Oh for the love of... do I HAVE to do this?

...

Fine. *sighs* Hello, my name is Rei Hino and I will be introducing Hybrid Theory
this chapter: a fanfic about two arrogant know-it-all self-inserts and their
philosophical battles. Like anybody takes the philosophy in fanfiction
seriously, much less self-insert fanfiction.

The story stars Aaron and Ukyou, who are terrible protagonists who spent the
first two thirds of the fanfic being asses. Then they let Bison brainrape them
into a sex-toy/assassin (right, lesbian stripper ninjas, you can tell two GUYS
wrote this). Then Ukyou's lesbian fangirl Akira showed up, saved her soul
through a method that still hasn't been adequately explained and the two went
off to America to whine and kvetch some more together.

They also had along Angel, who is this Mexican girl who Chris (the other self-
insert) raised as his elite assassin wench. (Has anyone else noticed that
everyone Chris ever associates with is a girl? No seriously, this guy creeps me
out.) Angel is apparently supposed to be spying on Ukyou and Akira, and both of
them trust her like gullible morons.

Anyway last chapter the three of them and some frineds, including Sailor Pluto,
Ranma Saotome, Nabiki Tendo and Rose I-Don't-Need-A-Lastname, went to Bison's
home city which, by the way, he named Bisonopolis (real original, guys). Asses
were kicked, one of them was Bison's. Rose died, except she got better, sort of
and (surprise!) Angel turned on everyone and then Chris showed up to be a
pretentious dick. This involved the one thing both Chris and Ukyou like to do:
talk like second year philosophy majors at each other.

Meanwhile, I (who have been largely ignored in this fanfic, which is unfair
considered they went through this whole plotline with zoanoids killing my
grandfather and never tied that up) met up with Akane Tendo. Akane's nice and
all, but a bit naive. Anyway, she was going to be suffer a fate worse than death
at the hands of that zoalord Reichmann Gyro (Reichmann? Oh, seriously! Why not
kill him NAZIMAN MCEVIL? Although that's not the author of this fanfic's fault,
I guess) when Washuu Hakubi showed up and did some literal deus ex machina. Now
Washuu has convinced us to take Mamoru Chiba (and his three nympho sex slaves
*roll eyes*)  to Ohtori Academy to find Sailor Moon so she can use her magic
crystal to save the world...

...

Right, oh... and in case you forgot all about the entire France thing that those
guys did way back in Chapter 21 with the French versus Millennium and so on and
the superscientist and the goth boy... I have as well! It's not like the writers
haven't UTTERLY IGNORED that plotline for five chapters now. But maybe you could
re-read that bit before going further.

You know, just for fun.



                              C&A Productions Presents

                          A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion


                                   Hybrid Theory


                             Chapter 26: By Myself


	"Problem not..."
	Their voice trailed off. Rob's car had gotten just far enough into the
intersection that the front half was beyond the point of the truck when it hit.
The huge "Mack" logo was at window height when the collision occurred. Their
mouth opened in a strange O as the doorway behind Chris crumbled inward in
disturbing slow motion. Then Chris was gone, the pinwheeling wreckage slashing
his body apart without even slowing. The shrapnel had slowed enough by the time
it reached them that it merely stuck into their body in a dozen places, none of
them immediately fatal.
	The car was flipped by the impact, bouncing end over end to rest on its
side several meters away. The gyrations sprayed the interior with blood and
served to drive the shrapnel even further into their body. The pain was
omnipresent. It was everything. It was so there that it ceased to matter.
	"Oh, God! They're dead!"
	The voice had come from...
	From...
	The front seat?
	No. It was coming from all around them now. They could feel the pain
inching its way up their body. The world... the world was falling apart. The
strange dream logic of the place melting away. The endless fog was gone,
replaced by the... darkness.
	It was so huge. It defied size. It was infinite, stretching out in all
directions. Black lightning raced along its length. They could see bits and
pieces of the car, the wreckage, slowly spinning out towards that infinite
nothingness. It was consumed. And beyond it, beyond the car they were trapped
in, was... more. Here the sweep of a flower-filled plain, there an entire
house, and in the distance a mountain itself revolved into the darkness.
	They were afraid. They heard footsteps beside them and looked up. The
figure was short, and wore white. Her skin was pale. There was crimson on her
face, but they could make out no details. The figure knelt down beside them, and
her hand rested on their forehead. They were dying. But the pain eased now. The
figure had blood on her fingers, but it was cold.
	"That's right. Your pain is almost over." The voice was disturbingly
familiar, but they couldn't place it. It was a voice filled with sadness and
love. It ached in their heart to hear it. "We will meet again, in this place.
I'll be waiting for you..."
	"Where dreams go to die."

	Ukyou woke up with a gasp, throwing the sheets off her. She sat there,
the Silence Glaive extended out as if to intercept some threat. Her breathing
came in short, sharp gasps. She looked around. It was the same room. A small
room in the hotel they were using as their base of operations while in Thailand.
A ceiling fan rotated lazily overhead, casting odd shadows across the floor and
walls. There was a single window, but she couldn't see outside. The monsoon
rains were coming down so hard out there that the window was literally buckling
inward. It looked like they were underwater.
	Ukyou took another long breath and sought her centre. The Silence Glaive
evaporated as she turned and sat on the edge of the bed. That had been...
	Strange?
	It seemed such a small word to describe it. Ever since she and Aaron had
been forced into the same skull, they'd had the same dream. The dream of his
death had haunted them every night. For all Ukyou knew, it might have haunted
the dreams of Lotus Infinite while their psyches had been repressed by Bison.
And after every dream there had been the awakening, and the struggle for
dominance between them. The struggle for identity as their unconscious minds
refused to mesh, until they forced them to.
	So it had been. Every time they awoke, they forced themselves a little
closer. Degree by degree, inch by inch losing what made them "Aaron" and "Ukyou"
and making them into... what, exactly?
	Ukyou stood up and walked over to the window. She slept in the nude, but
didn't fear anyone seeing her. Not with this weather. Nobody sane would be out
in this storm. If they were willing to risk this deluge just for a view of her,
they deserved it.
	She placed her hand on the window. This had been the first change. The
first difference in her dreams. In their dream. She could feel the drum of the
rain vibrating up her arm. What did it mean?
	They closed their eyes. No... this wasn't the first difference. They had
slept since their minds had been restored over three months ago, and just now
they were beginning to notice a minor difference. The struggle was gone. Oh, it
had lessened in the months before their confrontation with Bison in England,
becoming less vicious and smoother. But it hadn't vanished entirely. The very
act of losing a piece of themselves, a memory of childhood merging
indistinguishably with something else, had almost driven them insane.
	Except...
	Ukyou looked back in her mind. It was... all gone? No. They could
remember the details. The name of Aaron's brother, the face of Ukyou's father,
the places where he played and the beaches at which she trained. Yet, Ukyou
realised with a start, she couldn't determine which was which, anymore. Oh, if
she thought about it logically, it became clear. For instance, Aaron had never
had to learn how to bind his breasts so that he could blend into an all-boy's
school. Nor did Ukyou think she had ever gone to university. But... the emotions
had blended together. While they could tell one memory from another based on
context, they had lost all... essential 'otherness'.
	Ukyou leaned her head against the glass. It was cold, refreshingly
cold. Ukyou knew, somehow, that she should be upset by this. That she had...
lost something of herself. That Aaron had lost a part of who he was. Except,
they couldn't bring themselves to be upset anymore. It just felt too natural.
	No. They hadn't noticed before now because the struggle was over. For a
moment, they wondered what they would do now. The battle of wills between them
had been so all-consuming, so intense that it had formed a great deal of who
they were. The desire to be separated, to be 'whole' again, had driven them when
they had first been placed together. Yet if they had a chance now, right now, to
pull themselves apart, to be separate in mind and body and soul... would they?
	Was there even a 'he' or 'she' to be separated anymore? Certainly there
were two wills inside of them. Ukyou could identify herself. Aaron could feel
his own presence. But the tension, or most of it, was gone. Aaron's thoughts
smoothly flowed into Ukyou's, and hers back into his. They had not become one
mind, but they weren't exactly two anymore.
	Ukyou pulled herself away from the window and walked back into her room.
She pulled her clothes from the small dresser. She had managed to get a bodysuit
not unlike the ones the Dolls wore, except this one was white with black
leggings. It fit her like a second skin, hugging her curves. Aaron found he
didn't mind that all that much. When this first happened, he would have been
livid and nauseous at the thought of wearing something like this. Now? He kind
of liked the looks people gave him. It made Ukyou feel attractive, which made
him feel good along with her.
	Ukyou grabbed her trenchcoat from the peg and slipped it on, then sat to
pull on her thick boots. While she did, she thought about where she was going.
Not just now, that was simple. She was going to see what the situation was. The
'death' of Bison had been hard on Thailand. Whatever last-minute miracle Nabiki
had pulled off had saved millions of lives, but they hadn't anticipated what
came after.
	Shadowloo was made up of thousands of petty warlords. The organisation
had employed almost three thousand martial artists seven years ago, each of them
powerful enough alone to take on dozens of mundane soldiers at once. In the last
seven years, it had grown. Bison had recruited many like-minded people to his
cause. People who, sensing a power vacuum now that Bison was gone, had turned on
each other like rabid dogs.
	Which left them to pick up the pieces. Two weeks in and they were still
no closer to ending the civil war.
	Ukyou shook her head and stood up, running a hand through her bangs. She
was avoiding the subject again. Where was she going to go now? All this work
here in Thailand... she was killing time, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Ukyou had no illusions. Pluto had told her that the prophecy was still there, in
her own dreams. Soon enough it would come up again.
	Ukyou looked down at her hand, the one in which her Psychodrive-derived
tattoos still resided. She remembered when something else had touched that hand.
The meeting with Alucard, in the insane dream realm into which his mind had been
trapped. He had told her that God had trapped him there. That God had worked his
will on Minako to give her the power to incapacitate him until the End Times. He
had told her about how the world was broken, and that she was the Chosen One.
	Ukyou didn't believe that. She didn't feel different than any other
person. Oh, certainly she had two minds. But that didn't make her fundamentally
alien to others. She still had hopes, dreams, fears... all the usual
psychological trappings.
	But she didn't doubt the world believed that. Chris believed it. He
believed he had been chosen. Chosen by who? Ukyou didn't think it mattered to
Chris. Frankly, it didn't matter to Ukyou either. But she knew something was out
there. Something with a plan. Something that saw her as useful. Soon, she would
be drawn out again. It would make certain of that.
	This dream... it was just one step. The first change to the dream since
she had gotten here. An invitation to... what? A reunion? A battle? An answer to
all these questions?
	Maybe Ukyou would find out one day. Maybe even today.
	But until then, she had to help the people of this country. This country
that she had helped injure. The festering wounds of Bison's tyranny needed to be
dealt with. For now, she would busy herself with doing the right thing that she
saw in front of her. If tomorrow brought something more dangerous, then it
would. Until then, she would live like what was important was what was in front
of her.

*

	Frederick Von Purgstall leaned forward in his chair and pinched the
bridge of his nose. His headache was growing worse. It just wouldn't go away. He
wasn't even aware that a zoalord could get such a serious migraine, not until
two weeks ago.
	Not until Thailand had almost imploded.
	Really, they should have had a plan for this years ago. Bison was an
unstable despot: it was only a matter of time before someone took him down. But
even so, they hadn't expected it to happen quite like this. One band of heroic
adventurers and the greatest power on the Indochinese sub-continent was gone.
And the resultant power vacuum was threatening to erupt into full-blown civil
war.
	It should have been the perfect time to step in, to allow Chronos to
grab a chunk of the land, to restore order. Of course, things never worked out
that smoothly. The fall of Bison had come only two weeks after an unexpected
Millennium attack on America. The Americans were reacting predictably, gearing
up for a massive offensive against Millennium forces with the aid of France.
Millennium, having lost its primary enemy in the east, was turning its attention
westward again. Soon, their army would hit France. It was only a matter of
whether or not the Americans would get there first.
	Which had a lot to do with whether Tethys stepped in. With her control
over the oceans, she could speed up or impede the American convoys. If she
didn't act against them, then Chronos would have to. The likely destruction of
France was regrettable, but an offensive in Europe with American troops was
unacceptable. Especially if the Vatican joined in. A three-way alliance, even
one of convenience, would almost put them at an even footing with Chronos.
	Especially if the remnants of Shadowloo joined up with them. And since
the saviours of Thailand were American sympathizers... that was far too likely.
	So...
	He scanned across his desk, at the holographic images of the globe laid
out before him. He could read the movement of troops and forces on that grid.
But there were too many unknowns, too many variables. If he turned the attention
of Chronos to occupying Thailand, then they might lose control in Europe. If he
tried to stop the American fleet, then not only could that lead to a reopening
of open war between them but Tethys might also decide to get involved. Not to
mention that it would give the insurgents in Thailand a chance to restore order
and secure themselves from being taken in.
	If he committed their resources to one area, then they would lose in
another. If he made one move, everyone else would move in reaction. If he did
nothing, committed forces nowhere, then he could lose it all. It was all
unravelling before his eyes.
	The door opened and he looked up. He sighed and rubbed his nose again.
This was the last thing his headache needed.
	"We need to talk," Cologne said as the door closed behind her. She was
wearing a blue Chinese dress with black and red flowers that flowed up over her
bodice. He tried not to look. Things between them had been... strained ever
since the fiasco in Sweden.
	"No, we do not," Purgstall said, managing to sound at least civil.
	"Yes, we do." She walked over to the map. "I have information that you
need to know."
	"I do?" Purgstall looked up.
	"Yes."
	"How do you have access to information I do not?" Purgstall asked
sharply.
	"I have resources you do not," Cologne pointed out. "People I know that
are willing to pass me information they would never tell anyone in Chronos."
	"Who?" Purgstall asked. He realised he sounded a bit demanding, but
before he could mollify his tone, Cologne replied.
	"None of your business." Cologne walked over and pointed at the
projection of France. "He's here."
	"He? Who is 'he'?"
	"You know who I mean," Cologne growled. "Things are coming to a head in
France. He has a plan and it's going to throw all of Europe into chaos. But he
has to be there personally. This is our chance to track him down..."
	"No, it is not," Purgstall said. "Whatever is happening in Europe is
bigger than just one-"
	"It is not!" Cologne barked, slamming her hand through the image and
into the desk. The projection flickered as her fist unaligned the projectors for
a moment. "He was in Thailand, too. He was there! Right when Bison died! You
should have sent in a force like I told you to!"
	"Lord Arkanphel..."
	"The hell with Arkanphel!" Cologne cut him off again. Purgstall was
beginning to grow annoyed, and allowed it to show on his features. Cologne
ignored his warning glare. "He doesn't know what he's dealing with. Chris had a
hand in killing Bison. He's the reason everything fell apart there! Now, he's
going to do it again in France." She looked at him, her eyes alive with
determination. "If we don't stop him now, we may never get another chance. Then
where will he move next? America? The Dark Kingdom? Here?" She threw out her
hands. "He's tearing it all down, Frederick. He's tearing it down and you won't
like what he wants to build in its place."
	"Chris is just one man," Purgstall noted coolly, rising to his full
height and crossing his arms. "A dangerous man, but not nearly the threat you
believe him to be."
	"If you don't help me stop him, I'll have to do it myself," Cologne
warned.
	Purgstall had finally had enough. He stepped around the table, moving
right next to her. "You can't stop him, Cologne. He can kill you at any time. If
I hadn't been protecting you all this time..." He cut himself off sharply.
	"Protecting me?" Cologne said, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"
	"Nothing. Forget it."
	"No. Tell me. How have you been protecting me, Frederick? I've not seen
any more guards than usual. I come and go as I please..." She frowned at him.
"What do you mean? How have you been protecting me from him?" Then her eyes
widened. "Has Chronos made a deal with him? Is that it? Is that why your 'great
leader' is so hesitant to do anything about him?"
	"No..."
	"Arkanphel is a fool if he doesn't think Chris will turn on him like a
viper..."
	When Purgstall slammed his fist into the desk, the projectors did not
survive. Sparks sprang up around his hand as the desk neatly cracked in two.
"ARKANPHEL IS NOT A FOOL!" he roared. "You go too far!"
	But despite his anger, Cologne did not back down. She never backed down.
She was never afraid. Calculating, cautious, but never afraid. "I don't believe
in your messiah, Frederick. Despite all of Arkanphel's power, Chris will kill
him too, given a chance. If Arkanphel can not see this... he is a greater fool
than I ever imagined."
	"Arkanphel has no idea what that man truly is," Purgstall hissed between
clenched teeth. "You stupid old woman. Do you think he would stand for such a
being? Arkanphel has been trying to kill Nabiki for years, and she is nothing
but an information merchant. Somebody like Chris would be a top priority. But he
doesn't know what I know about him. Because if he did, Chris would know who told
him... and then..."
	Purgstall trailed off again. He realised he'd said too much, but
couldn't take it back. He just stood there, opening and closing his mouth. He
wanted to say something, but had no idea what. Cologne stared at him for a long
moment.
	"So that's it..." Cologne finally said, her voice oddly calm. "That's
why Arkanphel never made a move against him. You've been lying to Arkanphel for
years. Hiding the truth. You've been lying to me. You said you passed on my
warnings..."
	"I... it... it was revenge. I did not see Chris as a threat... I just
saw him as a threat to you... I wouldn't let him get word of you trying to track
him down..."
	"Shut up," Cologne hissed. "Is this what we've spent the last seven
years doing, Purgstall? Lying to each other?"
	Suddenly he was angry again. "Is all you've spent the last seven years
doing using me? Using the girls?" He regretted it right away, but once again it
was too late. The slap came without warning, at such speed that he didn't even
see it. He just stumbled back, propping himself against the shattered desk.
	"You're right, Purgstall. I do want vengeance. I will kill him for what
he did to me and mine. I had hoped to save you and your noble goals at the same
time... but you are a fool. I will gladly give my life to destroy him."
	Cologne turned and stalked from the room. Purgstall shook his head,
trying to clear it. By the time he was back on his feet, she was gone. Damn, she
hit like a zoalord when she was angry. He looked around at the room he was in.
	He should run out after her, stop her. He should call security. He
should do something. Instead, he stood there, wondering when it had all begun to
unravel.

*

	It was a beautiful day.
	That was the first thought that ran through Akane's head upon stepping
down from the train. She had been so caught up in worrying about this trip that
she had not even so much as glanced out the window. All of her focus was on
making certain that none of the others slipped away, that no one followed them,
that everything went right. She couldn't even tell what time of day it was when
she got off the train, she had been so worried.
	But whatever time of day it was, it was beautiful. That seemed such a
small word to describe it. This place was not just beautiful, it was paradise.
It was like they had walked out of Japan and into Eden. The city was so green.
Green and blue. Green from the leaves of trees, from the colour of wine bottles
resting on windowsills, from the lush lawns and painted roofs. Blue for the
perfect sky, the kind of blue sky that poets wept about, streaked through with
cotton-candy white clouds. The blue sea lapped gently at the shore, and sparkled
through with light. Even the streets were spotless: mostly cobblestone, some
pavement, but even there it was new and pristine, not marked by the cracks and
divots that all roads developed in time.
	The people here, old and young, poor and rich, they mingled together and
they were beautiful, too. There were no ugly people. No signs of disease or
hunger. The men who were bald were so with a quiet dignity, the women who had
become wrinkled had gained elegance and sophistication. They wore well-tailored
suits, none worn out or ill-fitting. They passed each other in the street with
smiles on their faces, wide genuine smiles. They stopped in the street to talk,
errands momentarily forgotten. They laughed under the canopies of sidewalk cafes
and their happy conversation bubbled over the walls and hedges of the homes. A
complete stranger walked right up to Akane, told her to have a wonderful day
and, when she didn't respond right away, asked if he could help her. She
demurred and he went on his way with a shrug and a smile.
	And everywhere you looked there were roses. They bloomed on private
hedges. They grew in parks. They sat in vases and hung on walls. Men carried
them in their hand and women wore them in their hair or lapel. Everywhere you
looked, they flourished.
	Akane glanced back at her companions. They were enthralled. Even
Katsuhito, who she hadn't imagined had a poetic bone in his body, was looking at
the place with a sort of quiet rapture. His narrow eyes had softened and he was
running his hand along the bark of a nearby oak. He was whispering something to
himself, but it was in a language Akane didn't understand.
	Beyond him she could see Mamoru moving about, as if in a daze. He looked
so out of place. Like Akane he wore a nondescript brown cloak, one that covered
the bulk of his body (and more importantly, his weapons and armour). Like Akane,
he had worn the hood up on the journey here. It was slightly obvious, to have a
large group of people clearly hiding themselves from scrutiny, but somehow they
had encountered nobody who asked questions, or even gave them a second glance.
Akane had agreed to the cloaks, mainly because she guessed that trying to hide
was pointless, so she had wanted to test a theory. Apparently, Akio's reach went
quite far indeed.
	As she watched Mamoru pulled back his hood, exposing his ebony-black
hair and his immaculate face. He stared around in open-mouthed wonder at this
place. Then he smiled. Somehow, Akane couldn't help but notice how handsome he
was. He was a prince. A champion. He was Charming, come on a white charger (of
course, the train had been white) to solve all her problems. Akane thought for a
moment she could just relax and let him do what he had to do.
	She drew a deep breath and frowned. Beneath her rope she reached across
and wrapped her fingers around the bracelet Washuu had given them. 'Akio's power
over that place runs deep, Akane. I can't shatter it. It's a part of that place
now. I couldn't possibly tear it all down so easily. But I can shield you from a
bit of it, you and everyone else. But just because he can't affect you directly,
don't think that makes you immune. That place is his.' The words were fresh in
Akane's mind. The bracelets would protect them, but only if they remained on
guard the whole time.
	Akane looked at the others again. The ex-Dolls seemed so... happy. Marz
was sitting on a bench, just looking around her, an odd little smile on her
face. Her computer sat beside her, unopened. That struck Akane as odd. Satsuki
was standing in a patch of sunlight, watching a pair of children playing a silly
little game with the kind of rules only children understood. The children paused
as they noticed her, then beckoned her forward. Satsuki, laughing, complied.
Even Fevrier was smiling, a smile of genuine joy. Her eyes were closed and her
head was tilted towards the sky. She was listening to the music, Akane realised.
There was some sort of festival going on, and Fevrier was listening to the echo
of the music on the wind.
	Then Akane met Rei's eyes. Rei met her gaze levelly. The girl wore a
simple two-piece dress and leggings. She looked so sad. Her eyes flicked away
from Akane after a moment, shame on her features.
	"Everyone stop," Akane barked.
	They all paused. They looked at her. The children were tugging on
Satsuki's arm. She kept glancing back at them. Akane realised, in that place
deep inside, that if she didn't act fast she would lose her.
	To what? Happiness?
	Akane quashed that thought.
	"Everyone come here." She looked at them all, and they hesitated. "NOW!"
she barked with the authority she rarely used. Rarely used, but always demanded
when she did. One did not command soldiers in battle unless one expected to be
obeyed. Instantly everyone was coming towards her, even Rei and Katsuhito. Akane
looked at them all, making certain to make eye contact with each of them in
turn. When she looked at Rei, her gaze demanded the girl didn't look away. Rei
didn't.
	"Yes, this place is beautiful." Akane took a deep breath. "But remind
yourself that it isn't real. It's wrong. Even a beautiful lie is still a lie."
	"Such cruel words, Akane. Do you judge my world so harshly?"
	Akane turned slowly. Of course, she hadn't heard the car arrive, but
there it was. A cherry-red convertible, a classic, was parked in the middle of
the street just in front of the train station. Akio sat in the driver's seat.
	Akane had never met Akio, not personally. She had heard about him. Chris
had warned her off him, repeatedly told her about how dangerous he was. Rei had
told her about him, about how subtle and cunning he was. Washuu had talked of
his achievements, of how insidious he could be if you weren't careful. Words had
not prepared her for the truth.
	To call Akio beautiful was to call the sun bright, or the universe
large. All were correct, but none of them caught the truth. Akio was beautiful
in the way that everyone aspired to be, that artists were inspired by. His was
an ideal beauty, almost inhuman. But at the same time, it was utterly smooth and
natural, even warm. He was a person you could walk up to, with his easy smile
and expressive eyes. His hair was light lavender, spilling down his back in a
flowing ponytail. His skin was exotic, a type of dark colour that Akane was
certain no one else quite matched. Akane could imagine that colour on the first
man, standing in the cradle of civilisation.
	It hit Akane suddenly. That was who Akio was. He was Everyman. Not in
the sense of being the least among us, but the best, the brightest. He was the
ideal, the prototype, the form from which all other human beings had been
molded... and the one to which they could only compare unfavourably. Not just
men, but women too, all humanity... 'God made man in His own image...'
	Akio exited the car and walked forward along the bumper. He smiled at
her, a smile that sunk into her body and left her feeling warm. His eyes
examined her and she realised that he was looking at her, and only her. Not
Rei's traditional beauty, not the Dolls' open sensuality. Just at her. He tapped
the roof and slid across it, kicking his feet in a flourish and then landing
before them to take a bow. His sheer physical presence, it was overwhelming.
	Akane closed her eyes, and she reached up with the hand that bore
Washuu's bracelet. She gripped her fingers firmly around the Star Seeds. They
thrummed, warm and powerful, in her fists. She took a long breath, and when she
opened her eyes, her expression was hard again.
	Akio only raised a single perfect eyebrow, then shrugged and stepped
back to lean against the hood of his car. "Such a collection of fine people have
arrived in my simple sanctuary today." He smiled at Akane's companions. "Please,
make yourselves at home. What I have is yours for the asking." He paused when
he spotted Rei. "Ah, Miss Hino. I was most disappointed when you chose to leave
us before graduation. I trust that you found..." He glanced at Katsuhito, his
smile becoming more amused. "...suitable tutors to continue your education."
	"We don't have time for this, Akio," Akane said, stepping forward. "You
know what we're here for."
	"Ah. Yes. Of course." Akio gave her a look of sincere apology. "I'm
afraid I can't help you there."
	"If necessary, we'll use force," Akane bluffed. She wasn't certain what
would happen if it came to that. Just how real were the illusions here?
	He spread his arms out. "I don't think there is any need for violence
here." He looked around the city. "This place is so peaceful, the air is
splendid. Why ruin a day like this with pointless conflict and property damage?
All we would accomplish is making more work for others."
	Akane saw a few of her friends nodding slightly at his words, as if they
made a great point. Akane tightened her grip on the Star Seeds. "Where. Is.
Sailor. Moon?"
	"Not here, I'm afraid," Akio said. He was sitting on the hood now, his
hands folded in his lap.
	"Don't play word games, Akio," Akane said, taking a step forward. Akio
raised an eyebrow once again, but he merely shrugged.
	"She isn't here. Our Princess is such a... busy person. She has many
duties to attend to. I'm afraid I don't keep track of them all..." He slipped
off the hood. "But don't take my word for it. Go and find her friends and ask
them. They will tell you the same story as I. Usagi is not here."
	He started towards the door to the car, but Akane slid in front of him.
They were so close that Akane could smell him. His musk filled her nose,
travelled down her throat and kept going. She stared up into his eyes. Why did
he have to be so tall? But not the intimidating type of tall. The reassuring
type.
	He slid around her. "You are, of course, welcome to stay as long as you
like. She will be back shortly, or so I was told. Sometimes her errands can take
days, sometimes it can take hours. I've reserved rooms for you all at a nice
hotel near the campus; anyone should be able to direct you to it."
	He vaulted into the car and it roared to life the moment his hands fell
on the wheel. He leaned back and smiled at Akane again. "Why not take a little
time to explore the city? Get to know the people who live here."
	"What is your game, Akio?" Akane managed to say with as much force as
she could muster.
	"Game?" Akio smiled. "The game of truth, Miss Tendo. Take advantage of
all I have to offer, or not. I don't really care one way or another. But
hospitality dictates that I give my guests all due attention. And while I may be
called evil incarnate, I never wish to be called a poor host. Enjoy yourselves."
	And with a wave, he was off. Akane stared at the car until it turned a
corner and was gone. She felt the strength sap out of her. She looked back at
her companions. They all looked uncertain. These were people used to fighting a
war, and a better unit Akane could hardly have asked for. She would trust any
one of them with her life. But...
	Were they really prepared to fight Akio's kind of war?

*

	"Come in," Nabiki said the moment before the knock came. There was a
hesitation and then the door opened. Yang looked inside, his almost perpetual
frown still on his face. Nabiki gestured for him to enter as she shifted a few
of her papers off her desk. It was all mundane data, estimates on the repairs
following Ranma and Bison's climactic battle two weeks ago. The cost of
rebuilding would be staggering.
	"You busy?" he asked, stepping in and shutting the door behind him.
	"No..." Nabiki sighed. "Yes. But I'll take any excuse for a reason not
to look at more numbers." She rubbed her temples. It still hurt. The attack that
Bison had hit her with had very nearly reduced her brain to cottage cheese. The
headaches still came occasionally, but with less frequency now. She looked
around. "Where is your brother?"
	Nabiki felt a flash of irritation from the young man. "He's gone out
with Ranma, again."
	"Ah..." Nabiki nodded. When Nabiki had called Hong Kong to get some help
with the current crisis, she hadn't thought much about what would happen when
Yun and Ranma met. Frankly, she had expected that Ranma would be halfway back to
the States by now. He had left Minako practically in a hospital bed. Instead,
he'd had Nabiki smuggle a few letters to her telling her to make her way here.
	Then Yun and Yang had showed up. It was like putting fire and oil
together. Yun had challenged Ranma to a match the day after he got to the city.
Ranma had won handily, of course. But the younger boy had been following Ranma
around since, apparently to 'learn his secrets so I can defeat him'.
	"Is that why you're here?"
	"No." Yang flipped his head, his long bangs flicking a bit. He put his
hands in his pockets. "You wanted to know when she came back."
	Nabiki looked up. "She's back already? That was fast."
	Yang shrugged. Nabiki stood up and walked around him to the door. "You
going to need an escort?" he asked.
	"Inside the building?" Nabiki asked.
	"There have been two attempts on your life already," Yang pointed out.
	"And I handled myself fine," Nabiki assured him. "I want to talk with
her alone. You can have the morning off."
	Yang shrugged and exited just after her, closing the door behind him. He
paused and locked it with the key Nabiki had given him. She smiled and shook her
head. Those boys treated her like she was made out of porcelain, sometimes.
Honestly, you save someone's grandfather from cancer, have your life saved by
him in turn, and then end up like this.
	As she moved through the corridors of the hotel Nabiki wondered where
the aforementioned grandfather was. He hadn't been in Hong Kong when Nabiki had
sent out the all-call to her contacts. She shook her head and dismissed the
thought as idle speculation. The old coot could handle himself. Until he decided
to show his face again, Nabiki would do her best not to get his grandsons
killed.
	The underground garage was almost deserted. It wasn't hard for Nabiki to
locate Akira. The sounds of her tooling around with the bike she had picked up a
few days into their stay here echoed through the paved catacomb. When Nabiki got
there, the girl was sitting in front of a blanket on which a large number of
arcane little pieces of gleaming metal were arrayed. Akira herself was rubbing
one of those pieces down with a grease-stained towel.
	"Hey," Nabiki called out by way of greeting. Akira looked up, her
expressive brown eyes blinking once. Then she waved idly and went back to work.
"You're back early."
	"False alarm," Akira explained. "If there were Chronos operatives trying
to raise a little hell down there, they were gone by the time I got there. Also,
they didn't do a very good job."
	Nabiki frowned. She prided herself on knowing who was doing what to who,
and when and where and why it was done. It had taken her seven years to create a
reputation of infallibility in the criminal underworld, and she had gotten that
reputation by being mainly infallible. Her sources inside Chronos had said that
Purgstall was going to do something about the situation, especially now that
Rose had politely declined his offer for 'humanitarian aid, merely until the
current crisis has passed'.
	"Maybe they went underground," Nabiki mused. "How good are you at
sensing untransformed zoanoids?"
	"Okay, I guess." Akira paused. "Better than most. I didn't sense any in
the village. They might have gone into the jungle, I suppose. If so, I doubt
anyone but Ukyou could track them."
	"Yeah..." Nabiki sighed. Ukyou was far too valuable to risk sending off
chasing ghosts in the jungles of Indochina. Nabiki looked at the bike, wondering
why Akira was bothering to build it. She had one in the States still, after all.
For a moment, Nabiki wished she could read the young woman properly. Ever since
the fight in Hong Kong, Akira had become opaque to her. Not exactly empty like
how Chris or sometimes Ukyou appeared to her, but like she was much further away
than she was. "Are you... planning some sort of trip?"
	Akira paused. She put down the gasket - or whatever - she was cleaning
and looked up at Nabiki. "Maybe."
	Nabiki frowned and crossed her arms. "You're planning on going after
her, aren't you? That's why you've been rebuilding this thing."
	Akira eyes took on a defiant gleam. "And if I am?"
	"For god's sake, Akira. Why?" Nabiki grit her teeth. "She betrayed us!
She works for Chris! She's HIS."
	"She doesn't belong to anybody," Akira countered. "She made a choice. A
bad choice. That doesn't make her a bad person."
	"She killed Rose! Right in front of you! She would have killed you too!"
	"Yeah. You're right." Akira picked up another part and began to inspect
it visually. "She would have. I saw it in her eyes." She paused. "But that
doesn't make her not my friend."
	"I swear, Akira. You have a bad habit of this."
	"What, foolish quests?"
	"No..." Nabiki sighed. "Of making me feel... shallow."
	Akira gave her a startled glance. "Shallow?"
	"I don't agree with you, Akira," Nabiki grumbled and sat down next to
her, shifting the wishing sword so it rested beside her. Ukyou and Pluto had
both confirmed that her wish had not been lost trying to defeat Chris. "But I
have to respect your determination. You never give up, do you? Not even when it
seems hopeless. Especially when it seems hopeless."
	"Lots of people don't think that's an admirable quality," Akira said,
sounding somewhat embarrassed. Nabiki grinned at Akira's discomfort. She never
could take a compliment well.
	"Bullshit, Akira. You're the bravest person I've ever met. If I was half
as brave as you..." Nabiki trailed off. If she was half as brave as Akira, she
would have done something about Ryouga four years ago. She would have gone and
faced him down, faced down the 'Death Messiah' as well... Except she was scared.
Scared that Hotaru would kill her. Scared that Ryouga wouldn't listen to her.
Nabiki wished she had Akira's courage. It was... it was inspiring.
	"I'm not brave, Nabiki." Akira began to fit the pieces together now. It
was like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. "Far from it. I spend a lot of time scared out of
my wits. I falter. I doubt. I'm human, Nabiki." She looked over. "You know how
much I doubt."
	"You're talking about Tethys, aren't you?" Akira didn't respond. "It
wasn't your fault, Akira. And it's not like you actually-"
	"What I did was bad enough," Akira said softly, cutting her off. "And
I'm not going back up there."
	Nabiki placed her hands on the pavement and leaned back a bit, closing
her eyes. "So you still think Pluto and Rose just want to get Ukyou to go north,
meet with Tethys?"
	"Of course."
	"Then why haven't they mentioned it yet?"
	"They choose to work with her," Akira growled. "Even after..."
	"Angel chose to work with Chris."
	"That's different..." Akira trailed off.
	"How?"
	Akira had no response to that for a while. For a while there was only
the metallic sound of Akira reassembling her engine. "Because Angel is my
friend. Friends don't give up on friends."
	"Plus, there is getting away from Ukyou..." Nabiki mused. Akira shot her
a menacing glare. Nabiki smirked. "I don't need telepathy to see it, Akira." Not
that she could if she wanted to. But Akira didn't need to know that. "You and
Ukyou have been playing a game of keep away for the last two weeks." She paused.
"Here's an idea: why not go talk to her?"
	"There's nothing to talk about," Akira said. She cursed as she slammed
something together too roughly and little pieces fell out of the engine. Nabiki
helped her grab a few stray bolts and connectors for a moment.
	"I think there's a lot to talk about, Akira." Nabiki said while they
crawled around. "You love her. She deserves to make the decision whether she'll
love you back, rather than you running off on some fool errand."
	"Ukyou..." Akira sighed. "Ukyou can't make that decision, Nabiki."
	Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
	"She's not gay."
	Nabiki looked at her for a long minute. Then, unable to contain it any
longer, she burst out laughing. Akira frowned at her, as Nabiki shook with
guffaws. "What's so funny?"
	"Akira..." Nabiki wiped a tear away from her eyes. "Is that the problem?
Gee. I thought you of all people would know."
	"Know what?"
	"Sexuality is genetic." Nabiki tapped her forehead. "It's all meat
thinking. The soul... the soul is capable of love, Akira. But it doesn't
determine who we lust after. Trust me, I've spent seven years inside other
people's heads. It's all reptile hindbrain reactions, nothing to do with 'higher
thought' at all."
	"So?" Akira crossed her arms. "Ukyou was born straight. She spent enough
time lusting after Ranma that it's pretty obvious. She still..." Akira trailed
off.
	"You're right." Nabiki nodded. "But you forget, Ukyou spent seven years
as a Doll." Akira blinked. "What, you thought they were all born bisexual
nymphomaniacs? Bison altered them with his Psychodrive, right down to the
genetic level. He remade them."
	"That's..." Akira winced.
	"Disgusting? Sick? Twisted?" Nabiki nodded. "Yeah. That's Bison for you.
But, fact remains is that Ukyou got the exact same treatment as the others. You
experienced her memories. You know that Lotus Infinite swung both ways."
	Akira blushed. "This is sick, Nabiki."
	"Maybe." Nabiki shrugged. "But Ukyou's wearing that skin-tight suit
nowadays, and I don't think it's to impress Yun or Yang..."
	"Ranma?"
	Nabiki waved her hand. "Ukyou gave up on Ranma seven years ago."
	Akira frowned. "I prefer the way Ukyou looks when she wears something
more... conservative."
	"Have you told her that?"
	"Of course not!"
	"Have you even told her you love her?"
	"What? Yes... I mean... she obviously knows. I've made my feelings
pretty clear... I mean..."
	"Have you told her?"
	Akira frowned. "What's your stake in this anyway, Nabiki? Why do you
care what happens between me and Ukyou?"
	Nabiki opened her mouth. She had a good lie prepared. She had spent
days thinking it up. Days during which she had tried to broach the subject with
Ukyou, only to back off at the last moment. She could lie to Akira... but she
chose not to. "Because I need your help. I need... I need someone to stick
around and help me talk to Ukyou. Someone with more pull over her than I have."
	Akira's eyes narrowed. "You want us to get together so you can use me to
jerk Ukyou around?" She turned away. "It doesn't work that way, Nabiki."
	"I know..." Nabiki stood up. "I was an idiot for even thinking it." She
paused. "I'm sorry, Akira. I just thought... you loved Ukyou so much, spending
all that time fighting for her... I just thought you could..."
	Could what? Help her? Who was her? Nabiki? or Ukyou? Why did Nabiki
suddenly think it was important to help Ukyou?
	"It isn't like that, Nabiki." Akira looked at the hollowed out bike. "I
didn't spend all those years fighting for Ukyou because I love her."
	"But why...?"
	"Because it's about choices, Nabiki." Akira stood up. "It's always about
choices. Ukyou was my friend. She was my mentor. She taught me more about how to
live my life in a few months than my brother had in sixteen years. Even if there
hadn't been anything like love between us, I wouldn't have given up on her."
Akira looked back at her. "We don't choose who we fall for, Nabiki. You said it
yourself. It's all meat-thinking. We don't choose how we grow up. We don't
choose the world we live in. We can't decide if we live or die. All we can
really choose is who we call friend, and what we do with the hand life deals us.
So... I call Ukyou friend, and I choose never to give up on her." She looked up.
"I choose to call Angel my friend too."
	"So, you're leaving?"
	"Maybe."

