Location: Cosmo World, Yokohama The wind increased with every mile I traveled to Yokohama. Tokyo Bay was covered by white caps and there was already some local flooding where the wind drove the high tide over the breakers. Soon, very soon, even someone of my size would be tossed around like a leaf, and here I was heading for one of Yokohama's biggest amusement parks to keep a date with two Sailor Senshi. It was already close to pass ten at night and sometime after midnight the typhoon would hit here and then Tokyo. Cosmo World is part of the 21st Century project which included several other futuristic buildings and was constructed on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay; to me it made sense Doctor Tomoe would have been involved in this project since his Mugan complex was constructed the same way and at the same time. I pulled into the high-rise parking lot used for Cosmo World, where I turned the engine off and brought out a Sailor Senshi communicator, courtesy of Sailor Mars. In a corner of my mind I was bothered by Sailor Moon's decision to have me backup two of her people and to some degree I shared Sailor Mars opinion of my worth, combat wise. Sure, in a normal firefight I would be of considerable value on whoever side I was on but we are talking about the Sailor Senshi here, I could tell them what they would most likely face but my gut told me there might be something more than Yakuza thugs and if my bags of tricks didn't work, I could end up endangering their lives. Yet with these thoughts in my head, I thumbed the device on, saying, "Hello-hello, this is Rogers, I'm in position." "I can see you are," a voice came from my right side, I looked and I saw a green garbed Sailor Senshi, her ginger ponytail blowing in the wind. "As can I," now a voice from my left, there I found the blue garbed Sailor Senshi, her sapphire eyes covered by transparent goggles, her face framed by glossy blue hair. I knew the girl's blue hair and the other's better than average height meant something important to me, just as Sailor Moon's hairstyle and Sailor Mars' freezing dark eyes were important too, but like before when I tried to concentrate on connecting names to them, my brain would get fuzzy and I would feel like I drank a liter of poor quality sake, so instead of asking rank, name and serial number, I just bowed to each of them, saying, "Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury." They returned my bow, "And what should we call you," Sailor Mercury asked as she walked toward me, "since using your true name would endanger you later." "Seijoki," I told Sailor Mercury as I turned to open one of my saddlebags and pulled out my ammo belt and holster. "Didn't V-chan mention a Seijoki giving the Yakuza hell," Sailor Jupiter came up to stand by Sailor Mercury, her body edge a little in front of the smaller heroine. "So my fame has reached Tokyo's greatest crimefighter," I strap on the ammo belt and tied down the holster, "there's been a few times when I had to put on this costume so the Yakuza didn't have a target to retaliate against." "You admire Sailor V, don't you?" Sailor Mercury asked as she pulled out a laptop or PDA from what to me was thin air. "Day to day, I see people living better lives because of her deeds," I fell back on my prepared answer, "only a person with a heart of stone wouldn't admire such a young girl." "Goody, V-chan will . . ." I had forgotten I left the communicator on, laying it on the gas tank so I could put my rig on. On it I saw Sailor Moon's face being pushed out of the viewer to be replaced by Sailor Mars, who asked in a determined tone, "Mercury, what does your laptop show?" "There is a large underground complex here, going right into the bay's bedrock," Mercury replied scientifically as she continued to tap on the keyboard, "but it is shielded, so I can't give any specifics." "What about security?" Sailor Jupiter asked, the look on her face showed she was spoiling for a fight. "Four men at the Cosmo World front entrance," then a worry note came to Mercury's voice, "but I'm finding none in Cosmo World itself." "Is the front entrance a reinforced building," I asked. "Yes," then Mercury's eyes lit up, "Of course, they are getting ready to weather out the typhoon." "So except for those at the gate," excitement danced in Jupiter's eyes, "we won't run into anyone until we get to the entrance of the underground lab?" "Correct," I unhorsed my Desert Eagle and checked the load. Jupiter let out a whistle, "That's a big gun." "I'll bet you say that to all the guys," I couldn't pass it up. Jupiter's eyes narrow, "Mars's right, you are as bad as V-chan." "Desert Eagle, .50 caliber, the most powerful handgun in the whole world" the only sign my comment to Jupiter had on Mercury was the tinge of blush on her cheeks, "and illegal in Japan." "Are you going to confiscate, officer," I held the gun out to Mercury, handgrip first, "I'll be kind of unless in there without it." "You got muscle," Jupiter pointed out. "As Bruce Lee once said, 'you can't martial art a bullet,'" I let my eyes go from Jupiter's face to Mercury's face, "besides how would the Sailor Senshi get anything done without their lethal powers?" It took a second for Mercury's hand to push the gun toward me, "Keep it, we need you in there." Trust, there it was again. First Sailor Moon trusting me followed by Sailor Mars guarded faith and now here was Mercury doing the same thing, I couldn't get rid of the feeling the Sailor Senshi knew me very well, so I decided to put my cards on the table, "Are you sure, Sailor Mercury that I won't end up a burden, someone who could jeopardize the mission?" The reaction I got from the Sailor Senshi surprised me, they smiled at me, Jupiter saying, "You know, awhile back someone else tried to tell us that we were jeopardizing the mission, our care for other people's lives would led us to failure." "It takes every grain of sand to create a beautiful beach," a proper measure of care in Mercury's voice, her hands putting away her laptop, "now, Seijoki, do you have a plan?" Discussion ended, I was in, even against my better judgment, "The telephone lines are already down and their cellphones are useless, so their won't be too surprise when a massager boy comes up on a motorcycle," I watched for reaction from their faces, "I can get one but you two are going to have to takedown the other three." "Won't they recognize your costume?" I could tell Jupiter liked my plan but she still asked the question. "Not as long as he keeps his helmet on," Mercury answered for me, "they will think he is a new recruit from some motorcycle gang." "Good enough for me," a positive expression on Jupiter's face, "Let's get going." I waited awhile to let the Sailor Senshi get into position before I started up Old Glory and pulled out of the parkway. It only took me fifteen minutes to reach the front gate of Cosmo World. I was able to unhook the flap to my holster before the man in the black suit came out of the guard building and you could tell he wasn't happy being exposed to the howling wind. Thanks to my helmet I was able to see two men standing by the building opened door. Covering their comrade, the additional man was probably on the telephone to the men in the underground complex. "What are you doing here?" the man shouted over the wind, "Cosmo World is closed due to the weather!" "I have a message for Asano Isaburo," his suspicious look remained, "The telephone lines are down and we weren't able to get through with the cellphones." "What is the message?" the made man asked. "Can't tell you," I responded, "I'm only suppose to tell Asano Isaburo." I know the ploy has been used in countless movies and it didn't look like the guy was going for it either but he didn't have to, the two men watching us were the first ones to discover the truth. Their bodies lifted into the air by Sailor Jupiter's strong arms and thrown together, their heads ringing against each other, and my angle also showed Sailor Mercury running pass the short-lived melee and into the guard building. At this point I told the man, "You do know I've been lying?" I let my right hand dropped to the side of the holster. He stopped not more than five feet from me, his watery glare turned as deadly as his words, "I've got backup." "You had backup," I waited for him to make his play. He didn't take his eyes off of me, his hair wiping in the gale, "So you want to play John Wayne, eh?" There was simple acceptance in his words because he knew I wouldn't have made the statement unless it was true. "I prefer Keiichiro Akagi," I answered, my hand became a blur just like his hand going under his coat. It wasn't really fair, he had no cover to duck around and I was sighting down the barrel of my .50 just as his .38 cleared his coat, but he never lost his look of determination. "Gods!" Jupiter shouted as she and Sailor Mercury ran up to me, "I heard your thing go off even with the noise from the wind." "Let's hid my motorcycle and the body in the guard building," I suggested as I holstered my gun. Jupiter looked at Mercury and nodded together before the green Sailor Senshi said, "I'll handle the bag of bones." I motored my bike slowly through the pedestrian entrance of Cosmo World and paused on the other side to watch Jupiter dragging the body in, but when I looked beyond her, I saw Mercury still standing where I shot the man down, her eyes locked on something on the ground. "Mercury!" with a pair of lungs like those I think Jupiter could have been heard in Tokyo, it did jerk up Mercury's eyes, "Come on, we still got the nest to clear out." "Okay!" Mercury ran to join us; damn, it's freaky how the light prismatically reflected off Mercury's eyes, the shifting from sapphire to steel-blue back to sapphire was unnerving and then what Jupiter said registered on my brain. I got Old Glory through the entrance to the guard building before Jupiter, Mercury and the body reached me; inside I found the remaining guard tied up and sound asleep, a guard taken care of by Mercury. Two facts added together gave me a reason to pulled out my Desert Eagle. When Mercury saw what I was doing, she asked, "Why are you taking your bullets out?" "So I can put these in," I held up a bullet but neither Mercury nor Jupiter seemed to notice the difference, "Here, take a look," I tossed the slug purposely toward the blue-haired girl. Mercury began to cup her hands to catch the bullet but stopped as her eyes grew wide, at the last second Jupiter grabbed the projectile out of the air, the pony-tailed girl gave me a mean glare before holding the shell up so she and Mercury could examine it, "it feels funny," then she squint her emerald eyes, "and there is some writing on them." "It is kanji," Mercury was standing straight when she said it, then she looked at me with a widow maker expression, "the Shinto prayer of exorcism." "The casing is made of compressed rice paper," I said as I continued to load my gun, "when the nitro cap goes