It has been a long time since I updated. Sorry about that. I would have had this out on the first day of the New Year, but a reader pointed out something that I agreed with, so I added to the ending. It's still a little piecemeal, but if worst comes to worst I can go back and revise.

Incidentally, does anyone know why it no longer saves the string of +s I used as line breaks? Not that I mind overmuch, but it was unique, in my opinion. Though to be honest I used them because when I started writing here I didn't know how to make the lines.

I'd also like to thank everyone who's read and reviewed. Please keep doing so.

"It's good to see the both of you. I'm flattered that such pretty ladies would come to visit me as soon as the hours were open," Hino-sensei told Usagi and Inabi, who had both raced into his hospital room the instant visiting hours began.

Inabi snuffled a few times, having burst into tears before she hugged him, and spoke. "I missed you so much, and I was so scared, and it wasn't the same without you and I was afraid youwerenevercomingBACKkkkkk!"

"Everyone was so worried!" Usagi added. "People were stopping by the shrine and praying for you all the time."

"Well," he chuckled, "it's good to hear I was missed. Did anything happen while I was posessed?"

"Things got a bit run down, because Inabi was mostly on her own since I wasn't very good at the chores," Usagi admitted glumly.

"It's a bit better. Two days ago I found a guy sleeping on the steps and he asked if the temple would shelter him for a while, and if the priest would take him on as a student. I told him it wasn't my decision, but I let him sleep in the guest bedroom and he's been very helpful cleaning."

"Wait, the shaggy rock and roll guy?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah. He said his name's Yuuichiro Kumada. And there was also a call from your granddaughter."

"From Rei? What did she say?" he asked intently.

"That she was coming here for the rest of the school year." Inabi looked a little…conflicted, Usagi thought.

"Really? I can't imagine her father would agree to that? She must have been broken-hearted when you told her what happened. I should call her to say that everything's well now."

"Actually, she already knew," Inabi admitted. "She said she had a vision of what happened to you, and was coming over to help take care of the Shrine whether you were here or not."

"Really?" Hino-sensei looked either bemused or confused, in Usagi's opinion. She couldn't remember what the difference was. "Why would her father ever agree to that?" He looked at Inabi sharply. "Inabi-chan…"

"Yes, sensei?"

"Rei wasn't…she isn't…she didn't say that she was in any kind of trouble, and needed to avoid a scandal, did she?"

"Wait, like…?" Usagi blushed furiously. It took a second longer, but Inabi's cheeks reddened when she understood what the old man was hedging around.

"I-um, I didn't think to ask, and she didn't say anything like t-that," the part-time miko stuttered. "But…well, I can't imagine that anything like that would happen to her. She always seemed really straight and narrow when she visited. I don't think you have to worry about that, sensei. I hope," she added quietly to herself.

Usagi frowned. "Hino-sensei, if your granddaughter is anything like you she must a wonderful girl! Shame on you for doubting her! I bet you have nothing to worry about," she chided. He laughed ruefully.

"I do believe you're right, Usagi-chan. More likely it's her father who's in trouble and she wants to get away from it all. Shame on me indeed."

"Will you be coming back to the shrine soon?" Inabi asked intently.

"Yes. The doctors didn't really need to keep me overnight, they were simply being cautious. If they decide to be very cautious I may not leave until tomorrow, but if all goes well I should be out later today."

"Yes!" Usagi cheered as Inabi visibly brightened. "Does this mean I can start miko-y stuff tomorrow?"

"Mmm…yes, I believe that will work out fine," he concurred. "Granted, we'll need to spend a few days preparing the shrine for winter, but after that we can start your training in earnest. Maybe Monday would be a better time to begin, however." She smiled brightly, nodding, and then frowned when her communicator beeped.

"Please excuse me."

"By all means," he said, and Usagi stepped outside.

"What?" she grumphed. "Another draining operation?"

"We think so," Ami said. "It's a little hard to tell, which is why I want you along."

"It can't wait? I'm with Hino-sensei," she whined.

"Usagi…"

"I know, I know. Great. Well, better today than tomorrow," Usagi grumbled.

"What's tomorrow?" Ami asked.

"I'm meeting Lawny Lanai, remember? The woman we think might be another senshi?"

"Right. Neptune, potentially," Ami remembered. "I can see why you'd want to start her off more gently than Haruka or I."

"So what is it? A toy store, a place selling Christmas decorations, a café?"

"An abandoned warehouse that appears to be completely uninhabited. No employees, no squatters, no draining victims. Nothing but a bunch of old machines and wooden crates."

"That…what? How is that a draining operation?"

"Because Luna says the entire area reeks of youma and Dark Kingdom activity. She smelled it from a quarter-mile away. And since my scans haven't picked anything up from a distance, I need to get closer. And I want back-up in case it's a trap."

"Alright. It sounds pretty fishy, I guess. Where is it?" Ami gave her directions, and after saying goodbye and bundling up Usagi headed out into a world spray-painted white. A transformation in an alley later, and Sailor Moon was sure-footedly bounding across the icy rooftops.

"I'm here, so…Nar-um, Ceres? What are you doing here?" Moon asked the redhead standing beside Mercury. Apparently the disguise pen didn't include environmental protections, since she was bundled up in gloves, a coat, and stockings over her fuku.

"I'm here to help out the police if something goes wrong, and watch to make sure nothing happens. Luna didn't want to show her face, so I'm talking to her over the communicator." Usagi grinned.

"Thanks for helping out. Luna says M will be here in a week, and is bringing the Compact with her."

"I…well, I'd say I can't wait, but I'm not really sure. I hope I don't chicken out," Naru admitted. Usagi hugged her briefly.

"Stop that. If you were a chicken you wouldn't even be here, you'd be sticking your head in the sand."

"That's ostriches," Mercury corrected.

"You know what I mean! Look, Na—Ceres, whatever happens, whether you fight or not, you are still one of the bravest people I know. You hit Zoicite with a sandbag, remember? Not wanting to get anywhere near things that can kill you is a good idea." Usagi paused, trying to remember something. "I'd say something about that Darworth guy from science class, except I can't remember that well."

"Dar…Moon, please don't tell me you just messed up Charles Darwin's name? The father of evolution theory and author of On the Origin of Species."

"Okay, I won't tell you!" the leader of the senshi chirped. "So, do we have a plan? Because charging in headfirst hasn't really worked that well before."

"Well, we don't have many other options," Uranus said from behind them. Moon yelped and shot four feet into the air.

"Don't do that!" she shrieked. "Would it kill you to make some noise?"

"I'll be there with bells on next time, kitten," Uranus teased. "But yeah, pretty much the only way we could go in is through the front door, or a small one on the side. Or one of the windows, but they're two or three stories off the ground. Or I guess we could break through the roof, but the guys who own this place would probably object. Hey, who does this place belong to, anyway?"

"It's been a government warehouse ever since the company that owned it went bankrupt. Ms. Tsuruko said we could go wild without worries, if we had to." Ami was still fiddling with her visor and frowning at her handheld.

"So we're just going to walk in the front door?" Moon asked.

"It seems the least dangerous option," Mercury admitted.

"Alright. Uranus, you wanna go first, since you're the best fighter? Then me, then Mercury to give us cover?"

"Sounds good."

"I approve of the plan."

"Good luck," Ceres added, before moving away to rendezvous with the police officers surrounding the building. The three senshi approached the front door with caution, and entered.

"Blue, you see anything?" Uranus asked quietly after walking a few meters in.

"There are wisps of dark power, but all are so small and faint that I can't discern any particular purpose," Mercury murmured. She paused and looked down at their feet.