*

	"Do you really think this is wise?" Katsuhito asked as they walked down
the rose-lined path. Akane glanced at him. His expression was calm, but slightly
melancholy. He walked with his hands laced together behind his back, his
traditional priest's robes rustling as he moved. Akane took a moment to adjust
her cloak before responding.
	"Splitting us up?" Akane frowned. "Maybe not. But we have to find the
other Senshi. Ami and... Maho- Maki..."
	"Makoto," Katsuhito offered. Akane nodded in thanks. "The two of them
may not be as powerful as Sailor Moon, but we should still save them."
	"From what, exactly?" Katsuhito asked softly.
	"Don't you start, too," Akane growled.
	"I'm not." He paused and adjusted his glasses. The path curved ahead and
swept into the front yard of a house. The house was... beautiful. The walls were
stone, with ivy creepers climbing along the outside. The windows had white
sills, the roof was painted sea-blue. A low stone fence, barely a half-meter
high, circled the building, with only one gap for the front entrance. The yard
was more than a yard. It was a garden. As Akane got closer she saw that someone
was maintaining the yard with great care. Flowers of all types entwined
together, somehow transcending the clash of colours and forms to form a unique
whole.
	There was music. Someone inside was playing the piano. It was a
entrancing tune, something melancholy and yet hopeful at the same time. Akane
closed her eyes and for a moment she was in the back yard of her house in Tokyo,
her father teaching her the first steps of martial arts, her mother smiling from
the porch...
	Akane shook off the feeling. That was the past.
	"The point, Akane..." Katsuhito and she stopped in front of the
entrance, "is that Akio has had seven years to twist them to his own purposes.
You should prepare yourself for the worst."
	"The worst?" Akane asked.
	"They may not want saving."
	Akane considered that for a moment, then knocked. The music cut off. The
door opened to reveal a kind-looking young man. He had short blue hair and eyes
that were just slightly more green. He was taller than Akane, but shorter than
the old man. He had an effeminate look to him, but his stance was firm and
masculine. He wore a white shirt with green thread etching out nonsensical
patterns around his shoulders and a pair of black slacks.
	"Oh. Hello, may I help you?" he asked, blinking a bit at the sight of
them. He smiled and stepped back before they could answer, gesturing them
inside. "Please excuse me, come in, come in... The winter chill is setting in.
It will be much more comfortable inside."
	"Winter chill..." Akane muttered. It felt like spring here. In fact, it
felt perfectly comfortable. But she didn't turn down his invitation. "I'm sorry,
we must have the wrong address. We were looking for the Mizuno household."
	"Ah," the man shrugged and laughed a bit. "No, you have the right
household. My wife is just occupied at the moment."
	Akane blinked. Wife?
	"I'm sorry again, my manners fail me. But you are an unusual visitor."
He bowed slightly. "My name is Miki Mizuno. I am pleased to meet you. Would you
like some tea?"
	"Ginseng?" Katsuhito asked.
	"Of course," Miki replied. "I'll be right back then. Please make
yourself comfortable in the lounge." He gestured towards a room to the side of
the entrance hall and started towards the back of the house. Akane looked at the
old man and shrugged, before exchanging shoes and walking into the lounge. The
two of them sat down in comfortably stuffed green leather seats. The walls were
lined with bookshelves. Row upon row of books and other odds and ends. Akane
glanced through the arch into the next room. That room, too, was filled with
books.
	"He seems nice enough," Katsuhito said cheerfully.
	"Yeah..." Akane muttered.
	"Something bothering you?"
	"Aside from everything? No." Akane paused. "I'm more disturbed that I'm
not disturbed. Everything about this place has been rubbing me the wrong way.
But this house..."
	"I know." Katsuhito nodded his head and pushed his glasses up with one
finger. "There is an air of a home about this place. There is happiness in these
walls. It reminds me of when my daughter was alive and..." He trailed off.
	"It reminds me of back in Tokyo," Akane admitted. "But not in a bad
way."
	"Why would is be bad?" Akane looked over her shoulder. Miki had
returned, carrying a tray of tea. He began to serve it as Akane carefully
prepared her answer.
	"I have bad memories of Tokyo. I was there when... seven years ago."
	"Ah." He nodded, and offered her a tea cup.
	"Do you know what happened back then?" Akane asked bluntly.
	He blinked and laughed. "No." He smiled, his eyes closing. "But if it's
a painful memory, why worry about it now?"
	Akane stared at him, holding the tea cup in her hands. She glanced over
at Katsuhito, who was sipping on his tea. The old man was giving her a
meaningful look. She frowned at him. "What?" she asked.
	"The tea is good," he noted.
	"What does that have to do with anything?" Akane replied.
	"Nothing." He smiled. "But it would be a shame if it got cold."
	Akane sighed and took a sip of her tea. It was good, she admitted. Then
she sighed. "We need to see Ami."
	"I was afraid of that," Miki said softly. He sat down on a couch near
the wall, setting the tray on a table beside him. He took a sip of his own tea.
"She is very busy and doesn't like to be disturbed while she works."
	"This is an emergency," Akane insisted.
	"A medical emergency?" Miki asked. "Have you tried the hospital? Dr.
Tokukatsu is very good. If you tell him I sent you..."
	"No," Akane cut him off. "Not a medical emergency. We just have to see
her. Now."
	Miki appraised her, and for a moment Akane understood that this placid-
seeming man had a strength to him. He was no longer looking at her like a host
to a guest, but as a guardian evaluating a threat to his ward. "Can I ask what
it is you need to see her about so badly?"
	"Oh, nothing interesting," Katsuhito broke in. "Family business."
	"What family?" Miki asked bluntly.
	"Her mother," Katsuhito replied flippantly. "But I'd really rather
deliver the news to her personally."
	"Ami and I have no secrets," Miki said. He was standing up. "And if you
think I can't tell that something is going on here, you are insane. You're both
armed, with swords no less, and walking into my house." His eyes narrowed, and
he looked like an entirely different person. He wasn't a kindly man now, but a
fierce one. "Plus you both reek of power."
	Akane stood up. "How can you tell?"
	"I may not be a great martial artist, but Ami has helped me to develop
certain skills."
	Akane considered that. "Fine. We need to talk to Sailor Mercury."
	Miki's eyes widened and he staggered back. Then he straightened and
rubbed a hand over his face. "You're too late."
	"How?"
	"You just are." He looked at Akane. "Whatever you are trying to do...
can't you just leave her alone? She's happy now. She doesn't need to go through
any more pain." His voice... it was genuine. He was pleading with her. Akane
steeled herself.
	"No. I can't leave it alone. I have to speak with her." She paused
significantly. "One way, or another."
	Miki stared at her. Then he looked away. "This way."
	As Miki led them up to the second floor, Katsuhito whispered into
Akane's ear. "It would be wise to control your temper."
	"I'm controlling it," Akane hissed back. The man raised an eyebrow, then
fell behind her. They were led to a large door near the back of the house. Miki
opened it without knocking.
	Inside was something out of a science-fiction movie. It was a
laboratory. The blue-tile walls and floors sparkled, cleaned to an almost mirror
finish. The lights overhead buzzed the way fluorescents always did. There were a
number of tables, many covered with complex apparati constructed from clear
glass tubes and beakers and valves with multi-coloured liquids flowing through
them. Flames boiled things. Steam hissed through vents. There was a steady drip-
drip as something somewhere dribbled water into a echoing chamber.
	Akane paused in the doorway. Ami was sitting near the back, facing away
from them. She sat on a elevating stool that rolled about on gimballed wheels.
Her long white lab coat fell behind her, almost to the floor. She was busy
looking into a microscope. Her blue hair had grown out long and was tied back in
a ponytail at the base of her neck. Just within hand's reach was an ashtray,
stuffed nearly to overflowing with cigarette butts. She appeared not to have
noticed them coming in.
	"Ami..." Miki said, his voice apologetic.
	"Damn it, Miki, I said not to disturb me. This is a very critical
moment!" Ami snapped, without looking up.
	"I'm sorry, but we have guests."
	"So? Entertain them. Offer to play the piano."
	"They wish to speak to you."
	"Get rid of them, then. Better yet, tell them to make an appointment at
the hospital."
	"They want to speak to Sailor Mercury."
	The room was silent for a few moments. Then Ami slowly sat up. She
turned on her stool, looking at everyone in the doorway. Akane only vaguely
recalled Ami, but she realised the young woman had not aged that well. Like
everyone else here, she was flawlessly elegant, but her face looked far too old
for a woman of only twenty-one. There were already lines forming at the edges of
her eyes and the corner of her lips. She looked at Miki, then at Akane.
	And recognised her.
	"Miki, leave us."
	"Are you..."
	"Yes. Now go."
	Miki left, closing the door behind him. Akane and Katsuhito walked
forward.
	"I knew you'd come back, some day," Ami said.
	"Ami. It's been a long time," Akane nodded. "You know why we've come?"
	"Yes. For her."
	"Sailor Moon?"
	"The Moon Princess," Ami nodded.
	"We've also come for you, Ami." Akane looked at her. "We need you."
	"You're too late," Ami informed her. "There is no Sailor Mercury."
	"What?" Akane blinked and looked at her companion to confirm that.
Katsuhito merely shrugged.
	"I stopped being her a long time ago," Ami said. Her voice was calm, but
there was an edge of something else under her breath. It was well-hidden, but it
was there. Ami reached into a coat pocket and pulled out a cigarette, which she
lit quickly.
	"Aren't you worried you'll ruin your experiment?" Katsuhito explained.
	"What, with this?" Ami smirked and gestured with the smoke. "No, I'm
not. Besides, I'll have to start over again anyway, now that I probably missed
the cellular mitosis."
	"What are you working on?" Katsuhito asked, stepping forward. Akane
glanced at him. Why was he asking about that? There were more pressing things to
discuss. But he caught her eyes and she closed her mouth.
	"The long form, or the short?" Ami slipped from her stool and started
across the lab. Underneath her coat she wore a blue sweater and a grey skirt
that came down to mid-thigh; the coat flapped around her as she walked.
	"The short," Katsuhito smiled in his perfect 'I'm a simple old man'
manner. "Technical words just confuse this old priest."
	 She had reached a large coffee machine. She poured herself a glass,
then offered the pot to the two of them. They both declined. Shrugging, she took
a sip. "The cure for cancer," Ami replied.
	"Really?" Katsuhito blinked. "Remarkable. But, from what I understand,
they already have a cure for that."
	"You mean Chronos does."
	"So you know about Chronos?" Akane snapped.
	Ami gave Akane a level look. "Of course I do, Akane. I'm not blind."
	"Nobody else in this town does. We've been here days, trying to track
you down and nobody knows anything about the outside world. Even your husband
doesn't-"
	"My husband is a good man," she informed them. "He's been nothing but an
angel to me, but he's not prepared for what we know, Akane." She smiled.
"Before you ask, yes, I know what's been happening 'out there'. I've kept
track."
	"Then you know how bad it is!" Akane shouted.
	"Yes." Ami took a long draw on her cigarette then a drink of coffee.
	"Don't you care?" Akane balled her hands into fists.
	"Of course I care, Akane. Hundreds, thousands of people die." She
paused. "Of disease. Of medical problems. Not everyone dies at the hands of
Chronos or Millennium hit squads. Far more die from mundane ailments. Chronos
reserves their wonder cures for the wealthy and the politically expedient. They
also refuse to share with those places not under their thumb." She took another
sip. "I'm going to change that."
	"I see..." Katsuhito, unnoticed by Akane, had moved over to the
microscope and was looking into it. "You're reverse-engineering Chronos's cure,
aren't you? These samples... they're zoanoid DNA. Fascinating. How did you
prevent the onset of terminal necrosis?"
	"I..." Ami paused. "Simple old priest, hmm?" She smiled. "I think you're
more than you let on."
	"Maybe I am," Katsuhito stood up and faced her. "And so are you. You
aren't a doctor."
	"Yes, I am." Ami drew another puff. "And probably one of the best."
	"You aren't just a doctor."
	"Yes. I am." Ami glared at them. "Sailor Mercury is dead. Which is fine.
She was an ineffective, wishy-washy drain on other's resources. I am Ami Mizuno,
and I will do more good in this lab than I ever would have on the battlefield."
	"Ami..." Akane stared at her. She had no idea what to say.
	"Go. Akane. Go find your Princess. She can save the world." Ami turned
her back on them, walking around the edge of a table and out of sight behind a
large bank of machines. Her voice drifted around the corner. "I'm not in that
business anymore."

*

	"Well?"
	"As far as I can tell, they're working at full capacity," Marz informed
them. She removed the wires from the manacle around Fevrier's wrist and she
stared at the small device in annoyance. It was supposed to protect her. The
girl had said she could build a device that would keep Akio out of their heads.
	"That girl, Washuu, she said that she knew exactly how this place
worked." Fevrier snorted. "If it's having this kind of effect on us, then she
didn't do a very good job of shielding us from it."
	"What kind of effect?" Rei asked.
	"Can't you feel it, Rei?" Mamoru asked. They were sitting in a park. All
three ex-Dolls and Mamoru wore long cloaks over their combat gear. Fevrier
picked at hers. It seemed so... drab. It would be much simpler to just dispense
with the cloak entirely. And the combat gear. They obviously wouldn't need it
here. This place was free of violence. It was peaceful, serene...
	Undemanding.
	"No," Rei sighed. "The only thing I've ever felt in this city is...
wrongness. It tickles at the back of my mind. Like an itch I can't scratch. It
makes my skin crawl."
	Mamoru nodded. "I see." He looked at the other three girls and sighed,
rubbing his forehead. "Fevrier, how does this place make you feel?"
	She looked at him, and frowned. She wanted to bark something out, tell
him that it was a stupid question. This place was just a place. As Bison's
assassin she had been in plenty of beautiful places and reduced them to rubble.
She wanted to say a location was only notable for its tactical advantages.
Except she knew she'd be lying. "I..." She looked at the ground. "I feel..." She
closed her eyes. "I feel..." She clenched her fist and leaned over. "I..."
	"Fevrier?" Mamoru was walking towards her now, and she clenched her
teeth. She had to be strong! She had to be perfect! She wasn't going to let this
place get to her...
	Except what was she fighting against? This warm feeling inside? This
sense of... belonging? They had spent the last few days moving through the city
and Fevrier had never felt so comfortable in her life. No. She had never
remembered feeling so comfortable.
	She had woken up in a lab, woken up in a tube buried deep in Bison's
Psychodrive. She had been a tool, a weapon, forged by his hand. Except... she
hadn't been born that way, had she? She'd been a woman, once. A girl. A child.
She'd had a home. A family. Innocence.
	"Oh god, make it stop..." Fevrier hissed, and she realised with chagrin
that she was crying. She felt Mamoru wrap his arms around her. She leaned into
him. "Mamoru... make it stop... these feelings..."
	Mamoru was frowning. "Fevrier..." his voice was full of concern. Fevrier
looked at Rei, and the girl was staring at her, uncertain what to do. Then
Fevrier spotted the other two ex-Dolls. Marz was looking down at her computer,
her fingers hovering over the keys. She looked lost, like she had no idea what
she was supposed to be doing. Satsuki was sitting nearby, her legs drawn up to
her chest. She was just looking away across the field. Children were playing
there. "What feelings, Fevrier?" Mamoru clenched his fists. "If that bastard is
hurting you..." he growled.
	Fevrier tried to reply, but she couldn't for a few moments. Her voice
was hitching. "No... not painful..." She held out her hand. "But... it's like...
like I can feel..."
	"Feel what?" Rei asked.
	"Her."
	"Who?" Mamoru looked at her strangely. "Sailor Moon?"
	"No... her... the girl... the... the one I lost..."
	"The one you lost..." Mamoru's eyes slowly filled with comprehension.
"Fevrier... you mean you can feel your old self? The one that existed before
Bison?"
	"I..." She chewed her lip. "Yes. I can feel... these emotions. They're
so strange. I feel sad, but at home and..." She clenched her head. "It's wrong,
Mamoru. I never felt this way before. I'm strong! I'm fierce! I've never felt
weak like this! I've never felt..."
	"Happy?" Satsuki said. "You feel... happy, don't you?"
	"Yes..." Fevrier said thickly.
	"It's strange..." Satsuki murmured. "I've always been so shy... I get
nervous around everyone but sir Mamoru... yet... I feel such an urge to just
walk over to those children and say hello..."
	"Are... are your memories coming back, too?"
	"No..." Marz said, looking up. "I don't remember, anything... but..."
She looked at her hands. "What's happening to us, Mamoru?"
	"The devil's bargain," Rei hissed. Everyone looked at her, and she
frowned at them. "Remember Makoto?"
	They nodded. They had found the young woman at the school, coaching one
of the local sports teams. At first, the former Senshi had been happy to see
Rei. Then, she had grown increasingly hostile as it became clear what they
wanted. Fevrier rubbed her hands against her temples as she remembered Rei and
Makoto yelling at each other, their hands clenched into fists.
	Then a woman had come out of the school and stepped between the two. She
had been tall, slim, with orange hair and a stern demeanour. One look at Rei had
made the Senshi back off a step. The woman had insisted they leave Makoto alone,
and Makoto had smiled, then grabbed the stranger's hand. Fevrier had raised an
eyebrow at that. She and her 'sisters' had been familiar enough with the concept
to understand what their touch, their intimate familiarity had meant. Even Rei
hadn't missed it. Shocked, Rei had demanded to know what Makoto was doing.
	"Rei, don't be a prude," Makoto had said. "You sound just like Ami was,
back when Juri and I first got together." Makoto had smiled, a happy smile.
"Really, I'm glad. Usagi helped us find each other. She... she..." And here,
Makoto's smile had cracked just a little, but then returned to normal. "She made
certain we'd be happy together."
	"Have you forgotten everything!?" Rei demanded. "Everything it meant to
be who we were?"
	"No. I haven't forgotten. But what good have any of us done? There's
always more monsters, Rei. Usagi can fight them. She's the sun. All we were was
lightning at midnight. All flash, and gone so fast you aren't even certain it
was there." Makoto had looked at Rei with pity. "Besides, if I want to be happy,
I have to stay here. I won't abandon what I've found. Somebody else will save
the world. Why should I make myself miserable when there's nothing I can do,
anyway?"
	Rei had stared at the girl, then slowly walked away. They had followed,
unable to think of anything to say.
	"You're saying... this place..." Marz spoke up, breaking Fevrier from
her reminiscence. "It's giving us what we want?"
	"Yes," Rei said. "That's how it works. It gave Makoto love and
acceptance, in return for accepting it as it is." She looked at them. "It's also
giving you what you want."
	"I don't want to be that girl!" Fevrier roared, standing up. Tears
flowed down her cheeks. Mamoru stared up at her. "I'm Fevrier! It's who I am!
I'm a warrior, a perfect warrior! Whoever that girl was, she died a long time
ago! I want to be me! I want to be who I am!"
	"Fevrier..." Mamoru stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why
can't you be both? You can be the girl I... know, and the person you were
before. It's... what I've always wanted for you three. To let you live your own
lives again, instead of having to rely on mine." He looked at her. "It's not
fair to you, to have to live my life."
	"But..." I want to live your life, she didn't say. Fevrier looked to the
side, biting her lip again.
	"I want it..." Satsuki said slowly. "I want to know who that girl was."
	"I do too," Marz looked at her 'older sister' apologetically. Her cyan
hair glimmered briefly in the light. "I... I didn't think I did. Back when
Nabiki tried to help us recover our memories, I didn't care so much... but now.
These feelings, Fevrier! They're..."
	"Wonderful," Satsuki finished for her. "I don't want them to go away."
	"Can you say you hate them so much, Fevrier?" Marz asked, rising to her
feet so she could look her sister in the eyes.
	Fevrier slumped. "No. I can't... I..." She stepped away. "Damnit. This
isn't fair! I'm used to things I can shoot! Even if the bullets bounce off, I
can do something about it!"
	Mamoru looked around them. "There's nothing here to shoot, Fevrier." He
smiled a little at that. "We don't have to fight anymore, here."
	"Can't you people hear yourselves?" Rei shouted. "You sound just like
Makoto!" She stared at them, aghast. "Is... is this place getting to you so
quickly?"
	Mamoru frowned, then he shook his head. "She's... she's right." He
clenched his jaw. "We should go find Akane. This place is dangerous. We have
to remember why we're here."
	"Yes... let's go finish what we came here for..." Fevrier said, taking
the lead as she started towards the hotel, the others falling in behind her.
Then...
	Then, after they'd found Sailor Moon, then they'd know what to do.

*

	"So, it's a letter from her..." Rose trailed off. She sat behind a
marble desk, her back to a wall coated in black basalt rock. In front of her the
city of Bangkok stretched out. One of her first official acts had been to rename
the city.
	Pluto looked up from the note spread out in front of her. She looked at
her friend. It was hard to believe this was the same woman. She looked so
different. She was slightly shorter, and her face was softer, younger... the
face of a woman fresh out of puberty instead of the majestic dignified Romany
face Pluto was used to. Her eyes were brown, and her hair was black. It hung
down her back.
	"I guess we should have expected this," Rose said finally. "What does
she want?"
	"Nothing." Pluto looked down at the note again. "But you know Tethys.
She has two ways of dealing with you. Either she is bluntly honest and demands
what she wants... or she merely hints at it. For now, I think it's the latter.
She offers us help."
	"Help?"
	"No strings attached, according to her."
	"Just like when she took us under her protection..." Rose murmured.
Pluto nodded and placed the note on the desk. Rose flicked a hand and levitated
it to her. She still acted much the same, but there were differences that Pluto
could notice. Like the smirk on her face now. It was an ironic smirk, a smirk
full of condescension and cynicism. Rose would never have smiled like that
before. She never had the passion to.
	There were other little things, too. The new Rose had a temper. A
violent temper. They had already replaced the picture window three times, once
when Rose had thrown her desk through it shortly after a teleconference with
zoalord Purgstall of Chronos. She had managed to regain her control quickly, but
Pluto could see it, that violent passion rolling just beneath the surface of
this woman who talked so much like her friend...
	But was she really?
	"Purgstall would not be pleased..." Rose murmured.
	"Pleased about what?"
	Pluto started and even Rose looked surprised. They turned to see that
Ukyou was standing in the corner. Her long black coat blended into the shadows.
The two Dolls at the door were halfway across the room towards her before they
paused, recognising the young woman. Using them as bodyguards and servants
struck Pluto as wrong on some level, but Nabiki had been right. They needed all
the help they could get, and what else were they supposed to do with ten
superhuman killing machines?
	At least they had stopped propositioning her. Pluto had been aghast when
they had suggested that she and Rose join them for "an evening". What amazed her
was the fact that some of the others seemed surprised at how vocally she turned
them down. They had apparently assumed that she and Rose were... were...
	Didn't anybody ever think that two women could just be friends?
Platonically?
	"Ukyou, you should knock," Rose admonished.
	"Sorry." Ukyou looked at the ex-Dolls, who went back to standing guard
at the door.  "I just... I..." She trailed off slowly and shrugged. Rose sighed.
Pluto merely looked between them. Ukyou was staring at Rose. Her eyes were
unreadable, but her posture was not. She looked weary... like just being here
tired her in some way.
	Pluto stood up. "Perhaps I should be leaving...?"
	"No, stay," Rose replied, gesturing for her to sit again.
	"I think maybe you and Ukyou need time alone to talk..."
	"We've talked," Ukyou said. "We have reached... an understanding."
	"Understanding?" Pluto looked at Rose. This was the first she had heard
of this.
	Rose rested her elbows on the desk and laced her fingers together. "It's
very simple. Ukyou realises that while we share a genetic relation, the
relationship between us can never be more than allies. Or perhaps not even that.
There is still the lingering question of the prophecy to deal with."
	That hung over everyone's head for a few minutes. Pluto wasn't certain,
but she thought she saw Ukyou wince. It was hard to read the woman's expression.
	"You were saying something when I came in," Ukyou changed the subject
clumsily. "Is it anything I should know about?"
	"Perhaps..." Rose floated the letter across the room to Ukyou, who took
it. "Tethys has sent us an offer of help."
	"The same way Chronos did?" Ukyou said coldly.
	"Hard to say," Pluto replied.
	"Are you going to accept it?" Ukyou replied, equally coldly.
	"What you mean is, are we loyal to Tethys and her interests, or to the
people of Thailand?" Rose retorted bluntly. Ukyou glanced at her sharply. "I
never asked for this responsibility, Ukyou. Merely because I share Bison's
genetic legacy, and am currently the focal point of the psychopower that is
keeping many in this nation from dying, does not mean I enjoy either. Why
shouldn't I turn the stewardship of these people to someone more capable and
willing than I?" Rose stood up, her voice slowly rising. "Tethys isn't that bad
a person, Ukyou. In her Kingdom there are hundreds of thousands... millions of
refugees. She saved them from certain doom again and again from many nations of
the world. She has done a lot of good, giving these peoples homes, jobs... a
purpose."
	"What purpose is that?" Ukyou growled out.
	"She says she want to put an end to the chaos. To the constant
fighting."
	"And you believe her?" Ukyou replied.
	"Why don't you?"
	"She tried to kill me."
	"So did I."
	"I haven't forgotten that."
	Pluto felt the need to step in at that point. Rose was almost glowing
with power and the air flowing from Ukyou was so cold it chilled Pluto's exposed
legs. She stood up between them. "Ladies. Perhaps we can take a few moments to
cool off. There are other matters to discuss."
	The two glared at each other for a long moment. Then Ukyou seemed to
deflate and she looked at Pluto. "Pluto... you still have the dreams, right? The
prophecy?"
	"Yes..." Pluto murmured.
	"Where does the final battle take place?"
	"I... I can't say for certain. It's a featureless plain. There is a sky
filled with dark clouds and a hole opens in them..."
	"I see..." Ukyou looked out the window for a moment. "Does the phrase
'where dreams go to die' mean anything to you?"
	Pluto frowned. "No. Not really." She paused. "Why?"
	"No reason." Ukyou started towards the door. She looked at Rose one last
time. "If you need..." she trailed off again, and for a moment Pluto saw her
mask slip. Pluto expected to see anguish there, or maybe anger... something
strong. But instead, Ukyou just looked weary. Then the cold mask was back again,
and she was gone.
	"Perhaps..." Pluto looked at her companion. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt,
if you..."
	"What? Played the daughter?" Rose snorted. "There is nothing between us,
Pluto. And I can't afford to get close to her. One day, I may be forced to kill
her. Feelings would only get in my way."
	Pluto had no response to that.

*

	Rei wanted to say that what was going on at the windowsill was strange.
There was an octopus, a tiny little one with a big cute head and tiny little
tentacles, wearing a bandana with the rising sun of Japan on it; and it was in
the middle of a kung fu duel with a purple mouse/monkey thing wearing a white
gi. She just stared at them as they tumbled back and forth, throwing up little
clouds of dust and threatening to overturn the flower vases. Every time they
did, Katsuhito would absently reach up and set the things right, seemingly
without even noticing what he was doing.
	Really, however, she had long ago learned to live with strange. Years
spent living with Washuu Hakubi had altered her very concept of the word
strange. Animals having a vicious little battle on the windowsill without anyone
else in the room noticing except her? Par for the course, these days.
	"This isn't going well, is it?" Mamoru said. He had removed his sniper
rifle from under his cloak and was cleaning it. Fevrier was sitting next to him,
just staring at the ceiling. Marz and Satsuki stood in the far corner, talking
softly. Akane...
	Akane was standing in the centre of the room, holding a pair of strange
crystals in her hand. They were the size of hen's eggs, shaped like diamonds.
They glowed yellow and aquamarine as Akane spun them around in her hand. They
made little clacking sounds as she did so.
	"There has to be something we're missing," Akane said softly.
	"What?" Rei sighed. "We've been over this town, top to bottom. It's been
two weeks. I hate to say this, Akane, but..."
	"Everyone here is happy," Fevrier pointed out.
	"Yes, they are." Katsuhito gave a small smile. "But then again,
ignorance is bliss."
	"It's more than that," Fevrier pointed out. "Even if they didn't have
Chronos to worry about, people are still people. They make themselves miserable,
at least some of them. Jealousy. Intolerance. Hate. When I worked with Bison I
learned all about these emotions, how they lurked in every heart... how to use
them against people. But I haven't seen any of the signs of it here. People here
are genuinely happy."
	"Yes." Mamoru agreed. "It's like a utopia."
	"It's a lie," Akane insisted darkly.
	"So many things we believe in are," Katsuhito pointed out, crossing his
arms and smiling sagely. "Gods. Demons. Fate. Religion. Who are we to say that
their lies are worth less than our lies?"
	"You're sounding like Akio again," Akane said accusingly.
	Katsuhito adjusted his glasses, frowning. "Maybe I do. But are you just
going to call me names, or are you going to answer my question?"
	"What question?" Akane snapped.
	"This entire place may be a lie, but do we have the right to destroy
these people's happiness just because of that?"
	Akane opened her mouth, closed it again, and turned away with a snort.
Rei sighed and looked at the old man. He was such a pain sometimes. True, she
had learned more about fighting from him in the last few years then she had
thought possible, but he had a tendency to be such an... arrogant old fart about
it. Just because he was really hundreds of years older than any of them didn't
mean he had to treat them all like children.
	On the windowsill, the animals now fought it out using flower stems as
bo staffs.
	"So what now?" Mamoru asked.
	"We can't just wait for Sailor Moon to come back," Akane said. "If she's
gone from here, we find out where, and we follow her."
	"That... won't be possible."
	Everyone in the room (except Katsuhito) jumped a little. Rei twisted her
head towards the door, and then down it. The door had slid open fractionally and
sitting in the space between it and the jam was a small black cat with a golden
crescent on her forehead.
	"Luna!" Rei exclaimed. She stepped closer. "I'm glad to see you."
	"I wish I could say the same, Rei."
	Luna's tone brought Rei up short. Everyone else was staring at the
little talking cat. Marz even pointed at it and exclaimed. "Did that cat just
talk?"
	"You have a problem with a talking cat, but not a kung fu octopus?" Rei
replied dryly.
	"What octopus?" Marz replied.
	"Luna..." Akane broke in, kneeling in front of the moon cat. "So, have
you found happiness here, too?"
	Luna looked up at Akane for a moment. "No. Akane. I have not."
	"You still have your own mind?"
	"Akio doesn't take away your mind, Akane." She snorted. "He merely gives
you choices." She looked at the girl, then her eyes narrowed. "Akane. Why are
you carrying around the souls of two Sailor Senshi in your pocket?"
	Rei snapped her eyes to the short-haired woman. Akane looked down at
Luna, and sighed. "They were entrusted to me, Luna. Sailor Uranus and Sailor
Neptune. They died in the battle in Tokyo, seven years ago. They found their way
to me, and I've been looking after them ever since."
	"I see..." Luna frowned. "You should leave too, Akane. It's not safe
here for you. Either you or Rei."
	"I can resist Akio," Akane insisted.
	"No. I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about Sailor Moon."
	"Sailor Moon?" Rei gasped. "Why would we have to worry about her?"
	Luna glanced up at the two of them. "Because Usagi believes she doesn't
need the help of the Senshi anymore. She thinks that she has to protect them
from themselves. You've met Ami and Makoto... that was Usagi's doing, not
Akio's. She convinced them to abandon their powers. You should leave..."
	"No," Akane insisted. "We need to see her. We need to know what she's
been doing for the last seven years."
	"You won't like the answer, Akane."
	"I'm sick of people telling me that," Akane snapped. "If I don't, then I
don't. Just take me to her."
	"Very well."