off, the paper chars and the power of the prayer transfers to the bullet," with the flick of my wrist the gun closed, "also if you notice the slug isn't copper jacketed." Jupiter's eyes refocused and she blurted out, "Hot damn! It's silver jacketed." Mercury's eyes studied the bullet before her eyes shifted to my eyes, "You expect something supernatural down there, don't you?" "It was Sailor Jupiter who mentioned a nest," I flicked my wrist and my gun clicked close. "Ops," Jupiter covered her mouth with her hand, "Sorry, Mercury," she apologized to the blue-haired girl's annoyed look. The cold steel-blue gaze of Mercury's eyes returned to me, "For an American, you are well versed in supernatural magic, why?" "My agency has had some run-ins with extraordinary people," something in the back of my head told I shouldn't try any white lies, "but right now I have a feeling that there is more down there," I nodded my head at the ground, "Isaburo-san and his thugs." There was again a shared look between Mercury and Jupiter before they nodded and the smaller girl said, "How much do you know about what Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi have done?" "Only what the anime and the manga have shown plus a few odds-and-ends from the newspapers," my answer covered the fact of me noticing Mercury's eyes were sapphire again. "What do you remember of the Deathbusters?" Mercury's hands clasp together while Jupiter crossed her arms over her ample chest. "I was in America, visiting relatives when it happened," I knew my own distaste colored my words, "I was just glad none of my people got hurt by them." "Do you remember what the Deathbusters' objective was?" Mercury's voice remained soothing, calm. "Yes," I was still holding my gun in my right hand and I noticed Jupiter's eyes was watching it, "according to the manga it was to create human hybrids that could act as vassals for creatures from another dimension, the dimension of Pharaoh Ninety and Mistress Nine and the former . . ." my voice abruptly stopped. My face must have betrayed what I was thinking, because Mercury nodded and finished for me, "Yes, what you are thinking is the reason we are here." "Yeah, we're here to bust up any chance of some moron Yakuza from continuing Tomoe-sensei's plans," Jupiter's green eyes never moving from my gun, "so are you in or not?" "I'm in," I holstered my gun, my ears catching the sigh from Jupiter, "but I'm still a little concern about you needing my help." "Because it is necessary, Seijoki," the twin glares I got told me both Mercury and Jupiter were getting tired of this question. "Then why don't we wait for Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus," I countered. I wanted a real answer this time. "Because we don't have the time, American," Jupiter slapped her forehead with her right hand, "once the typhoon hits, we could lose them." For all of her bravado, Jupiter's answer was a neat sidestep of my question, "Alright, I can accept that answer for Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars but what about Sailor Venus, why isn't she here?" Bull's-eye, a very uncomfortable look appeared on Mercury's face and Jupiter looked away from me, a sad expression on her face to match her words, "Because she can't." I thought of pushing the issue but decided against it, I had a feeling I might be tap-dancing in a minefield, "I see, so I'm better than nothing, eh?" Small smiles from Mercury and Jupiter were the reward of my glib remark and the lightning gal spoke, "I wouldn't say that, Seijoki," Jupiter walked up and held out her hand to me, Mercury's sapphire eyes glittered with amusement. "Just as long as I don't have to wear a sailor fuku," I said as I shook Jupiter's hand, "it must get drafty down there." "Please," a sickened look on Jupiter's face, "the image of you flashing everyone is ugly beyond belief." "I don't have to imagine it," Jupiter gave Mercury a puzzled look, "don't you remember, the time . . ." the blue-haired girl glanced at me, "you know when a certain couple we know got drunk and switch costumes." "Ooohhh," Jupiter was greener then her costume, "you didn't need to remind me, Mercury." Deciding to get us back on track I asked, "So what are we facing down there?" "As you have deduced, Seijoki, we are likely to face human hybrids as well as the Yakuza you are familiar with," Sailor Mercury explained, "furthermore we can't be sure but it is possible the human hybrids cannot be harm by non-magical or non-spiritual attacks," then she brought out her laptop, opened it and activated it before she asked, "What are the results when you use these bullets?" "A bluish-white flame comes out of the barrel along with a lot of smoke," I heard Mercury's typing and Jupiter held the bullet I gave them in front of the blue device. "What happened to the targets?" Mercury's eyes stayed on whatever she was reading. "I've only had to use these bullets twice," I knew full well how flimsy this evidence was, "and the results varied, the first time the target exploded and the second time the target turned to dust." There was nothing more from either one of us until Jupiter reached the end of her patience, "So what are the results?" "The maker of these bullets was no simpleton for there is Shinto spiritual magic in them," Mercury closed her laptop and made it disappear once more, "but will they affect the Deathbusters, I cannot tell you." "Well, there is only one way to find out," I walked toward the door and the noise of booted steps told me they were right behind me. It was like we walked right into a wind tunnel or the insides of a turbo engine, we could make progress against it but it was hard going, I put on my bike helmet to improve my vision and it allowed me to watch the others, Jupiter's steady pace showed only a little effect caused by the approaching storm but Mercury had to lean into the wind to make any progress, the blue-haired girl's small light frame was handicapping her, I was about to mention the problem to the ginger-haired girl when she turned around and headed back to our companion, then the hand of the Storm King hit us. "AHHHH . . ." the typhoon wasn't due to hit Tokyo until tomorrow morning but there was no mistaking the azure terror in Mercury's eyes at her body being picked up and thrown into the air. "MERCURY!" Jupiter shouted, her face showing her helplessness to her comrade. "V LOVE ME CHAIN!" I barely heard it over the fright train blowing around me but my eyes saw the heart-linked gold chain strike out from underneath the Cosmo Clock Ferris Wheel and it snaked around Mercury's body, then a shout came, "GET YOUR BUTTS OVER HERE, I CAN'T PULL HER IN!" I got to the ferris wheel first but my reaction slowed at the sight of my idol, her long hair matched the color of her chain, her baby blues burning with life in that domino mask, her scarlet hair ribbon flatten and I was jealous at how zephyr played with her red-white-and-blue sailor fuku. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, A TELEGRAPH?" V's words plus her glare kicked me into action, allowing me along with Jupiter to add our hands to the blonde's hands. It took some time but us three were able to get Mercury in, her first words once Jupiter had a firm grip on her small waist was, "Thanks, V . . . chan," the pause was barely noticeable but it was there. "No probmento, Bubbles," the smaller girl had to hold onto one of the ferris wheel's support beams to keep from going solo, but then her attention switched to me, "and who is this copycat, I have you know I'm the original." "Sorry, Sailor V," her upbeat attitude was contagious, "but Grandpa is the original by forty years." "V-chan, this is Seijoki," I picked up on Jupiter's sneaky tone, "Seijoki, this is Sailor V." Instantly I took my helmet off and I bowed to her, which got a rejoinder from her, "I would return your bow but I think I would become an airborne ranger if I did," I could see her eyes give me the once-over, "and I presume you're from the States, they grow them big there, don't they?" "Yes, Sailor . . ." "Just call me, V-chan," she gave me a wink, "all my friends do." "Okay, V-chan," I grinned at her before I added, "So you decided to cover my butt some more." "Some more . . ." V looked confused but then she brightened, "Ah! So you did notice the girl was moved and asked the right question." "I did," even in this heavy wind I could see the merriment of her pose, "which begs the question, why were you down in the sewers at the same time and at the same place as I was?" "Doing the same thing you were doing, busting a drug lab, but for a different reason," V's smile grew wider, "it was coincidence our paths crossed." Tinfoil, I was looking at the Tinfoil Sailor Senshi, my grin matching hers, "You do say?" "I do," sparkling mischief in her blue rocks. "Pardon me for interrupting," Jupiter didn't sound apologetic, "but we have a lab here just begging to be busted, so could you two can it until later?" Jupiter looked frustrated so I turned my question to Mercury, "I'm getting the feeling this is why people been lumping me with Sailor V all day." Caught off-guard Mercury asked me, "Who else?" "Sailor Mars." "She would," a response from V painted in scowls. "Now they got you in it, Mercury," Jupiter shook her head. "Sorry," Mercury blushed. "I do have a question," I didn't want the Daughter of the Storm King making the typhoon worse, "how do we get Mercury and V-chan to the lab without them acting like leafs?" "Like this," V pulled her right arm back dramatically and then she whipped it forward, "V LOVE ME CHAIN," the heart chain bolted from her index finger and our eyes watched it unerring hit a heavily constructed building. "Is that . . ." I looked at Mercury. Mercury nodded her head, "Yes, that the entrance to the underground complex." "But even so couldn't . . ." "Like this!" I should get use to teenagers tendency to interrupt but I was totally surprised when I felt a weight land on my back and two arms wrap around my neck and a pair of legs around my waist, "C'mon, Seijoki, don't tell me you didn't want me all over you from the get go?" "Give the guy a break, V-chan," aggravation in Jupiter's words. "It could work," there was an analytical look on Mercury's face. "Mercury, don't egg her on," disbelief in Jupiter's glare. "No, I mean it," Mercury maintained her neutral tone, "both you and Seijoki are much stronger than either of me or V-chan and our weight added to each of you two should stabilized us in the wind." I could tell Jupiter was now taking seriously what Mercury had said but there was a shifting of unidentified emotions on her strong face, finally she said, "Alright." "Giddy up, Horsy," the squeeze of V's legs around my waist put my brain in a vise, I immediately tied my helmet to my right hip and I grabbed the heart chain with both hands, my eyes widen at the way the metal in my grip was warm. "This thing is alive," I looked over my right shoulder at V. "Of course, silly," V purred in my ear, "it