"Do you see something?" Moon asked, looking down at the floor. There appeared to be a faint pattern of some sort that they were walking over. "What's this?"

"It looks like it's part of a complex magical circle, or ward. Except that there isn't any magic charged into it."

"There isn't?"

"None," Mercury agreed.

"Is it dangerous?" Uranus asked. "I mean, could they suddenly charge it up with out warning and blow us up? What'll it do, anyway?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't look destructive," the bluenette hissed. "And no, unless they had pre-charged it beforehand it would take half an hour or more to activate."

"Could they have done that?" Moon wondered softly.

"No, if they'd pre-charged a part of it there would be magic bleeding through into the rest of it. It's like water poured into a system of pipes."

"No signs of youma, then?"

"Nothing stronger than what we'd get from a youma or general walking by the area recently, except that they're everywhere. But there's a continuation of the pattern leading across the floor. That way." She pointed, and the senshi began following the design.

"Any idea what it does?" Uranus breathed.

"Not yet, I need to see more of it," Mercury muttered in reply.

"Why are we whispering?" Moon stage-whispered, prompting a snort of laughter from the taller blonde.

"Good point," Uranus admitted in a louder voice. "We shouldn't let this freak us out." She stalked forward. "Come out, come out, wherever you are! Ollie-ollie oxen free!" Her yells echoed off the walls.

"Maybe antagonizing anything here isn't a good idea," Mercury suggested.

"Why?" Uranus asked. "It isn't like they don't already hate us. And besides, there's nothing here to-"

"Stop!" Mercury hissed urgently, and Uranus froze. The brainiac stared intensely at the area in front of Uranus through her visor, fiddling with the Mercury Computer.

"What is it?" Moon asked.

"There's a perimeter ward inches in front of Uranus's foot. It's very weak, so I almost didn't catch it." The tall blonde slowly edged backwards from where she assumed it to be.

"A peri-what?" Moon asked.

"It's like a magical wall, and when you try to touch it, something happens." This one looks like a basic circle…but for what purpose?

"Like a force field? But, isn't weak a good thing? So we can get through it," Moon suggested.

"It depends what the wall is for. If it were meant to keep something out it isn't very good, but if it were meant to keep something in, breaking it would be very bad. Furthermore, a wall made out of fire is weaker than a wall made out of wood, but you wouldn't want to touch a wall of fire, would you?"

"Oh."

"So what's this one do?" Uranus asked.

"I…the only thing I could guess would be that it's the most basic form of magical circle, used to separate magical energies," Mercury admitted. "It's like a soap bubble. The air—or magic—on the inside can't escape, and the air on the outside can't enter. But you can still see through it, and it's so fragile that the lightest touch could pop it."

"Alright, so what's on the other side?"

"I'm not…oh!"

"What?" Moon asked at Mercury's apparent surprise. "Is it a youma, or a general, or a gate to the Dark Kingdom?"

"I don't know," Mercury answered.

"Well, what's it look like?"

"That's what I don't know," she elaborated. "That's what the circle is for, and why I couldn't find anything with my visor. The ward keeps my visor from scanning what's on the other side."

"So…there could be a dozen youma and a general waiting for us," Haruka suggested.

"Or there could be nothing and this is all a distraction, or there could be something sensitive and delicate that the Dark Kingdom wouldn't want us disturbing," Mercury added.

"Or it could be to hide from Beryl, not you," drawled a male voice lazily. Moon yelped in surprise as Jadeite walked into view on the other side of the circle, while Uranus snapped into a combat-stance and Mercury took a step behind her. He laughed.

"What are you planning?" Uranus asked sharply, alert for any tricks and sneak attacks.

"What do you mean, hiding from Beryl?" Moon asked as well, fingering her tiara.

"I'm not exactly her favorite person after the big blow-up at that Dreamland place," he said snidely, "whereas Nephrite can do no wrong right now. I can read the signs as well as anyone, and I want to get while the getting's good, before she turns on me."

"So how does that lead to this?" Mercury asked.

"I set up a base here with protections against her scrying, but not against however it is that you tend to find us," he drawled. "I knew that you'd show up eventually, and then one of two things would happen."

"Which are?" Uranus growled tensely.

"Either you'd accept my help and alliance or you wouldn't," he summarized. There was a pause.

"You want to turn against the Dark Kingdom and help us?" Uranus asked skeptically. "After all the fights, the attacks, the draining, and what happened to the Silver Millennium, you expect us to believe that you're having a change of heart?"

"Believe it or not, it's true."

"Bullshit."

"Uranus!" Moon snapped.

"You can't possibly believe him, can you Moon? He's trying to lure us into a trap so he can stick a knife in our backs. I bet he's here on Beryl's orders!"

"Maybe," Moon admitted. "Or maybe he genuinely regrets what he's done, and wants to help us end the fighting faster, without people getting hurt."

"I regret nothing," Jadeite said, cutting through their argument. His face looked harsh, and then softened slightly. "Or rather…I regret a little of it. Regrets won't change anything though, and I'm more concerned with the future than the past. I don't want forgiveness, I want to avoid what happened to Zoicite, and I believe working with you means that I'm not as likely to die."

"…Okay, that's a bit more believable," Uranus admitted. "But I still don't trust you."

"If you did, you'd obviously be so naïve that I'd have better chances of surviving by hiding out on the moon," Jadeite answered blandly, unfazed by her aggression. "Without an atmospheric barrier."

"So, what are you offering?" Moon asked cautiously. "You'll help us fight Beryl and the youma?"

"I'm not going anywhere near a battlefield for fear of lowering my life expectancy to zero," Jadeite countered. "Beryl treats treason worse than failure and incompetence…which is sort of hypocritical when you think about it." Uranus snorted, smothering laughter. Jadeite grinned charmingly. "I'll give you information on how Beryl and the other generals fight, the remaining youma that I know of, what her long-terms plans involve, where our base is, and any weaknesses you might be able to exploit. Sound fair?"

"How do we know we can trust you?" Uranus asked sharply.

"How do I know you're not going to double-cross me after wringing everything I know out of my head."

"We're not the ones with a history of betraying people," Mercury countered. "What's stopping you from attacking us?"

"Well right now I literally can't." Jadeite smirked, and thrust out his hand. The senshi jumped back as he released a bolt of power, but it didn't even go half the distance between them before it hit the ward. And when it did, there was the sound of a ringing gong, a flash of violet, and the magic disappeared.

"What was that?" Uranus snapped.

"I can't attack you though the ward, same as Beryl can't get to me. But that tiara would probably break it, and I'm not sure about the other elemental attacks," he admitted. "So right now, I'm more at your mercy than you are at mine. So, do we have a deal?" The senshi looked at each other, backed up a few feet, and huddled while keeping their eyes on him.

"I don't trust him," Uranus began.

"I feel that he's planning something, but I can't discern what it is," Mercury agreed.

"I know," Moon said. "I think he's up to something, but…what if he's telling the truth? This could really help us out."

"You really think he's not going to betray us?" Uranus asked skeptically.

"Well, do you think anyone with an ounce of sense wouldn't want to betray Beryl?" Moon replied. That made them pause.

"You believe he is playing his own game?" Mercury surmised. "One where he plays Beryl and us against each other and picks off the winner?"

"That makes a lot more sense than this load of crap," Uranus agreed. "So what do we do?"

"We take him up on it," Moon said firmly.

"What! Even though we know that he's going to stick a knife in our back?" Uranus hissed.

"We don't know anything, we only suspect. Innocent until proven guilty. We watch him, and trust what he tells us until he proves untrustworthy. This could help too much not to risk it."