*

	Akira knew something was unusual almost instantly. Yet her hands
continued working. She was ratcheting at the bike, making certain everything was
secure. She had begun to whistle. She never whistled. But she did then, and the
tune was hauntingly familiar. She liked it, and it frightened her.
	The parking garage seemed to stretch out. The walls receded into
shadows. The concrete columns bent slightly on the edge of her vision, the gaps
between them widening and widening even as the pillars themselves seemed further
away. Akira knew they weren't, that it was a trick of the eye, but she couldn't
dismiss the feeling that she was... somewhere else now.
	She continued whistling and wasn't at all surprised when a feminine leg
drifted into her line of sight. The leg was covered in white spandex, or some
material very much like it. Akira ceased whistling and followed that leg up its
length to its owner. She wore a skintight outfit, but barely was worth it
considering how pubescent her body was. Her legs were crossed and she sat back
on the seat of the bike Akira was assembling. Her hands, the tops covered by the
large gauntlets with their strange red jewels, rested on her knees. Her white
hair flared out around her head and the glittering symbol on her forehead
sparkled in the half-light. She smiled at Akira. Her eyes were... calm. Serene.
	Utterly insane.
	"You took a long time coming back," Akira said. She had meant to demand
who she was, what she was doing, but that felt better to say, so she said it
instead.
	"You missed me?" the girl said, her smile widening. It appeared almost
comical. Akira giggled.
	"No. I didn't. I'd hoped you were a dream."
	The girl reached down and pinched Akira's arm. The pain was sharp, but
brief. Akira shook the arm. The woman was leaning down close to her now. She
smelled... there was no way to describe her smell. It was every pleasant thing
Akira had ever smelt in her life. It was flowers and baking bread and summer
grass and fresh grease and the open road and...
	"You're very good at this." The girl pulled away suddenly, and Akira
shook the fog from her head. The girl was looking at the bike now. "You
certainly know how things fit together."
	"It's a knack," Akira replied. She leaned forward and began her work
again. She wanted to scream, to do something... but she found she didn't want
to enough to actually do so.
	"No. It isn't." The girl slid off the seat and was behind Akira now. She
leaned over her shoulder and pointed to the engine. "You know because you saw.
You saw how it all fit together. Someone showed you. That's how you know."
	"You're right." Akira continued working. "It's very simple, once you're
shown how it all fits together."
	"All the pieces, fitting seamlessly together." The girl ran a finger
along the machines's frame. "Carburetor, sparkplug, exhaust... each of them
looks like a separate thing, doesn't it?"
	"But they're all part of the same thing..." Akira murmured. "It just
looks like they aren't. But really, when you take the right angle... it is all
one thing. All of it."
	"Yes." The girl slid around in front of Akira again. Akira opened her
mouth to scream, but found herself smiling instead. "Ahura Mazda..." She cupped
Akira's chin. "The great spirit chose you. Vessel of god. Fetich soul. Or did
you choose yourself? Hard to say, isn't it?"
	"Excuse me?"
	"Do you think trying to leave will take you away from her?" the woman
smiled. "You will always be a part of her now. You always were. It all fits
together. You just realised it more than someone else. So now... you have it
inside you. That part of her."
	Akira felt like her head was swimming. The woman was leaning forward
now. There was almost nothing separating them. Her face was a millimeter from
Akira's. As she spoke, Akira could almost feel the movement of her lips.
	"The part she doesn't like. The part she hates. All the doubt. All the
things that don't fit together neatly." The girl's irises began to shrink.
"Quite a paradox, to be god and be mortal too. She can't handle it... no one
can. That's why we exist. All those horrible things, that they don't want to
see... that's what we are for. To see them. To experience the truths they deny."
	Akira fell back, she waved her hand in front of her. "What.. are you..."
	"But that was their mistake," The girl crept forward on hands and knees,
crawling over top of Akira. "We are an inconvenient truth, but you can force
them to acknowledge it. You can. You have seen what she needs to see. You must
show her."
	"Show her what?" Akira demanded.
	"Why... the Oversoul, of course." The girl's eyes glittered with
madness. "The stuff that dreams are made of. You've seen it." She lowered
herself on top of Akira. "And together...
	"You can make it die."
	Akira screamed and kicked up. The girl looked startled for a moment, as
the blow sent her flying into the ceiling. The concrete cracked around her.
Akira kicked to her feet and looked at the woman with a growl. "Never!"
	The girl laughed and clapped. "Oh... oh joy. You're so close. I can
almost taste it!"
	"Who are you? What do you want?"
	The girl smiled. "The trigger of destruction."
	And then, when Akira blinked, she was gone. Akira looked around her. The
world had returned to normal. She looked up. The ceiling was still cracked. A
piece of stone fell at her feet. Akira shuddered, feeling suddenly very cold.

*

	Akane had come, and Rei had come with her. Strangely enough, Mamoru had
insisted on joining them, but the three ex-Dolls had seemed fine with allowing
him to go on his own. The others had remained at the hotel. Akane didn't like
the idea of breaking up the group again, but Luna insisted that where they were
going a large crowd of people - heavily armed people, at that - wouldn't go over
well. Once they reached the hospital, Akane had to agree somewhat.
	The moon cat led them downstairs, to the basement. Past a number of
twists and turns until they were in a lonely room near the back of the building.
In this room, there was a girl.
	She was pale, like she hadn't been outside in a long time. She had hair
the colour of sunlight, but it hung limply around her. She was lying,
unconscious but not asleep on a simple hospital bed. Her body was covered up to
her neck, with her bare arms resting on the sheets. Wires and tubes stitched
across her exposed flesh, leading to machines that pumped and beeped and hissed.
There was a tube down her mouth, and one up her nose.
	"Nanami!" Rei gasped at seeing her. She rushed into the room, placing a
hand on the girl's brow. "What... what happened to her?"
	"Something terrible," Luna stated. She leapt up onto the bed with feline
grace and sat down just beyond the reach of the comatose girl's fingers.
	"Who is this?" Mamoru asked. Akane frowned. Hadn't all the Sailor Senshi
been accounted for? This couldn't be another one, could it?
	"Her name is Nanami Kiryuu," Rei explained. "She was... a strange girl
I knew when I used to go here. We didn't talk much. I know her brother vanished
some years ago and she was eager to find him..."
	"And that's where things went wrong for her," Luna said. "Nanami's
desire to find her brother was such a pure and beautiful dream that it attracted
the attention of the guardian of Elysium, the world of dreams."
	"Elysium?" Akane asked.
	"Hmmm. Think of it as a sort of psychic plane, Akane." Luna looked at
the girl. "All human thoughts, all human experiences are connected. We share a
connected unconsciousness. Elysium is the physical manifestation of that
unconsciousness. It is a world where thoughts, dreams and nightmares compose the
physical reality."
	"It's a spiritual pathway," Mamoru broke in suddenly. "It connects all
realms, all places, all realities. Powerful beings would use it to traverse the
cosmos across gulfs impassable by lesser magics. It was also used as a prison.
Objects and beings too dangerous to be allowed loose in the real world were
imprisoned in Elysium, trapped by the collective will of all humanity where few
could reach it.
	"There was a guardian, a protector of the realm, appointed by the people
of Earth to keep the realm of dreams from being defiled. Because even as our
dreams feed it, so too does it touch all of us. To lose it, would be to lose
everything."
	Silence descended on the room. "How did you know that?" Luna asked
breathlessly.
	"I don't know... it just..." Mamoru shrugged. "I just knew it."
	"Not even we have figured out all of the secrets of Elysium, and we've
been fighting it for two years now."
	"Fighting it?" Akane asked.
	"Yes." Luna bowed her head. "Seven years ago, something wounded the very
nature of Elysium. It changed from a world of dreams to a dead world. It
became... Oblivion."
	"Oblivion..." Akane hissed. She'd heard the word, of course. Few had not
heard of the Messiah of Silence and her quest. Akane had a far more personal
grudge against the forces of Oblivion. It was their cult which had almost
destroyed Tokyo, which had been the spark that lit the powderkeg.
	"Yes. Utter annihilation. The end of all things. Call it what you will,
but it exists now in that place. Slowly consuming the dreams of humanity one
thought at a time."
	"So what does this have to do with Nanami?" Rei asked.
	"She was... contacted by the guardian of the dream world, as I said."
Luna continued, "He needed to warn the world of the danger. So he came here, to
find Sailor Moon. He can't exist outside of the dream world, or a suitable pure
human dream. He had almost reached Sailor Moon... when Chris found him."
	"Chris..." Rei snarled.
	"Yes. The same one," Luna sighed. "He... tore out Nanami's soul. He
ripped out the very power that sustained the guardian, the Golden Crystal. He
left her a vegetable and went on his way. Why? Who can say?" Luna shook her
head.
	"Another innocent he has to pay for," Rei growled.
	Akane stared at the girl on the bed. Then she looked at Luna. "So,
Sailor Moon knows about this?"
	"Yes. That's what she's been doing, Akane. She's been holding off
Oblivion. She journeys to that world, and uses her power to hold back the
darkness for another day. Without her, we would all have perished years ago."
	"Bullshit," Akane snarled. Luna blinked. The others stared at her. Akane
clenched her fists. "Why didn't she stop this, Luna?"
	"Stop Oblivion? Because, Akane, it's too-"
	"I mean this!" Akane gestured towards the comatose girl again. "This
tragedy! She could have kept Chris from doing it! Why didn't she?"
	"Akane, that isn't fair, she didn't know-" Luna began, but again Akane
cut her off.
	"Akio knew. He knew and he did nothing." Akane glared at the body in the
bed. "Because... because this Guardian would have been a threat to him?" Akane
nodded, it sounded right. "A creature from the world of dreams. Yes. It could
have threatened his hold on this town. He ALLOWED this to happen."
	"We already know Akio is scum, Akane..." Mamoru started but trailed off
at the look on Akane's face.
	"But don't you see?" Akane said. "Sailor Moon knows all this, too. She
KNOWS."
	Suddenly Akane was running. She heard the shouts of the others following
her, but they were drifting backwards. She sprinted up the stairs and out of the
hospital. She dashed between the smiling and laughing people, across the
immaculate streets and around the pristine roses. She dashed onto the campus and
straight towards the Chairman's Tower.
	Her hand reached up and clutched the Star Seeds again. She clutched them
until they bit into her flesh, drawing blood. Akane ran, ignoring the elevator
and looking for the stairs. For a moment, the room seemed to swim around her,
like she was seeing double. It was clear the only way up the tower was the
elevator, so why didn't she take it? But she knew that was HIS game. That's what
they had been doing since they had gotten here. Playing his game.
	Playing games. Toying with their hearts, with their emotions. Offering
them happiness, if only they gave in, stopped resisting. Typical MAN. Akane was
familiar with people thinking they knew best for her. People trying to enforce
their will on hers. People who thought they knew best.
	It pissed her off. She reached down inside herself and found that anger.
That righteous rage, it filled her. It was like an old friend, coming back. She
had never really grown out of it, just learned to control it, to harness it, to
unleash it only when appropriate. Now was that time.
	Seven years ago, she had defied the will of God. She would defy the will
of Akio, too.
	And with that, the room snapped back into focus, and she saw the door
leading to the stairs. She ran up the flights, taking them three steps at a
time. She kicked out at the top, knocking the door off its hinges. It spiralled
into the room and clattered to the ground. Akane threw off her cloak and walked
into the room. Her hand reached down and settled on the swords tucked into her
belt.
	Akio was waiting for her, of course. He stood in the middle of the room,
between two couches facing each other. He was wearing a white suit, a military
outfit with golden cords and elaborate epaulets. Standing behind him and to his
left was a young woman with purple hair done up in a series of buns. She wore a
red dress and stood with her hands clasped in front of her, fingers pointed at
the ground.
	"Really, Miss Tendo, you only had to knock," Akio said, smiling.
	"Shut up," Akane said, starting forward.
	"Is this your answer, Miss Tendo? Violence?" Akio tsked. "What will that
solve? Prove that you can beat me up? That you can hurt me?" He smiled at her.
"Will that make you happy, Miss Tendo? Striking down a man who doesn't raise a
hand to defend himself?"
	Akane looked around. The room was spinning again. It was like there were
two rooms, no... hundreds of rooms. This place was not just an observatory, it
was also an arena, it was also a garden, it was also an upside down castle,
floating in the sky.
	"This ends here, Akio." She warned him. "No more words. I'm putting an
end to your paradise."
	"What do you have against it, Miss Tendo?" Akio mused. "Is it the fact
that the people here are happy? That they live lives of freedom, freedom from
Chronos, freedom from hatred and malice? Or..." His smile became hard. "Is it
because you hate that I can give them what you can not? My world gives these
people the safety you can never offer. I can restore the Dolls to their former
selves. I can free Mamoru. I can do all this, all those things you never could."
He chuckled. "I can even clean up your messes. Who was it, do you think, who
nearly destroyed Elysium? You trapped a being of incarnate destruction in the
barrier between worlds, and you did not think that would ever come back to haunt
you?"
	Akio started towards her. He was real, Akane realised. He was one of the
few constants. One of the things that never changed. Him and the woman. And
Akane. And one other thing.
	"We are all free to make choices, Miss Tendo. But we must also face the
consequences of those choices. What have I done that is so evil? I allowed one
girl to be harmed. But what have you done? How many people have suffered because
of you, Miss Tendo?" He was almost next to her now. "The mass extinction was not
caused by me. YOU did that. It was YOU that gave Chronos the foothold in your
country. It was YOU who refused the easy solution because of your stubborn
pride. YOU caused it. YOU trapped Pharaoh 90 in Elysium. YOU are the one who
allowed his infection to spread beyond control. YOU are the one who has put not
just Japan, but the whole world... the whole UNIVERSE at risk. All for what?"
	He stopped right in front of her, and looked down at her. His expression
was kind, but his words cut Akane like blades. "How much suffering is your pride
worth, Miss Tendo? How many more people will die because you must force your
morality on others? Is that all you fight for? This mad insistence that you,
somehow, are right? Why do you even fight... Akane?"
	He reached and put a hand on her shoulder and her arm slumped.
"Because..." She looked up into his eyes. There, she saw it, the arrogance. The
certainty that he had already won. Without lifting a blade, he had cut her down.
He was so certain. So insufferably RIGHT. The anger leapt in Akane again.
"Because no matter the cost... no matter what... EVIL MUST BE OPPOSED!"
	Akane roared and her blade flashed out. The silver streaked through the
air as she drew live steel. Akio fell back, gasping. But he was not her target.
The one other thing in the room that was real was. The machine, the giant
projector machine. Akane couldn't tell how she knew it was the source of all the
illusions, she just did. Her blade struck it and Akane released all her chi
through the cut. It blazed scarlet. The machine bisected, the edges of the
metal glowing orange as they were reduced to molten metal by the heat of her
blade's passage.
	For a moment, the machine stood there, defying gravity as its halves
slid apart. Then, Akane struck again, and the machine exploded. The explosion
smelled of human blood, and when the smoke cleared, Akane stood atop the
chairman's tower. The ceiling had been blown clear off, revealing the evening
sky. She stepped back, and sheathed her blade as the pieces of the machine
rained down around her. A sudden wind, cold and sharp with the scent of winter,
blew across them,
	There was nothing left of the room now, except Akane, Akio and the
strange girl. And there was a door. It was a gate, a stone gate carved with
roses.
	"What have you done?" Akio gasped. The explosion had knocked him off his
feet.
	"I've put an end to your dream," Akane informed him coldly.
	"Idiot girl!" Akio climbed to his feet. "That machine was this place's
protection!"
	"I know..."
	And, as if on cue, in the distance there was an explosion. Akane turned
to see the scarlet globe erupting in the waterfront. She was not surprised,
except by the speed of their response. But then again, Reichmann Gyro had been
looking for this place for seven years. Why would he hesitate now, when his
objective had finally been flushed into the open?

*

	Rose tapped her foot, raising an eyebrow. Cracker Jack adjusted the brim
of his hat, his eyes hidden from sight. The woman before him may have looked a
lot like Bison had towards the end, but she certainly wasn't Bison. For one, she
wore sensible clothes. A skirt that came down to her knees, a coat that came up
to her neck. It was a very tight skirt and coat, since she was extremely well-
endowed, but it was very sensible. Very businesslike.
	Cracker Jack knew business. Still, he shifted uncomfortably. He was
facing down five very powerful women, and putting his life in their hands. Rose
was, of course, unpredictable. He had no idea how much of Bison remained in her
personality, but it was probably too much for his liking. Then there was the
queen of the underworld, the enigmatic time lady and the biker chick. But he had
one advantage over them.
	They were all a bunch of good guys.
	"Why should we trust you?" Rose asked.
	"Frankly?" He shrugged. "Because I like money, I don't much like hiding,
and I ain't got nowhere else to go."
	"Well?" Rose turned to the short brunette nearby. Nabiki was sitting in
a chair, leaning back and examining Jack over the tops of her knuckles as she
held her laced fingers before her mouth. It made it very hard to read her
expression.
	"He's telling the truth," Nabiki said after a moment.
	"Hey! You don't need to go mind-readin' me."
	"Frankly? Yes we do. You were one of Bison's top men," Nabiki pointed
out.
	"You're lucky we didn't have you thrown in chains the moment you showed
up," Rose growled.
	"Right," Jack smiled. "You ladies need my help. This country is falling
apart without Bison at the helm. Chronos is just chomping at the bit to swallow
it whole, too."
	"You're evil," Rose pointed out.
	"Please. That's 'morally impaired'." Jack grinned.
	"I don't see how we have much choice," the third voice said. Jack turned
to look at her. She was leaning against the wall, almost blending into the
shadows. If you didn't pay attention to her, she practically vanished. Her
inhuman black lotus eyes stared coldly at Jack. "He may be scum, but better he
be our scum than end up throwing his hat in with one of the petty warlords or
Chronos."
	At that point the door opened with a loud bang.
	"Hey, everyone, ya gotta see this!"
	They all turned to see Ranma striding into the room. He moved with an
extra special helping of pride today, his face cracked nearly in two by an
enormous shit-eating grin. He didn't so much walk as strutted. At his side was
one of the Dolls, coming up to only his shoulder. Juni moved robotically, but
with a certain sensual grace, like she always did.
	"This is totally awesome," Ranma told them all. "Oh, hey Jack."
	"Ranma," Cracker Jack tipped his hat slightly.
	"How's your leg?"
	"Healed up. Your face?"
	"Let's ask the ladies." Ranma turned his grin on the ladies in the room.
"What do you think, girls? My face all healed back up to its lady-killing
glory?"
	Ukyou chuckled. Rose merely glared. Nabiki and Pluto exchanged a glance
but said nothing. The fifth girl in the room raised an eyebrow. She was standing
near the window, hands laced behind her back. "I've seen better," Akira said.
	"Ah, whadda you know? You like chicks. Not that I don't also make a
sexy chick, but you have no appreciation for my manly attraction."
	"If there is some reason..." Rose began, but Ranma cut her off.
	"Oh, that's right!" Ranma turned to the German Doll. "Juni, what is...
say... Cracker Jack's battle power?"
	"Cracker Jack's battle power is currently 1789," Juni replied
mechanically. Ranma turned around and grinned at them all, raising his eyebrows
a few times as if this was the best thing ever. Even Cracker Jack just stared at
him.
	"Uh... what?" Ukyou said.
	"It's awesome, Ucchan. This girl can read battle auras and assign a
value to them!" Ranma patted the Doll on the shoulder. "I wish I'd had one of
these years ago. It's like... it's like keeping score!"
	"Keeping score?" Pluto snorted. "Men."
	"Watch this! Juni, what is my battle power?"
	"Ranma Saotome's battle power is 3004," the girl answered promptly.
	"Hah!" Ranma pointed at Jack. "See that? In your face!"
	"Kid, you already beat me up. You know you're better than me."
	"But now I have an official number!"
	"Juni..." Akira said, leaning forward from the glass. "Just out of
curiosity, what is my battle power?"
	"Akira Kazama's battle power is 3007," the woman said without
inflection.
	"What?" Ranma stared at her. "NO! This can't be right!" He clenched his
fists and growled.
	"Ranma Saotome's battle power has risen to 3011..." the girl said.
	"Yes!" Ranma turned to Akira and pulled down one eyelid while sticking
his tongue out at her. Akira chuckled into her hand, her eyes closing.
	"What about Ukyou?" Everyone looked at Pluto. She, however, was staring
at the sandy-haired young Doll.
	"Ukyou Kuonji's battle power is... infinite," Juni said after a moment.
	"Whoa. Looks like I got some catching up to do," Ranma mused.
	"Yes. Like, all of it," Nabiki pointed out snidely.
	"As much as I hate to break up this amusing moment," Ukyou said,
stepping forward into the light. "I think this is an excellent opportunity."
	"For what? Guessing Arkanphel's battle power?" Rose said flatly,
crossing her arms.
	"No. This is the first time in almost a month we've all been together in
the same place. The brush fires haven't died down but we're in the eye of the
storm, so to speak," Ukyou continued. "Frankly, all this tension is getting to
us. We're all moping around and snapping at each other."
	"So?" Rose grumbled again.
	"I think it's time we took a break. That we made it clear this isn't
like the old order all over again. I think we should all take a day to relax,
invite people over, have a good time."
	Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
	"Well, to use the words of a woman far wiser than I: 'We saved the
world, I say we party.'"

*

	"Where did it come from?" Ikazuchi asked, his voice nearly drowned out
by the wind.
	"I don't know," ZX-Tole shouted over the roar. The transport was
skimming low over the harbour. The city ahead was beautiful, laid out in neat
lines. The city rose in tiers until one reached what looked like a school, with
a large tower in the centre. Behind the school grew a small forest with large
green trees. ZX-Tole narrowed his eyes.
	The better question was: how had Gyro known it was here? Earlier today,
he had sent their plane into the air and trebled the normal sea patrols in this
region. What had tipped him off about this city, hidden somehow from the eyes of
Chronos until now? ZX-Tole was used to not knowing everything that was going on,
but sometimes Gyro seemed to have access to information that made ZX-Tole
wonder...
	The waterfront was in flames. Aquatic zoanoids had climbed out of the
water and were wreaking havoc, destroying everything in their path. The humans
were offering no resistance. They were being cut down in the streets like sheep,
or running screaming towards the upper parts of the city. The plane skimmed low
over the rooftops and ZX-Tole was able to look right down into the carnage.
	He hissed and braced himself, before turning to his team. "Remember your
orders. Wipe it out. All of it. Leave nothing alive. Level every building to the
ground." He turned back to the open door. "Everyone, transform!"
	ZX-Tole leapt from the plane just as it passed over a large open square.
He felt the transformation surge through his body, the power of it exploding
through his nerves like lightning. For a moment, his body was covered in flames
as the power ripped apart his clothing. Then he landed in the centre of the
street with a loud crack, his insectile feet sending tiny fissures across the
cobblestones.
	Two more cracks signalled the arrival of Derzerb and Red Cyclone right
in front of him. Derzerb had already changed into his battle form, resembling
nothing so much as a grey-skinned upright rhinoceros. Red Cyclone had even
transformed, which was rare unless ZX-Tole ordered it directly. Neo-zoanoid
transformations were slightly less spectacular than those of their hyper-zoanoid
cousins. Much of the huge muscled Russian body had not changed. He had gained a
foot of height, allowing him to tower even over Derzerb with ease. His skin had
taken on the colour of a forest fire, mottled with reds and oranges, and also
acquired the texture of alligator hide. Huge vents had opened up in the back of
his shoulders and hips, from which great gouts of steam were spilling out.
	"I am... RED CYCLONE!" the massive humanoid roared, before taking a few
steps forward to grab a bus with both hands. He lifted it up over his head with
the ease most people would an air mattress and hurled it through the air. The
people in the bus screamed, their voices suddenly cutting off as the vehicle
erupted into flames, blasting apart the front of a nearby building.
	"HA! I like the way you think!" Derzerb called in his rumbling baritone.
He reached out, tearing a pair of street signs from the ground with enough force
they pulled thick divots from the ground. He spun them like batons, flinging
them down the street. One cut a running man in two, the other just missed a
screaming woman, instead cutting a huge hole through the front window of a candy
store.
	There was a crack and a boom as Ikazuchi landed on top of a three story
building. His landing blew the windows out all across the neighbourhood. His
blue and purple body glowed as he gathered electrical energy around his hands
from the strange organs in his arms and legs. He frowned, holding a ball of
concentrated power in his palm for a second. Then, instead of unleashing it
against more fleeing civilians, he turned and unleashed it against another
building across the street. The blast cored the building, sending great clouds
of flame and ash out of the doors and windows.
	The civilians' reprieve was short-lived. The air suddenly filled with a
high-pitched hum and then Thancrus landed among them. His arms twirled around
him, almost poetically, and the people stopped running. Thancrus chuckled as he
walked out of the group seconds before their bodies burst apart in sprays of
gore that painted the sidewalks red.
	ZX-Tole stared on impassively. His orders were clear. The armour on his
forearms, legs and chest flipped back, the chitin exposing the deadly red irises
of his bio-lasers. This was not what he was for. He was a soldier, meant to
fight other soldiers. This was beneath him. This slaughter of people proved
nothing, accomplished nothing. But Gyro was a zoalord. ZX-Tole couldn't have
disobeyed him if he wanted to. He hissed, a sound that became an insectile buzz,
and braced himself.
	Then his lasers fired off, sweeping across the town. Buildings went up
like candles, bodies burst like heated balloons, their remains vapourising
before the victims even had a chance to scream. In one salvo he had reduced ten
city blocks to a deadly inferno. He turned to his team, the Elite Five. The best
of the best. He was on the verge of ordering them forward when the air cracked
with the report of a rifle going off. ZX-Tole gave out a cry of pain and backed
up a step, swinging his left arm up. A stream of blood poured from what had once
been one of his lasers, but was now a bloody hole.
	He looked around and saw the sniper. A figure in black, standing on a
building just to the side of the area ZX-Tole had immolated. ZX-Tole recognized
the man. So... THAT was why they were here.
	"ZX-Tole!" ZX-Tole swung his gaze back and he saw her. She was standing
in front of the fire, like she had walked through them without a care. She wore
a yellow blouse and blue vest with a skirt that came to mid-thigh. Under it she
wore a black bodystocking. Her hands rested on the pair of swords she had
sheathed in her belt.
	"Akane Tendo!" Ikazuchi said, leaping down from his perch. "I knew we
would meet again, my fiery destiny! Have you finally come to accept your future
by my side, as part of the great design of Arkanphel, as part of the honourable
strength of Chronos?"
	"Great design? Honourable strength?" Akane looked around her, her lips
pulling back from her teeth. "Is this your honour? Slaughtering woman and
children? Killing the helpless? IS IT!?"
	"A soldier obeys his orders," ZX-Tole told her, his voice buzzing but
somehow coming out heavy.
	She looked at him. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm sick of this war, ZX-Tole.
I'm sick of running away while your people butcher whoever they want. I'm sick
of lies and half-truths and compromises." With a steely hiss she drew both her
blade, and assumed a fighting stance. "Let's finish this. One way, or another!"
	"Well, the orders said to kill everyone!" Thancrus shouted, charging
her. Then he leapt aside as a blast of flame smashed into the ground just in
front of him. He looked aside at the woman who was now standing on the other
side of the square. Her long black hair blew in the wind and in her hands was a
bow made out of flame; she was already drawing another fiery bolt across it.
	ZX-Tole scanned the square. They were surrounded. The sniper up on the
roof was on one side, with three woman in black outfits coming out of the
alleys beside him. One carried a pair of handguns, another a long sharp blade,
the third had only her fists. And behind them was an old grey-haired man in
blue-grey hakama and a white shirt. He smiled at ZX-Tole, waving impudently with
his free hand. The other carried a wooden sword.
	The orders had been explicit. While it was anatomically impossible, ZX-
Tole wanted to smile. THIS was what he had been designed for. "Kill them. All of
them."
	And the city became a battleground.

*

	Rei leapt backward, twisting through the air. Her hands blurred,
launching bolt after bolt of pure flame towards her enemies. She had lived with
Katsuhito and Washuu for years. They had helped her to discover the hidden
depths of her power. They had taught her how to use it in ways she hadn't
imagined. She moved without thinking, the flames exploding from her finger tips
with the speed of a machine gun. It was like fire was raining from the sky.
	The Elite Five scattered, unwilling to be caught in the inferno the town
square had suddenly become. She saw the blue-skinned one and the one that had
swords for hands bound off in one direction, and the huge black bug and the
giant red man go off in the other. Which left just...
	She was just landing on an untouched roof when he burst from the flames.
The flowed around him like water, not even singing his body. And he was
laughing.
	"I remember you, little girl!" the monster roared and smashed headfirst
into the building she was on. The entire structure shuddered as his bulk
threatened to tear it in two. Rei flipped sideways, off the building and fell
to the ground. Her hands flickered again and she drilled three shafts of plasma
right into his side. They exploded, obscuring him in smoke and sparks for a few
seconds. But his laughter emerged seconds before he did.
	"It is you..." Rei said, breathless.
	The thing took a step forward. "Don't you remember me? I'm immune to
flame! You can't hurt me!" Rei hesitated and the thing's animal face twisted
into a parody of a grin. Its inhuman yellow eyes narrowed in glee. "Are you
going to run again, little girl? Run and leave your friends to die? Just like
you left your grandfather?"
	For a moment, everything stopped. There was just the sound of Rei's
heartbeat. Then she stepped forward, lowering her hands to her side. The flaming
bow vanished. "I'm not going to run from you."
	"Then... I'll tear you apart!" The thing charged and Rei raised one
hand, turning slightly sideways.
	It was laughing as it came and Rei stood, implacable, to meet it. It
bent its head, its twisted horn dipping low to the ground as it came in to meet
her. Rei remained steady until the last possible moment. Then she moved back one
step and brought her hand down just behind its horn. She twisted, pivoting,
putting all of her enhanced strength behind it. The beast was huge, it was
massive... but it had no idea that momentum could work against it as easily as
for.
	With a loud cry it slipped from the ground and rocketed past Rei,
spinning end over end before it crashed into a building. The entire facade
imploded, collapsing in on the beast. Rei smiled. Katsuhito hadn't just taught
her how to use her powers.
	There was a roar and the thing burst from the rubble, uninjured. Rei
turned to face it again. "You think you can hurt me with simple tricks, little
girl?" it hissed, its eyes blazing with rage.
	"Let's find out," Rei responded.

*

	Fevrier knew they were in trouble the moment the two zoanoids came at
them. One of the Elite Five, they may have been able to handle between the four
of them. Might. Two was odds that she knew were suicide. What was Akane
thinking, attacking them head on like this? She was a better tactician than
that. They had to use hit and run, or better yet just run.
	But in the distance, Fevrier could hear the cries of the wounded. Seven
years ago, she wouldn't have cared. Just more collateral damage. Just more
statistics. Now... now she cursed as she tumbled through the air, the magazines
from her handguns ejecting slowly. She had already knocked the reloads from her
belt and she caught them in mid-air before slamming them in place by cracking
the grips of the weapons together. She was firing again before she hit the
ground.
	Thancrus laughed as he dashed sideways, his bladed hands slashing out in
both directions. Fevrier could see the ripple in the air as the soundwave he
produced caught the bullets, then a second later the hypercore rounds exploded.
Fevrier unloaded both clips into him, unloading them so fast the bangs became a
steady roar and not even one bullet came anywhere near him.
	But she wasn't trying to hit him.
	Satsuki emerged from the shadows behind him, a streak of black against
the flames of the burning city. Her steel blade came up, a silver shadow.
Thancrus somehow spun, catching her blade with his own. She was knocked back,
flipping in mid-air and landing on her feet. Her katana vibrated.
	"That... that weapon isn't steel! I would have destroyed it," Thancrus
declared petulantly.
	"We got upgrades," Fevrier informed him. He turned to look at her, just
as she dropped the useless pistols. She plucked the two strange-looking handguns
Washuu had given her. The air filled with white light as she unleashed bolts of
energy the shape of hen's eggs from the barrels. Thancrus might have blinked,
had he the capacity. He raised one hand, trying to parry the energy bolts with a
wall of sound. The blasts pelted through his field without resistance, and the
impacts erupted up his body.
	The modified hyper-zoanoid staggered back under the onslaught. Fevrier
frowned. She had seen these things put a hole the size of a watermelon in five-
foot-thick concrete. Apparently sound control wasn't the limit of his
modifications. Satsuki dashed behind him, her alien-alloy blade slashing
crosswise. He gasped and collapsed backward as the svelte ninja girl turned to
face him. Blood dripped from her weapon. Fevrier held up her guns for a moment
as the thing fell to the ground.
	"We can hurt you," Satsuki informed him.
	"Maybe you can..." the thing hissed as it rose to one knee. "But all
you've really managed to do is make me angry!"
	Moving on instinct alone Fevrier leapt, Satsuki only a fraction of a
second behind. It was almost too late. The hyper-zoanoid gestured with one claw
and the alley they were in exploded, the sound waves ripping apart the walls and
floor and turning it into a deadly shower of jagged rubble. Seven years ago
their jumps would have taken them to the top of the building, but now they
barely got a third of the way up.
	So they improvised, turning the sides of the alley into springboards,
triangle-jumping up and again and again, crisscrossing three times as they
bounced higher and higher into the air. Just beneath their heels the walls
exploded as Thancrus extended his deadly sonic assault, chasing them into the
air. Then they were into open air and there was no more up to go.
	Fevrier cursed and spun in mid-air, twisting her guns underneath her. A
rain of white pellets slashed down into the exploding alleyway. She heard more
than saw Thancrus dodge out from beneath them. Unfortunately, she had no more
upward momentum... then Satsuki grabbed her and the two of them landed on the
roof.
	"Satsuki," Fevrier said softly. "I have a plan..."