is made from my love." I wanted to contradict V, the impulse was there but I had sense enough not to say it. Catgirls, Sailor Senshi, aliens from another dimension, a strangely angelic Sailor Moon, it would have been illogical for me not to believe V's statement, her bluest eyes told me the clear-cut truth, so instead I looked beyond her. My own eyes saw a hushed conversation between the two Sailor Senshi before the ginger-haired girl turned away so she could drop to one knee, which allowed the azure girl's arms go around her taller girl's neck and then wrap her legs around Jupiter waist when she stood up. I concentrated on my grip and on my feet, fighting my way up the glittering chain against powerful currents of air, but as much as I was winning that fight I was losing the other one, the one where the sheen skin of her arms around my neck and the diaphanous touch of her sunshine hair on my face made my heart a phoenix. Did V know she was my idol, my daydream lover; a piggyback ride was reducing my soul to embers. The entrance to the underground complex acted as a windbreak, so V hopped off my back and I quickly slipped my helmet back on. Would she think my flushed face cute or would she tease me like some teenage fanboy? I didn't get a chance to torment myself more because Jupiter and Mercury joined us and my brain kicked into detective mode at the sight of the short-haired Sailor Senshi's eyes playing their game again, I wasn't the only one to notice it, "I see the folk tale was wrong?" V smirked. "What tale?" Mercury pulled out her laptop as she asked. "The turtle and the scorpion," the red-white-and-blue Sailor Senshi deadpanned. "V-chan," the green sparks in Jupiter's eyes promised pain but she was only able to take a half step before Mercury interposed between them. "Don't start," a quiet rumble in Mercury's voice, her steel-blue eyes brooking no contradiction and then she turned them on me, "and no, even with Sailor V here, we still need you." "Yes, sir," it squeaked out of me and it did the trick, V giggled and Jupiter half-grinned and Mercury sighed out her tension before she touched her earring, activating her blue visor, and then she walked over to the security keypad that was located next to the reinforced door. While the blue-haired Senshi's fingers rapidly typed on the laptop's keyboard, I asked the other two, "So what is the normal Senshi tactics, I hope they are better than what I see on the anime?" "They are since Mercury took over the leadership," the two Senshi exchanged nasty looks while Jupiter continued, "V-chan scouts ahead with me backing her up, Mercury follows behind us readied to tell us what we need to do." "So where should I be?" I pulled out the Desert Eagle, I clicked off the safety and I held it with the barrel up in the air. "Protecting our darrie airs," V's leer caused Jupiter to roll her eyes, "besides Bubbles here gets a bad case of tunnel vision when she is hotwired to her blue gizmo, usually Artemis has to make sure some yoma isn't about to KIA her." "I heard that, V-chan," Mercury's eyes never leaving the screen of her laptop. "Bite me," V shot back. "I'm thinking about it," Mercury retorted just as her device beeped and the reinforced door slid open. They was a long, dimly lit staircase going to what looked like a elevator, I could see cameras along the shaft but from the corner of my eye I could see Jupiter and V exchange looks with the brunette nodding her head while the blonde paled. I was getting an overload of clues about things going on behind the scenes, puzzle pieces that didn't connect, at least not yet. All I could do was to ask, "So who goes first?" "Who's on second," V-chan countered with her patented smile. "It's going be one of those days," Jupiter shook her head before asking, "Mercury?" "On it," Mercury put away her laptop before she took on a dramatic stance, both arms crossed over her chest before she threw them wide while shouting, "SHABON SPRAY!" A plethora of bluish bubbles flew out from the wake of Mercury's arms, filling the staircase with a thick fog. Just on the off chance I touched a button inside my helmet with my tongue, the helmet's IR vision activated and it gave me the result I expected, the fog was killing the heat and light coming from the lights. Together we walked down the staircase, V first, Jupiter second, Mercury third and me playing goalie, and God was the fog cold and it muffled our footfalls so well that I commented, "Could've used this in Iraq." "You were in Desert Storm?" the fog tuned Mercury's voice to a whisper. "First Battalion, Seventh Regiment, First Cavalry Division," Mercury's sapphire eyes told me she wanted to know more, "you won't find us mentioned in newspaper articles or in political speeches, because the Army couldn't make a mistake, not when everything else was so successful." "Your unit got hit hard?" Mercury kept glancing in my direction. "The First Cavalry was dropped in southern Iraq with the purpose to prevent the French Foreign Legion from marching on Baghdad," Mercury's eyes glued to mine, "yes, we found out that the French Commander didn't like being second banana in our grand plan, so he planned to peel off the French Foreign Legion, a completely mechanized combined arms unit, go through two Iraq Guard Divisions and take Baghdad." "But something went wrong," Mercury's face showed she was reacting to the old pain in my voice. "The First Battalion was the most northerly of the First Cavalry to be dropped in and it was we discovered twenty minutes later, when mortars began to rain down on our position, we discovered we were going nose to nose with three regiments of the Third Iraqi Guard Division." I stopped my story when we reached the elevator, we exchanged looks and shrugs before V pushed the down button, as we waited the blond bombshell asked, "So it was Garry Owen all over again, right?" "You know something of American history, V-chan?" I was surprised, although required to learn English in their schools, Japanese understanding of American History was marginal. "Nah, I just like to watch B Westerns," V waved her white-gloved hand at me, "you know, 'They Died With Their Boots On'." "Yeah," Jupiter's disdain rumbled in the mist, "I heard your junior high school teacher was pulling his hair out when you read your report to the whole class on 'Custer's Last Stand'." "It was Iziki-sensei's own fault," V sweetly countered, "he assigned it to me and he knew how much I hated unhappy endings." "You changed the ending?" Mercury looked aghast at the bombshell. "She had the Custer and his men join the Indians and together they ended up in a big powwow, where they got drunk and made little Cowboys and little Indians," my eyebrows shot up while Mercury's jaw hung open and V gave Jupiter a speculative look, "you left it on the table after a Sailor Senshi meeting over at my place," the Lightning Senshi explained. Mercury shuddered at V's twisted history but now a chine went off and I reacted, my Desert Eagle leveled and my arm braised on Mercury's shoulder while the elevator door opened, there was nothing inside, which gave the blue-haired girl a chance to look over the shoulder my arm was resting on and give me an impressed look, "three point five seconds." "Thanks for the compliment, Mercury, but I was wondering if your mist will prevent the elevator's camera from seeing us," I decided to let Mercury know about me noticing the way her mist flowed into the elevator. "It will," Mercury replied evenly, "but you do know it is a trap." "Yes," I holstered my revolver, "but is there any other way down?" "No," Mercury shook her blue-haired head, "there isn't even any ventilation ducts." "Come into my parlor and I'll tell you your fortune," V flipped her blond bangs out of her eyes. A collective groan came from Jupiter and Mercury but I was stuck at how V's mangling of an idiom reminded me of someone I knew, but like before I couldn't put a name to my feeling, so to cover my frustration I entered the elevator, saying, "Age before beauty." "Hey," Jupiter right on my heels, "you're not much older than we are." "Care to wager," I grinned at the ponytail girl. "Sixteen," V piped in while joining us, "all of us." "Seijoki will be twenty-nine in June," Mercury supplied when she joined us, her right index finger pushed the down button. "What!" a stereo response from Jupiter and V before the ginger girl added, "You don't look over twenty, how come?" "Good genes," I smirked at them, "you should see Grandpa," then I turned to Mercury, "Sailor Moon had you check me out, to make sure I wore a white hat." "Correct," Mercury hesitated for a second before she continued, "we also scrutinized you during the Moon Kingdom incident." That was a shock to me, to know the Sailor Senshi had kept tabs on me for the pass three years without me knowing it, then I remembered something, "Did you check me out or was it the police?" Mercury bit her lower lip, a sign the soft-voiced Senshi didn't like to lie, before she answered, "Both." It made sense. If the manga was correct, Sailor V had connections to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and since it was clear she worked with the Sailor Senshi, they could use her pull to gain excess to my police file, "You used your little computer to heck into the personnel files in the United States' Department of Defense, didn't you?" "Yes," I was certain there was a hint of pride in Mercury's answer. "So you know what happened at the Battle of Highway Baghdad?" So far Mercury hadn't lied to me. "You were awarded a Silver Star for your bravery as a Medic," then Mercury's sapphire eyes spoke sympathy to me, "in a battle where your unit suffered sixty-seven percent casualties." I felt better at the empathy I saw in the other Sailor Senshi's faces, if the anime and the manga were correct, they had gone through so much suffering and pain, yet their battle hardened hearts still understood the anguish of murder that was war. To move things along I said, "You know there's probably a welcoming committee waiting for us down below." "That's why we have Sparky here," V patted Jupiter's back, which brought a sideways glance at the bombshell from the thunder girl. "So what do we do?" I was more than a little anxious because in my opinion, none of Jupiter's acts could be described as being subtle. "Get back a give the girl room to Rock and Roll!" blue manic glee danced in V's eyes. V, Mercury and I pressed again the side of the elevator while Jupiter positioned herself near the door, her legs braced and her arms crossed over her chest, it was at this moment I found Mercury under the crock of my left arm and I couldn't pass up the chance, the index and forefinger of my right hand pressed into her pale neck, her response was instant, her gaze met my gaze and her downy soft voice said, "Yes, I do have a pulse." "Get ready!" I tightened at V's shout and the elevator bell, but then the bottom of my stomach fell out, my voice fearful, "Mercury, your