris said, reaching to his back and 
unwrapping his sword from it's travel-cover.  "Call your security guys.  I'll be 
right back."
     Artemis gasped as Chris ran off, sword now latched onto his side.  "Chris!"

     One of the men looked back to see Prince Saturn chasing after them.  "Oh 
SHIT!  He saw us!"
     The other said nothing, and just kept running.
     "We gotta hide!"
     "Fine, we'll lose him on the other side of the crater.  If we have to, 
we'll kill him too, and we can say we were doing it to punish him for the 
bombing." The other finally said.  
     As the two assassins reached the rim of a nearby crater, they saw that it 
was in fact a large ice rink, now only populated with ten or so early-morning 
skaters.  They promptly slipped on the ice and skidded into the middle of the 
ice.
     Chris finally caught up and jumped all the way from the rim of the crater 
to the ice without slipping.  He dusted himself off quickly and continued to run 
at the two men. 
     "We have to fight him here!" the 'leader' of the two shouted, pulling out a 
large hunting knife.
     "Okay..." the second nodded, pulling out a small crystal.
     Chris had seen the type of crystal back on Saturn.  It was a rather nasty 
heat-beam weapon.  He slid to a stop and took out his sword.  "Who the hell are 
you!?!" he demanded.
     The leader of the two took a look at Chris and began to laugh.  "You can't 
be serious." Indeed, Chris was a comical sight, a kid holding a sword almost as 
big as he was.  
     Chris didn't laugh.  "The princess...my own sister sent you...didn't 
she?!?"
     "If she did, you'll never know." the leader smiled.  "You'll be dead in a 
few seconds anyway, so why should you care?"
     Slamming his sword into the ice, Chris caused a large crack to form, which 
began to break up the ice around the two assassin's feet.  Before the leader 
knew what was going on, he fell through the ice into the arctic water below.  
     "AKK!  Help!" he ordered to the other, struggling to keep afloat.  
     The other ignored him.  Chris had retrieved his sword and was now smiling.  
"You wanna try, or are you going to be smart and tell me who sent you?"
     "I'm not telling you anything!" he said nervously, pointing the crystal at 
Chris.  "DIE!"
     Chris dropped to the ice and slid under the beam of heat flying over his 
head, and over to the assassin's feet.  He swung around his blade, blunt-edge 
first, tripping the man. 
     The assassin struggled to stay balanced, but he finally lost to the ice and 
fell on his butt.  Because of the weakened ice around him, though, he fell 
through as a loud crack filled the air.  Chris lay on the ice right next to the 
two struggling men.  "Well now...I hear that hypothermia doesn't take too long 
to set in...so if I were you, I'd start telling me who sent you if you want me
to pull you two out of there..." Chris smiled.  "Man, that water looks cold." he 
added.
     Artemis was suddenly behind him.  "Chris!  You alright?!"
     Two security guards accompanied the feline onto the ice.  
     Chris inched back from the weakened ice and stood up when he was back far 
enough.  "Oh, no problems about me...but these two don't seem to want to talk!" 
     Artemis nodded and the two security guards ran off to get poles to pull the 
two out of the water. 
     "It doesn't matter!  You can't prove we set the bomb." the jittery one 
said, shivering madly.
     Chris and Artemis both turned to him.  "Bomb?" they asked simultaneously.
     The leader growled.  "Shut up!"
     "Yeah!" the jittery one continued.  "You're going to be two Sailor Scouts 
short in a few minutes!"
     Artemis frowned.  "Ami and Mina are the only ones visiting right now...it 
must be them."
     "Who?  Where are they?" Chris said, sheathing his sword quickly.
     "Princess Venus and Mercury!" Artemis pointed with his paw.  "It's the 
largest building on the street!"







     Ami and Mina had since found they could whisper without affecting the bomb 
too much. "What are we going to do!?!" Ami asked under her breath.
     "How the hell am I supposed to know?  YOU'RE the smart one!  Can't you 
diffuse it?" Mina replied.
     Ami looked at the bomb.  "I've never even seen anything like it before." 
     Mina sighed.  "Well...this is it, I guess.  Any second now, a servant will 
walk in, or some kid outside will yell, and we'll be blown to bits."
     A tear came to Ami's eye.  "You're right...I can't believe this is 
happening."
     Suddenly, a head popped up in the window.  He looked around quickly and 
spotted the bomb.  He then turned to the two Scouts and gave them a reassuring 
smile.
     They watched as he crawled in through the window as silently as possible, 
then tiptoed over to the bomb.  Chris recognized it, and luckily, it was an 
older model Saturn sound-bomb.  He reached down and pressed a button on it.  
Then he turned to the girls and said "RUN!"
     "AHH!" Mina jumped behind a chair.
     Ami clawed at her chair but was too panicked to move.  Chris saw this and 
whipped out his sword.  "FISS!"
     The force spell hit the bomb, launching it over toward the window.  Then, 
Chris ran at Ami's chair, knocking it backwards. 
     The bomb exploded.
     


















                                 Chapter 10
     





     "You had set off the bomb's test-mode, causing it to only blow up the wall, 
instead of the entire building." Sharon finished.  "If I remember, that's when 
you and Rei finally met.
     The two smiled at each other.
     Sharon continued.  "There was a huge fuss after the bomb..."
     "I remember." Chris said.  "The Queen thought it was me who planted the 
bomb, and Artemis had to explain it all to her."
     Rei leaned over and whispered in Chris' ear.  "Maybe that's why Ami's been 
so mental over you.  You saved her back on the moon."
     Chris nodded.  "Wouldn't doubt it."
     Ami and Mina just sat off to the side, blushing at the embarrassing 
memories.
     Serena started giggling.  "Oooh!  Me!  ME!  Tell us about me and Darien!  I 
can only remember the last day...what about our first meeting?"
     Sharon smiled at her enthusiasm.  She felt like a teacher who had 
captivated her class, and had really begun to open up their futures for them.  
"Maybe these ones have a chance after all." she thought.  
     Pluto cleared her throat and continued.  "Actually, I don't remember when 
you two first met.  That was a bit before I joined Serenity's court.  However, I 
do remember you two were rather romantic from the beginning."
     Darien squeezed Serena's shoulder.  "Meatball-head."
     "Muffin." She replied, falling against him happily.
     Andrea tried not to show her anger and turned to her older sister.  "Well, 
I do remember something about one of my pets...I think it was a weird crystal 
thing."
     Sharon nodded.  "Demeter.  He was your Zistle."
     Maury raised an eyebrow.  "Cool.   Whatever it is, Zistles sound cool."
     "They're basically little spiky crystal-formations the size of large 
grapefruit." Sharon explained.  "Very intelligent, too.  Andrea had one around 
as a personal assistant." she smiled.  "You two were inseparable..." she 
laughed.  "Uhm...well, almost..."






     "Andrea..." Demeter chimed telepathically "what will I tell your sister?  
You two were supposed to be training today!" 
     She looked down at the blue crystalline form on her bed.  "I don't care.  
There's a party tonight on the moon, and I'm going." she leapt out of the 
bathroom with a spin, modeling her dress.  "You like it?"

     Poor Demeter just sat there for a moment.  "Like what?"

     "The dress!!" Andrea frowned, pointing at her dress.
     The little Zistle sighed.  "It's fine.  I'm sure Darien will go wacko for 
it."
     "You think so?" Andrea giggled, not even sensing the sarcasm in Demeter's 
'voice'.  "I can't WAIT to show him, then!"
     Demeter shot out a little jet of gas beneath itself and hovered in front of 
Andrea's face.  "I don't have to remind you how important it is that you train 
with Sailor Pluto.  If something should happen to her, you'd be the next in line 
to inherit time-keeping responsibilities.  You have to take this more 
seriously!"
     Andrea gently pushed the hovering Zistle out of her way.  "One night won't 
mean the difference between me learning and not learning everything there is to 
know about time.  Besides...Sharon NEVER lets me go to the parties!"
     "There's a reason she doesn't." Demeter retorted.
     "And it's not a very good reason." Andrea replied, sticking out her tongue.
     "...but I know you." Demeter stated.  "Once you miss one practice, you'll 
miss another, and another until one day...BAM!  You're completely unprepared for 
when some drooling monster attacks you and wants you to change the space time 
continuum!"
     "But if that happens, I have YOU to come to my rescue!" Andrea smiled.  

     Had Demeter the capability, he would have fallen over off the bed.  "Oy..."

     "Don't wait up." she said, concentrating briefly and disappearing in a 
shimmer of green light.







     "No way!!  I have teleporting powers???" Andrea gasped.  "Why can't I use 
them NOW?!?"
     Sharon sighed.  "It's been a long time since you've used them.  You're 
probably out of practice.  Unlike your attacks, teleporting is not second-
nature." she motioned to everyone.  "We've all lost powers...but also gained a 
few.  Maybe this little history lesson will help you remember a few of your old 
ones." she said.  "It couldn't hurt considering you're going to be fighting 
yourselves."
     Mina nodded.  "By all means, continue.  If we remember anything useful, we 
have even better odds against the clones."
     Chris got up and stretched.  "Well, I'd love to stay and listen, but we are 
here for a reason...I'm going to check on our surveillance stuff."
     Maury got up as well.  "I'll help."
     Sharon smiled as the two walked off.  "Those two have been friends for 
years. Anyway, where were we?"






     Darien slipped Serena another kiss, "Then I'll see you at the ceremonies.  
Till then..."
     "I look forward to it, my prince." she said eagerly.  They parted slowly, 
and Serena headed toward her room to freshen up.  Darien was stopped on the 
staircase when someone tugged on his cape.
     "Well hello, your highness." Andrea said more than politely, hand on hip.
     "And a hello to you too." Darien mimicked, looking down slightly at her 
silky-black, Japanese style dress.  "What made you decide to come?  You don't 
have anything to present tonight."
     She smiled coyly, "To see you, of course."  She gave him a quick kiss on 
the cheek.






     "Hold it, HOLD it!!!" Serena interrupted, "Just what exactly is going on 
here?!"
     Sharon groaned, "I was getting to that!  Now do you want to hear the rest 
of this or not?"
     Andrea grinned, "Please...do continue."
     "This is gonna be death..." Darien whispered, rubbing his temples.





     Serenity was suddenly beside them, "Andrea?  Just why, may I ask, are you 
here?"
     She smiled, "Hey...I just can't resist a party.  Oh, nice dress." a hint of 
sarcasm fell from her mouth.
     "Don't push me, Andrea.  I don't have to let you stay, you know."
     Darien stepped in, "She isn't doing any harm." 
     "I could argue that." Serenity said sharply, then walked off.
     Andrea smiled, "Thanks, Darien.  You saved my butt...again."
     He shrugged, walking her down the spiralling staircase, "Being on her good 
side gives me an advantage..." he cocked an eyebrow.  "Sharon told me that you 
were supposed to have practice today."
     She blushed, "Well, uh..."





     Sharon's voice brought them all into the present as she turned to a 
narrator mode.  "Andrea, unlike the others, was technically not a princess.  
Sure, it was in her blood, but she was what most people would call a love child.  
In other words, she was never intended to have been born.  Each Queen of any 
planet was to bare only one child.  Serenity, therefore, did not consider her to 
be royalty, and never let her into the Silver Millennium because of our 
traditions.  She was not a Sailor Scout either, but a powerful magician, 
specializing in death spells and barriers.
     "Still, like the many other commoners, she was allowed to attend important 
events.  Serenity was never thrilled." 
     "What do you mean I'm not a Sailor Scout!?" Andrea asked, "Then why am I 
called 'Sailor Hooze'?  Why do I fight along side all of you?  What about my 
damn UNIFORM!!?!"
     "What's the matter?" Serena mocked, "I thought you were looking forward to 
this?"
     "Just let her continue." Lita said, fascinated.
     Sharon nodded her thanks and continued. "Andrea took on the Sailor part of 
her name to get on Queen Serenity's nerves.  And, of course, Hooze was short for 
Any who, making her a generic Scout, so to speak.  She would probably have had 
nothing to do with the Sailor Scouts, except for her love for Prince Endymion, 
or Darien.  What ever you wanted to call him."  She blushed slightly as she 
realized what she was going to say next.  "In fact, even to Serena's knowledge, 
the two had gotten intimate...even as Serena's fianc'e."

     Serena stared blankly at Sharon.

     Darien wished he could kill the Guardian of Time, and tried to with his 
glare.

     "How do you like THEM apples?" Andrea smiled at Serena, then winked at 
Darien.
     "That was the past..." Darien explained, feeling Serena's glare.  "Hell!  I 
don't even remember!"
     Luna sighed.  "Even the defenders of truth and justice have to behave like 
talk show-guests?"
     "Ricky Lake is the best." Artemis said suddenly.
     Everyone looked at him oddly.
     Artemis blushed.  "Uh...not that I ever watch..."





     Bermuda checked the fridge while Bob twittled around his knife.       
     Friction angrily cleaned the barrel of her newest gun, "We'll see how 
easily my little counterpart gets away after I unload a couple rounds of 22 
calibre buckshot into her weakling carcase!"
     Bermuda smiled, "Settle down.  We don't need you shooting the walls like 
its going out of style."
     "Maybe this'll calm you down." Bob said, giving her an aggressive kiss.
     "A bit." she said in a dazed voice.
     Lacy entered soon afterwards.  She gave Bermuda a quick wink, then wandered 
into the living room.
     "Anyway, how are everybody's projects going?" Karma asked.




     Chris and Maury leaned closer to the screen of the laptop.  They had set up 
all the surveillance cameras so they were tied into Chris's computer.  It gave a 
view of almost every square inch of the room above them.




     Bermuda sighed.  "Yeah yeah.  The bombs going to be ready, don't worry 
about that."
     Bob nodded.  "We already got the plutonium and I'm making the lenses right 
now."
     Bermuda nodded.  "Also, I've been working on a little surprise in case 
Chris tries to stop it."




     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "I guess he's not going to say what it is, is 
he?"
     Maury sighed and shook his head.  "They never do."



     Bermuda indeed said nothing and walked off.
     Karma raised an eyebrow.  "I look forward to seeing it.  How about you, 
Rene?"
     Andrea's double smiled evilly.  "No problem.  I already got the fliers and 
the newspaper add set up."




     Chris and Maury looked at each other.  "Uh?  Newspaper?" Maury asked.
     "I don't know...?" Chris shrugged.



     Karma nodded.  "Okay, but I also want you to try for a TV ad or something."
     Rene nodded.  "I'm going to talk to the network later.  Can I borrow the 
Luna Pen you have?" she smiled.  "Gotta look like an executive from NBC or 
something."
     Karma tossed her the pen.  "Ta-da.  Just don't lose it."




     Maury frowned.  "Shit, now we can't track her.  She can change into 
anything.  And we don't even know what she's up to."
     "Why would you need to advertise an evil plot on TV?"  Chris asked.
     "Uh, maybe ratings ?" Maury snickered.
     Chris leaned back in his chair and yelled to the living room.  "Uh, girls 
and guys...you might want to come in here and see this..."




