*

	Mamoru had grown used to his limits over the years. Once upon a time, he
could leap buildings, fence with superhuman skill and even produce magical
attacks from his fingertips. Then, he had found his life force linked to three
strange, irritating, pig-headed, overly sexual, beautiful fragile young women
and his powers had been gone. At first, he had thought that he could take them
away, allow them to lead the normal lives they had been denied. Maybe even cure
them, some day, so that he could know if they truly cared about him... or were
just forced to by their reliance on his life force.
	But Mamoru Chiba had discovered that he could not stand on the
sidelines. The world was under attack, it needed champions. He had never chosen
to be a champion. He could hardly even remember his past life except as flashes
and dreams here and there. Even much of his time as Tuxedo Kamen was hazy and
indistinct, barely remembered. But he had found that he could not stand by while
people suffered. So... when Akane had found him and asked for his help, he had
given it to her.
	Because while she did not have world shaking power, or the best mind for
tactics or even the most charisma he had ever seen, she had one thing he was
willing to follow her for. She believed. She believed that mankind was worth
saving, that people were worth fighting for, that evil had to be fought no
matter where it was. She believed with a conviction that reminded Mamoru that
even if he had never been chosen, he was a hero. He had to fight, powers or no
powers.
	But damn, sometimes he missed them.
	He jumped to the next building, just managing to clear the gap as the
building behind him exploded into a pillar of shattered wood and flames. He
tucked and rolled, trying not to lose hold of his sniper rifle as he moved. Not
that it did much good. His first bullet had been caught in the neo-zoanoid's
field and melted to slag before it reached him.
	The purple-skinned humanoid set down just in front of him, his aura
burning the shingles of the roof black where it stood. He looked human, with a
handsome human face right down to its tousled 'hair'. The young man in front of
him sneered. "Are you ready to surrender yet, cur? I have no desire to sully my
hands smiting such an insignificant little man."
	Mamoru stood up shakily. His hand reached down to the weapon Washuu had
provided for him. He wondered briefly why she had bothered. He was a sniper. He
was very good at hitting targets from very far away. He was even better than
Fevrier when it came to actually hitting things, rather than just unleashing
indiscriminate destruction.
	Damn, he had to think about her, didn't he? He hoped the other two were
all right. But their only hope was to split up the Elite Five. "I don't think
I'm ready to give up yet," Mamoru said slowly.
	"Do you need another lesson then?" Ikazuchi snapped up his hand, forming
a long thin blade of crackling blue electricity. "A stern reminder of who is
your better?"
	"No, I just needed to delay you a few moments..."
	"Delay me?"
	Then Marz' fist slammed into the back of his head. The young man's eyes
crossed and he staggered forward. Mamoru reacted instantly, bringing his rifle
to bear. He cleared the chamber with a deft flick of his wrist and lined up,
then fired an instant later. The boy barely had no time to react. Marz had
fallen backward, clutching her burned arm, but his aura had whipped around his
body to meet the attack. There was no protection from Mamoru's bullet. The
hypercore round caught him right in the face. The man' head snapped back, and he
staggered.
	Mamoru was already running past him. He dropped his rifle. It was empty,
and would take too long to reload even if he had more hypercore rounds to load
it with. But he was barely paying attention to that. He grabbed Marz around the
shoulder and spun her to face him.
	"Your hand? Are you alright?"
	"I..." She winced. "I am fine... Mamoru dear..."
	"No you're not," he snarled. "You could have blasted your hand off! What
possessed you to do something so stupid? I said distract him, not get yourself
killed..."
	"Mamoru, as much as I like it when you yell at me, perhaps later?" Marz
looked pointedly behind him. Mamoru turned slowly. Ikazuchi was standing there,
rubbing at the small dark circle in the centre of his forehead. He frowned at
Mamoru and Marz.
	"That hurt, you know," he informed them. Then the purple neo-zoanoid
burst forward. His blade formed with a flick of his wrist and it was coming in
at Mamoru high and fast. Mamoru realised he had no chance of dodging, not
something like that and...
	Suddenly he was moving sideways. He realised too late that Marz had
thrown him to the side. Except she didn't follow him. Grabbing him with her
injured hand had forced her to wince in pain. Ikazuchi's blade slammed into her,
and for a moment her body was a black silhouette traced through with lines of
blue light. Then Ikazuchi finished his follow through and landed on his knees
beyond her.
	For a moment, Marz stood there, her eyes slowly closing. Mamoru could
only stare, his mouth going dry. His heart, it was too big for his chest. It
felt like it was going to explode. The woman... the frighteningly direct, the
annoyingly distractible, the amusingly naive in such strange ways... the
precious beautiful woman crumpled to the ground. She wasn't breathing.
	"MARZ!" Mamoru screamed, at her side instantly. He turned her over,
cradling her in his arms. She still wasn't breathing. "Marz! No! No... don't you
die on me!"
	"I... am sorry." Mamoru turned around, his eyes leaking tears. He
blinked in disbelief. The neo-zoanoid was standing there, looking... regretful.
Regretful! How dare he... "I never meant to harm your woman..."
	"You... BASTARD!" Mamoru leapt to his feet, pulling Washuu's weapon from
his belt. It blazed to life, a thick beam of golden light in the form of a
sword. Mamoru didn't understand why she had given him this, but he didn't care.
Moving in a pattern he didn't understand, but knew intimately, Mamoru struck.
	Golden light met blue as Ikazuchi just barely parried the blow. The
monster's eyes widened slightly as Mamoru somehow pushed him back. "My woman...
MY WOMAN!? You monster! I'll kill you!"

*

	Cobblestone shattered as Akane parried one of ZX-Tole's claws, the
impact grounding through her body like thunder and smashing the road to pieces.
She shifted backwards, sliding away from him. He stepped forward into the space,
swinging his arm up again. The next attack she tapped aside with less
difficulty, and the next.
	Then she screamed and stepped into his guard. Her blade flashed and
spun, sparks rolling off his body as the weapon scratched along the length of
his armour. He buzzed and cursed, his body rocking back and forth from the
impact. Finally he shifted sideways, a move that seemed impossible for a
creature of his magnitude, and Akane's blade struck the wall of a local florist.
	The side of the building imploded inwards, and a cloud of flower petals
shot out a second later. ZX-Tole snapped one arm up, the panel on his forearm
opening. Akane leapt, finding purchase on a piece of falling debris. The angry
red blaze of his biolasers carved a path beneath her, and the flower petals
became a storm of fire.
	Kicking off the edge of the roof Akane backflipped over him. She
screamed, focusing all her energy through her blade, and slashed. ZX-Tole
snapped up his free hand, taking the slash on the back of the wrist. Chitin
parted, melting away from the heat of her attack. But not enough to reach the
flesh underneath.
	Then he twisted his wrist, catching her blade between the grooves she
had cut. Wrenching his arm back he tore the weapon from her grasp. Akane landed,
her palms throbbing, but she settled them on the hilt of her remaining weapon.
Then she was screaming again, running in under his guard. The wooden blade sang
from its sheath, flashing upward in a brown blur. The arc caught him just under
the shoulder, in one of the few places his armour was near-nonexistent. There
was a satisfying crack and ZX-Tole jerked back, his segmented red eyes flashing
in alien pain.
	Akane huffed, trying to recover her balance. In that critical moment,
the monster struck. His uninjured arm slipped down like a sledgehammer, catching
her neatly in the temple with the massive black back of his hand. The blow
nearly took her head clean off. She could feel her neck muscles straining and
stars exploded across her vision. She didn't feel herself passing through the
first wall, but the second one registered as her body smashed through brick and
wood before skimming out into the street again.
	She acted on instinct, unable to even really tell what way was up, but
still trying to roll away. Somewhere behind her there was a flash of red light
and the place where she had been exploded. She coughed, blood spattering her
lips, and rose to her feet.
	Akane had been knocked into a new street. The buildings here were
merely aflame, burning away. A quick glance left and right showed that there
was no escape from this section, not without trying to leap over or through
several tonnes of collapsed burning rubble. The building she had come through
was the only passage out, a tunnel of safety. But as she watched, ZX-Tole tore
his way through it, his giant beetle shape ripping through the burning structure
like it was made of paper.
	He still had her sword embedded in the back of his wrist. Akane smirked
and looked down. Somehow she had retained her grip on her bokken. She tried to
firm up her stance, even though her head was ringing and her vision kept
doubling now and then.
	"For what it's worth, Akane Tendo, I am honoured that it will end like
this," ZX-Tole said in his insectile buzz.
	"Don't patronise me," Akane huffed, stepping sideways slowly, and trying
to slim her profile as much as possible.
	"We fight for different causes, but that doesn't mean we don't
understand each other," ZX-Tole informed her. He reached up with his good hand
and swallowed the hilt of her blade in his massive claws. "We are soldiers. We
are leaders of men. You would not allow any of your people to come to harm, and
I feel the same way."
	"But innocent people, they're okay to butcher, right?" Akane sneered.
	"I follow my orders," ZX-Tole said stiffly. He ripped the blade free
with another splash of scarlet blood. Then tossed it into the ground, hard
enough that it sunk into the street nearly to the crossguard.
	"You're wrong if you think we're the same, ZX-Tole," Akane said, and
spat another bit of coppery blood from her mouth. "Because you're a monster,
deep down inside. You kill, and you're good at it. Even under that zoanoid
shell. 'I'm only following orders' is an excuse. If you really had honour, you
wouldn't let this happen!" Akane swung her sword, indicated the devastated city
with the tip of her blade.
	ZX-Tole looked at her as stiffly as his inhuman face would allow. "Very
well. If you cannot respect me, then at least I can respect you. Die well,
Akane Tendo."
	His biolasers opened up and Akane charged. She crouched and leapt,
sliding right and left. The beams traced the air around her. One burned away the
fabric on her right shoulder, searing the flesh beneath. Another vapourised the
side of her shirt and a third passed so close to her cheek the heat of its
passage darkened her skin.
	Then she was in too close for him to aim properly. She moved faster,
struck harder than she ever had before in her life. Her blade snapped and
cracked, smashing against his shell again and again. Step by step ZX-Tole was
driven back, towards the flames he had started. For a tiny moment it looked like
she had the upper hand... then his good arm met her wooden blade in a vicious
parry and the weapon shattered into a shower of splinters. Akane was thrown back
by the force of the blow. As she floated backward, he rocked forward, smashing
out with his injured hand. His hand was a big as her torso, and caught her
square in the chest. Her body deformed around the blow and she was sent skidding
back... her vision blackening. She slammed into a  metal utility pole, which
bent around her and sent her crashing to the ground.
	Akane forced her hands under her, trying to push herself up. She was
squinting with pain, looking up to see ZX-Tole opening the huge laser on his
forehead...
	"LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
	A golden light shot from on high, smiting the monstrous man in the
chest. He screamed and flew backwards, the armour on his chest cracked. He
landed on his back, flailing for a moment like a beetle that had been
overturned. Akane could only stare.
	Then a figure landed in front of her. She had long hair, the colour of
sunlight on a cloudless day, that flowed around her like a cape. She landed in a
crouch, her tiny skirt rippling around her thighs. She was wearing form-fitting
armour made of burnished gold. She looked back over her shoulder at Akane and
Akane saw that the woman wore a golden mask over the top of her face, something
that made her look vaguely like a bird of prey.
	"Hey, sorry I'm late. But this place is so hard to find," the woman
said, flashing Akane a v-sign.
	"Who?"
	"Name's Minako, but people call me V," she said, standing up. "Now if
you'll excuse me, I think bug-face is ready to fight again."
	ZX-Tole had, indeed, managed to climb to his feet. "You'll pay for
that," he promised the stranger.
	"Maybe. But not today!" Minako shouted, and leapt forward. The air
around her filled with red light, but she gestured and a golden shield formed
before her, blocking or deflecting the onslaught. Akane began to smile. The
golden warrior landed next to ZX-Tole and suddenly her shield unwove into a long
chain of golden links which she smashed into his side like a whip. The hyper
zoanoid staggered sideways.
	Akane took a deep breath and heaved herself to her feet. She landed
running, ducking only long enough to grab her sword embedded in the ground. With
a wordless grunt Akane tore it free of the earth, shattering the area around it.
Minako was keeping ZX-Tole busy. She was dancing around his deceptively clumsy-
looking attacks with the ease of a ballerina. For a moment, Akane thought she
saw something familiar about her technique, but focused on more important
things.
	ZX-Tole never saw her coming. She reversed the grip of her sword, and
ran, skimming it through the flames of a nearby building. It sparked and
crackled as it hit the debris and Akane focused all her chi through it... and
when she pulled the sword out it had caught flame. Minako caught Akane's charge
out of the corner of her eyes and she grinned.
	Something passed between them. A wordless, instinctive understanding of
mutual intent. Minako leapt high, spiralling her golden chain beneath her. It
caught ZX-Tole's arms, snapping them together at the wrist and pulling them
above his head. The zoanoid snarled, opening his laser ports again. Minako was
right above him, and even in his current position he could still hit her with
most of them.
	Akane's blow took him in the underarm, aimed directly where her last
blow had hit. She screamed and the flaming sword cleaved through the thin armour
like a hot knife through butter. Flesh and muscle parted, instantly cauterised
by the passage of the thin steel. Akane stepped past ZX-Tole and the beast's arm
came off, cut clean through at the shoulder.
	ZX-Tole screamed and fell back to one knee. Minako landed in front of
him. "Wink Chain Sword!" she said in a deadly soft tone, snapping her wrist and
forming the supple chain into a stiff line of glowing gold light.
	ZX-Tole looked between the two of them, then hissed and fell forward.
Akane's eyes widened, but it was too late. The ground around him geysered upward
as he dug through the earth faster than anything had the right to. She stepped
back, shielding her eyes. Minako, too, was caught off-guard. By the time they
could see again, there was just a pile of loose soil where the hyper zoanoid had
once been.

*

	Derzerb was obviously growing more and more annoyed. Rei had so far
managed to deflect or avoid every single one of his charges and attacks,
successfully sending him crashing into buildings and walls when she did. The
problem was that she wasn't doing any damage. Aikido was, at heart, a grappling
art. Rei didn't fancy her chances if she tried any holds or grapples with the
behemoth.
	Which meant she needed to change the strategy soon, or she would tire
long before he did. Derzerb, however, seemed to have finally decided to do that
for her. He stopped in the middle of the street, chuckling to himself. Rei
looked around. They had moved into one of the less damaged portions of the city.
There were people running in the distance.
	"Well, little girl, you've certainly become more of a nuisance," the
beast said, chuckling. He moved over next to a overturned car. Rei frowned,
readying herself to dodge if he started throwing stuff at her. "But you still
have one weakness."
	Then, with unnatural speed for anything so large, Derzerb's hand
snatched out and came back holding... a child. She couldn't have been more than
ten years old, dressed in a yellow summer dress now stained with soot. She
shrieked as the behemoth held her up by one hand.
	"Well... are you just going to stand there, little girl?" Derzerb smiled
as much as his animal face allowed. "Or do I have fun with this little one
instead?" He grabbed her other arm and began to pull, lightly... but it was
enough to cause the girl to gasp in pain and her face to turn white.
	"Let her go!" Rei said, her voice hot fury.
	"Why don't you run away again?" Derzerb mocked. "I can crush this child,
just like I did your pathetic little grandfather!" Rei snarled. "His body broke
so easily, I wanted to make him beg for release... but he died after I'd barely
touched him!" He laughed. "But this one... I can make it last hours and
hours..."
	"MONSTER!" Rei shouted, and charged. Derzerb laughed and with a casual
flip he tossed the girl at her like a missile. Rei gasped and changed course,
catching the child before she could hit the pavement. Derzerb took a deep
breath, rocking back on his heels. Then he stepped forward, breathing out a
cloud of flames.
	The girl screamed, tears leaking from her eyes. Rei narrowed her eyes,
and pushed her hand forward. The flames parted around her, breaking around a
point in front of her palm like a wave parting around a reef. It was just like
the martial arts Katsuhito had taught her. Understand the flow of force, and you
could divert it against your enemy. Rei leapt, her fingers raking through the
flames. The girl was still cradled under one arm as Rei spun through the air to
land on Derzerb's back.
	Rei skidded to a stop after dashing past the beast. He turned to her,
looking puzzled. Rei put down the girl gently and turned to face him. Her hair
blew in the wind.
	"I'm going to kill you," she informed him.
	"I'd like to see that!" he shouted, and stepped forward, unleashing
another jet of flames. Rei stepped into the fire, pulling back one hand. The
Flame Sniper formed in her grip, all of the fire from Derzerb's attack
collapsing into the point of the arrow. Rei grit her teeth and released, sending
the arrow of flame straight down his throat.
	The fire exploded around the behemoth's face, forming a burning halo.
Rei leapt as Derzerb staggered back, spinning through the air and landing on his
back. Her hands snapped down, one curling around the base of his horn, the other
sinking into the fire still crackling around his face. Suddenly the fire
magnified as she began to pour her energy into it.
	"HAH!" Derzerb laughed. "My skin is immune to this! You'll burn yourself
up before you'll even singe me!"
	"I'm not trying to burn you," she informed him softly. He was reaching
for her, but his arms didn't bend properly for him to reach his own back easily.
Shifting slightly as he moved, Rei was just able to stay outside of his reach.
"You forgot that one other thing here burns."
	"Oh, you mean the city?" Derzerb laughed, and started charging towards
a building. Rei braced herself as he slammed into it with enough force that the
building crumpled down around him. The force of the impact nearly jarred her
loose. Nearly. She grimaced in pain as a piece of shrapnel embedded in her
thigh.
	"No," she said as he rose to his feet with her still in place. "I mean
oxygen. Tell me, Derzerb, is the air getting a little thin yet?"
	Then his eyes widened. Rei screamed and took the last reserves of her
power, pouring it down into the halo of flame. It trebled in size, and a gout of
fire erupted from Derzerb's mouth as she channelled the flame down his throat.
Screaming incoherently, barely audible over the roar of the inferno, Derzerb
began to smash and crash against everything in sight. Rei was slammed into
walls, into streetlamps, into parked cars. She managed to roll aside as he tried
to fall onto his back, keeping her grip and swinging back out of reach when he
clawed at her.
	But his attacks grew slower and slower, his charges less and less
vicious. His eyes began to dim, then darken. He took three more staggering steps
before collapsing onto his chest. Rei stood on him for a long time, her fingers
curled around his horn. The tips of her gloves were black, her fingers inside
scorched. Long after he stopped moving, not until his body began to dissolve
away, did Rei let up.

*

	Fevrier wasn't certain where the sudden burst of power had come from.
One moment, she and Satsuki had been struggling, then suddenly there had been a
flood of power. It was like someone doubled her chi in a fraction of a second.
She didn't have time to guess why. She only took advantage.
	Thancrus came at them like a sonic boom. He wasn't letting either of
them close now. The air around him shuddered and cracked as he unleashed blast
after blast from his high-frequency weapons. Rooftops shattered, windows
disintegrated and entire buildings collapsed in his wake. Satsuki was leading
him back now, her gleaming blade striking up again and again, just barely
parrying his blows. Five seconds ago she would have been dead; without the
sudden increase in speed, she wouldn't have had a chance of keeping up with the
hyper-zoanoid.
	Fevrier kept blasting, forcing him to put some thought to defence. It
wasn't enough to stop his attack, but it was enough to keep him from realising
that they were leading him, leading him around in a large circle. Right back to
where they had started.
	Suddenly Satsuki staggered, slipping sideways. Thancrus laughed, seeing
an opening. He lunged, his blade tracing along the edge of Satsuki's abdomen,
peeling away her flesh. She screamed and fell. But he had taken his eyes off
Fevrier for a split second.
	It was all she needed. She grabbed her weapons and twisted them. Washuu
had given her the guns months ago, and explained very little aside from 'this is
the end the death comes out of'. But Fevrier never used any weapon she did not
understand. The physics of the hand cannons was somewhat beyond her, but she
had learned the basics of how they were assembled. Most of all, she understood
how dangerous they were if the power source became unstabilised. Which is
exactly what she did right then.
	"Satsuki!" she cried, and with a flip of her hands she sent both weapons
flying towards Thancrus. They were just far enough apart that he couldn't parry
them with one hand. Thancrus chuckled and flipped his arms up...
	The explosion was bigger than Fevrier had counted on. She was knocked
off her feet and down into the alley. She recovered midway down, spinning to
land on her feet. She grabbed what she needed and leapt up again. This time she
reached the roof with no problem.
	Thancrus was buried in the centre of what used to be a three-story home.
He was shuddering, covered in scorch marks, but alive. Unfortunately for him,
the blast had shattered his blades, cracking them and taking the right one clean
off. Without his sonic powers or any useable hands, he was having a hard time
pulling himself free. Then Fevrier stopped over him, slamming home another
magazine of hypercore rounds into her previously discarded pistols.
	"You..." Thancrus hissed.
	"You don't get to run away this time," she informed him. Buried up to
his waist in rubble, he couldn't move as Fevrier placed the barrels of the heavy
pistols against his tiny eyes. She unloaded once, twice, three times with each.
His head jerked. She stared down. The back of his head hadn't exploded, which
meant his skin was indeed too tough for the bullets to pierce. Too bad, since
that meant they had probably bounced off the back of his skull and ricocheted
through his brain like a pinball. Fevrier snorted and turned away from the
corpse as it began to dissolve.

*

	Mamoru knew all too well where the strength he felt was coming from.
Seven years ago, his life force had been linked to three young women. To
compensate, his body had lost much of the supernatural abilities he had once
used. Now... now they weren't back, not completely. But he could feel the power
running through him. As he chased Ikazuchi across the rooftops he kept feeling
like he was on the verge of transforming once again.
	But even Tuxedo Kamen would have been no match for the neo-zoanoid. Not
on his best day. Mamoru, however, had not spent seven years idle. While his
focus had been sniping, he had learned a lot from the martial artists around
him. How to channel chi. And now, he was bursting with it.
	Ikazuchi was frowning, his sword moving in complicated patterns too fast
for the human eye to follow. Mamoru wasn't even certain how he was fighting this
well. The laser sword Washuu had given him was moving practically on its own.
Instincts he hadn't even known he had were flooding back, and with them the
nagging edges of memory.
	He remembered something like this. Except his armour then had been more
archaic, more formal...
	"Enough of this," Ikazuchi declared. There was a flash and Mamoru was
forced to hop back. When his eyes cleared the neo-zoanoid was floating in the
air. Mamoru looked around. They had reached the edge of the school grounds.
Mamoru hadn't even noticed. "I cannot fault you for your indignation. But the
woman was my enemy. I will not allow you to defeat me."
	"Shut up," Mamoru snarled. He leapt. Ikazuchi merely floated higher, out
of range. Mamoru landed and hissed, shifting his grip on his blade.
	"Foolish mortal, do you not realise who you face? I am Ikazuchi, the
first neo-zoanoid! My battle prowess is without peer! Like the divine lightning
of Susano-oh, I will smite the infidels who stand before Chronos-"
	"CRESCENT BEAM!"
	A shaft of golden light took Ikazuchi in the chest, cutting him off in
mid-speech. Mamoru smirked as Ikazuchi rocked in mid-air. Then he looked behind
him. There was a woman with long golden hair running towards him. He felt he
should know her, if only she was wearing something else...
	Behind her came Akane, Fevrier and Satsuki. The last was clutching her
side, but moving with her usual quiet grace. Mamoru felt his throat thicken.
How... how was he supposed to tell them... tell them that Marz...
	Then his eyes met Fevrier's, and he saw hers widen. She knew. She
stopped in mid-sprint, staggering to a stop. They just stared at each other
until Mamoru could stand it no longer. He looked away, feeling sick and ashamed.
	"Kunou," Akane said. "It's over. You're the only one left, and there's
more of us."
	"Ah, Akane Tendo, but I think not." Ikazuchi smirked, crossing his arms.
"Isn't that right?" He was directing his question to a patch of shadow nearby. A
huge form emerged from it, the black carapace gleaming in the distant fires of
the city. ZX-Tole, however, was missing an arm.
	"You... you killed my men," Zx-Tole hissed.
	"There doesn't have to be any more killing, ZX-Tole," Akane said softly.
"Take your men and leave. There's been enough death today."
	ZX-Tole chuckled. "No, Akane... I don't think so. You forgot, we have
one last ally."
	"I think Katsuhito is dealing with him," Rei pointed out. "And that old
man is a lot stronger than he looks."
	"Really?" ZX-Tole looked beyond them. "He looks like a crippled old man
to me. What do you think?"
	Everyone turned and stared. The creature walking up towards them was
massive, taller even than Derzerb. His skin was red, his body covered in thick
scars and his skin the texture of old leather. One massive hand held the
unconscious form of Katsuhito like a ragdoll. The massive creature, whose face
was still disturbingly human, snorted, literally blowing steam from his nose.
Steam hissed out of vents in his shoulders and hips as well.
	"I am... RED CYCLONE!"
	"As much as Ikazuchi brags, he was the prototype for the neo-zoanoid.
More useful as propaganda than as a true warrior," ZX-Tole explained. "Red
Cyclone... he is the result of years of development. His battle power in hand to
hand combat exceeds that of even a zoalord! You have no chance. You'll pay for
killing my brothers!"
	"Fine," Akane growled through clenched teeth. She turned to face the
oncoming monster, and Mamoru turned with her. He glanced up at Ikazuchi, but ZX-
Tole was gesturing the neo-zoanoid back. Akane turned to the stranger, "I don't
suppose you have any zoalord-killing energy attacks?"
	"Nope," the girl replied grimly. Then she smiled, a cocky little smile.
"But my boyfriend always tells me that it isn't the size, it's the louder they
fall."
	Akane blinked. "Huh?"
	Then Red Cyclone was upon them. He had dropped Katsuhito and came in
slowly, one ponderous step at a time. Once he was close enough, his fist lashed
out at Satsuki. The ninja dodged, flipping sideways easily. Mamoru roared and
charged in at the beast's unguarded flank. His golden blade slashed out... only
to sputter ineffectively against the thing's flesh, leaving not so much as a
scorch.
	He had the chance to blink, before the thing's hand snapped out with
inhuman speed and clamped like a vice around his shoulder.

*

	"Mamoru!" Akane shouted, charging forward.
	Minako followed her, already summoning the Love Me Chain. The massive
beast was lifting the struggling man up, carefully gripping both shoulders now.
Before anyone could reach it, the thing snapped backward, bending its body like
an arch and smashed Mamoru head-first into the ground. The soil dented around
the young man and his body went limp. The thing released him.
	"Sir Mamoru!" the girl with the wound on her side shouted, dashing in
low. She grabbed the man's limp body and leapt aside moments before Red Cyclone
smashed his massive foot where the body had been. The air filled with the rapid
bangs of a unloading hand cannon as the redhead walked towards the beast,
drilling it straight with each round.
	Red Cyclone didn't even notice. The bullets pinged harmlessly off his
skin. Minako grimaced. Why couldn't this thing be a vampire? She snapped her arm
down, spinning her lariat along the ground. She caught the thing around the
ankles and cinched her hold tight. The thing tried to step forward to pursue the
brunette and her unconscious passenger, but began to wobble.
	Akane leapt up, pulling her blade back over her head. Red Cyclone looked
up, narrowing his eyes. Then an arrow of flame exploded in his face. He
staggered backward, beginning to topple. Akane came down on him, driving her
sword down on top of his skull with all her might.
	There was a sharp crack and a loud crash as Red Cyclone smashed into the
dirt.
	Akane landed, staggering to one side. She reached up to her cheek and
pulled her hand away. It was slick with blood. A thin line had been cut along
the edge of her cheek. She looked down. Her sword had snapped in two halfway
down its length.
	And the beast was rising. He didn't even look dazed, just mad.
	"Akane!" the brunette called, and something flashed through the air.
Akane caught it; it was the girl's sword. Akane looked at her. "I must care for
sir Mamoru! His injuries are grave... his neck..."
	"Take care of him..." Akane said, turning back to the battle.
	Red Cyclone has risen to one knee. The girl in the red skirt - Sailor
Mars, Minako's mind suddenly supplied - landed next to Akane. "Any plan?"
	"How did you kill Derzerb?" Akane asked.
	"Suffocated him..."
	"Think that'll work again?"
	"Worth a shot."
	"Fevrier, you and I will get his attention," Akane said plainly.
"Minako, you hold him down. Rei, see if he's as invulnerable inside as out."
	"Yes..." Fevrier said coldly. She charged in, Akane two steps behind.
Minako waited a moment, then flipped through the air, landing behind the red-
skinned monster. Her chain formed as she soared through the air. She wished
Ranma was here. Ranma always had a plan. But he wasn't, so she'd have to take
care of this herself.
	Akane and Fevrier came in fast and low. Red Cyclone waited for them. His
hand snapped up with surprising speed, deflecting Akane's blade to one side.
Fevrier slipped in under his guard and pushed the barrels of her guns right
against his chest. The beast grunted as the cannon went off. Then he turned his
parry into a spin, twirling his arms out. Akane cried out as she was sent flying
back. Fevrier tried to duck away, but the monster's massive hand clipped the
side of her head. Her limp body flew free of the beast, landing in a heap on the
grass.
	Minako struck, slashing out with her chain-whip. Her goal was to catch
the thing's legs again, trip it as it spun. But suddenly it stopped, and she
realised dumbly that it had caught her chain in one massive hand. With a roar it
pulled, pulling her in towards it before Minako could think of dispelling the
chain. She flew through the air...
	And just before she came within reach Sailor Mars grabbed her from the
air and the two of them tumbled across the grass together. Minako shook her
head, and the earth shuddered as the massive neo-zoanoid landed from a leap that
placed him right in front of her. She cursed and kicked Sailor Mars off, sending
her away with a gasp. The beast grabbed her ankle, lifting her into the air with
one hand.
	She barely had time to scream before she was brought down on the ground
again. Her back erupted in pain and she felt the ground beneath her dent. Then
the thing lifted her up again. Somehow she managed to focus, pushing her fingers
downward. "Crescent Beam!" she called, unleashing two pin point attacks from her
fingertips.
	They smashed right into the monster's eyes. Minako KNEW they did. But
they bounced off. Just flickered off the monster's open eyes like Minako had hit
him with a particularly delicate breath of air.
	It was enough to piss the monster off. With a roar, he swung her
sideways and sent her flying through the air. She just barely saw a silver and
glass structure before she smashed into it at full speed. Glass and metal and
flower petals erupted around her as she tore through the enclosed garden without
stopping. Then she hit a pillar of the school, which stopped her flight but
crumbled around her.
	Minako tried to rise, but her back screamed and she gasped, collapsing
onto her face. She raised her head and stared as the battle continued.
	Sailor Mars was pelting Red Cyclone with fiery arrows, but it ignored
her the same way it had ignored Fevrier's bullets. Akane was on her knees,
watching as the creature walked towards the school slowly and purposefully. The
brunette stood protectively in front of the unconscious Mamoru. For a moment,
Minako thought the beast was coming for her. Then she saw it turn slightly and
walk up to the large central tower of the school.
	Grinning ear to ear, the beast sunk its fingers into the thick stone
wall. Granite cracked around its hands like sugarbread as Red Cyclone worried
its hands around the edge of the tower. The entire structure began to rock
gently, back and forth. Then the thing embraced the tower, its massive arms
fitting halfway around the building.
	"I am... RED... CYCLONE!" the thing roared, its voice almost drowned out
as it lifted the entire ten-story-tall tower free of its foundation. Akane's
eyes bulged as the thing turned towards her. Somewhere, ZX-Tole laughed.
	Then the tower was swinging down and through the air, its bulk shearing
through one wing of the school without pause. Red Cyclone tilted it, turning the
strike from downward to sideways as Akane began running for her life. She dashed
past Sailor Mars, who stood firm and pulled back her hand, forming a bow and
arrow of flame. Her arrow struck the hurtling tower dead centre, exploding a
hole in it... but not shattering it entirely. It might have saved her life, but
the girl only had enough time to blink before the remnants of the massive
structure slammed into her like a baseball bat.
	Her limp body flew through the air, rising up and slamming into the
other wing of the school in the third story somewhere. Akane leapt, pushing off
the wall of the other wing, and arching backward as the tower passed under her.
The tower finally shattered entirely as it smashed into the bottom floor of the
school, turning into a cloud of shrapnel and debris.
	Akane was caught in the cloud, pummelled on all sides. She tumbled
through the debris, landing badly on her side. The sword she had caught tumbled
across the grass. When it stopped, ZX-Tole walked over and placed a foot on it.
	"Finish them off, Red Cyclone," ZX-Tole said, his voice hard and cold
through his insectile buzz. The thing grinned and walked over towards Akane. It
grabbed her as she was trying to rise to her feet, cinching her around the waist
in a bearhug. Akane screamed as her body was crushed.
	"FINAL..." the beast began to roar.
	"Oh, shit... Ikazuchi, get clear!" ZX-Tole yelled, taking a few steps
back.
	"ATOMIC..."
	Then the thing paused. He looked down. His hands were empty. He blinked.
Then looked up. Minako felt her breath escape her as her gaze followed his.
	She was beautiful. There was no other word for it. It was a beauty so
pure it made tears come to Minako's eyes. She hovered in the sky, astride a
silver pegasus with a white horn. Her hair, the colour of the sun, flew behind
her in two delicate trails. She wore a gown of fine white silk, etched with
silver and shaped to her form in a way that made it clear that this was no mere
girl, this was a Lady. And her face...
	Her eyes were the colour of the sky on a cloudless day. As soft and
empty of malice as a child's. Her features were like porcelain in their
perfection, but warm and inviting. She gazed down at the unconscious woman in
her arms with a tenderness so warm it made Minako's pain vanish, and she found
herself rising to her feet. There was a golden crescent moon on her forehead,
which glimmered.
	"It's okay, Akane," Sailor Moon, Usagi Tsukino, the Moon Princess
Reborn, said in a voice that filled the courtyard. "You don't need to fight
anymore."
	"Sailor Moon..." ZX-Tole hissed.
	Drawn by the sound of his voice, The Moon Princess looked at him. And
her face went from tenderness to... something else. Something hard and powerful.
Minako was briefly struck by... how wrong it looked. She had never seen this
girl before, but she was never supposed to look at anyone with such hatred.
	"You and your kind will hurt nobody else today. Withdraw, and I will
spare you," the Moon Princess announced.
	"Get her!" ZX-Tole ordered Red Cyclone. The red-skinned monster roared
and leapt, arcing through the air towards her. The Moon Princess raised one
delicate hand, and for a moment there was a flash of silver on her palm. The
flash exploded out, blinding everyone. Minako blinked away the spots from her
eyes and gaped.
	Red Cyclone was still hovering in mid-air, but his body had turned grey.
Then, as she watched, he began to dissolve like sand scattering in the ocean,
until there was nothing left of him but a grey sparkle on the wind, then nothing
at all.
	ZX-Tole staggered back, his segmented eyes widening slightly.
	"You are not welcome here," Sailor Moon informed him.
	ZX-Tole looked at Ikazuchi, who looked at him. Then they turned and ran.

*

	Ryouga lowered his hand. The ice around him steamed, the snow boiling
off in all directions. In front of him a hole had formed in the glacier, a
perfect hemisphere. Icemelt was beginning to pool at the bottom of it. He
narrowed his eyes and allowed the green fire around his arms to fade. He hadn't
seen the thing die, so he guessed that it had run away, like the others.
	"Is that the last of them?" he wondered aloud.
	"No. There is another over there," Hotaru's haunting voice told him.
	He glanced along her line of sight and saw it. A humanoid, female shape
on the top of a snowdrift. Ryouga growled. This was the fifth attack in as many
days, and this was larger than the others by nearly double. Not that even
with that much they were a match for him. Or Hotaru.
	He looked over his shoulder at the little girl. She was standing
serenely, the thick snow coming up nearly to her waist. The massive form of the
demon sword Dylek hovered just over her shoulder. Two of the things had broken
past him while he was too busy to defend her. He guessed that Hotaru had not
given them a chance to escape.
	"It's too far away for me to hit easily..." Ryouga murmured.
	"You need not worry about it," Hotaru told him. "She merely wishes to
watch. To evaluate. We are trespassing on her land, and she is wondering if we
are a threat to her."
	"Are we?" Ryouga asked. He didn't much like the idea of taking on
Tethys. Back before she had the power of a living god she had been able to
defeat him with ease by exploiting her control over water and his curse. Now...
He shuddered at the thought.
	"No more than to anyone else," Hotaru replied cryptically. "We should
go, I sus..." Hotaru trailed off. Ryouga looked at her. Her eyes had widened,
and they began to quiver. Then she screamed and doubled over, clutching her
stomach. Ryouga was at her side in an instant.
	The child screamed again, a cry of human pain. Ryouga pulled her into
his arms. His mind was racing. In the years he had travelled with Hotaru, this
had never happened before. He began to look around. Was it some sort of attack?
Tethys striking at Hotaru from a distance?
	Dylek hovered protectively close to its mistress. It was sliding back
and forth through the air, seeking some threat to destroy. Ryouga could
understand it, as feelings of helplessness and rage slowly built up inside him.
He had no idea what was happening. Hotaru suddenly coughed, and a spray of blood
exploded across the white snow. Something was hurting her. Something very well
might be killing her. There was nothing Ryouga could do to stop it.
	Should he? Would he if he could?
	Before he could pursue that thought further, Hotaru relaxed. She slumped
in his grasp, her body extremely light. He reached down and brushed aside the
bangs of her face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth a little frown of remembered
pain. The blood from the wound in her forehead had slowed to a trickle. She
looked so human.
	So lost.
	"How can I help you?" Ryouga said to himself.
	"I... will be fine..." Hotaru said, her voice thin.
	"You're awake?"
	"Yes." She opened her eyes.
	"What happened to you? Was it an attack?"
	"Things did not go as they were supposed to. Plans had to be changed,"
she informed him.
	"What?"
	"Have faith, Ryouga," she said, reaching up to rub his cheek. "For now,
I have need of you. My strength was drained."
	Ryouga looked down at her. For another moment, the irrational fear rose
up in him. Then he bit that back. He stood there, still as a statue as Hotaru
removed his scarf with her little girl hands.