"Mercury, what do you think?" Uranus asked. There was a pause as she calculated the possibilities.

"We have three options: he is telling the truth; he is setting a trap on Beryl's orders; or he seeks to play us off of each other. If it's the first he could severely tip the scales in our favor. If it is the second we still have the opportunity to defeat him and remove him from the fight. If it's the third we will at least get the chance to hurt Beryl, and we can remain wary of him until he slips up. I believe the risks are worth the rewards. Let's hear him out."

"Alright," Uranus grumbled, "just stay on guard."

"We will," the other two chorused. They turned back to Jadeite, looking bored by their deliberations.

"We'll hear you out in exchange for protecting you from Beryl," Moon said firmly.

"But if you step one toe out of line I'm going to hit you like a hurricane," Uranus added.

"Meh. Fair enough," Jadeite agreed nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. He turned and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Moon asked.

"To get my stuff. I said I'd stolen some artifacts, didn't I?"

"Rainbow crystals?" Moon suggested, perking up at the thought.

Jadeite snorted. "As though her heiny-ness ever lets those out of her sight. Sorry, just some weapons, a tome or two, and my personal crud that I don't want you touching."

"No youma?" Uranus growled warily.

"None smart enough not to betray me," the general explained. "Now are you coming or not?" He turned to continue walking.

"The ward," Mercury pointed out. He let out an annoyed, exasperated sigh.

"That thing's anti-scrying only; you could break it with a thrown pebble. Just walk through already."

"It could be programmed to do something when it breaks?" Mercury argued calmly.

"Do you trust me or not!" the general snapped.

"Not!" all three chorused back at him.

"If it's really harmless, then you break it," Moon said firmly. Her two companions looked at her. "What? It looks like a trap to me too!"

"You know, if your paranoia weren't so inconvenient I'd be glad you realized just how serious this is," Jadeite snarked, wrenching a large sliver of wood off of a nearby crate. He threw it overhand at the invisible barrier.

All four watched it spin through the air, the senshi ready to bolt if anything exploded.

There was a chime and a violet light as the circle broke, and Jadeite loosed a bolt of power at the stack of crates behind them.

All three warriors ducked and rolled away from the shrapnel, and face first into a wave of dark power that rolled over them like a nauseating wind, heavy with malice.

Moon choked and gagged, stumbling as the design at their feet lit up with purple balefire and curtain of light rose high behind them.

"Moon! It's-" Mercury began, and spun out of the way of another of Jadeite's blasts. Thankfully, his spells were only as fast as a thrown dodge ball. Sadly, there was a reason Mercury hated gym class, and she got nicked by a second attack and thrown behind a pile of crates.

"Gale Shredder!" roared Uranus, slashing a knife-hand at the General. He simply stepped out of the way with a smirk and returned fire.

"YAAAaaaahhhhhh!" screamed Moon, milking her gems for all they were worth, but Jadeite just smiled smugly and threw a ball of dark power at her as well. The odangoed blonde sucked in a hasty breath and ducked. "Moon Tiara Magic!"

"Yawn." Jadeite actually said the word aloud before miming a yawn with one hand while holding the other up palm-first. A force field flickered into life and the tiara bounced off harmlessly, dropping to the ground as an ordinary metal crescent.

"No fair," Moon muttered, and ducked out of sight as Uranus threw herself at the general. He tossed another burst at her only for Uranus to punch it out with one hand and deck him full force with the other. Jadeite went flying back into a pile of crates that toppled down on him.

"Uranus Space Shock," she threw after him for good measure, sending splinters flying into the air. "Knew that asshole couldn't be trusted," Uranus grumbled. "Hey! Everyone alright?"

"Fine!" Moon yelped, darting out to retrieve her tiara from the ground. She fixed it back on her forehead and sighed. "I guess it was a bit much to hope for."

"Yeah," Uranus commiserated gruffly. "Blue! You okay?"

"What? Sorry, I was analyzing the ward he threw up around us," she called from behind a pile of crates. "I'm fine. And this set-up is ingenious."

"What did he do?" Uranus asked, eyeing the pile of scrap to see if Jadeite would make a reappearance.

"The warding seal he set up on the floor was pre-charged, but he used the weaker circle to keep there from being any bleed through while he charged up and enormous amount of power. Then, when the first circle broke, the second activated."

"Can we break that too?" Uranus growled.

"Not without several minutes of preparation to do so. It's complicated enough that I can't easily manipulate it, and powerful enough to withstand two or three direct strikes from Moon."

"So what-" their leader began, when the shriek of twisting metal interrupted. One stack of crates fell apart amid of chorus of mechanical clicks and groans.

And a metal limb, a spider's leg almost as long as Uranus was tall, unfolded from within the wreckage.

"Uranus Space Shock!"

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

The burst of air pressure splashed harmlessly off of the construct while the discus gouged a dent into it, but did only superficial damage.

"Mercury, explain," Moon ordered warily, stepping back as the four-legged metal thing began to right itself.

"It's…it's not a youma. It's like some sort of metal golem, animated by magic."

"Give the girl a lollipop, she's absolutely right!" Jadeite cheered, perched on the crisscrossing beams near the ceiling. He leered down condescendingly as Uranus's spell failed to breach his force field. "And it's not alone."

The crates around them cracked and screamed, misshapen robots auto-assembling until seven creatures stood around the warriors, illuminated mostly by their own electrical glow.

"Out-numbered more than two-to-one, trapped in a ward, and our magic isn't working well," Mercury summarized to herself, eyes wide and fingers shaking as she tried to regulate her breathing. Hyperventilating wouldn't help anyone, but her body didn't seem to care. "Mercury Spray Shroud!"

The concealing mist manifested quickly, but the air around them seemed to writhe and it boiled away into nothingness seconds after.

"Really? I thought you were smarter than that. If I could counter that tiara and a few spring breezes, of course I also figured out how to stop your disappearing act. You only displayed it for me almost every battle," he taunted.

"Clever trick. How'd you pull it off?" Uranus asked, eyeing the golems that hadn't yet advanced, but loomed menacingly. She resisted the urge to glance back at Mercury, working hastily at her computer.

"And let you poke holes in my strategy? I don't think so. You won't catch me gloating this time," Jadeite gloated.

"So you admit that there are holes!" Uranus grinned wolfishly as Jadeite only just stopped himself from face-palming. The general's face went blank.

"If you don't want to die, I suggest you submit now. Otherwise, just say some pretty last words we can put in the history books," he ground out.

"How about kiss my—" Uranus taunted, but shut-up as Moon stepped forward and pulled her tiara off of her head. The leader of the senshi was staring blankly at the floor, her eyes dim.

Moon sighed heavily, and spoke. "I don't want to die." The quiet words echoed around the almost-silent room. Jadeite threw back his head and laughed. The sound echoed around the cavernous building, biting at the senshi's ears.

"Well then, little girl," he mocked, "all you need to do is get down on your knees and swear loy—"

Moon exploded into motion, blurring forward in a blind rush.

The room was dead silent as two halves of a golem's head hit the ground, bisected vertically. She held her tiara in her hand like the offspring of a Frisbee and a light-saber, and its glow banished the shadows in the room and washed away the frightening miasma in the air. Moon raised her head and stared Jadeite in the eyes, and he recoiled from the fires burning within.

"I will never surrender to you," she said softly, but with absolute certainty. "Not the fight. Not my beliefs. Not my hope." All was still as the warriors prepared themselves.

"Then die," Jadeite commanded, and the battle began.