mist." Mercury's facial expression was the same as mine, "This is going to hurt." "And I just had my hair done," teeth rattling protest came from V. Bluish sparks jumped from Jupiter to all sides the metal room, even with the insulation of my body armor my skin madly itched but my ears rung with the Thunderer daughter's roar, "SUPREME THUNDER!" The sweep of Jupiter's arms threw a giant arc of electricity through the opening doors. The visor of my helmet darkened to protect my eyes from the lightening flash and insulation in my costume kept the electrical backwash to a mild shock. When my vision cleared I check out Mercury and V and I couldn't stop from chuckling at what I saw. V's longhair looked like a cat's tail in an electric socket while Mercury could have been mistaken for a refugee from a KISS concert. "Sorry guys," you couldn't miss the fractured smile on Jupiter's face as she looked over her shoulder. "Laugh it up, boys and girls," the hurt pride in V's voice was enough to get her standing, "I'm sure me and Bubbles here can think up a suitable punishment for you two." "One problem at a time, please," I countered as I activated my helmet's infrared vision and followed Jupiter into the room; what I found was busted lights and five smoking bodies. V moved ahead of both me and Jupiter and knelt by the closest corpse, looked at it for a couple of seconds before saying, "Fully human and armed with an AK-47, probably the others are too." "Scratch one welcoming committee," to my ears Jupiter seemed businesslike about the human wreckage before her, "so, Mercury, where do we go from here?" "The corridor from this room leads to another security door," the soft glow of the laptop's screen made visible Mercury's face, "but the door and walls are too heavily shielded for me to penetrate through." "They know we're here," V stood up and looked at me with a twinkle in her baby blues, "so why don't we cut out the sneaky stuff and go for a full frontal?" "With only one corridor it looks like we have no choice," I open a pouch in my ammo belt and pulled out a lump of C-4 the size of my fist along with a mercury cap, "V-chan, I need you to take out the cameras at the door so they won't know when the door blows." "Mercury?" the blue-haired Sailor Senshi nodded at Jupiter's question, "Okay, when the door goes, we go in like we planned, V-chan first, me second, Mercury third and Seijoki last." "Before we go jumping down Hell's throat," I asked as we made our way across the room, "can one of you tell me exactly how powerful these hybrids are?" "Fully integrated hybrids have various mental powers but those were destroyed when we stopped Tomoe-sensei," Mercury explained, "what we are probably facing here are enhanced humans and failed hybrids; they have above average strength and dexterity, plus they have the ability to infect you by feeding on your life force." "Sounds like a bad pulp writer's idea of a space vampire," all three of them looked at me like I was a brick, "What?" Before anyone could say something V pulled up before the corridor and pointed with her right index finger while left hand held her right arm, shouting, "CRESCENT BEAM!" Once more my helmet's visor darkened to take the edge off the glare from the light beam as it left V's right index finger, going the breath of the corridor and smashed the daylights out of the camera. V blew on her pistol finger, saying, "Just call me Little Orphan Annie." Mercury had a pained expression, Jupiter rolled her eyes and I groaned at the mangling of American Pop Culture by the bombshell before saying, "My turn," I ran down the hall as fast as I could with the Sailor Senshi right behind me. At the door I threaded three handfuls of the C-4 along its crack before jamming a mercury fuse in the plastic explosive. "Fire in the hole!" I shouted and we took shelter against the walls, the flash and thunder was as I expected, so was the door disappearing into the darkness of the room. "Mercury!" Jupiter shouted extra loud. "Ten enti . . ." Mercury coughed as she looked at the readout from her laptop, " . . . entities, three humans, six flawed hybrids," then her head shot up, her water-colored eyes wide, "and one Deathbuster." I worked my way to the door and took a quick peep, machinegun rounds were my reward, "That was smart," Jupiter frowned at me before returning her gaze to Mercury, asking, "Layout." "Reception room with the tables form into a barricade to defend the two doors," Mercury had to shout over the sound of gunfire. "In I go!" I saw V jump in the air and slide to a low crouch on the floor, I could tell from her angle she could see the ceiling without being in the line-of-fire of gunmen. "LOVE ME CHAIN!" the masked Senshi called out, the heart shaped links shot into the room at a 45 degree angle, in five seconds I heard a stone fractured sound and the bombshell grab it with both hands, immediately the metal band contracted and a red-white-and-blue blur she flew up into the room. "Now, my turn!" Jupiter shot up from her knees and charged into the room, V's surprised entrance drew the gunmen's attention from the entrance for a second and I watched the green-clad Senshi make it to the receptionist desk, concrete chips in her footprints. Having Jupiter and V inside the room allowed me to get a better look at our opponents and I had to force my head back into cover. It wasn't the Deathbuster that scared me, she looked human even with the weird hairdo, it was the flawed hybrids, them floating in the air with tentacles hanging down from their black bloated bodies. I didn't notice until someone called my name that I was staring at Mercury, my nightmare terror must have been in my eyes because she said, "Seijoki, snap out of it, we need you." Three years, three years since I have been in a real firefight, what the girls and I have done as PIs during these few years didn't remotely count because we knew the odds; here I didn't. With forced concentration I shook the rust off my instincts, saying to the azure girl, "What's happening inside?" Mercury let out a sigh before looking at her laptop, "V and the Deathbuster are taking potshots at each other, not letting the other get a clear shot," her right hand touched a key before she continued, "the gunmen have Jupiter pinned behind the desk but their heavy gunfire are keeping the hybrids from getting . . . LOOK OUT!" The Water Senshi must have seen it by way of her laptop's screen and I reacted to her command like she was a sergeant major, I leaped backwards from the entrance, my left hand bracing my right hand as I drew a bead on the thing floating in my sights, shoving away the ice that threatened to freeze my mind. First came the sound of my revolver going off, second came the added inertia to my leap from its kick, third came the holy blue flame out of the barrel and fourth was the white smoke from the paper cartridge. The monster's body recoiled from the impact of the slug before it let out an unholy scream and exploded. I blinked a few times and then I gathered myself into a crouching position, looked about me at the way my surroundings were painted by the creature's innards, it was now my gaze locked on the blood and gore covered Mercury. The intensity of the blue-steel gaze she was giving her gloved hand, a red drenched hand she held before her face, a hand whose palm she put to her mouth and licked. Forget orders, I decided Mercury didn't need any backup when I fled into the hornet nest in the next room, the angry buzzing here must have drowned out the sound of the critter's explosion because I didn't become a target until I was halfway to a upturned sofa. One shot, two, three, I wasn't as fast as the Sailor Senshi nor was I as small as they were, but I was lucky enough for the slugs to hit my armored jacket and I played the act of them knocking me off my feet, it was a quick way of rolling to a kneeling position behind the russet-colored sofa. "SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON!" a reptilian beast of lightening appeared over the place where Jupiter hide and attacked the two of the three floating hybrids driving on me, probably thinking a wounded target would be a easy meal, the third one I blew up just inches above me. I crawled left to the far end of the sofa and peeked around that end. What I found was something straight out of an anime, V was swinging all over the high ceiling, throwing beams left-right-and-center at the Deathbuster, who was imitating the masked lady's maneuvers but using a barbed whip instead of the heart-shaped chain. The three gunmen kept firing at Jupiter, her staying behind the desk told me the Senshi weren't bulletproof, and the two remaining black blimps were giving me the eye or as it were. They wanted me bad but the deaths of their kin kept them performing evasive maneuvers up above me. I took a chance and glanced at the entrance behind me but I couldn't see Mercury because of the angle, then I was startled a little when I heard the watery music of a harp along with a shout, "MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" Several dewdrop-shaped icicles flew through the doorway and impelled one of the floating hybrids and sent the other one tumbling away. By reflex I lined up a shot at where I believed it would stop and it did. At the same time of my kill, two of the gunmen fired in the direction the rain of ice came from and I heard a feminine scream. "MERCURY!" the ribbon holding together Jupiter's ponytail got shredded by automatic fire when the tall girl impulsively came out of her crouch, she ducked again but not before she gave me an accusing glare. "Hell's Bells," I pulled out two hand grenades from my ammo belt, I was saving these puppies for any other opposition we might run into, but right now we had a man down and I was the only one here with any medical training. I pulled the pins separately, tossing them overhand, hopping the gunmen would see them coming and duck. "Look out! Shit!" I heard from the gunmen followed by the sounds of the grenades bouncing once, twice, but I wasn't watching, I was running back the way I came and I didn't react when the explosions sounded muffled. "YES!" a corner of an eye movement showed me Jupiter leaping over the desk but that was all I got, I was kicking myself for leaving Mercury. This was exactly what V and Jupiter had warned me about and I failed them because I let my imagination get the better of me. I couldn't let what I found in the other room freeze me, finding the blue-haired girl on the gore splashed floor, the abdomen part of her white blouse punctured and soaked with flesh blood, her blue-haired head rolling, eyelids fluttering and teenage limbs shook in shock. "I'm here!" I shouted as I fell to my knees next to Mercury, my hands pulling up what was left of her blouse, my silent prayer was answered for the three holes in her weren't pumping heart blood out, so no major blood vessel was hit. I stuck my index finger into the entry wounds to check for any cloth from