                                Chapter 11
     





                           
     Chris sat alone now.  It had to be three in the morning.  He had been 
monitoring the clones for what seemed like days.  He knew it was just the sleep 
kicking in.  Funny thing about sleep, he thought.  It destroys your reality.  
Leaves you confused.  Not sure of what is dream and what is real.  Many times 
over the past year, he had awaken to the idea that being the prince of
Saturn was only a dream.  
     It was all too real, now.  Now, when they were so close from leaving Japan, 
he knew that the three of them, Maury, Andrea and himself, may never be needed 
to fight again, and return to normal lives.  But, with this new threat, so close 
from them getting off "Scott-free", he was sure it wouldn't be as easy as 
boarding a plane.  The Scouts were going to need all three of them till the very 
end.
     He smiled as his own thoughts.  "Crazy, Chris...Crazy.  You're not that 
good.  They can handle things without you."
     Sure, Chris had come in handy when the bad-guys fought with swords, or they 
needed a spy satellite, but he was hardly as good as Darien, Lita, Rei or at 
least Serena.  They would be able to hold their own.
     But still, there was a nagging urge to protect the Sailor Scouts that drove 
Chris.  Perhaps a guardian.  Chris sighed as his thoughts went off track again.  
     He had dozed off for about half an hour when music, playing so quietly it 
was barely audible, came from his computer.  He returned to full consciousness, 
and realized someone had sent him an E-Mail.  It was signed "Bermuda."





     Luckily, Bermuda chose a park outside of town to meet.  That way, there 
would be no way for him to know Chris and the others were right below them at 
the hotel.
     It was a lovely early morning, and the imminent pink glow of the sunrise 
lit half of the sky.  They were both in casual clothes, but were keeping a close 
eye on each other.  A warm breeze shuffled through the trees.
     Chris and his double met with a water fountain in between them.  
     "Glad to see you showed up." Bermuda said quietly.
     "I'm surprised my computer could even decode your Macintosh crap." Chris 
said casually, earning a twitch from his double.  "Tell me, do they even know 
what ASCII is?"
     "I didn't come here for an OS war." Bermuda grumbled.
     "Why DID you call me here?" Chris asked, sitting down cautiously on a park 
bench.
     Bermuda sat down on the fountain's edge.  Neither seemed itching for a 
fight.  "Kinda strange, isn't it?  This whole situation?"
     Chris nodded.  "I'd say it's pretty freakin' wacky."  Both of them disliked 
the work 'wacky'.  It seemed to fit the situation, though.
     Bermuda sighed, trying to think of what to say next.
     "You know," Chris said suddenly, "You're not all bad.  Why are you even 
fighting us?"
     Bermuda shrugged.  "I don't know.  Programming, I guess.  Trust me, I hate 
the Lords just as much as you do."
     Chris nodded.  "Maybe.  But it would be a shame to kill you.  We could use 
your help.  Hell, the more crime-fighters there are in the world, the better."
     "And it's going to be difficult to kill you as well." Bermuda said with a 
slight edge on his voice.  "In fact, I don't really know why I called you here.  
I'm going to kill you later anyway."
     Chris leaned back.  "I know why you called me here."
     Bermuda blinked.  "Oh really?  Why?"
     Chris nodded.  "You're just in need of help.  You're trapped by your 
programming, and you want to be like me again."
     His double laughed.  "I guess so." a glimmer appeared in it's eye.  
"However, I may have invited you here to gloat."
     Chris yawned.  "'Bout what?"
     "I have freedom you'll never have." Bermuda explained.  "YOU'RE bound by 
goodness and keenness and upholding Truth and Justice and the American Way and 
all that 'Superman' bullshit.  I, on the other hand, couldn't give a shit."
     "I bet you don't." Chris sighed.  
     "In fact," Bermuda stood up.  "Why don't you join US?"
     Chris began to chuckle in a low forced laugh.  "Join you?"
     "Why not?" Bermuda shrugged.  "If you're with us, we aren't programmed to 
kill you.  Hell, once we get rid of the others, we can even return good.  It 
would be like an exact same Sailor Scout team, only with two of us."
     "You know, I can't believe how stupid you are." Chris said, standing up.  
"Don't ever e-mail me again, and don't even bother to try and talk peaceful.  If 
you're not strong enough to resist some fucking programming, then you're not me.  
Even if you ARE me, I still don't like what I see in you."
     Bermuda nodded low.  "I see." he paused.  "I just hope you remember that 
when I'm launching a 'Party Time' up your ass.  Even you can't defeat your own 
medicine."
     Chris shrugged.  "Are you so sure about that?  Or is that your programming 
talking?"
     They stood, glaring at each other.  "You really should give this up." the 
darker version frowned.  "Us Scouts are meant to be killers.  Not servants of an 
unknowing public." he smiled.  "What you would consider evil is more liberating 
than you could imagine."
     "That's funny..." Fiss smiled.
     "What?"
     "That's exactly what crack-heads say." Chris frowned, crossing his arms.  
"This programming is changing the way you think, just like a fucking chemical 
fix." he leaned forward.  "Tell me...is it liberating to know you don't have 
control of your own thoughts..."

     "SHUT UP!!!!!!!" Bermuda screamed, breaking the morning's calm.

     There was nothing more to say.  Bermuda just huffed, glaring at Chris with 
a look that could kill anyone lesser.  Chris just returned the look, almost with 
a sense of pity.
     The two left after that.  Chris waited until Bermuda had a head start 
before going.  He smiled to himself.  "They're not ready yet...we still have a 
day."
     



















                                  Chapter 12






     Chris came back at four in the afternoon to find everyone awake and having 
lunch.  "Hi Fiss, where have you been?" Rei beamed happily.  
     "You might find it interesting to know that our doubles are still a day off 
from planning an attack." Chris smiled happily.  "We can relax a bit...for now."
     Sharon frowned.  "And exactly how do you know this?"
     "I met with Bermuda.  He's nervous.  Whatever they have planned isn't read 
yet." Chris explained, swiping a chip from Maury and eating it before he could 
protest.
     Rei frowned.  "You really shouldn't go off by yourself.  What if he had 
backup? You could have been killed!"
     Chris nodded.  "It was kinda stupid, but it was four in the morning, and I 
still hadn't slept yet!" he smiled widely.
     Rei sighed.  "Well, with you gone, at least I'll sleep easier."
     "What's the fun in that?" Chris said, sitting down next to her and giving 
her a quick hug.  "So, what were we all talking about?"
     




     Three gigantic blasts of blue and green filled the sky as the fireworks 
began.  The light recast off the large pool in front of the palace and lit the 
entire yard.  Truly, it was a massive celebration.  Everywhere you looked, 
people were dancing and laughing and talking and kissing.  Little children ran 
in and out of the crowd as their parents desperately tried to keep an eye on
them.  Groups of guys and gals were chatting, probably about each other.  A few 
couples looked ready to return to private quarters for a more intimate setting.  
Generally, everyone was happy.
     Generally, that is.  Rei sighed deeply as she sipped on a glass of water, 
trying to appear happy.  She wasn't though.  She was bored out of her mind.  
Normally, she and Lita would be partying in grand style, but Miss Jupiter had 
been going out with a young boy from the Sun recently.  Apparently, they were 
quite close.  
     So, that left Rei alone.  A red firework lit up her water and she took 
another sip.  Yup, another useless party.  The Queen had been stressing how 
important it was to be ready for Queen Beryl, so why was she hosting a party so 
soon to a Lunar Eclipse?  As soon as that happened, the moon would be at it's 
weakest, and even if it was expected, an attack at that time would be highly 
effective.
     She shrugged off the idea as being paranoia from hanging around with 
Jupiter too much, and returned to sipping her water.  Actually, Serenity hadn't 
been herself lately.  She probably just needed this party as time to relax.  
Better to have it now and be refreshed when danger DOES strike.
     She wished, though, just this once, that 'he' would have came.  He had 
never once came to any sort of gathering on the Moon in three years.  He was 
constantly busy with sword practice, or some sort of project.  Always.  Also, 
rumour had it that the Queen suspected he was part of the Saturn Underground, if 
not the leader.
     Suddenly, she saw shoes in front of her own.  She slowly looked up.  Black 
pants, a white dress shirt, a wildly coloured tie... "Hello, my little pyro!"
     "Chris!" she yelled excitedly and hugged him, "You finally came!" She 
blushed slightly at her own reaction.  "Uh, nice to see you!." she said, toned 
down.
     Chris was taken off guard by her enthusiasm, but smiled anyway.  "Wow!  
With a greeting like that, I should wait another three years before coming 
back!"
     Rei offered him a seat on the large cement block she had been perched on.  
"So what brings you to the Moon?" she said happily.  
     Chris shrugged slightly.  "Well, I got here before my sister, so I'll be 
presenting my gift at the ceremonies."
     Rei nodded.  "Great.  It will be great to have you around more often."
     Chris blushed slightly.  "Well, I must admit, you were a big factor in my 
decision for coming here today."
     The two had met three years ago and had become friends.  Nothing romantic, 
but both seemed to know that it was more than possible.  Rei turned away 
slightly to hide her delight in him coming.  "Well, I mean, it's always great to 
have you around.  You seem to liven up parties, at least!"
     Chris smiled at the compliment.  "Mmm, well, I'm no Prince Endymion, but 
would you care to dance?" he asked hopefully.
     Rei smiled.  "Why not..."






     Chris and Rei both leapt up from their seats.  "NONONO!  Skip this part!" 
Rei pleaded.
     He nodded.  "Yes...SKIP this part."
     Sharon smiled.  "Okay...but I WILL say that they caused eight broken ribs, 
two concussions, and three sprained ankles."
     Everyone smiled at the two.
     "What?" Rei defended.  "So we can't dance!"





     Chris sat up from the water fountain in the middle of the court.  Rei was 
holding her back.  "Geeze!  Watch it people!"
     He shook out his hair.  "Man!!"
     "That's it...no more dancing for me..." Rei said, getting up painfully.

     Serenity sat at her large crystal desk, rooting through reports handed to 
her by cats of various colours.  She glanced down at the party from her balcony 
to see Prince Saturn helping Rei out of the fountain.      
     "What's this?" she picked up a sheet.  "'Sailor Saturn not recommended.  
Under-qualified.  Sailor Mars report.'" she read out the basics.  "Poor Rei.  
Caught in with the wrong people."
     A brown and white spotted cat hopped onto her desk.  "With all due respect, 
your highness, Sailor Saturn is rumoured to be working for the Negaverse, or 
even someone else.."
     Serenity shook her head.  "We have a lunar eclipse coming up in two days.  
I don't have time to change plans over a decade in the making!"
     The cat frowned.  "I've been reluctant to tell you...but Prince Saturn is 
fully briefed in the situation.  Artemis has been sending out messages to 
Saturn's underground.  If he is chosen instead of Sailor Saturn, there will be 
no problems in getting him up to speed."
     Serenity was speechless.  "Artemis?  My top advisers are against me?"
     The brown cat quickly shook his head.  "No, my Queen.  Luna and Artemis are 
still loyal, it's just that Artemis wanted a backup in case...well, Sailor 
Saturn was from the Negaverse."
     The Queen looked slightly pissed off.  "Oh!  Luna's in it too?  First this 
Andrea character is getting ga-ga over Darien, Maury says the Sun doesn't do the 
'joining alliances' thing, and now one of my best cats is collaborating with an 
illegal regime because he doesn't wanna be the only male advisor in the court!"
     The small brown fur-ball slunk off the desk.  "Sorry, your highness.  But 
the Solar System is under attack..." he whispered to himself the last line, 
"whether you wanna admit it or not..."
     





     Serena looked strange.  "I never really got involved with mom's political 
affairs...I had no idea..."
     Darien wrapped his arm around her.  "Don't worry. Your mom was a sweet 
lady,"
     "A little bitchy..." Chris repeated, thinking about the sword.  "She had no 
intentions of even..."
     Darien shot him a dirty look.  "She was under a lot of pressure."
     Sharon nodded.  "She was a nice person, but the last few days were pretty 
wired for the government officials."




     Artemis walked in with slightly ruffled fur.  "You asked for me, your 
highness?"
     The Queen kept her back to him, looking out her window at the fireworks.  
"Hello, my friend.  Where were you?  We missed you at the skating rink."
     Artemis turned pink.  "Well, I was kinda busy."  He didn't bother to 
mention he was spending his time with Luna.
     Serenity didn't move.  "Tell me, Artemis, how have you been keeping in 
touch with Saturn?  Normally, messengers take a good full day to reach it, but 
I've seen almost no work orders for them across my desk."
     Artemis didn't think about the question.  "Well, it's a message service 
Saturn R and D and I has been developing.  They promised to share the specs with 
us once they join.  Something to do with light.  It's really cool, actually."
     "When who join?"
     Artemis blinked.  "Saturn...why?"
     "I meant which faction?" Serenity turned around.
     Shit, she knows... "Well, whichever joins first," he thought desperately.
     "I trusted you, Artemis," she sat down calmly.  "And you refuse to obey a 
stupid, simple order of mine, after you've been loyal for years.  Do not form 
political relations with rebel factions.  Why?"
     "It certainly was stup...I mean..." Artemis went silent.
     "What!?!" she yelled.    
     Artemis lowered his head slightly.  "Chris is exactly the kind of person 
that the Silver Millennium needs.  I also feel that Andrea and Maury will also 
be assets, yet you stick to redundant tradition INSTEAD of doing what's right." 
he paused.  "I should be the one asking why you've suddenly turned...your 
highness." he said sharply.
     Serenity seemed a bit shaken.  "Well...I did ask, didn't I?" she paused.  
"For god's sake, Artemis...that Andrea is a love-child who wants to 'bang' our 
future king.  Maury and the Sun are not part of the plan, and it's clear they 
don't care; and Chris is part of an illegal organization.  Not only that, but 
Rei and Lita...two of our guardians are being influenced because of them.  And
now YOU!"
     Artemis looked slightly pissed off.  "Sailor Saturn is an unnecessary risk.  
The sun would greatly enhance our security, and Darien has the right to choose 
who he loves...not you."
     Queen Serenity growled.  "Be thankful you have provided service all these 
years, for you'd be dead by now for defection to the enemy if you weren't my 
friend."
     The small white cat began to turn around.  "MY friend was the Serenity who 
did what was right... I'm going for a drink..." he left.
     Serenity was left speechless.  Never in all the years she had know Artemis 
had he been so assertive, so damn confident and outspoken.  And in the very back 
of her mind...she couldn't help but know he could be right.
     