A spidery leg slashed at Moon and she ducked forward, under the thing's main body and slashed at the joint with her tiara. The limb went flying away, and the golem apparently decided to retaliate by falling on her. Moon barely rolled out of the way and felt pain scream at her as she wrenched her neck.

My hair! She realized, twisting to see a blonde streamer caught under the metal. She jerkily hacked off half a foot and swung to take another leg off with her tiara.

Moon's entire right side went numb as the floor beneath her feet disappeared. For an instant her vision was a non-sense mash of images at odd angles and blurs.

Two seconds later she was half-sitting up and dazedly trying to guess how much skin had been scraped off when she went somersaulting across the concrete. And which of the two machines lumbering toward her had blindsided her in the first place.

Wait, there's something urgent about that last thought, she realized, but between the ringing in her ears, the drumbeat on her skull, and her stomach's attempt to crawl up her throat using her lungs as a ladder, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Rime Guard! Rime Guard!" A voice called, and a wall of ice sprang up in front of Moon, blocking her view. Squinting and blinking Moon peered around and saw Mercury taking cover behind a wall of her own while frantically muttering to herself. One robot was already beating at the ice while a second lumbered around.

The wall in front of Mercury shattered and she jumped onto the head of the robot that broke through. A crash of impact brought Moon's attention back to the wall in front of her, now laced with cracks.

A second impact, and then a third, and shards of ice began falling.

Oh, right, I've got guys after me too. Crap, she complained to herself, sitting up and getting her legs under her. The two golems shattered the wall to find themselves staring at both of Moon's outstretched palms.

"Mirror Light Escalation!" The world flashed pink and blasted both golems backwards. Moon stood up shakily and aimed a hand at the ceiling. "Mirror Light Escalation." The spell struck the warehouse ceiling and shattered, ripples spreading through the air from the point of impact. No glimpse of sunlight could be seen.

In fact, the roof was completely untouched.

He thought of that, too? I'm really beginning to hate this guy…and I really need some sunlight to patch myself up. Stupid forcefield.

The ringing of metal on metal drew her attention, and Moon saw Uranus beating one of the golems with its own severed limb while dodging swipes from a second's scorpion tail. "Mirror Light Escalation." The weak blast splashed off the golem's metal skin but pushed it several steps back, buying Uranus some breathing room. The taller blonde shot her a thumb's up and then did a double-take.

"Go Mercury!" she shouted, and turned back to her enemies, parrying a strike at her head.

"Whoa," Moon admitted, turning to look. Mercury was crouched on one robot's back, her left arm seeming alight with sapphire flames as she moved it in twisting, intricate gestures. Beneath her, the beast she rode responded and turned against its fellow, the two beginning to tear each other apart.

A hammer-and-anvil clang made Moon turn back to the golems she'd engaged, to see them both lumbering towards her, almost entirely unharmed.

"Okay, now I really hate you," she growled, shooting Jadeite a stink-eye before reactivating her tiara and jumping back in the fray.

"Aqua Bubble Burst!" Mercury called, icing the floor beneath one of her leader's opponents before turning back to her own foe. The six-legged golem she opposed rose up on its hindquarters (or was that hindsixths?) and lunged, trying to crush her and her more agile mount beneath its weight. "Rime Guard!"

The barrier of ice stopped it long enough to get out of the way, and Mercury quickly reviewed her data. The golems are mostly metal and electronics animated by Jadeite's magic. Despite some pre-programmed patterns of attack, he still has to control them semi-directly. It takes up both his time and attention, and a large part of his power, but keeps him out of danger.

"Aqua Bubble Burst!" she repeated, icing one of the enemy golem's legs to the ground.

He can't attack us while controlling these, meaning he can't pick us off one by one while we're distracted, but his force field will protect him from most of Moon's attacks and all of Uranus's. And I don't have anything even capable of making him use it. Her robot hustled forward and closed its jaws around the other's leg.

And then, faster than she could easily retaliate, the other golem crunched into hers, holding it in place, and began tearing it to shreds.

Well, this is a lost cause, Mercury decided, wrinkling her nose. And as her hijacked mount fell apart beneath her, she made an effort and jumped onto the larger of the two robots. The fire glowing in her glove dimmed for only a moment in midair, and lit up again when she landed.

A moment later her newest conquest stilled beneath her, and she looked up to stare smugly at a disconcerted Jadeite.

"Aqua Bubble Burst!" The spell fell short of him, not even triggering the general's protections, and the ice it created dropped to the floor, and directly onto the head of one of Uranus's opponents.

"Fore!" the senshi of wind yelled gleefully and swung her bludgeon into the golem's chin. Its head went flying almost straight up and bounced off of Jadeite's shield. Before it had even hit the ground Uranus had crippled its leg joints with two savage swings before twisting away to parry a strike from the scorpion tail.

"You need to be faster than that," she taunted. It's garbage-truck-shaped mouth tried to close over her weapon, but she dodged to the side and knocked away another tail-swipe.

This thing's pattern is stupidly predictable. Uranus snorted in disdain, and then a metaphorical light bulb switched on when it lunged at her again. Let's see if I can get the timing on this right…

Side-stepping yet another tail-swipe, Uranus waved the limb she'd turned into a weapon in front of its face. And, like a horse with a carrot, its steam-shovel mouth opened.

"Uranus Space Shock!" The spell flew into its gaping maw and blew the thing's head apart along the jaw line. Uranus opened her mouth to deliver a one-liner and yelped when the scorpion tail swept forward again. "That's just creepy," she grumbled as the headless golem pressed the attack. Worse, the one' with the crippled legs still seemed to be trying to drag itself closer.

"Uranus, behind you!" It was Moon, and she sounded urgent. The tall blonde risked a glance over her shoulder and saw the short blonde against another golem. She and Moon were being pushed back-to-back and surrounded. Rather than fight it, she closed the distance between them and kicked a claw out of the way.

"Need some help?"

"Just some breathing room," the blonde panted.

"'Kay," Uranus said cheerfully, and threw her leader over her shoulder.

"Wait, what!" she shrieked. Uranus had already dashed across the warehouse, a ways out of range of the golems, and plopped her down before she could object. "Ugh. Thanks," Moon groaned wearily.

"No problem. It doesn't look like we're doing too badly."

"Look again," Moon told her, and Uranus checked out the battlefield. Mercury was still on her beat-up mount, harrying another golem, and…

"Crud, they're gonna gang up on Blue," Uranus realized, seeing the three they'd just escaped turn towards Mercury's battle instead.

"Not just that, see?" Moon pointed wearily, and Uranus looked. First at the golem Moon had disarmed and dis-legged in the beginning of the fight, and then the one Mercury had originally ridden.

"No. No, no, no! That's bullshit!" Uranus snarled, seeing the golems auto-reassemble. "How the hell are we supposed to win this, melt them?!"

"Ask Mercury," Moon suggested, "She's the one with the scanner."

"Five seconds," Uranus snapped, and took off running. She jumped over one golem, jumped off of a second, and landed next to her teammate.

"Ura—" She got no further, as the tall blonde picked up Mercury bridal style and raced back to their leader, dodging attacks as she went.

"That was seven," Moon said drily when Uranus stopped and set down Mercury, shooting a grin to wave off offense.

"I meant each way, so three seconds fast," Uranus shot back with a matching grin, and then both turned to Mercury, who was adjusting to the sudden speed changes.

"How do we put them down for good?" Moon asked.

"I…I am still uncertain on that front," Mercury admitted.

"Uncertain! Isn't that scanner thing good for anything?" Uranus snapped.

"This is incredibly complicated and powerful magic planned out well in advance!" Mercury shouted back. "Several of them, in fact! Figuring out how they interact and where there are weak points is difficult when each thing covers and affects the other! To start with the ward-"

Moon held out a hand gently, but firmly, and they both settled down and turned to her. She pointed.