*

	Ranma frowned at his reflection in the mirror. His bowtie was crooked.
Again. He grumbled and began to adjust it, but knew the battle was futile. He
had long since given up on having any sort of coordination when it came to his
wardrobe. He had let Minako do that...
	Ranma paused, looking into the mirror again. Minako still hadn't sent
him a message. He was pretty certain she would be on her way. He wasn't that
worried about her travelling alone. Minako could more than take care of herself.
On top of her own magical augmentation, she had seven years of training under
the best martial artist in the world to bring to bear. But it had been over
three weeks, almost a month, and she still hadn't returned his message. Where
was she?
	Thinking back to Minako reminded him of something else. They had been
enjoying their last night together, before it would grow too great a distance
for even Ranma to conveniently swim back each night. The moonlight had been
coming in the window, and Minako was sitting next to him, her expression full of
dire warning.
	"Ranma," she had said. "This is very important, so I want you to listen
closely." Ranma had nodded absently, half asleep. So she had hit him on the
forehead, causing him to yelp and sit up straight. He smiled at the memory. "Pay
attention!"
	"I am, I am..." He rubbed his forehead and glared at her.
	"Now, I know there is a... history between you and Ukyou."
	"History? With Ucchan?" Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "You mean,
the way we used to fight together?" He smirked. "No need to be worried about
that, it will only let us work together better!"
	"Not that kind of history, dummy!" Minako crossed her arms. "I mean a
romantic kind of history."
	"Romantic? With Ucchan?" Ranma gaped at her.
	"Fine!" She threw up her hands. "SHE had a romantic history with you,
even if you never saw her that way."
	"Okay..."
	"I'm just worried that... she'll try to... while I'm gone..."
	"Hey! Hey!" Ranma wrapped his arm around her. "Have I ever been
unfaithful to you?"
	"You mean, aside from Morrigan?" Minako said dangerously.
	"She was a succubus! She was using sexy mojo succubus powers on me!" he
protested. "Besides, you broke that up before it went anywhere..."
	"You don't have to sound disappointed," Minako teased. Ranma grumbled as
Minako snuggled a little bit more into his arms. "I just think... that Ukyou
needs someone. Artemis agrees with me. She's too... detached."
	"Artemis?"
	"Never mind..." Minako sighed. "Just take my word for it. She's
detached. She's looking for someone to love her, and she might be desperate
enough to..."
	"What am I supposed to do about it?" Ranma replied.
	"Fix her up with someone."
	"That's it?"
	"Yes. Unfortunately I, the Goddess of Love, Minako Aino, can't be there
to help. But I think you might have picked up a few tips on matchmaking from me
over the years, so you'll have to do."
	"You want me to set up Ukyou with someone? Like who? Shingo?"
	"God, no!" Minako looked aghast. "I was thinking maybe Akira. Akira
likes her already..."
	"But... Akira's a girl."
	"So?"
	Ranma stared at her. "Uh... how can two girls get... together like
that?"
	"You want to get some cold water so I can show you?" Minako teased.
	Ranma flushed. "No!"
	"Good. So, I have spoken. I'm not going to give Ukyou a chance to try
and horn in on you." She grabbed his arm. "You're MINE, got that?"
	"Uh huh..."
	"Good. Now, think of a way to get those two together."
	"Huh? Why do I have to think of it! You're the 'Goddess of Love'!"
	"I'm also injured. I can't be expected to do everything."
	"You didn't seem that injured five minutes ago!" Ranma pointed out.
	"Hmmm. You're right. Let's see how injured I am now?"
	Ranma smiled as the memory faded.
	Then he blinked.
	Then he hit himself in the forehead.
	"Stupid!" Ranma grumbled. "Why didn't I remember that until now? Geez,
if Minako shows up tomorrow and those two aren't a couple... she'll kill me! Or
worse, she'll make me sleep on the couch!"
	Ranma frowned and looked at himself in the mirror. "Okay, Saotome. I
know this will be difficult. You have to convince a woman to love somebody else
when you're right in front of her. On the surface, impossible, I know. But Ranma
Saotome does not lose!" He made a determined face, pumped his fist and said
"Let's go!" before turning and leaving the room.

*

	The streets of Paris were dark. That... didn't happen. It was la Ville
des Lumières, the City of Lights. It was never dark. It always shone warmly in
all the colours of the rainbow, like a multifaceted jewel.
	Until war had come to it.
	Area trudged down the street. She'd retracted the wheels on her
rollerblades, partially to create less noise, mostly because she couldn't go any
faster with her burden anyway. A scream tore through the air, not too far away.
Area couldn't tell if it was a person dying or the passage of a Komet overhead.
She didn't know which was worse, either.
	Her burden shifted and groaned. She placed a hand over his lips, worried
he might give away their position. He nodded slowly after a moment, and she
dropped her hand.
	"I can walk, mademoiselle," the Gendarme whispered, his voice so low it
only barely reached her ears.
	"Maybe," she hissed back, "but not as fast as if I help you."
	There was a short, sharp intake of breath from the Gendarme.
"Mademoiselle Area? You should have escaped. Someone else would have-"
	"There was nobody else to do anything," Area cut in. "Don't even start
with me, Thomas. I won't leave you here. So save your breath and walk."
	He half-sighed, half-chuckled. "You Americans. So stubborn. But where
are we now?"
	Area looked around. They'd come a long way from the hospital where Area
and a small detachment of Gendarmes had been dispatched to survey the condition
of the trickle of fleeing refugees from the countryside that had just arrived in
Paris was. They had known that the German front had gone suddenly, ominously
silent earlier that day. Everyone expected an attack on Paris. Everyone was
braced for the worst possible scenario. And yet, somehow, it hadn't been nearly
enough.
	There wasn't thirty seconds between the discovery that the first line of
Paris' defences had also gone silent and the attack coming. It was horribly,
devastatingly fast. Rockets had struck the hospital, laughing and leering
creatures following before the last explosions had died down. Area should have
died, but alerted by some martial artist's sense, a Gendarme had hurled her
behind some cover at the last instant before impact. She had been covered in
dust and gore and worse things, but the rain had long since washed it all away.
	Area scowled at the rain. She'd managed to escape with the only survivor
and evade the Millennium pursuers, but at the cost of losing all her bearings.
She'd had to avoid all the major thoroughfares, and the thick black drops
falling fat from the clouds above had cut vision down to only a few hands in
front of her face. "I don't know," she finally admitted. "I've been trying to
get to the river, but I'm not even sure we're going in the right direction,
honestly."
	Thomas nodded. "Let me see for a moment..." She helped him stagger up to
a shopfront. He squinted at the faded sign for a moment, then sighed again, this
time in relief. "It is not so bad. Near here is the Rue de Lappe. We should be
able to head south to the Seine, if we are not found."
	"Too late, fool!"
	Area wheeled. At the other end of the narrow street from where she'd
entered it stood a vampire. An inhuman fanged grin split his face. His German
uniform was torn and smeared with more blood than even the rain could wash out.
He turned his head, voice already raising in German, calling out his discovery.
	He never got a chance to finish. By the time the vampire had turned his
head, Area had removed her arm from the injured Gendarme, letting him slump
against the wall of the shop. By the time the German's mouth had opened, Area
had leaped forward, her rollerblades exploding out underneath her. His first
word was drowned out by a burst of rockets, and his third was cut off as he
realised Area had shot the twenty meters down the street to him. He wheeled,
fumbling for his pistol, but far too slow.
	The reason Area had only used one arm to carry the unconscious Thomas
was because her other arm sported Cancer. Some opponents had, in the past,
laughed at the blonde bespectacled scientist who challenged them, or her
garishly coloured spandex suit, or her oversized rollerblades, or the enormous
mechanical 'arm' she wore over her real one. They didn't ever laugh twice.
	Cancer's massive metal fist smashed into the vampire's midsection, not
quite going through him but well more than enough to set his eyes bulging, lift
him off the ground, and send the last of the air escaping from his dead lungs
along with a splatter of stolen blood.
	Then Area activated the electrical shock.
	The effects, Area admitted, weren't quite as spectacular as a direct hit
from a bolt of lightning, but that was only because she and her great scientist
father before her believed in efficiency. She'd have to say that the smoking
body of the vampire that flew across the street as if launched from a cannon
didn't seem to be willing to 'gauge' the difference, though.
	Area giggled a bit at her own joke, but almost immediately the
seriousness of the situation overcame her euphoria. She turned around, but
Thomas, holding onto the wall with his good arm, had nearly reached her.
	"I told you I could walk, mademoiselle," he said with a slight smile.
	She took his arm again anyway. "We need to get out of here quick. They
might have heard him."
	He sighed. "Mademoiselle, even if they didn't, they heard the discharge
of your weapon."
	"Well, then we should hurr... oh." Area paused as she looked around
them. "You did say 'heard', didn't you?"
	"I'm afraid so."
	Area looked at the vampires that had formed a semicircle around them.
They were cutting off the southernmost route, more and more spilling out of the
driving rain. She looked up, and barely made out a few more shadows on the
rooftops. There were easily two dozen of them, the white flash of their inhuman
grins carrying even through the darkness.
	"Don't bother telling me to run away while you hold them off," Area
hissed fiercely, though her heart was pounding painfully in her chest. This was
it. She was going to die here. But she wasn't going to turn coward. Not when so
many people were dying and fighting all around her!
	"I wouldn't. There's too many for that to possibly matter." Thomas
grimaced. "But they're hesitating... no... they're calm. They're waiting."
	"For what?"
	"For her, I imagine."
	A final figure emerged from the shadows, her heavy boots splashing water
out of a puddle in the road as she stopped. She almost looked normal for a
moment, if brutish, a massively muscled woman wearing baggy fatigues cinched
with a canvas belt, military boots and a muscle shirt. Only after a moment did
Area notice that the darkness on the other side of her body was not darkness at
all, but rather hundreds - no, thousands - of intricate tattoos etched down her
body, stretching from her hairline down her face and shoulder and right down to
where her right wrist disappeared into a white glove. Mystic symbols swept
through the elaborate tattoos, including a pentagram directly in the centre of
the woman's forehead, but the bulk of them were words and letters, script
harshly etched into the skin. They seemed to shift and transform even as Area
looked at them. The vampire held a cigarette in the corner of her mouth,
seemingly almost unconsciously, as the rain had put it out long ago. The large
woman carried an even larger scythe, slung casually over her shoulder. She was
grinning, her fangs on full display.
	"Vell, vell, what do ve have here?"
	"Zorin Blitz!" Area hissed, feeling her hopes sink that little bit more.
Not just a collection of vampires, but one of the Werewolves, the elite of
Millennium. At least the Americans had reportedly put down Rip Van Winkle a few
weeks back. The command had been terrified of the thought of her ever sneaking
into Paris.
	"Ja, und you are Area," the brutish woman grinned. "Zat's enough for
introductions."
	Thomas reacted even as the woman exploded forward. His free arm rose
up while he pushed Area away with the other. The blue tracer of his ultraviolet
laser rifle exploded into the dark, but was answered by only the laughter of the
Nazis. Fast, far too fast, Zorin was there, rising from a crouch into Thomas's
guard. Her tattooed hand shot forward before he could react, clasping around his
face. Her tattoos writhed, reaching out for him hungrily, and he began to
scream.
	Area screamed too, aiming a punch at the female vampire. She could see
the shadows of the other Germans creeping in around her, but ignored them for
the moment. For a moment, she almost thought she'd strike, but then Zorin's arm
vanished, letting Thomas collapse to the ground. Area stumbled forward, off-
balance, and then Zorin's steel-toed boot smashed into her foot. Her rollerblade
skimmed off the rain-slick pavement, slamming into her other boot and sending
her tumbling to the ground.
	Another kick from the vampire slammed into Area's side as she tried to
rise. She felt something crack deep inside and her attempt to get to her knees
turned into a slump onto her side. She looked up through pain-hazed vision and
saw the long black blade of the vampire's scythe rise into the air. "Stupid
bitch!" Zorin's voice crowed gleefully. "DIE!"
	The scythe began its inexorable fall. Area closed her eyes
involuntarily. A moment later her head shuddered at an impact directly beside it
and her eyes popped open again. The scythe was buried in the pavement just
beyond the frame of her glasses. Zorin's untattooed arm was still attached to
it, but it was no longer attached to her. She stared as the fingers, still
clenched with their last action, released after what seemed like a long moment
and let the arm fall to the ground with a wet splash. Then she looked up at
Zorin Blitz, just in time to see her face, previously staring at her severed arm
in disbelief, snap up sharply. Area levered herself up, following the vampire's
gaze.
	Down the road, in the northerly direction, was a pile of wreckage formed
by a half-collapsed building and several crashed vehicles. The fire that burned
there earlier must have been very intense, as the remains still smouldered even
in the driving rain, providing a bit of illumination. A woman stood atop them,
holding a rifle outstretched in one hand. She was short, tiny really, with a
whip-thin figure that was clad in the stark black and white uniform of a
Gendarme. Her short black hair was plastered around her face by the rain and
wind, but her grip was rock steady.
	"Who ze hell are YOU?" Zorin growled, seeming more angry than distraught
at the loss of her arm.
	"Natalie Clement, Lieutenant-colonel of the Gendarmerie des Chevaliers,"
the newcomer's cool voice came back instantly. "I think that's enough for
introductions."
	"Filthy scum!" spat Zorin. "You should haf run away while you had the
chance. Kill her slowly!" The Germans chuckled and began to advance, but then
came to a startled halt a moment later. Area felt like laughing and crying at
the same time as more figures climbed up the wreckage behind her, and more, and
more suddenly appeared from side-streets and allies.
	"Run away?" the newcomer responded. "Non, non. I think you
misunderstand. We have been hunting dogs that have trespassed in Paris." She
gestured with her free hand, and the rifles of dozens of Gendarmes snapped into
position, taking aim at the exposed vampires. Natalie's lips twisted into a
spiteful little smile as she aimed her own rifle directly at Zorin Blitz's
chest. "Vive la France, bitch."
	For a moment, the roadway was light again as it was crisscrossed by the
blue tracers of the ultraviolet beams. Area continued huddling close to the
ground, partially to stay out of the line of fire, partially because she was
still having trouble breathing from the vampire's kick.
	A long moment of screams and curses and sizzling sounds later, suddenly
arms were scooping her up. Surprisingly strong arms, considering their petite
size. "Are you all right, mademoiselle Area?"
	"Nat!" she cried in relief. "Thank God you came!"
	"I heard your weapon, just like them, I think. Didn't the Général tell
you to work on sound dampeners? But that is not important." Natalie glanced down
at Thomas, who was huddled in a ball, weeping. "What happened to him?"
	"The vampire commander touched him," Area said, waving the woman off as
she felt well enough to stand on her own. She struggled to remember her
intelligence briefings. "Zorin Blitz has some limited psychic powers. She can
cause neurotic hallucinations of people's fears, I think..."
	Natalie nodded crisply. "I know." She snapped her fingers and two
Gendarmes moved forward while the others continued covering fire, gathering up
their fallen companion. "She also has the power to cause large scale illusions
when she has a moment." She stared hard, and Area followed her gaze. No more
vampires were in sight, though some of the dead bodies of those cut down by the
Gendarmes were. Instead, down the road was just an area of inky blackness. The
edge of it looked like words, like Zorin's tattoos, crawling forward as the
words writhed and wove themselves into new darkness.
	"I... don't think you finished her off, Nat," Area said, starting to
back up. "We should retreat. If we can't get to the Seine, maybe the
Bastille..."
	Natalie snorted, also backing away. "Of course I didn't. And some of the
others have gotten behind us, so that too is impossible."
	Area whirled, but she could see nothing in the darkness. "How can you
tell?"
	The Gendarme's glossy red lips were puckered in clear distaste. "I can
smell them. Prepare yourself, mademoiselle Area. It seems rescuing you has led
us into a siege."

*

	Remy stared out at the balcony. The rain was pouring down, so thick that
fog rose instantly as it clattered down on the ground in a hail like machine-gun
fire. It wasn't a comforting sound.
	He had sharp eyes, sharp enough that he never had to make use of the
specialised vision-enhancement equipment Area had created for distribution to
the Gendarmes. So it was that despite the rain, he could still see the murky
green waters of the Seine churning, just outside the railway station.  He could
see the bridges and railway lines that crossed the great river, all of which had
been hastily barricaded with whatever could be quickly used to do so. The
bridges could have been destroyed to prevent any vampire crossings, but better
to let Millennium consider following a predictable plan of attack. They might be
overconfident enough to actually take the French up on it.
	He could not, however, see anything on the other side of the river.
There, there was only darkness.
	"It's ready, mon Général."
	Remy turned and gave a nod to the Gendarme that had been setting up the
equipment. He returned a sharp salute and left the room to return to watch.
	They'd need him. There were scarcely a dozen Gendarmes here. The attack
had come fast, far too fast for an effective defence and evacuation to be
coordinated. As such, it was a deliberate choice to spread out their forces.
Meeting the Millennium force that had crashed through the countryside and into
the eastern side of Paris head-on would be heroic, but also suicide. Instead, he
had deployed squads to harry the invaders, slowing them down and assisting
efforts to evacuate the civilians in the undead army's path.
	It wasn't a winning strategy. But it would delay them. For how long?
	"Ah, Général, you are brooding again.  That will not help the morale of
the men, you know."
	Remy saluted the figure who had appeared in holographic form before him.
He was sitting in a chair. His thinning silver hair was in some disarray, and
his clothes splattered with blood. However, his expression was calm. "Monsieur
le Président," Remy said cautiously, "there is reason for grave concern."
	The man nodded, but his expression was still calm. "No doubt. The hour
of destiny lies upon us, and who is ever prepared for that? But I have faith,
Remy, that destiny will not find the French people wanting. You should as well."
	"Of course, sir," Remy said diplomatically. Politicians of all stripes
seemed often to him to be speech-making even in casual conversation. "Are you
all right, monsieur le Président? Your clothing-"
	The president waved that aside. "There were traitors.  But not many. The
Gendarmes performed well and few were injured."
	"I'm pleased to hear that, sir."
	"So, how goes the struggle?"
	"It is-" Remy began, but cut off as the door opened. He couldn't help
but scowl a bit at the man who had entered. Despite years of familiarity, the
first thing Remy always thought when Agito Makashima entered the room was that
he looked extremely sinister. He was tall for a Japanese, with short black hair
cut stylishly. He wore a grey suit, something finely tailored and just a couple
of shades lighter than his piercing black eyes. The elegant, chiselled lines of
his face were twisted into a slight smile. It was a politician's smile, the sort
that never reached below the surface.
	"Ah, monsieur Makashima," the president's image said, turning to face
the newcomer. "We have been waiting for you."
	Agito sketched a short bow. "I apologise for keeping you waiting,
monsieur le Président." His French had long since lost any trace of an accent.
"I bring good news, however. We are mobilising as you speak."
	"Excellent," said the president.
	"Wait," said Remy, stepping forward to force both men to look at him.
"Mobilising? Who is mobilising? Have some divisions made it to the city?"
	Agito stared at him for a moment, expression unreadable. "I believe this
matter is one that the president should explain."
	Remy faced the older man again. "Monsieur le Président?"
	He laughed a bit, the skin crinkling around his eyes and mouth.
"Monsieur Makashima does me too much credit, for it was his idea, in truth." He
folded his arms in his lap. "In fact, monsieur Makashima has been working
tirelessly these past five years to help us develop these new weapons. I'm
certain Millennium will be very surprised."
	"New weapons?" Remy said slowly. "Something Area and the aerospace
engineers have been working on?"
	"No, Général, nothing so mundane. Laser weaponry and advanced armour and
such are certainly interesting, but this project is going to turn out enemy's
strength into our own. Put simply, in this project we have refined and combined
the best elements of Millennium, Chronos, and other... more exotic
biotechnologies we have acquired."
	Agito's voice cut in. "Even now, the volunteers, the Prometheans, should
be deploying. They also guard the Palais de l'Élysée, where the President and
what parliamentarians and senators we have been able to find have taken refuge."
	"Biotechnology?" Remy said incredulously. "You've created monsters using
Millennium and Chronos-"
	"Not monsters," the president cut in sharply. "Volunteers. Patriots,
willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of all. Brave men and women who
have given up the lives they once knew to defend France."
	"We don't need something like that!" Remy snapped. "The Gendarmes are
well-trained! The best fighting force on Earth!"
	"Yes, Remy, they certainly are an exceptional force," Agito said
smoothly. "But there are so few of them. As a defensive force, I cannot fault
their courage. However, they could never be the only response to the enemies of
your people."
	"No war has ever been won from a solely defensive position, Général,"
the president continued. "We need troops on the ground, and we do not have the
time or resources to train them up from youth like the Americans. As you now
see."
	"We could have had that time!" Remy shouted. "Our defences were
impenetrable, until we lost all contact within a few minutes this morning! It
could only have been foul play, and I suspect-"
	"It was Millennium," Agito interrupted. "Of course there was foul play."
	Remy glowered at the Japanese man. It wasn't Millennium. He knew it
wasn't. He'd inspected every inch of those defences, had known every man and
woman there on a first name basis. They knew Millennium. They knew their tricks.
For seven years they'd fought them. Whatever happened there, it hadn't been the
work of the Letztes Battalion. Remy would have staked his life on it. He turned
to appeal to the president again, but suddenly, the man's projected image
vanished like it had never been.
	"What happened?" Remy roared. Agito was already scrutinising the
equipment. After a moment, he stood straight and took out a cellular phone.
Punching a number, he listened for a few moments, then shook his head.
	"There isn't any response," he said. "This is a bad sign."
	"I thought you said they were protected!" Remy shouted. He was not
personally fond of the president or politicians in general, but if Millennium
had reached them...
	"It must be some sort of covert operation. The Palais de l'Élysée is far
beyond where Millennium forces are known to have advanced." He shook his head.
"There's no time to talk about it. Remy, you're going to have to go investigate
the situation. We couldn't trust anyone less."
	"And what will you do?" Remy said. He couldn't keep the bitterness out
of his voice. "Deploy your monsters, who have already failed in their first
assignment?"
	Agito stared coldly at him. "Despite what you think of me, I will NOT
let the hordes of Millennium or Chronos have this land. It may be we all
underestimated the force necessary to protect the Palais, but the Prometheans
will more than prove their worth in this battle. You will have cause to be
grateful for them by tomorrow morning."
	"I will withhold my thanks until there is a tomorrow for France," Remy
snapped, before running from the room.

*

	Area was stumbling through the darkness. She could hear the spiteful
laughter of the vampires around her, but she'd kept ahead of them... so far. If
she only knew where she was, she might be getting somewhere. If she actually
knew whether the far-away sounds she heard were really far away or the close-in
ones were close, it would also help.
	Area wasn't stupid. Quite the contrary, she was a bona fide genius. And
not one of those closeted geniuses who couldn't relate to the real world, oh no!
She'd learned abnormal psychology and basic tactical theory and propaganda and
other things to learn to combat the vampire threat, in-between designing better
laser rifles and monofilament whips. So, given the dossier of Zorin Blitz's
psychically-based illusion powers, Area had a hunch that some of the "vampires"
skulking in the darkness around her were actually her allies. The problem was in
determining which was which. Not able to think up a way to do that just yet, she
settled for trying to avoid all signs of vampires. The problem was she still had
no idea where she was, and the sounds kept getting closer.
	A movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to spin. Too close to
think. She screamed and lashed out with Cancer as a form flashed before her
eyes. There was a hiss as the vampire was slammed up into a wall. It had been
fast enough to catch the weapon with both hands just behind the gauntlet,
holding it back just enough to keep Area from flash-frying it, but it was still
pinned against the wall. The vampire, a scarred military man with a monocle,
leaned forward and snapped his fangs at her. Area grinned and intensified the
pressure. Even a vampire couldn't hope to overcome Cancer's muscular
augmentation. And once she could finally touch him, the electrical discharge
would end the fight.
	Unless other vampires had heard her scream of shock and fear and were
running this way to attack her from behind, Area's tactically educated mind
promptly informed her. She swallowed, and in that moment of distraction, the
vampire unexpectedly raised a hand. Her suddenly unrestrained fist slammed into
its stomach, but for the briefest moment, Area was too surprised to react.
	A slap sent her reeling back, stars flashing in her vision. She gasped
and threw herself backwards before the vampire could follow up, but he was just
standing there. Wait... he? For a moment, the briefest moment, he looked shorter
and slender and not very male and...
	"Nat...?" she said slowly.
	But the vampire was snarling and advancing again, and he looked very
male and deadly again. Area hesitated, and this time the slap impacted her other
cheek, even harder, sending her glasses falling to the ground and causing her to
stagger to the side.
	"...head is as thick as your waist, sometimes."
	That was a familiar voice, now. "Nat?" Area repeated, fumbling for her
glasses in a sort of numb shock, her cheeks both aching. She couldn't see much
without them, but the blur before her was definitely too short to be the
vampire.
	"Ah. It worked that time? There is nothing like pain to disrupt
hallucinations, it seems."
	Area fumbled on her glasses. "Natalie, it is you!" She paused. "Did you
have to hit me so hard?" She paused again. "And what was that about my waist?"
	"Shush," the Gendarme admonished. She was peering around a corner, then
finally turned back. "It is not important. We are, as you Americans say, in the
deep shithole."
	Area stared. Now that she had her glasses back on and the woman had
turned back towards her, Area could see she was badly hurt. A long slash was cut
through the side of her uniform, sticky with drying blood. Her thigh looked like
something had taken a large bite from it. "You're injured!"
	"I am a good distraction. The Blitz woman wants to kill me even more
than you now, I think."
	Area fumbled for a can of tempflesh. "Here, let me spray this on your
wounds..." she said, starting forward.
	Nat snatched the can, shaking her head, and her voice dropped to the
barest whisper. "Non, non. That has turned out badly earlier today. The Germans
have been training their dogs to sniff out this stuff. It tells them where there
is weak, wounded prey." She grinned viciously. "There is one sniffing around
even now. Watch."
	She sprayed some of the healing gel on the ground behind her. The can
was specially designed to be all but noiseless, but only a few moments later, an
new figure came into the alley. It was a young man, with crewcut blond hair, his
uniform splattered with blood.
	It was the black and white uniform of a Gendarme. Area felt her heart
leap for joy. There was at least someone else!
	The newcomer raised his hand as he entered the alley. "Ah, Lieutenant-
Colonel, mademoiselle. Thank the lord that someone else has surviv-"
	He never got a chance to finish his sentence. Just as he walked into
arm's reach, Nat's hands whipped out, looping a thin wire around the other
Gendarme's neck. Before Area could react, she drew the garrotte tight with a
vicious jerk, nearly decapitating the man. A bit of blood bubbled up to the
Gendarme's lips and he toppled over as she released the hold. "Hah! Dog!" Nat
smirked. "Drink my blood, will you? I think not."
	"Natalie!" Area gasped in horror. "He was real! We aren't seeing the
illusions anymore!"
	The woman stared down at the body of the young man, and spat derisively.
"The uniform was real, but it was taken from a corpse. No honest Frenchman
smells of such bad sausage and worse cigarettes."
	"A-are you sure?"
	"Of course. He even smoked the same brand of German sewer rags as that
Blitz creature. Though I could not see her until she attacked me, I could tell
by the stench of-"
	To Nat's credit, she straightened and whipped around instantly as the
shadow appeared behind her. But while it was fast enough to save her life, it
wasn't fast enough to avoid the blow completely. The huge black scythe caught
her in the shoulder instead of decapitating her, but the sheer force of the blow
sent her smashing into the wall. Zorin Blitz barked a sneering laugh and swung
again. Natalie barely managed to duck out of the way, and the scythe reduced the
wall to rubble. Area rushed forward to help her, but then three vampires also
landed before her, leaping from the same rooftop that Zorin presumably had. They
raised their weapons, their smiles full of needle-pointed teeth.
	They thought they had the drop on her. They thought she was weaker, more
vulnerable, than her companion. But they were wrong. And Area was tired of
feeling helpless.
	A bullet skimmed over her shoulder, cutting a painful line, as she
activated the rockets on her rollerblades. But that didn't stop her from
suddenly being in the middle of the trio. At close quarters a vampire's
superhuman speed and strength usually gave them an insurmountable advantage, but
the three hesitated as she was suddenly in their midst, still carrying guns too
long and unwieldy to bring to bear quickly. At that point, Cancer slammed full
force into the one on the right; electricity sparked out and the vampire
literally exploded. The bulk of the pieces struck his companions just as
they dropped their guns, and Area took advantage of this. Another rocket flared
as she swung her foot up to strike the one on the left. The side of the Nazi's
face caved in and it was sent hurtling back.  The third snarled and leapt, but
Area seized its arm with Cancer's claw. It hissed and its nails raked at her,
cutting another gouge in her shoulder, but Area hurtled it away before it could
strike anywhere vital. The vampire smashed right through the already damaged
wall, and while it rose again, its arm was limp.
	Area screamed and rushed forward, bringing Cancer around in a wide arc
even as the vampire snarled and dashed low, trying to come up under her guard.
Then there was a red flash and a sizzle of ozone and the vampire fell back, a
smoking hole in its forehead. Area skidded to a stop as the undead creature
staggered backward. Then the air was full of a barrage of nearly soundless
bolts, peppering the vampire and reducing it to a smoking corpse.
	Area had never created a weapon like that, and she had been involved in
every major weapon developed by France for at least five years now. She turned
around hesitantly and, for a moment, thought she must be hallucinating again.
	There were five of them, huge and menacing, each at least eight feet
tall and partially slouched forward. They weren't human: their heads were thick
and rectangular, growing from their shoulders without the need for necks. They
had small, pupilless white eyes and tiny black dots all around their brows which
glimmered as the rain poured down on them. Their flesh was white, and giant pods
grew out of their shoulders, making them look further hunchbacked. They walked
forward on hooved feet, their legs bent backwards like those of birds. Thick
arms descended from just under the pods, with bizarre transparent tubes filled
with glowing red gas growing from the backs of their wrists. They wore coats,
long black coats that flapped behind them in the gusts of the storm.
	Area backed up a step, her eyes widening, and then they were past her.
She gasped. They moved fast! Even the compensators built into her glasses had
barely managed to keep them from becoming blurs of motion. She spun quickly,
uncertain what she would see.
	She heard Nat curse and watched as the brunette was thrown back across
the street. One of her hands was missing two fingers and there was a bleeding
wound in her left shoulder that did not look healthy, but she was alive. Area at
first thought that Zorin Blitz had sent her flying, but realised a second later
that it had been the strange newcomers. One of them was standing in front of the
Werewolf commando, its arm extended back having just finished a throw. Another
had moved slightly, slipping into a space that put it between the wounded
Gendarme and the vampiress. Even as she noted this, another of the five was
moving to cover Area herself.
	"Vhat the fuck is zis?" Zorin Blitz snapped, her eyes narrowing. "I
zought France had enough balls not to get in bed vith Chronos."
	The creatures struck as Zorin lifted her scythe again. They moved in
eerie silence, but then again Area had not seen that they had any mouths to
speak with. Two rushed in on Zorin Blitz from her armless side. She cursed and
slashed, forcing them to leap up and over her blade. The third raised its arm
and the source of the red flashes became apparent as a rapid fire stream of red
bolts smashed into Zorin. She hissed and slammed back into the wall... and
suddenly the two that had been guarding Area and the wounded Gendarme moved,
their inhuman legs carrying them with equally inhuman speed. Their thick fingers
curled around Zorin's arm, knocking her scythe free.
	"Fuck you, monster bastards!" Zorin screamed and slammed her tattooed
hand against the wall. The scrawling black madness of her tattoos began to creep
onto the brick, when the two that had jumped came down. They both struck in
unison, bringing down the glowing tubes on their arms like swords. Zorin roared
in pain as her arm was lopped off at the shoulder.
	She fell to her knees, staring in shock as the creatures hurled her arm
down the alley, the scythe clattering as it fell. "Vhat... vhat ze hell are
you!?" Zorin screamed as the five white-skinned humanoids lined up in front of
her. They raised their arms, pointing the trio of tubes that made up their
weapons at her. Area watched in mild disgust as lips began to form on the
formerly empty faces, lips that peeled back from thick teeth in a cruel smile.
	"We are Prometheans, Nazi filth," the middle one said in a
intimidatingly deep, but oddly human, baritone. Then they started firing, and
they didn't stop until there was nothing left of the vampire but a charred,
armless skeleton.