     











                                 Chapter 13






     The elevator doors closed behind him as he turned around to punch the 
"Main" button.  Darien had promised Serena he'd pick her up some flowers or 
something.  She had taken Sharon's little history lesson strangely.  
     The royal family was always so nice and so perfect.  Everyone had the 
sneaking suspicion it was only on the outside.  Serena knew that most of their 
kindness and moral attitude was genuine, but even so, Darien knew that Serena 
probably idled her mother and was shaken at even the prospect of her doing 
something not so perfect.  
     Nobody's perfect.  Poor Serena was bound to find out that even the Queen, 
her mother, wasn't an exception to this universal law of humanity.  
     He was so busy worrying about his love's well-being, that he almost had a 
heart attack when he heard his own voice.  "Nice day, isn't it?"
     Darien swallowed hard, trying not to seem startled.  It was his 
double...Kamen.  He prayed that he was just saying 'hi' and hadn't noticed who 
he was yet.  
     "Uh, yes.  Very nice." he said, forcing a raspy tone out to disguise his 
voice.  He didn't even move his head an inch in case Kamen recognized his 
original's face.  
     Kamen nodded.  He had been too much into his own thoughts to notice it was 
Darien who entered, and had only really seen the new passenger as he turned 
around.  "Mmm,"
     Darien couldn't help but shiver.  He was an arm's length away from not only 
possible death, but giving away the location of the other Scouts. 
     It was then when Kamen noticed Darien's familiar green tweed jacket.  "Hey, 
that's a nice coat." he smiled happily.  "I have one just like..." Kamen trailed 
off.
     "Shit." Darien replied simply.
     Before Darien had time to spin around and defend himself.  Kamen grabbed 
his shoulders and shoved him into the elevator's wall.  "How'd you find us!?!" 
Kamen demanded, pulling out a rose.
     Darien had already pulled out his own.  It sliced through the air and 
knocked his double's away.  "One of us is going to die...and I'll be damned if 
it's me!" he shouted, whipping out a series of two more roses.  
     Kamen recognized his own movements and dodged easily by turning sideways.  
He then jumped and shoulder-checked Darien into the door.  It dented as he hit 
and a loud screeching noise filled the cabin as the metal began to rub against 
the elevator shaft.  
     Darien took no time to recover from the hit and kicked Kamen's chest with a 
free foot, sending him against the back wall.  Only one through was in his mind.  
He must destroy Kamen before he could warn the others.  He pulled out his 
special transformation rose and let it do it's thing.
     Kamen took the pause to do the same.  He transformed into an almost exact 
duplicate suit, except for a completely black cape and mask.  As his 
transformation finished, the two Tuxedo-dressed men pulled out their walking 
staffs.
     Darien extended his staff in a quick reflex, almost jabbing it into Kamen's 
neck.  At the last second, though, Kamen smacked it away, extended his own, and 
brought it down hard on Darien's shoulder.  Darien winced but continued to 
fight.  He brought around his staff again, but it hit the wall of the elevator.  
     Kamen now shot out his cane for Darien's head.  Darien ducked, and in a 
last second plan, jumped as high as he could.  He smashed directly through the 
elevator car's service-panel and landed with his feet on the top of the car.  He 
saw a ladder running along side the elevator shaft, and was about to leap onto 
the passing rungs when a hand grabbed his foot and toppled him back onto the 
roof.
     The dark Darien sprung up on top of the car as well, then shot off a rose.  
Darien rolled out of the way as it hit the metal behind him and stood up.  
     Tuxedo Mask noticed the elevator was now passing the tenth floor.  Had the 
fight been that quick?  It seemed like minutes.  Despite it's pace, the fight 
would probably break out into the lobby, and the clones would know for sure.  
Darien had to think!
     Kamen seemed more focused on the fight.  "You were right...one of us IS 
going to die." he growled, pushing his staff into Darien's chest.  "Goodbye."
     Darien gasped just as he felt the staff extend and launch him backwards.  
He grabbed hold of the stick to prevent it from going right through his heart, 
but it had already knocked the wind out of him.  He flew upwards into the 
elevator shaft wall.
     His back contacted with the rough metal as it flew upwards behind him.  His 
cape was almost instantly ripped to shreds.  In a strange moment, he wondered 
how he'd find a new one later on.  Then, the pain of having his back thrashed 
upon metal registered.  He tried to push his way free, but Kamen's staff was 
still holding him up there like some kind of kite.  "ARGHH!" Darien yelped as 
his shoulder started to hit the ladder he saw earlier.  
     Kamen stood firmly, pressing his cane into his opponent even harder.  "This 
is the end, my friend.  At least you have the dignity of one-on-one combat.  
You've always preferred it...you've just never been any good at it." the clone 
illustrated.  "First it was Zoicite..." he smiled "You always fell for her 
'fair-fight' trick and died once because of it." 
     Tux was too busy being grated to death to care what Kamen was saying.  
"Grrr!"
     As Kamen continued to jab his cane into Darien's chest, Darien saw the 
number 7 go by on the far wall.  Seven floors.  Seven floors down.  
     In a last ditch attempt, Darien flicked his wrists, sending two roses down 
at the elevator.  They slammed into the emergency release clamps.  Kamen glanced 
at them with a puzzled look on his face.  "What..."
     Using whatever strength he could muster up, Darien reached into his pocket 
one last time, pulled out a rose, and fired it at the elevator cables.  
     Kamen gasped as the elevator started free-falling.  In the blink of an eye, 
the acceleration gave Darien the slack he needed to get off of Kamen's staff, 
and grab onto the ladder.
     Kamen continued to fall for six floors.
     Darien had heard his shoulder pop out of place when he grabbed the ladder, 
but he couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief as his clone plummeted into the 
sub-basement blocker.  
     Kamen smashed through the elevator roof as the car collapsed and exploded 
in a shower of sparks.  A splatter of blood lined the shaft-walls.  
     "Well..." Darien sighed, swinging around on the ladder weakly.  He began to 
pry the sixth floor door open, wincing from his damaged arm.  "At least now I 
know WHY you're not supposed to take elevators in the event of an emergency."




















 
                                 Chapter 14






     "Oh my god!" Andrea gasped as Darien shut the door behind him.  All the 
Scouts glanced over to him and gasped.
     Darien looked like hell...and they hadn't even seen his back yet.  He was 
still in tuxedo-form.  "Hi...everyone...you'll never guess who I ran into on the 
way to the lobby."
     Serena ran up to him and helped him to a seat.  "Oh, muffin!  Your back!"
     Darien nodded painfully.  "Yeah, please don't tell me how bad it is...I 
don't want to know."
     Ami quickly sprung into action.  "Someone get me a first-aid kit...NOW!"
     Lita ran to the bathroom.  "I saw one in here..."
     "Well, at least Kamen's toast.  I just hope they don't find the body and 
realize we're here."
     Rei shook her head.  "If he died, then he's probably vaporizing already.  
They're clones, but they seem to decompose rather quickly after death."
     Chris stood up.  "We now have a two person advantage.  They aren't ready 
till tomorrow at least.  I say we open up a big honkin' can of WHOOP ASS!"
     Rei smiled grimly.  "Not too bad odds.  He's right.  We can attack now.  
Not only is our team bigger, but we have the element of surprise.  We'll waltz 
right in through the front door and start chucking fireballs and lightning bolts 
up their asses before they can call 'Room Service!'" she said, adding a 
enthusiastic chuckle.  
     Serena looked up from Darien to Chris and Rei.  "No."
     They both gave her a strange look.  Maury joined in.  "But we have the 
chance to ROCK them!!  If we don't tonight, then tomorrow will NOT be a good 
day."
     "I don't care." Serena said firmly.  "We're not going to do this without my 
Darien."
     Lita returned with the medical kit and handed it to Ami.  Ami began to 
clean up Darien's back.  Andrea sat by him for comfort.
     Rei growled and stood up.  "Serena...if we don't attack right now, it's 
quite possible that he won't be alive tomorrow!"
     Darien nodded.  "If you attack now, you'll have the best chance.  Please," 
he took Serena's hand in his own, "not many of our battles have been so 
favourable."
     Serena shook her head.  "No.  What if they've already left, or they've been 
planning us to attack?  We could all be lured into a trap.  Tomorrow, we'll..."
     "We don't even know what they're going to DO tomorrow!"  Maury said, 
becoming frustrated.  "If we attack right now, we'd STILL have better chances!" 
he pointed toward his head.  "Remember?  I CAN SEE THESE THINGS!  I can't see 
much, but what I can see is NOT good.  A few of us aren't around by four PM."
     "If you cannot see exactly what happens, then I'm not changing my mind." 
Serena said, tears in her eyes.  "Darien is hurt."
     They were quiet for an uncomfortably long minute.
     Chris took a deep breath, then sat down.  
     Maury looked at him.  "What are you doing?  Don't you think we should..."
     "Maury...she's Sailor Moon.  Even if we didn't join the Silver Millennium 
back then, we're part of it now.  She's our leader, and we have to respect her 
orders." Chris said.  "Even if we don't agree with them."
     Maury frowned.  "We'll see how great the chain of command is after one of 
us gets killed." he walked off.
     Chris felt his heart sink.  Few times had Maury shown such conviction 
towards something.  Maybe he really did see something.  
     Rei sat down next to Chris.  "Chris...you said they'd need a few days to 
complete a nuclear bomb, right?"
     Chris nodded.  
     "Then we should wait for tomorrow." she sighed.  "Even if we don't win, it 
will be for the best."
     "Then I assume you're certain that's what we're going to be up against?" 
Chris said.
     Rei said nothing.
     "Wonderful.  I always wanted to know what it felt like to be at Ground 
Zero." he sighed, getting up and walking off towards Maury's room.
     Andrea looked sheepish, "And all this time I thought my attack sounded 
cool..."
     Rei gave off a small smile.  "Don't worry, Chris..." she whispered.  "It 
will all work out."






     "Kamen's dead." Bob came in the penthouse door with a flutter.
     The cloned Scouts all gasped.  "H-h-how?" Karma asked weakly, stricken with 
shock.
     Bob shrugged.  "The elevator cable snapped.  For some reason, the emergency 
systems were fucked, and he crashed on the bottom."
     "Oh my god..." Lacy said.  "You...I mean, still had feelings for him, 
didn't you?"
     Karma nodded weakly, her voice trembling.  "Wh-where's his body?"
     Bob sat down.  "He vaporized.  They didn't find any body.  But I saw some 
of the cloning gel.  Looks like fate favours the good after all."
     Bermuda looked up from his corner of the room.  "Bob, how hard is the 
Composition B?"  Composition B is the explosive used in Plutonium bombs to 
compress the nuclear material to critical mass...thereby detonating it."
     Bob shrugged.  "It's dry, but there's still bubbles in the explosive.  
We'll need another twelve hours to pour it again."
     Chris' double shook his head.  "We don't have that long.  The Scouts know 
where we are.  They must have killed Kamen."
     "But...none of us were followed..." Lacy said.
     Bermuda frowned.  "How stupid ARE you?" he stood up.  "A freak elevator 
accident just HAPPENS to claim the life of Kamen.  An elevator in the most 
expensive, safe, modern hotel in Tokyo.  Doesn't that seem a bit odd?" he walked 
off down the hallway.  "Get me a drill.  I'll fill in all the air-bubbles 
individually...but we don't have time to redo the entire batch."
     Bob followed, grabbing a drill.  
     








      

     









                                 Chapter 15







     "I explained to Maury that it's possible they already have a bomb hidden, 
and if we killed them, it could go off without us ever finding it." Chris said 
to Rei.  "He finally agreed to wait."
     "Do you believe that?" Rei asked.
     "No.  I still think we should attack now.  They can't be ready so soon."
     Rei nodded.  They had decided to take a walk.  "Sorry for all the secrecy, 
but you'll have to trust me.  If we didn't wait for tomorrow, things could get 
even worse."
     Chris nodded.  "Okay...I trust you." he smiled.  "Now enough of all this 
business-talk."
     Rei pulled on the collar of her jacket.  "I must admit, the city looks 
nice, four-am in the morning."
     Chris smiled.  "If you want to go back..."
     She shook her head.
     Chris took a deep breath.  "You know, I just realized I haven't had more 
than a month of relax time in over a year."
     His companion shook her head.  "It never stops.  Defending the universe is 
a hard job." she said solemnly.
     He nodded, hugging her tighter.
     The street was barren, except for a few midnight trash still hanging about 
after a party or something nearby.  The moon was up and it set a nice mood over 
the common street scum.  "You know, I'd give up my powers in a second...as long 
as it meant I could still have met you."  Rei smiled happily.
     Chris sighed.  "Well, maybe Pluto would let us fuck up the time line or 
something."  He smiled at Rei's shocked look.  "Just kidding."
     Rei raised an eyebrow.  "Well.  You're lucky.  You would have met me 
anyway.  So would you give up your powers?"
     Chris shrugged.  "Oh, I don't know.  Viruses, aliens, the lifetime 
commitment?  Well, this job also came with perks.  Sword.  Car.  Talking cats.  
Computer.  You." he smiled evilly.  "You must admit it's been easier since we've 
both been 'Scouted'."
     Rei nodded.  "So.  After this, you're going back?"
     Chris nodded as well.  "I gotta get my degree in computer engineering.  
Beavis won't live forever...I mean, he's already older than I thought hedgehogs 
could get..., and neither will my parents or all my friends.  Hell, we're still 
not sure if that immortality thing works on us over in North America." Chris 
shivered.  "And I want the most outta my all-too-short existence.  No matter how 
long it is."
     "I," Rei started "had always dreamed of being a Shinto Princess." she 
paused.  "Or a singer."
     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "What's stopping you?"
     "This damn thing..." she said, pulling out her power stick.
     Chris nodded.  "I wanted to work for Silicon Graphics.  Set up a cool 
house, live with a family if possible.  And most of all, I want to be warm and 
cozy."
     Rei blinked.
     "It's true." Chris smiled.  "I want to sit in a cool, over fluffed 
chair...with a colourful sweater on...the heating in my house cranked during the 
winter...reading a cool book...with a cup of Earl Grey tea in my hand."
     Rei looked down.  "Would that chair be big enough for two?"
     Chris tilted her chin in his hand.  "Only if it's you."
     They kissed for a good ten seconds.  Rei had a small smile on her lips.  
"Can-do."
     They continued to walk. "And..."
     "And?"
     "I don't want this to end because of three thousand kilometres."
     Rei sighed shakily.  "It doesn't have to..."
     Chris and her hugged tightly, tears in their eyes.
     "Thank you Rei."
     "For what?" she mused.
     Chris smiled.  "For the best year of my life!"
     Rei smiled coyly.  "Well, the past year hasn't been exactly torture for me 
either."
     Chris shrugged.
     Rei smiled.  "You know, you left a lot behind when you came here.  Why did 
you?  It's not like you knew you were the prince of Saturn or anything."
     Chris looked around.  "Why did I?  Why not?  Calgary was getting really 
boring."  He paused.  "I know it doesn't sound karmic or whatever, but me and Mo 
needed a change of pace."
     They hugged again, kissing softly.  
     Suddenly, Chris almost threw off Rei, walking toward a building's wall.
     Rei blinked, shaken.  "What was that for?"
     Chris walked over to the wall, ripped off a paper and showed it to Rei.  
     Rei read it quickly.  She didn't have to.  It was in both English and 
Japanese.  "Jap-stock?  Ten world-famous bands?  Million dollar giveaways?  Free 
food/parking/drinks?  Free admission?"
     Chris smiled.  "Does that sound like a crowd-attraction or what?"
     Rei frowned.  "In front of the Imperial Palace??  It's gotta be the other 
Scouts!"
     Chris nodded.  "So I guess the gang's gonna be pissed we found in ten 
minutes what they were searching for all day!" he smiled evilly.  "I can't wait 
to tell them."
     Rei smiled.  "This also means we have a head-start, even tomorrow.  We can 
call police, warn people, whatever!  The less complicated the situation is, the 
better our chances are."
     "See?"
     "See what?" Rei blinked.
     "Isn't being optimistic so much better?" he smiled and kissed her.     




