"The robots are getting closer. Do we have anything that can stop them?" Indeed, the pack of golems had covered a third of the distance and were spreading out to surround them.

"I don't know. The ward and energy interferes with a number of our spell, and putting themselves back together doesn't help."

"Would a combo attack work?" Moon suggested.

"I…it would take one of them out, but it wouldn't stop the repairs," Mercury told her.

"Okay, on three," their leader declared.

"Wait, what?"

"One, two," both of the other senshi turned and began casting, "three! Moon Tiara Magic!"

The icy discus split its first target in two and cut the legs off another on its return trip. The pieces were still active, however, and began the process of reassembling.

"What did that get us?" Uranus asked.

"Time," Moon said softly. "Besides, now we know we can do it! So how do we put these down for good?"

"I'm not sure if we have any spells that could! We're boxed in here, our magic is weakened, and dark energy is literally permeating every piece of them!"

"So don't tell me what we can do to take them down; tell me how to take them down and then we'll see if we can do it!" Moon snapped, loosing patience. Mercury flinched and recoiled.

"But I…oh. Okay, sorry." Moon arched an eyebrow, and glanced at the approaching golems. They still had a little time before they had to move.

"Combo on three," she said again. "One, two, three." This time the tiara dis-legged the nearest golem, and missed hitting anything else on the way back, but it still bought them time.

"Rime Guard," Mercury added, which bought even more. "The golems are metal and mechanics animated by Jadeite's magic, but he has to control them in part, which is why he isn't attacking us now," she began.

"So would taking him out stop them?" Uranus asked, glaring at the general.

"Not immediately, it would only make them less cohesive as a group. They would still regenerate and follow certain pre-set patterns of attack until the magic he'd infused into them ran out. And we'd need to reach him first."

"Would his magic run out on it's own?" Moon asked.

"Usually, yes, but in addition to having built up a large store of energy the ward catches and recycles or reflects back the power he expends. You could say that the golems use a large amount of magic without using up a large amount of magic."

"How much breaking do the golems need before they can't fix themselves?" Uranus asked.

"A lot. Even melting them might only stop them until they cooled and re-solidified. They aren't being controlled in the sense of magical puppet strings—the magic is twined very deeply into the workings of their metal, like mixing dye into clear water."

"Could I purify them?" Moon asked, producing her scepter.

"It's not…actually, it is very much like the Shadow Warriors. And they don't even have wills of their own to oppose you," she considered thoughtfully. "It would be a worthwhile experiment, at least."

"Okay then." Moon turned to look at the nearest of the approaching golems, which was the scorpion-tailed one. "Moon Scepter Elimination," she cast. The glow floated out like a cloud of smoke and passed through and around the robot. Its lighted panels died, and it crashed to the floor and fell apart.

"It worked," Mercury sighed with relief.

"You better believe it," Uranus gloated.

"Why won't you just die?" Jadeite groaned.

"Moon Scepter Healing!" The glow wiped out another two automatons.

"Not so tough without your fancy weapons now, are you?" Uranus taunted.

Jadeite snorted. "As though I need them to beat you," he boasted. "A useless weapon is best broken, to keep it out of the enemy's hands." The general made a show of rolling up his sleeve, and then he snapped his fingers.

The golems exploded.

A storm of shrapnel pelted the senshi, who instinctively flinched. It felt like being caught in a hailstorm with driving winds, or bee stings popping up all over their body. Uranus bore up well under it, accepting the pain as simply another price of battle.

Mercury fell on her back, but was mostly unharmed.

Moon let out a whimper as a shard of metal struck her lower lip and bounced off her teeth. Her legs and arms had several cuts, but her uniform had mostly protected her.

The three lowered their arms to look at Jadeite.

"Is that the best you can do?" Uranus asked. The general smiled sadistically.

"I love telekinesis," he answered, and with a wave of his hand he tossed them once more into a storm of metal.

It was like being attacked by carnivorous bees: harm came at them from every direction, bringing whip-like stings of pain through the fuku and tearing chunks out of whatever bare skin it found.

Mercury's visor shielded her eyes, and she managed to avoid the worst of it.

Uranus was skilled enough to swat away anything that approached her face and ignored or tried to avoid the worst of it while working her way through the storm to her leader.

Because Moon was once again bearing up worst under the assault. Not possessing Mercury Mercury's defenses, nor Uranus's skill and experience, she had been reduced to covering her vulnerable eyes with her hands and curling up on the ground to present the smallest possible target.

Seeing this, Jadeite naturally focused the worst of the attack on her, and the other two senshi tried to work their way through the swarm to shield her.

Until Moon screamed.

"Stop it, stop it stopitstopiiiiiiittttt!"

The sound waves once more had no effect on Jadeite himself, but the pressure wave blew all of the shrapnel out of the air and scattered it to the far sides of the warehouse. Everything was silent but for the sound of breathing.

I'm sick of this, Moon thought to herself disgustedly. Sick of fighting, sick of hurting. I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. Nevertheless, she stood up shakily, grabbing onto Mercury for support, and looked up at Jadeite.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to surrender and go away?" Moon asked wearily. The general raised an eyebrow.

"You can't possibly be that stupid," he said. "I have you trapped in an inescapable barrier, unable to communicate with the outside or vice-versa, and you're completely at my mercy while I wear you down before I kill you. The only thing better would be if I'd gotten Tux-boy in here too, though I suppose I can always hunt him down later. What possible reason could make me give up while I'm winning?"

"Any number of things," Mercury answered clinically. "The fact that Beryl doesn't care about, and will eventually betray you, to begin with."

"The fact that the world is a beautiful place that shouldn't be ruined by the Dark Kingdom," Moon added.

"The fact that engaging in combat, regardless of which side you serve, drastically lowers your life expectancy."

"Or that you can't remember what 'happy' feels like."

"And last but not least, there's the fatal flaw in your plan," Mercury concluded solemnly.

"Which is…?" Jadeite asked, his eyebrow twitching.

"The fact that, despite your claims and best efforts," the bluenette told him, "you still have a habit of gloating and getting caught up in your own ego and self-importance, such that you ignore the actions of those around you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jadeite asked skeptically. Then he paused as his brain caught up with his eyes. "Wait, aren't there three of you?"

Uranus roundhouse-kicked him in the back of his head.

"Aqua Bubble burst!" Mercury called, half-freezing him in the pile of wood he'd crashed into.

"If I didn't hurt in places I didn't know I had, that would be pretty funny," Moon admitted wryly.

"Hurry up and blast him, will ya?" Uranus called from the rafters, and then jumped down. Moon straightened further and aimed the Moon Scepter at Jadeite.

"Moon-"

"Bye!" Jadeite yelped. The ward around them collapsed and he vanished in a flash of teleportation. The senshi blinked collectively and then Moon groaned.

"Let's go outside already. I don't think this day could get any worse."

At that, the explosive charges Jadeite had planted at key support points detonated, dropping the roof on their heads.

"Good luck," Naru called to the three senshi as they headed towards the warehouse. She thought she saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye—is that Tuxedo Kamen?—but it was gone when she turned to look. She spent the next few minutes moving around talking to the half-dozen people stationed around the area.

"Has anything happened?" Luna asked over the communicator.

"Nothing yet," Naru told her. "Are you sure you smelled the Dark Kingdom?"

"It was definitely them," Luna assured her. "It's worrisome, however, that they'd be in an out-of-the-way area like this, with few people to drain."