*

	The rain was still falling. It seemed like it would never end. There was
no lightning in this storm, no great hammer of the gods, nor even any high
winds. It just fell, in great black sheets, as if the heavens wept for what they
were forced to witness.
	Remy had rushed into the Palais de l'Élysée, but when he left, he simply
walked out to the great arched gate and leaned against the wall. There had been
what he assumed were Prometheans here. Great hulking beasts, equally vile in
form and function. It made him sick to think that men and women had been turned
into such things. They were monsters. Monsters like those Millennium used,
monsters like those of Chronos, monsters like those who dwelled in the Dark
Kingdom. That the President had authorised such a thing...
	But he wouldn't authorise anything again. And these twisted remnants of
human beings had been put to rest. For all of Agito's sneering claims of their
invincibility, the Prometheans had clearly been overwhelmed by a foe they
couldn't handle. Indeed, there was hardly any sign of a struggle; they had
been ambushed with devastating speed by a foe forewarned of whatever their
weaknesses were. Chunks of the beasts were strewn about the courtyard.
	Inside, the electricity was off. The palace had its own generator, of
course, but it had been destroyed. Heavy steel doors had sealed shut at that
point, but had been systematically smashed in by something with vast power.
Soldiers and Gendarmes had been guarding, but all had died, often stabbed from
behind before even noticing their attacker. And in the reinforced chamber where
the President and other government officials had hidden...
	Remy shuddered. He'd been fighting Millennium for years. He had, before,
seen scenes that could only be called charnel-houses. But this struck him to the
bone nonetheless. There had been no survivors. No witnesses. No recordings. Just
as if a great wind had struck the heart of France, leaving nothing but death in
its wake.
	Blood...
	Remy's eyes focused on the ground before him. There, in the stone of the
walkway passing under the great gate, was a footprint in a stain still fresh and
red. It was perfectly preserved, sheltered from the rain by the arch, a bootmark
stepping out from the Palais de l'Élysée.
	It wasn't a real clue. The killer could have gone in any direction after
running out the arch; the rain washed away any other traces of passage. But it
was a chance, an invitation, to do something. Remy shouted something wordless
and leapt in the direction the unknown murderer had gone. Not knowing where to
go, he just ran in a straight line, leaping to the rooftops as he crossed the
street. It was leading him towards the Millennium forces, but he didn't care. If
he died fighting them, so what? He wouldn't have to face Paris at the next dawn
then, whether it be in the hands of the Nazi vampires or those monsters Agito
Makashima had created to fight them.
	He almost missed it. He didn't know how far he had gone, but there was
someone, something, huddled under a tree by the side of the road. He had seen
no-one else in that time; the Nazis hadn't reached this far, and all Parisians
not involved in the fighting had locked themselves in their houses or shelters.
Remy flipped, turning his leap across the road into a plummet and landing only a
few meters away from the figure. Please, he pleaded silently, let this be the
killer. Even if I cannot defeat them, let me at least try to salvage my honour!
	It wasn't who he thought.
	"Angel?" he gasped.
	The girl went stock-still. She had leaped up as he had arrived, and
her sword was half-out of its sheath. She was soaked. Every inch of her was as
wet as if she'd just emerged from a swim, her hair plastered to her head, the
lightning tattoo on her face seeming oddly almost to glow softly in the
darkness. Her eyes stared at him in blank, uncomprehending fear for a moment.
	"Angel, it's me." Remy said, holding up his hands to show he didn't mean
to attack.
	"Remy?" Angel said, slowly. Oddly, she didn't look relieved. "W-what are
you doing here?"
	"I was..." Remy trailed off for a moment. "I was looking. For some
Millennium killers. Have you seen them? Or anything?"
	She stared at him for a moment longer, then exhaled with a sigh,
returning her sword to its sheath on her thigh. "Nope. No Millennium killers
around." She laughed weakly. "Actually, from what I saw, they're getting hurled
back by some kinda new French superweapons." She paused. "I guess you'd know
about that, Remy?"
	"Yes," he said thickly. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment,
then he spoke up again. "But what are you doing here, Angel? Are you all right?"
	"Me... I happened to be in town shopping when all this went down. Once
those, y'know, those French superweapon guys started pounding on the vamps, I
wanted to get out of the way and, y'know, make sure none got past 'em."
	"Some did," Remy growled.
	"Yeah, I guessed," Angel sighed. "I'm sorry, Remy. Whatever happened
must've been bad."
	Suddenly, the strength left Remy's legs. He slumped against the tree.
"No, it's worse than bad. They've killed the President, and not just that.
Almost all the ministers, many of the senators and députés... it's the worst
thing. The worst disaster since..." he trailed off. "And what must have happened
to all the towns between here and the German border... it is simply the worst
disaster of all time."
	There was another long silence. The cold rainwater, falling between the
branches, was trickling down Remy's back. He ignored it, staring up at the black
sky. "It's even worse than that. Those 'weapons'... those were PEOPLE, Angel.
They were turned into monsters by... by a man I cannot trust. Were they even
volunteers? Did they know what they would become? But I can say nothing. Even if
they failed to save the President, if there is still a Paris tomorrow it will be
because of them. Our victory could only be obtained by making monsters of
ourselves. We Gendarmes failed to stop this. I failed." He felt water trickling
down his face now, not sure whether it came from the rain. "All this death. This
suffering. I saw children half-eaten, torn from their parent's arms even as the
parents themselves died in the most horrible ways. Nothing lives in the east end
of Paris now. I don't even know if Area escaped. She was sent out there just
before we lost all communication..."
	"Hey, hey, Remy, don't get like that." He started as Angel's voice came
from right next to him, and only then realised he'd slumped so close to her that
he almost touched her. He drew away, but she caught his arm. "You can't just
give up. You've got to keep fighting, Remy."
	"For what?" he whispered. "For the monsters? For the President I failed
to protect?"
	She stared at him fiercely. "No! I know how horrible all this seems,
Remy. I KNOW, okay? But you can't give up. If you think the bad guys are going
to take over, whatever bad guys, you've got to keep going and stop them!"
	"I can't-" he began, but was cut off as she shoved his arm back into his
chest, pushing him into the tree. Angel was stronger than she looked, something
he always forgot.
	"You CAN!" she insisted, her eyes still boring holes into him.
"You're... you're a hero, Remy! You're a good guy that goes out and cares about
people and helps them, and you've got the power to stand out above the rest.
That's what you DO. That's what heroes are for. To be symbols. To show people
what they can be. If tomorrow you speak out against the Prometheans, people will
listen to you, because they trust you. If tomorrow you go out and fight the
vampires, people who might hide otherwise will follow you, because they trust
you. You can't let this beat you. The people who died; that's a tragedy. But you
can't let them change who you are." She released his arm, stepping back; there
were tears in the corners of her eyes now, but her voice was strong and filled
with conviction. "You're fighting for the people who are still there. You're
fighting for the people who are alive and scared and need to know there's
someone out there that can save them. They need to know that someday they could
be like you, going out and saving people too! You can't let them down! And I
know... I know you won't. That's what's inside you that makes you special."
	Remy stared at her. He'd only heard her speak like that once before,
when Millennium had turned his own sister into a monster, bringing her back from
the dead at the cost of her soul. He would have died that day were it not for
Angel. At the time, he wished she had been too late to save his life. But she'd
told him something then, something he'd thought he would never forget. And yet
sometime during this day, he had.
	"Death is only meaningless if you let it be," he quoted back at her
softly. "Even if a tragedy happens, something so horrible you don't think you
can stand it, you have to make it be something that lets you move forward
instead of shackling you to the past."
	She blinked. "What's that?"
	"You said it to me. I guess I should have listened more closely."
	She blinked again, and then laughed a little bit. With the passionate
fire gone from her eyes and her hair and jacket plastered to her by the rain,
she suddenly looked very young. "Did I? And just now, too... I guess I can give
a speech better than I thought." She wiped her face, though it hardly did any
good with the water dripping from the tree above. "I guess I got it from my mom
and dad. They were revolutionaries, real fire-breathers."
	Remy nodded. "Fighting to cause a change to bring good to the world. I
wish I had their courage, sometimes. And yours."
	She waved that off with another laugh. "No way, Remypoo. You're the big
hero, I'm just your lovable and sexy occasional sidekick."
	He shook his head seriously. "Not today. I'm... what's the term Area
always uses? Ah yes, 'whiny gothy pretty-boy'. You're the one that reminded me
what I could be. You're the-"
	Angel's reaction was unexpected. Her face twisted as if she had suddenly
tasted something incredibly sour but was still trying to smile. She turned half-
away from him, rubbing at her face again. Her voice came out from behind her
hands, sharply, almost painfully. "No," she said, cutting him off as his words
faltered. "I'm not any kind of hero, Remy. I just know one when I see him."
	"I'm sorry," Remy said slowly, not sure what had caused that reaction.
"Are you okay?"
	She dropped her hands and looked back at him, and her cheerful smile was
back in place. "Of course I am! Silly, you know I'm invincible!" She leaned
over, yanked him over and pecked his cheek before he could react. He felt her
eyelashes flutter on his skin just before she drew away. "Don't worry about me,
Remypoo. You go find that girlfriend of yours, and start figuring out how to fix
this mess. Maybe it looks bad right now, but I know you'll do just fine. Me, I
gotta go do, y'know, other stuff. I'll see you around."
	She turned around and stepped away, her boots splashing in the deep
puddles of the roadway. Remy stared after her, wanting to speak, but not quite
sure what he wanted to say. Before he could decide, Angel leapt up into the
night and was gone.

*

	Frederick von Purgstall watched the indicators on the board changing
second by second. The command room was full of people, running and shouting and
desperately trying to keep up with events as they happened. It was all in vain,
of course, but the indications of what was happening was clear.
	Millennium was falling.
	The three zoalords were together watching as things developed. Purgstall
was in the centre, clutching his forehead and staring. Amniculus stood just to
his right, frowning at a report in his hand. Gyro was to his left, sitting in a
high-backed chair. A black object that Purgstall didn't recognize was belted to
his thigh, and he fingered it idly.
	"What is happening over there?" Amniculus mused.
	"I don't know," Purgstall admitted. "It looked like France was done for.
The vampires overtook their defence lines one after another. And now..."
	"And now they die," Gyro said, smiling. "It appears that France had a
trump card."
	"Whatever it is, it doesn't concern us," Amniculus said sternly. "We
should get back to discussing the Ohtori incident."
	"Everything is under control," Gyro assured the dark-haired zoalord.
	"Under control?" Amniculus growled. "We lost hundreds of good troops
because of your attack. Plus three of the Elite Five. Do I have to remind you
how irreplaceable every neo-zoanoid is?"
	"We have the situation contained," Gyro informed him.
	"Yes. A city in open rebellion against Chronos, on our very soil, and
the best you have for me is CONTAINED..." Amniculus was literally shaking with
rage by that point.
	"Amniculus, we should send forces to France," Purgstall said softly.
	"What? Why?" Amniculus was Purgstall's oldest friend, but he dismissed
the suggestion without even looking at the other zoalord. "Let the two of them
butcher each other. Hopefully they'll exterminate the Vatican and their
religious army while they're at it."
	"Isn't this all a little too... convenient? A blitzkrieg attack into
France after their defences fall. Then while Millennium is overextended...
France counterattacks with a force so powerful it can wipe them out, but that we
knew nothing about."
	"It is worrying, I admit..."
	"It's more than worrying!" Purgstall pointed at the screen. "Why haven't
the vampires responded with their nuclear arsenal?" he snarled. "I think someone
sabotaged their supply. I think this was a trap. Someone is playing both sides
here, and if we don't step in..."
	"Do you know something we don't, Purgstall?" Gyro asked. Purgstall
glared at him, but the vicious faced man merely smiled. A knowing smile.
	"Yes, is there something?" Amniculus added.
	"Cologne." Purgstall sighed. "She... she warned me about..."
	"Why didn't you tell us about this, if she warned you?"
	"Because..." He paused. "She's in danger. She's there. In France, even
now."
	Amniculus paused, and looked at Purgstall strangely. "I never would have
figured you..." He shook his head. "Perhaps it is best if she dies, old friend.
Your judgement has been compromised. You know that Chronos can't involve itself
there. We don't know what's happening."
	"Plus, we have to commit our resources to pacifying the threat on our
own shores," Gyro reminded him.
	"Not to mention that your job now is to take advantage of the chaos in
Thailand. The current regime is weak and stupid. If we enter the nation in
force, bringing order..."
	"To hell with Thailand!" Purgstall shouted. The other two blinked.
	"Frederick, old friend, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that,"
Amniculus said cooly. "You've lost perspective. Maybe you should go see
Arkanphel..."
	"I don't want to regain my perspective!" Purgstall snapped. Amniculus'
eyes bulged. Purgstall pushed past him. "If Chronos can not intervene, I will do
so myself."
	"Arkanphel himself ordered no zoalord to engage-" Gyro began, but
Purgstall cut him off.
	"Sometimes duty means knowing when to defy orders," Purgstall insisted.
	"Purgstall!" Amniculus shouted, grabbing his arm. "If you walk out that
door..."
	"I... Amniculus, we have been friends for nearly three hundred years. I
do not wish to spend such a thing poorly. But I have to ask you to let me go. I
MUST do this."
	Amniculus stared at him, then snorted. "Go, then."

*

	The sun had set long ago, but Alexia could see the storm clouds on the
horizon. The rain was sweeping eastward, and would soon pass overhead, drowning
this wasteland in rain. But nothing would grow here. Nothing could. The entire
region had been reduced to dust and ash, wind and memories. Once, it had been a
proud nation; now it was a land of the dead and those who refused to die.
	"We should get moving, Lady Ashford," one of her bodyguards said
sharply. Alexia raised an eyebrow and looked back at her. It was the girl Agito
had sent her. The one he claimed was his lover. Alexia smiled mockingly. He
probably thought she cared about such gestures. But Alexia had no interest in
hostages, not even ones whose loyalty she was certain of due to her exposing
them to the T-Veronica virus that coursed in her veins.
	"Don't be so naive," Alexia said, turning away from the young woman. "We
still have yet to say our goodbyes to the Major."
	"I thought we were..."
	"There was your problem. You thought." Alexia smoothed her dress with
one hand and looked towards the rain again. She could smell it in the air now.
The drop in pressure as the clouds approached. "We avoided the Major because it
would be foolish to have this meeting on his terms. Instead, he will be forced
to send his messenger to us." She tilted her head up as a new scent, a new
presence, appeared nearby. "Isn't that right, Schrodinger?"
	"Ja, you are wery perceptive!" Schrodinger called out. He was sitting
on a large rock, his legs and arms spread out around him. Resting on his lap was
an open computer. Her bodyguards moved suddenly, their bodies beginning to bulge
and twist as they prepared to enter their combat hybrid form. Alexia halted them
with an upraised hand. "Whew! For a moment zere, I zought zey vere going to fail
to kill me!" the catboy said, laughing.
	"Deliver your message," Alexia ordered him.
	"But he is not ze one vith a message, Lady Ashford," the Major's voice
emerged from the computer. The screen flickered and she could see him there. He
was sitting mostly in shadows, only the gleam of his glasses and his fangs
visible in the silhouette of his body.
	"Come to ask why I left?" Alexia said, allowing her mocking smile to
resurface.
	"You mean ask you about zis plot of yours? How you and Makashima haf
been conspiring for years, vorking together to build these veapons called
Prometheans? Or maybe about how he and zat boy Chris conspired to destroy ze
laughable Maginot Line Redux and let our wampires sack Paris again? Or how you
haf delivered the location of our fortress Gehenna to zem, so that the monsters
you created could come here and destroy me and all of the Letztes Battalion?
Perhaps even how you haf conspired to sabotage my precious nuclear veaponry?"
The Major took of his glasses and leaned forward, grinning at her while his
inhuman yellow eyes widened in glee. "Vhy vould I ask you about zat? I already
KNOW."
	Alexia looked up at Schrodinger. The impudent boy was grinning at her,
his eyes shining cruelly in the dusk light. "How..."
	"I haf my sources," the Major said, leaning back and replacing his
glasses. "Really, Lady Ashford. And after all ze trouble I vent through to
rescue you and offer you sanctuary, too. If you vere going to betray me, ze
least you could haf done vas inform me first."
	"What are you saying?" Alexia frowned and looked around slightly. She
wasn't nervous, merely cautious. Alone she was a match for anything in
Millennium's arsenal. She knew. She had designed the vast majority of that
arsenal.
	"I vas hoping zis day vould come sooner," the Major said with a chuckle.
"Bison, my only suitable enemy, has wanished from zis Earth. Perhaps zese
Prometheans can entertain me in his absence."
	"You're not planning on running?" Alexia asked, slightly shocked.
	"Vhy?" the Major's smile expanded to inhuman size, his teeth gleaming in
the shadows. "Vere vould be ze fun in zat?"
	"And you're not planning on stopping me?" Alexia asked suspiciously. She
could neither scent nor sense anything else nearby.
	"No, no. I just came to say... auf wiedersehen." He chuckled. "But I am
certain ve shall be reunited in hell. Wery, wery soon."
	Alexia snorted and raised her hand, spraying a stream of her blood
across the catboy and the laptop. With the smallest thought she ignited the
blood, turning the boy into a screaming blaze and reducing the computer to
melted slag in seconds. She lowered her hand and shook her head. The Major was
insane. He was right, she should have cut all ties with him years ago.
	Alexia turned around and started to walk away. She heard her female
bodyguard gasp and smiled. She had probably seen Schrodinger's body vanish.
Actually killing that boy was near-impossible, though immolating him did feel
good. So Alexia didn't bother to look around and see what had alarmed the young
woman.
	It was the last mistake she ever got to make.
	The ground exploded, ash and dust erupting in great gouts. Alexia
stumbled, frowning as huge brown forms emerged from the dust. Fire raced down
her body, burning away her clothes and leaving her flesh grey and hardened in
its wake. At first she thought she was under attack by some huge behemoth,
perhaps even one of the ones she had created for the Major and he had secreted
across the globe. The she saw the truth. They were trees.
	"Oh, her..." Alexia sighed. She looked around, but saw that most of her
troops had been cut off from her, leaving only a few mindless zombies ambling
about purposelessly. Alexia directed them to start tearing at the vegetation.
Not that she figured they would have much effect, but it gave them something to
do while her actual bodyguards made their way to her.
	There was something strange about these trees. They were twisted and
deformed, with bulging sacks here and there that looked vaguely like honeycombs.
As she watched, the sacks began to deflate, releasing yellow spores into the
air. Alexia raised her hand, and her blood jetted out, igniting in midair and
burning any that came too near. The zombies were not so lucky.
	Whenever a spore hit rotted flesh, it began to grow rapidly. Thick ropey
strands consumed decaying flesh with the speed of fire consuming dry paper.
Thick disks of fungal matter began to emerge violently from the zombie's limbs
and body. Within seconds, the entire pack had ceased moving. Alexia raised an
eyebrow as the former zombies began to grow twisted roots into the ground,
becoming hideous human-shaped trees covered in bracket fungi.
	"Impressive," she called into the toxic jungle that now surrounded her
on all sides. She sent a stream of flame out, reducing a section of the jungle
to a fine ash in a matter of seconds. "But you will need to do better that
that."
	"Is this the part were we start ranting at each other like villains from
a comic book?" a voice drifted out of the woods. "How cliche."
	"If you prefer, I could kill you without all the melodramatics," Alexia
offered. She started down the path she had cleared, sweeping her eyes from side
to side. Things moved in the darkness, great insectile beasts made out of bark
and vines. Alexia formed one hand into a wicked blade, the other she sheathed in
flame. "So, I take it that this is Chris turning on me? I guess I should have
expected it."
	The woman in the forest laughed, a bitter sound. "You think I'm killing
you for Chris?" Alexia spun, and fire sprayed from her fingertips. She watched
as a tiny creature burst into flame. It fell over, and another appeared behind
it. It opened its multi-hinged mouth and spoke in the woman's voice. "I hate to
break this to you... No, I lie. I love to break this to you." The girl laughed
again. "But you just aren't important enough to him to be worth killing "
	"So you're betraying him?" Alexia asked, genuinely interested. She had
planned to kill Chris eventually anyway, if Agito did not succeed first, but
dissension in the ranks of one's enemies was always good.
	"No. I informed him of what I was doing." Alexia saw a flash of movement
through one of the trees and she lashed out with fire again. There was a scream,
and Alexia frowned. The thing burning there had once been one of her bodyguards.
Her incendiary blood, however, was doing a thorough job of reducing him to ash.
She tsked. "He agreed killing you would be... convenient."
	"Convenient?" Alexia said, leaping up and landing on a large branch,
leaping again before the spores could expel onto her. "Remind me to return the
favour."
	"You... kill Chris?" the woman snorted. "You haven't a chance. Not even
a disgusting undead beast like you has any chance of defeating him."
	"I guess we'll see..." Alexia continued leaping, moving in odd patterns.
The she smiled. The foolish botanist. She had done everything she could to mask
her scent and presence... but made one fatal error. Her blood infused this
entire jungle, and it carried with it a part of her scent. Alexia spun rapidly
and burst through the jungle as a flaming comet, landing not ten feet away from
the somewhat startled-looking young woman. She wore an elaborate gown with
hundreds of blue gems insewn. "Ah. There you are."
	The woman frowned, reaching up one hand. Her motion with it was jerky,
as if she was unused to the limb. Noticing this, the woman frowned further. "I
guess I shouldn't be surprised. You are a very dangerous monster. But you're
just another abomination against nature."
	"Yes, well, I tire of your ignorant prattle, peasant," Alexia replied
and sent a stream of fire at her. The ground and forest around the botanist lit
up nicely... but the woman herself was undisturbed. She smiled as the flames
dripped off her like water, leaving not so much as a scorch. Alexia blinked.
	"You see, Alexia, I can beat you." the woman said, stepping forward.
"You aren't important. YOU aren't special." Link chuckled. "You have no idea of
how insignificant you are. Right here, now, this meeting with me is the closest
you will ever come to being important in your entire life."
	"What idiocy are you babbling?" Alexia hissed. She flexed and brought
her clawed arm to bear. The woman paused and looked at it. Alexia smiled. She
might be fireproof, but perhaps old-fashioned brute force would finish her.
	"You... just aren't part of God's plan," the botanist said, shrugging.
	"I do not believe in God," Alexia replied, charging forward. The ground
in front of her smashed open, great finger-like mushrooms bursting out to block
her path. She snarled and smashed through them, but the woman had moved back out
of reach again while she was busy.
	"That's fine. He doesn't care much for you, either," the woman said with
a chuckle. Then she paused, her eyes narrowing. Alexia was laughing. "What's so
funny?"
	"You forgot that I had more than one bodyguard," Alexia explained.
	Then the woods burst apart as her female bodyguard came smashing
through. She was still mostly human, her body grey-skinned and her mouth full of
fangs. The botanist gasped as the bodyguard grappled her from behind in a
bearhug, and brought her teeth down on her neck.
	Then she screamed. Alexia watched as the demi-human woman stumbled back,
releasing the black-haired Chinese woman. Her teeth had vanished - no, melted
away - and as Alexia watched the rest of her began to follow. She was dissolving
from the inside out, the medical expert in Alexia noted. She could see her skin
collapse as first the bones, then the muscles and connecting tissue melted away.
Her inhuman scream of pain turned into a wet gurgle as she deflated like a
balloon, becoming a pile of grey flesh on the ground. Then her flesh too melted
away into a green cloud.
	The Chinese woman hissed and dabbed at her neck. A row of shallow cuts
were there, bleeding rapidly. She looked at the blood on her fingers and sighed.
"Seven years... seven years, and I STILL can't escape the flaws that Japanese
bitch created me with. Seven years!" she growled. Alexia noticed a horde of
insects had crawled out of the woman's collar and were swarming over her neck,
visibly reknitting flesh and collecting every drop of blood. "Do you have any
idea what that is like? Knowing that you're a... an IDIOT, because someone
writing a comic book thought it would be FUNNY?" The woman glared at Alexia and
took a step forward. "Of course you don't, because you're an idiot too."
	"Don't compare me to you," Alexia sneered.
	"You're right, it's an insult to everything I've done." The woman
laughed again, a sick little chuckle. "Seven years of making myself beholden to
an abomination like you, just so I could be important. So I could rise above my
lot in life. So I could KNOW. And I still have the same damn issues!"
	"You're insane," Alexia informed her. Then she rushed in again. The girl
blinked as Alexia moved so fast the world became a blur. Then Alexia was upon
her, grabbing her with one hand and pulling back the other to rip her intestines
out. The girl reached up... and tapped Alexia's nose with her bloodstained
fingertips.
	Alexia blinked.
	Then she sneezed.
	She staggered back, sneezing again. Then she gasped and grabbed her
stomach, falling to her knees. Pain, sudden intense pain filled her body. It
flooded every nerve, every part of her. She hadn't felt pain like this. Not
ever.
	"No, I'm sane. I just know the truth," the black-haired woman said as
she walked up to Alexia. "Do you like that, by the way? It won't kill you. You
see, my specialty isn't poisons. Finding one that would have killed you would
have been very hard, anyway. You can regenerate, adapt to most anything,
rearrange your body and organs at will...  But I am very good at antidotes." The
woman reached down an placed a hand on Alexia's shoulder. "Like the ones for
viruses."
	Alexia gave one final cry and then slumped forward. The woman caught
her, holding her naked body up. Alexia began to pant. She was... breathing? Her
heart, it was beating. She was... alive?
	"Yes. You're human again," the woman explained. "All that power, all
that ambition. But you see, you aren't one of the special people, Alexia
Ashford. What do you matter to Ukyou, much less Chris? You're nothing." Alexia
looked up, staring into the woman's pitiless face. "Now, I could just leave you;
powerless and alone in a toxic jungle where you are certain to die. But..." The
girl reached into her robe and drew forth a gun. Not a fancy one. A perfectly
normal one. "I prefer to tie up loose ends."

*

	Say what you will about seven years of self-indulgent criminal excess,
it did prepare one to put on a great party. Nabiki had had less than a day to
put the entire thing together, and it looked like she had been planning it for a
year. She'd rented out a large house in the least damaged section of town, one
of the few building that had survived Bison's architectural purge of the old
city more or less intact. It was three stories tall, with a large ballroom in
the centre with sweeping staircases leading to a balcony that ran along the top.
	The place was full of people. Ukyou recognised most of them. The mayor
and the local high-class citizens, more city officials and most of the ones from
the outlying provinces. Here and there she spotted the few warlords that had
been willing to sign on with Rose and her 'new deal' government. There were even
a few of the less militant warlords who had somehow ended up at the party
despite not being invited.
	There was music; a five-piece orchestra was up on the far end of the
balcony, playing something elegant and classical just softly enough that it
didn't drown out the buzz of conversation. The Dolls circulated through the
throng, offering refreshment. They wore simple little black dresses that came up
to just above the bustline with skirts that fell to the floor. They were each
wearing simple makeup, with their hair done up in buns for those without short
hair.
	Ukyou had objected to using the Dolls as servants at first. She was
still hoping that they could learn to be... 'real girls'. Of course, when she
had suggested that the Dolls be given leave to just celebrate and enjoy
themselves like everyone else, Nabiki had reminded her of exactly how the Dolls
chose to celebrate with each other.
	She flushed and took a long sip of the champagne.
	She was standing in the corner, watching the party-goers circulate
around her. Most of them avoided her. She had actually gone out of her way to
look as little like "Ukyou Kuonji" or "Lotus Infinite" as she could. In fact,
she was wearing a dress for the first time she could remember. It was powder
blue, with a knee-length skirt and the loose fabric was cinched around her waist
by a golden belt. It came up to just under her arms, but she wore a waist-
exposing, elbow-length vest over the top of it. She also wore purple hose and
opera gloves to conceal her scars and the 'tattoos' of the implanted
Psychodrive.
	Nabiki had picked out the ensemble for her, the entire process of which
had made Ukyou very nervous. The thing was, she had no idea why she was nervous.
It could have been Aaron acting up, freaking out a bit at such a feminine
outfit... but he had long since accepted that, well... they were female now. And
considering the other kinds of outfits she had taken to wearing, this was not
exactly shocking. It was actually rather demure. She also didn't have to worry
about romance... Ranma was all but married and Ukyou was willing to let him go.
	It would always hurt. But she suspected that first loves always did
that.
	"Stop picking at it."
	Ukyou looked up. Nabiki came towards her. Nabiki looked resplendent. She
wore a long green gown of shimmering fabric with an ermine stole wrapped around
her shoulders. Unlike Ukyou, Nabiki had chosen to go with makeup. The effect on
her was spectacular. Instead of looking like a attractive young woman, Nabiki
looked something like a celestial being.
	"And stop gawking," Nabiki said, smirking.
	"Sorry," Ukyou turned away, shrugging. "This outfit is a little..."
	"You didn't have any objections to it at the time we picked it out,"
Nabiki informed her.
	"I did so."
	"None that mattered." Nabiki took a few steps closer to her. "What are
you doing over here anyway? You were the one who suggested this."
	"I was expecting..." Ukyou sighed and rolled her hand in the air.
"Something a little more... intimate. Not so many people."
	"Ukyou, you were right. This party is a good idea, but not just for us."
Nabiki looked around. "This city has been on a razor's edge since the battle.
Everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is going to let out the
tension."
	"For the whole city, or just the upper crust?" Ukyou asked.
	"Please..." Nabiki snorted. "I talked to Rose. Tomorrow is being
declared a national holiday. There'll be a concert, and a parade and dancing in
the streets and all that jazz. This is just the kick off." She smirked.
"Besides, we need these people. Scum rises to the top, that's true, but these
people are the kind of people that know a few things about governance. A field
of study neither you nor Rose are well-acquainted with."
	Ukyou smiled. "Yeah. You're right."
	"Now go, mingle. You're one of the heroes. Plenty of people want to meet
you." Nabiki pushed her out into the flow of people. Ukyou let her. A few
moments later, Nabiki vanished into the swirl of gossip and networking that
always followed her around. Well, to each their own. Some people cooled off by
reading a good book, Nabiki cooled off by mingling. Ukyou wasn't about to
begrudge her that.
	"Hey, Ucchan!"
	Ukyou smiled and turned. Ranma was moving through the crowd towards her.
He didn't seem slowed at all by the press, effortlessly moving from one empty
pocket to the next. He wore a snappy yellow shirt and brown slacks, although
his bowtie was crooked. "Ranma, good to see a familiar face."
	"Yeah," Ranma smiled. "This ain't exactly my kind of party, either." He
looked around. "Pluto and Rose seem to enjoy it."
	"Dignified stuff like this is their element," Ukyou agreed.
	"Hey, you seen Akira around?"
	"Hmmm?" Ukyou frowned. "No, now that you mention it. I hope she didn't
decide to skip out..." For some reason, the thought of that filled Ukyou with a
sense of disappointment.
	"Nah. I'm certain she's around." Ranma grinned and wiggled his eyebrows
at her. "Hey. Why don't you go find her? You have all those mystic senses and
stuff." He wiggled his eyebrows at her again.
	"Is something wrong with your face, Ranma?" Ukyou asked, genuinely
confused.
	"Heh. Nope. But you should go find Akira." He nodded his head and
wiggled his eyebrows again.
	"Uh... right."
	Ranma then vanished into the press of the crowd. Ukyou just stared after
him a moment, then began excusing herself through the party. It wasn't hard for
Aaron to find Akira. In fact, given the number of people here, it was far easier
than he would have thought. It was like the moment he thought about her she
showed up in his mental radar. He steered Ukyou through the ballroom towards one
of the halls leading into the main house. Akira was on the third floor, way in
the back for some reason.
	Just as she was about to leave, Juni materialized to her right. The
sandy-haired Doll grabbed her half-empty champagne flute and offered her a tray
with two more on it.
	"Uh... I wasn't finished with that."
	"I am aware," Juni replied mechanically. "But I was informed you should
have these glasses instead."
	"Informed? By who?"
	"Ranma Saotome."
	"Ranma... why did he ask you to do that?"
	"I was not given a reason for this mission. I was merely ordered to
relieve Ukyou Kuonji of her current drink and make certain she took the two he
gave me instead."
	"Really?" Ukyou raised an eyebrow.
	"I was ordered to do this by any means necessary. I trust this will not
have to come to violence."
	Ukyou opened her mouth to say something, reconsidered it, then closed it
and took the offered glasses. Juni vanished back into the ballroom without
another word. Aaron made a quick note of her path, and was not surprised to see
she was heading right for Ranma.
	"Okay..." Ukyou murmured, then shrugged and started back into the house.
	The party had spread into the house somewhat. Small groups and couples
had sought refuge in the antechambers and entertaining rooms of the house to
escape from the press of the crowd in the main ballroom. No doubt some literal
backroom deals might be being brokered right at that moment, but Ukyou decided
not to think about that.
	When she found Akira, the girl was sitting on a bench in a small
arboretum on the top floor. Local plants formed a cool space at the end of the
hall, before opening up into a balcony overlooking the back of the estate. The
glass door to the balcony arched up into a skylight, facing west to catch the
last fading light of the day.
	Ukyou paused in mid-step. Akira was sitting with her back to Ukyou, but
she was looking slightly to the side so you could make out the curve of her chin
beyond her shoulder-length hair. Black and red straps crisscrossed her back,
caught in a few gold loops that held on the front of her dress, giving the
impression the entire thing was laced on. It also exposed much of her back. It
was easy to see her physique. This was not the body of a fainting princess, or
sighing schoolgirl. The muscles of her back played just under the surface,
managed to look soft even though Ukyou knew they were probably anything but.
	Akira's head jerked a little and she stood up slowly, turning to look at
Ukyou. For a moment, the cloud-cover overhead brook and the silver crescent moon
cast light across the arboretum. Her dress was red and black, tastefully cut to
emphasise her chest and hips, with a long skirt slit up one side to halfway up
her thigh. Akira's doe-like eyes glimmered in that reflected light, and she
smiled. Like all of Akira's smiles, it contained a trace of sadness to it.
	"Don't you ever smile because you're happy?" Ukyou asked. The words just
popped out. She had no idea where they came from.
	Akira's smile widened slightly. "This better?"
	"Much." Ukyou walked towards her.
	"So, what did you want to talk about?" Akira asked.
	"Hmmm?" Ukyou raised an eyebrow.
	"Ranma told me to meet you here. You had something important you wanted
to talk to me about."
	"He did, did he?" Ukyou murmured.
	"Is one of those for me?" Akira gestured towards the champagne flutes
with one hand.
	"Presumably." Ukyou handed her one of them, then took a sip of hers. She
made a face. "I wouldn't drink it, however."
	"Oh, why not?" Akira looked at her glass quizzically.
	"It's been spiked."
	"Spiked?"
	"With drugs, powerful ones..."
	"Knockout drugs?" Akira frowned.
	"No... these are more... recreational." Ukyou paused, wondering where
Ranma could have gotten something like this. It was the same kind of... then she
blinked. The drugs she had picked up, the hard ones to mellow out her mood. She
had never taken them, but she had left them in her pocket and completely
forgotten about them. "That wily bastard..." Ukyou said, not certain whether to
feel impressed or annoyed.
	"What's going on, Ukyou?"
	"I think Ranma's trying to set us up."
	Akira blinked. "What?"
	"The drugs in this glass are strong enough to effect even metahuman
staminas. I know, I bought them. Basically, they would make us incredibly drunk.
Or something like that."
	"Ranma spiked our drinks to get us drunk? Why?" Akira did not sound
impressed.
	"I think he wants to lower our inhibitions."
	"Lower..." Akira trailed off and flushed. "That idiot. I should show him
a thing or two about interfering with..." Akira continued to mutter darkly.
	"Yeah, well..." Ukyou shrugged. "What are you going to-"
	She was cut off when suddenly there was a loud hissing sound. Then the
sprinkler in the arboretum exploded to life. A few seconds later, both Akira and
Ukyou were thoroughly drenched. Akira stared forward, then began to wipe at her
face slowly.
	"Did Ranma do this too?"
	Ukyou paused while Aaron scanned the area. Ah, there he was. In the
basement.
	"Yes."
	"Still think it's funny?" Akira muttered darkly.
	"Actually? Yes."
	"But your dress..." Akira trailed off.
	"Ruined?" Ukyou picked at the shoulders. "I never liked it anyway."
	"I... thought it looked nice on you."
	Ukyou looked at Akira for a long moment. "Yeah. Come on. Let's go
outside. As refreshing as this is, I don't feel like talking in a miniature
monsoon."
	The door to the balcony slipped closed behind them. Ukyou shuddered a
bit, brushing the water off herself. The night breeze was chilly. Even here,
winter was fast approaching. Of course, the cold hardly affected her. She looked
over her shoulder. Akira was shivering slightly. Her dress was also plastered to
her frame. Thankfully, it was made out of a material that stayed opaque when
wet. Ukyou sighed and removed her vest, handing it to the slightly taller girl.
	"You don't..." Ukyou just stared at Akira until Akira sighed and took
it. "Thanks."
	"Doesn't amount to much, I suppose," Ukyou mused.
	"No, it's good."
	For a long time, they stood there. The moon had gone back behind the
clouds. The music from the party echoed in the background. Ukyou closed her eyes
and listened. It was a pleasant tune. Aaron was certain he recognised it from
somewhere.
	"Ukyou... I..."
	"Yes, Akira?"
	"I... I'm leaving."
	Ukyou took a long minute to process that. "Why?"
	"I'm going after Angel."
	"I see."
	"I'm sorry."
	"For what?" Ukyou looked at her. "This... I should be the one thanking
you, Akira. You've done so much for me."
	"I wasn't much help in the last few fights..." Akira said dourly.
	"You were there." Ukyou smiled. "When I was fighting Rip Van Winkle, and
Bison... I could swear I could feel you. I mean, not literally. But it was like
you were there, just over my shoulder. Urging me on. It's like... just the
presence of you gives me strength."
	"I suppose..." Akira looked away, off into the distance. She was looking
west. Towards the place where the sun vanished. No. She was looking west.
Towards France. France, where the armies of Millennium had attacked just a few
short hours ago. Where people were dying even while they stood here and
celebrated. The rumours had, of course, reached them. Reached Nabiki. But Nabiki
had insisted they go forward anyway. There was nothing they could do about
France.
	Not without confronting Chris.
	That was what Akira was looking toward.
	Then, for the first time, Ukyou looked at Akira. Really looked at her.
She was beautiful. Strong. Proud. But not arrogant. She carried her strength,
her power with a feminine grace. She was beautiful, and if Ukyou let her go off
to confront Chris and Angel alone...
	She would never see her again.
	Ukyou's heart skipped a beat.
	What was this? Ukyou couldn't be thinking about this. It was silly. She
was... she was... she had always only ever cared about Ranma, and Ranma was a
guy! Even Aaron had finally broken down and admitted that they both liked Ranma.
Both thought about kissing him, as a woman and a man. This was...
	Oh, who were they kidding? It was time to stop denying what was plain to
both of them. Ukyou stretched out her hand. "Akira... before you leave, do me a
favour."
	"Yes?" Akira looked up at her, her large eyes looked sad.
	"Dance with me."
	"But, I can't dance..."
	"Akira, you're one of perhaps the ten most powerful martial artists on
the planet. You can dodge bullets, run up walls, and read an opponent's moves
five seconds before he does them. Don't try to tell me you have two left feet.
Now, do you want to dance, or don't you?"
	"I..." Akira looked at her. She reached up and wiped a bit of leftover
moisture from under her eyes. "Yes. I would like that very much."
	They laced their fingers together, and pulled each other close. Not so
close that they touched, but close enough that they could feel the heat of each
other's body. It felt good in the cool air. Then they danced.
	It wasn't really a proper dance. It was no waltz or tango or something
more exotic. It was slow and graceful. There was no leader. One sensed the
intentions of the other, reacted, adapted, moved flawless into the next step.
They moved back and forth across the balcony, under the dark sky, the faint
echoes of the music from inside guiding them. Ukyou lost all track of time.
	She suddenly realised she was crying. Yet, she didn't feel sad. It was a
comforting sort of crying, like something painful was finally leaking out of
her. Like she was letting go of something. For a moment, she thought she
wouldn't be able to stand, but then Akira held her. The girl was so strong. She
just wrapped her arms around Ukyou, and it was like she was absorbing all the
pain.
	It all vanished. The frustration and anger, the hurt and despair... all
the events that had led up to now. They just faded away. Bison. Finding out
about Hotaru's death. Finding out about her child. Losing... seven years, her
friends, everything... it all drained away. The only thing that was left was the
slow, steady beating of Akira's heart. Ukyou rested her head against Akira's
chest, closing her eyes and listening to that comforting sound. It just went on
and on, forever.
	It said, 'I am Akira's heart. I shall beat forever.'
	"Ukyou... this is wrong..." Akira's voice was cracking. She was crying
too.
	"No it isn't," Ukyou replied.
	"But... Bison. You don't really feel this way, Ukyou. It's just the
things he did to you. He... rewired your brain. I can't take advantage..."
	"Akira, shut up." Ukyou smiled and pulled back, until she was looking
the taller girl in the eyes. "It doesn't matter. What Bison did to me... it's
not important. What is important is this moment. We have a choice, Akira. We can
either let the mistakes of the past ruin this, or we can accept that we're both
happy. Make your choice, Akira."
	Ukyou leaned in, and pecked her lightly on the cheek. "I think... I
think I've made mine."
	Akira reached up and wiped away the tears from her eyes. Then she
smiled. It wasn't a brave smile, or a sad smile. It was... a genuine smile. It
lit up her face, like the sun rising. Her fingers reached out and cupped Ukyou's
chin, and drew her in closer.