                               Chapter 16






     Morning rolled around.  Chris sat at the telephone.  "Hell-o?  City Centre?  
I'd like to advise you to call in the international atomic bomb team."
     "Is that a threat?" the voice came from the other end.
     Chris sighed.  "I am Strike Fiss.  You know?  Helped save the city from 
those aliens?  Prince of Saturn?  Anyway, you know those evil doubles of us?"
     "This is a joke, right?"
     "No, for fuck's sake.  This is an emergency.  You need anybody who 
specializes in disarming nuclear devices, and you need them in front of the 
Imperial Palace."
     "What?"
     "Have you heard of 'Jap-Stock'?"
     "Why, yes.  It's already on out on our front lawn.  Why?" the man sounded 
confused.
     Chris took a deep breath.  "How many people are out there?"
     The man paused, taking an estimate.  "Seven thousand last count."
     Chris hung up the phone.  "There's no time.  The crowd's too big."
     They looked over to the camera feedback.  "Our doubles are gone." Chris 
gasped, running over to the screen.  "Dammit!  Artemis said he's watch the 
camera!"  He pounded his fist through the keyboard.  "But how did they know when 
to sneak out?"
     Rei tapped his shoulder.  "Look..."
     She pointed up to a small lens in their own roof, zooming quietly.  The 
clones had bugged THEM too.
     Darien pointed at the screen.  "They're not ALL gone...look."
     It was Andrea's double, Rene.  Andrea growled.  "You guys get to the palace 
and save the city. *I*'ll take care of bitchy here."






     Bermuda and Bob slowly lifted up the cooler and swayed it to the centre of 
the party as people were starting to wonder when the bands would get there.  
"What's the range of this thing?" Bob asked.
     Bermuda grinned.  "I don't know.  We'll have to find out the fun way...I 
guess."
     "Oh-well!" Bob smiled back.
     Everywhere you looked was a crowd of people, going on for what looked like 
miles each way.  Lacy tapped him on the shoulder.  "Yeah, just don't enjoy this 
too much." 
she smiled.
     Karma came up behind them.  "This the bomb?"
     Bermuda glanced over to the cooler.  "But of course.  And it's running 
three computer, two chemical and a clock timer.  Nobody's disarming this baby!  
I couldn't even do it!"
     Bob smiled.  "It's got a full kilogram of plutonium.  I have no idea what 
that is in kilotons, but I bet it's big!"
     Karma nodded.  "Okay.  Friction's going to seal off the entrance.  You 
three better transform.  I'm going to make sure Rene is okay back at the hotel.  
She said she was securing our transportation back to the country side."
     Bermuda sneered.  "The country?  What do we look like?  Spud-grubbers?"
     Karma growled.  "I will not have my orders questioned.  Is that clear?"
     Bermuda and Bob smiled to each other.  "Or what?" they said simultaneously.
     Karma frowned.  "I'll kill you."
     Bermuda pulled out a remote control.  "Oh really?" he motioned it toward 
the cooler.
     Karma smiled.  "You said the bomb couldn't be disarmed.  Quit trying to 
threaten me."
     Bermuda pointed it at the cooler.  "True.  But I could set it off...right 
now."

     Karma was silent.

     Bob pulled out an identical controller.  "And we have back ups.  Don't try 
anything, and we won't nuke your ass."
     Karma shrugged.  "Fine.  But if you ever..." she grabbed both their shirts
"EVER...question me again...I won't care what stupid tricks you have up your 
sleeves."
     She walked off.  Lacy blinked.  "Holy shit..."
     Bermuda shrugged.  He pressed the button on his 'detonator', revealing it 
was a lighter.
     Lacy blinked again.  "You mean, you bluffed?"
     Bob smiled evilly.  "Cool, huh?"






     Andrea and Lita quietly opened the door.  They had no idea what to expect.  
If the clones had found the bugs last night, or even the night before, it was 
possible they could have set up false images.  For all they knew, the clones 
were still there, waiting for them.
     The surveillance equipment, however, had been showing a true picture.  
Andrea's double was the last to leave.  
     They peered inside.  Rene's matching voice came from the back room.  
Andrea's eyes closed into narrow slits.  "Ass kicking time."
     Lita smiled and nodded.  "Let's rock."
     Rene was on the phone.  "Yes.  I've been holding for quite some time now, 
and I'd like to speak with someone who knows what the hell they're doing."
     Lita and Andrea worked their way around the living room furniture.  "How 
are we going to do this?  She's transformed!" Lita asked.  
     Andrea took a quick peek around the corner of the wall.  She was indeed 
ready for battle "Do it after she hangs up...the last thing we need is cops, or 
if she's talking to the others..."
     "Thank you." Rene said with a deep sigh.  "Yes, I'd like to book a set of 
three limos.  Yes, I'd like them out for three hours.  Four PM till seven."
     "Four till seven?" Lita repeated quietly.  "It's already almost three."
     Andrea nodded.  "They're setting up a plan...we better do this quick and 
get over to City Hall."
     Rene continued.  "Yes.  Credit card.  No, that's okay.  You have the 
numbers.  Yes.  Thank you.  Nice doing business with you." she hung up.

     "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"

     Rene gasped and instinctively dove out of the way, just as a large bolt of 
lightning hit the wall where she had her head a second earlier.  "Shit!"
     "Get her!" Jupiter yelled.
     Sailor Hooze was up next.  "Rock N Roll!" She shouted.  "PLUTO GROUND 
ZERO!"
     The entire room began crackling.  Andrea emitted a green pulse that began 
vaporizing everything but Lita who was standing next to her.  "Cool!"  Lita 
smiled. 
     The impostor-Hooze leapt out from her hiding place just before the Ground 
Zero reached her.  "Nice try, but I can do better!"  Rene growled.  "DARK PLUTO 
DEATH CONSTRICTOR!"
     Andrea and Lita blinked as Rene shot out a snake-like energy coil which 
wrapped itself around Andrea's Ground Zero and started collapsing it.  Soon, 
both attacks fizzled out, throwing Andrea and Lita back from the explosions.  
     Lita's back hit on a door-knob, knocking the wind out of her.  She fell to 
the ground, clutching her chest, desperate for breath.
     Andrea was about to help Lita when Rene took a running start and leapt at 
her.  Hooze stumbled backward and fell onto the floor as they collided.  Rene 
quickly regained her footing and pulled her up by the hair, "You may look like 
me, Hooze, but you can't fight worth shit."  Andrea was now off the ground, "And 
I'm gonna tear you apart.  Right fucking now."
     Andrea struggled a smile, despite her bruises, "Well, I hope you enjoy the 
victory with one friggn' eye!!"  She promptly jabbed her pointer finger into 
Rene's eye socket.  The evil clone let out a scream and dropped Andrea.  Just 
when she thought the upper hand was hers, Rene kicked her in the stomach.  
Before Andrea could catch her breath, Rene dove at her.  The two crashed through 
the penthouse window and began a twenty-eight story plummet.
     Andrea realized that they were falling.  "I HATE heights!" she growled.  
"PLUUUUTO GROUND ZERO!!!"
     Rene was thrown apart from Andrea by the sudden crackle of green energy. 
Unfortunately, it wasn't concentrated enough, and it did no harm to the clone.  
Andrea smiled. "Ha!  How ya like THEM apples?"
     Rene stuck out her tongue.  "I'm not the one who's going to be road kill!"  
She lashed out with her Death Constrictor like a whip and used it to grab hold 
of a flag-pole.  She swung to safety through a window.
     Andrea gasped.  She was so close to the bottom now...less than a second to 
go.  There was only one thing left to do. 

     Lita watched in horror as Andrea streaked down toward the pavement below. 
"NOOOOO!" she screamed, helpless to prevent it.
     Suddenly, before her very eyes, Andrea exploded into a shower of green and 
white sparks.  Lita was silent.  Finally, after grasping for the right word, she 
said 

     "What???"

     CHOOOM!  A second later, the same swirl of sparks appeared behind her.  
Lita turned around, ready to defend herself, when the sparks formed Andrea's 
shape, then became solid.  "Woooow!" she gasped.  "What a ride!"
     Lita looked her over.  "Are you okay?  What the hell happened?"
     Andrea smiled happily.  "I teleported!"
     Lita was wide-eyed.
     "I remembered back when Sharon was telling us about the past.  I guess when 
I really needed it, I remembered how to use my 'forgotten' power." Andrea 
explained, sitting down, still dizzy from the drop and teleport.
     Lita nodded.  "Your double's still loose below."
     "I'll take care of her." Andrea said.  "You get over to the others.  By the 
looks of it, they're going to need all the help they can get!"





















                                  Chapter 17
    





     "Oh my..." Ami said with a choked gasp.  
     The Scouts, still in civilian clothes, all lined up and looked out over the 
area.  People crowded every square metre of the Imperial Court.  "Holy wibbley-
woblies." Chris said quietly.  
     It no longer mattered that there was no party or music.  The crowd had 
started to supply it's own food and entertainment.  It was turning into it's own 
party.  Nobody was about to leave. "My god...all these people...how are we going 
to evacuate?" Darien said.
     Maury frowned and crossed his arms.  "NOW do you believe we should have 
attacked sooner?"
     Serena said nothing.  "We have to find the evil clones!  Come on!"
     "Okay, it's going to be hard for me to get a good scan unless we're in the 
crowd." Ami said.
     "I'll take Ami over to the far side of the court.  You guys split up and 
check the rest of the area." Mina said.  "Any idea on how long we have?"
     Chris and Maury shrugged.  "A prediction is too inaccurate right now.  I 
have no idea." Maury said.  "Let's just hope getting blown up is not part of our 
destiny."
     Rei nodded.  "I hope so too."
     With that, the team broke up into pairs and went into the crowd.
     




     Andrea teleported into the darkened room after she found out where her 
double had crashed through.  It was a large conference room with a massive 
hardwood table in the centre of the floor.  The lights were gone now...probably 
knocked out by Rene.  
     There were shadows numerous...so she could have been hiding anywhere.  
Andrea frowned, backing up into a corner.  At least, this way, Rene would have 
to attack head-on.
     "Come on, let's get this over with." Andrea called out.  "The sooner you 
die, the sooner I can leave this fucking hotel."
     A laugh came out from the opposite corner.  "Funny joke." Rene walked out 
from the shadows slightly.  "But you're right.  Let's begin, shall we?"
     Andrea was about to jump forward when Rene grabbed the closest chair and 
threw it at her.  Sailor Hooze was caught completely off guard.  The chair 
slammed into her leg, spraining her ankle.  
     Before she could say some exclamation to express her pain, Andrea saw Rene 
jumping at her, foot extended in a drop-kick.  She rolled out of the way quickly 
and got to her feet.  She could stand, but was in no shape to start fighting.  
"Fine, you wanna fight dirty?" Andrea grabbed the curtains off the shattered 
window.  "I can do the same!"
     She flicked her arms, causing the cloth to wrap around Rene's arm.  Then, 
with all her might, threw her clone over her shoulders into the conference desk.  
The clone slid along it and fell off the far end with a thud and a yelp.
     Andrea concentrated briefly and transported over to her double.  It looked 
like it had a broken arm.  Rene growled painfully, trying to get up.  But, she 
couldn't.
     Andrea decided to finally end it.  "Sorry 'bout this." She said quietly.  
"Pluto GROUND ZERO!"
     A green sphere of energy spread out from Andrea's body, eventually hitting 
Rene.  She vaporized quietly as the light dissipated and the room turned dark 
again.  Andrea sighed, winced slightly from her sprained ankle, and then 
teleported.  "Damn I love this..." her voice echoed as she went.






     Chris and Rei wandered through the crowd carefully.  They wanted to spot 
the Clone Scouts, not be spotted themselves.  "We have to find out where that 
bomb is."  Rei repeated.  "Or none of this will matter anyway.
     He nodded.  "I saw the newspaper today.  One of the plants in China was 
hit.  Bermuda and Bob could have done it pretty easily.  Unfortunately, they 
never said how much was stolen."
     Rei nodded.  "Well, well, well...look over there!" she tapped his shoulder 
and tugged him to the ground."
     Chris looked above the heads of a few Japanese hippies to see Karma.  The 
evil Sailor Moon seemed to be entranced with the palace, and never even saw 
them.  "Shit.  Any ideas?"
     Rei shrugged, pulling him back down.  "We have to find a place to 
transform." she whispered.
     "I don't know.  We should get the others here."
     She shook her head.  "No, they're looking for the others.  We'll have to 
try and toast her ourselves."
     Chris shivered.  "Are you sure?  She DOES have that damn crystal.  All our 
weapons were cloned too.  Maybe we should get Serena and Darien after Karma."
     Rei thought for a second.  "Maybe you're right.  Besides, we have to get 
rid of all these people."
     Chris smiled.  "See?  Without me, you'd be blown to bits every day!"
     Rei frowned.  
     "Okay, every other day."
     Rei shook her head.  "Never mind.  I'll contact the others." she took out 
her communicator.  "Rei to Serena."
     Serena answered.  "Hey!  Rei!  Are you near the food stand?  They have some 
awesome hamburgers and..."
     Rei growled.  "We found your double, so get over here and waste her, before 
I WASTE YOU!"
     Serena whined.  "AAAAAwwwww, but REI!!  They have free drinks!  There's a 
cooler the size of a bathtub here!"
     Chris blinked.
     "Now you listen!" Rei shouted.  "Get Darien over here with you.  Knowing 
you, you'll need his help!  Rei out!"
     Chris tapped her on the shoulder.  "That's it!  The cooler!"
     Rei's eye's widened.
     "And the size of a bathtub?  Shit!  That's enough explosives to wipe out 
this entire court...not to mention the actual nuke!" Chris gasped.  "They 
already have the nuke here!!"
     Rei looked worried.  "I really hope it doesn't hurt...just in case."
     Chris took a deep breath.  "Oh, it won't hurt.  But I hope you brought 
sunglasses for the last millisecond of your life."
     "Well then.  Let's go." Rei stood up, running for Serena's last position.
     Chris shrugged.  "This is going to be a really bad day." he followed.
     