"If we'd heard about a rash of disappearances I'd've bet this was where they were storing draining victims, but…" Naru trailed off uncomfortably. Something was wrong. She could feel it, and so could the men and women surrounding the area. Something was very wrong.

"Perhaps they were planning something, and we beat them to it this time?" Luna suggested hopefully, but even she seemed edgy.

"Maybe…" Naru admitted, "I just…" Her communicator beeped and Tsuruko's face appeared.

"Ceres, correct? Can you contact the others? We have an urgent situation on our hands. Two youma attacks in different areas."

"What!" she and Luna yelped. "Give me a second and I'll patch them through," Naru told her, urgently pressing the buttons with her friends' symbols. No response. "Luna, they're not picking up!"

"I'm not getting a response either." The mau's voice sounded close to panicking.

"What's the situation?" Tsuruko asked. "I remember there was supposed to be an operation."

"An abandoned warehouse. We weren't sure what they were planning but wanted to break it up before it started," Naru babbled, her stomach squirming. "They went in a few minutes ago and we haven't heard anything back."

"There's a barrier of some kind up," Tuxedo Kamen told them, dropping down next to Naru. "I can't get through, or even see what's happening on the other side, but it went up after Jadeite pretended to be willing to change sides."

"A trap!" Luna hissed.

"And youma elsewhere while they're pinned down," Tsuruko growled.

"Youma? Where? I'll get there, since I can't do anything here," Kamen volunteered.

"Can we trus-"

"Yes," Naru immediately vouched. "At least Moon seems to think so, and he's been in this about as long as she has."

"He…is the enemy of our enemy," Luna allowed grudgingly.

"There's one near the Hiyabachi Ice-Skating Rink and another terrorizing Machinaka Mall."

"Which one can the police get to the fastest?"

"The mall."

"I'll head to the rink then," he said, and bounded off. Naru watched him go with worry, and perhaps a touch of envy.

"Ceres, do you know anything about what's happened to them?" Luna asked.

"I…no. And you know I can't…" Naru trailed off. Fight. Do magic. Help. I can't do anything, she thought to herself, and they were left with no other choice than to wait.

Minutes dragged on like molasses through an hourglass.

Eventually one of the officers ran up to the warehouse, and reported there was something in the air that felt wrong, and that he couldn't go past it.

Time ticked by, second by painful second.

Naru paced nervously, circling the area and double-checking that no one knew anything.

Luna called to see if there was any news, and she reported that there wasn't.

Snow fell, and one officer offered her a sip of coffee that she refused. Something hot would have been a godsend, but it was too bitter for her.

And then, after she had assured an almost frantic Luna that there was still no change, the warehouse collapsed with a roar.

Ignoring every piece of planning and common sense Naru pelted forward before the rubble had all finished falling and starting pawing through the largest pile of scrap, calling frantically for Moon.

"Over here!" a voice called back, and everyone scampered towards her. The three senshi were pulling themselves out of a pile of metal and ice, the latter almost flowing away from them as Mercury shook it off.

"What happened?" Naru yelled, tackling her oldest friend. "You look awful!" Moon was bleeding in at least a dozen places, though most of it had dried or scabbed over by now. Her legs were the worst, dribbles of red marring her high boots, but her face and hair was a close second with several long scratches and cuts polluted by streaks of black machine oil.

"It wasn't even a draining operation. That rat-bastard just up and tried to kill us," Uranus snarled. "Thank heavens for Blue's ice shield."

"Draining—dammit! There's another attack going on," Naru remembered, pulling out her communicator and mashing the call buttons.

"A what?" Moon shrieked, and Mercury staggered, paling.

"When it rains, it pours," Uranus groaned.

"Where?" Moon asked intently.

"Mask's taking care of one at the ice-skating rink and the police are at the mall—" Naru babbled before Moon had grabbed her and, in spite of the blood, taken to the rooftops.

"Yes?" Ikuko asked, answering the phone.

"Momma? It's me."

"Usagi! We've been trying to contact you for the past hour! Where are you? Haven't you been watching the news?"

"I left my phone in my backpack," she apologized, "then I got spooked by everything that was happening and…I'm sorry."

"Your father and I were worried sick! What if you'd been hurt and we had no way of knowing? There was another one of those attacks today and four people died, and we had no way to know you were alright!"

There was a strangled choking sound from the other end, and then silence.

"Usagi…?"

"I'd…I heard about what happened, momma," her daughter said weakly, and there was the sound of a choked off sob. "I'm not hurt or anything though! I just tripped and fell again today. Clumsy me!" Ikuko was almost certain her eldest was hiding something, but couldn't tall quite what over the phone.

"Are you certain? You don't sound alright."

"I'm f-fine, momma! Honestly. But…well, Naru and I were talking earlier, and we were wondering if I could stay the night at her house."

"What?"

"It's already late and they're having leftovers for dinner that I can help finish off and we don't have school tomorrow so-" Usagi babbled until her mother cut her off.

"Usagi. Something we can't quite explain happened to today, and I want you at home tonight. I know you and Naru are old friends-"

"It's already dark out!" her daughter interrupted. Her daughter. Interrupted. Usagi was talkative but that rarely happened. "Do you really want me taking the bus in the dark or something? I'd really think it's safer if I just stayed here until tomorrow, and I've got stuff going on tomorrow anyways and it's not like it's a school day so why can't I?" There was…a hint of panic in Usagi's voice?

"Well…" Ikuko debated with herself for a moment, "Very well, you can stay the night with Naru. Just-"

"Thankyou!" Usagi blurted out and there was a click. Ikuko just stayed there for a moment.

"She hung up. I don't think she's ever just hung up before. Not even an 'I love you' or 'goodbye'…" The Tsukino matriarch placed the phone back in its cradle thoughtfully and turned to her guest. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting like that."

"Not at all. It sounded rather important," Haruna Sakurada responded easily. "And I am intruding on you during the weekend."

"No intrusion at all," Ikuko responded, pouring them both drinks. "Thank you for being concerned and taking the time to come speak with me outside of your usual hours. You said you were worried about Usagi's grades? They haven't been dropping, have they?"

"Not exactly…" Haruna hedged. "It's more that I've noticed a distinct change in how I've been grading her papers recently. It's simplest just to show you." The English teacher produced two papers from her bag, one graded 62% and the other 76%.

"Not the best of grades," Ikuko said to herself.

"No, Usagi has never been one of the best students, in spite of her incredible potential, but she's been doing better. The sixty-two is a homework assignment from very early in the term while the seventy-six is from two weeks ago. Do you notice anything odd?"

"Aside from her improvement? No," Ikuko admitted.

"Which one of them is incomplete?"

"The…" Ikuko trailed off. "The seventy-six is incomplete? So she'd be doing even better if she'd finished the paper?"

"If Usagi had done the whole worksheet as well as she did these parts of it, he grade would have been closer to an eighty-five or ninety," Haruna confirmed. "And the last few part here are hurried and scribbled. I'd guess that she left it undone overnight and tried to finish it in the minutes before I collected it."

"So where before she was getting things wrong, now she's doing less but getting right what she does?"

"Mostly."

"It's odd, and I'll have words with her about finishing her work, but I'm not sure why you felt the need to speak with me about this," Ikuko told the teacher.

"Because it doesn't make any sense to me!" Haruna cried, throwing up her hands. "Usagi's been—no offense intended—a mediocre student most of her academic career. Then earlier in the term her grades absolutely tank for about a week or two, at which point I was tempted to call you then because if it had kept up she was in danger of failing."

"That bad?" Ikuko was shocked.