*

	The driving rain had turned the streets black. The grass sparkled and
shimmered as the rain turned to mist upon striking it, giving everything an
unreal quality. Cologne moved through the downpour, her rake held by her side.
The rain had washed the tines clean by now. She paused as she walked through the
massive park, then shook her head and continued forward, dismissing the thought.
The things she had killed tonight were just vampires, not humans. It hardly
mattered what happened to them.
	Agito was waiting for her in the exact centre of the fields, in the
space where the grass-filled park was intersected by a oval roadway. He was
wearing a thick black coat, and carried a umbrella above his head which kept the
worst of the storm from his face. He was facing the huge tower, the pyramid of
skeletal steel that these French were so proud of. Cologne stopped when she was
just behind him to look at it. Truly, she wasn't that impressed.
	"You have effective killing machines," Cologne told him. "They've not
only cleared Paris of Millennium forces, they must have overrun half of Germany
by now."
	Agito either had sensed her approach or hid his surprise well. He
chuckled. "I can't take all the credit. If it hadn't been for the information
you... discovered, then we never could have finished the project."
	Cologne frowned, brushing some of her drenched black hair from the side
of her face. "Where is he?" Cologne asked. She didn't want to think that hard
about what she had done. Frederick had trusted her and she had betrayed that
trust, passing what she had learned along to this man, Chronos' enemy.
	"In due time," Agito said with a chuckle. "He'll take his time to get
here. He has to be circumspect. It would not do for him to be seen in Paris
like this."
	"It won't help your position if I'm seen here either," Cologne snapped.
"Why insist on meeting out in the open like this?"
	Agito shrugged. "I could use the fresh air."
	Cologne let out a deep breath and glanced at this young man. He examined
her in turn. There was a power in him. His eyes were the eyes of a man who knew
what he wanted, and was willing to do anything to accomplish it. Cologne had
rarely seen such naked ambition, such dangerous pride before. The strange thing
was, that he was doing nothing at all to hide it.
	"How do you know he's even coming?" Cologne asked finally. She looked
around. It was impossible to see very far in this downpour. "From the way you
described it, wasn't his part of this plan essentially done the moment he
undermined the forward defence posts?"
	"He'll come," Agito assured her. "There is a loose end to tie up."
	"Which is?" Cologne adjusted her grip on her rake. Something about Agito
made her uneasy. And it wasn't just the fact that he was willing to sell out
thousands of innocent lives for his ambitions. Cologne herself was as guilty of
that as he. She had played as much a part in today's carnage as he had. It was
those arrogant eyes and the shadow of a smirk on his lips that set her on edge.
	"I believe that would be you," a new voice said suddenly.
	Cologne spun, cursing, and bringing her weapon to a guard position.
Chris was hovering about ten meters away, the toes of his shoes no more than a
few centimeters above the ground. The rain was pouring down on his mutilated
child body, but he was not drenched as he should be. Then Cologne saw the small
wafts of steam rising from around him. Of course, he would be that concerned
with vanity.
	"Chris," she snarled.
	"Why hello, Cologne." He nodded to her then to her companion. "Agito."
	Cologne frowned. He didn't sound at all surprised to see her. She looked
at Agito, who was chuckling softly to himself.
	"Chris, I'm glad you could make it."
	"Of course." Chris shrugged. "When else was I supposed to find her
without a legion of zoanoids surrounding her?"
	Cologne felt the moisture drain from her mouth. She stared at Agito
again, who stared back. He shrugged mildly, almost apologetically. "You betrayed
me," Cologne hissed.
	"Well, yes." Agito sighed. "I can't have the fact that the Prometheans
are partly built on Chronos technology be widely known. So, I have to tie up
loose ends."
	"You bastard!" Cologne was very fast, her weapon lashing out towards his
head. Agito was just slightly faster.
	"BIO-BOOST!" The explosion threw Cologne back, sending her smashing
painfully into the pavement. She hissed and rose to her feet slowly. A glance
confirmed that the top half of her weapon was gone.
	Chris laughed. "Cologne, Cologne. Did you actually TRUST him? What
happened to your cunning? Did all your years of experience vanish when you
allowed Purgstall to restore your... feminine charms?" he asked snidely. Chris
floated a bit closer, glancing at Agito's armoured form. The man had gained half
a foot of height; thick black plates covered most of his body and his face was
something like a knight's helm, expressionless save for his thin red eyes. A
burst of steam escaped from the spikes on his cheeks as the top of his umbrella
floated away down the park behind him.
	"Agito had no intention of letting either of us survive this meeting,"
Chris continued. Cologne glanced between the two and saw that Agito was looking
now at Chris. Even hidden behind the mask, she could still sense the raw
ambition in his eyes. "Of course, I had no intention of letting either of you
survive either," Chris noted, coating one fist in purple flame. "Agito is a very
useful ally, but... well, even the most wondrous vipers make poor pets."
	"And here I was looking forward to betraying you first," Agito said
sardonically, his voice distorted somewhat by his combat armour.
	"Is this your plan, Agito?" Chris said dryly, flames dancing in an arc
over his head from one hand to the other. The purple spark in his ruined eye
glittered in the darkness. "After seven years waiting to seize your power, why
throw away your life fighting me one on one?"
	"Who ever said I was planning to make this a fair fight?" Agito asked
rhetorically, his arms crossing.
	Then Cologne saw them. They emerged from the darkness in a great mass,
stepping out of the shadows between the trees and bushes like they were walking
out of the land of nightmares. Huge hulking forms, the rain running down their
bodies in tiny rivers. Their empty white eyes stared forward, their
expressionless non-faces implacable. Cologne shifted nervously, clutching the
remains of her weapon.
	There were dozens of them. No, hundreds.
	"Ah. I should have guessed." Chris turned back to Agito and bowed
slightly. "You have an appreciation for irony."
	Agito simply snapped his fingers. "Kill."
	The only thing that saved Cologne's life in those next few seconds was
the fact that she was not the primary target. She threw herself to the ground as
bolts of plasma crisscrossed the air above her. It was more than just a barrage,
it was a wave of fire, a stream of energy so thick it was almost a single sheet
of power. Agito had leapt up and back, hovering with the power of his Guyver
unit. Chris had also tried to evade upward, but the blasts tracked him and
surrounded him on all sides. There were simply too many. Nothing could have
moved fast enough to dodge all of them at once. One might as well have tried to
dodge the ocean from the bottom of the sea.
	A field of purple fire snapped into place around him. It was a perfect
egg, obscuring Chris from sight. It rippled like a pond as bolt after bolt
slammed into it, shrinking almost imperceptibly with each shot. Then it pulsed,
like a beating heart, and exploded outward.
	Cologne rolled to the side, just barely avoiding the blast that turned
the centre of the traffic circle into a crater two meters deep. She sprung to
her feet. The Prometheans nearest her and Chris had been knocked on their backs
by the explosion, but they were already kicking to their feet in a display of
acrobatic prowess Cologne would not have credited such ungainly-looking
creatures with.
	Chris, however, was not about to let them get him in their sights again.
He snarled and hovered lower, ducking under the fire coming from the back rank
of fighting monsters. His hand raised up. "You forgot exactly who you're dealing
with, here, Agito! I think I'll remind you!" He raised his hand and an apple-
sized orb of flame hissed to life there. Then it doubled, and doubled again.
With a final roar it grew as wide across as a car. With a wordless cry he
slammed it into the ground... and the land ignited with purple flames.
	Cologne leapt, spinning her staff beneath her. "HIRYUUSHOTENHA!" she
screamed, pulling the heat around her into a small tornado that left her
relatively unscathed. The mass of Prometheans was not so lucky. Waves of purple
annihilation nearly two meters tall poured over them again and again, obscuring
them from sight.
	Finally Cologne landed as the waves of power ceased. The centre of the
parade ground had been reduced to ash, which was rapidly turning to mud in the
rain. Steam rose up, obscuring everything more than a few meters away. Chris
slowly rose to his feet. His right arm was scorched and cracked, but as Cologne
watched it seemed to grow healthy and fresh again. Chris looked at her, and
smiled almost apologetically.
	Then they both paused as Agito began to chuckle. Chris looked up at the
hovering man, who hadn't changed position to so much as uncross his arms. A loud
thud sounded nearby, and Cologne spun in shock. One of the Prometheans was
walking out of the steam. Then another. And another.
	Chris raised his one good eyebrow. "I see you've prepared for this
battle well." Suddenly a trio of the monsters burst from the steam and plowed
into him from behind. Chris somehow twisted and drove his elbow into one's head,
ripping the beast nearly in half. The other two clamped down on his arms and
drove him into the ground. Then four more leapt on top of him. The dead
Promethean stumbled back, disintegrating into a flash of red plasma before it
even touched the ground.
	"Well played, Agito," Chris chuckled. "But don't think this will
stop..." Then Chris paused. He blinked, trying to crane his neck from under the
dogpile to look up at Agito.
	"What's the matter?" Agito said. "Oh. Yes. That would be you failing to
sense any corpses within the city." Agito unlaced his arms and spread his arms.
"Not so much as a pigeon or rat. You see, I have not forgotten whom I am dealing
with. And I have been preparing for quite some time."
	Chris made a thoughtful sound. "Exceedingly impressive. Well, Cologne,
if you plan on killing me I suggest you do it soon, before Agito takes away the
chance."
	Cologne blinked, but before she could react her arms were seized from
behind. Two of the beasts lifted her into the air.
	"No," Agito said slowly. "She's going to survive just long enough for me
to finish you off. Once I'm certain you're gone for good... then I'll kill her
too." Cologne stared at him dully. She wanted to protest, to scream at him in
defiance. But what would she say? Hadn't she already sold away her entire life
for this moment already? At least she would get to see Chris die first.
	And in the clouds above, for the first time since the rain had started,
there was a flash and the roar of thunder.

*

	"... I kinda like it, gives the place character."
	"Says the only person here who thought to bring an umbrella."
	"It's not my fault I checked the weather forecast beforehand."
	"You always bring an umbrella!"
	"Girls. We use magic. We can just create umbrellas if we want them."
	There was a short pause, followed by a few grunts and the sound of
magical shaping. Once everyone was under a colour-coded umbrella, the four took
a few seconds to glance around them. Of course, JunJun was still soaked, but she
tried to ignore that. She was certain there was a spell to make you dry, but
damned if she could remember it. Not that she was going to admit this out loud.
	"I always thought that when I got around to visiting Paris it would be
more... active," CereCere complained, still bone dry under her fancy parasol.
	"Everyone's hiding from the vampires," JunJun pointed out.
	"Or the other monsters," VesVes added.
	"Or them." JunJun paused. "Hey, can't you take control of them or
something?"
	"Hmm..." VesVes looked down the street to where a trio of the tall
hunched monsters were patrolling. "No. They have some sort of magic resistance,
I think."
	"Great," CereCere sighed. "So... we came all this way despite Mr.
Purgstall ordering us to stay home. The place is not only overrun by vampires,
but also magic-resistant killing machines. And does anybody have any idea where
the old hag is?"
	"I think she's over there!" PallaPalla pointed towards the Eiffel Tower
in the distance.
	"You have a spell for finding her?" JunJun asked, genuinely curious.
	"No... but there was this big flash of purple flames and a tornado there
a second ago..."
	"Right. Eiffel Tower it is!" VesVes called. She gestured with her ball
and vanished behind it, the orb spiralling up and through the air, rapidly
shooting across the city towards the tower. JunJun raised her own ball and
shaped the transport spell as well. Teleporting this way always made her feel
uncomfortable these days. Once, when they'd first learned how, the process had
been quick and nearly without sensation. Now, it always felt cold and draining,
like she was skimming along the edge of something dark and terrible...
	Then it was over as they showed up on the observation deck. CereCere and
PallaPalla were staring down towards the long park that stretched from the tower
into the city. JunJun followed their gaze and her eyes widened.
	"There are so many of them..." VesVes murmured.
	"They have Cologne!" JunJun shouted, just making out the woman's white
silk outfit. She was being held up by two of the monsters.
	"I got her!" PallaPalla cried, leaping off the edge without a care. Her
umbrella vanished into the mist behind her as she fell towards the ground.
JunJun gasped and reached for her, but it was too late.
	"So much for a plan," VesVes said, but her voice was not exactly
disappointed. With a wild cry she leapt as well, landing on one of the girders
and beginning to surf down it like a skier. JunJun shrugged and followed her,
just barely hearing CereCere's long-suffering sigh before the trapeze artist
began to show that her skills did not lie solely in looking pretty.
	JunJun arrived just as PallaPalla sent her magical orb skimming out: it
crossed over Cologne, obscuring her for a second, and when it came back the
woman was gone. Then she appeared, looking slightly stunned as the ball curved
back behind the blue-haired Amazoness. A man in black armour which was covered
in spikes and other evil overlord stuff like JunJun might expect Gyro to have
did a double take as the rest of them arrived.
	"Hey, old hag, I thought you were some sort of martial arts master,"
JunJun said with a smirk. "Do you always need us to pull your fat out of the
fire?"
	"The Quartet?" the dark clad figure said, his voice distorted slightly.
	Cologne looked at the four of them as they assumed a square formation
around her. The mass of monsters shuffled about, surrounding them on all sides.
"You girls... but I left you behind..."
	"You think we were going to miss this?" VesVes said with a smirk.
"Besides, isn't that guy who's being shot repeatedly the one you've been after
for, like, the last seven years?" JunJun looked. There was indeed a small boy
under a dogpile of monsters. A few more were unloading blasts of red energy from
the tubes on their arms into him. His body kept jerking and spasming, but each
blast was being absorbed by flashes of purple flame.
	"I didn't want you involved in..."
	"This is touching," the armoured man said mockingly. "But thankfully I
planned for this. Prometheans, take them alive."
	The monsters moved as a single wave. JunJun reacted instantly, dashing
forward and meeting the first two head-on. Her body spun up, smashing her leg
into the side of one and using her hand to spring off the other. The thing
barely even budged, but she snapped her orb below her and unleashed a
concentrated blast of magical power straight down. The ground cratered and
cracked... but the beasts only flinched slightly, as if they had been hit by no
more than an especially strong wind.
	"Guys! They're REALLY strong versus direct magic!"
	"I know..." VesVes cried out, raising one hand. Suddenly the earth all
around her exploded as great balls of rock emerged, each with arms and legs like
an upright turtle. There were at least a dozen, and the things jumped forward,
bowling through the ranks of the Prometheans and scattering them to both sides.
"But not INdirect magic!"
	"This is fun!" PallaPalla called out. She was sitting astride her orb,
her hands clenching it as she flew in tight circles above the assembled hordes.
Blasts of energy flew all around her, but all just barely missed. Every now and
then she would gesture softly and one or two Prometheans would suddenly be
encased in giant cubes of ice.
	CereCere, meanwhile, was gesturing rapidly, forming a swirling cloud of
flower petals that rose up all around her. As each energy blast came in, they
were intercepted by a petal, which burst into ash but stopped the blast dead.
Finally one got through, and clipped one of the rings of pink hair on the side
of her head, leaving an inch-wide gap. "Hey! You shot my hair!" she yelled in
indignation, grabbing her sphere and concentrating. The flowers in front of her
suddenly shot forward, spinning so fast they blurred into discs and began to
whine. Most of the creatures leapt back and aside, but a few could not move
quickly enough and the spinning petals tore them to shreds, sending body parts
flying in all directions. The dismembered corpses burned away in flares of red
light seconds after dying.
	"Girls! This is hopeless," Cologne shouted. She spun through the air and
kicked, knocking a pair of Prometheans together roughly. When she landed her
palm smashed into the ground and a blast of light sent the fallen monsters
spiralling away into the air. "There are too many for us to fight alone! We
should fl-" Cologne's eyes widened. "PallaPalla, no!"
	It was too late, however. The girl had already raised one hand and
gestured towards the dogpile of monsters. With a sound like a dozen cannons
going off at once the monsters were sent hurling in all directions. The boy
underneath them blinked his one unmangled eye and sat up. PallaPalla grinned and
looked back at Cologne, then she frowned. "What? You said we needed help and he
looked like he would want to fight these things too..."
	The armoured man gave a long sigh. "It appears capture was a little more
trouble than it was worth." He snapped his fingers. "Kill them all. Turn the
corpses to ash."
	Then JunJun noticed something as she ducked and weaved through the
crowds of beasts. She noticed they had been holding back. Her eyes widened as
five of the things came in at her at once, then three more from the other side.
They swung the trio of red cylinders like swords, but each was in perfect sync
with the others. Far from being a blind flurry, this was a coordinated strike,
filling the air all around her with flashes of deadly energy. She pulled her
sphere in, but one struck her on the shoulder. She cried out as the skin burnt
away. Then another smashed a knee into her gut, and a third rammed her in the
forehead with its bony skull. She collapsed, dazed.
	The air exploded from her lungs as a massive hooved foot smashed into
her stomach. She reached up, clasping the thing's thin ankle reflexively. Her
eyes widened as the emotionless white eyes of the thing looked down at her
before it levelled the cannons on its arms at her forehead.
	Then the lightning came.
	The flash was so bright it made JunJun scream. It blinded her. The
sound was so loud she could not hear her own shout, only the boom of the air
being torn apart. The pressure on her stomach vanished and she curled up,
clutching her wounded shoulder.
	Then the thunder came again, and again, and again. For a moment, they
were at the centre of the maelstrom as bolt after bolt of lightning rained from
heaven, spearing into the ground, sending geysers of molten rock and asphalt
into the air. JunJun squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, screamed like a child
hearing thunder for the first time. Then someone grabbed her and pulled her into
an embrace. JunJun was vaguely aware of someone saying something to her, but it
was impossible to hear over the noise.
	Finally, the noise and light stopped. JunJun opened her eyes slowly, not
quite trusting it to be over. Her first sight was dirt-streaked white silk, and
she realised that Cologne was holding her. Then she looked across the ruins of
what had once been a park and saw him.
	JunJun had only ever seen Frederick Von Purgstall in his zoalord combat
form once before, but she recognized him instantly. There was a dignity to his
bearing and authority to his every move that made him unmistakable in any form.
He had gained nearly a foot in height, and his body was only human in the
loosest sense. His face was stern, with glowing green eyes and the red gleam of
his zoacrystal in his forehead just before a pair of diamond-shaped protrusions
emerged on either side of his scalp. His skin was shining indigo, with patches
of black where the armour of his body thinned for the sake of mobility. Yellow
lights throbbed just under the armour of his chest.
	The dark-armoured man was rising from a crouch, his body smoking
slightly. The armour on his right arm was melted and steam rose from the wounds.
The boy was also just getting to his feet. The back of his shirt was gone, a
wide hole burnt straight through it to the blackened flesh underneath. He didn't
appear to mind that much.
	"The others!" JunJun cried.
	"Safe," Cologne said, but her voice had doubt in it. JunJun looked and
saw that the others were all standing nearby, or sitting and shaking in the case
of CereCere. Even PallaPalla was staring at Purgstall in a sort of quiet awe.
The man had a look of... pure unadulterated rage on his face. JunJun had never
seen him so angry.
	The small boy moved, suddenly flashing across the ground and extending
his hand. A tight spiral of flame lanced out towards the armoured figure, who
just barely noticed in time to roll to the side. He raised one hand as he rose
and a ball of darkness gathered there, the air around it seeming to twist
slightly.
	"ENOUGH!" Purgstall roared and raised his hands. A bolt of lightning
nearly two meters across smashed into the earth between the two. The blast sent
them both flying back. The boy crashed into a tree with enough force to crack
it lengthwise. The armoured man was caught by a trio of Prometheans, who pulled
him to his feet. "This battle ends now!" Purgstall roared. His eyes glowed
brighter. "I am a zoalord! I will not allow any more people to be hurt by your
struggle for power..." He trailed off, as he finally noticed the five of them.
	"VesVes... Palla... what the HELL are you doing here?" he snapped. "I
ordered you to stay home!"
	"Since when do we ever do what you say?" VesVes called back.
	"I..." the zoalord's eyes bulged. "I don't have time for this right now!
But when we get back to the Pillars, you girls are in a LOT of trouble!" He
waved a fist at them and turned back to his two opponents.
	Only to discover that one of them was running. Running very, very fast.
The armoured warrior was launching himself from rooftop to rooftop, bouncing
rapidly away from the battle. Purgstall growled and raised a hand, only for a
half dozen monsters to smash into him and begin wrestling him to the ground. He
snarled and a blast of lightning came down straight on top of him, reducing the
Prometheans to ash.
	He looked around, noticing that dozens more were surrounding him. He
snorted. "Impressive weapons Agito has developed. But still, no match for a
zoalord at full power."
	The creatures leapt and charged, coming in high and low. The air filled
with red light as they opened fire with a barrage that was almost a single wave
of power. Purgstall gestured once and a field of crackling energy erupted around
him. The blasts shattered against the force field, and those Prometheans unlucky
enough to smash into it full force were fried by the voltage. The ones outside
the field were not spared. He gestured with his other hands and arcs of power
came down from the sky, hundreds of them, each striking with the precision of a
sniper. In less than ten seconds Purgstall had reduced the entire army of
monsters to a field of ash.
	Into the silence, the sound of clapping emerged. Purgstall turned to
face the small boy, nearly one third his size, who floated a half dozen meters
away. "Excellent work," the boy congratulated him.
	"You didn't try to run like Agito?" Purgstall sounded surprised.
	"Where to?" The boy shrugged. "Despite your vaunted humanitarianism,
you'd clearly be willing to reduce the entire city to a smoking crater to get
to me."
	Purgstall's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.
	"Finish him!" Cologne yelled, letting JunJun go and standing up
suddenly. "This is our chance!"
	"Oh..." the boy said slowly, a smile forming on his lips. "Come on,
Cologne. You and I both know that Arkanphel won't let him touch me. If it
weren't for me, their genetic messiah would still be comatose most of the time."
He turned his attention to Purgstall. "I trust the Water of Life has worked out
well for him? I hear it can restore strength to even those on the verge of
death."
	Purgstall looked at the boy for a moment, then he looked at Cologne.
"He's right. Without that water, Lord Arkanphel would be... weakened." He turned
back to the smirking boy. "Yes, Chris. Chronos owes you much. To kill you after
Arkanphel himself declared his gratitude would be something close to high
treason."
	"Damn you!" Cologne shouted, clenching her fists in impotent fury.
"Don't let this stop you, Frederick! He's a monster! He gave that water to
Arkanphel just so that he could use it against you now! This atrocity, all these
people dying... HE orchestrated this! His ambition is boundless! Do you think he
would have stopped with killing me and Agito? He'll destroy anyone that gets in
his way. Arkanphel is just another notch on his belt waiting to happen!"
	"But I can prove you wrong, Cologne," Chris said, shrugging. "I'll let
you go."
	"Easy to say now!" Cologne snapped.
	"Oh please. I could still kill you before he finished me off. If he even
could," Chris smiled. "But why don't we just call this a draw all around? I have
to get around to tracking down Agito before he gets too far and you should get
out of here before..." Chris paused and looked up and to the side. "Or, maybe I
don't."
	Then JunJun shivered. It was a feeling that started at the pit of her
stomach and crawled up her spine before settling like a cold lump at the base of
her neck. Her eyes widened and she stood up slowly, looking around her quickly.
There was something here. Something... wrong. Something that filled her every
instinct with the raw, animal desire to flee. She could see her sisters also
beginning to be affected, their bodies begin to twitch and shudder like rabbits
in the woods.
	Then someone laughed. It was a little girl. Her voice echoed through the
rain, coming from everywhere and nowhere. JunJun gasped. Cologne started and
even Purgstall seemed to sense that something wrong was suddenly among them.
	"So many children, walking around like adults..."
	JunJun spun and saw the girl. She sat on a lightpole, one that JunJun
wasn't certain had been there a few seconds ago. Her skin was exotically
coloured, and her white hair was short and sharp. She wore a bodysuit of white
and grey and black. Red gems, the size of baseballs, were embedded in her
gloves, boots and shoulderpads. A sky-blue triangle on her forehead pointed
towards her tiny cherub nose and mouth. Her eyes... JunJun wanted to pull away,
to look at anything but those eyes.
	Those eyes were madness.
	She was carrying something black, juggling it from hand to hand. It took
JunJun a moment to realise it was Agito's head. The girl giggled again, her
mouth forming a thin amused line. "And adults acting like children," she said,
her soft voice carrying over the rain and the rumble of thunder. "This one was
the only real man here... more's the pity."
	"PallaPalla!" CereCere cried, reaching for their youngest sister as she
suddenly walked towards the newcomer. But PallaPalla was already too far away,
and the pink-haired Amazoness was unwilling to step forward. The bluette marched
forward, striding along the ground and then effortlessly ascending the air
towards her like she was walking up an invisible staircase. PallaPalla stopped
when she was only a few feet from the girl. She frowned, her expression sad.
	"You shouldn't be here," PallaPalla said.
	"You're right," the strange girl said, smiling. "But I am."
	"You're not like anything else," PallaPalla said, her voice growing
sadder.
	"Don't blame me." The girl laughed, and suddenly she was behind
PallaPalla, her hand resting on the smaller girl's shoulder. "That's just the
way God made me." Then she quirked her head to the side and chuckled. "Or didn't
make me, as the case may be."
	"Somebody has to stop you," PallaPalla said sharply.
	"I'm hurt. What have I done to fill your innocent heart with such
naughty feelings?"
	"You've done nothing. Except run over my dog."
	"He was a naughty puppy."
	"I don't care what you say!" PallaPalla shouted, spinning to face her.
"Eating kittens is just plain wrong!"
	"That's what I said at the time."
	"Who do you think will tend my flock now? A PIG?"
	"If he's very polite."
	PallaPalla fell back, landing atop the streetlight with a dazed
expression on her face. JunJun and the other girls ran over, catching the
smallest Amazoness as she tumbled off the lamp. CereCere held a hand to
PallaPalla's forehead. "What was that? What were you doing up there?" she asked.
	"I... I don't know..."
	"Did she do anything to you?" VesVes asked harshly.
	"No? I mean... it all sounded so logical when I was saying it..."
	"PallaPalla, you never sound logical," CereCere pointed out.
	"I know! That's what was so weird!"
	"Girls," Cologne said, landing next to them. "Are you okay?" she asked
PallaPalla, who nodded. "What... what is that girl?"
	"She's a..." VesVes strained for words.
	"She's a nothing," CereCere said.
	"A hole. A rip. A tear," JunJun expanded.
	"She's wrong and horrible! She should not be!" PallaPalla insisted.
	"She doesn't exist! But she's here!" VesVes breathed.
	"She has no dreams..." PallaPalla sighed.
	"She has that effect on people," another voice observed sardonically.
	They all turned and saw the girl had moved across the battlefield. She
was standing at Chris' side, still idly juggling the severed head of Agito. He
looked at her, narrowing his good eye. "You should finish him off. As long as
the control medal on his forehead exists, he can regenerate."
	The girl looked down at the head, her smile growing somewhat sad.
"Goodnight, sweet prince. The tragedy of your life is that you never knew that
despite all your cunning and power and ambition, you were doomed because of
God's utter indifference to you." Her fingers made a wet sound as they sunk into
the armour of his head, then snapped closed. Bits of metal and red ooze sluiced
out between her fingers as she removed them. The head fell to the ground with a
soft clatter.
	"You can accept that as my apology for inconveniencing Cologne," Chris
said, looking up at Purgstall with a smile.
	"Frederick... even if you aren't going to do it for me, even if
Arkanphel does protect him... realise what he did today. All these people died
because he decided he wanted Millennium gone. And now, with Agito gone... there
is nothing to stop the Prometheans."
	"Au contraire," Chris said with a sarcastic lilt. "The reason my friend
here was absent earlier was because she was busy destroying the lab responsible
for creating them. With Agito dead, and no records, there will be no more
Prometheans."
	Purgstall looked at Chris for a long time, the thunder and lighting
filling the stormclouds overhead. Then he frowned. "No. Even if Arkanphel
himself tells me to spare you, I can't. You're a monster. I won't let you
threaten my future!" His last word as a shout, punctuated by a crack and blast,
a massive lightning bolt. JunJun screamed, as the world became light and sound.
She could feel the power of the blast, it was a bolt of raw elemental fury,
almost twenty meters across. Buildings in all directions melted slightly from
the heat of its impact.
	Only it never hit. The girl was holding up one hand, almost casually.
She had parried the massive electrical arc with one of the gems on the back of
her wrists. Chris was ducking, hiding beneath her as she smiled. Then, with a
sound like water running down a drain, the entire bolt shrunk and shrunk until
it was nothing more than a few random sparks that vanished into the globe in her
gauntlet.
	"Not... possible!" Purgstall said, stumbling back a step, his eyes
widening.
	"Oh Purgstall," Chris said, rising back up and smiling. "Agito's blind
spot was that he never thought a zoalord would choose human companionship over
loyalty to his master. I was not under any such delusion. I was merely waiting
for you to make the first move. Formalities are the very heart of the law, after
all."
	JunJun stared at the girl. Her body shuddered. She had felt it, when the
girl had sucked up Purgstall's attack like it was nothing. That strange,
otherworldly coldness. The same one she felt whenever she travelled with her
orb. That same chilling darkness that crept through her whenever she used her
magic. It was a taint, a wound, a gnawing emptiness in the centre of... what?
	"WHAT ARE YOU!?" JunJun yelled, taking a step forward. VesVes grabbed
her by the upper arm, holding her back.
	"I'm the Trigger of Destruction!" the girl replied, adding a happy
little giggle to the end.
	"You'll have to forgive her, she sometimes takes the form I modelled her
after too seriously," Chris explained, not even bothering to look back at the
Quartet. "Most of you have already met my sword, Angel. This is my shield.
You've probably already heard about her, Cologne. I call her Kalia, and she was
created to protect me from beings like you, Zoalord Purgstall."
	"Cologne, girls... get away from here." Purgstall's voice was hard as he
began to rise into the air. Waves of energy, something between raw chi and
electricity, began to lick up and down his body in sheets.
	"I don't think so," Chris replied, crossing his arms. "Kalia. Kill him.
But leave his zoacrystal mostly intact. Arkanphel will want it back.
Eventually."
	"Now is fighty-time! Fighty-time! Blood! Blood! Blood!" Kalia said in a
sing-song voice, then JunJun blinked and suddenly the girl was right next to
Purgstall. He gasped and tried to move, but her backhand caught him in the
temple and sent him flying through the air. Then Kalia vanished again. A moment
later the Eiffel Tower shook in its supports as the zoalord crashed into it.
	Then JunJun was forced to move her attention back to the present.
Because Cologne was charging, her scream trailing behind her almost like a cape.
Chris waited a heartbeat, then he moved to meet her.
	It was like watching a movie set at too high a speed, or trying to watch
a dance illuminated only by a strobe. For several minutes, as the lightning
raged overhead, the two exchanged blows at a speed that JunJun could barely even
perceive, much less interfere with. The ground around them burst and shattered,
great geysers erupting into the earth whenever they came together for a brief
exchange. Their bodies flashed and flickered, appearing for the instant it took
to deliver or parry a blow and then vanishing again.
	Then the battle went up a level. Suddenly the park was filled with
flames and wind, exploding rock and spears of water. Blasts of chi and
explosions of flame met, annihilating each other. VesVes and CereCere raised a
barrier, keeping the worst of the backlash from blowing the four of them away.
JunJun hated it. She had never seen the old hag fight like this. She was moving
far faster, far more nimbly, than she ever had when trying to train them.
	It took Cologne almost ten minutes to lose. Ten minutes that reduced
most of the surrounding city blocks to ruins. JunJun didn't even see the fatal
mistake, the one slip-up that ended the battle. All she did was hear Cologne's
pain-filled cry and then the woman was flying through the air, skipping across
the landscape like a rock over water until smashing into a wall so hard she went
through it and the rest of the building besides. JunJun didn't think, she moved.
	She appeared behind Cologne, catching her in her arms. The air exploded
from her lungs and she skidded along the cobbled street, finally coming to a
stop when she smashed into a parked car.
	"JunJun..." Cologne hissed softly. Her right arm was so badly burnt that
JunJun felt her stomach twist at the sight of it. The burn spread down her side.
	"Don't worry, old hag, I'll..." JunJun had no idea what to say next. She
blinked away tears.
	"You have to admit, she is rather impressive," Chris said, floating over
the collapsed building he had sent JunJun's mentor through. "She did far more
damage to me than I thought she would." JunJun looked up. The boy was mangled.
His clothes had nearly been torn to shreds, barely covering him in some areas.
Holes ran up his entire right side, and one of his hands was missing three
fingers. His left leg was missing from the knee down. He didn't seem to mind any
of this. "She probably is the greatest living master of the First Circle on the
entire planet. Perhaps even the entire universe." Chris raised his maimed hand
and flames grew where his fingers should be, then he gestured, summoning a
purple fireball in front of him. "But it's just the First Circle. As she once
told me, its power only lasts as long as the will maintains it." He smiled. "And
even you have your limits, Cologne."
	Then the giant metal lobster attacked him. He blinked in surprise as its
huge pincers grabbed his arms and its many legs curled around his body. It
looked like it was built out of what had once been cars and trucks. JunJun
looked up to see VesVes concentrating and holding out her orb towards the beast
she had created.
	CereCere and PallaPalla appeared in front of him, landing acrobatically
and gesturing as they did. Flower petals swept from the pink-haired girl's hands
as a giant ball appeared under PallaPalla, rising her several meters into the
air. The petals flowed over Chris, seemingly without effect, then PallaPalla
bore down on him, threatening to crush his immobilised form.
	Then Chris grunted and tore his arms free, the metal pincers of the
lobsters melting away like hot taffy. He extended one hand, catching the ball
and stopping it in place. PallaPalla leapt a second before the circus ball
exploded from within in a flash of purple flame.
	"Damn you!" JunJun roared. She put down Cologne and charged,
cartwheeling across the road towards him. He shifted sideways as she landed
beside him, and started punching. He avoided each of her strikes with
contemptuous ease.
	"Excuse me, but... who are you, precisely?" Chris asked.
	"JunJun, of the Amazoness Quartet!" she yelled back.
	"And we're going to kick your ass!" VesVes yelled. She snapped her
fingers and the ground under Chris morphed upward, stretching into a giant hand
which pawed at him. He tapped off the fingers and flipped over JunJun's head.
PallaPalla was holding out one of her dolls, sweat dripping down her brow.
CereCere produced another blast of flower petals, which Chris did not even
bother to avoid.
	"I'm being attacked... by Sailor Moon villains?" Chris asked
disbelievingly.
	"Don't underestimate us!" JunJun shouted, and leapt again, producing a
brace of throwing knives which homed in on him with magical accuracy. His hand
blurred as he parried each one with one hand. Then his body seemed to flicker
and there was suddenly two of him. One standing still, the other racing straight
towards her.. JunJun gasped, but couldn't dodge as the charging one grabbed her
arm just as the other vanished.
	"I'm not underestimating you," Chris informed her. Then he broke her
arm. It was a simple twist of his wrist. JunJun screamed, collapsing.
	"JunJun!" VesVes shouted. She leapt down, but in mid-air a thin ribbon
of flame sprang from Chris' mauled hand, wrapping around her ankle. She cried
out as the flames burnt into her flesh, then again as Chris swung her like a
pendulum into the ground hard enough that it cratered. Before the others could
react, Chris shifted sideways and gestured, dozens of thin purple darts flicking
from his other hand. CereCere only had a chance to gasp before she was pinned to
a wall, flaming darts embedded in her wrists and ankles.
	"You jerk!" PallaPalla screamed, flipping backward. As she did, she
clapped her hands together then pulled them away quickly, a pool cue forming
between them. She landed facing him, leaning forward, and her blue orb floating
down right in front of the cue.
	"PallaPalla, no!" JunJun yelled. She wasn't certain why, but she knew
this was a bad idea. It was their ultimate weapon. With one of their orbs, they
could punch the 'dream mirror' out of a person, literally that thing which
contained all their dreams, all their personality. It was the connection between
every living thing and Elysium, the thing which separated those things with
souls from those things without.
	Once, four years ago, they had used it. The victim had been some girl
being fledged to become a neo-zoanoid. It was supposed to be a joke. Just a
lark. The mirror could be put back, after all. No harm. No foul. But it hadn't
worked out like that. The mirror that had come out had been black. It had
shattered, and in shattering it had released... something. Something cold and
dark and final. The entire facility had been reduced to a crater a kilometer
wide. The Quartet had barely escaped alive. Since then, they had never once used
it. Never even talked about it.
	If PallaPalla actually hit Chris, likely she would take him out, and
everything else nearby... including them. But Chris just smiled as the girl took
a moment to line up her shot and released it with a gentle tap. The ball shot
right past his ear; he didn't even try to dodge. But far from missing, the ball
ricocheted again and again, off walls and debris and nearby cars until finally
smashing into Chris from behind... and then nothing. The ball appeared floating
straight in front of his chest, as if nothing had happened.
	Except PallaPalla screamed. She clutched her head and fell to her knees,
her cue clattering to the ground.
	"Was that supposed to do something?" Chris asked idly. Then he reached
out and grabbed the orb. "Well, on the off-chance it was..."
	The sphere shuddered in his grasp for a second, then cracks began to
from, spreading slowly from his fingers, intersecting and multiplying. Flakes
began to peel off and a terrible deadlight, a hideous black anti-illumination,
burst forth from the holes. Then the entire sphere exploded. The boy grunted as
the blast threw him back, landing against a wall.
	He frowned. His hand had vanished, consumed from the wrist down,
perfectly severed with no signs of scar or burn. "Right, dumb idea," he
muttered.
	PallaPalla fell forward, her eyes rolling up into her head before she
slammed into the ground. JunJun got up and ran to her, trying to keep her broken
arm from jostling painfully without much success.
	"Leave them alone!" Cologne shouted, having finally managed to get back
to her feet. Chris looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
	"I didn't attack them."
	"They're just children!" Cologne accused.
	"They're children with dangerous toys." Chris gestured with his stump of
an arm. "Really, Cologne. Oblivion? Are you so desperate to harm me you'd toy
with a force that could end all existence in the wrong hands?" He shook his
head. JunJun stared at him, blinking. What was he talking about? "But that
isn't the point."
	"If you want to kill me, go ahead," Cologne snarled. "But leave them
alone!"
	"Cologne... you know I don't kill people."
	Then there was a loud crash as a figure smashed into the ground behind
him. It was Purgstall. He didn't look injured. He looked, for all the world,
like he was asleep. Except for the gaping wound in his forehead, where his
zoacrystal had once been.
	"That's what I have HER for," Chris continued cheerfully.
	Suddenly the girl was behind him. There was no sign of teleportation,
she was just there. And JunJun knew, somehow, that she had been there all along.
She was cradling Purgstall's zoacrystal like one would a baby.
	"It's warm..." Kalia said, giggling.
	"FREDERICK!" Cologne ran across the street, only to be driven back by a
wave of flame. "Damn you, Chris! They aren't involved! They weren't even
supposed to be here!"
	Chris snorted. "Cologne, you never change." His lip curled up in a
sneer. "Oh certainly, you didn't give them an engraved invitation to join you
in grand suicide. All you did was dedicate the last seven years of your life to
my destruction. Using them like pawns in a game. Worming your way into
Purgstall's feelings, so you could exploit his resources to find me. So you
could betray his secrets in a scheme to kill me. Using these girls as weapons,
thinking that if you could devise ways to kill them, you could find a way to
kill me. No, of course you didn't INVITE them, Cologne. But you made them care
about you, and you came here. You KNEW they were going to follow you. You were
willing, you ARE willing to spend every one of their lives just so long as it
kills me in the process!"
	"That's not true!" JunJun shouted. "Tell him it isn't true!"
	But Cologne didn't answer.
	"Just like before," Chris continued mercilessly. "Certainly Shampoo
decided she would rather die than remain a slave to Pink and Link. Certainly I
made her that slave. I'm certain that's what you say so you can sleep at night.
But YOU made the decision to let me do that. You decided that she needed a
lesson. You were the one who had the responsibility. You paid less attention to
your own flesh and blood than a complete stranger from Japan. You are the one
who had no idea what was happening to Shampoo until long after she was dead." He
paused, and then for a moment his voice was filled with a deep and terrible
anger. "Until long after PINK was dead." Chris floated a bit closer, and his
voice returned to its light, sarcastic lilt. "But of course, it's all my fault."
	"There was an old lady who swallowed her guilt," Kalia began in a sing-
song voice. "I don't know why she swallowed her guilt. Perhaps she'll die."
	Cologne looked down at the ground and fell to her knees. Her body began
to shake. JunJun realised dimly that she was crying. When she spoke, her voice
was hoarse. "You owe me," she said softly.
	"What?" Chris asked, frowning.
	"Seven years ago, when you were new to this world and confused... you
came to an old woman for help. She saw you were a... monster, a strange freak of
nature. But she did not cast you out, or destroy you. She helped you." She
looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. "You owe me, Chris! You promised
me a favour then, anything I wanted, and I'm calling it in!"
	Chris looked at her a moment, then his frown twisted up into a smirk.
Finally, he broke out laughing. "Of course. Unlike some people, I always keep my
promises."
	"Let them live!" Cologne snarled. "All of them! Frederick and the girls!
Spare their lives! I don't care what you do to me-"
	"Well, I do!" VesVes snarled, rising to her hands and knees. Her face
was bruised and one eye was swollen shut.
	"Me too!" CereCere managed to get out, still pinned to the wall by the
flaming darts.
	"If you kill her, I swear we'll find a way to make you pay!" JunJun
snapped, cradling PallaPalla's unconscious form in her lap.
	Chris looked at them all, smiled again and shrugged. "What would be the
point anyway? She can't hurt me, and the purpose of killing her would be to
prevent knowledge about me from spreading. If I'm not killing any of you, it
strikes me as... needlessly cruel."
	He gestured to Kalia. The girl smiled, then she held up the zoacrystal.
She tapped it once with her pinky finger and it made a sound like a bell
ringing. Then she tossed it at Cologne's feet. The woman looked down at it in
horror. A thick crack ran down its length.
	"I suggest not bothering with the king, his horses or his men," Kalia
said. "Maybe Humpty-Dumpty would have been better off looking for a Queen to
help him?" she suggested, then laughed and was never there.