     Lita ran down the street as fast as she could. "Must...help...toast...
clones!" she said, gasping for air.  Still dressed as Sailor Jupiter, she knew 
she would need it.  This one was for all the marbles, and she'd be damned if she 
was going to let either Maury or herself get killed.
     Maury had stayed near the entrance of the Imperial Garden, and saw Jupiter 
running towards him.  "Hey!  Sailor Jupiter!" he called out, waving.
     Lita smiled and slowed.  They finally embraced in a hug.  "Hi.  Got here as 
fast as I could." she sighed.  "Andrea's finishing up at the hotel.  Anything 
happening here?"
     Maury shook his head.  "No...we just split up to go looking for our 
doubles." he sighed.  "I just have this bad feeling, though.  I'm afraid to try 
and look into the future."
     Suddenly, a shot rang out.  Both turned to see Friction and Bob, fully 
transformed with Lita's double pointing a .45 at them.  "Miss me honey?" 
Friction said in a Lita-like tone.
     A few people heard the shot, and were backing up into the bulk of the 
party.  Nobody really seemed to notice...until Maury growled and a light beam 
hit him.  "SOL POWER!"
     Lita sighed and prepared herself for battle.  "I hate it when you have 'bad 
feelings'."
     Maury's double, Bob, was first to strike.  "Hey!  Destiny!  Bet ya can't do 
THIS!  DARK SOULLL!"
     Indeed, Bob had a new attack.  His body faded to a deep shade of black, 
then disappeared.  The 'black-hole' where he used to be began to suck debris 
into it's centre...including Lita and Maury.  A tin can flew past them.  They 
watched as it vaporized when it entered the void.  Maury gasped, grabbing Lita.  
"Watch out!  Grab onto something!"
     They began running against the wind being generated from the Dark Soul 
attack. However, Friction promptly took out a handgun and fired two shots ahead 
of them, causing them to stop dead in their tracks.  "Uh uh..." she taunted.  
"There's no escape...why don't you just give up like nice little wussies?"
     Lita turned and growled.  "I HATE GUNS!!!"
     Before Maury could stop her, she had launched herself at Friction.  
"JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!"
     In a last-ditch attempt to defend herself, Friction began to fire her 
weapon.  It was already too late.  Sailor Jupiter's Thunder Dragon roared down 
from the clouds and over her fingers.  Then, it went straight for the clone.  
     The dragon slammed into Friction, causing a massive explosion that knocked 
Bob out of his vortex-attack and left him skidding on the ground.  The smoke 
cleared, revealing Jupiter and Destiny still standing.  
     Maury ran over to Lita.  "Wow!  That was awesome, honey!" He paused. Lita 
wasn't moving.  "Lita?"

     She fell over in a spin, revealing three bullet holes to her chest.  Lita 
hit the ground, not breathing.  A small pool of blood began forming beneath her. 
Both Bob and Maury were silent, both their loved-ones were...dead.

     Maury's mind erupted in rage.  He pointed a shaky finger at his double, 
barely containing himself.  "That DOES IT, MOTHER FUCKER!!!!!" he yelled out so 
loud, the echo could be heard over the party's music.  "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"
     Bob summoned whatever passion his cloned mind had into one moment. 
"AAAARRRGHHHH!  DARK SOOOOUUULLLLLLLL!" he screamed, determined not only to
take out Maury, but as many people as he could."
     The suction of this second black-hole was amazing.  AS soon as Bob started 
it, Maury was plucked off his feet and into the air.  Maury didn't really give a 
shit, though.  He was focusing himself into one final attack.  Solar...
DESTINY...FLARE!" he yelled, only a metre away from Bob.
     Maury's body instantly turned into light.  He leapt up high into the air, 
then came down, through Bob, and hit the ground like a lightning bolt.  A huge, 
echoing "CHOOOM!" rang out as Maury returned to normal inside a small crater he 
had formed.  
     Behind him, Bob now had a gaping hole in his chest.  He tried to gasp...but 
he was already dead.  He fell over, lifeless.
     Maury coughed through the smoke of the battle and crawled up out of the 
crater as the crowd around him watched in both amazement and horror.  He walked 
weakly over to Lita's body.  Then, he turned to the crowd.  "SOMEONE CALL 911!"






     Chris and Rei glanced over to the commotion at the front gate.  Maury's 
solar beam appeared briefly, and the distant sounds of battle had stopped quite 
suddenly.  "Maury?!?  That's Maury!  He's in trouble!" Chris gasped.
     Rei got frustrated and punched out the nearest person.  "Damn!  This 
crowd's too thick to help!"
     Chris whipped out his disk.  "Not when my buddy's in trouble!"  He aimed 
the disk at the front of the court, ignoring the hippies in his way.  "FISS!!!"
     He was thrown back a metre, but cleared a path forward.  Rei took this 
distraction as an opportunity to transform.  "Mars Star POWER!"
     Chris used his disk to transform as well, and the two went tearing down the 
newly made, hippy-free zone.  "I knew this was going to be a bad day..." Chris 
cursed as they heard three gun shots. 
     




     Ami and Mina glanced over to the front gate.  Two black vortexes had 
appeared, and now, everything was quiet.  "What was that?" Ami asked.
     Mina frowned.  "I don't know, but I'm more worried about that." she pointed 
ten metres north of them.
     Bermuda was sitting on a bench, fiddling with his watch.
     Mina looked over.  "Ami." she frowned.  "Control your freaking hormones."
     Ami stopped staring at him.  "Sorry."
     Bermuda looked up suddenly.  "Shit, he must've felt your stare." Mina 
turned around.
     Ami frowned.  "That's impossible..."
     Bermuda locked on, and a evil grin crossed his lips.  Ami blinked.  "Oh, 
pooh."
     Mina looked at her.  "'Pooh'?  Ami?  What's wrong with you?  You don't say 
'Pooh' when a deadly asshole has just spotted you and is coming over to rip out 
your lungs!"
     "DARK FISS!" Bermuda yelled out.  His sword appeared, spun around him and 
landed in his hand.  "Hi, Ami.  No, you can't rape me." he pulled out his blade, 
slicing through the nearest yuppie.
     "Mercury Star POWER!" she said, fumbling for her power stick.
     Mina frowned.  "You're going down!" she pulled out her own stick.  "VENUS 
STAR POWER!"
     Sailor Venus was just as popular as Sailor Moon, everyone recognized her 
and realized there was going to be a rumble.  The crowd parted, leaving the 
three room to battle.
     Bermuda had a grin on his face.  "You honestly think you two can beat me?"
     Venus raised an eyebrow.  "And I didn't think you could count.  Man, was I 
stupid?"
     Bermuda's smile grew.  "You're first."
     Mercury stepped back as Venus and Bermuda showed down.  "Venus Crescent
Beam...SMASH!" 
     Bermuda leapt out of the way, but was hit by debris.  "Time to rumble!" he 
said, getting up with dirt chunks hitting his head.
     Mercury tapped her on the shoulder.  "Be careful..."
     Venus nodded.  "You wanna rock?  Then let's rock.  METEOR SHOWER...
VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
     Chris' double whipped around his sword.  "I don't think so!" he yelled, 
diving under the shower of energy.  "Look's like PARTY TIME!"
     Venus realized too late that the fight was a diversion.  Bermuda was aimed 
at Mercury, who was caught completely off guard.  His two swords arched 
together, swung around and shot off his ultimate attack. "Mercury!!!" she 
yelled.

     The energy arch slammed into Ami and shot her back through the air.  She 
vaporized even before she hit the ground.

     Venus and Bermuda were stunned as the dust trail landed.  Mina turned 
around to see Bermuda smiling.  "Well, I can't say I'll miss her hanging all 
over me." 
     Mina just glared at him, tears forming in eyes.  "You'll pay for that."
     Bermuda nodded.  "I was afraid of that, tootles." he leapt off into the 
crowd before Mina could realize where he went.
     "COME BACK HERE!" She yelled out in tears, running after in futile pursuit.
     





     From the centre of the park, Karma watched with a grin on her face.  "Not 
bad.  For round one, at least."

























                                 Chapter 18






     Chris and Rei finally got to Maury just as the paramedics came.  Andrea and 
Mina arrived not much later.  Maury was sitting by himself as a trauma team was 
trying to save Lita.
     Rei ran over to Lita's body, but was forced to stay out of the way of the 
medics.  "What happened?"
     Maury was too choked up to speak.  
     Lita had been clinically dead for a good three minutes, and her heart was 
hit in three places.  It was practically DOA.  
     Chris sat beside Maury.  "We'll fix this.  Even if we have to tear apart 
time."
     Maury nodded.  "It was mine and hers." she smiled weakly.  "At least we 
toasted the fuckers."
     Mina suddenly came up to Chris and decked him against the bench with a 
really vicious kick.  "YOU BASTARD!!!" She yelled at him, crying uncontrollably.  
     Chris sat up painfully.  "U-uh?"
     "Bermuda VAPORIZED Ami!!" She screamed.

     Chris blinked.  

     Rei whimpered, lowering her head.  "Not Ami too!"
     "Where's Serena and Darien?" Chris asked, rubbing his jaw.  "They'll want 
to know as well."
     Mina sat sobbing quietly.  "Who cares?  Our team is gone."
     Rei gave her a hug.  "Then let's make sure this doesn't get worse."
     Suddenly, the medics nearby stopped shouting orders.  Lita's heart was 
gone.  She was dead.  Maury couldn't watch as they wheeled her into the 
ambulance.  The lead med came up to Rei.  "Uh, Sailor Mars?  What do you want 
done with the body?"
     Mars looked up solemnly.  "Keep it here.  There's a nuke somewhere in the 
area, so it won't matter how far you get."
     The medics all looked at each other.  "What?"
     Fiss walked up to the nearest one.  "If you have families, I'd warn them...
just in case."
     Maury suddenly stood up.  "Let's get Karma."
     Hooze and Maury walked off.  "We'll help Serena and them." Andrea smiled.
     Sharon came running out from the crowd.  "What's going on?  I heard 
gunfire!"
     Chris pointed to the ambulance.  "You know.  There was this one Star Trek: 
Deep Space Nine book I read where everyone died, but they managed to survive by 
going back three days.  Lita and Ami are dead.  Any chance on fucking with 
time?"
     She shook her head.  "I'm so sorry.  That stupid dark silver crystal is 
preventing me to use ANY of my powers.  I think Karma knew I was a threat to it, 
and is making a specific effort to stop me." she sighed.  "If Karma wasn't here, 
it would be no problem.  Time would be more flexible, and we could bend it.  
Right now, though, any attempts to alter anything will cause..."  she paused 
"really nasty things to happen."
     Rei gasped as she remembered her dream.  "Oh shit...oh shit..."
     Chris looked at Rei.  "Don't worry...we'll figure out something."
     Andrea suddenly got determined.  "If Karma's using the crystal against you, 
then it's not at full power." she and Maury ran off.  "We still have a chance!"
     Sharon nodded.  "I'm helping." she ran off behind them.
     Chris nodded.  "Great." he helped Mina to her feet.  "Come on.  The rest of 
us will get Bermuda."
     Mina nodded.  "I've got dibs."
     Chris frowned.  "We need all these people outta here."
     The medic sighed.  "Okay.  I'll try to get to the middle of the crowd and 
disperse them with the van's intercom."
     Chris smiled.  "Thanks.  Don't worry, you won't get nuked as long as we're 
around."
     The medic nodded weakly.  "Okay.  Wheel out the body and leave it under the 
tent.  We'll take the ambulance, now!" he ordered.
     Mina shivered, "We're gonna do it...for Jupiter and Mercury..."







     Darien and Serena walked through the crowd, oblivious to the deaths of Lita 
and Ami.  They couldn't make any sense of the bomb, and didn't want to try, so 
they left it for Chris or Ami to disarm.  "Oooh!" Serena growled.  "Where is 
that impostor!?!"
     Darien shrugged.  "I don't know.  Just relax, and we'll find her soon 
enough."
     They never thought that Karma had already found them.  She walked along 
with them, a few people away.
     Serena looked up at him.  "So, see anything?"
     Darien shook his head.  "Just get ready to transform."
     Serena sighed.  "Well, how long was that bomb set for?"
     Darien looked at his watch.  "We still have a good hour."
     "Hey!" Serena yelled.
     Darien looked where she pointed.  It was in the direction of a window of a 
nearby hotdog stand.  Before Darien could chastise her for being a food-a-holic, 
he saw what she was REALLY pointing to.  In the reflection of the glass, they 
saw another pair of meatballs not far away.  Karma.  He pulled out his rose.  
"Let's go."
     Serena nodded.  "Moon Crystal POWER!"
     Karma blinked, finally feeling the presence of another crystal.  "Shit!  
Dark Moon Crystal ENERGIZE!"
     The two Sailor Moon's transformed, causing the crowd to run for their 
lives.  
     Soon, there was nothing between the two meatball hairdos.  Karma smiled.  
"Nice work, Sailor Moon.  I guess I of all people shouldn't have underestimated 
your luck."
     Serena frowned.  "Hey!  It wasn't luck.  I'm all talent!"
     Darien couldn't help but barely contain a snicker.
     


















                                 Chapter 19
 





     "I don't like this..." Rei said to Chris as they walked through the fleeing 
crowd.  The battle at the front gate and the Mercury-incident had alerted most 
of the area.  There were still too many people for comfort.
     Chris nodded, then raised his hand in a clenched fist.  "Well, if I'm 
going, I'm taking out some 'Hello-Kitty' merchandise with me!!!!!!!"
     Rei frowned.  "That's not what I mean.  Pluto said time was very inflexible 
right now."
     Chris raised an eyebrow.  "I take it that's bad."
     "Yes.  That means that's a good chance my visions will come true no matter 
what we do."
     He frowned.  "You still haven't told me exactly what your visions were." 
     "Sorry...I can't tell you.  If I do, it might alter the future." Rei said 
steadily.  "I hate to say it, but this city being destroyed hardly justifies the 
universe getting fucked up."
     "True..." Chris nodded.  "But I was never one to care about screwing with 
time.  If you don't tell me, Lita and Ami will have died for nothing, and we'll 
probably be next!"
     Rei was firm.  "I can't.  Not until I can see a way out of this mess."
     "Rei, I love you with all my heart...but sometimes you're so stubborn I 
could just bite off your arm." Chris smiled.
     Rei was caught completely off guard as she saw a stream of fire heading 
towards her.  The look on her face alerted Chris, and at the last second he 
whipped out his sword and shielded her face with it's blade.  
     Rei and Chris looked over the smoking sword to see Lacy and Bermuda 
standing a short distance away.  Lacy had her fingers smoking from her blast.  
"Damn.  Lucky block." she sighed.
     Rei and Chris instantly went into defensive positions.  "I hope we have the 
chance to talk about this later." Chris said, twirling his sword around once at 
his side.
     "Me too..." Rei said.  "MARS FIRESTORM!"
     Rei's fire-blast slammed into the ground in front of the two clones, 
sending them up in an explosion.  Bermuda landed on his ass, then caught Lacy as 
she fell.  "Nice try." Bermuda grunted.  "But you'll have to do better than 
that!" he put down Lacy and ran for Rei, sword out.
     Chris easily intercepted Bermuda and their swords sparked off each other in 
a loud "clang!"  "Uh uh uh...YOU'LL have to try harder too!" Chris said, 
punching Bermuda in the face and sending him back.  
     "I'll take care of my clone.  You okay with Bermuda?" Rei asked, dodging 
Lacy's next Fire-Ignite.
     Chris nodded.  "Be careful." he blew her a quick kiss then leapt at 
Bermuda, sword-first.  "Well.  At least you're like me.  Don't like to wait." 
They exchanged three more blows.
     Bermuda smiled throughout the combat.  He was holding his own, even if he 
wasn't winning.  "Just think.  In five minutes, we'll both see that atomic bomb 
go off."
     "No we won't.  You'll be dead, and I'm shutting it off.  And what do you 
mean five minutes?" Chris asked, for the first time that day with a really 
worried expression on his face.
     His double raised an eyebrow.  "You didn't actually think I'd put an 
accurate counter on the bomb, did you?  Serena and Darien think they have 
another hour.  Everyone thinks they'll have lots of time, and so, they won't be 
running."
     Chris blinked.  "Well, you're dying too.  Not smart."
     Bermuda growled and the two locked swords.  "Of course I'm going to die!  
ALL the clones are going to die.  Karma also thinks we have more time."
     "What?"
     "Remember?" Bermuda said as they disengaged for a moment.  "I'm you.  I 
made sure that the bomb was big enough to destroy US as well.  I may be 
evil...but at least I can die knowing we wont live on to do any more damage."