the blouse while my other hand reached underneath her. My heart stopped, the exit wounds were huge, larger than they should have been, which meant the bastards were using dumdum rounds. Finding nothing in the wounds, I pulled out two large pressure bandages from my ammo belt, Mercury let out a gasp of pain as I pulled her to a sitting position and slapped one of the bandages on her lower back, then I quickly but gently laid her on the floor and pressed the second bandage on her stomach. Knowing all the signs of shock I covered her with my jacket before I held her head still with my hands, shouting into her face, "Don't die on me, trooper, you hear!" Mercury's steel-blue eyes focused on my eyes, "Yesssss . . ." hissed out between her tiny fangs. "Obey," great, my imagination was hotwiring me again. "Go help the others," Mercury's voice as liquid as her namesake. "That won't be necessary," the voice of Jupiter pulled me out of my focused attention on Mercury and I realized that the noise of battle was gone, my gaze turned to the ginger-haired Senshi, crouching next to me, her right hand tenderly combing the short blue hair out Mercury's eyes, "You forgot to duck again, Mercury." "Computer . . . analyst . . . stalemate . . ." Mercury's breathing was less labored; a good sign to me. "So your solution was to toss in your two-cents," V pronounced from her pose in the doorway, over her left shoulder I could see the Deathbuster hanging from the roof by her own whip around her broken neck. "All other solutions . . . had too many variables . . ." Mercury began to pull herself to a kneeling position, "too many led to failure." "Whoa, you could have internal bleeding," I immediately put my hands on the blue-haired Senshi's shoulders to restrain her, "so stay off your feet until we can get you to a real doctor." "I'm fine, Seijoki, thanks to your quick thinking and Sailor Senshi accelerated healing rate," I just realized Mercury's eyes weren't doing that sapphire-steel-blue thing anymore, they were staying steel-blue. "Eh, Guys," I ignored V, instead my eyes locked on Jupiter's green orbs, trying to get her to back me. "Maybe you should listen to Seijoki, Mercury," I heard concern in Jupiter's tone but there was something else there, "from the look of your blouse I would say you lost a lot of blood," it caused her to sound apprehensive. "Guys." "I'm fine," just to prove her point Mercury pushed through my hands to a one knee posture, "all I need to do is to take it easy for a minimum of a hour, that's all." "Guys." "I might be just a medic but it's going to take longer than a hour to replace the blood you lost," my medical training warring with my commonsense about the three girls not being normal, "besides the six gaping holes in you." "Six . . ." Jupiter's right hand was on Mercury's bended knee, her head level with the azure teen's head, her eyes buzzed with shock. Mercury's glare softened under the heartwarming gaze coming from Jupiter, "I'm fine, really," a shy tone to her words. "GUYS!" "What?" I was annoyed, it looked like Jupiter was about to convince Mercury to stay put, but the anger in my eyes fled when I saw why V was trying to get our attention, there before us was Asano Isaburo towering over V from behind, his left arm lifted the bombshell off her feet while his right hand pressed the barrel of his Berretta into the soft flesh beneath her chin. "Nice to know I finally got your attention," an irritate tone to V's words. "Such a pretty wrecking crew," Isaburo's eyes glowed like rubies as he leered at us, "and Seijoki here too." "Hey, don't squeeze the Charmin!" V snarled at her captor. "Oh, great, another Deathbuster," Jupiter muttered as she slowly turned on her boot heels. I noticed this gave Mercury a better view of what was happening. "Asano-san," I saw his eyes focus on me, I half-turned so I could look at him but still able to see Mercury, "your lab in Tokyo is gone, your men at both places are dead and police want you for that bad batch you put out on the street." "I don't think so," Isaburo's voice sounded inhuman, "the batch did as it was suppose to do, just as you four will find out," his gaze got nasty at Jupiter slight motion up, "Ah-ah, I don't think you want to find out if a Sailor Senshi can grow a new brain or not." I knew jack-shit about what a real Deathbuster could do but Isaburo was strong enough to render V helpless in his arms, "You can't watch all of us, Asano-san, you'll make a mistake and we'll be all over you like a cheap suit." "All I have to do is infect one of you and wait," Isaburo's face had a manic look to it. "I rather jam that gun up your asshole," Jupiter growled as she flexed her hands. "You might be able to do it, princess," Isaburo forced V's neck back with his gun, "but could you stand seeing Sailor V a vegetable for the rest of her life?" With my Desert Eagle on the floor next to Mercury, I was in the same boat as Jupiter, "How about a deal, Asano-san?" "Why deal, I'm going to have four new Deathbusters as my sluts," if there was a failing in the average Nihonjin male, it was arrogance toward any female. "No deal," Mercury's words caught my attention but it was the glow to her face that knotted up my stomach. "To bad," Isaburo didn't sound like he was sorry, but a second passed and his eyes grew, yet another minute passed and his orbs grew huge, his words sputtering, "I . . . I can't . . . pull the trigger." My eyes shifted back and forth between the demonic fire in Mercury's steel-blue eyes and the growing black fear in Isaburo's eyes, his shaking hand with the gun inching away from V's head. In a heartbeat his other arm went slack and the bombshell landed on the ground, butt first. "Ouch..." V exclaimed but she rolled head-over-heels away from Isaburo before she stood up and complained, "Couldn't you be a little easier, Mercury?" At the same time as V's release I scooped up my own gun from the floor and stood up, asking the blonde, "Would you rather have nothing between your ears?" V's mouth twitched but she said, "Okay, point taken." I took a moment to look at Isaburo and I noticed his hand inched the gun closer and closer to his own jaw, sweat making his face shine, hysterical mumbling coming from his lips, "No-no-no-no." "You can release Asano-san, Mercury," I lined up my revolver for a head shot, "the police would love to take him down." "No," Jupiter crossed her arms over her chest, "he's a Deathbuster and he has to die." "Mercury, this doesn't have to end this way," I was hoping to play upon the logical mind I believed the shorthaired girl had. There was no response from Mercury, her gaze never wavering, but I got a response from V, "We've been judge, jury and executioners for too long, Seijoki, for you to expect anything different." It was true, I knew this was the war the Sailor Senshi had been fighting over the last two-and-a-half years, protracted battles to protect the people of Earth from things we only find in our worst nightmares, we wanted those creatures killed, we didn't want to face them and have to deal with them ourselves. As the gun moved under his chin, Isaburo whimpering grew louder, him begging for mercy, pleading for us to turn him over to the police, and I knew he was a dead man from the stoic looks on the faces of Jupiter and V, all I could do was to slap my gun into the holster on my hip, faced Isaburo and said, "Die as a samurai, Asano-san." My eyes blink when the discharge of his own gun ended Isaburo's cries, its sound leaving me unaware of Mercury's plight until I felt her fall against my right leg, but Jupiter must have been watching her, her strong arms cradle the Messenger's Avatar before she could slip off my leg. I didn't go to the azure girl aid, instead I looked at V and I asked her, "Does mercy not count in Sailor Moon's heart?" For a moment V's manic expression fled, the eyes I saw behind her red party mask were ancient and war weary, then her insanity was back, "You heard the Man, we're the wrecking crew! Wreck-Wreck-Wreck-" she pumped the air with her fists like she had pom-poms. I sighed. What else could I do? These weren't my people, Jupiter and Mercury were Sailor Moon's bodyguard, at least according to the anime and the manga they were. V was supposed to be Sailor Venus as stated by the same sources but I knew there were times when she would once more don the mask of Sailor V. So I retreat back to what I knew and knelt next to Jupiter, who had pulled Mercury into her lap. A wet sheen covered the shorthaired soldier's face and her eyelashes were frosted with a sliver of steel-blue, but the way she licked her lips, the animalistic need her expression showed, those things made it hard for me gulp a question, "Jupiter, how is she?" One blink, two blinks, and then Mercury's eyes stay open and the hunger was gone. A blush painted her cheeks at where she found herself, her voice saying, "Jupiter, you can put me down." "Haven't we heard that song and dance before," V called out from her post next to the entrance to the other room. Mercury made an annoyed noise while she forcefully took herself out of Jupiter's arms, "A gunshot weakened me a little and my mind control sapped my remaining strength, but I am good to go." Seeing our suspicious looks the school genius added, "Really." "I believe you, Mercury," Jupiter reinforced her words by placing her hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. It wasn't my call to make; Jupiter was the current leader of our little group, even if my combat senses told me that Mercury was only on her feet due to sheer willpower on her part. Not waiting for orders I headed for the entrance where the firefight took place and I got a nasty surprise. The female Deathbuster was hanging from the roof by her whip around her broken neck and the Yakuza boys looked and smelled like grilled pork chops. I must have frozen near the entrance because it took V's voice to knock me back into reality, "So this is where that Yakuza boss came from." V had pushed a broken full-length mirror away from the wall behind the bullet-cheesed desk, in that hidden part of the wall was an unlit corridor. I took a step toward V but I stopped as a dizzy spell hit me, Jupiter's voice asking me, "What's wrong? Were you hit?" "Just a touch of combat fatigue as my Grandpa would call it," Mercury took my wrist and felt my pulse while she stared up at me, "Are you going to play mother hen too?" I was glad my helmet kept her from seeing my creep-out look. "How is he, Mercury?" Jupiter was looking over her shoulder at us, she had joined V at the hidden passageway, and the red-white-and-blue heroine was leaning into the abovementioned hall. "His pulse is a little fast but it would be something I would expect from a combat veteran," Mercury let go of my wrist and joined the others. V was first into the passageway with Jupiter right behind her and the Water Senshi began to follow, but paused to look back at me, "Seijoki, are you coming?" I nodded and followed the azure girl, my eyes on the passage I'm going in but my brain putting things together at a rapid pace. The manga was far off, the Sailor Senshi were soldiers in every sense of the word, hardened veterans, who were soft-peddled by the newspaper and the anime series, most likely because of the censors and political convenience. I also remembered Takeuchi Naoko and her editor worked hard so she could create the manga her way. So what did my detective mind think of the Sailor Senshi so far? Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars I wasn't around long enough to form a firm judgment, but that wasn't true of the three I was with now. Sailor V acted like a loose cannon with a mouth she wheeled like a stiletto, Sailor Jupiter was a thunderstorm ready to rain on anyone's parade and Sailor Mercury was creepy with her willow weaving of shy scientist and otherworldly being. I knew I was spitting hairs, all three of the Sailor Senshi were much different from their two dimensional profiles, and there was an underlining tension between them, a strained friendship. I needed to be careful here, emotions could flare unexpectedly and revelations could spill out and my head could end up on a plate. "Oh my stars and garters, how many cameras does this place have?" V's exclamation reached me before I saw her. Once Mercury and I were inside the room where Jupiter and V were, I understood was the blond bombshell meant, the room was wall-to-wall screens with the buttons and dials of a highly advanced security nerve center. We watched V send a cascade of images to the screens as sat in a wheeled chair and let her fingers do the walking. "We better scout out those rooms to make sure no one is hiding," green intensity in Jupiter's eyes, "then destroy everything so no one can make anymore Deathbusters." "Great idea," V was out of the chair and heading for the door in a rainbow blur, "You take the left side and I'll take the right side." A gloved hand darted out but Jupiter missed grabbing V before the blonde disappeared into the hallway, the Lightening Senshi sighed noisily, "Mercury, we better do as V-chan said." The ponytail brunette looked at me and asked, "Seijoki, do you know how to operate this equipment?" "Yes I do, Jupiter," my service for Uncle Sam included things other than shooting and explosives. "Good, use this stuff to check for any possible ambushes, for anyone we smoke out, for anything we might miss," Jupiter counted out her orders with her fingers, "and use the Senshi communicator to guide us." "Roger Wilco," my salute got the lopsided smile I wanted from Jupiter, even Ami shyly grinned at me. Before I headed for the main terminal, I watch the two run down the hallway with Mercury lagging a little behind her companion, the cold sweat I saw on her pale face made me want to second guess the decision of me staying here. Smoothly I sat and took off my helmet, ruffling my hair as I let my eyes adjust to the artificial light. Next I put on the intercom earphone on and tested out the buttons and dials to learn their purpose, which didn't take long. It didn't take me long to find V, the girl must be half Apache because her red hair ribbon was the only thing the cameras could zero in on; she was diffidently the sneaky type. Finding Jupiter and Mercury was easy, a nearly six feet frame was much harder to hide than a five feet body, plus there was a distinction in style between V and Jupiter. Mercury seemed to mode herself to her partner's method, her actions were reactions to what was going on around her, yet I knew there was something wrong with her. The shorthaired girl was trying to hide it but the camera doesn't lie, the cold sweat was heavy on her face and those blue-steel eyes of hers were getting a panic look in them whenever her companion wasn't looking at her, she was scared of something or someone. Shifting back and forth between the screens showing the two groups, I would sometimes lose them when I moved to a new camera in another room. It would take me a couple of seconds to find the rooms where the Sailor Senshi where at. "Seijoki, V-chan, how are we doing?" Mercury's voice came from the Senshi communicator. I picked the device from the terminal and pressed a button, "No targets so far, Mercury." "No Indians here, Bubbles," I glanced at the screen and as usually I saw a little flash of V's long flaxen hair. Mercury frowned but kept her voice neutral, "Keep us informed of any developments, V-chan, Seijoki." "I will, Mercury, out," I replied and turned my attention back to the screens. It was a tedious sixty-five minutes after that exchange of words, the Sailor Senshi and Sailor V moved at a practiced pace, Mercury and Jupiter would have me check the room with the cameras before going in while V would charge in and go for the closest cover, which meant I spent more time playing catch-up with her than the others. It was V who finished her section of the complex and asked me as she stood in an empty lab, "Anything else, Seijoki?" 'No, Sailor V," I ran several screens through the rooms she had visited, "No secret passages or hidden rooms." "Then it is wreaking time," a five-year-old grin on V's face, "Love Me Chain!" Glass smashed, wood splintered, chemicals splattered and metal sounds filled the intercom and I watched V use her heart chain to tear everything. "Get out, V!" I shouted when I saw the chemical mix and combust into multi-colored flames. Thank God the emergency fire system worked and drenched the room with treated water from spouts in the ceiling, of course V whined, "Hey! Don't rain on my carnival." "The system is automatic, Sailor V," I put fatherly tone to my words. "Well, at least I can keep smashing things," manic glee back on V's lips and the blonde havoc continued. "We're almost done here, Seijoki," Mercury's voice interrupted my chain-of-thought. I switched over to their screen and I was surprised by what I saw; both Mercury and Jupiter were standing in what looked like some kind of autopsy room. "Is this what I think it is?" My voice went cold when I saw the restraining braces on the sheet-covered tables, the various containers holding purple eggs, and the surgical instruments you would find in such a room. "Yes, this is where they inserted the eggs into their human hosts," Mercury's voice was a cold as mine and she had her laptop out scanning the room. "I hate this room," Jupiter's voice crackled with emotion, "Why do people love to hurt the defenseless." "We know why Tomoe-sensei did it," Mercury continued to look at her device's readout. "Asano-san did it because he was drunk on power," I added my reason, the one I used the most often to describe the human monsters living amongst us. "I'm going to love turning this place into junk," Jupiter's hands clenched and unclenched. "I'm going to run the cameras through the rest of the rooms in case someone came in after us," I said, but I kept the cameras in the operation room, where Mercury and Jupiter were at, active. "This is it," Mercury closed her laptop and put it away, "the whole complex has been searched. "I'll wait outside while you sterilize this room, Jupiter." The azure girl walked toward the exit, her gloved hand moved along the operation table, using it as support. "Mercury . . ." Jupiter noticed it too. "I'm fine, Jupiter," Mercury used her other hand to wave the tall girl off without looking back, "the bullet took more out of me than I thought, that's all." The movement of Jupiter's arm was like lightening, the camera barely caught her hand pinching Mercury's right ear and the result was instantaneous. Mercury wheeled about and snarled at her comrade, pure animal was in her blue-steel eyes and her fangs looked extra-long, then just as suddenly the look was gone, her cheeks flush and shame filled her eyes, the fangs shrank but you could see the points against her painted lips, a word hissed out, "Makoto . . ." I rocked back in my seat. I shouldn't have been surprised by this disclosure since Jupiter and Makoto looked too much alike, yet something made me react in shock. I watched as Jupiter stepped close to Mercury, the camera mikes barely picked up her voice, "When was the last time you fed?" "Fifteen days ago, not since my metamorphosis," then her head bolted up to look at her tall friend, "but how did you know, I didn't know until Usagi-chan told me I hadn't changed back?" "How did I know?" The back of the fingers of Jupiter's right hand lightly caressed Mercury's left cheek, "Silly, I knew it the moment my classes stopped being so boring." Mercury's eyes widen, her words rush out, "The blood bond." When she saw the confused look on Jupiter's face, she explained, "Usagi-chan told me that when I took your blood, a bond was created between you and I." "That explains a lot," Jupiter's right hand drifted down to clasp Mercury's left hand, "I was in Harada-sensei's geometry class, ready to pull my hair out, when I thought about how easy you handle this stuff. Suddenly I because energized by what he was drawing on the board, I took notes, solved problems in my workbook and I wasn't having any trouble understanding it." Mercury broke contact with Jupiter's eyes, she held her right hand to her lips, saying, "Oh my, three days ago I stopped at a Crown Parlor and Unazuki-san had cooked some wonderful cookies and after sampling them, I . . . I got into a discussion with her about the different spices she used, temperature setting, cooking time . . . everything." "Then you know I love you," Jupiter's other hand ruffled Mercury's page-cut hair. "But is it true," real fear in Mercury's soft voice, her eyes glanced up at Jupiter's eyes, "or is it the thing I am making you feeling it?" "You know I lusted for you before you bit me," Jupiter coyly admonished Mercury, "Isn't that true?" "I know from your aura you were attracted to me," Mercury's blush reached the tips of her ears, "and you were excited to have me as your first taste of lesbian sex." "You called me, Thunderheart," Jupiter's right hands interlaced with Mercury's left hand. "It was like your heart was in my chest, merging with my heart and driving me deeper and deeper into ecstasy," Mercury leaned into Jupiter, the top of her head just under the ginger-haired girl's chin. "Yet you love Urawa-kun, don't you?" it wasn't an accusation from Jupiter, only a statement of facts. "I do..." Mercury's head was against Jupiter's ample chest, "I . . . I was ecstatic when Ryo-kun volunteered to work at Mom's hospital and I know he got Mom to arrange things so we would worked the same shift and on the same floor together." Jupiter let the fingertips of her left hand glide up and down Mercury's spine. I could actually see Mercury shiver from the touch, Jupiter's lips near her right ear, "You haven't told Urawa-kun about what happened to you, have you?" "No, how could I," Mercury's eyes looked desperate, "to tell him I did this to myself because I couldn't stand what I was, a wallflower, someone who couldn't even kiss him." "Have you kissed