"Not for very long," Haruna assured her. "I held off because Usagi kept assuring me that she would get her act together and pull her grades up. Then she began spending more time with another student, Mizuno Ami, and pulled her grades up as promised."

"I've met Ami a few times. She seems very smart, and Usagi said she's getting tutoring from her."

"Yes, Miss Mizuno is my top student in the class bar none, and…I'm not certain I should tell you this, but lately Miss Mizuno's grades have dropped a little as well. Granted, a fall to ninety-fives and twos isn't usually worth worrying over, but when she was literally getting straight one-hundreds before it makes you ask questions. Especially when the cause is the same."

"Incomplete work?"

"Yes. I haven't noticed the same drop in Miss Osaka's grades, however, and the three of them seem quite close."

"Usagi and Naru have known each other since they were both in diapers," Ikuko agreed. "They're often inseparable at times. That phone call just now was Usagi asking to stay the night at Naru's."

"Do you have any idea how Miss Mizuno might fit into it? According to gossip I've overheard, Usagi has lately been spending her time only with those two, but there were also whispers of a boy. I'm not sure how this all fits together, or even whether any of it is bad, but I've had too many students end up arrested, battered, or pregnant to not ask questions when odd things start popping up." Ikuko mulled this over.

"…Might it have anything to do with these monsters?" she asked.

"It could. Several of my students had grades drop because of them too, but most of them have picked it up by now. Even when there was something in the school it didn't really affect anyone."

"One of those things attacked the school!"

"That's the rumor going around the faculty. There was an unexplained 'gas leak' that prompted an early dismissal for all the students a while ago, but if anyone knows what really happened, no one is telling."

"Dear God," Ikuko said weakly. "Is nowhere safe? It seemed like no one was getting seriously hurt before today, but with what just happened…I should bring up the possibility of moving with Kenji." Haruna opened her mouth and then stopped herself.

"That might be best."

"No, what were you going to say?" Ikuko prompted.

"It isn't my place to tell you how to take care of your children."

"I don't know what's going on and would welcome any advice. Please."

"Well…moving out of the city might not be best idea. To begin with, the sudden change to her life, environment, and social circle might only send her into emotional shock until she hits rock bottom."

"But she'd be safe from the things that want to eat her!"

"Assuming that they're only here, yes," Haruna pointed out. "The advantage here is the monsters are a known danger. We know they might attack, and we have people and police and even those senshi are working constantly to stop them. If they show up in another city they could have weeks before the government catches onto them again, and the senshi might not get there in time. We really don't know enough to say."

"I…see," Ikuko said, drooping. "Maybe…oh, I don't know! It's like the world is going mad!" There was a long stretch of silence. "Sometimes," the housewife confessed quietly, "I wonder if this is the beginning of the end. If the curtain is closing on the human race, and we can no more stop it than an ant can stop a shoe. What can we do?"

"The only thing anyone can do. We hope, and we never stop hoping," Haruna told her.

"Ami? Ami, are you here?" Saeko Mizuno called as she walked in the door. "Ami, I'm home!"

Silence. The lights were off and when she flicked them on they revealed no sign of recent human activity. The books were all shelved, the television off, and the sink empty.

Ami's shoes were not in the hall.

Where could she be? I told her I'd be home early this evening.

The note where she'd said as much was still on the table, but the red light was blinking on the answering machine. She pushed the button.

*Beep!*

Saeko winced. In the silent apartment the noise was loud enough to hurt her eardrums.

"H-hi. Mom? It's me, Ami. I'm sorry, but it looks like I'll have to be the one skipping out on you tonight. Something…happened to a friend of mine, Usagi, and I wouldn't be a good friend if I left her right now. She really needs all the support she can get. I'm calling from where I'm staying, so just call back if you need to reach me. I love you!" That last part had been blurted out, as though the words had jumped from her tongue before she could think about it, Saeko noted. "Anyway, g-goodb…I'll see you tomorrow."

There was a click and another loud beep before the answering machine continued its preprogramed litany. Saeko just wandered into the living room and sat down in front of the television, dazed. Something was very wrong.

Ami's voice had been quivering badly, and from the hitches in her breath between sentences, she sounded near tears. Assuming she wasn't crying already.

Saeko's finger twitched. She desperately wanted to pick up the phone and call her daughter. Better yet, she wanted to drive over, pull her into a hug, and tell her that mother would make everything well again.

But…Ami rather clearly hadn't wanted her help, at least not yet. And it was dear little Usagi who had problems, not Ami.

Or was it? a part of her whispered.

Ami was a teenage girl and—in spite of her personal maturity—that group was not well known for making decisions. She'd seemed a little off recently, in a way Saeko couldn't quite put her finger on.

She spent a lot less time in the apartment than she had before—which is a good thing, another part of her chimed in—as well as less time reading at the library. Usually there was a stack of them that changed out every few days, but Saeko didn't think she'd seen more than two or three library books lying around this past week or so.

Whenever they weren't spending time together, it seemed like Ami was either typing away at her computer, writing—or instant messages, the traitorous, poisonous part of her whispered again—or talking to someone over the phone.

Well of course she'd be on the phone a lot, Saeko rationalized to herself, she's just made a number of new friends and she wants to stay in touch with them. Normal teenage girls do that all the time.

And what are they talking about? the insidious voice asked again. Boys? That's normal for teenage girls isn't it? And Ami's never known many boys—even fewer than she has girls—so she wouldn't have any worthwhile experience with them. Asking for advice is perfectly normal.

Yes, it was, and there was no need to make it sound so sinister, she assured herself. It was winter, and there were festivals coming up soon. Ami would naturally want to be certain she understood all of the modern social intricacies: dresses; locations for dates; acceptable behavior on both their parts; who was safe and who to stay away from; even advice on how to…get physical.

That last part made her stomach churn uncertainly.

Considering how much they talk there must be a lot of advice they're exchanging.

Nothing says it's only Ami asking for advice. She could just as easily be giving it. She hasn't mentioned tutoring that blonde friend, Usagi, for a while now. Maybe they were doing it over the phone (a part of her knew how unlikely that sounded, and how inefficient it would be). Ami did, from all appearances, seem to be a good influence on the scholastically poor girl.

And if Ami is changing her, how much is she being changed in return? Newton's third law, after all.

That only applies to physics, she snapped at her self. She had no reason to doubt her daughter. Spending less time studying and socializing instead was what she'd wanted Ami to do. Taking care of your own emotional developments was similarly a part of growing up.

So is making mistakes. That doesn't make it a good thing.

But there's no way Ami would end up doing that. She knew better. Just because she'd been spending more time out of the house; just because she'd expanded her social circle, or walking stiffly every now and then as though she were sore, or talking on the phone at all hours and now missing one of their rare times together to spend the night at someone else's house, was no reason to suspect her of engaging in illicit and lascivious activities!

…

Wait, there was something wrong with that thought.

"I need a drink," Saeko hissed, sitting up from where she'd been half passed out on the couch. She stalked to the kitchen, rubbing her nose as she tried to quiet the windstorm of voices in her head. She filled the kettle and set it on the stove, then changed her mind.

Five minutes and half a glass of port later, the world was in a little sharper focus.

I've seen my daughter walking stiffly or tenderly at least twice in the recent past. And considering how little we see each other, what other signs could I have been missing? She drained the remainder of her glass, but didn't refill it. Instead, a few flashes of her daughter played across her mind.

Ami gingerly getting up from the breakfast table, the slightest flinch playing across her face when she started walking.

Ami claiming that she'd fallen improperly in that day's martial arts class to explaining a stumble and slight limp.