     Chris was caught off guard by that remark.  "You're not kidding...are you?  
You can't disarm the bomb!"

     Bermuda shook his head.  "If I could, then you could.  If I had my choice, 
I'd let you live.  However, we have been programmed." he paused.  "I'm 
sorry...It was the best I could do.  If I can't kill us, and let you live, then 
I have to kill us all."
     For the first time, Chris saw that Bermuda WAS him.  Not just suspected it.  
When the Lords cloned the Scouts, they got more than they bargained for...they 
were still good. Bermuda was Chris backed against a wall with no other choice 
but to follow his orders.  "Shit..."
     Bermuda nodded.  "Yes...shit indeed."
     Chris frowned.  "No...that's not the answer...there has to be a way out of 
this!"
     Bermuda shook his head.  "I'm sorry..." he brought up his sword and swiped 
at Chris.  Chris defended and the fight resumed.  
     This time, though, Chris had a five minute time-frame.






     "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!!!" Sailor Moon yelled, pointing her staff at 
Karma.  A beam of sparkles and crescent moons shot out at the evil double, but 
she countered.  
     "DARK CRYSTAL ELIMINATION!" Karma bellowed, forming a black-energy shield
around herself. 
     Darien ran for dear life as the two attacks cancelled each other out in a 
horrible vortex and explosion.  "Come on, Sailor Moon!  You can do it!" he 
yelled at the top of his lungs over the crackle of the two crystal's energies.
     Suddenly, Boomer, Sailor Venus' double, leapt down from a nearby tree.  
"Come on Darien.  Can't have you outnumbering Karma, now, can I?" she grinned.  
"VENUS HATE-ME CHAIIIN!" she yelled, sending out a copy of Sailor Venus' attack.  
     Two glowing sunbeams shot out and dismantled they chain headed for Darien.  
Maury stood a few metres away, hand extended from the throw.  "Let's get this 
over with already." he said, nothing but hate in his eyes.  Lita was dead, and 
he was more than ready to nuke the universe to avenge her.
     Mina, Sharon and Andrea lined up behind the Sun Prince and nodded.  "Let's 
kick some!" Andrea added.
     Boomer looked unimpressed.  "We'll see about that." she leapt in between 
the group, catching them off guard, and promptly sent a round-house into Pluto's 
stomach.  She was knocked to the ground, clutching her abdomen in pain.  
     Maury was about to fire off a few Sol Stars when he realized Boomer was 
keeping in between him and Andrea.  He couldn't risk missing and hitting Hooze.  
He let his anger take over instead.  "Okay...COME ON!" he growled, jumping and 
slamming his fist into the clone's nose as hard as he could.  
     Boomer was knocked backwards, a long trail of blood flew in the air from 
her nose. "Fuck!" she said, quite out of character for Venus. 
     Before the evil-Venus could retaliate, the always-fashionably late Tuxedo 
Mask threw a rose at her, hitting her nose again, this time petals-first.  She 
lashed about in pain, finally falling over from being off-balance.  
     "YEAH!  Get em!" Andrea cheered happily.  
     Boomer sneered and turned her bloody face to Andrea.  Leaping up, she 
grabbed the rose Darien had thrown at her and grabbed Andrea with her other 
hand.  "Any sudden moves, and I'll gut out her eyes with this thing!" she 
screamed desperately.
     "ANDREA!" Darien called after, taking out his staff.  
     Boomer tightened her grip on Andrea in response, and he backed down.  "I 
SAID STAY!" she growled.
     Both Darien and Maury were helpless.  Andrea was far from that, though.  
She smiled. "You're pretty stupid, aren't you?"
     Boomer looked at her hostage.  "Wha???"
     Andrea stuck out her tongue.  "PLUTO GROUND ZEEEEERRRROOOO!"
     The Mina-clone was so close to Andrea, that the Ground Zero-attack was 
amplified three-fold of normal.  The green energy bubble literally ripped Boomer 
off of Andrea like two magnets repelling each other.  Green lightning crackled 
all over Boomer's body as she flew into the air with a silent scream.
     Everyone watched in amazement as Boomer's body hit the ground and shattered 
into dusty black ash.
     Andrea had a triumphant grin on her face.  "That'll teach them evil-
villains never to take ME hostage EVER again!!"
     Maury grinned weakly.  "Nice work."
     Darien nodded and winked.  "Okay, we better get back to Sailor Moon..."
     They all ran back over to the battle.  "Is that it?" Pluto said, finally on 
her feet again.
     "All except Karma, Bermuda and Lacy." Maury answered.  "Chris and Rei are 
taking care of the last two."






















                                 Chapter 20





     "Grr!  Quit using MY attacks!" Rei growled as another "Mars Fire Ignite" 
was launched last her from her clone.
     "Ha!" she laughed in response.  "I should be saying the same thing!  I'm 
the new and improved model.  Superior.  Get it?  And that means the obsolete 
crap should be chucked in a dumpster!  WAR LASER! FIRE!"
     Rei gasped as the flaming beam of death came at her and cut into her 
shoulder before she could dodge.  "AHH!"
     Lacy smiled, relaxing a bit.  "Awww, poor Mars.  Oh well...look on the 
bright side, the heat probably cauterized your wound anyway."
     "Mars...AHK!"  Rei  tried to form an attack, but her shoulder was too 
painful to lift her arm. 
     Lacy walked forward a few steps.  "What's the matter?  Mad that I can give 
you a taste of your own medicine?"
     Rei looked up to her opponent as she came closer.  "That's right...come 
closer..." she muttered to herself.
     The clone continued to brag.  "I know it must be difficult to fight someone 
who can do whatever you can do...quite frankly, I'm surprised you lasted so long 
against me." she giggled.
     "You're wrong..." Rei said with a smile as Lacy came within an arm-
stretch.  "I can still do ONE attack that YOU can't." She began to mutter "Rin, 
pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen!"
     "Oh?" Lacy stopped.  "What would that be??"
     With her good arm, Rei pulled out a scroll.  "Akuryou!" she pressed it to 
her double's forehead "TAISAN!!!!!!"
     The small paper rectangle glimmered to life and went stiff as a board, 
attaching itself to Lacy's head.  "NOOOO!" the clone screamed.  Normally, an 
ofuda would have little to no destructive effect on a Sailor Scout...but Lacy 
was programmed to be evil, and so, the "anti-evil" properties of the spell came 
out strong and clear.
     She fell on the ground, trying to take the piece of paper off of her head.  
Whenever she tried to touch it, though, it jolted her hands with pain.
     Rei stood tall again.  "Bitch!!" she said happily, readying her Firestorm 
to finish the job.  "If I'm going to die today, then I'm going to have the 
satisfaction of being the only Rei Hino in existence."






     Down the court, though, Bermuda had heard Lacy's cries of pain.  In 
between clashes with Chris, he turned to see his loved one down on the ground, 
probably dying. "Dammit, NO!  He yelled, forgetting all about his noble hidden 
purpose to kill them all anyway.  "LACY!"
     Chris was caught completely off guard when Bermuda ducked under a swing, 
then body-checked him to the ground.  "WAIT!" Chris yelled as he realized what 
Bermuda was doing.  
     Bermuda pulled out his second sword and began running for the two Mars'es.  
"Saturn Ring...RAZOR!" he yelled out, copying Chris' attack.
     Chris watched helplessly as his clone launched a screaming disk of energy 
at Rei.  Rei turned in time to see it and leapt out of the way.  However, it hit 
the ground next to her and Lacy and exploded.
     A thundering crack echoed off the stone ground as bits and pieces began 
falling.  A cloud of dust was all that was left of the area.  Chris got up 
silently.  Slowly, as the dust cleared, he saw two forms lying on the ground.  
Both he and Bermuda ran over to see what had happened, each forgetting about 
their battle for that moment.  
     Chris reached Lacy first.  Her head had been crushed by a large rock.  He 
turned away quickly, ignoring the quiet sickly oozing sounds of her body 
beginning to vaporize like the other clones.  He then searched for Rei.
     Rei was on the other side of the crater.  Chris walked up 
silently...hopeful she was alright.  As he got closer, though, he saw a large 
gash on her head.  Hoping it wasn't bad, he ventured closer.  "Rei?" he asked, 
shaking.
     Rei didn't answer.  She had a large, jagged shard of rock sticking out of 
her chest.  Chris' face went blank.

     "My god..." Bermuda said behind him.

     Chris turned quickly, tightening his grip on his sword.  Tears were visible 
even behind his sunglasses.  
     Bermuda shrugged innocently.  "I guess I didn't inherit your good aim...did 
I?" he almost laughed.
     Chris walked up silently to Bermuda.  He was beyond words...Bermuda would 
have understood how pissed he was, so he wasn't going to waste words.  
     Bermuda sighed, gripping his own sword tighter.  "I hate to go out on such 
a sour note...but the bomb's about to go off.  It's been nice." he smiled, 
looking at his watch.  "You might as well look at the blast.  It's going to be 
the last thing you see anyway."
     Chris shook his head.  "No!  It can't end like this!  You fucking bastard!  
You couldn't let her live?  COULD YOU?!?"
     Bermuda shrugged.  "Oh well...seven...six...five..." he said, looking at 
his watch. "...four...three...two...one..."
     Chris turned to the direction of the bomb.  "Zero."

     Time froze.



















                
                                  Chapter 21






     The light was the first thing anybody noticed.  And for a good reason since 
it travels so much faster than the noise. The entire block was turned pitch-
white as the explosion was set off.  Anything in the way cast an eerie, solid-
black shadow behind itself.  Chris and Bermuda were lucky, with their 
automatically adjusting sunglasses.  The two Serena's were shielded from the
light by their own crystals, and were lucky as well.  

     However...it stopped at the light.

     No radiation, no shockwave, no boom, no signature  mushroom cloud or 
fireball.  Chris and Bermuda blinked behind their sunglasses.  "What?" they both 
asked simultaneously.
     




     Maury almost died, just from the light frying his eyeballs, but was getting 
up, slightly stunned, one metre away from the explosion.  Which was frozen in 
time.
     Sailor Pluto, master of the Time Talisman, had her huge key-like staff 
pointed toward the blast, firing a green glow off at it.  She too was blind, but 
had noticed as well, she wasn't dust.
     Maury smiled, seeing though a vision.  "Cool.  It worked!"
     Pluto laughed happily despite her lack of vision.  "I can't believe it!  I 
did it!  I never tried that before!"
     Maury and Pluto had ran over to the cooler and desperately started pouring 
energy into a never-done-before trick that she knew little about.  However, it 
worked, and they were safe for the moment.
     Maury smiled.  "You know, I'll have to send you flowers for this!"
     Pluto frowned.  "How about sending me energy?  This energy field is running 
low."
     Maury aimed himself through his vision and concentrated, pouring energy 
into Sharon's staff.  "Is it working?"
     "Yes...for now." She replied.
     Maury sighed.  "You super-hero-chicks always have to say '...for-now...' 
don't you!?!"
     She growled.  "Yeah-yeah.  Just concentrate, okay?"
     




     Chris had a small grin on his face as he continued to advance.  "Looks like 
I'll get the chance to nuke your carcass after all." he growled.  "NOBODY kills 
my Rei and has the chance to live another five minutes!"
     "Why?  Has her death happened many times before?" Bermuda smiled.
     "Give up now." Chris frowned, pulling out his second sword.
     Bermuda lowered his brow.  "I don't think so.  You may have lost Rei, but 
I've lost her AND Lacy.  If you had joined us like I asked, none of this would 
have happened."
     "Oh shut the FUCK up." Chris yelled as they clashed swords yet again.  "Who 
built that fucking bomb?  HUH?  If you hadn't built it, then at least this 
evening would have happened differently!"
     "Oh, you wanna rumble?  Fine.  Say 'Hi' to Rei for me." he raised his 
swords up. "PARTY TIME!"
     Chris did the same.  "LOCK-N-LOAD!"

     The two disks of energy shot forward and smashed into each other in a small 
explosion.  Both Saturn's looked extremely frustrated that their attacks had 
been fizzled out.  "No matter..."  Bermuda growled.  "Sooner or later, you're 
not going to be able to block mine out!"
     Chris realized that was true.  Each of them were just as able to win or 
die.  Chris had to turn the odds in his favour.  "Rei...help me...just this 
once, and I'll never ask for anything else." he asked himself.
     Bermuda was winding up for another attack.  Chris stood with his swords 
out, standing his ground.  "I'm not going to let him win, Rei...I don't care 
what this does...I'm doing it because I love you."
     He began to concentrate.  The symbol of Saturn reappeared on his forehead 
for the first time since his battle with Zoicite's assistant.  Every part of his 
mind was focused on his goal...he must destroy Bermuda.  No matter what it did 
to him or his sword or the city.  This was above avenging Rei's death...this was 
a great love, a millennium old, taking over to one way or another, make things 
right again.  
     Bermuda brought his swords around once again in a round arc.  "See ya in 
hell!  HIYAAA!"
     The greenish-energy-disk shot forward and slammed into Chris' body in a 
blue flash.  Bermuda's glasses were already being taxed by the nuclear light, 
and momentarily blacked out from the extra light.
     Slowly, his vision returned.  "Well, that's that." he smiled to himself.  

     Then, he saw Chris, still standing.  