him?" Jupiter's fingernails nimbly scratched the nap of Mercury's neck. "I . . . I plan to, I . . . I think Ryo-kun wants to," an uncertain tone to Mercury's words. Now cobalt eyes looked into emerald eyes, fear in the azure's girls words, "Mako-chan, I . . . me . . . the hunger . . . I'm barely controlling myself." "Then you need to feed, Ami-chan," I watched Jupiter's hand slowly message Mercury's neck. "I . . . I'm confused," Mercury's tone sounded frantic, she pulled her body tighter against Jupiter's frame, "I . . . I love Ryo-kun but . . . but I want you too." "As a friend or as a lover?" Jupiter's continued to keep her lips next to Mercury's ear. "Both," Mercury's eyes rolled into the back of her head, "Mako-chan . . ." "Let go, Ami-chan," Jupiter kissed Mercury's ear while adding, "I trust you with all my love." It was like Mercury and Jupiter changed places. Mercury's blush disappeared into cold power while Jupiter's green eyes took on a glassy, cheerful look; the smaller body became statuesque while the taller body looked like a puppet. "Revert, Mako-chan." There was soft green shimmer and Sailor Jupiter became Kino Makoto, the sixteen-year-old was dressed in a rifleman green, heavy wool sweater and lemony pants, along with white sneakers. "Take off your clothes, Mako-chan." Makoto let go of Mercury and began to take off her clothes. Little voices were speaking in my head, 'I should turn the screen off, give them some privacy, she is a vampire, I should stop her, stop her how? She isn't a normal vampire?' I shook my head and remembered what the two exchanged, how Jupiter was literally seducing Mercury, trying to get the Water Senshi to release the darkness inside of her. The way her body moved, the feel good smile on her face; it spoke clearly to me of mind control by Mercury's vampiric nature. I rolled my eyes when I remembered what Mercury said about auras and I hit a button I found earlier, the screen washed out of colors except for the auras around Mercury and Makoto. I hope this stuff was like the mood rings I brought as a kid but what I saw confused me until I once more remembered what Mercury said about the blood bond. The auras were the same, a swirl of midnight blue, forest green and star sapphire moving at a rapid rate, they both were excited, psychologically, spiritually. I switched the camera back to normal mode just as a bluish glow surrounded Mercury and I couldn't help feel a shock at seeing Mercury becoming Ami, I was getting to dislike this stupid emotional reaction on my part and at what was causing it, whatever it was. Ami was dressed in a golden orange blouse with a matching ankle-length skirt of Scottish checkerboard orange, green and black, above her half-boots were creamy blue legwarmers. My eyes return to Makoto and I did a double take on what she was wearing as panties and bra, a matching pair decorated with pastel red and white tulips. It was clear to me what the message Makoto was sending to Ami was, and it looked to me like Ami was receiving it loud and clear. "Lay down on the table, Mako-chan." Obediently the ginger girl hooped on the table and lay down, her meek eyes never leaving Ami's unblinking eyes. Now Ami efficiently stripped down to her underwear, a silvery blue panties and strapless bra. Ami was much like many Japanese women I've seen naked, small but perky breasts with a small tuft of properly trim azure pubic hair. On the other hand Makoto's build would get her labeled an American in Japanese high school slang, two ample breasts to go with her queen sized body. Ami flowed like water onto the table more than she did climb. Makoto's eyes lock on her friend's eyes as the smaller girl straddled the larger girl's right leg. With a single finger she hooked the string of her friend's panties and carefully pulled them down to the middle of the thighs, the vampire's head bowed to just above the green-haired lips and I heard her sniff. There was a smoky look in those steel-blue eyes to match her soft, sultry voice, "Mako-chan, do you truly want me?" "Yes," Makoto propped herself on her elbows, her eyes no longer meek, "The first time turned my fantasies into flesh, I want them like that again." It was seduction as a fine art, Ami kept her head barely above Makoto's body, stopping every few inches to taste her friend's skin before she captured the ginger-haired girl's lips with her own. I couldn't miss their tongues filling each other mouths nor did I miss the pale girl's hands blushing Makoto's bra straps from her shoulders. Ami's mouth pulled on Makoto's lower lip and a sudden yap of surprise left the bigger girl's mouth. Their lips part and I saw a mark of shinny red on Makoto's lower lip. Ami stared hungrily at the blood, her legs tight around the tall girl's waist. Makoto grinned up, a devilish grin, and immediately the vampire used her tongue to smear the blood on her lover's lips before locking lips once more. With a smooth motion Ami's left hand slipped Makoto's right breast out of the bra, the light pink flesh of the lower part cupped in her fingers while her thumb making circles on the dark pink areole until the nipple became a point. It was fascinating the way this was developing. Ami was doing everything, Makoto was passive, leaning on her elbows while moaning softly and her body was reacting to the vampire's method. Clearly this was a role reversal that was a turn-on for the normally aggressive girl. Was it a fetish for the smaller girl? The way Ami fought against her vampiric hunger made it obvious she wasn't comfortable with it. It was Makoto's desire for Ami combined with Ami's need for blood that created what I was watching. When their lips part this time, a little giggle came from Makoto, "My lips feel funny." "I know, my saliva deadens nerves," Ami replied as her right hand freed Makoto's left breast. There was no pause as the school genius crawled down the sweating body, her legs hooking around Makoto's legs. I hadn't notice until now Makoto's legs were parted, her arousal plain by the wetness of her pubic hair and the way her blood red clit poke out of its sheath. Ami's lips began to plant a field of roses upon Makoto's right breast while the fingers of her left hand took turns playing with the left breast, pulling, rolling and pinching the nipple. Makoto rolled her head rolling back and forth, her words coming between soft moans, "Please . . . Ami-chan . . . please . . . please bite my . . . my breast." I saw Ami's mouth leave Makoto's breast, another moan escaping from the ginger girl's lips as the vampire's tits rubbed against her supersensitive mounds and when Ami spoke, the tone was heavy with darkness, "Why should I, Lightening Born?" Steel-blue hunger bored into Makoto's eyes, "You are mine to eat as I please." Pleasurable noises came from Ami when she once more sucked on Makoto's bleeding lip, her captive letting out a wanton hiss, "Please, Ami-chan, suckle me like a baby." Ami pulled Makoto's lip out a little with her tiny fangs before letting it go, a delicious smile upon her lips and she stared at her friend's pleading expression. I saw two faces superimposed upon that young face; Ami's earthly bliss warped by the vampire's unearthly needs, yet one look on Makoto's face and you could see the same primordial urges. The smile remained on Ami's face and her smaller body wiggled down her friend's body, twin moans coming from both girls' lips. There were over six cameras in this room and it wasn't a big jump in deductive reasoning to think the reason why for this arrangement, either Tomoe-sensei or Asano-san were real sick puppies. The next camera I switched to showed Ami was looking between their bodies, how her legs around Makoto's thighs, her double-jointed body fitted her panty-covered groin smugly to her lover's glistening green vagina. "Ami . . ." Makoto spoke the name, like Ami I heard the lust wanting release and the vampire complied. The blue-haired creature answered her lover's call, her left hand brutally squeezed her lover's left breast and her tongue stained the pale flesh with blood-dyed salvia. Even with her body still locked by the dark creature's power, Makoto's breathing deepened and sweat poured off her face. It started as a rumbling growl in Ami's chest as she pulled back and became an animal howl as her head plunged down. Even with my experience I still jumped in my chair at the display of supernatural ferocity, but Makoto's reaction to the tiny fangs penetrating her left nipple was a tiny gasp filled with pleasurable pain. Makoto's eyes flutter closed and she collapsed on the table, a quick glance on my part showed her chest was rising and falling. My attention focused back on Ami, the azure vampire removed her fangs from her lover's nipple and her tongue lapped up the free flowing blood milk, her other hand slowly fingering the other nipple. I couldn't stop myself from feeling a strange sense of awe watching the change of expression on Makoto's face, I swear she looked angelic, her soul the purest grace, while Ami's face look demonic, her darkness making her lover shine. In this black-white heat, Ami began to rub her vagina against Makoto's vagina. It was hard for me to tell whose love juices soaked the silky panties that separated the two organs. Once more the pattern followed, the ginger girl staying passive while the azure girl started slow but quickly she pick up her pace, the sweat dripping off her chin and the hazy lust in her eyes left me with the impression that the blood she was feasting on was driving her wild. The climax came suddenly. The lights in the room dimmed while Ami threw her head back again and drove her fangs into Makoto's left breast. It was impossible for me not to hear the noise of the vampire sucking on the nipple, her vagina grinding merciless against Makoto's vagina. The display didn't last more than two minutes, Ami's head slide off Makoto's nipple followed by the rest of her body, her eyes closed while her left arm draped over the ginger girl's breasts, it smearing the blood from the claw marks left on both of them. The vampire's lips barely moved, yet the love they uttered was clear to me, "Thunderheart." "What a wonderful horizontal bump," I shouldn't have jumped but I did, finding Sailor V's face almost touching mine made it clear I suffered a little tunnel vision while watching. What happened next was totally unexpected, V turning me in my chair, her knees in my lap while the rest of her body pressed against my chest and her baby blues the only thing I could see. "Let see if we can do better," those words from V made me try to swallow but something pushed into my mouth stopped me. I felt weightless for a second, V's mouth mashed on my mouth, and then the back of my head slammed against the floor. So surprised was I by V's advance that I didn't notice my body trying to lean away from her body. My vision swam for a few seconds before it cleared to find the blonde bombshell knelt beside me, her hands holding my head, "Are you okay, sweetie?" I