Ami passed out halfway through a movie they'd been watching together, not stirring when Saeko had barely—her daughter was getting heavy as she aged—carried her upstairs and tucked her in like in years gone by.

She'd slept through her alarm and been late to class the next day, and blamed it on having unwisely pulled a late-nighter the night before.

Saeko had dismissed it because she was in a rush to the hospital herself, and a nearly fatal heart attack had driven it from her mind, but it occurred to her now that Ami had never mentioned what she'd been studying at the time…

Saeko put the glass in the sink and the bottle on a shelf, then strode back to her bedroom. She'd let Ami stay the night, but insist on picking her up the next morning.

And if she saw anything suspicious—or even if she didn't—then her daughter was going to give her some answers.

Haruka lay on her couch, an empty beer bottle on the floor nearby, and a half-full one still in one hand. She wasn't drunk into a stupor yet, but she wouldn't mind getting there.

She took another swig and then rolled off the couch with a thud.

This ain't workin'. I'm too buzzed to get buzzed, she thought to herself. Alcohol was supposed to be a depressant, she remembered from health class, but it didn't quiet her down at all.

Fire sung through her nerves, and Haruka realized she was rapidly tapping her foot as she stared at the wall. Something had happened today. Something bad.

It wasn't right.

That.

Wasn't.

Right.

And she was helpless to stop it.

If she'd been faster, maybe she could have got there in time. Or smarter, and convinced the others not to fall into the rat-bastard's trap. Or stronger, and beaten him before anyone got hurt. Stopped the threat once and for all.

Before-

"Dammit!" she screamed, and hurled the bottle at her wall. Rather than shattering catharticly, it bounced off the plaster with an unsatisfactory thud, gouging out a chunk of white, and spilling beer as it toppled to the carpet. She stared at the pool soaking into her carpet, just breathing.

Her bones were humming so fiercely that she feared she'd fly apart if she moved. Her skin felt stretched like a blown-up balloon, her blood was bubbling like seltzer, and it seemed like she was breathing plastic.

Finally, Haruka got herself under control.

"I…I need to do…something," she growled out, gritting her teeth. A punching bag would be nice right now. Or maybe…

Her target picked up on the third ring.

"Hey, is that you Haruka?"

"Yeah…Chizuru. 't's been a while."

"Not that long. What's new with you?"

"Ya free ta go clubbing tonight?" There was a long pause.

"'ruka, I don't really do the dating thing. And you said you don't like casual."

"I'm making an exception. Do ya want or not?"

"No need to get snappish. I'm in, but I want to know what happened."

"Ya've gotten smarter since high school." A snort was the immediate response.

"No, I just started grabbing books instead of everyone's boobs. Well, one girl's boobs. But I didn't want to end up on the streets, and since that scowl-faced pretty-boy tested freakishly well I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Then they actually got together, and I actually got laid on my rebound. So I grew up. Which club, and when?"

"The Sapphire, and as soon as poss'ble."

"You still need to tell me why, Haruka."

"Somethin….happened, an I jus need…" she grit her teeth as the buzzing picked up again. "Are ya in or not?"

"See you there, sweetcheeks. And I mean all four of them." And with a click the infuriating woman hung.

Haruka heaved a sigh as the humming in her settled down somewhat, and wondered What the hell'm I getting inta?

Then she went to make herself more presentable, or else the bouncers wouldn't let her in.

Usagi lay awake in the midnight moonlight, feeling nothing. Ami had curled up in thick comforter and fallen asleep with her nose in a book the better part of an hour ago. Naru had stayed awake with her best friend but had gone to bed when Usagi had pretended to do so, and her breathing had finally evened out ten minutes ago. Usagi had taken advantage of the quiet to sprawl out in the pool of moonlight they'd left the window open to let in, but it brought her no relief.

She replayed the night backwards in her head. Lastly she had sprawled out here, letting the comforting beams caress her aching body.

Before that she'd decided not to keep Naru up any later, and since the redhead was determined to stay up and not leave her alone, she'd declared that she was ready to call it a night.

Before that she'd asked Naru to talk to her, quietly, as they watched the zonked-out Ami, and Naru whispered for as long a she could: about school, about their childhoods, about TV show plot and books, about jobs for when they grew up, about the guys the dreamed of, and the boys in their class.

Before that they'd tried out the game Ami had been programming, but lost interest halfway through designing characters.

Before that Ami had cocooned herself in a comforter with her Mercury computer and told them she was going to try tweaking some things while she was thinking of it, and go over the readings from earlier that day. She'd fallen asleep a few minutes in.

Before that they'd had a wild pillow fight that left them laughing and gasping.

Before that Usagi had screamed her fury and hatred, and let loose her temper against an innocent pillow, as she was still conscientious enough—wow, Ami's rubbing off on me—not to completely ruin her best friend's room. But eventually even tearing it apart and scattering the stuffing hadn't been enough and she'd grabbed another to turn against her friends. Naru had pinned her arms in a fierce hug until she'd calmed down a little, and then tickled her into submission, only to get a friendly pillow to the face from Ami.

Before that Luna had tried to comfort her with some trite words about winning the war and losing the battle, and how lucky they were comparatively, only to be asked who was in charge, Luna or her? When Luna had answered that she (me) was the leader, she'd been ordered to get the f%&* out of their sight. The curse had shocked the other two girls silent for several minutes. Luna had fled.

Before that she had stumbled out of the bathroom, feeling both better and worse than before. Purging left her feeling bad, yet it was a different bad than before.

Before that she had literally gorged herself sick on everything in her best friend's pantry, from Oreos and ice-cream to spinach and crackers, and even a few hated carrot sticks. That it took her stomach so long to rebel was probably impressive, and might even be a metal-for about her life or something, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Before that they'd watched the news about that day while bandaging up their wounds and setting up mirrors to give them as much light as they could get.

Before that they'd taken advantage of Naru's onsen to scrub the filth away and disinfect everything. The water would need to be changed, though, and not just because Usagi had scrubbed herself too raw. She'd used the water to hide her tears until there were none left, and now she wished she'd saved a few in reserve.

Before that Luna had arrived and placed Naru's mother and sister under a not-so-mild hypnosis. They'd go out to dinner to celebrate whatever their subconscious came up with, arrive home late, and be too tired to do anything but go immediately to bed.

Before that they had stumbled into her best friend's home, beat up and exhausted in every way, and secured permission to stay the night with Luna's help.

And before that…well, a lot of it was a blur, but before that there were the bodies.

And the blood.

Usagi gazed dully at the starry sky, wondering if Jadeite's attempt to kill them had succeeded. And if it hadn't, would it have been better if it had?

Well, logically, if this isn't hell then it still could get worse. But…

Logic was never her strong point, despite it being all she had right now, and she dropped the question rather than argue with herself. It wasn't like it mattered, really.

After all, the truth was that she didn't care either way. She didn't care about anything right now.

When she had seen what had happened she had panicked. She had screamed and pleaded and prayed as she tried to heal the people, but nothing worked, until eventually Mercury had dragged her upright after she fell to her knees.

It felt like someone had dragged hooks along the inside of her skin.

It felt like someone had split her skull and spine like a length of firewood.

It felt like someone had taken an ice-cream scoop to her chest.

And then it didn't feel like anything.

She didn't feel. Anything.

So since she couldn't follow her heart into the void it had been dragged, Usagi lay in the moonlight and thought about what would happen now. Not that she really cared, anyway, but it was something to kill time with.

It's getting darker. Bets on whether it gets better or worse, anyone?

Have I mentioned that we have a TV tropes page? It's linked on my author's page, so I'd love it if you checked it out. It could do with a little more love.

Love to you all, and have a prosperous new year!