     Millions of miles away, the rings of Saturn started to glow.  Each piece of 
rock and ice, tiny or large, began to glow a bright blue.  The rings began to 
consolidate the energy onto the side of the rings facing Earth.  Saturn 
temporarily became the brightest object in the Solar System as it's glow 
intensified and sent some of the light hurtling towards Earth.  
     A light blue shaft of light had protected Chris from Bermuda's attack, and 
he had his sword pointed at the sky.  "SATURN POWER!" he yelled as the huge bolt 
of blue energy hit the blade and absorbed into it.

     Just as suddenly as it had started, the shaft of light was now gone.  Chris 
stood with his sword glowing an intense blue.  "Wow..." he said quietly.  "Now 
THAT's cool..."
     Bermuda frowned.  "I'm sure it was."
     Chris began to advance on Bermuda.  "This one's for Rei."
     The clone brought up his sword to block Chris', but in a brilliant blue 
flash, Chris' sword had sliced through it.  Bermuda fell backwards, off balance 
and unprepared for what happened. "Oh shit..." he said, crawling backwards. 
     Chris walked forwards, holding his crackling sword an inch from Bermuda's 
neck.  "That's why Rei wanted me to practice with my swords.  I never would have 
known they work like a battery if it wasn't for her and Yamato." he smiled.  
"Thank you Rei...that's more than enough help."
     Bermuda cleared his throat.  "I wish you luck, Chris.  I'm sorry for 
killing Rei." he said quietly.  "I know you probably don't believe me, but I'm 
glad you won."
     Chris just nodded gravely.  "Somehow, deep down, I know you're telling me 
the truth." he plunged the sword into Bermuda's chest.  "Good-bye."

     The effect was immediate.  All the charged energy exploded into Bermuda's 
body.  He was blown backwards in a shower of blue sparks, then was gone.  He had 
been blown into energy.
     Prince Saturn, A.K.A. Strike Fiss, fell to his knees, completely exhausted.  
"Thank you, Rei." he said quietly, tears returning to his eyes as he fell over, 
unconscious.






     Only Serena and Karma were still standing, still firing off their attacks.  
Darien, and Mina were bumping into walls, temporarily blind, even with the 
shielding of the two crystals.
     Mina was the first to regain her sight.  "I'm coming, Sailor Moon!"  She 
pointed her finger at Karma.  "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM!!!!" she growled. 
"VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
     Karma was hit in the leg by Mina's laser-like beam.  She yelled out in 
pain, causing her concentration to falter.  She turned her head toward Venus.  
"DIE!"
     Mina started to get hit by shockwave.  However, the moment it took Karma to 
redirect her power was enough for the Silver Crystal to gain the advantage over 
it's dark cousin.  
     Serena concentrated.  "I AM SAILOR MOON!  The one and only, and no stupid, 
gross, gooey CLONE is going to outdo ME!!  COSMIC MOON...POWER!"
     Her self-motivational speech worked, and the field of light being emanated 
by her crystal grew as she grew in determination.  Between Mina's attack, the 
blinding nuclear light, and Serena's new found power, Karma felt her hold on the 
situation begin to slip.  She was losing...and there was nothing she could do 
about it.
     "No!" she yelled in retort.  "I have just as much a right to existence as 
you do, Sailor Moon!  If one of us has to go...it's going to be YOU!"
     Mina got to her feet.  "Sailor Moon!  I'm with you!  You kick her ass!" she 
closed her eyes, causing her tiara to vanish and the symbol of Venus to appear 
on her forehead.  "VENUS POWER!"
     A beam of yellow light came out from her symbol and hit Serena.  The Moon 
Princess' body began to glow stronger.  "Thank you, my friend." she smiled 
calmly.  "You are right...it is time to finish this."
     





     Chris came too a second later.  The use of his ultimate attack had 
obviously drained him, and just now did he have the energy to stay awake.  
"Sword..." he said, looking along the ground to Bermuda's broken sword.  
"His...sword...disk!"

     It's disk was intact.

     The sword had been sliced clean through, hollowed out by the power of Fiss' 
attack, but the disk had survived!  He tried to stand, but his legs and arms 
weren't moving...not yet.  He began to wiggle over to the weapon.  At the back 
of his mind, he realized how stupid he must have looked, flopping around in 
front of a nuclear explosion like a beached fish.  
     Eventually, he regained the use of his arm, and took the sword and examined 
it.  The blade was useless.  Whatever special powers the Saturn Swords had to be 
nearly indestructible, Bermuda's sword had lost it.  It was covered in scratches 
and was bent in a few places.  He took it by the handle and pried off the 
transformation disk from it's hand-guard position.  The disk looked fine.  He 
took his own sword and slid it onto the blade.  Popped into position naturally.  
     Bermuda's disk had the power to heal...but to what extreme?  Rei was dead.  
She had been dead for probably about ten minutes now.  He finally got to his 
knees, ignoring the pain his muscles were sending to his brain.  "Not now, body.  
Not when I have a chance of saving her."

     He slowly got to his feet.  "Oh please...work." he gasped, falling over 
once before finally getting up again and stumbling over to where Rei was laying.
     He walked up to her body and knelt down next to it.  Slowly and gently, he 
pulled out the rock imbedded in her chest.  It came out without a struggle.  The 
wound was deep, and Chris probably would have vomited if it wasn't for his lack 
of power to do so.  He said nothing, but pointed his sword at her.  

     He finally managed the words. "Dark...disk...reconstruct."







     Karma was enveloped by a stream of light, ripping her apart.  She screamed 
out, then exploded backwards. Serena collapsed from the battle as well.  Mina 
stood up and helped her leader to her feet.  They watched as Karma and the dark 
crystal vaporized.  "It's over, Sailor Moon."
     Moon nodded.  "Where is everyone?"
     Darien and Andrea were still blind, and were sitting down nearby.  "We're 
here, Meatball head." Darien said.
     Mina's face turned dark.  "Ami and Lita are dead."
     Serena gasped.  "Wh-w?"
     "Rei, Chris, Maury and Pluto might be dead too...I don't know.  Can you 
heal them?"  Mina asked hopefully?  "The crystal!"
     Serena looked at her broach.  It was almost completely discharged.  
"No...maybe if it was just one of them...and if the crystal was at full 
power..."
     Suddenly, Chris walked through the rubble.  "Don't use ANY of that energy!"
     Mina blinked.  "What's going on?"

     Rei walked behind him.  "Because Chris has a plan." she smiled, giving him 
a hug.
                           



























                                   Chapter 22
  







     With the limited left-over power of Bermuda's disk, Chris and Rei managed 
to cure the eyesight of everyone around.  They all ran over to where Mina said 
Ami had been vaporized.
     Serena was shaken up pretty bad, but Darien was comforting her as they came 
upon a pile of blue-tinted dirt with footsteps in it.  "Ugg..." she almost 
barfed.
     Chris held up his double's disk.  "Okay.  Use the last bit of energy in the 
crystal to recharge this disk.  It worked on Rei, and it uses less energy.  
Hopefully, if you can recharge it, we can stretch out it's healing ability."
     Serena nodded.  "Silver Crystal...Power!" she pointed the broach at the 
disk, shooting light at it.
     The disk became bright, but the effect wasn't as spectacular as he had 
hoped.  Chris shrugged.  "Okay.  Rei wasn't too badly hurt...but if we can 
reconstruct Ami, it'll work on Lita for sure."
     Everyone nodded.  Chris pointed the disk at Ami's dust-pile.  "Here we go.  
DARK DISK RECONSTRUCT!"
     The dust glowed, then lifted off the ground.  They slowly started spinning 
into a vortex of dirt...eventually growing into Ami.
     Ami opened her eyes, fell to the ground, and started coughing.
     They all smiled.  Mina and Serena simultaneously sighed in relief.
     Ami frowned.  "Okay, who put pepper in my face?!?" she growled angrily, 
dusting bits of grit off her suit.
     Chris shook her head.  "Oh, shut-up..." he walked over to the ambulance, 
where the medics were blinking at the frozen-nuke.  "I'll get Lita, then we can 
find Mo and Pluto."
     Andrea smiled.  "Cool.  That's how the nuke stopped!  My sis is there!"
     Rei sighed.  "Let's hope Maury isn't in the explosion."

     Sharon fell to one knee as she desperately tried to remain focused on the 
task of stabilizing the explosion.  It was still growing...just at an extremely 
slow pace.  If she didn't find a way to get more power into the spell she was 
casting, they would be overrun by a shockwave in seconds.
     Maury, Prince of the Sun, and the most powerful Prince in existence, was 
helpless.  He was pouring as much power as he could into Pluto's talisman, but 
his compensation just wasn't keeping up to the drain the time-control beam had 
on the two.  "Any ideas?" he asked.
     Pluto nodded.  "I'm going to try and level out the balance."
     The explosion started to grow.  Maury gasped.  "SHIT!  It's growing!" he 
grabbed Pluto's waist and pulled her back before the forming sphere of radiation 
reached her.  
     Pluto kept up the spell, but Maury was no longer pouring energy into the 
field.  The field was weakening again.  "Shit!  We're dead!" she gasped, 
straining to keep the control-field stable.
     Suddenly, out of nowhere, another beam of time-control hit the explosion.  
Maury vision-ed-over to see...

     the Dark Sailor Pluto.  "This should be interesting." he blinked.







     Chris had just finished and was helping Lita off the stretcher.  "I know 
someone who's going to be happy to see you, Jupiter!" he smiled. 
     Lita smiled weakly.  "I missed him too."
     Suddenly, three sonic booms hit them, knocking them over.  They looked 
behind them to see the explosion now shrinking.  Light no longer filled the 
Imperial Court, and it was confined to a small sphere.
     "Come on!" Lita yelled, back to her old self.
     Chris shrugged to the medics.  "Don't worry.  She's back to normal."
     "I hope you don't mind, Strike Fiss...but we're outta here." they all 
yelled, jumped in the ambulance and drove off at mach speed.
     Chris shrugged to himself.  "That's what I'd do!" he smiled, then ran after 
Lita.
     He paused, turned to Rei, and gave her a kiss.  Rei smiled.  "Come on...
this isn't over yet."







     "Okay," Sharon said "why are you helping us?"
     Her double smiled.  "Hi, I'm Shanon.  Cool name huh?"
     Sharon sighed.  "Well?"
     Shanon sighed.  "Because the only evil in you is impossible.  No matter 
what the Lords programmed me to do, I can't just destroy time.  It's against the 
nature of the universe.  Lucky for you, that's all they really wanted me to do."
     Maury nodded.  "Well, that's a good answer really.  I don't see her trying 
to kick our asses, so she's telling the truth."
     "Thank you, Prince Destiny." She smiled.  "But I am just a clone.  So I 
must be off.  Can't have Sharon's good-looks be challenged by me!"
     The two blinked, even though they couldn't see.  "But, you could help us!" 
Sharon smiled.  "And besides, two of us would drive the guys wild."
     Shanon sighed.  "Sorry, sis.  But the universe can only take one of us.  
It's in the future, remember?"
     Pluto lowered her head.  "I know.  What are you going to do?"
     Pluto's double shrugged.  "This bomb has still gone off, even if it's 
stabilized.  I'm going to collapse the field and take it with me."
     Maury did a quick check in the future.  "Well, it works, if you're 
wondering."
     Andrea ran up behind Shanon.  "Wait!"
     All the scouts were now gathered.  Darien produced a rose from his cape.  
"Here.  If you have to go, do it with a rose." she smiled, tossing it over to 
her.
     She caught it and winked.  "You always were a lady-killer, Prince."
     Chris went over to Maury and Pluto and healed their optic nerves.  "Well, 
It was a pleasure meeting the evil Sailor Pluto." he smiled.  "Unlike some of 
the other clones."
     Ami frowned.  "I guess Pluto WAS infected all along."
     Andrea blushed.  "Okay, okay...so I was wrong.  So sue me for sticking up 
for my older sister!"
     Shanon smiled, waving them all a farewell.  "Oh!  And honey?" she said to 
the real Sailor Pluto.
     "Yeah?" Pluto blinked.
     "I did a little reading of our futures." she giggled.  "I know it's against 
the rules, but I couldn't resist." she winked.  "Make sure you tell old Feather-
Boy I said 'hi', and give him a kiss for me, okay?"
     Pluto turned pink but nodded.  "Whatever you say..."

     And, with that, Sailor Pluto's evil clone leapt into the bomb, staff 
first.

     In a non-spectacular way, it fizzled out of existence.  Maury and Chris 
began slamming their heads together in salute for her heroic sacrifice.
     "It's over." Pluto sighed, letting her entire body relax.
     They all looked at each other.  Andrea smiled.  "Well, I'm hungry...and I 
don't want to be near the mayor when he sees the mess."
     Rei nodded.  "I could really go for some burgers...how about you?"
     Chris bowed. "Shall we?"
     Darien walked up to Ami and Lita.  "So, what was death like?"
     They both shrugged.  "We don't remember." they both said.
     Maury sighed, then looked over to Lita.  "Wait a second...that's 
right...YOU'RE ALIVE!" he yelled ecstatically, bowling her over in a tight 
embrace.  Lita gladly accepted it.
     Rei sighed contently.  "Well, I don't remember anything about being 
dead...but I think I sent myself my message."
     Chris blinked.  "One of these days...not today...but soon, you're going to 
have to tell me what he hell goes on inside that mind of yours."
     Rei stuck out her tongue.  "I could ask you the same thing." she smiled.  
"My little weirdo."
     Chris smiled goofily.  "Isn't she great?"
     Rei walked past him.  "Come on...you have to catch a plane in the 
morning...and there's no way I'm going to waste another minute of our time 
together."
     "Well...if you insist." Chris smiled as Rei drug him off.  "See ya!" he 
waved to the others.
     As Rei and Chris walked off into the distance, Darien and Serena sighed.  
"Well, looks like they'll be busy for the rest of the night." Serena giggled.
     Darien smiled and scooped her up with his arms.  "Who says YOU'LL be free 
tonight?"
     Lita sat up from rolling around on the ground with Maury.  "The end to a 
perfect day.  What would a life-and-death situation be without a little fun 
afterwards?"
     Ami sighed.  "I'm just glad to be in one piece!"
     Lita smiled and patted Ami on the back.  "Agreed!  I'll never look at salt 
the same way again."
     Ami frowned.