must have passed out while watching Ami and Makoto go at it must have knocked me off my feet, literally, with Sailor V trying to wake me up, "I think so." "Good," with that V's lips locked me again. This wasn't some perverted dream. V was doing her best to touch my tonsils with her tongue while her left hand drifted down my chest, down my stomach, heading for you-know-where. I was as stiff as a board, indecisive about what to do, knowing anything I try could turn things ugly. When her hand reached that special place between my legs, I felt her whole body stop as her patted the area a couple of times, then she jumped away from me like I was a leper and landed on her butt by the communication terminal. The masked maiden's eyes tripled in size, her mouth moving a mile a minute but making no sound, I just shook my head, somewhat disappointed by her reaction, my voice going to its true nature, "Yes, V-chan, I have a twat." I watched curiously as Sailor V's face went through several shades of blush before she mumbled out, "At least you aren't an eunuch." IT was too much, the stress of the last few days, watching a vampire feast on a willing victim, V thinking I was a man, I started to laugh and laugh and laugh, soon the petite blonde joined me. We laughed together, our mirth shared, our backs leaning against each other. Finally I got to down to an intermitted giggle and I asked, "So you thought someone had made a he-man into a she-male?" It took a long time for Sailor V to answer, "Yeah . . . yeah." the humor suddenly leaving her voice, "How?" "I inherit some special genes from my paternal grandfather," I could only give her an edited version of the truth, "and when I was six, I began to grow like a weed and by my seventh birthday, puberty hit me." "You were a teenager by the age of seven," astonishment was there in V's voice and so was pity. "I didn't have much of a childhood, my friends were to scared to play with me, and school was Hell. Boys made fun of me and girls were jealous," remembering those didn't hurt like it use to but I still made me feel hollow. "But why the deep voice?" V asked. "I wanted out of school and get into the family business, the United States Army, as soon as possible, but I didn't want to get stuck in a logistic unit, so with a little help from my family and me learning how to keep my voice deep, I became a grunt." "No one turned you in?" V turned around was looking around my left shoulder. I shook my head, "Daddy and Grandpa have a lot of influence in the Army and my bunkmates thought it was a great joke to pull at first, until they saw me in action and decided I was just like one of the boys." "How come you don't have any tits?" To make her point, V used her left hand to reach around and feel my chest. "What do you think happens to size A breasts when you decide to become a gym rat instead of going to school?" I didn't let the blonde know her hand was making my nipples hard. I was caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of tears on her cheeks, her eyes hard and angry, her hands on my left shoulder and leg. "Why?" her voice shook with rage, "Why can jerks hurt us like that and get away with it?" I didn't know what to say but my speechlessness was filled by V, "They wouldn't leave my breasts alone! They pinched them all the time, even the girls!" It dawn on me what V was saying, her body developed early like mine did, "How early did it happen?" "Seven," her grip was iron, pain in her eyes, "they said . . . they said I had elephant tits." Sticks and stones, they got the rhythm wrong, they might not break bones but they can break a soul, bleed tears from a heart, and like me, V went through that hell. I found my refuge in my family's profession. V didn't, she couldn't. "I'm sorry, Sailor V," it was lame for me to say it, I wasn't here, I wasn't involved in her daily torture by the proper behavior police, I just felt like I had to say something. The only other thing I could do was to pull her into a hug. She was so tiny in my arms, me, even seated on the floor I towered over her. Her body shaking against mine, her tears running down my leather coat; I had one hand slowly rubbing her back while the other patted her hair. I didn't know how long it took before her tears stop or when she fell into a peaceful sleep, I continued to hold her, my back against a wall, my head resting on her hair bow. I must have fallen asleep because the next moment I felt something touching the middle of my forehead. I tried to open my eyes, tried to fully awake but I couldn't, my mind remained in a half-wake-half-sleeping state. What is more I could sense something going through my memories, sorting and analyzing each of them. I can't say how long before something sticky was pulled from my brow and soft feminine voice said, "You can open your eyes, Rogers-san." I opened my eyes to find a fully clothed Ami standing over me, her two hands held a medical sensor and her laptop, a look of respect on her face. I was loosely holding a still sleeping Sailor V in my arms with a couple of blankets draped over us. The blue-haired girl's steel-blue eyes caused me to ask, "You are keeping V-chan asleep, like you did me earlier?" "I thought we should have some time for a private conversation," Ami sat down in a chair, her eyes never leaving mine, "maybe give you a chance to ask some questions." 'Okay, let see how far I can go,' I thought, "How is Kino-san doing?" A small smile appeared on the vampire's face, the points of her fangs barely visible against her lips. The teenager turned and pressed a button on the communication control board, a ginger-haired girl appeared on a screen above the panel. Much like V and me, several heavy blankets covered Makoto, she was sleeping on her right side on a medical bed and her breathing showed she was in a deep sleep. "As you can see, Makoto-chan is resting after everything she has gone through today." I didn't miss the trace of shame in Ami's voice, "You care a lot for your friend, just as much as she cares for you." "It wasn't until the blood bond developed that I discovered how much she loves me," Ami's feelings visible on her face, "and I found myself responding to it." "You need her," I decided to take a risk, "you need her blood." "Hai, I do," Ami downcast her eyes, "I . . . I never thought the freedom I wanted would come at this price." Freedom, now things were making better sense to me, "Timothy Leary." Ami looked up at me, "In a way you are correct, Rogers-san, I choose to become a vampire because it allowed my consciousness to move outside my psychological confines." "You originally did it because you wanted to show your love for Urawa-san, openly," I remembered what Ami and Makoto talked about. Ami nodded, "I love Ryo-kun, totally, but now," she twisted her hands together, "I don't know, I'm starting . . . to feel the same thing for Makoto-chan." This was strange turn of events, much different from what Grandpa told me about vampires, so I asked, "Who sired you?" "Sired?" You could see the dictionary term running in Ami's eyes before she realized what I meant, "You could say I sired myself." "How?" I had a bad feeling. "I used Sailor Venus' Compact," there was mixed emotions in Ami's answer, regret-resolve-acceptance. This was bad news, really bad in my opinion. Ami didn't really know anything about being a vampire, even if she wasn't the garden-variety type. Ami's lack of knowledge about the blood bond already opened her up to Makoto's feelings and if her nature was more sensitive to her animalistic desires, which from what I saw seem to be true, then they could at times overwhelm her moral center. It didn't take much for me to ask, "Do you need to learn to be a vampire?" Hope was the expression I saw on Ami's face, her eyes going sapphire and she was halfway out of her seat, "Could you . . . teach me?" "No, I can't, Ami-san, I don't know enough," bad news first, good news second, "but I think Grandpa knows someone who can help you." "Could you two keep it down, I'm trying to sleep," words mumble from V's lips. She shifted her head on my chest and cuddled a little tighter on my lap. Ami smiled and I noticed the fangs were gone, "Every book I have found on vampirism is so full of lies that I can't depend on them to contain any real facts." Ami's expression remained optimistic as she sat back down, "if you or anyone else can teach me the truth about my condition, I . . . I would be grateful." "Tell me about Sailor V," I decided to cash in my chips now. The blue-haired girl chewed her lower lip before saying, "What do you want to know?" "Sailor V is also Sailor Venus, correct?" "She was Sailor Venus." "What happened?" Ami waited a few minutes, either she was composing her thoughts or she was giving the sleeping Sailor V a chance to interrupt, "In all of the battles against the Dark Kingdom, the Black Moon Family and the Dead Moon Circus, Sailor Venus was always able to make a difference. The rest of the Sailor Senshi were able to contribute to our victories but it was always Sailor Venus who made a real difference. She killed Queen Beryl, she wasn't captured by Rubeus, she was the first to penetrate the falsehood of Queen Nephrenia's dreams, but then came Sailor Galaxia." "Sailor Venus failed." "We all failed, if it wasn't for the selfless sacrifice of Eternal Sailor Moon, everything in the universe would have cease to existence and in return for her devotion to us, the universe was reborn as it was before." "But deep inside Sailor Venus blamed herself for her friend's sacrifice." "Sailor Venus is the Sailor Senshi true leader, not Sailor Moon." "Then the manga is correct, Sailor Moon was originally the Moon Princess with the Sailor Senshi as her bodyguard." "The Moon Princess is too important to risk in the chaos of battle. That is why we exist, to protect her." "Sailor Venus believed she wasn't qualified to lead the Sailor Senshi anymore." "When we returned to Earth, Sailor Venus gave her henshin wand to Sailor Moon, telling her to find another leader for the Sailor Senshi." "Sailor Moon accepted Sailor Venus' resignation." "The Moon Princess sensed the conflict within Sailor Venus' soul. She understood the need to let her friend resolve this inner battle in her own way." "So this explains why Sailor V came out of retirement?" "Hai, it allows Mi . . . my friend to heal her spirit while still helping the Sailor Senshi and others." "Sailor V, crime fighter extraordinaire, a heroine without any worries of leadership, no duty to the Moon Princess." "Correct." "But some of your ranks do have a problem with it," my words came because of the mixed emotions I saw in Ami's eyes, "like Kino-san." It was fast, the change to steel-blue in those eyes. Ami's voice the power of command, "Sleep." I tried to fight against haze filling my mind, blinking my eyes and tried to keep my head from falling into silky field of Sailor V's hair, I failed. (End of Part Three)
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