*

	"You look like you're in a good mood today," Nabiki observed. She was on
her third cup of coffee, and it was only nine. She looked down at the dark
liquid. She needed to cut down, she noted idly.
	"Yeah, I guess I am..." Ukyou mused. She was standing near the window of
Rose's office, looking out at the city. Below them, the festivities were in full
swing. Nabiki was actually slightly surprised by how well she had pulled this
off, given the time constraints. Of course, she knew it was superficial, that
Thailand had a long way to go before there was real peace, real reform... but it
was a start.
	Nabiki smiled, a wicked little smile. "So, where did you and Akira go
last night, then?" Nabiki then got to see a rare sight: Ukyou blushing like a
schoolgirl and sputtering. She turned and glared at Nabiki.
	"Get your mind out of the gutter, Nabiki," Ukyou snapped. "Nothing like
that happened."
	"Why not?" Nabiki purred, leaning forward.
	Ukyou narrowed her eyes. "Does the phrase 'none of your business' even
mean anything to you, Nabiki?"
	"Everything is my business, Ukyou." Nabiki snorted. "Don't think this is
some gossip thing. I need to know what's happening with you because of how
important you are, because you..."
	"Stop right there, Nabiki." Ukyou held up a hand. "Don't start treating
me like some saviour. I'm not. I'm... human. Just like you."
	Nabiki regarded Ukyou for a long time. She opened her mouth, ready to
say something, but stopped herself. She sighed and pinched her nose. "Fine.
Whatever you want, Ukyou." She looked up. "Why did you want to talk to me?"
	Ukyou considered her answer for a long time. They watched the cheering
crowd outside. Almost everyone else was down in that crowd, Ranma and Rose and
Pluto and the others, all participating in the adulation and celebration. Nabiki
would have been down there too, except that Ukyou had pulled her aside.
	"It's been seven years since I went away," Ukyou started. "I've lost
track of so much, and so much has changed. I never got a chance to recover like
the rest of you. Even after you, Akira and Angel saved me we kept bouncing from
one crisis to another. Running and hiding and fighting for our lives doesn't
give one much time for introspection. I was still caught up in what happened to
me back then, losing everything I thought I held dear. Never getting a chance to
apologize to Akane, things turning sour with Ranma... and Hotaru..."
	Nabiki flinched, but Ukyou didn't notice. That was the one subject
nobody had spoken of around her. True, Ukyou had been mostly avoiding learning
about the world, but nobody had raised it. Least of all her. Even if Hotaru, or
more correctly the Messiah of Silence, was the whole reason Nabiki had embarked
on this foolish crusade. Ukyou continued.
	"I was so caught up in what I had lost, that I forgot that there are
things I have now. I saw you as the selfish bitch you were seven years ago,
Nabiki. I never considered you a friend, just a convenient ally. I've been
treating you, more than anyone, like shit." Ukyou turned to her. "I'm sorry. I
can't take back the past and change the way things have been between us. Even if
I could, I don't think it's the right thing to do. But we can start over now,
don't you think?"
	"Ukyou..." Nabiki began warily.
	"The fact is, Nabiki, you never needed me the way you thought you did.
Even if you claim to have done all this because of some selfish reason, the fact
is you did it. You defied Chris and risked your own death saving me. You didn't
trust Angel, but listened to me when I asked you not to step in. You fought
Bison for me, by yourself, and nearly died. You helped me save Rose, save all of
Thailand..." Ukyou took a step closer. "Nabiki, you say you're a selfish bitch.
You call yourself the 'Queen of the Criminal Underworld' and that all you care
about is the game. But those are just words. Actions speak louder, the old
saying goes. And you've risked yourself more than most heroes in this world ever
have."
	Suddenly Ukyou was extending her hand towards her. "So I'll say it
again, Nabiki. I misjudged you. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for everything.
I'd be glad, if you and I could be friends. Not manipulating one another, or
using the other. Equals. I'll stand up for you, because you stood up for me when
it mattered."
	Nabiki looked down at Ukyou's hand. Then she snarled and slapped it
away. "God DAMN you, Ukyou!" she snapped. The woman just looked at her, alien
eyes expressionless. "Why do you have to be so fucking noble?" Nabiki stepped
back. "This would all be so much easier if you went back to being a whiny self-
involved child."
	Ukyou smiled. "I'm still a bit self-involved, Nabiki. I just choose not
to let that ruin the rest of my life."
	Nabiki glared at her, but suddenly she couldn't hold in the anger
anymore. It just slipped out. Nabiki briefly wondered if this was how her little
sister felt, the sudden burst of mind-numbing rage and then... it was just gone.
And everything suddenly felt all right. It felt, for a moment, like it would
work out. Nabiki walked over and slumped against the wall.
	"Are you okay?" Ukyou asked.
	"I'm fine..." Nabiki sighed. "Ukyou... I..." Nabiki had tried so many
times to bring this up. She had wanted so much to find a way of tricking Ukyou
into it. She had hoped that Ukyou would solve her problem for her, since before
she had set out on this road. But after seeing how Ukyou acted after she had
come out of her 'captivity' the time had not seemed right. At first, she'd been
so obsessed with Ranma, then with Bison and her child and now... "I can't find a
way to ask this, Ukyou. I give up. I can't stop it anymore. It's all coming to a
head again and I can't wait for it to explode before I find the courage of my
beliefs." She looked up at the strange, alien and yet strangely human girl. "I
need your help, Ukyou. I need you to save a friend of mine. A dear friend."
	"Ryouga," Ukyou guessed. Nabiki nodded mutely. "I was wondering where he
was..."
	"He's in grave danger, Ukyou. He's... caught up in things he can't
understand." Nabiki looked at her. "Whatever force it is that did this to you.
Whatever it is out there, Ryouga's caught up in it. It's using him, and I don't
know why. I'm afraid that..." Nabiki didn't break down. She had more dignity
than that.
	"I see..." Ukyou ran a hand through her bangs. "I'm not certain what I
can do, Nabiki. There is... something out there. I don't have a name for it. I'm
not certain anyone does. When we were in Europe... Hotaru..." Ukyou's voice had
a hitch in it, and when she continued her words were tremulous, hesitant,
"...Hotaru called it God... maybe she was right..." Ukyou rubbed at the corners
of her eyes, and her voice became stronger. "But I refuse to believe in a God
that is so cruel as that. Not even indifferent, but actively malevolent.
Whatever this nameless thing is, I'm not certain I'm up to fighting it. How do
you fight something like that, anyway?"
	"By attacking its prophet..." Nabiki said softly. Ukyou looked at her
sharply.
	"Prophet?" Her eyes narrowed. "You mean Chris." Ukyou shook her head.
"Maybe he and I will end up fighting each other, but..." She paused. "If he
really was involved in the events in France, then he's long gone now. He doesn't
strike me as the kind to stick around and admire his handiwork..."
	"Not Chris," Nabiki said thickly. "There is, someone else... someone who
this thing has chosen to spread its word, to do its work on Earth..." Nabiki
looked up at Ukyou again. "A child. A child who died and was reborn. A child
cursed, who wanders the Earth. She spreads the word whereever she goes, and that
word is destruction. She preaches peace in death, joy in surrender, absolution
in oblivion." As Nabiki spoke, Ukyou's expression slowly changed, as she began
to understand where this was leading. "There are only three people out there
like you, Ukyou. People who change the world just by existing. You draw people
into your wake like a storm, entering their lives and leaving nothing unchanged.
Chris does it, too. And so does the Messiah of Silence."
	"Hotaru..." Ukyou said almost too softly to hear. "No. No. She's dead."
	"You believed she was dead. You let yourself believe it."
	"No. She's dead!"
	"It was easier. You'd heard the rumours, since you came back. But you've
been so concerned with other matters, you let them pass by unnoticed. You know
it's true, Ukyou." Nabiki stood up. "If you really doubt me, I can show you. I
know where Ryouga is, every moment of every day. I can show you his life, show
you everything that Hotaru has become."
	Ukyou looked at Nabiki, then she nodded curtly. Nabiki paused and
sighed. It would be impossible to show Ukyou this without Ukyou also seeing more
than Nabiki wanted her to know, about Nabiki's feelings, about Ryouga's... about
what she wanted Ukyou to do, to save Ryouga from his foolish quest to redeem a
girl seven years dead. Ukyou's senses were too sharp. She would sense falsehood.
So Nabiki held nothing back. She let Ukyou see everything.
	When it was finished, the room was silent for a long time. Ukyou looked
at the floor. Tears dripped from her eyes. "I never imagined..."
	"Ukyou..." Nabiki looked at her.
	Ukyou looked up at her. Her eyes were hard, her expression set firm.
"'All things end...' is that the message she has been preaching?" Ukyou curled
her hands into fists. "She's right. This ends. This can't go on. Not one minute
longer. Not as long as I have breath to fight for. I won't let it continue. I
WON'T! Not her! NOT HER!"
	Ukyou looked up, into the ceiling, or beyond it, to whatever was beyond
the sky, beyond the depths of space. "You want to fuck with my life, fine. Come
get me! I'm sick and tired of your future, your malice ruling my life! I'm not
afraid for myself anymore! But not her! This ends! Whoever you are, whatever
you are! I won't let you destroy another innocent soul because of me!"
	Ukyou's fist lashed out, and suddenly the Silence Glaive was in it. The
glass shattered outward, the shards spinning out into the air. They vanished one
by one, consumed by the oblivion of the weapon's field. The crowd looked up, the
music cutting off at the sudden violence overhead. Ukyou screamed again, and her
voice must have echoed across the city.
	"You wanted to hurt me, to hurt my friends. NO MORE! I will find her and
I will save her, by whatever means necessary. And nothing on Earth, or Heaven or
all the power of God will stop me! Do you hear me?
	"THIS ENDS NOW!"

*

	It wasn't that Angel didn't enjoy the celebration. Not really. She was
as happy, as awed as any of them over the achievements of a week ago. Of course,
for her it WAS a week ago. Chris had decided to wait until the aftershocks had
died down before filling the underground fortress with news reports and images
for everyone to see. Most of the people had been stunned, just watching, only
slowly comprehending what He had accomplished.
	Then, slowly, they had started to smile, to laugh. A few, especially the
ones from France, wept. And now, the same night, they were throwing a party.
Angel didn't blame them. They'd never be able to tell anyone else about their
role, their own contributions to what had been accomplished, but that didn't
mean they couldn't celebrate it.
	Normally, Angel would have been happy to take part. She was definitely a
party sort of girl. But she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this
wasn't... an end. Chris had retreated to His basement chamber, the sealed one,
the one nobody could enter. She hadn't seen Him, hadn't heard from Him except
when He unexpectedly emerged earlier today to announce to all of them what they
had done. His speech had been powerful, but short. Mostly, He'd let the images
on the broadcasts speak for Him.
	But Angel felt He would need her again, soon. And she felt like she
should be ready. So she felt uncomfortable at the party, and finally retreated
out to the now-deserted working areas for some solitude.
	She didn't find it.
	"Impressive, wasn't it?"
	Link was sitting calmly on an oversized toadstool, sipping something hot
and steaming from a cup. Her emerald robes were arranged artfully around her,
and the blue jewels in her clothing, on her ears, and on the pins holding her
hair up all gleamed just a little too brightly in the half-lit chamber. Angel
had almost walked into her before she'd noticed Link. Not that Angel wasn't
observant, but Link could almost fade into the background despite her gaudy
outfit, becoming just another plant.
	She hadn't really wanted to talk to Link, but Chris didn't like Angel to
be rude to her either, so she responded. "What do you mean?"
	Link took another sip, then lowered her cup to her lap, her eyes half-
lidded. "One day. In one day, Chris orchestrated the utter destruction of
Millennium. The most feared force in the world for seven years, enemy of all
that none dared attack, and he destroyed their power utterly in a single day.
Don't you think it's impressive? Does it reaffirm your belief in him?"
	"Of course it's impressive," Angel said shortly. She didn't like the
note of sarcasm in Link's tone. The older woman was often snide around Chris,
too, but He never seemed to mind or even take note of it. "But it doesn't
surprise me. I never doubted Chris could do it."
	Link's ever-present frown twitched a little as she continued to stare
downwards. "Of course you didn't. You have faith. Belief trumps reason." This
time her sarcasm was less subtle, and Angel almost replied angrily before she
realised the woman's tone was... hiding something. Some feeling. But what?
	"Didn't you believe in Him?" Angel finally asked.
	This time Link raised her head, affixing Angel with her dark brown eyes.
Her face was like flawless marble, nothing save a cold little frown, revealing
none of her feelings. "It didn't matter to me either way. I'm not surprised he
won, so that's belief of a sort. But it was forced upon me by fate, you know. I
didn't make the choice to believe in him, like you did."
	"If you want to leave," Angel said slowly, not quite certain she knew
what Link was getting at, "go ahead. I'm sure Chris won't stop you."
	The woman chuckled dryly, an odd sound emanating from those unsmiling
lips. "Leave? Nonsense. I cannot exist on my own."  She rose to her feet,
allowing those shàyù bug-things that were always around her to collect her cup.
"That's enough of that, however. Chris wanted me to retrieve you."
	"Why didn't you say so to begin with?" Angel snapped.
	"Because I wanted a cup of tea first. Or perhaps I simply wanted the
pleasure of your company for a few moments. Don't be a fool about it. If he'd
required your presence so quickly, he would have sent Kalia to fetch you."
	Angel shuddered reflexively. Half the people Chris worked with - Link
not excluded - set Angel's teeth on edge, but she swallowed it. That... whatever
she was, though, had just creeped Angel out from the moment Chris had created
her almost a year ago. The fact she wasn't alone in this reaction was small
comfort.
	She followed Link down the hallway, wondering what Chris wanted her for.
Was it time to send her out again, to begin preparing for the next great step in
His plans? Angel decided she wouldn't mind that too much, if so. She liked being
near Chris, but right now she'd like to get away, far away from everyone she
knew, find a new place and new people.
	Far away from Remy. Far away, she hoped, from Akira.
	Chris was waiting for them, as she expected. Kalia was already there,
which also wasn't a surprise, though she'd hoped otherwise. She floated in the
air, legs crossed, merrily gazing at a chessboard in front of her. Several
pieces on it were turned to the side. She was playing black.. no, Angel blinked
and realised she'd been playing white. Or not. She rolled her eyes and looked
away before she got a headache.
	Chris was standing with His back to them, staring at the huge living map
of the world Link had created. It had already redrawn itself to account for the
destruction of Millennium and subsequent expansion of French territory. Angel
wondered how much of that the French would keep. Already several of the major
powers - notably Chronos and the Vatican - were squabbling over who would send
troops to assist the rebuilding of Germany and the surrounding lands. At least
they wouldn't take Luxembourg and find the secret base. She was sure Remy would
see to that.
	"So, we're all here," Chris said, not turning around. "I've already
congratulated everyone, of course, but I'll thank you personally as well. All of
you executed your roles to perfection."
	"Thank you," Angel said, though she was alone in doing so. Link remained
stony-faced, not unusual for her when she was around Chris and Kalia. And
speaking of... Angel found herself glancing without meaning to. Kalia was
playing white. She was definitely playing white. She saw the little girl moving
a bishop to take out a rook, then jerked her head back to look at Chris. There
was a soft giggle behind her.
	"We've taken the first step towards the perfect possible future," Chris
continued. "Millennium, save for some stragglers, has been annihilated. The
first great serpent has fallen. And at the same time, the second serpent, Agito
Makashima, is now dead."
	Despite herself, Angel glanced again at Kalia. Of course, she was still
playing black. An ebony knight made a strange move.
	"Is that it, then?" Angel said suddenly. "We don't have to do anything
like that again, right?  I mean, it's not that I'm disagreeing with what you
think is necessary, but in the future, destroying an entire government-" she
clamped her mouth shut, biting her tongue with a Spanish curse. But the damage
was done. Chris slowly turned and looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Angel shot
a vicious glare at Kalia, who was humming to herself as she played her game.
	"Are you having doubts, Angel?" Chris asked. He didn't sound angry, just
curious.
	"No!" Angel said instantly. "I mean, maybe I wondered, but... it's just
that..."
	"Don't worry about it," Chris said. "It's your right to question me, as
always. I'll explain. Gutting the French government, so to speak, was in fact
part of Agito's plan. He wanted to show the Prometheans up by having them fail
to protect them and then allow Remy and the Gendarmes to find a suitably placed
villain to defeat, producing a truly human hero that outshone the actions of the
Prometheans. This would allow him to manoeuvre Remy into the position of
authority in France, a true national hero whom people would trust. He didn't
like Agito, but his position would have forced him to listen to Agito's advice,
at which point he would be ripe to manipulation and so forth. As well, removing
President Le Pen removed the only competing power controlling the Prometheans,
leaving them entirely in Agito's hands." He smiled as He recounted the dead
man's plans. "It was very clever, and I saw no reason not to continue it, more
or less. I didn't have the time to finesse Remy into power as he did, but it's
hardly a problem - he led the charge into Gehenna in revenge. He'll do well
enough as leader, and I can also nudge him in the right direction if necessary.
With the President and his closest advisors gone, as well as Agito, nobody is
left that knows the secrets of the Prometheans. They still have their supply of
superhuman killing machines, but their lifespan is only ten years. Thus, the
possible French problem solves itself. While it's certainly unfortunate that so
many had to die, the last thing the world needed was yet another military power
armed to the teeth with inhuman monsters."
	Angel nodded humbly. Of course, she'd known there would be a good
reason. There always was. She probably wouldn't have thought anything at all, if
she hadn't run into Remy... and if that nasty little child hadn't brought it
from the back of her mind to her lips. And Angel was sure that was who did it.
	"Now," Chris said, turning back to the board, "it's time to launch phase
two. Millennium has been defeated, so we move on." He stabbed a finger at the
map, to a dot of pure blackness in northern Russia. "Here, for starters."
	"The Death Messiah?" Link said. "What an interesting choice." She must
have been surprised, Angel noticed: Link's voice was less guarded than usual.
She was anxious, almost gleefully eager, but there was an undercurrent of fear
there too.
	Chris chuckled. "She's hardly important enough to be worth a term so
grand as a 'phase', don't you think? My concern isn't entirely with her. Observe
here." He pointed at several more dots, somewhat south of the first. "Ranma
Saotome, Akira Kazama, Sailor Pluto, Nabiki Tendo. And by inference, of course,
Ukyou. They're chasing her. And where she's going..." He traced His finger up
from the black dot, resting it at the frozen wasteland at the very top of the
map. "Here."
	"The Dark Kingdom..." Angel breathed. "But... so soon?"
	"Of course," Chris said, and there was a smile in His voice. "Did you
expect another five, six, seven years? No, no. The time for caution and
preparation is over. I won't let the serpents of this world continue to threaten
it. All of them, Angel. One after the other, they're all going to fall now. But
I'll need all of you to play your roles."
	He turned around again, affixing each of them with the gaze from His one
remaining eye. "As she has proven more formidable than expected, I will deal
with Sailor Saturn. She's looking for something at the North Pole, and I believe
I know what it is. Angel, a distraction we will create will allow you to
infiltrate the Dark Kingdom, where you will seize what she's looking for. It's
too dangerous in the wrong hands." He nodded at Link with a half-smile. "You
don't look too cheerful today, Link. Well, this ought to fix that. Nabiki Tendo
has overstepped herself just once too often, and while she can't hurt me, she
can do immeasurable damage to the world if left unchecked. I want her dealt
with. I'm certain you've been planning ways to for years."
	Link laughed. Angel stared. In all the years she'd known her, she'd
never seen Link laugh. Never even seen her smile. But she was smiling now, a
wide, poisonous grin that came awkwardly to her face but somehow looked like it
belonged there. "It will be simple. And a pleasure."
	"Sailor Saturn was supposed to be simple, too," Chris noted. "Be
cautious and thorough."
	Link's grin didn't even twitch. "Don't worry. Nabiki Tendo is not a
Messiah. Not by any stretch of the imagination."
	He nodded. "Of course there will be interference, ranging from youma-
human hybrids to Ukyou herself. I have faith both of you can handle whatever you
run up against, with a few exceptions. One of those exceptions is Ukyou, but
given what I'm planning to do, I'm sure she'll come running right for me, which
neutralises her as a factor. And the other, of course..."
	There was a loud clatter. They all turned to look. There were only a few
pieces left on the board, now, most of them white. A white rook and bishop
menaced the shattered black formation. Kalia reached out and grabbed the black
queen. "... is her!" she giggled, knocking the queen onto its side.
	"Quite so."
	"She's going to fight TETHYS?" Angel blurted before she could stop
herself. She couldn't help it. Aside from maybe Arkanphel, the Dark Queen was
the mightiest being on Earth. Everyone knew that. Even Link was also staring,
her earlier smile having fallen back into a thoughtful frown. The little girl
just smiled.
	Chris shook His head. "It really doesn't matter if she can win against
Tethys. What matters is that she won't lose. That will allow everything to
proceed nicely." He chuckled. "After all, it won't take me too long to deal with
Sailor Saturn. So don't get discouraged if something unexpected happens, any of
you."
	"Of course not," Link said softly, her voice unreadable again.
	"Take this, take that, bring them down to size," Kalia chimed in, voice
sing-song.  "March to the Black Queen."
	Angel stared. It seemed ridiculous. Impossible. Even more than beating
Millennium in a day.
	But she had faith. She nodded, affecting a cheerful grin. "Sounds like a
party, then. So, are we leaving now?"
	Chris chuckled. "Of course not. I'm not so unkind as to depart in the
middle of the night. Get some sleep, you two. We'll be on our way tomorrow. And
then, by the day after... it'll be time to start thinking about America and
Chronos." He turned back to the map, glancing at all the remaining dots
scattered around the planet. "The millennium's coming up, you know. Well, not
the real millennium, but everyone thinks of it that way anyway. I don't see any
reason why we can't have saved the world by then, do you?"


				To Be Continued...




Blade: Well, nope, I really don't.  I mean, I already know the Y2K thing is
gonna be a big bust thanks to my Supar Future-Knowing Powerz, so how hard can
saving the world really be?

Epsilon: In the interest of not turning this postscript into an even longer
philosophical debate, I will sidestep this question!

Blade: With?

Epsilon: Umm... the... uh... metaphorical implications of... combat vampires
versus laser-wielding French chicks who smoke?

Blade: The implication there is clearly that petite short-haired smoking French
girls with laser rifles are way cooler than vampires.

Epsilon: Especially Zorin Blitz.

Blade: Poor Zorin Blitz. Nobody likes her.

Epsilon: That's because she's fugly.

Blade: Yeah, if she'd only had the sense to be going all Ilsa with an eyepatch,
she'd be way more popular than Rip.

Epsilon: Which just goes to show we're fools to not give one of our endless
hordes of hot female characters an eyepatch?

Blade: Well, Angel has a lock of hair over one eye, that almost counts. As a
Mexican, though, she's an unlikely Nazi.

Epsilon: Maybe Fevrier? She has a whole Nazi vibe going on.

Blade: Uh, yeah, but she's French, which is even worse than Mexican for being a
proper Nazi. Marz is German, but not very dominatrix-like. How about Chizuru?
She was all strong female character, sort of ice-queeny, I bet if you got her
drunk enough she'd wear leather, and y'know, the Japanese were part of the Axis
so it's almost like being a Nazi.

Epsilon: I guess she'd be suitable... other than being dead.

Blade: Damnit, I knew I'd made a mistake there.  Well, sorry folks. No Ilsa With
An Eyepatch for you. You'll just have to settle for Zorin Blitz.

Epsilon: ...we're so sorry.

Blade: Truly sorry. But we'll try to make it up to you NEXT MONTH!

*

	"Because Hotaru is the same as me, a puppet." Tethys looked around. "She
is as much damaged as I was. Her master is Oblivion, but it is no less dangerous
than Chaos. Perhaps even more so.
	"I could destroy her, Ukyou." Ukyou tensed, her fingers curling as if to
grip a weapon. "Oh, don't overreact. I've spared her life thus far. I withdrew
my sentinels from her path. I allowed her to 'sneak' into my city. I know
exactly where she is at all times, and I know exactly what she is looking for.
Her powers do not concern me. She needs to touch me to inflict her Silence on
me, and other than that she is just a vampire. A being that draws her power from
blood." Tethys gestured, and a globe of water condensed in the air in front of
her. "I am not overly concerned about one whose power is based on a liquid.
	"No, I spared her because I sympathise. I want to save her... just like
you, Ukyou."

			Hybrid Theory Chapter 27: Meteora