          











                                 Chapter 23
                 



                     
     Darien stopped Serena as she came down the staircase, "Princess, may I have 
the pleasure of this dance?  Could be our last one."  He had just arrived from 
Earth, where the Negaverse was already doing battle.  He suspected the Moon was 
next, and had a bad feeling about it.
     Andrea watched from afar, pouting rather noticeably.  "Sure...and mean 
while I'm standing alone with a glass of sake!"
     Sharon put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hello, sister.  You're 
pretty brave, showing your face around here with Serenity pissing down 
everyone's throats and all."
     "Wouldn't miss it for the world." she sighed, downing the rest of her 
drink.
     Chris and Rei decided not to dance again...the guard swore he'd fine them 
if he caught them so much as crossing the dance floor.  Rei smiled, "Wanna watch 
the lunar eclipse?  I hear they're spectacular!"
     Chris looked edgy, "Well, okay...but what about the Earth attacks?"
     Rei frowned, "Look, even if it was doomsday, I'd want to spend it with 
you!"
     He smiled, "Yeah...let's go out to the balcony.  We don't get much time 
alone."
     They stared at the sky, memorized by the pleasant quietness.  It was a nice 
change from the noise inside, and she leaned close to his body.  They sighed 
simultaneously and looked into each other's eyes.
     Chris held her close, "Even if something does happen, Rei...I want you to 
know I love you more than anything.  Honest...well, besides the word 'fungi'..."
     She blushed slightly, "I know.  That's what I was about to say, except the 
last part..." They leaned in for a kiss, then both veered off and looked over 
the balcony.  A huge explosion could be seen from Earth, roughly Tokyo.  Rei 
gasped.
     "Maybe we should go inside.  Until we have further notice on the war." 
Chris decided.  Rei nodded in agreement, and the two headed back in.
     They passed by Mina and Ami, who watched them until they were out of sight.  
Ami growled, "Does she have to hang all over him like that?!"
     Mina laughed, "Oooh!  Someone's a bit jealous!"  She placed her hands on 
her hips, "Why don't you go tell him how you feel?"
     Ami looked panic-struck.  "What do you mean?"
     Mina rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on, Ami.  I've seen the way you act around 
him.  You've got the hots for the guy, but you're too embarrassed to show it!"
     Ami lowered her head, "How can I talk to him with Rei always around?"
     Mina grinned, "I'll take care of that.  I'll give you plenty of time to, in 
detail, explain what you're feeling...providing you tell me any juicy details 
that may follow..."
     "Oh, I don't know..." Ami muttered.
     "Too late!" Mina giggled, grabbing hold of Ami's arm and running through 
the crowd. "Let's BOOK IT!!!"
     Maury and Lita separated from yet another kiss.  She smiled, "Maury...I 
don't know if it's the champagne talking, but you're looking pretty sexy."
     Maury blinked, "Must be the champagne."
     She gave him a noogy and put him in a headlock, "I haven't had any, 
stupid."
     "Oh."
     "You know, I don't think I've ever met someone so charming, yet so eager to 
insult themselves, before in my life."
     Maury smiled, but then a serious expression took over his face.
     Lita seemed worried, "What's wrong?  Are you having one of your 
predictions?"
     He nodded, "Yes, and it isn't a good one.  Come with me...we must find 
Serenity."






     Andrea proudly finished fastening Darien's cape to his armour, "You look 
absolutely perfect."
     He smiled, "Thanks, but I don't think that's going to win the battle with 
Queen Beryl."
     "So what's the story with this Beryl of Monkeys?"
     Darien frowned, unsheathing his sword, "She had a thing for me a while 
back.  She proposed to me, I said no, more mayhem follows..."
     Andrea couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sorry, just the way you put it, that's 
all."  They briefly kissed.  I'd better get back to Pluto.  I snuck in while 
Serenity left the door, you know.  Also, my sister's coming with me."
     "Hopefully we'll meet again."  He lifted her chin with his hand.
     "We will.  I know it."  With that, a green dome surrounded her and she 
began hovering into the sky.  "You can win this one!" Andrea said, and then 
vanished off into the distance.
     He sighed, looking over toward Earth, "I sincerely hope so..."





     Mina appeared to be containing laugher as she approached Rei, "Can I speak 
with you a minute?"
     She looked at Chris who merely shrugged, "I, uh...guess so."  They 
disappeared into the crowd.  Chris stood in his spot, wondering what was up with 
Mina.
     He snickered, "Strange girl, that one.  Must be because Artemis helped 
raise her...heh!"
     Ami came up behind him, "Oh, hi!" she said, pretending she'd just noticed 
him.
     "Hey, 'Ames'!  What's up with your bad self?"
     She frowned, "Oh, frig it.  Chris, ..."
     Chris glanced at her dress.  "Are you trying to look slutty?  Or did 
Serenity lend you one of her dresses?"  He joked, probably goofy from having too 
much carbonated beverages that day..
     Ami ignored the comment.  "I'm not going to beat around the bush any 
longer."  She looked at him, Chris looking a bit confused.  "Chris, I-"
     Chris looked passed her shoulder.  "Wow, I didn't know Artemis could run 
like that..."

     "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!!!" Luna screamed, a path clearing for her as her and 
her white-furred friend ran by.

     Artemis cleared his throat, "Man your battle stations!  We need all the 
defence we can GET!!!"
     "I've gotta find Rei!" Chris said, running off with the crowd.  "Lock and 
LOAD PEOPLE!  'Scuse me!  Pardon me!  GETTOUTTAMYWAY!" he yelled running trough 
the crowd, scabbard off to run faster.
     Ami tensed up, "Those furballs really have the worst timing!!"  She pulled 
out her peace offering from a fold in her dress and held the power stick high in 
the air, "MERCURY POWER!!!"




      The rest, as they say, is history.




     By the time Serenity had made it to the battle ground, it was beyond too 
late.  The cats ran along side her, Artemis holding back the urge to say 'I told 
you so'.
     Everyone was dead...she could see only the bodies of Prince Endymion...and 
her beloved daughter, Princess Serenity.
     She dropped to her knees, "NO!!!  SERENA!!!"  It was now she realized her
stubbornness.  Only now she couldn't apologize.  All was lost.  She had let her 
kingdom go to ruins right under her nose.
     Luna couldn't look, "No," she sobbed, "Not the princess..."
     Serenity held her head in her hands.  She wanted to make a change...but 
how.  Yes...She knew what she must do.
     "I won't let it end this way." the Queen said, attaching the Imperium 
Silver Crystal to the Moon Wand.  A hint of firmness entered her voice, "I won't 
let them take your future..."
     Luna looked at her, concern in her eyes, "But, your majesty!  If you use 
the crystal, you won't have any strength left!"
     Artemis smirked, That would be a loss...
     Queen Serenity stood up, "I must sacrifice my kingdom if we are to regain 
peace.  COSMIC MOON POWER!!!"






     Andrea stopped, nearing Jupiter, "Wait, Sharon...I saw something.  The 
MOON!!  Did you see that flash?!"
     "By the goddess..." she gasped, staring blankly at the brilliant light 
coming from the Moon.
     "I have to go back, Sharon.  DARIEN'S HURT!!  I KNOW IT!!"
     "No, Andrea!  It's too late!"
     Andrea began flying back toward the Moon, top speed.
     Sharon growled, "OOO!  That little idiot!" She sped after her, Andrea with 
quite a head start. 





     Andrea returned to see the people of the Moon being carefully lifted into 
the air in tiny bubbles.  The Silver Crystal had been activated.  "Darien?  
Where are you?"
     She found him, all right...just not how she had hoped to.  His body was 
just lifting into the air now.  Andrea gasped, gingerly touching the dome, "NO!"
     All was gone.  There was nothing left, and she couldn't go on like that.  
She held her broach above her head, "By the power of PLUTO!  I call upon the 
ultimate destruction program!"  She glanced up at Darien's lifeless body, "We 
will meet again."  

     Her spell immediately took effect and her body collapsed to the ground.  A 
bubble quickly enveloped her body as well, and she rose into space.
     Serenity, using her last bit of energy, made certain that the cats would be 
there to help the Scouts, should the Negaverse return...and that Andrea and 
Darien would be no where near each other.
     





     Sharon sat in the rubble of the Moon Kingdom, sobbing.  All was lost; her 
sister, her friends...everything.  Now there was only silence.  She took a deep 
breath, looking off into the distance.  She was alone now, and who knew for how 
long.



     

     "FLIGHT 302 TO LOS ANGELS BOARDING IN 2 MINUTES!"
     "And well, here we are." Sharon smiled, "The end.  And PLEASE.  I want you 
to remember that although we may not have agreed with everything Serenity did, 
she is why we are here today...okay, Chris?  Andrea?  Maury?  Everyone?"
     Chris blinked.  "You should be a kindergarten teacher.  You tell stories 
great!"
     Sharon smiled.  "Uh, thanks, I guess.  But I think I'll stick to fashion 
designing."
     Suddenly, the flight to LA came up on the screen. Andrea pointed.  "We 
gotta go." she leapt on Darien and bowled him over to Serena's alarm.  He 
quickly handed her a small gift and whispered, "You'll always be a Scout to me."  
She looked at the rose locket, a picture of him inside as it played the love 
theme from Romeo and Juliet.  "I thought it was appropriate." he grinned, right 
before Serena broke them up.
     Maury and Lita parted with a kiss.  "I'll call." Maury smiled.
     Lita grinned, "And when ever you do, I won't be wearing anything."  Maury 
smiled in response.  
     Chris smiled at the two.  "I'll be there in a second.  I gotta make sure my 
swords have the right papers."

     Maury and Andrea wondered off to the gate.

     Mina smiled.  "Uh, come on, guys.  We'd better go.  Let these two love-
birds say bye." 
     Everyone said their last good-byes.  Rei stayed.  "You know, I might be 
able to convince Grandpa to buy a computer so we can chat over the Web."
     Chris smiled.  "Alright then.  But don't worry.  Us three are just a 'Scout 
Power' away.  The only reason we're flying is to confirm we left the country...
and cause if we teleported into the middle of our living room, it would give my 
mom a heart-attack."
     Rei grabbed him into a kiss.  "Okay, but just be careful.  West Edmonton 
Mall will never be the same after we crashed it!" she smiled.  
     He swung his backpack over his shoulder.  "Oh, I never got a chance to talk 
to Artemis.  He can't talk back In public.  Tell him I said 'meow-meow-meow-'"
     "Yeah, yeah.  I get the idea." she nodded.

     They embraced again, until the final boarding call.  Chris gave her a kiss.  
"Just remember, Rei.  There's always a room for you at my house.  But I can't 
promise it will be as exciting as the temple."
     Rei smiled.  "Then we'll just have to make it more exciting."
     "Goodbye, my little pyro." Chris said waving.
     "Goodbye, my little Pizza Cat." she waved as he left for the gate.





     
     And in a minute, he was gone.  Rei stood at the gate, watching the plane 
pass overhead.   Mina walked over to her.  "Come on...we better go.  I miss them 
already."
     Rei smiled weakly.  "I need a bath." 
     Ami nodded.  "I'm got homework to do.  You wouldn't believe how backed-up I 
am."
     Mina smiled.  "Yeah, you spent the last year chasing after Chris!  HA!"
     Artemis frowned.  "Don't talk, Mina.  I'm the only man in your life!"  He 
smiled as Mina growled and chased him with her purse.
     
















                                  Epilogue




     Maury sat complaining about the metal detectors and his leather jacket.  "I 
still can't believe they thought I was packing heat!"
     Andrea grabbed another complimentary peanut packet from the steward.  "Oh, 
be quiet, Mo.  You didn't have to wear it, you know."
     Chris sat quietly, typing away at his computer.  "Ahh, Maury's a wussy."
     Maury gave him a face.  "Bite me.  I'm pissy without Lita."
     Andrea rolled back her eyes.  "GREAT...he'll be pissy all year, now."
     Suddenly, on Chris' screen, the Omega Web symbol popped up.  "Hey!  Look at 
this, guys!"
     They all leaned over to look.

     There was something appearing on the computer screen:     






     Hi guys!  You saved Earth again...wait to go!  We'd help more often, but we 
knew you'd do it all by yourselves.  HA!  Anyway, I won $50 thanks to you last 
time, and I got another $300 by betting you'd kick your clones butts.  I wish 
you good luck.  After all, I need junk-food money.  Just kidding.  Have fun, and 
remember, stay good!

     P.S.) Don't be in New York City on December 25th, 1999.  It's really nasty, 
so I won't get into it. 

                              Best Wishes: THE OMEGA WEB.










     Andrea smiled.  "Cool!"
     Maury pointed at the graphic.  "You keeping that as wallpaper?"
     Chris shrugged.  "Na, I was thinking more of a picture of Mars or 
something."
     They all looked at him.
     "Hey, when you get a computer, you can choose what you want.  Actually, I 
hear they're making an Anime about Sailor Moon.  I'll probably get some graphics 
from that." 
     Andrea smiled.  "I'd have lots of roses." She gazed at the locket hanging 
from her neck.
     "Mmm, one thing I never did find out." Chris said suddenly.
     "What?" Maury asked.  "What didn't you find out?"
     Chris shrugged.  "Where DOES Darien pull those roses out from??"
     Andrea raised an eyebrow.  "It's my mission to find out." she smiled.     
     
     They all sighed, watching the clouds slip by.











                             The End...



                              For now...









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





	The moral of this story???  If you see blue-coloured sand on the 
ground...don't step on it.  It could be Sailor Mercury. :) Just kidding.  WHEEE!  
IT'S DONE!  Yes, AR 4...and with it, the original SMAR series.  Don't cry or 
pout, though.  Not only does Santa Clause frown on pouting but there is no need 
for you to do so!  AR 5 will be coming out sooner or later!  


	YES!  PART 5! 

	Okay...now that that's all out of the way, I can add new stuff in.  ^_^  
Thank you for bearing with the original AR series.  The oldest stuff I've 
written besides a fic called "Artemis".  <groans>  And if you've not read 
Artemis, then I'm glad.  
	The AR edit that you are reading now is the second and last revision of 
these four stories.  Originally made as a stupid little self-insertion into the 
SM universe, they eventually grew into something I could be proud of, and that 
other people loved to read.  From there, the AR series took off with it's next 
'original' story, not based on the concepts of just a silly little Chris that 
had too much time on his hands and a word-processor in front of him.

	The AR series is about this evolution.  If you can pick up the bits and 
pieces from it, or not.  It is the process of leaving behind a stupid idea for 
the wrong reasons, and turning it into a life that the bearer can be proud of.  
The Omoi series is life.  Perhaps not realistic, but it follows the same 
currents.  Of growing, changing, and unfortunately, having to fall back into the 
things you hate once in a while, before you can finally earn your wings, so to 
speak.  AR 1-4 was nothing more than a childish little fantasy.

	I thank you all for reading it...and I will always be proud of it, no 
matter what it means.

	But now, as the fairy tales and fantasies end...I invite you all to 
continue on with the story.   And hell, at least there will be more talking cats 
(among other things) and explosions.  ^_^  So even if you consider it still a 
fairy tale, you'll still enjoy it.  Arigato!   

                                             -Fiss



e-mail:  strikef@bigfoot.com
homepage1:  www.studioshinnyo.com
homepage2:  www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110



And so, stay tuned for the next instalment of SAILOR MOON: ALTERNATE REALITY!  
The only fan-fiction series that needs this disclaimer at the end:

WARNING!  WARNING!  Do NOT try to stop a nuclear explosion with your keys.  Not 
even if you have really big keys!  Our Sailor Plutos are trained professionals!  
Don't try this at home!  Thank you! ^_^



Strike Fiss, Studio Shinnyo 2000.  Khattam-Shud, EOF.